Partners

"And have your friend let you know if anything noteworthy happens at St. Hebereke's, especially if it has to do with Kodachi or the gymnastics team," Nabiki said to Tomiko sitting at the next desk over, who nodded and jotted down a note.

"Will do. Anything else?"

"That's it for now."

"Great. It looks like today's going to be nice and quiet, then."

"Nabiki…" Hana called from where she was staring out the window, "Kunou's acting strange."

Nabiki turned to Tomiko and gave her an unimpressed look.

The other girl shrugged. "I was bored."

"Fair enough," she said before turning toward the windows and calling, "that's his expected behavior, Hana."

"No, I mean strange for Kunou," the other girl replied, prompting Nabiki and the rest of the class to go over to the windows and look below.

"Ohhhhh, foul sorcerer!" Kunou declared to the sky while dramatically reaching out with his hand. "The foulness of your wicked deeds is surpassed only by your blackened heeaaart!" he cried, the pitch of his voice becoming higher as he stretched out the last word. "While your vile maaagics may protect you, know that I, the noble Tatewaki Kunou," he proclaimed while drawing his bokken and pointing it skyward, "shall protect this noble institute of learning and its innocent students," he intoned while waving his free hand to indicate the buildings and students, "from your depravaaaations!"

As the foul sorcerer walked past, muttering and looking annoyed, Kunou turned to continue facing him. "See how he skulks by, knowing his evil plans are stymied by your virtuous protector! Rest assuuured, that eventually his dark magics will fail before the power of righteousness, and on that day, I shall strike! strike! strike! with my blessed sword, and he will faaaaall!" At the word blessed, the sword burst into white flame, courtesy of a pellet surreptitiously palmed from the sleeve of Kunou's hakama.

As Ranma walked into the school, not sparing a single glance for the virtuous protector, the nearby students stared at Kunou and his blazing sword. When he seemed to be content with standing motionless in a dramatic pose, half of the students shrugged and went inside. Thirty seconds later, when his bokken disintegrated into ash, the remaining half went inside, as well, leaving him standing there motionless. Students watching from their classrooms resumed their normal activities.

"Well, this is new," Nabiki commented as she walked to the back of the room and retrieved the first aid kit, briefly opening it to check its supply of burn cream.

"Maybe he wants to start a kabuki club?" one of the boys in the room hesitantly offered.

"Is that what that was?" a girl asked.

"Not … really," he slowly replied.

Any further conversation was cut off as Nabiki left the classroom and headed for the stairs. When she encountered her homeroom teacher coming the other way, she only needed to raise the first aid kit slightly to receive his blessing in the form of a nod and the words, "I saw." Once outside she walked to where Kunou was still doing his impression of a statue and eyed his upraised arm.

"Hand," she stated while laying the kit atop a nearby bush and retrieving the tube of burn cream. Kunou's arm lowered, bringing his hand within reach, while he otherwise remained motionless. She squeezed a generous amount of burn cream onto his hand, then capped the tube and stepped back.

"I'm not rubbing it in," she stated firmly.

Kunou slowly unfroze and gingerly rubbed the burn cream in with his other hand. He sighed softly and a great deal of tension left his body. "I thank you, Nabiki Tendou."

"You know my preferred form of expressions of gratitude," she stated as she packed up the kit. "Come on, let's get you to the nurse."

"Indeed. Curse that vile sorcerer! His evil magics are most wily!"

"Uh huh," she said as they started walking. "By the way, if you get the idea to try a repeat performance with a real sword, do keep in mind that steel conducts heat."

Kunou paused mid-step and stiffened. "I … will keep your words in mind."

She nodded. "Care to share what brought on today's special show?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I had a feeling you'd say that."

oOo

"Ok, spill. What was with Kunou today?" Akane demanded on the way home with Ranma and Nabiki.

"I said I don't want to talk about it," Ranma flatly stated.

"Nabiki?"

"He's definitely picked up a new delusion of some sort, but I couldn't say what it is."

"You know something," she accused as she turned back to Ranma, only to stop when he was nowhere to be seen. "Will you stop doing that!"

There was no reply, and Ranma remained absent as they walked, or in Akane's case, stomped and muttered, the rest of the way home. As they approached the house, Akane was pulled from her dark mood at the sight of Ranma talking with a tall woman at the rear gate.

"It must be a challenger!" she cried, rushing forward, only to stop and return to Nabiki a second later. "Come on! Don't you want to see what's going on?"

