I sat down, I looked at it. I mulled. I mulled more.
I decided that it needed MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR work.
One of my pre-readers thought it couldn't be that bad.
I sent it to him. I proved him wrong. >:)
I proved several other pre-readers wrong too. ^_^
Yeah, this is nothing to be proud about, but hey, I'd rather make it right
than make it rushed. I'll say this much, parts 6-8 are DEFINITELY not
going to be redone. They're nearly just about right, with just a touch of
polish needed.
THEREFORE, this, parts 1-5 of The Pursuit of Happiness,
is going to be DELETED. Flushed. Gone. Ka-putzky.
Well, okay, elements of it I *AM* keeping, but 70% of
this stuff is going to be deleted once I post this.
WHY am I deleting this? The characterization, the situations,
alot of it is forced or rushed. It just needs SO many things altered.
BUT, White Wolf told me that I really oughta put this to the FFML, at the
very least, before it becomes cyber-dust. Well, even though I am putting
this to the ffml, it IS gonna be cyber-dust.
I understand there's a few of you out there that... well... 'collect' beta
versions of fics. Enjoy! =) 'cause after this posting, this thing is
history. (Well, most of it.)
If you think there's parts that DON'T need to be changed, tell me.
Telling me what DOES need to be changed is, at this point, redundant,
since I'm changing almost all of it to begin with.
To give you an idea of HOW TPOH parts 1-5 will differ IN THE FUTURE from
what you're going to read NOW...
-Ranma and Akane shalt be nicer to each other, although in their
own special, bickering, way.
-Ryoko's eventual employment at King's cafe, altered TOTALLY
-Manami's relationship with Gosunkgi, TOTALLY altered.
-the Kings' Cafe social group will be modified.
-Akari will be moving to Nerima.
-A Martial Artist Tournament will be added, with Ryouga trying to get out
of Ranma's shadow and come out victorious finally.
-Ukyou's gonna have more men after her.
-Kuno & Ryo-M's odd new aura will be fully explained.
-if an area seems rushed through, I'm probbably gonna either delete it or
expand on it.
That is all.
-RpM
p.s. Gaffney, don't worry. The Akari bits are safe.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
UNDER SEVERE RECONSTRUCTION
part 1...
This is a story about a couple of kids in Nerima...
Actually, it's about two of them in particular. They live together, go
to school together, argue sometimes, and a few people have their
suspicions as to the actual nature of their relationship. For years it
was Ranma and Akane's story, with the whole of Nerima seemingly revolved
around their lives. Actually, little did they suspect that it was because
of the very nature of Nerima that they were the center of all the
strangeness. But nothing lasts forever, and the center of Nerima's odd
sort of lifestyle found someone else to pick on.
Ryouga.
This is his story.*
------
*actually, it's been his story for a while now. Go back and read
The More Things Change, it explains everything :p
------
It was the third week of their hospital stay since the disasterous
fight involving the Kunos, the Muhoshins, Gosunkugi, Tsubasa in a
ridiculously large mech, Happosai, bombs, a gas main, a fuel truck, and a
power line.
The first week was incredibly unbearable, with everyone packed into the
same room. Riots and bickering were common every day. The second week
brought some relief, as most of the others were released. The remaining
few were Ranma, Ryouga, and Kuno.
And how well did those three get along? Well...
Kuno peered from out the windows, a grin creeping unto his face. "Ah,
rejoice, angels in heaven! Rejoice, and sing of love's sweet melody! My
goddess cometh!"
"Ranma," growled Ryouga, "DON'T insult her this time." He punctuated
his statement by pointing to the various dents in the room caused by
either wild swinging mallets or wildly thrown Ranma.
"Hey, it ain't my fault she's violent!" hissed Ranma.
"Saotome, you had best keep thy tongue pure and thy speech kind towards
the fair Akane Tendo on this day, else I shall show thee the full vengence
of the house of Kuno!"
"Shut up, Kuno!" both Ranma and Ryouga yelled.
A few minutes later Akane and Ukyo came in with baskets.
"Ryouga, Ranma, hi!" Akane waved to Ryouga and sat next to Ranma.
"Akane Tendo!!! Come to me my love!!!" Kuno tried to spring out of
his bed, but the casts and restraints held him back. With that option
taken away, he ranted.
"Ranchan, lost boy, hope you guys are feelin' better." Ukyo sat in a
chair next to Ryouga, although by the look of it, she wasn't too
enthusiastic one way or another about being with him.
"Don't call me that," muttered Ryouga.
"Jeez, just kidding."
Kuno continued to rant on various things, of the weather and the
godesses, and the Devil Saotome, but by now they were used to it. It was
much like elevatir music, or background noise.
"Guess what we brought?" Akane smiled and held up her basket.
Ranma turned pale. <Oh no... not... not...>
"I made lunch!" She cheerfully
"You tryin' to make me stay here longer?!?" yelled Ranma.
*WHAP*
"Yes! Smite him my love!" cheered Kuno.
The two of them began a loud tirade of yells, neither of them really
listening to the other, while Kuno ranted more on the vulgar habits of the
one named Saotome.
Ukyo sighed. "Ranchan, ya never learn."
"No kidding," muttered Ryouga.
"Oh, by the way," said Ukyo as she handed Ryouga a container, "I
brought these for ya. Just thought y'might be sick of hospital food,
that's all. No big deal."
"Um, thanks." as Ryouga took the lunch, his hands went slightly over
hers, and they both suddenly jerked their hands away.
"Well, um, seeya later Ryouga."
"Yeah, later Ucc.. er.. Ukyo."
Outside the hospital, Ukyo waved goodbye to Akane and walked off to her
resteraunt, a frown on her face. It was kind of lonely at the resteraunt.
She'd gotten used to Ryouga helping her out every day there, and being
alone just wasn't as comfortable as it used to be. For a moment, a short,
small, moment, she wondered about him... and her. But that idea was
tossed out quickly. From all the times she tried to get him together with
Akane, she knew two things. One, he was wishy-washy, and two, he was
distracted with the stupidest of ease. Besides, she thought, she'd had
enough of the dating game, wasting so much of her life on it, and on a
boy that didn't love her. <Ryouga's a friend, and that's all I need.>
A few minutes later, Ryouga was staring down at Ukyo's lunch. It was
some of her delux okonomiyaki. He sighed. <Nice of her to do that.> At
the moment, she was the closest friend he'd ever had. She knew just about
everything about him, and helped him out when times were bad. And for a
moment, just a moment, he thought that they might be something more.
Maybe.
He put that thought aside, though, and effectively shut off the very
small nagging voice that suggested it. He didn't need a relationship, not
now. He was still feeling somewhat hurt from when Akane finally dedicated
herself to Ranma. Was he still in love with Akane? There was a part of
him that would always love her, but there was no longer the intense
infatuation that there once was. However, the whole experience made him
at the least a little more wary of setting his hopes on anyone.
Ukyo was his friend, probbably his best friend, and for the moment, he
was entirely content with that. She made great okonomiyaki too.
Ranma hobbled out of bed and sat next to Ryouga.
Ryouga narrowed his eyes. "What do -you- want, Ranma."
Ranma suddenly looked very serious. "Ryouga, y'know, we've known each
other for a long time."
"Huh?"
"I feel... like I've known you forever."
"The feeling's mutual," grumbled Ryouga.
"And I just wanted t'say... I love you, man!"
Ryouga edged a little away from Ranma, staring at his rival with
bulging eyes.
Then realization hit him.
"Ranma, you're not getting my okonomiyaki."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lord of the Shadoloo* sat in his command chair, dissapointed.
He'd given Ryo Muhoshin the Power, in hopes that he'd cause some
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, the staff just used various
synonyms of the word "Boss."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
<That's right> 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."
Gosunkugi finally managed to get his vision cleared, and when it was,
he was quite surprised. <I can't be this lucky.>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inside of a recently renovated cafe, a short haired blond lady, clad in
a feminine sort of tuxedo stood behind an old fashoned wooden bar counter
and sighed. It'd been a long time coming, with lots of work for some
shady characters, but she'd finally managed to get out of 'the business'
and start up her own, nice, quiet, safe little cafe in Tokyo. The opening
was a fair success, and since then there have been a constant set of
regulars. It was fascinating seeing it happen, for King. A set of
strangers, that just get to talking one day, and after a few weeks they
become a small circle of friends.
For example, the set of girls sitting at the end of the bar chatting
was a very frequent group. Three of them looked alike from the backside,
with long black hair and very similar heights. The distinction was in the
details. One of them frequently had her hair held by a hairband, another
by a white bow or ribbon of some sort, and the third (who, today, was
missing) had let her hair fall freely. Another thing of note was that one
girl seemed to frequently have clothing with cute piglet motifs on them,
and another usually had a giant metallic spatula. The fourth girl was
easy to spot, as she reminded King of herself. Short tomboyish hair
(although hers was black, instead of King's blond), unisex clothes, and
with an air of confidence.
Today, the group was there again, except one of them was missing...
"Hey, where's Manami?" asked Akari.
"She is kinda 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 been?"
"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 brought him over to the doctor,
I mean I couldn't just leave him there could 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 I am!" Manami finished, smiling and blushing.
"Heeeey," said Ukyo, "am I seeing things or are you blushing?"
"Yeaaah, so who's the boy?" asked Ryoko, grinning.
"Guys, quit it!" Manami couldn't help but blush.
"A-ha! Manami's got a crush!" said Akari.
"So who's the lucky guy?" asked Ryoko.
"Okay, okay! His name is Hikaru Gosunkugi," said Manami.
Ukyo's eyes opened wide.
Ryoko nearly dropped her cards.
"So, what's he like?" asked Akari.
"What's he like? He looks like my brother!" said Ryoko. "Aw, Manami,
you can do better than that."
"Hey, Gos is a nice guy!" replied Ukyo.
"All I'm sayin' is that it's creepy," muttered Ryoko. "I'm glad I've
got my Ryouga!"
"He's a nice guy, yeah," said Ukyo quietly.
"You know, I've never seen this Ryouga guy yet," said Manami, "even
though I've been here for four weeks."
"You just keep on missing him, weird luck," guessed Akari.
"He's a sweetheart!" beamed Ryoko.
"Even if he's pig-headed sometimes," said Ukyo quietly.
"What's wrong with being like a pig?" asked Akari.
"Akari, you're weird," said Manami.
"A little stubornness is okay," said Ryoko.
"He always gets lost," continued Ukyo.
"Y'think that's a genetic thing?" wondered Ryoko.
"What's wrong with pigs?" asked Akari.
"Well they're filthy, and noisy, and..." answered Manami.
"And then there's the way he snores loudly, jeez it's a miracle I get a
good night's sleep with him around." Ukyo sighed and took a sip of her
cola. Then she noticed that the other girls had stopped what they were
doing and were looking at -her-.
"What, is it something I said?"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a place on no map, but that didn't make it non-existent. It had
grass, plenty of it, although it never seemed to need mowing. And all
along the vast grassy plain, there were large, tall, very shady trees.
Under one of them, several people sat. They were enjoying the breeze,
either climbing the tree, sitting down on blankets, or just floating
(these were the showoffs). They were of many ages, and many styles of
dress, in general it seemed to be a communal sort of thing.
One of them, dressed in a simple t-shirt and slacks, was kneeling down
next to a little girl. She was possibly four, maybe five years old, with
locks of dark brown hair tied up in two ponytails. The center of her hair
was marked with a small streak of white. At the moment, she had a small
glowing ball of pink light inbetween her hands.
"Hey, look!" said one of them, "Skeride-chan's learning fast, eh?"
"Good going, Skeride-chan!" said one of them, patting her on the head.
She grinned with intense pride.
Meanwhile, elsewhere By The Trees...
"How's that Gosunkugi doing?" one of them asked.
"Who?"
"The one over here," he turned a palm upwards, and a small image of
several glowing blue strands appeared in his palm. In one strand, a small
arrow was blinking, with the words 'G-287' at one end of the arrow, and a
small red dot at the other.
"The one we gave a book to? He's doing fine. A little slow, but then
we all started off a bit slow."
"True, true."
They sighed. One of them looked at the little girl, who was now
producing a shower of bubbles from nowhere, which was itself causing
general panic.
"What a little troublemaker," one of them said, grinning.
"Speaking of troublemakers... anybody ever find out where our rogue is
nowadays?"
"No, lost track of him."
"I just hope he doesn't interefere with G-287's world... it's been a
while since we've nad a new inductee, and G-287 is getting close."
In the distance, a figure was trapped in a pinkish balloon. Two boys
stood behind the little girl, who was now giggling, and chided, "Ske-chan,
how many times have we told you not to do that...."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDNOTE- Megafic cameo
MAKE THIS BETTER
He couldn't sleep.
Ryo Muhoshin, sprawled on the floor of the Muhoshin apartment, staring
at the ceiling, just couldn't sleep.
Was it the several cups of espresso he had earlier? The vietnamese
coffee? The Jolt Cola. He didn't think so.
Ryo got up, put on some black pants and a grey t-shirt, took his
umbrella just in case... and snuck out of the apartments very carefully.
An hour later, he found himself strolling through the park. How he
ended up there, he didn't know. He just felt strange that night.
Sitting on the park bench, he mulled over his current situation.
First of all, the Unorthodox Weaponry School of Martial Arts was now
legally dead. That meant that there wasn't much of a point to killing
Ryouga now.
No... there was. He hated him. That was plenty of motivation.
But after he killed Ryouga, what then?
That was a problem... at the moment, his life didn't have much of a
point to it. He was criminally inclined, fairly intelligent, but his main
trade was of the martial arts. In a modern world like that, if you fit
that description, you'd have to be a villian or something...
To take his mind off of those matters, he did what he usually did in
these times, which was concentrate on his martial arts. One thing was
nagging at him, from the fight with Ryouga at the bridge. He felt stupid
about one matter... the ki-charged punch. The solution to that problem
was very obvious now that he thought about it. Gloves, any kind, really,
were needed. That way, he could still tap into his ki without the
umbrella, should that unfortunate event happen again.
<First thing tomorrow, buy black leather gloves.>
He sat down on a bench, sighed, and sagged into the seat.
<Now if only I could get to sleep.>
Ryo got up, stretched, looked up where an oval of azure light
suddenly burst above him. This, he figured, was first proof that he
wasn't getting enough sleep.
He looked up into the light. It was... rather relaxing, actually.
Sort fo hypnotic.
<Hm... swirling blue *UGH*>
=thud=
The *UGH* was caused by the sudden impact of a person that fell out of
the portal, and right on top of Ryo.
EDNOTE
In a quick second, Ryo took stock of the situation. Something
approximately five feet and six inches tall, somewhat light in weight.
Appearance? Unknown. First things first... get this idiot off. Before
he could begin to push, the stranger sprung away and began dusting off his
clothing. Ryo got up soon after, slowly, eyeing the offending stranger
carefully. It was dark, but something was familiar about him.
Ryo decided to settle matters in the usual manner. He drew out his
umbrella/blade and swung it at the person's throat, intending only to hold
it in front of him. To his surprise, the stranger blocked the swing with
a nearly identical umbrella.
Finally, the person spoke.
"Oh, it's you."
"You know me?" asked Ryo, stepping back cautiously, getting his
umbrella into a defensive position.
The stranger lifted a fist to his own face, and it suddenly glowed
with ki energy. "I am you."
Ryo squinted from the brightness at first, then saw the details. Same
height, same hair, same looks, and with leather gloves on his hands. But
two of him, reason dictated, was impossible. This was either Gosunkugi,
or a really strange dream.
"Sure?" Ryo charged forward and let loose with a barrage of slashes,
swipes, and stabs, which were all blocked perfectly. The other Ryo then
retaliated with a rush of attacks of his own, which were all too familiar
to Ryo, and were blocked perfectly.
"Proof enough?" asked the other Ryo.
He had to admit, whoever this was, he knew his attacks perfectly.
"How about..." said the other Ryo. Then there was a flash of blue
light and another Ryo appeared next to him.
".... this?" he finished.
Ryo opened his eyes wide in surprise. He was about to ask the first
'Ryo' how, but then he dissapeared in another flash of blue light, leaving
behind the other 'Ryo'.
"Neat trick, hm?" said the stranger with Ryo's face.
Ryo stepped back, alarmed, and fell into a defensive stance. "Who are
you, and why do you look like me?" he asked in a threatening voice.
"I -am- you."
Ryo had a look of doubt on his face. "Gosunkugi, I am not amused."
"I AM NOT GOSUNKUGI!"
<He acts like me> thought Ryo. "Then how-"
"Time travel."
"You're me from my future?"
"No... I don't think so."
"Then-"
"Think 'alternate reality'."
"Then you..." stared Ryo.
"Just call me... the Time Jumper. I'm sure it'll make the conversation
less awkward, yes?"
Ryo nodded. <Time Jumper? How corny.>
"And sorry about the rough entrance," the other Ryo replied, "I
hadn't planned on that."
"Right... okay... so, what brings you here?" he asked.
The other Ryo paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "By any
chance... are you familiar with someone named Ishido?"
"Ishido... Ishido... no, I can't say that I am. Why do you ask?"
"Just... keep that name in mind." He turned away, frowning. <He
doesn't know Ishido yet... I've come too early. No information to be
learned here.>
"Is he a threat to us?"
"I'm not sure yet... but I think he'll meet -you-. Just be wary of
amnesiatic martial artists, and..."
"And?"
"and.. what is the current relationship status of Ranma Saotome?"
"Odd question," said Ryo.
"Well?"
"He's seeing... what was her name... ah, Akane Tendo."
"And Ryouga, does he currently have relations with Ukyo Kuonji?"
"Kuonji, Kuonji... woman with the exagerated spatula, yes?"
Time Jumper Ryo nodded.
"He's living with her at the moment. I suspect there's something
there, but it's only a hunch."
"If you fail to kill Ryouga, his GREAT-GRANDCHILD may be a nuisance to
us. Ratiko, I think his name is."
"How is he-"
"He's a time jumper like me."
"Oh. Doesn't he get lost?"
"He did."
"Figures."
