She frowned slightly as she watched Ranma practice a kata in the distance. He always looked so focused, so dedicated when training. Today, he practiced in his rarely worn white gi with his black belt wrapped around his waist. Akane looked down at her own outfit with a bit of envy and embarrassment. Before Ranma and his father moved in, she was known as the toughest martial artist in town.
Now she always had to depend on Ranma to save her, and her hard-earned yellow gi and red belt were a joke. No one took her seriously as a martial artist. Not Ukyo, not Shampoo, not…Ranma. Especially not Ranma. He never found it inappropriate to mock her martial art skills—or apparently, her lack of skills. She was never granted any respect from him, even though she looked to him for approval. In a matter of moments, her jealousy converted into anger.
"Ranma," Akane shouted, interrupting his training. She ran into the dojo. Fists raised up and feet apart at shoulders' length, she scowled. "Fight me!"
He gave her a look of confusion from a few feet away before it turned to annoyance. "I was practicin'," he replied, giving off a bored look. "Besides, I don't hit girls, remember?"
She seethed in rage as he looked uninterested. Akane aggressively thrust a fist forward as she ran closer to him. Irritatingly, Ranma bent his torso to the left, dodging her attack. She tried with her other fist. He dodged again. She attempted a kick. Nothing—Ranma moved out of the way in time.
He was too fast.
Or she too slow, Ranma always taunted.
"Fight back!" Her throat was raw as she screamed. "You always fight me with insults—"
Punch! Flip!
Kick! Jump!
Hit! Block!
"—what's the difference with a few blows?" Akane finished, scowling at her failed attacks. So what if she wasn't better than anyone else? She fumed as they continued their pattern of missing and dodging throughout the dojo. Her breathing grew heavier, frustrated at her lack of progress. This was humiliating! How could she call herself a martial artist? She missed another chance at punching him squarely in the chest.
"Stop it, Ranma!" Akane snarled. "This isn't fair!"
Her fiancé flipped into the air, jumped over her head, and landed behind her. Akane quickly spun around. "You of all people should know that in Anything Goes Martial Arts," Ranma explained smoothly with a slight shrug, "anything goes."
Akane let out a furious growl as she swiped desperately at the front of his gi top. Successful at grabbing a fistful of material, she pulled him forward. Akane shut her eyes tightly as she worked up the courage to smash her lips onto his. She felt him freeze but then immediately soften up as she deepened the kiss. Akane pulled away and opened her eyes to discover Ranma stunned and barely functioning.
Satisfied, she swung her leg in a roundhouse kick, knocking Ranma onto his butt. He still looked a little shocked. She used the back of her sleeve to wipe the sweat off her forehead before resuming her fighting stance. She smirked. "How's that for an opening?"
Ranma shook out of his stupor. Still on the hardwood floor, he raised his head to look at Akane. "That doesn't count!" he protested. "It wasn't fair!"
"Hey," Akane replied with a slight shrug, fists still in the air. "Anything goes, right?"