Assassin Drones: The original saga
Fuyuki's training Arc. De Arimasu!
By Alex Young
The Hinata household, 6:05 am. December 27, 2002
Fuyuki and Momoka had been sharing the same bed together in their sleep after the fracas that went down yesterday. The fracas being over their apparently forbidden relationship. Fuyuki, already clad in his black dress shirt hanging out over a pair of white dress pants, was up making sure that all members of the reserve detachment of ninja soldiers assigned to scour the house had left the premises.
After having concluded that they've all made a break for Momoka's manor to round up the last of Kamui's resistance, Fuyuki went back into his room to tuck his shirt in. A while later would see Fuyuki wearing his dress shirt, white tie and dress pants, and Momoka in a long sleeve, khaki blouse under an olive wraparound pinafore dress.
The two had stepped into the foyer, opened he door, and wrapped their arms around each other's waists, adding insult to injury for Baio. This meant but one thing, only and always; Fuyuki and Momoka really were meant for one another, and there was nothing that Baio could do to stop them.
Well, almost nothing as Baio had but another trick up his parental sleeve, as we would see in the form of one ninja standing by and inserting a very special package; a challenge letter. After this insulting display of obstinance, Fuyuki closed the door to get himself dressed again.
However, Fuyuki was blissfully unaware of the fact that a mysterious young woman with V bangs, a taupe dress coat, a matching fedora, black leather gloves, and a pair of shades was watching it all unfold. That person was Nabiki, and she may hold the key to securing his future.
"So, the big dog makes his move. Then so will I." Nabiki mused as she removed herself from a waiting 1970 Dodge Charger Daytona decked out in all black. Nabiki removed the challenge letter from the mailbox, and inserted it just under the Hinata household's doorstep. It was then that she decided to lean back against the perpendicular wall, and wait.
Back in Fuyuki's room, we can see that he was dressed in his personal martial arts apparel. He performed some basic jabs, a few hooks, as well as some kicks to get himself warmed up for the big moment. Natsumi was trunding down the stairs into the foyer to pick up the black challenge letter, and began to read it as soon as she opened it up.
"Dear Fuyuki, we challenge you to an all out martial arts duel! It will take place at the alotted location on the back, and you had best be ready by the 16th of June. If you truly love our daughter so much, you will partake, or else, she will never see you again! Signed, Baio and Oka Nishzawa." Natsumi muttered to herself as Fuyuki strode up to her side so he could read it.
"Whoa! That's pretty serious! Guess that holding on to her won't be such an easy proposition after all." Fuyuki moaned morosely. "Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you!" Nabiki's voice resonated throughout the hallways. "Who are you, anyways?" Fuyuki pondered in confusion.
"Me? I'm just a young woman with a proposition for you. Isn't that right, Fuyuki Hinata." Nabiki stated. "Oh, and just in case you were wondering, a girl's gotta have her sources, I'm Nabiki Tendo, by the way." She introduced as she sauntered up to Fuyuki's side. "Aki. I trust that you've met Ranma before, right?" Nabiki queried of Aki.
"Yes. I think that was back in August when they beat that spider monster." She replied citing the day of Ranma's first encounter with Gial. "Precisely! I personally think that your Fuyuki can do the same thing under the tutelage of Ranma, at the Tendo school of anything goes martial arts." Nabiki offered as she presented a flyer to Aki.
"Just in case you were wondering about the costs, let's just say I had Kuno baby pay through his nose not only for the first month's worth of lessons, but also for the first couple of weeks of taxi fares." Nabiki answered. "We'll take it. If it means getting him and his cronies off our backs." Aki answered taking Nabiki up on her offer.
"Good, thank you for your understanding." Nabiki concluded shaking hands with Aki. "You sure you want to do this?" Natsumi queried of her younger brother. "If it means keeping Momoka around me forever in the end, then HELL TO THE YEAH!" Fuyuki shrilled in enthusiasm before Nabiki escorted him to the black Dodge Charger Daytona.
