(a/n) – asdhajfrergdf. writing a training montage was ridiculously hard for some reason. you see alot of them in battle mangas but usually the characters already know how to fight and are just learning a new and cool technique. i haven't seen very many examples where they first learn to fight... period.

so i basically just wrote down everything i could think of and split it up. i don't know how obvious it is, but this is supposed to take place over a period of time... anyhow.

Emiya Clan – Nerima 14

"Koyuki," Fuuko panted, "your boyfriend sucks."

The majority of the children had been tasked with running laps around the field in order to build up their endurance. Normally this was not a bad thing, they all had very active childhoods and many of them would have been considered quite fit for their ages. Even Koyuki, recovering as she was, had been able to maintain a steady pace for a good half-hour. It was during one of these runs that Musubi had learned of their new guest. At some point during the period where she and Ranma were busy demolishing the field, he'd made the observation that her gloves and boots had been weighing her down the entire time.

Apparently this had been news to her.

Once she had been convinced to take them off, the resulting fight had quickly turned the worst for Koyuki's Ashikabi. Eventually, aided by Musubi's single-minded determination, he had been saved by a well-timed Hiryuu Shoten Ha which signaled the end of the fight. While Musubi didn't appear to be damaged in any way – though the same could not be said for her clothes – she had stopped fighting in exchange for begging Ranma to teach her the technique. Since she apparently had no idea how to turn down her battle aura, he had refused.

It was during the chaos that followed that pronouncement that Keiko took the time to check over the discarded equipment and noticed the runes inscribed into the padding. Far from being physical or magical enhancements, they had been designed to suppress the user from using their magic and physically weigh them down. Musubi had mentioned that they had been a gift from Shirou for one of her birthdays and she'd been wearing them ever since. For the last decade or so. And she had never noticed their effects.

The children collectively decided to tread a bit more carefully around their battle-hungry mother for the foreseeable future.

The end result from that encounter was Ranma asking Rin and Uzume to put together wrist and ankle-bands duplicating the effects, then passing them out to everybody, himself included. Though many of the children had trained with ankle-weights before, the magical suppression was a new thing for those who relied on using magical means to reinforce themselves. Another day was spent acclimating themselves to debilitating effects, but by the end of it only Ranma, Ryouga, and – oddly enough – Kumako felt like they were back at one-hundred percent.

The rest were all sent to do laps once again for several consecutive days – with the weights on – leading to the above comment.

"Keiko," Fuuko continued, "your mom sucks too."

"I would argue with you, except I agree with you," gasped the gunslinger.

Back in the middle of the field, the two martial artists were going over forms with Kumako, now joined by Takeshi, Arika, Haru, and Chiyo.

"You want to keep your stance loose," Ranma was saying to Haru and Takeshi. "You need to be able to react in any direction at a moment's notice."

"Firm, solid," Ryouga was saying to Arika, Chiyo, and Kumako. "You need a stable platform so you don't get knocked over by attacks."

"Flexible," Ranma said with a glare at the pig-boy.

"Firm," Ryouga retorted.

"We're teaching them Anything-Goes! They have to be adaptable."

"I don't even know that school! Go ahead and teach them that if you want, especially the Saotome Ultimate Technique. I'll be over here teaching useful forms."

"I'll show you useful, P-chan!"

"What did you call me?"

As the pair degenerated into another one of their daily brawls, the five children traded glances at each other, shrugged, then set themselves for sparring.

ooo

It took a few days, but once Ranma was satisfied with their endurance levels, he had them all take off their weighted bands before he ran them through a few basic katas.

"Unless you want to really want to keep them on," he amended. "But having weights on your arms and legs will kill your timing and positioning when trying to do forms."

"Yes!" Karin all but ripped hers from her arms and threw the offending accessories to the ground.

"Keep them handy, though, 'cuz when you're not doing katas, you're putting them back on."

The hacker swore.

ooo

Akane and Chiyo squared off with each other while Ranma moderated.

"Remember, redirecting an opponent's attacks is the first step to being able to counter it," he said, more for Akane's benefit than the Emiya's. "You can either counter with an attack of your own, or use the opening for maneuvers."

Both girls nodded, then Chiyo threw a straight punch at Akane's mid section. The other girl knocked it upwards with her left arm then countered with her own right hook. Chiyo sidestepped to her left, slapping the attack across her body and using the momentum from her blocked punch to spin around and backhand the Tendou across the back of her neck.

Tap.

"That'd be a disabling hit," Ranma pointed out. "Until you get out of her range, you gotta be ready for anything. Do it again, Akane starts this time."

ooo

Ryouga was throwing rocks at Kumako. The idea was for her to dodge using the minimum movement required, or to deflect or outright block the attacks.

Kumako had apparently taken it as a game where she punched them out of the sky.

"Dodge!" he shouted. "You're supposed to dodge!"

"More rocks!"

ooo

"First sequence," Ranma ordered.

