Ranma of St. Bacchus, Chapter 43
By Chaos Orchid
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"Know your motivation!"
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(she), (her), etc. are to indicate that while Ranma physically feels she is in a female body, psychologically (she) doesn't feel convinced she is female. Unparenthesized, it means her gender dysphoria has slipped down on her list of current concerns.
'She', 'her' means Ran's more accepting about being a girl.
She, her means she has fully embraced being a girl.
He(?), his(?), him(?) means he is mostly comfortable in the male body, but is uncertain about gender identity
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"A date!?" Ran cried. Junko, Yuna, Mao and Nao were on her side! And the other girl's.
Akane, "Nabiki! Kunō can't take a NO! Don't try to reward him for it!"
Nabiki, "This is strategy."
Junko and Yuna looked at her suspiciously, "Strategy?"
"Ah, yes. I did overheard you two are a coach and, I assume, her assistant coach. Listen and tell Ran how sound it is. Kunō don't interrupt if you want the date.
"Akane is right: Kunō can't accept a no. He is backed into a corner. As the male, by tradition and law he was primogeniture over his younger sister, Kodachi. Since you attend St. Hebereke, you know what she is like. She challenges others' authority in as many ways she is capable of devising.
"She, of course, wishes to have as much of the inheritance as possible. And she has a powerful ally: the Kunō father. She is his favorite child. You need only to compare the two schools, Hebereke and Fūrinkan. One is well funded and caters to the elite, the other is not and does not. It is also been shown in the way he raised the two. Kunō-kohai, here, was given grueling training in the samurai way that bordered on torture. Kodachi's training was on how to be a traditional nobel lady after the example of the Heian period.
"Now Kunō-senpai will pass on the tradition and recognize his son as his prime heir. But Kunō Santa has changed in the last three years, taking an extended vacation in Hawaii. He is more likely to modify his will, possibly rewarding his daughter to the extent Japanese law allows.
"To more firmly secure his rights, our Kunō needs to have a wife, and heir of his own. Kodachi does not want that. Any girlfriend of his will have to be able to battle her in many different ways, at many different times."
"Battle(!?)" 'Ran's' heart was stirred by the word.
Akane, "That's Kunō's problem, not yours. And not mine!"
Junko, "Right!" The others agreed.
'Ran', "Uh, right." 'She' felt stupid. But was still tempted to battle.
Nabiki, "What I just said is Kunō's strategy, simple as it is. Here is the strategy for Ran-sama: Negotiation from Power. As the daughter of the owner of the boarding school she attends, Kodachi has the upper hand. She will feel threatened by her dating her brother. But our "Red Rose" will fend her off by promising not to date him."
Kunō, "Not date me!?"
"Kunō! The only way to get your date is by letting me finish! Now, be a good boy and go over there out of earshot! Go! You can send off those eavesdroppers and onlookers if you like."
Junko, "Kodachi can eliminate the threat, by eliminating Ran!"
"She won't, because if she does, an even greater threat would come into play. Currently, she is unaware of the her brother's obsession. Ran will see that she does know! Without her, he will date, possibly even marry once he is eighteen, one Tendō Akane."
Akane, "Don't drag me into this! I don't any part of this!"
Nabiki shrugged, "Your cooperation is not required. As your sister and Ran-sama's PA, I will provide any support for the story as I can." And she gave her a wicked look, "And you know what I'm capable of."
Akane shivered.
'Ran', "I don't need to get her involved! I can fight my own battles!"
Nabiki, "Then think of it from a heroine's perspective. By strategically dating Tatewaki, you act as a safety valve to the pressure cooker that is our boy's ardor. He will feel less need to attack my little sister."
Akane, "Hey! I don't need a heroine! I'm the heroine!"
The others weren't taking her into consideration. After all, her cooperation wasn't necessary. Yuna, "I must admit, it does seem like a fairly sound strategy."
Junko, "It'd still be a tricky situation to manage."
Nabiki, "But with the aid of her competent coaches, and, of course, yours truly, it can be accomplished."
"We're now involved, too!?"
"The more power Ran has over her opponent, the more not just her but her teammates will have."
Mao became energetically hopeful, "High-and-Mighty won't be!?"
Nao, "Whole school grateful for that!"
'Ran', "Aw, man!" 'She' could see her independence slipping further away. (She) felt almost certain (she) hadn't been a team player in the past (she) kept forgetting.
What to do?! "Hey, you said I only had to date the guy once! Then promise Kodachi to never do it again!"
"You need to strategically date him."
Junko, "Date him only when we need to threaten her!"
Mao, "Remind her she can't do whatever she wants!"
Yuna, "Limiting the number of dates he can have with you should also increase your power over him. He seems somebody attracted to forbidden fruit."
'Ran', "Like I want to be attractive to him!"
Akane, "Me, too!"
Nabiki, "*Sigh* Little sister, I can understand why you refuse to date somebody who attacks you. But this is a new and different context. After this reset date, Kunō will be doing the proper dating protocols. You can refuse his advances in the typical boy-girl manner. But by refusing to recognizing the advances, he could return to his previous mindset and renew his attacks on you."
Akane sneered, "I thought Ran "the Heroine" was supposed to be my "Safety Valve"."
Nabiki, "The Safety Valve will not be able to relieve all of the pressure. Since the dating will have to be only strategic, his frustration is sure to mount. He will need an alternative outlet for it."
