THE PATH TO A COLD HEART: RANMA VS KENICHI

Warning: This takes place straight after the D and D tournament saga from the kenichi manga, and takes place after the end of the Ranma Manga. It contains heavy spoilers and will not make much sense if you are not up to date on both mangas. If you like it please leave a review. Thanks.

Note: This chapter and the fight itself were originally going to be one chapter, but the pre-fight stuff took up more time than I thought, especially with it having been Christmas. Anyway, enjoy

CHAPTER 5: VICTORY LIES IN PREPARATION

"A challenge letter from Ranma?" asked Akisame.

"Yep, I'm kinda worried. The fighting spirit he showed when he glared at me was immeasurable! He's a lot stronger than I am, that's for sure."

"Well, looks like we're going to have to do something about that aren't we?" grinned Sakaki.

"Apa" agreed Apachai

.

Akane marched up to Nabiki's room and kicked the door open.

"Okay Nabiki, is this your bright idea?" She held up the letter. "This is obviously your handwriting. What were you thinking, making Ranma fight Kenichi? Kenichi doesn't stand a chance!"

"Calm down, Akane. This is a foolproof plan, besides, Kenichi's no pushover. That short moustached guy told me so, in exchange for some photos. In fact, if kenichi gets injured or worse…"

"Nabiki!"

"…if kenichi gets injured, then I'll treat that pervert as a liar, and tell him who those pictures are really of."

"So there of Ranma? Well at least I know they're not of me, that's a relief."

In the background, Kenichi's cries of pain could be heard.

"You had better be right about him, Nabiki."

.

The next day at school, Miu noticed kenichi was acting really tired.

"What's wrong, Kenichi?"

"The masters have been training me really hard since I got that letter…"

Kenichi was interrupted by Miu, who had just thrown somebody over her shoulder.

"Jeez, I'm so sorry! You shouldn't sneak up behind a girl!"

She paused, and then looked at the man. He was tanned and was wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

"Oh, it's you again," she said bitterly.

"You know this guy?" asked kenichi

"Yeah, he's been pestering me about you ever since you beat up Kuno."

The man rose to his feet and looked angrily at the pair.

"You should not be doin' that to your principal. Bad keekee!"

Kenichi looked in shock at this man. 'He's our principal?" he thought. "What kind of crazy school is this?"

.

Ranma was deep in thought as he walked down the corridor. This guy's no pushover. He wasn't like any opponent Ranma had faced previously. 'He is probably one of the naturally strongest fighters I have met, I better ask Nabiki to keep an eye on him, maybe give me some tips.'

"Sure, I'll spill some weak points, that'll be 5000 yen," said Nabiki, who had just appeared behind Ranma.

"How did you what I was thinking?" asked Ranma, baffled.

"Call it instinct. So do we have a deal?"

Miu was listening in on the conversation. 'That girl reminds me of a certain friend of mine. She is going to be trouble.'

.

The bell rang for the end of the day. Kenichi and Miu had to spend an hour behind as punishment for throwing the principal.

When the finally got out, Miu told Kenichi about what she saw.

"So Ranma knows my weaknesses?" asked Kenichi

"If Nabiki knew them in the first place, then yes. Unfortunately, she has been shown to be as shrewd and crafty as Nijima, so she had probably grilled every Ryozanpaku master about you."

Their conversation was interrupted when a figure blocked their path.

"You have no right to fight Ranma until you have beaten me," the figure warned.

"Whoa," said Kenichi. "This guy's pretty fired up"

Miu tapped Kenichi's shoulder.

"Uhh, Kenichi?"

Kenichi started walking towards the strange figure.

"Okay, whoever you are, I don't usually like violence but if you want to fight me I will accept. This is my man to man promise.

"Are you blind? Whatever, let's do it." Replied the figure, which then reached and grabbed a spatula. The figure then charged, so Kenichi raised his fists in a defensive stance.

The figure jumped in the air and thrust the spatula at kenichi, who dodged it and hit the figure square in the face.

"This guy's fierce!" commented Kenichi.

Miu ran up to the figure, and turned to kenichi.

"Kenichi, this is a girl!"

Kenichi suddenly grew a horrified look on his face.

"Uh…a…a…A GIRL!" He ran and crouched beside the girl. "OH GOD I AM SO SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN TO HIT A GIRL OH JESUS!"

Ukyo smacked Kenichi.

"I don't need you patronising me!" Ukyo said angrily, but then she softened her tone. "Well I think you're definitely strong enough to fight Kenichi. That was a hell of a punch!"

.

"You're leaving?"

"I'm sorry Akane," replied Ranma. "Kenichi is a very skilled fighter. I'll need to do some special training in order to guarantee winning this one."

Ukyo raced down the corridor and stopped right in front of the duo.

"Ranma, honey! Tell me it's not true! You're leaving?"

"Relax, Ukyo, it's just for a few days. I need to do some special training in order to win against this guy. To be honest, I haven't fought many skilled martial artists. Most of my opponents are one-trick ponies with little actual talent."

Akane shook her head.

"What about Ryoga, or Shampoo, or Mousse, or Herb, or Konatsu, or…"

"Okay Akane, I get the point. That's why I said 'most', jeez"

Akane stormed off in a huff, leaving Ranma and Ukyo in an awkward silence, which was eventually broken by Ranma.

"I'll leave in the morning."

"Oh be careful, Ranchan!" Ukyo said worriedly.

.

Genma was taking a stroll round the street, when he spotted Sakaki and Akisame walking home from the store. They were discussing the upcoming fight.

"That Ranma kid is definitely far tougher than Kenichi," commented Sakaki.

"You know that the victor of a fight isn't determined by the strongest, Sakaki," replied Akisame.

"Excuse me," interrupted Genma. "I couldn't help hearing you talking about the fight. I'm concerned."

Sakaki gave him a mean look.

"Yeah, about what?"

"Well, things aren't looking to good for Ranma. Any experienced martial artist would know that this fight has an obvious outcome. I'm asking you…"

"If you're asking for kenichi to throw the fight, forget it!" shouted Sakaki.

"No, I only ask that you let me stay with you when my son loses"

Nabiki strolled past.

"Grow a spine, Mr Saotome." She said bitterly.

.

A full week went by. Ranma came home with a cocky look on his face. Kenichi had undergone hellish training. Kenichi lay in bed. 'Ranma has certainly seemed a lot more confident since his training in the mountains,' he thought. 'The fight is tomorrow. What kind of training did he do? How strong is he now? How strong was he to begin with? Have I done enough? Ohhhhh, I'm worrying too much. I had better get a good night's sleep.'

TBC…