(Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the characters and stories associated with it.)

Girl Fight

From the last chapter: With the wind knocked out of her, Nabiki looked up in fear as Akane closed in, "Oh crap…"

As Akane brought the mallet over her head, she was roughly pulled to the side by a pair of large arms. Akane twisted her head to identify the person who dared to interfere with her righteous revenge. Seeing it was her own father did nothing to calm her rage as she slammed her elbow into the older man's ribs. Soun grunted in pain as he dropped his daughter while clutching his side.

"Akane! What do you think you're doing? That's your sister over there, not some burglar!"

Akane's anger was flaring in all its frightening glory as she spat, "Don't give me that, Daddy! She's had this coming for a long time and now its payback time!"

Soun closed his eyes for a moment, "Forgive me my dear Kimiko"

In a move that would have surprised many who knew the man, Soun leaped across the room and aimed a sharp kick to his rampaging daughter's hip. In her blind rage, she never imagined, nor saw her father's attack and was caught off guard as the older man's foot struck her squarely and sent her flying into the wall. The force of Akane hitting the wall was enough to shake the dust off the ceiling and as it swirled in the room, Soun moved to help Nabiki up.

At that moment a very wet and female Ranma burst into the room, "Hey! What the heck's going…oh crap!"

Akane was now back on her feet and approaching Soun and Nabiki with her hammer ready to strike. But before she could attack her intended victim, her wrist was snapped back behind her sharp enough to spin her around. Akane's eyes flamed with rage as she glared at the smirking redhead.

Ranma spun the now broken head of the hammer on the tip of her finger, "Yo, Akane. Ya aren't trying to beat up your own sister, are ya?"

She threw the stump of her hammer on the floor, "You! You have no right to interfere, pervert!"

The redhead could feel the heat of Akane's anger as she remained in her loose, but ready stance, "What do ya mean, interfere? That's your own sister you were about to hit!"

"It's none of your business!"

Akane charged and leaped into a flying kick. For Ranma, the move was easy to read and she easily dodged it while grabbing the rampaging girl and spinning her towards the bed where she bounced and hit the window, shattering the glass and sending the shards out and onto the yard below. Ranma moved to put herself between Nabiki and her attacker, "Listen, ya crazy tomboy, I'm not going to let ya hurt Nabiki!"

Akane laughed, "What's the matter, Ranma? Are you afraid I'm going to hurt your slutty little fiancé? Fine, I'll punish her after I've taken care of you!"

Akane yelled and charged towards Ranma with her fist up. The redhead dodged the fist easily but was struck squarely in the ribs by the girl's foot. Ranma gasped at the sudden sharp pain and prayed she didn't have a broken rib to worry about. Akane smirked as she jumped to the far side of the room, "Well, well. Not as fast as you thought. I don't know why you're fighting me, Ranma. You of all people know how it felt to be used by her."

Ranma cringed for a moment, "Damn, I'm still a little slow from that injury. This is going to open the wound if it keeps up."

Akane attacked again, this time using a roundhouse kick that Ranma easily dodged, "Selling photos of you to Kuno, setting up fights at school, and selling you to the other fiancés…Surly you haven't forgotten how she manipulated you for her own greed."

She smirked at Akane, "At least she's never tried to poison me with toxic waste!"

Akane began to glow a dangerous red as she yelled, "You're going to pay for that, pervert!"

The redhead glared, "I didn't want it to come to this, Akane, but you leave me no choice."

Ranma's stance changed and she immediately went on the offensive. In an instant she was in Akane's face and hitting her with hundreds of rapid fire punches sometimes known as the 'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire' attack. For her part, the youngest Tendo was able to block most of the punches, but even with Ranma being injured and still a bit weak, many still got through. Her arm, wrist, shoulder and ribs were quickly becoming sore from the pounding. Fatigue was rapidly taking its toll as nerve endings began to protest from the punishment she was receiving. A sudden high shot clipped her directly across the chin, snapping her head around hard enough for her to black out and crumple to the floor in a heap.

By now the rest of the family packed themselves in front of Nabiki's door. Ranma turned to his mother and Kasumi before going to check on Nabiki, "Would you check on Akane? She's just knocked out, but if she comes to, we may have our hands full."

Nodoka nodded towards her son, "Go ahead and see to your fiancé, dear. Soun, I'm going to need your help if we have to restrain her."

She then turned towards Kasumi and handed her a card, "Kasumi, I would like you to go downstairs and call this number. Ask for a Dr. Yokomoto. When he answers, tell him what happened here and that I asked you to call. Tell him it is also very important he contact the chiropractor physician I told him about. Your sister will be needing his skill as well here."

Kasumi raised an eyebrow as she took the card, "Who is it, Auntie?"

"He's my personal physician and the chiropractor has experience with martial arts injuries."

