Many times over the years did Mamoru Chiba wonder exactly why his
parents had gone over the edge of a cliff in their car. He also
wondered constantly about his lack of other relatives. That was why he
had hired a private investigator years ago to try to dig up his past and
maybe find a relative or two. After he had become Tuxedo Mask and met
Usagi, he had forgotten the investigation into his past. That is, until
now...
Twin Dragons Under Moonlight
A Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon X-over
Mamoru practically staggered up the stairs to his apartment. It
had been another late night fighting one of the Daimons that the Witches
Five never seemed to run short of. It didn't register immediately that
there was someone waiting for him by his apartment until a polite cough
caught his attention.
"Excuse me, but are you Mamoru Chiba?" The man asked. When
Mamoru finally saw him, he found an unshaven man wearing a tan trench
coat.
"And you are?" He asked flatly.
"My apologies, I should have introduced myself." The man bowed
briefly and handed him his card. "Ichiro Yamada, private investigator.
You hired me to find out what I could about your family quite a few
years ago." Ichiro gave him a wry smile; "I'm not surprised you had
forgotten, seeing as how I couldn't find anything until recently. May I
come in and share my findings with you?"
Mamoru was shocked fully awake by this revelation. "You mean, you
found something?"
Ichiro smiled and held up a manila envelope, "Mostly on your
Mother's side of the family."
Mamoru led the man inside and quickly prepared some tea. When he
returned to the living room, Ichiro was looking about with a fair amount
of interest.
"You got some pretty nice digs here. Not too fancy, but not
shabby at all."
Mamoru frowned slightly as he placed the tea on the table. "I
believe you are here to talk about my mother, not my lifestyle."
"Of course." Ichiro sat heavily and then opened the manila
envelope. He overturned it onto the table causing a few pieces of paper
and a single photograph to fall out. "Your mother's maiden name was
Yuriko Hibiki."
"Yuriko Hibiki?"
"Yes. Once I had her maiden name, I was able to locate one of
your cousins." Ichiro picked up the photo and handed it to a stunned
Mamoru. The photo showed a young man with a wild shock of black hair
held out of his eyes with a yellow and black spotted bandanna. A small
smirk held his lips, causing one of his prominent fangs to peek out from
behind his lip. His hazel-green eyes seemed to be narrowed slightly, as
if challenging the person taking the photo. Well-muscled arms were
crossed and a large pack was on his back.
"His name is Ryouga Hibiki. He's about sixteen years old and has
been seen a lot near a place called the Tendo Dojo. It's amazing
really..."
Mamoru looked up curiously, "Why is that?"
Ichiro shrugged and leaned back into the couch, "The Hibiki
families' lack of a sense of direction is legendary. Heck, they have a
standing account with my office for finding members of their family,
usually from people that married into the family of course."
"Wow." He murmured, "I wonder how I was spared?"
Ichiro shrugged, "No idea. I did find out one other thing that
you might not want to hear..."
"Go on."
"Well..." he fiddled with his hands for a few moments before he
continued, "Your mother was the one driving the day your parents died.
I'm sorry."
"My parents were killed... because of her bad sense of direction?"
Ichiro only nodded as he stood. "I'm sorry Mamoru. Here, this is
the address for the Tendo Dojo. If you want to find him, that's the
best place to look." He handed a folded slip of paper to Mamoru before
he headed towards the door. He paused when he had the door half-open.
"Mamoru?"
"Yeah?"
"Be careful when you go to Nerima. It may not have monsters like
we do here in Juuban, but they have a lot of crazy martial artists
running around there and Ryouga is one of them."
With that parting statement, Ichiro left and softly closed the
door behind him. Mamoru looked again at the photo he still held in one
hand and then the slip of paper he held in the other.
"Family..." He said softly to himself.
The next day was a Sunday, and the morning light found Mamoru
browsing through a store looking for a frame for the photo. He finally
found a fairly plain oak frame that was the right size. As he left the
store he clutched the newly framed photo to his chest as if it was more
precious than anything else in the world. He was so lost in his
thoughts; he didn't even notice when Usagi tried to wave him down from
the other side of the street.
"That's strange," she said to herself, "Mamo-chan usually sees me
first." With a determined nod, she crossed the street and continued to
try to catch his attention as he walked along. After trying for almost
five minutes to get his attention, she finally ran up to him and
clutched onto his arm.
"Mamo-chan!" She almost wailed, "Why are you ignoring me?"
Mamoru practically jumped out of his skin when he finally noticed
her. "Usako! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you it's just..."
"Just what, Mamo-chan?" She asked, a hint of growing irritation
invading her tone.
"It's just that, I finally found a relative."
"Really?!" She squealed, "I'm so happy for you Mamo-chan!"
"Thanks. Here, this is a picture of him." He offered her the
framed photo.
Usagi looked at the photo for a few minutes before she looked back
up at Mamoru. "Wow, he looks kinda mean, doesn't he?"
"Well, a little," He rubbed the back of his head.
"But, there's this sadness in his eyes, like he's not really happy
or maybe even really lonely." She finished a bit sadly.
"I plan on finding out. Do you want to come with me to Nerima
today to try and find him?"
"Sure! Let me tell the others where we'll be real quick, I was
going to go shopping with them today." She giggled as she pretended to
use the phone and used her communicator to contact the rest of the inner
Senshi.
"Hey Ami-chan! Mamo-chan and I are going to Nerima to see if we
can find his cousin there! Would you tell the others?"
"Of course, Usagi-chan," Ami frowned slightly, "Nerima?"
"Yeah!"
"Be careful Usagi-chan," Ami cautioned her, "There's enough
strangeness in Nerima to make me wonder why the Negaverse decided
against starting their attacks there."
"Oh?"
"Yes, things like Youma attacks might have actually gone unnoticed
until it was too late." Ami sighed, "Promise me that you'll be
careful."
"Alright, Ami-chan. I promise. Bye-bye!" She shut off her
communicator and latched onto Mamoru's arm.
"Ok, let's go Mamo-chan!" She enthused as she practically pulled
him to the train station, still clutching the photo tightly in her hand.
Some time later found Usagi and Mamoru wandering around Nerima.
Even during their short walk away from the station they had born silent
witness to a short battle between a few martial artists that resulted in
mutual knockout.
"Mamo-chan, where are we going?" Usagi asked as she hung off of
his arm.
"Some place called the Tendo Dojo." He replied without looking
down at her. "We'll ask about it at that police box up there." He
pointed up the street.
"Ranma, Akane, I know that the two of you have had your many
differences, but don't you think that it's about time the two of you
stop fighting and finally get married?" Soun spoke carefully as he
knelt across from his daughter and soon to be son-in-law.
"No way! No way am I going to be married to such a pervert!"
Akane snapped.
"Like I want some uncute tomboy like yerself!" Ranma half yelled
back, a flaring red handprint on his cheek a silent testament to the
reason behind this attempt at peacemaking.
"Be quiet!" Genma roared. "Ranma, you should know better than to
argue with your elders and to give them the respect they are due!"
Ranma smirked, "Sure I do, Pops, that's why I ain't got no respect
fer ya!"
While Genma struggled to keep his cool, Soun made his move.
"Akane, I know you want to do the right thing. I'm certain that the two
of you can work out your differences after you're married."
"There's too many differences Dad!" Akane retorted.
"No kidding, you're a klutzy, uncute tomboy that can't even boil
water without written directions and close supervision!"
"That's it! Die, Ranma!" Akane screamed as she leapt to her feet
and grabbed a nearby bamboo practice sword. Ranma dodged the wild
swings and waggled his tongue at her as he ran for the yard. Soun
sighed and held his face in his hands as he retreated further into the
house with Genma.
"What's the matter? Truth hurtin' ya too much?" Ranma taunted as
he continued to dodge her attacks. His attention wandered for a moment
when he noticed a bewildered looking guy at the gate with a younger
blond girl with the weirdest hairdo he'd ever seen. He barely noticed
himself breaking the practice sword Akane was wielding as he searched
his memory for whether or not he knew either of them.
Akane stared in shock for a few seconds at the broken bamboo sword
in her hands before she finally noticed the two at the gate. Without
even thinking about it she stormed up to them.
"And just who are you?" She yelled in Usagi's face.
"Usagi Tsukino, it's nice to..."
Akane cut her off, "Are you some new fianc�e for Ranma?! Let me
guess," She turned and poked at Mamoru's chest, "Ranma's dad made some
sort of deal with your dad and now your here to marry your little sister
off to him?"
"Well actually..." Mamoru started.
"I knew it! She'll just have to get in line then, because he's
engaged to me and several other girls!" Akane yelled, not letting him
finish.
Mamoru began to look annoyed. "Now look here, why don't you try
and calm down for a second and let me explain!"
"Calm down?!?! Calm down?!?!" Akane screeched.
"Yeah Akane, chill out and let the guy talk." Ranma quipped.
"Shut up Ranma!" She yelled as she turned and slammed him with
her mallet. "Serves you right!" She snorted at his twitching form.
Usagi gasped and held her hands in front of her mouth in horror.
Mamoru took advantage of her lapse of attention and moved between Akane
and Usagi. When Akane turned back around he swore he could see flames
burning in her eyes.
"Get out of my way!" She yelled as she roughly shoved him to one
side.
Ryouga sighed to himself. He knew he was somewhere in Nerima, but
he couldn't seem to find the Tendo Dojo anywhere. He passed through
another intersection and he could swear he heard Akane's voice.
"Oh, Akane. Will I ever be able to tell you how I feel?" He asked
himself as he stared at his feet. "Can I possible calm my heart down
enough to even speak to you?"
"Calm down?!?! Calm down?!?!" His head snapped up as Akane's
screech roused him from his daydream.
"Akane?!?" He said to himself. "Akane!" He yelled as he ran the
short distance to what he now recognized as the main gate for the Tendo
Dojo. "Ranma is probably being a jerk once again, and now Akane is
angry with him." A snarl grew on his face as he neared the gate,
"Ranma! You will pay!" He yelled as he turned to go through the gate,
but skidded to a dead stop as he saw Akane push some older guy into the
wall and start yelling at a younger girl with blond hair.
"Akane?" He asked nervously as he approached, "What's going on?"
