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Hair Cut
"Ranma! Get away from him fast!" Akane shouted.
"He must be stronger than an ogre!!" On the
tournament ground both fighters shifted there stance
slightly. Ranma's feet seeming to float off the
ground as he leaned back.
"Looks like you found out..." Ryouga said with a
laugh. "...a little too..." Ryouga slashed his hand
seemingly through Ranma's head, it was only a moment
before Ryouga realized that he had just struck an
afterimage.
Ranma fell back to the ground and lifted upward
with his legs. The half-demon's leg connected between
the celestial's legs and pushed him up and over the
now prone Ranma.
"EEEP!!!" Ryouga yelped in a suddenly higher voice,
shortly before being planted into the ground, letting
go of the bandana holding Ranma to him.
"What did I find out too late?" Ranma demanded,
rolling to his feet, an afterimage blurring behind him
as he moved. "That you're a rude, insensitive..."
"YOU are calling ME rude!!" Ryouga snapped, his
voice hitting normal range. The celestial kippuped
and moved immediately to a round kick, only a little
sloppy from the pain, Ranma dodged it adroitly and
tossed the celestial towards the edge of the
tournament ground.
"He's coming this way!!" someone shouted, pointing
up at the now descending fighter. Ryouga twisted
around in the air and hit the ground rolling easily.
He swept upward into an uppercut, forcing the already
attacking Ranma into a dodge. Then the wanderer
dodged towards his discard umbrella.
"You think THROWING me is going to accomplish
anything?" Ryouga asked as jabbed upward.
The umbrella swept past Ranma's chest, almost
connecting, as Ranma's leaping kick connected squarely
with Ryouga's jaw. As Ranma landed his tunic,
purchased recently to replace the one his father had
burned, ripped open across the upper chest.
"AAHH!!!" Ranma looked down at his ruined shirt in
dismay. "This wasn't even a month old!!"
"This is war!" Ryouga snapped back, rubbing his
jaw. "Stop acting like a wo..." Ryouga hesitated at
the sound of rolling thunder. "...a wimp!!"
"At least I show up on time!!" Ranma shouted,
leaping forward and attacking the celestial. Ryouga
leaped back as the attack came, though he wasn't
really surprised. Ranma had been incredibly vicious
since Ryouga first managed to cut him.
The celestial's leap took him clear over the
tournament ground's wall, and he was quickly followed
by Ranma. The half-fiend was still being followed by
an afterimage of his motion, making it hard to keep an
effective track of him.
"They're over the wall!" someone shouted. "After
them!!" The crowd followed quickly, and then saw both
fighters take a leap over the outer wall.
"Not the cliff again!" Akane sighed, changing
course along with most of the audience. Nabiki,
watched her sister and shrugged moving for the wall.
Somehow she thought the wall would afford a better
view of the fight. And she could always take a slow
fall if she had to.
Nabiki hit the wall in time to see the aura around
Ranma shift as he took natural form. Nabiki cursed
the idiot as she cast out hectic array of painfully
contrasting colors towards the pair of fighters,
incidentally catching the curious guards and knocking
them unconscious. The spell did not quite get out to
Ranma and Ryouga though.
"Oops, I missed," Nabiki said striding to the wall.
She chanted quietly a moment, and thick fog with a
soft violet tint seemed to drift from her to cover all
views from the fortress to the fighters. "You owe me
Saotome."
Nabiki faded into a purple shadow before vanishing
completely. As all trace of her was lost the first
guards started coming too.
"What hit me?" the man moaned irritably.
*******
"Who are you to call me a wimp!" Ranma demanded as
he shed his human form and took wing on his great
leathern wings.
Ranma's nails blackened and extended to claws, his
canines grew and he grew to not quite a six foot
height. Normally even Ranma's male form could be
called cute, but he was enraged. Insulted first as a
woman, then as a man and in general just as a living
thing he was more than a little beyond his usual frame
of control. At the moment he was frightening,
imposing, and handsome, but not cute.
