Writer's note: well, at the rate this little fic is going, it'll be
four acts (about five to seven parts per act) and two intermissions total.
Don't worry, despite that, I don't think it'll be any bigger than The More
Things Change. I mean, WW and Izzy-chan prove every day that chapters
don't have to be jumbo in size, so I accepted that idea.
-rod m
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ROUGH DRAFT
============================================================================
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
(sequel to The Pursuit Of Happiness)
Act I
Part 1: Days passing by
============================================================================
It was two weeks. Two weeks before Ranma could be released from
the hospital. It was two weeks before Ryoga or Kuno would be released
as well. Ryoga he could put up with, but Kuno... it wasn't enjoyable
company.
"She's coming! She's almost at the front door!" yelled Tsubasa.
Gosunkugi cringed. He started burrowing under his covers.
Ryo sighed and resumed reading his newspaper. He missed his "Psycho
Power" at times like this. No more teleporting around.
"Ranma, it'd better not end up like last time, got it?" said Ryoga,
bearing his fangs.
"Saotome, you louse, you had best watch your tongue and mind thy manners
before the beautious Akane Tendo, else we may be forced to smite thee!"
warned Kuno.
Ranma looked around nervously. He was surrounded, outgunned, still not
100%, and SHE was coming again.
"Guys, c'mon, it wasn't my fault!" he protested.
He recieved sarcastic glares in reply.
"Look," said Tsubasa, "can't you two just GET ALONG? Or at least try to
avoid getting her so pissed off that she BRINGS OUT THE MALLET!" He had a
reason to be upset. The last time she brought out the mallet, he was an
accidental victim. In fact, there were mallet dents all over the room.
"And then there's the way they always end up with the _same_ arguement,"
muttered Ryoga. "Okay, so maybe I care alot about Akane, but you two have
the most mind-numbing arguements."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
Kuno took over. "Saotome, you oft use many variations on the words
'uncute', 'tomboy', and 'clumsy'. Thy grievous insults may not be of
those exact words all the time, but they are always synonyms of it."
"Wha..." He couldn't believe he was having this conversation.
"And it saddens this noble heart to criticize her ways, but the fair
Akane Tendo unfortunately has the same inability to be innovative. Tis
always a synonym for 'jerk', 'pervert', or 'idiot'. I do not disagree
with her, and yet after weeks of being subjected to the atrocious sound
of thy constant bickerings, I must request a change."
Ryoga blinked. He never realized this. "Hey, you're right. I never
realized that, but now that I think about it, Akane does..."
"Hey, shut up you jerks!"
*knock*knock*knock*
Everyone gasped.
"Hey guys!" said Akane and Ukyo.
"Oh, hi!" said Ranma. He felt the eyes of everyone in the room on him.
"Ukyo, Akane, good to see you," said Ryoga.
"Ah, the incomparable Akane T-"
*WHAP* "Cut it out, Kuno." Akane put away her mallet.
"You guys'll never guess what we made," said Ukyo. At the mention of
this, Akane seemed to brighten up again.
"Er, a quilt?" asked Ranma.
"A scarf?" guessed Ryoga.
"Lunch!" said Akane happily, unveiling her creation to Ranma.
Everyone else except Ukyo cringed. The last lunch Akane brought had to
be beaten down with a broomstick and a bedpan. It mauled Gosunkugi badly
and scared the daylights out of nearly everyone. Kuno felt that his
sister had a hand in the creation of the meal, since surely Akane could not
create such a monstrosity...
Akane's newest attempt didn't look half-bad. In fact...
"Oh God, we're gonna die!"
Everyone fell silent. They glared at Ranma. They heard it, they
definitely heard it. The idiot insulted Akane.
Ranma looked around desperately. "Um, Akane... wait..."
Too late. She was already radiating battle aura.
"Ranma, you..."
"It wasn't me! I swear! Guys?"
Behind his newspaper, Ryo smirked. Next to his bedstand was the book
"Voice Illusions Done Easy."
Meanwhile, Ranma was scrambling as Akane pulled out her hyperdimensional
mallet. Everyone else in the room scrambled to get out of their way.
*WHAM*
"Look out!"
*WHAM*
"Get outta my way!"
*WHAM*
"Hey! Quit it!"