"Butt out!" She screamed at him before she turned back at the
blonde girl and continued to yell at her. Ryouga began to frown when he
noticed that the girl was getting ready to cry.
"What did Ranma do this time? Is he engaged to her too?" He
tried asking in a calming tone.
Akane half whirled on him, "I thought I told you to butt out
Ryouga!"
"Ryouga?" Usagi asked suddenly. She took a quick glance at the
photo she had in her hand and then a searching one up at Ryouga's face.
"Ryouga Hibiki?"
"Uhm... Yeah?" He said cautiously.
"We found you! Oh Mamo-chan, we found your cousin!" She gushed
as she gave Ryouga a nosebleed-inducing hug. "Mamo-chan?" She
disengaged herself from Ryouga for a second and looked about the yard
for Mamoru. She found him in a crumpled heap by the wall.
"Mamo-chan!" She rushed over to him, totally ignoring a shell-
shocked looking Akane and a flustered Ryouga. "Are you alright?"
"I will be once you get the number of the Youma that hit me..."
he muttered as she helped him to his feet.
Ranma regained consciousness to find the blond girl helping the
man he saw earlier to his feet while Ryouga and Akane seemed more like
statues than people.
"Hey P-chan, when did you get here?" He asked as he flipped to his
feet.
"A cousin..." Ryouga muttered.
"Huh?"
"That guy's my cousin..."
"Whoa." Ranma rubbed his head for a second. "I guess they came
here lookin' fer ya, not me. That's a new one"
"I'm Mamoru Chiba, and I'm your cousin, Ryouga." He said as he
bowed.
"Uh, hi?" Ryouga stammered as he returned the bow.
"You mean, you didn't come here for Ranma?" Akane said quietly.
Usagi threw her a quick look.
"You never gave us a chance to explain." She stuck her tongue out
at Akane before she smiled brightly and bowed to Ryouga, "My name is
Usagi Tsukino, I'm Mamo-chan's girlfriend!"
"Hey Ranma," Nabiki said as she exited the house, "looks like
there's at least one girl out there that doesn't automatically fall down
and worship the ground you walk on."
"Ha ha, Nabiki." Ranma deadpanned.
"So, what's with dumpling head?" She asked.
"Don't call me that!" Usagi pouted.
"Well now, guests." Soun smiled as he joined Nabiki in the yard,
"Please, come in and have some tea."
"Thank you sir!" Usagi gushed, "Come on Mamo-chan! You can tell
them all about how you and Ryouga are cousins!"
Quite some time later, Mamoru finished telling everyone how he was
related to Ryouga, and what happened to his parents.
"So," Ryouga said sadly, "Aunt Yuriko died a long time ago. Mom
always did wonder why she stopped writing."
"I'm so sorry, Ryouga." Akane said.
"Man, what a bummer." Ranma muttered, "It musta sucked for ya,
livin' by yourself for so long."
"Yeah." Mamoru looked down for a moment, "It was difficult with
no family." He glanced at his watch and stood up. "It's getting late,
we should be going."
"You're more than welcome to stay for dinner." Kasumi smiled up
at him.
"I appreciate your hospitality, but we should be going. Ryouga?"
He turned a hopeful gaze on the young man, "Would you be willing to come
and stay with me at my apartment for a while? It would be nice to spend
more time with the only family I can find."
"I, what can I say?" Ryouga stammered.
"Please say you'll come with us Ryouga!" Usagi turned her most
pleading look on the flustered lost boy.
"I guess so... Sure."
"Yay!" She gushed.
"I'm happy for you Ryouga! I know you haven't seen anyone in your
family in years." Akane smiled at him, but frowned ever so slightly when
she failed to see him react at all to her words. ::Is he ignoring me?::
She thought darkly and bean fuming at the percieved insult.
Ranma perked up suddenly as an idea hit him. "Hey, mind if I go
with ya and keep my old buddy from getting too far out of shape?"
"What?" Ryouga asked, totally confused by Ranma's change in
attitude.
"You'd dare to leave Akane here alone?" Genma demanded.
"Feh. The way I see it, I'll be able to live fer a while without
gettin' pounded every time I turn around!"
"Is that so, Ranma?!" Akane demanded angrily.
"Yeah! Not to mention I'll be safe from your cooking for a while
at least!"
"DIE!" Akane yelled as she leapt after him. Usagi watched them
for a few minutes before she purposely placed herself between Akane and
Ranma.
"Wait a second, Akane!"
"WHAT?"
"I thought you two were engaged? Don't you love each other?"
Usagi asked with an intent expression on her face.
"Me, love that pervert? Never!"
"Yeah, well who would want an uncute tomboy like you anyways?"
Ranma taunted.
"Why can't you ever do anything the way I want you to?" Akane
demanded.
"Why should I?"
Usagi looked between the two of them and then slowly sank to her
knees and began to cry.
"It's so sad!" She wailed, "People who are engaged should really
love each other with all their hearts! They shouldn't be arguing like
this!"
"My sentiments exactly, young lady! Well said, well said." Soun
said cheerfully. Genma crossed his arms and nodded sagely.
"Usako..." Mamoru said softly as he moved to comfort the
distraught girl.
Ryouga looked over at where Akane and Ranma continued to argue
until she finally pounded him into the floor. "Well, it would be good
if he came along to keep me there for a while." He admitted haltingly.
Ranma sprang up, "Great, I'll go get my pack!"
"Don't do this boy!" Genma warned.
"Who's gonna stop me? You? Don't make me laugh Pops." Ranma
said as he dashed upstairs to pack.
"So, you're really gonna just leave like this?" Nabiki asked from
the doorway to the guestroom. Ranma looked up from his packing.
"Yeah, well... I just want to get away for a while, maybe let
things settle for a bit." He grunted as he closed the pack and threw it
onto his back.
Nabiki looked thoughtful as she followed him back down the stairs.
"Have a good trip, Ranma. Please remember to write us." Kasumi
said as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Yeah, thanks Kasumi."
"You ain't going nowhere, boy!" Genma yelled.
"And how do ya think you can stop me?" Ranma retorted.
"Simple! I get rid of him!" Genma replied as he leapt to attack
Mamoru.
Usagi screamed as she was pushed roughly aside. "Stop it! What
do you think you're doing?"
"I'm ensuring the future of our schools!" Genma replied as he
attacked Mamoru with a fierce combination of punches and kicks.
Mamoru's limited skill enabled him to dodge or block a few of the blows,
but more and more hit home and he was beginning to wear out.
Ryouga watched from the side for a few moments when he saw that
Mamoru had some skill, but it quickly became evident that he was way
overmatched.
Genma smirked to himself. The young man he was facing had nowhere
near the skill that even Akane had. Just as he was about to land a
devastating punch intended to launch his opponent over the wall, he
found his fist intercepted by Ryouga's open palm. Mamoru fell
unconscious as his cousin faced off against the bald martial artist.
"What do you think your doing?" Genma demanded, "This has nothing
to do with you!"
"Weren't you listening?" Ryouga snarled as he began to attack,
"He's family!"
Genma groaned to himself as he tried to defend himself against
Ryouga's furious attacks. Everyone else there gaped as the furious lost
boy shrugged off the few punches that Genma managed to slip in and
continued to pummel him. Finally, Ryouga picked up his opponent and
threw him, aiming for the tree on the other side of the pond. In a
desperate attempt at a counter, Genma grabbed Ryouga's wrist and managed
to pull him forward a few steps before he lost his grip. Ranma saw what
was going to happen a split second before Ryouga did and he ran
forwards, even though he knew he was going to be too late.
With a great splash, Genma landed in the pond, soaking Ryouga.
With a despairing squeal, P-chan worked his way out of his clothes.
"R-R-Ryouga?!?" Akane gasped, "You, you're... P-chan?!?"
P-chan warily backed up a step as Akane continued to stare in
shock. Usagi shrieked when she saw Genma-panda rise out of the pond,
but calmed down slightly when she noticed that no one else had reacted.
"What's going on here?" She asked, her confusion showing as she
looked rapidly between P-chan and Genma-panda. "Did Ryouga just turn
into that pig?"
"Ranma," Akane growled as she clenched her fists, "You knew.
That's why you always teased P-chan. You knew and didn't tell me?!?"
She shouted as she spun to glare at Ranma the look of death in her eyes.
"Lemme explain..." Ranma said quickly as he backed up a few
steps.
"No! No way!" Akane screeched as she turned her back on Ranma
and started stomping towards P-chan. "First things first, I need to get
rid of Ryouga for good, then I'll take care of you!"
P-chan merely hung his head and waited for the inevitable. He
could feel the raging anger that swirled from Akane's aura and he
couldn't help but shiver in fearful anticipation as her shadow blocked
the light of the sun. That was the last thing he noticed before pain
obscured everything else.
Usagi looked on, horrified. She couldn't believe that Akane was
kicking the poor piglet. One particularly powerful kick sent P-chan
hurtling into her chest, knocking her off her feet. She looked down at
the battered form of P-chan and held him protectively as Akane walked
over.
"Give him to me, now!" Akane ordered.
"Chill out Akane!" Ranma said as he picked up Ryouga's stuff.
"He can't even defend himself when he's like that!"
"I don't care! I'll kill him!"
"No!" Usagi said as she rose to her feet, a determined look on
her face. "I won't let you hurt him anymore!"
"Do you have any idea what he's done!" Akane screeched. Usagi
shook her head and backed up a step, ready to run if she had to. "He's
been pretending to be my pet! He's snuck into my bed, heard all my
secrets and even watched me change!" Akane screamed, "I _trusted_ that
little swine, and this is how he repays that trust, with deceit! That
pervert!" Akane made a grab for P-chan but Usagi pulled him out of her
reach.
"Give him back!" Akane snarled.
"No!" Usagi half turned away from her, "You haven't heard his
side of the story yet! It sounds bad to me, but everyone deserves a
chance to explain!"
"What is there to explain?!? He used his curse to get close to
me, to _sleep_ in my bed, to watch me get changed! He deserves to die!"
Akane yelled as she lunged towards Usagi, fully intending to go through
her to get at P-chan. Usagi screamed and tried to dodge but Akane still
managed to slam into her shoulder and send her sprawling across the
lawn. Usagi curled protectively around P-chan.
