writer's note: still don't like opening scene... hrm....
which works better, version 1 or version 2?
tp-4
----------------------------------
alt opening 1
The cook sighed. 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.
The cook sighed again.
"Hm?" wondered Ryouga
"What?" asked Ukyo.
"Why the sigh?"
"Just bored." She thumbed though the newspaper idly, then stopped at a
page. "Hey," said Ukyo, pointing to her 'Tokyo Chronicle' newspaper,
"there's a movie I'd like t'see."
"Oh? What's the movie?"
"Ghost in the Shell."
"Say, um..." Ryouga twiddled his thumbs as his mouth stalled out.
"Hm?" 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.
"I've never closed down early before except for..." Except for when
she had to go help/chase/talk to Ranma.
"Except for...?" wondered Ryouga.
"Um... never mind."
Meanwhile, an 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, sir."
"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 anything like that."
"Of course not," said an equally blushing Ryouga.
--------------------------------------
alt opening#2
"Bills, bills, junk..." Ukyou frowned as she sorted through the day's
mail. Nearby, Ryouga was cleaning off the tables as Ucchan's was
preparing to close its doors.
"Hey," said Ukyou, "what's this?" She held up a post card and read it.
Ryouga, a few feet away, looked at the postcard as if it was familiar.
"Oh, that," he said.
"So, you were in Tahiti last week?" asked Ukyou.
"Well, yeah," replied an embarrased Ryouga. "At least I got back
before the postcard got here, right?"
Ukyou laughed. "Yeah, good point." She put aside the postcard,
planning to add it to the otheres that Ryouga occasionally sent when he
got lost, and continued looking through the mail. "Hey, could this be..."
She opened an envalope, pulled out some papers, and gave out a cheer.
"Alright! Got'em!"
"Got what?"
Ukyou dramatically held out two slips of paper. "These!" she said
proudly.
"And those are...?"
"Free movie passes! Won'em from a lottery contest at the local
theatre."
"Oh, that's nice. So what're you going to go watch?"
"_We_ are gonna watch 'Ghost in the Shell'."
"We?" wondered Ryouga. "Why we?"
"Because I've got two tickets, and I'd feel ridiculous going to a movie
alone. So, are you coming or aren't you?"
"Okay, okay, I'll go."
"So... let's get outta here," said Ukyou, still in a pleasant mood.
Then she noticed the odd look Ryouga was giving her. "What?"
"You seem to be really enthusiastic about just getting two free
tickets."
"Yeah, 'cause they were _free_!"
"You're really Nabiki's long lost sister, right?"
***CLANG***
---------------------------------------------------------------
*
Ryo stared at the ceiling of his apartment.
He was bored. Bored, bored, bored.
His little sister, Kyoko, hovered nearby, twirling her scissors.
"Haircut?" she asked idly.
"What did I say last time?" asked Ryo flatly.
"No?"
"Correct."
"I'm bored!" whined Kyoko.
"Go play with 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 child, room 1?" suggested Ryo.
"He's gross."
Ryo sighed. "Come along, 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!"
He 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.
"So, ah, where do you wanna go now?" said Ryouga.
"Go?" asked Ukyou. She really hadn't thought of post-movie activities.
"Hmm... go... hey, how about a dance club?"
"A what?!"
"A club! Y'know, music, dancing! It'll be fun!"
Ryouga panicked. He didn't know how to dance and wasn't in the mood to
show a large crowd exactly how bad of a dancer he was. "But I don't-"
"Oh, come on, don't be scared!" said Ukyo. "Hey, there's one nearby,
it'll be great!"
"I don't-"
"One more negative outta you, sugar, and I'll have to hit ya," she said
jokingly, dragging him along.
*
"Who'd have thought it would happen?" said Ukyou, sitting on a street
bench. Her expression was that of mild surprise.
"Well, in a way, it was bound to happen, I guess," said Ryouga,
shrugging.
"They banned us," said Ukyou.
"I know," replied Ryouga.
"Whoever heard of a 'No Martial Artists' policy?!" she yelled.
Ryouga shrugged.
"Well, I guess you're right," said she. "We do tend to make things
messy in this neighborhood."
Ryouga nodded. 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?"
"IDIOT!" *CLANG*
*
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, no finesse."
Daisuke sighed. "Maybe there's something good at the movies?"
*
Ryouga and Ukyo did the only thing they could do in their position
(which was Being Lost), 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. After all, 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."
"Er... what's that got to do with anything?" 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. The last thing he needed was more
love troubles.
"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, glancing at Ryouga, "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. Weird coincidence, I guess."
"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 I... 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 realized she'd
left Ryouga at the kitchen, with no way for him to find his room. It
might take him hours just to find his room again, and that'd mean she'd
have a hard time waking him up the next day. Not good.
As she headed back to find Ryouga, 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 ... a date?"
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-