As Kasumi turned to make the call, Nodoka moved to assist Soun. The elder Tendo was a quite shaken as he stared at his youngest daughter. Nodoka sat across from Soun as she checked the girl over, "I know you're feeling pretty bad right now, Soun. This was something that had been festering for some time now, and something had to be done sooner or later."

The elder Tendo raised his tear stained face, "This was all my fault, Nodoka. I let her get out of hand. Thinking I was doing her a favor, I let my little girl have anything she wanted. What hurts so much now is I saw her turning into a bully and I did nothing about it. I thought with Ranma here, she would settle down. But I was wrong, so-so wrong about it all and I failed terribly. I failed her, I failed my other girls, and I failed my wife…."

Nodoka smiled warmly, "You can't be blamed for this Soun. Without your wife to help you, raising these three girls alone was very difficult. Yes this is a bad thing we have here, but you have us to help you now. You're not alone."

Soun's eyes brightened a bit, "Thank you, Nodoka. That means quite a bit to me."

He reached for his daughter, "We need to get her off the floor."

Nodoka nodded and as the two adults took Akane out of the room, Ranma had moved over and was sitting on the floor with Nabiki. The middle Tendo was trying to keep herself calm but her composure was slipping as she tried to describe what happened, "…the next thing I knew, she had thrown me across the room and was about to attack me with that damned hammer. I-I was never so terrified in my life, Ranma. For a moment, I thought she was actually going to do it. Fortunately, you and daddy showed up just in time to stop it all."

Ranma smiled and blushed a bit, "Well, I wasn't about to let her attack you. When Akane gets really angry, she's nearly as strong as Ryouga."

Nabiki reached over and gave Ranma a hug, "I'm just glad you and Daddy came in when you did. If you hadn't come-."

She stopped suddenly in her talking as she noticed how soft Ranma was, "Hey! You're a girl!"

Ranma giggled, "You just noticed?"

Nabiki smirked, "You know what I mean, Saotome. Why are you a girl now?"

Ranma rolled her eyes a bit, "I was thirsty and got up to get a drink of water. Just as I started to drink it, something hit the house and I got splashed once again."

"That would have to have been Akane. Daddy kicked her and she hit the wall."

"Whoa! Your Dad actually hit Akane?"

Nabiki shook her head, "I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself."

Ranma gave a soft low whistle, "It must have been some kick. I know the tomboy's tough but that was a really loud bang."

"Yes, she cracked the wall over there and-."

Ranma turned her head, "What's the matter?"

"Damn, my whole room's a wreck! Here, help me up, Ranma."

Ranma placed her arm around Nabiki and gently helped her on her feet. Once she was up, Ranma didn't seem to mind much that Nabiki was leaning against her. Ranma pointed to the damage and smiled, "It's not that bad. Ya got a crack in your wall, your desk got knocked over, and your books are everywhere. If you don't count the broken window, we can have this cleaned up in no time."

Nabiki looked over at her fiancé and purred, "Are you offering to help me, Ranma?"

Ranma flashed a bright smile, "Yeah, sure. You said it yourself. What are friends for?"

Ranma turned to stand the small bookshelf up and as she tilted it up and back against the wall, a sudden blast of pain shot through her shoulder. She closed her eyes tightly and hissed through her teeth as she nearly staggered to her knees. Nabiki was at her side in an instant, Ranma! What's wrong?"

Ranma had her hand over the area on her shoulder where she had been shot, "The doc said I shouldn't get into any fights for a while. Guess I screwed up a bit. Hurt like hell for a moment."

Nabiki grabbed Ranma's hand and pulled it away, "Jeesh Ranma! You're bleeding!"

"Yeah. Must have pulled a stitch out. It's nothing."

Nabiki scolded in a caring voice, "Don't you go getting all macho on me, Ranma. Wait here while I get Kasumi."

Ranma slumped her shoulders a bit, "Alright, go ahead and get her."

It wasn't long before Kasumi was up in Nabiki's room with her trusty first aid kit. She found Ranma picking up a book from the floor and stacking it on the shelf. She shook her head as she smiled, "Nabiki told me you were hurt, Ranma. I didn't expect to find you cleaning up her room."

Ranma blushed a bit, "Yeah, well I just thought I'd pick up a book or two for her. That's all"

Kasumi smiled warmly as she placed the first aid on the bed and opened it, "Come over and sit down while I look at your injury, Ranma."

Kasumi's tone, although as sweet as ever, left no doubt in Ranma's mind the oldest Tendo sister was not making a request. After she sat down, Kasumi picked up some alcohol and a small bag of cotton balls, "Ranma, you will need to take off your tank top so I can clean the blood off of you."

Not thinking, she took off her top and waited for Kasumi clean the wound. Ranma clenched her teeth slightly as the elder Tendo went about her work, carefully wiping the area until it was free of blood and dirt. Kasumi then gently touched the stitched area of the wound with her fingers to see if there was any more seepage while Ranma began to become uncomfortable at the closeness of the attractive young woman.

