Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ A Fighter's tournment ❯ AFTChXII ( Chapter 12 )

Scene: N.E.S.Ts HQ

As the CEO of the NESTS Organization watch K' and Rugal battle it out he was getting angry. His scientists would be getting punished. Every fighter that had fought had more power than expected or calculated.

This was good and bad. Good because all the more power for him to reach Godhood. Bad because it would be more difficult getting that power. It seemed so easy.

Until Ranma Saotome showed up in town and defeated Yamazaki. It was quickly shown that his power rivaled Igniz himself. Now all the fighters were more powerful than predicted.

He could feel the headache coming and knew he would need extra strength aspirin.

He saw Zero on the phone to the base to increase the strength of the fighters. Turning his head he watched Rugal and K' fight it out.

K's leg was engulfed in flames as he lashed sending the Modern Day Pirate to the wall. Rugal shook his head to get rid of the dizziness. Rugal then leapt back into the fight and once again began to exchange blows with the clone.

To the audience it seemed K' had the advantage but to the fighters Rugal was the one who would win. The fighters watched as the two exchange blows. The audience winced when K' landed a kick to Rugal's stomach. Rugal doubled over a little but then launched a vicious punch to K's head. K' stumbled back then stepped forward surprising the pirate.

As the fighters watched they could see that it was only a matter of time before one of the fighters lost. True to their predictions Rugal launched his infamous Genocide Cutter. K' was launched into the air unconscious before he even hit the ground.

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Rock shook his head in disappointment as he handed Ranma the 10 they had bet on the match. Both their teammates smiled as the pole fighter grumbled a bit.

Rock finally asked his question. "Ranma, how did you know K' would lose?"

"Simple. His heart was not in the fight." Ranma answered.

"Heart?"

"Yes. He did not care if he won or lost. He just wanted the fight to be over. A fighter truly having their heart in a fight will win most of their battles. I could see by the way he fought his heart was not in the fight." Ranma explained.

All the fighters standing nearby heard the explanation and nodded in agreement.

The fighters watched as Maxima stepped in to face the next fighter for the Boss Team.

Both Maxima and Krauser were power-type fighters. This means they used strength above anything else in a fight. However that did not mean they ignored other skills needed such as skill, speed, and agility. It just meant these guys tended to use their strength more than anything else to win a fight.

Since both of these fighters were among the best this fight would be decided by something else. That something else is that Krauser had more experience than Maxima. The fight was intense for 10 minutes as Krauser defeated Maxima. He was limping back to his bench as his team claimed the third win they needed for the match win.

Krauser's face had an expression of respect that quickly disappeared. More and more of these fighters were getting stronger and worthy of fighting him. At first it was only Terry Bogard and maybe Joe Higashi at that time. Krauser might not have respected the kick boxer's strength but he did respect Higashi's hunger to fight him. Nowadays it seemed more fighters could be added to the list.

Scene: Hotel 1

A beautiful, auburn haired woman was humming to herself in her room at the hotel she was staying at. She was in a good mood because she was the first to get the newest hunk in the KOF to date her. She didn't want to scare him off so she decided to dress sexy yet classy.

Her tight dress ended at mid thigh showing off long, slender legs with calf length boots. Her top was not showing off any skin but was tight so a person could see her healthy assets. She wore a leather jacket that completed the look.

Little makeup accented her face since anymore would make her a deadly weapon.

Grabbing her purse Mai Shiranui looked in the mirror to see how she looked. Giving a smile to herself in the mirror she left her room for her date with Ranma Saotome.

The place for meeting was a 10-minute walk from the hotel she was staying at.

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Scene: Hotel 2

A handsome, pony tailed man with blue eyes looked over his appearance in the mirror. He was simply dressed with black slacks with a short-sleeved, crimson shirt. The slacks and shirt had a matching golden, dragon motif on both of them. To complete his look he put on the metal bracers that Bastet had given them with what appeared to be a large tiger on them (Apparently the cat goddess had heard about his date with Mai from Strike Claw.)

Actually the bracers had a Snow cheetah design etched on them.

He had a nervous look in his eyes as the man remembered that all his previous dates had ended in disaster. He then calmed himself and picked up his wallet and left the room.

Like Mai Ranma had a 10 walk to meet Mai at the meeting place.

Ranma Saotome was waiting for a woman to show up in the park. Ranma was thinking about the day's fights when he saw his date walking to him. He raised his hand in greeting and saw it returned. He also looked around in habit to check to see if anyone had followed him or Mai. He checked out Mai.

