And now for something slightly less pointless.

Yagami 1/2
A Ranma 0.5/King of Fighters Crossover
by Black Dragon
black_dragon74@hotmail.com
https://www.angelfire.com/anime5/fanficlair/index.html

Disclaimer:
And then the Lord said down to the pilgrims, hungry from years of travel and hardship: "These characters belong to Takahashi, not thee! Thou mustn't make any dough off theseth characters, or I shalt smite thous! Now DEATH!! DEATH, to those who hate ham!!"

Chapter 10
Showdown at St. Baccus
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Kasumi sighed as she finished replacing the bandage around Akane's ankle, which had been hastily applied the previous night.
Akane nibbled on her bottom lip anxiously. "Well Kasumi? What do you think?"
Kasumi simply shook her head. "I'm sorry Akane. There's simply no way you can compete in the tournament like this. If you didn't have school, I'd even recommend that you avoid even walking for at least a few days."
"A few days?" Akane moaned, holding her face in her hands. "The tournament is tomorrow! This is terrible! I've let everyone down, and we're going to lose again this year!"
"Oh, I don't know about that," Nabiki said from her position in the hallway, apparently having returned from coaxing Soun into the living room (he hadn't taken the "assassination attempt" very well).
Akane looked up at the middle sister hopefully. "You mean... there's some way I can still compete?"
Nabiki blinked, then sweatdropped. "Well... no. There's pretty much nothing you can do about the 'you letting everyone down' part." Akane's shoulders slumped. "BUT, we can still find a replacement good enough to win."
Akane blinked. "Who?"
Nabiki smirked. "Think about it; who are two people that we know who are female at least some of the time, and superb martial artists?"
Akane's eyebrow twitched. The "some of the time" comment made it clear who one of the people were. "I am NOT going to crawl back to Ranma and beg him to replace me!"
Kasumi sweatdropped. "Surely you wouldn't have to beg..."
Nabiki snorted. "To get Ranma into a leotard? She'd have to put out, not just beg." Seeing Kasumi redden and Akane blanch, Nabiki cleared her throat. "Well, then the last option is Shampoo. You're probably going to have to show some humility, but-"
"Shampoo?!" Akane shouted. "No way am I going to ask that arrogant bimbo for help!" She frowned, then brightened. "Wait! What about Min?!"
Nabiki blinked, then she frowned. "Oh, right. Her."
"Yeah! She even seemed to know a lot about rhythmic gymnastics! She was going to join the team! She'd be perfect!"
Nabiki's eyes narrowed. "Well, great. I guess she'd be willing to help, huh?"
Akane blinked. "Nabiki? Are you okay? Is there something you have against her?"
Nabiki blinked rapidly in surprise, turning toward her little sister. "What? No! What brought that on?"
Akane shrugged, and laid back down on her bed. "I don't know. You really don't seem to like her, and I can't figure out why."
Nabiki turned away and stared into the hallway. "I... Something about her just rubs me the wrong way, or something. I don't hate her or anything, but, yeah, I don't like her very much." She sighed. "Look, let's just drop the subject, all right? I'll stick behind so I can help you to school. I think we have that pair of crutches that Dad used when he fell down the stairs, so you won't be completely helpless. We'll stop at Tofu's on the way and then you can talk to Min at school, all right?"
Akane nodded, brightening. "Okay! Thanks Nabiki!"
"Yeah yeah, no charge," Nabiki muttered as she left Akane's room and wandered into the hall.
'I just can't understand it,' she thought. 'What is it about that girl that pisses me off so much?' It was much like how she didn't like Shampoo, but at least that had a logical reason; the girl had deliberately made her and Akane enemies, and talked down to them like they were little animals trying to act tough.
'What's wrong with her? What's wrong with ME?' Nabiki clenched her teeth as she reached the dining room and sat down next to Soun, who was praying feverishly for his daughter's health as a respectable stream of tears washed down his cheeks.
Nabiki hated not having a clear grasp of a given situation, and her distaste for confusion multiplied exponentially when the problem was with her and not something else. Other people could be investigated and questioned. Getting an answer from oneself, when one was not already fully aware of what the answer was, was far more complicated and philosophical than anything Nabiki typically dealt with.
*Bump* Nabiki's head jerked up as a thump sounded from the roof. "What was that?"
"Eh?" Soun halted his praying and stared at Nabiki, apparently oblivious to the noise.
Nabiki frowned as she searched the ceiling, as if expecting to see through it and catch a glimpse of whatever was disturbing the shingles.
All at once, she caught a bit of movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned just in time to see a black blur become a black speck as it bounded to the neighbors' roof and then off onto the next.
She blinked. "What was... no... who was that?"
__________________________________________________________________________________

Raven landed on the roof of the two-story house, and then leapt across the street onto another rooftop, cursing whatever man put together the Tendos' shoddy excuse for a rooftop.
Even if he doubted anybody noticed, that loose roof tile had really startled him, and the Ninja had quickly decided to leave before anyone tried to investigate it. Besides, he had already heard everything he needed to know.
But at the same time, the information he had acquired confused him. They had referred to Ranma as a possible candidate to replace Akane as the substitute, and Akane had used the pronoun "him" to refer to Ranma. That in itself didn't make sense, even more so when the only Ranma that Raven knew of was definitely male. Never mind the comment Nabiki had made about "putting out", though that could take on numerous other dimensions that he really didn't feel comfortable dwelling on.
He shook his head as he reached the apartment complexes to clear it, and leapt upward, grabbing onto a hanging clothesline and swinging around it to launch himself on the roof of the higher apartments.
Orienting himself toward the Yagami household, Raven thought back to what he had overheard at the dojo. The simplest explanation was that Akane had made a slip of the tongue, and that there was some girl of adequate skill named Ranma going to Furinkan High. The simplest explanation was usually the correct one. Considering the matter, deemed as one of low importance anyway, closed, Raven went over the rest of what he had heard.
"Shampoo" was not a name he was familiar with, so he'd have to ask Hana about it. "Min", however, was a name he knew very well, and if the Furinkan team could land her as a replacement, then their little show should go off without a hitch. Meaning that he had another task to complete.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma sighed wearily as he fingered his bandages in irritation, and cast another forlorn look at the practice dummy staked in the middle of the backyard. The dummy stared back at him, leering, taunting him with its beaten sandbag face, daring him to walk over there and beat the filling out of it!
His muscles tightening, Ranma got up to do just that, but the hand of the girl sitting next to him grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back down into sitting position.
"Ranma, doctor say you no practice yet!" Shampoo admonished the pigtailed boy as she sipped her tea, ignoring his pained, begging look.
"But Shampoo! It's just beating on a practice dummy! It's not like it's going to fight back!" He protested, trying to get up again.
Shampoo grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him back down next to her. "Shampoo promise mother she not let you get more hurt. Shampoo keep word," she said somberly, nodding her head. Much to Ranma's embarrassment, Nodoka had asked the Amazon girl to start calling her mother. Oddly enough (as it seemed to Ranma, anyway), Shampoo didn't seem to mind.
Ranma grit his teeth and crossed his arms over his chest in frustration. "This is stupid! I can't even exercise a little bit without someone telling me I'm gonna hurt myself!"
Shampoo couldn't hide her smile even as she shook her head. "Ranma too strong be worried about exercise. Ranma get much better, then fight all want, okay?"
He grumbled incoherently, his arms still crossed over his chest. "You didn't have to interrupt that fight, you know. I was going to win. Tomas just had a momentary advantage, that's all."
Shampoo nodded indulgently as she sipped her tea.
"I had my second wind! I had adrenaline! He was toast!"
Shampoo nodded again as she looked up at the garden planted in the backyard, admiring the careful arrangement of flowers.
"I'd worn him down and everything! That last technique was all he had left!"
Shampoo nodded again, wondering if she should ask Nodoka about teaching her some homemaking skills.
"YOU'RE NOT EVEN LISTENING TO ME!!" Ranma shouted.
Shampoo nodded yet again, patting Ranma's leg sympathetically. She already knew how to cook and sew, which were traveler's skills, but she had very little other domestic experience, which probably wouldn't make for a very good wife in Japan.

Ranma groaned and gave up, once again staring irritably at the worn practice dummy out in his backyard.
Then he blinked as a bare glint of sunlight reflected off of something in a tree in his line of vision.
"LOOK OUT!!!" Both Ranma and Shampoo shouted the warning at the same time as they sensed the incoming projectiles, and they each dove to push the other out of the way.
*Thud!* "Ow!" "Aiyah!" Ranma and Shampoo landed on the ground in a heap, both sporting bruises on their foreheads. Above, where they had been sitting, a number of small shuriken struck their targeted positions, forming a vague outline of Ranma's position a moment ago.
Before the two martial artists could fully recover their wits or their pride, a slightly amused voice came from the tree Ranma had been staring toward. "You get an 'A' for agility, but a 'D' for coordination. Those shuriken wouldn't have even hit you had you not moved."
Ranma growled and looked up toward the tree, spying the barest shadow of a figure from within the webs of branches. "Who the hell are you?! Show yourself!" Next to him, Shampoo quickly got up and withdrew her bonbori, determined to protect Ranma in his current weakness.
"Of course. My apologies for this incident, but I must be sure of your abilities before I proceed." At once a black blur shot out of the tree, spraying leaves and dry twigs in its wake.
Shampoo took a step back as the figure landed in a crouching position without a sound, and shifted into a defensive stance as the man slowly stood up straight. He was wearing all black clothes, much of it being light padded armor which was largely obscured under a dark black cloak. He also had long black hair, which was tied into a long bundle and wrapped once around his neck like a scarf.
"Who you?" Shampoo demanded as Ranma got up behind her.
Raven bowed. "You may call me Raven. I come to deliver a message to Ranma Yagami." He nodded slightly toward Ranma, who frowned.
"What kinda messenger announces himself by throwin' Ninja stars?" Ranma asked irritably, balling his hands into fists.
"One who must be sure of the recipient's skills," the Ninja answered without hesitation. "I am inviting you to a dangerous arena, and I would not have my superior's time wasted with the antics of weaklings."
A vein popped up on Ranma's head, and his hands shook slightly. "Weakling? ... Heh... I'll show you who's-"
Before he could charge the intruder, Shampoo let out a battle cry and threw one of her bonbori at him, deliberately placing herself in Ranma's way.
Raven's form moved aside smooth as liquid, letting the Chinese mace zip by harmlessly. Then his hand blurred in a flurry of motion, and Shampoo was suddenly faced with a storm of shuriken hurtling toward her.
*Ting!* *Ting!* *Ting!* *Twang!* *Ting!* Shampoo's mace moved just as fast, blocking each and every projectile with her other mace before charging forward with a wide roundhouse.
Raven ducked the kick with unfathomable fluidity, and then countered with three lightning-fast jabs to Shampoo's stomach, hoping to stun her long enough to land a knockout blow.
To his surprise, she easily shrugged off the attacks, and used the momentum to strike a glancing blow with her remaining bonbori, forcing Raven back.
After recovering from the hit, Raven backflipped away to gain distance, and detonated a smoke bomb on the ground, instantly hiding his form in a vortex of gray.
Shampoo stopped her advance as the smokescreen washed into her, gray dust parting around her slim form.
"Just what do you think you're doing?!" Ranma demanded, having at least waited until combat had slowed before complaining. "Shampoo, stop fighting my battles for me! I can take him just fine!"
"Ranma no worry," Shampoo assured him, her eyes carefully scanning her surroundings, "Ninja boy fast..."
Her hand lashed out to her right, barely grabbing and halting a black glove that had two fingers aiming for a point on her neck. She smirked.
"... but no that fast."
Tugging hard on her opponent's wrist, she brought her knee up into the surprised Ninja's stomach, then smashed the handle on her bonbori onto the back of his head, doubling him over. Quickly dropping her weapon, she then grabbed the back of his shirt with both hands, and unceremoniously hurled him into the tree in which he had first appeared.
*CRACK!!* Ranma winced as the surface of the tree trunk splintered at the force of the throw, causing leaves to fall off as the whole tree shook. Then he went back to grumbling to himself. He wanted to do that!
Raven slowly fell onto the ground, forcing himself to contain any pained noises. Bits of bark and fresh wood fiber fell about him, and he found himself marveling at how a girl of Shampoo's size and apparent mass could possess that kind of strength.
Shampoo turned away pointedly as the Ninja got to his feet. "Hmph. Ninja boy no match for Shampoo, certainly no match for Ranma. Ranma no need waste time fight you. You go away."
Raven bit his lip behind his traditional Ninja mask as he considered it. "Well... I suppose I can take your word for it. I surrender our little match to you, Shampoo." He stood up carefully, making sure not to reveal just how much it hurt. He then reached under his cloak and pulled out a rolled-up paper letter before tossing it to Ranma.
Ranma caught it easily, and frowned as he unrolled it. "What is this?"
"It's an invitation," Raven explained, "to fight a match at Saint Hebereke high school tomorrow, after the annual rhythmic gymnastics tournament."
Ranma raised an eyebrow as he read, and Shampoo frowned.
"This invitation is purely a chance to display your skill before an audience containing my 'boss'. There is nothing at stake, and no consequences if you lose or decline. This match will proceed at your whim alone." Raven bowed deeply as he finished, awaiting Ranma's response.
Shampoo shook her head. "Ranma no can-*Mmph*" she found herself suddenly muffled as a hand clasped over her mouth, and Ranma pulled her back.
"You're on, bird boy! I'll be there!" Ranma grabbed Shampoo around the waist as she started struggling, wincing only slightly as it agitated his healing ribs.
Raven stared at the scene for a moment, wondering why it was necessary for Ranma to restrain his apparent bodyguard, but then shrugged. "Of course. Your acceptance is much appreciated. Farewell." Raven turned and was off like a bullet, easily jumping over the fence and landing on the neighbor's roof.

