Season 2: Home Life and Shadow Plays
Episode 2: No Need for Cameos
Tokyo, Nerima district
Ayeka should have been enjoying this, by all
appearances it had been a nice relaxing month since
they returned home. Sasami was her normal bouncy self.
There were no intergalatic villains banging on their
doors, and Ayeka had not once had to struggle to
maintain her decision to not fight with Ryoko. Add to
that the fact that the pirate wasn't interfering with
her and Tenchi any more and it should have been a
wonderful time.
The truth was that Ayeka wasn't happy at all. Every
time Ryoko looked at her, it was like she was looking
at a fragile figurine. She didn't have to worry about
getting in a fight with Ryoko, because the woman would
rather die than enter such a fight. Sasami wasn't
upset because they hadn't told her anything, and
Tenchi. Well, Ayeka was like one big guilt trip to
him. Also, Ayeka was not blind, Ryoko was hurt every
time Ayeka was with Tenchi, and Tenchi almost winced
every time Ryoko ignored him. As for Washu, she had
her own ideas about Ayeka recently.
Given all that, it wasn't surprising that she had
decided to take a little trip into town on her own.
Well, Ryo-Ohki was with her, so she wasn't completely
alone. The cabbit was there to keep an eye on her,
just like she did with Sasami. Ayeka resented being
babysat, and Ryoko's concern was still a somewhat
alien thing. Still, she was alone enough for her
purposes.
"Well, this looks promising," Ayeka said to the
cabbit in her arms. She looked up at the sign and
walked in.
"Are you coming from a wedding or something,
sugar?" the brown-haired girl behind the counter
asked. A monstrous spatula was strapped to her back.
"Whatever are you talking about?" Ayeka asked as
she sat down at the counter. "This is the proper mode
of dress for a Jurai princess." Ayeka never had much
worried about keeping who she was secret.
"Uh huh, whatever you say," the girl responded
shrugging her shoulders. She handed Ayeka a menu, and
then continued. "Do you want anything to drink while
you decide?"
"I'll just have a soda thank you," Ayeka answered.
"Do you have IBC cream soda?" She looked over the menu
and discovered about twenty different kinds of
okonomiyaki. Somebody sat down next to Ayeka as she
was trying to find something non-okonomiyaki.
"Excuse me," the person next to her asked
cautiously. "Do you have any connection with Saotome
Ranma at all?" Ayeka turned to face a girl with short
black hair.
"I don't have the slightest idea what you are
talking about?" she responded. "Whatever gave you that
idea?"
"Oh, Ranma's father has a history of engaging him
to various women in exchange for food," the girl
answered. "So with the wedding dress and all."
"This is not a wedding dress," Ayeka protested. The
brown-haired girl with the spatula came back.
"You know, I hadn't thought of that," she noted.
"She's right, though, Ranchan's dad is a pretty sorry
individual. Nearly ruined my life."
"So you two used to be in love with the same man,"
Ayeka asked, then thought to herself. "Maybe I can get
a little advice from them."
"Well almost every guy around here chases or used
to chase Akane," the brown haired girl gestured to the
one in short black hair. "And every girl, including
me, used to chase or still chases Ranchan. Why do you
ask?"
"Perhaps you can help me with a problem of my own,"
Ayeka suggested.
"I don't know," Akane said. "Ukyou and I don't have
the most normal of relationships."
"Well, how did you resolve your conflict?"
"One of Ranchan's other fiancees bombed my
restaurant," Ukyou answered. "Put a friend of mine in
the hospital."
"Ranma finally declared that I was the only one he
loved," Akane added.
"And I was more concerned about my friend."
"Oh this is excellent," Ayeka clapped. "You're
perfect, it sounds just like my situation.." she
became a little less enthusiastic. "...used to be."
Ryo-Ohki meowed.
"Why is your rabbit meowing," Ukyou asked. Ayeka
pulled out of her temporary funk.
"Oh, Ryo-Ohki is cabbit," Ayeka explained. "She's
here so Lady Shinku can make sure I don't hurt myself,
treating me like a child really. Perhaps if you have
some carrots?"
"Sure, how many?"
"A case should be fine," Ayeka answered, drawing
disbelieving glances. Ukyou returned with a case full
of carrots though, and she and Akane watched, stunned,
as Ryo-Ohki quickly began to devour it.
"So is this Lady Shinku related to you in some
way?" Akane asked, looking away from the cabbit. Ayeka
stared at her strangely. "It certainly seems she
worries about you like some parents I know."
"Yes, I expect it does appear that way," Ayeka
answered. "It has been revealed to me recently that
she does seriously see me as a sister. She even called
me that recently, when everything changed, apparently.
