On a side note, I'd like to ask you Ranma-ologists out there a favor.
Gimmie the names of all the 'one-shot' characters that made an appearance
and challanged Ranma/Ryouga/Main Cast/etc to a duel. There's a tournament
I'm planning and I need contestants.
-rpm
The almost final version, I hope. This is the 100+th rewrite of part one
(I'm serious) and I think I'm finally happy with it. Here ya go, enjoy.
========================
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
ACT I
Life, Liberty, and the
Pursuit of that guy you
always wanted to kill.
========================
========
PART I
Recovery
========
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 this relationship. For years it was
Ranma and Akane's story, with the whole of Nerima seemingly revolving
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
------
[Morning]
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. Needless to day, every week was fairly unpleasant.
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, Kuno, and Ryo.
And how well did those four 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, "try to keep your big mouth shut this time."
"Hey, we just kid around with each other like that," said Ranma with a
shrug. "She knows it ain't serious."
"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 elevator 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.
-bap- "Don't you start again," said Akane mildly.
"Yes! Smite him my love!" cheered Kuno.
The two of them began a moderate conversation of barbs and bickering,
which to the ordinary people would seem to be a bad thing. However,
nobody pulled out a mallet and nobody yelled. Thus, by their standards,
this was a rather tame arguement. Meanwhile Kuno ranted more on the
vulgar habits of the one named Saotome.
Ukyo sighed. "Those guys are at it again."
"You'd think they'd have stopped by now," 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."
Ryo Muhoshin stayed silent during this whole exchange. He'd been doing
alot of that lately, and nobody complained.
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.
Slowly, smoothly, Ranma hobbled out of bed and sat next to Ryouga.
Ryouga narrowed his eyes. Ranma was acting far too friendly already.
"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."
Ranma blinked, sighed, and went away from Ryouga. "Kuno, we've known
each other for a while now..."
"Away from my sustinance, you fiend!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 school and
the same old routine once more. 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.>
<Um... 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, Doctor 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. <S-she's... cute.>
Nearby, a chime rang, marking the end of the hour.
Normally, this would be a romantic moment.
Normally.
"Oh no!" he heard her say, "I'm going to be late!" She took off
running, yelling as she left, "sorry about that! I've really got to go!"
{Nice to meet you} was what he'd thought, and tried to say, but it came
out as "Niaeeyouuaaah..." right before he collapsed on the ground again.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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, "alot like
her 'sister'."
"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...."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a penalty for being late to school, Hikaru Gosunkugi had to undergo
the standard Water Bucket Torture. To any normal student, it wasn't so
bad. To the local martial artists, it was a joke.
To Hikaru Gosunkugi, at peak physical peformance, it was torture.
To Hikaru Gosunkugi, fresh out of the hospital, with a crutch, it was
hell. Considering who he was and what shape he was in, they reduced the
penalty to one bucket, half filled.
He was still struggling.
And so that's how he was at his current state, standing in the hall,
leaning on his crutch, with the crutchless arm desperately holding up the
bucket. He sighed, settling into the position, and was dreadfully afraid
that it was going to be one of those days.
"Um, e-excuse me?" asked a somewhat timid voice.
Gosunkugi blinked. He'd heard that voice before. That.. .*cute*
voice. And if he recalled correctly, the face belonging to that voice...
He raised his head and looked across the hall and a few doors down.
And there she was. The girl. She seemed... somehow ordinary in her
appearance. A school uniform, long black hair, with a certain
girl-next-door appeal.
And two buckets.
"Um... h-hi," he said nervously, trying to look like the one bucket he
had wasn't the incredible strain on his muscles that it really was.
"Ah... sorry about this morning," she said, looking down.
"It's okay, really," he replied.
"Again, um, sorry." They turned away from each other, both feeling
equally embarrased at the situation.
Gosunkugi sighed, wishing he'd have enough courage to talk to this
girl. She definitely was cute. Just another girl to be swept off her
feet by a passing martial artist, he supposed.
Suddenly, a fire was lit within him. _No_ he thought, _I will not be
the person I was before! I will be a better man!_ He summoned from his
memory as much advice as he could from those volumes of 12 step self-help
books, took a deep breath, and didn't say a thing.
After five more minutes of intense self-esteem building thoughts, he
said, "Um..."
"Hm?" she said in reply.
"I.. ah.. was wondering..."