As Raven's figure disappeared from view, Shampoo finally broke free of Ranma's hold, immediately turning around on her friend.
"What Ranma think doing?! No can fight, is still hurt bad!!"
"Details, details," Ranma dismissed, waving his hand slightly. "I can handle it. Like you said, a guy like that's no sweat for me. I'll be fine."
"What's going on?"
Both teenagers turned around to see Yurumi walking out into the backyard, looking curious.
"I heard some kind of popping noise, and then, it sounded like, um..." Yurumi trailed off as she observed the immediate area. "What happened to the tree? And why are there Ninja stars on the ground?"
Shampoo opened her mouth, but before she could even begin speaking, Ranma's hand once moved to impede her.
"Nothing! Nothing happened! And we certainly weren't attacked by a Ninja!" Ranma insisted, quickly applying the earlier hold to Shampoo once more. He really wished she would stop struggling. Aside from making his ribs hurt, the way her movements ended up rubbing her back and rear against him was really disconcerting.
Yurumi stared at her brother strangely. "We... weren't attacked by a Ninja?"
"What? Me agreeing to a fight? Don't be ridiculous!" Ranma asserted, getting too far ahead of himself in his excuses.
"Fight? What fight?" the young girl asked worriedly.
"Fight?!" Ranma said incredulously, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Where do you get these ideas?" He rolled his eyes unconvincingly.
A large sweatdrop slowly rolled down Yurumi's head, and she decided that Ranma had managed to acquire a head wound during the previous day's battle with Tomas that Dr. Tofu had somehow missed.
"Okaaaaaaaay... why are you holding Shampoo like that?"
Shampoo finally stopped moving and sighed wearily into Ranma's palm.
Ranma glanced at her for a moment. "We're, uh... practicing wrestling moves... or something."
"Riiiiiiiiight..." Yurumi said, thinking that another trip to the doctor's office might be in order. "Well, if the Ninja's gone already, then I'm going to go back inside."
"Ninja?" Ranma shouted, annoyed, "didn't I just say that there was no Ninja?!"
Yurumi stopped to think about that, and then shrugged. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure myself. Bye."

Ranma watched as Yurumi re-entered the house and shut the door, and then released Shampoo. "Sorry about that, Shampoo. You can go now."
Shampoo let out a sigh, and then leaned back into Ranma, despite the fact that he wasn't holding her anymore.
"Um... Shampoo? Are you okay? I didn't suffocate you or anything, did I?" Ranma asked anxiously, worried that he might have hurt her somehow.
To his relief and confusion, Shampoo looked back at him and smirked slightly. "What? Ranma only want hold Shampoo when other people around?"
Ranma sweatdropped and blushed a bit, realizing that he had been holding her rather tightly. "Eh heh... sorry." He regained his composure and stood her up himself. "Seriously though, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anybody about the match. It's no big deal, but somebody might get worried for no reason."
Shampoo frowned deeply and narrowed her eyes. "Ranma... Shampoo worried! Ranma still not better!"
"Yeah, see?" Ranma said, nodding, "this is exactly what I'm talking about."
Shampoo growled in frustration, and covered her face with her hand. Then, after a moment of thought, she lowered her hand and rubbed her chin. She had made a promise to Nodoka, but at the same time, Ranma was her best and only friend. And while she was feeling very protective of him right now, as a fighter of similar caliber she understood exactly how he felt. Perhaps she wouldn't be quite so stubborn if she were in his position, but Ranma took more pride in his martial arts than she did, and his gung-ho devotion and determination was one of the things she admired most about him.
Finally, she sighed and turned to Ranma. "Okay. Shampoo no say anything about fight. But Ranma promise Shampoo you be careful, okay?"
Ranma laughed. "Hey, when am I not?" He immediately winced and rubbed his side, having hurt himself from the forced laughter.
Shampoo sweatdropped. He was doomed.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey, did you hear the news? I heard Akane's been hurt!" Hiroshi whispered to his long-time friend as he lined up his free-throw.
"You're kidding! A day before the match? Man, that sucks!" Daisuke said, making his own shot toward the basket, and missed the baseboard completely.
"Yeah, I know. Looks like St. Baccus wins again." Hiroshi made his shot, and at least managed to brush the netting as the ball went low.
All around them, the gym class was abuzz with the latest bits of gossip as they all pretended to be practicing basketball. Gossip was a Furinkan pastime second only to fighting, and they were damn proud of it, too.
"Heh, well if you think that's major, get a load of this: Ranma Yagami's came in today all beaten up!"
Hiroshi tripped as he was jogging to retrieve his ball, and fell flat on his face. "Ow! What?!"
Daisuke chuckled as he helped the other boy up. "Yeah, a lot of people didn't notice, but a few of the girls did. He kept massaging his ribs tenderly and looked like he was really uncomfortable. He even got excused from today's gym class! PLUS, I heard from those same girls that today at lunch, he didn't even go back for seconds!"
Hiroshi's eyes bugged out. "Well, that clinches it. Something's up."
His friend nodded. "Oh yeah. I don't like this. First he comes in that one day like he had escaped from an incinerator, and today he comes in with his stomach pulped."
Hiroshi scratched the back of his head. "Well... I mean, he is a fighter. Who are we to speculate?"
Daisuke just shook his head. "A really strong fighter, Hiroshi. And if gets beaten up badly enough that he can't do gym, that means that there's an even stronger one out there. Yeesh. Must be some kinda monster or something."
"Well, I don't if I count as a 'monster'..." As both boys were retrieving their basketballs, they turned to see who had spoken to them.
Tomas walked toward the basket smugly, juggling three basketballs in his hands.
Hiroshi looked doubtful. "You beat Yagami? ......... Nah."
"And why not?" Tomas challenged, launching all the balls in quick succession. "Do you know anyone else who could?"
*Whoosh* *Bok!* *Whoosh* *Swish* All three balls sailed into the suspended hoop, only one of them even hitting the backboard first.
Daisuke crossed his arms over his chest. "I dunno... even if he is the one who's all beaten up, how do we know you actually won? He might've gotten in a lucky shot that knocked you out at the last second, or something."
Tomas' left eyebrow twitched. "I beat him, alright? You can ask him yourself, once you see him again."
"Nah, by then we'll have lost interest in this," Hiroshi stated casually, clearly not concerned with his short attention span. "It just doesn't seem right... I mean, you look fine. If you really beat Yagami, shouldn't you be almost as badly hurt as he is?"
Tomas shrugged. "I used a special technique that he didn't see coming, and it took 'im out."
Daisuke's eyebrows rose. "A one hit knockout?"
"Well..." Tomas hesitated for a moment, "he MIGHT have been saved at the last moment and whisked away by that cute Chinese chick he's always hanging out with. But he was pretty banged up by then."
"Uh huh," Daisuke said, crossing his arms over his chest. "All right. Tell you what, I'll go get Kuno, and then you show us the technique you used."
"Kuno?" Tomas scoffed, shaking his head, "are you joking? There's no way he could take that much damage. I'd kill him!"
"That's okay," Daisuke said, shrugging, "Hiroshi, go get Kuno, would you? Hiroshi?" Turning his attention fully upon his unresponsive pal, he noticed that the blond boy's eyes were riveted to something at the far end of the basketball court. Looking himself, he saw that the martial arts rhythmic gymnastics team had gathered at the edge of the gym, and had devastated expressions on their faces as they spoke to Akane, who had a tell-tale brace on her right leg and was using a pair of crutches to hold herself up.
"Well, looks like the rumor was true," Daisuke muttered, mostly absorbed with watching the usual gymnastics team in their leotards.
"Akane doesn't look upset though," Hiroshi speculated, scratching his head as Tomas approached from behind. "I wonder if she has some kind of plan."
Tomas shrugged, adjusting his hat. "Knowing her, she might be planning on fighting the match like that, and try to convince them that it'll be alright."
Daisuke snorted and turned away. "Yeah, right. As good a fighter as she is, even if she wasn't hurt, she'd have a hell of a time beating Kodachi. I've heard a thing or two about her."
"You mean the kinky torture chamber with all the black leather and the-" Hiroshi begin to ask, before Daisuke slapped a hand over his mouth.
"No! The... uh... other things." Daisuke insisted, keeping his voice low. "About using dangerous weapons in the ring. Spikes and bombs! That sort of thing!"
Tomas sweatdropped. Just how far removed from rhythmic gymnastics was this crazy sport?
"Don't worry! I have the perfect substitute! We'll win this year for sure!" Akane suddenly exclaimed, loud enough so that the entire court could hear.
"She has a substitute?" Hiroshi asked doubtfully, "where's she gonna find another girl as good as her on such short notice?"
Daisuke nodded sagely. "Right. She'd have to be agile, fast, skilled, have experience with unusual weapons, and she'd have to be willing to risk an off-site attack all so that she can get in a fight."
"Plus, she'll probably have to be hot," Hiroshi added.
Daisuke nodded once more. "Right again. The gymnastics team would never let any chick represent them who wasn't cute in a leotard."
"Aw, HELL no..." Tomas mumbled, slapping a hand over his face. He knew exactly who the substitute was.

"Hello ladies! I hear you need a hand!" The entire rhythmic gymnastics team, and pretty much everyone else who had a decent view of the area, turned to watch the double-door entrance to the gym as a lone female figure emerged, a gymnastics ribbon slung casually over her shoulder.
Many of the boys in the gym went slack-jawed. Not from surprise, though few had guessed that Akane would seek out Furinkan's newest female fighter for the last-minute substitution.
Min strode casually into the gym, smirking slightly as she felt the entire room stop and stare at her. She was wearing a green spandex leotard that had two black stripes that began above her legs and then met at the collar, curving over the swell of her breasts. Besides the leotard, she wore a black sash around her waist, and wore tight black gloves.
The captain of the gymnastics team's eyes widened. "You're the replacement?"
Min smiled brightly and nodded, making a "V" with her left hand and turning slightly at the hips, posing. "Yup! Just leave everything to me, ladies! Those prissy Hebereke brats don't stand a chance!"
"Yes! With you on our side, we can't lose!" another member said, her eyes shining. Everyone in the school had heard about Min's short battle with Ranma Yagami, who himself had quickly acquired a reputation for having God-like fighting ability. And while Min hadn't actually done that well, tales of her remarkable agility and precision spread alongside tales of her defeat.
With a confident chuckle, Min snapped up the ribbon on her shoulder, and then moved it in graceful circles about her in a display that had Akane quietly seething about her own inability to master the tool.
*Whksh!* Snapping the ribbon out, the yellow length of cloth wrapped tightly around a basketball, weaving itself around the rubber sphere according to the strong, subtle manipulations of Min's wrist.
With a light twitch, Min sent the ball sailing toward her through the air with a strong topspin, and easily caught it on her index finger as it spun like a top.
With her demonstration complete, the teenage Ninja tossed the rubber sphere over her shoulder, not even bothering to watch as it bounced off the nearest basketball baseboard and dropped through the hoop.
"So, is there a practice session after school, or what?" Min asked, smiling lightly as she looped up her ribbon.
"No way!" the captain exclaimed, "we can't afford to hold another practice session! Half of our team was ambushed in the evening, on the way back home!"
Min snorted and planted her hands on her hips. "I don't mean to belittle you girls, but I can protect myself just fine."
Akane shook her head. "We know that you can take care of yourself Min, but these girls are sneaky! And desperate! Last night Kodachi herself attacked me in my own bedroom!"
The captain nodded. "That's pretty unusual; Kodachi's a rich girl, so she doesn't usually do the grunt work herself. They either must have decided that Akane's too skilled for the normal gymnasts to handle, or they're being extra careful about removing the last of the competition."
Min nodded slowly, considering being attacked in her own home. Inwardly, she was containing laughter. Anybody that assaulted the Bogard homestead would need nothing short of an army! "Don't worry, I'll be careful." She winked at them. "The important thing is that we win tomorrow!"
"All right!"
"Yes!"
"You go, girl!"