*WHAM*
"Smite him, my love!"
*WHAM*
***
Later...
"Hey Ryoga," said Ranma. He was still wobbly from the mallet job that
Akane had applied to him. Mercifully, she was gone.
"Yeah?"
"Hey, um, listen man, I've known you since Junior High, and well, we've
been through alot together, y'know?"
"Yeah, I think." Ryoga remembered that time when Herb and his gang
came through town. Him, Ranma, and Mousse ended up fighting for their
lives and watched each others backs. It was a weird, violent sorta
male bonding thing.
"Well, I just wanna say... I love you, man!" Ranma started sobbing.
Ryoga was silent for a moment.
"Ranma, you're not getting my Okonomiyaki."
"C'mon, man! Have some mercy!"
"Hey, Akane worked hard to make that... stuff for you. Make her happy!"
"Gah. Hey Kuno, wanna trade?"
"Saotome, it appears that my sister had already worked her toxins on
Akane's lunch. I suggest you strike it down with thy fork before it escapes
from the container, like last time..."
Gosunkugi shuddered. He remembered how Akane's lunches were...
***
There was a place, that wasn't exactly anywhere in particular, but was
nevertheless a rather nice place to visit.
There was a field of grass, stretching everywhere, moving gently with
a mild breeze.
There was a large tree, that provided lots of shade.
There was a river by the tree that was crystal clear.
There was a surprising lack of life other than the grass and tree.
And then there was the large group lounging around under the tree.
They were all of roughly the same height, with little differences.
"We did a great job on this place."
"Yup, it was worth the effort."
"Say, how's that Gosunkugi doing?"
"The fella with the thing for paper dolls?"
"Yeah. You remember. We did the whole TALK LIKE THIS and wear mysterious
robes hiding our faces routine on him."
"Oh, THAT one. He's coming along slowly. Oughta be a serious power in
maybe ten years."
"Ten years?"
"He's one of the meekest I've ever seen. Meeker than number 15 over
there."
"I was not meek!"
"Whatever. But I think there's a problem."
"Oh? He's not going rogue on us, is he?"
"No. But I think there _is_ a rogue in the area."
"What? Why haven't we sensed him?"
"I think it's _that_ rogue."
"You don't mean..."
"Yup."
"Okay, that could be bad. We oughta send out some guys to do some
recon, right?"
"Right."
***
The Lord of the Shadoloo* sat in his command chair, dissapointed.
He'd given Ryo Muhoshin the Power, in hopes that he'd cause major
destruction and chaos in Japan.
That didn't happen.
Instead, he seemed to have gotten himself killed.
He was useful, as a puppet. When he gave Ryo the Power, he was also
making Ryo a puppet, to be controlled at any time. With that little
ability, he used the boy to kill one of his rivals, and then implanted
the memory of it being a job he was paid to do so as to not arouse
suspicion. He even sent Ryo a modest check.
But recently he sensed his link to Ryo disconnected. That could only
mean one thing. Ryo was dead. After all, he didn't know about the link
and definitely wouldn't know how to disconnect it. Once someone becomes
fused with the Power, it _never_ leaves them. Even magic wouldn't be enough.
He sighed, feeling dissapointment, and resumed with his schedule.
"Sagat," he said over a telephone, "you're scheduled to take on
Zangief tomorrow. Don't forget."
||But when do I get to fight Ryu!||
"Have patience."
-----------------
* There was much confusion about his name. Some thought it was Bison,
others thought it was Vega. More people insisted that Vega was the
assasin from Spain that he hired, and others insisted that Balrog
was the name of the Spaniard. It was a bit confusing, and also
hazzardous. The last guy to ask the boss about the name thing was
blasted into ashes. From that point on, he was just called "Boss."
***
The bar had a light crowd today. It was a nice little bar, cozy in
a way, because of the soft lighting and comfy furniture. At the front was
the band, which played pop, jazz, classical, or even alternative.
From behind a bar, a lady of middle age, with short brown hair, clad
in a feminine kind of tuxedo outfit surveyed the people and cleaned off
some glasses with a towel. This was King.
King looked at her establishment and smiled. Business was doing great
and all her years of saving up money while working for the likes of
Geese Howard and Mr. Big were finally paying off. She cleanly cut her ties
to that past, and had a fresh start here in Japan.