"Hey, Tsubasa!" Nabiki called out. "I think that this one is either way in over his head, or seriously wants to kick Baio's and Oka's asses!" Tsubasa Kurenai called back in reply. "Hey, kid. We're in for one wild ride, and it's for free, too. YEEHAW!" Tsubasa whooped as he floored it in his decked out in black, 2+2 seater, twin supercharged 440 hemi magnum powered Dodge Charger Daytona taxi.
Tsubasa's bat shit crazy driving had taken them all the way over to the Tendo residence, where he dropped both Fuyuki and Nabiki off to their desination. Unwittingly, Baio's advance had provided Nabiki with the very impetus to do execute the plan that had been in the works ever since that day when Gial made landfall on planet Earth.
Fuyuki had set foot in the Tendo residence for the first time ever, another stepping stone for meeting a certain young man. The very same man who will help him to cement his future with Momoka, and ultimately help him to defeat Aoryuzen and put a stop to his ambitions. That man was Ranma Saotome!
"Hey there, whoever you are. My name is Fuyuki Hinata, and I would like for you to take me in as your student in anything goes martial arts!" Fuyuki hollered in a rush as he pressed his palms against each other and bowed at a 90 degree angle. "Huuh, I dunno if I wanna do it and all, seeing as how I've got a lot to learn myself." Ranma slurred hesitantly when Genma came up behind him and whacked him in the nape with his fist.
"You foolish boy! Have you forgotten the principal rule of anything goes martial arts!?" Genma reprimanded of Ranma. "Please, son! We could use some extra help if we want to deal with these spooks if they ever show up again! Please think of teaching this impressionable youth as just another challenge in anything goes martial arts." Soun pleaded of Ranma, who reconsidered at this.
"I ain't gonna like it, but in the name of anything goes martial arts, I, Ranma Saotome, hereby take Fuyuki Hinata under my wing as my student!" Ranma declared accepting Fuyuki as his student, for this was to be the beginning of a beautiful, life long friendship. Although, with that being said, there's no guarantee that it won't be off to a rocky start.
At the Tendo dojo, we can see that Ranma and Fuyuki are sitting cross legged and looking each other in the eyes. "First thing's first, kid. I'm Ranma Saotome, as you may have already guessed." Ranma introduced taking it real slow at first. "Well, Ranma. I guess that the Nishzawa elite guard were after you as well." Fuyuki broached patiently. "Yeah, that makes two of us." Ranma replied.
"Of course, the first step for me to teach you as a student is what we call 'a close quarters martial arts assessment.' In short, give it your best shot." Ranma taunted of Fuyuki, who was surprisingly quick to oblige as he landed a single jab, which Ranma blocked right away. Fuyuki then performed a low sweep kick to Ranma off balance. which Ranma flawlessly jumped over.
That, only to get blindsided as Fuyuki took advantage of the momentum generated during the sweep kick, turning it into a high knee spin kick. Ranma was knocked down, only to get back up again. "Whoever the hell taught you a move like that!? A cereal box?" Ranma shot out, which only provoked Fuyuki to fight harder and faster. This was as he deployed a chained meat hook, and grabbed Ranma by the left leg, and reeled him in.
Ranma, of course stretched both his legs outward to kick Fuyuki in the chest, which he did, followed up by several jabs and hooks. "C'mon! You fight like a fuckin pussy whipped schoolgirl!" Ranma insulted once more as Fuyuki attempted another jab. {Too slow!} Ranma hissed as he dodged said jab and landed his pointer and middle fingers right on Fuyuki's solar plexus, thereby ending the assessment.
"Hmm, you're good. I'd say if anything, you fight a hell of a lot like Akane, here." Ranma pointed out of Fuyuki, who noticed that Akane was insulted by this comparison. "Well whoop de doo, Ranma! Thanks for the insinuation!" Akane sneered as he slammed a pail of cold water right on Ranma's head. "OW! What did I ever do to you, Akane!?" Ranko snarled glowering at Akane as she tossed the pail to the wayside.
