It probably wouldn’t amount to much, the younger Toguro thought, but he’d been hearing some interesting rumors for a while. Strange rumors, to be sure, but when the strangest details were stripped out – because, really, it had to be a joke – the essential facts were that a number of strong fighters lived in this area.
And if those fighters really existed, he would find them, and he would fight them at whatever portion of his capacity he felt they could stand. Certainly there wouldn’t be anyone who could REALLY test him, but in his experience fighters who were really, honestly strong generally wanted to get stronger if there was a challenger who was pushing them. Otherwise they wouldn’t have tried to become strong in the first place. It was a matter of ego.
Even if he DID find a fighter who could give him a good fight, he didn’t want to draw too much attention to his brother and his employer at this time, so he’d have to limit the amount of his capacity that he used. But if such a fighter existed, he’d certainly let his brother and his employer know, because arrangements could be made to bring them onto a stage where they’d REALLY have to test and raise their own capacities – else they would die.
But that was life. It began with birth, and it ended in death, and what someone did with the time in between was their own business. But he preferred to push people as much as he could so that he could have his own enjoyment stretched further.
Being mindful not to let off any signal prematurely, he restrained his aura completely.
After a while he got to one of the places where he’d heard that many of the strong people tended to gather.
It was a school. This had surprised him, but if the rumors he’d heard were true, maybe this would be worth his time.
He walked through the open gates. There were a bunch of students near him, and since he didn’t yet know who the genuine articles and who the fakes were, he walked up to one of them and tapped that person on the shoulder to get their attention. The person turned around, and stared up at him.
“You,” he said to the person. “I’m here to pick a fight.”
The person blinked. Twice.
“A fight?”
Toguro nodded.
“With me?”
Toguro shrugged. “I’ve heard there are strong people around here. I like fighting strong people. So I thought I’d come find them.”
The person blinked again, and then she shrugged. “Well…yeah, there’s some fighters around here. I don’t really know them though, I’ve just heard and seen some things.”
Toguro smiled. It was not a pleasant smile, but the girl didn’t seem to notice. “Show me.”
The girl started walking towards some benches a couple hundred feet away. Toguro followed.
They reached the benches and the girl pointed to one of the people and said “Him.” Toguro nodded and the girl left.
Toguro studied the person she’d pointed out. He didn’t look particularly strong, but looks could be deceptive. He was small (compared to Toguro), and lean but wiry. He wore a red shirt and black pants. His black hair was longish and descended down his back in a pigtail. He wore a cocky expression that loudly yet soundlessly said “You’re not worth my time.”
Well, there was value in being direct, Toguro decided. “You.”
The boy looked at Toguro with what seemed a smirk. “You want something?”
Toguro nodded. “I’m here to pick a fight.”
The youth chuckled. “So what’s your excuse?”
Toguro blinked. This was an unexpected reaction. He noticed that people were beginning to gather around, some distance away but still within sight, probably of any anticipated action.
He decided to elaborate. “I heard there were strong people around here. I like finding strong people and fighting them. I heard you’re strong. Let’s fight.”
Toguro watched as the youth blinked several times.
Toguro stared. This was also an unexpected reaction.
The youth turned to one of the other people by the bench and said “Did you follow all that?”
The other person just nodded. “It seems like it’s straight up.” This person was obviously not a fighter. He had messy brown hair and wore a school uniform.
The first person replied, “That’s what I thought.” He turned to Toguro. “Mind repeating that?”
Toguro blinked. This was highly irregular.
But if there was a good fight to be had here, it would be worth his time to play along. “I like fighting strong people. If you’re strong I want to fight you.”
The youth blinked, and then turned to a third person, another obvious non-combatant. “Did you hear what I just heard?”
The newest person nodded with a blank, listless expression. “Yeah. I don’t think there’s any sort of catch.”
The youth turned to face Toguro again. “So…you’re not here for revenge or anything?”
Toguro shook his head, wondering the relevance.
“You’re not here because my old man conned you into coming after me?”
Toguro shook his head again.
The youth chuckled. “That’s a new one.”
A girl who was seated at the end of the bench commented, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard a challenge made like that.”
The youth shrugged. He then looked at Toguro. “Okay.” And he walked away.
Toguro blinked, and then followed the youth across the courtyard.
They stopped on a soccer field.
Toguro unbuttoned his coat and threw it a few yards away, not paying any attention to where it landed. It could be replaced. He watched as the youth sunk into what seemed a defensive stance.
Toguro smiled. It was not a pleasant smile.
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Ranma surged forward from the defensive crouch.
