This one is NOT a repost! It's a brand new
chapter! Please enjoy!
=====
V V GGGG A PPPP
V V G A A P P Contact at:
V V G GGG AAAAA PPPP vg_ap@hotmail.com
V V G G A A P vg_ap@yahoo.com
V GGGG A A P
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Do You Yahoo!?
Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites.
http://invites.yahoo.com/
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
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RANMA 1/2 & SAILOR MOON
MOON MARTIAL MARITAL MELEE
BY VGAP
I know that a lot of you must be tired of usual disclaimers, but
nevertheless I somehow feel obliged to say it...... *DEEP BREATH* This
story was not meant for a profit. All the characters belong to
respective owners. This was written without anybody's permission, but
the author claims no responsibility nor copyright. This can be
distributed freely, but it is not to be used outside of nonprofittable
entertainment. There, you can all unplug your ears now.....
Comments would be appreciated. Criticism will be praised.
Ignorance awaits flames. Letter bombs will be returned. If you send me
cash, checks, or your credit card number, I will worship you! I can
be reached at <vg_ap@hotmail.com>. Or just visit my homepage at
<http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/thunder/181/index.html>.
Once upon a time, an aspiring author called Metroanime introduced
an innovative concept of writing various alternate universe fanfics.
Basically, a feline immortal sponsored a competition appropriately named
'The Bet'. The premise was simple; create a most dramatic change in a
timeline with least necessary interference. Gods, demons and other
powerful races were the competents. The winner would receive an enormous
power as well as a right to continue the timeline he/she/it/they
created.
Though most submissions were by Metroanime, several authors
found the concept to be profoundly entertaining, and either made a
submission of their own or offered to continue timelines that were
unfortunately not the victor. I am the former, and I made a last-minute
addition to 'The Bet'. It was simply intended to be a work of whim; a
whim which I had no intention to devote further effort. Alas, surprising
numbers of requests to continue it piled in my e-mail account, including
one from Metroanime himself. Encouraged by positive reactions, I have
decided to make it a series.
And now, without further procrastination, I humbly present
Moon Martial Marital Melee. Please enjoy!
Chapter 3:
"Harbingers of trouble... or, at least, lunacy."
The signboard was old and dusty, a vertical crack splitting the
characters, almost rendering them illegible. It was nailed to an equally
frail-looking doorway. All over the walls were crude patch-ups made out
of criss-crossed thin wood boards. Grasses thrived on the ground along
the edge of the building, growing proud and tall. At least one out of
five tiles were missing or broken on the roof.
Ranma stared at the Saotome Dojo of Anything Goes Martial Arts,
marveling at its sorry state. Beside him, Usagi was doing pretty much
the same thing, except that her eyes and mouth were opened considerably
wider. "Um, bro, this really isn't what a dojo is supposed to be like,
right?"
Ranma got that look in his eyes that was starting to become
familiar to her; a touch of seriousness and melancholy that emerged
whenever he had to think about his estranged real family. "I guess
Mr. Saotome doesn't take good care of it." He snorted lightly and walked
in, Usagi following behind.
Inside the dojo, Genma and all of the Tendos were waiting for him,
each with varying facial expression. Ranma observed and took note of
Soun's neutral if stern face, Akane's angry scowl, Nabiki's semi-
boredom, Kasumi's polite smile, and Genma's unreadable frown. What
little respect he had for his birth father went back up a little when he
saw the various construction materials stacked up against the back of
the room.
"Hello... Father." Despite the formal wording in his short
salutation, disrespect and insincerity were perfectly audible in his
words. "I am here as you have asked."
Genma either didn't notice or chose to ignore his son's indirect
insolence. Instead, he pointed at Usagi and said, "What is this girl
doing here?"
Usagi panicked a little when she suddenly became the center of
attention. "I, I'm just tagging along. Please, don't mind me,
tee-hee-hee..." She trailed off nervously.
Ranma spoke up before Genma could retort, "What she said. There
isn't any problem caused by her presence, is there, father?"
Genma frowned a touch more, then apparently decided not to pursue
the subject any further. "Very well. Ranma, today I have called you here
because I have heard about you and Akane's fight."
Usagi blinked. She hadn't heard about their clash two days ago,
mostly because she was still preoccupied by her new heroine routine.
Then again, she wasn't really surprised, given the older girl's...
unreasonable hostility toward her brother.
Ranma glanced off to the sideline, where Akane was standing
stiffly in anger. He then turned back to Genma. "Is that problematic?
