Waiting As Fast As She Can 

A Kimagure Orange Road Fan fiction by Bob Barnes

Last modified on May 30, 1997 

This is a Zen disclaimer: *  * The enlightened will be able
to see it. Just meditate on the asterisks. 

NOTE: For any potential readers who have only seen a portion
of the KOR TV series... be warned. There are major spoilers
here. There are also oblique and direct references to events
in the final few episodes of the series that will be more or
less incomprehensible for those who haven't seen them. And
now, on with the story. 

- = O = - - = O = - 

     The rhythmic clicking of the train's wheels had their
usual soporific effect on her as she waited patiently for
her twice-weekly journey to end. Slumped comfortably in her
seat, Madoka Ayukawa allowed her thoughts to drift back to
the conversation that had caused her to begin making this
routine trip just over a year and a half ago: 

* * * 

     "Ayukawa-san. Your form is superb, and you have
mastered the basics of kenpo completely. I fear I have
nothing else to teach you, especially in light of your
rather peculiar requirements." 

     She looked sharply over the rim of her tea mug at the
man kneeling across the small table from her. He was wearing
the same type of practice gi as she was, and was also
sweating freely after their strenuous training session. He
seemed to be having trouble meeting her eyes which was a bit
unusual for a man, especially a highly skilled martial
artist in his thirties. She was, after all, only a thirteen
year-old girl. "Sensei, why do you say that? Is it because I
have no interest in becoming a martial artist? As you know,
I needed to learn the art in order to defend myself. I view
it as a valuable tool, not as an end in itself. Do you feel
I lack commitment?" 

     "Ah... no, Ayukawa-san, not at all. I know you are as
committed as any student I've ever trained. The problem is
that I lack the skill to extend your abilities any further.
As a musician you must protect your hands from injury and
cannot use the "iron hand" conditioning techniques because
they would cause you to lose some flexibility in your
fingers. Also, the standard hand strike techniques for my
style of kenpo are too risky for you to use. The
shortcomings are in my style of kenpo and my skills as a
teacher, _not_ in you as a student." He squirmed a bit
inside as he realized that her aristocratic bearing and
cultured vocabulary and way of talking were making him feel
a bit like a servant conversing with his mistress, again.
There was something about this girl that forced formality
into their relationship. Idly, he wondered if she had many
friends. 

     "What am I to do, then, Sensei? I want to continue to
improve my skills. No... I _need_ to improve my skills. My
life is such that I must protect myself rather than relying
on a protector. There are many who view a girl like me as
nothing more than a target. There are animals out there who
would do things... unspeakable things to me, if I were not
able to fight back effectively." 

     He winced at her words. It was true, of course. Young
people had become so violent lately. It was a shameful but
unavoidable fact of life that very few people understood or
even wanted to acknowledge these days. If only more children
were willing to deal with the problem in the methodical and
forceful way this young woman had undertaken, there might be
much less for adults to ignore and turn away from in the
lives of their children. He truly wanted to help her, but
wasn't sure if she would accept his proposal. He felt he had
to convince her. 

     "Ayukawa-san..." He paused and gathered his thoughts.
"Ayukawa-san, there is a man I would like to send you to. He
is the master of an unusual and eccentric style of kenpo. I
think he might be able to craft a personal fighting style
for you that will meet your needs and still allow you to
fight effectively. Possibly very effectively, indeed.
Unfortunately, his dojo is on the other side of Tokyo and
there will be some inconvenience involved in training with
him. Despite that and despite his eccentricity, I urge you
to consider this man as your new sensei, Ayukawa-san." 

     "What is his school of kenpo, Sensei?" 

     "It is quite obscure. He and one other are the only
known masters. It is called 'Musabetsu Kakudou Ryuu'." 

* * * 

     The train driver's singsong announcement cut into
Madoka's reverie: "Nerima! This station is Nerima! Nerima,
if you please!" 

