Nabiki backed away from Ryoga and Ranma as they squared off. Akane hobbled with her as she supported her sister's weight as best she could.
"I'm going to make you suffer for hurting Akane!" Ryoga yelled at Ranma.
Akane spoke up then and pleaded for sanity. "Wait! Ryoga, no! It wasn't Ranma—"
"Ranma, prepare to die!" Ryoga yelled as he leaped towards Ranma. Ranma easily danced out of the way of Ryoga's straight forward attack.
When they landed, Ranma yelled back to Ryoga. "Ah man, what is it with you?! Don't you got nothin' better to be doin'?"
Ryoga launched another leaping attack on Ranma. "Shut up! I don't want to hear your lies!" Ryoga yelled as he careened towards Ranma with his fist extended.
Ranma dodged again and his expression changed from annoyance to anger. "I ain't got time for this, I got things to do man, back off, I'm warning you!"
"Shut up! I'm going to punish you for hurting Akane!" Ryoga growled as he landed in a fighting stance and got ready to charge Ranma again.
Akane tried, once more, to get Ryoga to stop as she yelled while she waved at him, "Ryoga, no! Ranma didn't do anything to me."
Ryoga actually looked back at her at that and replied. "Oh, Akane, please don't cover for him, I ... I can't bear it!" He said to her softly.
Akane raised her hand again, trying to get his attention as she opened her mouth to protest, but he had already turned away from her again, so she closed her mouth and let her hand droop and said in a voice so soft that only she could hear it. "But ... Ranma ... would never ... hurt me."
She knew that if Ryoga had heard that, he probably would have stopped. Of course, that would have meant Akane basically announcing her trust in Ranma to Ryoga, which was more or less like announcing her love for him. And, Akane was obviously still not ready to do that.
Even so, just hearing Akane say what she'd said, stabbed her through the gut with fear. All it would take for her to lose to Akane, would be for Akane to outright fight for him. If she does ... it's all over. She thought sadly as she looked sideways at her sister.
She could see Ranma shooting glances to both her and Akane, trying to figure out what to do as he dodged away from Ryoga. Ranma wasn't having much trouble with him, but he had an appointment to keep with her. She could see him trying to make eye contact with Akane, but she was looking at the ground and lost in her own little world, probably agonizing over what to tell Ryoga. Then Ranma made eye contact with her, and she shrugged. She didn't care how he handled Ryoga. Ranma didn't have time to act on her encouragement though, as Ryoga finally managed to land a punch on Rama that broke his eye contact with her, and sent him flying.
He popped back to his feet and went from looking mildly angry to very angry. His total attention was now back on the fight. "All right, now I'm mad," he yelled as he clenched his hands into fists so hard the knuckles popped. She was sure he was probably showing a battle aura. She couldn't see it though. She could feel it, however. It felt likes waves of heat were pouring off him. She was sure Ryoga was putting out a battle aura as well, because she could feel waves of cold coming from him. They had such different fighting styles and personalities.
Her attention was called back to Ryoga who wasn't at all intimidated by Ranma's anger. "That makes two of us!" He yelled as he drove a hard right punch at Ranma while stepping forward.
Ranma stepped back with a hard glint in his eye and blocked Ryoga's punch with his left hand in a clenched fist that he slipped to the outside of Ryoga's arm, that brought Ryoga inside his guard. As soon as his right foot touched down he braced and allowed the momentum of Ryoga's attack to carry him towards his right fist which Ranma was bringing up to punch to Ryoga's ribs. As soon as Ryoga rammed into Ranma's punch and stopped his charge with a heavy oof, Ranma slipped his right hand up from Ryoga's ribs and checked Ryoga's arm that was still extended in a punch. He then slid his right hand down to Ryoga's still-extended wrist, and grabbed it roughly. Before Ryoga could react, he yanked him forward and took his balance as he drove a right roundhouse kick into Ryoga's gut. He landed lightly with his right leg and twisted so that he drove his right knee into Ryoga's left one as he stepped into Ryoga's stance and checked his legs to prevent him from kicking him, then he quickly pivoted as he drove his left knee into the back of Ryoga's left thigh, which drove Ryoga down to one knee, as he shot another punch out with his left hand to Ryoga's ribs at the same time. A moment later he let go of Ryoga's wrist and threw it at Ryoga in a swinging arc designed to keep him off balance as he backed away from him still in a fighting stance.
She couldn't help but be proud of how graceful Ranma was. He had flowed from movement to movement with a confident liquid rhythm that was impressive to see in action. She looked sideways at her sister, who was frowning in disapproval. Akane didn't approve of bullying the weak ... even when the weak were the ones starting the fights.
