The next morning started much the same way. After Akane made short work of the horde of boys descending on them, the pair raced into the halls of Furinkan High. When class started, Ranma spent more time taking notes, and figured himself mostly caught up from the few weeks of the semester he had missed before enrolling.


    When the bell rang, Akane grabbed Ranma’s arm, and led him up to the next floor of the building. “Whoa, Akane, where are you dragging me off to, I was planning on eating lunch here.”


    Akane turned to look at Ranma quickly, not braking her stride. “You’ll see, it won’t take very long to do this.”


    As they alighted on the floor above theirs, Akane dragged Ramna into the class marked ‘2-E’. “Hey, sis, nice of you to drop by.” Nabiki smiled at them as they entered.


    Akane shot her a glare. “Nabiki, I need Kuno. Now.”


    Nabiki gave an over-dramatic sigh. “He’ll be back soon, just wait a few minutes.”


    <hr>


    Ranma hadn’t been sure what to expect when Akane had demanded to see Kuno. The well built kendoist had brought his bokken with him to lunch, and grimaced as he saw Akane standing next to Nabiki. “Hey, Akane, long time no see.”


    “Kuno, can you get the horde off my back, give them a little scare?” Akane asked, pointedly.


    Kuno, for his part, looked exasperated, and turned to Akane. “No doubt you understand that I appreciate coming to the aid of such a fair maiden, especially one who shares the blood I hold as dear as the moon on a brisk summer night. However, I am afraid I can no longer offer you my protection, as you are now promised to another.”


    Akane glared at him and her sister, nonplussed. “Kuno. Please help me out. You value our friendship, right?”


    Kuno and Nabiki share a conspiratory glance. “Now, I’m sure a woman of your caliber would not be sullied by binding herself to a knave who could not hold his own on the fields of battle. Surely, would this request not be better suited for him?”


    Akane stared directly into Kuno’s eyes. “If simply beating them up would get them to back off, then I would have done that weeks ago. I need them to know that they don’t have a chance with me. Everyone in that group knows that they don’t stand a chance against you. If you have a public fight with Ranma, and he wins, they’ll back off.”


    She turned to her sister. “And I know you can find a way to profit from that as well.”


    Ranma, miffed, turned to the pair with mercantile grins spread across their faces. “Wait, don’t I get a say in this?”


    Kuno turned to him, quickly drawing up a letter of challenge. “After classes, Saotome. You, me, and a chance at the second place spot of Furinkan. I will not hold back. I expect the same from you.”


    <hr>


    The rest of the school day passed quickly for Ranma. At the chiming of the bell, he and Akane headed out to the field behind the school, their chosen battlefield. Akane had somehow made her problems his, and he was going to remember it, but an honorable man among men like him couldn’t just back down from a duel.


    Kuno had spent the entire afternoon waxing poetic about how he was going to win and how Ranma was weak and flimsy and no match for the mighty Blue Thunder of Furinkan high. Nabiki had arranged for posters to be plastered all over the school. It was honestly impressive how quickly she worked. It wasn’t much of a surprise to him when he found the majority of the student body gathered around the field.


    Nabiki walked around taking bets from the myriad of students in the crowd, along with three other girls, who seemed to be helping her take the money and write down the bets. Two of the girls and were wearing a Furinkan High uniform, while the final one was not. Both of the girls in Furinkan uniforms had brown hair, one in a slight bob, and one in a high ponytail. The third had silky, black hair, in a high side ponytail.


    “Last call for bets, the match starts in five minutes!” Nabiki yelled out over the field, her voice booming.


    Ranma sat in the grass, Akane next to him. He took deep breaths, and studied the well dressed kendoist on the other side of the field. After a minute or so, Ranma ran through a few stretches, limbering himself up for the coming fight.


    Akane squeezed his hand after he finished warming up. “Good luck. I know I’ve been a bit mean to you, but I really do wish you the best.”


    Ranma scoffed, pulling his hand out of Akane’s squeeze. “Look at you, trying to be all nice. I don’t need your well wishes, I’ll finish this by my own power. He can’t be that strong, right?”


    Akane frowned, and turned to Ranma, as if to say something to him. She was interrupted by the loud blaring of music, some english rock song from earlier in the decade. Ranma couldn’t quite follow the lyrics, but he caught a few of the words, about rising up and the thrill of the fight.