"NO WAY! Nyannīchuan!? Did you know that there was a legend of a young girl who drowned in that spring 1500 years ago? That you become a girl when you fall into that spring yourself?" Fuyuki exclaimed apparently enamored by the revealation that Ranma could turn into Ranko when exposed to cold water.
"Wait! You know about these things?" Akane inquired with a surprised undertone. "Well, I've been doing my research on Jusenkyo curses online." Fuyuki admitted. "Wait, you're actually interested in Jusenkyo curses?" Ranko queried as she doused herself in hot water from a tea kettle. "That, along with several other things that I would consider to be of the paranormal. I even run a paranormal club at school." Fuyuki explained sagely.
"Anyways, you've more or less got some of the basic fundamentals of martial arts down pat, but your speed and form need a little work. We'll get to those in a little while." Ranma summarized in giving Fuyuki some break time for Kasumi's home cooked lunch. The lunch was of course some onion and chicken stir fried yakisoba noodles with a side of white rice.
After having eaten his fill and gotten a good stretching in, Fuyuki resumed his training with Ranma as they both returned to the dojo. "For today's lesson, we'll get down to your speed first, then we'll work on your form." Ranma recommended as he presented a fish tank chock full of koi for his apprentice to capture, and some paper spoons to capture the animals with. Fuyuki then picked up one of the paper spoons with the rules being to capture as many koi as possible within the allotted time limit.
The clock began ticking, and Fuyuki worked as quickly as he could to capture multiple koi with the same spoon without the paper getting wet and soggy. Fuyuki bagged as many as 16 koi by the moment the timer expired at 30 seconds. "Well, yer gonna hafta be a hell of a lot faster than that if you're gonna beat Baio and Oka. At 1.2 to 1.75 seconds in between koi, that's slower than fuckin molasses!" Ranma barked hoping to egg Fuyuki on to go faster through insults and just being a jerk in general.
The second attempt registered at 1.0 to 1.5 seconds in between koi, this time around. "That's still too slow!" Ranma growled exhorting of Fuyuki to go ever faster in his reflexes. Fuyuki might not have been as fast as Ranma when he made a third attempt, but he is getting faster, and at a much more consistent rate with about 0.4 to 0.55 seconds in between koi.
"Alright, now were talking! Now, let's learn to control that speed!" Ranma declared as he poured some rubber super balls in the tank, this time. The rubber balls are there so that Fuyuki can avoid them in capturing the koi. Fuyuki began his fourth attempt at capturing koi with the timer raised to 45 seconds so that he can better maintain his speed. "Hey, come on! Yer sloppier than some drunken hobo puking all over the table at a five star restaurant!" Ranma taunted some more midway into the fourth koi capture exercise.
The timer expired with Fuyuki clocking in at 0.21 to 0.26 seconds in between koi, and none of the rubber balls were ever picked up, accidentally or otherwise. "Great work, kid! Now to work on your form." Ranma exhorted within what was only mere hours of his rude and crude yet effective training of Fuyuki. In this case, he took it outside.
"You see these platforms amid the electrified pit in front of you? Grab that windbreaker dangling on the other side hopping on those platforms without touching any of the scorpions that are on them. Beware, however, as they're coated in instant banana peel, making it impossible to hold your footing." Ranma debriefed as Fuyuki readied himself into position.
"Ready? Set? GO!" Ranma hollered lowering his arm signaling for Fuyuki to jump along the slippery ass platforms. Fuyuki began to falter a little with everytime he set foot on the platforms. "For Christ's sakes, a goat wearing roller blades in a figure skating competition has more grace than you!" Ranma spat heckling for Fuyuki to get a move on as the latter knocked a few scorpions out of the platforms.