Across the basketball court, Tomas sighed and turned away, rubbing his head irritably.
"This... is going to end badly... I just know it..."
Hiroshi and Daisuke, focused as they were on the contours of Min's body as outlined by the skin-tight spandex, neglected to comment.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Later that night...

"Kione, are you sure you know what you're doing?" one of the gymnasts whispered, her arms wrapped around her torso to keep warm.
"For the hundredth time, yes! Would you just let me work?" The leader of the group whispered back harshly, and then slowly ran her hairpin back into the keyhole, searching for the subtle movements that would allow her to open the door.
"Well, just hurry it up, would you? It's freezing out here!" A third girl shuddered mightily as she ran her hands up and down her arms, trying to stave off the cold night air.
Kione, the apparent leader of the ambush squad, rolled her eyes and turned away from her infiltration to address her three companions. "And who's fault is it, exactly, that you're standing out here in your team leotards?"
The other three girls blushed, which contrasted greatly with the pale shades they had been taking on over the last few minutes. While Kione had worn a heavy jacket and pants, the other girls were all wearing gym leotards, with their legs and arms bare.
"W-Well, Kochi always makes her attacks in her leotard!" One of the girls protested, failing to convince anyone that she had even a remotely logical case.
Kione rolled her eyes once more and turned back to the lock. "Right. And you want to be like Kodachi?"
One of the others sweatdropped. "Well... she IS a good gymnast..."
Kione snorted. "Good thing too, otherwise she'd never have been able to dodge all the men in white coats when they came for her." *Click* "Got it!"
One of the girls breathed a sigh of relief and pushed forward. "Thank goodness! I thought I was going to freeze to de-" her path was cut off, though, as the girls' leader spread her arms in front of the entrance, barring them from entry.
"Careful! This isn't a social visit, we're making an ambush!" their leader admonished, pointing a finger into the air. "We don't know jack about this girl Min; just that she was good enough for those Furinkan twits to pull her in as a substitute, and that, according to rumors at least, she was good enough to last a little while against someone named 'Ranma Yagami'."
The other girls blinked. "Ranma Yagami? Who's that?"
Kione nodded. "Exactly. We're going in blind." She turned toward the house and slowly opened the door, keeping herself in a crouching position as she crept forward. After a moment, she moved her right hand back and then swept it forward, gesturing for her companions to follow.
When all four gymnasts had entered the house, the last one in slowly closed the door, careful to avoid making any noise at all.

"All right, split up and check all the rooms," Kione whispered, "I'll start upstairs, while you search down here first and make your way up. And remember: no noise until you find her!"
"Right!" her subordinates all whispered back, and immediately branched out into the different rooms of the fairly large homestead.

Kione herself crept upstairs, and looked down the hall. Numerous doors greeted her, and she scanned each wall, trying to guess the size of each room by the distance between the doorways.
While doing so, she noticed that one of the rooms had a sign nailed onto it, and slinked down the hall to that particular doorway.
In the major absence of any light, other than the moonlight shining into the hall from a window at the end of it, she couldn't tell what the picture on the sign was other than it was some sort of mostly black shape. However, under the picture was red lettering just big enough for her to see clearly.
" 'Danger. Beware of Ninja,' " she mumbled to herself. Then she thought it over. It was the sort of sign that a teenager might put on his or her room, and probably not an adult. Nodding to herself, Kione slowly turned the knob of the door, and gently let herself in.
Once she had noiselessly closed the door behind her and taken an initial look around the room, Kione was tempted to pat herself on the back for her excellent detective work; lying on a chair in the middle of the room was a Furinkan school uniform.
Smirking slightly at the apparent ease of the night's mission, she turned toward the lump in the bed that was easily visible with the open window set behind it.
Reaching into her coat, Kione pulled out a pair of nunchaku, and crept forward until she was right over the peacefully sleeping figure.
*Thump* She grimaced as she felt nothing but soft cushion as she drove her weapon down at what she assumed to be Min's thigh. Retracting quickly, so that her target wouldn't have time to awake and orient herself, she moved up toward the larger part of the lump, presumably the torso, and struck again.
*Thump* Panicking, she pulled back and did a double-armed swing toward the pillow.
*Thump* It was about this time that she realized that there wasn't anything ON the pillow, and all the pieces of the puzzle suddenly clicked into place in her head.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Took you long enough."
The leader of the teenage thugs whipped around as she heard a voice chastising her from behind the dresser, and her eyes widened. Min Bogard leaned casually against the wall, shaking her head sadly. The girl was clothed in a plain white t-shirt and black panties, fairly normal sleepwear, but also had a closed fan in her right hand that she idly toyed with as she stared sadly at the assaultant.
"So this is the notorious St. Hebereke assault and battery squad? How boring," Min muttered, tossing her head to one side. "I didn't even need to make a decent decoy to fool you. Just a bunch of pillows under the sheets."
Kione grit her teeth, and brought her nunchaku in front of her. "Well then, you should have hit me when you still had the advantage!" She hissed the last part through her teeth as she swung her weapon forward, letting go of one end in a horizontal strike for Min's shoulder.
Min snorted, and her right wrist moved.
*Fshing!* *Shk* In one lightning-fast motion, the bladed fan opened up to meet Kione's nunchaku, and then snapped itself closed as one of the sticks went flying off to the side of the room, its chain sliced clean through.
The gymnast's eyes bulged, and she began to tremble in fear as a deadly smirk crossed Min's features.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey, did you hear that?" one of the gymnasts whispered, looking upstairs.
"Yeah, I think Kione found her already," another whispered back, gesturing for her last companion to join her.
"Do you think we should see if she needs help?" the last one asked, not at all eager to retreat into the cold nigh air.
"I don't think its her that needs help."
The three gymnasts blinked, and then blinked much more rapidly as light suddenly poured into the living room they were in.
After a moment their eyes adjusted to the light, and they were treated to the not-unpleasant but very ill-timed visage of Mai and Andy Bogard looking down on them from the top of the stairs. Mai was looking especially pissed, and was gripping two of her battle fans while being clothed only in a (from the look of it) hastily-donned nightgown. Andy, unarmed as usual, was clothed in white boxer shorts and a tank top, revealing a chiseled, muscular chest that might have had the teenage (and gender-isolated) girls swooning under different circumstances.
Mai's left eyebrow twitched, and she crossed her arms in front of her before opening her bladed fans, casting bright flashes of light over their razor edges. "Do you have ANY idea how hard it is to get this man back in the mood once we're interrupted?! You're not going to get away with this!" she hissed, her eyes narrowing.
Andy sweatdropped. "Dear, you don't owe them an explanation." He rolled his eyes and began to crack his knuckles.
The three wide-eyed gymnasts finally broke out of their deer-in-the-headlights state, and one of them regained enough of her courage to speak.
"Uh, d-don't mind us, we were just leaving!" They all turned to run, but stopped short as soon as they had their backs to the Bogard elders.
Tomas raised an eyebrow as he leaned casually on the front door, clad only in a pair of jeans. "Leaving? Not yet you're not." Then he smirked. "Count yourself lucky. If you had tried to pull this in America, you probably would've been shot by now."
The three terrified schoolgirls just whimpered in response.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Just two minutes later...

*Thump* Andy dropped the third gymnast on the cement walk and dusted off his hands. "Consider this a lesson to you: if you're going to rob someone's house, do a little research on who you're robbing first. World-class martial artists make poor victims."
The girl failed to reply, for the obvious reason that she had duct tape covering her mouth, as well as more duct tape that bound her limbs in addition to the garbage bag that covered her body and closed over her neck.
"Mph!"
Andy rolled his eyes and turned back toward the house. "Stop struggling. In that plastic bag, at least you'll survive the night. I'm not sure you would have in those getups you're wearing. Who ever heard of wearing a leotard to a burglary?" Shaking his head sadly, he opened the door and re-entered his home.

Inside and upstairs, Mai worriedly approached Min's room, a little fearful but mostly curious. She seriously doubted that any of the burglars could have hurt anyone but the youngest children in her family, but she found it odd that Min hadn't shown up when the gymnasts had broken into the house. Even Tomas had noticed, and he wasn't particularly well-versed in stealth at all.
*Knock* *Knock* "Min? Are you all right?" Mai called, and then waited for a response. Putting her ear up to the door, she heard some shuffling, and quickly made a decision, putting her hand on the knob.
Before she could open the door, however, it cracked open itself, and Min's head poked out. "Oh! Hi Mom. What are you doing up?"
Mai blinked. "Min, are you all right? Some girls broke into the house, and you didn't come down. Did you even notice them?"
Min blinked. "Girls? Broke in? What?"
Mai raised an eyebrow. "You didn't notice them? At all?" She found that hard to believe. She knew full well that Min was good with her senses, and wasn't a heavy sleeper. And even if she hadn't sensed or heard the break-in itself, she should have certainly heard the short but relatively noisy scuffle that ensued.
'Come to think of it, she doesn't look like she just dragged herself out of bed...' "Min, were you awake?"
Min sweatdropped a bit. "Uh, well, yeah. Just getting in some last-minute practice for the tournament tomorrow, you know. Kinda busy though, so if you'll excuse me..." Ducking back inside, Min quickly closed the door, leaving her mother to frown doubtfully at the [Beware of Ninja] sign that marked her room.
Nonetheless, Mai eventually decided that she had no reason to keep bothering her daughter, especially seeing as she DID have a tournament to fight the next day, and left for her room.

