Looking for an old Ranma 1/2 series.

[dentrag1231]

Looking for an old 3 part Ranma 1/2 series by magical aimee

 

[putri@nila]

Ranma ½: The Martial Arts Tickling Tournament?​

At the Tendo dojo, it was another normal morning. Normal being entirely relative in this case. Soun Tendo marveled at how his perception of ‘normal’ had changed these past few months. Before, normal had been his daughters awakening, Kasumi going to cook while the others washed up, a pleasant meal at the table and then everyone going about their daily business. But now, normal was…
“Hey! You keep that away from me, you perverted old geezer!” Ranma yelled, trying to dodge Happosai’s buckets of cold water and brush his teeth at the same time while running around the dojo grounds.
“Come now Ranma, surely you wouldn’t deny an old man his daily sustenance!” Happosai paused for a moment to refill his bucket from the pool and resumed chasing Ranma, who was now running along the roof, toothbrush in mouth.
“If you want sustenance, go and eat breakfast like a normal person!” Ranma yelled, kicking Happosai into his father Genma, who toppled into the pool with a splash and rose grumbling, in panda form. Ranma swung into the bathroom, finished brushing his teeth and plopped down to eat, keeping a kettle of hot water handy. “What’s for breakfast today, Kasumi?”
“Good morning Ranma!” Kasumi greeted him, setting the breakfast down at the table as Genma mumbled and took Ranma’s kettle of hot water to change back from a panda.
“Ah, delicious as always!” Genma said, putting the kettle aside and going for the food.
“It’s because Kasumi made it,” Ranma said as he too began to eat. “If Akane had made this we would all choke or die of food poisoning – “
“I heard that!” Akane shouted, throwing a bucket of cold water at Ranma and hitting him in the face.
“What did you do that for?” Ranma complained, now in female form, and reaching for the kettle of hot water. “It’s bad enough that Happosai is always after me, but you – “ Ranma poured hot water on herself and continued. “But you always have to – hey, how come I’m still a girl?”
“Gotcha!” Happosai chuckled, leaping for Ranma’s chest. “I switched ‘em when you weren’t looking – GAH!”
Ranma leaned towards Akane, her elbow in the back of Happosai’s head, and growled, “Akane, you’re always making trouble for me. You are SO uncute.”
“Oh yeah?!?” Akane said, holding up her kettle of hot water. “I suppose you don’t want THIS then!”
“Hey hey! I was only joking!” Ranma said quickly. “C’mon, Akane, I’m sorry! Can I have the kettle?”
“Bah! Who needs an ingrate like you anyway?” Happosai grumbled, squirting free and pulling out a flyer. “This is where I’m going today. Heehee, lots of pretty ladies…” He hugged the flyer to himself and grinned.
“Let me see that,” Nabiki said, snatching it while chewing on her breakfast. “The Martial Arts Tickling Tournament?” She swallowed her food and read on. “Oh, I see where the dirty old man is going. Look at this.” She shoved the flyer at Akane and pointed out a line.
“All contestants must wear clothing that does not cover the susceptible areas – sides, stomach, armpits, feet, etc.,” Akane read. “Oh. So you’re going to stare at scantily clad women, eh?”
“A tickling tournament? With martial arts? Sounds kinda silly to me…” Ranma said, taking the flyer and scanning it. “Whoa! Look at this! 200,000 yen is first prize!”
“There’s a disclaimer,” Nabiki said, taking the flyer back as Ranma went to the kitchen. “All contestants have to go to a preliminary session today if they want to enter. They want to make sure all the contestants are ticklish enough to make it a fair fight – you should enter, Akane,” Nabiki said with a grin.
“Wh-what do you mean?” Akane said, eyes flying open. “I don’t know what you mean – I would be disqualified… heh… heh…” From the looks Akane was getting, she knew she wasn’t fooling anyone.
“Yeah, go on and enter, Akane,” Ranma teased, coming out as boy-type and drying his hair. “We’ll get a kick out of it!”
“Ahem,” Soun Tendo said quietly, halting the conversation. “Actually, I think both Ranma and Akane should enter…”
“What? You gotta be kidding me!” Ranma said. “Besides, I ain’t ticklish. I can’t enter.” He stuck out his tongue at Akane.
“Tendo had a point,” Genma said. “There’s the issue of money that it costs to repair the dojo after your… antics… destroy it day after day.”
“But - !” Ranma protested.
“No buts, Ranma my boy!” Genma said. “As a martial artist, it is your duty to honor your obligations! We are guests in this dojo and we must compensate Tendo for damages!”
“I already said I ain’t ticklish!” Ranma said with a note of finality, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. He opened them to stare sideways at Nabiki, who was poking his sides and underarms.
“He’s right,” Nabiki said, continuing to experiment. “Nothing at all. In this form, anyway…” Before Ranma could react, he was doused with cold water.
“Will you stop that?” Ranma demanded, glaring at Akane, who giggled. Before she could go on, Ranma whooped in surprise and covered her sides, whirling to face the grinning Nabiki.
“That’s much better,” she said. “You qualify easily now.”
With a grimace, Ranma dumped hot water on himself and said, “Fine! I’ll go to this stupid tournament – but if I win I get to keep half of the money for myself!”
“You greedy pig!” Akane said. “You owe a lot more than 100,000 yen for the damage you’ve caused to my father’s dojo!”
“Me? Greedy? It’s the least I deserve for agreeing to do this at all! In case you’ve forgotten, I’m a guy! Not a girl! So nyah!”
“Nyaaaaah!” Akane retaliated and turned her back. “We’re going to be late for school.”
“You’re so uncute, Akane!” Ranma yelled at her.

Ranma and Akane were walking to school, Ranma balancing on the terraces and fences as usual. Akane was grumbling the whole way about being forced into some stupid tournament to pay for Ranma’s actions! It was so unfair! Ranma should have to enter and that would be that. She would say so when they got home today.
“Ni hao! Ni hao, Ranma!” called a familiar and not unexpected voice as Shampoo biked up to the pair and stopped in front of them. “Ranma, can Shampoo have word with you?”
“Sure, Shampoo, what’s up?” Ranma asked as Akane pretended not to hear anything and glared at Shampoo, who made a face before turning to Ranma.
“Today is big important tournament!” Shampoo cried gleefully, holding up the same Martial Arts Tickling Tournament flyer that had been floating around the dojo earlier that morning. “Prize is much money! Shampoo is going to win prize and be good bride for Ranma, yes?”
“Hey! Who said anything about being a bride?” Akane shouted, a bit annoyed at having been duped into the argument but unwilling to let this Amazon think she owned Ranma or something… “We are going to win that money and help repair our dojo! So you stay out of this!”
“Oh? Ranma is going to enter tournament?” Shampoo asked, poking at his belly for a moment. “Ranma is no ticklish… oh! Silly Shampoo, you going to enter as girl-type, yes?” She giggled.
“Yeah, I guess,” Ranma said with a total lack of enthusiasm.
“You can forget winning that prize,” Akane said. “I’m going to get it and prove to you once and for all that…”
“So you is challenging Shampoo?” the Chinese girl asked with a smirk. “In that case, let us make deal!”
“Deal? What kind of deal?”
“The most important kind,” said a gravelly voice from behind Akane. Shampoo’s grandmother bounced around on her stick and faced the pair of them. “The winner of this tournament, besides collecting the 200,000 yen prize, will also get to go on a date with my son-in-law.”
“Good deal!” Shampoo said, clapping her hands. “Shampoo no lose. Shampoo as good as on date with Ranma already.”
“What? Hey wait a minute!” Ranma cried, waving his hands in protest. “You can’t just give me away as a prize! I’m entering too! What happens if I win?”
“You stay out of this!” Akane shouted. “I don’t care if Ranma is the prize or not! But I’m not going to just sit by and do nothing while our dojo is torn to pieces! So do what you want and date her if you please! Hmmph!”
“So Akane gives up Ranma? In that case…”
“I’m not giving him up!” Akane yelled fiercely. “I’ll beat you easily, Shampoo, and collect that prize!” She turned to Ranma. “That DOESN’T mean I’ll go on a date with you if I win!”
“I never wanted to!” Ranma retaliated. He was interrupted by Shampoo’s grandmother, who bounced in front of Akane.
“Hmm…” she murmured, squinting. Reaching a finger towards Akane, she poked her in the side… Akane went down in a burst of giggles, rolling about on the ground and slapping at her sides as if some phantom was tickling her. In about a minute or so she calmed down and managed to take her feet. “That’s a technique developed over three thousand years of Amazon history, girl,” Shampoo’s grandmother said sagely. “I barely even touched you and you went down like a sack of potatoes.”
Barely touched her, sure, Ranma snorted to himself. He’d lost count after 250 pokes. Shampoo’s grandmother had tickled Akane so fast it had looked like a single poke to anyone too slow to catch it… “Shampoo is learning this special Amazon technique!” she proclaimed. “Then, Shampoo will beat both Akane and girl-type to win prize… and date with boy-type!” Shampoo giggled. “Bye bye Ranma!” She and her grandmother took off.
“You okay Akane?” Ranma asked, watching her brush her school uniform.
“What’s it matter to you anyway?” she burst out fiercely.
“I was just asking if you were okay! It’s this kind of violent behavior that…”
“Fine! I’m incredibly ticklish! Are you happy now, Ranma?”
“Sheesh, I don’t know why you’re so mad about it… it makes you actually seem kinda cute, Akane.”
“Really…?” Akane asked, looking at Ranma for a moment before remembering that she was irritated at him.

There were others who had heard of this deal besides Ranma, Shampoo, and Akane, and they made their own plans for the Martial Arts Tickling Tournament…
“Ranma will be all mine,” Kodachi said, leaping off to Furinken High School while laughing manically, snapping her gymnastics ribbon as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop. “I’ll have darling Ranma all to myself after I take care of that girl…”
“Shampoo date Ranma?” Mousse exclaimed in shock. “I can’t allow that, Ranma Saotome… you will never go on a date with Shampoo! I, Mousse, will make sure of that. Hahahaha!” The Fist of the North Star also ran off, formulating his own plans.

Akane was changing for gym class that morning, as usual keeping a watch out for Happosai and Ranma, who while he claimed wasn’t a pervert found many excuses for getting into the girls’ locker room. She always kept a close watch on everything, searching the room completely and locking the door when she left. During her quick patrol today she heard something in the janitor’s closet…
“Ranma! Is it you? Or is it that dirty old… Ah!” Akane cried as Kodachi’s ribbon wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides and sending her to the ground with a thud. “You! The Black Rose!”
“That’s right. I heard that you’ve entered the Martial Arts Tickling Tournament trying to win the hand of my darling Ranma,” she sneered. “I’ve come to offer you a chance to back out of that deal.”
“And leave him all to Shampoo? Get real – “
“No, leave him to me! I intend to win that tournament and go on a date with my darling, darling Ranma…” Kodachi sighed dreamily for a moment. “But first to eliminate the competition.” She knelt and deftly sat on Akane’s legs, then flicked off her gym shoes and socks. Akane struggled mightily, her eyes shooting open, because she knew what Kodachi meant for her –
“Gahahahahaahahahahahahahah!!!” Akane squealed, tossing her head back and giggling as Kodachi traced her index fingers along Akane’s soles.
“A little rough, hmm? Must be all that martial arts training you do while barefoot. No matter, they’re still quite sensitive, hmm?”
“Shut up – gahhaahahahahahha!! Ahhahahahahahhaheheehehehehehh hey stoppit!” Akane giggled, feet trying to twitch away from Kodachi’s nails.
“Now if you agree to back out of the tournament, I’ll let you go,” Kodachi giggled, running her fingernails up and down Akane’s soles and drawing forth a fresh burst of laughter. “My, look at you wiggle! You had best quit now or you’ll really get it bad in the tournament!”
“Gyahahahahahaahahahah!!! Ahahahahahehehehehehehehh nehehehe never! I’ll never surrender to the lihihiihiheheheheheeieehahahaah likes of yohouhouhohohou!” Akane wriggled furiously, trying to work herself free of the ribbon… she almost had a grip on the end of it. If she could just grab that and pull…
“Hahahaha! You don’t stand a chance… all you have to do is back out of this silly tournament and it’ll be all over!” Kodachi spiderwalked her fingers along the underside of Akane’s toes. This sent her into such a furor of giggling and squirming that she began to toss Kodachi around.
“GAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHHHA!! AHAHAHHEHEEHEHEHEHEHEHE HAHAHAHEHEHEHEH!! HEHEHEHEAHAHAHAH!! HAHAHAHAH!! HA AHAHHAHAH!!!” Akane’s twisting and squirming managed to loosen the ribbon enough for her to pull the end and slip free of the strip of fabric, rolling aside and springing to her feet. “Try to resort to your underhanded ways again, huh?” Akane panted, getting into a real martial arts stance and intending to pound the Black Rose, not just tickle her.
“Oh! Well it seems you’ve gotten away this time… no reason I can’t do it again! Ahahahaha!” Kodachi twirled her ribbon…
The door burst open and a small black pig shot into the room, squealing and running for its life. “Ryoga! I’ve got you now, stop trying to hide in the girls’ locker ro – ah, Akane!” Ranma said, skidding to a halt as P-chan leapt into Akane’s arms and snarled at him. “Kodachi? Hey, what are you doing – “
“See you later, Ranma darling!” Kodachi said, twirling her ribbon and sending a flurry of black rose petals at him. By the time they cleared, she was gone.
“Well, Akane, uh…”
“Pervert!!!” Akane screamed, throwing a bucket at Ranma and charging him with a broom. “How many times have I told you to stay out of the girls’ locker room? Oooh!!!”
Ranma fled the room, chased by various janitorial items thrown by Akane, and ignoring the disapproving stares of the girls in the hall, fled the room.