That is part of the problem. You see, until a month
ago, Lady Shinku was my rival for Lord Tenchi's
affections."
"So what's the problem," Ukyou asked. "It seems
like she's given up on this Lord Tenchi person, you
don't think her new attitude is a ploy?"
"You're scared aren't you," Akane noted. Ayeka
thought about it a moment and nodded. "So what
happened a month ago?" The princess didn't consider
this, there was no reason in her mind to hide any of
the following. It was all perfectly normal as far as
she was concerned.
"Well there was this attempted invasion on the edge
of the galaxy," the two girls looked at Ayeka
strangely, but she just continued. "And I and Lord
Tenchi were protecting Washu-Chan's, I believe she
called it an Ego Jammer, while Lady Shinku and
Ryo-Ohki, here were fighting in space."
"The cabbit was in the battle?" Ukyou said in
disbelief. "What did she do make them stop and talk
about how cute she is?" Ryo-Ohki meowed thankfully at
the compliment.
"Hmm?" Ayeka turned to Ukyou. "Oh I'll show you
that later, when I go home maybe."
"So what happened in the battle," Akane asked,
staring hard at Ukyou to tell her not to interrupt.
Ukyou shrugged defensively and passed out a trio of
okonomiyaki.
"I am not a trained warrior, or a pirate like Lady
Shinku," Ayeka explained. Then she stiffened her back
in pride. "But I am one of Jurai's royal family, and I
can wield the Jurai power like any knight." Then she
slumped losing any hint of proper posture as she
explained the next part. "But, I used too much, I
drained myself and kept channeling until the battle
had ended."
"You pushed the envelope a little," Akane shrugged.
"So what, that doesn't explain why this Lady Shinku
would give up your rivalry."
"I didn't 'push the envelope'" Ayeka corrected,
returning to her haughty attitude. "I burned out a
portion of my power, and that has a serious
consequence for my people. Ry...Lady Shinku blames
Lord Tenchi for it. She won't even talk to him any
more."
"She's mad at him because her rival made herself a
weaker fighter," Akane questioned her. "That's weird."
"Really, and I don't see what your problem is,"
Ukyou said. "It seems like she's pulled herself out."
"I never expected it," Ayeka explained. "She was
the only one there who could possibly have known what
I did, and we've been fighting back and forth for two
thousand years." Akane spat out her soda while an
okonomiyaki fell out of mid-flip and fell to the
floor. Ukyou was frozen in mid-action. "Whatever are
your problems?"
"Did you say two thousand years?" Akane asked.
"Yes, and if I can continue without interruption,"
Ukyou and Akane nodded. "If anything I thought she'd
use it against me, 'Tenn-chiii, why waste your life
with someone who will die centuries early?'" Ayeka
managed a decent imitation of Ryoko's tone and voice.
"What's this about dying?"
"Oh, the Jurai power keeps us alive for a long
time," Ayeka explained. "I...burned some out...so..."
"Oh," Akane said quietly. "I understand now"
"That must be tough," Ukyou comforted. "So how long
do you have?"
"We don't know," Ayeka said. "Lord Tenchi's mother
lived fifteen years afterwards, but she died young
before we went back in time to fight Caine, so that
might be something else. I don't know." Ukyou and
Akane seemed to be taking things surprisingly easy,
until you considered the mass of demons and martial
artists that were in their lives. Ayeka of course
never noticed, she still thought of much of this as
normal. "Anyway, the last thing I expected was for
Lady Shinku to blame Lord Tenchi for my burn out. She
seemed to think he should have noticed it and stopped
me."
"So, now she's not talking to him," Akane reasoned,
she still had much more experience with female anger
than Ukyou. "And perhaps, you're not as enthused about
chasing him as you used to be?"
"Everything feels wrong, Ryo...Lady Shinku, treats
me like I'm a helpless little girl, and I've had a
few...what you call 'dates' with Lord Tenchi, but they
just make me feel worse." Ayeka sounded angry now.
"I'm the one with royal Jurai blood, not on the direct
line of kings like Lord Tenchi, but I'm not some space
pirate who's the last of her clan either."
"You don't think he loves you, do you," this was
Ukyou's department. She had discovered the same thing
about Ranma a year ago. "And you're beginning to doubt
if you really love him." Ayeka nodded sadly, and
sniffed.
"And Ryoko is being entirely unfair," Ayeka added.
"Lord Tenchi winces every time she even looks at him.
It was my decision, not even the knights knew what I
was doing. There is no reason to blame him."
"You've stopped calling her Lady Shinku," Akane
noted.