"I actually showed up to the fight!" Ranma
snapped. "I'm more of a man than you'll ever be!"
Ryouga let his breath out as Ranma hit him. Then
he smirked as he let the half-demon tire himself out
carrying the both of them into the cloud line and away
from human eyes. As they came under cover Ryouga
dropped his own human disguise.
If Ranma was frightening, Ryouga's natural form,
with great feathered wings patterened black and white,
was awe-inspiring. He would have stood head and
shoulders over Ranma had they been on ground. Had
Ranma been in a condition to notice, he would have
been somewhat envious over the way Ryouga's clothes
molded around him rather than tearing apart. Ryouga
easily broke Ranma's hold on him and moved to initiate
his own grapple.
Ranma finally recovered his cool and his wits and
pulled away well before Ryouga could catch him. Both
winged martial artists growled at each other
wordlessly. Then both unleashed other powers that
they possessed. A coruscating burst of random color
surrounded both of them along with a terribly bright,
white radiance.
The power merely washed over both of them,
eliciting confusion and more growls from the warriors.
Ranma and Ryouga circled each other, gaining a sense
of the other's style. It quickly became obvious that
Ranma was the more manuverable and speedy of the two.
The smaller warrior smirked slightly at the advantage.
Ranma dived inward preparing to strike as he
passed, his fists closed. Ranma always preferred not
to use open hand techniques, especially when the claws
were out. There really was no one that he wished to
kill. Ryouga watched him come in with a smirk.
Ranma blinked as Ryouga's wings flipped in
distinctive pattern. He reluctantly pulled off from
his charge, but sighed in relief as Ryouga growled in
irritation. He had been right about the trap, it was
odd that Ryouga knew that technique though.
~Magic is out,~ Ranma said. ~He just ignored my
best stuff.~
Ranma didn't have time to think further as Ryouga
began tossing a hail of twirling bandannas towards
him. The magically charged bandannas sought Ranma out
with almost unerring accuracy. The half-fiend shouted
a harsh collection of Abyssal words and cringed as a
shield of darkness quickly formed in front of him.
The shield moved quickly to stop the majority of
the magical projectiles. Ranma felt more than a few
scrape along his sides, arms, wings, and his face once
more. The other wounds didn't bother him too greatly,
but the scrape across his face nearly sent him into
another idiotic rage.
Ranma snarled and dived in shouting a loud battle
cry, a slight twinge of darkness enveloping him as he
attacked. Ryouga moved to block, but it was almost
like Ranma had some foreknowledge of how he was going
to move. The half-demon struck him solidly in the
chest, and Ryouga dropped his umbrella in shock at the
impact.
Ranma snapped back, ready for Ryouga's counter
attack and then caught sight of Ryouga's umbrella
passing through the cloud cover. Ranma hesitated, the
chance that the umbrella would actually hit someone
was slim, but it couldn't be risked. Ranma dived down
into the clouds after the heavy weapon.
Ryouga recovered control of his flight in time to
see Ranma propel himself on leathern wings down
through the clouds.
"Still running Ranma?" Ryouga sniped as he followed
his enemy.
*******
"Where the hell did they go?" Akane wondered as she
poked around the woods at the base of the cliff with
the rest of the former audience. She would have
expected the area to show signs of extremely violent
battle by now.
"They have to be around here somewhere," someone
shouted. Akane glanced around irritably and looked up
as the clouds above seemed to flash with lightning and
thunder. "Great, he'll be a girl next time I see
him."
Akane was investigating the clouds a little
further, watching to see further signs of an oncoming
storm, when she picked out a flash of descending red.
She stopped and stared closer, trying to make out some
sort of form.
"It couldn't be him," Akane said before moving
towards where the falling slash of red seemed to be
heading.
Ryoko granted many of her priestesses the secrets
to speedy travel in addition to raw strength. The
better to enable them to strike fast, hard, and
virtually anywhere that could be reached. Akane had
not yet been initiated into many of the secrets, but
she could run inhumanly fast when she needed to.