He was feeling warm and no one could blame him. Mai was for a word beautiful. He could see her legs that seemed to go on forever plus her upper body that was extremely gifted. His eyes had a glint of admiration.

Mai on the other was checking the man she was going out with. It took all her self-control to not drool. The tight short sleeved shirt that showed off Ranma's muscular arms and chest. The pants showed just enough so it heated her body up.

Both Ranma and Mai saw their reactions to each other and were surprised at themselves and each other. Ranma could see that Mai thought him handsome but treated and respected himself as a person. Mai saw the admiration Ranma had shown her but she could tell it wasn't like Jubei's perverted admiration.

Both of them were also surprised at their own reactions to each other. Finally one of the two spoke.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Ranma."

"No problem Mai. I wasn't waiting long." Ranma replied.

"Where are we going Ranma?" Mai asked.

"We're going to a quiet restaurant that I found so we can talk in private." Ranma answered.

"Sounds good." Mai said and attached herself to Ranma's right arm. Both of them walked to the restaurant where Ranma had reserved a table for them.

The couple walk to a restaurant that Ranma had noticed when he was touring the area before the day's fights. The place is not big but has a clean and quiet atmosphere. Ranma and Mai are talking about the fights so they can keep occupied till the seating at the table. They are focusing on The Boss Team and their fights. Ranma and Mai are discussing weaknesses and strengths the team has. The two both know that The Boss Team is one of the strongest in the tournament.

On the way to the place there are eating in Ranma is keeping all his senses peeled out for other people they might know from the tournament. Mai is talking and listening to the man she had just met yet seems so comfortable with. It was hard to believe she had just met this man a couple of months ago.

Ranma gently guided his date to a small door and opened it for her. Both of them stepped inside and a waiter walked up. Ranma tells the waiter his name and the waiter leads them to a table in back. The table is almost impossible to see from the door and makes a great place to have a private conversation.

Mai is glad that Ranma is not like others hoping to impress her with a fancy place. She could tell he could sense her need to talk and for someone to listen.

"So Mai what do you want to order?" Ranma indicated the waiter. Both Mai and Ranma place their orders along with drinks. After the waiter had walked away Ranma spoke again. "So Mai, do you want to start talking about what happened?"

The beautiful woman sighed and started to answer Ranma's question.

"Like I said before Andy and I had a talk about our relationship." Mai paused to gather her courage. "The first one we ever had in fact. There were a lot of things I rather of not heard him say."

Another short pause.

"Andy said he wasn't to sure of his feelings for me. He wasn't sure if he loved me like I wanted him to or like a younger sister to watch out for. He also mentioned he wasn't to sure of my feelings for him. He said that I sometimes act like I am having a crush on him." Mai took a look at the man sitting across from her. His face was totally neutral betraying no emotions. "He didn't say it but I get the feeling from him that I was being to pushy like you said before."

"What Andy said you did not want to hear, right?" Ranma paused. "Or before he even said it you not wanting to admit they were there?"

Mai's eyes widened in shock as she nodded. How could a man she met only a few months prior and off and on since know the situation so well?

"I have found out that relationships are among the easiest things to break apart or destroy." Ranma started speaking. "I should know. Mistakes lead to their breaking apart. The first mistake you and Andy made was not sitting down to talk. It's amazing what people can solve if they talk."

Mai thought about what Ranma said and nodded.

"The second mistake I could see was that you pushed so hard and ignored what Andy's feelings were. All these relationship experts do is talk about being careful of a woman's feeling they totally forget the men's feelings. We men are expected to hide our feelings from everyone and it is easy to forget men have feelings too."

Mai gasped in horror at Ranma's blunt statement. She was guilty of that too.

"The last mistake was that other people did not tell you what you were doing was wrong. They could see that but did not want to lose the entertainment value you and Andy had." Ranma said. Ranma's voice turns bitter. "A relationship is easier to destroy if other people are butting their heads into the relationship."

"You sound like you have experience in that. You told me that 4 girls were after you and from what I gather the relationships were just plain disasters." Mai said with a sad voice.

"Yes I do have experience with that."

"Why don't you tell me about them?" Mai asked.

Ranma thought about this and then nodded. "Sure but please don't tell anyone about them."

Mai nodded in agreement and Ranma began talking.

Ranma told Mai of his ten-year training journey with his father. He left certain things out like the Jusenkyo curse. Mai's brown eyes widened in shock and horror of hearing some of things he had to go through.

When Ranma ended the story Mai said, "Your father must be a stupid idiot."

