Work Text:
The One Dish Akane Can Cook
“Still think it's worth the hassle?" Ranko yawned as she stood by Akane's side, watching as Akane's training gi was folded into a bag - for a second time this week. “You’ve already a master of our Martial Arts school - don’t you think that going to mediocre lessons yourself is a little pointless, sensei ?”
“It’s just a couple of hours. And, it’s not going to become a regular thing, I promise. We'll have the rest of the day only to ourselves,” Akane defended herself, zipping up her gym bag with a lightning fast snap of her arm. “I want to see how others handle training multiple students at once. Neither of us had a martial arts instructor who was actually decent at teaching.” She paused to give a short glance at Ranko, offering a smile. “You've taught me a few tricks and you've got more experience as a sensei than I do - but unless you change your mind… I need to get better at it myself.”
Ranko understood the unspoken offer, but she shook her head. “No. You earned it,” she whispered.
The master title was Akane’s, by virtue of defeating the old panda in a challenge, so was the right to decide what to do with it - and the young master of Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts clearly had plans for the future.
Ranko knew the general idea - to actually run a real martial arts school, not just have a single apprentice going through ‘training in hell’ at the time - but she was not privy to all of the details. Everything was still months, if not years ahead of them, and some of Akane's plans were still on the drawing board.
Why had Akane actually decided to try attending lessons in other dojos? Was it to scout out the competition? Maybe the truth was as straightforward as it seemed from the first glance - perhaps Akane was just shopping for teaching plans and ideas; exactly like she said she would. Ranko examined Akane’s expression for some hidden meaning, but found nothing that could betray her girlfriend’s secrets. Maybe there actually was nothing more to it.
Ranko had told Akane about her first few weeks on the run, just before this new chapter of her life had begun. She had been hoping to get a job, trying most of the local dojos, and coming out of the experience empty handed, bitter and demeaned. Now, Akane was throwing away precious vacation time to visit the same ones? Would she even find what she was looking for? Ranko couldn’t remember a single exceptionally good dojo - they were all woefully inadequate for a fighter of Akane’s caliber.
Ranko didn’t know exactly what she felt about revisiting these places. She didn’t wish to dwell on the bad memories, and at the same time all those failures of those desperate few weeks already seemed like a half-forgotten relic of the distant past. Long-overcome, healed… inconsequential.
“You’re just too good for them, Akane,” Ranko tried one last ditch attempt at convincing her girlfriend - using a softer, silkier tone of voice. “We could stay in for a bit longer, you know… There’s no rush to start the day, is there?" She reached out and touched the back of Akane’s arm with a single finger, slowly trailing it upwards.
Akane shuddered and a light blush sneaked onto her cheeks. However, instead of giving in, Akane swiftly pulled Ranko closer, pinning her (and her arm) in a side-hug, to prevent further teasing.
"Later, love," Akane whispered, leaning to gently touch her head to Ranko's. "If I'm going to be an actual sensei, I want to do it right. I'd hate to wake up one day and realize I’m repeating the mistakes of our fathers. Even if this turns out to be disappointing, I’ll still learn what not to do."
Ranko chuckled quietly. When Akane set her mind on doing something… there was not much she could do, except to join in. “Fine,” she said, turned her head and planted a quick kiss on Akane’s cheek. “Think they’d let me watch? I'll come with you. We still have some time before you have to go, right?”
“About half an hour,” Akane replied, only slightly surprised at Ranko’s choice.
“I’ll make it work,” she said, and ran to gather everything. “Somehow.”
Out of all of the dojos Akane could have chosen…
Ranko tried to conceal her first reaction, locking down the instinctive twitch. It should not matter at all, should it? She tried to banish the unimportant, bitter memory. Still, her traitorous hand hinted that not everything was bygones - she didn’t even notice her hand rise to brush at her own cheek, where the final hit was scored against her.
It was only due to Cat’s Tongue curse that she had lost in the first place - now, even the slightest blow would hurt like hell. Her skin was incredibly sensitive to everything - heat, touch and pain. Taking a single hit would be impossible to handle, effectively ending her martial arts career - but it didn’t stop her from having a different life.