"Oh dear, I have, haven't I," Ayeka agreed. "It is
her proper title, and it would be rude of me to refer
to a fellow noble by anything other than their proper
title. Even if she is an orphan space pirate with no
modesty."
"Uh huh," Ukyou said. "So you've decided that you
aren't really interested in this Lord Tenchi, and he
isn't interested in you." Ayeka was about to protest
and then stopped.
"Yes, it seems that I have," Ayeka confessed. That
admission actually made her feel better. "My, that
feels exceptionally relieving."
"Hey, Ucchan," a yellow-shirted boy in a bandanna
walked into the store. "Sorry, I'm late."
"No problem, Ryouga-Honey," she answered. "It only
took you a month this time." He waved as he walked
through the storefront, into a back room.
"Five...four..three...two...one," Ukyou counted.
"Ukyou, what happened to my room?"
"You're in the store room, Ryouga."
"Oh." Ukyou started counting down fingers again for
the giggling Akane and curious Ayeka. "How do I get
out?" Ukyou gave Akane a long suffering look and went
off to help the boy out of the store room and up to
his own room.
"Oh no," Ryouga said as he was escorted up the
stairs. "Is that another of Ranma's fiancees?"
"This is not a wedding dress," Ayeka insisted.
"Really, how can you mistake this simple thing for a
wedding gown." Akane looked over what Ayeka was
calling a "simple thing" for yet another time.
"It's not really something most people would wear
outside of a religious ceremony," Akane told her.
"Well, perhaps by this world's standards," Ayeka
admitted, still full of pride. Then she noticed the
time as Ukyou started walking down. "Oh dear, perhaps
I should be getting back home, it's been quite a
while. Thank you for the talk, I believe that I needed
that."
"Believe me," Ukyou responded. "I know how talking
to strangers can be comforting."
"Yeah," Akane agreed. "Maybe we can do it again
sometime."
"Perhaps, I will," Ayeka agreed, as she walked
outside. "That...'okonomiyaki?' was excellent, by the
way. Ryo-Ohki, perhaps you can give me a quick ride
back home." The cabbit meowed and leapt into the sky,
changing into her spiny ship-form. As Ayeka looked to
her left she saw another boy, not quite as tall as the
first, stop in horror at seeing her.
"Oh no," the boy said. "Who'd pop engage me to
now?"
"Ranma?" Ayeka asked Akane and Ukyou, who were
staring at the ship-form cabbit in surprise. They
nodded and she waved at the terror stricken boy
pleasantly. "Don't worry sir, I never heard of you
before now. Ryo-Ohki." Ayeka vanished and the
ship-form cabbit shot away for the Masaki house.
"Uh, Akane, Ucchan," Ranma asked as he stood next
to them. "Who was that?"
"An alien princess," Ukyou answered.
"I wish she'd been around when Cologne was still a
problem," Akane added.
"She certainly has the age advantage."
"That girl is older than the old ghoul!!" Ranma
shouted. "You have to be joking."
Mindscape
"You left far too early," the master lectured. "It
took me centuries to become ready for my task. You
have had mere weeks."
"Perhaps I was already more ready than you ever
were," the student responded, haughtily. "You did fell
to that boy. It took them all to defeat me."
"You know not what you say, fool," the master did
not seem angry at all, merely annoyed.
"Back off, old man," he answered. "There are none
to command me now, not even you, master. The shadows
are mine."
"Hmm," the master laughed. "As you wish, I have
eternity. Perhaps the next student will be more
intelligent." The dark-haired Jurai warrior vanished
with a mocking smile on his face.
Galaxy Police New Headquarters, a month later
"Well, you've kept up your end of the bargain so
far," Mitsuki said as the cloaked Akuneko teleported
in. He had ceased masquerading as a cadet as soon as
he had made himself known to Mitsuki. She was the head
of the fugitives tracking department, it wasn't nearly
as prestigious as special crimes had been, but she was
on her way up. "So what do you want now?"
"My brother is still alive," the Akuneko told her.
"He's hiding, planning a way to take revenge on Makibi
and that Jurai prince. Perhaps we can use this, I have
business with my brother anyway."
"So you want me to find them and then what?"
"For now just find them," he told her. "I will tell
you more as it happens." The Akuneko vanished. Mitsuki
smiled.
Note: Some of the events referred to above take place
in my Ranma 1/2 fan fic, the Visitors and their Coat.
=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?" -
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
Signed
He of Too Many Names (Thrythlind/Thryth/Luke/Hyperbole/Pika/Pooka)
http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send online invitations with Yahoo! Invites.
http://invites.yahoo.com