After the door to Mai and Andy's room closed shut, Min slowly opened the door again, and then peeked into the hallway to make sure no one was present.
Confirming that the lights were off and everyone had retired once again, she closed the door again, and turned toward the far corner of her room.
"You should be thanking me. Who knows what Mom and Dad did to the rest of your little team." Min smirked as the girl who was gagged and tied securely to her computer chair cowered in fear.
She walked over to the girl, and put a finger up to her lips. "Now be quiet, or else everyone will know you're here, and you'll probably get your head bashed in. I'm going to remove the gag."
Min smoothly untied the pillowcase wrapped around Kione's head, and the gymnast gulped as Min stared down at her like an executioner savoring the moment before a beheading.
"Wh... What d-do you want?" she stuttered out.
"Information," Min answered simply, raising her index finger in the air as if making a point. "As a Ninja, it's natural for me to take on a match like this not only with skill and grace, but with intelligence and planning." Her eyes narrowed. "Not that anybody other than you Hebereke gymnasts have actually seen her FIGHT a match, but with what rumors were available, not to mention this little stunt, I get the feeling that facing this Kodachi girl might have something up her sleeve besides gangs of thugs."
Min watched Kione's reaction carefully, and gauged that she was right on target, if the cautious but understanding look in the gymnast's eyes were any indication.
"So... what is it, exactly, that you want me to tell you?" Kione asked bitterly, some of her nerve returning. "I'm the leader of this attack, but I'm not Kodachi's right-hand woman or anything. I don't know what kind of crazy tricks she has in store for you. You're wasting your time."
That nerve hastily disintegrated as the girl suddenly found herself lifted into the air, chair and all, as Min grabbed her jacket and pulled the gymnast up to her height.
"Then you'd better convince me that you do, or else I just might decide that you're not worth protecting from my family." Seeing the girl pale, Min narrowed her eyes. "And if you give me any more lip, I might decide to take care of you myself. I'm sure I can find some creative ways to show you how much I hate having people sneak into my room at night. Something involving peanut butter and a microwave."
Kione blinked, momentarily breaking out of her terrified frame of mind. "What would you do with peanut butter and a microwave?"
"I don't know yet; that's what makes it creative," she unceremoniously dropped the restrained girl on the floor, and hoped her parents believed her excuse of practicing enough not to investigate, "and if you don't want to find out, you'd better start talking."
Admittedly curious about Min's threat, but not curious enough to risk the wrath of a girl, and family, so much stronger than her, Kione decided that it was in her best interests to tell everything she knew, and make a few additional guesses just in case. As for the tournament... hey, there was always next year.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"So this is St. Hebereke, eh?" Ranma grinned as he looked up at the pristine, elaborate structures of the private campus, savoring the moment before the fight. "I have a good feeling about this."
Behind him, Shampoo snorted. "Ranma only one. Is you feeling better?"
Ranma laughed confidently, and then flexed his arm, slapping his other hand on his bicep. "You kidding? I've never felt better!"
Shampoo stared at him skeptically, then reached out and poked him hard in the stomach.
Ranma blinked, and raised an eyebrow at her. "What was that for?"
Shampoo seemed a bit surprised, and let herself smile a bit. "Shampoo sorry. Ranma really do feel better, yes?"
He smirked. "Of course I do. I told ya."
Shampoo turned away to look at the gym, and Ranma immediately crumpled to the ground, holding his stomach in pain.
"This school much more nice than Ranma's. Why Ranma go Furinkan?" Shampoo asked, turning back toward her friend. She blinked as she saw Ranma standing up straight, wiping his forehead.
"Well, for one thing, it's an all-girls school," Ranma mumbled, "which means, technically, I could go here, but I'd rather have rusty nails pounded into my legs."
"Ah," Shampoo replied, sweatdropping.
"Also, this is a private school," Ranma explained, pointing to the administration center, "it's really expensive to go to places like this, so usually it's just rich kids that do."
Shampoo nodded in understanding, and looked about as people from both Hebereke and Furinkan started to head toward the gym for the tournament.
"Hi Ranma!"
"AAAAAAAAH!!!"
Min, Tomas, and Shampoo all sweatdropped as Ranma launched himself up and clamped onto the head of a nearby speaker tower.
"STOP SNEAKING UP BEHIND ME!!" He yelled down, glaring at the Ninja girl.
Min chuckled weakly and scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Eh heh... sorry..."
Tomas waved lightly to Shampoo, careful to keep a respectable distance (they hadn't parted last on the best of terms). "Hey, Shampoo, right? This is my cousin, Min. Min, this is Ranma's friend, Shampoo."
Shampoo nodded in acknowledgement as she stared up at Ranma. As well trained as she was, she could feel Ranma's tension increase tenfold as he stared nervously at Min. That was odd.
Min bowed to Shampoo. "Nice to meet you! You're a martial artist, right?"
Shampoo turned away from the pigtailed boy to address the Ninja. "Shampoo is Joketsuzoku warrior from China."
The young Bogards seemed surprised at this. "Wow, a real warrior?"
Shampoo nodded, smiling.
Min grinned. "That's great! Maybe we can all practice together sometime!" She then looked up the speaker tower. "What do you say, Ranma?"
The Yagami fighter sweatdropped, still clinging to the tower head. "I'm, uh, busy that weekend."
Min frowned. "I didn't name a date."
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Ranma asked, changing the subject.
"You didn't hear? I'm the Furinkan substitute!" Min said brightly, smiling.
Ranma blinked in surprise. "You are? What happened to Akane?"
"There was an attack," Tomas explained, "she was hurt too badly to compete, so she asked Min to do it."
"Damn it!" Both Bogards flinched back as Ranma cursed and started fishing in his pocket. After a moment, he pulled out his wallet, withdrew a 1,000 yen bill, and let it fall down to Shampoo, who plucked it out of the air.
Tomas sweatdropped. "I take it you suspected something like this might happen?"
"That worthless tomboy couldn't even last until the match. That's what I get for showing some faith in that moron." Ranma mumbled.
"In any case," Min began, scratching her head, "are you coming down from there?"
Ranma shook his head, still clinging to the tower. "Nuh-uh. I like it up here."
Everyone below sweatdropped again.
*ATTENTION!! ATTENTION!!* "AAAAAAUGH!!* Ranma was jolted from his position of safety when an announcement came from the speaker tower, blasting right in his face.
*Thud!* "Ow!"
*THE MARTIAL ARTS RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS TOURNAMENT WILL BEGIN IN FIFTEEN MINUTES!! CHALLENGERS, PLEASE REPORT TO YOUR RESPECTIVE CHANGING ROOMS!!*
Tomas turned toward Min. "Well, that means you. Good luck."
Min nodded cheerfully, then leaned over toward Ranma, who was still on the ground in a heap. "Well, see ya later Ranma! Root for me, okay?"
"If my brain finishes piecing itself back together by then..." he mumbled, not getting up.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Wow! Mommy, the school is so pretty!" little Kikyo exclaimed, almost jumping up and down as she held onto Mai's hand.
Mai nodded, smiling brightly. "Yes it is, and their gymnastic facilities are supposed to be world-class."
"This should be a good show; Min seemed really excited about it," Andy said, Toji sitting atop his shoulders, "what was the last tournament she got into?"
"Martial arts ballet dancing. It was just last year," Mai responded.
Andy nodded. "Ah, right. It was rather... odd to see 'Swan Lake' performed with everyone kicking and punching each other."
Mai shrugged. "They were going to do 'The Nutcracker', but all the male contestants refused."
Andy sweatdropped.
"Mommy, can I go to a school like this when I grow up?" Kikyo asked hopefully, looking up at the elder Ninja.
Andy chuckled weakly. "Uh, Kikyo dear, these places are just slightly beyond my income level." Providing for a family of five was difficult enough with a lone business consultant's salary, especially when Mai was too busy with the kids to take up bodyguard and espionage contracts like she had in the past.
Mai grinned. "And besides, this is an all-girl's school. Don't you want to find a nice, strong hunk of a man like your big sister? That won't be easy if you don't have any boys for classmates!" Kikyo let out a little sigh, and Andy grimaced.
"Can I go to an all-boy's school?" Toji asked, the prospect of gender isolation appealing to his young mind.
"Only if you're going to grow up to be a doctor," Andy answered, earning him a light elbow jab from his wife. From below, Kikyo stuck her tongue out at Toji, who returned fire by pulling down an eyelid.
*ATTENTION SPECTATORS!! THE EVENT WILL BE BEGINNING IN JUST OVER TEN MINUTES!! PLEASE FIND YOUR SEATS AND PURCHASE YOUR REFRESHMENTS NOW, BEFORE SEATING BECOMES LIMITED!!*
"Well, I guess we'd better hurry," Andy said, moving ahead with Toji still on his shoulders.
Before they had gone very far though, Andy and Mai were quickly distracted when they saw a small band of college-age men approaching with a single high school girl in tow. As elite martial artists, the relatively high power levels in the group easily caught the Bogards' attention, even without any signs of danger or aggression.
Andy looked them over a little casually, deciding that there was no reason to assume the group had any malicious intentions.
"Well, if it isn't the Bogards! It's nice to see you here!"
Mai and Andy halted in their tracks, and their children stared curiously as a man with long blond hair strode up to them, his left hand in his pocket.
"I'm really glad that Min decided to compete; Hebereke usually wins by default. It's not very interesting, you see."
Mai nodded, smiling. "Yes. Well, Min seemed very happy to do it. She's the type that jumps to any challenge."
"Yes, yes," Hashiru said, clapping his hands together. "I'm also glad you were able to handle that little break-in by those schoolgirl thugs last night without any mishaps. To be honest, I had one of my boys on standby ready to tear in there and help you out, but, well..." Hashiru looked around for a moment, and then leaned closer to Andy, "to tell you the truth, the guy charges through the nose if he ever has to do anything. It's kind of a pain."
"Ah, I see," Andy responded, nodding.
Hashiru grinned and gave a short wave. "Well, I'm just glad you're alright. There'll be a little after-game show too, so sit back and enjoy yourselves!" He walked off toward the gym, his small band behind him.

Mai waved goodbye, and Kikyo and Toji followed suit.
Then the Ninja turned toward her husband. "What a nice young man. Who was he?"
"I have no idea," Andy said, shrugging only slightly to avoid disturbing his son.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Min walked up to her assigned dressing room, clearly marked with a sheet of notebook paper taped on the front door. A glance at the floor revealed a bouquet of black roses at the foot of the door.
She rolled her eyes and grabbed one sleeve of her shirt before zipping around in a circle, momentarily disappearing in a whirlwind of cloth. After a split second, she stood in the hall clad in the same gymnastics costume she had shown off the day before, with her previous outfit nowhere to be seen.
"Heh. What a fool. Ninjas of the Shiranui style have evolved our art beyond the need for dressing rooms!" Smirking to herself, she walked past the door, making sure to give the bouquet a wide berth.

It didn't take long to reach Kodachi's dressing room, easily identifiable by the golden nameplate with the star gymnast's name embossed on it.
Min grinned and pulled a hairpin out from the base of her ponytail, sticking it in the keyhole while she put her ear close to the doorknob.
While Min had to have her equipment transported from her home (which Tomas had agreed to help her with), Kodachi's equipment was stored in her dressing room before being brought out to the ring.
'Unless that prissy thug's a lot sharper and braver than she seemed.' Min added mentally.
*C-click* Min smirked as she opened the door, and crept inside.
'Kodachi, you're going to rue the day you ever heard of Min Bogard!'
__________________________________________________________________________________

St. Hebereke's old janitor yawned to himself as he pushed his mop cart through the halls next to the gym, grumbling to himself. Usually his job was very easy; spoiled but wealthy children that had been brought up with manners befitting the higher classes didn't usually make a big mess.
However today was the day of some kinds of sports tournament, and he grimaced as he imagined the numerous spills he'd have to mop up and the trash he'd have to dispose of after letting the rowdy Furinkan crowd onto the grounds.
Being a janitor, he was quick to notice the batch of flowers lying on the floor. Of course, the packaging didn't look old, so the old man began to pass it, correctly assuming that it was a gift, and not litter.
At some point, he realized that the roses were black, and blinked as his cart stopped.
"That's odd..." being that he was the janitor, he was usually only present after school hours, and thus not privy to even the most common and well-known rumors of the school. So naturally, he was unaware of Kodachi's affection for oddly colored flowers, and understandably mistook the black coloration for rot and decay.
*Pssssst!* Upon touching the bouquet, the poor man was immediately subjected to a blast of sedative fumes, and stumbled backward as he lost consciousness.
*Bump* The mop cart was propelled forward as the janitor hit it on the way down, and it slowly wheeled its way down the hallway, unimpeded.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"So, did you see Yagami anywhere?" Hashiru asked as Hana returned from the gym arena.
The brunette shook her head. "Nope. Maybe he's not here yet. He might only plan to show up for the fight after the tournament. If so, he wouldn't be here until then."
Hashiru nodded, frowning. "Right. Still, I hope we see him. It's going to look pretty bad if we pull this off and he doesn't show. This has the makings of-HELLO!" Hashiru's head jerked to the side, and Hana's left eye twitched as she recognized the gang leader's behavior.
Hashiru rubbed his chin as a beautiful and shapely girl walked purposefully through the halls, obviously searching for someone. She was wearing tight blue jeans and a white tank top, had long, lustrous purple hair, and a definite exotic look about her that he found particularly alluring.
Hana sighed and turned to look at her cousin's latest infatuation. Her eye twitched once more. "Great. It's her."
"You know her?" Hashiru asked, not taking his eyes off the Chinese beauty.
Hana snorted. "Her name is Shampoo. She's a... friend... of Yagami's. She's got a crush on him or something."
"Mutual or not?" Hashiru asked quickly, tracking the Amazon as she passed. Shampoo gave either of them only marginal attention, even though she knew and remembered Hana.
Hana raised an eyebrow. "What about... wait, what was her name? Kike..."
"Kikia," Hashiru replied, his eyes now locked on Shampoo's back, "we broke up this morning."
Hana gave her cousin a half-lidded stare, and then sighed, knowing that he wasn't lying. Despite his womanizing, for some reason the gang leader took great pride in that he'd never cheated on a girl; whenever he wanted someone else, he would dump whatever current attachment he had with brutal honesty and haste.
"Whatever. No, it's not mutual. Go for it."
Without another word, Hashiru was off like a shot.