Are you insinuating that I have slighted your school?"
"Nothing like that, boy. But based on the descriptions I have
gotten, you seem to be dependent on Karate only. Is this true?"
"Well, I do incorporate a few other styles as well, but for the
most part, yeah."
"I have much to correct, then."
The last comment stirred some anger within Ranma. "And what do you
mean by that?" He nearly snarled, dropping all pretense of courtesy.
Genma matched his son's glare with his own. "You are the sole heir
to my Anything Goes school of Martial Arts. Therefore, I must ensure
that you are worthy of carrying on our legacy. Right now, you don't even
know the basis of the Anything Goes."
Ranma growled. "So you're saying that I'm not good enough, eh?
You're gonna be sorry you said that!"
Seeing his son drop into a fighting stance, Genma adjusted his
position accordingly. "Then show me what you're made of!"
Usagi sweatdropped, not comfortable at all with the events taking
place in front of her. She then noticed Nabiki approaching her. "Hey...
Did Ranma and your sister really get into a fight?" She whispered.
Nabiki nodded, deciding that she most likely wouldn't gain
Ranma's favor by charging his 'little sister' for the info. "Yup. Pretty
one-sided one too."
"How good is Mr. Saotome? I really hope big brother won't get
hurt..." Usagi trailed off worriedly.
Nabiki frowned a little. The truth was that she never really had
a chance to gauge her father's friend's ability, but admitting lack of
knowledge was out of question. "You will see soon enough." She stalled.
It was Genma who made the first move. He darted forward, starting
out with a palm strike. Ranma blocked it fairly easily, but didn't have
a chance to counterattack as the elder martial artist quickly followed
up with a low spinning sweep kick. He backstepped at the last possible
moment, but couldn't avoid being grappled by Genma. Ranma didn't bother
trying to overpower the man, and instead lay back as fast as he could,
attempting a tomoe-nage. The throw move was used against him, however,
when Genma kept a firm grip on his shoulders and flipped over him,
landing successfully on his foot. He was then thrown over Genma's
shoulder, and barely had time to twist his aerial position so that his
back would absorb the impact against the wall.
Genma didn't wait for him to get up, pursuing his downed son with
downward attacks. Ranma desperately kept rolling away from the
relentless assault, rethinking his strategy quickly. Another wall
looming behind him forced his hand, and he bounded off the surface,
shooting up about seven feet into air and toward Genma. Said martial
arts master leapt up as well. A brief mid-air battle took place, though
it took considerably longer than the laws of gravity would have liked.
After a few stretched seconds, Genma kicked Ranma away and landed
easily. His son was less lucky, having to skid across the floor with his
chest for about a yard.
Ranma stood up shakily, breathing a little heavily, his face
showing clear signs of pain. Genma didn't allow him to rest for long,
resuming the battle shortly. The younger fighter could only concentrate
on defense, barely keeping the storm of blows at bay. Once or twice, he
tried and failed to exploit what little hole he could see in his
father's defense, paying the price with some painful hits.
Usagi ripped her eyes away from the martial arts spectacle in
front of her, realizing that the whole Tendo family was standing next
to her. Akane was watching the battle with what she assumed was a
grudging look of respect. Nabiki had a totally impassive expression,
though Usagi had to wonder whether the middle Tendo daughter was really
disinterested in the fight. Kasumi simply looked concerned in general.
Soun seemed to be immersed in the fight, appearing both satisfied and
displeased at the same time.
She turned back to the fight, refraining from cheering Ranma on,
not wanting to distract him. Usagi had been present in many of his
battles, especially in tournaments, and knew from personal experience
(read: trying before) that he hated such form of support. It would
shatter his intense concentration, and might cause him to fumble...
Although she was starting to doubt his chances now.
Ranma was at the end of his limits. His breath was rugged and
short, reflecting his wavering stamina. *It's time for all or nothing!*
He decided, wincing about the incoming pain.
Without warning, Genma's punch to the stomach was grabbed by
Ranma's hands. It still connected to the ponytailed boy, but he ignored
his churning belly and pulled on the fist, unbalancing Genma right into
a headbutt to the forehead. Before the Saotome patriarch could shake off
his daze, Ranma followed with a chop to the neck, a double-roundhouse
kick to the face, a left elbow smash, and finished with a right
uppercut. This time, it was the elder fighter that was sent flying to a
wall.