Ranma took another couple of steps back from Ryoga then again tried to get Ryoga to stop. "How 'bout it man, had enough? I told you, I ain't got time for this." He did smirk a little when he was done, though. She knew how much he loved to win, and it showed.
"Ranma ... that's enough!" Akane called out to him exasperated.
He looked up at that and protested. "Hey, say that to Ryoga! I didn't start thi—"
"Die, Ranma!" Ryoga yelled as he launched himself into another flurry of strikes while he pushed himself off the ground with his superior strength back to a fighting stance. Ranma danced away again, doing his usual defensive dodges, but he snapped out a few kicks or punches whenever Ryoga left an opening.
"H-hey, I said ... HEY! I said, that's ENOUGH!" Akane yelled, then she added, "leave each other alone!"
"I'm just ... defending myself ... Akane!" Ranma yelled back indignantly as he could in between blocks. She could feel her sister put her back up at that before Akane yelled back. "Just stop it, the both of you!"
"Tell him, not me!" Ranma yelled back as he slammed another kick into Ryoga's chest, knocking him back.
"Ryoga, stop, please!" Akane yelled. She looked at Akane sideways again. It was unusual for Akane to acknowledge that Ranma wasn't at fault for something.
Ryoga ignored her and launched yet another flurry of strikes at Ranma. Ranma dodged for a bit, then about when he would have to change course or run into one of the walls that lined the streets, he paused, and she could see him watching Ryoga's hands as he worked out the pattern and the timing. She concentrated and could see him line up his hips so that his left would be just to the right of Ryoga's left, as he slipped his right hand up as a parry to the outside of Ryoga's hand, and then stepped hard to the right of the next punch Ryoga threw, which was a left stepping punch.
Ranma threw up a left closed fist block to the outside of Ryoga's arm above the elbow, trapping Ryoga's ability to swing and counter, as his right foot pivoted. He stepped in towards Ryoga with his right hand as an open chop to Ryoga's carotid artery as he closed the distance between them with his left foot, dragging up and collapsing Ryoga's stance as he drove his left knee into the back of Ryoga's knee. He then pivoted his hips and kept his left side's momentum moving as he raised his right arm in a swing while he drove his left elbow into Ryoga's ribs. He immediately pivoted back from the right side and completed the swing with the right hand as he whipped a closed fist into Ryoga's kidney closest to him. He continued the momentum and brought the closed fist up to arrest Ryoga's spin as he fell into Ranma from the force of the blow and checked Ryoga's left tricep as he unwound with his hips and drove a devastating right kick downward into Ryoga's left calf muscle, which drove Ryoga to his knees, hard. Ranma then swept Ryoga's feet out from under him which dropped Ryoga hard to the ground and caused him to bang his head on the ground. Ranma stepped back to a high guard stance and just looked at him. He was obviously done with Ryoga's nonsense.
Ryoga just lay there dazed and muttering. "I'm sorry ... I failed you ... Akane," was all she heard him say, then he passed out.
Akane immediately rounded on Ranma. "You didn't have to do that to him, did you?" She asked in a disapproving tone.
He stared back at her in shock. "What was I supposed to do, just let him wail on me, Akane? I was just defendin' myself."
"You still didn't need to knock him out, though!" Akane countered.
She didn't understand Akane's logic. From everything she knew about Ranma's past fights with Ryoga, if anyone was more or less an equal to Ranma, it was Ryoga. That, and Ryoga had crazy-high endurance and stamina, so for Ranma to win a fight against him, he pretty much usually had to knock Ryoga out. Seemed logical to her. Additionally, in this case, it seemed more that the ground had knocked Ryoga out, more than anything else.
Ranma was obviously getting agitated at Akane's defense of Ryoga. "Listen, I tried to be nice, but he kept attacking me!" Ranma retorted defensively.
Akane opened her mouth to continue arguing when a voice that she really didn't want to hear sounded from behind the wall behind Ranma. "Is true, husband is too too good warrior. He beat other boy, no problem."
Shampoo popped up from behind the wall to land lightly on the top of it and smiled at Ranma. She noticed with no small amount of satisfaction that Shampoo was letting her arms hang limply from her sides. What's the matter, Shampoo, arms feeling a bit heavy today? She thought smugly.
Shampoo smiled down at Ranma. "Ranma, you date Shampoo?" The young Amazon asked with her usual eagerness.
He darted his eyes to her for guidance. This scenario had not been in their plans. She opened her eyes wide to show she didn't know. Then, before anyone else could do or say anything, Doctor Tofu was abruptly there kneeling down next to Ryoga. One moment he hadn't been there, the next moment he was. Shampoo narrowed her eyes at him. She took note of that with great satisfaction. Not so cocky anymore, are you? She thought.