Shampoo stood in a dark, silent room, balancing a bowl on top of her head, concentrating, eyes closed.
With blinding suddenness the feeling came, a poke at her sides – both of them at once, it felt like. A smile wormed its way onto Shampoo’s lips but she remained standing still. The poke resolved itself into what felt like tiny fingers skittering along her sides, up and down for a brief second. The feeling made Shampoo giggle a bit and wiggle her stomach, but after that she compressed her lips into a line again and steeled herself.
Again the feeling came, a little harder this time, pressing into her ribs a bit and tickling along her sides, making her giggle louder and squirm a bit. This time the touches ended more quickly but right on their heels came the feeling of tickling under her arms, surprising the Amazon and making her laugh distinctly for a second before regaining control. The bowl wobbled a bit and Shampoo gasped, then concentrated again.
So it went for a few minutes, random tickle attacks around her upper body, along her stomach and sides, ribs and underarms, making her quake with dangerously unrestrained giggles, the bowl on top of her head wobbling about.
Then came the feeling of something wiggling in her bellybutton.
All at once Shampoo let out a great whoop and giggle, clapped her arms over her belly and doubled over. The bowl clattered down with a crash, shattering into pieces. From the bowl came what seemed to be wispy blue hands made of smoke. In a flash Shampoo was held spread-eagle on the ground as those hands picked up where the other tickling sensations had left off. Shampoo’s eyes sprang open as she felt her shoes leave her feet and began to roar with laughter once the hands commenced tickling her, especially the one on her bellybutton.
“NOOOHOOOHOHAHAHAHAHHEEHEHEHEHEHEH NO AHAHAHHAEHEHEHEHEH SHAMPOO HAD ENOUGH!! HAHAAHAHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEH PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHHEEHEHEZE DON’T TICKLE SHAMPOO!!”
“Hmm… you’ve got a long way to go, granddaughter,” Shampoo’s grandmother said, hopping over and examining the helpless girl with a critical eye as she shook and roared with laughter. “If you can’t even complete a simple training exercise like this, you’ll never stand a chance at winning the tournament and going on a date with my son-in-law. You’ll have to try again, Shampoo. But first we’ll wait for the enchantment to wear off. Maybe that will provide an incentive to get it right next time.”
“AHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHHEHEHEHEHEHEEH NOHOOHHOOHHOHO!” Shampoo squealed as the hands delicately ran over her soles and toes, their wispy fingers seeming to tickle like the touch of a hundred feathers. “HEHHEHEHAHAAHAHAHAH NAHAHAHAHAHAH NOT SHAMPOO’S FEEHEHEHEEEEHEHEEET!”
“Don’t worry, granddaughter,” Shampoo’s grandmother assured her. “The charm will wear off in about five minutes or so. Think of this as a learning experience and try not to let it bother you so much. It won’t feel so debilitating then.”
“HHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHHAAHAH BUT SHAMPOO IS SO TICKLISH!!! HEEHEHEHEEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHE!!!” Shampoo was finally released from the hands’ grasp as they drifted away into puffs of blue smoke. Shampoo laid on the floor for a moment, giggling still and trying to catch her breath.
“Stand up now, it’s time to try again…”

Ranma walked home with Akane, as usual along the fences and walltops of the streets, trying to ignore her rather bad mood and letting her random outbursts of “Pervert!” and the like roll off of him. Or trying to.
“How many times do I have to say I’m not a pervert!” Ranma yelled. “I’ve seen myself plenty of times! That old lunatic is the pervert!”
“Not only were you being a pervert, you were being mean to P-chan again!” Akane countered, trying to hit him with her bookbag. “I don’t see why you have to be so jealous of a pig!”
“It’s not a pig, it’s – aaaagh! Forget it. You’ll never understand.” With that, they both resumed a stony silence and walked the rest of the way home not looking at each other.
After they had gotten home and settled down from school, however…
“Akane!” Ranma yelled, dripping wet. “What was that – “
“I need your help, Ranma,” Akane said.
“Help?” The request, coupled with the rather civil tone of Akane’s voice, made Ranma sit down and listen. “Okay, what’s up?”
“I need you to help train me for the tournament,” Akane said, rushing out the words. “I need to build some resistance and practice martial arts tickling…”
“No problem!” Ranma said, leaping to her feet. “In fact, this will be a good opportunity for me to practice. Not that I need to of course.” Akane shot him a look and they headed towards the training room. Akane took a turn before they got there, and came back a minute or so later wearing a tank top and shorts. When Ranma looked her over and blinked, Akane shouted:
“What? The rules SAY I’ve got to dress like this! So don’t even get any of your perverted ideas!” Akane hugged her sides and hurried to the dojo. Ranma followed suit, in her undershirt and shorts. “Okay, look,” Akane began when they got there. “The rules of the tournament say that anything goes, so long as you only attack your opponent by tickling them. The first one to surrender loses, or if someone is too tired to get up and continue the fight. Got that?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Ranma said cockily. “I’ve got it. So are you ready?”
Akane took a deep breath and assumed her fighting stance. “Ready! Go!” She moved in and launched a kick at Ranma. Ranma caught it with ease.
“Akane, don’t the rules say you’re supposed to only attack with tickling?” Ranma asked, holding her foot and looking at her fingernails. With a shrug she raked them lightly over Akane’s sole.
Akane overbalanced so fast that she fell on her rear, giggling, but managed to recover quickly enough to roll away and spring to her feet again. “Oh yeah, right. Oops.” She turned to face Ranma, but she was already gone! “Huh? Ranma?”
Akane’s answer was a lightning-quick tickling of her stomach. With a screech she twisted wildly, giggling louder than ever, and turned around to face the grinning Ranma. “Geez, Akane, you’re like super-ticklish! How are you ever gonna survive the tournament?”
“That’s what this training is for!” Akane yelled back. “I’ll get over it eventually! So bring it on!” I hope…. Akane added to herself.
Ranma leapt into the air and came down on top of Akane, straddling her across the waist. “Well, then let’s get to it!” Ranma began to use her special Chestnuts on an Open Fire technique…
Akane couldn’t believe it. It felt as if Ranma had grown ten hands and was tickling all over her upper body with every last one of them. And what she hadn’t known was that she was far more ticklish on her upper body than her feet. “GYAHAHAAHAHAHAHH!H!HHAHAHAAHAHAHAH!!! RANMA AHHAAHAHEHEHEHHEE! STAHAHAHAAAHHAAHAHAHHAAAP!!!”
“Stop?” Ranma asked. “Isn’t this training?” She kept going, tickling under Akane’s arms for the most part, which seemed to be her worst weakness. Akane’s feeble flailing with her arms was no match for Ranma’s incredible speed. She twisted and thrashed madly.
“GAHAHAHAHHEHEEHEHEH!! HHAAHAHHA NOOHOHOHOOHEHEHHAHAAHH STAHAHAHAAP STOP PLEHEHHEEHEHEEEEHEHEHHEEEEHEEEZE! NAHAHAAHHEHEHEHHAH!!!”
“Well… I dunno…” Ranma said, slowing down a bit and giving her a breather. “You need a break, Akane?”
Akane nodded, breathing a little heavily. She hadn’t realized exactly how ticklish she was, and it was going to take a lot of training to overcome it… In a moment she realized that Ranma was still straddling her. “Pervert! Ooooh! Get off!” With a bucking motion, she tossed Ranma off of her and sprang to her feet. Ranma landed lightly on her own feet and grinned.
“You must have recovered, Akane!” Ranma said with a grin. “That means it’s time for more tickling!”
“Hey, hey, wait a second – gah! Gahahahahhaha!!! AHahhaheeheheheh! Ahahahahahah!!!” Ranma came in again, being considerably more gentle this time, tickling on Akane’s bare belly and sides, and dodging her attempts at retaliation, which were feeble in any case.
Nabiki edged closer for a better view, holding a video recorder to her eye. She was taping this purely for financial reasons – after all, Kuno would pay huge sums of money to get his hands on a video containing his two obsessions tickle fighting each other in scanty costumes…
Ranma picked up on something as she tickled Akane. Snapping her head up, she saw the video recorder pull just out of view… “Hey!” she cried, abandoning Akane and leaping towards the recorder.
Akane was right behind Ranma, and in a flash they were both looking down at Nabiki, who giggled. “Aw, come on now. It’s only a harmless little training video…”
“Like those pictures you took of me and Akane and sold to Kuno?” Ranma asked.
“Give that to me!” Akane demanded, holding out her hand.
“Now let’s be reasonable here,” Nabiki said coolly, completely unruffled as she picked up the camera and stood. “If I give you two a 25% cut each, will you let it go?”
“No!” Akane yelled, making a grab for the recorder again. Ranma slipped around behind Nabiki and gave her sides a quick tickle.
“Eeeep! Heehee!” Nabiki giggled, giving Akane enough time to get the video recorder and pull it away. “Ah well, I guess you two win. Do with the tape what you want. I’m outta here.” With that, Nabiki shrugged and walked off, trying not to feel the cassette in her pocket and snicker.
“Thank goodness,” Ranma said as Akane hefted the camera and they headed inside…

Later that afternoon, the preliminary trials were being held. The line of girls, mostly good-looking and scantily clad girls, extended for a fair distance beyond the entrance of the testing building. From inside the building itself, girls’ laughter could be heard, occasionally screeching loud as a particularly ticklish girl was tested. Ranma wandered into the next available room once it was her turn. In there, she found… “Dr. Tofu?”
“Oh! Hello there!” he said. “And you are?”
“Ranma Saotome,” Ranma answered. “I’m here to register for the… (she sighed) Martial Arts Tickling Tournament.”
“I guessed as much, otherwise you wouldn’t be here!” Dr. Tofu said with a smile. “Okay then. If you’ll lie down on the bed over there, we’ll get the examination started, okay?”
“Okay,” Ranma agreed, laying down on the bed in her undershirt and shorts and kicking off her shoes.
“First we have to test your underarms. So lift ‘em up, please,” Dr. Tofu asked politely. Ranma did so, and Dr. Tofu took out something that looked like a blunted stylus. With it, he gently traced a few circles under Ranma’s left underarm…
Ranma shrieked and instinctively curled up, giggling madly. “HAhhahahahaha!! Ehehehh hey! Watch it!” she said, scowling.
“It seems you’re going to qualify easily!” Dr. Tofu chuckled. “I’ve got to run the test on everywhere, though. So just try and hold still until it’s done, okay?”
Ranma indeed tried to hold still, with all of her willpower. Every single spot on her body seemed to be insanely ticklish! Every spot Dr. Tofu tried was the same – a shriek of laughter followed by curling up and an attempt at defense with her arms. Dr. Tofu even began to tease her a little, poking her bellybutton and watching her curl up while giggling. Finally, he backed off and made some notes.
“Hehehehe… am I done?” Ranma asked hopefully.
“Not quite yet,” Dr. Tofu said, scooting his rolling chair down to her feet. Ranma’s eyes went wide as dinner plates.
“Hey! You’ve already tested me a bunch of times! Stay away!” Ranma said, trying to kick him a bit. With a gentle grin, Dr. Tofu took her ankle and gently ran the stylus up and down her sole…
“GYAHAHAAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHEEHEHEHEHEHEEHHEAHAHAHAAHAHAH!!!!!!!”
The resulting laugh made everyone in the vicinity of the building look and take notice. Those who were passing by peeked in to see a stunned Dr. Tofu and a panting and still giggling red-haired girl. “I…. I think you pass,” Dr. Tofu said, making down a marking on his clipboard and trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears. “You can… go…”
With an irritated growl, Ranma got her shoes and tried to ignore the crowd of staring people.

“That girl will never have a date with my darling Ranma,” Kodachi giggled to herself as she made preparations for next week’s tournament. “Oh, Ranma, you will soon be all mine… hahahahaahahah!!!”

“I cannot allow Ranma to date Akane!” Ryoga growled. “I’ll make sure you lose the Martial Arts Tickling Tournament if it’s the last thing I do…”

“Ranma Saotome, you shall never have Shampoo,” Mousse chuckled quietly to himself. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t date you – even if it means I have to sabotage my own true love to do it… Ahaha… ha ha ha ha!!!”