"Yes, that's why I'm walking over," her sister replied, not altering her walking pace.

"But we might miss…" Akane trailed off at Nabiki's completely unmoved expression and fell in beside her with a groan as they walked over to the other pair.

"Yeah, that's fine," Ranma said as they got closer, "Seven o'clock on Wednesday. Just come here and we'll go to the challenge place together, ok?"

Akane looked over the willowy blonde who had just challenged the Avatar. She stood almost six feet tall and the combination of her pale complexion, ice blue eyes, and platinum blonde hair pulled back in a Dutch braid was striking. Ruby studs adorned her ears, and she wore a blue and green double breasted blouse with two lines of ruby buttons connected by thin platinum chains. A long pleated skirt that shimmered between blue and black barely covered the tops of her ankle-high green leather boots. As the woman turned to leave, Akane blinked when she realized that the skirt was actually a pair of pants that flared widely, giving the appearance of a skirt while covering each leg.

"Maëlys," the woman introduced herself, as she found herself face to face with the arriving sisters.

"Akane Tendou," Akane replied, suddenly feeling very self conscious about her own clothing and appearance.

"Nabiki Tendou," Nabiki said, not seeming the least bit insecure.

They silently watched the woman gracefully walk off before Akane turned to Ranma. "I'm sorry. I thought you'd ditched us. I didn't realize you'd sensed a challenger…"

"Uh, yeah," Ranma said, rubbing the back of his neck, "I probably should have said something. Getting used to these, um, magical senses can be tricky." He glanced at Nabiki and quickly turned away from her amused and highly skeptical expression.

"If you ever need any help, you can always ask me! So, what do we know about this challenger?"

"Uh, her name is Maëlys and she's coming back at seven on Wednesday." At Akane's flat look, he added, "Hey, it's not like I interview these people. We just set a time and place, and that's it."

Akane sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I just wish there was more to all this than making an appointment and fighting—going out and investigating, fighting evil and thwarting their dark plans, you know?"

"The excitement of demons attacking the Avatar's home without any warning," Nabiki added enthusiastically.

"Exact—wait, no." Akane huffed. "Fine, I understand. This isn't a cartoon and 'spicing things up' is bad and dangerous. It's just that I always thought being a magical girl would be more … magical, and less like a job."

"I know what you mean," Ranma admitted, waving them inside as rain started to fall from the sky. "It kinda feels more like being an athlete than a hero. Instead of going out and looking for trouble, I go to matches and face my opponent."

"The price we pay to save the world," Nabiki sighed dramatically.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm not complaining, just saying it wasn't what I expected."

"I think it's safe to say none of us were expecting this."

The three stood in contemplative silence for a moment before Akane's eyes widened. "Wait, seven on Wednesday? I can't make it then!"

"Fortunately, your presence isn't necessary," Nabiki said as she obtained a can of iced coffee from the fridge, tossing another to Ranma at a gesture from him.

"I know that, but I wanted to be there for moral support! You'll go, right, Nabiki?"

"No, the lighting will be awful; there's no point."

"You can still cheer him on!" At her sister's blank look, Akane scowled. "Sorry, I forgot who I was talking to."

"It happens," Nabiki replied with a magnanimous wave of her hand.

"You know, you could do something just for someone else's sake, not everything has to be about you," Akane sighed, shaking her head.

"Now, that's just crazy talk."

oOo

Nabiki gazed out the window of her homeroom at the pouring rain that had been falling since yesterday afternoon, the crowds of students that usually milled about outside until the warning bell rang absent due to the poor weather.

"Akane Tendou, fierce pigtailed girl!" Kunou's voice carried from the courtyard, "you must be on guuaaard against the vile sorcerer on this fouuuul day!"

There were some exceptions, of course. She watched as the recipients of Kunou's warning ignored him completely and walked inside. This, of course, did not stop him from continuing to rant about the sorcerer and pose dramatically. Kunou loudly swore to vanquish his foe and raised his new bokken dramatically. Lightning flashed and an instant later, a crack of thunder shook the windows. Nabiki sighed and headed for the first aid kit.

oOo

"Ugh, how long is it going to rain for?" Ranma asked as he came downstairs into the living room, hair still damp from his shower.

"Through tomorrow," Akane said as she flipped through channels on the tv.

"Great…"

"Look at the bright side. At least Kunou will only be warning you about the foul sorcerer instead of ranting at you."