It wasn't so bad being a bartender. In fact, it felt pretty good.
She got to meet people.
For instance, there seems to be someone kinda sad right now, idly stirring
a soda.
"Hey, kid, you okay?" asked King.
"Hm? Oh, I don't wanna bother you with it," she said, and looked down
into her drink.
"I won't mind. Maybe I could help? My name's King."
"Manami."
"Nice to meet ya." King smiled warmly.
She sighed. "Well, there's this guy..."
King smiled quietly. Wasn't there always a guy in stories like this?
*********
Soun Tendo concentrated, focusing all his energy on the task at hand.
One had to choose carefully, he knew, or else the effort would be all for
naught. One mistake would be the difference between ultimate success and
ultimate failure.
"Hm..."
Now, he pondered, let's see... Kasumi was born on the 15th, Nabiki was
born on the 28th, and Akane was born on the 2nd, the Master has stolen
48 panties today, Akane has yelled at Ranma three times today and I've
got 12 bills in the mail today regarding repairs and utilities....
"15-28-2-48-3-12!" He declared!
"Are you certain?" asked Genma.
"I feel lucky, Saotome, pencil it in!"
Genma proceeded with the solemn duty of filling in the form for the
city lottery, picking the numbers that Soun had focused on so well. He
figured that one of these days, just one, he'd get lucky. He felt that
his life thus far was one big loosing streak, and he was due for a hit
of good luck.
*
Time passes...
One week, thought Ryoga, and I'm free of this place.
At least Ryo was gone. He'd recovered somewhat faster than the doctors
had anticipated. Gosunkugi and Tsubasa had managed to recover as well.
Now it was just Ranma, himself, and Kuno.
"Hey," asked Ranma, "seriously, what's going on with you and Ucchan?"
"Huh? Nothing." Ryoga's expression saddened a bit, but otherwise didn't
change much.
"And what of my pig-tailed goddess, knaves?" asked Kuno.
Ranma and Ryoga sighed. "SHUT UP!" they yelled.
This didn't do anything to ease Kuno's suspicions. If anything, they
made them worse.
"I wonder what Ucchan is up to," quietly said Ryoga.
Ranma's ears perked up at that. "Hm? What's that you said, Ryoga?"
"Er, nothing! I was wondering what Ukyo was doing!"
"Right."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're not interested in anybody?"
"No!"
"So you're not really dating that Ryoko girl."
"Well, no..."
"Whenever she comes in here, you start acting kinda like how I was
around Shampoo."
"That obvious?"
"Definitely."
"And she doesn't notice..."
"She doesn't look as dense as Shampoo, but who knows..."
***
In some cafe, Ryo sat quietly, nursing a soda. He ignored the people
around him.
He had more pressing matters to attend to, like the letter he and his
siblings had recieved recently. It didn't look good.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO: All UWSMA Members/Staff/Faculty/Students
RE: UWSMA Status
Due to internal problems in the management and records division, the
UWSMA is currently no longer in existence. We apologize for the
inconveniences.
All previous orders and projects are hereby recalled and cancelled.
-UWSMA Home Office
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Damn bureaucrats," Ryo muttered. Ever since the masters hired that
bunch of bureocratic pansies to manage the school, everything started going
to hell. It was already looking annoying when he left, and now _this_.
***
Ryoko sat, rather agitated, at King's cafe.
"Yo, King-san, another shake-a-chino*"
-----------------
* Coffee, milk, and ice-cream. This proves that nowadays people will
add coffee to anything.
-----------------
"Hey, Ryoko, you're gonna end up a nervous wreck if you keep on drinking
like that."
"I've got a lot on my mind." She was thinking of a certain person
in the hospital, and how he seemed to be _very_ uncomfortable around
her. "Ryoga, you dummy, what's the matter with you?" she said quietly.
"Ryoga again?" asked King.
Ryoko sighed. "Yeah. I... I dunno. Maybe I am kidding myself. He
just doesn't seem comfortable around me."
"Hm. Tell me, kid, what were ya to him before?"
"Well, a good friend, I guess."
"Y'know, I heard he was really in love with this girl recently. That
would definitely explain why he doesn't wanna start anything."
"Where'd you hear this?"