_whattoaskwhattoaskwhattoaskwhattoaskAHHA!IKNOW!_
"Are you, um, new around here?" he managed to muster.
"Just moved here," she said quietly.
"Oh? From where?"
"Ah... San Francisco, in America."
"Oh..." Gosunkugi, by nature, would have been twiddling his thumbs at
this point, but the bucket got in the way.
"Um... hi. I'm Hikaru Gosunkugi."
"Manami Hinako."
"Nice to meet you," he replied nervously. Internally, voices that were
installed by all those 12 step self help books were giving him mighty pats
on the back. _See?_ he told himself. _That wasn't so hard, now was it?_
"So... you're new around here?" he asked.
"Um, yes."
The negative voices in Gosunkugi's mind sprang out, nagging him and
reminding him _hey stupid, she already said that, now she'll think you're
an idiot._
Then, he remembered something important that he felt he'd better check.
"You're not... a martial artist, are you?" he asked.
She blinked and looked at him oddly. "Um... no, I'm not."
"Oh." That made him feel entirely better. She was new, with no
friends, and wasn't a martial artist. This could be promising. "Well...
ah... if you need someone to show you around, I'd be glad to help out."
"Thank you," said she, smiling slightly, "I'd like that."
Gosunkugi would have said more at this point, but the positive voices
in his head were throwing a party, and that involved cutting off any
unnecessary things like speech and movement. Before his control system
was shut down for the hour, it did manage to install a small, somewhat
goofy looking grin on his face.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryo Muhoshin observed.
The days passed into nights, and the nights into days, and he merely
rested in his bed, and observed. There was not much else to do, really.
The demise of the Unorthodox Weaponry School of Martial Arts was quite a
hinderence for him. He had the school's backing in his hunt for Ryouga,
but that was no more. What would he gain now by killing Hibiki? There
was personal satisfaction, which was indeed very important, but there was
no _tangible_ reward, not anymore. No promotion, no recognition, and now
that it was no longer a matter of honor for a school of martial arts, the
Law, which had always turned the other way when it came to matters of
honor and martial artists, might not look the other way now. He admitted
it to himself, the grudge against Hibiki didn't have much honor to it,
just a matter of pride, but he still hated the fool regardless.
And so, with that particular goal in his life somewhat sidetracked, he
merely observed.
Ryouga and his apparent comrade Ranma bickered off and on, Tatewake
Kunou spouted his poetic phrases, and Ryo observed, quietly.
Sometimes, there would be visitors. Ryo despised the times that
Ranma's significant other, Akane Tendo, visited. No rest could be gotten
on those days, since the obnoxious duo bickered nearly every time they
were together.
Ryoko, on the other hand, the way she fawned over that idiot Hibiki was
infuriating. He'd sooner see her dating that transvestite Tsubasa rather
than see her fawn over HIM.
And then there was Ukyou, who also came to visit Ryouga. Oh, they
claimed they were just friends, but Ryo could see something odd between
them. That strange sort of uncomfortableness that one finds when there's
two people with mixed emotions. If he could somehow push those two
together, it'd put an end to Ryoko's foolish dreams...
"Ow!"
His brief moment of stray thought was snapped as Tatewaki Kuno cringed
with a needle sticking out of his arm.
"Zounds, woman! Thou hast punctured with thy needle to my very bone!"
For a reason he couldn't explain at the moment, that phrase made small
wheels in Ryo's mind spin. Needle... bone... hm...
He filed that thought away for another day's contemplation, unfolded
the day's newspaper, and observed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The school bell rang, signaling the end of another day at the races for
the people at Furinkan High. With the absence of their top martial
artists, the school had settled into an odd sort of calm.
Actually, it was unnerving.
The classes started, on time, without interruption. Property damage
was reduced to graffiti on walls. The Principal was just bored out of his
mind and considering another vacation to Hawaii.
The most unfortunate victims of these circumstances were the students
of Miss Hinako. She just couldn't stand being stuck in child form for so
long, with her favorite delinquents being absent, and SOMEBODY had to be
drained in order for her to absorb energy. The end result was that if a
student so much as twitched in her classes, Miss Hinako would be quick and
eager to deal out the punishment.
Those were the most unfortunate, but as odd as it may seem, students
were beginning to be... stressed (for lack of a better term) at the sudden
relative calm that had settled over the school.
The Principal, watching from his office as the students left, did what
he had to do.