 

[putri@nila]

Ranma ½ - The Martial Arts Tickling Tournament: The Tournament Begins!​

As Akane went down giggling for the last time, Ranma grinned and tossed her a quick wink before hopping out of the training room to go eat dinner. Akane growled at him as he left, still very irritated about this whole training thing…
Akane sighed and began to wipe her brow with a towel. Every last time, Ranma got under her defenses and proceeded to tickle her silly with his incredible speed… in female form, his speed was even greater, and strength mattered less now, everything was falling to his advantage and it was so unfair! “The big jerk,” Akane muttered. “He could at least cut me a little break now and then.”
“C’mon Akane, aren’t you going to eat?” Nabiki said, strolling by the training room nonchalantly as she, too, made her way towards the meal. “Don’t tell me you’re still sore over losing to Ranma, hm?”
“It’s not that,” Akane huffed, coming out of the room and joining Nabiki.
“Ah, so you’re still upset because he knows you’re ticklish, eh Akane?” Nabiki said, giving her a quick poke to the side and grinning as Akane flinched away, covering her side.
“Don’t DO that!” Akane yelled. “It’s bad enough that Ranma tickles me silly every single day, I DON’T need you to start in! Besides,” Akane said, still not completely mollified, “you’re ticklish too, as I remember.”
“Indeed,” Nabiki said with a wink. “The difference between you and me, Akane, is that I don’t let it get to me. Remember?” Akane thought back to the time when she and Ranma had tickled Nabiki briefly to get back the videotape she’d shot of the two of them. Nabiki hadn’t even broken a sweat… “Maybe if you try not to let it bother you so much, it’ll be easier, hm?” Nabiki patted her on the shoulder and went to eat.
“If I don’t let it get to me…?” Akane mused, thinking back over the past week. Thinking back to her incredibly concentrated efforts to ignore his fingers… only to have it shatter every time and turn her into a madly thrashing, laughing wreck, after which she usually went at Ranma only to have it happen again…
“So, Akane, Ranma, how has your training come along?” Soun Tendo asked, eating Kasumi’s meal voraciously, as they always did.
“It’s coming along fine,” Ranma said, still in female form and still wearing his skimpy, revealing outfit… “What the?!!” Reaching under the table, she pulled out Happosai. “And what were you doing down there? Huh? You dirty old goat!”
“Well… you see Ranma, I think I lost a hundred-yen piece…”
“Get real!” Ranma yelled, tossing him into the pond. “You were trying to grab me!”
“Honestly, I wish the Master would learn to curb his excesses…” Soun mused.
“Indeed, Tendo, indeed. The Master could use some behavior modification…”
“WHAT did you say?” Happosai demanded, causing the usual instant groveling response from the pair of them…
Akane sighed in vexation and continued eating. “The tournament is tomorrow afternoon, Ranma,” she said. “We need to keep training as much as we can until then, all right?”
“Aw, c’mon Akane!” Ranma complained. “We’ve been at it ‘round the clock for the past week – ack!”
Akane elbowed Ranma in the back of the head and went on. “We’ve got to win that prize to pay for all the damage you’ve done!”
“Yes, think of how much food 200,000 yen would buy,” Kasumi said with a smile as she gathered the dishes.
“I might be able to stop mooching off of other people… for a week,” Nabiki said sarcastically.
“Whatever!” Ranma cried, standing up. “Fine! If you want to train more, Akane, bring it on!”
“We’ll see about that!” Akane yelled, and the pair of them ran off to the dojo.
Nabiki raised an eyebrow as they left. “You know, it occurs to me that both of them are so insanely ticklish that neither of them will win…”
“Well, they certainly seem spirited,” Kasumi said gently, picking up the last plate. “Though I do recall that I myself am rather ticklish as well… it’s been so long since I’ve been tickled, though, I don’t really remember.”
Nabiki mused over that…

Elsewhere, others were also finishing up their training…
“Ranma dear, I’ll fight for you!” Kodachi cried in an overly melodramatic way. “Don’t worry, sweetums, I’ll make sure those horrible harridans don’t sink their claws into you… aahahahahaha!”
“My twisted sister, I would appreciate it if you kept the noise down,” Tatewaki Kuno said. “I am trying to meditate upon a question of great importance, woman, now keep the noise down!”
“Silence, brother dear!” Kodachi snarled. “Nothing is more important than my dear Ranma…”
“Akane Tendo or the pigtailed girl… Akane Tendo or the pigtailed girl…”
Shampoo was still in the basement of the Cat Café, working on her own conditioning… “Great-grandmother! Look! Shampoo has completed training exercise!”
“Very good, Shampoo,” Cologne said gravelly. “However, your training still isn’t complete, but there’s no more time…”
“Not complete? What else Shampoo have to do?” she asked, looking over from where she sat with the bowl balanced atop her head.
“Well, Shampoo, it works like this…” she began to poke Shampoo with the end of her stick. “You see, so far all our training has concentrated on your upper body. But that’s not your weakness, Shampoo…” Cologne ran the stick along the end of Shampoo’s foot, causing her to erupt into a squeal and kick her feet around, toppling the bowl over and sending it crashing to the floor… “I hope it’ll be enough,” she muttered, ignoring Shampoo’s squeals of laughter from the ghostly hands that now ran across her body…
“Shampoo’s worst weakness is her feet…” Mousse muttered to himself, taking down a quick line in a notepad. “I’m sorry my dear Shampoo, but I cannot allow you on a date with Ranma Saotome… I shall prevent that even if it means I must sabotage you, Shampoo… eh heh heh heh heh…” His glasses glinted.
Ranma, now in male form, ducked into Ucchan’s restaurant, seeing Ukyo sitting behind the grill humming to herself as she made more okonomiyaki. “Ranma honey! Come in!” she giggled, waving to him with spatula still in hand. “Sit down! What would you like today?”
“Hey Ukyo!” Ranma said cheerfully. “Can I have one with squid? I’m starved… I’ve been training with Akane all week! I had to skip out on her because she barely gave me any time for dinner!”
“Sure! One squid okonomiyaki coming right up!” she said brightly. While she cooked, she asked, “Ranma, what have you been training for anyway?”
“Oh, Akane is making me enter some stupid martial arts contest,” Ranma said with a slight blush, still not entirely happy with the getup he had to wear to compete…
“It wouldn’t happen to be the Martial Arts Tickling Tournament, now would it?” Ukyo asked, showing him a flyer. “Because I’m going to be there too!”
“Y-you what?” Ranma said, nearly falling off his stool. “Why? W-why are you entering?”
“Promotion, silly,” Ukyo giggled. “What better place to promote my okonomiyaki business than at this tournament! There will be tons of people there!” She served Ranma his food. “And besides, if I win I’ll get that 200,000 yen prize! That’s almost a whole month’s profit!”
“Good thing too, because Akane, Shampoo and Kodachi are all entering because I got duped into being the prize for the winner – “
“WHAT?!” Ukyo yelled, slamming her spatula onto the grill. “Since when are you the prize? Why didn’t you tell me, you jackass?”
“Whoa! Whoa! Take it easy!” Ranma yelled. “It’s not like I want to be the prize – I didn’t ask for it!”
“If I had known you’d be the prize, I would have trained harder!” Ukyo said, putting her spatula back. “Oh well. That’s okay, because I have a special plan to win anyway, and when I do you’ll go on a date with me, right?”
Ranma sighed. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. But if I win, I date nobody, got that?”
“You got it, sugar,” Ukyo giggled. Then Ranma frowned.
“Say, Ukyo, are you ticklish even? I don’t remember that…” Ranma gave her a quick poke under her arm.
“Stop that!” Ukyo cried with a giggle, hitting him across the face and turning away, blushing.
“Aw, c’mon, you can tell me,” Ranma said, hopping around to the other side of the grill and poking her again. Ukyo whapped him across the cheek several times, giggling and turning away, blushing more. “What’s the matter, Ukyo?” Ranma teased.
“Ranma!” Akane shrieked, running into the restaurant. “So this is where you went! You ran out on me to go cavorting with her!”
“C-cavorting? Hey, it’s not what it looks like! I can explain!” Ranma yelled, as Akane slammed his face into the grill. “Oooh! Ooh! Hot! Agh!”
“Hey! What’s the big deal?” Ukyo growled.
“Oh, I get it,” Akane said, turning away in a huff. “You like it when a girl stands there and lets you tickle her? Do you find it cute?”
“Well, so what if I do?” Ranma demanded. “At least she’s not all uncute like you and trying to take my head off!”
“Fine! Be that way! I’m going home!” Akane yelled, running out the door.
“Akane! Wait!” Ranma cried, leaping the counter again and running out.
“Hehehee…” Ukyo giggled. “When I win that tournament, Ranma honey will be all mine…”

