Chapter Text
Akane was seething. Her father had just announced that one of her sisters or herself would be married off to his best friend's son! To take over the family dojo, that her father had promised was going to her! She already had a horde of men vying for her affection, the last thing she needed was some arrogant jerk acting like she was his property. She already beat enough men who thought like that, the horde and- and Kuno. She had always beat the men who did stuff like that.
At least-
She had never lost to the horde and she had never lost to Kuno…
Until today.
“Fairest Akane, I see it has been another day and you have yet to fight with all your might.” Tears streamed down Kuno’s face as he held his fist to the heavens.
“No one has yet forced you to wield a weapon as all meisters do, even I with my mighty servant and weapon Sasuke could not make you bow.” Kuno took Sasuke currently as a katana and threw him to the side, “but for you see today, I have acquired a blade truly worthy of me. Thus you can finally take your proper place by my side.”
As Akane’s eye twitched as she tightened her fist, looking down on the idiot meister from the mound of unconscious weapons and meisters piled at her feet.
It wasn’t that she didn’t need a weapon! She just hadn’t found one strong enough! Every weapon she had practiced with said she was too violent, too strong, not to mention she didn’t want to wield a hammer or heavy weapon! She was practiced to use anything as a weapon, to use the Tendo school of anything goes martial arts! The problem was none of them could withstand her strength or her family's flexible fighting style. It made Akane upset as this rich boy had apparently paid another weapon to take him as a Meister despite being a lunatic.
Akane felt her eye twitch again, as she watched Sasuke transform back into the usual shinobi, before rolling out a red carpet and started playing a regal trumpet introduction, as Kuno started speaking like a Medieval European Lord. “Presenting, the spendiphorus, the wonderful, the incredible, the-“
A strange white creature appeared with a top hat and ruffles as it announced, “It is I!”
Sasuke and Kuno proceeded to set off confetti at the declaration as Akane finally had enough, “and who ‘is I’” heavily emphasizing the sarcasm as she repeated its statement.
“Fool!” Akane blinked at the cane now in front of her face. When did it move in front of her? The strange weapon(?) in front of her began talking after pausing for slightly too long. “How would I know who you are?”
“Okay, I’ve had enough-“ As she lunged to grab the short white weapon, Akane felt herself get pushed down into the floor, the thin cane pressing into her back.
“Fool! Do you really think you can touch the legendary Excalibur that easily?” Akane stopped struggling as she heard the name and froze. Kuno had found the legendary weapon Excalibur? She wouldn’t have believed it, if not for how fast it moved and the sheer strength to even be able to pin her down. “If you truly do wish to wield me, I suppose I shall tell you my thousand provisions!”
As the legendary Excalibur began rambling off unreasonable requests Akane couldn’t help but feel terrified at the look in Kuno’s eyes.
His words echoing as she drifted back to the present.
“I will not consider this a win as you do not have a weapon, but I will be expecting a proper match tomorrow. As always, my beloved Akane Tendo, if you lose, your heart and body are mind!” Kuno’s voice carrying through her friends cries for the weapon to get off her or the boys cheers are Kuno’s ‘victory’ or even the insane thing she must have misheard about a five hour mandatory lecture with Excalibur to wield it.
Akane snapped out of her haze as she heard a loud knock at the door, as her father and Nabiki rushed to answer it. Akane just let out a growl, another man to deal with. After a few seconds, her father and Nabiki shot back around the corner as a Panda followed them, menacingly wielding a strange pink(?) katana.
“Daddy, is this your friend?” Nabiki asked hiding behind her father and Akane.
Soun simply shook his head.
The Panda began swinging the sword wildly and shaking it, as Akane realized that this beast was untrained and could easily hurt her sisters! She rushed forward and disarmed the Panda, knocking the sword into the air as she struck the panda hoping to stun it. As she went to catch the falling sword, it transformed, landing in Akane’s arms as a pretty girl with pink hair and blue eyes. Akane wasn’t too sure what to feel after the shock of a panda wielding a sword that turned out to be a weapon?
“T- thanks for the help.” The pink haired girl’s voice was quiet even as she was in Akane’s arms. Akane felt like she couldn’t take her eyes off of the girl as she simply had too many questions, who is the panda? Is he your meister? Do you want a new meister? Could I be your Meis- Akane then felt her stomach turn as the girl kept breaking eye contact and played with the end of her pig-tail. Akane felt even more confused as the smaller girl began to blush, “C- could you put me down?”
Akane felt her ears turn red as she gently placed the smaller girl down and stepped away to join her family.
After a second of silence as the tiny pink haired girl seemingly wasn’t ready to start with answers, Akane’s father finally stepped forward, “You wouldn’t happen to be… ?”
“Ranma Saotome, sorry about this.” The girl seemed to shrink in on herself as she responded looking down.
As Soun fainted, Akane was going through a whirlwind of emotions. Ranma, the pretty weapon who Akane had rescued from a crazed panda, was a girl, instead of the boy she was going to lose her dojo to. She needed a weapon for her duel with Kuno tomorrow. Ranma was a very pretty sword. Maybe, she was also a sturdy sword? As Akane looked the girl up and down, despite how much her outfit screamed martial artist, her soft looking body, bright pink hair, and general demeanor screamed dainty. Well, regardless, she could at least be a friend.