He called his therapist.
Meanwhile, Ukyou packed away items in her locker and got ready to head
back to the resteraunt for business as usual. She didn't realize how much
Kuno, Ranma, Akane, and Ryouga were an integral part of day to day life in
Furinkan, and hoped they'd be back soon.
As she walked out of the gates, she noticed Gosunkugi walking along, at
a modest distance, along with... a girl? Ukyou smiled. That boy really
did need a girlfriend, she thought, and wondered if he'd have any luck
with her. Might as well see if she could help things, she thought.
"Hey, Gos!" she yelled, waving.
"Ukyou, hi!" he yelled back. A part of his mind, guided on by the
self-help books gave him the idea that it'd be nice to introduce the girl
to a few of his friends so that she wouldn't feel so lonely in town.
"Ah... Ukyou, this is Manami, she's a new student here."
"Nice to meet you," she said shyly.
"I'm Ukyou Kounji. Nice t'meet you too."
Manami blinked at hearing Ukyou's name, and frowned for a brief
second, as if remembering something.
"Hey, you two come on down to Ucchan's and I'll treat ya, okay?"
offered Ukyou.
"Ucchan's?" asked Manami.
"Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, I run the place," said Ukyou, smiling with
pride. "I'd be happy if you visited."
"We'll visit sometime then," said Manami, smiling a bit.
Meanwhile, Gosunkugi's mind was doing summersaults of joy, primarily
because Manami used the term 'we', which he assumed meant her AND him.
"Y-yes, we will sometime," he quickly agreed.
"Great! See you two later!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Several hours later, the Okonomiyaki chef was back at the hospital once
more, checking in on how her friends were doing.
Ukyou sighed. She couldn't help it.
She wasn't quite sure why she was feeling a tad melancholy, but she
told herself it wasn't because there was that Muhoshin girl fawning over
Ryouga. Nor was it because Ryouga seemed at a loss for words and fumbled
every time he tried to explain to the girl that she really didn't have to
give him so much attention.
And it was most certainly not bothering her, Ukyou told herself, that
this girl had declared herself Ryouga's girlfriend.
After all, it didn't matter to her what that idiot did with his love
life, right?
She looked around, sitting by Ranma as he and Akane chatted for a bit,
looked at her watch, then sighed again. "Hey, Ranchan, Ryouga, see you
guys later, okay? I gotta go."
Ranma motioned for for Ukyou to come closer, then he whispered in her
ear, "could ya take some time to try an' improve her cooking some more?
It's still kinda toxic."
A nanosecond later, he got a pillow-whap to the head from his
significant other. "Hey, it isn't THAT bad anymore."
Ukyou laughed a little, then waved. "See you guys later."
Ryouga tried to say something but only managed to stutter a bit and
pronounce a few consonants and vowels. It seemed he was embarrased, but
Ukyou made it a point to ignore him, so she didn't notice anyways.
Ryoko paused from fluffing up Ryouga's pillow. "Oh, you're going?
Mind if I walk with you?" she asked.
Ukyou blinked. This wasn't what she was expecting, not really. It
wasn't that she didn't like the girl, she just didn't know Ryoko that well
at all aside from that first day she came into Ucchan's asking about
Ryouga. Not wanting to be rude, she replied, "fine by me."
They waved goodbye to everyone, and Ryoko took the time to nudge Ryo's
arm. He replied with a grunt and a wave of the newspaper he was reading.
And after that, they left, in uncomfortable silence
Walking down the sidewalk outside of the hospital, Ryoko tapped Ukyou's
shoulder. "Say, how about lunch? My treat."
"No, that's alright, I..."
Ryoko held up a small bit of plastic and smiled.
Ukyou couldn't help but smile an amused smile. "You still have
_that_?"
"I think he forgot about it," said Ryoko. "C'mon, I insist, that cafe
over there looks nice, let's go!"
A moment later, they stepped inside a modestly lit, european styled
cafe. The walls were made of light grey rocks, cemented together, and
wooden support beams framed the place. It could have easily been the
inside of a medieval tavern. The walls were lined with large glass
windows, with the exception of two spots which were occupied by large fans
of some sort. Wooden tables were spread across the main floor, with a
jazz band of some sort playing near the fans, and a bar to the far left.
Behind the bar, a blond lady in her late 20's was polishing glasses.