With that very same increased sensitivity, she was acutely aware of how the foundation clung to her face. She could feel it leaving ghostly traces on her finger, even with the touch soft as this.
Foundation .
A muffled giggle escaped her lips, as she looked at her own hand and couldn’t even make out the imperceptible marks the makeup had left - even as she could feel - something . Only the painted nails glimmered red back at her.
Today, her choice of makeup was leagues tamer than what she’d have worn for a show - but it was still a part of her armor. This included a subtle touch of lip gloss, a few strokes with barely perceptible eyeliner - as well as some other light touching up, She was getting better with time, even if there were still leagues away from a true professional like Izumi.
The makeup was actually a reason why they had to rush to get here. Ranko hoped it would put some distance between her and her former defeat - and she wanted to look good for Akane. That meant taking it slow, and having to start over a couple of times. All in all, it had taken her about forty minutes, cutting it real close. At one point she tried to get away with slightly uneven lines, but Akane, for some reason, preferred to wait and risk being late.
It was likely they wouldn’t even recognize her - she wasn’t tired, starved and desperate - and to top it off, she was wearing a white floral dress. Even her hair was only bound in a loose ponytail by a white ribbon - long gone were the days of the single tight braid. Nothing that would betray her as a martial artist.
She adjusted her blossom-shaped earrings. Yup, there was a whole different person standing here than the one that got beaten up here a while back.
Akane gave her a look.
“It’s nothing.” Ranko chuckled. “Just a silly thought.”
“Let’s head in, then?” Akane asked, gently tapping on Ranko’s back. “I’ll barely have enough time to change as is.”
And go in they did.
Of course, as luck would have it, Ranko got recognized the moment she’d gone through the door, trailing half a step behind Akane. Except - not for the reason she thought she could be. The registration for the lessons was handled by one of the male students - a lean, dark haired young man, a few years older than Ranko - and someone who’d been to the Phoenix during at least one of her performances.
A fan.
She still didn’t know how to handle them.
Their registration went smoothly after the initial shock - Ranko placated the man by agreeing to sign him an autograph, while Akane filled in the barebones paperwork required for claiming a free lesson. They were already cutting it close - the lesson was to start any minute now, so Akane rushed to write everything down quickly.
The man didn’t actually pay too much attention to Akane, instead attempting to convince Ranko to sign up as well, a conversation which trapped her far longer than was needed and thoroughly distracted both of them. Ranko had to explain that while she believed martial arts could be cool, she was here just to spend time with Akane, honestly.
Ranko caught only a glance at the papers as they were put away into a drawer - Akane hadn’t used the right family name for this. Ranko didn’t catch what the kanji was exactly, only that it was different. Could it have been? Surely not.
Akane had gone to change, and Ranko was still struggling to climb out of the conversational pit, accosted by the overenthusiastic fan. She wanted to stay polite, so instead of storming off, she had to stay and chat, declining multiple, increasingly desperate offers of mentorship from the man (as it turned out, he was actually working as an assisting teacher for the intermediate level group to spar against).
Then, the master of the dojo arrived - he was a little late to his own lesson. He spent a few more minutes reading through the new applications, frowning a little when he only saw one. “Next time, come a little earlier,” he advised Akane, and then turned to Ranko. “What about you?”
Her wanting to observe the lesson turned into a bit of a hiccup. She was considering how to handle it, when the assistant sensei jumped in to help. All it took were a few whispers, and the sensei relented.
“It will count as your free lesson,” he finally decided, in a booming, ominous voice. “If you come back later for another, it will be only for full price.”
Ranko nodded her head, completely unmoved by his attempt at intimidation. “That’s acceptable.”
The assistant teacher flashed her a thumb’s up and a smile, which did make her twitch. A little.
A couple of other students whispered between each other. They might have also recognized her from the Phoenix. Including Akane, there were six girls taking the class; the only two men in the room were the sensei and his assistant.
Ranko settled in to watch, sitting on the wooden bench at the edge of the room. Whatever happened, she had no plans of ever coming back here.