Finally, Fuyuki grabbed the tote bag raising it high into the air. Fuyuki's first time would be the only time where he actually did knock down a few scorpions. Several subsequent attempts later would still see him slipping and sliding, but not touching any of the scorpions that were on the platforms. Ranma switched the scorpions around placing them at random so as to force his trainee to adapt for every attempt.
Ranma's training methods were not unlike that of Genma's, except that Ranma's not exactly as amoral as Genma. Finally, an hour later, Fuyuki retained his composure as he hopped about the oily platforms, grappled onto the windbreaker for the umpteenth time hanging from the flag pole, and hopped across the platforms on his way back, as a twist.
"The last thing we're going to do today, as is going to be the case for every time we train is essentially going to be combining the first and second tasks into one challenge and then some. Not only do the both of us have to avoid the scorpions on the somewhat more dome like platforms like before, but we also have to deflect the piranhas when one of us slips into the 20 foot deep, perfectly square pool." Ranma paused to take a short breather.
"There are also plenty of weighted super balls floating around, that we have to grab at speed to hit each other with in addition to our martial arts moves. The windbreaker is the same as before, except now suspended from a gantry crane that moves it about at completely random intervals. Whoever grabs the windbreaker first has to hold on to it for at least one minute before winning." Ranma finished stating the rules of the game as he and Fuyuki took up opposite sides of the pool for an arena.
"Ready, set, GO!" Ranma screeched as he and Fuyuki jumped onto the new platforms to engage each other in close combat. Fuyuki landed a flying jump kick on Ranma's blocking arms as what was a great white shark popped up from the surface to take a bite out of whoever falters first.
Ranma and Fuyuki each made a lightning fast grab for some weighted super balls and flicked them in each others direction. Fuyuki slipped up as he got knocked right in between the eyes. However, Fuyuki compensated for it as he landed on another slippery dome platform with the tips of his fingers being careful not to touch the scorpions.
"One thing I forgot to mention to you is that some of the larger balls contain explosives with a fuse on one end." Ranma spat as he continued dodging the great white shark that was pursuing him. Fuyuki then stood on the tips of his fingers, and flipped around after a few seconds to snatch some bomb super balls. Fuyuki spun around in midair, jumping off of that platform as he tossed the bombs in Ranma's direction.
Sone thirty five minutes later would see the rail riding gantry crane move about, and swing the windbreaker around at random intervals. It was then that the game turned into a battle where only a sleight of hand, and some staying power can secure victory. Fuyuki landed a double legged flying kick on Ranma's chest giving him too little time to react.
Fuyuki then ricocheted off of Ranma's chest as the former snatched up the windbreaker performing a single handstand on the shark's upper jaw. Fuyuki front flipped onto a dome platform with Ranma giving chase, and wresting the windbreaker from his left arm. Fuyuki would ultimately repay Ranma by striking him in the lower back with a bomb that the trainee snatched from some ravenous piranha.
Fuyuki grabbed the windbreaker from Ranma, with the latter giving chase like before, but to no immediate avail. Ranma continued to chase Fuyuki around for the one minute that either contestant was supposed to hold the windbreaker for. Fuyuki stepped outside the pool with Ranma declaring him the victor.
"That's it for today, then. Hii whew you can go home, now." Ranma panted shaking Fuyuki's hand in thanks before the latter headed for Tsubasa's taxi. Fuyuki left the Tendo residence knowing full well that it may not have been the best training session he's ever had, but it was certainly not going to be the last, either.
The Kuno estate, 11:00 pm. New Year's eve, 2002.
Rip Rat had just broken in to the Kuno estate, but one would be surprised as to what for. It wasn't Radon as some of us have come to expect, but rather a forbidden love that can be traced back to Chinese New Year's day of this year. Of course, Rip Rat was in love with Ranma! At least, in love with Ranma's more feminine side.
Rip Rat launched an attack on Kuno to try and get his attention. "EN GARDE, FELL DEMON!" Kuno howled for having his sleep disturbed. "HEY, WAIT! IT'S ABOUT THAT RANKO GIRL! YOU KNOW, YOUR 'PIG TAILED GIRL?'" Rip Rat hollered at Kuno. "Oh, and just in case you accuse me of holding her hostage, that's not what I came here for." Rip Rat explained already having thought of what Kuno was about to say.
