The Journey is the Destination Chapter 20 By poetheather Ranma is prepared to fight for Akane but will she be able to deal with the heir to the Anything Goes School of Indiscriminate Fish Slapping? Life as only Nerima can make it ensues.

Lord Ikaketsunoana stood there with two salmon that hung limply in his hands and he smirked, sure of his martial superiority. “Come at me, fair maiden, if you dare.”

Ranma looked at the two salmon disdainfully. Fish? Seriously? She was going to show this bastard what a real martial artist could do against some deluded twit. “Fine. Your funeral pal.”

Ranma sped in, trying to move faster than fish boy though unfortunately it seemed as if Lord Ikaketsunoana had been expecting that attack and he had his counter attacks already in motion. One of the fish slammed into her abdomen as she blocked the other. She oofed from the quite solid impact of the fish and was a touch impressed. Ranma took two more hits before she leapt back to better appraise the situation.

She dodged several thrown sardines and her mind raced in order to figure out a way to beat this guy, whose fish skills were pretty over the top. She rushed in and dodged around the swinging salmon. She blocked one strike with a kick and then used a sweep. Lord Ikaketsunoana was not able to jump over it in time and he slammed into the floor, dropping his two fish. He rolled away just in time as Ranma dropped an elbow into where his head would have been, tearing a hole in the tatami.

More sardines came her way, and she evaded most of them, since she had a lot of practice evading Ukyo’s spatulas. He rushed over to one wall, plucked a large fish off a wall mount, and threw the swordfish at the redhead. Ranma evaded that fairly easily but the attack had given Lord Ikaketsunoana time enough to retrieve another weapon. He held a tuna in his hands, like one would a sword, his eyes gleaming with a madness that was creepy in its familiarity. His grin stretched a little too far to be human and that kind of scared Ranma. “Yes… yes… you, my feisty maiden, will bear me strong children who we will raise up to help spread the glory of the Anything Goes School of Indiscriminate Martial Arts Fish Slapping!! Come my redheaded beauty, let us embrace our destiny.”

They closed again and Ranma was looking for an opening, as she ducked and dodged the swings of the much larger fish. Unlike Kuno, this fool had a better sense of defense and left fewer openings for her to exploit. She needed to figure out a way to deal with him without weapons. Akane, meanwhile, struggled some more against the cephalopod but it was strong and her arms were in an uncomfortable position, given that it held her hogtied, or rather in this case octopustied. All she could do was watch the battle going on before her and fume angrily. “Get him Ranma! Beat that damn Fish face into sushi!”

Ranma smirked cockily at the bound girl and moved swiftly in, launching into Chestnut Fist speed in order to beat the Tuna into meaty bits that flew through the air and scattering all over the floor, rendering Lord Ikaketsunoana weaponless. The fish boy leapt backwards to get some space and was now on the defensive. Ranma kicked him a few times and then threw him into a wall. Lord Ikaketsunoana smiled at the fortuitousness of his placement, pulled free something, and began to spin it, like one would a chain weapon. It looked eerily familiar to the redhead.

He lashed it out and trapped one of Ranma’s arms, as that weapon spun around both arm and torso. Ranma froze when she realized what it was that she was being attacked with, Fish sausage. Her pause allowed Lord Ikaketsunoana to wrap her even more tightly with more of the sausage, making her immobile. A slight smile crossed the pale fishy face as he was mentally congratulating himself, and he chuckled, “Now Ranma, time to face my final attack, the ultimate move in the Anything Goes School of Indiscriminate Fish Slapping…”

“Ranma!” screamed Akane, worried about the look on her fiancé’s face. This was not good. The girl looked scared and was trembling as she gazed fearfully at the sausages. Things were not looking very good for them.

“…the Neko Horde!!!” With that, Lord Ikaketsunoana slid back a section of wall and what looked like a tsunami of forty or fifty cats or more rushed out towards Ranma, who was covered in fish sausage, tuna bits, and salmon juice.