Her hair was cut short, extremely short, and she was clad in a somewhat
feminine purple tuxedo of sorts. She was, at the moment, talking to a
gentleman of... odd appearances. He was dressed in a yellow jacket,
t-shirt, blue parachute pants, and sported a tall orange mohawk with what
appeared to be a small duck perched in it.
Ukyou and Ryoko took seats at the bar and waited for service, but
couldn't help but overhear the conversation.
"So, you won't be in it?" asked the mohawked one.
"I've quit that circut already, Duck. I am _out_."
"Well, most of the heavy-hitters are sitting this one out too. I guess
it's a vacation year for us, eh?" replied 'Duck'. "Oh yeah, Yuri'n Mai
send their regards."
"How are those guys doin' anyways? Been a while since I've seen'em."
"Yuri... she's still bickering with her old man an' chasing after
Robert-o, like usual, man."
"Heh."
"An' Mai? Globe-hoppin' with... her fiancee... whazizname..."
"Andy?"
"Yeah, that's it. Anyways, I'll see ya later, a'right King?"
"Sure, Duck."
"Hey, come by the club sometime, okay?"
"I'll get to it."
"Yeah, yeah, you allllways say that."
With a final swig of his glass, Duck waved and departed. And King
finally saw she had two customers.
"Oh, sorry about that," she said, "what can I get ya?"
"I'll have some tea," said Ukyou.
"What kind?" asked King. "Here's the drink list."
It was a long list.
"On second thought, just give me an espresso."
"Long Island special for me," said Ryoko.
"I don't think so," said the bartender. "You look a bit young."
"Fine, fine, gimmie a megavolt cola... some cheese sticks... ooh,
there's caviar! We'll take some caviar. Let's see... what the heck, he
owes me, gimmie the two most expesive things on the menu."
"Comin' right up." King scribbled something on a notepad, then walked
over to a small window which seemed to be a portal to the kitchen. "Order
up!" she yelled, and the paper was soon swiped away by a fast hand.
"So..." said Ukyou, "did you wanna talk about something?"
"Well," replied Ryoko, twiddling her fingers a bit, "I just wanted
t'get to know Ryouga's friends a little better... you are his friend,
right?" A friend?"
"A friend? Yeah, that's me," she said, shrugging.
"Known him long?" asked Ryoko.
"Oh... about a year or so," she said, thinking back. "We met under
kinda odd circumstances."
"Really?"
"Yeah. He was trying to kill my fiancee, so I tried to kill him."
Ryoko stared at her. "Um... must've been a nice start."
"Yeah, it was," said Ukyou, smiling, "in the middle of our fight my
now ex-fiancee opened my shirt and made Ryouga look."
"What?! You're kidding!"
"And from there..."
[A few minutes later]
"... and now he's working for me," said Ukyou.
"Geez, that's weird... your guy falling for his girl," said Ryoko
betweem bites of her seafood salad and gourmet hambuger. She was
displaying a talent for eating which rivaled the infamous Saotome
appetite.
"I'm over it," shrugged Ukyou. As she was about to say more, the clock
chimed, signaling the hour. "Whoops, gotta run. Don't wanna miss the
dinner crowd at the resteraunt." Ukyou reached in her pockets to pay for
the espresso when Ryoko interrupted.
"No, don't pay, it's on my brother's card, remember?"
"Oh yeah... thanks."
"See you later," said Ryoko.
"Later," replied Ukyou, who rushed out the doors soon after. Ryoko
sipped her drink and thought for a while. Strange lives they lead around
here, in this neighborhood, especially if what Ukyou said was true. She
was very much glad that she didn't have to attend Furinkan High.
"Here's the bill," said King, presenting her with a piece of paper.
"Take credit?"
"Sure."
"Here y'go." She handed King her brother's ill-gotten credit card
casually, then started nibbling on the last of her cheese sticks as King
ran the card through the register.
"Sorry, Miss, but it's expired," said King, handing the card to Ryoko.
Ryoko paled. {Oh no.}
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[The Next Day...]
Oil. Ingredients. Mix. Fry.
Listen to the sizzle.
Let it cook... further... more... and... flip.
"Hi, Ukyou."
The okonomiyaki cook was shaken from her zen-like pattern of cooking as
two people made their way into her store, recognized immediately as Hikaru
Gosunkugi and his new... friend, Manami.