Hopefully, neither would Akane.
And as for Akane herself - she had a devious glint in her eyes.
Something was up, after all.
It was almost the end of an admittedly middling-to-almost-decent lesson when Ranko was shaken from her thoughts. She was minding her own business, enjoying the view… All the while, Akane was all but embarrassing the assistant teacher in a friendly spar, and then it all suddenly went downhill.
Akane used a counter that wasn’t strictly matching the dojo’s style of kempo, planting the assistant teacher flat on the mats. That made the dojo’s sensei stomp right up to her, puffing his chest in a confrontational stance. He’d also been watching the spar, and was already quite irate from what he saw.
“Saotome!” The dojo’s sensei barked out. “What was that move? We’re learning kempo here!”
Ranko jolted at the name. What?
The man clearly meant to call on Akane.
Akane chuckled. “It’s a legal counter with roots in Shorinji Kempo,” she said in a firm and confident voice, looking up to the mountain of a man. At the same time the assistant teacher got up and scampered to get out of the way, which put him quite close to Ranko. Tension sparked in the air. “Aren’t all Kempo styles allowed here?”
The towering man crossed his arms. “Why are you here?” Annoyance and irritation threatened to turn into a full blown anger at any moment.
“Just wanted to see your free lesson,” Akane replied. And she wiggled her hand in a so-so gesture. “It was fine, but I don’t think there’s much for me here.”
“You dare!” the man growled out. “Out!”
“That’s fine. I saw what I wanted to see,” Akane replied, and shrugged. She took a step away, putting her back to the man.
Before she could even take a step, the man placed a large hand on her shoulder, stopping her rudely in the spot. “Did some other school send you to spy on us, little girl ?”
Akane’s eye twitched and she turned around, swatting the hand away. Her hit was strong and measured - just enough to sting and force the man to let go of her. He clearly didn’t expect it, so it landed.
Ranko stood up from the bench - she knew Akane had everything under control, but she didn’t like the way the assistant teacher was glaring at the confrontation. The young man noticed her standing up, and glanced at her. Still no true recognition beyond seeing her in the Phoenix - but now he was thoughtful, his attention divided.
Good, that meant he wouldn’t try anything stupid. Unless anything went wrong, Ranko resolved to stay out of it unless absolutely necessary. After all, she trusted her girlfriend to be able to wipe the floor with everyone here - only the sensei of the dojo was decent enough to pose something of a challenge, and the assistant teacher was already winded.
She couldn’t help but feel proud of Akane. Her girlfriend looked like a force of nature, stranding straight as an unshaken, unmovable rock. The confidence Akane radiated made Ranko grin a bit like a loon, but she didn’t care - this was just so satisfying to watch.
“Little girl?” Akane threw his words back at the local sensei, clearly insulted. “No one sent me. Since this is no longer the lesson I agreed to participate in, you should know that I am the master of Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts. I expect to be treated with respect, as one master should treat another.”
The man turned red as a lobster, trying and failing to discreetly shake his hand behind his back - it must have still stung from Akane’s punch. He should have backed down, but he clearly didn’t want to lose face before his students - either that, or he was too enraged to think it through. “That’s not a school I recognize,” he barked out, all pretense of politeness forgotten. “A style without style is nothing! You’re not the first to-”
His eyes snapped to Ranko and back to Akane. Recognition shone in them. “So it was you,” he said, slapping at his leg and laughing. “Going to try and fight me together, so you have a better chance? Didn’t get enough of a lesson last time?”
The assistant teacher snapped to attention, raising his arms defensively, as if that recognition meant Ranko would start swinging first. Instead of doing anything threatening, Ranko just yawned. Yes, the local sensei’s disdain for Anything-Goes school was stinging, but Akane surely had it all in hand - she would not let this insult stand.
“Shut it,” Akane said, and her voice was so sharp it could almost cut. “You do not involve her in this. You do not even look at her funny. I officially challenge your dojo! Let’s see which style is better. Anything-Goes or your branch of Nippon Kempo . I will represent our school. Alone.”
