Here we go again:
Quantum Destinies
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
By Jurai Knight (sthesken@earthlink.net)
(continued from part one of chapter ten)
habit. A soft nimbus of bluish chi flowed around her body like St.
Elmo's fire, totally invisible except to those who were highly-trained
in the martial arts themselves.
Or those that could see.
Tokyo, and especially Nerima, seemed filled with a chaotic power
that was completely unlike anything she had ever experienced,
And she hasn't even 'experienced' it yet ^_^
yet she
was confident that she would master its essence. Her grandfather had
always told her, "A true ninja can blend into any environment, for we
are the masters of the Way of Shadow, and the myths of the past that
still walk among ordinary men." And with that
I'd drop the 'And' and start at 'With'
each breath swiftly returning her closer to her full endurance. The
young ninja felt her mind calming to a stillness, the sounds of the
awakening city washing over her without arousing her.
Especially since this wasn't a lemon.
Ukyou did not sense the presence of another person until it was
almost too late. Her body instinctively dodged to one side without a
single conscious thought
Which was unfortunate, since she had been on a rooftop at the time. She
went over the edge, and impaled herself on a piece of cardboard in the
alley below.
"Feeding you is going to be more work that I thought," teased Yumi.
"You eat more than even any of the
Awkward. I'd drop the 'even'
"The best way to earn a guy's attention is by cooking for him," said
Yumi sagely,
Actually, ripping open your top and smothering him with your breasts is a
lot more attention getting.
******************************
Ranma swallowed the egg in question with a single gulp, a smirk on
his face.
Nodoka's eyebrow began to twitch.
They're dead.
"Genma!" snapped Nodoka sharply. "Stop this childish play with our
son and just eat your breakfast!" For a moment, she forgot her normal
ways of acting around her family and husband, and the Nodoka she once
was as a teenager appeared briefly in her mannerisms. The urge to get a
bokken and smack her husband around for acting like an idiot tempted her
for a brief time.
She'd better get used to that sensation. She's going to be feeling it
plenty of times.
delivered in the kick was sufficient to knock the boy out and send him
swiftly flying backwards in a short, ballistic arc to crash down onto
his back.
Flawless victory. A bonus of 10000 points is rewarded to Akane Tendou.
Sakura Kasuganou separated herself from the crowd and casually knelt
to examine Akane's downed foe, peeling back an eyelid and feeling for
his pulse.
Sakura: He's dead, Jim.
*Strike fast, strike hard, and strike without mercy,* were the three
basic tenets Akane had taken to heart from her mother's teachings, and
she had always sought to live her life by them when it came to combat.
And cooking.
"You're bleeding," observed Sakura calmly,
Akane: I ain't got time to bleed.
******************************
Hikaru Gosunkugi followed along behind Ranma, a look of malevolent
anticipation on his face. He had stayed up late last night, the first
of many nights he anticipated doing, preparing for his vengeance against
the pigtailed scholar. However, anyone who happened to look at him at
the moment would not notice any differences in his usual, sunken-eyed
appearance.
Heh.
Ranma turned around, suddenly noticing for a moment that he was
being followed. He glanced back up the street leading to his home, but
saw nothing. Shrugging, he turned back to heading towards the Academy,
even as he wondered how he was going to deal with his mother's eagerness
for him to pursue Ukyou.
seppuku, boy.
The thought of a date with the ninja girl made
him nervous. The way his life was heading now, he honestly did not know
what to expect if he did ask her out.
Something bad. It's always something bad.
"Your father and I will be attending a function at the Ministry this
evening," his mother had told him with a smile at the door, "so it's a
perfect time for you to spend some time with that nice Ukyou girl and
take her out on a date. Now I want you to ask her out, and I expect you
to show her a good time. She's staying at her aunt's place of business,
so here's some money to eat there tonight." She quickly handed him
several thousand-yen notes and told him the directions. He was oddly
'oddly' feels out of place there, but I'm not sure where else to put it.
You might want to consider dropping it, I guess.
The name of Ukyou's aunt's place had been a mild shock, and an eerie
feeling had fallen upon him and stayed with him since then. So it could
be understood why he was not at his most observant right now. Still, he
didn't think anyone would be attacking him since there weren't any girls
really pursuing him like that one other Ranma had.
drop 'one' I think we know which one he means.