"I won't let her hurt you anymore," she whispered, "No one
deserves to die like this."
"Now! Give him to me!" Akane demanded as she stood over the
fallen girl.
Usagi looked up with a tear-streaked face, "I can't believe you,
can't you just stop and listen to what he has to say?"
"Chill out Akane!" Ranma said as he moved between them. "The way
I see it, it was you who decided that Ryouga was going to be your little
pet piggy!"
Akane turned her glare towards Ranma. "And just why didn't you
tell me about this? You're just as bad as he is!"
"Man, what is it with girls? Do they always get like this
before... um.. er... never mind... Uh oh..." Ranma winced as he saw
Akane go from volatile to full-blown fury.
"Get out!" Akane yelled as she swung a vicious kick at his head,
"I never want to see you again! We aren't engaged, we aren't anything!
Never come back here ever again!"
"Oh my. Akane, are you sure?" Kasumi asked.
"Well, Ranma. Looks to me like she means it this time." Nabiki
smirked from where she stood.
"Oh stow it Nabiki!" Ranma said as he dodged another kick, "Fine
then, I'm outta here!" He jumped over Akane's head and landed next to
where Mamoru had fallen and threw him onto one shoulder. "Alright...
Usagi right? Let's get outta here." He held out one hand to help her
up.
"Don't forget to write us, Ranma!" Kasumi called as Ranma turned
for the gate.
Nabiki ran up to him and poked him in the chest a few times.
"Don't think I'm going to forget about your debt!"
"Yeah, good-bye to you too Nabiki." Ranma ignored his father's
signs and paused in his walk to the gate only long enough to kick him
back into the house.
As Ranma and Usagi walked out of the gate, Akane merely stood
there and shook her fist at them and yelled. "Don't you dare ever to
show your face to me again! You don't even exist to me!"
"Do you think he will come back?" Soun asked Kasumi.
"I don't know, Father, I don't know." She sighed.
"I, for one, don't think he'll be back," Nabiki said as she sat
down at the table, "After all, how much more could he have taken before
he left on his own?"
"Nabiki! Don't even think that way!" Soun half yelled.
She regarded him with a raised eyebrow before she rested her chin
in her palms. ::Well Ranma,:: she thought, ::Looks like its time for
you to grow up. I hope everything I've done keeps you from getting
suckered too often.::
Mamoru awoke to the slightly swaying motion of a train. He found
his head in Usagi's lap and Ranma sitting next to her. She was holding
a battered looking black piglet and was gently treating its cuts and
bruises.
"Mamo-chan! You're awake!"
"Usako..." He looked around the bus as he sat up, "Where's
Ryouga?"
Usagi held up the piglet, "He's right here."
"Wha... What happened?"
"He's cursed." Ranma said grimly. "Every time he's hit with cold
water, he turns into that little black piglet. Hot water will change
him back."
"Oh no... How did this happen?"
Ranma sighed and began his explanation about Jusenkyo. "In the
mountains of China, there's these springs that change whoever falls in
to change into whatever drowned there a long time ago. Ryouga fell into
the spring of drowned black piglet. Pops fell into the spring of
drowned Panda."
"That's terrible!" Usagi gasped, "Did you fall into one as well?"
Ranma looked out the window and crossed his arms, "I don't wanna
talk about it."
Usagi placed her hand gently on his shoulder. "It's ok, you don't
have to talk about it if you don't want to."
Ranma nodded and stuck his hands into his pockets, only to pull a
note out. "What the...?" He muttered as he unfolded the scrap of paper
and read the note.
Ranma,
Good luck out there. Get away from our fathers for a while and
grow a spine. Remember that Kasumi and I will always be willing to talk
to you about your problems, even if Akane is too stubborn to realize
what a catch she had and let slip through her fingers by grasping too
tightly.
Always, Nabiki
"Heh, I didn't know she knew how to care." Ranma chuckled.
"What is it?" Mamoru asked.
"Just a good-bye note that Nabiki must have slipped into my pocket
before we left." Ranma looked out the window for a moment, "It's going
to be difficult for a while. I ain't got a place to stay. I guess I
could camp out fer a while."
"Maybe we can help, after all it is kinda our fault for getting
you kicked out like that." Usagi looked down sadly.
"Naw, don't sweat it." Ranma smiled, "Actually, the peace and
quiet'll be nice fer a change."
The train lurched to a stop and announced they were at Juuban.
They got out and began walking towards Mamoru's apartment building.
Ranma looked around and smiled.
"I think I'm going to like Juuban."
Inside Mamoru's apartment, he and Usagi sat down on the couch
while Ranma took P-chan into the bathroom to get him some hot water.
Ranma threw his clothes at him once he was changed.
"Well, P-chan, looks like you've got some explainin' to do."
"Shut up, Ranma." Ryouga said halfheartedly, "After I tell them
everything I've done as P-chan, they'll hate me."
"Geez, ya gotta chill out man! They ain't gonna get near as mad
as Akane. Hell, Usagi saved your bacon at the Dojo by keeping Akane
away from ya."
"Well, I guess I better go out there and face my cousin and
Usagi." Ryouga hung his head and walked through a door. Ranma slapped
his forehead and reached through the door and grabbed Ryouga by his
collar.
"That's the shower, Ryouga."
"Shut up!"
Guided by Ranma, Ryouga entered the living room and knelt in front
of Mamoru and Usagi. "Uhm, about P-chan..."
"Usagi has been telling me what happened while I was unconscious."
Mamoru said coldly, "Care to explain why you were masquerading as that
girl's pet pig?"
"Mamo-chan..." Usagi said softly.
"Yes, well... I've been living as her pet pig P-chan for quite a
while now. Used to be that just seeing her face was enough to make me
happy."
"So, you turned into a pig to spy on her as she changed, pervert!"
Mamoru snapped.
Ryouga looked hurt, "I wouldn't dare!"
"No kidding, if he did something like that, he'd die of blood
loss!" Ranma laughed.
"What?" Usagi went from upset looking too concerned.
"If he saw so much as a hint more than anyone else does, he'd get
a nose-bleed and pass out!"
"Shut up, Ranma!" Ryouga growled.
"I still think he's a peeking pig! I'll bet your just waiting for
the chance to change again and follow some other unsuspecting girl home
and then watch her get changed as well." Mamoru snorted.
Ryouga's face suddenly turned bright red, "I couldn't possibly do
something like that! You have no idea! I grew up basically on my own
on the road. Akane was the first person other than my family that ever
showed me even the slightest bit of affection." He looked away as he
spoke, "Now, thanks to this curse, she wants me dead and my cousin
thinks I'm some kind of pervert. I'm totally alone..."
"Don't talk like that!" Usagi said, "But what do you mean by you
grew up alone on the road?"
"I... have trouble getting where I'm going..."
"You mean you have no sense of direction whatsoever, you can't
read a map, don't even realize that the sun rises in the east..." Ranma
cut in.
"She gets the point!" Ryouga snarled at him before subsiding.
"Now, I just want to try and get back to a normal life, maybe go to
school again."
Usagi looked up and placed a finger on her chin, "Well, tomorrow
after school, a few of my friends and I are going to be getting together
for a study group. You could study with us for a few days and then take
the placement test!"
"A study group?" Ryouga asked uncertainly.
"Sure! There'll be Mako-chan, Minako-chan, Rei-chan and Ami-chan!
Ami-chan is so smart! I'm sure she could tutor you in no time!"
"Lucky you, piggy," Ranma snorted, "You'll need all the help you
can get to keep out of elementary school."
"Are you saying I'm stupid?!?" Ryouga half rose from his seat,
his face turning red from his anger.
"Well, duhh!"
"That's enough, Ranma!" Usagi scolded as she walked to where
Ryouga was, knelt and hugged him from behind, "Can't you see the pain
he's in?"
Ryouga turned an even brighter shade of red before blood shot out
of his nose and he collapsed.
"Eeeeeeeeeeee!" Usagi jumped straight up and clasped her hands
into little fists under her chin, "What's wrong with him?!?"
Ranma laughed as he flipped Ryouga onto his back, "I'd say he
thinks your cute, he doesn't usually get a nosebleed that easily. That
does show ya what I was talkin' about though." He gestured to the
bloodstain on Ryouga's shirt, "If that's what happened when you just
hugged him, what d'ya think'll happen if he sees a naked girl?"
"Will he be ok?" She asked tentatively.
"Yeah, just give him a few minutes and don't stand over his head
while you're wearing that dress."
Usagi eeped and jumped backwards into the wall, her ponytails
sticking almost straight up. Mamoru grumbled as he fetched a mop and
bucket to clean up the blood.
"By the way Ranma," he asked as he worked at cleaning up the
blood, "Why the hell did your father attack me to keep you from
leaving?"
Ranma shrugged, "Who knows? Maybe he thought that if he got rid
of ya, I wouldn't leave or something."
"Ok, why didn't you help me out then?"
"Because you know how to fight, a little." Ranma shrugged, "If he
had attacked Usagi, I woulda been all over him in a heartbeat. By the
time it was obvious that you weren't luring him into a false sense of
security or nothin', Ryouga was already in there taking over fer ya."
"What are you going to do now? Seems to me that you can't go back
to the Dojo anymore." Mamoru sighed, "I guess you could stay here for
tonight if you want."
Ranma shook his head, "The sooner I start doing things fer myself
the better. There's gotta be a park or a vacant lot or somethin'
around."
"There's a park near my house, you can camp out there if you
want!" Usagi said, "It's getting really late and my parents'll kill me
if I'm gone too much longer."
"Sounds good ta me. Lead the way." Ranma grabbed his pack and
gestured towards the door. Usagi gave Mamoru a quick hug before she
left with Ranma in tow.
"Well Ryouga," Mamoru spoke to his unconscious guest, "Looks like
it's going to be just us tonight." He looked towards the closed door
and sighed, feeling just a little upset that Ranma was walking Usagi
home. Not jealous, but angry that the younger martial artist did not
seem to care about the fact that he was walking someone else's
girlfriend home.
Sailor Pluto frowned as she looked through the Time Gates. The
vision of Crystal Tokyo seemed to be wavering more and more rapidly.
Without warning, the edges of Crystal Tokyo frayed and broke away.