Ryo was examining his 'other' carefully. The leather gloves
that he wore was a good indicator of things to come. Ryo DID plan on
wearing gloves to utilize his ki better. And then there was the matter of
this Ryo's umbrella. The blade was... not quite the same.
"I see you've made changes to the umbrella."
The Time Jumper paused for a moment again, thinking things over.
<There's a certain risk of Paradox here... oh well.> "It's for the
Bakusai-ten-satsu technique."
"Don't you mean bakusai-ten-ketsu?"
The Time Jumper grinned. "No."
"Oh, so we've found a way to make the breaking point work on people,
have we?"
"See the needle-type tip at the end of the blade?"
"What about it?"
"Think about it... breaking point works on...."
"Rocks," said Ryo.
"And some rocks are made out of... calcium, right?"
Ryo nodded. "Oh... wait, I think I see..."
"Do you?"
"All that muscle and skin dampends and alters the pressure point too
much, so it doesn't work. Is that right?"
Time Jumper Ryo nodded. "Exactly."
"Ah, I knew there had to be some way to apply the technique to people."
The time jumper paused momentarily, as if checking for some event to
happen. <No great time/space paradox disaster happening here. Hm... so
what IS the status of 'me' here, anyways?>
"Are we still hunting after Ryouga?"
Ryo nodded, but then said, "yes, I am, but..."
"But?"
"What after that?"
"Pardon?" Time jumper Ryo blinked.
"Life seems... pointless, really, once that's done. Surely there's
more to life."
The Time Jumper shrugged. "Well, life, liberty, the pursuit of power
and money, I suppose. You just need to look around, it's out there."
"Oh? Like what?"
"Can't really say, but if I was you, I'd start asking about... well...
time travel."
"Why?"
"Because of this," said 'future Ryo', holding up a small, battered
silver locket. He opened it up and showed it to Ryo. "Small silver
mirror inside, probbably the source of it's power."
Ryo stared at the locket. It seemed to be glowing.
"And now, I must run." Suddenly, 'future Ryo' was engulfed in a flash
of blue light, which lingered in the air for a moment longer, then
dissapeared.
Ryo Muhoshin stood alone in the park, late at night. Not a person in
sight. The breeze blew by. Rather annoying insects made loud noises.
"Strange dream," muttered Ryo, and wearily made his way home.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLOT OUTLINE
Ryouga/Ukyo 'date' of sorts.
Locations:
Movies, hm... Ghost In The Shell
-encounter Kodachi/Ryoko
-Ryouga runs off, dragging Ukyo. Get lost. *WHAP* "baka!"
Nightclub, //no martial artists// joke
-encounter Ryo, small skermish, Ryo/Pig incident.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a remarkably slow evening in Ucchan's. Ukyo and Ryouga sat at
seperate tables while reading over newspapers. One elderly gentleman was
finishing off a delux okonomiyaki, but otherwise, the place was empty.
Ukyo sighed.
"Hm?" wondered Ryouga
"What?" asked Ukyo.
"Why the sigh?"
"Oh," said Ukyo, pointing to her 'Tokyo Chronicle' newspaper,
"there's this movie I wanna see, that's all."
"Oh? What's the movie you wanna see?"
"Ghost in the Shell."
Ukyo nodded then resumed reading.
"Say, um..." Ryouga twiddled his thumbs as his mouth stalled out.
"Um?" Ukyo looked at Ryogua curiously.
"Wanna go?"
"Go where?"
"To the movies?" Ryouga wasn't looking hopeful, but he felt that there
was no harm asking.
"What? But we've still gotta keep the resteraunt open!" said Ukyo,
although it showed that the idea was tempting to her.
"It's a slow day today, we might as well close!" argued Ryogua.
"I dunno..." Ukyo looked on the edge of surrendering. A smile was
creeping unto her face.
"We deserve a break, don't we?" said Ryouga.
"We have had shorter hours lately, y'know, haven't worked as hard as we
used to," replied Ukyo.
"Yeah, but do we ever go anywhere?"
"No... not really." Ukyo sighed.
Meanwhile, the old man finished off his okonomiyaki and payed his bill.
Before exiting the door, he stopped in front of Ukyo. "Miss, mind if I
tell you something?"
Ukyo blinked. "Um, sure."
"I've been eating at your establishment since you opened, and I must
say that this is the best okonomiyaki I've ever had, anywhere."
Ukyo swelled with pride. "Thank you!"
"And," contunued the old man, "you should take a break, really." He
patted Ukyo's hand.
"You really think so?" asked Ukyo.
"Yes, you deserve it, for at least a day." Then the old man grinned,
"and you and that fine young man over there look good together." He
chuckled then strode out the door, leaving behind a stunned and badly
blushing Ukyo and Ryouga.
"Um... we'll go to the movies," started the still-blushing Ukyo, "but
it ain't like a date or nothing."
"Of course not!" said an equally blushing Ryouga.
*
Ryo stared at the ceiling of his apartment.
He was bored.
His little sister, Kyoko, hovered nearby, twirling her scissors.
"Haircut?" she asked idly.
"What did I say last time?" asked Ryo, in a somewhat bad mood.
"No?"
"Right."
"I'm bored!" whined Kyoko.
"Go play with the Kanrinrin-san's dog."
"Kanrinrin-san took him to the vet!" whined Kyoko.
"Go bug the ronin upstairs, everyone else does."
"He's out!"
"How about the neighbor's kid, room 1?" suggested Ryo.
"He's gross."
Ryo sighed. "Come on then."
Kyoko blinked. "Hm? Where we goin'?"
"Just taking a walk."
*
In a dark movie theatre, two young people were sitting there, trying to
sort out exactly what they were watching. There were also other matters
to take care of.
*WHAP* "Wake up, dummy! Snap outta it!"
Ryouga woke up, feeling a little light-headed. "What? What?"
"Ya gonna pass out EVERY time they show a naked body? Jeez." Ukyo
sighed and rolled her eyes briefly, then started wiping off the blood that
came out from Ryouga's nose.
"Hey, I can do this myself!" Ryogua scowled and took the paper napkin
from Ukyo and started cleaning himself up.
"What a wimp," muttered Ukyo.
*
Ryo sat in the park bench, looking over his umbrella for lack of
anything else to do. Nearby, Kyoko was whirling around the playground in
a frenzy, enjoying herself immensely, swinging on swings, sliding on
slides, and giving sqirrels interesting new haircuts.
He yawned. So peaceful... and quiet...
"HEY! LET GO!"
"NO! GEORGETTE ALL MINE!"
Ryo turned his attention back to the playground, where his little
sister was apparetly fighting with another little girl over the possesion
of Kyoko's oversized scissors.
"LET GO LET GO LET GO!"
"YOU LET GO! IT'S MINE MINE MINE!"
Ryo sigh and turned away, intending to take a nap, with a light grin
on his face. Before he could fall asleep, he heard a loud shriek and sat
upright, wondering what happened.
Kyoko was standing alone in the playground, grinning a silly grin,
holding her large scissors in one hand, and a large mass of hair in her
other.
Ryo blinked.
"Got her?" he asked.
"Got'er!" Kyoko smiled happily and waved around the hair.
"Good girl," he said, and went back to take his nap. Then he froze
in mid-blink and said, "Kyoko-chan..."
"Yes?"
"Do NOT cut my hair."
"Awwwww. Pleeeeease?"
*
Ryouga reached for some popcorn.
Ukyo reached for some popcorn.
A moment later, the tub-o-popcorn dropped to the floor amongst a flood
of apologies by both sides, and some low-level blushing ensued.
It was the sort of thing that was horribly cliche'd, but it didn't help
lower the amount of embarrasment.
*
Kodachi tossed aside a folder and sighed. It had been a very busy time
as of late, but now she was free once more to pursue whatever she wanted,
which was, at the moment, either Ranma or Ryouga, she could not decide
which. Kodachi hmmed for a moment, putting chin in palm, pondering how to
go about things. <How did brother dear ever decide whom to chase after
first?>
Then the solution presented itself to her. She'd just go about the
town, and whoever she saw first, was going to have _all_ of her loving
attention for the night.
*
Ryoko looked at the door to Ucchan's, a bit puzzled.
<Strange, Ukyo closed shop already?>
"Ukyo? Ryogua? Hello?" She knocked on the door for a bit, sprang to
the roof and went to the back, looked around in the backyard, then sighed
and walked off. <I wonder where they went?>
*
Ryo leisurely strolled down the street, his little sister hopping
about, full of far too much energy (in his opinion) and tying up her
ill-gotten hair samples into a locket of sorts.
"C'mon, meet the neighbors!" prodded Kyoko-chan.
"I'd rather not," muttered Ryo. "Just go ahead and go home." Ryo
patted her on the head. "You can visit the manager again, you two get
along well, right?"
"Yup!" bubbled Kyoko.
"There you go. Now go on in. I'll be back later."
"Where ya goin'?" asked Kyoko, looking at him with curiosity-filled
Kawaii-Boosted eyes.
"Target practice, K-chan, target practice."
"Okaaaaay!" Kyoko zoomed into the apartment complex, giggling happily
and waving around the azusa-hair that she sheared off earlier. "Miss
Manager! I'm baaaaak!"
Ryo waited until she dissapared inside the building, and walked away as
he heard voices drift from within.
"Kyoko-chan, how are you doing today?"
"Fine! I was with my brother!"
"Oh, what's this in your hand?"
"It's hair," said Kyoko, matter-of-factly, "I scalped someone!"
*
Another night, another bunch of failed would-be boyfriends, thought
Akari as she observed her pet sumo-pig finish off the last of the crowd of
boys that he attacked. Nobody left standing. She sighed.
<Isn't there SOMEONE out there for me?> she wondered sadly.
*
Ryouga and Ukyo sat in their seats, staring blankly at the screen as
the credits rolled by.
Ryouga slowly looked into Uyko's eyes.
Ukyo slowly turned towards Ryouga.
"Ukyo..."
"Ryouga?"
"I didn't understand that ending at all," said Ryouga, "did you get
any of it?"
"Well... kinda." Ukyo sipped on her soda thoughtfully for a moment,
then said, "let's see... um, the two personalities, in the end, merged
into one, new personality, but stuck in the woman's head, who was rebuilt
into the woman's head, which was stuck onto some spare android, which then
wandered off to find it's destiny... or something like that."
"Er..." Ryouga still looked confused. "Okaaaay.... then who was
section 6?"
"Some other section of the govornment. Doesn't matter."
"That was... what's her name... Kusanagi's department, right?"
"Nooo, that's Department 9."
"I thought Department 9 was the bad guys?"
"No! The Foreign Ministry was the bad guys!"
"Ah... right... why?"
Ukyo frowned. Actually, she wasn't 100% sure herself, but she was sure
it would work itself out after a few hours of thought. "I'll sketch ya a
diagram later. C'mon, let's go."
The two left the movie theatre, entering the cool, breezy evening, and
stretched a bit, experiencing the universal sensation of Movie Theatre
Stiffness (you know the feeling, after watching a long movie and finally
getting up only to have your body become unstable) and rested briefly by
the wall of the building.
Ukyo sighed and closed her eyes, tilting her head back, and let the
breeze blow through her face, lifting her hair slightly. Ryouga couldn't
help but look at her, just mesmerized. She might've passed as a boy in
the past, but now, as she was maturing, and finally accepting she was a
girl... at that moment he couldn't imagine her any other way... and for a
moment, just a moment, she was the only girl in the world.
Ukyo noticed his attention and turned away, blushing, but with a small
bit of a smile. <What's he staring at?> she wondered.
He thought he heard someone, and felt something tugging at him...
"Ryouga-chan!"
Ryouga froze, turning around slowly. That was _not_ Ukyo's voice.
Those were not Ukyo's arms that had latched around him either.
Ukyo stiffened suddenly and her smile quickly faded, replaced by a look
of definite embarrasment.
Ryouga stuttered, "R-ryoko, um, w-what're you doing here?"
"Ryouga! Ukyo! Hi! What'cha two doing?"
"Um, we, ah," stumbled Ryouga.
"There's this movie, um, break, well," floundered Ukyo.
"Just taking a, uh, break," finally managed Ryouga.
"Yeah, aheh, just taking a break from running the store!" agreed Ukyo.
"Oh, that's good. You shouldn't work too hard, Ryouga-chan! You too,
Ukyo!" Then Ryoko pouted. "But you should've invited me too!"
"Um, er," stuttered Ryouga.
"Well, we, um," tried Ukyo.
"It's okay, I know you weren't able to reach me, I was out all day."
Ryoko snuggled up next to Ryouga, while Ukyo frowned slightly and Ryouga
started sweating, badly.
Ryouga also forgot one rule of the universe: it can always get worse.
"OH-HOHOHOHOHO! Ryogua-sama! I've found you!"
Ryouga cringed.
Ukyo sighed.
Ryoko scowled. "Ryouga's MY boyfriend, who the hell are you?!?!"
Before any of them could answer, several bouquets of flowers landed on
the floor and began smoking. "So, another would claim my Ryogua-sama as
her own? Very well then, PREPARE TO DIE!" Within a second, the whole
street was clouded with thick gas. From above, Kodachi in a gas mask and
leotard lept into the fray, whipping around indiscriminantly.
Ryouga frowned. This wasn't the way tonight was supposed to go. All
he wanted was a nice, non-violent day with Ucc... his _friend_. Everyone
began to cough and gag in reaction to the fumes. Without thinking, he
grabbed Ukyo by the hand, held his breath, and ran blindly in one
direction.
Ryouga blazed through the streets, running blindly and couging due to
the gas attack from Kodachi's bouquets. Finally he stopped, partially
because he was tired, but mostly because Ukyo booted him in the head.
"IDIOT! What have you done???" yelled Ukyo.
"I got us away from Kodachi!" countered Ryouga.
"And left Ryoko alone back there against her!"
"Oh, um..." Ryouga began to look somewhat guilty. "We'll just go
back then, okay?"
"Ryoguaaaa!"
"What? What?"
Ukyo sighed. "Ryouga, WHERE ON EARTH ARE WE NOW?!?!?!"
Ryouga looked around. "Hey! Where'd all these big trees come from and
where'd Tokyo go????"
*
Meanwhile, back in Nerima...
The citizenry, once they got clear of the gas attack and settled down
to get a good view of the fight (fights in Nerima are considered Free
Entertainment, and it's common for a sudden brawl to get a large
audience).
They were very dissapointed.
Ryoko, tangled in ribbons, coughing, wheezing, and somewhat
disoriented, had her hands around Kodachi's throat.
Kodachi, who had her gas mask knocked off, was wrapped in an amazingly
long yo-yo string, coughing, wheezing, and had her hands around Ryoko's
throat.
Hiroshi and Daisuke passed by, noticing the squabbling pair of ladies
and the crowd that was watching them.
Hiroshi went up to one person in the crowd and asked, "good fight?"
The man frowned, "feh, it started out alright, but then they both
started chokin' on some poison fumes and such."
Daisuke shook his head sadly. "So it degenerated into a typical
cat-fight betweem women, with little martial arts prowess shown?"
The man nodded. "An' they're still going at it now." Even as they
spoke, the crowd was slowly dispersing, dissapointed.
Hiroshi shook his head. "No technique."
Daisuke sighed. "No technique at all."
*
Ryouga and Ukyo did the only thing they could do in their position
(which was Being Lost, Ryogua Style), and strolled leisurely in a
direction that seemed right. In general, it seemed to be a good evening
for a stroll. The sunset was at it's waning moments, and darkness already
was settled into the streets.
Unseen to them both, a pair of eyes that were tracking them leapt onto
a nearby rooftop. Inside the house, there were yells of "Dammit, they're
at it again!" and "My roof! My roof!" but any veteran martial artist
tends to ignore this out of habit. Somewhere in the dark, that person
grinned.
<Target practice, ne?>
Ryouga blinked. He looked around cautiously, with the martial artist
instinct within him sending warning signals. Ukyo, being a martial artist
as well, also took a moment to glance around.
"You get the feeling..." said Ryouga.
"We're being watched?" added Ukyo.
They took a moment to look around.
Nothing.
Then Ryouga spotted it. In the dim moonlight, he saw a shadow on the
ground zooming towards him. "What the..." He looked up and saw Ryo
zooming through the air, using his umbrella as a glider.
Ryo frowned, realizing the element of surprise was gone. "Hibiki
prepare to die!" He snapped his umbrella shut, which drastically changed
his aerodynamics, sending him rocketing down. He aimed his bladed
umbrella at Ryouga's head.
"Ryouga look out!" yelled Ukyo.
"Ukyo, get back!" Ryouga stepped protectively in front of Ukyo and
blocked Ryo's incoming strike. Then, a flury of slashes, parrys, and
feints ensued while Ukyo backed away and watched. She would've helped
out, but knew Ryouga was the proud sort. If he got in trouble, then she'd
help.
"What *CLANG* do you *SLASH* want now?? *SWISH*" asked Ryouga.
"Just *SLASHSLASH* a little *OOF* exercise," answered Ryo.
Meanwhile, a block away...
Akari rode atop her gigantic sumo pig, sad that another day had passed,
with no worthy suitor in sight. "I think you're just too tough," she
sighed, as she petted the pig on the forehead. It grunted with pride.
Then, in by way of some sort of predatory instinct, sensed worthy foes
nearby and charged like a pig possessed.
"Katsu-nishiki! Slow down!" pleaded Akari, but it was too late for
that.
Ryouga took a step back, surprised when Ryo's gloved fists suddenly lit
up with ki energy. The effect was nearly dazzling, as Ryo swung
ki-charged punch after punch, mixed in with occasional ki-charged umbrella
hook swipes, towards Ryouga. None made it through Ryouga's defenses, but
the punches that he blocked definitely did sting.
Ryo allowed himself a slight grin as he saw how much his new attack was
surprising his foe. Of course, this sort of ki usage was incredibly
draining, and he was sure he wouldn't last much longer, but Ryo was
gambling that Ryouga would be thrown off stride enough to leave some sort
of opening, one that he was ready to strike at with deadly force.