Finally, the day of the tournament arrived…
Ranma and Akane both headed there bright and early, to see how the matchups were going to work and who would be competing when. It had become a family event, with Genma, Soun, and Kasumi also coming along with a packed lunch.
“Ah, what a nice day, eh Tendo?” Genma asked, putting on a forced happy face.
“Look at all the pretty ladies!” Happosai gushed. “Ahh… I’ve gone to…heaven!” He cleared his throat. “I’ll be… gone for a little while, everyone. See you in a little while!” With that, he had hopped off.
“Stupid old freak,” Ranma sniffed. “I hope you keel over and die!” he shouted after him.
“Come on, Ranma, let’s go get ready,” Akane said with a sigh of exasperation. “Honestly, sometimes… hey, look!” she said suddenly. “Is that… Ryoga?”
Ryoga was indeed wandering about with a lost look on his face. “This doesn’t look very much like Hokkaido…” He stopped a random person. “Excuse me, could you tell me where…”
“Lost again, Ryoga?” Ranma teased as he and Akane walked by.
“A-Akane? That means… I’ve gone in another circle!!!!!!” He fell to his knees for a moment. “Say, Akane, why are you here, and… dressed like that? Ranma! If you’ve done something to Akane, I’ll…”
“Put a sock in it, P-chan!” Ranma said, kicking Ryoga in the face.
“P-chan? Is he here?” Akane asked, looking around.
“Nevermind,” Ranma sighed. “Come on.”
“Ni hao, Ranma!” Shampoo said, waving to him as he came into the room. “How is you today? Ready for get beat by Shampoo?”
“Yeah, whatever,” Ranma said, pushing her off him and going to sit down and change.
“You’re mistaken, it is I who shall claim Ranma darling,” Kodachi said with her irritating laugh. “You, you miserable whelp, what have you done with Ranma?”
“Oh, keep quiet!” Akane growled.
“Save it for the ring, sugar,” Ukyo said with a wink, changing as well. “I’ll have to put on a good show and raise lots of money today!”
“Huh?” Akane asked, changing.
“Didn’t I tell you? Your sister Nabiki is going to be out there working the okonomiyaki stand. I had to give her a cut of the profits, but… I should do three days’ worth of business here!” She winked.
“All right, ladies,” the official said, coming into the room with a clipboard.
“Wow. She’s pretty good-lookin’,” Ranma said, looking at the young adult woman wearing a businesslike tan skirt and suit.
“Be quiet, you pervert,” Akane hissed.
“The first match will be…” She proceeded to read the names off of the list. Ranma, Akane and Shampoo all had other opponents for the first round, but… “You, and you,” she said, pointing to Kodachi and Ukyo, “will be in the fifth match today.”
The crowd was abuzz as the first match was about to take place. “Welcome everyone! To the annual Martial Arts Tickling Tournament!” the announcer proclaimed from the raised stage in the center of the park. Temporary bleachers had been set up and they were packed, with people standing around the ring as well. “We seem to have a full house here today, so let’s get started!” The crowd cheered as Shampoo and her opponent climbed into the ring. Shampoo’s opponent was a tall girl with long, light brown hair, wearing a bikini patterned with lace and frills. Shampoo herself wore a pink tank top and short yellow shorts. Both contestants were of course barefoot.
“Now for the rules, everyone! This contest is anything goes, there are no rules except for winner moves on to the next round! Contestants may only fight by tickling each other, no physical harm is to be inflicted or you will be disqualified! The first to surrender or be unable to resist will lose! Remember, anything goes, so any tools or items that you may have brought are legal!” The crowd let out a cheer. “Are you ready? Then let the first round begin!”
“Shampoo win Ranma for sure!” she cried, charging her opponent. A charge that was abruptly ended as she tripped and fell over in the center of the ring. “What…?” Shampoo looked back and saw that a chain with a weighted end was wrapped around her legs. The only person with chains around here… “Mousse! You big stupid, what you doing to Shampoo?”
“Shampoo, I’m sorry to do this, but it’s for your own good!” Mousse let fly another barrage of weapons, but instead of the usual knives and so forth, a cascade of feathers, hairbrushes, etc. fell onto the ring. “Go for her feet! It’s Shampoo’s weakness!” Mousse cried out.
“How dare you!” Ryoga yelled from behind him. “To cheat like that is dishonorable!” Ryoga began to throw punches at Mousse. “I won’t allow it!”
“Think about it!” Mousse cried, waving his hands. “If she wins, she’ll date Ranma. If Akane wins, then she…”
“She dates Ranma…?” Ryoga blinked, halting his assault for the time being.
“Look at that! Barely into the match and already outside influences! What a fight!” the announcer cried as Shampoo’s opponent picked up a feather and sat on the backs of Shampoo’s legs.
“Tickle tickle!” she giggled, running the feather along Shampoo’s soles quickly.
Shampoo exploded into a furious giggle attack. “Gahahahahaahaheheheheehheheeh no no tihihihihihihickle Shampoo’s feeheheeet!” She thrashed and wriggled like a worm, managing to turn onto her back, and using her free hands to dig into the girl’s sides.
“Yeeeek! Eheheheheheheeheheheh!!!” she cried, hopping to the side, giggling as Shampoo tickled all up and down her sides to chase her off, then wiggling out of her chain and picking it up, whirling it.
“Stupid Mousse give Shampoo advantage!” she cried, sticking out her tongue at him.
“Gah! Hey! That’s not fair, you can’t use it for yourself! Stop that!” Mousse cried, doing a little dance of annoyance on the sides. “Well then, how about this?” He threw a pair of handcuffs at Shampoo, locking her wrists together and causing her to lose her rhythm with the chain she was whirling, making it wrap all around her, and she fell over again, feet wiggling.
“Heehee, I gotcha!” the girl cried, brushing the feather on Shampoo’s helpless soles and giggling at her.
“Gyahahahhheeheheheheh! AHahahahahheehhehe no! No fehahhahahehehehehahaha feathers for Shampoo! Heheeheheheheheehahaa!! HAAHahahahahah! GHAAAHAHAH!!!”
“It looks like Shampoo is caught in a deadly feather foot tickle!” the announcer cried, as Shampoo wiggled helplessly. “Will she give up? If she doesn’t get up soon she’ll be out and disqualified!”
“I never expected that boy to be so bold,” Cologne said, hopping up next to Ranma, who was watching from the sidelines. “He must have been spying on us while we trained…”
“Hey, I personally think it’s great!” Ranma cried. “If she loses now, I won’t have to beat her later!” He cheered. “Go Mousse!!!”
“Ha ha ha ha!” Mousse cackled, megalomaniacal. “You may not think me strong, Shampoo, but my tactics more than make up for that!”
“AHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEH MOUSSE DEAD WHEN SHAMPOO ESCAPE! AHAHAHEHEHEHEHEHEH!!! AHAHHE!!!!” Wriggling frantically, Shampoo finally managed to slip out of the chains and stood, but her hands were still chained together. Still, Shampoo resolved that there would be no more playing. “You…hehehee… ready for Shampoo best technique?”
“Bring it on, giggly girl,” her opponent taunted, waving the feather. “You haven’t laid a finger on – MEEHEHEHEHEHEHEH EHEH EHAEHE HEHEHHAHAAHHEHEEHEH AHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHHGYAHAHAHA HEHEHEH AAHAHAHA HAAHHA AHAHHAEHEHEHEHHEEH AHAHAH GYAAHAHAHHHA!!!!!!!”
“Wh-what did she do…?” the stunned announcer asked, seeing the girl rolling about hysterically on the mat. “It appears that with a single poke, Shampoo has turned the tables on her opponent! If she doesn’t get up within fifteen seconds, she’s out of the match!”
“That one not get up for while,” Shampoo proclaimed confidently, watching the girl wriggle around in laughter. “I use secret Chinese Amazon technique! Hi-ya!”
“Well then, Shampoo advances to the next round!” the announcer proclaimed. “Congratulations! You can rest until the other matches are done.”
“Shampoo not rest, Shampoo beat up big stupid Mousse!” Shampoo cried, leaping towards him. “Give Shampoo key!”
“Sh-Shampoo?! How did you – aaah!” Mousse cried as Shampoo chased him.
“Shampoo have you now!” Shampoo yelled, taking a hold of his shirt and pulling it off, along with a clatter of multiple chains and other many things he had hidden. “Now Mousse weapons gone and Mousse helpless! Shampoo find key now!” She began to search through the pile of metal.
“Shampoo, did you really think I would be so careless as to keep the key in there?” Mousse chuckled dryly. “I knew this might happen. The key is hidden in a safe location.”
“Tell Shampoo where is key!” Shampoo said, turning from the pile. “Mousse tell Shampoo or…” Shampoo wiggled her fingers. “Shampoo tickle.”
“WHAT?” Mousse cried, as Shampoo tackled him to the ground. “Hey! Heehehehe stoppit! Shampoo! Heheheeheh it tickles! No! Ahahhaha!!”
“Tell Shampoo where is key!” she repeated, not using her technique at the moment, as she required him to talk. Instead she drew little circles under his arms while he flailed about and said, “Tell where is or Shampoo use secret technique!”
“Naahahahahaha ahahahhheheee! Never! Ahahahhehehehe I’ll never let you date Ranma Saotome eheheeheeeheheeheeheheeee!!! You’ll never mahahahahahaahaaaaake me give up!!!”
“Shampoo no have time for Mousse games!” she cried. “Tell Shampoo where is key!” She grinned and flipped each of his shoes off with her toes. “Tell Shampoo or Shampoo be mean.”
“What…? NO! HEY! Please Shampoo I’m sorry! Please PLEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHEHEEEEZE!” Mousse burst out giggling. “NAHAHAHAHAHAH!! AHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH NO NO MORE STAHHAHAAAPPITT!!!”
“Then Mousse tell where key is?” Shampoo turned around and used the chain that still bound her wrists, looping it around his ankles so they were completely trapped and running her fingernails up and down his soles. “Shampoo remember that Mousse is very ticklish.”
“GYAHAHAHAHHAHAH!! AHAHEHEHEHEHEEHEEE HAHAA OK OK STAHAHAHAHAHAP! STHAHAHAHAAAP PLEEHEHEHEHEHEHEZE!” Mousse managed to catch a breather and stop wiggling as Shampoo relented for a moment. A quick moment, as she took up a makeup brush from the pile of stuff nearby.
“Shampoo make sure Mousse no lie,” she said with an evil grin.
“No wait Shampoo I’ll tell I’ll TEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEHEEEHEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHL! HHAHAAHAHAHEHEHEHEH GHGYHHAAHAHAHHEHEHEHEH WHHWHAHAAHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEH NOHOHOHOHOHO NO NO PLEHEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHEHH STAHAHAHAHAHP STOPPIT!”
Shampoo was running the makeup brush along the bases of his toes, using one hand to hold the toes in place while tickling with the other. Mousse was wriggling frantically and flailing his arms, but Shampoo had crossed her legs under Mousse’s and was holding him tightly, as well as binding him with the chain. “So will Mousse tell?”
“YEHEHEHEHEHE HEHEHEEHEHEEHEHEEH EEEHEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHEHE EHEHEEH EEHEHE EHEEHEHEHEEH EHEHEHEE HEHEHEHEHEH EHEHE EHEHEES!!!!!” Mousse cried out in panic, and was relieved when Shampoo finally did stop and let him go, but brandished the brush at him.
“Shampoo be right behind,” she threatened. “If Mousse play funny games Shampoo no be nice next time!”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh, yes of course!” Mousse cried quickly. “This way.”
“Well!” the announcer called as there was general laughter at the antics of Mousse. “Next up is…!”
“It’s Akane’s turn,” Ryoga breathed, standing at the edge of the ring, breathing hard. “Should I really… “ he gulped. “Can I really… make her lose?” Ryoga hesitated. “Well… this is only the first round. I can… wait to see what happens. No need to do anything rash just yet.” Resolving himself to that, he took a breath and shouted, “Go Akane! I know you can win!”
“Thanks Ryoga!” Akane said with a giggle. “Let’s get started!”
Akane, as opposed to Shampoo, had no trouble with her match. Her martial arts training and superior speed easily led her to outclass her opponent, who never laid a finger on her. “Wow, Akane, you sure did great there,” Ryoga said, blushing a bit and trying not to drill holes in the ring. “I couldn’t have done as well as that… uh… um… heehee…”
“Well of course not, silly, you’d have to be ticklish,” Akane giggled. “Are you ticklish, Ryoga?”
“Me? O-of course not. Heh… heh… “
“Whatever,” Akane said, turning back to watch the match.
“Next up are these two lovely young ladies!” the announcer called out as Ranma and his opponent stepped up. Ranma was wearing a cutoff shirt and shorts, not much different than the undershirt and shorts he wore all the time. Ranma was waving to everyone and giggling, as usual being shameless when it suited him to be. His opponent, a girl with short black hair and an athletic build, seemed to be doing warmup exercises. Akane took Ryoga over to Nabiki, where she was tending the okonomiyaki grill and talking to Ukyo.
“Everything going well?” Ukyo asked. She still wore her black leggings, though with no shoes, and what looked like a jogging outfit.
“We’ve sold quite a few so far,” Nabiki reported, opening the cash box and briefly showing it to her. “And this is just the beginning of the day. Is the next batch ready?”
“All ready, whenever you need them just slide them onto the grill.”
“Great.” Nabiki sat on her chair and crossed her legs. “Usually I don’t work like this, but since everyone else was coming and I saw an opportunity to make some quick cash, I decided to help you out just this once.”
“And since you’re doing such a good job with this, I’ve decided to allow you an okonomiyaki on me!” Ukyo gushed, handing Nabiki a Japanese pizza.
“Hey, thanks, Ukyo,” Nabiki said, chowing down. “That was really good. Did you use some kind of new sauce or something on it?”
“A very special kind of new sauce,” Ukyo said, with a giggle. The way she said it made Nabiki look up and take notice. “It’s a sauce that temporarily weakens you so you can’t move very much.”
“Wow!” Akane giggled. “Someone pulled one over on Nabiki. You don’t see that happen every day.”
“So, what, was I a guinea pig so you could test this sauce before you could use it on ‘darling’ Ranma?” The way she said it indicated her arms would have been crossed, but they were still in her lap, uselessly holding the chopsticks and okonomiyaki.
“Yep! There’s just one more thing to do.” Ukyo knelt and picked up one of Nabiki’s legs.
“Hey! Don’t leave me out!” Akane said with a giggle, kneeling beside Ukyo and picking up her other leg before easing the sneaker off and running her nails on Nabiki’s socked foot.
“Ahahahaahaahaahahaahah!” Nabiki giggled, though not seeming overly bothered by her situation. “Ahahaheheheeheheheh! Aahahahahheh hey quit it! My feet are ticklish!!!” she said with a good-natured giggle.
Don’t let it get to you… Akane remembered. Nabiki was certainly handling this well… She slipped off Nabiki’s striped sock and wiggled her fingers against Nabiki’s toes. “Gahahahaheheehehehehe! HEeheheheehehahahahaahah! Hey quit!! Ahahahahahahaah!!! HEehehehehehe!!” Nabiki was of course totally helpless to wiggle or squirm as Ukyo and Akane ran their nails along her feet.
“Kitchy-kitchy-koo!” Ukyo teased, running her nails from heel to toes and back again, listening to Nabiki’s giggling rise and fall. Clearly her toes were her more ticklish point, so… Ukyo plucked a feather from the waist sash that usually held her spatulas and began to run it through Nabiki’s toes…
“Gyahahahahaahahahaahh!” Nabiki giggled. “All right hey c’mon stoppit! Heheeheheheehehehehehehehhe!”
“Hey! That looks like fun! Can I try?” Akane asked with a giggle, taking another feather and tracing the tip of hers along each one of Nabiki’s toes.
“GYAHAHAHAHAAHHH! OK! OK! HEEHEEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHEH! THAT’S ENOUGH!!” Nabiki cried.
“Aww, what’s the matter? I thought it didn’t bother you!” Akane said with a grin, spiderwalking her nails along Nabiki’s sole.
“It sure seems to!” Both girls laughed as Nabiki went into frenzied giggles as the feathers and fingers danced along her soles.
Kodachi was watching from a distance away. “So that horrible woman put a paralysis concoction in her okonomiyaki? No matter… she can’t trick me into eating it now that I’ve seen through her vile plan!”
“You should be the one to speak for vile plans, my twisted sister,” Kuno declared, also eyeing the wiggling and twisting and laughing Nabiki Tendo. “Ah, there is Akane Tendo, engaged in playful sport with her siblings and friends… seeing that smile of joy on her face brings a tear to my eye… and look!” Kuno turned his attention to the stage. “The pigtailed girl… so bold, so quick, so lively… her prowess on the field of battle is unsurpassed… her beauty is more brilliant than the brightest star, her – OOF!”
“You’re making me sick, brother dear,” Kodachi said, having hit him with her gymnastics club. “I wish you would make up your mind and stop swooning over two women at once!”
“But Akane Tendo… and the pigtailed girl… Akane Tendo… and…”
“Never mind,” Kodachi sighed, looking back at Akane.
“Do you give up, Nabiki?” Akane asked with a playful smile.
“Yeheheheees… yes, I give up,” Nabiki said, the movement coming back into her limbs. “Very funny. You owe me 5000 yen extra for that stunt.”
“Are you nuts?” Ukyo demanded. Nabiki tossed a thumb at the crowd who had gathered around the grill, watching the stunt.
“It seems that our little antics attracted customers. I’m sure the 5000 will be easily covered by this.” With that, Nabiki put her shoes and socks back on, stood and began to work the crowd, persuading the young men who’d come over to buy something a little extra… for her? Akane gave a sideways glance to that.
“Well, Ukyo, it seems your plan to get Ranma paralyzed might not work right now…”
“Oh? Why… oh.”
“And the winner is, Ranma Saotome!” the announcer cheered, holding up his hand. Ranma, like Akane, hadn’t even been touched.
“Heh heh! Piece of cake!” Ranma cried, jumping down and standing next to Akane and Ukyo. Ukyo hid the remainder of the okonomiyaki with the paralysis sauce on it.
The next match was over rather quickly, and then it was the match everyone had been waiting for. “Next is Kodachi vs. Ukyo!” the announcer called out. “This is the last match of the first round, so, it’s gonna be a good one!”
Ukyo quickly grabbed the microphone. “Hi everyone! I’m the proprietor of Ucchan’s Okonomiyaki restaurant! We’ve got a cart over there by the bleachers on the left side and the restaurant is open six days a week, from…”
“Ok, ok, that’s enough promotion,” the announcer said, snatching the mike back. “This is a tournament, not a free advertisement agency. Get ready! Go!”
“Sasuke!” Kodachi cried.
“Yes mistress!” the squat little ninja replied, leaping over the ring and showering smoke bombs around Ukyo.
“Hey! No fair!” Ukyo said, coughing and trying to wave the smoke out of her eyes. “That’s cheating!”
“No rules, remember? Ah ha ha ha ha ha!” Kodachi lashed out with her red ribbon and caught Ukyo’s right wrist. Ukyo let out a cry as she toppled over.
Quick as a flash Sasuke was back, tying Ukyo’s wrists together before the stunned girl could react. About then the smoke cleared, leaving Ukyo bound and on the mat, stunned and not ready for Kodachi, who leapt atop her and straddled her waist.
The crowd gasped. “And within the space of a few quick seconds Kodachi has gained a huge advantage over her opponent!” the announcer cried.
“Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Never underestimate the Black Rose, Kodachi!” Kodachi began to run her fingernails along Ukyo’s sides. “Give up Ranma and surrender this tournament, and you can go free.”
“Neheheheheehehehahah never you witch! Gyahahheheehehhe!!!” Ukyo struggled to free her hands or try and buck Kodachi off of her, but it was no good, Kodachi had crossed her legs beneath Ukyo’s back.
“Never? Never can be a very long time,” Kodachi said patronizingly as she tickled along Ukyo’s wiggling belly, quivering and shaking with laughter as Kodachi easily fended off Ukyo’s attempts to free herself.
“Heeheheheehhaahaha! Ahahahahahahhe I’ll neheheheheh never give up Ranma! Gyhahahahahaha! Heheheheeheheheh!!!”
“If Ukyo doesn’t get up within the next thirty seconds, she’ll lose the match!” the announcer proclaimed.
I’ve got to do something! Ukyo thought urgently. Her upper body was pinned and arms were tied pretty much uselessly. However, her legs were more or less free… “Gyahahahah! AHahhahahaheheehe! HEheehhh stoppit!” Ukyo cried, a false plea.
“Stop? So you surrender already? Wise choice, my dear… Ah ha ha ha ha ha!”
“Surrender? Who said I surrendered!” Ukyo said with a fierce grin. “You jackass! I’ll never surrender Ranma so easily!!!” With a mighty effort, Ukyo planted her legs and used the leverage to fling Kodachi from her, but the agile gymnast landed on her feet, ribbon twirling.
“Well! It seems you managed to get out of that one, but can you survive another?”
“You bet I can!” Ukyo cried, getting her hands untangled and tossing the rope aside. This time, she charged at Kodachi, hands at the ready, but Kodachi lashed out with her ribbon and snared Ukyo’s stockinged ankles this time.
“It looks like Kodachi has Ukyo again!” the announcer yelled over the microphone. “If Ukyo hopes to win this match, she’ll need to come up with some offense!”
The mike was hit out of his grasp by a spatula. “Jackass! Shut up!” Ukyo yelled.
“Now now my dear, such foul language isn’t becoming a young lady! Ah ha ha ha ha!” This time Kodachi ran her nails down Ukyo’s soles.
“GYAHAHAHAHAHHEHEHEEHAHAHAHAH!!!! HAHAHAHAHHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!! GYAAHHEHEHEHEHEEHE NEVER!! I’LL NEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEVER SURRENDER!!! GAHAHAHAHAH!!!!” Ukyo kicked her feet as much as she was able, which wasn’t much, and scrunched her toes. Kodachi merely tickled her soles until Ukyo’s toes pointed from reflex, then grabbed a hold of her toes and tickled her soles without mercy. “GAAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEHE EHHEEHEH HEHHEHEHHAHAHA BWAHHAAHHEHEEH WHWHHWHAAHAHAHAH!!!”
“Ukyo has only thirty seconds left!” the announcer shouted, now using his own voice to try and speak over Ukyo’s frantic laughter.
Not this time, Ukyo thought. She grabbed one of the spatulas that she had kept in her sash and tossed it, the sharp end severing the ribbon that bound her. Once she did that, it was a simple matter to jump away and land on her feet. “Now it’s my turn! Nabiki! The batter!”
Nabiki tossed a bowlful of okonomiyaki batter towards the ring, shouting, “That’ll be 2000 yen!” Ukyo ignored her for the time being and caught the batter on the surface of her spatula.
“Ah ha ha ha ha! I won’t eat that, I know what you put into it,” Kodachi taunted. “You can’t fool the Black Rose so easily!”
“I don’t need to, “Ukyo proclaimed with a grin. She flung the batter at Kodachi, who dodged. “More batter! More!” Ukyo yelled. Nabiki kept up a rapid-fire stream of batter, which Ukyo caught and flung at Kodachi.
“Really, dear, this quite pathetic! Ah ha ha ha ha!” Kodachi flung up her hands to defend against an incoming shot of batter. “Ah ha – hey! What…? My hands… they’re stuck!!!”
“Exactly!” Ukyo said, replacing her large spatula and advancing. “It’s a specially formulated batter that’s extra sticky! Hi-ya!” Ukyo tackled Kodachi to the ground and the sticky batter bonded to the surface of the mat.
“Noooooo!” Kodachi cried, knowing that it was over.
Ukyo grinned, cracked her knuckled and started in on Kodachi, ferociously. She ran her nails all over Kodachi’s stomach and ribs, making the girl scream with laughter, a tone that was much different from her usual annoying laughter, and buck wildly.
“AHAHAHAHH! HEEHEHEHEHEHEHEH STOP! STOP I SAHAAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHHAHY!” Kodachi demanded, writhing and giggling constantly.
“Stop? You wish! Here I come!” Ukyo turned so that she was facing Kodachi’s feet. Then, she used her own bare feet to wiggle her toes under Kodachi’s arms, making her giggle even more, before catching the girl’s ankles in an armlock and raking her nails all over Kodachi’s soles.
“GYAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHA!! AHHAHEHEHEHEHHA!!! AAHHHEHEHEHEHE NO NO AHHAEHEHEHEHEHEHGYHAHAAHHA EHHEHS AHHAHAHAH STOP STAHHAHAHAHAHAHAPIT PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHEHEZE!!!” Kodachi screamed at the top of her lungs, making everyone cover their ears. Ukyo just ignored it and kept up her relentless assault, tickling with her toes and plucking a feather from her waist sash to use on Kodachi’s feet. The feather was what really did it, sending Kodachi over the edge in a wild spasm of laughter and thrashing.
“Only fifteen seconds!” The announcer shouted, trying to make himself heard over the awful racket made by Kodachi’s laughter. Ukyo was determined to make the most of her last fifteen seconds, and tickled all out on the Black Rose.
“You’ll never chase Ranma again, while I’m around!” Ukyo proclaimed with a grin. “Your days of hounding him are numbered!”
“NEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHVER! MY DARLING RANMA! GYAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAEHAHEHEAHAHHAEHE HAHHAEHAHEHAHAHAHAHH AHAHAHAHAH EHEHEHAHA AHAHAH HHAHHAHAHH!!!!!!!”
“Time!” the announcer called. “That’s it! Kodachi loses! Ukyo is the winner and goes onto the next round!”
“Yay Ukyo!” Ranma cheered. “Now that weirdo Kodachi is out of the picture! Whoo-hoo!”
“Why are you so happy, Ranma?” Akane asked with a grin.
“Well, I’m just glad that Kodachi is out of the picture, because I know where Ukyo is ticklish.” Ranma giggled evilly. “I remember it from childhood…”
“Oh… “ Akane said, looking back to the ring. One more match had to be concluded, and when it was done…
“That’s it for the first round!” the announcer cried, now with a new microphone. He pointed to a chart. “In the semifinals, there will be 3 matches! Here are the matchups…” The first match was between two other competitors, Akane thought. That meant… “In the second match, Akane vs. Shampoo!”
Shampoo, having returned from her excursion with Mousse, smirked at Akane. “Shampoo not lose to Akane. Akane be begging for Shampoo mercy before match done.”
“Oh yeah? Well we’ll see about that!” Akane yelled back.
“And the third match is Ranma vs. Ukyo!”
“This’ll be a cinch!” Ranma proclaimed, cracking his knuckles. “I’m going to beat you good, Ucchan.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Ran-chan…”
“Will the contestants for the next match please step forward?”

