Ranma of St. Bacchus, Chapter 41
By Chaos Orchid
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"Know your opponent!"
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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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"The hentai horde(?)!" Akane was angry at her sister.
"Hentai?" several from the horde of St. Hebereke girls asked.
Nabiki, "Unsuccessful. So far. It's a challenge between the boys at Fūrinken over Akane."
Akane, "I have to fight them off –Every morning!"
Kunō, "The virtuous Akane does not, of course, include myself among the ungentelmanly ruffians."
"You started it all!"
"Unlike they, though, the true intent of my battle is to be defeated by you, the most capable of all who are eligible."
"I have defeated you –Every morning!"
"But you have not truly defeated me, as you have not claimed your victory and dated your prize. Thus, stalemate."
Frustrated, Akane punted the idiot!
The some twenty girls saw him go hurtling towards the park gymnasium. Those that had sought to date the rich, handsome boy with a title knew, "Even when I defeat him…" ; "This Fūrinken girl has first claim to his heart!" ; "I have to defeat her!" ; "Only then will Kunō-sama give me true intent." ; …
Nabiki, "Remember, Ran-sama is first in line."
Katai, "Remember, you're betting on Yamada to win."
Tsuyoe, "Only against the Fūrinken girl."
Hufāsu, "Then hot water."
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Leaving the park gym, 'Ran' turned left for the kendō dōjō. And stopped!
Junko, Yuna, Mao and Noa almost ran into the short redhead.
A large group of boys was in their way. Each was in the uniforms and equipment of different sports: resuringu, bokushingu, sakkā, ragubī, amefuto, yakyū, and the budō ones – kendō, jōdō, jūdō, kūdō, sumō, karate. 'She' did have trouble identifying which sport had tights and leotards. Did they do MĀRG? One had a boombox.
They weren't waiting for the five girls who had been coming their way. But they liked looking at the girls, especially the redhead in fetish-worthy bloomers. The trim, shortstack cutie showed more skin. More noticeable still were her freely moving tits; she wasn't wearing a bra. The only, minor, negative was there were no signs of nipples.
The boys whose uniforms revealed their own skin unconsciously and consciously posed. Only a handful too obviously contracted their muscles. "Don't go, girls(!)" ; "Stay and watch the match!" ; "It's between girls." ; "–If you'd like to see us boys battle, we'll do that for you!" ; "Yeah! Mixed sports!" ; "How about you dating the winner!" ; "Winners! There's more guys than girls, idiot!" ; "How about the girls choose the guy they find best looking," said the bodībirudā flexing his oiled muscles.
'Ran' felt a nudge. And nudges. Four of them. 'Her' brain wasn't the only one responding to the sight, sound and smell of athletic males.
The nudge wasn't as strong as the girls', but she could ignore even that as their issues sidetracked the response the boys wanted from them.
'Ran', "You're blockin' the way! I'm here to battle Tendō Akane! I'm Yamada Ran!""
There was a moment of silence as the boys tried to match up the kid-sized doll with the adult-proportions with the image they had built-up in their imaginations.
Then: "Kawaii!" ; "Vavoom!" ; "A tomboy!" ; "Just like Akane." ; "Akane's not a tomboy –Don't shove!" ; "Akane's not a tom–" ; "Shove back at you!" ; "Not this argument again!"
'Ran', "Akane's a tomboy?" That made (her) feel…better.
"Let's not fight again!" ; "We're here to see girls fight!" ; "A martial arts catfight!" ; "Idiot!" ; "I can dream!" ; (Dream?! 'Ran' didn't want to even think of cat's!)
"We're here to see Akane the Boy-Hater win!"
("Boy-hater?" Mao snickered, glancing at the now redhead.)
Junko, "We're here to see Ran the Untamed win!"
"That won't happen." And the boy put his jō staff confidently to his shoulder.
The yakyū player leaned on his bat, looking in first Junko's then the others' beautiful eyes (and slipping lower), "A bet. When our girl wins, you girls have to date us."