"At times I thought that but now I'm not to sure. Considering his actions during the training trip I don't think so. Consider it Mai."

Holding up a finger. "No contact with girls. All I had to go on was info from Pops."

Holding up another finger. "Almost no contact with people, so no social skills."

Another finger went up. "Being told Mom is dead and then getting a shock when I find out she is alive. I was told she had contract if I did not act like a good man I would have to commit Seppuku. That made sure I would not trust her or even love her."

Ranma heard a gasp after he mentioned the contract. Finger number four went up. "Any friends I made Pops made sure to destroy those friendships. Case in point: I was waiting for someone to show up for a duel of honor for three days. He lived far away and he showed up on the fourth day. Before that Pops took an iron pipe and knocked me out with a hit on the head."

"Basically he cut me off from people so I would have no one to depend on but him. He did not let me know any girls so I would be completely dependent on him and the girl he chose for me to marry." Ranma stopped when the waiter showed up with their food and drinks.

"Chose for you to marry?" Mai asked.

"Yeah Pops had an arranged marriage set up for me." Ranma answered. "After I got there it was just a complete mess.

"You see both my father and my fiancées' and her sisters' father failed to tell us about the so-called 'Unite the our schools of martial arts through marriage.' I did not found out about until a day before I met Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi. Those three did not find out about it until the very day we met. You could imagine the bad feelings we had for each other."

"I'll say."

"Because of an incident in the furo I had already gotten on the bad side with Akane. To top that off due to a rare condition I had Kasumi and Nabiki volunteered Akane for bridal duty. I had at that time the worst case of Foot-in-Mouth you could ever possibly see. Akane had a little trouble with her temper." Ranma paused so he could eat a little food.

"Now that we had stopped moving around all the problems that Pops caused found us. You see there was this girl named Xian from a very isolated village that valued martial arts. They also had some weird laws. If an outsider warrior male defeated a village warrior female that woman had to marry the male. Same if an outsider female warrior defeated a village warrior male. She tracked us down where I was staying." Ranma stopped speaking a little ate a little more.

"Pops made another arrangement with my best friend name Ukyo Kounji. The arrangement with Akane must have slipped his mind. He stole here dowry and I being a foolish kid helped him." The bitterness in Ranma's voice could be heard. "The fourth girl was Kodachi and she became infatuated with me when I saved her life. She was very rich and pampered."

Ranma just sighed and shook his head. "To be honest I did enjoy the attention before everything went out of control. Too many bad experiences with the girls I mentioned made sure any relationship we had was doomed. Add my stupidity and it was a total disaster. Not to mention what else my father did that would catch up to us in Nerima."

Mai was puzzled. "Ranma what happened besides that? You told me those girls tried to get your heart but it went wrong. How?"

Ranma nodded. "Let's start with Kodachi. Like I said before she was very rich and when I saved her life she became infatuated with me. I knew as soon as she had me she would get tired of me even then.

"Ukyo was like a sister to me and I was so scared that she would hate me if I told her that I didn't. I kept hoping she would realize this but she didn't and it was all my fault." Ranma said in a sad tone. "Xian was woman I could not trust. She was very beautiful but she tended to use love potions. These things work, trust me on that."

Ranma grew very quiet.

"And Akane?" Mai asked softly. She could tell this was sore subject for Ranma.

"She and I were forced together. With her temper and my foot-in-mouth plus a lot of other things it was even more of disaster than the other girls. Pops and his friend were so dense about love and stuff like that it made our lives a living hell."

After Ranma finished talking the conversation just dried up. When he finished Mai knew nothing she could say would cheer Ranma up. She sat quietly eating her meal thinking of what Ranma told her.

'To go through that. He admitted he made mistakes in his relationships and I can respect him for it. I also know why he would not agree with my plan to make Andy jealous. What was I thinking when I made that offer to Ranma?'

She just finished her meal and watched Ranma walk up to the register to pay for their meals.

Her thoughts continued. 'I needed someone to listen and he did so. Ranma behaved as a gentleman listening to me as a friend and I did the same. His kind is rare among the world.'

Mai's thoughts were interrupted when her date came back and the two walked out of the restaurant with her on his arm.

Ranma was escorting Mai back when she indicated she wanted to walk through the park by her hotel. Ranma just smiled and her knees felt weak for some reason. The two walked silently enjoying each other's company.

When Mai saw they were in an isolated spot of the park with no one around she stopped walking forcing Ranma to stop. Before Ranma could react Mai's lips latched on to his own for a passionate kiss. Ranma was reacting to the kiss by returning it. One of his hands gently held the back of Mai's head while the other cradled her ass and pulled her closer to his body. Ranma could feel Mai's full breasts being mashed against his chest.