"Really, I came here to help you secure the Ranko's victory, don't you see?" Rip Rat proposed. "Now, do we have a deal?" Rip Rat requested. "Tis a deal then, till the pig tailed girl emerged victorious." Kuno replied accepting Rip Rat's offer. "Jaws, Nite Bite, Operation: help Ranko win the New Year's All Japan martial arts badminton championship begins!" Rip Rat sniggered as he left the Kuno estate with a devious grin on his rat like face.
A local shrine within the Kissho area, 6:00 am. New Year's day, 2003. From Fuyuki's POV
I was clad in my black dress shirt, white tie, and white dress pants as I always was on every New Year's day since 2001. In fact, this was only the third time ever having done so during New Year's day. In fact, I had already thought up a New Year's resolution: To train with Ranma more often.
I waited around in the freezing cold for Momoka to show up, with our love as the only thing keeping us really warm. Momoka did eventually stride in wearing her kimono as was the Japanese New Year's custom. Me and Momoka walked up to the shrine, and made our Hatsumode prayers, and were just about ready to leave when a mysterious, navy blue scroll landed on the collection bin.
I walked back up to the shrine with my girlfriend in toe, and reached out to touch it, when suddenly, the scroll somehow magnetized itself and gravitated towards my palm! The first thing that came out of my new scroll was a note that simply said "use it well" written in katakana.
When I looked up, my eyes were nearly blinded as they beheld an enigmatic figure shrouded in a white cloak and hood. The white cloaked man bounded off, only to disappear in to thin air before I could ever get a chance to see their face. Just what is the white cloaked man? Is he even human? One thing was for sure; the white cloaked man's true identity will remain a secret forevermore.
Some skyscrapers within Inner Tokyo, 7:00 am. From the reader's viewpoint
There was another man, also cloaked and hooded. He was much like the one Fuyuki saw earlier, only this time, he is not going to disappear anytime soon, and he was wearing black. Unlike the white cloaked man, the black cloaked man also had a reptilian skull face, and a pair of raptor talons.
The black cloaked man so happens to be Aoryuzen, and he's taking a rather direct approach to capturing the hive mind, as that's the first thing he usually does under these circumstances when he now knows that Ranma Saotome is unknowingly holding the hive mind within him.
With that, Aoryuzen took off jumping from building to building, all alone with his unusually direct approach. Once he reached the more urban district of Furinkan, Aoryuzen jumped off of one building and landed on the sidewalk crouching, and still hooded. "I hears that some girl by the name of 'Akane' took in some of this 'super soba' yesterday."
"What the hell? Are you serious?" A pair of kimono clad young school girls conversed prompting the yet undetected Aoryuzen to chance a closer look. "Ghost vector, active." Aoryuzen muttered as he activated his ghost vector to not only make himself invisible to the naked eyes, but to make himself absolutely intangible to everyone around him!
"So, this 'Akane?' Is she Ranma's fiancee?" Aoryuzen muttered to himself. Just then, Rip Rat, Dark Claw, and Slaughtersjaws came barreling down the street that Aoryuzen was standing near at speed. Aoryuzen was quick to escape the incoming Rat pack members and continue shadowing Ranma from the top.
Of course, one little slap from Akane, also kimono clad, sent Ranma flying, and that when Aoryuzen stopped shadowing and sprang right into action. "Boost vector, active." Aoryuzen smirked at the prospect of an easy hive mind capture as he begun a transformation into an aircraft like flying mechadrone. He was pentagonal up front with two stabilizers for legs jutting way out the sides.
However, Aoryuzen did not capture the hive mind, but instead controlled the air temperature to condense into cold water, douse the still airborne Ranma with that cold water, and grapple the recently knocked out cold Ranko in his arms once he transformed back. Of course, Aoryuzen could also produce silk, just not like the others thus far. He used his silk in weaving and his blood in dyeing a kimono for Ranko to wear.
