Shampoo stalked towards the fallen girl just now pushing herself back onto her knees. She crossed her arms as she looked down imperiously, "New-Girl quits, yes?"

Koyuki's head snapped up to glare at her. "I. Will. Not. Yield!"

ooo

Emiya Clan – Nerima 20

Shampoo launched herself backwards as Koyuki's power exploded around her. Raw energy flared out across the ground where she'd previously been standing. Koyuki struggled to her feet, the energy vanishing as quickly as it had come, and lifted her head to stare at her opponent. Aside from a slight tightening of her eyes, there was nothing in her expression to indicate her brief outburst. She gave Shampoo one short nod and slowly dropped into her combat stance.

Shampoo leapt back again to give herself some more space, landing several dozen meters away. She kept her distance cautiously; she looked as if she was considering retrieving her chúi, but there was still enough snow left on them for them to twitch at Koyuki's command. As they moved, she quickly backed away from the weapons, causing a metaphorical light bulb to flash in Koyuki's head.

The snow girl closed her eyes briefly and cut off the mana flow to her rune armor. As she did, the temperature around her dropped and a slight breeze blew across the field.

She was not fast enough nor skilled enough to be a 'Close-Combatant.' She did not have the raw power to be 'Fire Support.'

Snow began to fill the air around her, tiny flakes spiraling around her that gradually grew in size.

She could not beat Shampoo at her own game, so she would have to change the nature of the game they were playing. Similar to how she couldn't hope to defend against Ryouga's preposterous strength, she couldn't ever beat Shampoo while she was at her full speed.

Almost as if the thought had been a signal, Shampoo charged her position, crossing the distance in several long jumps. The snow spiraling around Koyuki was consolidated into large sheets now, partially obstructing her vision. With a mental command, patches of frost were ejected from the spiraling formation in all directions. They shot past Shampoo as she dodged, peppering the ground behind her with snow. More sheets flew out in shallower angles, concentrated on the Amazon's approach. She responded by shooting off to the side, avoiding a new barrage, but a large patch of snow splattered the ground just as she was landing. She bounced away almost immediately, but the snow clung to her, resisting her efforts briefly before she pulled away. Shampoo landed on clear ground, immediately attempting to stamp off the clinging snow, only to find it had adhered itself quite thoroughly against her legs. She looked around in dismay as she noticed the immediate area was more white than green, with the safe areas rapidly disappearing as the Storm Wall continued to dispense patches in all directions.

Cologne had only warned against trapping the field before the fight. She had never said anything about laying them down in the middle of combat. While Koyuki was not proficient in direct combat, she did excel at 'Area Denial'.

Just as Shampoo had reached the same conclusion, Koyuki channeled her magic into her Storm Wall, imbuing it with enough prana for it to sustain itself for several minutes, and directed it forward. The storm moved across the field at a deceptively slow pace towards the Amazon, who immediately jumped out of the way for another safe area. The storm changed directions to track her movement, still slinging out snow across the field as it did so.

Standing almost completely still, Koyuki began summoning snowballs of various sizes. Not waiting for them to gather in size, she launched them in spreads along Shampoo's path, forcing the Amazon to take heavy evasive action. She felt more than saw several of the smaller attacks hit the other girl along one arm and diverted some of her concentration to making sure they stuck in place. Shampoo noticed the extra drag immediately, redoubling her efforts to avoid taking hits. In this current battle of attrition, so long as Koyuki was allowed even minor hits, Shampoo would eventually lose.

As if her thoughts paralleled her own, Shampoo abruptly changed angles to retake the offensive, cutting back across the path of the moving Storm Wall. The move invited a debilitating attack of opportunity from the construct, but Koyuki had been caught off guard by the maneuver and didn't have time to command it to do so. As Shampoo closed in using an evasive, circular route, Koyuki spun around to track her, launching more directly at her, or commanding the snow on the ground to rise up and ensnare her. Shampoo responded by turning suddenly and charging straight for her. Running mana back into her armor, Koyuki launched a large snowball directly at her, then prepared to leap in the opposite direction Shampoo would dodge so she could maintain her distance.

