Genderfluid Mechanics
By: JaquiK

Chapter 8: Relationship Stakes

Wednesday finally came around and Aki felt about as ready for her outing to help Ran get more in touch with her girl side as she could be. In other words, she had a constant sense of complete terror that she was going to screw everything up which she managed to keep perfectly hidden just underneath the surface.

Of course, there was still that half day of school that she would need to deal with beforehand, but that was pretty much routine for him at this point.

"Hey, Aki. Do you want to try something with Kuno?"

Aki nearly tripped over himself, but somehow managed to recover. He continued on at his regular pace down the road while shooting a glare at the tall, dark-haired girl who was walking on the nearby fence and had a far too excited look on her face. "What the hell are you talking about, Ran?"

"I have an idea for a cool double-team attack we can do, and we can use thunder boy as the training dummy," Ran explained.

"Oh." Aki looked away, slightly embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess I'd be up for a new way to bash the idiot." His eyes then widened as a new thought occurred to him. "Wait, would that technically count as training me?"

Now it was Ran's turn to stumble. She managed to catch herself on the fence and avoided falling into the river on the other side. A small part of Aki was disappointed, but he quickly shook that feeling off.

Ran recovered and stood back up on the fence. She gave a short look to Aki before continuing towards the school, rushing ahead of him. "Sorry, I didn't think about that. Right, forget what I said. Just do your usual thing to take those jerks out. I'll make sure to stay out of your way."

"Ran, I…" Aki trailed off, any argument silenced by the memory of the girl's eyes that Monday evening. Instead, he forced a big grin on his face. "Alright. Don't worry, I'll make sure to pound Kuno twice as hard for both of us."

As promised, Ran did not get involved in the usual morning brawl, instead choosing to simply crouch down on the school wall and observe the proceedings silently. Aki tried his best to ignore the disappointment of not being able to repeat fighting alongside his girlfriend (or boyfriend as was the case the day previous), and instead focused on those tiny bits of advice the pigtailed martial artist actually gave him.

Okay, make sure to focus on your surroundings and be aware of what all of them are doing. Don't waste energy on big windups. Don't just wait to dodge their attacks. Think about what Ranma did yesterday. Push forward, take one out, then immediately shift to the next boy before he can do anything. Try to chain it all together, like one big kata.

Very quickly, much faster than even Aki expected, the horde of boys were dispatched. He casually combed a hand through his hair that definitely needed another trim soon, then turned and gave a knowing grin over to Ran, silently challenging the pigtailed progeny to throw a critique at her fighting prowess this time. However, before the girl was able to say anything, another very much annoying voice decided to cut in.

"Such a fierce display, my autumnal beauty," Kuno said, stepping out of his usual hiding spot behind the large tree in the school's front courtyard. "It seems that the glorious spirit of masculine youth has completely failed to manifest in our fellow schoolmates, I dare not to even refer to them as men. Now more than ever it is plainly obvious to all around that only I naturally possess the prowess to finally free you from that boyish burden that has been placed upon your person."

Aki rolled his eyes and got into a fighting stance, ready to get this morning's annoyance over and done with already. However, instead of the normal charge, Kuno proceeded to give a deep bow towards him. "Alas, it is to my great dismay that I must delay your freedom, even if it is but for a few scant minutes, for it is clear that there is an obstacle I must first deign to vanquish before I am able to finish my noble quest." He then stepped around Aki and took what must have been to him a bold stance, pointing his bokken directly at Ran. "Hark, Saotome you fiend," he declared as his this time ruby framed eyes narrowed. "Will you come down here and accept my righteous judgment, or shall you be the coward and prove your declaration of manhood was just as paper thin as your current guise."

Before Aki could even blink, Ran was right in Kuno's face, causing the kendo boy to lean back slightly, his arm and wooden sword still extended out now well past the girl. "Ya know, if ya wanted to get your ass kicked, ya only needed to ask," Ran (no, definitely Ranma) growled out.

Any shock Kuno had was quickly covered up by noble posturing and bluster. "Very well then. Today, once our educational commitments are concluded, we shall commence our glorious duel with the winner receiving the hand of the beauteous Aki Tendo!"

"You're on!" Ramna responded without any hesitation.

"Hold on a damn minute!" Aki called out as he kicked Kuno away before stepping right up to Ranma and glaring at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Accepting a challenge?" Ranma tilted his head and looked confused. "Look, I didn't get involved in your morning fight just like I promised, so what's the problem?"

"What's the problem? Oh I can think of a couple." Aki had one hand clenched into a fist at his side and used the other to jam a finger hard into Ranma's sternum. "First off, we have important plans after school today, if you've managed to already forget! And two-" He poked Ranma hard once more as his voice dropped low with a venomous tint. "-the winner will get my hand, and you agreed to it?"

"Hey, come on, Aki," Ranma put up his hands in an attempt to be placating. "This is Kuno we're talking about. I'll take care of him in less than a minute, no problem. It ain't like I coulda just said no though. It was a man to man challenge. You of all people should understand that."