"His friend Ukyo. She comes in here sometimes. Nice girl."
"I met her once, briefly. Makes a mean okonomiyaki."
"Best in town, I believe."
Ryoko frowned for a moment. "Hey, she and Ryoga, they aren't..."
"Nah. I don't think they are, anyways. She was in love with someone
else recently, but he went for someone else and she's still kinda recovering
from that. Ironically, her guy ended up going with Ryoga's girl. Weird,
huh?"
"Ryoga's girl?"
"Oh, Ryoga, she tells me, used to be in love with this girl, but she
never really knew and ended up going with the guy that Ukyo was in love with.
Ain't life weird?"
"Wow."
Ryoko took a sip from her drink and turned an idea over in her head.
"Hey," said King, "lemme ask ya something."
"Hm?"
"Are you _really_ in love with this Ryoga guy, or just in love with the
_idea_ of being in love?"
"Um, what do you mean?"
"Well, I mean, you talk about what the two of you would do together
if he wasn't in the hospital alot. Then there's this wedding talk you gush
alot. You ever consider how he felt?"
Ryoko stared into her drink.
"You ever asked?"
"No," she said quietly.
"Hm. Incoming." said King, looking at the front door.
"Hm?"
The door opened, and a long-haired girl walked in slowly.
"Hey! Akari! Howyadoin?" said King happily.
"Alright, I guess."
"C'mon over, have a seat. We're just having a little girl talk here."
Ryoko quickly examined this new arrival (it was a habit she picked up
from her paranoid older brother) and deemed her a non-threat.
"Ryoko, this is Akari. Akari, Ryoko."
"Um, hi," said Akari.
"Hi." Ryoko was relieved that their conversation had halted. She
was feeling very uncomfortable with the questions King was asking.
"So," said King, "You find your boyfriend yet?"
"Nope. And nobody's been able to beat Katsu-chan yet either."
"Ahem. Pardon my asking, but what's this about?" said Ryoko.
King smiled. "I'll let Akari explain."
"Well, um, it was my granddad's wish that, well, only a boy that beats
Katsu-chan can date me."
"Oh? Who's this Katsu-chan? Your dad? Brother? Family friend?"
"My pet sumo-pig."
Ryoko blinked. "No."
"Yup."
"Hm. Weird. Hey King, got any more pretzels?"
"Ryoko," asked King, "I'm just curious. How're you paying for your
stuff?"
Ryoko smiled. She held up a wallet and several rolls of money.
"Let me guess," said King, "You swiped your brother's wallet again."
"And?" Ryoko asked.
"And you've been hitting the local gambling dens again, haven't you."
"Yup!"
"Kid, I told ya it's dangerous in those places."
"I can take care of myself."
"I hope you know some martial arts."
Ryoko smiled.
"If you wanna get some money hazzard-free, I could use some help
around here."
"Hm.. I'll think about it, okay?"
"Alright, but why do you keep on doing that anyways?"
"Doing what?"
"Stealing."
"Oh... well... I guess I picked it up from my brother, kinda."
King looked over to the band stage and eyed Megane suspiciously. "Megane?
He's a thief?"
"No! Ryo, my other brother."
"Haven't met him yet."
"He used to be a bit... shady. Kinda did alot of things trying to find out
what he wanted to do in life. Tried thievery for a while. I guess I kinda
got hooked on it."
"And what about Megane over there?" asked King.
"Him? Hm... can't say much. He plays music, womanizes a little, and
doesn't care about much else."
"Not talkative, is he..."
"Nope."
***
Ryo sat in the apartment room, looking through all the belongings that
his family ever had, from generation to generation. Mostly, it was photos
and journals. He did this sometimes whenever he felt moody.
He was mulling over the bakusai ten-ketsu attack. It worked on trees.
Trees were organic. He decided to go find a turtle later on and try
something.
He noticed an old box, locked.
"Hey, Kyoko," he said, "you ever notice this before?"
"Nope."
"Hm."
Ryo picked the lock.
"Looks old, kid. Something from our grandparents, maybe."
"How was granddad anyways?" asked Kyoko.
"Dunno. He died before we were born. Ah, here we go, hm?"
The small wooden box opened to reveal a black cloth glove, with no
fingers. It was in surprisingly good condition.
"That's strange," said Ryo.