When his target of vengeance continued onwards towards the Academy,
Gosunkugi fell into place a short distance behind him, cloaking his
presence with skill. He smiled at the thought of the spell he would be
casting soon, actually the only one contained
Again I'd break that into two sentences. '....soon. Actually it was the
only one
******************************
"The element of life and change," said a voice to her right and a
little bit behind her.
'Gold,' Nabiki answered.
When Nabiki said nothing, the small figure tipped his head up to
reveal the face of an ugly little gnome of a monk beneath the broad hat,
one that reminded her a little bit of Happosai. The two figures gazed
at each other, but the old man spoke first.
"Greetings, young warrior," said the small figure. "I am Cherry."
Wah! This is going to be bad.
Cherry smiled. It made him look even uglier somehow. "You carry
the impression of a martial artist in your stance and your manner, young
warrior. By the way, you would not happen to have any extra food on
you, by some chance?"
Heh. That's Cherry, all right.
When Nabiki only frowned and did not reply, he
shrugged and looked a bit disappointed, then pointed at her with the
head of his staff, the rings jingling slightly. "Rarely have I ever
encountered someone with such a powerful destiny written in their being,
and now I have met two in such a short time."
Oh? I can't remember, but did he meet Ranma earlier.
"It is interesting that you paused to study the water, young
warrior," said Cherry solemnly, dropping his gaze to look at the
fountain. "It is the element symbolic of life, ever moving and ever
changing. But I sense strong ties between the water and yourself.
Perhaps you drowned in a past life?"
Nabiki: Since it was a past life, I really couldn't say.
"Yeah, Kunou," said Ranma with irritation, "just leave me alone and
stop attacking me, okay? You're never going to be good enough to beat
me, so why even try?"
Nothing like throwing gas on the fire when you're trying to put it out.
*Oh, good one, Ranma-baka,* thought Nabiki with a sigh, feeling a
bit exasperated with her nominal rival. *Why not just paint a sign on
your forehead saying 'Attack me' and taunt the guy some more?
Too straightforward for him.
"Huh?" Ranma blurted out, quite oblivious to what had just occurred
between the two girls.
Typical for Ranma in any universe
Kunou had finally managed to recover his senses enough to feel a
strong quivering of desire for the girl tugging on his arm, penetrating
through even the shell of arrogance and bushido honor he wove about
himself. Regret for this weakness in his feelings for Akane consumed
him for several agonizing moments as he sought to master himself.
Oh, c'mon Kunou. You know you want to say. "I would have them both.'
"Of course, if you're not interested, perhaps I can interest Ranma
in these rare items,"
Heh. Good one.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Kunou," said Nabiki with a smile.
Having such a windfall of yen made her whole day look brighter, until
she recalled Ranma spending time with a certain young noblewoman. She
made a mental note to bruise the girl up a little during practice today,
to show Kodachi Kunou that it was very unwise to make a play for a boy
that Nabiki considered as her property. Even if the boy in question did
not know it yet.
And may never find out. ^_^
Kunou nodded to himself as he strode the distance to his waiting
limousine, gazing raptly at pictures
the pictures
Ranma was now somewhat nervously waiting outside the Dean's office,
since a summons to appear before the man had been waiting in his locker.
The pigtailed boy occupied himself during the wait with composing some
of the arguments he would make in favor of continuing his work.
Which mostly consisted of rolling around and crying, or holding his breath
until he turned blue.
"Stupid old man," Ranma muttered under his breath. As to which old
man he was referring to, even he wasn't quite sure.
Ranma: (In a Kunou-like voice) I should blame them both!
Watching Kodachi standing in one spot with her hands slowly tearing
her handkerchief apart, Ranma raised one eyebrow and suddenly felt a
little bit nervous being around the young noblewoman. *But it's still
better than the laugh,*
Not by much.
I guess that means this version of Ukyou won't be inclined to have
daydreams then.
Yohko eyed Nabiki and wondered why the other girl seemed to be
growing more and more obsessed with Ranma Saotome of late.
Because she is.
She waved
the other girls away while Nabiki's attention was distracted, briefly
watching them fan out to contact their own small groups of followers
You make it sound like a cult.
Behind her mask, Panther smiled.
Weee. More of the cat girls. It's about time this part of the storyline was
advanced.
An almost sexual thrill went
through her as she enjoyed the obvious fear being shown by the little
gray mouse she had trapped.