"Understand?" Aki could feel his fist twitch slightly, but kept it at his side, instead opting to poke Ranma's sternum several more times, punctuating his words as he spoke. "What you need to understand is that I'm not some goddamn pet that you can just give away on a whim or offer up like some trophy on a pedestal for whatever asshole happens to come along and piss you off. Yeah, I get accepting challenges. Of course I do. But if I catch you agreeing to use our relationship as the stakes in a fight ever again, then I swear-"

The sound of the school chimes managed to halt Aki's current ire only by virtue of redirecting it to a new source. "Come on or we'll be late." He grabbed onto Ranma's hand and rushed to the building. "Don't think you got out of this though. We will be talking about it later," he made sure to add as he dragged his at this moment very infuriating so called boyfriend along to class.

The half day of school managed to drag on just slowly enough to allow Aki's rage to continuously smolder, only fading slightly as the morning went on. Any attempts by Ranma to talk between classes were instantly rebuffed and ignored, Aki choosing instead to merely look away out the window.

Finally, the chimes came signaling the end of the final class of the half day, and Aki gave a haggard sigh as he got up from his desk. At the moment, all he really wanted was to go back home and spend an afternoon creating gravel in the dojo, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. The change of clothes carefully tucked at the bottom of his school bag was a simple reminder that unlike some idiots, he actually tried to put other's needs and feelings before his own, the jerk!. Maybe I should go ahead and make that the first lesson, if it could even manage to get past his thick skull. He started to turn to grab his assigned fiancé so they could finally get out of there when a rumbling sound from the hallway caught his attention.

Before he could say anything, the door to the classroom burst open revealing Kuno pointing his bokken directly at Ranma. "And now, vile fiend, the fated hour has finally arrived for our final clash when I shall emancipate the fair Aki Tendo from your foul tendrils."

Ranma looked like he was ready to give a cocky retort, when he suddenly paused and glanced over to Aki with an uncertain expression. After a couple of seconds, he shook his head and gave a harsh glare to Kuno. "Listen, just forget about Aki. This is a fight between…between me and you. Now come on, let's take this outside so I can get to kicking your ass." Without another word, he quickly and with purpose went over to one of the outside windows, opened it, and then walked out in one hop.

"Foul knave, you dare think you can escape my justice?" Kuno ran up to the window, stared at it for a moment, then turned on his heel and rushed out of the classroom through the door.

Aki, who observed the whole spectacle through half lidded eyes, gave a small sigh and ignored the stares from his classmates as he gathered up his things and calmly headed out. By the time he made it downstairs, got his outdoor shoes, and left the building, the signs of a battle well underway were present in the front courtyard. Fallen tree branches and bits of demolished stone could be found all over the area.

Taking a brief look around, he quickly found the source as Ranma was hopping around, just barely dodging Kuno's rapid bokken strikes. Right behind the pigtailed martial artist, a statue was slowly being chipped down to nothing from the force of the air pressure of the sword swings alone.

Aki felt a flash of concern towards Ranma, but that was quickly washed away by the reminder of what his supposed boyfriend chose to make this fight about. That jerk! Like he gets to decide who I date. He's not even taking this seriously! Indeed, the boy apparently decided to stop in the middle of the battle to look at something in his hand. Kuno naturally took this opportunity to make a hard swing with his bokken into Ranma's side, knocking him away. He flew directly towards Aki, tumbling several times on the ground and ending up in a crouching handstand position right at the boy's feet.

"So, I have to ask," Aki drawled out, doing his best to keep his voice as level and deadpan as possible. "Are you starting to regret fighting Kuno when he's going at full strength?"

Ranma looked up at Aki and gave a light shrug. "Eh, I think I can manage." A smile then appeared on the boy's face. "I have to ask. Are you starting to regret not wearing the regular girl's uniform right now?"

"Huh, what are you…" Aki suddenly realized the view Ranma would have in that scenario, and he could feel the heat start to rise in his face. "You…just go and finish your stupid fight already!" he yelled out as he punted Ranma right back towards Kuno.

"Now to finish this!" the kendoist called out and resumed his bokken strikes with even more ferocity, Ranma barely seeming to avoid them.

As this went on, Aki was having an internal debate on how he wanted this dumb battle to end up. It wasn't like he'd go along with this stupid stipulation no matter how it went, and he was in the mood to see the jerk getting taken down a peg. Then again, Kuno getting a win like that would definitely make him even more of a pain in the ass. Aki's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he felt a strong gust of wind shoot by him. Looking down, he found there was now a large cut in the sleeve of his track suit.

"Oh crap!" Aki went wide eyed and quickly covered up, realizing he was in danger even this far back. Kuno apparently didn't notice, fully focused on his attack. Ranma, however, did look back at Aki's cry.

"Get out of the way!" he called out, apparently choosing to berate him instead of noticing that Kuno was bringing his wooden blade up for a finishing strike.

"Look out behind you, you dum-" Aki's cut off his own beratement as he saw Ranma duck underneath the kendoist's downward swing. The pigtailed boy then swung his foot up in a wide arc, although it looked to just barely graze Kuno's chest.

Or wait…did it? Aki blinked his eyes a few times as he tried to parse what just happened.