And then he saw his opening, a clear shot to Ryouga's chest. It was
there, if he reacted fast enough.
If only he wasn't a typical Nerima Martial Artist.
"AH HA!" he yelled, driving a flaming kick towards Ryouga's heart. The
yell was enough to alert Ryouga, who managed to grab Ryo's attack by the
ankle and turn it into an over-the-shoulder throw.
Ryo's vision became a blur as he was suddenly lifted off his foot and
swung violently over Ryouga's shoulder. His face was flying towards the
pavement in what was looking to be a guaranteed painful union of flesh and
dirt.
Katsu-nishiki charged towards the dueling martial aritsts, ignoring the
fact that they were both preoccupied at the moment. His owner, however,
had thought otherwise.
"Katsu-nishiki, no! They're in the middle of a fight!" yelled Akari,
struggling to stay on top of the titan pig. She saw that a collision was
imminent, and closed her eyes, expecting the worst.
Instead, her pig came to an abrupt and sudden halt.
Ryo gritted his teeth. He'd apparently just hit something (a something
that was quite rural, by the smell of it) very hard, and head first.
The pig shuddered, trying not to fall. It had its pride.
It fell anyways.
Ryo didn't. Just like the pig, he had his pride too. He just happened
to have a thicker skull. "Owwww." He stumbled around holding his forehead
with a hand, looking somewhat upset and in discomfort. He held the
umbrella weakly with the other hand. "Damnation, what was that..."
Ryouga blinked, surprised at the sudden intrusion into their duel. He
watched, confused, as Ryo dropped his umbrella and staggerd about, finally
leaning on an unconscious giant pig for support.
"Well, that was surprising," mumbled Ukyo. Then she noticed something
odd was going on. The faint strings of violins could be heard. There
seemed to be a spotlight on Akari, and one on Ryo. She was staring at him
with adoration, while he was looking in her general direction merely by
coincidence (his vision was, at the moment, reduced to really big blurs)
while rubbing a sore spot on his head. Ukyo looked back and forth between
the two, and sensed something Not Good was up. She grabbed Akari,
shattering the spell she was under. "Akari! Snap outta it!"
Ryo, whose headache was getting slowly better, decided that enough was
enough for one night and prepared to sprint off (or stagger) across the
rooftops again (while usually ignoring the protests from the residents
inside). For a moment, he thought he heard a girl yell "wait!"... but he
was sure that wasn't aimed at him. Then he took a step forward, tripped
over the giant pig's foot, and collapsed on the pavement.
"Oh my!" said Akari, quickly going to Ryo's side. She placed his head
on her lap and gently massaged his forehead. He was too dazed to protest.
Akari wasn't quite sure what just happened herself, but she suspected that
she had her future husband right in front of her. After all, he took
Katsu-nishiki down with _one_ blow. Or did he... there would have to be
some clarification.
The expresson on Akari's face was something that looked familiar to
Ryouga. It should have, since it was alot like how he used to stare at
Akane sometimes. "What's with her?" he asked Ukyo, who was busy trying to
get Akari's attention.
"HELLO? HEY!!!" Ukyo waved a hand in front of Akari's eyes, then
shook her gently by the shoulder.
"Hm? Oh? Oh, hi Ukyou!" Akari seemed a bit dazed. "Can you tell
me... what just happened?"
"Seems Ryouga hit your pig with this guy," said Ukyou.
"So," wondered Akari, "technically speaking... who beat my pig?"
"Beat... your pig?" asked Ukyou. She tried to read Akari's expression,
but wasn't sure if it was sadness or something else that she was seeing.
Ryouga sensed blame here, and he didn't want any of it. "It wasn't my
fault! Really, it wasn't!"
This bit of panic-induced whining managed to wake someone up.
"SHUT UP!" snapped Ryo. "Ow..."
"Are you... are you okay?" asked Akari.
Ryo, his eyes still closed, said, "was that a pig... I hit?"
Akari blinked. "You mean... you..."
"If... it wasn't... in the way... I wouldn't... have hit it."
"You beat Katsu-nishiki?" asked Akari, sounding more exited.
"His fault, see?" said Ryouga.
"Beat?" asked Ryo, his eyes still shut. It hadn't dawned on him yet
that his head was resting on a girl's lap. This either demonstrated
exactly how dazed he was, or how much he just doesn't pay attention
sometimes.
"Is the pig..." said Ryo, "... still standing?"
"Um... no," said Akari.
"I suppose... I beat him then." At this point, finally, Ryo opened his
eyes. And then he froze, as several facts finally registered. First, his
head was resting on the lap of an incredibly... well... for lack of a
better term... cute girl. Secondly, she was gently massaging his temples.
Third, she was smiling, very happily, at -him-.
This was something altogether new, for Ryo anyways.
"Oh... h-hello... M-madame. I'm... ah... Ryo Muhoshin." He struggled
not to blush.
"Um, hi. Akari Unryuu," she said in return.
"Akari, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking," asked Ukyo.
"You know, he is kinda cute," said Akari quietly.
"Y-you think I'm..." stammered Ryo.
"He's _not_ a nice guy, Akari," responded Ukyo in a warning tone. Ryo
shot her the Glare of Death.
"Very polite," said Akari.
"Before he backstabs you," replied Ukyo. "Stop this line of thought
now, Akari. I'm serious."
"He's strong, brave, intelligent," considered Akari.
"A-absolutely right," agreed Ryo.
"He's deceptive, scheming, and cruel," said an increasingly frustrated
Ukyo. "He'll only hurt you."
"You've got some audacity to say that in my face," muttered Ryo. He
turned to Akari and said, "Ignore them, dear." Akari giggled at being
called 'dear', while Ryo slowly got to his feet. What, he wondered, was
there to do next? He'd fought Hibiki... and lost (argh) once more... and
now he had a bit of a headache. It was time to call it a night.
"Well, I'll trouble you nice people no more this night. Adieu." He
shook his head one last time, picked up his umbrella and bowed to them all
in one slow movement, and suddenly leapt up to the rooftops. Meanwhile,
in Ryo's head, the normal, scheming operating system finally returned to
functionality. <Unryuu... Unryuu... I have heard that name before...>
Meanwhile, Ukyou was trying to talk some sense into Akari.
"Why? Why are you even considering him? Tell me that!" she asked.
"Well... he seemed nice," said Akari, "maybe a little skinny, but very
polite, and he did have a pretty thick skull."
"You're kidding," murmered Ukyou.
"And he beat my Katsu-nishiki."
"What?" asked Ukyou.
In case the reader is curious as to exactly what Ryouga was doing at
this point, he decided to sit down nearby and gaze at the stars, as he
often did when he was lost. Women's talk rarely ever interests men, no
matter how important it may be for them to know about it. It's a fatal
flaw in mankind, but such is life.
"So... let me get this straight," said Ukyou. "if Ryouga had beaten...
er... Katsu-nishiki... then you'd be... I mean, you'd want to... you'd
want to be Ryouga's..."
It should be noted at this point, Ryouga finally decided to eavesdrop
on the conversation.
"Grandfather, before he died," said Akari, "he wanted to make sure the
family business stays in good hands. So..."
"Oh," said Ukyou quietly. The wishes of deceased relatives was
something she could respect, normally. But in this case, she felt it had
to be argued against. With a fair amount of tact. While she was thinking
of what to say next, realization dawned on Ryouga.
"You mean," he said, "I was almost your boyfriend?"
"Well, yes," she replied, looking away and blushing.
Ukyou blinked, looking at the two. Then she found herself in the mood
to tease, just a little. "You know... from a certain standpoint, Ryouga
DOES qualify..."
"Hm?" wondered Akari.
"N-now wait a minute," said Ryouga.
"I mean," continued Ukyou, smiling, "if you think along the likes that
Ryo was just a weapon, like a baseball bat, that Ryouga swung AT
Katsu-nishiki, then..."
"Well," said Akari thoughtfully,"I suppose..."
"No way!" yelled Ryouga. "I've got enough problems as it is!"
"That's right," said Ukyou, "he's already got a girlfriend. Isn't that
right, Ryouga?" The lost boy didn't miss the slight edge of anger in her
voice, and it made him wince.
"Hey! I-"
"Oh, that's right," said Akari, "he's Ryoko's boyfriend, isn't he?
Well, then, everything worked out for the best!" Akari smiled with that
conclusion, while Ukyou sighed. She just didn't get it, Ryo wasn't
boyfriend material.
"I'm no- er... it isn't... she's not... *sigh*" Ryouga gave up. No
matter what he said now, somehow he suspected it would make things worse.
"Whatever," he grumbled. "C'mon, let's go home."
"Already?" wondered Ukyou.
"I've... got something to do."
*
"Sorry the evening got ruined like that," mumbled Ryouga. The two of
them moved around the store front of Ucchans, making sure it was locked up
for the night.
"Ruined? What do you mean?" wondered Ukyo.
"Well... running into everybody like that."
"Oh, that?" Ukyo wasn't sure what the problem was. Being in this
neighborhood for the past year made her numb to attacks on dates by
various martial artists. It was something that was expected. "No big
deal."
"But I... I mean, I wanted..." Ryouga twiddled his thumbs, loosing
sight of what it was he was wanting to say.
Ukyou proceeded to lock up the resteraunt while Ryouga mulled in the
middle of the room.
"Say..." she said, "what's really bothering you?"
"Hm?"
"You've been in one of those moods since we met Akari."
"What do you mean, 'one of those moods'?" wondered Ryouga.
"You're sulking."
"I am?"
"Yes," she said, "you are."
"Look," he said, sounding embarrased, "Ryoko and me... we're not..."
Ukyou frowned. "And, ah, why are you telling me this?"
"You... you've just got the wrong idea, that's all."
Ukyou sighed, sitting down next to Ryouga and looked him in the eye.
"Listen, sugar, we both know what happens when you aren't honest about
your feelings towards somebody."
"What do you mean by..."
"Don't be like Ranma," she said, her gaze unwavering. "Understand?"
"I... guess I do. I'll.. talk to her about it."
Ukyou nodded approvingly. "Well... I'm bushed. Guess I'll go to sleep.
G'night Ryouga."
"Yeah, goodnight."
Ukyo headed for her bedroom, then hesitated when she heard the phone
ring. She crept back, silently, and peeked around the corner at the front
register, where the phone was, and where Ryouga picked it up
//Ryouga?//
"Ah... Ryoko?"
//Hi! What happened to you? You dissapeared after I got through
beating up that psychotic weirdo girl.//
"I... ah... got lost. Look, I've gotta..."
//Hey, are you doing anything this Saturday?//
"Ah, Saturday? No. But I..."
//Great! Then WE can go out on a date Saturday, right?//
"Er... a date?! I, er..."
//Great! See you Saturday! Byebye!//
**click**
"A date... oh boy."
Ryouga slowly put down the phone, took a deep breath, then yelled "WHY
DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME!!!"
Unseen and unheard, Ukyo went back to her room with a frown. Her
thoughts were decidedly unkind to the lost boy.
<Spineless Moron! Wimp! Idiot!>
-end-
EDNOTES: move akari to nerima... added to classes
MONDAY MORNING
Ranma got up, half-asleep, and stepped into the living room. Akane was
already there and didn't look very much awake either.
"So, what is it today?" asked Ranma.
"Sumo day."
"Sumo day?"
"Sumo day."
"I hate sumo day."
Much later...
"So, they still do this every morning?" asked Ryouga.
Nabiki nodded casually. "Well, ever since they announced they WOULD go
through with the marrige after all, things got ugly."
"I feel sorry for'em," said Ukyo.
They watched from atop a wall as Ranma and Akane plowed into a horde of
sumo wrestlers.
"And they're even on a schedule too," said Nabiki.
"Schedule?" asked Ukyou.
"Let's see... for this month, it's the Sumo Squad this morning, and the
Tennis Team this afternoon."
A sumo wrestler entered Low Earth Orbit. Another went to the second
floor via Akane Express.
"Hm... Tuesday morning is archery, afternoon is... ah..."
A sumo wrestler was thrown through a window into a room, where, seconds
later, an explosion and purple smoke emerged.
"Oh yeah, Chem Club."
"Them too?" asked Ukyou.
"Yup. And Wednesday it's Akane's Stormtroopers."
"Akane's what?" asked Ryoga.
"Oh, those guys," answered Nabiki, "just a bunch of students. Don't
belong to any club, and their only goal is to date my sis."
"Why," asked Ukyo, "is the whole school so obsessed with Akane?" She
wouldn't admit it, but she was feeling a little jealousy.
"I have no idea," said Nabiki. "AAAnyways, Wednesday morning is the
Hockey Team, Wednesday afternoon is the Baseball Tea-"
"Okay, okay, we get the idea!" said Ukyo.
"How about Kuno?" wondered Ryouga.
The three of them ducked as a sumo wrestler zoomed through the air.
"Kuno-chan? He's up on Friday mornings, along with the kendo squad."
The three watched, slightly bored, as Ranma and Akane dismissed the
last of the Sumo horde for the day.
"Hey! Ranma! Akane! Hurry up, you're gonna be late!" yelled Nabiki.
"See ya later, Nabiki," said Ukyo as she headed out into the hallway
crowd and after Ryouga. "Hey! Ryouga! That's the wrong way! Wait up!"
And so, life resumed in Furinkan High.
The classes passed in a haze, as usual, but the lunch hour was another
matter entirely.
The guys and the girls, as usual, seperated into their seperate little
zones and talked of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness.
And boys.
In particular, Sayuri, Yuka, Akane, Akari, and Ukyou were gathered at a
table, gossiping in general.
"You know, the spring dance is coming up," said Yuka, "I'm so excited!"
"Is Daisuke seeing anybody?" asked Sayuri, "I think I'll ask him."
"Ranma asked you to go already, right?" asked Yuka.
"Well, not yet," answered Akane reluctantly.
"How about you, Ukyo?" asked Akari.
"Hm? What about me?"
"Hasn't Ryoga asked you to the dance yet?"
"WHAT?"
"C'mon," said Yuka, "don't tell me you two aren't an item."
"It's not like that!"
"What's wrong with him? He does look kinda cute," said Akari.
"We're just friends, really!"
"Riiight," said Sayuri. "Well, if he's not gonna take you, I hope he
asks me!"
"Sayuri!" yelled Ukyou.
"Well," said Yuka, "he does look cute."
Meanwhile, somewhere on the boy's side of the lunch zone, Daisuke,
Hiroshi, Ranma, and Ryoga were settled under a tree, digesting and such.
"You watch that game last night? Man, it was great," said Daisuke.
"Man, this is the most disgusting sandwich they've ever made," said
Hiroshi, spitting out some of the caffeteria's fine cuisine.
"Akane must've cooked it," said Ranma, then quickly checked to make
sure that she didn't hear that.
"Speaking of Akane," said Hiroshi, "you DID ask her to the dance, didn't
you?"
"The what?"
"The spring dance! You know, the first dance in a LONG time that Principal
Kuno approved?"
"Che, Principal Kuno'd probbably have us shave our head or somethin'."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, so you've asked Akane, right?" wondered Daisuke.
"I, ah, well, no."
Hiroshi said, "You WANT Akane to pound you, then?"
"No! It's just-"
"Ranma's lucky, though," said Daisuke, "he's got someone to ask."
"How about you, Ryoga?" asked Ranma, hoping to get the spotlight off of
himself, "you gonna ask Ucchan?"
Ryoga blinked. He wasn't used to being a focus of attention. "What?"
"You heard, me, c'mon, ask her out."
"Oh, that's right," said Hiroshi, "I forgot that you and Ukyo were a couple
too."
Ryoga choked on a sandwich bit.
"So, when are ya askin' her out, Ryoga?" asked Ranma.
Ryoga spat out some processed tuna, stil coughing a bit.
"Surprised nobody else asked her," said Hiroshi.
"Yeah, she's cute!" added in Daisuke.
"She's never hit you with a spatula before," muttered Ryouga.
"If I thought I'd have a chance, I'd ask her," said Hiroshi.
"You're a lucky guy, Ryoga," said Daisuke, "she's cute and can cook."
"You two even live together already," said Hiroshi.
"Hey hey, have you two, well, you know," asked Daisuke, elbowing Ryoga a
bit. This wasn't wise.
"IT ISN'T LIKE THAT!!!" yelled Ryoga.
Ranma stayed quiet, enjoying the show. He was only too glad to have
Ryoga take the spotlight for once.
"You two aren't?" asked Hiroshi.
"NO!"
"What?!" exclaimed Hiroshi. "A babe like her? I don't belive you,
man! What's wrong with her?"
"Why, you think she's too ugly? You just aren't attracted to her?
What?" asked Daisuke.
"Yes! NO! ARGH! Stop asking me!" yelled Ryoga.
Unfortunately, Ukyo was nearby, and she heard the bit about being too
ugly. She calmly walked over with a hint of menace in her eyes. "What's
that, Ryoga? You think I'm ugly?"
"Um, no, wait, I didn't mean that!"
"So you think I'm ugly, eh?!." She lifted her spatula from the sling
and twirled it.
"I didn't say it! No! UGH!"
Normally, the UGH would have been caused by a spatula to the head.
Not today.
"Oh-hohohohohoho! Ryoga-sama! How I've missed you," purred Kodachi as
she latched onto Ryoga and glomped him, firmly.
She was, again, in her leotard.
And holding him tightly.
Ryoga promptly sprouted a nosebleed and passed out.
"Ryoga-sama?" she asked.
"What a wimp," muttered Ranma.
"Ranma-sama!" said Kodachi. She sprang from Ryoga, dropping him to the
floor, and soon had Ranma in her arms (and struggling to get out.)
"Hey! Leggo!"
"RRRRRAAAANMMAAA!!!!"
<Oh no> thought Ranma, "Akane! Wait!"
Akane approached, blue battle aura and all.
"No! Wait! This isn't what it looks like!"
*WHAM*
*
King's Cafe, the lunch hour.
The bar was closed, reserved actually, for a private gathering.