"Hey, guys, come on in!" Ukyou quickly grilled up two okonomiyaki,
tossed them on plates, and slid them down the table. "Have some on the
house."
"Oh, we don't want to impose," said the girl quietly.
"No, no, I insist. C'mon, eat up!"
Ukyou went on to tend to the other customers, leaving Manami and
Gosunkugi with no chance to protest. Unfortunately, in that short span of
time, they had little to say to each other, and their conversation was
fumbling at best. Soon, Gosunkugi had to leave, having to go with his
parents to some prior engagement of some sort.
This, unfortunately, left Manami alone, and Ukyou was quick to notice
the shy girl and her appearance of anxiety.
"Hey, what happened to Gosunkugi?" asked Ukyou as she finally made her
way back to Manami after taking care of the last of the after school rush
of customers.
"He had to go," she said, sounding somewhat worried.
"Nice guy, don't you think?" she asked Manami.
"Yes, he is," she said absently.
"Um..." said Ukyou, noticing the girl's worried manner. "Is something
on your mind?"
"Actually... I'm kinda new to Tokyo... and have no idea how to get
home from here."
"So how did you..."
"Gosunkugi walked me here."
Ukyou sighed. This wasn't a good way for Gosunkugi to make a good
first impression. She'd have to talk with him about that. "What part of
town do you live in?" she asked.
"Um... by by Tanuki and 42nd."
"Tell you what," said Ukyou, tapping a spatula on the grill as
she thought, "I'm headed that way myself, visiting a friend at the
hospital. If you don't mind the brief stop there, I can walk you home."
"I don't want to trouble you," said Manami shyly.
"Hey, no problem at all."
Five down.
Two words.
Twelve letters.
American comedy team from early Hollywood era.
Hmm.
Ryo tapped the newspaper in thought, then glanced sidewards at his
roommates.
"Give my lunch back, Ranma!"
"C'mon, Ryouga! Have a little mercy, willya? One more lunch from
Akane and I'm gonna die!"
"Hold thy tongue, fiend! Talk not of the fair Akane Tendo in such an
ill manner!"
T-h-r-e-e S-t-o-o-g-e-s.
Hmm.
Fits perfectly.
Ryo grunted in satisfaction as he penciled in the letters. Meanwhile,
Ranma, Ryouga, and Kuno continued their squabbles.
"Hi guys!" The four boys paused to inspect their visitor. Ranma and
Kuno looked slightly dissapointed, Ryo resumed his crossword puzzles, and
Ryouga smiled nervously.
"Hallo, sis," said Ryo, casually.
"Hi there," said Ryouga.
"So, how're you today, Ryouga?" asked Ryoko, ignoring her sibling.
"Ah... well... we're getting released in a couple of days."
"About time," she replied. "Oh yeah, there's something that all you
guys might be interested in." She dug into her purse, pulled out a
flier, and handed it to Ryouga.
"King of Nerima Martial Arts Tournament," read Ryouga, "all schools and
styles welcome. Hm... in a few weeks..." Then he finally got to the bit
about the prizes and whistled. Ranma, never one to miss out on a martial
artist thing, hobbled over and had a look at the paper. Then he got to
the bit about the prizes and whistled too.
"You guys interested?" asked Ryoko.
"Maybe," said Ryouga.
"Hey, I'm in," said Ranma, "Nobody 'round here can beat me!"
"Is that so?" said an irritated Ryouga.
"Methinks I heard the sound of a challange?" pondered Kuno. "Very
well! I shall enter this tournament as well and smite thee once and for
all!"
"Hey, bro, you in?" asked Ryoko.
Ryo grunted vaguely and resumed his crossword puzzle. Mentally, he was
tallying up his current record of wins and losses... which he estimated
was 87 wins, 20 losses, and one draw match. The losses and the draw match
being all related to Hibiki. Surely, he was due for a win by _now_, or so
he thought. Yes, the tournament sounded like a good thing.
"Hi guys!" said Akane Tendo as she made her sudden entrance, basket of
food in hand. Ranma shivered at the sight of that. His only hope was
that she cooked curry.
His hopes were raised quickly when he heard the familiar call of, "Heya
Ranchan!"
"Ucchan! Hey! Great to see ya! Where's the okonomiyaki?" said Ranma
happily, right before he got a pillow-whap to the head from Akane.