To her surprise, Shampoo suddenly appeared to blur and several figures emerged around the attack, one to each side and a third leaping over it. In her confusion, Koyuki hesitated for a brief moment, long enough for a fourth presence to materialize behind her. She half twisted towards the new attacker just in time to catch a strong blow to her ribs. She managed to move with the attack, jumping away to reduce the damage, but landed still hard on her back.

"Surprised?" Shampoo asked as she drew back her leg. "New-Girl not only one being trained. Great-Grandmother taught Shampoo Ancient Amazon Technique: Splitting Cat Hairs."

Koyuki winced and surreptitiously pressed a hand to her side. Light bruising of her ribs, though she would have hated to find out what impact that would have made had she been unarmored; she made another mental note to thank Keiko after this. "It is a useful ability," she admitted. "But now that I know to expect it, it won't be as effective the next time."

Shampoo smiled, "True. But that not all I learned." Koyuki threw up her arm, raising a wall of snow that Shampoo easily dodged around. She blurred forward and threw a rapid series of punches with the speed of the Chestnut Fist behind them. Even as snow exploded between them in a last ditch-effort to redirect or ablate the damage, the force of the blows sent Koyuki skidding across the ground. The snow managed to slow down the attack enough so that the Amazon had only been able to put out around fifty punches before Koyuki had been able to disengage, avoiding the worst of the damage.

Shaking her head to clear out a sudden dizzy spell, Koyuki lifted herself back to her feet... and then toppled over again. Her eyes were suddenly wide as she realized she had no feeling in one of her legs – or for that matter – that entire side of her body. "What... what was that?"

"Secret Ancient Amazon Technique," the cat girl held up her index and middle fingers pressed together. "Pressure Points. You dodge well, you save half your body. But," she drew her hand back, her fingers ready to pierce out, "now you no can move. It time to lose, you have no other option."

"You might be surprised," Koyuki said, leaning onto her good leg. "My body just might be sturdier than you think." On cue, a distracting explosion of snow filled Shampoo's vision.

"New-Girl do this already!" she shouted. Drop a smoke-screen, leave a clone in place to draw in the attack while she escaped to safety. Shampoo backed up slightly and caught the flicker of movement from one edge of the cloud. "Cannot fool Shampoo twice!" she said as she charged the fleeing figure.

She watched in glee as her target's face paled almost to white as the trick failed and she closed in on her. With a triumphant cry, Shampoo speared her arm forward, embedding her hand wrist-deep into the girl's back.

Wait, what?

She turned around to where the snow clone should have been, finding the real Koyuki still lying there. "On the other hand," the snow girl was saying. "Maybe I really am unable to move." She shrugged apologetically. "But, that does not mean I am without options."

Shampoo spun back around just as the snow clone she had speared disassembled itself and flowed over her body, entrapping her arms and legs. She struggled, but more snow formed in the air around her to pack itself around her and pin her in place. No longer able to maintain her balance, she toppled over with a shriek. "Come here and release Shampoo!" she ordered.

"I cannot move," Koyuki said dryly. She could feel some minor tingling in her limbs which suggested imminent recovery, but she had a feeling it would take longer than the few minutes she had until she exhausted her powers. "So, if you cannot move either, where does that leave us?"

"New-Girl has not yet beat Shampoo, so New-Girl has not won," Shampoo stated.

Koyuki summoned a snowball to hover in front of the Amazon's face. "Yet I am still capable of attacks, while you are not. I would say this means I have the advantage."

"Give Shampoo time." The girl squirmed against her bindings, "Once Shampoo is free, New-Girl get pounded."

"Actually, I think I have the advantage there as well." Koyuki relaxed the powers she had been using to keep the snow in its frozen state in the late summer heat. "Please recall what my element is."

"What New-Girl talking abou—" Suddenly Shampoo's eyes widened. "Aiya! Snow is melting! Let Shampoo go, now! Otherwise... Nyaa!"

Koyuki watched as her snow formation collapsed in on itself. The pile of snow shifted slightly, then broke as a tiny purple-haired kitten shook its way free. Despite herself, she felt her cheeks blushing as the feline shook off the remaining water from her fur. "So cute..."