Sailor Pluto could only watch in shock as the future she had labored so
hard to protect and nurture simply crumbled and split into many
different possible futures.
"No..." She breathed, worry marking her features until the vision
of Crystal Tokyo solidified again, but now it wasn't quite as certain.
"What could have caused this?" She asked herself as she delved into the
timeline, following the splinters back to their origins. Sailor Pluto
frowned when she saw Ranma or Ryouga at the pivotal point in each split.
She remembered her future counterpart's warning too late.
'Under no circumstances, if you want this to be the future, should
you allow the princess to meet the wild horse with the lucky fang!'
"How was I supposed to know I meant their names literally?"
Sailor Pluto sighed, "Now, what can I do to salvage this?" She sat and
considered her options for a few moments before she decided to see what
kind of effects they had on the timeline. She focused on Ranma first,
but found to her surprise that she could not follow him more than a few
minutes into the future without encountering a multitude of alternate
possible futures. Curious, she followed the course of the most probable
future and only got a few hours more before there was another split.
"Amazing! His ability to alter the time stream is unbelievable!"
She sighed as she pulled out of the time stream again and gazed at the
visual representation of the future. It was frayed around the edges,
but still quite solid. Some of the alternates that had spun off were
very similar, only fairly minor changes from the original, but there was
one that worried her. It showed no sign of Crystal Tokyo at all, in
fact it showed no life left on Earth. She stepped into the time stream,
fully intent on warning Usagi about the dangers of associating with
Ranma.
Even as Sailor Pluto appeared concealed by some trees, Ranma's
ears caught the faint sound of displaced air. He glanced around,
slightly annoyed that Usagi was humming to herself as they walked into
the park near her house.
"Shh. I thought I heard something." Ranma hissed.
Usagi stopped humming and looked at him curiously. "What is it?"
Ranma didn't say anything, but turned and faced the tree that the
now untransformed Setsuna was hiding behind and took up a defensive
stance.
"Is someone there?" Usagi asked, just a little frightened. She
almost fainted with relief when Setsuna stepped out from behind the
tree. "Setsuna! You scared me!"
Ranma relaxed slightly, but keep a wary eye on the elegant woman
that was approaching them.
"Usagi," She said in greeting, "may I speak with you for a
moment?"
"Sure! This looks like a good place for you to stay, Ranma!
Setsuna and I are gonna go to my place! See you tomorrow at the Hikawa
Shrine!" She waved happily to him as she and Setsuna walked off.
Once they were well away from Ranma, Setsuna turned to Usagi
seriously. "Usagi, there may be something wrong."
"Hmm?"
"The time stream is, for lack of a better term, splintering."
"What? What do you mean?" Usagi was shocked.
Wearily, Setsuna tried to explain, "The time stream has been
splitting, and the chances of Crystal Tokyo forming are shrinking ever
so slightly... So far. If things don't change soon, it may not come to
pass at all."
"But, we've been there! We've seen the future! How can that
change?"
"Every time someone makes a choice, it causes several new threads
of possibility in the time stream. For most people, it's fairly
harmless and has no real effect on the outcome of Crystal Tokyo. Now,
say you make a different choice." Setsuna stopped to pick up a short
stick. "This stick will represent your thread in the time stream,
showing that you've been making the same kinds of choices you normally
make, thus leaving a fairly straight path. Then something happens to
cause you to make a different kind of choice," She snapped the stick
and held the splintered end up to Usagi, "Suddenly there are hundreds of
new paths, some showing a higher potential of happening than others.
So, if something like this were to happen, the chance that Crystal Tokyo
will be founded would shrink each time this happened until it became
just one remote chance amongst thousands, even millions of different
futures, with no way of telling which one will become reality."
"I don't understand!" Usagi sniffed, "What could I have done that
would cause something like this?"
Setsuna sighed. "Today, you met someone who could best be
described as chaos incarnate. Not the being Chaos, but the principal.
Ranma Saotome."
"Ranma? But he's nice... Well, when he's not being a jerk to
Mamo-chan's cousin, Ryouga."
"That may be so, but I can't follow him or Ryouga more than a
short time forward in the time stream before their path splinters much
like this stick." She holds up the stick again to emphasize her point,
"Just being near them can be dangerous. They may unwittingly destroy
Crystal Tokyo, maybe even the Earth."
Usagi looked scared at this revelation, "That's terrible! What
can we do?"
"The best way to remove their influence from the timeline is to
kill th..." .
"No! Absolutely not!" Usagi interrupted. She glared angrily for
a moment before she regained her composure before a slightly ruffled
Setsuna. "We are supposed to protect everyone! If we start killing
people just because they may change the future, how much better are we
than the Death Busters?"
"Then don't talk with them or hang around them, for the sake of
everyone in Crystal Tokyo!" Setsuna said sternly.
Usagi shook her head, accidentally hitting Setsuna with one of her
ponytails. "I'm already friends with them, and Ryouga is Mamo-chan's
cousin. I'm going to be introducing them to the others tomorrow.
Ryouga's gonna be studying with us after school so he can take the
placement test!" She smiled, "It's gonna be fun!"
Setsuna sighed. "Please be careful, Princess. I don't want to
lose everything again."
"You worry too much!" Usagi giggled, "What could go wrong?"
::Everything,:: Setsuna thought darkly as she watched Usagi skip
the rest of the way to her house.
It wasn't long before Usagi had firmly closed herself and Luna
into her bedroom and was getting ready for bed.
"Ami told us about how you and Mamoru were going to go look for
his cousin. Did you manage to find him?" Luna asked as she hopped onto
the dresser in front of Usagi.
Usagi giggled for a moment, "Yeah, boy did we find him! He showed
up just in time to try and stop a mean girl named Akane from yelling at
me."
Luna looked startled, "What did you do to make her so angry?"
"I'm not sure, something about taking Ranma away from her, but she
doesn't seem to like him anyway." Usagi's eyes suddenly started to
water, "Oh, Luna, I saw the most saddest thing ever today! Akane and
Ranma are engaged to each other, but they don't seem to like each other
at all! She's always yelling and hitting him and stuff!"
"Slow down Usagi!" Luna said as Usagi suddenly began crying,
"Usagi?"
After crying for a few minutes, she straightened up and wiped her
eyes, "I'm sorry, but it's just so sad!"
"What about Mamoru's cousin?" Luna asked patiently.
"Oh yeah!" She seemed to cheer up instantly, "He's a martial
artist and he's staying with Mamo-chan right now. He's got this weird
curse that turns him into a little black piglet whenever he gets wet.
Apparently, Akane kinda adopted him as her pet, and he was too
embarrassed to tell her the truth. You shoulda seen how angry she was
when she found out today." She began to look sad again, "It's all our
fault! If Mamo-chan and I hadn't shown up, Akane wouldn't have found
out about his curse, and she'd still be engaged to Ranma."
"Who's Ranma?"
"He's another martial artist! He and Ryouga don't get along too
well, but they could be such good friends if he would just stop teasing
Ryouga for a minute." She giggled again, "But Setsuna doesn't like them
at all, and she's saying that they are causing the time line to splinter
or something. She wanted to just kill them, but I told her no 'cause
it's our job to protect people and stuff."
"I'm sure that that was a tough decision to make." Luna said
sagely, "It could have had disastrous consequences for all of us."
"I don't care!" Usagi snapped, "I'm not going to allow any of the
Senshi to kill an innocent person just because they may harm Crystal
Tokyo just by living!"
"I'm not arguing that at all!" Luna gestured with her paw for
Usagi to calm down and then began pacing back and forth as she lectured,
"I was merely saying that most other people would have found some excuse
to kill them just to make their life easier in the long run. A true
ruler would be find a way to work with them or around them to gain the
goal they desire. I'm proud of the way you are maturing, Usagi.
Usagi?" Luna looked over to the bed when she didn't get a response from
her charge and smiled slightly when she saw that Usagi was sound asleep
in bed.
"Sleep well, my princess." Luna whispered as she settled in as
well.
The next morning found Ranma outside the gates of Furinkan High
once again. This time, however, he was there long before Akane or any
other student was due to show up. He had a mission and he wanted no
distractions. Confident smirk in place, he made his way to the
administration office.
"I wanna transfer outta here." Ranma announced to the
receptionist.
"What school are you going to transfer to?" She asked with only a
hint of elation in her voice as she pulled out the transfer forms.
"Uhm... Juuban High."
The receptionist fed the forms into a typewriter and typed rapidly
for a second before she asked the next question. "What is your new
address and phone number?"
"Uhm... I'm kinda camping in a park." Ranma admitted while
rubbing the back of his head.
The receptionist gave him an odd look, but continued typing. "I'm
going to put on here that your address has not changed. Just make sure
you get to school everyday."
"Alright."
"Ok then, all we need now is your father's signature right down
here and you'll be all set!" She handed him the forms and smiled, "Good
luck at your new school."
"Thanks." Ranma sweated a little as he took the forms. ::How am
I gonna get Pops to sign this?:: He thought glumly as he wandered the
halls, ::Maybe Nabiki can help me out.::
Ranma watched from the rooftop for Nabiki to show up. Not
surprisingly, she was among the first students through the gate. She
didn't make her way inside immediately though, but rather worked her way
around to the side of the building among some trees before she sat down
and pulled out a notebook and began writing in earnest. Rather than
loose sight of her by going through the school, Ranma clambered down the
wall a short ways before jumping down to land right in front of her.
Nabiki shot to her feet with a half-strangled shout as he landed.
"Don't you dare do that again!" Nabiki said as she held one hand
over her rapidly beating heart, "You nearly scared me to death!"
"Sorry 'bout that," Ranma said, "but I need your help."
Nabiki cocked an eyebrow at him, "What can I do for you today?"
Ranma handed the transfer forms to Nabiki, "I need my old man's
signature on these so I can transfer outta here."
Nabiki looked appraisingly at the papers. "Shouldn't be too hard,
but how are you going to pay for this?"
"How's about I keep your gettin startled this mornin' a secret?"
Ranma asked hopefully.
She pretended to think it over for a few minutes before speaking,
"Is that all?"
"Well, that and this note ya slipped me before I left yesterday.
I'm sure Mr. Tendo would love to see that."
