Subject: [FFML] [FF] [R.5] Twenty Less Lonely People in the World (Chapter 3)
From: "Nikholas F. Toledo Zu" <niftol@i-manila.com.ph>
Date: 2/13/1998, 11:43 AM
To: ffml@fanfic.com

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|Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!|
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=> Warning!  This fic contains excessive amounts of sugar!  With 
Valentine's day nearing, every single media in existence has been 
turning out sugar bombs that try to mutate all of us into starry-eyed 
idiots.  Sad to say, they have converted me into their sorry lot.   

=> Although I'm *not* proud to be among the few people who dread the 
coming of February, I am forced, under the pain of insanity, torture, 
slow death, (and lots of other horrible things to graphic to mention), 
to write this fic.  Writing romance stories makes me feel all good 
inside.  <gasp>  It's starting already!  Somebody!  Whack me on the 
head!  <Whack, whack>  Thanks, I needed that.  

=> I'm warning you at this point in time that the fic has a *really 
cheesy ending*.   

=> Also, the plot (actually the ending) is not really my original idea.  
I would like to thank my contributor (who still desires to remain 
nameless) for coming up with the cheesy ending that started the wheels 
turning in my mind to come up with a story to match.  May she (and all 
those other nameless people) find our own cheesy ending sometime in the 
foreseeable future.

=> Some notes on notation.  Things in {curly braces} are author's 
comments within the fic.  Signs and sound effects are in... uh... 
<pointy braces> 

=> The disclaimer is at the end, and the more people I would like to 
thank.   

=> Will somebody whack me so I can start?  Thanks.  
********  


8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F  
                 Twenty Less Lonely People in the World
   <otherwise known as Mayhem's Valentine Fic with the Cheesy Ending>  
   By the currently sessile (not senile) Nikholas "Mayhem" F. Toledo  
8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F8F  

{
 Hiroshi interrupted the narration rudely.  He asked, "how come Miss 
Hinako only drains men?  Don't you remember, Daisuke, when she came to 
Furinkan, she drained only the guys.  I call that sexual discrimination.  
If she should drain us guys, she should drain girls, too."
 Mayhem replied, "Well, she did drain most of Ranma's other fianc�es in 
the manga.  But do take note:  the only other females in the scene were 
the three Tendo daughters.  Now, we wouldn't want to drain Kasumi, would 
we?  Nabiki could retaliate in ways that Miss Hinako can't 
counterattack, even with her power, and Akane's... not the kind of 
person who would be drained."
 It was Daisuke who had the best answer.  "Well... aren't Soun, Ranma 
and Genma the major causes of trouble in the Tendo Dojo, aside from 
Happosai?"
 They left it at that.
}

Chapter Three
The streets of Nerima

	"I can't believe we're taking this little kid around town instead 
of doing my martial arts," Ranma complained as he walked on the fence.  
Akane trailed on the street below, holding the little boy's hand. 
	"Do you always think of yourself, Ranma?"  Akane asked 
sarcastically.  "Just like your father."
	"Hey!  I'm not like my pop!"  he replied angrily. 
	Akane began ticking off her fingers.  "It's there, Ranma.  What 
about every night, at dinner, when you and your father compete for 
what's left of the food."
	"He's a lot more a pig than me," Ranma argued weakly.  "At least I 
don't hide as a panda whenever things go bad."
	"That's because you change into a girl.  Like whenever Auntie 
Saotome comes by?"
	"At least..."  Ranma came up blank with a reason.  "At least I'm a 
better martial artist than he is..." he reasoned desperately.
	Akane laughed.  "Like *that* matters..."
	They walked a few minutes in silence.
	"Fine," Ranma jumped down from the fence.  He crouched down to the 
kid's eye level.  "Do you want a piggy back ride?"  he asked the little 
kid. 
	A few minutes later, Ranma was walking along the fence with the 
little boy on his shoulders.  "I'm not doing this for you, you know," 
Ranma retorted.  "Jerk," Akane thought, "and here I was, about to thank 
him." 
	They walked together for a while in silence.
	"All right, I'm sorry," Akane broke the impasse.  "I shouldn't 
have joked about you and your father."
	"And I'm sorry about not helping you take care of Junior.  I mean, 
he is our responsibility," Ranma replied, looking straight ahead.
	"Yeah, what a stupid idea to use him as bridal training."
	A cool breeze blew though the morning sky, tossing a few curls of 
hair here and there and moved a few fluffy clouds.
	Ranma jumped down the fence.
	They walked side by side the rest of the way.