"Hey, look, there's a paper in there!" said Kyoko.
Ryo unfolded it. He wasn't sure what to make of the contents, though.
It was a very old drawing, depicting a person in old Japan (possibly an
ancestor) wearing the glove. His had was surrounded by an aura.
"What's so special about that?" asked Kyoko. "You do that all the time
with your umbrella, and that's better, I think."
Ryo's gears were spinning. He remembered his fight with Ryoga on the
bridge. Without his umbrella, and badly injured, he was forced to focus
his ki through his fist in a punch. The problem was that there was
something wrong with Ryo, something that no martial artist ever did figure
out. He couldn't project ki alone safely. It had to be channeled through
other items, like, say, an umbrella.
"External objects," he muttered to himself. "Hm..."
He put the glove on, and concentrated...
***
Gosunkugi wandered around the Nerima streets, on his way to the bookstore
again. He'd been having some serious thoughts about his life direction since
the big explosion that landed everyone in the hospital.
He still wasn't fully recovered, as he was using a crutch to get around
and his left foot was still in a cast. Ever since the disaster, he'd
been thinking that maybe this whole love thing was crazy. Maybe he'd best
wait a couple of years first, and preferably move to another city where
martial artists aren't so numerous.
Yup, he thought, no more girls for me.
Not for a little while, anyways.
So there he was, on a somewhat cold late January day, on crutches, and
by Murphy's law someone should be along soon to bump him off his feet and
shove him in front of an oncoming bus.
Someone bumped into him from behind.
He wobbled, and stumbled towards the street.
A bus zoomed and skidded to a halt.
*WHAM*
Fortunately, the bus was a bit early, so Gosunkugi had only banged his
forehead against the side. If he knew how close to dying he really was,
he would have been in a better mood knowing he survived it. Instead, he
wobbled away from the bus and flopped to the ground like a fish out of
water.
"Ow."
His vision was blurred. The world was a bunch of greyish blobs.
"Oh my. Are you alright?"
Hm, thought Gosunkugi, that voice was definitely feminine.
"Oh, you've got a nasty bump on the head. C'mon, let's get you to a
doctor." Two soft hands gently helped him to his feet.
"Wah... a.. awaza..."
"Shh. C'mon, let's go. By the way..."
"Awha?"
"Where is the doctor? I'm kinda new in town."
Let's see, Gosunkugi thought, Doc Tofu oughta be, hm, west of here.
"Wugh," he said, and nudged his head to the west.
"That way? Right."
*
"Hey, where's Manami?" asked Akari.
"She sure is late," said Ukyo.
"I'm sure she's fine." Ryoko assured them. "Anyways, put yer bets up."
The three girls sat around a round table at King's cafe for their usual
poker matches. Ryoko grinned evily. They were all sure she was cheating
somehow, but nobody could catch her.
"I'm in for a hundred."
"Same here."
"I'll see that, and raise it by two hund... hey, what's that?" said Ryoko,
pointing behind them.
The girls frowned.
"That's the oldest trick in the book," said Akari.
"No! Really! There's Manami! Hey! Manami, over here!" Ryoko looked
and waved towards the doorway.
"Guys, sorry I'm late!" a familiar voice yelled.
Ukyo and Akari turned around. "Manami! Where've you... hm?"
They both noticed the scrawny boy with the bandage on his head and how
interestingly Manami seemed to be holding his hand.
"I was wandering around when I got lost and then I bumped into this guy
and he hit his head against the bus so I...."
The ladies smiled. To think that less than two weeks ago she was shy,
quiet, and tight-lipped. Well, she was still tight-lipped, but was now
prone to bouts of babbling like she was right there.
Ryoko smiled, as she observed everyone else distracted, and pulled an
ace from her sleeve.
"...and so anyways, here we are!" Manami finished, smiling and blushing.
Ukyo blinked. "Gos, is that you under that tape?"
"Oh!" said Manami, "you know him already? Gosh, I never asked his name
yet!"
"Yeah, he's Hikaru Gosunkugi. Nice guy you caught there, Manami." Ukyo
gave Manami a wink and a smile. Those two, she thought, might go well
together.
Gosunkugi blinked. Ah, he thought, I have been brought to a bar full
of beautiful women! And one of them is holding my hand! I must still be
halucinating.
