Shampoo stared at the girl in front of her, then returned her gaze to the small slip of paper she held in her hand. "New-Girl more brave than Shampoo think." She cracked the knuckles in her other hand and grinned at her ferally. "We fight now?"

"This weekend, at the Furinkan School's athletics field," Koyuki clarified.

"Why not now?"

"Because a challenge like this requires there be impartial observers present," Koyuki said as she glanced around the restaurant. Cologne and Mousse met her stares unflinchingly, although Mousse was glaring back at the potted plant to her right. She turned back to Shampoo, "I also understand it is also considered by the local martial artists to be the place for an honor duel."

"Too true," Shampoo grumbled. She brandished the Letter of Challenge and grinned, "Saturday, then."

The Emiya nodded and turned back towards the front entrance.

"One thing, Girl," the Matriarch grumbled from behind the counter. "I will void any outcome in your favor if it turns out the field has been booby-trapped ahead of time."

Koyuki paused as she reached the door. "A logical assumption," she admitted. "I would be dishonest if I did not admit I had to keep several of my siblings from offering to do so. However, rest assured I will accept a victory won in that manner just about as well as you would."

Shampoo sniffed noncommittally.

ooo

Emiya Clan – Nerima 18

"I still think this is a bad idea, 'Yuki," Karin said as she watched her sister moving through a kata. Koyuki's movements were precise and her stances were as flawless as ever, but her transitions were still far from fluid. The redhead sighed, "You still can't do forms correctly." She looked around for someone to support her argument, but since training for the day had already passed, most of the other children had returned to the house, while Ranma and Akane had already headed back for their own home.

Koyuki didn't deviate from the sequence, "Would you like to spar, Sister?"

Karin blanched. "That's fine, I'll pass for now," she said quickly. While she had raised her general level of fitness, she had coasted through most of the training and was easily the worst student in the family. She was still quicker than Akane had been when she had first arrived, but pretty much everybody – even Reiko – could pin her in under a minute. She watched Koyuki for a few more minutes, then perked up as she felt a familiar magical signature approaching.

Keiko walked up with a bundle of cloth held in her arms, "Good, you're still out here." She quickly sidestepped to avoid a tackle-glomp from Karin and presented it to Koyuki. "Here, try these on."

"Keiko's a meanie..." mumbled the hacker.

Koyuki took the first pair of items off the stack and looked at them in confusion. "Gloves?"

Keiko nodded as the snow girl inspected the rest of the equipment she'd brought over. "Gloves, elbow pads, vest, and stockings." She unfolded the vest and channeled a bit of prana through the garment to reveal glowing runes inscribed into the fabric along the shoulders, front, and back sections. "I had Mom help me with making it useable with just a generic prana flow. You get better results if you know what the runes actually mean, but this should be good enough."

"Good enough for what?"

Keiko hefted the vest, "These ones are just basic reinforcement. Run some magic through them and you've got stopping power that's the equivalent of kevlar armor. The elbow pads have runes which should enhance your speed and slightly reinforce the joints so you don't wear them out. The gloves and stockings have the same, but also mixed in with the reinforcement runes so they also act as armor, or a knuckle-duster."

Koyuki unfolded the stockings to press them against her legs and check the size. "Do they really have to go up this high?"

"Yes," the daughter of Rin stated forcefully. "And you should wear a skirt while using them, too."

Koyuki shot an annoyed look at Keiko, who merely grinned.

ooo

A quick change of clothing later, Koyuki was back outside. A variation on her normal outdoor wear, she still had her light colored t-shirt and shorts, but had replaced her usual tank-top for Keiko's vest. Her shorts, Keiko noted happily, were not so long as to cover the stockings, giving her a reasonable zettai ryouiki. The new garments, all in various dark-colored shades, contrasted against her clothing and pale skin.

Sakuya, who had rejoined her siblings while Koyuki had been changing, gave her sister a thumbs up, "Looks good."

Koyuki tugged on the vest, looking down at the garment. "Did you have Uzume-kaasan make these?"

"Yup," Keiko nodded. "She still has your measurements from earlier. C'mon, power up! I wanna see how you do!"

Koyuki gave her a sidelong glance as she settled into an opening stance, "You seem more excited than is normal..."

Keiko rubbed her head sheepishly. "To be honest, I'm using you as a test subject. I plan to make my own 'battle costume' of sorts eventually, I just wanted to see how it'd work ahead of time."

"I see." Not wasting anymore time, Koyuki closed her eyes to concentrate. Keiko and Karin both felt it as she flared out her aura in a quick burst, then let it fade as she figured out what level of magic was required to empower the runes on her 'battle costume'. After a few minutes, her energy levels stopped fluctuating and she opened up her eyes again. "I think I have it," she noted. She held her stance for another moment, then snapped out an arm in a straight punch, faster than they'd ever seen her move before.

The motion also threw her body after her arm, and she sailed through the air before landing hard on her face and stomach. Her sisters shot to their feet as soon as her own had left the ground and were beside her in a flash.

"Whoa! What happened?" Keiko asked.

"I think it worked," Karin said as she crouched down.