    Nabiki’s voice blared out over the field. “Hold onto your butts, we’re finally getting started. Can Tatewaki Kuno defend his title against the challenger, Ranma Saotome? Well, you’re about to find out, because this match begins NOW!”


    <hr>


    The two combatants flew towards each other, aiming to close the distance between them and land the first blow. Ranma burst across the midway point of the field and just a little bit further, before jumping to the side to dodge his opponent’s overhead strike. A meter-long gash, was carved into the grass behind where Ranma had just been standing.


    Ranma had forgotten to stop. His side dodge gave him too much momentum, and he flew out of range before landing any sort of blow on the kendoist. He knew he was at a disadvantage without any type of tool, or weapon, but Kuno didn’t seem to be as fast. He could work with this.


    Kuno whirled around, in a stance placing his legs at a forty-five degree angle, with his blade facing outward, the tip towards his feet. He knew as much as Ranma did that Ranma outsped him. He would just have to make sure his attacks hit true before Ranma could do enough damage.


    “Nice speed, but I hope you have the strength to keep up with me!”


    Ranma stopped to take a breath, eying the stance Kuno had taken after his initial strike. “They don’t call it ‘Anything-Goes’ for nothing!”


    He darted out to his right in an attempt to reach Kuno’s unguarded side. When he was two bokken-lengths away, Ranma leaped forward with a kick to Kuno’s side.


    Kuno swept his leg back, and swiped the bokken in front of himself. He watched as Ranma jumped out of the way of the blade, receiving only a glancing blow. It was time to go on the offensive. Kuno stepped forward, thrusting his weapon directly towards Ranma’s solar plexus.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Ranma jumped, hoping to get out of the way of his opponent’s thrust. His toes lightly brushed against the tip of the bokken, saving him from the damage of the thrust. He grimaced internally. He’d rather die than admit it, but the earlier slice that had only barely connected hurt like hell.


    Part of the reason he had tried to specialize in speed, beyond it being one of the only ways to actually get himself fed, was that he wasn’t invincible. His old man would always make fun of him whenever he doubled over in pain, so he’d either had to learn to deal with blows, or get so good they’d never hit him. Given that the former would have subjected him to endless mockery, it was obvious which route he’d taken. He was just glad there wasn’t any sort of secret technique that would lower his pain tolerance even further.


    Kuno was surprised that Ranma dodged his thrust, as he had moved with great alacrity. Not wanting to lose his advantage, though, he turned his wrist to twist the blade upwards, and sliced up at his opponent. Somehow, Ranma was already gone, and Kuno’s follow-up did not connect.


    Ranma wasn’t totally inexperienced in dealing with kendoists. He knew that being above a blade like that would put him in prime striking range. He used the jump to flip over Kuno’s head, and went for a sweeping kick to Kuno’s legs. What he didn’t realize, was that Kuno read his move and prepared a counter. His bokken hit home across Ranma’s ribs. He rolled with the hit, but all that did was keep him in the fight a little longer.


    Kuno stood back, offering his opponent the mercy of a chance to recover. “You could stand to learn a thing or two from your fiancée.”


    Ranma puffed out his chest. “What could I possibly have to learn from that macho tomboy? She only does this for fun, everyone knows you have to be a man to be a true martial artist!”


    Kuno swung again, and Ranma barely jumped out of the way, his ribs screaming at him to end the torture he had subjected them to. He was going to make the older boy pay for mocking him, saying that he could learn a thing or two from Akane. He attempted to slide in between Kuno and his sword, the one place he hadn’t already tried. At Kuno’s perfect striking range, Ranma felt the pain flare up, and he slowed down. The entire world seemed to be running in slow motion, as his brain tricked him into thinking that another slice of the wooden stick connected hard with his ribs. His world faded to black.


    <hr>


    When Ranma came to, he was laying on the bed of a clinic. Akane was sitting in a chair on the side of the bed, holding his hand. “Hey Ranma, welcome back. Tofu put some salve on your wounds, but you probably can’t get up quite now. Do you remember what you were doing when you got knocked out?”


    Ranma sat up a bit. Surrounding him was Akane, Kasumi, Nabiki, Soun, and his old man, in panda form. Sitting in a side corner, having a long conversation with a skeleton, was a middle-aged man with glasses and brown hair. “Beating the crap out of some stupid kendoist, and winning.”