He watched as his students moved through a kata designed as a balancing exercise. They started slow, going from step to step as he counted out a beat. Once they were done, he had them repeat it, this time faster. A third time, a fourth, gradually increasing the tempo as he went. He was pleased to note the majority moved fluidly through the motions, with a few notable exceptions.

"Koyuki..."

"Yes, Ranma-sama?"

"Do the sequence again, as fast as you can while keeping the correct form."

She did so, but it was not a smooth progression. She would move into one stance, pause, then move into the next. Her transitions were quick and precise, but that pause was unnecessary. He told her as much and had her try again – with similar results.

Ranma frowned, then had an idea. "Everybody, do the sequence backwards."

He watched as most of the group struggled with that request. As they would go from stance to stance, most of them would automatically try to slide back into the previous section, what normally would have been the 'next' section had they been moving through it normally. Koyuki, on the other hand, moved just as quickly as she did before. Her transitions were perfect, but she would still pause after each stance was set.

"Koyuki, are you taking the time to think through each step in the sequence before you move into it?"

"Ah," the snow girl blinked. "I suppose I am."

Ranma sighed. "Show me the fourth sequence." The fourth was designed for close ranged blocking. Again, she moved through it perfectly, but still paused after each step. He stepped in closer and took a ready stance. "Do it again, match the timing to my movements."

The sequence was designed to block punching combinations, leaving openings for the attacker to subconsciously try to exploit. It was a kata Ranma had developed when faced with opponents who could attack with the speed given to them by Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken, or something similar. He went through the sequence with Koyuki, launching quarter-speed punches at her, which were blocked successfully in turn. He did it again at half-speed, but after his first two punches she was a full second behind him.

He turned towards Akane. "Let's see you do it."

He ran through a series of punches, again at quarter-speed, which she blocked successfully. At half-speed she was still fine, same with full speed. He raised his eyebrows and ran through the sequence one more time, this one a blurring combo at roughly half again faster than normal speed. She kept up for the most of the sequence, but missed the last punch, which he stopped just before reaching her.

"Not bad," he complimented his fiancée. "Try to get a little faster than that, though. Koyuki, try to do it without pausing." He stepped back and turned to face the group as a whole. "Everybody, fourth sequence. Ready, go."

ooo

"Ryouga-san, what are you doing?"

The Lost Boy looked up as Riko wandered over to him. She stared at the small pile of stones he'd been building, then at the hyperactive school girl a distance away.

"More rocks!" Kumako demanded.

Ryouga sighed. "I'm trying to get her to dodge, but she insists on trying to attack them instead."

Riko grinned. "Can I help?"

Kumako cheered.

ooo

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Homura turned away from the window to look face the room. "I'm sure they're skilled, but I don't see the point in learning martial arts when they'll grow into their powers in a few years."

"It's giving them something to do during the summer break," Uzume pointed out. "I think this summer has been the quietest I've seen the house in.. in years."

Homura looked back out the window just in time to catch a magnificent explosion as their children's 'teachers' went for each others' throats yet again. The two Nerima martial artists traded blows and ki-blasts as the Emiya Clan's children sat on the sidelines and cheered. "Unfortunately, I have to agree. But this is a novelty, those two can't possibly take on people like us when we're serious."

"Shirou can."

"Shirou's an exception to rule, I'm certain." Homura narrowed her eyes at the growing melee. "The children are one thing, but I doubt they could handle us."

"Musubi thinks highly of them," Uzume reminded her. As if that had been a trigger, there was a newer, louder explosion as the battle maniac joined the fray, unable to contain herself. Uzume flinched as she wondered who would pull the duty of letting Kusano know she had to regrow the lawn... again.

"Musubi fights on their terms," the Sekirei of Fire said. "I'm surprised they can use energy attacks, but it's nothing like facing an elemental user. I'm sure they've never faced someone like me before."

There was a choking noise from behind them, Matsu probably. Homura decided to ignore her and continued watching from the window.

ooo

"Ow!" Keiko pulled her arm back and batted at the stinging flesh.

Chiyo had an amused look on her face. "You're not supposed to hurt yourself when you're the one attacking."

"You hit me," the gunslinger complained.

"It's called a parry. I move your arm away with my own."

"That's cheating!"

ooo

Ranma led the group to a section of the field. A framework of pipes ran for a length of roughly fifty meters, suspended from the pipes were a a series of wooden planks hanging from the top and side sections. "I'm taking a page from Ryouga's training methods and adding my own twist to it," he said. He turned and flicked a button inset into a panel at one end of the structure, there was the sound of an electric motor and suddenly the blocks were in motion, swinging back and forth at random intervals and arcs. "Instead of hurling you at boulders, I'll just be throwing wood at you." He turned back to the group, "You need to go from one end to the other, as fast as you can, without getting hit by any of these."

"When did you find time to make this?" Aya asked curiously.

"Your dad built it for me once I explained what I needed," Ranma said. "I never would have guessed he was such a handy-man."