"Pardon me, young lady, are you looking for someone?"
Shampoo turned around at the voice, and looked up at the blond man that had been standing next to that schoolgirl that sometimes brought Ranma lunch. "Shampoo looking for man. You know any Ninja be here?"
Hashiru stood there for a moment, stunned. "That... that accent... is adorable."
Shampoo blinked.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Hashiru said after a moment, shaking his head, "Ninja... do you mean Raven?"
Shampoo nodded, her eyes somewhat hard. "Yes, that him! You know where is?"
'Oh man, she is SO cute...' "As a matter of fact, I do. He'll be here in a few minutes."
Shampoo nodded again. "Good. Shampoo need talk to Ninja boy and then tell Ranma what do."
Hashiru stood back, rubbing his chin with his free hand. "So... you're Shampoo, right? It's an honor. Where in China are you from?"
Shampoo stared at the man for a moment, curious as to why he was making small-talk. After a moment, she decided it didn't really matter. "Shampoo from Joketsuzoku village. Is Chinese Amazon village."
"Amazons... nice." Hashiru grinned good-naturedly.
"My lord Hashiru, I... uh... hello, miss." Raven pulled himself up straight and bowed as he caught sight of the Chinese girl that had handed him his ass the previous day. 'This is rarely a good sign.'
Shampoo gave the Ninja a cool look, having been mildly surprised when he skidded to a stop right next to her. Then she ran what he had said over in her head. "Wait. You is Ninja's lord?" She asked, pointing to Hashiru.
The blond man nodded. "Guilty as charged. Me and Raven are old pals. And before you ask, yes, I was the one that set this all up... even if it wasn't my idea." He not-so-subtely winked at Hana. Luckily though, due to his hair obscuring his eyes, Shampoo didn't see it.
Shampoo crossed her arms under her breasts and frowned. "Why you do this? Why you want see Ranma fight?"
Hashiru leaned backward a bit, balancing on the heels of his shoes. "I like strong people. I like working with strong people. Yagami sounds like an interesting guy, and this seemed like an amusing way to meet 'im."
Shampoo blinked. Twice. "......... Okay." Try as she might, the Amazon girl just couldn't find anything wrong with that motive. Perhaps the way he had delivered the challenge wasn't right, but then, Amazons themselves had comparable customs. "Ranma and Shampoo try find you to ask what you want Ranma do."
"I just want him to get ready to enter the gym arena once the tournament is over. Then the person on the mike will switch with one of my guys, and he should enter the ring once he's introduced."
Shampoo nodded and then turned around to leave, only to stop short as a formally-dressed man with a cane and a monocle walked up to and then around her.
"My lord Hashiru, our compatriots are in position, preparations are complete, and the contestants should arrive in moments. Shall we be on our way?"
Without answering, Hashiru extended a hand toward Shampoo. "If you'd like, I could have Raven or one of my guys tell Yagami. You could come watch the match with me. I have good seats."
Shampoo shook her head. "No thank! Shampoo find Ranma by self!" Without another word, she dashed into the hallway, probably intent on finding Ranma in time to see the match anyway.
"Well, damn. She likes him, all right." Hashiru muttered, shaking his head. "And way too much to go for me."
Hana blinked, and then looked worried. "Are... are you sure?"
He nodded. "Absolutely. I can see it in her eyes. She doesn't just have a crush on him, she's in love with him." He shrugged. "Too bad. Well, for you, mostly."
Joshin and Raven stepped back as a vein popped up on Hana's head.
"What do you mean for me?!" Hana yelled, gritting her teeth.
Hashiru shook his head sadly and clapped a hand on his cousin's shoulder. "Let's face it little flower, she's got a great face, a killer bod, martial arts skills, and a sexy foreign accent. You're better off physically fighting her than trying to get her man."
Hana turned a hot scarlet as her cousin smirked at her, and her eyes narrowed. "Well, at least I have it better than you; he's got her so enamored that you've given up without even having met him!"
Hashiru twitched.
Joshin coughed into his hand. "In the words of the common folk: *Ahem* burn."
"Aw, shaddup," he muttered, walking past his lackeys toward the gym arena. "Let's just get our seats already."
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Ranma! Shampoo found Ninja!"
Ranma turned around as Shampoo approached, and stopped at the foot of the staircase to the changing rooms.
"You found him? Good! So what's the deal?"

Unbeknownst to either of them, at the top of the stairs, a mop bucket crept slowly toward them, inching its way toward the edge of the first step.

"They say you just be ready for match to begin, and go to arena when man call Ranma name." Shampoo repeated diligently, scanning Ranma's body to look for indications of weakness. She had to admit, either Ranma was feeling almost as good as he claimed, or he was doing a darn good job of hiding it.
"Well, that's easy enough. Might as well go watch the tournament, then."

At the top of the stairs, the mop bucket reached the end of the first step down... and stopped, the last of its momentum spent barely a millimeter before it reached that first edge.

Shampoo frowned. "Shampoo still worried. Ranma very strong, but Ninja boy skilled, and..." she bit her lip for a moment, "Shampoo met others who with Ninja. Shampoo can tell they very strong. If Ranma not hurt Shampoo no would worry, but-" before she could continue to fuss over him, Ranma grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into a hug, startling the Amazon girl.
"I know, I know. Look, Shampoo, I know that you've been pretty worried about me, and that I'm not the easiest guy to take care of..."
Shampoo's surprise faded, and she closed her eyes and melted into the embrace as she felt Ranma's breath graze her ear.
"But you always have. I've complained, I've resisted, and I've ignored you, but you never stopped trying to help me. Not now, and... not even... back at your village. Thank you."
"Ranma..." Shampoo whispered, and gently pulled herself back a little bit so that she could look up into Ranma's eyes. Seeing his questioning look, she slowly moved her face toward his, savoring every moment as the distance between them closed.
*Bump* *Bam!* "Oh, curses! Who left this stupid bucket here?"
"Eh?" Ranma mumbled, blinking.
*Splash!*
"What the-?" Ranma exclaimed as water poured over him, his hair falling down over his eyes in a wet fan.
*Thwack!*
"OW!!" Ranma yelled, as a heavy plastic mop bucket slammed into the back of her head, knocking her to the floor in a soapy puddle.
Kodachi shook her head as she carefully made her way down the stairs, which had been made slick due to the soapy water. "How utterly reckless to leave such a thing where anyone could trip on it and hurt themselves! Ugh! And to think, after I wasted all that time, I still couldn't find my razor hoop!"
After reaching the bottom of the stairs, the gymnast noticed a girl wearing a black jacket with a crescent moon insignia was lying on her hands and knees on the floor, shaking her head.
"Ah, so the foolish janitor's blunder did hurt someone after all. Wait... I know you. You're that bothersome little wench that confronted me several days past!" Kodachi couldn't help but smirk as she watched the redhead look around in confusion. "Did you lose something? Your wits, perhaps?"
"Shampoo?" Ranma looked down both hallways, but couldn't see any sign of anyone but the snobby gymnast standing above her. "Where'd she go?"
Kodachi shrugged. "You were the only one present when I descended." Then she smirked again. "Unfortunately, while I normally make it my duty to assist stricken low-born wretches like yourself, I have little time before my crucial match and inevitable victory begins. I bid thee farewell."
Snickering to herself, Kodachi dashed away through the halls toward the arena, leaving Ranma to glare at her back.

Down the hall and around the corner, Shampoo breathed heavily, her small furred chest pounding as she sat on a pile of soggy clothes.
Being struck by a bucket's worth of cold water; both figuratively and literally, at such a crucial point had proved to be not only a mood-killer, but had also left her in cat form right in front of Ranma. As it was, she could only hope he had been too stunned by the water to see the change, and that she had escaped quickly enough with her wet clothes dragging her down.
Letting out a deep sigh (for a cat, anyway), she stared down at the floor. How long was she even going to be able to hide it, anyway? Why couldn't she face him with her curse?
There were numerous reasons, she knew, even if none of them were particularly binding. Being around him as a cat was a window to the side of him that she didn't get to see all the time. Not that he was very different in private than he was in public; Ranma was always himself, but he was a lot more free with his tongue when he was talking to himself about his problems.
"Well, what have we here?"
Shampoo blinked as she heard a high-pitched voice that sounded on the edge of a banshee's screech. Looking up, she realized that Kodachi was looking down at her consideringly.
"I think I can use you. Here, kitty kitty!" Kodachi lashed out to grab Shampoo by the scruff of the neck, but Shampoo dodged to one side, and then bolted down the hall.
"Oh, no you don't!" Kodachi proclaimed, lashing out with her ribbon.
"Meyowr!" Shampoo howled as best she could as the gymnastics ribbon wrapped around her, but it failed to bring any assistance before she was yanked back to the ribbon's wielder and dumped into a sack.
Kodachi chuckled to herself as she pulled out a metal chain and collar. Being careful not to let the bag open too widely, she stuck her hands in, intent on restraining the animal with the collar. "Here you go kitty, just-ow!-here, I'll just-ow!-stop biting, you flea-bitten little runt! Ooh! That's going to scar!" *Chink!*
Quickly pulling her hands out and tying the sack shut, Kodachi rushed to the arena.
__________________________________________________________________________________

*Ahem* *Sorry ladies and gentlemen, but it would appear that one of our contestants is a little late! If you'll just bear with us for a few moments...* The emcee, a position which was held by one of the girls in Hebereke's broadcasting club, began to sweat slightly as murmurs passed through the crowd.
Up in the ring, Min smirked as she balanced a gymnastics club on one finger.
Behind her on the floor, Tomas and Akane stood next to the Ninja girl's equipment, looking worried.
"Min, Kodachi's running pretty late..." Akane began, unsure of how to ask her question. "You didn't... you know, stoop down to her level, did you?"
Min snorted and bounced the club up, snatching it out of the air in a lightning-fast motion. "Yeah, a little. I didn't injure her up or do anything that might cause her to forfeit, though."
Tomas nodded. "Of course. You'd never pass up the chance to beat up some spoiled rich girl in front of a crowd. Must be something else."
*Bam!* The sound of a door slamming open filled the stadium, and everyone turned to watch as Kodachi dashed into the gym arena and jumped into the gymnastics ring, stopping only to drop a sack in her team's corner.
*Ah! Finally! Ladies and gentlemen, the returning martial arts rhythmic gymnastics champion: KODACHI KUNO!!!*
Kodachi's left eye twitched as half the crow erupted in cheers and the other half in booing. She had planned to do her entrance by being lowered down in a ball gown that concealed fireworks, as well as a missile that would have put the match into her favor nice and early. However, in addition to being unable to find her hoop, Kodachi had found that somehow the missile had detonated when she wasn't there, destroying both the dress and the fireworks.
Min blinked. "Kodachi... Kodachi KUNO? Wait, does that mean..." Min turned toward the Furinkan half of the audience, and grimaced as Tatewaki raised his hand to her.
"My love, though it may wound you deeply to know that you face the brethren of your beloved, know that you must not hold back, or my twisted sister shalt surely destroy you!" Kuno sighed deeply and raised a victory fan in the air. "Know that even though you face mine own kin, still my voice, in tandem with my heart, cheers only for you, my fierce and noble warrior!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Tomas muttered, understanding enough of the more formal and flowery Japanese to know that the speaker was clearly several cans short of a six-pack.
"You think YOU have it rough," Akane began, crossing her arms over her chest, "at least he's not hounding you. Even after he started chasing Min, he hasn't left me alone either!"
Tomas shrugged, then felt a finger tapping him on the shoulder. Turning around, he saw Andy leaning toward him.
"Is that him? The Yagami kid?"
Tomas snorted and shook his head. "No, that's the Yagami kid's rival. Well, 'rival' is too strong a word. He's pretty much just a moron who keeps drooling over Min."
Andy frowned. "And you're telling me that this Ranma guy isn't?"
Tomas chuckled. "Yeah, right. She wishes."

