unless you folks spot something I oughta adjust, this is the copy I'll
send to RAAC in a few days.  Enjoy.

-rpm

-------------------------





                              ========================
                              THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

                                       ACT 1

                                       PART 5

                                     A NIGHT OUT
                                     ===========


   "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 embarrassed 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 others that Ryouga occasionally sent when he
got lost, and continued looking through the mail.  "Hey, could this be..." 
She opened an envelope, 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
theater."

   "Oh, that's nice.  So what're you going to go watch?" asked Ryouga.

   "_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?"

   "Um..." managed Ryouga, taken by surprise by the offer.  "Yeah, sure. 
Why not?" 

   "So, c'mon!  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 theater, 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?"  Ukyou sighed
and rolled her eyes briefly, then started wiping off the blood that came
out from Ryouga's nose.  "It's just an anime!  Jeez, you're a mess..." 

   "Hey, I can do this myself!" Ryouga scowled, grabbed the paper napkin
from Ukyou and started cleaning himself up. 

   "What a wimp," muttered Ukyou.

*

   Sitting in the park bench, Ryo looked 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 squirrels interesting new haircuts. 

   He yawned.  So peaceful... and quiet... so terrible...

   "HEY!  LET GO!"

   "NO!  GEORGETTE ALL MINE!"

   Ryo turned his attention back to the playground, where his little
sister was apparently fighting with another little girl over the
possession 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, "Kyo-chan..."

   "Yes?"

   "Do NOT cut my hair."

   "Awwwww.  Pleeeeease?"

*

   Ryouga reached for some popcorn.

   Ukyou 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 they felt.

*

   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.

*

   <Strange, Ukyou closed shop already?>

   Ryoko looked at the door to Ucchan's, a bit puzzled.

   "Ukyou?  Ryouga?  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.

   "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, Kyo-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 baaaaack!"

   Ryo waited until she disappared 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.

   Being single in Nerima was rough already.  Her case didn't help lower
the averages.

*

   Ryouga and Ukyou sat in their seats, staring blankly at the screen as
the credits rolled by.

   Ryouga slowly looked into Ukyou's eyes.

   Ukyou slowly turned towards Ryouga.

   "Ukyou..."

   "Ryouga?"

   "I didn't understand that ending at all," said Ryouga, "did you get
any of it?"

   "Well... kinda."  Ukyou sipped on her soda thoughtfully for a moment as
the end credits rolled by, 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 government.  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?"

   Ukyou 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 theater, 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. 

   "Hey," she said, pointing to a large movie poster on the wall, "an
Audrey Hepburn festival!  Let's go watch it next week!"

   "Audrey Hepburn?  Who's that?" wondered Ryouga.

   She smirked.  "You really _are_ outta touch with pop culture, aren't
ya?  I'll tell you 'bout her some other time."

   "Ah... right."

   Ukyou 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.

   She 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 Ukyou.  "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," grumbled Ryouga.

   "They banned us," said Ukyou.

   "The nerve of them!" declared Ryouga.

   "Whoever heard of a 'No Martial Artists' policy?!" Ukyou yelled.  "Oh
well, might as well go ho-"

   "Ryouga-chan!"

   Ryouga froze, turning around slowly.  That was _not_ Ukyou's voice.
Those were not Ukyou's arms that had latched around him either.

   Ukyou stiffened suddenly and her smile quickly faded, replaced by a look
of definite discomfort and barely visible yet definitely tangible
irritation aimed at Ryouga.

   Ryouga stuttered, "R-Ryoko, um, w-what're you doing here?"

   "Ryouga!  Ukyou!  Hi!  What'cha two doing?"

   "Um, we, ah," stumbled Ryouga.

   "There's this movie, um, break, well," floundered Ukyou.

   "Just taking a, uh, break," finally managed Ryouga.

   "Yeah, aheh, just taking a break from running the store!" agreed Ukyou.