Neko-Shampoo hissed at her in irritation.

ooo

After the expected mad rush across the field by the crowd, a small circle opened up around Koyuki, Cologne, and Shirou. Cologne was cradling Neko-Shampoo, somehow accomplishing that feat despite maintaining her grasp on her walking stick. Chiho was by Koyuki's side, trying to figure out a way remove the effects of the pressure points so she could stand up again. A nervous crowd of martial artists and Emiyas surrounded the gathering, eyes focused on the two family leaders staring down at each other. Neko-Shampoo yowled in protest at being so close to the two as tension filled the air.

"Shampoo still lacks experience," the Matriarch stated. "That said, I will recognize Koyuki Emiya as having bested her in a combat situation. Your daughter is very capable at distraction techniques and single-target disables."

"Thank you, Elder," Koyuki said from her position on the ground.

"Thanks," Shirou grumbled. "But what about her petition for 'Equality'?"

"She bested my Great-Granddaughter in a combat situation," Cologne stressed. "Not in combat. She is still a subpar warrior." Her eyes narrowed into a slightly amused expression. "Since my daughter's combat prowess remains unchallenged, there is no need to deal with the Kiss of Death."

Shirou glared down at the Matriarch. "I didn't realize that was even an option on the table here."

"Please," Cologne sighed. "Your daughter's skill in magic is something that cannot be taught, that we cannot duplicate. There's no point for us to take her in as a Sister of the Tribe. There would be nothing we could learn from her, yet she has learned much about us after fighting against my Great-Granddaughter." She looked around at the darkening faces all around her and raised up a hand. "However, you are not the only people who can learn about their opponents. I have made my own observations regarding your... Clan. For one thing, it pleases me greatly to see most of your authority is vested amongst the females."

Shirou's wives all looked at each other with mixed embarrassment and surprise. Shirou sighed and beckoned Arturia to join him at his side. The two shared a glance, then she joined in on the conversation. She accepted a blunt weapon from Shirou, staring in amusement at the tiger-shaped tassel on the handle before she planted the tip into the ground and rested her hands on it. She stared down at Cologne with all the regal weight given to her by years of having ruled a country. "Get to the point, Elder," she ordered.

"Having witnessed demonstrations between two members of our Tribes, I believe it would be prudent to draw up a nonaggression pact between us. A Truce, if you would." Cologne's eyes lifted in amusement. "We will not make any unprovoked attacks on your children, and I would expect you to do the same."

Arturia gave the crowd a pointed look, bringing attention to the disparity in numbers between the Clan and the Joketsuzoku present. "What you would gain is obvious, why should we agree?"

"Do not mistake our low numbers for lack of strength," Cologne said. "I assure you, you have not seen the limits of what we are capable of."

"I could say the same thing to you," Arturia said dryly as she glanced towards her husband. Shirou simply shrugged and she turned back towards the Amazon. "Very well, we have an accord." She held out her hand towards Cologne, who took it and shook it briefly.

The crowd began to disperse slowly, but Ranma piped up, "Wait, what about Akane? You didn't say nothing about leaving her alone!"

Cologne didn't look back as she pogo'd away. "She hasn't yet beaten my Great-Granddaughter. We'll talk again if she ever does."

"I can beat her!" Akane shouted in anger. "I'll beat her right now!"

Cologne did stop at that, turning around with an annoyed expression. Several other people around also stared as Cologne presented Neko-Shampoo hissing at the Tendou girl.

A voice piped up from the Emiya crowd, "You'd beat up a cute, little kitty like that? That's just low."

Akane seemed to realize what she'd been saying, "I mean... when... she's back to normal. I'll beat her then. But anytime! I'll take her at any time! You hear me?"

Cologne and Neko-Shampoo traded a glance, then they both shook their heads slowly as Cologne resumed her search for hot water.

ooo

Cologne had only gone a few more paces when a dark figure stepped towards her from the shade of a tree. The Matriarch almost lashed out with her staff at the abrupt intrusion, but held back as she saw it was only a dark-haired girl in her early teens.

"Not so fast," the youth was saying. "Shirou might be done with you but I still have a few questions for you, 'Elder'."

"What do you want, child?" Cologne asked impatiently. "I have business elsewhere, so make it quick."

The girl grinned behind her glasses. Faster than Cologne could see, she had whipped out her arm, ripping Cologne's walking staff from under her and dumping the Elder and her passenger to the ground. She spun the staff through several quick motions, then stabbed it back into the ground, leering down at the Amazon. Despite being unable to currently see her eyes, Cologne felt a shiver as something truly ancient made its presence known.