 

[putri@nila]

Ranma 1/2: The Martial Arts Tickling Tournament: Interlude​

“Ok, I got to the semifinals,” Ranma said with a quick moment of self-congratulation as they were allowed fifteen minutes for a quick break and especially for Shampoo, a drink of water.
“Shampoo still win even with big stupid Mousse doing sabotage to her,” Shampoo said confidently, toweling off and enjoying a bottle of water.
“Ranma honey, you still don’t stand a chance, “ Ukyo said with a wink. “My special okonomiyaki recipe will bring me victory for sure!”
Akane didn’t say anything but instead concentrated on the battle ahead. Suddenly, a squeal caught her attention. “Huh? P-chan?” Akane asked excitedly. Sure enough, the little black pig was sitting on the stool next to Ranma, watching him dress.
“What do you want?” Ranma sneered, then yelped as P-chan bit him in the rear and ran off. “Hey! Come back here you filthy little - !” Ranma gave chase to P-chan, yelling all the way.
P-chan ran out of the room and around the corner, leading Ranma to a quiet little alley near the back of the proceedings. “Why you little – once I get my hands on you I’ll – Mousse?” Ranma cried, skidding to a complete stop, as Mousse laid the teakettle on a nearby crate and faced Ranma.
“Ranma, we both know that the winner of this tournament is going to date you,” Mousse said quietly. “So Ryoga and I have agreed to a temporary truce, and to cooperate to make you the winner.”
“Cooperate to make me the winner?” Ranma said cockily. “Well, thanks guys, but I don’t need any help from you two. The next round is going to begin soon. Well, I’ll see you later!” Ranma winked and headed off.
“Why that – “ Ryoga began, before Mousse stopped him.
“Ryoga, let me ask – are you ticklish?”
Ryoga blinked. “Well, yeah, but why?”
“You realize that after we sabotage Akane and Shampoo that they’re going to come after us,” Mousse said, recalling his earlier experience with the Amazon woman. “We need to train ourselves to resist it.”
“Oh, I get it,” Ryoga said, squirming a little. The thought of Akane coming after him, ready to tickle, made him shiver a bit. “Well… um…” Mousse’s left hand shot out, and a chain wrapped Ryoga from head to toe. “Hey – what?”
“This is for our own good, Ryoga,” Mousse said. He knelt to where Ryoga was struggling on the ground, and began to poke him gently in the sides.
“Hey – eheehehheheheheh cut that out! Mousse!” Ryoga cried, giggling. “Hhahhaahahahaah! Hey!” Ryoga began to squirm on the ground as Mousse’s fingers deftly worked around the links of the chain wrapped around Ryoga’s body. He was just testing for the moment – a quick wiggle at the sides, then at the base of the hips and around to his belly, up to his lower ribs and underarms, then back down his sides in a spiderwalk. “AhahahahaHHAahahahah!! Mousse!!! EhehehEHEHEHEEEEHHEHE!!!! AHAhaahhhahahahahAAA!!!!!!” Ryoga wriggled and squirmed, trying with all his might to burst the chains, and was surprised when he couldn’t.
“Ryoga, I know that normally your strength would let you break these chains,” Mousse said conversationally, deciding to start for real on Ryoga’s belly. “But the way you’re pinned, it takes away all the leverage you’ve got. You could be ten times stronger than you are and still not be able to burst them.”
“Gyahahahahahhaahahaha!!!” Ryoga didn’t answer as Mousse’s fingers sought his belly, occasionally dipping into his bellybutton for a quick and hard wiggle. “GHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!!”
“Oh, is the piggy ticklish in his bellybutton?” Mousse teased quickly.
“Sh-sh-shahahaahahahaahahahahah shut up!!!” Ryoga yelled, hoping that maybe if he made enough noise someone would notice. Not likely – the faint sounds of the microphone were heard booming over the competition grounds, and the crowd cheered.
“Now if you say that to Akane when she gets you, are you going to be in any better shape?” Mousse lectured, running small circles under Ryoga’s arms. “No, she’d just do something like this!” Mousse suddenly dug into Ryoga’s underarms, causing a shriek of laughter and big hop and squirm.
“Ghahahahahahhaha!!! HAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!! AHAHAHAA!!! NO NOT THERE!!!” Ryoga begged as Mousse moved his hands down to Ryoga’s sides and gave them a little squeeze. “DAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! AHAHAHEHEHEHEHEH!!!”
“Oh, so this is your weakness? Better remember that for when they come for you, you can prepare yourself instead of being taken by surprise like that. Now…” Mousse backed off for a moment, letting Ryoga rest for a bit.
Ryoga panted for a bit. “Are you done now?” he asked, a bit of annoyance tinging his tone. “If you are, I’d really like to get back there and make sure Akane doesn’t go on a date with Ranma.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Mousse said. “She’s not in the first match so we still have some time. I think that we can still train some more – “
“Train?” Ryoga asked incredulously. “You call this training?”
“Well, yes. Can you think of any better way to train for this? I mean, would you like to go in cold and let the pair of them find out for themselves? Hmm?”
“Well… no…” Ryoga muttered, trapped by Mousse’s logic. “Well, ok then. We can go for a little while longer. But we have to make sure to get back in time for Akane’s match, all right?”
“We will,” Mousse assured him, unwrapping the chain from Ryoga’s body and helping him to stand up. “Now then, are you rea – hey, Ryoga, what are you looking at me like that for?”
“Well, didn’t you say that Shampoo was going to come after you too?” Ryoga asked, wearing that familiar toothy grin of his. “I’d say that you need some training as well, Mousse.”
“M-me? But hey! I already got tortured once already! Isn’t that enough?” he asked, backing away and waving his hands frantically, the chain he had been busy storing back in his sleeves now dangling out and trailing on the ground. Ryoga grabbed the chain and yanked it out, then swung it around like a lasso.
“I don’t think so. You see, I know that Akane, even if she’s angry, won’t be too harsh on me. Shampoo, on the other hand… well…” Ryoga grinned.
Mousse knew all too well what he meant. Already in his mind a scene flashed – Mousse, you big stupid, Shampoo get you now! – and he shuddered. “Well… ah… um… I dunno… maybe – GAK!”
“Too late, duck boy,” Ryoga said, snaring Mousse around the waist with the chain, pinning his arms to his sides. Mousse did a little dance on impotence as Ryoga hauled him in. “Now, the important part.” Taking the sleeve of his robe and giving a little tug, Ryoga dumped his shirt onto the ground and the various accessories that were inside of it. Normally, it was an assortment of generally sharp and unpleasant things, but today it was more like a collection of manacles, feathers, brushes, the whole nine yards. Mousse looked uncertainly at the pile of things on the ground.
“Uh-uhm, you’re not going to use any of those things, are you? Ryoga?” Mousse asked, shaking his head frantically. Ryoga looked contemplatively at the pile of things. “Come on! I was nice to you! I didn’t use any of them on you! It’s no fair to use my own things against me! It’s – “
“Put a sock in it!” Ryoga growled. “Now look. You said yourself the best way to condition ourselves is to be intense, correct? Well, I’m going to give you the best conditioning ever…” Ryoga picked up a feather and a brush, and some manacles. After a minor struggle with Mousse that was solved by the removal of his glasses, Ryoga had manacled his wrists above his head and looped the short chain over a gutter in the storage shed they were behind. This position forced Mousse to stand on tiptoe with his arms stretched over his head.
“Hey! This is so unfair!” Mousse cried. “Won’t anyone help me? Sh-Shampoo!!!!”
“Your complaining tires me,” Ryoga said. “It’s time to begin.” Twirling a feather in his left hand and holding it like a knife, he moved in, beginning with a slow, gentle sweep from underarm to side, tracing down to his belly and ending with the feathertip in Mousse’s bellybutton.
“HEeheeheheeheheheheh!!! Stop thahahahat! Hey! HAhahaahahhaah no fair!!!” Mousse cried, doing a wiggly little dance as he tried to avoid the feather, looking rather like a worm on a hook, gyrating his upper body with little success. Ryoga grinned.
“You need this training far more than I do,” Ryoga said. “I’m doing you a favor. Maybe you’ll survive Shampoo’s wrath… then again, by what that little witch can cook up, you might be better migrating south for the winter.”
“Hey! Shut up about – thahahahahahahahahahaaht!!!!!!” Mousse wiggled again as Ryoga brushed the feather down his other side, simultaneously tracing along his ribs using fingers as he did so. This had the effect of making Mousse try to wiggle in two directions at once, and merely ended up dancing on his toes, looking rather like a ballerina. “HehehhEHEHeHEH!!! STOP!!! Ahahahahahahahah!!!!! Hey!!! R-Ryogahahahaaaaa!!!!!”
“You’re quite the whiner, aren’t you?” Ryoga asked exasperatedly. “This was your idea, remember? What did Shampoo do to you?”
“Uhm…” Mousse had to think back, and now that he did, even Shampoo’s brief treatment had been a rather convincing punishment. If she got her hands on him again, he might be doomed – especially so since she had tickled him after winning. If she lost… “G-go on.”
“Good man,” Ryoga said. “No pain, no gain – though I suppose in this case it’s no giggle, no gain, but… in any case, let’s continue.” Ryoga put the feather aside for now, picked up a brush, and knelt at Mousse’s feet. Quickly he had removed a shoe. With Mousse’s position on tiptoe, the arch of his foot was flexed rather nicely, Ryoga thought. He ran the hairbrush on a quick stroke up Mousse’s sole.
“GYUAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHHAH!!!” Mousse shrieked, jumping off of his feet and flailing his legs around, kicking Ryoga square in the face and sending him skidding back on his rear.
“Hey! Watch it!” Ryoga growled.
“I-I’m sorry! But it’s just that… I’m too ticklish there!!” Mousse complained. “Don’t do that!”
Ryoga rolled his eyes. “Will you at least be consistent?” he growled, brandishing the brush again. “Now let me see what I can do to you – hold still!” Rummaging through the pile of discarded tools, Ryoga found a nice ball and chain setup, and hooked Mousse’s ankle to the heavy weight, therefore preventing another such move. Ryoga looked that over, looked him over more, looked at his feet and sighed. “Ok, this isn’t working.”
Mousse let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. Can you get me down from here?”
“I’m not done yet, you dolt,” Ryoga snapped. “I’m trying to think of a better position.” He looked at Mousse. “If I let you down, will you not run away?”
Mousse looked left and right hesitantly. “….I’ll stay.”
“Good.” Ryoga found the key from the pile of rubbish, removed both the weight and the manacles, and let Mousse down from his perch. Mousse rubbed his wrists a little and stretched to work out the kinks. “Now… let me see… too much to ask for a pair of portable stocks…”
“I’m still working on those,” Mousse said, picking up his glasses and giving them a quick polish, then letting them rest on his forehead. “They’re not easy to make so small.”
“Then how come you can hide a time bomb up your sleeves?” Ryoga asked instead, coming back with a different contraption. “Let’s see if I can make this work…”
A short time later, Mousse was in Ryoga’s ramshackle contraption, consisting of the weights all linked together to a short piece of pipe to which Mousse’s ankles were bound, and he rested it on the ground. “It looks very ugly,” Mousse opined. “Do you think it will work?”
“I don’t know. Can you move?” Ryoga asked, as he finished wrapping the last length of chain around his ankles, binding them to the pipe. Finishing that, he set the pipe on a pair of cinderblocks, raising it off the ground a little bit. Mousse tried to move, but it was like the leg lift from hell: they weren’t going anywhere.
“Not at all,” Mousse said. “Um… aren’t you going to tie my hands?”
“Are you going to move?” Ryoga asked, trying to cover the fact that he had completely forgotten about that.
“Well of course I’m going to move you idiot,” Mousse snarled back. “No, you’re going to tickle me with hairbrushes and I’m going to stay still? Sometimes you are as thick as a rock.”
“Hey! You be quiet!” Ryoga snarled, running the brush over Mousse’s bare left sole.
“GYEEEEEK!!!! EHHEHEHEHEHEHE!!!!” Mousse shrieked, totally caught off guard by the move. “Hey! I wasn’t ready!”
“And I care because?” Ryoga replied, picking up a second brush and stroking them in tandem, from heel to toes and back again, applying very little pressure. Mousse’s arms flailed like limp noodles as he rocked back and forth.
“GyahahhaahAHAHahahahAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAHHAHAHAAHAHAHH!!!! HEHEHEHEHEHHEEHHHEHE!!!” Mousse tried to sit up and reach for the makeshift stocks, but at the angle at which he was sitting plus the general lack of coordination of his movements precluded his escape. “GHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! HEY! NO!!!” Ryoga had decided that his toes were to be the next target and humming peacefully to himself, ran the brushes over each toe individually, ditching the other brush to hold his toes and devote full attention to each one individually.
Ryoga was about to make comments about piggies before he remembered his current state of…cursed-ness, so he decided that piggies were not something to be discussed at the moment. So instead he put down the large hairbrush and took up a small paintbrush of the kind used by painters for getting into small areas. Turned sideways, it was an almost perfect fit between Mousse’s toes. “Ready or not… here I come!!!!”
“Wha-AHHAAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!! HEEEEHHEH!! HEEEEE!! EEEK! EHEHEHAHAHHAHAAHAH GHAAHAHAHAHAHE HEELELELEEEEP!!!!! HELP!!! MEHEHEHEHEHEHEEH!!! GHAHAHAHAHAH!!!” Mousse’s long hair was turning damp and stringy from all the sweat that broke out on his brow. Ryoga seemed to ignore that and continue.
“There won’t be any help!” Ryoga said forcefully, cocking an ear and listening to the faint voice of the MC back at the tournament. “No one is going to be looking for us. They’ll be paying attention to the show onstage.” Ryoga stopped to let Mousse breathe for a moment.
“B-but what if someone sees us? What will they say?” Mousse asked, looking around.
“We’re in the back of an alley. No one will – “
“OH MY GOD!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!” The shrill scream from the women’s dressing room made both Ryoga’s and Mousse’s hearts jump to their throats. Then they heard the familiar rant:
“What a haul, what a haul!” And they both breathed a sigh of relief as Happosai bounded away with his latest haul of women’s underwear.
“Strange man…” Ryoga muttered. “Do you ever wonder why he seems to take the ones from dressing rooms and gyms? Aren’t they the ones that haven’t been washed?”
Mousse only shrugged. “It’s his perversion… let him deal with it.”
“Master! Please!” the faint voices of Soun and Genma protested, moving away…
“Enough of that,” Ryoga said, putting his brush down and cracking his knuckles. “It’s time to finish this.” And with a quick, sudden, and completely unexpected movement, he commenced spiderwalking his fingers up and down Mousse’s feet.
Mousse went into a torrent of laughter. He whipped his head about, laughing like a banshee, tossing his head so violently that his glasses flew off and landed against a crate somewhere. The stocks rattled and banged, the cinderblocks creaked as his frantic gyrations shook even the considerable weight of the iron balls. Ryoga shut his ears to the incredibly loud laughter and went on with his duty.
“GHAHAHAHAHAEEHAHAHAHAHHAA AHHAAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHA HEHEHEEHE!!! HEHEHEHAHAHHA! NO NO NOAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! HEEHHEEHHEH ST—STAHHHAHAAAAPIT!!!!!!! PLEHEHEHEHEEEHEHEHEHEHEEEZE!!!!”
Ryoga kept this up for only a few more minutes before letting Mousse breathe again. “Heh…eehehee…hee….phew,” Mousse panted, letting out a small sigh of relief.
Ryoga looked him over. “I think you’ve gotten used to that.” Deftly he leapt over to Mousse, and holding both his wrists with a hand, moved them up overhead and held them there. This gave him more or less free reign over Mousse’s upper body, and he used this well, experimenting again with such spots as the sides, ribs, belly and underarms. Mousse seemingly had a couple of scratches on his upper body. Must be from all that cutlery he carries in his shirt, Ryoga mused. With a shrug of dismissal, he commenced spidering his fingers in a pattern, starting at left underarm, coming down his sides to just over the hip, then coming up to the belly, lingering at the navel for a moment before going up the ribs in a zig-zag pattern ending at his right underarm, which then went down his right side before crossing back up to his left underarm again and repeating.
Mousse was nearly spent with laughter, and when he began to get a bit hoarse, Ryoga finally stopped for good and let the Chinese boy take a breather, and unwrapped his feet from the stocks. “Phew…. Heeh….heh…. ah…. Phew.” Mousse concluded, getting his glasses, shoes and robe, and beginning to dress again.
Mousse considered something as he dressed. It hadn’t been TOO bad… aside from the fact that Ryoga had been fairly merciless… in fact… was it…?
Ryoga looked at Mousse, and caught the odd look Mousse was giving him. Ryoga had the strange feeling that the same look was on his own face, as he dealt with feelings of his own. It had been… fun… to do that to Mousse. Was it possible that Mousse thought the same thing? Ryoga shook his head. No, couldn’t be. Who could like that…? Was it even possible…?
Mousse noticed Ryoga’s own consternation. Making a huge leap of courage, he said, “Ryoga, what’s on your mind? About… what we… just did?”
“I… ah… well…” Ryoga looked around, becoming a bit flustered.
Mousse looked down the alleyway. “There’s no one coming.”
He sat down, and found the pipe again. “We have some time.”

 

[putri@nila]