At a long table was seated a large amount of people, roughly 50, all
dressed in semi-formal garb and in a quiet and subdued manner. Seated at
the head of the table was an old man, also in a suit. He seemed to
radiate authority and respect. A few others were of middle age, but the
rest of them were rather young, in their late teens or early twenties.
King heard vague rumors of the elderly man at the head of the table.
He was a master of some secret school of martial arts, but beyond that,
she did not know. Naturally, she watched from a distance with great
curiosity.
Ryo Muhoshin sat quietly near the end of the table, surrounded by his
siblings and other members of the now defunct UWSMA. He looked at who was
seated at the front of the table and was rather impressed. There was
Sensei Tanaka, who took part in training Ryoko under the recreational
equipment division. There was Sensei Yamada, who could not only take down
several opponents with kitchenware, but could also use, for example, a wet
fish, and defend himself well. There was Sensei Morimoto of the gardening
division, Sensei Matsuzushi of the hair care division, and there was
Sensei Kobayashi, a living legend, and master of forest survival. Leave
him in the forest, unarmed, and he'll only need to use a clump of dirt and
a weed to bring you down.
There was someone that caught Ryo's eye. A girl. Sitting next to the
sensei of the Janitorial Division. A short haired, fairly uncomfortable
looking GAIJIN girl. She was shifting around uneasily and was looking
generally out of place. He narrowed his eyes. Why, he wondered, was a
barbarian foreigner amongst us? She noticed his gaze and returned it with
an equally hostile glare, then turned away.
And then there was one of the higher ranking masters, Sensei Miyaji.
He was also Ryo's legal guardian. He stood up to adress everyone.
"Ladies, gentlemen, it's good too see you all looking well," said
Sensei Miyaji, stroking his beard. "This will probbably be the last
gathering in a while of what was once a proud and long-lived school of
martial arts..."
The crowd seemed to be saddened at this point.
"... but I an not content to see it die in such an undignified way.
There will be a rebuilding. I've talked with other elder senseis, we'll
see what can be done. Until then, I wish you all the best in your new
lives."
The applause started.
"Oh, I should mention that one of your colleagues, Ami, could not be
here, but she sends her regards," he continued, "but the good news is that
she is now serves the royal family."
The crowd cheered at this. It was quite an achievement to get that
position.
"Now, let us enjoy our lunch."
The crowd ate, a bit subdued, but still with conversation. People
caught up with what was happening with others, congratulations and
condolences were given, and a generally pleasant time was had by all.
Soon, the luncheon was over, and Ryo strolled to the doors, eager to avoid
the nagging of his former (tor)mentors.
As Ryo and his siblings exited the cafe, he heard an *ahem* behind him,
and turned to see Sensei Miyaji standing behind him.
"Young man, I wish to talk to you."
Ryo looked at his sisters and brother briefly. "Go on home," he said.
Ryoko looked at her watch. <Hm, by now Ryoga oughta be...> "I'm gonna
go visit Ryoga, be back home later."
They left quickly, leaving Ryo and Sensei Miyaji.
"Come, let us walk a bit," said the sensei.
*
"What a day," muttered Ryoga, trudging home, feeling relieved that the
school day was over.
"No kidding," said Ukyo, who walked along with him, and pulled him back
in the right direction every now and then.
"How dare the ask me if I... ah..."
"Hm? Ask ya what?" queried Ukyo.
"Um, never mind."
"C'mon, tell me!"
"I'd rather not."
"Okay, fine, be that way," muttered Ukyo.
"What do you mean by that?!"
"Pigheaded," said Ukyo. There was a hint of a smile on the edge of her
face, but Ryoga didn't notice it.
"HEY!"
"Just kidding!"
They walked on in silence for a while longer.
"You really don't wanna say? Okay."
"It's just that the guys were asking me, um, who I was gonna ask to the
spring dance," said Ryoga, blushing lightly.
"Oh, ah, that." Ukyo suddenly wished she hadn't asked.
"They were just, well, wondering when I'd, um, ah, ask you to..."
"RYOGA-SAMA! OH-HOHOHOHO!"
Ryoga froze in horror. <Not AGAIN! Please not Kodachi, please not
Kodachi, please->
It was Kodachi.
"Ryoga, darling, have some roses," said Kodachi, tossing a bouquet of
black roses at him. Ryoga batted it away with ease. He was a victim of
her roses once already, and he didn't care to be one again.
"W-what do you..."
Ukyo sighed. <Somebody buy Ryoga a spine, please.>
"Just came here to remind you, Ryoga-sama, about the spring dance. We
are going, aren't we?"
"WHAT? NO W-"
"A school dance? Ryoga, you were gonna ask me, right?" said Ryoko as
she arrived on the scene.
<Shouldn't these things> wondered Ryoga <be happening to Ranma?>
"And who are you, peasant girl?" sneered Kodachi.
Ukyo would've said something at this point, but she was momentarily
paralyzed, and not too happy either.
"Peasant girl???" Ryoko pulled out her twin iron-weighted yo-yos and
approached Kodachi with extreme malice.
Ukyo, seeing a possible disaster building up, tried to cool things
down. "C'mon, girls, calm down, let's not fight, okay?"
"Oh-ho, so the hack chef has an interest in my Ryoga-sama too?"
Ryoko blinked.
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!!!" yelled Ukyo.
Ryoga finally decided that enough was enough and tried to step in.
"Take this, you wenches!" yelled Kodachi as she tossed a gas grenade at
them. Ukyo and Ryoko managed to get clear, but Ryoga didn't see it
coming. He was, again, paralyzed by Kodachi.
Then the fighting got underway.
*
Ryo and Sensei Miyaji took a stroll through the park.
The sensei seemed to be relaxed, but Ryo was dreading the conversation
that was about to take place.
"Ryo."
"Hm?"
*whap*
"Talk properly, boy!"
"Ow... yes, sensei."
"I want to talk to you about a few things."
Ryo frowned.
*WHAP*
"Show some respect for your elders!"
"YES SENSEI!"
"Now... first of all, how are your brother and sisters doing?"
"I see no need to worry about them, sensei."
"I take it that means everything is fine?"
"I suppose, sensei."
"And your sister, Ryoko, she has given up on the boy Hibiki?"
"Yes, sensei," lied Muhoshin.
"Hm. I must talk with her later."
"Of course, sensei."
"Where was I, oh yes, first of all, I'd just like you to know that I've
heard about what you've been up to, and I don't like it."
Ryo remained cautiously silent.
"Our school was founded for the purpose of PROTECTING lives, not ending
them! You are taking everything we've taught you and tarnishing it."
Ryo winced.
"Muhoshin, I know that the other instructers pushed you by comparing
you to that Hibiki boy all the time, but it was not supposed to lead to a
burning hatred for him."
"Right."
*WHAP*
"Right, Sensei."
"And furthermore, you're loosing touch with your heratige, boy.
Sending you to America over the summer those years ago was an obvious
mistake. Look at you, quick to anger, rude to your elders, more greedy
and selfish than ever."
"Yes, Sensei."
"And I heard... I heard you were dealing with the Shadoloo, boy."
Ryo decided to remain silent on this topic.
*WHAP*
"What... was that for..." yelled Ryo.
"You had it coming. You know not what you deal with when you deal with
the Shadoloo, boy."
"I think I do."
"Oh, so you think you're better than I?"
"Yes."
"Well then," said Sensei Miyagi, "let's see about that." He pulled out
a twin set of fans.
Ryo adjusted the gloves on his hands and looked at his sensei from the
corner of his eye.
"I've learned a few things," he said, as his fists began glowing with
ki-energy.
*
Ryoga wasn't in a good mood. He was also still paralyzed.
"Oh-hohohohoho! Fighting with toys, little girl?" taunted Kodachi.
Ryoko slung her yo-yo out and broke Kodachi's nose with lightning
speed.
"You liddle bidth! You shall bay for dat!" sneered Kodachi, while she
held her now bleeding nose.
"Not if I get you first!" Ukyo charged with her spatula, but Kodachi
managed to spring free and whip around wildly with her ribbon.
Ryoga was definitely not in a good mood. <These things> he thought
<happen to Ranma, not me!>
Kodachi snared a park bench and tossed at Ryoko, who dodged easily.
Instead, the bench hit Ryoga.
<All this, because everyone thinks I love somebody...>
Ryoko slung her yo-yos and snared Kodachi by the ankle, then pulled
hard, swinging her around. Unfortunately, Ukyo was in the way.
<Love. Ha. I've had enough of that. It's given me NOTHING but HURT
and DISSAPOINTMENT.>
Ukyo shoved Kodachi away, but unfortunately Kodachi's ribbon was
beginning to tangle everyone up...
<Love? Who needs it?! Not me!>
Ryoga was beginning to glow, and it wasn't exactly from depresson
either.
The three girls, now a tangled mess of ribbon, yo-yo wire, and small
spatulae, rolled across the sidewalk.
"WHO NEEDS IT!!!"
The three girls froze from the sudden outburst, as Ryoga overcame
massive chemical poisoning to stand up in a pose of anger and angst.
"Ryoga-sama?" asked Kodachi.
"Ryoga?" asked Ryoko.
"I'm _not_ going to the spring dance with anyone, I'm not dating
anyone, I DON'T want to date anyone, I DON'T LOVE ANYBODY!!!"
This brought an immediate halt to the squabbling of the ladies.
"Ryoga, you don't mean it..." said Ryoko.
"EVERYONE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" Ryoga ran off, very angry, leaving
behind three stunned and silent girls.
*
"You see, Muhoshin, the student has yet to surpass the master."
Ryo mumbled.
"Now, take my advice, boy, first of all, learn from your mistakes,
don't be angry from them."
Ryo groaned.
"Second, get back to your roots and mind your manners."
"That's... three."
*WHAP*
"Ow."
"Don't contratict me. Anyways, fourth, don't hold on to your hate,
Muhoshin, it serves only to hinder you."
"Right..."
*WHAP*
"Right... Sensei."
"And finally, you were trained to be a protector, not a criminal!"
"Yes... Sensei."
"Very well then. I'm going now."
"Sayonara, Sensei."
"And I'll be in touch again, keep that in mind."
"Oh, good."
*WHAP*
"Don't be a smartass, boy."
"Y-yesss, sensei..."
"And one more thing... I hear you've been taking on Happosai."
Ryo blinked. How'd the Sensei hear of him?
"Don't bother, boy, greater men than you have tried to kill him."
"I nearly succeeded."
"Did you pierce his body with a spear? Drown him in a river? Toss him
in a cave full of explosives?"
"No..."
*THWAP*
"N-no, sensei."
"Then you haven't even come close to the best of efforts. He gets
hurt, oh yes, but he NEVER dies. He is amongst the greatest evils of
Japan today, boy. If you had hurt him, he was probbably playing with you.
He does that, you know, finds an adversary and teases him for YEARS."
Ryo nodded slowlly.
"Now get your act together, boy, Or Else."
Sensei Miyaji walked away, calmly, and fanning himself casually.
Ryo was imbedded in a wall, upside-down, cut, singed, and worn out.
When he was sure he was out of sight, Sensei Miyaji started to limp
down the street a little and rub some spots where singe marks were. He
paused, looking at the rooftops.
"Show yourself," he said. The gaijin girl from the luncheon sprung
down from the rooftops. "You are... a student of Sensei Giichi's, are you
not?"
"Yes, sensei," she replied, in a somewhat uneven, british-accented
tongue. Whoever she was, it was very obvious that japanese was a second
language to her.
"What was your reason for watching us?" he asked evenly.
"I am searching for Hibiki."
"Hibiki?"
"Ryouga Hibiki."
"You?"
The girl nodded.
"And may I ask why?" inquired Miyaji.
"It is of a... personal matter, Sensei. Sorry if I've disturbed you."
Without another word, she sprang away through the rooftops.
*
Ranma and Akane walked out of the house as the sun rose, still somewhat
tired.
"What day is it?" asked Ranma.
"Stormtrooper day."
"Stormtrooper day? That's not so bad."
And so another Wednesday began in Nerima.
Akari, Nabiki, Yuka, Sayuri and Ukyo watched from afar as Ranma and
Akane charged into a horde of miscellaneous students.
"So, Ryoga still hasn't come back?" asked Akari.
"No, but I'm sure he's okay," said Ukyo, although she didn't sound
convinced herself.
"Come on, admit it, you kinda like him," said Sayuri.
"No!"
"Gotta admit, he's got a nice bod," said Nabiki.
The five of them ducked as a student flew by them.
"What's that?!" asked Ukyo.
"Cute butt too," said Yuka, giggling.
"I don't believe you guys!" said Ukyo, but couldn't supress a little
smile.
"Fine, fine, you don't have a thing for him," said Nabiki in a
sarcastic tone.
"Riiiight," agreed Akari.
They watched in silence as Ranma sweep-kicked a wave of Stormtroopers
away.
"It has been a while since he left, though, hasn't it?" asked Yuka.
"Three days now," said Sayuri.
"Come on, you know how Ryoga is," said Ukyo. "He's probbably in Kyoto
by now. Right?"
"It is a possibility," said Nabiki. "The odds are likely."
"And you're not worried?" asked Akari.
"Of course not!" said Ukyo, looking mildly offended. <Ryoga, where the
heck are you, idiot?>
*
Ryoko polished the tables slowly, in lazy circles. Around... and
around...
"Hey, kid, something bothering ya?" asked King.
"I... well..."
"I thought you were on your way home after that big luncheon."
"I guess, well, Ryoga just dumped me, I think." Ryoko slumped in a
chair.
"Jeez, sorry to hear that," said King. She handed Ryoko a tall glass
of cola. "Have a soda on the house."
"Thanks, boss."
"Wanna talk about it?"
"No... not really."
"Okay, you say so."
*
Meanwhile, somewhere out there....
"Excuse me, can you tell me where the Nerima is?"
"Que?"
*
Ukyo, Manami, Sayuri, and Yuka strolled out of the school, tired. They
met Akari, who was waiting for them at the school gates.
"Ah! What a day!" said Yuka. "I need a break!"
"And next week'll be filled with exams," sighed Sayuri.
"Poker night, tonight?" asked Manami, "maybe we can all study after?"
"Sounds alright to me," said Ukyo.
"I, ah, can't make it tonight," said Akari.
"What? Why not?" asked Manami.
"Oooh, I bet she's got a hot date!" teased Yuka.
"Well..." squeaked Akari.
"WHAT?" the other girls yelled. "Who? Is he cute? When did you meet
him? Did he beat that sumo pig of yours?" they asked her.
"Oh my, look at the time, I'd better run or I'm gonna be late! See ya
later!" Akari ran off.
"Details, we want details!" demanded Yuka.
*
Meanwhile, somewhere else, three shady gentlement were having a
conversation in a cafe somewhere.
"What happened to you?"
"I'd rather not say."
"So, what's the plan?"
"We're all a little low on cash right now, eh?"
"Yeah."
"True."
"Gentlemen, she's a bit on the gullable side, doesn't suspect a thing,
and she's the daughter of a rather wealthy family."
"You're not suggesting..."
"Hey, wait a minute now..."
"Is this hesitation I sense? I know you two are nearly at the end of
your finances."
"But this-"
"C'mon, it's too-"
"This will be a safe operation."
"Wait a-"
"We can't-"
"Care to be homeless and broke?"
The other two remained silent.
"So... are you in?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Alright."
"Wait a minute.... Damn!"
"What?"
"I'm supposed to be meeting her now. Adieu, gents."
*
Akane walked over to Ranma's room and prodded him until he was awake.
"Uhm... I'm awake, I'm awake."
"C'mon, get up, we'll be late."
"What day izzit?"
"Kendo."
"Kendo?"
"Kendo."
"I really hate Kendo."
And so, Friday in Furinkan High began, as usual.
"Where is that idiot," muttered Ukyo as she watched Ranma and Akane
dive into a sea of kendo practicioners..
"C'mon, you said that Ryoga could take care of himself," said Sayuri.
"Yeah, but he's been gone for four days now..."
"You know how he is, he's probbably in New York or somewhere else,"
said Sayuri.
"But still, I dunno, I..."
"Hey, you're not actually worried about him, are you?" asked Yuka.
"I bet she is!" teasted Sayuri.
"OF course I'm not!" yelled Ukyo.
"Duck," said Nabiki.
The four of them ducked as several kendoists flew past then and into
the classroom through the window.
They lapsed into momentary silence and watched as Ranma hit Kuno 315
times with the tenshin-amaguri-ken technique.
"I'm just worred about him AS A FRIEND!" yelled Ukyo.
"So you are worried about him!" said Sayuri and Yuka.
"So what?" she shot back.
Ranma watched in surprise as Kuno arose from the ground, still ready to
fight. Ever since the accident that landed them in the hospital, Kuno's
endurance seemed to be up.
"Isn't that sweet?" asked Sayurki.
"Touching, really," said Yuka.
"Cut it out guys," grumbled Ukyo.
Akane kicked Kuno in the gut, and Ranma followed with another barrage
of punches. Kuno flew back into a tree, but got up once more, only
slightly worn down.
"I FIGHT ON!" he declared.
"Wow, Kuno-chan's endurance has _improved_," said Nabiki.
"Oh, so you're after Kuno, Nabiki?" asked Ukyo.
"No, not really."
"I heard you were dating that Isamu guy, is that true?" asked Yuka.
"I decline to comment at this time," said Nabiki with a smirk.
"I SHALL SMITE THEE!!!" roared Kuna as he charged at Ranma. A streak
of lightning ran across the sky, and for a moment Ranma thought he saw an
odd purplish aura flicker around his foe.
"How he does that, I'll never know," mused Nabiki.
"Oh jeez, we're gonna be late!" said Yuka, staring at her watch.
"Hey! Ranma! Hurry up!" yelled Nabiki.
"He shall be joining his ancestors in but a moment!" ranted Kuno as he
slashed wildly, demolishing another part of the Furinkan High walls. His
bokken seemed to flicker occasionally with a dark aura with each swing.
"I'm trying, okay?!?!" Ranma yelled back, springing off a wall and
smashing a knee into Kuno's head. Akane followed up with a kick to Kuno's
gut, which once again, knocked him off of his feet, and finally knocked
him out.