Min turned away from Kuno, and raised an eyebrow. "So... You're Kuno's sister? That makes way too much sense." Then, ever so slowly, a wide smile grew on Min's face. "Beating you up is going to be more fun than I thought."
*And in this corner,* blasted the loudspeakers around the gym, *the challenger, a substitution gymnast hailing from Furinkan High: MIN BOGARD!!!*
The booming cheers from the Furinkan side of the crowd, especially the male half, easily drowned out whatever meager greeting St. Hebereke offered.
A girl in a referee's uniform walked to the middle of the ring.
"This match will be in the traditional style of St. Hebereke's rhythmic gymnastics tournaments!"
There was a moment of silence while everyone waited for her to elaborate.
"...... Uh, well, it's been a really long time since we've actually fought a challenge, so I'm not exactly clear on what that style is! But nonetheless, no attacks are to be made without the use of your provided tools, with the exception of throws or holds."
The crowd sweatdropped.
"Is that all?" Min asked, hands on her hips. "Are there anything like restriction on weapons? No cutting edges, piercing spikes, explosives, that sort of thing?"
The referee bigsweated, and glanced at Kodachi, who raised an eyebrow. "You know, I, uh, I'll have to check my rule book and get back to you on that. Like I said, it's been a while." Then she raised an arm and dropped it down. "Begin!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Well, damn, I can't find Shampoo anywhere. I was hoping we could watch the match together," Ranma mumbled to herself as she looked back and forth at a hallway intersection.
"Oh well. Better change back and get to the arena." Ranma fished in her pocket for her metal cup, and then blinked. "Wha?" She tried her other jacket pocket, and then patted down her pants. "Damn! I forgot the cup!" Ranma frowned, and then shrugged. It wouldn't be too hard to find some other way to heat the water. She could just heat the pipes or the faucet or something.
'Then again, this is a rich place, so they probably have hot water taps, unlike the cheap sinks at Furinkan.' Entering a restroom, she smiled as she took a look at the faucets. 'Yup, they have 'em.'
Satisfied that for once her curse wouldn't be a problem, she walked up and turned the hot water knob.
*Squeak* *Squeak*
Nothing came out.
"What?" she mumbled, turning it up all the way. Still, nothing came out. Experimentally, she tried the cold water knob. Nothing.
"Stupid thing must be out of order," she mumbled, moving to the next sink.
*Squeak* *Squeak*
".................... Oh, HELL no."
Ranma quickly moved from sink to sink, turning each knob on as far as it would go. Not a drop fell from any of the faucets.
"Damn! Now what am I gonna do?" Obviously, she had to find some standing water, since there seemed to be a current problem with the plumbing.
'But the only standing water around here would be...' slowly, Ranma turned to stare at the toilet stalls.
For a moment she continued staring. Then she shook her head. "Oh, get over it! I've slept in leech-infested marshes and drunk from dirty puddles, but I cringe at the thought of submerging my arm in fresh toilet water? Ha! Pop would smack me over the head if he knew!"
She started forward, and then stopped just inches from the stall.
"Then again... I don't know it's fresh... I mean, how long has the plumbing been down? And without running water, the flush would..."
Grimacing, Ranma turned around and walked out of the restroom. There HAD to be a better way.
__________________________________________________________________________________

*Would you look at that ribbon strike! Min seems to have the champion on her toes, and Kodachi's been forced back into her corner, reduced to throwing clubs at the challenger! What a match, folks!*

Kodachi let a smirk cross her face as she darted left and right, dodging the agile ribbon as it lashed toward her. With a wave of her arm, she loosed three clubs at Min, who twisted around and whipped her ribbon about in waves, striking each projectile out of the air.
"I see you possess some small skill, girl. Were you one of my classmates, you might even be worthy serve under me on the gymnastics team."
Min rolled her eyes and strode forward, moving to the center of the ring. "Yeah, just keep yakking, brat. You're not going to be able to after I break that ugly jaw of yours."
"How rude!" Kodachi protested, raising a hand over the corner column. "I think you should cool off a little bit! Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!!" Slamming her hand on the top of the column, and the carefully concealed button that lie there, she activated one of her later ideas in ring-based booby traps that would cause jets of water to blast Min, thus distracting her.
On either side of Min, water nozzles popped out of the corner columns, both aimed at the center of the ring.
Nothing came out of them.
"What? Impossible! I spent hours rigging those hoses!" Kodachi complained.
"Oh dear," Min said with mock worry, raising a hand to her face, "I hope nobody turned off the water; that would disable your whole trap, plus the other one with the soap bubbles!"
"What?!" Kodachi shouted, gritting her teeth. 'She knows about my traps? But how?!'
She quickly decided that it would be best to bring the fight in close, as Min seemed particularly adept with the gymnastics ribbon. Taking up a pair of her "special" clubs, she moved in.
Min let her approach, tossing away the ribbon and getting ready to dodge.
Kodachi thrusted high, knowing that even if she missed by a small margin, she would still score a hit. Predictably, Min tossed her head to the side to avoid the attack, and Kodachi hit the switch on her club's handle.
*BRZAAAK!!* The whole crowd shaded their eyes as Kodachi suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree, her high-voltage club delivering every volt into its user.
Min's eyes widened as her opponent stumbled backwards, her body charred and hair smoking. "Electric clubs! What an awful cheat! Especially since you didn't think to protect yourself from them!"
Kodachi slowly regained her wits, and looked down at the smoldering weapon in her hand. Then her face turned red in anger, and she hurled the burnt weapon at Min, who swatted it out of the air with her hand.

"Hey, referee, that's a foul!" Akane complained, "those things are dangerous! To both of them!"
The regeree shook her head. "Sorry. The tools she has are legal." She had very specific instructions concerning the match: overly dangerous weapons were not against the rules. Though looking at it now, Kodachi might well be better off if she DID call the foul.

"You... You... You sneaky weasel! You've sabotaged me!" Kodachi grit her teeth and pointed meaningfully at the Ninja, who merely looked innocent with her hands clasped behind her back.
"Me? Sabotage?" Min asked, blinking, "no, of course not. I was, however, attacked in my own home by a bunch of girls in gymnastics outfits. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
"You dare suggest that the noble house of Kuno dabbles in foul play? I will show you the error of your ways!" Kodachi started snapping her ribbon forward, and Min danced around the lashes, looking for something.
While Kodachi assumed she was looking for an opening, and slowed her attacks to cover her defense, Tomas noted that Min was actually looking past the gymnast and out into the crowd, while occasionally darting glanced to the side or behind her.
'Where is he?' Min thought to herself, seeing no sign of the telltale black jacket in the crowd. It would have been easy to spot, too; most of the students were wearing school uniforms. But if he wasn't watching her, where was he? The only thing going on was the rhythmic gymnastics tournament. If he had come, he had to have come to watch her, right?
Min was brought back to attention as a ribbon strike finally hit her, leaving a pale red mark on her thigh.
"Ow! You're going to pay for that, you little witch!" Min dashed to the side and grabbed her own ribbon.
"The only one who's going to pay is you!" Kodachi announced, calling to her corner for one of her gymnastics balls, which she had carefully armed with incinidary devices from the chemistry club.
"Take this!" Kodachi tossed the first of the weapons into the air, and then moved to slap it toward Min as it came down.
*BOOM!!* Contrary to its original designs, the ball detonated the moment Kodachi hit it, and the entire crowd winced as a cloud of smoke rose from that side of the ring.
Min gasped. "Explosives in the balls?! If you're going to use such dangerous weapons, you should be more careful about it!"

"Hey ref! That's a foul!" Akane yelled.
The girl at the edge of the ring shook her head. "Sorry, she's using legal tools."
Tomas raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? At this rate, she might kill herself."

"You... you little, ugly, stinking, top-heavy pile of-" Kodachi began, her entire body shaking such that ash began to come off her body and settle on the floor of the ring.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Min said, interrupting, "please! There are children present!"
"That does it!" Kodachi yelled, gesturing to her corner, "Let's see if you predicted THIS!!"
Outside of the ring, two of Kodachi's gymnasts picked up a large burlap bag, and then heaved it into the ring. Kodachi snatched the bag up with one arm, the other holding one of her non-trapped clubs.
Min's eyes widened as she realized that the bag was squirming within Kodachi's grip. 'No telling what that is! I'd better end this, quick!' She darted forward, aiming her club for Kodachi's head.
Despite all Min's skill and superior agility, Kodachi was no novice when it came to gymnastics fighting, and Min found two initial strikes cleanly deflected before Kodachi grabbed onto her arm, and then pulled the bag over it, nearly striking Min in the head.
The Ninja girl ducked the bag, and then moved her right hand forward for another club thrust, only to find that she was suddenly carrying more weight on that arm.
"Mrowr!"
"What the?" Min and the entire audience stared at the cat that was hanging from the chain now attached to Min's wrist.
*Oh my! PETA is not going to be happy about this! It appears that Miss Bogard has been shackled to a feline prisoner! With an animate and irritable weight on her dominant arm, can the challenger hope to win against the champion?!*
"I think NOT!!" Kodachi shouted, moving in with her clubs and striking mercilessly.
Min grunted as the gymnast's strikes began to land, and attempted to defend herself with the one club in her right hand, sorely wishing that she was simply able to punch or kick her opponent in the head.
*Bok!* *Bok!* *Bok!* *Bok!* "MEOWR! ROWR!"
With the quick arm movements being transmitted easily down the relatively short chain, Shampoo found herself choking as her collar was yanked up and down rapidly. Eventually she managed to catch her claws onto the sash around Min's waist, and held on tightly as the girl continued to fight.
*Bok!* *Bok!* Min managed to slap aside Kodachi's club, and then extended her arm to go for a strike to her foe's head.
"ROWR!!" A feline cry of pain was all the warning Min had before her arm jerked to a stop, bare centimeters away from successfully striking Kodachi's face.
*Whap!* "Ow!" Kodachi wasn't thus impeded, and cleanly smacked Min on the cranium before making a horizontal strike for the Ninja's head.
Min ducked, and quickly threw a small sphere on the floor in front of her. Smoke suddenly billowed out across the ring, and Kodachi found herself unable to locate her opponent, even though she was doubtlessly right in front of her.
*And now the challenger has created a smokescreen! What an amazing match this is turning out to be, folks!*
"A smoke bomb? Such a device is against the rules!" She turned to the referee. "I demand that you assert penalties against her!"
The referee shrugged, to no one but Kodachi's surprise. "Sorry, her tools are legal."
"This is an outrage!" Kodachi insisted, "bombs and live animals are one thing, but you allow smokescreens as well? Who taught you the rules of this sport?!"
"YOU did," the girl replied sourly.
For better or for worse, the argument was cut short when a furry white and pink blur burst from the billowing smoke, attaching itself to Kodachi's face.
"AAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEE!!! GET IT OFF!! GET IT OFF!!" Kodachi began to run around screaming as Shampoo exacted revenge on the insane noblewoman, completely forgetting that the cat had been chained to someone just moments before.
The smoke began to clear, ane there was scattered applause as Min's form became discernable, the chain that had restricted her still attached to her wrist, but without the cat on the other end.
Min finished putting her hairpin back in the base of her ponytail, and breathed a sigh of relief that picking locks was one of the skills her mother had taught her during her Ninja training.
Then she chuckled as Kodachi ran past, trying to remove the cat that looked to be trying to bite off her nose. "Maybe that will teach you a little lesson about being kind to animals, brat!"
Swinging her arm forward, Min flung the chain at Kodachi, striking her solidly in the stomach. As the gymnast doubled over, Shampoo decided she had had enough and dropped to the floor, quickly evacuating the ring.
Before Kodachi could recover, Min lashed out with the chain again, aiming for her arm. *Ka-chink!*
Kodachi blinked as her own chain snapped closed over her wrist, and then gasped as she was yanked into the air, sailing over Min's head and toward a spot outside of the ring.
The gymnast grimaced as the armlet that connected her with Min opened and released her (as it was no longer locked), preventing her from using it to get back into the ring. No matter. She had other tricks in store. She raised a pair of fingers to her lips and took a deep breath.
*Wsoo-weet!* A different whistle from a different location sounded before Kodachi could employ her own, and the noblewoman's eyes bulged as she watched the ring move away from her instead of toward her, sealing her defeat.
*Thud*
There was a tense moment of silence as Kodachi landed heavily on the mats outside the ring, so stunned that she even forgot to land properly.
*KODACHI KUNO HAS TOUCHED DOWN OUTSIDE THE RING!!! THE MATCH IS OVER!!! FURINKAN HAS WON!!!*
A deafening wave of cheers and applause came from the Furinkan half of the audience as people began chanting Min's name.
The Ninja girl grinned as the referee held up her arm, declaring her the winner.
Kodachi, meanwhile, was busy chasing down her own gymnastics team. They had emerged from under the ring after hearing the challenging school declared the victor, and was immediately forced to flee as their own team captain began whipping them with her ribbon in an irrational rage.

"Yay! Go sis!" Toji cheered from his seat next to Andy, and was quickly joined by his father and younger sister.
"You're the best Min!"
"Ha ha! That's my girl!"

"Not bad. Not bad at all," Hashiru mused, rubbing his chin.
Hana nodded, impressed despite her own feud with the Ninja girl. "I know. She really knocked it to her."
Her cousin smirked. "I was talking about her figure. She fills out that leotard really well."
Ignoring the brunette's sigh, Hashiru turned toward Joshin. "It's on."
"As you wish, Lord Hashiru," Joshin bowed, and then made several awkward-looking but quite deliberate motions with his cane.