*********
"Yo, I'm home!" yelled Ranma. He strode into the house, incredibly
relieved to be back.
Kasumi emerged from the kitchen, smiling. "Hello Ranma! Welcome back!"
Nabiki looked up from her manga. "Oh, it's you."
From upstairs, Akane yelled, "Is he back?"
"Yeah, sis," said Nabiki, "it's him."
She bounded downstairs and wrapped him in a hug, knocking them both to
the floor.
Mr. Tendo and Mr. Saotome would have been incredibly happy to see this
scene. Unfortunately, they weren't around.
"Hello there," she whispered in his ear.
"A...Akane," he groaned.
"Hm?"
"My rib is still bruised. Please get off."
"Oh!
***
Ryoga stood in the street, feeling incredibly stupid.
What, he wondered, was I thinking?!?!? Running off like that...
Now he had an entirely new problem.
"WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW?!?!??!" He was lost. Stupidly so. He should
have called Ukyo and had her meet him at the hospital, but no...
There was a tap at his shoulder.
"Hm?" He turned around.
"Hey stupid, welcome back." Ukyo stood there with a light smile on her
face.
"U... Ukyo? I..."
"Ryoga! Hiiii!" Ryoko emerged from the corner. Ryoga winced.
He looked at Ukyo. She didn't seem mad, but that smile on her face had
definitely dissapeared.
"Um, Ukyo... I..."
"C'mon, Ryoga! Let's go out and celebrate your return!" yelled
Ryoko.
"Go ahead, Ryoga, celebrate a little." Ryoko didn't catch the slight
hint of bitterness in Ukyo's voice. Ryoga did. "I'll work the store
just fine, alone."
"Um, Ukyo, are you s-"
"C'mon, Ryoga!" yelled Ryoko as she grabbed his arm and blazed down
the street with him in tow.
Ukyo watched the dissapearing figure of the two as they faded from view.
"Ryoga you idiot."
*
Ryo sat in his apartment, smiling.
Around him, miscellaneous metal parts were strewn everywhere. In front
of him was a rough sketch of the design of his new umbrella.
He'd solved it.
At last.
Ryo held the umbrella forward pressed a button near the shaft. A four
inch needle popped out.
Yes, he thought, this oughta work.
*
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" *SPLASH*
"Now apologize to your fiancee!" Genma yelled, and walked out to the
back porch. He sat down and rejoined Soun in a game of Shogi.
Ranma-chan grumbled, pulled herself out of the pond, and went inside.
"Saotome, they're fighting again."
"Unfortunately, Tendo. Unfortunately."
"Hm."
"Hm."
The two concerned parents sat there, concentrating. Leaves fell. A
gentle breeze blew by.
"We should do something," said Saotome.
"Definitely."
The clouds rolled across the sky. Birds sang. Ranma crashed out of
Akane's window and landed in the pool.
"Tendo! I've got it!"
"What?"
"The Saotome School of Anything Goes Romatic Conquest! It's the very
thing to solve our problems!"
Soun tapped his fist into his open hand. "Indeed, Saotome! Let's go!"
*
"Hey, bro, what's going on?" asked Ryoko.
Ryo sat silently, building one of his trick umbrellas.
"Hey, Ryo, hey," said Ryoko.
Ryo reached for a ratchet, and tightened a few bolts on the shaft.
"HEY!"
Ryo blinked. "Eh? What?"
"What'cha doing?"
"Building." Ryo went back to his construction project.
Ryoko frowned. She knew what was going on. Ryo was usually more verbal
about things. More... casual. But lately he'd been quiet, really quiet.
When he talked it was with five words or less, and he had been looking deadly
serious as of late.
The last time he was acting like this, he was scheming his revenge on
another UWSMA student that offended him deeply. And that poor guy ended
up in traction for a while.
"Hey, you're not scheming something again, are you?" she asked.
"Bad mood, don't ask."
"C'mon, let's hit the gambling dens tonight, eh?"
"Take _Hibiki_" he sneered.
Yup, she thought, he was mad about something.
Unknown to her, Ryo was greatly upset with himself. Sure, he'd been lax
in the past, but he'd also been successfull. Suddenly he comes to this part
of Japan and -poof- his success rate plummets to zero. Happosai was alive,
Ryoga was alive (and officially off the hook, to add insult to injury), and
that left him angry.