"Some bright side," Ranma scoffed as he joined her.

Akane just shrugged, and they watched TV for a while until Nabiki walked into the room.

"Kodachi was back in school today."

"She is? That's great news!" exclaimed Akane. She paused and frowned. "And that's not something I ever thought I'd say. Did she seem okay?"

"From what I was told, she seemed quieter and more withdrawn than usual but otherwise normal. For her. Some students believe it's due to a bad breakup."

"I can guess which ones," growled Akane. "So, does this mean she's free?"

Nabiki shrugged. "It could, or it could mean she was ordered to go back to school."

Ranma groaned. "If she's free, does this mean I owe Brandy a favor?"

"Yes," Akane said, swatting him on the shoulder, "and don't complain about it. You know it was worth it."

"Yeah, yeah… You're right. It's just that that girl creeps me out."

"Which one?" asked Nabiki with a smirk.

"Both!"

"We should go check on her," declared Akane.

"Now?" Ranma asked incredulously, waving a hand at the pouring rain and dark sky outside. "And I really hope you mean Kodachi!"

"I do." Akane bit her lip. "Ok, we can do it after school tomorrow. We won't have to deal with the rest of her family that way, too."

"Fine…"

oOo

Ranma and Akane silently walked toward St. Hebereke's. The umbrellas they held blocked most, but not all, of the rain that still poured from the sky. As they were about to walk to the gate, they stopped and instead turned to follow the form of Kodachi Kunou, who was slowly walking down the sidewalk, beneath her own umbrella. For a block, they trailed her, a sudden surge of nerves and discomfort stopping them from moving to catch up, until the other girl stopped, turned to face them, and waited.

"Why are you following me?" Kodachi coldly asked when the other girls reached her.

"We wanted to make sure you're okay," Akane hesitantly answered, taken aback by Kodachi's fierce glare and unfriendly tone.

"I am. Now please refrain from approaching me again," she replied before turning and starting to walk away. She'd only gone a few paces before the redhead's voice called, stopping her in her tracks.

"Are you free, Kodachi?"

"I am, no thanks to you," she said bitterly, not turning around. I'm sorry, my love, but this is how it must be. After a moment, she walked off, the other two girls silently watching her go.

"Well, it sounds like Brandy let her go and she wants nothing to do with us," Akane said after a minute.

"Win-win," Ranma agreed.

Akane sighed. "I guess. I just hope she's really okay."

"I guess I can check on her in a week or two… When it's not raining. Come on, let's go home."

oOo

A bell rang, and across the street, in a tree still wet from the past two days of rain, a camera adjusted its focus. After a few moments, a door opened and the Avatar of Light emerged.

"Hey, Maëlys. You ready?"

"I am," the statuesque blonde replied, inclining her head. "Where will we be fighting?"

"There's a field about half a mile that way where we should have privacy."

"A field?"

"Yeah, mostly dirt, with some hills around it. Nothing to break and no people wandering around."

Maëlys snapped her fingers twice. "Avatar, look at me. What am I wearing?"

"Clothes?" Ranma offered hesitantly. At the narrowing of the other woman's eyes, she quickly amended her answer to, "Nice clothes?"

Maëlys sighed and took a deep breath. "Yes, Avatar, in layman's terms, I am wearing 'nice clothes'. To be more precise, I am wearing extremely high quality clothing that is the height of fashion. And you're suggesting that we wrestle like hogs in a mud pit."

"Um… you know this is a fight to the death, right?"

"And what difference does that make? Are you suggesting I plan to die, not that I have the faintest idea why you think being covered in mud and filth is how I'd want my last moments to be. No, Avatar, when I defeat you, I plan to look breathtaking. Find a more suitable location."

Ranma sighed deeply. "Ok, fine… I guess there's the spot where I fought Speed Demon. That should be cleaner, and there'll probably be more light too. It's a demolition site about a mile away that's mostly paved. So long as we stay away from parts that have already been torn down, it should be good."

"Better. Let's go."

The two walked off into the darkness of the heavily overcast evening, the camera's focus following them for a moment before returning to the rear gate of the Tendou property.

oOo

Ten minutes later, the Avatar and her challenger hopped over the short barriers and walked into the demolition area. While at least one building had already been transformed into a mess of rubble and debris, much of the area still consisted of intact pavement. Several streetlights at the edge of the area even added to the dim illumination of the crescent moon just now breaking through the cloud cover.