Ranko knew what was coming from the moment their style was insulted, and yet, when Akane issued the challenge, she still was surprised by the fervor Akane put into it. She had specifically declined any help - and was all but claiming to protect her… Ranko couldn’t help but feel warm inside. This fight was no longer just a test of two different martial schools - Akane would also be fighting for her. The thought of Akane defending both of their honor brought a light blush into Ranko’s expression.
Ranko wasn’t much used to people fighting on her behalf, it was still very much a novel experience. Well yes, Crash had thrown a punch for her once, and there was a time when Hana and Yui had stepped in to help after she’d already been knocked down; this was in another league entirely. And when Akane glanced back at her and grinned, Ranko couldn’t help but cheer on her girlfriend with her whole heart.
There were no real preparations to be done, but it still took a good minute until everyone else moved to the sides and the combatants took position in the center. Since she was recognized, other students of the dojo gave Ranko some space - even the assistant teacher - all the while furiously whispering between each other.
A few more students had just joined the spectators. This lesson was about to end and a new one was to begin for a different group. The challenge now delayed the start of the second lesson - and threatened to cancel it entirely. No one had chosen to leave, leading to quite a sizable and excited audience.
There were a lot of whispers and speculation - at least three of the students had been present when Ranko fought their sensei - and were hurriedly relaying whatever insights they had. Everyone quickly decided that Akane would be on the defensive, dodging out of the way of each blow, afraid to commit to an attack - in other words, they were underestimating Akane’s ability to take a hit.
But there was another reason this would be nowhere even close to her match back then; this was to be a proper taryujiai , a fight between different schools and styles. Akane would not be limited to only using Kempo, able to use her full potential. Ranko allowed herself a smug smile. Akane still had some ways to grow in her style and technique, but what she lacked there, she more than made up for in pure strength and knowledge of the Anything-Goes martial arts.
This promised to be entertaining.
Akane and the local sensei gave each other a quick bow.
The dojo challenge was on.
After a few measuring steps, the fight began in earnest. Akane let the man launch a first attack.
Instead of side stepping his heavy punch, she met it head on with an elbow block, and when the man’s strike was fully stopped in its tracks, she followed up with a powerful kick aimed right at his torso.
It connected, and the force of the kick was so strong the man had to take a few staggered steps back. The sensei was indeed built like a redwood - not many people could have taken a direct hit from Akane and still kept standing. He even managed to close up his defenses again, as if the hit didn’t bother him.
Instead of trying to capitalize on the success of her first counterattack, Akane motioned for the man to try again, radiating confidence. Ranko basked in her girlfriend's battle aura - she could tell that this was working wonders to put the man off-balance. After taking a hit like that he surely should have been more careful - Akane’s kicks could break stones - and yet…
Akane’s taunt was well placed. Ranko had swelled with pride. It was as if Akane was hearing her unspoken advice and behaving exactly as was needed. Her opponent would not escape unscathed.
The man clearly didn’t understand exactly who he was fighting.
Once again encouraged by Akane’s gesture, he jumped in with a different jab, this time punctuated by a loud kiai. Akane parried it with her knee, turning the parry into yet another counter kick by suddenly straightening her leg. This time, the man was ready for a counterattack and managed to lean slightly out of the way, turning the hit into a glancing blow to his shoulder.
While this hit was a lot less impactful, it was much louder - and that was enough to kill the chatter of the onlooking students. This wasn’t what they expected to see at all.
A few more glances were thrown Ranko’s way, but she only kept the students at the edge of her vision - on the off chance that any of them would try something - otherwise most of her attention belonged entirely to Akane. Ranko couldn't help but feel as if she was a part of the fight. She could feel every breath Akane took, every move she made. This was the first time she felt so much invested in the fight of another. Maybe it was because now, Akane was the most important person to her.
Ranko grinned in a mirror of Akane’s smirk, basking in the waves of anger emanating from the man.
He charged forward. Akane stopped him.