Another form broke the clouds above, falling down
after the flash of red. Akane could also make out a
much smaller form slightly ahead of what was
definitely a humanoid creature falling.
"Ranma you idiot!" she shouted. "How'd you get up
there!"
*******
Ranma snapped his wings back one more time before
he returned to human form, and losing the extra drag
of the wings. He was almost to the umbrella, he could
almost reach it. Ranma snapped out a hand and tried
to grasp the umbrella with a small spell. The
celestial weapon repelled his attempt before he could
even slow it down.
Ryouga hesitated a moment as Ranma returned to his
human form. The celestial wondered briefly what the
half-fiend thought he was doing, and then noticed his
umbrella. Enraged, Ryouga dived.
"You think to steal my weapon, eh, Ranma?" Ryouga
shouted. Ranma glanced up, but didn't bother to
answer. Looking down, the half-demon was irritated as
he watched the umbrella snap open and caught the air.
It slowed down tremendously, and Ranma had to move to
avoid striking it.
Ranma caught a brief glimpse of someone running
beneath them, and cursed under his breath. He glanced
down and noted that at least he was heading for the
river, forgetting certain spells he had on himself.
*******
Akane caught glimpses through the trees of Ranma
descending after Ryouga's umbrella. She was almost
through the tangle of trees when a small geyser of
water erupted from Ranma's impact.
"Uh oh.." Akane said, suddenly glad that she had
not called anybody else's attention to the falling
Ranma.
*******
Ryouga landed lightly on the ground, shielding
himself from the spray of water with his recovered
umbrella. He whirled about to look over his shoulder
and saw a small form leaping at him, surrounded by
water, out of a small black gate. He ducked under the
furiously attacking form, and watched in confusion as
the new attacker landed.
"Well, Ryouga?" the redhead before him demanded as
she entered stance. Ryouga fortunately missed the
fact that the girl's tunic was ripped open, revealing
her flesh for all the world to see. He was beginning
to recognize things about her, but was still in a
state of mostly confused shock.
"W..w..wait a sec..." Ryouga stuttered. "Who
are...YOU??!" The girl almost floated to his head's
level, though he didn't feel any magic.
"What's the matter, feather-head?" the girl
demanded, shifting forward in a kick.
As the redhead attacked did so her shirt ripped
further open, giving Ryouga a full view of her chest.
Ryouga's eyes bulged as the girl sent an almost
straight up kick through the space his head occupied.
"R...R...Ranma?" Ryouga asked after stumbling
backwards from the force of the blow. He readied his
umbrella before seeing the motion in the woods beyond.
Ryouga followed Ranma's example and returned to his
human disguise as Akane burst into the scene.
"Who do I LOOK like?" Ranma demanded. "You blind,
stupid, sadistic, JERK!"
"Ranma!" Akane shouted. "Your...your...your
torso!"
"My," Ranma glanced down and saw that his shirt was
open. She glanced up at Ryouga, then Akane, and then
at Ryouga again. Akane blinked at the stricken look
the supposedly cursed boy had. Then Ranma crossed his
arms over his chest and screamed before jumping back
into the river and mostly submerging herself.
"Didn't you even know you had become a woman
again?" Akane asked in disbelief. Ranma's head peaked
out from the water and glared up at Ryouga silently.
"Ranma...you..." Ryouga's eyes started to narrow as
he worked out why the red head in front of him was
familiar, other than the fact that she was apparently
Ranma. "...YOU!
"Did ya get a good look?" Ranma demanded angrily,
ignoring Akane and not waiting for Ryouga. "Are you
going to laugh at me again?" Ryouga stared at her as
she continued. Ranma glanced back at Akane and tried
to think about how to continue what she was saying
without letting anything slip to Akane. "I don't know
anything about any mission or anything, I just going
on with my life as best I can!"