As her sisters were tending to their father and scolding him, Akane walked over to the shy girl named Ranma and asked simply, “Hi, I’m Akane, wanna be friends?”
As the pair made their way to the dojo, Akane needed to check a few things.
“So, is that Panda your Meister?”
“What? No!” Ranma’s face twisted like she had been insulted, “I don’t have a Meister, I don’t need one! I am the greatest martial artist alive!”
Akane couldn’t help but giggle a little at the proud pose of the tiny girl as she put her hands on her hips and showed off such a bright smile.
“Wanna spar?”
As the pair broke into giggles at the end of their spar, Akane simply couldn’t believe it. The girl was as good as she had said, she couldn’t even land a single hit! Akane couldn’t wait to train with Ranma, to go to school-
Kuno’s threat echoed in Akane’s mind at the reminder as she stopped giggling, simply staring blankly.
What was she going to do? She couldn’t ask Ranma, even though she was incredible, Ranma was adamant she wasn’t anyone’s weapon, which meant she wouldn’t be willing to be Akane’s. After all, Akane was too violent and Ranma was so graceful there was no way-
“Hey tomboy, you okay?” Akane focused back in as she noticed Ranma had crawled forward to tap her forehead, her face betraying the insult in her words as she stared at Akane full of concern. Akane felt her cheeks get a little rosy at the proximity of the pink haired girl, as she gently pushed Ranma a little away.
“Yeah, I’m okay, just-“ As Akane prepares to lie, she made eye contact with those beautiful blue eyes that looked so worried about her and realized she couldn’t lie right now, opting instead for the truth,”This creep at school that’s always bothering me found a legendary weapon, Excalibur. Now he’s gonna duel me tomorrow and try to force me to be his girlfriend if I lose.”
“What!” Akane was a little startled by the anger in Ranma’s voice. The anger on her behalf? Everyone acted like Kuno was normal and Akane was weird for being mad, but Ranma was also mad? “Who the heck does that jerk think he is! What right does he have to make you his girlfriend just cause he found some dump legendary weapon! You rely a bit too much on power, but if your weapon is flexible, it should be fine!”
Akane chuckled as she finally had a friend to properly complain with, “Yeah, well, I don’t have a weapon, much less a legendary one. He already beat me with the Excalibur when I didn’t have a weapon, so unless I can find a legendary weapon of my own by tomorrow, I am gonna have to deal with him spreading some nonsense about me being his girlfriend.”
“Well, you have a legendary weapon right here!” Ranma stood up and reached her hand down towards Akane wearing the same bright smile she showed when Akane had asked to be friends, “I can be your weapon for the fight! I may not have ever been someone’s Meister, but I am the greatest martial artist alive”
Akane felt her cheeks go rosy again as she stared up at the shorter girl, feeling some strange welling in her chest. As Akane took Ranma’s hand and stood, Ranma transformed into that same pretty pink katana from earlier, as she began practicing a kata with the sword.
The difference between this and the spar, is as Akane moved, Ranma moved with her. Like the shorter girl was guiding the body with extreme precision and mastery of martial arts that had already let her see through the kata. As they got deeper and into more complex kata, Akane felt herself connected with Ranma. She felt confident enough that Akane swung at the dummy in front of her and she cut it clean through before she heard Ranma’s voice in her head.
“That wasn’t right.” Ranma’s voice echoing inside Akane’s mind.
“What do you mean? We did the kata right?”
“Yeah, but the last cut, you didn't give it our all. What made you hold back?”
“Oh.” Akane got embarrassed as she began to explain, “I have just been told I am too strong for other weapons and I didn’t want-“
“Oh so you think I’m weak?” Akane could practically see the smug and angry look in the pink haired girls reflection in the blade. “Sure you’re not just making excuses cause you’re weaker than me and you can’t keep up with me?”
Akane’s eye twitched a little, “I am not weak, I’m way stronger than you!”
“Sure, that’s why you can’t go all out against a practice dummy.” The tone of Ranma’s voice made Akane’s eye twitch again as she had to calm down, Ranma didn’t understand what she was asking.”I get it,”
Thank god Akane thought, before Ranma added, “You must really wanna date this Kuno guy.”
Akane felt something snap as she screamed with all her might and swung at the other dummy, feeling something different as the katana lit up with energy and a slash rushed forward and cut the dummy into practically dust. Akane had never done anything like that with any weapon, much less felt that powerful, what could that have-
“Soul Resounance.” Akane turned to see her father for the first time in years, standing in the doorway to the dojo. “You're perfect for each other!”
Both girl’s felt their cheeks flush as Akane’s father began weeping and bounding off calling for Ranma’s father about the engagement.
As Akane calmed down from the embarrassment of her father, she looked down at Ranma in her weapon form and couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe you are perfect for me.”
Akane could see in the reflection of the blade, the pink hair girl’s face go flush as Akane felt her soul start to get embarrassed. “I’m just lucky you're a girl!”