"A little too well, maybe," Sakuya snarked. "Koyuki, are you alright?"

There was a muffled noise from the girl, then she picked up her head dizzily. "I think a face mask might not be a bad idea..." She pressed her arms down to lever herself back up into a sitting position, but only succeeded in throwing herself back into the air.

Keiko caught her before she could get too far and helped her get back to her feet. "Yeaah, I didn't think to put a 'power selection' option. It should only multiply the force it is given, though. Like if you use a weak force, it's a weaker boosted effect."

"I thought you said it would only enhance my speed," Koyuki complained.

"C'mon, 'Yuki," Karin chided her. "Mass times acceleration. Physics 101. You're accelerating waaay too fast now."

Koyuki was silent for a few moments, then nodded. "I see, let me try again." The other three nodded and stepped away, but took care to take positions equidistant from her in case she sent herself tumbling again. Koyuki slowly, precisely reset her stance, then frowned as she adjusted her footing slightly. She carefully threw another punch, which flashed through the air and stopped at full extension just as suddenly, but she maintained her balance this time. Without any further comments, she moved through her kata, her movements as precise as ever. This time, her sisters almost couldn't see her movements as she shifted from stance to stance, slowly circling around an imaginary point. She finished the sequence and stood still for a moment, then lifted her head.

Karin arched an eyebrow. "You know, I think this is the first time you thinking everything through has actually worked out for you. If any of us had tried that normally, we probably would have thrown ourselves off balance in the first stance."

"It makes me wonder what Ranma-sensei would think about it," Sakuya said thoughtfully. "You're still hesitating in your motions, but you're moving so fast now I wonder if it even matters."

"I have an idea," Keiko said as she rubbed her chin.

ooo

"Oh, I haven't tried this in a while," Sakuya commented.

A few minutes later the four of them were standing at the entrance to Blockhead's Alley, the nickname that had been slapped onto Ranma's swinging-block obstacle... thingy.

Keiko put her hands on her hips as she watched the swinging boards. "I think my best was about three-quarters of the way, but that's because I ended up hurting my arms from blocking too much." She looked over at Karin, "How far have you gotten?"

"It's too hard, I finish too quickly," Karin said sheepishly.

"That's what she said."

"Shut it, Yin."

"You were asking for it..."

Keiko slapped Sakuya upside the head, then turned back to Koyuki. The other girl was staring at the swinging blocks with her usual intent expression, so Keiko blocked her view with a hand. "Nuh-uh, you're not allowed to try to memorize the pattern. You've got to go through it just based on your reflexes like the rest of us." She tilted her head questioningly. "Do you still have the enhancements up?"

Koyuki nodded, "I have not yet turned them off."

"Really?" Keiko raised an eyebrow, "So the mana drain isn't too bad?"

"It is noticeable, but I am trying to get accustomed to it so I have decided to leave it on for now," Koyuki explained. She turned back towards the entrance, "When do you want me to start?"

"Right now," Keiko said as she gave her a shove.

The three sisters winced as the fourth stumbled into the danger zone with wide eyes. Thrown off balance, she nevertheless managed to twist her body out of the way of the first series of blocks, then there was a flurry of movement and the next set bounced away from her safely. As she stepped into the next set, however, she overcompensated after another dodge and threw herself into a random direction. She slammed bodily into the next block and rebounded to the floor, rolling off to the side and out of the way in a practiced maneuver.

"I think that was the farthest you've ever been," Karin said with a grin. "And you did it in record time."

Koyuki stared daggers at Keiko, but marched back to the beginning without comment. Taking a proper stance this time, she waded back in.

ooo

Later that night, Koyuki dragged herself back to her bedroom. A warm bath had helped with most of the aches and pains caused by the sudden strain on her body, though she was certain a good night's sleep would rid her of the rest. She idly scrubbed at her hair as she closed the door, then froze as she turned around and noticed the other occupant in the room. "Mother?"

Sitting on Karin's bed, Akitsu patted the space beside her in invitation. "Koyuki."

The snow girl tossed her towel in the general direction of the laundry hamper, then silently made her way to her mother. Sitting down, she leaned into Akitsu's side, who responded by wrapping an arm around her shoulders. The two sat like that in silence for several minutes, simply taking comfort from their close proximity. Finally, Akitsu reached over with her other arm to engulf Koyuki in a brief hug, then stood up and walked for the doorway. Koyuki watched her leave then resumed her preparations for the night, neither of them having said a single word since their initial greeting.

They didn't have to.

ooo

(img155. imageshack. us/ img155/ 5624/ koyuki. jpg) — koyuki's "battle costume"

(a/n) – bit of a warning. i have nerima 'planned' out for one... maybe two more chapters. while there have been some suggestions on the forums for different plot-threads, i haven't thought any of them through enough to continue at the same pace. so nerima will most likely be downgraded back to the occasional one-shot/snippet here and there as a true 'Miscellaneous' omake.

problem is i also forgot most of my FSD plot-threads too! there's still a few one-shots i still have ideas for, and we'll see if they trigger anything like nerima did.

and uh, school is starting soon. so updates will definitely be popping up much more slowly.