Ryouga stared at her neutrally a little while
longer before smirking and giving a brief laugh that
quickly erupted into a full-fledged gale of laughter.
"It is to laugh!" Ryouga shouted, ripping a
collection of bandannas from his head. "That...you
think THIS would convince me to stop. Feigning
ignorance while proving yourself even further a fiend
than I thought you to be!" He lifted his hand and
started whirling the bandannas at an incredible speed,
gripping his umbrella under his arm. "HA! Such a
jest!" Ryouga leaped and launched the spinning
bandannas at Ranma.
"Idiot!" Ranma shouted, leaping out of the water as
the bandannas sliced into her former position. She
landed next to Akane, placing herself between Ryouga
and the priestess. The celestial ignored him and
launched another volley. "They're
mo...err...bystanders around!"
"There they are," somebody in the woods beyond
shouted. "This way, this way!" The approaching crowd
was soon delayed as they dived for cover away from the
oncoming projectiles.
"I'll be right back Ranma!" Akane shouted, turning
to leave and find a metal container she could use to
heat some water.
"No!" Ranma snapped. "It's not safe! Don't move!"
"I'll make it!" Akane shouted confidently, the
dark-haired girl easily avoided the bandannas, but
unfortunately did not do so well with the tree roots.
Akane cried out as she tripped and a pair of bandannas
passed over her.
"No!" Ranma snapped as he rushed to aid her fallen
fiancee, unwanted or no.
"An opening!" Ryouga snapped, launching his
umbrella at his opponent's back. "It's over! Even if
you dodge my umbrella my bandannas will strike you
from every...direction?"
Ryouga blinked in confusion as Ranma and Akane were
suddenly just not there. His weapons came to a
natural rest almost harmlessly as he cast about for
his opponent.
"Hey," one of the audience asked. "Where'd they
go?"
"AAAAAA!!" The sound of Akane's surprised screech
came to everybody's ears and they saw Ranma carrying
Akane and landing in a tree some distance away.
"Running AWAY, coward!?" Ryouga demanded angrily.
"Hold your horses!" Ranma answered back, completely
missing the pun she had just made on her own name.
Ranma relaxed a little leaning on Akane who was still
holding him tightly. As that fact came to Ranma's
mind her relaxation ended, and her face started trying
to match her hair color.
"Mm?" Akane, recovering from the surprise of the
teleport, blinked and took stock of her position. She
zipped away from Ranma further out on the tree branch
as the red-head was relaxing enough for a shy, quiet
smile. By the time Akane actually looked at Ranma's
face the beginnings of the smile were gone and only
embarrasment remained mixed with a little hurt.
"You!" They both shouted after a moment of silence.
They glared for another moment and then turned away
from each other. "What?!"
"If you had stayed still, like I..." Ranma started.
"You can't win if you're too worried about covering
yourself!" Akane answered back, pointing at Ranma's
chest in demonstration. Ranma blushed bright red and
angrily placed her arms over her chest again.
As they argued Ryouga silently walked up to the
tree they were in and glanced around at the
surrounding crowd before unloosening his belt.
"Stay out of my fight!" Ranma snapped back. "I
don't need help from a hu...err..." Ranma growled as
he swallowed the word he was planning to use.
"What?" Akane snapped before Ranma could continue.
"You don't need help from a woman?"
"That's not wh..." Ranma started.
"Take a look at yourself Ranma," Akane interuppted.
"You're a girl!"
"What!?" Ranma snapped angrily. He'd been
expecting woman, not "girl." That was as bad as the
old man always calling him "boy."
"A short, whiny, little girl," Akane snapped
ignoring Ranma flinching. "With a freakish figure!"
Ranma was shaking angrily and clenching her fists.
At the base of the tree Ryouga snapped his hand and
his belt straightened and stayed into a hard, sharp
sword.
"The belt!" someone shouted "It's like a sword!"
"What would you know!?" Ranma demanded, not
noticing as the tree started to shift. "You...you..."