He was a villian without a cause.
"I'm going for a walk."
*
Somewhere out there, Ryoko sighed and looked around. She knew what just
happened, but didn't believe she let it happen. Ryoga was just behind her
for a moment, when she let go of his hand... she turned left and
suddenly he was gone.
"Gotta remember his stupid sense of direction," she muttered to herself.
*
Ryo walked grumpily down the somewhat empty streets, idly twirling his
umbrella.
"HEY! YOU!"
He stopped.
"MUHOSHIN!"
Ryo frowned. That almost sounded like a challenge. He turned around
to see his antagonist....
... who was apparently sitting down, on the sidewalk.
Ryo blinked.
"I CHALLENGE YOU!" the challenger yelled angrily.
"Do I... know you?" asked Ryo in a bored tone.
"You don't remember?!?!?!"
Ryo examined his opponent. Oh, he thought, it's the tea ceremony
martial artist. Feh.
"Go away, Sentarou," said Ryo in a deadly tone.
"I CHALLANGE YOU!"
"When last we met, I told you it was business."
"You dared to mock our dojo!"
"It deserved mocking."
"You dared humiliate me in front of my wife and mother!"
"If you had more skill, or practiced some decent martial arts, it would
not have happened."
"To regain the honor of my school, I CHALLENGE YOU!"
"Your art is a joke." Ryo grinned. He was enjoying this.
"TAKE THAT BACK!" Sentarou shook with righteous anger.
"No."
"DIIIEEE!!!" Amazingly, Sentarou charged at Ryo without standing up or
using his hands (a special technique of the Tea Ceremony Style Martial Arts)
and readied himself for his Ultimate Tea Ladle Attack.
Ryo smiled and dropped his umbrella. He adjusted the leather gloves
on his hands...
*
Ranma really wished he didn't run into him, but it was too late. In fact,
he knew he really didn't have to do this, but Ryoga _was_ a friend, sorta,
and he was Ucchan's friend, so Ranma felt he owed it to them both to guide
the moron back.
"Y'know, you don't havta walk me home," said Ryoga angrily.
"Believe me, P-chan, I wouldn't-"
"SHUT UP!"
"-except that I'm doing this because Ucchan likes ya."
"At least slow down, dammit!"
They walked silently for a while.
"What was that you said?" asked Ryoga.
"What was what?"
"Never mind."
"Right."
They walked further along in silence.
"C'mon, honestly, y'never thought about Ukyo?" asked Ranma.
"Huh?"
"Y'know, datin' her."
"What? NO!"
"C'mon, I remember how you two were actin' like in that cave."
"What cave?"
"That haunted cave thing! You remember, don'cha?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Okay, be that way."
"Shut up!"
*
Ryo put down his left fist,
"Understand," said Ryo, holding Sentarou's neck, "that I respect
family. I respect that very much. And I know you're married."
Sentarou gurgled. Choking does that to people.
"That is why you will live. Understand?"
Sentarou ack-ed.
"I hold no grudge against you, but should you ever become a nuisance,
I will kill you. Understand?" He slapped Sentarou to punctuate his remark.
"And if I were you, I'd learn some real martial arts."
Ryo flung Sentarou aside casually, picked up his umbrella, and resumed
his trip to nowhere in particular.
*
"So," asked Ryoga, "how's things with you and Akane?"
"Alright, I guess."
Ryoga smiled. "And the cooking?"
Ranma sneered. "Whadda YOU think?"
They walked along the side of the aquaduct, with Ranma on the fence as
usual, and Ryoga grumpily following on the ground.
"But hey, you'll be lucky when it comes to cooking," said Ranma.
"Wha?"
"Ukyo cooks the best okonomiyaki in town."
"Don't start that aga-"
"And she can draw little love notes on it JUST for yo-" *SPLASH*
Ryoga landed neatly, putting his umbrella back into place. Ranma
emerged from the aquaduct, feminine and angry.
"What'cha do THAT FOR?!?!?" she yelled, as she jumped back on to the fence.
"Stop buggin' me about Ukyo! Jeez, y'know, you're acting like your dad!"
"What?"
