Chapter 4
“Again!” Akane yelled as she slammed into the mat, but unlike the last time she rolled onto her side and got her feet back under her instead of trying to leap back upright from her back. Leaping back up in one go after being knocked down was impressive, but also left her hanging in the air for a precious half second. In this kind of fight, against this opponent, that was far too much time to be unable to react.
Ranma came in high, kicking off the wall, and his sparring partner grinned. Now he was the one out of position. “I’ve got you this time!”
Akane came up strong and met Ranma at the apex of his jump, where he didn’t have any momentum to use to spin or dodge. She committed, punched, and then blocked his retaliatory kick with her off hand.
“Oh yeah?” He challenged while using her own blocking forearm as a springboard to flip himself over her head.
“You used that trick last time!” Akane shouted, and grabbed his leg before he could pull it in. She heaved, starting in her hips and working her way up to her arms like her whole body was a whip being cracked… And just like a whip, the fastest part of the motion was at the tip.
Ranma spun out of control and into the padded training mat covering the floor of the Tendo dojo twice as hard as he’d thrown Akane into it. He popped back up almost as fast. Blue light gathered in his clasped hands-
And froze in place as Akane threw her hands in the air and shouted, “Quirk use! I win!”
He looked down at the glow and groaned, letting it flicker as frustration replaced confidence as his dominant emotion. Then he stepped forward and flicked Akane on the shoulder. “I had you.” He grumbled.
Akane punched the air again in celebration. Her face was red from exertion and Ranma was barely winded, but finally getting one over on the boy felt so good that she didn’t care. Unfortunately, her celebration quickly ended because he was right. If it’d been a Quirk-legal spar, then she’d have left herself wide open to his confidence attack. After having him as a guest in her home for a week, she also knew that he wouldn’t have left himself open like that if he were on top of his game. Something was up.
She stretched, and winced at the ache from pushing her body to its limit. Sometimes she almost wished Ranma was still dodging her without attacking, like he had that first night, back when she thought he was a girl. That was before she knew that he was a boy that only turned into a girl when splashed with cold water. It was also before she told him that her dream was to be a pro Hero.
Sometime in there the way he treated her had changed. Was it because they had the same dream? Whatever the reason, Akane wasn’t sure if the change was a good thing or a bad one. On the one hand, he took her seriously enough to put serious effort into actually winning their spars, instead of just letting her tire herself out. On the other hand, she was starting to get tired of losing so quickly that it took longer to set back up for the next round than it took for Ranma to knock her over.
Akane could definitely believe that he’d spent the past few years on a long term training trip. Ranma was on a totally different level than her, and the only thing that made it bearable was that it wasn’t like he just lorded an unfair Quirk over her. He was just more skilled, and the knowledge that she could one day close that distance and wipe the smug smirk off of his face lit one heck of a fire in her belly! Akane was hungry, and that made her jittery.
That was the only reason why she was on edge, obviously. She wasn’t nervous because she was going to hear back from U.A. about whether she’d placed into the Hero Course later that day. She was just twitchy, and felt like running up the walls for reasons completely unrelated to not knowing her entrance exam results.
As Akane untied the ribbon around her hair and re-tied it, gathering up the stray locks that the spar had pulled loose, Ranma spoke. “I don’t know why you keep your hair so long.”
“It’s because it’s pretty, and I’m a girl. I’m allowed to like to be pretty!” Akane snapped back.
In the echoing silence that followed, she considered that she might actually be worked up about the entrance exam results after all. “Sorry. I’m really nervous. I heard everybody gossiping about how many points they got in the practical exam when I came out, and I’m still not sure how well I scored on it.”
Ranma opened his mouth, but Akane kept talking, almost babbling to change the subject away from her own problems. Fortunately, there was a target at hand. “Speaking of mistakes, you used the same moves twice in a row. You haven’t done that in the whole time we’ve been sparring, so what’s up?”
“My transcripts are pretty bad, and I’m worried about how I did on the written part of U.A.’s entrance exam.” Ranma mumbled. His face was red, and he averted his eyes from Akane’s inquisitive gaze. The written exam had been in the afternoon of the same day the practical was. “I studied, but pops and me always moved around a lot. I think the longest I stayed in one place was half a year. I met my best friend then. He was a piece of work. ...I wonder how he’s doing?”
He laughed under his breath. “Remind me to tell you about Ryouga sometime. We used to fight over who’d get the last curry bread, or was it meat bread? I don’t remember very well, but it was all kinds of fun.”