Ranma ½ - The Martial Arts Tournament – The Finals​

Akane watched the match before her own with growing apprehension. The Amazon girl was too confident, too… smirking, Akane noted with annoyance, glancing over at Shampoo once more and looking at the expression on her face. Shampoo noticed Akane looking at her and smirked even more wickedly, making Akane growl and turn away abruptly, though not before fidgeting some.
“Great-grandmother was right,” Shampoo muttered to herself in glee. “Games with head of other contestant do work!”
Meanwhile, Ranma was completely unconcerned with the mini-war between the two girls and sat happily on the sidelines, eating some of Ukyo’s okonomiyaki with gusto. Ukyo also grinned, but for her it was a struggle to keep the sweet, slightly dopey-looking smile on her face as Ranma unwittingly wove himself further and further into her trap. Ukyo giggled and glanced over at Nabiki, who was running the okonomiyaki stand for today. Since that episode with Akane and Ukyo tickling her feet, the business had picked up considerably, with a greater number of young men waiting in line for some Japanese pizza. Ukyo had to admit this was in no small part thanks to Nabiki’s own salesmanship.
“Don’t you want some extra topping?” Nabiki asked sweetly. “This special sauce makes the okonomiyaki with squid taste twice as good!”
“Well, I dunno…” the young man at the stand said uncertainly. “I like the one with squid just the way it is…”
“But I worked so hard on this sauce… won’t you at least try some?” Nabiki asked with a quick wink. Blushing slightly, the young man paid a bit extra and let Nabiki pour some sauce from a bottle onto his okonomiyaki.
“Nabiki’s always been good when it comes to money,” Ranma said to Ukyo around a mouthful of his own pizza. “She’ll make you a lot of money, I’m sure.”
And I’ll make even more when I win this tournament, and on top of it I’ll get a date with you… Ukyo giggled to herself and winked at Ranma, then walked over to Nabiki. “Say, Nabiki… what exactly IS that special sauce you keep coercing these young men into getting?”
Nabiki shrugged nonchalantly. “Soy sauce.”
“SOY sauce?” Ukyo asked.
“They won’t know the difference,” Nabiki said airily. “Look.” The young man who had just purchased some pizza was staring at the girls in the ring and munching robotically. “It could be tap water and they’d never know the difference.”
Ukyo just gave Nabiki a slightly strange look and returned her attention to the ring, where the first bout had just been concluded.
“Now, for the second round of the quarterfinals… Akane vs. Shampoo! The young, pretty hometown girl against the exotic beauty from China!”
“Akane isn’t pretty!” Ranma yelled. “She’s violent and – “
THUD!!
“Shut up, Ranma!” Akane growled, having thrown the slightly startled announcer’s stool at him.
“Ah… anyway,” he stammered, going on with his pre-fight speech. “Ladies, take your places in the ring!”
“This is it… I’m sorry, Akane, but I can’t let you date that jerk Ranma,” Ryoga muttered to himself, eyeing the ring from behind a set of bleachers. Akane saw him anyway and waved, making him blush. “Gyaah! Can I really… sabotage… Akane?” Ryoga then looked over and saw Ranma making faces at her. “That settles it… no matter what the cost, I can’t let you take Akane, Ranma Saotome…”
“So, Ranma Saotome, you think you can have Shampoo? Heh heh… Not a chance,” Mousse chuckled to himself, looking at the ring from the other end of the bleachers. “Shampoo, I do this for your own good.”
Apparently Shampoo was not of the same opinion. “I see you Mousse! You not mess Shampoo up or you clean floors for ten year when I finish!”
“Eeek!” Mousse whimpered, ducking behind the stand until she looked away.
“Ready, and… go!” the announcer cried, backing away from the pair of them.
Akane brought her hands up and flexed her fingers quickly. “Come on, then. If you’re so confident, how about you make the first move?” Akane grinned.
“Akane not be so haughty when Shampoo use – eeek!!!” Shampoo was cut off in mid-sentence as another chain whipped through the air where she had been standing. “Mousse! I told you stop that!”
Mousse ignored her and tossed another salvo of chains at Shampoo.
Akane was slightly bewildered, but she knew an opportunity when she saw one and stepped forward to go on the offensive. Just as she was about to strike, however… something wrapped itself around her ankles and sent her to the mat with a truncated screech. Looking back, she saw that one of Ryoga’s headbands had tied her ankles together…?
“I…I’m sorry Akane!” Ryoga stuttered. “B-but I can’t…”
“What do you mean you can’t – EEK!” Akane rolled away from the next blizzard of bandannas – and rolled right into Shampoo’s leg.
“Aha!” she said triumphantly, springing onto the backs of Akane’s legs and bending her knees so that the girl’s bound feet were in the air, soles up.
“Ack!” Akane cried in surprise. She looked up, hoping that the next round of chains would stop Shampoo – and watched in dismay as Ryoga deflected them from their intended target.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” Mousse yelled.
“What does it look like? I’m making sure Akane loses!” Ryoga yelled back.
“That’s not fair! Shampoo is the one who is supposed to lose!” Mousse countered, launching an attack of his own and beginning a battle around the perimeter of the ring.
“Akane going to give up for sure!” Shampoo said with glee, locking one arm around Akane’s legs and, concentrating for a moment, running her nails down Akane’s soles.
“GHeeeek! EHEheheheheheh!!! HEheheehhahaha!!!! Ahahahahheheheeh no hahahehehehe!!!” Akane cried out, wriggling and twisting her upper body, trying to get an angle where it might be possible to reach Shampoo, but with the Chinese girl sitting on the backs of her legs, it was nearly impossible to reach her. Akane, realizing that wouldn’t work, next recalled what Nabiki had said. Don’t let it bother me… don’t let it bother me… she repeated over and over to herself. “Heheheehahahahahee…! Hahahaaha ahahahehehe! Hehehehehehe…”
“Hey!” Shampoo stopped, and did a half-turn to look at Akane, somewhat irritated. “Why you stop laughing? Tell Shampoo what you do!”
“You wish!” Akane growled, planting her arms on the mat and giving her legs a mighty kick, tossing Shampoo into the air. She landed across the ring on her feet, and grinned.
“Akane maybe won that bout, but Shampoo use special technique right away next time!” Shampoo assumed a stance.
“It’s – over for you!” Akane grunted, leaning down to untie her ankles – and promptly toppled over as another bandanna wrapped itself around her, effectively hogtying her, both ankles and one hand together. With a little screech she fell over onto her back.
“Gotcha!” Ryoga exclaimed triumphantly, as Shampoo moved in for the kill…
Akane saw her coming, albeit upside down… as she concentrated, she saw that just as Shampoo reached her, it seemed as if the girl had six arms… then it happened.
“GYAHAHAHAHHEEHEHHAHAHAHAH AHAAHHA AHAHHEHEHAH AHAAHAHA EHEHEHEHEHAH AHAHA AHAHA HEHEHEHE!!!” In the blink of an eye Akane was in hysterics. It felt as if there were fingers in every possible square inch of her upper body – wriggling under her arms… “GHAHAHAHAHEHHEEHH AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAH!!!!” Tracing along her ribs and sides… “AHAHHEHEHE GYAHAHAHHA AHAHAHEHEEEHEHEHEHEH AHAHAHAA!!!” Skittering along her belly and poking into her bellybutton… “GHAAHHEHAHAHAHHWAHAHAHAH AHAHWHWHAAH AHAHAHA AHAHAHAH!!!!” Everywhere… everywhere at once! “GHAHHAHAHAHAHAAH NO NO PLHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHHEHEHEEHZEZEEHEHEEH HEEHEHEHEHEH NO NAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHA!!!” Akane knew that she had no chance… which was why it surprised her when all of the sudden, the tickling subsided.
“Hehhehehehe… huh?” What happened…? Akane wondered. That other girl was laughing for a minute straight… why did it…? Her answer lay just a foot away – Shampoo was wrapped head to toe in chains.
“Whoa!” Ranma exclaimed. “Did she really just grow six arms?”
“That is the Strike of the Asura,” Cologne said gravelly. “A technique developed over four thousand years of –“
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Ranma snapped impatiently.
“No, Shampoo did not grow six arms… instead, she is able to manipulate her battle aura to feel like physical touches…” Cologne explained. “And she can move them at incredible speed… far faster than even you can move your arms, even with your Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire technique.” (Author’s Note: I forget the real name of the technique. Sue me.) “Akane was only able to resist because Shampoo used the technique for a mere fraction of a second before that boy stopped her.”
“Yes! Haha!” Mousse exclaimed triumphantly. “Got her!” Akane, still a bit weak and giggly, managed to untie herself with her free hand, and pounced joyfully on the Amazon. Not wishing to risk anything further, she went right for the weakness – the feet. “Akane! Catch!” Mousse cried out, tossing a pair of hairbrushes at Akane, who deftly snagged them and began to run them along Shampoo’s soles.
“GHEHHHHEHEEHEHHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH!!! HAAHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAAH NO NO PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHZE SHAMPOO SORRY AHAHAHHA AHAHAHAH AHAAH NO MOREEHEHEHEHEEEHEHEEE!!! NO TICKLES PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHZE!! HAAHAHAHAHHEHEHEHEAA!!!” Shampoo cried out, laughing like a banshee. Akane, with that evil smirk on her face, wasn’t about to show any mercy.
“Maybe you’ll keep this in mind next time you think about cooking up some evil plot!” Akane said forcefully. “You’re finished, Shampoo!” Akane rolled the hairbrushes under Shampoo’s toes.
“GYEEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHE EHEHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!” Shampoo’s screech of laughter reverberated around the area.
“That’s it!” the announcer called. “Time! Akane is the winner!”
“All right!” Mousse cried out, as Ryoga muttered in annoyance. Mousse took off and fled.
“Mousse!!!! You get back here! Shampoo thrash you good!” the Amazon girl yelled, extricating herself from the chains and running after him.
“Ah well, it was a good try,” Cologne said. “That boy showed more backbone than I thought he would… hmm… well, I guess that’s it for us, son-in-law.”
“Nyah!” Ranma cried. Cologne hopped away after Mousse and Shampoo.
“Phew… heehee…” Akane giggled, still worked up from the battle. “Wow! It’s your turn, Ranma.”
“Heh heh!” Ranma said, cracking his knuckles. “This’ll be a cinch! I know Ukyo’s weak spots inside and out!”
“I know you do, Ranma honey,” Ukyo said, mocking sweetness shot through in her tone. “Oh, and silly me, I wore my leggings. It just makes me that much more vulnerable.”
Akane blinked. She’s up to something… why would she be so confident…?
Ranma, in his usual cockiness, failed to notice anything out of the ordinary as he clambered up into the ring and showed off some more. Ukyo climbed up in a more sedate manner, though the announcer held the microphone protectively lest Ukyo try and snatch it for some more promotion.
Ryoga, in the meantime, was trying to think of a hiding spot so Akane wouldn’t come after him and yell… he spotted a hose nearby and ran over.
“P-chan!” Akane cried in delight as Ryoga, now in pig form, scuttled across the grounds and leapt into Akane’s arms. “Oh, where have you been? I’ve missed you! Heehee!”
Ranma noticed this and growled in annoyance, but resolved to let it pass for the time being. Instead he faced Ukyo, who giggled and winked at him. “I’m not going to go easy on you just because we were friends!” Ranma called out.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, sugar,” Ukyo said.
“And… go!” the announcer said, stepping back a few paces.
“I’ve got you nooooooooooooooooooooooow – what the?” Ranma cried, as he stumbled and fell halfway across the ring. “I feel so… heavy! What the – what’s going on?”
Ukyo smirked and walked over to where Ranma lay, completely stretched out on the mat. “Remember that okonomiyaki you ate just before this match? Well, it had an extra special ingredient in it… a little sauce that makes your muscles weak for a little while! You can’t move, Ranma honey.”
Ranma struggled and tried to get up, but he found that indeed he was too weak to do much more than wiggle.
“Oh, Ranma, you goof,” Akane sighed, putting a hand to her forehead.
“H-hey! This isn’t fair, Ukyo! I wasn’t gonna – “
“No rules, remember, Ranma?” Ukyo said, chuckling as she knelt over Ranma’s prone form, easily pulling aside his loose shirt and dancing her nails along Ranma’s sides.
“EEEEEEEK!! EEHHEHEHEHEHEH!! HHAHAHEHEHEHAH!!! AHHAAH!!!” Ranma shrieked, trying to thrash or roll away but only managing a feeble wiggle. Ukyo giggled.
“How cute!” she said, skittering her nails up and down Ranma’s sides, reaching into his underarms and navel to find where was the most sensitive point. Apparently, thus far all parts were equally sensitive, equally VERY sensitive. Ranma shrieked with laughter.
I’ve only got a minute or so to think of a way out! Ranma thought in panic. Otherwise I’ll be stuck on a date with Akane or Ukyo…! But I can’t move… what can I do…? “GHAHAHHEHEHHEHAHHAH AEEEEEEEEEEEEK HEEHAHAHAH STOP STOPPIT GHAYAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! HAHEHEEHAHAAAHH NO PLHEEHEEHEHEEHEHEZE!!!”
“Do you surrender, Ranma?” the announcer asked intently.
“NOHOOHOHOHHOOHHOHOHO!!! I’LL NEVER!!! AHAHAHAHEHhehHHAAHAH!!!!” Ranma tried frantically to think of a way to do anything! But it was hopeless… Only a few seconds remaining… and then Ukyo stopped.
“Ehehehhehe…hehehehe… eh? Ukyo? Ukyo…???” Ranma managed to turn his head and look behind him.
“If Shampoo no get to date Ranma, then no one dates Ranma!” The Chinese girl was back with a vengeance, and forgoing her special technique for the sake of watching Ukyo squirm. Shampoo had Ukyo’s stocking feet in an arm lock and was viciously running her nails on the other girl’s feet.
“NAHAHAAHAHAHAHEHEHEHAHAHAH AHAHAHHA HEY YOU STAHAHAHAHAHAHAAP STAY OUT OF THIHIHIHIIIIIIIIIIIS!!! HEEHEHEHEHEHE!!!” Ukyo tried to kick her feet free but Shampoo had a vise grip on them. In a moment of clarity, though, she noticed that Shampoo had carelessly left her own feet pointing back at Ukyo… With a frenzy born of intense tickling Ukyo grabbed one of Shampoo’s feet and went after the base of her toes.
“GYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!” Shampoo shrieked, temporarily losing the rhythm on Ukyo’s feet as she felt Ukyo’s fingers dance on her toes, playing a hideous game of ‘this little piggy’. Then Shampoo, too, regained enough control to dig her fingers back into Ukyo’s stockings. The result was chaos.
“GHAAHHHEHAHAHAHA AHAHAHHA HAHAHEEHEAHAHA AHHAHE HEHEHE AAHAHH AHAHAAAAHAHAHAA HHAHAH AHAHEHEEH EHAHAHA A HAHAHA AHHHEEHEHEHEHHEEH EHEHEHE EHEHEHHAHH AHAHAHA AHAHAHA AHAHAH A HAHAHAH AHEHEEHEHEH E HEHE EHEHEHEHE EHEHAHAH AHAHAAH AHAHAHAHHA HEHEEHEHHAHAAH AHAHAHA AHAHAHHEHEHEAHHAHAAH!!!!!” The two girls rolled about on the mat, their laughter mixing together and booming out over the arena, as the crowd cheered wildly and the announcer shouted, trying to be heard over them.
“Oh my! It looks like Shampoo and Ukyo have gotten into a massive tickle fight! Who will come out on top, and what will it mean for Ranma, saved from defeat by Shampoo?”
“It means that I’m going to win this match!” Ranma proclaimed defiantly. Already, he could feel the strength returning to his muscles. Not much, barely enough to allow him to get to his knees, but it was an improvement.
“GHAHAHHAHEHEEHHE SHAMPOO SHOW YOU WHO BOSS!!! EHEHHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!”
“LOOK WHO’S TALKING HEHEHAHAHHGHAHAHA HAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!!!!!” Ukyo lost her concentration as Shampoo found a spot at the base of her toes and dug in viciously.
“Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!” From Akane’s arms, P-chan shot out, headbutting Shampoo and causing her to topple backwards with a squeak.
“Ryoga?” Ranma said incredulously.
“I’m sick of you thinking you can just come in and interfere to get your way!” Akane said, also climbing into the ring. “I’m going to teach you a lesson you’ll NEVER forget!”
“C…count me in!” Ukyo said, scrambling to her feet and breathing hard, trying to shake the residual giggles. “I want to get this little witch back!” With a yell, the both of them lunged at Shampoo, pinning her to the mat. Ukyo held Shampoo’s arms above her head and Akane set to work all over Shampoo’s upper body, tickling under her arms first and making her way down…
“Ghahahehheheahah ahaahahahahheeh!! HAhaahahhHAAHAHhehehe!!! AHahhAAHahahahhahehehhehee heheheheh!!! HEHEHEHEHEH!!! AHAHAHAHH!!!!” Shampoo laughed increasingly louder, as her belly and sides were more ticklish than her underarms, and Akane spent some time giving Shampoo’s sides squeezes and pokes, enjoying her bucking and giggling.
“Who’s the boss now, Shampoo? Hmm?” Ukyo said, mocking Shampoo as Akane worked her over.
“Looks like our violent little Amazon has a soft side!” Akane chuckled in return. “Two of them!” Akane dug her hands into Shampoo’s sides again.
“GYEEEEEKE EHEHEHEHEHEHHE EHHHHEAHHAAH!!! AHHAHAHEHEH!!! NAHAHAHAH!!” Shampoo squealed, tossing her head back and forth.
Meanwhile Ranma had regained his feet and was watching the melee with interest, not saying anything and letting them go about their work.
“Well, should we move on to the best part?” Ukyo asked with a grin.
“By all means,” Akane answered with a smile, stopping her own tickling, and Ukyo released Shampoo’s wrists.
Shampoo smirked in triumph. “Big mistake!” With a quick motion, her hands assumed a particular stance… “Ancient Chinese Amazon technique! Strike of the Asura!” And, again, it seemed as if Shampoo merely poked Akane…
“GHAHAHHAHAHHAH A AHHAHAHEHEEH AHAHH AHAH AHHAHA OH OHAHHAHEHEHEHEH OOHOHOHOHOHOHOAHAHAH EHEHEH NO NO NAAHAHAHAHEHHEHEAHHAAHHAHAAH STOOOOP PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEZE AAHHAAHHEHEHEHAHA GYAHHAAH!!!” Akane was rolling about the mat in a flash, laughing insanely as she swatted to ward off the attacks that had, in fact, already taken place and were just now being felt by her body’s nervous system. Ukyo backed away a step, and Shampoo grinned. Ukyo took off running chased by Shampoo, and the only laughter that remained was Akane’s.
“Well… although technically there are no rules… you’re not supposed to leave the ring… and she doesn’t look to be coming back for awhile,” the announcer opined as Ukyo cleared the horizon. “That means Ranma is the winner! And the next match is Ranma vs. Akane… both combatants are already in the ring. So…” the announcer glanced at the still-hysterical Akane and shrugged. “Go!”
Ranma stretched lazily, and watched the residual effects of Shampoo’s technique do their work. Akane was still down laughing. “HGHAHAHAHHEHEHE HAHA HEY HEY WAIIIIT EHEHEHEHHAHAAHAHHAHA THIS ISN’T FAIHIIIIIR!! EHEHHEHEHAAHAH AAAAAAAHAHHAH GAHAHAHHEYEHEHEHEHAHAHHAH!!!! STOPPIT!!! HEHEHEHEHE!!!”
“No rules, Akane, remember?” Ranma grinned lazily. He waited for the countdown to reach zero.
Meanwhile P-chan was dancing a little dance of glee along the sidelines. Without his even having to do anything, Akane was going to lose, and not date Ranma! Best of all, she wouldn’t even be able to blame him for this… and he could always claim the other thing had been Mousse’s idea all along…
With that, and Akane finally winding down, but still giggling and completely unable to move, Ranma was again declared the winner, without really even lifting a finger. Akane’s father, Soun, carted his weak and giggly daughter off of the ring and into the stands.
“Well, Ranma is still in the tournament. And there’s only one opponent left to go. I think we’ve got this prize wrapped up, eh Saotome?” Soun asked.
“Yes! To think that we’ll finally have some money… I’m so proud!” Genma looked starry-eyed at the prospect of having more than 1000 yen to his name.
“Remember, Saotome, first you have to pay for the repairs to my dojo…”
“Oh yes.” Genma sat down, coughed, and did his best to look sage. “Of course. I hadn’t forgotten, Tendo.”
As luck would have it, Ranma’s final opponent decided that it wouldn’t be worth the effort to try and fight him for first prize. So, cheering and congratulating himself, Ranma walked up to the first prize table… “Wait a minute!” the announcer called. “You still have one more match to go.”
“What? Against who?” Ranma demanded. “The other girl forfeit! I won!”
“But you still have to fight the final match,” he replied. “Against the founder of the tournament herself… Kusuguri!”
“Kusuguri?” Akane wondered to herself. “Who would have a name like that…?” (Author’s Note: The name is a derivative of ‘tickle’ in Japanese. I didn’t know that until MC told me. XD)
“H-hey!” Ranma exclaimed as the woman walked out of the ladies’ changing rooms. “You’re that girl…”
“Indeed I am,” Kusuguri said with a slight giggle. “My name is Kusuguri and I’m the founder of the Tickling School of Martial Arts.”
“Tickling school?” Ranma asked, slightly agape.
Kusuguri nodded with a gentle smile and another giggle. “Oh yes. I always did like making people laugh – jokes, pictures, tickling, anything. And I never could stand to hurt someone else. So I made my own school of self-defense martial arts that wasn’t harmful to anyone.”
“Whoa… well, ah, nevermind then. Let’s just get this over with so I can claim the grand prize!” Ranma exclaimed, leaping into the ring. Kusuguri gracefully swung a long leg over the edge and pulled herself up. As Ranma had remarked before, she was pretty, with long brown hair, blue eyes and an elfin little mouth that was always smiling. Her form was lithe and looked to be quick and fit: Ranma could tell that this was not someone to be taken lightly. Thus, as she removed her business suit to reveal a workout outfit, Ranma steadied himself and prepared for an actual battle, not just a pushover or a fluke. The effects of Ukyo’s weakening sauce seemed to have worn off, so Ranma felt 100% for this battle.
“And let the final match of the Martial Arts Tickling Tournament commence!” the announcer cried, ringing the bell.
“Yaaaah!!!” Ranma yelled, charging forward, hands at the ready to strike quickly… he aimed for Kusuguri’s sides. Kusuguri didn’t leap away or strike back as he had expected – rather, with a graceful flowing motion, she leaned out of his way, and quick as a whip had snuck her fingers under his arms. “Eyeeheheheheheheeeek!!” Ranma cried, stumbling and clapping his hands to his underarms.
“Wow, she’s fast…!” Akane said, watching from the stands. “That’s amazing!”
Ranma turned, this time really determined to get an attack in, and Kusuguri’s pleasant smile did nothing to improve his mood. “I’ll get you this time!”
“Oh, I’m sure you will eventually,” Kusuguri said pleasantly. “I’m rather ticklish if I do say so myself. It should be quite a fun show!” Ranma advanced more cautiously this time, edging closer and closer to Kusuguri, who still showed no sign of adopting anything like a fighting stance. Ranma noticed that every time he took a step, Kusuguri’s eyes would flicker towards his feet. An idea began to form in his head… to experiment, he changed his stance so that one foot was in the air… and Kusuguri struck in that moment.
“GYAHAHAHEHEHAHHHEHHAHHEHAHAHEHAH!!!” Ranma squealed, hopping backwards a few steps and rubbing his bare foot on the mat to try and get rid of the tickling sensation. “How’d you do that?” he snarled. He had barely seen her move…
Kusuguri giggled. “You’re going about this all the wrong way… you’ll never beat me if you keep trying this tactic.”
“Shut up!” Ranma shouted, lunging at Kusuguri – and feeling the other woman’s nails find his sides and rake up and down quickly. With a giggle and squeal Ranma fell face first onto the mat. Kusuguri took her chance and was sitting on Ranma’s back before he could roll away or react.
“Oh dear me. You seem to be in a ticklish situation!” Kusuguri giggled again and reached for one of Ranma’s feet. Ranma kicked his feet hard, preventing her from getting a grip of any kind on his ankle. “My, my. Still the stubborn one, aren’t we? It’s OK… most of my students take awhile before they understand this lesson.”
“Shut up! You’re getting on my nerves!” Ranma growled.
“Getting on his nerves…?” Akane mused to herself. “Ranma!” she called, standing up. “That’s it! Don’t let her get to you! If you’re going to be so uptight she’ll pick you apart!”
“Whaddya mean I can’t let her get to me? I’m so damn ticklish that – EEK!! EHEEHHAHAHHAEHHAHHEHAHEHAHEHA!!” Ranma squealed as Kusuguri caught his foot in a moment of distraction and ran her nails gently along the sole.
“Oh dearest me,” Kusuguri sighed. “Such soft soles. These call for… feathers.” Kusuguri reached into her outfit and withdrew a feather, a long soft white one. Ranma’s eyes bugged.
“Hey oh no don’t you dare touch me with that – GHYAHAHAHHAEHHAHHAHhHHAHAHEHEHAHAHEHAHAHHAH EHAHHA EHAHEHAHAH EHEHEHEHAHAHAHAEHEAHHAHAHEHAHAHAH AHAH A HAH EHAH!!” Kusuguri swept the feather from heel to toes, in particular concentrating on the arch and toes. Ranma seemed to be most sensitive there, and seemingly within a few seconds she had ascertained all the ticklish spots on his foot…
“And Kusuguri has Ranma in a leg-lock foot tickle!” the announcer called. “If she doesn’t get out soon she’ll be disqualified!!!”
Not now, Ranma pleaded, not after I’ve come so far! I have to win… have to! “Don’t let it get to you, Ranma!!!” Akane called. Right… sure, Ranma thought sarcastically, while laughing his head off and pounding the mat with his fists. Don’t let it get to me… ! “GhahAHAHHAHHEHEHAHHAHAH!! AHHAHHEHEHEEH STOP STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP STOPPIT HEHEEHEHEHEHAHAHAH GYAHAHAHHA AAAAAAHAHAHAHHA!! AHAHEHEHEHEHAHAHA!!! NO NO NAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHA!!!”
“That’s right! You have such a pretty laugh,” Kusuguri said sweetly, running the feather up and down along Ranma’s soles. She reached up to give his side a quick tickle… Ranma saw his chance. Twisting his upper body nearly all the way around, he grabbed her arm and tossed her aside, sending her flying into the mat.
“Ha ha! I gotcha that time!” Ranma said confidently, turning and going for the pounce on the downed Kusuguri. Only by the time he had reached the spot, Kusuguri had stood up and was a foot away.
“Tsk, tsk,” Kusuguri chided, putting away her feather. “You’re never going to learn at that rate.”
“Learn WHAT?!?!” Ranma shouted.
“Heeheehee,” Kusuguri giggled.
Then Ranma thought of something. Is it because I’m all uptight about this… and she’s being so carefree? Is that what the problem is here? He turned to Akane, still shouting “Don’t let her get to you!”
“Oh!” And then Ranma got it. Because he hated this tickling so much, its effects on him were far greater. If he loosened up and didn’t make such a scene about it… “I got it, Akane! Thanks!” And with that, Ranma turned back to Kusuguri, a grin on his face.
“Ah! You’re starting to understand… yay!” Kusuguri giggled, clapping her hands softly. “Come on now.” Kusuguri raised her arms above her head. “If you can get me, I’ll concede the match to you. Come on, give it a try!”
Ranma dropped his hands from the fighting stance he’d been using. “I get it now… martial arts aren’t the key to winning here.” Ranma took a gulp and said, “Here goes!” With what seemed to him to be dainty, silly steps he made his way towards Kusuguri. To everyone else, however… it seemed as if Ranma had suddenly warped the distance between the pair of them.
“Heeeheheeheheh!! haahahahAHAHAHahahaheheheh!!!” Kusuguri laughed sweetly, bringing her arms down with a whoop as Ranma ran his nails under her arms. “Ok ok hehheheheehahhaahahhaha stop! I surrender!”
“And the match is done!” the announcer cried as a great cheer went up from the audience. “Ranma Saotome is the winner of the Martial Arts Tickling Tournament!”
“Yeah!!!” Ranma exhorted. Then he contemplated what had happened. “How did acting carefree and silly make me move so fast…?”
“Because,” Kusuguri said with a giggle. “When there’s a place with so much tickling, it emits a great deal of energy. Those people who are in a good mood and carefree can harness that energy.”
“Oh…” Ranma said, not sure if this woman was being a quack or not. It sounded silly to him… but it had won him 200,000 yen! And he was free from those girls! Life was good.