"A child, huh?" The... person's smile took on a hard edge. "You're several hundred years too early to be showing such disrespect towards me like that, young whelp."

Neko-Shampoo howled in fright at the dark presence and she jumped out of Cologne's suddenly limp arms, breaking away for the far side of the field.

"Who are you?" Cologne asked as she narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Altrouge Brunestud-Emiya," the dark girl said as she planted her hands on her hips. "And I've got a few questions for you Amazons regarding your... 'Mining Techniques'... "

ooo

Neko-Shampoo was completely focused on her escape from the Scary-Girl, only slowing to a stop as she felt it fade with distance. Never had she experienced something quite like that, not even her Great-Grandmother or the other Tribal Elders at their most serious. Just the memory of it chilled her, making her shiver with anxiety.

"Ah, the poor kitty is cold!" a voice popped up behind her.

"We should probably warm her up!" said another.

Neko-Shampoo turned around to find several girls staring at her, each sporting uncomfortable looking smiles. A willowy purple-haired girl with glasses blocked her way; a busty black-haired girl stared down at her with an odd twinkle in her eye.

"Hey, Sis, got the camera?"

There were a few others, but Neko-Shampoo focused on the one with red hair and shining glasses, who was carrying a steaming kettle, and a small electronic device.

"Always."

Ah! Neko-Shampoo thought. Great-Grandmother has my clothes!

ooo

Chiho and Chiyo tsked as they scrolled through various screens on their tablet computers. "I can't find any published material that describes these effects," Chiho complained. "I'm beginning to seriously dislike Amazons and their 'Ancient Techniques'!"

"I'm beginning to agree with you, Mother," Chiyo said as she paged through her own searches with similar results. "I may have to have a... discussion with Shampoo-san in the near future."

"She's still stuck?" The two nurses and Koyuki's eyes all flicked towards Ranma as he walked up to them. Akane trailed him by a few paces, waving at Koyuki as she approached.

"Ranma-sama!" Koyuki twitched as she tried to bring herself into a sitting position, but stilled when Chiyo placed an arm on her shoulder.

"Hey, 'Yuki," the martial artist greeted. He turned towards Chiho, "Y'know, if you two are stumped, there's a doctor who runs a clinic near my place who could probably help."

"Really?" Chiho arched an eyebrow, "Even with something as esoteric as this?"

"Pressure points are actually Dr. Tofu's specialty," Akane said. "He's probably the best there is!"

"How interesting!" Chiho's eyes brightened. "Do you think he has any research papers or notes on the subject?"

"Um, maybe?" Akane said uncertainly. She looked at Ranma who shrugged helplessly. "We could ask him."

"Do you have his address?"

"We can just lead you there," Ranma said. "Have him take a look at 'Yuki while you ask him."

"Oh, no, I'd wouldn't want to bother him while he's treating her."

"How 'bout this, then?" Ranma said. "I'll just carry her over there – I can do it real fast – while Akane walks you over. He'll probably be done by the time you arrive and can give you his full attention."

"That could work," Chiho said. "If Akane-san doesn't mind?"

Akane shrugged, "I owe you two for keeping us in one piece during our lessons."

"Ah," Koyuki interrupted. "How would you carry me? I only have the use of one arm, I would not be able to keep myself secure."

"Simple," Ranma crouched and picked her up in his arms, bridal style. The snow girl immediately flushed a deep red.

"This... will work, I think?" she turned towards Akane with an apologetic look.

The Tendou girl twitched, reflexively reaching over her shoulder to draw her mallet, but sighed and visibly deflated. "Take her, but make it quick!"

Ranma blushed as well, as if just realizing what sort of image he was presenting. "Sorry! It was the first idea that popped into my head! Honest!"

"Just get going, BAKA!"

"Going!" There was a whisper of movement, and Ranma was suddenly gone.