"Sorry, Ranchan, just swinging by on my way to work," said Ukyou. She
pointedly ignored Ryouga, who was at the moment having his pillow fluffed
by Ryoko. "Just came by t'see how you guys are doing. Oh, by the way,
this is..." she said, pointing to empty space, "... hey, where'd she go?"
"Where'd who go?" asked Akane.
"Friend of Gosunkugi's...she was right behind me," muttered Ukyou.
Then she stepped out briefly, and returned with a girl in school uniform
and a girl-next-door sort of look to her. "C'mon," said Ukyou, "don't be
shy. These guys are friends of mine... well, almost all of them anyways.
Guys, this is Manami Hinako, just moved into town."
Manami waved timidly, then gasped.
"Something wrong, Manami?" asked Ukyou.
"Um... who's that?" she asked, pointing to the rather embarrasing
figure that was feebly protesting being fussed over by Ryoko while she
offered to give him a foot massage.
"That? That's Ryouga and his... girlfriend, of sorts," said Ukyou.
"G... girlfriend?" said Manami weakly.
Ryoko, getting a feeling that her name was just mentioned, looked
around. "Oh, heya Ukyou. Who's your friend?"
"Ah... Manami Hinako... nice to meet you."
At this point, Ryouga looked at her and blinked. And blinked again.
Something was bothering him, but he wasn't sure what. "Um... hello," said
he.
"Um, hi," said she, lowering her gaze to her feet. She looked around
nervously, trying to avoid the sight of Ryouga being pampered by Ryoko and
ended up looking at what appeared to be Gosunkugi.
"Excuse me," she said quietly. "Excuse me?"
Ryo blinked, put down his newspaper, and looked around to find himself
being adressed by the timid newcomer. "Yes, madam?" he asked.
"Are you... related to Hikaru?" she queried.
Ryo blinked. "Hikaru?"
"Um... Gosunkugi."
Ryo's face slumped into a frown. "No, madam." He grumpily resumed
finishing his crossword puzzle.
"Sorry I didn't bring any food guys," said Ukyou with a smile, "share
Akane's, I'm sure she's an okay cook now." Akane smiled at the compliment
while Ranma and Ryouga paled. They _hoped_ her cooking improved... or
that it was curry. "Anyways, I'll bring some stuff when I visit tomorrow,
okay? See ya later, guys."
"Oh, wait up for me, I'll walk with ya," said Ryoko.
"See ya later, Ucchan!" said Ranma. Akane waved. Ryouga waved too,
but in a rather embarrased sort of way. First of all, he was embarrased
to have been pampered by Ryoko in front of Ukyou, and secondly, there was
something familiar about that Manami girl. He shrugged off the nagging
feeling and sighed as the three girls left.
Ryo hmmed, tapping the pencil on the paper.
One word.
Number two across.
Six letter word.
Destined to an ill fate.
He looked around briefly, then lazily inspected Ryouga.
D-O-O-M-E-D.
Ah, fits perfectly. No... wait...
D-A-M-N-E-D?
Hm...
Ryo shrugged. Either way, he liked it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"So, you're a friend of Gosunkugi's, eh?" asked Ryoko.
Manami smiled slightly and nodded.
"Don'cha think he's kind of creepy?" wondered Ryoko.
"Hey, he's not that bad," said Ukyou. "Isn't that right, Manami?"
"He seems to be nice," she said quietly.
"Creepy," said Ryoko, "he looks just like my brother."
Manami giggled. "He does, doesn't he?"
"Strange, isn't it?" mused Ukyou. "Say... why'd you havta leave
early?"
"Um... I kinda got a new job and I was visiting on my break."
"Job?" wondered Ukyou.
"Yeah... ah... they needed a waitress at King's Cafe, so..." she
explained, slightly nervous.
"Oh. Say, why haven't I seen you at school?" wondered Ukyou.
"I'm already graduated," said Ryoko, shrugging. Before they could
inquire further, she expained, "I'm a genius."
"Uh-huh," said Ukyou, "and next you'll tell me that everyone in your
family is."
"We are," she said flatly. "We're going to have Kyoko enrolled in
Furinkan High next month, by the way. She hasn't graduated yet."
"You're kidding."
"Anope. I'll show you my equivalency exam results sometime."
"If you're all geniuses, why hasn't Ryo beaten Ryouga yet?"
Ryoko smirked. "Intelligence doesn't necessarily mean wisdom.
Definitely not in his case."