Panther: Squeek for me. Squeek I say.
"The choice is quite simple, Hiroshi-kun," purred Panther in sultry
tones, returning her attention to the task at hand. "My master offers
you a place in his organization, since he is able to recognize useful
talent when he sees it.
Hiroshi: Yes! I always knew someone would recognize my talents at tap
dancing.
"You should consider yourself lucky that none of the instructors
caught you sleeping here, you jerk," growled Sayuri, irritated that he
had managed to forget a lunch date with her. Again. She was tempted to
kick him again.
I'd use 'once more' since you use 'again' right before.
Suddenly wondering if the whole experience had been a dream, Hiroshi
stood up and endured the chastisements of the two girls. But his memory
of the gray-eyed girl in black refused to leave him, and he was certain
that the experience had been real.
Especially with the wet spot in his jeans. ^_^
Nabiki did not reply or change her expression, but she walked into
the infirmary and sat down on the edge of the cot Ranma was lying down
on, causing a faint squeak of bedsprings.
A curiosity, since cots don't have bedsprings.
"Anytime you wanna give it a try, Nabiki," said Ranma, scooting back
and sitting up on the cot. Her nearness was making him feel a little
edgy as he eyed his attractive martial arts rival. Luckily, his stomach
was feeling somewhat less overfull now,
That was quick.
******************************
"A yen for your thoughts?" said Nabiki suddenly.
Ranma: Well you're certainly cheap.
"Yeah, I might have heard something about that," said Nabiki, taking
her ease and leaning forward a little. "I was looking forward to trying
out your little toy again."
The one with the vibrating attachment? ^_^
"I need a good thief," Ranma began, quickly waving his hands when he
saw the frown that suddenly appeared on her face. "No! No, I mean
a decent con artist
I
need someone who can open locks, someone skilled in dealing with them.
ie: He needs a thief
"I have some skills in those areas," admitted Nabiki. "But, what's
in it for me?"
Ranma: And just why does everything have to be about you?
*Why, that poisonous snake!* Kodachi growled in her thoughts as she
peeked in on the pair, both hands closing into tight fists. *Taking
advantage of poor Saotome-kun in his hour of need.* She felt a familiar
urge to protect Ranma from what she saw as a predatory female trying to
take advantage of him.
Run in and pummel her with a giant wooden mallet.
"So what do you have to offer me?" Nabiki asked teasingly, almost
breathing the words into Ranma's face. "Why should I risk my future
career to help you?"
Ranma: Because if you don't, I'll start dating your sister. (That ought to
do it)
Nabiki frowned in thought for a moment as she sat back upright, a
little annoyed that Ranma thought she was only interested in money.
It was the truth, of course, but she was annoyed that he thought it.
He
had managed to surprise her a bit by his last-second resistance, but she
was actually quite pleased to know that the little game being played out
between them could continue on for a little while longer. Still, she
was certain that it was only a matter of time before he fell before her,
one way or another. And once she mastered the Amaguriken technique and
showed him that she was his clear superior in the martial arts, then her
case for being the one who was in charge of their relationship would be
airtight.
Until he beats you again. Nabby should be a little wiser than this, but you
could always assign it to wishful thinking on her part.
It is also amusing to hear her tell her AVST counterpart how she doesn't
want a gelded Ranma, then has lines of thinking like this.
It was at that moment that Kodachi stormed into the room, finally
unable to stand it any longer.
Yeah. About time
Nabiki looked at him like he had just sprouted another head,
largely in part because he had.
However, now was not the time to pick a fight, especially since
Kodachi knew quite well how skilled Nabiki was. She calmed herself, a
somewhat difficult task with as close to Ranma as the other girl was
seated, but she would show him that she was a lady.
She would beat him up daintily later.
Ranma laughed nervously. "Uhh, that's quite an interesting theory,
Kodachi. What makes you think I'm doing something like that?"
Kodachi: Because you've been acting like you have a couple of downloaded
personalities in your head.
"Before I tell you how I know, I have to know something" said
Kodachi seriously. She locked gazes with Nabiki, even as she continued
to speak to Ranma. "Do you trust her to keep what I say secret?"
Question: Why is she even giving Nabiki the opportunity to help, unless
Kodachi feels she requires Nabby's assistance as well?
"What's the matter, Lady Kunou?" asked Nabiki with a smirk. "Don't
you trust me?"
