In the empty parking lot of the bank across the street from the Phoenix, Ranko turned to face the man that would be her husband. The thought made her sick.

She had to win.

Dropping into her fighting stance, her eyes rolled to the heavens. Gods, please let this work.

Kuno bowed, leveling his wooden sword. “I truly regret what I must do, fair Ranko, but rest assured, after I triumph, I shall soothe your suffering with my love.”

“Sure, man. Bring it.” 

Kuno swung high with his bokken, and Ranko ducked under it with ease. She watched his every move carefully, waiting for her opening. The Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire technique was no good; he was almost as fast as she was, and with the added reach of his weapon, she’d never get close enough.

Ranko hopped over a low strike aimed at her knees, delivering a glancing kick to his left shoulder and springing back. She had to keep her distance until she was ready to pounce.

“Akane! What the hell is going on?!” Mei ran up behind her. “Another one of these nut jobs?! I’m calling the cops!”

Akane shook her head. “You can’t!” She turned back to the fight. “She’s got to win this one on her own.”

Yui chimed in from behind Mei. “She shouldn’t be fighting at all! She’s not even healed yet!”

Akane nodded sadly, not taking her eyes off of her girlfriend’s battle for her very heart. “I know, Yui.”

Sidestepping a forward thrust, Ranko ducked down and struck her taller opponent in the chest with an uppercut, staggering him back. 

“Well struck, my goddess! En garde!” Kuno whipped his sword through the air, Ranko backing off and contorting herself to avoid being hit. 

Kuno swung his weapon with both hands, and Ranko leapt out of its path. The wooden sword became entangled in a hedge separating the bank parking lot from that of the convenience store next door. Ranko landed, immediately charging forward and cocking her fist, but as she closed, her opponent roared mightily and drove his bokken through the remaining branches. It snapped out of the hedge with incredible force, and Ranko could not dodge in time. She took the blow directly across her sternum, between her breasts.

Akane gasped. “No…” 

But Ranko did not fall. 

“Gimme that, you jerk!” She ran forward, punching at his hands, trying to disarm him. 

Akane blinked, watching the impossible. The girl who could not bear the sensation of nylon stockings on her legs took a strike that would have killed a horse and didn’t even slow down. She dreaded to think of how much pain Ranko must be in, and marveled at how she continued to function.

“Hey! Leave her alone, man!” 

Akane turned, finding Crash standing to her left, joined by most of his bandmates. “What are you doing here, Crash?! Don’t tell me she told you about this crazy idea!”

The guitarist shrugged. “We just walked over when she didn’t show for practice. Do I need to go kick this guy’s ass?”

Akane sighed. How badly she wished she could say yes. “She’s on her own, Crash.”

Kuno advanced with an overhand strike, and Ranko blocked it with her forearm, knocking it aside. She hopped into the air, punching downward at his face and knocking him to one knee. 

He stood, swinging his sword upward, and caught her in the chest as she attempted a front kick. Ranko fell backward to the asphalt, and Kuno was on her in a flash, chopping downward with his weapon as she rolled out of the way on the pavement. 

Before she could retake her feet, Kuno stepped forward, kicking her in the ribs. She curled up around his foot, grunting quietly. He kicked her again. And again. And again.

Akane covered her mouth. “Let her up! Please! I’m begging you!”

Kuno stomped his foot downward toward her sternum, and she caught his leg in her hands, tossing him aside. She staggered to her feet, trying to take her fighting stance again, but she was unstable on her legs. Despite the tepid March air, she was sweating profusely, her lungs fighting for air. Given the abuse her body had taken, Akane was stunned she was vertical at all.

“Alright, now I’m really gonna fuck you up!” Ranko lurched forward, swinging wildly with a fist. He ducked it with ease, and she spun into a back fist that caught him on the chin. As he stumbled backward, Ranko swung again, connecting with a hard right hook to his left eye. She fought less with the finesse and grace of a martial artist and more with the brutality and brute force of a boxer. 

Kuno swung his sword at neck level, and Ranko ducked under it, driving her fist upward into his ribs. He staggered back, and Ranko again attacked with an overhand fist, crashing into his temple. As she spoke, her shouting took on a hateful tone, punctuated with punch after punch.

“I. HAVE. HAD. ENOUGH. OF. YOU!” 

She kicked at the back of his knee, and he raised his leg into a high kick to avoid her strike. With his leg fully extended to the sky, Ranko leveled her fist, throwing all the force she could muster in an off-balance punch directly to his crotch.

Kuno staggered backward and fell to his knees, dropping his bokken. Ranko stepped forward, bending down to pick it up. She wobbled on her feet when she straightened up, staring down at her opponent.

He looked up at her, gaming out his next move. He was not prepared for hers.

She lifted his wooden weapon in both hands, holding it by the hilt and the tip, and driving it downward onto her knee, snapping it in half with a furious scream. She threw the pieces to the pavement on either side of her would-be suitor. They bounced with a hollow wooden clatter before coming to rest on the gray asphalt. 

“You’re dommne.” She spat the words at him with the venom of a cobra, but something was strange about her voice. 

Kuno gasped, slowly climbing to his hands and knees, then to his feet. His face looked as if his heart had been taken out of his chest with an ice-cream scoop.

“I, Tatewaki Kuno… acknowledge your victory. You have my congratulations. I bid thee all farewell.”

He turned, walking away quietly in his sorrow and shame. Ranko stood watching him, half-hunched over, still struggling for breath.

When Kuno was gone from view, Akane rushed to her girlfriend’s side. “Ranko! You did it! But how?!” She wrapped her arms around Ranko’s torso, and found her skin cold and damp to the touch. 

“I told you I’d… Akane, I love…”

The redhead’s body fell limp in Akane’s arms.