Ukyou's Other Woman
by Trisha Sebastian
[insert standard disclaimer here]


        Sometimes I wonder if the fates were smiling on 

me that day.  I was

walking home from school alone, something my parents had 

taught me

never, ever to do.  But it was a beautiful day, and I 

decided to take the 

shortcut through the temple gardens.  After all, what 

harm could come to

me there?

        I was wrong, because I had just reached the 

middle when

I saw them.  They were some boys from the all-boys school 

just

down the street.  I recognized them immediately.  They 

were bullies,

plain and simple.  And they were after my brother because 

he tattled on them.  

        One day, they'd stopped by the house whem my 

parents weren't

home, to see if they could catch him off guard.  But I 

sure put a stop

to that.  A quick flick of the wrist, a leg extension and 

an arm lock sent them

scurrying away from me.  Now they were after me, too.

        Usually, I don't like to pick fights, but when 

it's family, there's

when I draw the line.  I also know my limits.  I can 

fight small groups,

but the group that was laughing and kicking the cherry 

trees in the 

gardens was larger than I could handle.  So naturally, I 

ran in the other 

direction.

        Unfortunately, one of them spied me.  It was 

Kaneda, the ringleader of

the little gang.  He shouted, and they all gave chase.  

Normally, I could 

outrun them, but I twisted my ankle during the track meet 

last week, so

they caught up to me just as I had reached the temple 

wall.

        One of them grabbed my arm and yanked me back 

towards him.  I tried

to punch him in the gut with my other hand, but another 

goon

grabbed it and together, they pinned me to the wall.

        I had no leverage whatsoever, since they were so 

close to me.  I tried

to knee them in the groin, but they evaded the blows 

easily.  They laughed

in my face, the whole lot of them, before Kaneda finally 

spoke.

        "What have we here?" he sneered.  "A pretty girl 

like yourself all

alone?"  He tsked in a condescending manner.  "Didn't 

your parents ever

teach you
not to walk alone from school?"

        "What do you want?" I spat in his face.  He 

recoiled and wiped the

spittle from his cheek.  His eyes narrowed.  Kaneda 

grabbed my chin with one

hand,
squeezing until tears blurred my vision.

        "What do I want?  I'll tell you want I want.  I 

want you to

apologize for getting me in so much trouble.  I want you 

to apologize 

for kicking me in the head last week.  And most of all, I 

want you to 

hurt, like you hurt me."  Kaneda laughed harshly and I 

flinched away 

from the sound.  He released my chin and gave me a sharp 

slap in the face.

        "Get her boys," he commanded, eyes glittering.  

One of the goons who 

was standing behind Kaneda replied, "With pleasure," as 

he advanced towards me.

        His name was Hikaru, and I'd kicked him in the 

shins, before kneeing me 

in the chest.  Something told me that was going to do the 

same to me.  I

braced for the impact as his foot swung back--

        --and then he howled in pain, hopping around on 

his other leg.  He

fell to the ground, and I saw that a small spatula was 

embedded in his calf.

        "I wouldn't do that if I were you," said a voice 

above me.  I looked up

and saw that a young boy was perched on the wall.  He was 

wearing the usual

school uniform, but he'd added a bandolier of spatulas, 

and slung a larger

spatula
on his back.  His brown eyes were flat as he surveyed the 

scene.

        "Get out of here," Kaneda snarled.  "It's none of 

your business.  We

were just having a little fun, weren't we sweetheart?"

        "In your dreams," I retorted, and I wriggled out 

of their grasp.  I

was about to run for the gate, when Kaneda grabbed my arm 

and put a hold on me.

        "You're staying here, kid, and you--" he pointed 

to the boy on the

wall, "are going to butt out."

        The other boy sighed, and brushed his hair back 

from his shoulder. 

"I see I'm going to have to do this the hard way."  He 

leaped down from the

wall, landing close to Kaneda.  With one deft movement, 

he unslung the large 

spatula and brought it down hard on Kaneda's arm.

        Kaneda howled and released me.  I backed into 

Kaneda and elbowed him

in the guts.  Turning, I lashed out and struck him with a 

forward kick.

Then I crouched down and swept his legs out from under 

him.