Kodachi: Does it look like I have 'sucker' tattooed on my forehead?
"Yes," said Ranma with sudden certainty, looking over at Nabiki to
meet her gaze. "I think I could trust Nabiki Tendou with my life."
Seems a bit much for him to admit here.
Nabiki felt an odd feeling
'sensation' would be better since you use 'felt' earlier in the sentence.
*Terrific,* Nabiki thought disgustedly, yet her expression showed
nothing. *Now the little floozy will be getting underfoot even more.*
Yep. ^_^
her tale any description of the Earth where the Empire was at war. *I
will spare him that pain,* she decided. *Let the death of his analog on
that world from a betrayal by the cold-blooded reptile named Nabiki
Tendou remain my secret.*
Kodachi: Until I can reveal it at a crucial moment to my own advantage.
Ranma blushed as well. He thought about mentioning his own little
excursion into such activities with the Earth he found himself on where
he was married to Shampoo, but he wisely kept silent.
Yep. That would be a good idea.
Kunou, the more she was coming to see that she was just like the rest of
her overbred peers, hedonists without any real sense of what were the
truly important things in the world. *Figures her first jump would be
into something so sordid.*
As opposed to the non-sordid one where you were married to both Ranma and
Shampoo, my dear?
memories." Even now, Kodachi knew she could close her eyes and remember
each of the many fights her counterpart had fought in, mostly single
duels fought against other gang leaders. Other than her skills with
wielding her fists and feet as weapons, her counterpart was armed only
with her favorite weapon, a yo-yo.
Sukaban Kodachi, eh? ^_^
*Just great,* thought Nabiki sullenly, glaring slightly at the girl
being held awkwardly in Ranma's arms. Jealous feelings seethed within
her, but she held them in check. However, the urge to toss Kodachi out
the window to see how high she might bounce brought a brief smile to her
face.
Of course, since they were on the first floor, she probably wouldn't have
bounced very high.
"Ranma," said Nabiki with a slight warning tone to her voice. She
did not feel right about him sharing secrets with the Kunou girl so
easily.
WHy not? She's shared hers with you.
Kodachi laid her hand atop Ranma's, gently squeezing his. She
smiled at him, feeling a warm electric current seeming to pass between
them. "Partners."
Until they need to stab each other in the back. ^_^
"Huh? Oh, it was fine," said Ranma, suddenly feeling uncertain
about this whole thing. Just what did someone do on a date? Ranma now
realized that he did not have a single idea how to proceed from here,
and his memories from his other counterparts were no help.
Heh. Too true.
Ranma was in heaven. There were some subtle differences in flavor
and texture, but this was undoubtedly an Ukyou-made okonomiyaki that was
a near rival to any in his memories. The thought of having a girlfriend
like her around (without any arranged marriage hanging over their heads)
was a pretty fine idea to him, especially with delicious food like this
to eat.
My, he is fickle. First it's Nabiki. Then Kodachi. Now Ukyou. All in the
same day too.
Ukyou had been feeling more and more nervous each time Ranma had
looked at her. Beneath the counter, the small, stainless steel spatula
in her hands was twisting into a shape not seen outside of a text on
origami.
heh. Okay. she has more in common with Kodachi than I thought.
hair. The harness for her battle spatula was strapped on, but she had
left the spatula itself behind the counter with her aunt's. Unasked,
Yumi tossed it to her before coming over to Ukyou. Noticing Ranma's
smile, Ukyou smiled back as she sheathed her weapon.
Yumi's own form of 'date protection' ^_^
Ryouga would prove that he was the better fighter between them, with
Ukyou's broken body as the clear evidence of his superior skill. He
also hoped in a quiet corner of his heart that the victory would finally
purge him of his unwanted and uncomfortable desires for the 'boy' he had
battled against and trained alongside of for so many years.
You got to have him yell at some point, "How dare you make me gay, Ukyou!"
The smell of rice drifting his way inflamed his hunger, and Ryouga
found himself missing his mother's home-cooked meals wistfully. If he
had been at home, he knew that he would be enjoying some of her culinary
wonders. The thought of the dishes she had lovingly made for him over
the years, brought new pangs of hunger from his gut. Opening his eyes
to see nothing but plain rice and some wild vegetables
what? No piglet? ^_^
All right. Nice to see things finally pick up once again. Can't wait for
the release of the next chapter.
D.B. Sommer