"Whenever you're ready," Ranma said, adopting his loose, deceptive stance. He grinned broadly as he sensed her power level. If anything she was more powerful than that Taishiji guy. It could be an interesting fight.
Kanu nodded wordlessly. If she hadn't been in battle mode, his grin would have made her heart skip a beat, but as it was, she was more concerned with trying to sense his power level. He had to be hiding it somehow because she could barely sense anything.
As if on an unseen signal, Kanu surged forward and struck out with a spinning back fist to Ranma's head. Ranma leaned back slightly allowing the fist to pass just millimeters away from his nose. Kanu went with the spin, turning it into a back kick aimed at Ranma's chest. Ranma ducked the kick and swept Kanu's foot from under her. She landed hard on her back while Ranma backed off to allow her to rise.
"Not bad," Kanu said as she climbed to her feet. "Guess I'll have to kick it up a notch."
Ranma just smirked and made a 'bring it' gesture with his hand. Kanu leapt forward and began firing incredibly fast kicks and punches at Ranma. The pigtailed fighter was gratified to see that he had to block most of them since they were too fast to dodge. A large grin began to spread across Ranma's face.
Kanu, for her part, was impressed. Not many people could defend themselves against her speed, but Ranma's defense seemed nearly impenetrable. On the other hand, he seemed reluctant to counter attack. Even as this thought went through her mind, his stance shifted subtly as she launched a roundhouse kick at him.
Ranma slapped her leg as he ducked under it, imparting more momentum than she was prepared for. She was turned around and stumbled slightly as she fought to restore her footing. Before she did so, she felt him slap her lower back causing her to stumble forward again.
When she recovered, she found him standing a few feet away waiting for her to continue. Her eyes narrowed and she decided that it was time to take things to the next level. Thus far he had come out on top twice and she hadn't penetrated his defenses yet. Kanu gathered her power and was pleased to see his eyes widen slightly.
Kanu charged the pigtailed fighter once again, this time firing off kick after kick, saturating his defenses to set him up for the technique she planned to hit him with. Seeing her chance, she pooled all her available ki into her right leg and launched a powerful ki-infused thrust kick at his chest.
It should have landed, but somehow, Ranma used his incredible speed to catch the kick on his crossed arms. However, the force of the kick and the ki technique it delivered blew him violently backward, sending him crashing into the school's outside wall head first. The force of the impact shattered the wall and dazed Ranma as the debris fell on top of him.
Kanu had only just recovered her footing when suddenly her legs collapsed beneath her. She fell to the ground with a startled squawk, unable to move her legs. At first, she couldn't figure out what happened, but then she recalled the slap on the back which she thought at the time had been just an attempt to taunt her. Damn, he was good. He had used a pressure point attack on her. If she had kept going like she had, she would have lost the fight when it finally took effect.
She looked over at the pile of rubble. He still hadn't emerged, so maybe she had won after all. She saw some of the spectators cautiously approach the pile of broken concrete. They quickly stepped back and her heart sank as the rubble began to move.
Ranma fought off the waves of dizziness as his head throbbed from the impact with the wall. His arms hurt like hell too where he had blocked her kick. It felt damn near as powerful as one of Ryoga's and would have shattered his forearms had he been anyone else. He groaned as he began to extract himself from the debris.
Standing up, he fought back a wave of nausea. Ranma figured he probably had a concussion. He hadn't had time to properly position himself for impact with the wall because he was moving too fast and still fighting off the effects of her ki technique. Still, it would probably be gone by the time he got home.
Looking around he spotted Kanu levering herself up on her arms. With a grin, he realized Toufuu's pressure point technique had finally kicked in. He staggered over and sat down beside her.
"Draw?" Ranma offered.
"Agreed," Kanu nodded. "What did you do to me?"
"It's a shiatsu technique a doctor friend of mine showed me," Ranma chuckled. "Don't worry. It'll wear off in about an hour and you'll be good as new. Nice ki technique, by the way. I hadn't expected that one."
"Thanks," Kanu grinned. "I can't believe you shrugged it off like that."
"Lots of experience with fighting people that can hit at least that hard if not harder," Ranma explained. "Still hurt like hell though. Shattering the wall with my head didn't help much either. You're pretty damn good."
"Not good enough to make you go all out though, apparently," Kanu snorted.
"Feh, I never go all out," Ranma admitted. "At least not unless I have to. It's part of my style; you never show your opponent everything you got. My higher level techniques are too dangerous to use against the average fighter." Kanu frowned slightly. "Not that you're average. You might even be able to handle some of them. I just didn't think it was necessary to hurt ya that much just for a friendly fight," Ranma was quick to add. For some reason he was reluctant to insult this girl. "By the way, I'm Ranma Saotome."
"Pleased to meet you," Kanu smiled. "Welcome to Seito Private School."
"Thanks," Ranma smiled back. "So I guess that means I passed the initiation."
"And then some," Kanu laughed.
"Are you guys alright?" one of the awed spectators asked.
"I'm fine," Kanu answered. "How about you, Ranma?"
"Great," Ranma answered.
"Why don't you guys go help the others to the infirmary while Ranma and I have a little chat," Kanu suggested to the people gathered around them,
"Right, Miss Unchou," they said and the crowd began to disperse.
Kanu turned to Ranma and regarded him for a few moments. Definitely a cutie, she concluded.
"So what do you know about what's going on around here?" she asked him. "I'm assuming you just moved here."
"Yeah, a couple of days ago," Ranma agreed. "As for what's going on? Not much. Just that people take fighting pretty seriously around here. Nothing like where I'm from. I mean I heard a lot of 'Ranma! Prepare to die!' but nobody ever would have gone that far. Mainly we just wanted to beat the crap out of each other. Here it seems like people are a bunch of psychos. I mean my cousin Hakufu was nearly killed the other day when some jackass tried to cave her head in with a crowbar."
"Hakufu? Hakufu Sonsaku? The Sho Haou?" Kanu asked.
"Don't know about the Sho Haou thing, but yeah, Hakufu is my cousin," Ranma nodded.
"Are you familiar with the story of the Three Kingdoms?" Kanu probed.
"A little," Ranma replied. "Pop wasn't big on literature. If it wasn't a martial arts scroll, he usually used it to start the campfire. Mom told me a little bit about it when she explained what this bead meant." Ranma causally flicked the gold magatama hanging from his ear.
"I see," Kanu said, wondering what sort of life Ranma had led.
Kanu gave him a quick who's who of the various fighters. When she got to Totaku, Ranma growled.
"That’s the one that ordered the attack on Fu-chan," Ranma said darkly.
"He won the Big Fighters Tournament two years ago," Kanu explained. "He's a very strong fighter, but I've heard he's unhinged."
"Figures," Ranma snorted. "That almost guarantees I'll be locking horns with him. Back in Nerima, I seemed to draw in the crazies like flies."
Kanu didn't know quite what to say to that.
"Just be careful, Ranma," Kanu cautioned. "Totaku is dangerous and he's a killer. Several of the schools have been aligning against him and his school, Rakuyo."
Ranma just shook his head in dismay at the seemingly casual way killing people was discussed here. Still, what Kanu told him had been enlightening. It also gave him more to think about. Evidently he was going to have to begin training with the scrolls his father had given him. The Yamasenken and the Umisenken were powerful techniques and he might need them in dealing with the psychotic whackos around here.
"So..." Kanu said, favoring him with a sly grin. "Since you cost me the use of my legs for another half an hour at least, how about a lift home?"
Ranma laughed nervously and scratched the base of his pigtail.
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(Posted Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:36)
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