"Jeez," said Ranma, breathing hard, "what's with Kuno?"
"He used to fall down ALOT faster," said Akane.
For the last several weeks, in fact, Tatewaki Kuno had displayed a
remarkable and alarming endurance. Where once he would have been knocked
out easily, he now merely took the hit and fought ever onward. Basically,
he was approaching levels of endurance somewhat under Ryouga's, which was
high indeed.
The school bell rang.
"Oh great, we're late," muttered Ranma.
*
Ukyo sat in economics class, bored.
She dealt with economics every day, since she was running the
restaraunt, and she strongly felt that sitting through this class was
incredibly redundant.
Ukyo did what every bored studend did when this crisis hits them.
She doodled.
She scribbled out spatulas, and okonomiyakis, and every now and then, a
figure with a bandanna with the word "STUPID" written over it.
<Where is that idiot anyways> wondered Ukyo.
"Kuonji."
<Stupid jerk. Doesn't even call to say that he's alright.>
"Ukyo Kuonji."
<Not that *I* care if that idiot gets himself lost in Bangladesh, or
Libya, or... or... whatever!>
"KUONJI!"
Ukyo snapped to attention. "WHAT?! WHAT?!"
"That's it! BUCKET! HALL! NOW!"
A moment later...
"So, what're you out here for?" asked Ranma.
"I, er, wasn't paying attention in class," muttered Ukyo. "And you
two?"
"Late," said Akane.
"Jeez, these are kinda heavy," said Ukyo, lifting up a bucket of water.
"Ya get used to it," said Ranma, "and besides, it builds strength.
Just look at Akane. I mean, she's strong as a gorilla an-" *WHAP*
"Shut up!" yelled Akane.
"Jeez! What'd I say?"
After a two minute arguement, which seemed to Ukyo (and an alarming
number of Furinkan High students) like it was a badly written script
involving the use of the word 'Tomboy' and 'Jerk', things settled into an
uneasy sort of silence.
Ukyo couldn't stand it.
"Hey, ah, any of you guys heard from Ryouga lately?" she asked.
"Lost boy? He's probbably in Australia or somethin'."
"You mean he hasn't been back yet?" asked Akane.
"Nope."
"And the dance is tonight too," said Akane.
"Hm? What's that supposed to mean?" wondered Ukyo.
"He was going to take you to the dance, right?"
"What? NO!"
"C'mon, you want him to, don't ya," teased Ranma.
"Oh shut up."
*
Meanwhile...
"Excuse me, can you tell me where Tokyo is?" asked a somewhat ragged
and exhausted Ryouga.
The store owner blinked and pointed to a spot _behind_ Ryouga, who
turned around to see skyscrapers decorating the skyline.
"Oh, I'm here?!?!"
The storekeeper nodded slowly.
"THAT'S GREAT! Now tell me which way to Nerima?"
The storekeeper pointed south.
"Thanks!"
Ryouga went north.
*
Sunset, Nerima...
Ukyo closed up shop a little early, feeling tired for some reason. She
hung up the sign, locked up the doors, then sat down in a chair, giving
off a sigh.
Moments later, a chair flew out of the front door, propelled by a
mighty swing of Ukyo's combat spatula. It hit a lamp pole with a loud
*CLANG* and sagged to the floor. Surprisingly, the chair wasn't damaged,
but instead sprouted a head and some limbs and wobbled off. The lamp pole
was ruined.
"Wow, not a scratch," said Tsubasa as he wobbled down the street.
"AND STAY OUT!!!" yelled Ukyo, and slammed the door shut.
"Just great," she muttered, "one hell of a day, really."
Ukyo changed into her house clothes, a simple t-shirt and shorts, and
promptly became one with the nation, via the miracle of tv.
She had one thing on her mind, or to be accurate, one thing that she
decided was not on her mind.
<Who cares if the dance is tonight. Who cares if I'm missing it. Who
cares if everyone thinks I've got a thing for Ryouga. Not me, dammit.>
The front doors clattered a bit.
"Ryouga? You there?"
Ukyo went to the front doors and checked, but they were still locked.
"Just the wind, I guess," she said to nobody in particular.
She wandered back into the residential part of Ucchan's, and paused as
she passed by the attic stairs. Ukyo stood there for a moment, climbed up
the stairs, knocked on the attic door, and peeked in.
Empty.
<Why did I even bother.>
She sighed, not feeling peaceful enough to vegitate in front of the
television, not energetic enough to go out.
Ukyo did the only thing left that she knew might ease.
*
Ryouga, crawling on his hands and knees, exhausted, reached weakly for
the backdoor of Ucchan's.
"I... I made it back..."
He touched the doorknob and pulled.
It was locked.
He tugged on the door.
"IEEE! THIEF! BURGLAR!"
"What the..." stuttered Ryouga.
*WHAM*WHAM*WHAM*
"Owww."
Ukyo stopped swinging madly with her megaspatula and paused to look at
who she was hitting.
"Oh! Ryouga! I'm sorry! C'mon, let's get you in the house."
And so, after several days of being lost, tired, and desperate, Ryouga
finally was dragged back 'home'.
*
Gosunkugi was having a blast.
Ever since he got a bit sharper with his magic, he'd been dazzling his
fellow students with minor yet rather nifty magic tricks.
Tonight, for instance, the dance was not illuminated by lightbulbs, but
by nice fuzzy glowing spheres cast where lightbulbs would normally be.
Needless to say, he gained much respect, quickly.
Tonight, he was dressed fairly well, in a nifty blue suit, white shirt,
and nondescript tie, and his date was in a somewhat elegant light blue
dress. They matched rather well.
And now... and now... they were slow dancing.
This, in Hikaru Gosunkugi's short life, was a major milestone.
Meanwhile, Ranma and Akane were also slow-dancing, but rather
cautiously.
"Watch your feet!"
"I am, you jerk!"
"Slow down, I'm supposed to lead!"
"Is that so?!"
"_Yes_it_is_."
Some things never change.
And so, amongst the swirl of the crowds, these two couples swayed,
content in their own...
"You stepped on my foot again!"
"You got in the way!"
... unique way.
The music died down for a brief break, and the couples on the dance
floor of the gym moved to the sides and idly chattered.
"I guess Ryouga isn't coming after all," said Akane.
"Probbably in Alaska or somethin'," said Ranma. "Saaaay, you seen
Daisuke or Hiroshi anywhere?"
"Well, I think I saw Hiroshi talking to some girl named Hiroe."
"Hiroshi and Hiroe... hm, sounds catchy."
"What's with the lights?" asked Akane.
"What about'em?"
"Look, a few of them are getting kinda dim."
"Better ask Gos about it."
Gosunkugi noticed. It started when the couples started dancing again.
There was this... this _area_ where the lights that he cast briefly faded
for some reason, and that area seemed to be moving around. As Manami held
his hand while they sat at a table, Gos stared out into the crowd,
curiosity demanding to find out what was causing his magic to fade out
there.
He stared in shock as that dark area swept by him, with his 'twin' at
the center of it, gliding across the floor, dancing.
Akari swayed in Ryo's arms, surprised to finally find someone that was
good enough to beat her pig, and so much a gentleman too.
Ryo smiled, but not for the obvious reasons.
Oddly enough, neither noticed the dim lights.
*
King [ednote, king and tanya]
*
"Um, sorry about that," said Ukyo, somewhat embarrased.
"S... s'okay, I understand," replied a somewhat battered Ryouga, who
was sprawled on the living room couch. Four days of global travel and a
beating by spatula left him totally exhausted.
Ukyo sat in the lounger, Ryouga continued to melt into the couch.
There was an awkward silence.
"So, um, what'd I miss?" asked Ryouga nervously.
"Hm? Not much, not much. There's some homework you might've missed.
Better ask your classmates about that."
"Yeah."
"There's also that dance tonight," said Ukyo in an I-don't-really-care
tone of voice.
"Dance?"
"School dance."
"Ranma and Akane are there, I guess."
"Yeah."
There was another moment of awkward silence.
"I, ah, I'm sorry I'm late," said Ryouga.
"Late?"
"Er, I mean, lost. Sorry I got lost."
"Oh, okay."
Once more, there was a total absense of noise.
"Well, I didn't want to go anyways," said Ukyo.
"Go?"
"Um, to the Spring Dance."
"Oh."
"How about... how about you?"
"Me?" asked Ryouga, "I can't dance anyways, it wouldn't matter."
"You don't know how to dance?"
"No."
"Not at all?"
"Not really, no."
"At least slow dance. Anyone can do that."
"Actually, I've never even tried. Being lost all the time, I never
really had much time to, well, dance."
"No wonder you didn't win over Akane. Can't dance, can't even tell her
you like her, and you freaked out around her way too much," teased Ukyo.
"HEY!"
"Just teasin' ya, lost boy!"
"Oh, okay."
"Oh, c'mon, I'll show ya!"
"What?!"
"C'mon, it's fun. Easy too. You've got to know how to dance in SOME
way, Ryouga. How else are ya gonna win over the next lucky girl you go
after?"
"Good point." Ryouga shrugged.
"Hold on, lemme see, I've got a CD around here somewhere... Ah, here it
is! Of course, I don't know half of what they're saying, but still, the
music sounds nice."
Ukyo turned on her CD player and put in a CD. A somewhat slow tune
began to play.
Generally, a nice tune, although Ryouga couldn't understand most of it.
It was in English.
o/" When the night has come o/"
o/" And the land is dark o/"
o/" And the moon is the only light we'll see o/"
"Sounds kinda old," said Ryouga.
"I think the Americans call it Motown," answered Ukyo.
"Motown?"
"Don't ask. Anyways, here's how it works. Stand up a sec, willya?"
"Alright, alright." Ryouga got up slowly.
"Okay, now, you put your hands on my hips."
"What?!?!"
o/" No, I won't be afraid o/"
o/" No, I won't be afraid o/"
Ukyo bapped Ryouga on the head. "It's dancing, not groping. Stop
thinkin' perverted thougths. I'm just teaching you, got it?"
"Oh, ah, sorry."
o/" Just as long o/"
o/" as you stand o/"
o/" stand by me o/"
"Now, your hands on my sides..."
Ryouga put his hands on her sides, just above her hips.
"And your dance partner will usually put her hands on your shoulders
like this..."
Ukyo put her hands on his shoulders.
"Now what?" asked Ryouga.
"Just sway a bit."
o/" So darling, darling o/"
o/" Stand, by me, o/"
"Ow!" yelled Ukyo.
"Sorry! Sorry!"
"Slow down a bit, and watch your feet."
"I said I was sorry!"
"Okay, okay, now shut up and relax."
o/" Oh, stand by me o/"
o/" Oh stand o/"
o/" stand by me o/"
o/" stand by me o/"
"Hey, this isn't hard," said Ryouga.
"See? Easy, huh?"
"Yup."
Ryouga began to relax, forgetting that he had a rather cute girl in his
arms, and swayed to the music, relaxed.
Ukyo forgot that she was in the arms of a rather hansome young man, and
relaxed, putting her head on his shoulder. Either Ryouga didn't notice,
or didn't mind.
o/" If the sky that we look upon o/"
o/" should tumble and fall o/"
o/" or the mountains should crumble to the sea o/"
o/" I won't cry, I won't cry o/"
o/" no I won't shed a tear o/"
"Wish I could've danced with Akane like this," sighed Ryouga.
"Wish I could've danced with Ranchan like this too," said Ukyo.
o/" just as long o/"
o/" as you stand o/"
o/" stand by me o/"
"Hey, Ukyo."
"Hm?"
"Thanks for the dance lesson."
"No problem. S'what friends are for, right?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Just don't ask me to teach ya the Lambada."
"The what?"
"Never mind."
o/" So darling, darling, o/"
o/" stand by me o/"
o/" oh, stand by me o/"
o/" oh stand o/"
o/" stand by me o/"
o/" stand by me o/"
-end-
* * *
The nights in Nerima are sometimes surprisingly peaceful. There may be
nights when the gigantic monsters don't roam the streets wrecking houses.
There are times when Mishima Heavy Industries DOESN'T send out a
ridiculously big mechanized assault vehicle through the neighborhood after
some girl with bionic abilities. There are times when the place almost
seems normal(1).
Tonight could have been a night like that.
It wasn't.
As if part of a wave effect, bedroom light after bedroom light opened
up in houses next to each other, in apartments, in hotels. Each flick of
the light was accompanied by a scream of horror.
Hidden safely in the shadows of a roof, a figure giggled malevonently.
His eyes glowed a bloody shade of red. His hands trembled in anticipation
as he stroked the fine silk string in his hands.
"They thought they could stop me? Me? No man has stopped me! Ever!"
*WHAP* "PERVERT!" Ukyo grinned evily, putting her assault-spatula away.
"Teach _him_ not to mess with my laundry..." she grumbled.
Happosai sailed on, across the skies. "Well, no man, but maybe some
women once or twice..."
* * *
========================
The Pursuit of Happiness
========================
sequel to "The More Things Change"
Part 3
BETA VERSION
Dreams and Larceny
---------------
- NERIMA BY NIGHT -
---------------
Happosai hopped from rooftop to rooftop, carrying his ever-growing bag
of female undergarments with him.
The wind was in his face.
The rush of adrenaline as he makes the perfect theft.
The silky smoooooth panties, powering up his fighting spirit.
This was what living was all about.
This, and sex. But he hadn't gotten much of that for several decades,
so the panties would have to do for now.
And speaking of which, it was time to enjoy the night's bounty...
He held a panty up to his nose and inhaled deeply.
"BLECH! BLECHBLECHBLECH! AAAACK! PTUI!"
Happosai laid on the floor, twitching and in pain. "Something...
wrong... with...panty... BLECH!"
*
The window was open.
The drawers were open.
They were also empty.
"Dammit, somebody stole my panties!"
Tsubasa angrily shut his window. Well, he thought, there's gonna be
some improvements in house security for sure.
= = =
Ukyo looked from her storefront window to the night sky outside. One
of these days, she thought, I really oughta leave this town, if only for a
while.
Really.
There's nothing hold me here, is there?
She sighed and closed the shutters on the front windows.
Something was missing.
"Ryoga? Hey, Ryoga, where'd ya go?"
She looked in the kitchen.
It seemed that he'd already done his job there. The dishes and the
stove was cleaned out. But Ryoga was nowhere in sight.
"I'm going to buy that idiot a pager one of these days," she muttered.
= = =
Ryo Muhoshin stared uneasily into the night. The money from his last
job was running out. He knew enough to make a few shrewd investments, but
that was only delaying the inevitable. He didn't want to do this, it
wasn't his style, but he sighed internally, cursing life, cursing fate,
cursing bureaucracy, and accepted his current destiny.
He slipped the money from the safe into his backpack and quietly raced
for the open window in the distance.
Burglary wasn't like assasination or security detail. He didn't get to
hit anybody. He didn't get to use his martial arts training. He had to
be _not_ flamboyant.
It wasn't much fun at all. That didn't mean that he was above it.
= = =
Tsubasa brushed his long brown hair out of his eyes and concentrated on
the main circut board of his Postal 210 disguise battle mech. He chewed
on his cigar, tossed the beer can away, and mulled over the design flaws.
"Hell with it, it's good enough," he said, in a gruff voice.
He hopped into the Postal 210, flipped a switch that activated the tank
treads, and drove off into the night.
Several minutes later, his first victim appeared.
"SAOTOME! PREPARE TO DIE!" Tsubasa yelled into the microphone.
The Mishima Heavy industries 3-way Super-bass speakers boomed his
message across the neighborhood.
Ranma, who had just gone for a midnight jog, looked like a deer caught
in the headlights. Tsubasa grinned evily and flipped a switch, turning a
mere post office box with tank treads into a 15 foot tall monstrosity of a
mech.
"Jeez!" yelled Ranma and sprinted down the street.
"YOU WON'T GET AWAY!"
Ranma ran futily down the street and suddenly they were in front of
Ukyo's resteraunt.
"Hey! Help! Ukyo! Ryoga! Anybody!" Ranma nervously yelled.
Tsubasa flipped another switch and a deadly blade popped out of one of
the Postal 210's arms. "This is the end, Saotome." Tsubasa said.
The arm flung down with Ranma dead in it's sights.
Tsubasa grinned triumphantly.
Ranma froze in terror.
Suddenly, the mech was rocked on its side as the yell "Shishi
Houkoudan!" bellowed forth. The blade smashed to the left of Ranma, who
scrambled away quickly.
Tsubasa swivled the mech cameras around. "HIBIKI!" he yelled into the
microphone, "SO YOU WANNA DIE TONIGHT TOO? FINE!" Tsubasa wanted to
enjoy the elimination of his enemies, i.e. using a really big blade, but
he realized that sometimes it didn't pay to have too much fun at work.
After all, that's how the heroes always escape. Tsubasa flipped a switch
and several Mishima Heavy Industries Inc. precision lasers popped out of
the Postal 210's shoulders. "DIE!" he yelled, and pulled hard on the
trigger.
Tsubasa emerged from his mech and stood before two piles of ash. He
looked at them solemly, and then kicked them into the winds. "So long,
suckers!" he yelled (in a surprisingly gruff, deep baritone voice) and lit
up a cigar.
Ukyo emerged from her resteraunt, shocked. Tsubasa looked at her and
smiled. "Hey, Ucchan. Come on over here."
She looked at the ashes scattered all over the place. "You killed
them?" she asked.
"Yup." He took another puff from his cigar.
"Oh thank you!" she yelled, and rushed into his arms. "Ranma was just
so annoying the way he got free food all the time! And Ryoga too! Oh,
thank you for getting rid of those freeloading bums!"
"T'was nothin'" Macho-Tsubasa said.
She turned her eyes towards his, looking deeply. She leaned forward,
presenting her lips.
"But you'll give up this silly business with the mechs, right?"
Tsubasa froze. "But... but... I _like_ mechs!"
"What would you rather have, mechs? Or _me_."
He couldn't believe this. A couple of months ago this would be an easy
question. But now, he couldn't decide...