* * * 

     In the beginning, she had been inches from walking away
from the Tendo dojo and never going back once she met Soun
Tendo and learned of his bizarre philosophy of martial arts
and his even odder training techniques. Then the effects of
the shockingly rigorous exercise regimen and all the weird
sparring practice paid off one day after school when a group
of high school boys had cornered her. She still remembered
the exultant feeling as she flew through the group as if
they were frozen in place and literally took them apart with
her book bag and guitar picks. The effect of all the
strength, speed and reflex training on her athletic and
gymnastic performance was quite a nice bonus, too. 

     Her new teacher had been instantly passionate about
helping her achieve her goal of defending herself.
Tendo-sensei was quite emotional for a martial artist, but
his original idea for overcoming the limits of her need to
protect her hands had seemed almost insane. "A weapon is the
obvious answer, but carrying a concealed weapon is illegal.
Hmm... you know, no one could object to a musician carrying
guitar picks with her..." At his request, she handed him
some guitar picks. He fingered them thoughtfully for a
moment. Suddenly his hands blurred. *Tack!* *pling* *pling*
*Tack!* *Tack!* Three of the five picks he had thrown were
embedded in the wall behind her. "With practice you can make
that five of five and with more practice you will be able to
place them anywhere you want." 

     "Tendo-sensei!" she had gasped in surprise. "How did
you learn to do that? Why would you learn to throw guitar
picks?" 

     "Nonsense! I've never done that before in my life. In
Musabetsu Kakudou Ryuu your mind and body are the real
weapons. The beginning of the lesson is never rely on a
weapon. The rest of the lesson is that with proper training
and focus anything at all can be a weapon. In addition, you
can use your knees, elbows and feet. There are some other
things I'll need to investigate. It may be possible for you
to safely use certain special hand strike methods, as well.
I'm certain we can fashion a fighting style that will work
well for you. The real question is: Do you have the
discipline and will to learn and master it?" 

* * * 

     She gathered her things and stood to move to the door
of the car. 'Anything Goes, indeed!' she thought to herself.
Mental images of previous, bizarre training exercises
cascaded through her mind: swinging from a rope in the dimly
lit dojo snapping guitar picks at thrown oranges while
Tendo-sensei shouted encouragement and advice; standing
under a freezing cold, thundering waterfall while trying to
meditate and "purify" herself; sparring among piles of
common household items any of which could be grabbed at any
time and used to attack or block with or even thrown as a
missile weapon; or the latest insanity... jousting on the
street outside the dojo on skateboards with umbrellas,
toilet plungers and brooms for lances. 'I wonder if
Tendo-sensei is starting to run out of ideas?' she
speculated. 'Well, if he is, maybe this other man... the one
that's coming here from China can help him.' 

     The train rolled to a stop at the station. While
sliding smoothly and quickly through the crowd in the
station without touching or being touched her thoughts
turned to the other topic that had been much on her mind
lately. 'You _can_ be alone in a crowd... I suppose it's
kind of ironic.' 

     She stopped for a moment on the street outside the
station and looked intently, for a moment, at her beloved
red hat before settling it firmly on her head and starting
off, again, for the dojo. *sigh* 'At least this gives me
something constructive to do while waiting for _him_ to come
back to me. Waiting like this is awfully lonely, though.'
She dreamed of the day her magical knight would return. She
longed for him to come and see what she had become. Would
she be worthy of him? 

     At least she was now certain that she would somehow see
him again. Though it was the most important day of her life,
she was quite confused by most of what had happened and what
she had seen that day. Her memories were blurred by almost
five years distance in time, and she had been changing a
lot, herself, but slowly and gradually. Then something
significant came back to her. She would never forget the
shock of recognition she had felt a few weeks before, after
her morning shower, when _that_ face was revealed in broad
strokes as she wiped away the steam from the mirror. The
other face from her dreams. The cute face framed in long
black hair was _her_. 'Oh my God!' she had thought to
herself. 'I met _me_ on that day, too!' She felt such a
surge of confidence then that her skin still tingled a bit
when she recalled that morning. It was going to work out. 