Tofu bustled around doing his usual act as he fussed over Ryoga. She could tell he wasn't fooling Shampoo, though. The Amazon girl kept her eyes on him and she could tell that Shampoo was tensing her legs to leap from the wall. Someone got a little lesson in humility last night, didn't she? She thought to herself happily.
As the Doctor worked on Ryoga, he called out to Akane without looking back at her. "Akane, what did you do to your ankle?"
Her little sister tore her eyes off Ranma and answered in her usual hesitant way she used when speaking with Doctor Tofu. "O-oh, I just twisted it, D-Doctor, nothing to worry about."
He nodded as he picked Ryoga up with one hand and slung him over his shoulder as he started to walk back towards the house with him. "Akane, would you like to go inside with me so I can look at that ankle?" He paused right next to Akane and smiled at her in that disarming way he could.
Akane stuttered nervously in reply. "Well, I ... I was going to ... "
Doctor Tofu just cocked his head and looked at her and waited with that smile on his face. Akane looked at him and then back to Ranma and Shampoo, then back to Doctor Tofu again, then nodded hesitantly. "All right."
Doctor Tofu held out his right hand for Akane to take. She lowered her sister's arm from around her neck, and let Akane loose so she could hobble over to him. As soon as Akane was in reach, his hand shot out and steadied her. He had Akane's arm wrapped around his neck and her sister walking in step with him a moment after that, while he carried Ryoga slung over his left shoulder like a sack of potatoes. As he rounded the corner he called out without looking back. "Ranma, take care of Nabiki for me, will you." It wasn't a question. Akane looked back once more with worry in her eyes, and then she was gone as Doctor Tofu pulled her along with him.
As Akane left, Ranma muttered to himself something about they had been having a good time, and he could never catch a break. She'd have to ask him about that later, as she suddenly found herself the subject of Shampoo's cold stare. The Amazon girl was ... unnerving.
She felt a bit naked and unprotected on the street facing Shampoo in the fading light of day. Even if it was on the street right in front of her house, and Ranma was there.
Shampoo hopped down from the wall and started to walk towards her with a malicious gleam in her eye. She took a half step back before Ranma was suddenly standing in front of her, with his arms spread out protectively.
"Shampoo, no! Nabiki, and all of the Tendos, are off limits! Do you hear me? Off limits!" He said sternly.
Shampoo nodded but continued to advance. She narrowed her eyes, she knew damn well that Shampoo understood more Japanese than the Amazon girl let on. She knew that part of Shampoo's broken speech pattern was simply to throw people off into thinking she was stupid. Shampoo often got away with things simply because she pretended she didn't understand the rules. It was actually a brilliant strategy. She had filed it away to use herself, should she ever find herself in another country, as soon as she'd met Shampoo and watched her doing it.
Ranma put some heat into his voice when Shampoo kept coming. "Hey, stop! Stop! What did I just say?! Leave. Nabiki. Alone! She. Is. OFF. LIMITS!"
Shampoo stopped within arm's reach of Ranma, but still outside of any sort of striking range on her. She wasn't worried. Ranma would not allow Shampoo to hurt her. So she just glared at her.
"It was bad enough when you popped up and scared Akane earlier, you've got to stop this!" Ranma said in an extremely frustrated tone of voice.
She filed that away to ask about later. It probably explained Akane's twisted ankle.
"Shampoo no understand!" The Amazonian girl said with her own frustration breaking in her voice. "If Ranma no is engaged to Akane, Ranma should marry Shampoo!"
Ranma shook his head and replied sternly. "I'm engaged to Nabiki now." He indicated her with a nod of his head, but he didn't look back at her. She wasn't really where she wanted him to focus Shampoo's attention, but she knew he was winging this. She hadn't had time to tell him about the plans she'd come up with. Although he was basically carrying out plan one anyway, without any prompting from her. Sure, she could have coached him a bit on what to say, but basically confronting Shampoo about the engagement and asking her to stop had been her first plan, and it had been the one she had been sure he would pick. She hadn't had much hope for the second plan, although that had been the one she would have preferred.
Shampoo glared at her. "Only reason Shampoo leave Akane alone was thought husband loved Akane. If husband is switch to new girl so easy, then only fair husband marry Shampoo! Shampoo is waiting much longer than sister of Akane is!" She took another step towards Ranma, and he held his ground, still holding his arms wide to protect her.
