Sasameki Koto and Ranma ½: Martial Arts Mix
Three
Shampoo had been working at the Cat Cafe with Cologne and the others when she first heard the rumors. Well, actually Nabiki Tendo had sold her the information about a female martial artists staying at the Tendo Dojo. The black haired girl had assured Shampoo that the new arrival was not interested in marrying Ranma, but instead was there to learn Anything Goes techniques.
Still, Shampoo didn't like any new woman handing around Ranma, so she sent Mousse to covertly check things out this morning. He described the woman as tall, dark and bishoujo, more or less, and also described a fight between her and the followers of Kuno. While she occasionally thought Mousse was a bit of a idiot he was accurate when he had his glasses on, and his description of the woman's defeat of the army of Kuno's followers got her attention.
Finishing up breakfast duties Shampoo decided to check her out in person. She pedaled across town on her cycle, road down the door with a crash, then stopped as she watched Kasumi and the strange woman rush to meet her.
"Nihao!" Shampoo waved at them cheerfully then asked, "Where is strange woman seen with my Ranma?"
"Shampoo?" Kasumi blinked.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Sumika sighed, running her hand over her face.
"You!" Shampoo pointed as she gracefully climbed off the bike, "Are you the one?"
"My name is Sumika Murasame, of the North Pole Fist school of martial arts," Sumika said seriously as she walked towards the strange girl, "why did you break the door down? It sounds like Kasumi knows you, but..."
Without answering Shampoo just attacked, sweeping in incredibly fast as she cried out, "Rivals are for killing!"
Surprisingly this Sumika actually dodged her attack, skipping aside as her fingers danced along Shampoo's arm. As the amazon moved to attack again she was shocked when her arm went limp, victim of a pressure point attack. 'That's not the same as the Amazon method,' she thought, using her other hand to restore feeling.
"Miss Shampoo!" Kasumi called out worriedly, "She is not Ranma's fiancée! She is only here at the dojo for training!"
Shampoo paused, digesting that. It was possible she was telling truth, but she was already intrigued by this Murasame's technique. Instead of talking she attacked again, using lower level Amazon moves to assess the woman's skills. Sumika handled the basic attacks with ease, and more startling seemed to incorporate the counters into her moves as she fought.
'This girl not as good as Ranma,' Shampoo mused as she used the 'grabbing chestnuts from a fire' high speed attack to drive Sumika back, 'but she learns very fast.'
Sumika whimpered in pain as her arms were hammered, the bruises from this morning making them ache as she blocked. This woman was like fighting a ghost, she was so fast. It really hammered home how much she had to learn to catch up with them.
Falling back on simple karate Sumika kicked Shampoo in the head, staggering her a moment and following up with a nasty uppercut, driving her backwards. For a moment all was quiet as they each stood there, panting.
"STOP IT!" Kasumi yelled as she swiftly moved between them, her expression truly annoyed. She rounded on Shampoo, "I told you she is NOT a fiancée! You have no reason to fight her!"
Shampoo reeled backward, faintly surprised at Kasumi's forcefulness. She could brush her aside, probably, but she was a child of Soun Tendo. It was quite possible she did know her father's school of fighting, even if she didn't use it.
Kasumi turned to Sumika, "And you! She's a Chinese Amazon! Do you have any idea what fighting her could do to you?"
Sumika looked sheepish, "Uhm, no?"
Kasumi sighed, "Sumika, if you defeated her she'd have to give you the kiss of death and spend the rest of her days trying to kill you."
Sumika paled, "Seriously?"
"You really not rival for Airen?" Shampoo asked politely, looking past Kasumi at Sumika.
"No, I'm not," Sumika answered, "my idiot father sent me here to train, that's all."
"Normally Shampoo kill you," she noted conversationally, "but cooking girl interfere. Do not get in my way, we be fine. Okay?"
"Uh, okay," Sumika answered as Shampoo trotted back over to her bike and climbed on.
"Bye!" Shampoo waved and was off, pedaling at a surprising rate of speed.
After a moment Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome poked their heads out of the room they were hiding in. "Is she gone?" Soun asked.
"Father!" Kasumi sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation at his hiding and not helping out.
Sumika walked over to the broken door, lifting it up and pushing it roughly back into place as she tried to figure out how to fix it. "Does this sort of thing happen often?" she asked, repeating a question she had asked Akane earlier.
"Yes," Kasumi sighed, leaving the room for a moment and returning with hammer and nails. Examining the door they determined the hinges had been popped off by Shampoo ramming it, and together reattached the door to the wall.