Nabiki actually laughed, "Ranma, Ranma, Ranma. You'd never make
it as a blackmailer. Just leave that kinda stuff to me. I'll take care
of it right now." She turned to leave the school grounds, "Ranma," She
looked over her shoulder, "You stay in that tree right there so I can
find you."
Ranma nodded and leapt into the branches and seemed to disappear.
Nabiki smiled as she hurried past the early students.
When Nabiki got back to the Dojo, she ran into Akane as she was
leaving.
"What's wrong, Nabiki?"
"I forgot something, you run on ahead."
"See you later!" Akane said before she walked off.
Nabiki smiled viciously as she looked around the house for her
target. She found him moping by the koi pond. She pulled a piece of
carbon paper and another contract out that happened to have the
signature block in the same place as the transfer forms and put them all
together.
"Mr. Saotome, I have a proposition for you," she said in her most
businesslike voice. He looked up, his face a total blank other than the
silent tears rolling down his face.
"I'll do everything I can to locate Ranma for you if you'll just
sign this contract saying that in return for my services, you will give
me a thousand yen a week."
Genma snatched the contract and signed it without hesitation.
"Just find my son, without him, the Saotome School of Anything Goes
Martial Arts is doomed." He said as he handed the contract back to her.
"Nice doing business with you, Mr. Saotome. I'll let you know
once I find anything." Nabiki didn't allow herself to smile until she
was back out of the gate.
When Nabiki made it back to the school, the bell was about to
ring. She hurried to the tree where she had left Ranma. "Ranma?" She
called softly, "Are you still here?"
Ranma dropped out of the tree and landed in front of her. "Did
you get it?"
Nabiki flourished the papers, "Was there ever any doubt? I can
assure you that no one will find out from me where you're going to be
for at least three months. After that, I'm going to have to let it slip
to keep my reputation."
"Well, it's better than nothing I guess. Thanks Nabiki." He said
as he took the papers.
"Kasumi and I will do everything we can to stall your Dad. Daddy
isn't going to be a problem at all, but it's Shampoo and Ukyou that are
the most likely to find you. Be ready for them." She warned as she
headed for the building.
"Thanks again!" Ranma called after her before dashing back to the
administration office. He handed the papers to the receptionist with a
smirk on his face.
"That was quick," she commented idly as she filed a copy and gave
two more to Ranma, "The top one is for your new school, and the other
one is for your records. Have a nice day, Mr. Saotome."
Ranma practically danced all the way back to Juuban.
When Ryouga woke, he found that a blanket had been placed over him
as he slept. He sat up slowly and looked around. Mamoru's apartment
looked no different than when he had seen it last, but there was a sheet
of paper taped to his chest. He pulled it off and read the note on it.
Ryouga,
By the time you wake up, I'll probably already be at class. For
goodness sake, don't leave the apartment! Usagi will be coming by this
afternoon to take you to a study group. Do your best with the placement
test!
Mamoru
Ryouga glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly noon.
"Geez, I can't believe I was out that long!" He muttered to
himself as he started going through his kata. Soon, he lost himself in
the bliss of the exercise, forgetting for a moment that Akane hated him
now.
After nearly an hour, he decided that he would need to get cleaned
up before Usagi showed up. After grabbing some clean clothes from his
pack he began his search. He shook his head when he found that the
front door had a note on it saying 'Do Not Open!'
"I'm not that bad." he muttered as he continued looking. A few
minutes later, he found the bathroom.
After showering and getting dressed he made his way back into the
main room just in time to hear knocking on the door.
"Coming!" He called out and then promptly walked into the
bathroom. He swore under his breath and stalked back into the main
room. After a few minutes, he finally found the front door and opened
it to reveal Usagi and a few of her friends.
"Hi Ryouga!" Usagi said cheerfully, "Sleep well?"
"Yeah, I guess I did."
Usagi gestured to her friends, "Ryouga, I want you to meet Ami
Mizuno and Makoto Kino! They're really good friends of mine."
Ryouga bowed deeply. "I am honored to meet you both. My name is
Ryouga Hibiki."
"There is no need to be that formal, Ryouga." Ami smiled.
"Yeah, you need to loosen up a little." Makoto waved over her
shorter friends,
"Come on, we're going to have to hurry if we want to get to the
study group on time." Ami admonished them.
"Let me grab my pack." Ryouga said as he walked back into the
apartment. When it seemed that he was going to head back into the
bathroom, Usagi gently guided him back to where he had left it.
"Ah, heh... Sorry 'bout that." Ryouga said, a slight flush
creeping to his face from his embarrassment.
"So, you're into martial arts?" Makoto asked as they made their
way to the Hikawa Shrine.
"Yeah. The Art has been the one thing that has kept me from
giving up all hope."
"Really?" Ami asked, "How long has it been since you were last in
school?"
"Some time in junior high. It was a few years ago..."
"Don't worry! I'm sure that with a little help you'll do just
fine!" Usagi said cheerfully.
"See if you can't apply that same enthusiasm to your own studying,
Usagi-chan!" Makoto quipped. Ami giggled a little as Usagi fell over.
"Not you too, Mako-chan?!?" Usagi half wailed.
"It just takes a little dedication." Ami tried to encourage her
friend before turning to Ryouga. "I've looked into the placement test,
I think that things like Math and Social Sciences would be the areas
that you need the most help with."
"I guess... I'm pretty good with local history from all my
travels."
"Right! Here we are!" Makoto gestured at the stairs leading up
to the shrine. "Our friend Rei lives here, and her place has the most
space for our study group."
"Wow." Ryouga looked stunned as he took in the view of the
temple. He followed the others up the stairs almost mechanically. He
looked around the grounds with a certain amount of awe. "This place is
beautiful."
Minako Aino sighed as she made her way up the stairs to the
temple. She had missed out on going shopping with the other Senshi on
Sunday thanks to her parents and had barely escaped detention for being
late that morning.
"Why can't anything go right for me?" she asked Artemis idly. "Is
it too much to ask to be happy?"
::Uh oh,:: Artemis thought, ::She's in that mood again.:: "Cheer up,
Minako! Things can't be that bad."
She smiled down at the moon cat, "Thanks for trying, Artemis," she
sighed as she neared the top of the stairs, "Why can't I meet... a...
cute... guy...?" Her voiced trailed off to a whisper as she reached the
top of the stairs and saw Ryouga talking with Usagi and Makoto. He was
holding his pack in one hand, causing the muscles on his bare arm to
ripple. She blushed so hard that her neck had turned red as well.
"Wow..." She breathed before she swallowed hard and willed
herself to be composed. She had barely managed to get herself under
control and had started to take the last step when Ryouga turned his
head and looked straight at her. Minako swore her heart had stopped in
the instant that their eyes met. Artemis shook his head and decided
that now would be a good time to try and figure out where Luna was.
Without so much as a goodbye, he ran off in search of the black moon
cat.
::Kami-sama, he's cute! What a hunk!:: Minako thought as she
walked up to them. She didn't even notice Makoto talking to her until
she started waving her hand in front of her face.
"Hello? Minako? Are you in there?" Makoto joked before she
leaned closer to her friend and whispered, "I saw him first!"
That snapped Minako out of her trance like state. She glared for
a second at Makoto before she introduced herself to Ryouga with a quick
bow. "I'm Minako Aino, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Ryouga Hibiki."
"He's Mamo-chan's cousin! He hasn't been to school in ages, so
we're going to help him study for the placement test!" Usagi said
happily while Ryouga merely rubbed the back of his head nervously.
Minako barely heard any of it, she was too busy gazing at him with stars
in her eyes.
"Hey! Are you going to stand out here all afternoon?" Rei
demanded as she came out of the house next to the temple.
"We just got here!" Usagi protested, "Besides, Ryouga was just
admiring the temple."
Rei's attitude visibly shifted when she finally noticed Ryouga.
::There's something about him...:: She thought as she stretched her
senses towards him, only to recoil when powerful waves of depression,
loneliness, anger and sadness washed over her. Her eyes widened when
she saw that his outward bearing showed no sign of his internal
struggle. She bowed to him to cover her shock at that discovery as she
introduced herself as well.
"Rei Hino, I apologize for my rudeness."
"Uhm, no problem. Ryouga Hibiki." Idly, he wondered how many
more friends Usagi had. He sighed a bit sadly to himself, ::If only I
could make friends that easily...::
Makoto rolled her eyes a little and looked back towards the
stairs just in time to see Ranma bounding up the stairs.
"Oh my goodness... Check out that hunk!" Makoto sighed. The
others turned and followed her gaze.
"That's Ranma Saotome, he's kinda Ryouga's friend." Usagi said.
"What do you mean by 'kinda'?" Rei asked.
"Well, Ranma teases Ryouga a lot." She ventured.
"He's no friend of mine!" Ryouga snapped as he crossed his arms.
"Nice to see you too, pig butt." Ranma said pleasantly as he
walked up to them, "Hey, Usagi, I got my transfer paperwork done. I'm
gonna be in Juuban High startin' tomorrow."
"That's great, Ranma!" Usagi enthused.
"School... That reminds me, I need to study for the placement
test! I want to take it this Friday." Ryouga clenched his fist, "I
will make it into High School, just you watch Ranma!"
"Geez, it ain't like it's a fight, P-chan."
"Stop calling me that!" Ryouga snarled.
"Don't blow an artery man! Look, I'll come back when you're done
so we can spar a bit before turning in. Maybe that'll help ya relax a
bit." Ranma gave a careless wave as he turned to leave. "See ya!"
"What a dream..." Makoto and Rei said at the same time.
"That shirt looked awfully tight..." Ami trailed off and blushed
as the other girls gave her a questioning look.
"He looked like my old sempai... Who am I kidding? My old sempai
never looked that good!" Makoto giggled.
"Well, I think Ryouga's cuter!" Minako declared as she hugged his
arm.
Ryouga's face turned beet red and he struggled to keep himself
conscious. ::She thinks I'm cute! Cuter than Ranma! Now what do I
do?:: He thought frantically. Slowly and shakily, he turned his head
to look down at Minako who was now resting her cheek against his
shoulder.
Rei smiled and whispered to Makoto, "Looks like Minako-chan is
laying it on a little too thick for him."
"We're starting to run late for our study session, so let's get
started." Ami announced to a short chorus of groans.