Kasumi placed the used cotton balls in a small plastic bag and began to open a fresh bandage, "Ranma, the wound isn't bleeding at the moment, but you will most likely need to go back to the doctors and have them take a look at it. It's never good when a stitched wound begins to bleed."

Ranma looked a bit sad as she put her tank top back on, "Thanks Kasumi. It probably wouldn't have started bleeding if I hadn't had to actually fight Akane."

"How do you feel about that, Ranma? Was it because she is a girl that you didn't want to hit her?"

"Well, there's that. But it was more than because she's a girl, Kasumi. Even though we're not engaged, I still care about the tomboy."

Kasumi placed her hand gently on Ranma's shoulder, "If you had the chance, right now. Would you give up Nabiki for her?"

Ranma stared at Kasumi for a moment, "No Kasumi. Things changed since we got back from China. It's not the same anymore."

Ranma continued, "Before we made that trip to China, we were beginning to talk to each other. I was beginning to think that between us, something…something nice was about to happen. But after we got back, things just seemed to fall apart. Even without that wedding mess, we probably would have drifted away. Whatever closeness we seemed to have for each other, faded away after that. From then on, it's been downhill for the both of us."

Kasumi smiled gently, "I thought as much, Ranma. I fear it is now too late for Akane to be helped by you and she will be needing professional help to get her out of this. But for Nabiki though, it seems that you may have arrived just in time."

Ranma fumbled with her hands a bit and blushed slightly, "Yeah…I guess."

Kasumi gave Ranma a hug, "In just the short time you and my sister have become closer, she has become more and more of the old Nabiki I loved and missed so much. I'd say that's pretty good."

Ranma blushed beet red, "I-er ah-well we sorta…."

Kasumi chuckled, "My, Ranma. For someone who claims to be a guy, you can really be cute."

As Ranma squirmed under Kasumi's kidding, Nabiki was downstairs getting herself a glass of milk. She tried to tell herself she was in total control of the situation, but the unsteady shaking of her hands said otherwise.

She placed the glass on the counter and whispered to herself as she clasped her hands together, "Easy Nabiki, it's time to relax and calm down. Calm down? Hah! She was going to kill me!"

Nabiki was about to pick the glass again when there was a knock at the door, "I'll get it!"

When she opened the door, there was an elderly, well dressed man smiling warmly towards her. She bowed politely, "Good evening. Is there something I can do for you?"

The man bowed, "Good evening to you as well, Miss. Is this the Tendo's residence?"

Nabiki nodded, "Yes it is."

"Ah good. I wasn't sure. My name is Dr. Yokomoto. I was called by another woman, Kasumi; I believe to come here for an emergency."

Nabiki motioned for the doctor to enter the house, "Yes please come in. It's my younger sister."

"Ah, then would you please lead me to her?"

"Follow me, please"

The man hesitated for a moment, "I was asked to contact a colleague of mine to meet me here. From what I understand, this was a martial arts injury and as such is more his specialty than mine. Once you have shown me the way, would you be kind enough to bring him to me as soon as he arrives?"

"Certainly. This way, please"

Nabiki led the doctor upstairs to Akane's room before excusing herself to return downstairs to wait for the doctor's colleague. The doctor pulled out his stethoscope and made a few quick checks on Akane before turning to the man he thought to be the father, "Can you tell me what happened to your daughter? From what I can tell here, it appears that she was involved in some kind of confrontation and was knocked out."

Nodoka quickly answered for Soun, "I am only a friend of the family, but I can tell you that Akane here lost her temper completely and went berserk. She attacked her older sister and caused considerable damage to her room. Her father here, and her sister's fiancé were forced to restrain her to keep her from not only causing harm to her older sister, but herself as well."

The doctor raised an eyebrow at Nodoka while noticing the Katana she carried with her, "Was so much force necessary? Surly she could have been restrained in a more gentle and civilized manner"

From the doorway a familiar sounding voice was heard, "Akane Tendo is a strong and dangerous martial artist. In the confines of a small room she has the ability to be quite formidable."

Nodoka turned towards the newcomer and bowed, "Ah, you must be the doctor's colleague. We spoke briefly on the phone earlier. My name is Nodoka Saotome."

The young man returned the bow, "It is a pleasure to finally meet the mother of Ranma Saotome. My name is Ono Tofu."

Author's notes: I was informed of an inconsistency in the reasoning for bringing tofu into the story. In the original version, Yokomoto brought tofu along as a colleague. After reading several very informative reviews of this, I had to agree with the reasoning. Changes have been made to strengthen the concept that doctor Yokomoto is Nodoka's physician. It also clarifies a bit more that it was Nodoka herself that requested Tofu be present. I apologize for the confusion.