   "Oh, that's good.  You shouldn't work too hard, Ryouga-chan!  You too,
Ukyou!"  Then Ryoko pouted.  "But you should've invited me too!"

   "Um, er," stuttered Ryouga.

   "Well, we, um," tried Ukyou.

   "It's okay, I know you weren't able to reach me, I was out all day." 
Ryoko snuggled up next to Ryouga, while Ukyou scowled and Ryouga started
sweating badly.

   Ryouga also forgot one rule of the universe:  it can always get worse.

   "OH-HOHOHOHOHO!  Ryouga-sama!  I've found you!"

   Ryouga cringed.

   Ukyou 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 Ryouga-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 leapt into the fray, whipping around indiscriminately.

   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 Ukyou by the hand, held his breath, and ran blindly in one
direction.

   Ryouga blazed through the streets, running blindly and coughing due to
the gas attack from Kodachi's bouquets.  Finally he stopped, partially
because he was tired, but mostly because Ukyou booted him in the head.

   "IDIOT!  What have you done???" yelled Ukyou.

   "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?"

   "Ryougaaaa!"

   "What?  What?"

   Ukyou 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 disappointed.

   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 between 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, disappointed.

   Hiroshi shook his head.  "No technique, no finesse."

   Daisuke sighed.  "Maybe there's something good at the movies?"

*

   Ryouga and Ukyou 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.  Ukyou, being a martial artist
as well, also took a moment to glance around.

   "You get the feeling..." said Ryouga.

   "We're being watched?" added Ukyou.

   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 Ukyou.

   "Ukyou, get back!"  Ryouga stepped protectively in front of Ukyou and
blocked Ryo's incoming strike.  Then, a flury of slashes, parrys, and
feints ensued while Ukyou 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* entertainment," answered Ryo.

   "Why can't *SWING* you just *SLASH* leave me alone?!?!"

   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, it 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, 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.

   "AN OPENING!" he yelled, swinging wildly with a left hook.  Ryouga,
being warned by the yell, dodged away, but not quick enough to evade Ryo
grabbing him by the shirt.  Apparently forgetting what happened the last
time he tried it, Ryo went for the headbutt to Ryouga's face. 

   At the very last second he managed to slip away from Ryo's grasp,
pulling himself down and away as Ryo's headbutt attempt surged forward.
At the same time, Ryouga felt something big brush past him.

   Ryo felt his skull connect solidly, but with something not... not quite
Ryouga-ish.  Bigger, yes.  Harder, definitely much harder.

   There was pain.  Definitely.  Ouch.

   It was apparently a pig.  A really big one too.

   Ryo swaggered, almost falling off his feet.  <Be damned if I'm going to
fall in battle to a pig!>

   The pig, who knew what it was hitting beforehand, also had its pride
and refused to fall.  The two were locked in post-headbutt position,
slowly stepping away from each other while trying not to look utterly
dazed. 

   The pig snorted defiantly.

   Ryo grunted and slugged it in the jaw.

   The pig toppled over.  

   *THUD*

   Soon after, so did Ryo.

   *THUD*

   "Well, that was weird," said Ukyou.  "Who'd think that a giant pig
would come rushing out like... like..."

   Giant pig?

   Uh oh.

   "Oh no," muttered Ukyou.  "Please tell me Akari isn't around."

   "Oh my!" said Akari, rushing up to Ryo's fallen form.  "Is he okay?"

   "Aaaargh, no no no!" griped Ukyou.

   "Er, what's going on?" asked Ryouga.

   "Akari," said Ukyou, "you're not thinking what I think you're thinking,
are you?"

   "Huh?  Will someone tell me what's going on?" wondered Ryouga.  "And
why's she got his head on her lap like that?" 

   "Remember how I explained to you about Akari and her pig?" said Ukyou.

   "Yeah, so?" asked Ryouga.

   Trying not to cringe at the sight of Akari gently stroking Ryo's hair,
Ukyou said, "remember the part about BEATING her pig?"