"Come on, Ryouga. Let's see how much you need to do to catch up!"
Minako smiled cutely and walked backwards while gently pulling him into
the house.
"O-oh kay..." Ryouga said in a weak voice as he allowed himself
to be dragged into the house. Usagi giggled at that and tried to pick
up Ryouga's pack to bring it in as well, but ended up falling on her
rear when she couldn't budge it at all.
"What's wrong, Usagi-chan?" Makoto asked as she turned to see
what was keeping her friend.
"I can't pick up his pack!" Usagi said as she tried to just drag
it to the house, with no success. Makoto smiled and shook her head.
"You're just a little weak. Here, let me help you." She grabbed
the other strap and pulled hard, fully expecting to lift it. When the
pack didn't even budge, she too lost her balance.
"What the? This thing weighs a ton!"
"What's wrong you guys?" Rei asked as the rest of them came back
out of the house, "We almost started without you!"
"We're having a little trouble getting Ryouga's bag into the
house." Makoto explained while Usagi nodded vigorously.
"Yeah! It's really really heavy!"
"Oh come on you two. How heavy can it be?" Rei asked.
"About a hundred kilos." Ryouga said calmly.
"A HUNDRED KILOS?" The girls exclaimed and stared at him in
shock.
"Uhm... Yeah. For just the pack anyway. I'm not sure how much
the umbrella weighs." He rubbed the back of his head as he picked the
bag up with his left hand. Minako clasped her hands and watched him
with starry eyes.
"You're really strong, Ryouga!" Minako sighed dreamily.
The study session seemed to last forever to Ryouga. Ami seemed to
take a personal interest in his study habits while Minako spent most of
the afternoon staring at him. There were short spurts of quiet before
Rei and Usagi would begin arguing over something trivial again. By the
time Ranma showed back up, Ryouga was more than ready for the respite.
"How's the studyin' comin' along?" Ranma asked as he peeked into
the room they were studying in.
"Fairly well, actually." Ami smiled up at him, "Your friend,
Ryouga, is doing very well all things considered."
"I did start to study for this test before," Ryouga admitted
reluctantly, "But something came up and I got distracted."
Ranma let out a short bark of laughter, "Wasn't that the time that
the old lech tried dressing up as P-chan?"
Ryouga crossed his arms and nodded solemnly while the girls looked
at each other in shock.
"Some time soon, you two are going to have to sit down and tell us
about your adventures." Makoto said firmly.
After a few minutes worth of clean up, they left Rei behind and
headed off into the evening.
"Ya get lost yet?" Ranma asked suddenly. Ryouga grumbled
something unintelligible while all the girls except Usagi looked at him
in surprise.
"What do you mean?" Makoto asked.
"Ryouga's totally clueless when it comes to maps and directions
and stuff like that."
"Shut up, Ranma." Ryouga growled.
"No, Ryouga, he has a point. If you are really that bad with
directions, maybe one of us should keep an eye on you so that you don't
get lost." Ami pointed out.
"I'll do it!" Minako said as she raised one hand into the air and
latched onto Ryouga's arm with the other. "I won't let him out of my
sight!" She declared.
::Won't let me out of her sight?:: Ryouga thought as his face
turned a bright red, ::But, that would mean...::
Ranma noticed Ryouga's eyes roll back into his head as his face
turned bright red. His hand flashed out with blinding speed to pinch
Ryouga's nose a split second before it started bleeding.
"What are you doing?!?" Minako demanded when Ryouga suddenly went
limp and crashed to the ground at her feet, a small trickle of blood
coming out of his nose.
"Keepin' bacon breath from bleedin' on ya." Ranma said as he
stuffed a tissue into each of Ryouga's nostrils.
"I thought the blood was supposed to rush elsewhere..." Ami
commented before suffering the startled looks of her friends. She
looked away, her face as red as a tomato. They leaned him up against a
fence and stood around talking while they waited for him to come around.
"So, Usagi says that you're a martial artist. How good are you?"
Makoto asked with a gleam in her eye.
"I'm the best there is." Ranma stated with pride.
"Do you want to have a match sometime?" She asked.
Ranma looked embarrassed for a second, "I don't fight girls."
Makoto stifled her anger at that chauvinistic statement. "Why
not? Are you saying that girls can't be martial artists too?"
Ranma held up his hands as if to ward her off, "That ain't it at
all! I just don't like it. Training an' stuff don't bug me, but I
really don't wanna hurt no girls." He thought back to all his fights
with Akane and he suddenly looked depressed.
"Ranma," Usagi said softly, "You shouldn't get yourself down over
what happened at the Tendo Dojo." She placed her hand on his shoulder,
"No matter how you may have felt about her, she didn't care about
anything other than what you or anyone else could do for her."
"Thanks, Usagi."
"Now I'm curious. What happened to you in Nerima, Usagi? How did
you meet Ryouga and Ranma?" Minako asked.
Usagi spent the next few minutes recapping the previous day for
her friends, but left out the part where she learned Ryouga's curse for
some reason. When she finished, both Makoto and Minako looked very
angry.
"Maybe we should go back to Nerima and teach this Akane a lesson
in courtesy!" Makoto growled as she cracked her knuckles.
"I can't believe her! Doesn't she know that a bird in the hand
should be taken to the bush?"
They sweatdropped as Ami politely corrected her. "That is supposed
to be a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
"Oh."
Without warning, the girls' communicators all started beeping at
the same time. They looked nervously at Ranma for a second.
"Uhm... Oh no! I forgot, we were supposed to meet Naru-chan at
the mall! Could you get Ryouga back to Mamo-chan's apartment?" Usagi
sounded rather lame.
"Sure, no problem." Ranma said and threw Ryouga onto his shoulder
and walked off. As soon as he was out of sight, the girls opened their
communicators.
"Hey! Where are you guys?" Chibi-usa demanded, "There's a Daimon
attacking near the movies!"
"We're on our way!" They said as one and dashed off down the
street.
Only a short time after leaving the girls, Ryouga woke up. "You
can put me down now, Ranma." He said half heartedly.
"Ain't you grumpy when you wake up." Ranma smirked as he dropped
the lost boy. "Hey, ain't you lucky. One day away from Nerima and you
already have a girlfriend! A bit of an airhead, but at least she's
cute."
"Shut up! Minako isn't an airhead!" Ryouga blushed, "Besides, I
haven't known her long enough for her to be my girlfriend."
"That ain't stoppin' her from hanging all over you!"
"Shut up!"
"Is the li'l' piggy embawwassed?"
Ryouga's aura sprang to life, "Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!" he
yelled as he attacked Ranma. Laughing the whole way, Ranma led him to
the park that he's staying in before engaging the enraged lost boy.
"I can't believe these daimon!" Makoto muttered as the girls
walked together back towards the park they had sprinted away from only
minutes earlier. "It's getting to the point where we can't have so much
as one night in peace without an attack."
"I agree, this is getting to be too much!" Usagi yawned loudly.
A beeping noise from the Mercury computer interrupted them.
Worried, they gathered around Ami as she began taping away at the
keyboard.
"There's an unusually high amount of energy being concentrated
nearby. It's impossible to tell if it's a daimon or not, but the
readings are very close to the energy that Beryl was so desperate to
capture."
"The Negaverse is back?" Minako asked, a slight frown creasing
her forehead.
Ami shook her head. "I'm not detecting any evil energy yet, but I
think we need to check it out."
"Can't we just go home and go to bed?" Usagi whined a little.
"Grow up Usagi!" Chibi-usa snorted before turning to Ami, "Isn't
this the kind of thing that we should check out?"
Usagi glared at her future daughter as Ami nodded. "Fine then!
Let's go." Usagi stomped off into the park with the others right behind
her.
As they walked deeper into the park, they could hear some shouting
and heavy impacts.
"It almost sounds like a fight, if bulldozers were being used."
Makoto said softly.
"The air is thick with emotions here," Rei said, "It feels
familiar though, at least part of it."
"You're just imagining things, Rei," Usagi tried to laugh it off
as she pushed her way past some bushes. A split second later she came
crashing back through with one hand on her locket.
"What's wrong, Usagi?" Minako asked, her henshin rod firmly in
her hand.
"OhmygoditsRanmaandRyougatheylookpossessed!!" Usagi said as quick
as she could, "Moon Cosmic Power, Make Up!"
The other Senshi transformed as well and followed Usagi into the
clearing ahead.
Ranma smirked as Ryouga charged at him again with battle aura that
was practically a bonfire of aggression. More than once he found
himself starting the spiral, but broke himself out of it every time.
::I don't need to use the Hiryu Shoten Ha for this fight!::
"Wait just a moment!" A clear voice rang across the battlefield
just before they clashed. Without thinking about it, they both stopped
and turned to face the voice. The bushes seemed to part dramatically to
reveal five rather shapely silhouettes and one much shorter one.
"Who on Earth?" Ryouga asked as he fell into a defensive stance.
The silhouette in the middle began to go into several poses while
speaking. "For love and justice, the pretty soldier in a sailor suit!
Sailor Moon!" Sailor Moon stopped posing for a moment to cross her
arms, "For possessing young men dedicated to the martial arts there can
be no forgiveness!"
Ranma and Ryouga looked at each other, dumbfounded as Sailor Moon
went back to posing and her speech.
"In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"
"You've got to be kidding!" Ranma burst out.
"Possessed?" Ryouga said as he grabbed Ranma's head and began to
examine it, "I don't see any horns..."
"Right!" Ranma grabbed and twisted Ryouga's wrist, forcing him to
release his grip. He then vaulted over Ryouga and landed with Ryouga in
a choke hold, "I ain't seeing any horns on him either!"
"Let go of me!" Ryouga yelled as he began running backwards
towards a fairly large tree, fully intent on smashing Ranma against it.
The Senshi stood and watched as Ranma nimbly dodged out of the way
at the last second, leaving Ryouga to smash into the tree and knock it
over.
"Ouch! That had to hurt!" Sailor Venus winced in sympathy. All
of the Senshi sweatdropped as Ryouga rose from the splintered tree and
leapt at Ranma without any apparent injury.
"What's going on, Mercury?" Sailor Jupiter asked, "I'm pretty
good at martial arts, but this looks like it's straight out of a kung-fu
movie!"