Junko, "Vigorous exercise and sparring helps burn off our frustration! Ran can give him that, at least!"
'Ran', "Can I!" 'She' said, cracking (her) knuckles.
Akane, "Alright! Alright! I'll date Kunō –But only that one date. That, that "reset" date!"
First Junko, then Mao (louder) cheered! Yuna, "Thank you for your cooperation."
"I'm not cooperating!"
Nabiki smiled. What had finally become the tipping point for her little sister was Ran looking forward to using martial arts on Kunō. Akane liked considering him her personal practice dummy. Especially since she held a grudge against him. His speech to the auditorium had set half the boys on a quest to date her before all of the others. With him losing his intensity for her, so, too, would the others. Soon they could leave her with nobody to have majime-shōbu with. Unlike the others in their family, including their father, a dōjō master, Akane had a hunger for budō and a justification to "teach people a lesson!" "Perverts" were her biggest excuse.
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They found Kunō challenging two yakyū/baseball teams. He had his bokutō, and they bats. And balls! They were throwing them at him. He was sending them back through the wind he generated by the speed of his wooden sword thrusts! One of the players rushed at him –But air pressure bent his aluminum bat!
The boys saw the rapid approach of seven girls. Not looking cool, they hurried to the park gym and its locker room. "It would've been my first homerun!" ; "What an idiot! We didn't mean to hit him!" ; "But he attacked us!" ; "He claimed were using martial arts yakyū on him!" ; "I never heard of that before!" ; "Maybe he just made that up." ; "Idiot!"
Nabiki, "Kunō! You have your date! Two of them: Both Ran and Akane!"
"Akane as well?" He was (still) panting as he said it. As he caught his breath, his bravado came back, "Thus is it ever is in romance, perseverance wins the hand of the fair lady!"
Akane, "No it doesn't! Keep that up and I'll cancel my date with you!"
'Ran', "Keep that up and I'll keep knockin' you down till you can't get back up!"
Kunō, "Ah, the maidens dost protest too much!"
Junko, "Nabiki, talk to him!"
"Kunō, you're stumbling near the finish line. The closer we can get you there, the better. When and where can the dates happen? I can make all of the arrangements, of course."
Yuna, "Ideally, Kodachi will be present."
Nabiki, "Not ideally. The imagination can exaggerate and put more drama into something than there is in a reality witnessed. And that is definitely a trait the Kunō clan possesses."
Junko, "I agree. And we will help Kodachi see things that way after the date."
Kunō, "I, the Prince of Charm, will insure that imagination will not be required for my torch flames to think dramatically of this night." (Nabiki, "Kunō must misunderstand what "dramatically" means. But, then, again, maybe he does. This is Kunō.")
Akane, "This night!?"
'Ran', "So soon!?" Too soon!
Junko, "Right: Tonight!"
Yuna, "Before the Wild Ran can effectively Rebel."
Akane, "That's right! My date with Kunō doesn't have to be this night. This is Ran's date night!" She was relieved that the girl was ahead of her in line.
But looking at her, she felt…odd. There was no real reason to like the girl who would strip for photos. But she did. But, no, …"like" wasn't what she felt. She wanted to…help, protect this confusing girl. This tomboy obviously didn't have the common sense a girl should have. Nabiki had probably tricked her into posing for those compromising pictures that she had to be using to blackmail the poor, rich-girl idiot. Moé. She had overheard boys talking about the attitude at school. (Akane was definitely not moé in their opinion.)
"Tonight! This night! It's like pulling off a bandage: The more you delay doing it, the worse it will seem. Uh, because of your imagination. So, okay.
"Kunō, I'm going on my date with you and Ran. At the same time!"
Nabiki, "Akane, do you know what you just suggested?" The others, except 'Ran', agreed with her.
"What?(!) It's just going to be a double date! People double date! Sayuri and Yuka do it!"
"But they do it with two different guys. If you and Ran are only with one guy, that can make it appear he has a harem. Kunō. A harem."
"We're not going to be wearing belly dancer costumes!"
"Sorry! I forgot how sporadic my little sister's knowledge of Japanese pop culture is!"
Yuna, "I think it is a perfect way to instill the idea in Kodachi that there is, indeed, a girl worse than Ran who could become her brother's girlfriend and even wife."
'Ran', "Wife!?"
Mao, "You weren't paying enough attention earlier, were you, Red Rose."
Nao, "Akane show how date is done!"
Nabiki, "Akane doesn't know how to date. At the ripe age of sixteen, she hasn't been on a date, double or otherwise."
Akane, "Then it's about time I have a date!"
Nabiki was feeling a little moé towards her clueless sister. But her main thoughts was on how Akane's rash decision to cooperate in the scheme would be restricting her own ability to maneuver and profit. It wasn't like she was truly ready to blackmail family or put her in compromising situations. She was free to do any and all with non-family, like Yamada Ran.
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NOTES:
Kunō's father's harsh treatment of his son, to Tatewaki ("Tacchi") humiliation, is revealed in Manga Ch. 116, "The Principal of the Thing" and S05E09, "Me is Kuno's Daddy, Me is"
It is equally shown in S06E01, "Dear Daddy... Love, Kodachi!", in sharp contrast to how he is shown treating his daughter. He actually is able to act sane around her.