“I got 200,000 yen,” Ranma sang as he skipped into the Tendo dojo. (Author’s Note: think to the tune of “Never gonna be a girl again…”) “I got 200,000 yen…”
“We know, Ranma, and we’re so proud of you!” Genma exclaimed. “You did such a wonderful job! I’m so happy!”
“Yeah, now he can pay us back for all the damage he’s done,” Akane said as they sat around the table while Kasumi went to prepare dinner. “At least something good will come of it.”
“Actually… I had something to say on that topic. First, I have something for you here, Ranma.” Soun Tendo handed Ranma a small, folded piece of paper.
“Hmm? What’s this?” Ranma asked, unfolding the piece of paper. “It’s… it’s… “ Ranma went pale in the face. “How could you do this to me??!” he yelled, throwing the paper aside.
“What’s wrong, boy, what is it?” Genma asked, snagging the piece of paper. “Lodging… Food… Damages… Baths… Tendo!!! This is a… BILL!!!”
“Why, yes, I figured it would be appropriate, since neither you nor Ranma have contributed to the upkeep of this household since you arrived… if I’m not mistaken, the bill comes out to 194,495 yen.”
“Then that means… all I’ve got left is… is… is…”
“5,005 yen,” Akane said with a hidden smirk on her face. “There’s your spending cash, Ranma. Use it wisely.” She giggled.
“It’ll go towards my hospital bill,” Ranma groaned. “Because right now, I don’t feel so good…” Ranma toppled over, swirly-eyed, as everyone around him laughed heartily.
Yes, it was just another normal day at the Tendo dojo.

 

[dentrag1231]

Not it, but thanks though.