Min bowed again toward the crowd, her arms held up high as she savored her moment of glory.
"Hey, what are you-Gyah!"
She turned as she heard the referee cry out, and blinked as a man with spiky flame-colored hair stepped up next to her, a microphone in hand. Looking back, she could see that the ref was being dragged away by a man clothed in black.
"Hey! What's going on here?" she demanded, only to have the man wink at her and patiently stand in the middle of the ring, holding his microphone.
*What's this?! I appears that-* "-a number of ruffians have approached the stage, and..." the emcee trailed off as she realized her voice was no longer being amplified by the speakers, and looked down to see her microphone jack being replaced with a wireless jack by a man with long green hair tied into a long pigtail.
*Chung* There was a heavy noise from above as all the gymnasium lights went out, and light panic began to sweep the arena.
*Shoom* A split-second later, numerous spotlights focused on the ring, and Min blinked. Was this some sort of elaborate awards ceremony?
*Ladies and gentlemen! We hope you've enjoyed the first half of the day's events! Let's all give a last round of applause for the beautiful Min Bogard!*
With only momentary hesitation, the crowd once again began clapping.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Come on... come on..." Ranma muttered as she held a flame under the thick stone of the birdbath.
After a moment she stopped, and then felt the water in the bath, gritting her teeth as she realized the water wasn't even lukewarm yet.
"Damn it! Come on! Heat already!" Taking a deep breath, Ranma held both hands under the charred underside of the stone bowl.
*FWOOSH!* A bright flash engulfed the area as a bolt of purple washed over the entire birdbath, causing the portion of it already weakened from the heat to shatter within moments.
*Crack!* *Sploosh*
Ranma sighed wearily as she watched the water sink into the ground. "Crud. Now what?"
*Ladies and gentlemen! We hope you've enjoyed the first half of the day's events! Let's all give a last round of applause for the beautiful Min Bogard!*
"What? It's over already?!" Ranma complained. "Wait... that was a guy's voice... first half of the day's events? Damn!"
Ranma looked down at herself, then groaned as she took off her jacket and tied it around her waist. "Well, I'm not backin' outta this no matter what!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

*That's right folks!* the flame-haired man exclaimed, waving his hand in the air, *the show is not yet over! Brought to you by Akumaru Private School and Clan Ra, we bring you a second exciting match!*
Whispers began to circulate through the crowd.

"A second match? Huh. You didn't tell us about this," Mai noted as Min sat down next to her.
Min shrugged. "I didn't know. This is good, at least. I'll have a chance to unwind after the battle."
"Hmmmm..." Andy crossed his arms over his chest, musing to himself. "That fellow who spoke to us before the match said that there would be a show afterward. This must be it"
"Guy? What guy?" Tomas asked, as he too sat down next to his relatives.
Andy pointed across the arena at a blonde man that looked to be around twenty sitting next to a brunette with glasses.
"Hey, I know her! That's Hana!" Tomas exclaimed.

*Hold onto your seats as these two martial arts masters duke it out in a dazzling display of strength and skill!*

Mai blinked. "That man's name is Hana? Odd..."
"No, the girl next to him is Hana," Tomas clarified, "I think she's a friend of Yagami's. Sometimes she brings him lunch."
Min frowned.

*Today you will once again witness the might and zeal of Furinkan High, as their strongest competitor takes on one of Akumaru's own titans of fighting!*

Min blinked. "Strongest competitor? They must be talking about Ranma!"
"Nay, for what is that scoundrel compared to me?"
The entire Bogard family blinked as a teenager wearing a blue kendo outfit appeared before Min, holding his chin thoughtfully.
"Such beauty and grace! Such cunning and strength! Milady, I implore you, after this battle that I am doubtlessly about to be called to, that you should date with me!"
Min twitched. "Ugh. No thanks." Looking over to her father, she noticed him frowning. "Daddy? This pervert is bothering me. Can you make him go away?"
"Gladly," Andy muttered, standing up an stretching his arms a bit.
"Ah, so you are the father that hath sired this luscious creature!" Kuno said, turning toward Andy, and clearly oblivious to the danger he was in. "Know then, good sir, that I intend to-Gurk!" *Thock!* *Wham!*

Raven noted that there was a figure standing in the entrance to the gym, and recognized the sillouette of a pigtail in the dim light cast on that part of the arena. Immediately he raised an arm and made a hand signal. Moments afterward, he realized that the figure was shorter than it should have been. And that while black hair should have been just about invisible in that darkened corner, the hair of the person he was looking at was a lighter hue, making it more visible.
*And so, our challenger has appeared!* The new emcee grinned and gestured to the far corner of the gym arena. *Presenting the challenger from Furinkan High, the sire of fire, who's heart blazes with a flame dark as the very shadow, RANMAAAAAA YAGAMIIIIIIII!!!*
*Shoom* The lights switched on again as the emcee gestured to Ranma's form, completely illuminating that corner of the arena.
*CRASH!* The entire building shook slightly from the force as half of the present audience facefaulted.

Andy's eyes widened. "He... wait... Min?" He turned toward his daughter, who's left eye was twitching. "Is... Is your boyfriend a crossdresser? Or... are you..."
"THAT'S NOT HIM!!" Min shouted.

Ranma looked from side to side of the arena as the audience began to talk amongst themselves.
"What? Who's that? Where's Ranma?"
"Their best fighter's a girl? How about that?"
"Wow, she's cute."
"Yagami chickened out? No way!"

The emcee bigsweated as unrest among the crowd grew. *Please bear with us for a moment folks, it appears that we've run into some technical difficulties. Mr. Yagami is clearly running a little late, so-*
"Gimme that!" Ranma said, snatching away the microphone as she reached the ring.
*Ahem. I'm Ranko. Sorry about all this. Ranma's recently suffered an injury, you see, and due to certain circumstances which were complicated by the poor plumbing around here, won't be able to make it.*
Ranma turned toward the St. Hebereke half of the crowd. *I mean, seriously, what's wrong with you people that you hold a big match when there's no running water? Sheesh.*
Off in the Furinkan side, Min blushed deeply as she watched the Hebereke audience's utter bewilderment.
*Anyway, he wanted to make it, and was going to fight, even though his doctor and his best friend said it could really hurt him. But despite all his efforts, he's not in any shape to fight right now.* Ranma turned around to face the majority of the crowd. *So I'll fight in his place.*

Hashiru blinked as more whispers rushed through the crowd. "Well, this was... unexpected. Who's she?"
Hana frowned. "I... I have no idea. I've never seen her before." She sighed and leaned back, crossing her legs. "She's cute though, huh?"
Hashiru nodded. "Yeah. Too bad she's a lesbian."
*Thud!* "Ergh!" Hana picked herself up from the foot space of the bleachers. "What?! You can tell from here?!"
The gang leader nodded. "Sure. It's in her mannerisms. The way she moves, her expressions, who she looks at; it all screams 'I like girls.' "
Hana sweatdropped. "Sometimes I think you know women way too well..."

The emcee sweatdropped. "Uh... look... kid, you can't be serious about this. Your challenger is no pushover."
"Good," Ranma said, handing back the mike, "that's the way I like 'em."
"You're kidding!" the college student protested, "I mean, look at you! I'll bet you barely weigh a hundred pounds! I could probably tip you over with my finger and-"
*Thock!* In an attack so fast that some weren't even sure she had moved, Ranma slammed a fist into the man's gut and then withdrew it so that she was standing in the exact same position as before.
"Okay... you win..." The emcee coughed several times, then brought up the microphone. *The challenge has been reviewed and accepted! Now we meet our other challenger! From Akumaru's higher classes comes a man of legendary formality and ability! Literature, philosophy, history, and brutality are his favorite subjects! Presenting JOSHIIIIIIIIN KEITOROOOOOOOO!!!*
The audience applauded as a new pair of lights focused on a figure at the edge of the ring, and Ranma raised an eyebrow as Joshin jumped up over the ropes and walked toward the center of the battle arena.
"Tuxedo. Cane. Monocle. So I'm fighting 'The Penguin'? At least you've lost weight."
Joshin smirked, turning sharply to one side while hopping his cane up on his arm. "Your wit is matched only by your feminine grace, milady." Then he took off his monocle and cleaned it with a handkerchief. "Which, I might add, is similarly lacking."
Ranma grinned. "Good. Had me worried for a sec, there."
Joshin frowned as he replaced his eyepiece. "Most odd. Shall we begin?"
"Ready when you are, Rockefeller."
The emcee cleared his throat. *This match is in the style of Anything-goes. Anything short of a lethal attack is acceptable. Please try to keep your techniques restrained to the ring. First one to surrender or lose consciousness is the loser! Begin!!*

Ranma rushed in quickly, rearing back her hand to strike. It occurred to her that if she were to use her flame powers, that people might assume Ranko was related to Ranma and seek out answers from her family. Because Ranma was still trying to keep her curse a secret, obviously this could not be allowed, and so he had resolved to complete this battle without using her flames.
As she got within striking distance, Joshin's form suddenly blurred before her, and Ranma promptly found herself flying through the air.
Behind her, Joshin finished sweeping with the hook of his cane, and flipped his weapon of choice over in his hand as Ranma hit the floor of the ring. "Feminine grace or masculine, you could use more of it. Several more landings like that and I fear you may damage those exquisite features of yours."
Ranma groaned as she pushed herself up, trying to keep from holding her stomach in pain. "Just keep talkin', Rockefeller..."
"One who does not enjoy the intellectual stimulation of common conversation can hardly be expected to understand the subtleties of more volatile forms of interaction." Joshin tossed his cane up off his arm and grabbed it in his right hand, preparing for another pass.
"I hate fighting rich guys," Ranma groused, "you people talk too much."
Joshin grinned. "But it does keep things so much more entertaining, no?" With that, he swung his arm in an arc toward Ranma, causing the hook on his cane to separate and extend toward Ranma, connected to the rest of the weapon by a chain.
Ranma's reflexes worked despite her surprise, and she slapped the hook away before once again closing the distance to her foe.
Joshin turned slightly and stood up straight, standing like a statue while his right arm alone whipped left and right, moving the cane's handle and chain into several lashing motions that Ranma struggled to avoid.
Ranma jumped over the sweeping chain, then dodged to the side as it cut for her head at an angle.
The next attack cut straight across at chest level, and Ranma ducked low, only to be struck by sudden pain and nausea as her much-abused abdomen complained about the rough treatment.
Thus, she wasn't able to dodge the next strike, and grunted before realizing that the cane's hook had caught on the jacket securely tied around her waist.
With a hefty pull, Ranma was sent flying toward his foe, who pulled his cane once more into a single piece and slammed Ranma down out of the air in two snappy motions of his arm.
Ignoring the pain, Ranma flip-kicked upward, barely missing hitting Joshin's chin and once again getting on her feet. With her foe in easy striking distance, Ranma lashed out with a roundhouse. Only to realize that her enemy wasn't where she thought he was. A split-second later, she was in the air again, courtesy of a cane sweep from Joshin.
Rather than letting Ranma hit the floor again, this time he grabbed the back of her tied jacket with his left hand, and then hurled her high into the air.

*Chingk!* *SLAM!!* The audience winced in sympathy for the poor girl as they watched Joshin shoot his cane hook into the air and catch Ranma's leg before pulling her back down, slamming her into the floor of the ring with such force that a deep impression was left in the canvas.
*What a combo! Ranko seems shaken! So far this fight has seemed terribly one-sided, despite fantastic displays of agility and coordination from the Furinkan challenger! Is this battle over already?*
Up in her seat, Min snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. "Give me a break. If Ranma was out there right now, he'd have kicked that dork's sorry..." Mai gave her a warning glance, and Min revised her statement for her little siblings' sake, "... rear end by now."
Tomas grit his teeth as he watched the redheaded girl get up. "The jerk could go a little easier on her! She's obviously not new to fighting, but geez!"
Andy frowned. "You know, I think something's wrong with that girl. The way she's moving... it looks like she's hurt."
"Well of course she's hurt," Min muttered, leaning back, "she just got tossed five meters into the air and then pulled back down with the same amount of force. And believe me, the mats in that ring aren't all that soft."
"No, I think I see what your father means," Mai said, shaking her head, "even when they had started, she looked like she was struggling a bit. She must be aggravating her injuries horribly."