As soon as Aoryuzen dressed the still unconscious Ranko up in it, he left her a note recommending that she partake in the New Year's All Japan martial arts badminton championship that was about to come underway. It was physiologically taxing on Aoryuzen to produce the rather special, navy blue furisode kimono for Ranko to wear as an entrant in just such a tournament.
Of course the tournament itself would begin with an exhibition match, which would reveal why Ranko's kimono was so special, as its colors began to shift in light and intensity. "Yoohoo! Akane! I have this feeling that I might just beat you this time around!" She hollered in an optimistic sing song tone with the kimono changing into a circular pattern to reflect joy.
Ranko of course, knew full well as to the side effects of a girl ingesting super soba noodles. Ranko entered herself into the tournament mostly wanting to get back at Akane for having defeated her as Ranma in arm wrestling (also, she's none too keen on the idea of Akane growing a set of whiskers, by the way). For that, she also brought one hollow birdie containing an antidote pill for when all else fails.
Of course, Kodachi, Ukyo, and Shampoo, all clad in kimono would show up to challenge Ranko during what could now amount to a 3 on 1 exhibition cage match. "Hmph, I think you're all in for one hell of a surprise from that kimono." Aoryuzen scoffed confidently knowing that he had also stashed some mechadrone larvae disguised as martial arts badminton birdies.
Ranko would make the first move as she assaulted the trio with one of those birdies. Ukyo deflected it with her spatula, and Ranko hit it again with her paddle, this time with Ukyo missing, and the birdie transforming into a maechadrone larva. The larva tugged on the arena ropes using the momentum generating by Ranko's hit to its utmost advantage. The birdie mechadrone larva launched itself at the fiancee trio.
Just then, Ranko also unleashed what is known as an assassin magic enhanced birdie hailstorm. Those birdies were different, in fact they were battle aura black bombs, complete with fuses and everything. The bombs all exploded at once, sending the fiancees flying off into the distance, and securing Ranko an easy win.
It was then that the super soba enhanced Akane stepped up to the plate, thereby beginning the first round immediately afterward. Ranko, looking as confident as ever, fired off some more birdies with her paddle, but those birdies have been tinkered with by Xiu Wong enterprises and the Rat pack.
One of them was a Venus flytrap birdie, with its three jaws opening up in the same way that the birdie mechadrone larva revealed itself. Akane simply deflected it with her paddle as she counterattacked with a birdie of her own; a taser birdie if you will. Ranko dodged it and one man was tased. Akane fired off a buzzsaw birdie in Ranko's direction, who counterattacked with a guided top attack missile birdie, and then a few proximity mine birdies.
Any and all manner of batshit crazy badminton birdies were used by both Ranko and Akane, ranging from poisonous mustard gas birdies, to wasp's nest birdies, and even deadly habu viper birdies. If this had done anything, they just made their fight a heck of a lot more dangerous than it already was. How anybody could ever get their hands on mustard gas, let alone manufacture it was a mystery unto itself.
Of course, the deadliest of them all has to be the orbital strike beacon birdies, which called upon a kinetic kill rod satellite built by the United States as its contribution to EX.W.A.T.I., to launch one or more rods to decimate entire city blocks once in geosynchronous orbit.
"Oh, hell!" Aoryuzen muttered as this badminton battle is going to take a long while. Eventually, Ranko and Akane found themselves in the vacant lot in Furinkan near the Tendo residence. This was when Ranko realized the importance of her hollowed out antidote birdie as Akane sprouted those very whiskers.
Ranko, of course began to smirk, and giggle a little at this before exploding with loud, raucous laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! HAHAHAHAHA! I KNEW YOU WERE UNCUTE AND UNSEXY AND ALL, BUT JEEEEZ! YOU DIDN'T HAFTA TURN THAT ONE UP ALL THE WAY TO ELEVEN!" Ranko screeched still bursting with laughter at Akane's gruesome new situation.
"WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT!?" Akane growled as she pulled one kimono sleeve back. "IF YOU DON'T STOP FUCKING LAUGHING AT ME RIGHT NOW, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU! I MEAN IT!" Akane snarled stomping her way towards Ranko, who seized the chance to deliver a knockout blow and get rid of the former's whiskers for good at the same time. Ranko slammed the antidote birdie at full force into Akane's forehead.
This would knock Akane out cold, thereby rendering her unable to do battle, but not before the shell cracked open in half, and the antidote pill conveniently rolled its way into her mouth, and down the hatch. This returned Akane back to normal before Ranko carried her home in the latter's arms. Ranko dressed the still unconscious Akane back into her pajamas after a while.
"You stay put for a while, Akane. I've got a tournament to win!" The still kimono clad Ranko requested gently as she bounded off for the arena. This instance of Akane's trying to prove her superiority over Ranko served to kick off a perfect hotstreak for the latter as she went on to win the entire tournament on live, national television! The grand prize being several free kimono kitsuke, each complete with an obi, obi age, obi jime, and all sorts of accessories, all in a multitude of different colors.
All that, along with a check for 75,000,000 yen (750,000 U.S. dollars). All that prize money would go directly into lining Nabiki's pockets as a side benefit from Ranko's participation. Aoryuzen seized the opportunity that cropped up some five minutes since Ranko came home with the prizes, including all the free kimono kitsuke and the check.
Ranko, apparently having fallen in love with the kimono she was wearing during the tournament, still wore it showing off for family and friends. This was when Ranko had gotten outside as Aoryuzen knew something else about the hive mind: the hive mind automatically exposes itself to him during periods of intense emotional activity coming from the host, in this case Ranko.
Aoryuzen lashed out hissing like a snake at high speed, when Ranko launched a nail bomb birdie still itching for a fight. Aoryuzen of course, dodged by vanishing into thin air just like with the white cloaked man, only to reappear behind her back. It was then that Aoryuzen realized something else about Ranko; she liked the kimono that he designed for her, so much so that it essentially became an extension of her will.
The sleeves could morph into razor sharp hook blades with a simple tightening of Ranko's fists, but she never got around to using them seeing as how she didn't feel like cheating during the tournament. Ranko slashed forward with Aoryuzen taking up a defensive position as his armor got cut up, but not slashed open.
Some good sized chunks were blown or slashed off with bomb birdies and razor sleeves, but Aoryuzen kept it all together surprisingly well in one piece. When things got really dangerous, and not wanting to risk the fatal side effects of the naked vector, Aoryuzen went into full blown retreat into the Rapier via the boost vector.
Ranko simply stared into the direction in which Aoryuzen retreated in wonder. "That thing. What is it?" Ranko pondered after what was only the third time having had a run in with the assassin drones of Alpha 134. She did garner one thing from this latest conflict that followed the tournament and Akane's ingestion of super soba; a free gift that came from Aoryuzen himself in the form of the navy blue, light shifting kimono she was still wearing.
Ranko obviously wanted to turn back into a guy, and the kimono undid itself upon contact with hot water. The kimono folded back into Ranma's arms, awaiting a splash of cold water as though it were alive. The pajama clad Akane had regained her consciousness in bed an hour later. All while having not a single clue as to what happened after having lost to Ranko during the tournament.
"How do I put this? Basically, you challenged me to martial arts badminton, and I beat you without batting an eyelash." Ranma summarized to Akane, who simply smiled with a forgive and forget attitude about her. With a rather eventful New Year's day coming to a close, Ranma decided it best to catch some shuteye, along with the rest of the family, including Akane as she tucked herself into bed.
Author's note: Speaking of New Year's, I made up my own New Year's resolution for 2014; to continue seeing this story, along with the Assassin Drone saga through to the very end.