Ryoga deeped his voice in an attempt to imitate Genma Saotome, and said,
"You go and show Ukyo a good time, y'hear?"
*SPLASH*
Ryoga emerged from the aquaduct, rather wet and feminine. "HEY!"
"I am NOT like my dad!" yelled Ranam-chan.
The two soaked girls angrily resumed their walk to Ucchan's.
*
Ryo walked along, feeling better now that he had vented some of his
frustrations on someone. He whistled and twirled his umbrella when a
piece of wood flew from nowhere and struck him in the back of his neck.
He reeled from the blow and stumbled forward, when even more boards
slammed against his head and face. His nose felt bad, maybe broken. The
cowardace of the attack enraged him and he jumped clear of the area,
still somewhat disoriented.
"Who's there?!" he yelled, as he stood in a treetop for safety.
"Ohohohoho. You're not looking so smug now, young fool." A giant
figure stood in the street, with a swarm of dojo signboards swarming
around him like planets around a sun. He cast both hands forward and a
flury of signs plowed into the tree, destroying it and knocking Ryo
against a wall.
"Get up, Muhoshin. I'm not through with you yet."
*
"Yo, Ucchan!" said Ranma-chan as she entered. "Got one lost boy here!"
"Shaddup!"
"What, back so soon?" asked Ukyo, looking up from her grill.
"Er, hi." said Ryoga-chan sheepishly.
"I think you can guess what happened," said Ranma-chan.
"Shut up," said Ryoga irritably.
"Got lost again, Ryoga?" asked Ukyo.
"I-"
"Did ya really havta ask, Ucchan? I mean, c'mon, this is Ryog-"
*CLANG*
"Stop picking on him, Ranchan."
From under the megaspatula, Ranma grinned. "Why, Ucchan, I didn't
know you cared about him that way..."
Ukyo blushed.
*CLANG*CLANG*CLANG*
"Shut up!" yelled Ryoga, as he pulled the titan-spatula away from Ranma's
head and handed it back to Ukyo.
"Ow... gosh... feels like home, getting beaten up by girls all the time..."
Ryoga didn't hesitate to punt Ranma into the ceiling.
*
Ryo pressed a button and the needle popped back into place. He turned
and stood over the Dojo Destroyer.
"A sneak attack. I can respect that. In fact, that's exactly what
I'd have done." said Ryo.
Blood was sprayed everywhere. The Dojo Destroyer was pale because of
a lack of it. He had only one wound, a stab to the leg, but the amount of
blood that came from that wound was amazing.
Ryo kicked it. He howled in pain.
"Feel honored to be the first victim of the Bakusai-ten-satsu."
Ryo hummed happily. He'd confirmed two new techniques in one day. That was
nice and all, but there was still the matter of money...
Suddenly, he knew just what to do...
*
//Hello?//
"Mr. Muhoshin?"
//Yes.//
"So, I hope you're recovering alright..."
//You know about the-//
"It involved a gas main, an electrical line, a fuel truck, and a horde
of martial artists. It's hard not to notice that kind of incident."
//Oh.//
"So, what do you need this time?"
//Any contract jobs out there?//
"Hm... got any preferences?"
//High reward.//
"That goes hand in hand with high risk, y'know."
//Go on.//
"Well, there's this car..." Nabiki suddenly put down the phone,
covering the mouthpiece, and yelled out, "I'll be down there in a minute!",
grumbled something about occupational hazzards, then picked up the
phone again.
//Ah, miss?//
"Okay, here's what I heard..."
*
Ryo crept closer to the car, watching the darkness warily as he neared
his target. It was worth a hell of a lot in the underground market, and
there were quite a few people offering quite alot, no questions asked.
He reached forward ever so slowly... almost to the car door...
Suddenly, the engine started and alarms roared to life.
"What the..."
From inside the car, voices started talking
"I knew something would go wrong."
"Hey, Jigen, relax, we're home free!"
Ryo blinked and peered into the car. There was a rather dapper man in
a suit and a fellow with a beard, glasses, and a hat. Before he could protest,
the car blazed off, _through_ the garage door, and into the distance.
"Dammit," Ryo muttered.
"Hey, someone's stolen the Mach-1!" someone yelled from far away.
Well, thought Ryo, that's my cue to exit.
-end part 1-