Usagi erupted into a cheer, which was transformed into a gasp of
disbelief when Genma stood up almost immediately. Before Ranma could
recover from surprise, the bald man leapt into a diving kick and scored
a direct hit, slamming him onto the floor.
Usagi screamed and rushed to his side, fearing for the worst. She
sighed in relief when her brother opened his eyes with a painful groan.
"Big brother! Are you okay?"
Ranma nodded once and stood up, fighting back a wave of nausea.
He then turned to Genma, who looked pretty winded but still ready to
continue, and bowed stiffly. "I acknowledge my defeat." He gritted out
the words slowly.
Genma snorted and relaxed as well. "At least you are humble. Now
do you see what I meant by not knowing even basics?"
Ranma took a moment to collect his thoughts, then replied, "I saw
several different styles in your form. The philosophy of Anything Goes
is to combine the best elements out of other forms, isn't it?"
Surprised looks were everywhere. "You have discovered the purpose
of our school through only a single sparring. You would make a worthy
heir, indeed." Soun smiled.
Ranma did not return the expression. "Who said that I will be the
heir of your dojo?"
This time, Genma did get angry. "It's a pact of honor between
Tendo and myself, SON!! You don't have any choice in the matter!"
Ranma licked his lips nervously, but stared back defiantly. "I
didn't say I wouldn't be. But don't you think that I will obey you
blindly, FATHER."
"I will have to convince you the hard way, then." Genma snarled.
"There's a riverbed under the Densei Bridge. Come every Sunday morning
until you learn to respect me."
"I will come, but you aren't going to get my respect that way."
Ranma snapped out, and turned back to his sister. "Come on, Usagi. We
finished our business here."
"Uh... Right." Usagi responded, feeling left out of this new
development.
"Oh, do please stay for a while." Kasumi implored to the Tsukino
sibling. "We would love your company."
Usagi looked at what seemed like a permanent scowl on Akane's
face and displeased frowns Soun and Genma wore. She then looked back
at Kasumi incredulously.
"I prepared some chocolate chip cookies and tea."
########################################################################
Nabiki ignored the blonde girl scarfing down cookies and observed
her possible-fiancee-to-be over the table. Light bruises dotted his
face, and the way he moved failed to conceal his soreness. He and Usagi
were seated at one side of the table, while the Tendo sisters sat on the
other side. Genma and Soun were working on fixing the dojo; the elder
Saotome tried to enlist his son, but Nabiki convinced him to "give her
opportunity to get to know her fiancee better."
"Didn't do so well against your father, huh?" Akane jabbed at
Ranma.
"He's better than you." Ranma snapped back, frustrated at his
defeat. Akane glared, but was unable to think up of a suitable retort.
"Why did you decide to learn from him, anyway? I thought you
wouldn't want to be around him any more than necessary." Nabiki asked.
Usagi also looked curious about the issue.
"If nothing else, he's a great martial artist." Ranma took a sip
of tea before continuing. "The dojo masters around here have been less
than challenging for me lately, so, other issues aside, I'm willing to
train with him. Even if he's a jerk."
"Mr. Saotome can be nice, Ranma. It's just that he is very
dedicated to martial arts, and sometimes loses focus of other things."
Kasumi defended her father's friend.
"Are we talking about the same man here!?" Usagi blurted out.
"My mom keeps saying a lot of nasty stuff about him!"
A ringing of the phone interrupted the conversation. After Kasumi
left the room to answer it, Nabiki said with a chuckle, "Kasumi is like
that. She always tries to see the good side of everything. Say, Ranma,
I'm having a bit trouble with catching up to my new classes at Juuban
High. Would you help me..."
"Huh? Oh, okay..."
"... in my room?"
Ranma choked on his tea. Akane was not really surprised at
Nabiki's forwardness. Usagi certainly was, wondering how bold the middle
Tendo daughter could get.
Ranma coughed several times, suddenly became aware of how well
Nabiki's short jeans showed off her long legs, and started blushing. He
was saved from further mortification when Kasumi came in and told Nabiki
was wanted on the phone.
Nabiki sighed, reluctant to cut her teasing session short, but
she also knew that as a businesswoman, she couldn't afford to ignore
phone calls of any type. She gave a final wink to Ranma before leaving,
enjoying the cute look of discomfort on his face.
Kasumi noticed Nabiki's parting gesture and the resulting increase
in intensity of Ranma's blush, and smiled internally. Outwardly she
asked, "Did something happen, Ranma?"