        The goon squad had recovered by that time, and 

charged me.  The boy

took two of them out with two swings of his spatula, 

while I punched one in

the nose,
and another in the chest.  Then, he swung again, and 

knocked out the one I was

fighting.  Hikaru hobbled up to us, and yanking out the 

spatula in his leg,

he taunted the boy.

        He answered by throwing more of his smaller 

spatulas towards Hikaru,

pinning him to the wall by his clothes.  Then as he 

kicked a final goon in

the knees, I lashed out and punched him in the back of 

the head.

        It was all over in a matter of seconds.  Above 

the groans of the felled

goons, I heard the other boy muttering about girls and 

how boys weren't

supposed to gang up on them.

        "Thanks for the help," I said, sticking out my 

hand to him.  "You fight

well for a boy.  My name is Megumi."  He looked at my 

hand, and then gave

me a strange look before shaking it tentatively.

        "I'm Ukyou," he said.

        I grinned up at him.  "So, you do this sort of 

thing often, saving

lives?"

        He grinned back.  "Not normally, no.  Are you 

okay?"

        "Sure, I'm fine," I said, taking in a deep breath 

through my teeth.

        He looked at me again, and said, "No, you're 

lying.  You've hurt

your ankle, haven't you?  I can tell because of the way 

you're standing on it."

        "But I'm not," I protested.

        Ukyou smiled.  "See what I mean?  Let me help you 

home."

        And that's how my friendship with Kuonji Ukyou 

started.  He walked me

home, and explained to my parents how I hurt my ankle 

without mentioning

Kaneda and his goons.  We started talking that evening at 

supper when he

insisted on preparing okonomiyaki for dessert.  We found 

out that we liked

the same
sort of things, felt the same way about martial arts and 

we started training

together.  He explained about his fighting style while 

giving me pointers

on my own and we got along great.

        He walked my brother and me home from school 

everyday.  At first I

thought that he was doing that just to protect me, but 

then I realized that he

really wanted to be around someone that didn't ask stupid 

questions about

his cooking or his other habits.  He needed a friend.

        We talked about everything.  I found him to be, 

well to put it bluntly,

the sister I never had.  He didn't brag or boast like all 

the other boys

did.  He was
quiet and reserved, a little melancholy, but on the 

whole, fun to be with.  He

never made fun of me, never talked down to me, and just 

understood me.

        There's one thing that he never told me about, 

though, and that was

about
his past.  He mentioned his father every now and then, 

like someone would 

mention an acquaintance, or someone you met on the 

street.  Every time I 

asked him about his childhood, he would clam up 

immediately, his brows

would darken and a strange sneer of malevolence crossed 

his lips.  And once,

I caught him almost killing a tree in the park, smashing 

into it over and over

again with his spatula.  That was the only time I was 

afraid of Ukyou.  He was

vengeance personified.  I wasn't surprised, then, when 

two days later, he

disappeared.

        A week after, I got a letter from Ukyou.  It said 

that he had to

leave because
of a debt he had left uncollected.  Ukyou was going to 

finally seek the peace 

he'd longed for since he was six years old.  He said that 

he'd miss our walks,

and that we'd always be the best of friends.  The 

postmark read Nerima, Tokyo.  

My eyes watered up, and I pounded my fist on my 

bedspread.  It was then that 

I realized that I was in love with my best friend.

        Well, after that revelation, there was only one 

thing left to do.

I finished out the school year, and gathered up all my 

savings to take a 

holiday trip.  I kissed my parents and brother goodbye, 

and boarded the train 

to Nerima, Tokyo.

        I just hope Ukyou still remembers me.



AUTHOR'S NOTES:

6-23-97

No, I'm not doing this to deliberately antagonize the 

Church of Ukyou.

I'm not sure if this really counts for the challenge, 

either, since this fic

was based on an idea I've had floating around in my brain 

for the last year

or so.  The title came first, then the scenario.  I could 

continue this

if I wanted to, but I'm not sure if I should.

C&C is requested, almost recommended.
Flames will be treated in an appropriate manner. 

<BBBBRRRZZZTTT!!!>

6-27-97

After fielding some comments from the peanut gallery, I 

made

some minor changes.  If you already have a version of 

this story,

get rid of it ASAP.  This version is much cleaner and 

explains a whole

lot more than the first one did.  For now, I consider 

this to be

the finished version.




Foxtrot the Furryous, CBTFH, ret.