Ranma shook violently, her blue eyes wide as the cats pounced her. She screamed in pure abject horror as her nightmares of the Nekoken training were brought to life. Several of the animals clawed at her, trying to get at the tasty fish that coated the girl, nipping flesh in several places. Ranma’s trembling stopped and things seemed to pause. Then, in the quiet, she yowled. Suddenly the cats looked wide-eyed at the bound fish covered human and then turned tail and ran for their furry lives. Ranma stood there slightly hunched over, with a strange aura emanating from her and she yowled again, shaking herself free of the sausage as it burst asunder.

Lord Ikaketsunoana quirked a kelp green brushy eyebrow at the scene before him. This development was certainly unexpected. He turned to her and held his two salmon threateningly, spinning them slowly, to ensure he would have proper momentum when he struck back. Then he saw her eyes, and a cold non-human intelligence glared at him from the girl’s face. He gulped and inched away as something primal was telling Lord Ikaketsunoana that this was not a time for fighting but rather it was a time for flight.

Ranma hissed and leapt for her opponent. The chi claws of hers glittered brightly as she shredded the salmon with one swipe of her hands. The girl who thought she was a cat narrowed her eyes angrily at him and tried to bristle the fur she didn’t have. Lord Ikaketsunoana gulped heavily and rolled out of the way of the follow up attack. It didn’t help as with a simple swish of a hand from several inches away his clothes were shredded and fell from his body like confetti. His fish belly white skin jiggled slightly as he shook in fear. As Ranma raised a hand, to swipe again in order to remove this threat to himself and his mate, Akane yelled sharply to distract her, “Ranma!”

The redhead turned and saw her mate lying on the floor, tied up. In one jump, she was beside the dark haired girl. Ranma removed the octopus binding her with a swipe of her claws. Once her mate was free, Ranma rubbed against her, purring loudly. Akane skritched Ranma behind an ear, and turned to look at the trembling man collapsed on the floor. “Look Lord Ikaketsunoana, if you try to mess with either of us again I won’t stop her next time. She will shred you as easily as she did the fish. Do you understand?”

The man gibbered in fear as he nodded. This had not gone the way he had planned it at all. The part about losing bladder control wasn’t helpful either.

Akane stood, holding Ranma in her arms, as the redhead was still in the throws of the Cat Fist purring. She walked out of the stupid Fish Slapper’s compound, smiling softly as her fiancé nuzzled against her. They had to go home and change, as Ranma reeked of fish, thanks to that fight and hopefully the bath would pull the girl out of the Cat Fist. It was at least the hope.

* * * * *

“… and that’s how Ranma beat Lord Ikaketsunoana. Sorry we were late Ukyo. We both really needed to bathe after that adventure.” explained Akane.

Ukyo rolled her eyes, just amazed by that story. Only Ranma could manage to get trapped into something that insane. It seemed like his normal luck to her. “That’s fine. Okay, so, here’s what were going to do for tonight. Akane, could you work in the back, cleaning plates and such? I have a machine that does most of the work, so it shouldn’t be too bad and that way there won’t be the usual pause for clean plates towards the end of the evening. Ranma, you will wait tables with Konatsu. He will get you dressed. You’ve done this before so that will help. Any questions?”

The two girls shook their heads, comfortable with the tasks assigned. They smiled at each other, squeezed their hands together, and parted to get things started. Akane put of an apron and rubber gloves to protect her clothes from the plates and the water. As she looked around the kitchen she thought, ‘This shouldn’t be too bad.’

The industrial dish washer seemed really easy to use once Ukyo explained it. All she had to do was load a tray, slide it in, close the doors, and push a button. The machine would quickly clean and sanitize the dishes so she could stack them to go out to Ukyo at the grill. ‘This might not be a bad job after all.’ thought Akane as she surveyed things.

Ranma came downstairs, dressed in a similar fashion to Konatsu and with her hair up and out of the way. Given the way he had smiled at her when he had finished putting her hair up and doing her makeup, Ranma was still stunned that Konatsu was really a guy. The ninja was the most feminine person she knew next to Kasumi. It was a bit wild to think that those women had raised the boy to be a girl for some strange reason. At least Konatsu was comfortable with himself and how he looked in a kimono. The two of them headed out to the front just in time for the first wave of customers to come in from the doors.

