Genma had gone off to inspect the abandoned quarry to see if it suited his needs, so it was a few hours before he returned. When he did, his emotions were mixed — he had been glad to see that the quarry did indeed have a crane that seemed to still be operational (though the engine was a bit on the finicky side), which meant that if Ranma got suspicious when Genma tried to surreptitiously recruit him to set up the “traditional” method for training in the Bakusai Tenketsu, he and Akane could still move forward with a slightly less traditional (and quite possibly even better) method. What soured his mood however, was the fact that on his way home, he’d found himself caught in the crossfire of a vicious squirtgunfight between a dozen or so youngsters, which mean that his species had once again shifted from Homo sapiens to Ailuropoda melanoleuca, which in turn meant that he now had to deal a sudden craving for bamboo shoots.
This hunger was quickly forgotten, however, when he saw his potential student standing next to the koi pond, with a slightly irritated look on her face. Undeterred by her somewhat sour look, Genma brought out the sign he’d taken to using for communication while he was in panda form. [Ah, have you made up your mind?]
“Yes, I have made up my mind.”
[And…?]
Akane had taken everything Ranma had said into consideration, but the choice had been relatively easy: she wouldn’t do it. The hard part was going to be getting Genma to accept this. “I appreciate the offer, but don’t think it’s the best idea for you to teach me the Bakusai Tenketsu right now.”
Genma was stunned. How could she possibly refuse this? [You don’t want to learn it?]
“No… it’s not that… it’s just….” Akane searched for a way to delicately let her father-in-law-in-law (she idly wondered if that was even a word) know that his idea to “make up” for his earlier faux pas just wouldn’t cut the mustard.
The martial artist/panda let out an exasperated growf. [You talked to the boy, didn’t you?]
“Um… yes….”
[But I asked you not to!] the panda’s sign now read. Genma flipped it again to reveal a new sentence: [Why did you do that?]
“Because I trust him more than I trust you,” Akane answered honestly.
Great — just great. Now I have to counteract whatever ideas Ranma put in her head. The panda flipped his sign yet again. [Just what did he tell you?]
“He told me that the Bakusai Tenketsu involves tying up the student and throwing boulders at her, that’s what!”
[And how would he know that?]
“The Amazons told him, and then he told me, which is why I think it sounds way too dangerous to try and learn it from someone who doesn’t know very much about it,” Akane answered with an accusatory look in her eye.
[Okay, I’ll grant you that the] (flip) [Bakusai Tenketsu shouldn’t be taught] (flip) [by someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing.] (flip) [But what Ranma doesn’t know] (flip) [is that I’ve got a scroll that tells me] (flip) [exactly how to teach the Bakusai Tenketsu.]
“What? How?”
[The Amazons gave it to me.]
“But Ranma said that they were extremely protective of their techniques.”
Crap. Why did she even have to talk to the boy in the first place? Now he had to think of a reason for him to have the scroll in the first place. Fortunately, that Genma was so smart and so slick that he thought up a lie and he thought it up quick: [I won it.]
“What?”
[I won the scroll. You see, the Amazons] (flip) [have a tradition wherein if you defeat] (flip) [the recognized master of a move] (flip) [without using that move yourself] (flip) [they’ll give you the text from which it was based.] There. A relatively harmless white lie. (With “relatively” being the operative word in this particular case.)
“And you didn’t tell Ranma about this?”
[Of course not!] (flip) [And neither should you.]
Akane squinted at the panda with obvious skepticism in her eyes. “Why are you so keen on me not telling Ranma?”
Come on, Genma, you’re losing her…. Fortunately, Genma came up with an idea. [How are you supposed to be an adequate sparring partner] (flip) [if he already knows all of your moves?]
“What?”
[Did you really think I was just doing this] (flip) [to make up for what I did earlier?] (flip) [There’s more to it than that, girl!] (flip) [The two schools of Anything Goes] (flip) [were developed in tandem—] (flip) [that is, when your father and I sparred] (flip) [one of us would pull out a new move] (flip) [which inspired the other to come up with a counter.] (flip) [We’d do this over and over] (flip) [because it forced us to constantly adapt our styles] (flip) [and that’s one of the main tenets of Anything Goes.]
“So, what you’re saying is….”
[I want you and Ranma] (flip) [to be able to develop your schools the same way] (flip) [so that the Combined School of Anything Goes] (flip) [will be a strong style.] (flip) [But apparently, the death of your mother] (flip) [has impeded your father’s teaching ability (not that] (flip) [I blame him) but as a result, Ranma has] (flip) [received much more intensive] (flip) [training than you have, and you are not yet] (flip) [skilled enough to develop the Tendo School] (flip) [by sparring with him, and that also means] (flip) [he will not be able to develop the] (flip) [Saotome School by sparring with you.]
“That’s why you’re doing this? To bring me up to Ranma’s level?”
[Not quite. Ours are rival schools, after all,] (flip) [and that rivalry is quite competitive. No,] (flip) [I only said I intend to help you to the point] (flip) [where you and Ranma can help each other improve.] (flip) [Believe me, I fully expect Ranma to win] (flip) [every single sparring match the two of you have.]
Akane smiled at this — it looked like Genma really did respect her as a martial artist on some level… though she still wasn’t entirely sure about the Bakusai Tenketsu.
“I… I need to think about this some more,” she told the panda. “I’ll let you know when I make up my mind.”
[That’s good enough for the moment.] (flip) [Just don’t tell Ranma, all right?] (flip) [If you spoil the surprise, it won’t] (flip) [do any good.]
Akane paused… and then she answered. “I won’t.”
Genma let out a sigh of relief — he’d managed to convince Akane to at least consider learning the move. And the logic he’d used hadn’t been totally bogus, either — sure, he hadn’t really been thinking about reviving the mutual training/sparring sessions he and Soun used to engage in when he’d originally decided to teach the girl the Bakusai Tenketsu, but now that he thought of it, those sessions had been really fruitful, and bringing back that tradition probably would be beneficial. How did you get to be so damn smart, Genma? the panda silently asked himself. Every way I look at it, this Bakusai Tenketsu deal looks good.
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(Posted Fri, 03 Nov 2006 05:35)
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