"Ha, what a futile gesture! And now I shall…" Any further ranting from Kuno was mercifully stopped by him suddenly collapsing face first onto the ground.

Aki cautiously walked up to the apparently unconscious boy, then reached down and roughly flipped him over on his back. He blinked in surprise at the number of shoe prints on Kuno's torso and face. "Each one right on a vulnerable spot," he muttered out, "and so fast."

"That was a kick? I couldn't even see it."

Aki jumped back slightly at the sight of his slightly older sister right next to him. "Nabiki! What are you doing out here?"

"Keeping tabs on the 'great battle of justice' Kuno was ranting about all morning of course," Nabiki answered in a matter of fact manner. "Good job there, Saotome, though I didn't think it would be this decisive."

"I did say I'd take care of Kuno no problem, remember?" Ranma said with a wide grin towards Aki as if that actually made up for anything.

"Oh really?" Aki shot a glare through half lidded eyes. "So that spot where Kuno hit you is perfectly fine then." He stepped forward with a finger ready to poke, causing the dummy to jump back.

"Hey, it's not that bad, really!" Ranma started to protest as he held his side protectively, but then he seemed to back down a bit from Aki's glare and looked away slightly. "Okay, I guess it's a little sore, but I'm not going to give that pervert any credit for it. I…uh…just got distracted for a moment is all."

"Yeah, I…saw that…" Aki paused for a moment as he suddenly realized that the pigtailed martial artist had at some point shifted back to girl mode. "So, what were you distracted by anyway?"

Ran seemed to be debating with herself for a few seconds before she turned back to Aki and handed over some small square object. "Here. Kuno had these on him."

Aki took the object, quickly realizing it was a stack of polaroid photos. His eyes narrowed as the first photo was a candid shot of himself, or technically herself in this case, in her gi performing a kata in the dojo. He flipped through the stack, finding each one depicting herself (and sometimes himself, although he was pretty sure Kuno couldn't figure that out) at various points in her workout routine. "How did he…" His eyes went and he turned to his traitor of an older sister. "Nabiki!"

"Hey, can't blame a girl for making a little cash on the side," Nabiki said with a shrug. "Besides, all those pictures are perfectly decent."

"Oh really?" Ran said with a quick look over to Nabiki. "Why don't you check out the last picture in that stack then."

Aki raised an eyebrow at Ran's harsh tone, but did as she said. The initial sight of that last photo caused his other eyebrow to shoot up to match its twin. It was also a candid shot, this time much more so, of Ran's female form from the back. The redhead was in the laundry room and almost completed the process of taking off her wet shirt. She was facing slightly to the side, just enough that one breast was somewhat visible, although mostly covered up by the shirt.

"In my defense, I made sure that you were still mostly decent before taking the picture." Nabiki noted. "Besides, you're a guy. Why do you care if someone sees you without your shirt on."

"Hey, I…uh, I mean…I can still care if it's a pervert like Kuno!" Ran protested while unconsciously covering up her currently flat chest.

Aki couldn't help but smile a bit at the little gesture, but then something suddenly occurred to him as he looked back at the photo. "Hold on. Why does Kuno have a picture of Ran…ma like this anyway?"

"Eh, he wanted me to get evidence of 'the vile villain in his most vulnerable state' and I figured this was good enough," Nabiki responded with a shrug. "So, are you interested in your own pics of tall, dark, and dumbass?" A small smirk then appeared on her lips. "Oh, or are you more interested in a cute little redheaded dumbass instead?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Sis." Aki hated having to say things like that, especially with Ran standing nearby, even if he was still a little mad at the taller girl. However, a crowd was starting to gather, and there was no way he was going to risk outing any part of himself to the entire school, and especially not in front of Nabiki or Kuno of all people.

"Woah, who's the hottie?" whispered a voice just over Aki's shoulder.

Aki managed to just avoid jumping completely out of his skin as he spun around to find his two best friends standing right next to him. "Sayuri! Yuka! It's…uh…it's nothing, really!" he quickly said, crumpling up the photo. "Just Kuno being a pervert is all."

"Really?" Yuka tilted her head as she looked down at the still unconscious kendoist. "With the way he's been obsessed with you, I'm a little surprised he'd even go after anyone else."

"Yeah, no kidding," Sayuri said with a nod. "We'll need to make sure to protect this poor girl from him. Who is she anyway? She looked a little familiar."

"Oh, no idea," Aki said with a strained laugh. "Definitely not someone who goes to this school, that's for sure. Heck, I bet Kuno just cut the picture out of a magazine or something."

Yuka gave a confused look and pointed to the crumbled up object still in Aki's hand. "But, that's clearly a polaroid-"

"Sorry to interrupt, ladies," Ran said while going right up to the group. Before Aki could say anything he found himself picked up in a bridal carry in the arms of the taller girl. "Aki and I are already super late for something, so we'll have to save the talk about whoever that red haired girl is for another time. See ya!"

"Wait, Ran…Ranma. What are you…" As Aki found himself being carried away from the school, and Ran started to leap up and across the rooftops, he suddenly realized that in his shock he accidentally dropped the photograph of the redhead.