"Pick the one you, want. She's your fiancée."
"Oh he wants Akane."
"Oh, definitely!"
"Are you joking?"
"Well, you hate boys right?"
"So you're in luck, he's half girl!"
"Half? He's a really perverted fraction is what he is! I'm not marrying that freak!"
"C'mon Akane, you're the heir, it has to be you!"
"Why don't you marry the damn freak then! You like strange math problems, you deal with the freaky fraction!"
Sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, Ranma tried to tune them out. He was luckily not so naive as he'd lost his virginity long ago. By the same token, he was long used to being hated for being a freak before Jusenkyou. Now he just had one more difference was all.
Even if they hated him, this was unfortunately a matter of honor. Uniting the schools was something even Ranma felt was important. Ranma was however, well aware that marriages took two people, which wasn't apparently happening, not that he particularly wanted to be married either.
"Hey, I'm not marrying him, I'm no pervert. You hear that? Hey, I'm talking to you!"
Cracking an eye open, Ranma reluctantly looked up at the irate girl. "Why shout at me about it?"
Frowning contemptuously, Akane turned up her nose. "Because this is all your fault!"
Humming thoughtfully, Ranma closed his eyes again, tuning the girl out. He'd long since learned that arguing with someone like Ryouga was pointless, as he was wrong by virtue of existing. "Well, then, how 'bout I teach you martial arts, and we join the schools that way."
Frowning angrily, Akane bent down until she was in the pigtailed young man's face. "Me? Learn from you? Are you joking?"
Raising an eyebrow, Ranma smirked faintly. "Oh, you like the marriage thing better huh?"
Swallowing hard at the idea, Akane quickly regained her emotional momentum. "So why should I learn from you huh?"
At that point, Ranma didn't even bother to look at her, finding that keeping his eyes closed helped him maintain his peace of mind. "Because we had a match and you lost."
Turning away in a huff, the irate girl barked out. "Hah! I was just going easy on you."
Getting an idea and a mischievous grin, Nabiki smoothly broke in, her voice carrying an undercurrent of mischief. "Well then, how about another match to determine things."
Looking up in curiosity at hearing something sane, Ranma asked hopefully, "That sounds good, I win the match, she becomes my student, and we call it quits when she can beat her rival or whatever."
Smirk widening, Nabiki moved to correct things before Akane spoke up. "Oh no, the going rate for Akane is much higher than that. Any boy that defeats her, gets to date her. Since you've already won one match, let's raise the stakes. If you win, she's your little pet and does whatever you say for a month, then she gets a rematch for her freedom. If you lose, then you leave and Akane never sees you again."
Frowning slightly, the pigtailed boy muttered, "That isn't very fair."
Smiling in triumph, Akane prepared to kick his perverted ass all over the dojo. Obviously he wasn't up to the task, especially after seeing her earlier. "Alright, you're on!"
Unfortunately, Ranma was thinking it wasn't very fair to Akane. He wasn't about to start throwing any fights, and even if she took her training seriously, she might never be able to best him. He didn't want her as a pet or slave, but that might work to his advantage as he didn't really have to do anything with her other than train her.
Sighing, Ranma reluctantly got up. "Fine then, if that's how you want it."
In the dojo, Akane barely restrained herself to wait for the start signal.
As soon as the match started, she launched into a powerful straight blow, charging the short distance across the dojo towards the off-guard boy.
Who in turn shifted slightly, barely dodging to her side while lightly pushing his shoulder into hers, destroying her balance and sending her tumbling across the floor.
Kasumi and Nabiki stared in shock at just how easily Ranma bested their sister. The move had been so subtle and smoothly executed that they had almost missed it.
Getting up with an angry growl, Akane charged at him once more, this time going low to slip under his guard.
Arms crossed in seeming boredom, Ranma waited until the girl was committed and had too much momentum to change her course, then landed an ax-kick into her highest shoulder blade with just enough force to send her smashing face first into the floor. Leaping on one leg over her, Ranma turned around to watch the gi clad girl skid to a stop, her rear hiked awkwardly into the air.
Seeing her stir and get up, Ranma sighed and prepared for a long match.
Once again finding herself in the bath, Akane glared at the young man in the changing room with her. As much as she'd hated it, she'd eventually been forced to admit defeat. Almost two hours of sparring that left her barely able to move, and the jerk was still fresh as a daisy.
She hadn't just been defeated, she'd been humiliated and crushed by a guy that at no point in the match seemed to take it seriously
Worse, she had been sent into the bath to be a 'proper slave girl' and bathe her Master. Refusing to be a good slave girl meant giving up her honor and martial arts.
Ranma on the other hand was just glad she was treating him with some of the respect a martial arts sensei deserved from a student. He didn't know why they insisted she bathe with him, but they seemed to have more than a few odd quirks, just like the Joketsuzoku. Apparently things only got really complicated with them if you defeated more than one girl at once. Who knew he'd find another bunch of warriors girls that gave themselves to guys strong enough to beat them?
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Valor Phoenix
(Posted Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:06)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.