"I... um... you..."
"Tsubasa-chan?" Ukyo was getting impatient.
"Can't I, um, can't I do, er, have both?"
"TSUBASA YOU JERK!"
*CLANG*
* * *
"Ow!" Tsubasa said, rubbing his head. He groggily looked around.
"Oh," he said, realizing that he'd fallen asleep while working on the
Postal 210 again. Tsubasa pondered continuing his work, but decided that
working while groggy would just lead to construction errors.
<No need to be nervous!> he reminded himself. <The interview with
Mishima Heavy Industries is tomorrow... THEY are the ones that contacted
me, right? Of course they'll take me in! I'm good enough, I'm smart
enough, and gosh darnit, people like me!>
Tsubasa yawned, rubbing the gear-shaped dent in his forehead, and went
to his room for a rest. "Oh my, that's going to bruise! I wonder if
makeup can hid it."
= = =
Out on a ledge in downtown Tokyo, seventy floors up, Ryo Muhoshin crept
slowly upwards.
Okay, Ryo thought, almost there. High risk but high reward. There was
a corporation out there that wanted the latest specs from MendoTech, and
they put out the word that they were willing to pay whatever it took to
get the information.
Just a bit higher... R&D was on the 73rd floor.
Maybe MendoTech was one tough corporation owned by one tough and crazy
family. The Mendo Clan even had their own _army_, commanded by their
crazy little heir. It took a brave guy to mess with that family.
<I'm brave> Ryo reassured himself.
Then it happened.
He sensed a presence. Someone was up there with him.
<What the-?! Someone else up here?>
"Hold it right there!" an unbearably cute voice said.
"Right." Ryo waited, wanting to see exactly what was going on.
There was a long silence.
"You don't want to know who I am?"
"I should ask, I guess?"
Suddenly, a girl appeared. It wasn't just an ordinary girl. She was
glowing pink, dressed in a sailor outfit, and wielding a staff with a big
heart at the end of it. She was floating in the air.
"I am Magical Girl Kuruma!"
"Magical girl?" Ryo's expression was blank.
"You... you mean you've never heard of me?"
"Can't say that I have, no."
"Hm..." Kuruma looked at him with a confused expression on her face.
She _thought_ she sensed a supernatural disturbance, but there was only
this ordinary guy on a building.
"So what're you doing up here anyways?" she asked.
"Honestly? Well, you could say I'm getting information."
"You mean industrial espianoge?"
"Some would call it that."
Magical Girl Kuruma looked deep in thought for a moment. Well, she
pondered, there wasn't any demons or spirits running amock like she was
used to dealing with, but there _was_ this guy doing obviously criminal
activity. But she'd never had to deal with "people" bad guys, just
supernatural stuff.
Ryo held on the side of the building, wondering what was supposed to
happen next.
"I guess I oughta stop you," she said.
"I was hoping you wouldn't. New at this?"
"A little," she admitted.
"Ah. I see." Ryo didn't like fighting girls. That didn't mean that
he was above that sort of thing. It just left a certain distaste in his
mind afterwards. Besides, the girl said she was magical, and the last
encounter with magic stripped him of some very serious powers.
Magic was something he'd learned to hate.
Ryo slowly edged away from the girl. There wasn't much room to manuver
on the ledge. Not enough to fight, either. If she had a blast-type
attack he knew he would be in trouble.
Magical Girl Kurumi held out her hand, where a staff appeared out of
nowhere. It had a giant red glowing crystal heart at its tip. She
pointed it at Ryo.
"Crystal Heart Entrappment!!!"
The crystal glowed.
Not much else happened.
"Curiosity demands," said Ryo, "that I ask if something was supposed to
happen?"
"Well, you were supposed to be entrapped in crystal until the
authorities come and get you."
"No kidding.... You've done this before?"
"Don't be silly! Of course I have!" She had indeed, on people and
demons. There wasn't a reason for it not to work now.
"That staff, it's magical?" he asked.
"Yup."
Ryo touched the heart with a finger. The crystal dimmed considerably.
This, he thought, was rather interesting.
"Ribbon wrap!" Kurumi pulled a ribbon from her hair and lashed it at
Ryo. It circled around him, and then went lame.
"I assume that was a magical device as well?" asked Ryo.
"Well, yeah..."
"How, may I ask, are you floating?" Ryo was getting an idea.
"It's all magic."
Gears turned over in Ryo's mind. He was never immune to magic.
Gosunkugi certainly proved that. However, so far things were proving
different... or this particular magical girl was incredibly incompetent.
Ryo grinned evily.
Before she could dodge, Ryo reached out and touched her. Immediately,
she started plummeting to the concrete streets below.
"Interesting," he said, watching her fall.
Before she hit the pavement, Magical Girl Kurumi managed to find the
ability to fly again, and narrowly avoided concrete death. She angrily
zoomed back to Ryo.
"That wasn't nice!" she yelled. "How'd you do that?"
"I have no idea. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some information to
retrieve." Ryo casually ignored the girl and resumed climbing up.
Magical Girl Kurumi didn't like being ignored. "THAT'S IT! I'M
CALLING THE POLICE!!!" With an excess of flair and dramatic motino, she
pulled out a cellular phone and started dialing.
Ryo frowned. "Fine, fine, I'm going." He opened his umbrella and
jumped off, floating to the streets below.
= = =
Nodoka Saotome looked into the night sky, feeling some measure of
warmth knowing that somewhere out there, her son was looking at the very
same stars. She sat in the park, wondering how her son was doing. Was he
eating right? Was he treating Akane properly? Was he a Man Amongst Men?
How was Genma? She missed him so very much.
Suddenly, she noticed a movement in the park and readied her katana.
The figure came closer... closer... and then veered to another sidewalk
path in the park. Nodoka examined the figure in the darkness of the
night.
"Akane?" she said quietly. What was she doing out here? It seemed
rather late for a jog around the neighborhood. After all, there could be
some real strange people out there.
She put her katana away.
Nodoka was about to go home for the night when she saw someone else.
Following Akane.
How DARE anyone threaten the fiancee of her son! Nodoka readied her
Katana once more and followed the figure.
....
After a few minutes, Akane came to a stop for a brief rest.
Ranma hid behind a water fountain, watching over her. He didn't like
these late jogs. They just weren't safe. Who knows what kind of weirdos
were out there at this time of night?
Suddenly, he felt the cold steel of a blade against the back of his
neck.
"You there," a woman's voice commandingly said, "what do you think
you're doing? I should call the police, or better yet just kill you."
"Er... it's not what you think."
"Do tell."
"Look, she's my fiancee and I just, just, just wanna make sure nobody
does nothin weird to her."
"Fiancee?" she asked.
Akane noticed the noise coming from behind the water fountain and
looked. Her face froze in shock.
Ranma suddenly realized where he heard this woman's voice before.
Nodoka turned the word "fiancee" over in her head.
"Son?" she asked.
Ranma turned around slooowly. He saw his mother. Holding a katana.
"YAAAAH!" he screamed, and stumbled back.
Into the fountain.
Akane slapped her head in disbelief. Foolish boy!
Nodoka looked on, stunned. "Ran... Ranko? You're Ranko? WHAT'S THE
MEANING OF THIS! GENMAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"
Suddenly an obese panda fell from the sky, landing in front of Nodoka.
She aimed her blade at its forehead. "Genma! Explain this NOW!"
"Rowf?" the panda said, startled.
He held a sign up desperately. //I SWEAR, I'M JUST A PANDA!!!//
"Don't play innocent with ME anymore, you lying BASTARD! WHAT DID YOU
DO TO MY SON??!?!?!?!"
She swung the blade down hard...
*
"ROWF!" Genma yelled as he bolted upright.
Wait a minute.
"Rowf?" he muttered.
*CLONK* "Hey, keep it down, pop! I'm tryin' to sleep!" Ranma angrily
muttered.
Genma shook his head vigorously.
He wasn't in his panda mode.
He tried his vocal abilities once more: "ahem."
That's better.
"Mm. I hate when that happens."
Genma went off to find a glass of water. After all, it was easier to
deal with the cold winter nights as a panda.
= = =
EDNOTE: change this
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryoga, covered with several layers of travel-type blankets and sleeping
bags, sat atop the rooftop of Ucchan's admiring the stars. The stars in
winter always seemed a bit clearer to him. In the summertime, the
starlight was too easily covered up by the city lights or by clouds.
But in the winter it was different. He didn't know why, but it just
was.
He idly twirled his compass necklass around.
"Ryoga? Hey, where'd you go?" Ukyo yelled. She was closing up the
store when she noticed that the resident navigationally-impaired boy was
missing. After living with him for the past several months, she knew he
was either lost hopelessly or up on the roof.
"Up here!"
"Hey, Ryoga, what'cha doin?" Ukyo asked as she climbed unto the roof.
"Just stargazing. Maybe it's silly, but I like to do it."
"No, it's not silly. Ran-chan does it alot in the summer."
Something he has in common with Ranma? Blech.
"Jeez, it's cold out here. Hey, mind if I join ya?" asked Ukyo.
"Sure. No problem," said Ryoga, and he scooted to one side to make
room under the blankets for her.
"Thanks," she said, and scooted in.
"What's keeping you up?" asked Ryoga.
"Oh, just things, I guess. Life. The universe. Stuff."
"You really thinking about closing down the resteraunt?"
"Maybe. If Nabiki's estimates are right, I can live off of the profits
from some investment picks she's got lined up."
"Hm..."
"Hey, don't worry about a place to stay. You can stay here even if I
shut down the place."
"You sure?"
"What are friends for, right?"
They settled in once more, looking out into infinity. Stars swirling
around other stars...
"Hey, I hope you don't mind me asking but," asked Ukyo, "what's going
on with you and Ryoko?"
"Eh?"
"Well, she seem kinda sweet, and she seems to really be in love with
you, Ryoga."
"Yeah, but I dunno. I don't think that I... well... argh! How'd Ranma
ever handle these things?!?!"
"You in love with her?"
"..."
"Well?"
"I don't know. Never had a girl ever tell me she loved me before.
I've always been a loner, y'know? This love thing, it's new to me. I
mean, er, you, um, how'd you know... er..."
"Eh?"
Ryoga sighed. "Never mind."
"Hey," said Ukyo in a sleepy tone, "if you don't feel the same, tell
them. Tell'em now. No sense in dragging things out and breaking a
girl's... *yawn*... heart, y'know?"
"Yeah, I guess," said Ryoga. "I wouldn't want to end up making all the
mistakes Ranma made."
He sighed and dug deeper into the blankets, avoiding the chill of the
light breeze. "Hey, Ukyo, I think we oughta be going back n..."
He felt something on his shoulder.
It was warm.
It was soft.
Ryoga nervously glanced to his left. He wasn't sure exactly what he
should be feeling, and he wasn't sure if he was hoping or dreading what
was happening over there on the left shoulder either, but he had to check.
Yup. It was Ukyo. She had fallen asleep and her head tiled to the
right, and therefore unto Ryoga's shoulder.
"Hey," Ryoga hissed, "Ukyo, hey, hello, wake up, excuse me, ahem, yo."
She wouldn't wake up.
He shrugged his shoulder a bit. She turned her whole body to the
right. She rested her face against his shoulder.
Oh well, it was a beautiful night anyways. And under the blankets it
wasn't too cold at all. Soon, Ryoga drifted off into unconsciousness as
well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
= = =
Akane couldn't sleep on this night. Too many things were bothering
her. She _though_ that Ranma was finally getting along with her. She
_thought_ that for once, she'd get her happy ending.
Once again, Ranma proved her wrong.
Ever since he ended up in the hospital, they'd been fighting every bit
as loudly as when he first came to the house. Any little thing would set
either of them off. Akane wondered where things went wrong. All this,
and it was Valentine's Day soon. She didn't want to spend it alone.
"Dammit," she muttered.
Akane turned in her bed, turned again, and finally decided that sleep
wasn't something she was ready for just yet...
* * *
Ranma waited in the delivery room, anxious to see his first child.
"I'm gonna be a dad. _I_ am gonna be a _dad_. Wow." he muttered as he
nervously paced around the floor.
"Mr. Saotome?" a nurse called from behind the doors of the operating
room.
"Yeah? That's me! What's happening?"
"Congratulatins, Mr. Saotome!" the nurse said, guiding him into the
operating room, "you're a father!"
Akane layed on the bed, cradling a small infant in her arms. She
smiled warmly, in the way that only moms do.
"A.. Akane?" Ranma nervously asked. "Can I.. I.."
Akane smiled and held the baby forward for Ranma to hold. He cradled
it gently in his arms, feeling overwhelmed. The child already had a few
locks of hair on its head.
"Say, is it a boy or a girl?" he murmered as he tapped the baby gently
on the cheek.
Akane took a glass of water.
"Wha-"
And poured some gently on the baby.
"-t?"
And it's hair turned red.
"Ah.. no.. nonono... it isn't..."
Everyone in the operating room happily shook their heads.
"Congrats, honey," Akane cheerily said, "it's both!"
"NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
* * *
"Gah!"
*FWAP* //QUIET!// "Rwowr!"
"Sorry, pop."
Ranma sat upright, shaking badly. He took deep breaths.
"Only a dream. Only a dream."
He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep any more that night, and headed
off to the kitchen for a late night binge. He wasn't sure if that would
calm him down, but it always worked for his dad.
As he got up, Ranma heard footsteps. He quietly opened his door.
Nobody.
He crept downstairs.
Nobody.
Then he heard the front door open. Ranma snuck to the front just in
time to see Akane leaving in her jogging outfit.
"What the..." What time was it? Didn't she know it was too damn early
for a jog?
"Stupid girl," he muttered.
This wasn't his problem. No sir. Nope. If the tomboy wants to go
jogging around in the city while it's dark and cold and late and
dangerous....
"Dammit. Dammitdammitdammit." He went back to his room for a quick
change of clothes and then headed out the door.
"Stupid girl. Stupid stupid girl." he muttered. Just great.
Something else for him to worry about.
Ranma jogged out into the night, looking for Akane.
After all, there's strange people out there.
= = =
Happosai snuck into the large mansion. This particular place was one
spot he had his eye on for quite a while now. Not only was the lady of
the house one sexy woman, she had expensive lingerie. Top dollar panties.
Creme de la creme.
As he zoomed stealthily down the hallways, he found his target, the
main bedroom, and snuck quietly inside...
* * *
Ryo scaled the wall of the mansion. This, he knew, would pay off big.
This joint was owned by one _rich_ lady. In fact, it was owned by a lady
that he was briefly quite fascinated with. It was unfortunate that he had
to resort to thieving from her, but the payoff from this little expadition
would keep him financed for a week.
He opened the window and crept inside...
* * *
Happosai dug through the drawers and grinned like the devil. Panties!
Ultra-silky, ultra-smooth panties! He dove into the drawer and immersed
himself totally in undergarments.
*BANG*
And then his world went black.
* * *
Ryo felt around the walls, behind the paintings, with no luck.
Where was the safe?
He decided to dig into the closet. Maybe it was ther-
*BANG*
"Ow!" he silently muttered. Ryo looked down. The lady left her panty
drawer open and he slammed his leg into the damn thing.
He nervously looked at the bed, where a rather stunning beauty of a
woman was lying there, asleep, in a rather stunning and very see-through
nightgown.
"Niiiihaoo," Ryo muttered, admiring the view, and went off to the
closet. Maybe the safe was in there...
* * *
Happosai's senses were put on alert. Somebody, maybe the lady, had
just closed the damn drawer on him. Whoever it was seemed to be moving
away. Happosai, demonstrating amazing strength for a man his size, opened
the drawer from the inside and looked around.
Hm... seemed the lady went back to sleep.
The lady.
In the see-through nightgown.
And those... those...
"Oh my," he croaked.
Hm? He just said "oh my"? Where the hell did that come from?
Happosai shook his head. Must've spent too much time around Kasumi. He
struggled with all his might and turned _away_ from the sight of those...
those... well, he turned away and headed for the closet. There wasn't any
bras in the drawer, so he was hoping they were stored there. Those, and
maybe some more of those exquisite nightgowns.
Happosai happily made his way into the closet and was burying himself
in a hung silky item which he hoped was a negligee when suddenly...
* * *
Ryo, in the dark, felt around the walls of the crowded closet.
Shoes.
Skirts.
Shoes.
Shoes.
Something with spikes... _yowza_ He blushed a bit and put the rather
revealing item of leatherwear back down.
Shoes.
Shoes.
What is it with women and shoes?
Hm... what else... he felt around blindly...
Something silky, warm, softish and round.
Er.
Silky?
Soft?
Warm?
Round?
* * *
Happosai sweated nervously. He was caught. Deep in enemy territory.
And stuck in a negligee.
* * *
Ryo sweated nervously. Not only was he robbing the girl, now he could
be charged with sexual assault.
Very slowly, Ryo let go and reached for the lightswitch.
* * *
=CLICK=
"YOU!"
"YOU!"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! Thieves!!" *WHAP*
Kodachi twirled her ribbon madly, but by the time her eyes adjusted to
the light, the burglars were gone.
One seemed to have left something behind...
She opened the bag.
"Panties?"
* * *
Ryo ran furiously into the cold winter night. "Damn you, old man! You
ruined everything!" As he landed on a rooftop, he swung his umbrella
wildly at Happosai.
"What about me, huh? Curse you for interfering! I lost my whole bag
of panties!" Happosai angrily flung a dozen bombs at Ryo and hopped to
another rooftop. He fumbled slightly on his landing. Being trapped
inside a negligee usually did that to small people.
Ryo jumped in pursuit as another Nerima home was overly-ventilated
(*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*) and he flung a ki-blast out towards the
mini-megapervert, who dodged it easily. "You die tonight!"
"Oh? Is that so?" said Happosai, who suddenly let loose with a flying
kick that sent Ryo across the skies and into the park, slamming into a
fountain. "Tonight, foolish young man, you shall feel the wrath of
Happosai!!!!" The little man bounded away, the negligee flapping madly,
chasing after his victim.