	Ukyo was in the middle of her usual morning jog when she saw 
something really unusual.
	It was Ranma carrying a small kid on his shoulders walking side by 
side with Akane. 
	She resolved to follow them quietly for a few blocks. 
	"Where do we go now, Akane?"  she heard Ranma ask.
	"Well, why don't we ask Junior over here," Akane said, tickling 
the little boy.
	"JUNIOR?!?"  Ukyo screamed in her mind.  "Is that Ranma and 
Akane's..."  She shook that thought off.  "Come on, Ukyo, that couldn't 
be Ranma's son.  I mean, it couldn't be Akane's son.  It's impossible."  
But there was this nagging feeling.  Maybe the kid was adopted or 
something.  She needed to find out. 
	She marched off in their direction.
	Ranma waved to her.  "Why, hello, Ucchan!  Nice to see you again," 
he said.
	Akane couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of jealousy.  "Why 
hello, Ukyo," Akane said with an even voice.
	Ukyo said in an adoring voice, "well... Who is this little man you 
have here," she said.  She was met by a gentle splash of water from the 
squirt gun, which she accepted playfully.  A regular sized puddle of 
water formed on the sidewalk.  "I see you have a squirt gun."
	"Yes!"  the little boy looked at it as if it was a trophy.  "My 
father gave it to me..."
	"Oh... Your father gave it to you..." Ukyo said in this weird 
voice.  "And what is your father's name?"  she asked.
	Ranma, in a rare flash of insight, "Ah... Ukyo..."  He looked for 
a good way to phrase it.  "He's not related to me, at least 
genetically."
	Ukyo gasped.  "You don't mean that you're related legally---"
	"YES!  NO!  I mean... we're... uh..."
	Akane butted in before Ranma could make an even bigger fool out of 
himself.  "We're just babysitting."  She smiled a winning smile, the way 
Kasumi smiles to end any discussion.  "The little kid got lost and we're 
trying to find his father, right, Ranma," she elbowed him discreetly. 
	There was something in the way Akane said it that made Ukyo wary.  
"I guess I better follow them just to make sure."
	"So, where are you going, Ranma?"  Ukyo asked.
	The little kid blurted out.  "We're going on a date!"
	"I knew it," Ukyo thought.
	An uncomfortable silence descended on the three of them (with the 
kid too young to be stuck in uncomfortable silences). Akane silently 
prayed that Ranma wouldn't open...
	"Uh... Ukyo..." Ranma felt the need to break the silence.  "Would 
you like to come with us?  The kid could be quite a handful," he 
inwardly groaned.
	"Sure, Ranma!"  Ukyo replied quite joyously.  "If you want, I'll 
carry that kid for you," she reached out and tried to lift the kid off 
Ranma's shoulders.
	But Akane beat her to the punch.  "I'm sorry, Ukyo, but this 
little guy is coming with me.  Come on, Junior, let's leave these two 
slowpokes behind."  They marched on ahead.
	"Gah!"  Ranma thought, "how uncute."

	A few blocks behind them, a no left-turn sign began moving, then 
it gained speed.
	A few blocks ahead of them, two people were chasing each other.
	Akane and Junior turned left at the corner. 
	What followed required two instant replays to be analyzed.
	Ryoga, running like mad, away from something, screamed, "RANMA!  
YOU'VE GOT TO HELP ME!!!"
	Behind him, wearing rollerblades, was the terror of all cutiees.  
"CHARLOTTE!!!"  Azusa Shiratori cried in that all-too-familiar excited 
shriek.
	And, on the other end of the street, Tsubasa Kurenai went on a 
rampage, wearing a vending machine suit.  "My dear, dear Ukyo!"  he 
called out to her in waves of pretty pink envelopes and soda cans.
	Ranma, not really knowing what was going on, jumped into the air.
	Ryoga jumped.  "Ukyo!  Watch out!"  He crashed into Ukyo, the 
force of the impact twisting them in mid-air.
	Azusa and Tsubasa, running at high speeds, tried to stop.  And, of 
course, braking with rollerblades or wearing a vending machine was 
pretty hard, especially if you aren't that good a martial artist.  They 
cracked their noggins on each other and fell instantly unconscious.
	It was a general rule that if two people of the opposite sex were 
to fall at the same time, they would land in a very compromising 
situation.
	We have here four (even if Tsubasa dressed otherwise).
	Tsubasa fell on Azusa, who fell on Ukyo, who fell on Ryoga, who 
fell on a regular-sized puddle in the ground.
	Ranma landed a safe distance away.  "Ukyo?  Are you okay?"  he 
asked the large pile of humanity on the street.
	"Ryoga?"  Akane and Junior reappeared.  There was no Ryoga, all 
Akane saw was Ranma helping up Ukyo carrying a small black pig to her 
feet.  "P-Chan!  What are you doing here?"  She ran over and hugged the 
pig, which didn't really help him to regain consciousness.
	Ukyo shook the dust off her clothes.  "How the heck did this 
happen?"  she asked, eyeing the pig and eyeing the two sub-normal people 
still in a heap on the street.
	Akane let go of the pig and gave it to Junior.  She came over to 
the two of them.  "Wasn't that Azusa and Tsubasa over there?"  she 
asked. 
	Ranma grabbed her arm.  "Come on, I'm not going to wait and find 
out."  The four of them walked a good distance away before they spoke 
again.  "Well, that was a weird thing."
	Ukyo echoed his sentiments.  "Yeah, but changing into a pig is 
another," she glared at the small pig who was in Junior's arms.  She 
declared, "I have to go home and get for myself a change of clothes."  
She picked up P-Chan by his bandanna. "And, me and a certain someone 
have to one-on-one talk..."  P-Chan squeaked terrifiedly.
	Akane protested, "Ukyo, where are you going with my P-Chan?" 
	Ukyo was about to retort when she saw Ranma shake his head 
vigorously.  "So Akane doesn't know..."
	"Come on, Akane," Ranma said.  "You can't take care of the pig and 
Junior at the same time.  One of them is quite a handful already.  I'm 
sure Ukyo would be glad to take good care of P-Chan for a while, won't 
you, Ucchan?"  Akane couldn't help but agree to Ranma's assertion.
	"See you at the park in the afternoon!"  Ukyo waved goodbye.
	Akane felt pretty angry, "why did you let her go with P-Chan? 
Won't she use him to get back at me?"
	"I think P-Chan is going to be in good hands," Ranma reassured 
cryptically.

{
 "Hey... This is getting to be a bit cheesy."
 "'ya ain't seen nothing yet..."
}
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