"Much better than wallowing in mud, wouldn't you say, Avatar," Maëlys commented as she gave the rain washed parking lot they'd chosen a look of approval.

"Yeah, I guess. Wouldn't really want the outcome decided by someone slipping, either. You ready?"

The other woman nodded shortly. "Time to die, Avatar!" she cried and charged at her opponent—only to stop short and snatch a red blur out of the air as it streaked across her path. For a moment, she eyed the unusually aerodynamic bouquet of red roses she held before glancing to the top of the streetlight they had come from and the strange figure who posed theatrically atop it.

The tuxedo clad man stood there dramatically, a top hat on his head, opera mask on his face, and white gloves covering his hands. His left hand held the hilt of a sheathed katana, the right was lightly touching the brow of his bowed head. "Did you truly think you could escape the vigilant gaze of Katana Mask?" he asked in a voice that carried to the two combatants. "Such foolishness! To think I would not notice the presence of one such as you immediately… Nay, I watched you incessantly and merely waited for the proper moment to strike."

"Damnit, Kunou! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" shouted Ranma.

"Hey! He gave these roses to me, not you!" growled Maëlys while glaring at the Avatar until the other woman stared at her for a second before holding up her hands and taking a large step back. "So, you noticed me days ago and have been watching me ever since," she purred, turning back to the well-dressed man.

"Indeed! Not once did I divert my gaze from your form! You will not escape me, fie—!" Katana Mask cut off in alarm and swayed awkwardly as suddenly, he found himself no longer the sole occupant of the streetlamp.

"Well, such dedication to my form certainly deserves a reward. Maybe you'll even get a closer look, or the opportunity for a hands-on inspection," Maëlys purred, gliding into Kunou's personal space as his eyes widened and he took an alarmed step back.

"Ah, perhaps I gave the wrong impression! I was merely striking at the evil that was stalking the fair Avatar of Light!"

"Of course you were," Maëlys said with a smirk. "Even though everyone knows challenges to the Avatar are sacrosanct and any interference result in the swift execution of the cretin who attempts such. If he's lucky. But I don't mind playing along, oh noble Katana Mask, and seducing you to darkness.

"You don't mind if we postpone the challenge, do you, Avatar?" she called to the other woman.

"I could never stand in the way of true romance," the Avatar exclaimed, hands clasped before her and eyes shining.

"Avatar!" cried Kunou as he tugged at the katana which refused to budge in its sheath, "I require assistance!"

"Oh no, you're going to have to handle me all on your own," Maëlys growled throatily with a gleam in her eyes.

"Avatar! Help! Sao—!"

There was a blur of motion and the top of the streetlamp was suddenly empty.

Ranma silently stood there for a moment, eyes flicking from the streetlamp to various points in the surroundings before deciding she was truly alone. Eventually, she said to the night, "I'm sure he'll be fine…"

oOo

"Do you have any idea when she'll be back to challenge you again?" Akane asked as she walked to school with Ranma and Nabiki.

"Nope."

"Well, I guess she'll let you know sooner or later." Akane frowned. "I hope Kunou's all right. I can't believe you just let her make off with him!"

"Hey, what did you want me to do about it? Tell her that he wasn't an admirer but was actually trying to interfere in her challenge? I can't see that going any better for him!"

"At least it would have been over quickly," Nabiki offered; after a moment of thought, she added, "probably."

"Please stop helping, I'm really not up for it," Akane sighed.

"If you insist, but I think I can just make out someone vaguely Kunou-shaped waiting at the school gate."

"Really? That's great! Come on, let's make sure," Akane called, picking up her pace.

"Yeah, great…" Ranma muttered, notably not picking up his pace.

"Can you at least pretend to show some enthusiasm?" Akane demanded as she dropped back to the others.

"Yay. Kunou's alive," he said flatly.

Any response she may have had died in her throat as they got close enough to clearly make out Kunou standing stiffly at the school gate, bandages covering most of his face and the entirety of his left arm that wasn't covered by his hakama. His right hand was clenched tightly around the hilt of the bokken that twitched slightly as he held it parallel to his leg. Fury burned in his eyes.

"Foul deceiver," he hissed, "I was a fool to ever believe you were anything other! I know not the purpose of your bizarre and vile plot, but I do know this: I do not care!" Raising his weapon high, he charged Ranma and struck with blazing speed, his wooden sword smashing the pavement as the other boy fluidly evaded the blow. With a shout of rage, Kunou rained slashes and strikes on his opponent, each of which was avoided by his target with an air of apparent nonchalance.