* * *
Ranma muttered angrily, "stupid girl, stupid girl..." as he ran
silently into the night. She was taking her usual route, around the
neighborhood, through the park, and around across the newly repaired
bridge(4). That's the usual route she took in the mornings, Ranma knew,
since once or twice he had decided to follow her, merely out of curiosity.
Well, that's what it seemed she was doing tonight anyways. They did
the neighborhood thing and were cutting across the park, and...
*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*
Bomb explosions.
Damn.
Happosai.
*WHAM* "Ow!"
* * *
Akane was almost out of the park when she heard it.
*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*
Bomb explosions.
Damn.
Happosai.
*WHAM*
Something flew by her.
"Ow!"
And hit somebody behind her? Akane looked back curiously.
Imbedded into the water fountain was Ryo, who was currently cushoned
from his impact by Ranma-chan.
"Ranma?" Akane wondered what he was doing here. She approached
cautiously.
"Haposaaaaaiiiii!!!" Ryo roared as he shoved off of something in his
attempt to get up.
"Gedoffame!" Ranma yelled as Ryo shoved her in the face. He grabbed
Ryo's arm and twisted it.
"Gah! WHO DARES?!" Ryo yelled. He wasn't in the mood for any more
inconveniences. He twisted violently and spun around, slashing wildly
with his umbrella. He heard a shriek.
"Akane!" Ranma-chan called out. She flung Ryo into a tree and went to
her. "Are you okay?" she asked, sounding genuinely concenrned. Akane's
hand was bleeding.
"I'm okay," she said, "it's just a cut."
"Dammit! He's dead!" Ranma-chan charged angrily at Ryo. "Nobody
hurts my fiancee!" She aimed a jump-kick at his head.
*BONK*
And was knocked out of her flight by something...
"Sorry, Ranma, but that one is mine!" Happosai said from somewhere in
the darkness. Happosai's laughter was heard from far above.
"Ranma? I don't see any Ranma..." Ryo muttered. Just some irate
redhead. Worry about the minor distractions later, he had a fool to fry.
Ryo looked up into the trees, searching for his enemy.
*BONK*
Ryo stumbled back. Something had hit him on the nose.
*BONK*
And on the head. In fact, there seemed to be alot of things falling
all around him. Lots of round, small things with fuses...
Ryo lashed out with the hook-end of his umbrella into one of the trees
and pulled hard, pulling back a surprised Happosai. "Old man, you will...
will..."
There was a sound.
Hissing.
Ryo suffered a quick flashback to the fight that put him in the
hospital(5). He would never forget the sound..... of bomb fuses burning.
This was that sound.
"Shit!"
*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*
* * *
Ranma held her close, her face buried in his manly chest.
"Oh Ranma," she said, and gently nuzzled his neck.
He held her tighter.
Ukyo worked her way up to his ear, nibbling on it gently.
He started to moan.
Then his face changed...
Ukyo looked up to his eyes, confused. "Ryoga?!?!"
*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*
*
Ukyo woke up. She was asleep next to Ryoga.
"EEEEEEEEEEK!!!!" *POW*
* * *
Ryoga slept a dreamless sleep. Then things got unexpectedly erotic.
He dreamed of Ukyo, in a negligee. Ukyo? Hm. He shrugged in his dream,
guessing that maybe he was over Akane after all. She leaned on him ever
so closely and nuzzled his neck, worked her way up, and gently nibbled on
his ear.
What a dream. So realistic too....
"EEEEEEEEEEEK!" *POW*
Suddenly, he was flying. That's funny. He never dreamed of flying
before. Boy, when that Ukyo puts her lips on a guy...
* * *
A slightly charred Ryo and Happosai hopped across the nighttime skies
of downtown Tokyo, exchanging blows and insults. Ranma-chan and Akane
were in pursuit, wanting to get their hands on either one.
Happosai dashed across a skyscraper rooftop but tripped on the landing.
Ryo saw the opening and aimed the sharp tip of his umbrella downwards.
"NOW OLD MAN, YOU DIE! *OOF*"
Ryo was knocked clumsily off his trajectory by something heavy. He
landed past Happosai and created a small crater in the roof. "What the...
_you_"
Ryoga, dazed and confused, looked around. "You!"
"What do you think you're doing?!?!? Idiot! I had the old wretch in
my sights and YOU-""
*WHAM* "Shut up." Ryoga was sleepy, tired, and in no mood for
Kuno-esque rants and raves. He shambled forward and stepped on something.
"Ow!" Happosai croaked. He grabbed Ryoga's leg and slammed him into
the pavement.
"That's it! I-" *WHAM* Ryoga was slammed forward, his head propelled
by Ranma's feet. His own feet scrambled violently, knocking Happosai into
a cement wall.
"Oops. Sorry 'bout that, Ryoga."
"Ranmaaa! How DARE you!"
"Hey! It was an accident! I was jumpin' already, YOU got in the way!"
"Hey!" yelled Akane, landing violently on Ranma's head with her feet,
"Cut it out already!"
Happosai had enough. It was time to stop fooling around. He had been
abused and kicked around enough for one night, and it was time to put an
end to it. "FOOLS! WITNESS THE ANYTHING GOES MARTIAL ARTS SECRET
ATTACK!" The pint-size pervert glowed brightly and began to grow in size.
It wasn't just his battle aura either.
Ryo was confused. "You're going to run away?"
Ranma-chan, Akane, and Ryoga scrambled back in panic. They'd seen
Happosai's enlarged battle aura before, but this was different. The old
man's aura wasn't growing. _He_ was growing.
"Hey, Ranma?" asked Ryoga.
"What?!"
"Saotome Anything Goes Secret Technique?" (6)
"Good idea."
Ryo spat into his hands and readied his umbrella. It was going to be
one of _those_ nights. Well, that was just fine for him. Ryo hadn't
gotten into a serious fight in a long while. He was way overdue and
needed to take his stress out on somebody.
He notied with surprsing calm that even though Happosai was growing,
his clothes weren't shredding. In fact, they were growing too...
Weird.
Oh well. Time to kill.
"DIEEEEEEEEE!!!"
===============
=AFTERMATH=
===============
[6:00am]
Ukyo wondered what she'd say to Ryoga when he got back. She didn't
plan on falling asleep in his sleeping bag. She certainly didn't think
she'd end up cuddling next to him either. The whole situation was just...
She needed a distraction.
Ukyo turned on the television. Morning tv usually isn't promising, but
at least it took her mind off the problem.
///A crisis of gigantic proportions here this morning in downtown
Tokyo-///
"Whoa..." She was shocked at what she was seeing.
...
Several blocks away, Ryoga stumbled towards Ucchan's. He knew it was
around here somewhere. At this moment he was grateful to be alive, and
with all his limbs intact.
* * *
It was another fine day in the Tendo household. Kasumi was up early
getting the breakfast meal ready, Nabiki was just waking up, and Genma...
was looking for Ranma.
"Where is that boy?! He's missing our morning sparring session!" he
yelled, as he entered the main room.
Soun ran up frantically and grabbed Soun by the shoulders. "Saotome!
Akane's missing!"
As if on cue, a very tired, somewhat dusty looking Akane entered
through the front door. Her hair and clothes were a mess.
"Akane! Where have you been?" asked Soun.
Ranma entered the house. He was slightly dusty, his clothes were all
in disarray. He stretched and yawned.
Soun and Genma cast a quick glance and an evil grin. Ranma and Akane
out all night? Their clothing in a mess? Tired as if they were busy all
night? Suddenly, they stood behind their children, holding their
shoulders, and tossed confetti. "Oh Saotome! It's good to see our
children getting along once again!"
"Yes Tendo, it is indeed!"
"My daughter is all grown up! Waaaagh!" Soun wailed.
Ranma frowned. He would, under normal circumstances, prefer to toss
his dad into the pond. Unfortunately, he was just too tired to do that.
He glanced over at Akane. It looked like she was in the same predicament.
"Mm," said Ranma, and he pointed towards the heart of downtown Tokyo.
"Eh? What's that you're saying?" asked Soun.
"Mm." Akane pointed her thumb in that direction too, hoping that would
answer everyone's questions.
They both trudged upstairs to get some well deserved rest. Genma and
Soun looked to where they had pointed.
"Saotome."
"Tendo."
"We're moving to China."
"Yes. Good idea. As soon as possible."
* * *
Ryo Muhoshin crawled into his apartment, ragged and out of energy.
He'd given it his all. He'd done his best. There was no shame in his
retreat.
"Hey, bro, where've ya been?" asked Ryoko.
"Urg."
"What happened to ya? You look like you've been fighting Ryoga again."
"Worse."
It wasn't a good night for Ryo. He'd lost his big score at the Mendo
Tech, at the Kuno Mansion, got beaten silly, and lost a damn fine
umbrella.
"Cool! Gimmie the details!"
"No talk sleep now." was the best Ryo could offer in reply.
"Fine. Be that way."
Megane passed by, noticed Ryo on the floor, and said, "so you got your
ass kicked again, did you?"
"Shaddup."
Ryo was content. He was alive, right?
He strongly felt that he ought to leave this town. It seemed to be
hazzardous for his health.
Or at least find a better line of work.
For now, Ryo was "home", and he was content to just fall asleep on the
floor, right there, right now.
* * *
Commander Ichiwara was in a panic. "Get the tank divisions lined up
over here! Call the general and tell him we need those damn airstrikes!
Get those electro-discharge dishes in place! Dammit men move it move it
move it!!!"
Not since those damn giant monsters crashed into town had he ever seen
such a horrible threat to Japan.
The creature, as tall as an average skyscraper in downtown Tokyo, had
devastated half of the downtown area already. It crushed several
divisions of tanks already and had swatted down two squadrons of fighter
planes as well. He hoped that the new anti-monster system developed after
the disaster of Godzilla would prove effective.
What it _looked_ like was absurd. A hideously mutated old man,
resembling a troll somewhat, and wearing an even bigger negligee. The
damn thing kept on roaring something unintelligable that came out sounding
like "BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAHH!!!" or sometimes "PAAAAAANNNNTIIIIEESS!!"
Luckily, it had stopped its rampage and was apparently molesting a
gigantic billboard with a lingerie-clad girl on it.
Ichiwara shook his head. Who knows what that thing was. Atomic
accident gone wrong? Mutant? Ancient race of cross-dressing giants that
had so far been hidden from mankind? He took a drag from his cigar and
pondered the mysteries of life.
"SWEEEEEEEEETTTTTOOOOO!!!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
=========== =footnotes= ===========
1- normal normal is entirely different than Nerima Normal, which would
under normal standarts NOT be normal, but instead alarmingly abnormal.
2- Kasumi was possesed by a rather wimpy demon in a manga story. It
oughta become an OVA or something like that soon...
3- Cutey Honey: heroine magical girl. As with any magical girl, she has
an incredible amout of nakedness going on during her costume changes.
Maybe they plan it, maybe they don't but the result of this is usually
a dazed opponent.
4- destroyed in "The More Things Change" part 7
5- A mass melee involving bombs, gas mains, electrical lines, a truck full
of fuel, a Mech, and several other people. see "The More Things Change"
- Epilogue
6- the technique is seperated into three parts: evasion,
contemplation, and execution. In its most simple definition,
it could be defined as such: "RUN AWAY!!!"
tpoh-5
Kasumi dug through the cabinets and shelves, but they were, for today's
dinner, lacking in neccessary ingredients. Well, there was just one thing
to be done, in that case.
"Father, I'll be out for a little while."
"Oh?"
"Just to the market, we're out of some supplies."
*
*RING!*
"Hello?"
//Um, is Manami there?//
"Yeah, this is Manami."
//Hi! This is Akari! What're you up to?//
"Not too much, but you caught me on my way out..."
//Oh? Where're you going?//
"It's nothing really, just out with a friend..."
//Out... as in _going out_?
"No! It's just a small thing."
//Ah. I see.... hm. Well, I'm just calling t'ask you if you're gonna
be with us in the study group today?//
"Oh no, that's today, huh?"
//Yup, you didn't forget, did you?//
"Er... well..."
//You did.//
"Kinda..."
//So, what... you can't come?//
"*sigh* I completely forgot. I'm gonna be out all day."
//Oooh reeeally... ?
"Um, yeah."
//So you ARE going on a date, hmmm?//
"No! It's not a date! Well, not really. We're just having a small
picnic. That's all."
//That's all? All day... it *is* with a guy, right?//
"Yeah..."
//So you're spending the day with a guy. Oooh... we'll want details...//
"HEY!"
//Come on! You're ditching us for a guy, you have to at least tell us
how it goes, right??//
"Fine... fine... *grumble*"
//*Giggle!* So, who're you going with? It's Gosunkugi, I bet!//
"..."
//Hello?//
"Why are you so nosey, anyway?"
//It's my duty. You can tell me...//
"Okay. Well, he seems like a really sweet guy, so... I thought I'd
invite him out on a picnic!"
//Ha! I knew it! Although I don't know what you see in him.//
"Hey! He's sweet, and kind, and modest, and-"
//Okay! I get the picture. Hm, I havean idea...//
"Uh oh... what are you thinking?"
//I was thinking, we're gonna play poker tonight, too. If you finish
your picnic early enough, maybe you can make it to that? Bring Gos with
you!//
"Hm, I don't know..."
//Aww, everyone'll be there! Ranma and Akane are coming. HIroshi and
Daisuke confirmed, and they're bringing dates or something. Ukyou and
Ryouga, too. Oh! You haven't met Ryouga yet, have you?//
"Er, no... I think I've heard of him though."
//Yup! He's the one Ryoko's always going on and on about. You have to
meet him! Please try to make it? He's kinda cute, you know...//
"Sounds like a lot of fun... I am a little curious as to who he is. But
I don't know about tonight. It really depends on what Hikaru-kun wants to
do..."
//Right.//
"Look, we'll see, okay? I'll ask him if he wants to go."
//Alright! Hope to see you there!//
"Yeah, we'll see. Look, I gotta run. I'll talk to you later, right?"
//Yeah! And keep us posted, okay?//
"Akari!"
//*Giggle*//
"*Giggle* Geez. Well, see you later! Ja!"
*CLICK*
A few minutes later...
"Hey! Gos-kun!"
Hikaru Gousnkugi blinked. He was in his room, and didn't expect
anyone yelling to his window. Gos cautiously poked his head out the
window, and was greeted by the sight of...
"M-Manami!"
Understand, the concept of Hikaru Gosunkugi WITH a gir was something
fairly alien to him, and the rest of the world as well.
"Hi! C'mon, s'great weather today! Let's go!"
"Go? Um, go where?"
*
Ryouga-chan sighed.
Some days, he (now a she) found out, Ukyou could be a real cold lady.
Today was a good example.
"Ryouga! To the left!" yelled Ukyo.
He turned left.
Ryouga looked down at her waitress outfit and sighed in disgust. Ukyo
was the one that suggested it, since, after all, customers liked pretty
waitresses, not bumbling lost waiters. Ryouga did refuse, but then Ukyo
reminded him of WHO'S place he had been staying at, and at NO expense at
all, and basically saddled him with enough guilt to sink a small boat.
It was entirely unpleasant to him, now a her, the way that the men would
look at her. Ryouga just wanted to scream out "I'M A GUY!" but it just
wouldn't do under these circumstances.
"You went past it! Take a few steps back!"
He took a few steps back.
Mercifully, Ucchan's had shorter hours nowadays, partially because
Ukyo wanted more time off, and partially because she could afford it now
that Nabiki was her investment broker.
"No, no, no! Ya went too far! Go forward again!"
Ryouga grumbled something about pushy women and took a few steps
forward. She checked her watch. There were two minutes, two minutes
left until closing. Ryouga couldn't wait.
"Excuse me, Miss? That's my order," a rather refined voice said.
"Eh? Oh, here ya go." Ryouga unceremoniously dumped a plateload of
Okonomiyaki at a table and started to walk off. Her hand was grabbed.
"Miss, allow me to thank you for your service."
"What are y*MMPFH*"
Ukyo looked up from her grill, wondering if Ryouga was finally done
delivering that order yet. "Hey, Ryouga, didja..... a.... oh boy."
And thus, Ryouga Hibiki once again met Midako Sanzenin, although this
time under wildly different and (at least to Ryouga) unpleasant
circumstances.
"GETOFFFAME!" *WHAM*
And so, on this day, Ukyo got a new skylight too.
"Oh well, it was closing time anyways. C'mon, lost girl, I need to
get some stuff at the market."
"AT LEAST GIMMIE SOME HOT WATER FIRST! And STOP LAUGHING!!!"
*
Ryo was comfortably unconscious, an a fairly small roll-up blanket on
the floor. It wasn't grand living, but it was wasn't expensive either.
"Onii-san!"
There was this noise, however that was bugging him...
"ONII-SAN!"
And it just wouldn't go away...
"OOOOOONIIIIIIIII-SAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!"
Ryo bolted upright, one eye twitching. "WHAAAAAAAAAT?!"
"We're outta breakfast stuff," pouted Kyoko.
Ryo looked at his youngest sister, a blank expresson on his face.
"And...?"
"GET BREAKFAST!!!"
Ryo winced from the decibel level. "Fine, fine..."
A moment later, a side door that shouldn't have been there opened up,
and Ryo slipped away quietly from a nondescript apartment house.
*
"Isn't it poker night tonight?" asked Ryouga.
"Yup, that and a study group, s'gonna be at Ranchan's tonight." Ukyo
hmmed and looked around the aisles, pushing a cart full of groceries.
"Who's in?"
"Hm... me, Ranchan, Akane, Yuka, Hiroshi, maybe some others."
"Sounds nice."
"Gonna come?"
Ryouga sighed. "Not much else to do."
"Hey, grab some of those waffles, will ya?"
"Hm?"
Ukyo bapped him jokingly. "You. Waffles. There." She pointed to a
direction. "I'll be there in a sec, just wait for me, okay?"
"Oh, ah, right!" Ryouga scratched his head, grinned, and walked off.
Ukyo bapped him again. "THAT way."
"Oh... ah, sorry."