"It's unbelievable!" Sailor Mercury gasped as she watched the
readings scroll across her visor, "These two have enough energy by
themselves to almost match the total amount of energy the Negaverse
tried to steal!"
Sailor Mars looked grim, "It's a good thing the Negaverse never
went after these two then. They wouldn't have had to make attack after
attack, those two would've supplied all they needed."
"What do we do about those two?" Sailor Chibi-Moon asked as she
pointed at the furiously fighting pair, "They'll kill each other at this
rate!"
"I'll try talking to them again!" Sailor Moon said as she strode
out into the midst of the battle, purposely placing herself between
Ranma and Ryouga who were in the middle of a head to head charge.
"You idiot!" Sailor Mars yelled and tried to grab Sailor Moon's
collar and yank her back, but just missed. The Senshi could only watch
paralyzed as Ranma and Ryouga hurtled towards the point where Sailor
Moon stood to intercept them. A great cloud of dust rose from the point
of impact, obscuring them from the Senshis' worried gaze.
Sailor Mercury was the first one to break out of her paralyses and
she rushed towards the dust cloud, fully expecting to see a smashed
Sailor Moon at the feet of the still fighting Ranma and Ryouga. What
she did see when the dust cloud cleared caused her to stop in amazement.
Ranma had picked up Sailor Moon and twisted halfway around and
seemed to have kicked at the same time. Meanwhile, Ryouga's legs had
ploughed a furrow in the dirt up to his ankles and he was firmly holding
onto his opponent's foot.
"Geez, what d'ya think yer doin'?" Ranma snapped, "You coulda
gotten hurt gettin' between Ryouga and me like that!"
Ryouga dropped Ranma's foot. "He's right! If we had seen you a
second later, I'm not sure you would be ok."
Sailor Moon seemed to be at a loss for words as she stared up at
Ranma's face. Ryouga shook his head slightly as he pulled his feet out
of the ground.
"Uhm... You ok?" Ranma tried asking again.
"Oh, yes! I'm fine thank you!" Sailor Moon blushed a bit, "Could
you put me down now?"
"Oh, sure." Ranma placed her back onto her feet and stepped back
to stand next to Ryouga as the other Senshi gathered around Sailor Moon.
"Excuse me, but just who the heck are you guys supposed to be?"
Ryouga asked as he crossed his arms.
"You've never heard of the Sailor Senshi?" Sailor Mars asked.
When the two boys shook their heads, the Senshi gave each other blank
looks.
"Not even Sailor V?" Sailor Venus asked hopefully. Her hopes
were dashed when they merely shook their heads.
"Well, we're the pretty suited warriors of love and justice!"
Sailor Moon announced proudly.
Ranma and Ryouga looked at each other blankly for a moment before
Ranma fell to the ground laughing.
"You've got to be kiddin' me! How can ya be warriors with outfits
like that?!?" He gasped out.
Ryouga nodded solemnly, "You have to admit, those uniforms of
yours are really unpractical. Whoever heard of fighting in heels?"
"I'll have you know we've saved the world a number of times
already!" Sailor Mars retorted. The other Senshi nodded in agreement
Ranma snapped back to his feet, "Sorry, but ya gotta admit, ya
wouldn't exactly think that a bunch o' girls wearing the funkiest set of
fukus would be some kind of warrior team. I'd expect cool lookin' armor
and stuff."
Anything else that might have been said was interrupted as Sailor
Mercury's computer started beeping urgently. After a quick check she
looked up at her teammates. "There's some sort of evil force in the
park. It's still too small for a daimon though."
"We have to find it and get rid of it!" Sailor Jupiter declared,
"Any idea as to where it is?"
Sailor Mercury tapped at her computer while the others waited
impatiently. Ranma sighed and looked up.
"Man, this is unreal. Check out that little floating white rock."
He pointed at a slowly moving daimon egg.
Ryouga looked at it as well. "I dunno.. that thing gives me the
creeps."
Suddenly, the daimon egg turned and flew quickly towards Ryouga's
pack. Ranma and Ryouga watched as it slowly merged with the weathered
material.
"Uhm... I think that's your evil over there." Ranma said to the
Senshi.
"What?" The Senshi turned just in time to see Ryouga's pack
reform into a vaguely female shape. The daimon appeared to be covered
with bulging pockets and had a huge deformity that resembled a back-
pack.
"Packin!" The daimon declared before it pointed at them. One of
the pockets on its arm opened and a glowing rope snaked out towards
them.
Ranma and Ryouga leapt out of the way, but the Senshi were caught
and bound quickly.
"That's a cheap shot, pal!" Ranma snarled as he landed and
charged the daimon. Ryouga pulled his belt and infused it with his ki
and ran for the rope.
"Keep it busy! I'll see if I can get the girls free!" Ryouga
called out.
Ranma didn't bother to answer as he engaged Packin. He quickly
found himself on the defensive though. ::My punches and kicks aren't
having an effect!:: He thought as he leapt backwards to gain some
space.
Meanwhile, Ryouga was hacking at the magical rope that had bound
the Senshi.
"Rrrgh... This ain't working..." He grunted. Rather than giving
up, he began to use more and more strength until it finally severed.
"Thanks!" Sailor Venus gave him a quick salute before she fired
her Love-me Chain, forcing the daimon to dodge away from Ranma.
"Leave this to us now!" Sailor Jupiter said as she charged.
"Sparkling, Wide Pressure!" She threw the ball of electrical energy at
the daimon, only to have it suck the attack into one of it's pockets.
Packin grinned nastily and re-opened the pocket to release a veritable
storm of lightning bolts. They dodged the wildly arcing bolts, but
Sailor Moon tripped over a tree root.
"Hey! Look out!" Ranma yelled as he ran through the hail of
lightning and picked her up a split second before a bolt struck where
she had fallen. He put her down next to a tree and turned to face it.
"Now you've gotten me mad..." He growled as his battle aura
flared.
Sailor Moon was speechless as Ranma charged in again to the
attack, only this time his punches seemed to be having an effect.
Sailor Mars began to charge up her attack, but Sailor Mercury
grabbed her wrist.
"Don't! It will just suck the attack in and send it back at us!"
She cautioned.
"It's distracted by Ranma right now, it might be our only chance!
Let's double team it!" She declared. Sailor Mercury thought about it
for a moment and nodded once she saw that both Ranma and Ryouga were
harrying it.
"Ok, just be careful not to hit Ranma or Ryouga."
"Burning Mandala!"
"Shine Aqua Illusion!"
As the two blasts of energy neared the daimon, Ranma and Ryouga
managed to dodge out of the way.
"Watch it!" Ranma yelled as he rolled back to his feet.
"That things' still standing!" Ryouga yelled as he cupped his
hands, "Shi Shi Hokkoudan!"
The Senshi watched wide eyed as Ryouga's aura coalesced into a
green ball and shot towards the daimon. Sailor Mars clutched her head
in pain as the ball of angst laden ki exploded against the daimon.
"My turn! Mouko Takabisha!" Ranma's blue ball of ki shot forth
from his hands. The remnants of Ryouga's blast mixed with Ranma's
leaving a bluish green circle of flames around the daimon.
"What was that?" Sailor Venus demanded of Sailor Mercury.
"I'm not sure, but it was almost as if they concentrated a portion
of their life energy into an attack."
"Emotions..." Sailor Mars gasped, "Such overpowering emotions!"
Ranma and Ryouga warily approached the fallen daimon.
"Did that do it?" Ranma asked warily.
Before Ryouga could respond, the daimon shot to it's feet and
grabbed Ranma and Ryouga by their necks.
"Foolish children! Did you really think that you could hurt a
daimon?" Packin taunted them.
Ranma kicked ineffectively against it's chest while Ryouga had
grabbed the hand holding his neck and began to pull on the thumb and
forefinger.
"Let them go!" Sailor Moon yelled as she rushed towards the
daimon, her tiara in her hand. "Moon Tiara Action!" She yelled as she
threw it and without waiting for it to hit she dived at the Daimons legs
in an attempt to tackle it.
Packin screamed in pain as the glowing disc cut into it's arm a
split second before Sailor Moon hit the back of it's knees, forcing it
to fall backwards. Ryouga spun around so that one leg was on either
side of the arm that was holding him and he quickly pulled it down as
hard as he could. He was rewarded with the sound of breaking bone and a
shriek of pain from the daimon. He didn't stop, though, but rather
continued pulling on the arm while kicking it in the face.
Ranma managed to pull himself free a slit second after Ryouga had
broken it's arm and he pulled Sailor Moon away from the flailing daimon.
"That's it!" Packin screamed as she pulled a cord that was
connected to the back-pack like protrusion on it's back. Without
warning, there was an explosion that sent Ryouga flying into a tree.
"Ryouga!" Ranma yelled as he leapt to where the lost boy had
fallen. Ryouga sat up and grinned toothily.
"That move cost it an arm." He deadpanned as he held up the
dismembered limb. Ranma laughed at that, sure that the explosion had
killed the daimon as well. Unseen behind them, a very burnt looking
Packin was walking out of the swirling smoke left after the explosion.
"Look out! Shine Aqua Illusion!" Sailor Mercury yelled. Packin
jumped up over the attack and let it fly straight at Ranma and Ryouga.
They barely dodged out of the way and they watched dumbfounded as the
entire tree was frozen solid.
"Geez..." Ranma breathed, "They can dress any stupid way they
want to if they can do stuff like that."
Ryouga nodded as he fought to stand. Ranma helped him to his feet
as three more sailor suited girls joined the fray.
"World Shaking!"
"Deep Submerge!"
"No! Don't!" Sailor Jupiter tried to warn them too late. Packin
grinned nastily as it sucked in both of the attacks and re-released them
tenfold back at the Senshi and the boys.
"Ah crap." Was about all that Ranma and Ryouga could say before a
Deep Submerge hit the ground right in front of them. The backlash of
magical water obscured them from the Senshi for a split second, but not
before they saw Ranma change.
"What happened?!? Ranma turned into a girl!" Sailor Moon asked
incredulously.