She was cut off as the tree gave way, falling to the
ground.
Ranma grabbed Akane again and leaped into the air
away from the falling debris. Before they even
reached the peak of her small jump, Ryouga was above
them and whipping forward with his sword belt. Ranma
wished for some object to block with, but had to make
do with what she had available.
Ranma reached out quickly and formed another shield
of darkness between him and the Celestial. Ryouga's
whip-sword curled around the construct and, when the
hunter pulled back, tore it to pieces. The small
spell did buy her the time to land, however, and that
was all she was hoping for.
"Let me go!" Akane demanded.
"What?" Ranma asked in disbelief. "Do you think
I'm holding you because I WANT to?" Akane glared at
the redhead, and, as they landed among the tree limbs,
whipped out and slapped Ranma hard. The red-head
looked in shock at Akane.
"Well, if I'm such a nuisance then..." Akane
growled. She had wanted to try to help with the
battle, rather hard when she was restrained, not
implying anything else. "...then..." She silenced
herself and tramped off.
"Uh..." Ranma held still for a moment trying to
decide what to do. ~She called me a girl, and a
freak! What do I care, if...if...she's one of the few
people that treats me like a person.~ Ranma turned
away from Ryouga, forgetting the fight.
"...Akane...?"
"Ignore me will you!" Ryouga yelled, attacking with
his whip-sword again.
"Stay out of it!" Ranma snapped angrily. Ryouga's
target dropped into a one-handed handstand, kicking
into Ryouga's wrist, knocking away the weapon, and
ruining the temporary repairs Ranma had made to her
tunic while arguing. The deadly blade whirled into
the sky as Ranma ran foreward.
"Akane!" Ranma shouted. "A...Akane, I..."
"Don't bother with it," Akane said quietly, her
back still turned. "Because starting now, you and I
are STRANGERS!!" Akane growled as she whirled to face
Ranma.
As she turned Ryouga's blade descended, cutting
through Akane's long hair on its way to the ground.
Ranma and Akane both stared in shock as the bulk of
Akane's hair came free and drifted to the ground.
~Oh my goodness!~ Ryouga thought staring foreward.
~I almost killed a bystander!! DAMN!! DAMN!!~ Thunder
started gathering. ~Can't I even have my thoughts to
myself, mom?~
Ranma was aware of another layer of meaning to the
situation. After all, it had taken her years to find
a hairstyle that he was happy with as both a guy and a
girl. A hairstyle she had been forced to change do to
one unfortunate meal, though the pigtail was nice too.
Not to mention that most of Ryoko's priestesses were
exceptionally proud of their hair.
The crowd that had been gathering as soon as it had
been discovered where Ranma and Ryouga had moved to
released their breaths in a collective "ohhh" as
Akane's pony tail hit the ground and the silent
priestess examined the roughly cut ends.
"A...Akane?" one of the women asked.
"I...I..." Ranma stuttered.
"I don't see what's to worry about," Ryouga said.
"She's not hurt."
"Look at her hair!" Ranma snapped angrily.
"Caught in public with a haircut like that!" one of
the women supported the red-head. "She's lucky she
didn't just die!"
"Don't you know anything?!" Ranma finally added.
"Say," of the ladies turned to Ranma. "Who are you
anyway?"
"And where'd Ranma go?" somebody else asked.
"I don't care who she is," a guardsman muttered,
staring at Ranma's chest. "As long as she keeps
wearing that." Ranma immediately covered her breasts
with her arms again, and angrily glared at Ryouga.
"That's not important!" Ranma yelled at the crowd.
"What matters is...Akane." Ranma placed herself in
front of Akane and leaned forward. "Okay Akane. If
it'll cheer you up...hit me!" Ryouga stepped up
beside Ranma adding his attempt to make amends, and
compete with Ranma all at once.
"You may hit me too," Ryouga said neutrally. Akane
looked up at the two of them, almost on the verge of
tears.
"Go ahead," Ranma said, cringing.