Ryouga walked off, in the -correct- direction this time, and sure
enough, saw a freezer bin full of waffles. He reached down, grabbed a
box... and felt someone's hand as well.
Ryoga looked up, and scowled.
Ryo looked up, and scowled.
"Leggo," said Ryo through clenched teeth, "of my Eggo."
"No," replied Ryoga, through equally clenched teeth, "you let go... of
MY Eggo."
"I said," repeated Ryo, "Leggo of _my_ Eggo."
*wham*wham*wham*wham*wham*wham*wham*wham*wham*wham*wham*
*BOOM*
Ukyo pushed her cart full of groceries over to Ryouga, who was for
some reason on the floor, dazed, and badly beaten.
"Hey, what happened to you?" she asked.
He mumbled something incomprehensible and tossed up a crused box of Eggos.
"Aw, Ryouga! Why'd you get a crushed box? Jeez." She tossed the box
aside and grabbed a new one. Amazingly, she didn't notice the
Gosunkugi-shaped, or, to the more sharp-of-vision, the Ryo-shaped hole in
the roof.
*
And so, Hikaru Gosunkugi, for the first time in his life, was having
what could be described as a lunch picnic date. There he was, with a cute
girl, sitting under a nice, shady tree... and... and they'd been just
sitting there, shy about everything... eating, glancing at each other.
Gosunkugi sighed.
Manami slowly leaned towards Gosunkugi, feeling the courage to give
him a quick kiss on the cheek.
There was a small dot on the horizon, getting bigger.
Gosunkugi noticed her lips getting nearer, and suddenly his world went
into slow-motion.
Her lips were closer... closer... closer...
*WHAM*
Manami shrieked. Gosunkugi stared.
Gosunkugi's 'evil twin' slowly and agonizingly pulled himself from out
of the tree.
"Damn that Hibiki," he muttered. Ryo carelessly got up, accidentally
stepping all over Gosunkugi's lunch. The romantic mood was hopelessly
shattered.
And for Gosunkugi, moments like those were few and rare.
Ryo brushed himself off and began to walk away.
"H-hold... it... right... t-there."
Manami's eyes were wide in surprise.
Ryo slowly turned around, impatience showing on his face.
Gosunkugi sounded... astonishingly... angry.
"Yesss?" hissed Ryo.
Gos gave Manami a serious look. "You'd b-better get away, Manami."
"Gos?" she squeaked.
Ryo narrowed his eyes. So the Mouse wanted to fight, hm? He raised
a gloved fist, and charged it with ki energy.
Gosunkugi concentrated, and swirls of blue began to surround him.
Manami backed away a safe distance and watched.
"T-this wa-was a truely happy day for me... then YOU RUINED IT!"
stammered Gosunkugi. "DAMN YOU!" Purely by instinct, he pointed flung
his arms forward. A fireball suddenly zoomed down from the heavens and
slammed into Ryo, exloploding with a burst of red, throwing up clouds,
dust, and debris, shaking the earth.
Gosunkugi stared at his arms in amazement. "I... I did it!"
From a distance, Manami stared, surprised. She knew Gosunkugi was a
magician, but she never knew he was THAT powerful.
"I DID IT!!!" Gosunkugi raised his fist in the air, feeling the rush
of triumph.
*cough*cough* "Gosunkuuuugiiiiii!"
Gos staggered back, in shock, as an angry, coughing, and totally
unscathed Ryo emerged from the crater.
Ryo narrowed his eyes and approached Gosunkugi. He didn't have his
umbrella with him, but he felt that in this case, he wouldn't need it.
"DIE!" Ryo charged at Gosunkugi, fists burning with energy.
<OhmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodGETMEOUTTAHERE!> thought Gosunkugi.
*POOF*
Ryo skidded to a halt.
He looked around.
"COWARD!!!" he roared. Ryo heard a small -poof- and a tiny 'eep', and
turned around to see an utterly confused Gosunkugi.
"GOTCHA!" Ryo swung a fist...
*POOF*
... and Gosunkugi was gone. Again.
Meanwhile, a few feet away, Gosunkugi reappered in a puff of smoke.
This whole teleportation thing was alarmingly new to him. He looked
around, confused, and saw that Ryo was surprised too. Gosunkugi
took advantage of the moment and concentrated again...
*KABOOOM*
Despite the clear sky, a lightning bolt struck, making yet another
crater in the ground. Ryo once again climbed out of a deep hole in the
ground, shaken but otherwise unscathed, and charged at Gosunkugi, who
again *POOF*ed away... it settled into a pattern of *KABOOM* 'grr'
-charge- *POOF* 'eh?' *KABOOM* etc etc etc...
"STAND YOUR GROUND, COWARD!"
*POOF*
"DAMN YOU!!!"
*KABOOM*
Mamani, from a fairly safe distance, watched all this and sighed.
"Grrr..."
"Eep!"
*POOF*
"STAND AND FIGHT!!!"
*ZAPPP*
There went the perfect day. But at least Gosunkugi was showing that
he got -alot- better at magic than before. An amazing improvement, really.
Suddenly, it felt... drafty.
"Why hello there!" said a 2-foot troll, waving around some panties.
HER panties.
"EEEEP! PERVERT!" Manami screamed, running away.
Gosunkugi and Ryo paused in their 'battle' and looked at what was
causing the commotion, and that's when Happosai decided to bolt once more.
"See ya, boys!" he yelled as several objects hit the ground.
Gosunkugi rushed towards Manami, asking "A-are you alright?"
"Y-yeah... I think, um, I need to go home, now."
Ryo stood his ground, but looked at the retreating form of Happosai.
Indecision gripped him. The hunter within him wanted to pursue Happosai,
just for the thrill of it. The voice of reason reminded him that he
didn't have his umbrella, and would probbably be beaten senseless... that
is, if what his sensei told him was true.
Then he wondered what that hissing noise was.
No... wait... he remembered that sound, it was the sound of bomb fuses.
*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*BOOM*
Gosunkugi blinked and turned around, but all he saw was a large cloud
of smoke. He didn't see the small dot that was flying away into the
neighborhood.
"What w-was that?" he wondered out loud.
*
Ryo Muhoshin landed with a -thud- against a concrete sidewall along a
sidewalk, a few blocks down the road. As he sat (crumpled, actually)
there, the world spun around his head, and his body registered sore spots
everywhere. It wasn't a good day so far. In fact, it was turing out to
be one hell of a bad day.
He got up, swaying unsteadily as he did so, and slowly brushed
himself off. The next person, he growled in his mind, that fouled this
once fine day would be hurt.
Badly.
He took a few deep breaths, blinked once, and then turned around the
corner, where he ran right into someone carrying a grocery back. It's
contents burst out and splattered out on him.
Internally, Ryo was screaming.
Someone would have to be hurt.
"Oh my," said Kasumi.
*
Later that evening...
It was another round of poker at the Tendo Dojo, as Ranma, Akane, Ukyo,
Akari, Hiroshi, Daisuke, Yuka and Sayuri looked at the cards dealt to
them. In the background, a slight wailing was heard.
Yuka and Sayuri were fairly content, each having a pair.
Daisuke almost had a straight flush, but was missing one card.
Hiroshi almost had a straight, was short two cards.
Ukyo had a full house.
Ryogua had junk, but he was loathe to admit it, and so technically was
'bluffing' while actually being just stubborn.
Akane had a full house. The irony was lost on her.
Ranma had a royal straight flush.
"Aaah, I'm out, I got junk." Ranma tossed his cards aside in disgust.
"And t'think he actually beat the gambler king," muttered Ryouga.
"Once in a lifetime thing, I'm sure," added Ukyo.
"Probbably," agreed Akane.
"Veeeeery funny, guys," growled Ranma.
"Hey, what's that awful sound?" asked Hiroshi.
"It's just Mr. Tendo," muttered Ranma. "Upset over something again."
Genma stepped into the room. "Son, you've got a job to do."
"Not now, pop, I'm-"
"Kasumi is missing."
The room was suddenly silent. Everyone was fairly surprised. Nothing
ever happened to Kasumi. The sun rose, the sun set, there were four
seasons, and nothing bad ever happened to Kasumi. Well, there was one
incident involving demonic possession, but it was actually a rather wimpy
demon, and Kasumi came out of it totally unhurt.
"Son, go out and look for her."
"We'll help too," said Akane. Everyone else in the room nodded in
agreement.
Thirty minutes later....
Ryouga stood under a streetlamp, feeling totally, utterly, absolutely
stupid. Sure, it was a nice, big, moment with everyone volunteering to
help, but he REALLY didn't think about it when HE ran off into the night
like an idiot hero.
And, of course, got lost.
"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW!?!?!?!"
Ryouga sighed and leapt to a rooftop. He hoped that maybe he'd see a
familiar landmark, and start using that as a guide on where to go.
To his surprise, he saw Kasumi, walking down a dark street, at a
somewhat leisurely pace, pausing to look behind her, then walking onward,
carrying a few bags. Her shirt seemed to be stained with a few dark
splotches... to Ryouga they might've been a deep color of red.
Then, like a shark emerging from the water, Ryo emerged from the
shadows, walking a few feet behind Kasumi and closing in fast. <How dare
he attack a helpless woman!> Ryouga sprang into action, jumped off of the
rooftop, and landed right between the two. "Kasumi, get behind me!"
Kasumi tried to say something, but Ryouga, in his haste to pummel Ryo,
ignored it. "Muhoshin, how DARE YOU!"
"How... dare... I... _what_?" Ryo took a step back, and fixed a
menacing glare at Ryouga.
Ryouga took a few swings and kicks at Ryo, who did nothing but step
back or dodge, with an angry glare aimed at Ryouga all the time.
"HOW DARE YOU HARASS KASUMI!!!" yelled Ryouga, zooming in with a
flying kick.
*
A few minutes later...
Akane and Ukyo met in the park, both looking worried and tired.
"No luck, huh?" asked Ukyo.
Akane shook her head slowly. There was a grim determination in her
manner. "I _will_ find her, I will..."
Suddenly, in the distance, the sound of a streetlamp crashing shattered
the quiet of the night.
"C'mon, it was this way!" yelled Akane. The two ran towards the
sound, where they found Kasumi behind Ryouga, her hand on his shoulder,
as another figure strolled into the night.
"Kasumi!" Akane ran to her sister and hugged her tightly. "We were so
worried about you!"
Ukyo looked at Ryouga in disbelief. "-You- found her?"
Ryouga frowned. "What's so surprising about that?" he protested.
"Well, without a compass you wouldn't be able to find your own a-"
"Akane, I'm okay, really!" Kasumi hugged her little sister to reassure
her. "I just took a little longer than I thought."
"Jeez, foul-mouthed unappreciative cross-dresser," muttered Ryouga.
"What was that?" asked Ukyo, raising her spatula.
"Nothing."
"Why's your shirt all stained?" asked Akane.
"What did he do to you?" asked Ryouga, anger in his voice.
"Who?" asked Akane and Ukyo.
"Ryo! He was just here! I bet he did someth-"
"Mr. Muhoshin?" said Kasumi, "he payed for the groceries."
"-ing really terrible. What?"
"Well, I told him he didn't have to, since I was the one that ran into
him, but he insisted." The others stared at Kasumi as she continued, "and
then I just had to try and get those stains out of his shirt. After all,
it was my fault. So we went to his apartment nearby and-"
"You went to his apartment?!?! What did he do to you?!" yelled Akane.
"I met his family and he offered dinner, but I didn't think it was
appropriate to, really. His family was really nice. Such funny
neighbors too."
"He... offered you dinner?"
"And then I noticed he seemed to be hurt quite a bit, so I bandaged him
a little."
"You HELPED him?" asked Ryouga in disbelief.
"He WAS hurt," justified Kasumi. "And then he offered to walk me
back."
The three looked at Kasumi as if expecting more. "And..?"
"And what?" asked Kasumi.
"That's... all?"
Kasumi nodded. "Oh my, I really am late, aren't I. I hope father
isn't too upset."
*
Ryo Muhoshin walked home, slowly, whistling. Miss Tendo was quite a
surprise. The expression on his sisters faces was priceless. Even Megane
smiled a little in her presence. She was so... so... motherly. Very
much, in fact, like their own mother. Ryo frowned momentarily. He didn't
like to think back to when their parents... left. But still, it was nice
to be 'mothered' again, something they all hadn't experienced in a long
time.
Leave it to that idiot Hibiki to spoil the end of a nice evening.
He wondered if he should bother going in the quiet way, but decided
against it. He was too tired for that, and it was already evening. The
neighbors, dreadful things that they were, should hopefully be asleep. He
crept through unfamiliar territory (the front door) and made his way
slowly to his room.
A floorboard creaked.
Without warning, a hand snaked out of one of the rooms. A gruff voice
croaked, "WaHAHA! Heyaaa neighbor! C'mnjoin th'party!!!" In the
blink of an eye, Ryo was pulled in and the door slammed shut.
Two seconds later, he emerged in the hallway again, this time looking a
bit flustered, and definitely angry. "Damn this place," he muttered.
*
Once again, all was well in the Tendo Dojo. The elder Saotome and
Tendo resumed their eternal shogi match while Kasumi cleaned up the
post-dinner wreckage and everyone else was in the living room dealing out
cards.
"Hey, guys, don't you think it's kinda suspicous what Ryo did?" asked
Ukyo. "Think he's up to something?"
"Hope not," answered Ranma.
"At least Kasumi's alright," said Akane.
"I don't like it," said Ryouga, "he's up to something."
"Oh well.... another exciting night in Nerima," sighed Ukyo. "C'mon,
Ranchan, deal out the cards."
Meanwhile, Kasumi went over to talk with Soun and Gemna, but nobody
noticed.
*
SEVERAL DAYS LATER
This had caught Ranma entirely by surprise.
The Saotome/Tendo Dojo of Anything Goes Martial Arts had apparently
gained a new student. One that was carrying around some ridiculously
large hair-styling equipment. The ridiculous size of the weaponry was
emphasized by her short stature and the fact that she was only twelve
years old.
Twelve year old girls, in Ranma's opinion, shouldn't be carrying around
five foot long razors.
And even more importantly, he thought, he shouldn't be having to
participate in 'babysitting' the child. After all, he may be the one to
'inherit' the dojo, but it wasn't his _yet_. The job should've fallen
primarily to his dad and Mr. Tendo. When asked about it, he was simply
told, as he expected, "it's part of your training, boy!" It made him feel
a little better that Akane would be there, if only just to watch.
Of course, part of the worry was about her swinging around that
ridiculous blade of hers around recklessly. That fear was immediately
eased when he was told that she was not going to be allowed to use weapons
in her training, which was how Anything Goes usually went anyways. As to
why, they simply told her that her brother made the request, and stressed
it strongly.
And so it came to this, a fine afternoon, with Mr. Saotome, Mr. Tendo,
Ranma, and the bubbly little girl with the big razor.
"Pop, she got any martial arts training?" he asked.
"Only with weapons. Without them, she is untrained..."
Suddenly, Kyoko rushed forward, grabbed Ranma by the hand, and flung
him out the door and into the pond.
"...except in a little judo," finished Genma.
A sputtering, bewildered Ranma-chan rose from the pond, while Kyoko
looked at her curiously. She tugged Soun's wrist and asked, "Um... who's
that lady? An'wha'happened to Ranma-sensei?"
"That's... ah..." said Soun, unsure of how he should answer that
particular question. Usually, the Saotomes wanted to curses kept a
secret. "That's Ranko, Akane's cousin!"
"Ooooh. Hihi Ranko-san!"
"She... shall be your sensei as well," said Genma, patting her on the
shoulder. That was a mistake.
"Hey old man," snarled Ranma-chan, "what's the big idea not telling me
about ACK-"
*SPLASH*
And now there was an irate girl and a panda in the pond. Off to the
side, Akane couldn't help but laugh at the two great martial artists that
had just been flung across the backyard.
"It ain't funny!" protested Ranma-chan, slowly getting out of the pond.
"Oh, don't be such a crybaby, Ranma," Akane shot back.
Kyoko blinked. "Wai! Cute panda! Can I play with it?" She raced
towards it happily and put it in a surprisingly effective headlock. It
took a little convincing by Akane to get her to release 'Mr. Panda', and
they had a little talk about when it is and isn't okay to throw people.
After 'Ranko' and 'Mr. Panda' headed upstairs to take a bath, and Mr.
Saotome and son returned, they drilled her through the basic stances of
kempo for several hours. She wasn't bad, and seemed to be a quick
learner. Aside from the occasional toss into the pond/wall/ceiling/floor,
she was liked by them all. It was hard to stay mad at a 12 year old girl
that was on a perpetual happy-mood.
After practice was done, Akane took it upon herself to take care of
their guest, offering her drinks and snacks.
"Thank you for the hospitality, oneechan."
"So, how do you like it here?" asked Akane. "Having fun?"
"Mm-hm!"
"My dad isn't being too tough on you, is he?" asked Akane jokingly.
Kyoko giggled. "He's funny."
"Is he alot like your dad?" wondered Akane. A girl with her
personality surely must have had fun-loving parents... although it failed
to explain why her older brother was a jerk.
"Daddy? He's... dead," said the little girl, her mood slipping a bit
lower than full bubbly happiness. She was still smiling, it was just
tainted with the smallest trace of melancholy.
"Oh... I'm sorry." Akane looked at her, shocked. It was amazing that
the girl was so... bubbly... considering a tragedy like that.
"Mommy too," she added, her smile fading a little more. "They left a
long time ago, I don't remember much."
Akane found herself at a loss for words, not really knowing what to say
to the girl. Instead, she gave her a hug. "So... who watched over you
when your parents left?" she asked.
"Hm..." Kyoko seemed to be putting some serious thought into the
question. "Um... Sensei Miyaji... he was kinda like a daddy...
EDNOTE
Things improved once she was told that Kasumi was in the kitchen. The
manic little hairstylist happily bounded there, yelling, "Can I help
oneechan?! Pleeeease?"
From the kitchen, Kasumi's amused laughter at the little girl's
enthusaism could be heard. "Well... okay, but promise to do what I tell
you?"
"Okaaay!"