A little sheepishly Soun asked, "Shampoo didn't hurt you, did she?"
"I'm a bit sore from blacking the punches," Sumika conceded, causing Kasumi to whisk her off to the kitchen for another examination.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Ranma Saotome winced as he listened to Nabiki at lunch. "And how did Shampoo learn she was there?" he asked darkly, frowning at the middle Tendo sister.
Nabiki calmly looked at her nails, "I have no idea."
Ranma sighed, but he didn't push the issue. He knew or at least suspected that she had sold the information, but he also knew she did what she did to help keep the Tendo's afloat, money wise. It was hard to criticize when she was helping feed him, after all.
"Was anyone hurt?" Ranma asked instead.
"Thankfully, no," Nabiki answered seriously, "Sumika held her own against Shampoo until Kasumi convinced them to stop fighting."
"Heh," Ranma smiled. People often underestimated Kasumi, which he knew was a serious mistake. She was one of the strongest people he knew and ran the Tendo dojo with a iron fist wrapped in a pretty oven mitt.
"She held her own against Shampoo?" Akane repeated, the young woman looking rather interested. She had suspected Sumika had been holding back against her, and this pretty much proved it. 'Maybe she only goes all out if she thinks she's really in danger?' she wondered.
"Apparently so," Nabiki agreed. She looked at Ranma, "Any idea where that puts her among our local martial artists?"
"Hard to say," Ranma frowned. "I really need to spar with her..."
Nabiki frowned, thinking. "Well, I think we can arrange it," she offered, "if you're willing to use a bit of guile."
Ranma gave her a wary look, "What are you thinking about?"
"Well," Nabiki looked smug, "it's sort of like this..."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Sumika was practicing karate katas out in the dojo's yard when a black haired girl in sailor fuku ran in, looking around wildly. She ran over, "Are you Sumika?"
Sumika felt that sinking feeling hitting once again as she responded, "Yes, can I help you?"
"Akane's in trouble! You've got to come and help," she said, tugging Sumika's arm.
Sumika ran outside, her long black hair flowing as they raced up the street. Coming around the corner she saw Akane on her knees, a strangely familiar looking redhead looking down at her contemptuously. "You're mine now, Akane," the redhead growled.
"Sumika," Akane looked up, "help!"
Sumika looked at them, and while her gut was telling her something was off she knew she had to do something. "Let her go," she addressed the redhead flatly.
"Why don't you make me?" the redhead purred.
Sumika could practically feel her power washing over her, and knew this redhead was dangerous. Reaching up she took her glasses off, handing them to the girl as she said, "Please, hold these."
"Sure," she murmured as Sumika took up a combat stance.
Sumika called up her ki and moved with the sort of speed she didn't dare unleash in normal karate. Stealing a move from Shampoo she attacked with rapid fire blows, sending the redhead leaping away. Using one of the signature North Pole moves she channeled ki into a force burst, clipping the woman as she landed.
"Wow," Akane blinked, clearly not having expected this. Sumika's hands nearly blazed blue as she attacked Ranma in her girl form, and she was clearly pissed. It now was evident that she had been holding back sparring with her, and even in the fight against Kuno and his pals.
Ranma grinned as she bounced away from another attack, clearly impressed. Sumika wasn't as strong as her, probably not even at Ryouga's level, but she clearly had some game. It was actually taking her effort to keep ahead of her, and Sumika's adaptability was pretty damn impressive.
Sumika fought back a curse as she missed again, and as she chased the woman she swiftly considered her options. This woman was clearly faster than her, and it was looking like she was stronger too. Which meant she couldn't just rely on her usual moves.
Ranma dodged a kick to the head then was actually surprised by a swift uppercut, totally out of whack from Sumika's usual style. Worse, there was enough ki in the blow to make it hit even harder, sending her staggering back just as a shop lady threw out a bucket of water. Thankfully she was already in girl form, or it might have been a problem.
Seeing the water splash Sumika concentrated, using ki to rapidly suck the heat from the air. A summer day flickered with winter for a moment, and Ranma yelped as she realized the puddle had frozen her feet to the ground. She tore one foot free just as Sumika threw a powerful punch, leaving Ranma no choice but to use a powerful ki move herself.
Hearing the explosion Kasumi took it for one of those day to day things in the neighborhood, at least until Akane and Ranma hauled in a stunned Sumika. "What happened?" she demanded, running to the injured woman's side.
Akane and Ranma exchanged a look as Nabiki and her minion followed them in from outside. "Uhm," Ranma smiled weakly, "long story?"
To be continued...