Previous parts available by email from me.

This is the last part, all will be revealed, very little will be
resolved.

-------

[stupid standard disclaimers... *grumble*  The Ranma 1/2 concept
and characters are not my creation.  Do not use this story or
Kazuo without my permission cuz it'll piss me off.]




Kazuo's Kind
by Lara Bartram

Part 5


	Kazuo sat in his room, reading.  Now, the only girl he liked
was Kuonji Ukyo.  Of that, there was no doubt in his heart.  Yet, the
way he watched Saotome treat Tendo Akane...  That was just as vile.
	They were supposed to be engaged and he treated her like some
sort of nuisance.  Maybe, if Saotome was out of the way, shown to be a
less than worthy martial artist, Akane would realize the mistake; the
families would realize the mistake.
	That was it.  He would defeat Saotome and break Tendo Akane
free from his clutches.  That's what any chivalrous man would do.

	That night, he dreamt and remembered it.
	Those cookies.  Those cookies that he had made and put that
stuff into.  The stuff Nabiki had given him.  The stuff Nabiki had
given him that she said would cause a minor medical emergency in Kuno.
A minor medical emergency.  A minor medical emergency that turned out
to be a stroke.  A stroke.  A stroke that crippled Kuno and made Kazuo
captain of the kendo team.
	Crippled Kuno.  Crippled him, and then he killed himself.
Killed himself and Kazuo found himself there.  The blood was all over
the place because Kuno had given up on the whole samurai facade and
had somehow gotten a gun and shot himself.  And Kazuo had gore all
over his shirt, and it was all his fault.  All his fault and now he
was captain of the kendo team.
	He was the captain and they were all looking at him, and
suddenly he couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't move.  And then
someone else was captain, someone who could take the pressure, someone
who was better than him.  The person that had always better than
him... until he had killed him.

	Kazuo sat up in his futon, his body soaked with sweat.  That
dream had been...  It had been far too close to reality.  Even though
he hadn't killed anyone.  Stubbornly, Kazuo clung to the idea that
none of it was his fault.
	Kazuo held on to his guilt and misery until he saw the picture
of Ukyo on his wall.  His mind quickly clouded over with her image and
Kazuo's dream was quickly forgotten.

***

	Kazuo decided that he needed to wage psychological warfare on
Saotome.  The first step was some sort of good nickname for himself.
So he sat in the grass trying to think of something that would be
suitably impressive and strike fear into Saotome's heart.
	"Silver Scorpion...  Soaring Eagle...  Golden Tiger...
Captain Carnage..."
	"How about Blue Thunder?"
	Kazuo looked behind him at the sound of Nabiki's voice, but
there was nobody there.  "Very funny, Tendo," he said loudly.  "So why
don't you go blackmail somebody and leave me alone."  That made him
feel better.
	But...  Actually, Blue Thunder wasn't too bad.  Maybe people
wouldn't remem...  Kazuo shook his head.  Not remember?  How would
they not remember?  Kazuo was definitely fooling himself in more ways
than one.  
	Standing up, Kazuo realized he had no time for such silly
games.  He had far more important things to do.  Things that would
change lives.

***

	Kazuo walked down the street, feeling alive and confident.
The weather was beautiful, he felt perfect, nay, he WAS perfect.
Walking past the shops, window shopping for some new clothes, Kazuo
thought he saw someone familiar down the sidewalk.
	Walking quickly, Kazuo got up behind the person, only to
discover they looked nothing like who he thought it had been.  That
was actually a comfort, until he saw the person again, walking down
the opposite side of the street.
	Running out into the street and almost getting hit by a car,
Kazuo grabbed the person by the arm.  He received an ugly glare from
a business man in a suit.  Letting the man go, Kazuo looked around,
feeling wholly unsure of himself.
	Could he be going crazy?  Kuno couldn't be alive... could he?
This was just all some weird guilt thing and he wasn't crazy, and Kuno
wasn't alive.  Which was a good thing because he thought he saw him
again.