Chiyo tittered openly while Chiho hid her mouth behind a hand. They both schooled their expressions as Akane turned back towards them. "Let's go, I'd rather not have the pervert alone with her any longer than needed."

ooo

The martial artist leapt across the Nerima skyline with practiced movements, moving with such fluid grace that even while held securely in her Ashikabi's arms, Koyuki could barely feel any jarring as he landed and rebounded towards the sky. Immobilized as she was, her only view was Ranma's face as he stared ahead with a determined expression. The idea that he was being so careful with her renewed the blush on her cheeks, and Koyuki felt another rush of pride in her chosen one.

Over the past few weeks she had borne witness to his skill and his determination. She had smiled as he accomplished brilliant feats of strategy, and winced as he made an absolute fool of himself. She had seen first-hand how he treated his friends, and also how he had treated his... not-quite friends. He'd certainly been less aggressive towards that odd old-man who'd stolen her underwear than her sisters had been. More like resigned annoyance, in fact.

She'd memorized everything that Matsu-kaasan had collected about the boy, so she knew she still had not seen him at his best, nor at his worst. In fact, she understood that she knew far more about her Ashikabi than he probably knew about her. But, she also knew he wasn't against the idea of getting to know her better. He might not yet be comfortable with romantic attachments, but given his life up until now, a certain... 'allergy' to engagements was understandable.

But she could put aside her dreams for now. She was patient; she could wait for him to open up to her. She felt like she could do anything, as long as it was for her Ashikabi. For–

"Ranma-sama..." she said it without thinking, then blinked as Ranma's concerned face stared down at her even as he maintained his pace across the rooftops.

"What's up? Is something wrong? I'm not going too fast am I?"

"Ah, no..." she said quickly, burrowing her face into his side to hide her sudden blush. She wished she had feeling in more than half of her body so she could enjoy this situation more, but otherwise... "No," she repeated quietly.

"This is perfect."

Emiya Clan Misc – Nerima

—END—

ooo

•

•

•

—Omake!—

A few weeks later...

Koyuki stepped into an unfamiliar hallway. She tugged at the hem of her new uniform, a much larger skirt/blouse combination than she was used to from her old school. The Vice-Principal guided her to her new class, where she noticed another transfer student was standing, waiting to be introduced. She probably wouldn't have recognized her if it weren't for the bright purple hair.

She froze in place, "Shampoo-san?"

The Amazon spun around, then narrowed her eyes. "Nihao... New-Girl forced into school too?" she grumbled.

"Actually, I did ask Father for permission to transfer to Furinkan." Koyuki eyed the other girl picking at her uniform in distaste. "I assume from your question you did not have much say in the matter?"

"Great-Grandmother not pleased Shampoo unable to beat New-Girl. She say if Shampoo cannot win at fights, then Shampoo must win at life. Other girls go to airen's school. So Shampoo will go to airen's school and beat them at life." Shampoo crossed her arms sullenly, "She also say she want Shampoo to speak Japanese better."

Koyuki chose not to comment on that. "It would not be a bad idea for the Joketsuzoku Heiress to have a broader perspective on the world," she said neutrally.

"Maybe," Shampoo admitted.

The Vice-Principal stepped back out into the hallway. "Hinako-sensei is ready for you two now, please enter."

The two girls followed him back inside where their new... teacher was making introductory remarks... while perched on a stack of textbooks. Koyuki blinked, Is that a child?

Near the back of the room, a certain martial artist blanched while the girl next to him slammed her head into her desk. "Oh you have got to be kidding me!"

"Ooh," Shampoo brightened. "Shampoo like this class already!"

ooo

(a/n) – yes this is the end of the Nerima storyline proper. there may still be a few one-shots here and there, but for the most part this is all i really had planned out, and it still stretched on for much longer than i had expected it to.

...wait! come back!

F:SD will still be updating, it was conceived as a series of disconnected omakes, so the lack of a storyline really doesn't matter here. there will still be other Emiya Clan miscellaneous dumps, so look forward to seeing a focus on maybe some of the other kids. i never really expected this to get as popular as it did (100 unique page views is a lot more than what the forum gets, so this counts as 'popular' to me)

if you're looking forward to my 'next series', sorry to say i don't have on planned out. i consider myself a 'spontaneous' type of person, so if i find an omake that i suddenly really enjoyed writing, or one that people suddenly go, ZOMG WRITE MOAR OF THIS, then ... that just might be it. until then...

onward with the character building! plot? screw plot!