Ranma growled as the emcee's announcement rang in her head, and she gave Joshin a sub-zero stare. Now it was personal. She had been holding back her flames to hide her curse, but now she was holding back her flames as a matter of pride. Someone had implied that she couldn't even hold her own against this nerd, never mind win, and they had to be proven wrong. That was that. Perhaps if there was something on the line, some important prize or horrible fate hanging in the balance, she might have used her natural advantage, but as there wasn't, Ranma was determined to crush Joshin with her bare hands.
'He's so fast... and strong, too... if I wasn't injured, I could fight him on his level, but-'
Before she could complete that thought, Joshin rushed straight for Ranma, cane in hand. Ranma moved to sweep him, only to be swept herself as Joshin once again zipped past him while sweeping with his cane.
"Gyah!" Remembering what happened the last time, Ranma moved her arm into position. True to form, Joshin once again grabbed her by the back of her tied-up jacket, inadvertently giving Ranma the stability and leverage needed to strike her foe hard in the side.
Joshin stumbled at the blow, and Ranma pushed her body clockwise around his arm, twisting backwards to land a weak, but clean, kick to the nobleman's face.
*And Ranko lands her first attacks of the match!! Joshin's combo is foiled!! We just might see some good action yet!!*
Joshin dropped his enemy and dashed backward, his cane on guard. Ranma landed on her hands, then flipped to her feet, grimacing as her stomach protested.
'Okay, I got a hit in now. Kind of odd though, that'd he'd try the exact same attack.' Ranma frowned. 'Come to think of it, all his attacks he seems to execute almost as if he's not concentrating or thinking about them. He just starts to move and sees it through.' Ever so slowly, Ranma grinned. 'He's stuck in a pattern...'
"Ah, a good strike, milady, but hardly cause to celebrate just yet," Joshin said, turning so that his profile faced Ranma and sticking his cane under his arm.
Ranma nodded, standing up. "You're right. That can come after you're out cold."
"Confidence, or foolish optimism?" Joshin questioned, fingering his monocle. "More importantly, is there really any substantial difference between the two?"
"Have I mentioned that you talk too much?" Ranma deadpanned. Then she attacked.
Joshin didn't budge as Ranma approached, and then his form suddenly blurred in a flurry of motion, just as it had done when Ranma first rushed him. And just as he had done at the beginning, and two times since, he moved alongside Ranma's path of travel while sweeping his cane low.
The only thing that went differently, in fact, was that this time, he missed.
Ranma landed in a crouch, having somersaulted up before Joshin had even moved. She immediately reversed direction, and positioned herself to deliver her strongest back kick, knowing that Joshin would be completing his swing slowly for purposes of showmanship.
*Thwack!* Caught completely off-guard, the nobleman grunted in pain as Ranma's boot slammed into his head, and was too stunned to defend himself as Ranma laid into him with a series of punches.
Joshin tried to gain some distance, only to have Ranma dash forward and then jump up, slamming him in the chin with her knee before flipping overhead.
The nobleman staggered backward, and then whipped around with his cane in a defensive position, only to see Ranma holding a crouching stance a fair distance away.
*An amazing comeback for Ranko! The fiery young unknown has returned from the brink of total defeat, and now seems to have the upper hand against the Akumaru challenger! What a fight!*
Joshin took a moment to take out a white handkerchief and wipe the blood from his cheek, seeing how Ranma wasn't moving. "You're far more formidable than I possibly could have guessed. You have my apologies for my earlier mockery. This has been an honor."
Ranma snorted. "You talk like it's already over. You giving up?"
Joshin chuckled. "Hardly. I'm simply expressing my own confidence in the outcome of this battle. Or would you call it 'foolish optimism'?"
"What have I told you about talking too much?" Ranma deadpanned.
"Of course. I attack!" Joshin suddenly dashed to the side and moved around Ranma in a wide circle, moving so fast that Ranma found him difficult to track.
When he had completed a half-circle around Ranma, Joshin skidded to a stop, and lashed his cane out in Ranma's direction.
Ranma was about to dodge to the side to avoid the cane's hook when she realized that the hook was nowhere to be seen. And the chain that it was attached to was extended all the way past-
"Uh oh," Ranma mumbled, feeling the chain wrap around her leg.
With a mighty heave, Joshin pulled Ranma off her feet, and sent her sailing overhead, moving at such a speed that it appeared she would hit the ceiling.
As soon as Ranma had reached the point where Joshin's leverage could no longer power her ascension, he snapped his arm back, intending on smashing Ranma into the floor with twice the power he had before.
"Sucker," was the last thing he heard before Ranma's boot smashed into his head with his own applied force, knocking him unconscious.

There was a pregnant pause as Ranma unsteadily got to her feet, very disoriented by the sudden change in velocity that Joshin had caused, even if he had assisted in cushioning her landing. Also, her stomach felt like a rickety blender that someone had put on "liquefy" and left running for 48 hours.
The emcee wordlessly approached, grabbed Ranma's wrist, and hoisted it into the air. *AND THE WINNER IS: RANKO!!!*
__________________________________________________________________________________

"I... I just don't know... Min, I have serious doubts about this," Tomas protested as his cousin dragged him through the halls of the gymnasium storage rooms and out into the parking lot.
"Why? You're not really that shy around girls, are you?" Min asked. Tomas was usually pretty confident and smooth, and she knew he wasn't a virgin, so it seemed odd that he'd resist something like this.
"Well, not usually, no," Tomas admitted, scratching his head beneath his head, "but we're talking about my friend's girlfriend here! Ranma already owes me for juicing his guts; he's gonna rip my arms off and roast me on a spit if I really piss him off!"
"Don't worry about it," Min assured him, "if he really does get mad, then I promise I'll explain everything and get you off the hook. Ranma doesn't seem like the type to hold grudges anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it."
"That's easy to say when you're after him and not his girl!" Tomas said, frustrated. "Besides... to be honest... Ranko's real cute, but at the same time I find her... well... a little intimidating."
THAT stopped Min short. "You're kidding me."
Tomas sighed. "You saw how she tore out in the ring back there. I knew she was capable of stuff like that. What if she doesn't take this the right way?"
Min snickered. "Oh my gosh! You're actually afraid of that girl?!"
Tomas twitched. "I said I was intimidated, not afraid. There's a difference. And why not? She's more than strong enough to hurt me, and I'm not going to beat her up if she gets offended."
Min quickly contained her mirth, though she was still smiling. "Okay, okay, fair enough. Though I promise you that this will soften her up."
Tomas gulped. "I have a REALLY bad feeling about this."
"Relax!" Min insisted, spotting Ranma in the parking lot. "Ah! There she is!"
Both teenagers sweatdropped as they watched the redheaded girl drop her head into a garbage can, and they could easily hear retching noises coming from the metal confines of the trash bin.
"On second thought, maybe this isn't the best time..." Min decided, feeling a little queasy herself as she watched the pigtailed girl.
"No, I... I've got it covered." Tomas pulled out a bottle of water that he happened to have on him, and took a deep breath as he prepared to stride forward. "Fortune rarely rewards the meek."
"That's the spirit!" Min shouted supportively, clapping her cousin on the back. "I'll be over that wall keeping watch. I'll tell you if any trouble comes. Go get 'em, tiger!"

Ranma groaned into the garbage can as her stomach finally settled. 'Ugh... I've had that coming since that first fall... geez, I'm a wreck... maybe I was getting in a little over my head, fighting while injured, as a girl, and without my flames.'
Then she smiled. "But then again... I won."
"You certainly did. Helluva victory, too."
Ranma blinked and looked up to see Tomas sitting on the hood of a Honda behind her, holding up a bottle of water.
"Something to wash out your mouth?" He tossed the bottle up in the air, and Ranma caught it eagerly.
"Thanks man! You're the best!" Ranma eagerly opened the bottle and took in a mouthfull before spitting it out into the garbage can, ridding her mouth of its most unpleasant contents.
After emptying her mouth, Ranma took a good long drink out of the bottle, making sure to leave enough to turn back into a male as soon as she found a container suitable for warming. Then she sighed and jumped back onto the car hood next to Tomas. "Man, that was rough. Good fight, though. I'd like to fight that Joshin dude when I'm feeling better."
'Weird. She seems pretty comfortable around me. Maybe Min was right.' "What happened to you, anyway? You looked like you entered that fight in pretty bad shape."
Ranma snorted. "You mean you don't remember? I got it from... from.... uh..." Ranma trailed off as she remembered that she was still a girl.
"What? Remember what?" Tomas asked, honestly confused.
"Oh! Uh, that's right, you weren't there! Sorry. It's just that I was... erm...... attacked by a Ninja! Yeah! That's it!" It was technically true, even if that wasn't what was responsible for her injury at all.
"Ah..." Tomas mumbled. "Still, I find it hard to believe Ranma had you go in his place."
Sensing that the girl next to him was starting to get angry, Tomas held his hands up in front of him peaceably. "Whoa, don't get me wrong! I know it's my fault he wasn't in good enough shape to fight, and I'm not blaming him or saying what he did was wrong, but I'm just surprised he'd let you go in his place, especially as you seem almost as badly injured."
Ranma frowned, but decided that Tomas' reasoning was sound. "Oh, believe me, if he had had any choice at all in the matter, he would have gone, and I wouldn't have even been there. I was only there because there was no way he could've made it."
Tomas nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."
Ranma blinked as Tomas put an arm around her back and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Still, it was good to see you out there. You were really something." He squeezed her shoulder.
"Toma-" Ranma turned to face the American, only to freeze, her eyes wide, as Tomas' lips suddenly met hers.
After a moment, Tomas realized that the redhead wasn't responding, and pulled his lips and hand away.
'Dang. I think I blew it.'
Ranma twitched. Then she twitched again. "Tomas... I'm sorry..."
'Yup, I blew it.'
"But I'm going to have to kill you now."
'......... Oh yeah. I blew it big time.'
Ranma's aura suddenly exploded around her, shattering the Honda's front windshield in, and throwing Tomas to the ground from the sheer force of it.
Tomas whimpered pitifully as the busty redhead's form was engulfed in purple flame, and his life promptly flashed before his eyes, ending, ironically, with the line Min had used to initially back up this great plan of hers: "It couldn't hurt, right?"
__________________________________________________________________________________

Keeping watch on all traffic to the different parking lots from her position behind a separation wall, Min snickered to herself as she thought of how easily this was all going to come together.
'It's perfect. I just know this is going to work out. Hell, if a guy like Tomas came onto me like that, even I'd find it hard to resist!' She was currently facing away from the parking lot where all the action was going on, to insure that she didn't get so distracted in watching her plans come together that she let anybody get through that might spoil the action, like Ranma or Kuno.
Still, it was pretty tempting. "Heh," she snickered, "if only I could see those sparks fly..."
*KABOOOOM!!!* Min stumbled as the very Earth shook, and gasped as a wave of residual heat washed over her from behind.
"What the hell?" She turned around and peeked over the wall, only to have her vision blinded by abnormally bright flashes of purple.
*FWOOM!* *FWOOM!* *KABLAM!!!* *BOOM!!* *BOOM!!*
Two yellow flashes joined the purple ones as two cars' fuel tanks detonated, and Min looked away to keep the glare from hurting her eyes. In moments the explosions faded, and the sounds of screaming people running away from the school drowned out the roar of a hungry firestorm.
'Well, I'm glad Mom and Dad left already, at least. How did Ranma get past me without me seeing him?' At least, she assumed it was Ranma.
"AAAAAAAGH!!" Tomas landed heavily next to her and immediately rolled on the ground, having jumped over the stone wall while still on fire.
"Tomas?! What's going on?! Are you okay?!"
"DO I LOOK OKAY TO YOU?!?!" Tomas yelled, causing Min to wince. He was covered with burns, and had two depressions in his jacket that looked like someone had hit him hard enough to rend steel (considering Tomas' constitution, at least).
*Whoosh!* Min involuntarily ducked, though being a bit shorter than the wall she was behind, she wouldn't have been struck anyway by the hurled car. The flung vehicle hurtled awkwardly through the air, and eventually stopped after crashing into, and through, a closely-knit group of trees that had been planted between the two parking lots.
"Ouch. That was a Mercedes, too," Min mumbled.
*KABOOOOM!!!* Tomas and Min were blasted forward as the rock wall they were hiding behind was torn apart by dark fire, the Earth once more trembling at the might of the Yagamis' heritage.
Min gulped as she recovered and looked behind her to see a short figure emerge from the flaming ruins. "R-Ranko?! What-? How-? Why-?"
Ranma's eye twitched as she found Tomas, and her right hand was engulfed in a large purple fireball.
"WAIT!! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!" Tomas begged, waving his hand in front of him wildly.
Then he pointed at Min. "THIS WAS HER IDEA!! IT'S ALL HER FAULT!!"
Min's eyes widened. "Hey! You traitor!"
"OH, SHUT UP!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!! AND YOU SAID THAT YOU'D ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY IF THINGS WENT WRONG!!" Tomas pointed a shaky finger at his cousin. "I SWEAR, SHE ARRANGED ALL OF THIS FOR HER OWN PERSONAL REASONS!! I'M JUST A PAWN IN HER SADISTIC LITTLE GAME!!"
Ranma's eye twitched again, and she slowly turned toward Min. "Really?"
Min gulped, and then chuckled nervously as she twiddled her fingers. "Well... uh... maybe..."
*Choom!* A wave of dark flame burst from the ground and washed over the redhead's form, and Ranma slowly began to stalk toward the Ninja girl.
"W-Wait! I can explain!" Min protested, waving a hand in front of her. Seeing that her protest didn't stop the rampaging teenager, she was desperately grasping for something else to stop her with when something occurred to her.
"Wait a minute! You're using the Yagami flames! Are you related to Ranma?" Min asked.
Ranma grit her teeth. "I AM RANMA!!"

**********************************************************************************
End Chapter 10