He demonstrated for them, passing through the obstacle course one step at a time, bobbing and weaving his body through impossible looking contortions as he narrowly avoided the swinging blocks. Occasionally he'd throw out an arm or knee to deflect one of the blocks, but not once did he allow anything to his his head or the core of his body. Once he was through, he jogged back to the group with a grin. "So, who wants to try first?"

Nobody could make it through on their first try without taking a few hits. Takeshi was too tall, there were many times he'd try to duck or slide beneath a formation and get clipped across his back, but he made it through without too much difficulty. Haru tried next, he mainly relied on active blocking rather than dodging, and ended up taking a few hits from blocks on their return swings. Arika was the first failure, with her training bands keeping her from enhancing her speed with mana bursts, her reflexes were out of sync with her body and she ended up getting knocked to the ground, where she rolled to the side and to safety.

Koyuki was the next to try and she fared just about as well. She started by watching the pattern of the first block for a good thirty seconds before she took her first step. Once there she simply held out an arm to keep that block bouncing off of it repeatedly while she analyzed the second block. She continued this at the third block as well, but soon found she had run out of hands and was knocked down soon after.

Ranma shook his head as she made her way back to the group.

ooo

"What are you doing?"

Ryouga paused and turned around to find Shinta gaping at him. Beside him was a girl he'd never seen before, a redhead with two short pigtails sprouting from either side of her head. "I'm trying to teach your sister the meaning of the phrase 'dodge'. It's not quite going so well."

Behind him Fuuko and Jun had joined Riko in assaulting Kumako with small stones from all directions. The girl spun around endlessly, not even bothering to duck, simply punching and kicking at everything that came near her. There were a few times she would jump, avoiding a few low-thrown missiles. But they had learned quickly she was merely trying to strike the ones that would have missed high had she ignored them.

"More rocks!" she continued shouting.

Fuuko had noticed the new arrivals and waved to get their attention. "Hey, Shinta! Can we borrow your girlfriend? I'd like to see if she can punch out beam-spam!"

Nanoha's eyes went wide and she looked to Shinta questioningly, who quickly shook his head.

ooo

Kaien and Kiri hit the ground simultaneously as their sparring opponent grinned down at them.

"That is so weird," Kaien complained. "How does she do better in a two-on-one rather than a one-on-one?"

Akane smiled.

ooo

"Ranma! FI~IGHT!" the loud shout echoed across the field.

Ranma instantly stopped his demonstration of a piercing-attack sequence. "Whelp, that's my cue to run." The martial artist quickly blurred into movement, just in time to avoid Musubi dropping down into a ground-shattering punch. Before the dust even began to settle, there was another whisper of movement and she flickered away after the escaping boy. "Come back!"

The children in that group shrugged and began running through their katas from memory.

ooo

Koyuki stood at the beginning of the obstacle course, watching the swinging blocks carefully. After a full minute of stillness, she finally slide into motion. She smoothly twisted around the first series of blocks with seemingly no effort, then stepped into the next series with a deflecting arm. Spinning around the next one in line she slid out a leg and crouched underneath a high-swinging block, sweeping her trailing leg around as she stood back up... and then she froze to consider the next sequence since she hadn't been able to distinguish it and memorize the pattern from where she'd been standing at the beginning.

THWACK.

Needless to say, she soon got knocked down and out yet again.

"Eh, I don't think you're quite getting the idea, 'Yuki," Karin commented.

ooo

Haru grinned as he twisted to avoid the first strike from Ranma. That earned him a nod from the cursed martial artist and a follow up strike, also avoided.

Slowly, Ranma increased the speed of his attacks, until Haru was forced to bring up his arms for deflections. A few seconds later had both boys' arms blurring in motions almost too fast for the rest of the children to see. About a minute after that, there was a sudden noise that sounded like a cross between a minigun firing and a meat tenderizer, and suddenly Haru was flying backwards with Ranma straightening up from a thrusting palm strike.

Arika looked at her stopwatch. "One minute, twenty-six seconds," she called out to the Haru. "Takeshi held out for one-minute, thirty-two."

"Dangit!"

ooo

Ryouga's eyes twitched and he reached out to the ground. "Bakusai Tenketsu!"

The earth exploded, but the force had been channeled forward, sending a hail of dirt and rocks streaking out like a Macross Missile Massacre. The attack was mostly countered, but eventually the target was overwhelmed and flew backwards to be half buried under the debris.

A shaking voice rose from the dirt pile, "O-kay, that's enough rocks..."

ooo

"Saotome-kun."

Ranma looked up as several women walked onto the field. Leading the group was a grey-haired woman dressed in close-fitting black slacks and blouse; immediately behind her was a fairly busty blonde in a short white dress and black jacket. Several other women were arranged behind the two, but they stayed back at a distance.

He hazarded a guess, "Emiya-san?"

"Homura," their leader said. She waved to her companion, "Tsukiumi and I would like to challenge you and Hibiki-kun to a match."