Again and time again, the man rushed Akane, trying to come at her from multiple angles - even attempting to pin her in a grapple once, and each time she punished his attempts, blocking, parrying and never once giving up an inch. Her counterattacks were vicious too - and most of them were direct hits.
Ranko couldn’t help but be impressed. Not by Akane, she already knew Akane was awesome, and was sharing all of the exhilaration of a fight going their way. It was the way the man just kept shrugging off the punishment her girlfriend was dishing out that was noteworthy. He wouldn’t be able to do so for much longer, but it was still almost an unbelievable feat of endurance.
Then, the black haired master got lucky. Once.
One of his sharp kicks slid through Akane’s block, and connected with her side. It wasn’t a full strength hit, but it was still enough to force Akane a few steps back, for the first time since the start of the fight.
The students cheered for their teacher. They clearly believed that one good hit was all it took to end such a fight - especially for such a large mountain of a man.
Ranko chuckled out loud. She hadn’t felt the pain, but she knew Akane could take such heat without much issue. Their shared battle spirit was only ignited by it. Ranko couldn’t help but shake from common fervor, almost as if she was also in the fight, so tuned in with Akane she felt.
The hit he scored wasn’t that impressive. The man’s herculean strength was waning.
“Stop playing, Akane,” she said out loud. Now that - that drew some surprised looks from the onlookers.
Some encouraging shouts from the students echoed in reply. They still believed their sensei had an upper hand. Ranko didn’t listen to them. She was coiled like a spring, ready for what was coming.
It took all of her concentration to not leap forward together with Akane.
This time, her girlfriend was on the offensive - a first true attack since the start of the fight. It took two hits to prove Ranko right and everyone else wrong. Akane was fighting like possessed - she clearly desired to finish the fight, too.
Every one of her punches was quicker then the one before, every one of them packed a wallop. Whenever an opportunity presented itself, she punctuated the attack with precision kicks, punishing each and every little mistake.
Ranko could see the man was pushed to the brink. He was giving his all, but it was clearly not enough. Akane made him pay for each of his successful blocks, and made him work for every dodge. The man’s mistakes compounded, and soon most of the hits were going through.
Then, suddenly, he just couldn’t deal with it at all. His defenses shattered, and all of Akane’s attacks were landing. Even then, bruised and battered, the man stood like a stubborn mountain. Held up by a single thread of pure determination.
Determination alone would not carry the day. Everyone could see it now.
He fumbled a desperate attempt at a last attack; putting everything he could in one single roundhouse kick! A better-aimed kick from Akane intercepted him in the middle of the spin.
He fell like a giant oak, slamming down on his knees with a thundering whump, wincing from pain.
And that was it.
The fight was completely decided.
Somehow, the man still managed to stagger himself back up. Akane was back in the fight in an instant. She was not letting him up, going in for the proverbial kill.
In seconds, the giant was felled for the second time.
Sprawled down and barely able to move.
Defeated.
The students were outraged, but they couldn't deny reality for long. Even when at first, they tried to. It all threatened to burst into an all-out melee. It would not have ended well for them. Ranko would have joined such an event in a blink of an eye. Akane’s fight had gotten her heated up, and a part of her was hoping - hoping they would try something and she’d get to throw a few more punches.
The tension ramped up, and Ranko reached up to take out her earrings, just in case-
Akane’s smile turned predatory - she knew what they were thinking.
That was enough for the man’s students to take a step back. No one dared to try anything.
Ranko allowed herself to relax, even when her whole self still buzzed from the fight.
Akane proved a graceful victor. She didn't even take any of their rewards nor did she poach any of the students for herself. She didn’t even try to take over the whole dojo. “The rent here must be a killer,” Akane said. “Keep the place.”
Instead of all that, she nabbed the wooden plate with the dojo's name on it.
“Let’s go, Ranko,” she said.
She didn't even stay to change out of the gi. That would have been slightly awkward to do, while the gobsmacked students were watching. Instead, she just slid on the shoes and left with her clothes in the bag. Ranko was but one step behind, watching her back.
No one tried anything - so that was it.