“But you’re going to be staying here for high school, right? That’ll pull your grades up.” Akane asked.
Ranma smiled. “Yeah. It’ll be nice.”
“Soooo… What’ll be nice?”
“Staying here.”
“With?” Akane asked leadingly.
Somehow, Ranma knew that if he said that he’d appreciate Kasumi’s home cooked meals, then he wouldn’t enjoy the result. So he cast about and said the first thing that popped into his head. “Well, I kind of like sparring with you. I mean... You’re not bad.”
“I suppose that you’re not terrible either.” Akane quipped back.
“I’m not ‘not bad’.” Ranma pulled a disgusted face, and then exaggerated it when he looked outside and saw that it was raining. If he left the dojo he’d be soaked. “I’m great.”
They settled down to wait on the rain to let up. The distance between the dojo and the house proper wasn’t large, but the rain came down in buckets. Neither of them wanted to go from being hot from exercise to doused in cold water. Neither said anything. They both just stood there in the doorway, waiting in the company of their individual thoughts.
Eventually, Akane spoke up. “Sooo… when you said I’m not bad, does that mean you think I’m cute?”
The boy beside her stared fixedly out at the rain, stone-faced and stoic apart from the slow red blush spreading back up his cheeks.
“You do!” Akane leaned forward, and her lips curled up into a smile of satisfaction. “You think I’m cute, and you’re just a dork who doesn’t know how to talk to girls!~”
Ranma crossed his arms. “I can talk to girls just fine, just not violent ones like you. But yeah, so what? You’re not a model or anything, but you’ve got your good points. You’re cute when you’re having fun -cute for a tomboy, anyway.”
She laughed at him as he squirmed verbally and physically. “You should learn to shut up while you’re ahead.”
A short while later the rain was slowing to a light shower. Akane went for the door, but stopped with one hand on the frame. “I guess I could try dating you.” she admitted. It felt bizarre to say, like she was violating an unspoken assumption on how the world worked. Her dreams of the future had never included a boyfriend.
“You sound like I’m as appealing as three-day old fish.” Ranma grumbled. “What do a boyfriend and girlfriend do, anyway?”
“They hang out, talk about stuff, go on dates with activities they enjoy.”
“So… like best friends?”
“Best friends that think each other are cute.”
Ranma preened. “I guess I am pretty cute.”
Akane splashed him.
Ranma came in high, kicking off the wall, and his sparring partner grinned. Now he was the one out of position. “I’ve got you this time!”
Akane came up strong and met Ranma at the apex of his jump, where he didn’t have any momentum to use to spin or dodge. She committed, punched, and then blocked his retaliatory kick with her off hand.
“Oh yeah?” He challenged while using her own blocking forearm as a springboard to flip himself over her head.
“You used that trick last time!” Akane shouted, and grabbed his leg before he could pull it in. She heaved, starting in her hips and working her way up to her arms like her whole body was a whip being cracked… And just like a whip, the fastest part of the motion was at the tip.
Ranma spun out of control and into the padded training mat covering the floor of the Tendo dojo twice as hard as he’d thrown Akane into it. He popped back up almost as fast. Blue light gathered in his clasped hands-
And froze in place as Akane threw her hands in the air and shouted, “Quirk use! I win!”
He looked down at the glow and groaned, letting it flicker as frustration replaced confidence as his dominant emotion. Then he stepped forward and flicked Akane on the shoulder. “I had you.” He grumbled.
Akane punched the air again in celebration. Her face was red from exertion and Ranma was barely winded, but finally getting one over on the boy felt so good that she didn’t care. Unfortunately, her celebration quickly ended because he was right. If it’d been a Quirk-legal spar, then she’d have left herself wide open to his confidence attack. After having him as a guest in her home for a week, she also knew that he wouldn’t have left himself open like that if he were on top of his game. Something was up.
She stretched, and winced at the ache from pushing her body to its limit. Sometimes she almost wished Ranma was still dodging her without attacking, like he had that first night, back when she thought he was a girl. That was before she knew that he was a boy that only turned into a girl when splashed with cold water. It was also before she told him that her dream was to be a pro Hero.
Sometime in there the way he treated her had changed. Was it because they had the same dream? Whatever the reason, Akane wasn’t sure if the change was a good thing or a bad one. On the one hand, he took her seriously enough to put serious effort into actually winning their spars, instead of just letting her tire herself out. On the other hand, she was starting to get tired of losing so quickly that it took longer to set back up for the next round than it took for Ranma to knock her over.