     She was now certain she would have to be very, very
careful. The science fiction stories she had read talked
about the dangers. The word was 'paradox'. She was certain,
now, that some sort of time travel was involved in this.
Horrible things could happen if there was a paradox, and she
knew so very little that she could cause one from simple
ignorance. She would have to think hard and act carefully
all the time. Someday there would be a sign. Until then she
would prepare. She had to be ready for anything at all to
happen. She also had to be careful not to get her life
tangled with others. Hikaru-chan and Yuusaku were safe
because she knew them from before that day. She felt safer
holding herself aloof from others, though. Maybe that could
change... after. After what? She didn't know, yet. 

     A stray thought made her chuckle to herself. 'I suppose
most people would think studying with Tendo-sensei was
strange. Hah. They don't have the slightest idea what
"strange" really is. Musabetsu Kakudou Ryuu is mundane and
trivial by comparison.' Thinking her lonely, romantic
thoughts Madoka Ayukawa walked briskly through the streets
of Nerima toward the Tendo Dojo to begin another session of
training in 'Anything Goes Martial Arts.' Just the thing to
learn while getting ready for anything... anything at all. 

The Middle 

- = O = - - = O = - 

Afterword: Well, there you have it. Another story from the
diseased mind of Bob Barnes. A bit of explaination is in
order, I suppose. For story purposes, I've made two
assumptions. One is that Madoka and Kyosuke are about a year
younger than Ranma and Akane. The second is that the two
story lines are roughly coincident in time with their
respective milestones... That is, Ranma's arrival at the
Tendo-ke and the meeting at the top of the 99.5 steps happen
at more or less the same time. Within a couple of weeks of
each other, anyway. No doubt, more knowledgeable fans will
be able to show that this is absolutely impossible, but I
know of no evidence why it couldn't be so. 

I am using the KOR anime timeline for this story, since the
anime version of Kyosuke's trip to the past leads to so much
fun speculation about causes, effects, outcomes and paradox.

And what about Soun Tendo taking Madoka Ayukawa as a
student? Again and again in fanfiction I've read something
along the lines of "since Soun stopped taking students,
Nabiki had to make the money to support the dojo." I just
don't buy it. Sure we don't ever see him teaching
students... at least I don't think we do, but Soun is always
shown in his gi, and why should we assume that is just an
affectation on his part? Besides, after all the manly pride
nonsense we've seen in the canon story is it possible to
believe that this man would allow himself to be supported by
his school aged daughter? I _can_ see him as being
impractical and having a sort of martial arts version of the
"artistic temperment" and being pretty hopeless when it
comes to money, but to just spend his life sitting like a
lump and doing nothing? Nope... I just can't believe it. 

>From the other side, Madoka Ayukawa is wealthy and able to
afford the best. And I think it's a reasonable way to
explain the "super Madoka" syndrome that many have commented
on. She is such hot shit athletically and in martial arts
because she practices Musabetsu Kakudou Ryuu! Not at the
master level, of course. I'm thinking of her as being about
the equivalent of a 1st dan black belt at the time of the
steps encounter with Kyosuke. 

Will Madoka and/or Kyosuke ever get involved with Ranma
and/or Akane? *shrug* One thing is for sure, though. Both
Madoka and Kyosuke are damned good at keeping secrets.
*grin* 

Anyone who has read my first story: "The Masks They Must
Wear" and this one might think I believe there is always a
lot more going on under the surface of a story than is ever
shown and that nothing is ever quite what it seems. They'd
be right, too. I believe real life and real people are like
that, as well. Think about it... aren't _you_ a whole lot
more complex and paradoxical, inside, than anyone around you
suspects? 

Blessed Be, 

Bob Barnes
rbarnes@moscow.com
Moscow, Idaho

When opportunity comes, the trick is to CATCH the red hat.