The work was not really too difficult a task for either Akane or Ranma but it did occupy all their time and thus the night flew by in a haze of work. Soon they were all seated at a table, the restaurant closed, with okonomiyaki in front of them and some tea. Ukyo seemed pleased by the way the evening had gone. She smiled happily and remarked, “I think we may have sold more okonomiyaki than ever before. Thanks to you guys. I don’t think we could have done it without your help.”

Akane smiled at her, pleased with the implied praise and asked excitedly, “So, does that mean we have the job?”

“Let me look at the books, but if I can afford it you are hired. More nights like this one would certainly help with that. And Konatsu?” Ukyo faced her friend and waitress.

“Yes Miss Ukyo?” He replied, looking at her with frank adoration.

The chef smirked slightly when she said, “You are getting a raise.”

The look of complete surprise on Konatsu’s face was priceless. They all chuckled over the look which was one of complete and utter gratitude with a fair helping of devotion that had replaced the adoration. He even started to cry happily, “Oh Thank You Miss Ukyo!”

Konatsu moved quickly and hugged the chef, not even thinking about the action, just simply giving in to his instinct. Ukyo blushed brightly and Akane and Ranma tried not to snicker as Konatsu sniffled a little. They got up and bowed politely to the chef. Ranma’s grin was full of implications when she said, “We will see you tomorrow Uchan.”

Ukyo only blushed brighter at that and then hugged she nervously Konatsu back. It felt good and she certainly felt desired. She could get used to this really quickly.

Akane and Ranma walked back home through the mostly empty streets of Nerima mostly in silence, listening to the faint sounds of traffic or a dog barking at something. They were walking quite close to each other and their hands came together, brushing each other lightly at first, with fingers gently intertwining. Their hands were warm and they shared a soft smile with each other. They continued to walk hand in hand back towards the Tendo dojo, wishing they could do this all the time.

When they passed the park, Akane tugged on Ranma’s hand, dragging the short redhead into the darkness. They moved behind a group of trees and once shaded from view, Akane put her arms around the shorter girl, brushing a thumb across Ranma’s cheek and bent down to kiss her.

Their kissed deepened, with their tongues sparring for dominance and they pulled each other closer still, as if trying to become one by sheer force. Akane tangled her fingers in Ranma’s bright red hair, tightening her grip occasionally and pulling an extra moan from the girl. They broke apart briefly, enough time for them to catch their breath and for Akane to whisper, “I love you.”

They began kissing again and Akane ran one hand down Ranma’s back to cup her ass, gripping it slightly. This elicited another moan, which pleased the tomboy to no end. She broke the kiss and kissed her way slowly down Ranma’s neck. She sucked gently on the pulse point by the collarbone. She wanted to mark her love, to clearly claim the girl for her own.

Once she had finished with that, she again took Ranma’s lips. Ranma was growing lightheaded and her heart was beating a mile a minute. When they parted again, the two of them were both panting with the lack of air and Ranma made this disappointed almost mewling sound. Akane stared fondly at the former boy. Ranma looked deeply up into Akane’s eyes and softly, in a voice full of emotion. “I love you.”

“Good.” replied Akane, with a smirk. “Even though I would rather stay here and keep doing what we were doing, we really should get home before Kasumi starts to worry about us.”

Ranma nodded and the two reluctantly detangled themselves. Ranma ran a finger across Akane’s lips, trying to wipe some of the lipstick she was wearing off of her fiancé’s face. As they wandered off back towards the dojo, again hand in hand, they both occasionally smiled at each other shyly. They were so caught up in the rush of their emotions that the two of them never noticed that behind them a small figure detached itself from the darkness, watching them intently.

For all any observer could tell, it was a small, wizened figure of a woman, based only on the long hair, carrying a long wooden staff, taller than she was. Her beady eyes followed the two girls as they headed back to the Tendo Dojo, so focused on each other that they had never noticed the Amazon Matriarch. Elder Cologne had a bit of a frown on her face as she watched them go. She was not pleased. She chuckled to herself, menacingly. “Well Son-in-law, this is an unexpected change of events. Perhaps Shampoo no longer has a chance to win your heart as you finally made up your mind? However, I will find a way to tame this wild horse and bring him into the tribe. For the good of the tribe, I would do anything. Oh, yes… I will certainly break you Ranma, never doubt that and then where the wild horse be?”