She thought about speaking up and trying to help Ranma, but she didn't want to throw him off his center, and she didn't want Shampoo to see her as controlling him. That wouldn't make the situation better. So she just continued to glare at her.
Shampoo wasn't looking at her anyway. She was staring deep into Ranma's eyes and had laced her fingers into his as she swayed her hips and stepped towards him seductively as she made soft little hmm and umm sounds. She had to admit, the girl had style.
Ranma stood transfixed at that for a moment, and she couldn't really blame him. Hell, even she had been staring at Shampoo's hips there for a moment, a little bit mesmerized. To Ranma's credit, he took a half step back before Shampoo could press herself up against him, and straightened his arms to push her back to arm's length. "C'mon Shampoo, can't you please stop?"
Shampoo continued to look at him with adoration as she cooed at him and made kissy faces. She could see him wilt a little under the Amazon's attentions, but not enough to be swayed by it. He put a little bit more steel into his voice. "Shampoo, stop. All right? Please, just stop. I aint gonna marry you. I told you this before, I already have a fiancée. It was Akane then and now it's Nabiki, but nothing's changed. And, even if the Tendos kicked me out tomorrow, I would still be engaged to Ukyo too. I can't throw my family's honor away to be with you. Please ... try to understand."
All right, laying it on a little thick there, Saotome. Time to wrap it up. She thought as she sighed. She really needed to teach him how to persuade people with a little bit more subtlety.
"Is ... is husband say ... never?" Shampoo asked with real tears in her eyes.
Ranma nodded hesitantly, she could tell he was really struggling with this. He was swallowing a lot, and she could tell he didn't trust his voice any more. Her hands suddenly felt cold and clammy as she watched him. She knew he had a terrible time saying no to a crying girl. This was the moment of truth. Previously when Ranma had convinced Shampoo he was a girl, she had attacked but had been unable to really commit to the attack, and had broken away from it and fled back to China in tears. Would she attack now, or would she flee?
Shampoo tensed up, and took a half step towards Ranma. He flinched and held his protective stance in front of her. Then Shampoo stopped and reversed her step and took a full step back. She stared at Ranma with longing in her eyes and cried openly for a few moments. Or, she could just cry instead — that actually might be more effective on him. She thought wryly to herself. Then while Shampoo continued to cry, the Amazon girl shot a hateful glare at her before switching back to gazing sadly at Ranma. "Fine. Shampoo go." She said bitterly.
Well ... that's not what you want to hear. She thought to herself as Shampoo turned and hopped up on the wall.
Ranma called after her. "Shampoo, wait."
Both she and Shampoo turned and looked at him quizzically.
"Did you hear what I said about the Tendos? They are off limits, do you understand?" Ranma asked earnestly.
She relaxed from the sudden clench she had been in when he had called Shampoo back. She had been afraid he wouldn't be able to let any of them go, and would promise her something noncommittal that would keep her hanging around, just to keep her from crying.
Shampoo looked back at him with dead eyes and an expressionless mask on her face as she slid her gaze over to her and held it there as she replied. "Shampoo heard." Then Shampoo bounded away to the next rooftop, and the one after that, and was gone.
Ranma slumped in front of her as he dropped his arms and muttered to himself. "Well ... that's encouraging." He turned around and smiled at her. "At least we didn't have to go find her, though. One down, right?"
She smiled back tightly at him and reached her hands out to him. He took them and held them gently in his warm hands. She loved how warm he always was. She smiled more broadly at him to encourage him for continuing to keep his promise as she replied. "Yes, good job, Ranma. Not quite the way I would have planned it, but hey, no plan survives contact with the enemy anyway."
He nodded happily at her praise. So she was less enthusiastic to add her next comment, but she felt she had to. "Did you notice that she only acknowledged that she had heard you say we were off limits? She never said she agreed to it." She asked as she tried to keep the fear out of her voice, but she knew it was there.
"Oh, even if she had said she would stay away, I wouldn't have believed her. We're going to have to do something about the old ghoul before they actually stop." He said.
That was what she had thought would have to happen as well. She was amazed at how well he planned and understood strategy when it concerned fighting. When it was a physics problem or a question about how complex political things worked, he just sat there. But if it involved Martial Arts in any way, then he was totally invested in it. It was a shame that his father had only seen fit to have Ranma value martial skills. But, on the other hand, she knew that part of the reason he was so good was because he only focused on his martial skills. She wondered what he would be like if he had grown up with his mother as well. I guess I'll never know, not that it really matters. She thought as she smiled at him and held his hands.
She nodded at his explanation and turned to walk back towards the house with him and dropped his left hand while she continued to hold his right. She walked with him in silence for a moment then looked up at him and whispered. "We should talk."