***

	Kazuo looked down at the small box on his doorstep.  It was a
takeout box.  Looking around and not seeing anyone, Kazuo bent over
and picked up the box.  It was still warm.  Opening it, he saw a small
note.
	'To Kazuo,
	    I made this specially for you.  I hope you like it.
	    Your friend, 
	    Ucchan'
	Kazuo's eyes got very wide when he read that.  Removing the
note, he saw the okonomiyaki with his name written in sauce on it.
Kuonji Ukyo, goddess on earth, had made an okonomiyaki for him, and
only him.  Carrying it back inside, Kazuo grabbed his chopsticks and
sat at the table.
	The smell was heavenly... beyond heavenly.  Kazuo lifted some
of it to his mouth and was about to eat it when the thought suddenly
came rushing into his brain.  'He'd eat it if it tasted like shoe
polish.'
	Pulling back the okonomiyaki, Kazuo looked at it.  Nothing.
He smelled it.  Nothing.
	'Colorless, flavorless, no smell, he'll never know.  It'll
look natural and no one will ever know.  Except you and me.'
	But it was from Ukyo!  If he didn't eat it, he would be just
as bad as Saotome.  But what if someone else on the kendo team...  If
Tendo Nabiki did it for him, she would do it for someone else.  And
Kazuo knew they hadn't been looking at him fondly on the kendo team.
	Kazuo dropped his chopsticks and closed the box.  He threw it
all away and tied up the bag.

***

	"Just one thing."
	"And what is that?"
	"How?  How did he... kill himself?"
	Nabiki's face, which was normally cool, turned cold.  "Why
should you care?"
	"Because I do!  I need to know how!"
	"He shot himself.  Enough money will buy you a gun, even in
Japan, Ochiai-san."  Nabiki's voice was still cool, unaffected.  "Now
if you'll excuse me."
	Kazuo watched her walk away, his entire body seemed rooted to
the ground.

***

	Every day there was an okonomiyaki waiting for him.  Every day
he threw it away after battling with himself.  Ukyo didn't look at him
at school, so why would she keep giving him food?
	And he wasn't sleeping.  The dreams.  Only staring at the
picture of Ukyo would settle him enough to get to sleep, and shortly
he would wake up from the dream.

***

	One day he got home from school, the evidence of the morning's
fight still on his face.  His mother was waiting for him, which was
quite unusual.
	"I've made an afternoon snack.  Have a seat," she offered
pleasantly.
	Kazuo nodded silently and sat at the table.  His mother set a
plate in front of him, from which he began to eat.
	"I hope it's good.  A nice young man delivered it just before
you got home."
	The words didn't really register to Kazuo.  He ate slowly,
thinking about the things that had happened over the past week.
	"And he gave me this message for you."  She set a folded piece
of paper down in front of Kazuo.  "He wanted me to say hi to you.
Seemed like a friend from school."
	"Oh," Kazuo answered, still not paying attention.
	"Said he was the, and this was a bit strange, but he seemed to
know you, Blue Thunder."
	Kazuo choked on his food, looking at the plate for the first
time.  It was an okonomiyaki with his name written in sauce on it.
Spitting out the mouthful he was chewing on, Kazuo opened the note and
looked at it.  There was one sentence on it.
	'The vengeance of heaven is slow but sure'

***

[One month later]

	"Care to place a bet, Ochiai-san?"
	Kazuo shook his head slowly.
	"Too bad.  I think the new captain is doing rather well.  I
stand to make a lot of money.  Isn't that good, Ochiai-san?"
	Kazuo shrugged, shifting in his wheelchair.
	"Come on, Ochiai-san, say something to me," Nabiki said.
	Kazuo looked up at her and glared.  She smiled back at him.
	"Oh that's right.  I forgot, you can't talk now, can you?  Or
walk, or use your left arm."  Suddenly, her face grew serious.
"Ochiai-san, next time, give it up.  Pride isn't anything but a chain
around your neck.  Look where it got Kuno, and you.  Maybe the new
captain will have a little more common sense."
	Kazuo didn't answer, wondering why he had shown up.  It was
so... dark in the gym.  And cold.  He was always cold.  And wherever 
he went seemed to be so dark.  Even outside in the sun, the
shadows sought him out.  Dark and cold...  If only he could escape
them, escape the shadows...

End