"Must be nice," said Manami, "being out of school early."
Ryoko shrugged again. "I guess I should go to college, but I have no
idea what I want t'do."
"Oh," said she. Nobody seemed to notice the taint of melancholy that
seemed to creep across her face and voice as she looked briefly at Ryoko.
"Um," she said quietly, "are you really Ryouga's-"
"Hey, there's the workplace," said Ryoko, not noticing Manami's
beginning question, "see you guys later! Swing by sometime, okay?"
She ran off into the building quickly, while Manami stood there saying,
"wait, ah..."
"Something you wanted to ask her?" wondered Ukyou.
"It can wait, I guess." She sighed and looked down.
"Is something bothering you?" wondered Ukyou.
"No... is it far from my house?"
"Well, if the adress is right, it's a little down this way and..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE NEXT DAY...
"Is... is something wrong, Manami?" asked Gosunkugi reluctantly. He
really didn't want to bridge unpleasant subjects, but Manami's heavy
melancholy state was too much to ignore.
Manami sighed.
Gosunkugi let the subject drop.
Unfortunately for him, she didn't.
"I..." she began, "I found the man I fell in love with, yesterday."
Gosunkugi blinked, not sure where this was heading. "I-is that right?"
"But he... he loves someone else," said she.
"W-what?" stammered Gosunkugi, feeling his heart sink. She was already
in love with someone, and that was bad enough. "Maybe you... should
forget him?"
Manami shook her head sadly. "He's the first boy I ever..." The
words 'fell in love with' should have followed, but she was busy wiping
her tears away.
Unfortunately, Gosunkugi misinterpreted that phrase entirely.
"What?! What's his name?"
"Hibiki," sighed Manami, "Ryouga Hibiki."
Gosunkugi's mind reeled in agony. This wasn't fair! Wasn't this sort
of thing EXACTLY what he'd been trying to avoid? Again! Again with the
martial artists taking all the nice women! How DARE he USE Manami and
then toss her aside! _HIBIKI, YOU FOOL!_
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Somewhere in Nerima, a rather normal (although if one would ask the
Furinkan crowd, they'd say 'whoa, cute') looking girl and an abnormally
large pig were strolling down the sidewalk, ignoring the occasional stares
cast their way.
"Try not to wreck any more places, please?" asked the girl. "Mother
and Father said that I'd have to pay for the next time you make a mess, so
please behave."
The pig blinked, then grunted in reply, seeming to concede to his
owner's command. And then a strong breeze hit.
"Hey, what the heck are these?" wondered Ryoko, holding up a small,
round, chocolate candy of sorts while leaning against the bar.
"Truffles," replied King, polishing a few glasses. "Just some really
expensive candy, really."
"What makes these things so special?" wondered Ryoko as she placed a
rack of them in the glass display case.
"Well, they're somewhat rare. They use pigs to find'em then dig
them out of the ground. That seems to be it."
"And truffles are...?"
King blinked. "are...?"
"What's the contents?"
"Oh. Fungus."
"Ewww."
*snort*snort*snort*
The gigantic sumo pig waved its snout in the air, sensing something.
Akari didn't know what it could possibly be, but knew when her pig was
about to go nuts.
"Katsunishiki! Don't!" Akari took hold of the giant pig's leash just
as the creature bolted at *sub-sonic speeds.
[*sub-sonic is, technically, slower than sound. Therefore,
technically, a dead snail could be moving at sub-sonic speeds. There
would be better ways to describe exactly how fast the mighty sumo pig was
running on that day, but none would sound quite as neat as 'sub-sonic'.]
"Hey boss, all done with the EYAAAAAH!"
*CRASH*WHAM*
Ms. King emerged from the backroom, champaigne bottle in hand. "What
was that noi... oh no." The sight that greeted her was something she
could honestly say was too ridiculous to be expected. A young girl in a
sun dress and straw hat was holding on to leash and looking somewhat
apologietic. Attached to the leash was a pig of proportions which she
felt could only have been created by genetic experiments and radiation.
The pig seemed to have smashed through the front door and plowed right
into the display case full of truffles. Fortunately, the pig wasn't
moving anymore, probbably because of the iron croquet mallet buried into
its skull by a very wide eyed and shaking Ryoko.
"This isn't my fault I swear!" said the malletress.
"Miss?" she asked the girl that was sheepishly holding the leash. "I
assume that's your pig?"