Yuna, "Do not be asinine. Overlooking your lower status, each of us five would be pledged to date four of you."
Mao laughed, "With one left over!"
Junko, "And how are we are to decide who we date?"
The bokushingu-ka hit his glove against his other glove, "We're the ones to decide!"
The amefuto player laughed, "With jan ken/rock paper scissors!"
"Not funny!" gloves said, hitting him in the gut, the only place above the waist not protected by padding gear.
'Ran', "You'd hafta fight me(!) before I'd date a, uh, you guys!" (The Ryōga guy flashed in her memory and 'she' felt –)
"Just like Akane!" several voices cried. The first to move would trigger–
Kodachi's brother was thrown into the hentai horde–bowling them over!
"Akane," they groaned.
"I have my fill of you attacking me in the morning! Now you're taking it away from the school gate!"
A horde of girls was close behind her, "Did you see how easily she used jujutsu on him!?" ; "After she had kicked him against the gym!" ; "Didn't she kick him from the school gate against the school?" ; …
'Ran', "That was her? It wasn't Diana?" The realization made 'her'
–Excited!
The boys were also becoming excited. Though in a different way. Seeing the bevy of classy beauties, their hands, knees and feet awkwardly shoved, pressed and fell off other body parts as they struggled to stand with dignity!
On top of them, Kunō demanded the deference he was rightfully entitled to! Before he was tossed.
Resuringu-ka was the first up, but it was last man standing, the sumō-ka, crying, "Bet! Bet!"
Nabiki, "I'm no longer taking bets!"
Katai, "I'll take the bets."
The ragubī player, "Then we bet dates! The girls who bet on Akane to lose has to go on dates with us!"
Noa, "Not that again!"
Junko, "Same stupid tactic, more targets."
Yuna, "It would allow for one-and-one dates."
Mao laughed, "With two girls left over!"
The elite girls said no in various, mostly impolite ways.
But Katai held up a hand, saying, "These boys are masochists. Wouldn't the MĀRG-ka like to practice on them?" She faced the other sex, arms crossed, "They will be less willing to be hurt if given the right motivation. …Dates?"
Nabiki, "I wouldn't bet on that. They still lose to Akane."
Akane, "Hey! I'm best martial artist my age in Nerima!"
From the crowd, 'Ran' jumped in front of her. "And I'm the best in Kodaira!" And 'she' bowed. "Happy to meet you!"
The long-haired girl in a dōgi had seen the photos of the redhead up on a small stage, in a store of unmentionables, stripping out of a costume. She wasn't surprised the shameless cosplayer was in tight, red burumā of the briefest sort(!)
–And when would her boobs stop moving under that tee(?!) Did she ever wear a bra!?
"Scurry, common heimin!" Kunō warned the scattering boys as he swung his wooden sword to clear a path.
"Akan–Oof!" He was stopped by a well-placed elbow to the diaphragm.
'Ran', "You're interrupting."
Gasps came from among the Hebereke girls, "She did it again!" ; "The rumors are true?" ; "Well, he is Kodachi's brother." ; "But he's handsome!" ; "He has status!" ; "Even my family would approve of me dating him!" ; "Mine, too – And they have a marriage contract on me!" ; "He's rich!"
Akane, "They obviously don't know Kunō personally."
'Ran', "They're just date hungry. They'd even date me, even when I'm like this."
Akane looked down on the shorter girl advertising she most definitely was a girl. "You date girls, too?(!)"
"I ain't dated no…, uh, oh." If Tsuyoe hadn't been in 'her' sight, 'she' could have forgotten. But there were also girls who had battled her and each other because it. Reminded, their hands reflexively went to their tools, eyeing the tall, kendō girl in pink and brown. "I guess it was just showin' me how datin' 's done," 'Ran' laughed nervously, 'her' hand behind 'her' head.