Akane could definitely believe that he’d spent the past few years on a long term training trip. Ranma was on a totally different level than her, and the only thing that made it bearable was that it wasn’t like he just lorded an unfair Quirk over her. He was just more skilled, and the knowledge that she could one day close that distance and wipe the smug smirk off of his face lit one heck of a fire in her belly! Akane was hungry, and that made her jittery.
That was the only reason why she was on edge, obviously. She wasn’t nervous because she was going to hear back from U.A. about whether she’d placed into the Hero Course later that day. She was just twitchy, and felt like running up the walls for reasons completely unrelated to not knowing her entrance exam results.
As Akane untied the ribbon around her hair and re-tied it, gathering up the stray locks that the spar had pulled loose, Ranma spoke. “I don’t know why you keep your hair so long.”
“It’s because it’s pretty, and I’m a girl. I’m allowed to like to be pretty!” Akane snapped back.
In the echoing silence that followed, she considered that she might actually be worked up about the entrance exam results after all. “Sorry. I’m really nervous. I heard everybody gossiping about how many points they got in the practical exam when I came out, and I’m still not sure how well I scored on it.”
Ranma opened his mouth, but Akane kept talking, almost babbling to change the subject away from her own problems. Fortunately, there was a target at hand. “Speaking of mistakes, you used the same moves twice in a row. You haven’t done that in the whole time we’ve been sparring, so what’s up?”
“My transcripts are pretty bad, and I’m worried about how I did on the written part of U.A.’s entrance exam.” Ranma mumbled. His face was red, and he averted his eyes from Akane’s inquisitive gaze. The written exam had been in the afternoon of the same day the practical was. “I studied, but pops and me always moved around a lot. I think the longest I stayed in one place was half a year. I met my best friend then. He was a piece of work. ...I wonder how he’s doing?”
He laughed under his breath. “Remind me to tell you about Ryouga sometime. We used to fight over who’d get the last curry bread, or was it meat bread? I don’t remember very well, but it was all kinds of fun.”
“But you’re going to be staying here for high school, right? That’ll pull your grades up.” Akane asked.
Ranma smiled. “Yeah. It’ll be nice.”
“Soooo… What’ll be nice?”
“Staying here.”
“With?” Akane asked leadingly.
Somehow, Ranma knew that if he said that he’d appreciate Kasumi’s home cooked meals, then he wouldn’t enjoy the result. So he cast about and said the first thing that popped into his head. “Well, I kind of like sparring with you. I mean... You’re not bad.”
“I suppose that you’re not terrible either.” Akane quipped back.
“I’m not ‘not bad’.” Ranma pulled a disgusted face, and then exaggerated it when he looked outside and saw that it was raining. If he left the dojo he’d be soaked. “I’m great.”
They settled down to wait on the rain to let up. The distance between the dojo and the house proper wasn’t large, but the rain came down in buckets. Neither of them wanted to go from being hot from exercise to doused in cold water. Neither said anything. They both just stood there in the doorway, waiting in the company of their individual thoughts.
Eventually, Akane spoke up. “Sooo… when you said I’m not bad, does that mean you think I’m cute?”
The boy beside her stared fixedly out at the rain, stone-faced and stoic apart from the slow red blush spreading back up his cheeks.
“You do!” Akane leaned forward, and her lips curled up into a smile of satisfaction. “You think I’m cute, and you’re just a dork who doesn’t know how to talk to girls!~”
Ranma crossed his arms. “I can talk to girls just fine, just not violent ones like you. But yeah, so what? You’re not a model or anything, but you’ve got your good points. You’re cute when you’re having fun -cute for a tomboy, anyway.”
She laughed at him as he squirmed verbally and physically. “You should learn to shut up while you’re ahead.”
A short while later the rain was slowing to a light shower. Akane went for the door, but stopped with one hand on the frame. “I guess I could try dating you.” she admitted. It felt bizarre to say, like she was violating an unspoken assumption on how the world worked. Her dreams of the future had never included a boyfriend.
“You sound like I’m as appealing as three-day old fish.” Ranma grumbled. “What do a boyfriend and girlfriend do, anyway?”
“They hang out, talk about stuff, go on dates with activities they enjoy.”
“So… like best friends?”
“Best friends that think each other are cute.”
Ranma preened. “I guess I am pretty cute.”
Akane splashed him.
- Approve 2
- Show all