He didn’t recognize the man he was now facing, but he’d heard the challenge and realized it was the most honest invitation he’d had in a long time, probably years. He couldn’t even remember the last time someone had come to fight him solely for the purpose of fighting; all his opponents these days either came because they had been provoked or they were trying to provoke him.
The man he was now entering battle against was very tall, and he looked like he might be quite strong. Ranma decided he would like to find out just how strong the man was.
He stormed into the tall man’s guard and punched. The punch was deftly blocked, and Ranma grinned. The man had some skill.
This could be fun.
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Toguro kept his expression neutral as he deflected the youth’s assault and occasionally launched punches and kicks of his own, all of which were cleanly dodged or deflected.
Since he wasn’t here on a mission or for any specific purpose other than the fight itself he decided he would keep his power reined in unless the youth took it up several more notches. If that happened Toguro would respond in kind but at the moment, he wasn’t using any of his aura at all.
He then felt a jolt as a punch of massive strength landed on his unguarded abdomen. He flew back several feet.
He grinned. Damn, but this kid could hit! And he was very fast to do it without being noticed! There might have been some truth to the rumors after all!
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Ranma grinned. He hadn’t punched with his full strength or begun pouring his ki into his blows, but that punch had not been pulled. He believed his opponent could take the punishment but that punch had still been a test. If the man was an ordinary fighter he’d have just been crippled for life. Even a fighter up to Ukyou’s level would have been hurt badly. Shampoo might have been able to take that punch and continue, but the fight would end soon after. Mousse would have shrugged it off after maybe ten seconds of discomfort and mild pain. Ryouga would have laughed it off.
Deciding it was time to get a little serious Ranma tapped a very small amount of his ki. He surged ahead into his opponent’s guard.
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It was now apparent to Toguro that the rumors were true. There were strong fighters in this area and the youth he was now fighting was one of them. Toguro still hadn’t started using any of his aura but he knew that he had to in order to win.
He decided to start at one percent. He concentrated briefly and the aura blasted around him like a giant furnace.
He smiled as he noticed that the youth definitely felt the power, but the youth didn’t seem remotely impressed. Well, there was time to change that.
He saw the youth nod, and knew that the fight was about to rise another level.
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Ranma nodded as he felt the huge man start to give off a large amount of power. He’d faced much stronger auras than the man was now emanating but it was clear that this man was a powerhouse and that this fight would be much tougher than it initially seemed.
But Ranma had triumphed over opponents much more powerful than this on numerous occasions. He knew a technique MADE for fighting opponents who had massive power and who used it incautiously. And he’d modified that technique repeatedly, more than once in the middle of a fight for his life.
Unless the man could get vastly stronger than this, he still wasn’t a tremendous threat. Ranma believed that was possible but he didn’t know for sure. Well, he would find out.
He charged forward at the maximum speed he could go without using his own aura. And then he began to push his aura through.
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Toguro winced just slightly as the youth began connecting with punches far stronger than any he’d yet thrown. It was now clear to Toguro that the youth had been holding back a tremendous amount of power and speed as well. It was also clear that one percent of his aura simply would not give him enough strength or speed to change the direction of this match. If he remained at just one percent he would “lose”.
But he didn’t want to call attention to his brother or his employer just yet. Neither of them were in the area but it wouldn’t be convenient to bring them here, and him using a large percentage of his power would certainly do that. Until he notified them of his intentions (and made a request of his employer) he had to keep his aura in check.
He let the youth pound on him for a while longer. The punches he let land hurt a lot but they wouldn’t do any real damage. Powering his aura further would instantly heal the little they did; and even if he remained at one percent they’d be healed in virtually no time. That was one of the advantages to being a demon, though of course his opponent had no idea of his true nature.
After a little while he said “That’s enough”, and backed away.
He powered his aura down and felt the youth do the same. He knew the youth had barely started, but he also knew that he himself could dwarf his previous showing with no difficulty whatsoever.
“You’re good. This was fun,” he said. “What’s your name?”
“Ranma. Saotome Ranma,” came the reply.
Toguro let that name sink in, and then nodded. “I’m Toguro. Remember that name.”
He retrieved his coat and walked away.
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Ranma felt somehow cheated. He’d just gotten started and his opponent was leaving? Had it all been just talk?
No. He knew that Toguro (as he’d called himself) was vastly stronger than he’d shown. How much stronger, Ranma wasn’t entirely sure, but the powerful aura the man had generated was done much too casually for it to have been any real effort.
Well, he decided as he watched the huge man walk into the distance, it was a moot point until they encountered each other again. And he knew they would.
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(Posted Wed, 12 Apr 2006 22:21)
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