When they were outside, Akane pushed the wooden sign into Ranko's hands. "Here, this is for you."
Ranko blinked a few times, but still clasped her fingers around the rough wooden sign. "Why? I didn't-"
"You mentioned you were thinking of buying a new cutting board, remember?"
Ranko laughed. She was still coming off an incredible battle-high, and all that without throwing a single punch. It all felt - exalting - and things were suddenly clearer than before.
Yes, there was a tiny, insignificant part of her that wanted to get revenge. Akane had done just that - with interest, delivering a humiliation that wouldn’t be forgotten as long as the dojo survived. If the students didn’t decide to ditch it anyway.
"You planned this, didn't you?" she asked. Akane knew of her search for a job, back before she’d found the Phoenix, and Akane cared for her pain - it had clearly played a part in this challenge. Ranko could have never imagined Akane would actually do something like this. She would have never even thought to ask!
And yet.
Her heart felt warm.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Akane replied, looking into her eyes, but the connection that formed during the fight was yet to fade, still alive and real . She was lying - Akane clearly had known that it could have ended like this.
Even if Akane had offered, Ranko would have never agreed to this. Instead of asking, Akane had gone and fought for her. Because she cared that much.
“I-” Ranko tried, but couldn’t exactly put it into words. This was above and beyond simply having her back, and she didn’t have the words to explain.
Akane blushed - she understood.
“It wasn’t all that,” Akane said. “I did learn a little bit of what I wanted, and a true challenge wasn’t actually on the table until he forced my hand by dismissing our martial arts schools.”
"Uh-huh," Ranko dragged out. But she could feel it, Akane was being honest. “Thank you, but please don't do this with every other dojo I visited. I wasn’t exactly myself on the way to my new life, and none of the others were as cruel as this one."
"I'll think about it," Akane said and chuckled, as if she had been planning exactly that. This time, Ranko couldn’t tell what would come of it. “Hey, I’ll have you know I can show restraint. I went to the last dojo alone and it’s still standing. Didn’t even issue the challenge, since their sensei was quite polite. Might have accidentally sprained his ankle during our spar, but that one really wasn’t my fault…”
“Akane-”
“A part of me will always want to wipe the floor with anyonewho ever hurt you, you know?" Akane clarified, her tone having turned a drop more serious. “I know it isn’t exactly what you want, but I have the skills to back it up. Let me take care of things in your place, please?”
"I- I didn't-" Ranko stuttered, and blushed brightly. "You don't - you shouldn't-"
"Silly girl," Akane said, and leaned closer, which made Ranko's blush deepen. "I'll always - always- fight for you."
And then Akane kissed her.
It took Ranko a good few moments to form a coherent thought again.
In the end, she was still conflicted - and yet, her heart was warm with the thought of Akane always being ready to jump to her side. Is that what being protected truly meant?
Ranko was afraid and assured at the same time - and most of all - incredibly proud.
"Ah," she remembered one strange thing she still didn't get an explanation for. "Why did you end up using the Saotome last name, anyway?"
"I'm not yet the official master of the Tendo branch," Akane said with a short sigh. "Until then, that's the only name I can use for a challenge like this. The last master of the school was an ass, but I hear his former heir was quite decent. The name's not too terrible."
Ranko thought about it and shook her head. “No. Don’t do that, please,” she said. “Leave that name alone - you’re a Tendo, and you’ve won over. Who cares if that means that now there’s two branches of Tendo School! You’re going to inherit both of them anyway! Drop the name, replace it, just don’t keep it.”
Akane smiled. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes. But I’d love to be a disciple of the Tendo School as well - if you’ll have me.”
“I - yes. Of course.”
“Great,” Ranko smiled brightly and spun the defeated dojo's sign - no - her new cutting board - on one of her fingers. "Why don't we head home and I'll think of something to make for us, while you take a shower?"
"Ranko, are you insinuating that I got too sweaty and now smell?"
"I would never. Getting on your bad side is a bad idea, sensei," Ranko lifted her hands up in a mock surrender, still holding onto the cutting board. "I hear you're very dangerous when you cook revenge!"