   "So what if someone beat... oh.  Uh oh."

   He finally got it.

   "Akari, just this once, I don't think following your grandfather's
wishes is such a good idea," said Ukyou.

   "From what I hear, he has his good traits," said Akari casually.  "He
doesn't look too bad either."

   "Akari, do you know WHO this person is?" asked Ukyou.

   She took a moment to examine him.  Fighting with Ryouga, dressed well,
had a surly look to his face.  Hrm.

   "This is Ryoko's brother, isn't it?  Ryo?" asked Akari.  "If he's
anything like his sister, he can't be all bad."

   "Akari, this guy isn't someone you can trust," said Ukyou.  Ryouga
nodded vigorously in agreement.  "In fact, he's dangerous."

   It was at about this time that Ryo regained consciousness.  The way in
which he woke up reminded Akari of a pig.  He first opened one eye,
slowly, then closed it again and snorted.

   Then he opened the eye again.  Slowly.

   And saw a rather cute girl's smile.

   He couldn't help but blink.

   "Hi there," she said gently.

   "Ah... hi."

   This was a situation he was entirely not used to.  A gentle smile, a
loving gaze, kind words, and his head resting on a female lap.

   It was absolutely terrifying.

   He bolted upright immediately, giving her a wary, narrow-eyed look.

   "um... pardon me... must be running."  Without further ado, he wobbled
up to his feet then sprang away.

   "Wait!" cried Akari.  "Come back!"  Before Ukyou could stop her, she
ran off after her new infatuation at an amazing speed.

   Sighing was the only thing Ukyou could do after seeing that.  "Oh boy,
this isn't good."

   "Come on," said Ryouga, "we might as well go home."

   "Yeah," she said, looking absently in the direction in which Akari ran
off, "I'll just talk to her later."

   For Ryouga, it was another reminder of the problem of a romantic nature
he was facing, one that he really didn't want to think about either.

*
   "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 Ukyou.

   "Well... running into everybody like that."

   "Oh, that?"  Ukyou 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.

   Although it was awfully sweet of Ryouga to apologize about it.  "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.  "I mean... we don't get to
relax much... and..."

   Possibilities of what Ryouga was trying to say danced around the edge
of Ukyou's mind.  <He wanted things to go perfectly?  He wanted a perfect
night out?  He wanted to have a great evening... with me.>  She almost
blushed.

   "That's okay, sugar," said Ukyou, smiling.  "There'll be other times."

   "Yeah, I guess."

   Ukyou proceeded to lock up the restaurant while Ryouga mulled in the
middle of the room.  She couldn't help but feel mildly irritated, though,
as a scene from earlier in the days kept on replaying on her mind. 
Today's events only helped to remind her of it - Ryoko hanging on to
Ryouga like that, while the dummy just stood there and stammered. 

   Unfortunately, Ryouga noticed, and he began to look a bit more
uncomfortable, and that set off a chain reaction of her noticing and
getting a bit more irritated, which in turn got him more uncomfortable
until...

   "Hey..." she said, "something else bothering you?"

   "Hm?"

   "You're looking weird."

   "I am?"

   "Yes," she said, "you are."

   "Look," he said, sounding embarrassed, "Ryoko and I... we're not..."

   Ukyou frowned.  "And, ah, why are you telling me this?"

   "You... I just don't want you to get the wrong idea, that's all.  I
just wanted to clear that up, okay?" 

   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?"

   "What d-"

   "If you don't feel the same way," said Ukyou, "tell her.  Don't keep
her hanging on.  Now do you 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, good night."

   Ukyou 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.  Ukyou
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 disappeared 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, and tried not to
yell.  It didn't work.

   "WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME?!" 

   Unseen and unheard, Ukyou went back to her room with a frown,
muttering, "Spineless Moron!  Wimp!  Idiot!"

   As far as she was concerned, that moron could find his room on his own.

   -end part 5-