    Nabiki glared at him from the chair where she had been sitting across the room. “Winning, my ass.”


    Ranma frowned at the accusation. “No, I’m pretty sure I won, I… just… don’t remember it.”


    The man who had been talking with the skeleton walked over to him. “Hi Akane, I hear you got in a little scuffle. Here, let me fix that for you.” He then proceeded to dislocate Ranma’s neck.


    Ranma yelled out in pain. “What the fuck kind of quack doctor are you? Are you trying to kill me?!”


    Akane got up from the chair, and let him back to the skeleton he had been talking to. “Ah, thank you Nabiki, I was just having a wonderful chat with Ranma, let me get back to that, thank you.”


    Soun got up from the chair with a grunt and a sigh. “Well, I’m glad you’re still with the living. We should head back to get dinner ready. Kasumi, Saotome, mind coming back home with me? Nabiki, Akane, stay with Ranma until he’s ready to come home.”


    Nabiki stood up. “I’ll come back home with you daddy, Akane can handle her shitty-ass fiancé alone.”


    Kasumi remained seated, smiling at her father. “I’ll stay with Akane, then, the three of you head on back.”


    Soun, Genma, and Nabiki left for home. Tofu turned back to his charge. “Oh my, what happened to your neck? It was fine the last time I saw it.”


    Ranma grumbled. “Yeah, well maybe try not fucking my head up in the first place…”


    Tofu sighed, eventually returning Ranma’s head to it’s proper orientation. Ranma yelped out at the pain, involuntarily.


    Ranma turned to face Akane, worry sneaking into his voice. “Akane, did I really lose that fight?”


    Akane sighed. “Yeah. Pretty bad. I had to princess carry you to Tofu’s and…”


    Ranma glared at her, raising his voice. “You fucking what?”


    Akane rolled her eyes. “I princess carried you here. You were unconscious.”


    Ranma sat fully up, and started yelling. “I didn’t fucking ask you to carry me. I’m a man goddammit. I don’t need some girl to carry me off the field like some helpless CHILD. Plus, now my head is all bent out of shape.”


    Kasumi turned to Ranma. “Ranma, please calm down, someone had to get you here to avoid lasting damage.”


    Ranma turned to Kasumi, tears involuntarily running from his eyes, both from the lingering pain of his neck and the consuming anger of his mind. “Then you should have let me suffer, at least then I would have had some dignity as a man. Instead I had to be princess carried by some macho ass bitch to some tiny ass clinic, humiliated.”


    “Would either of you like some tea? This is a calming blend, it’s good for the nerves.” Tofu motioned to Akane and then to Ranma, both shaking their heads in turn, glaring at him.


    Akane squeezed his hand a little too hard. It took every ounce of willpower in his body not to scream in pain. “Well excuse me for caring about your safety, you idiot.”


    Ranma scoffed, turning his ire to Akane. “Oh, please, it’s not like a girl like you could actually do half as well as I did, since you can’t be real martial artists, anyway.”


    Akane grinned, puffing out her chest. “Actually, I’ve wiped the floor with his sorry ass before. Nabs made an insane profit on that mach.”


    Ranma sneered. “And I bet that’s only because he likes you and didn’t want to hurt you. I’m sure he had a crush on you.”


    Akane stared daggers into Ranma. “He was already dating my sister at the time. The informal fight, he was going easy on me, but the real fight, he really did give his all.”


    Ranma shook his head. “You must have been delusional and hysterical, there’s no way a girl could beat a man in a fair fight.”


    “And what about the time I beat you?”


    Ranma flushed red. “That doesn’t count.”


    “And why not?”


    “‘Cause I had a stupid girl form, you idiot? Of course a girl could beat another girl! Neither would be a real martial artist!”


    Kasumi looked between the two of them, a look of shock on her eyes. Tofu walked over and put a reassuring hand on Akane’s shoulder, only for her to shrug it off.


    Akane stood up and turned around hovering at the door. “Y’know what. Fuck this shit. I’m so tired of putting up with this. You’re not fucking worth it. This engagement is done with.”


    Ranma looked at Akane, anger in his eyes. “Oh sure, the princess is done with me now that I’ve been emasculated beyond recognition. Where’s your enthusiasm for me, bitch, you’re the one who picked me.”


    Akane showed Ranma her favorite finger as she stormed out of the room.