"Smite me down," Ryouga added. Akane looked
between the two of them for a moment. In the skies a
new cloud was added as a flock of ravens took flight.
"Agreeable girl," Ryouga spoke around a swollen
cheek. He hadn't been expecting a magically enhanced
strike. "Isn't she?" Ranma just stared forward
silently as Akane shuffled away.
*******
Akane strolled along, the sun moving closer to the
horizon behind her, and then paused to glare at a thin
tree. Suddenly she lunged forward and slammed her
fist into the tree, denting it and sending the whole
tree shaking.
Akane started walking again and gasped as a twinge
of pain came from her ankle. She paused to look down,
her eyes covered by the bangs that were no longer tied
back into a pony-tail.
~I must have twisted it when I tripped,~ Akane
thought clinically. ~Kasumi can fix it, or maybe
Master Tofu.~
"I get the feeling she's still mad," Ranma thought,
hanging from the shaking tree.
*******
Akane sat at her table thinking over the past, and
her hair.
~It was finally longer than Kasumi's,~ Akane
sighed. The sound of a light tapping on the wood of
her window brought her attention up, where Ranma was
hanging upside down like a bat at her window.
"Say...um..." Ranma started.
"What?" Akane asked. "Did you think I was crying
my eyes out?"
"I can uh...fix..." Ranma's arms were crossed in
front of his chest, but she was fiddling with her
fingers none the less.
"I don't care about my hair!" Akane informed him,
grabbing a statue from her table. "So leave me
alone!!"
*******
"If I'm such a nuissance then...then...starting
now...you and I are STRANGERS!!"
Ranma sighed as he recalled Akane's angry words.
He, changed in body and clothes, looked down at the
lock of hair in his hands. A small voice was
reminding him that she had insulted him too, but she
didn't know that, and if he wanted an apology he'd
have to explain things he'd rather not explain.
~I've gotta apologize,~ Ranma thought.
*******
"She went to see Master Tofu about her ankle,"
Kasumi told Ranma. "I offered to heal it, but she was
insistent. Did something happen at court?"
*******
"Aha!" Ranma said as he caught sight of a slowly
walking figure. "Akane!" He quickly caught up with
her and landed in front of the girl. "Whoops! Sorry!
Wrong girl!" He turned to continue seeking Akane.
"Who were you looking for?" the girl asked.
"Huh?" Ranma turned around, recognizing the voice.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Akane asked
curiously, playing with her hair.
"Akane?" Ranma blinked in surprise at the change,
the battle priestess looked a lot different.
"Looks better now, doesn't it?" Akane asked.
"Um...Akane..." Ranma paused and then bowed. "I'm
sorry."
"Well," Akane said. "I've never seen you so meek."
"It's just...I..." Ranma paused uncertain how to
continue.
"It's all right," Akane said wearily. "I mean,
after all...I was thinking of getting it cut." Ranma
winced at the obviously hollow reassurance.
"How's...how's your ankle?" Ranma asked, following
behind her. "Can I...carry you?"
"Stop being so polite," Akane said irritably. "It
makes me nervous."
*******
Tofu and Genma turned as the door to his shop
admitted Ranma and Akane.
"A..Akane?" Tofu said in surpise at the short hair
cut, and noted the way Ranma was nervously hovering
about her. The more he saw of the young...person, the
more he was certain that Ranma meant no harm. He'd
have to speak to the young man..err..whatever...about
his feeding practices though.
"Hello, Master Tofu!" Akane said cheerfully. Tofu
decided that Ranma could wait until later, right now,
something was obviously wrong with Akane, despite her
cheerful exterior.
*******
"What's wrong," Akane asked over her shoulder.
"Ranma?"
"He said you looked cute," Ranma said, perched on a
wall over looking the river. "I thought you'd be
happy."
"It doesn't matter anymore," Akane said.
"Yeah, doesn't matter, right," Ranma said.