"See, everything's back to normal," Nabiki assured her sister while still walking toward the building. "You should go in if you don't want to be late." Akane hesitated, watching the two boys for a long moment, before shaking her head and going inside with her.

It was only a minute after they left when Kunou slashed his bokken one final time before groaning softly and sinking to one knee, his free hand pressing against his side.

"Hey, you okay?" Ranma asked, peering at him in concern.

"Do not mock me with false concern, sorcerer," groaned Kunou, "but rest assured that I shall recover from this setback and stop you, no matter how long it takes."

"Have it your way," Ranma said, holding up his hands. He started to walk away but frowned and turned back to the kneeling boy. "But don't interfere with the Avatar of Light. At all. The fate of the world depends on her."

"You expect me to believe that you are striving to save the world, fiend?"

"Yes, because a destroyed world is no good to me," he replied, mouth twisting in disgust at uttering such a corny line.

Kunou intently studied the sorcerer; he was inclined to dismiss his words as still more lies, yet he felt a tremor of doubt deep within. The look of disgust that crossed the blackguard's face at the very idea of saving the world was too genuine to be false. "I will … consider your words. Now, leave me be, Saotome."

Ranma nodded, then paused. "Are you sure you're all right? I can send Nab—oh, never mind, here she comes now." Assured that everything was well in hand, he leapt toward his homeroom's window.

"Congratulations, you've qualified for the volume discount this week," Nabiki said as she reached Kunou and set down the first aid kit.

o0o

The Avatar of Light bowed respectfully to the kanji on the wall scroll in the Tendou dojo and began a kata. She flowed through moves and steps long known by heart, the routine serving as a moving meditation, soothing and focusing her mind, rather than a martial training aid at this point in her study of the art. After a time, she finished and took a deep breath, at peace in both mind and body.

"That was beautiful," Pretty Special remarked from her spot near the doorway.

Ranma turned and stared at the other magical girl for a long moment, then groaned and brought her palm to her forehead. "I can't believe I forgot you're a magical girl… Wait! How are you still a magical girl?! You actually kept those powers when we woke up?!"

"Mostly," Nabiki replied as she walked over, "they're not nearly as strong as they were."

"What are you planning to do with them?" asked Ranma with a frown.

"I figured I'd do the typical magical girl thing and save the world."

"My little speech to Kunou wasn't meant for you, you know."

"And yet it's no less true. But don't worry, I'm not planning to misuse these powers."

"I have a feeling that word means different things to each of us, but all right. What do you want from me?"

"Like I said, my powers aren't as strong as they were in Akuko's world. I want training."

"You should probably go to Velgri, then," Ranma said with a frown, "I've been a magical girl for a little while, but she has a lot of experience training them."

"She has a lot of experience training the Avatar of Light," Nabiki corrected. "She also has specific goals and duties that probably don't include training other magical girls. You, on the other hand, can share your experience in learning to be one, and on top of that, have one important thing that Velgri does not."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"An extremely large outstanding debt to me."

Ranma groaned. "Fine. How much will this pay back?"

"Half of it."

"Wait, really? That much?"

"That much. Training from an experienced magical girl is an exclusive high end service, after all. I'm also paying for absolute secrecy. You may have a paper thin secret identity, but I value my privacy."

"All right, it's a deal. We'll have a lot to do," Ranma said with growing enthusiasm, "strengthening the connection to your power, learning about your abilities, refining and discovering techniques, and a lot of martial arts."

"I'm not interested in that last one," Nabiki said, shaking her head. "Anything worth facing like this is going to be beaten with magic, not beginner martial arts."

"You're not wrong, but you're not right, either. You may be using magical attacks, but being able to avoid attacks or take a fall without slowing down can be the difference between winning and losing—and if your fights are going to be anything like mine, you don't want to lose."

"You may have a point, but I still want to stick to the magical part of magical girl."

"Sorry, it's a package deal," Ranma said, crossing her arms. "We'll focus on magic, because you're right, it is what you'll be using most, but we'll devote part of each session to martial arts. No student of mine is going to lose because she can't fall properly. And there will be homework," she added with a sharp smile.

"You drive a hard bargain, Saotome," Nabiki said, making the other girl's smile dim as she suddenly wondered if she was getting such a great deal after all, "but you have a deal."

Pretty Special held out her hand. After a moment, the Avatar of Light shook it.