Akane was feeling exhausted as evening fell. Today had been a roller coaster of extremes. From Kuno's new power hurting Ranma badly, to her first outing as Jishin, she had gone from frightened to elated and hit all the stops in between.
She was preparing to go to bed a bit early, when she noticed that the lights were on in the dojo. Walking out there, she was not too surprised to see Ranma practicing. He had the same focus as he showed whenever someone managed to pull one over him when fighting. It was a bit unusual to see him practicing with a pair of short staves.
Contrary to popular belief, the Anything Goes style did not disdain using weapons. Weapons had their own places in combat - there were times when it would be unwise for someone of even Ranma's skill to take on an opponent unarmed. Rather, Anything Goes disdained those who relied on their weapons, as Kuno did, as that made them vulnerable without their weapons.
It was just unusual to see Ranma practice with a weapon... he occasionally practiced with a bo staff, but that was all Akane had ever seen, before.
"Come on in, Akane," Ranma said, not stopping his practice.
Akane walked into the dojo itself. "This for Kuno?"
Ranma nodded. "Yep," he said as he continued the kata he was practicing. "Whatever he did to himself to make that lightning, it aint chi-based. So, until I c'n figure out a real way to counter it, I can't touch him."
"Huh?"
Ranma stopped, addressing Akane directly. "It's like he's become a living battery or somthin'. He shocks me even if I touch him. An' Kuno aint gonna let off for me to find the counter. So until I work it out, I've gotta have something to fall back on." He twirled the sticks for a moment, and then they disappeared.
Akane shook her head. "I never thought Kuno would become a threat..."
Ranma smiled cockily. "Nah, he aint a real threat. Just a problem. He telegraphs those lightning bolts worse than any of his boken strikes. When I figure out how to stop his lightning, it'll be no contest again. And he's still an idiot."
Akane giggled, but stopped at Ranma's serious look. "Ranma? What's wrong?"
Now Ranma shook his head. "I don't really know, Akane. Something's up, though. It's like all of Tokyo's been covered by some kinda black cloud, or somethin'. And look what's happened recently... Kodachi's acting nicer (although that's not really a bad thing,) and Shampoo's been blinded. There's that wacky Kumobara swinging around, and the news was talking about someone called Cheng-Huang. Kuno becoming a living lightning rod. There was that attack in the park earlier, and people said Magic Girls showed up to stop it. I've even heard that Taro might be back in town. Not to mention you..."
Akane started. "What about me?" She asked with a straight face.
Ranma looked her right in the eyes. "I know something is goin' on, Akane. Something seems to have changed your chi a bit. You and your sisters."
Akane nearly swallowed. Now what should she do...
(Posted Sat, 07 Dec 2002 23:38)
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