"Never mind that! We have to defeat this thing quickly! I
couldn't see what happened to Ryouga!" Sailor Venus said as she dodged
a World Shaking and ran towards the daimon. Once she was right in front
of the daimon, she feinted once to her left and then circled around
Packin to the right and twisted its remaining arm behind its back.
"Now! Sailor Moon!" she called as she struggled to hold the
daimon.
"But..."
"Just do it! Don't worry about me!"
Sailor Moon nodded and reluctantly began the spin that charged up
her attack. "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!"
Sailor Venus grit her teeth and closed her eyes as the heart
shaped attack sped towards them. ::This could hurt...:: She thought
right before a pair of strong arms pulled her away from he daimon. She
opened her eyes and saw that Ranma-chan had pulled her to safety just
before Sailor Moon's attack had destroyed the daimon.
"Ya gotta learn to dodge that on yer own." Ranma-chan said as she
turned to watch Ryouga's pack expel the daimon egg. A gentle rain began
falling as the Inner Senshi regrouped around Sailor Venus and Ranma-
chan.
"Excuse me," Sailor Mercury said as she walked up, "But how did
you change into a girl?"
Ranma-chan made a face. "It's a curse. If ya don't mind, I gotta
find Ryouga before he wanders off." She leapt off before they could
protest or stop him. She landed long enough to grab Ryouga's pack
before leaping off again.
"I'm not even going to pretend that I understand what happened
tonight!" Sailor Jupiter declared as she helped Sailor Mars stay steady
on her feet.
"Are you alright?" Sailor Moon asked.
Sailor Mars nodded. "Yeah, I just wasn't ready for those two to
be projecting their emotions around like that. I could feel the ego
that Ranma used for his, just like I felt the pain, suffering and
depression that Ryouga forced out of himself to do his attack. I'll be
better prepared for the next time though."
"I'm sorry I couldn't help..." Sailor Chibi Moon said, a bit
shame faced. Sailor Mars smiled and patted the top of her head.
"Don't worry about it."
"Yeah," Minako chimed in, "there's always next time."
"Let's go home..." Sailor Moon sighed. ::Why didn't Tuxedo Mask
show up like he usually does? We really could have used his help on
this one.::
After they had transformed back into their civilian clothes, they
split up to head back to their homes. Minako shivered as the rain
picked up.
"This is just what I need." She grumbled as she made her way out
of the park. A soft squeal caught her attention and she looked around
only to find a small black piglet balanced precariously on a tree branch
next to her.
"What's this?" Minako asked as she picked up the little black
piglet, "A piglet? Are you someone's pet?" She asked. She giggled as
P-chan shook his head.
"What a smart little piggy! Come on, let's get you home and out
of this rain." Minako began to run for her home.
Once she was home, she headed straight for the bathroom. "Ok,
piggy, let's get you warmed up!" She smiled as she wrapped him up in a
towel. P-chan sneezed a few times as he was being dried off.
"You're still cold, aren't you?" Minako asked sweetly before she
sneezed herself, "I'm cold too, piggy!" She stood and shed her soaked
school uniform. P-chan squealed and turned away, somehow managing to
blush through his black hide. He didn't move a muscle as Minako picked
him up, at least not until he saw the steaming furo.
"Stop squirming, that tickles!" Minako giggled as she stepped
into the bath, holding P-chan firmly. She sighed as she sat down and
then smiled at the frantic pig in her hands.
"Ok, it's you'r turn! In you go!" She said as she brought the
pig into the water. She had barely put the pig under the water when it
suddenly started to grow. Startled, she pulled the pig back above
water, at least she thought it was the pig. In her arms was a very
naked and very embarrassed Ryouga. They sat there for a second, staring
at each other's face.
A small trickle of blood started to run out of Ryouga's nose as
Minako screamed.
"Pervert!!!" Her voice hit a painfully high octave as she
proceeded to flail at him. The small trickle of blood coming out his
nose suddenly turned into a steady flow as his eyes rolled back into his
head. He collapsed backward into the furo, small bubbles trickled out
of his mouth.
Minako jumped out of the furo and grabbed a towel and wrapped it
around herself before she pulled his head out of the water.
"Ryouga?!?!" She gasped as she finally recognized his face. She
spun around as she heard loud footsteps in the hallway, "Oh no!
Daddy'll kill him if he sees him here!" in a panic, she yanked him all
the way out of the tub, knocking over a bucket of cold water. She
watched in wide eyed disbelief as he shrunk back down to the little
black piglet she had found earlier.
"MINAKO!!!! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!!!" her father yelled as he burst
into the bathroom wielding a golf club. "Where's that pervert?!?"
::I hope my acting is up to par..:: she thought as she put on her
most frightened face, "There was a peeping tom in the window!"
"I'll kill him!" her Father declared as he ran out of the
bathroom and headed for the back of the house.
Minako gathered P-chan up in her arms and made for her bedroom.
::I gotta hear his story!:: she thought as she closed the door. ::Let's
see, what caused him to change...:: She paced the room for a while,
pausing only to deal with her overwrought Father who tried awkwardly to
comfort her. After she got him to leave, she finally remembered that he
changed only after he had been dunked in hot water. She quickly got
into a nightshirt and went to kitchen to get a cup of tea.
When she got back to her room, she found P-chan awake and watching
her with a rather dejected look.
"Ok Ryouga, let's hear what you have to say for yourself." She
placed him on the floor and dumped the hot water over him. She blushed,
but did not look away as the transformation took place and he
desperately tried to cover himself.
"Could I have that towel please?" He asked in a very small voice.
Without ever taking her eyes off of him, she fumbled for the towel for a
second before handing it to him.
"How did you do that?" She finally asked after he had covered
himself with the towel.
"It's a curse," he looked up as he recalled what had happened,
"Almost a year ago, I was travelling in China looking for Ranma to
finish a duel when I fell into Heituenniichuan, Spring of Drowned Black
Piglet. Now, whenever I get splashed with cold water, I change."
"And you didn't tell us about this while we were studying?"
"It's not the kind of thing you tell anyone!" He snapped, "What am
I supposed to do? Walk up to someone and say, 'Hi, I'm Ryouga Hibiki
and I turn into a little black pig'?"
Minako thought back to what Usagi had said right before the Daimon
attack. "Wait a second, is your curse why, what's her name? Akane, was
so mad at you? You never told her did you?"
He looked down in embarrassment, "No, I never did tell her. It
was too embarrassing."
"Not as embarrassed as she felt when she found out one of her so-
called friends was peeping at her!" Minako retorted angrily as she put
her hands on her hips.
Ryouga turned red. "I couldn't possibly... I meant I wouldn't...
I couldn't.." He babbled on like that for a few minutes before Minako
interrupted him.
"OK, so you didn't peep at her, but it doesn't change the fact
that you slept with her as a pig." She scowled as Ryouga winced at her
words
"I...I'm sorry." He hung his head, "I'll be going now, I won't
bother you again." He stood to leave only to get pushed back down.
"Oh no you don't!" She said firmly, "You're going to stay right
there while I talk to Usagi and see what she says about all this!"
Ryouga sighed as Minako stomped off to supposedly use the phone.
::Now she hates me too...::
Usagi wearily lifted her head from her pillow as her communicator
started beeping.
"Hmmm?" She blinked at the tiny picture of Minako on the screen.
"Minako-chan? Don't tell me it's another attack!"
"No, nothing like that," Minako reassured her, "It's just that,
well, did you know Ryouga has a curse?"
"Yeah," Usagi yawned, "Turns into a little black piglet. Why?"
Minako blushed rather fiercely at this point, "I kinda picked up
his cursed form and then..."
"And then?"
"I took a bath with him. I thought he was just a lost little
piglet that was really cold from the rain!"
Usagi stared at Minako's blushing image in the communicator for a
few seconds before bursting out laughing. If it was possible, Minako
blushed even harder.
"It's not that funny! Why didn't you tell us about that?"
"I thought that he'd tell everyone else once he was comfortable."
Usagi sighed, "How's he doing?"
"He's sitting in my room with only a towel on."
"Ooooooh! Don't stay up all night with him!" Usagi teased.
"Oh be quiet!" Minako snapped.
"You've got him in your room already? You little vixen you!"
"It's not like that at all!" Minako protested as she cut the
connection.
When Minako re-entered her room, Ryouga looked up at her like a
condemned prisoner would look at his jailers. Despite her already
fading outrage at him seeing her in the bath, the look of total
dejection and depression tugged at her heart.
"Look, Ryouga, Usagi said she knew and thought you would tell us
when you were ready. I, I guess I can't really blame you for not
wanting to talk to anyone about it."
"You, you aren't going to hit me?" He asked with a bit of
trepidation in his voice. Minako gave him a startled look before she
started giggling.
"No, silly! I only hit you in the bathroom because you had scared
me!" She gave him a vicious look, "If you had asked to join me
though..." She trailed off and gave him a wink. Ryouga's nose seemed
to explode with blood. Smiling, Minako pinched his nose shut. "I was
only kidding with you!"
"You... You don't hate me? For being a pig?" He stammered.
"Of course not!" She sat down on the bed and put her hands on her
hips, "It doesn't matter if your cursed at all! One shouldn't judge a
book by it's words!"
Ryouga sweatdropped. "Uhm... Isn't that 'Don't judge a book by
it's cover?"
Minako looked up, "I guess you could say it that way too..." She
looked back at Ryouga and smiled again, "Not that it really matters.
What we need to worry about now is what we are going to do with you."
"Me?"
"Well, I can't just turn you out into the rain, you'd just become
a piglet again. She held up her now cold cup of tea, "I think I have a
solution. But you gotta promise me one thing!"
"What?"
"That you won't climb into my bed in the middle of the night and
start pawing around or I might decide to just throw you out the window."
Ryouga turned beet red and waved his arms in front of him, "I
promise! I promise!"
"Good!" She splashed him with the cold tea and watched,
fascinated by the transformation. She dried him off with the towel and
then put one of her spare pillows on the floor for him. "G'night
Ryouga."
"Bwee." P-chan settled into the pillow and was fast asleep in a
few seconds.
Minako smiled at the sleeping piglet before jotting down a quick
note to Artemis about P-chan. She left the note on her desk and settled
in for bed herself.
::I wonder where he is anyways...::
Outside, a thoroughly drenched white moon cat shook his head at
what he had seen through the window.
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