"I-I'm sorry! I don't know what got into him!"
King sighed. She hated to be the villian in situations like this, but
it had to be said. "Someone's going to have to pay for this."
Akari paled. {Oh no.}
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mother and Father,
I am now in Nerima, still looking for a good husband just
like Grandfather wants me to. There are plenty of strong
people here, so going to Nerima was the right idea. But
unfortunately, alot of the strongest ones are in the
hospital right now. I think it's because of that big
accident with the power lines, the gas main, and the
electricity lines that Katsunishiki got into.
I have registered for admission into Furinkan High school,
just as Grandfather suggested. On my visit there, it did
seem there was a lot of martial artists around, but they
couldn't beat Katsunishiki. But, as I said before, I
still haven't met the best of them.
I found that tree that Grandfater carved his initials into
while he was attended Furinkan. Unfortunately, the tree
is now a stump. I heard that one of the Furinkan students
in the hospital was responsible for that.
Katsunishiki is behaving well. You have nothing to worry
about. By the way, I've also found a job as a waitress
at some place called 'King's Cafe'. It's a nice job, and
the owner is a nice person.
Hope to return home with a husband soon, wish me luck. Miss
you.
- Akari Unryuu
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A FEW DAYS LATER...
"Hey guys, I'm back!" Ranma strode triumphantly into the Tendo house,
expecting everyone waiting and ready with a warm welcome. Instead, he
found Nabiki.
"Oh, hi, welcome back," she said, looking up from her copy of Financial
Week.
Ranma blinked. "Hey, where's everybody?"
"Well," said Nabiki, "Daddy and Uncle are out, on a training trip, I
think they said. Kasumi is currently out shopping. And I'm right here."
She smiled brightly then resumed ignoring him.
Something didn't seem right here. That sixth sense that detected
danger was nagging at him. "And where's Akane?"
That question was soon answered by a lound clanging noise from the
kitchen and a loud "HYAAAH!"
"She's not..." wondered Ranma.
"It isn't going to be curry," said Nabiki, "that much I know."
"B-but why?! I just got outta the hospital!"
"Love's funny that way, isn't it?" Nabiki smirked.
"Aw man, this ain't good."
"RANMA! I HEARD THAT!"
Ranma paled. {Oh no.}
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The rent was cheap. The room wasn't exactly spacious, but it could fit
the four of them well enough. The location wasn't bad, near the train
stations and minutes away from his target.
"Isn't it cool?" chirped Kyoko.
Ryo hmmed. "Not bad. It will do, for now."
Outside, the sounds of a party of sorts were raging. Ryo winced at
that. "Too bad about the neighbors."
"They seem nice to me," observed the youngest Muhoshin.
"How nice. Has the rent been payed?"
"Um... I think sis payed for two months."
"Speaking of sisters, where is she anyways?"
"New job."
"About time she contributed to the income. And Megs?"
"Um... dunno."
"Feh." Ryo settled unto a futon and sighed. "Yes, for now, this will
do, although I'm slightly embarrased about it all..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This was embarrasing.
Ryouga sighed, folding up the map in his hands. Even with the map and
the compass he'd still managed to get himself lost. It was a relief to
get out of the hospital at last. However, all this walking he was doing
would certainly dismay all the doctors.
"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW?!?!"
He sighed, looked around one more time, then continued his journey. He
had a nagging feeling that he'd forgotten something, but tossed that
thought aside. It couldn't be too important, now could it?
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE HOSPITAL...
"That JERK!!!"
Patients, nurses, and doctors cleared the way as an irate chef stormed
out of the hospital lobby. Ukyou was, obviously, furious. Didn't she
tell him to wait for her? Didn't she? And what did that idiot do?
{I shouldn't have expected anything less from a _Hibiki_.}
"I'LL KILL THE IDIOT!"
Ryouga sneezed.
It was getting a little windy. He wished he was indoors, it wouldn't
do to get a cold or flu right after he recovered. Ucchan's would be a
really nice sight right about now. Heck, Ukyou would be a nice sight
right about now.
At that moment, Ryouga finally remembered what was nagging on the edge
of his memory. Oops. He hoped she wasn't too upset.
Then he heard her voice.
Although it wasn't exactly what he was expecting.
It went something like this:
"I'LL KILL THE IDIOT!"
Ryouga paled. {Uh oh.}
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-end part 1-