"Master Tofu already loves someone else," Akane
said shrugging. "I think I've finally gotten over
him, though." She sighed. Ranma leaped off the wall
and landed in front of her.
"He's right, you know," Ranma said. "Your hair
does look good like that." Akane's eyes bugged as she
stared at Ranma in shock.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ranma asked,
sweating.
"Do you feel well?" Akane asked, glaring at Ranma
and leaning forward.
"Hey!" Ranma snapped. "Listen, jerk--"
"Don't worry about it," Akane shrugged, continuing
to walk down the road. "You don't have to cheer me
up."
"You think that's what I'm doing!" Ranma snapped.
"I was just trying to compliment you an'...who says
you're cute?! I just meant I like your hair better--"
Akane stopped walking and stared forward in honset
surprise. She turned around and saw Ranma back on the
wall, crouched with his back to her. "I mean...that
is...not that my taste makes any difference...I'm just
a freak, right...what do I kn--?"
"Ranma?" Akane said softly, causing Ranma to look
back cautiously. "Thank you. That's nice to hear."
"Mmm?" Ranma turned to face her, he felt his heart
lurch as she smiled at him.
"Even if you don't mean it," Akane confirmed.
"It's nice."
~C..c..can it be?~ Ranma thought. ~Akane might
actually like...me?~ He stared into her cheerfully
smiling face, perched on the wall. Ranma was lost
enough that he missed her raising her hand up.
"On guard," Akane said simply, and poked him.
Ranma found himself leaning back, and falling into
river. "Ha Ha. Gotcha!"
"Why you!!" Ranma snapped. ~It was a trick, just
like Ryouga getting "lost". Damn it!!~
"Now you don't have to feel guilty anymore," Akane
laughed down at him.
"Who says you're cute!?" Ranma demanded. Akane
merely stuck her tongue out at the red-head in the
water.
*******
Meanwhile the relentless Ryouga was walking across
a sandy beach with no civilization in view.
"Just wait, Ranma Saotome," Ryouga growled to
himself. "I'll find you're training hall--and fight
you to the death!!"
*******
Ranma stared down at her reflection in the water
under the bridge and considered it. Akane had already
gone on home after Ranma leaving Ranma to pout.
Ryouga had cut her twice on the face. Not that she
hadn't received facial injuries before, but Ryouga was
a celestial. Ranma didn't know how they'd heal. That
wasn't what concerned her, however.
Ranma in female form would have been considered
short had she been an elf. The fact that most succubi
were six feet tall in either form made the distinction
even greater. Even as a guy she wasn't really tall,
not overly short either, but not really tall. Even in
his true forms he was small, though he hit about
average height as a male demon.
The curves which many had told Ranma were
incredibly desirable, were odd for such a short
person. If she were a few inches taller, or maybe as
slender as an elf. Ranma sighed in resignation, she
didn't look real at all.
"I am a freak," Ranma muttered dipping her hands
into the water and distorting the reflection. "A tiny
little freak."
"Akane doesn't mean that you know," a voice said.
Ranma looked up to see Nabiki fading into view next to
her.
"How do you-?" Ranma started to ask.
"You're not hiding your thoughts very well," Nabiki
wiggled a finger in admonition. Ranma growled and
looked back down at her feet.
"Why do you care?" Ranma asked bitterly.
"I can't get any favors from you if you leave,"
Nabiki explained simply, winking in attempt to show
she was kidding.
"If I paid you enough could you answer me a
question?" Ranma asked.
"Depends on the question," Nabiki said shrugging.
"Nobody wants me outside of what they can get from
me?" Ranma asked.
"I don't think I can answer that one," Nabiki said.
Ranma slumped trying to keep from crying, though
Nabiki had already seen that once if she wanted to use
it against her.
((Trying to avoid writing the parts that are mostly
the same))
=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?" -
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
"God has to have a sense of humor, it's the only explanation for sex." - my father
"I have to write a how-to paper for class, so I'm writing a paper on how to be psuedo-evil." - my brother
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