Mai knew she surprised Ranma when she suddenly kissed him. She was then surprised to feel his hands holding her head and ass and pulling her closer. She could feel his firm and muscular chest against her breasts. She could feel his hand carressing her ass. She could feel a certain part of his body getting harder and longer. Hiking a long, shapely leg around Ranma's waist she pulled herself closer to her date. It was like that one rock star he had seen at the end of that music video he had seen.

When he felt Mai's leg around his waist Ranma decided to break the kiss. Looking in Mai's eyes he could see the passion in her eyes turning to puzzlement and fear of rejection. He could understand her need to be loved. He was still holding her up against his body.

"Mai, we had better stop before we get carried away." Ranma spoke softly.

"But why Ranma?" Mai asked.

"I said I was your friend Mai and I am." Ranma sighed. "I think if we did not stop now we wouldn't have stopped until we were in bed. Considering what is going on with what is happening with Andy and how your so-called relationship is not going to well I feel I would be taking advantage of you if we went any further."

Mai at that point was feeling at a low point. Ranma was rejecting her just like Andy. "So you don't want me?" Mai asked her voice full of sadness and rejection.

Ranma smiled. "Mai, if you think that you're crazy. You must be out you're Kami-saking mind. Saying no and stopping right now was probably the hardest thing I ever had to do but right now I feel I would be taking advantage of you while you are confused about your feelings. You are probably one of the most beautiful and sexy women I have ever seen."

Ranma took a deep breath. "Please don't think I'm rejecting you Mai because I'm not. There is a time and place for everything but right now is not the time. Maybe in the future if things work out between us."

Mai could understand where Ranma was coming from and could understand he did not want to take advantage of her. Mai was surprised when Ranma lowered his head and kissed her as passionately she did to him a moment ago. Her lips met his and she felt loved. The kiss ended a few minutes later when both of them needed air. Mai unhooked her leg and stepped back.

"Well I guess this is goodnight Mai." Ranma smiled gently. "I hope we can have another date."

"I hope so too Ranma." Mai answered. Both of them walked to their hotels. Her steps were lighter as she walked away. `You can believe that.'

Before Mai could walk too far she heard a familiar voice.

"Hello Mai."

Mai's face paled when she saw Andy. The younger Bogard brother was watching Mai as she turned to him.

"A-A-Andy!?" Mai stuttered and was hoping Andy hadn't seen her kiss with Ranma.

"I saw and heard everything between you and Ranma that happened in the park. Including the kiss. To think that in this day and age such a man lives who could be so honorable." Andy said with a lot of respect. Mai's hopes died when she heard that.

"I just wanted..." Mai couldn't finish.

"I know, Mai. One thing we didn't talk about is how seriously I take relationships. I wasn't too sure on your feelings for me so I was reluctant to take it to the next level. I'm not the type of man to hurt a girl's feelings and it appears neither is Ranma." Andy said. "That is the main reason I have not gone out with any woman while you happened to chase after me."

Mai looked Andy. "I and the other girls met and talked with him off and on during the training for the tournament. He seemed so nice and he didn't seem to be a playboy."

"Mai, just because I saw you kissing Ranma like that does not mean I hold it against you." Andy paused and then smiled. "If you fall in love with him go after him, Mai."

Andy paused then smirked. "But it looks to me that you already do love him Mai. And he seems quite taken with you."

Ranma Saotome was thinking about the kiss in the park he had shared with Mai Shiranui. He felt things in that kiss he had never felt before. He actually enjoyed that kiss.

'I've been kissed many times by my former fiancées yet I have never before reacted that way to a kiss. Is Akane right about me being some kind of pervert?' Ranma asked himself.

You are not a pervert. You were healed by Bast when you crashed into that shrine. You were healed entirely and that includes your mind. Particularly the part of the mind that controls your sex drive. Your body just reacted normally to a beautiful woman kissing you.

'So that was normal huh?'

Yes it was. Thanks to partly to my influence you are becoming more socially aware. Because of your past you are learning how to go about a relationship right. Also the fact that you have discarded anything Genma Saotome has to say about a lot of subjects has made a person who can have friends and relationships.

'I see.'

I'm not saying you will fall in love with Mai but you have a good chance to a have healthy, loving relationship with her. It all depends on you and her in the future. And like you've learned before in Nerima not anyone else.

Now get some sleep

End of chapter