"The fault lies in these fair damsels being confined in the boarding school of my unromantic sister!" Kunō declared. "Let a true master of the art of courting enlighten you to the pleasures of dating!" And he took her available hand.
'Ran' brought (her) other hand down to strike –his wooden sword! Another try! And he parried that!
"Enough, Kunō!" Akane told him, chopping the crook of his arm. Only his experience in battles with her kept his sword from touching the ground.
"Let go of my hand!" And 'Ran' slapped his face. (Slapped!? It seemed wrong, but also right.)
He touched his cheek with a smile. "That is the spirit I seek."
Katai, "He's a masochist, too."
Nabiki, "Not really. Any girlfriend of Kunō must be able to defeat his sister. Repeatedly." That was the reason she didn't date the rich idiot. She wasn't that stupidly greedy.
"Kodachi?" ; "The Black Rose?!" ; "The unchallenged champion of high school MĀRG(!)" ; "The President of St. Hebereke!" ; "The student of Matsushiba-sensei, the Mistress of Psychological Warfare?"
Akane, "What's with all the formal titles?"
'Ran' snorted, "It must be trained into these debutante-to-be types." (She) knew Matsushiba was trying to do that with her, too.
Meanwhile, the boys had been watching, "Kunō challenged us to win Akane before he did."; "Now he's after Red." ; "If we can win her…" ; "It'd be a great, fat blow against his ego!"
The kūdō-ka in his headgear and gloves stepped forward, "Kunō-senpai has had his turn, now let us have ours, Red! Uh, Yamada-san!"
"What?!" Akane cried. "Since when do you perverts ask!?(!)"
The karate-ka, "We'll fight you, too, Akane."
The jūdō-ka, "But we already know you, Aka– Tendō-san."
The sakkā player, "We grew up with you."
The kendō-ka #2, "But we haven't been introduced to this opponent."
The kendō-ka #3, "But, wait, isn't it the custom for those challenging to introduce themselves first?!"
All of the boys bowed, "We are the captains of the sports clubs of Fūrinken High!"
'Ran', "Aw, man!"
"And we are the top members of the St. Hebereke Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Club!" replied the girls, raising their tools.
Nabiki shouted, "Boys! Girls! We have bets to settle first!"
"Yamada Ran is one of us!" ; "We'll defend her!" ; "We won't let her be ganged up on!"
Nabiki, "Akane! Take care of the idiots before things get worse!"
"Which group of idiots?" Akane frowned at both sides.
'Ran', "You take care of my idiots and I'll take care of yours."
Akane looked at her. She locked onto those big, blue eyes. The redhead nodded. And she nodded back, a genuine smile on her face. She turned and ran for a different kind of horde!
'Ran', too, felt refreshed: (She) wouldn't be fighting girls this time!
(She) ducked a shinai while kicking the legs out from under the sakkā player and punching the bokushingu-ka in his gut! The amefuto player tried to tackle (her), but (she) leapfrogged over him, a foot taking out the karate-ka and kūdō-ka! The sumō-ka shoved her into the resuringu-ka, but from mid-air (she) threw him into the jūdō. The jōdō-ka got one swing in before (she) wrested it from him and blocked the yakyū bat…
Akane 'danced' in place, avoiding the swings of both the shinai and bokutō the tallest girl wielded while catching gym clubs and hitting a girl with each. She was about to catch a hoop until she saw the gleam of its razor-sharp edges– She jumped through it, snagged its inner rim with forearm and spun it. The bamboo shinai splintered. The wooden sword remained on the attack! The kendō girl was helped by gymnastic ribbons wrapping themselves around her arms! She somersaulted, saw she was about to land on a gym ball. Pushing it away from her as she landed, it toppled several more girls when it exploded…
Watching, Kunō was overjoyed!
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NOTES:
Resuringu = wrestling, bokushingu = boxing, sakkā = soccer/football, ragubī = rugby, amefuto = American football, yakyū = baseball