"Um, no, nothing important, Kasumi. I, uh, I need to get going,
thanks for the tea." Ranma stammered and hastily got up, dragging Usagi
up with him. "Come on, Usagi, let's go."
"Hey, wait just a second!" Usagi pulled free from him and shoved
her remaining two cookies into her mouth. "Oh hey, less go." She spoke
around the crumbs.
Ranma, eager to go before Nabiki finished with her phone call,
practically dragged out his sister by hand. Once they were out of the
front door, he breathed a sigh of relief. He then noticed that Akane had
followed him, observing his face with a speculative look. "Is something
wrong?"
Akane hesitated before speaking, "Look, I will be blunt with you.
Are you aware of my sister's interest in you?"
Ranma regained some of his blush. "How could I not notice it?"
"Yeah," Usagi chimed in with an amused smile, "she was almost all
over him."
"So how do you feel about her?" Akane asked.
"Uh... Well... Why should I tell you?!" Ranma snapped.
"Because it's about my sister, jerk! I'm making sure she won't
make a big mistake!" Akane yelled back.
"Big mistake? What do you take me for!?" Ranma was getting really
irritated.
"A BOY!!" Akane replied.
"You aren't making any sense, Akane." Usagi asked confusedly.
"What is it with you and boys?" Ranma didn't sound too enlightened
either.
"I will say it directly; I don't trust you one little bit." Akane
poked into Ranma's chest. "If you ever take advantage of Nabiki, you are
going to be sorry. I will personally make sure of it!"
"It looked more like she was trying to take advantage of him."
Usagi commented, now even more perplexed.
"You're nuts! The day before yesterday, you start beating up my
classmate without any reason..."
"HE ASKED ABOUT MY MEASUREMENTS!!"
Ranma blinked. "Okay... Maybe that's justified then. But still,
why do you assume every guy is like that?"
"Because every guy in my old school IS like that! They are
complete perverts!"
"Ohh... I get it." Ranma smirked. It was not a nice smile.
"... You do?" It was Akane's time to blink. Surprise defused her
anger.
"Yeah. I understand that I shouldn't bother listening to you,
you're just a girl anyway." Ranma huffed out arrogantly.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?!" Akane's fuse was relit. If it wasn't for the
fact that her chances weren't very good against him, she would have
pulverized him already.
"I mean that every girl is too stupid and unreasonable to deal
with."
"HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH A THING!!" Akane's fuse was very close to
going out now.
"Why not? After all, it's the logic you follow."
Akane's raised fist, which was about to make a 10-point landing
on Ranma's face, stopped abruptly, hanging loosely along with her gaping
mouth. Usagi, who had been about to reprimand him herself, rearranged
her thoughts and came up with a chuckle. "Good one, Ranma."
Ranma grinned further and left the Saotome Dojo with his sister,
leaving a frozen Akane standing in middle of the garden.
########################################################################
"Hello? Oh, it's you? How did you figure this number out? Never
mind, I guess you have your ways. So what do you want? Uh-huh, we moved
into here."
Nabiki listened to her caller rant a bit. To be more
precise, she tuned it out; she did that a lot with this particular
individual.
"Yes, me and Akane attend Juuban High now. You are coming?
Oh well, I guess it's not my problem. The reason we moved in here?"
Nabiki told the person why, then plugged her ears shut until he
stopped screaming.
"You done yet? His name is Ranma Saotome. Do you want me to
deliver your challenge to him? No? Okay, your loss. Now don't forget to
place the payment in my account, or I'll tell Akane that you're actually
gay, Kuno-baby."
Nabiki hang up before the mighty Blue Thunder had a chance to
respond to her threat.
########################################################################
Kasumi, a box of plastic bags in her hand, found her youngest
sister in the garden. "Would you help me weed out the grasses, Akane?"
"Huh...? Oh, sure." Akane accepted a bag, and started pulling at
overgrown grasses at the ground. Normally, she was most efficient in
this task; her above-average strength enabled her to pull out even the
sturdiest plant with ease. Today, her heart wasn't into it.
"Is something wrong, Akane?" Kasumi asked after noticing that
Akane's bag was not even half-filled while her own one was ready to be
tied shut.
Akane looked up from a very fascinating specimen of bush, a
startled expression on her face. "D-did you say something, Kasumi?"
Kasumi finished tying up the top of her bag into a knot before
answering, "I asked if something was wrong."
"No... Not really."
"Akane..."
"Oh, all right." Akane released a frustrated sigh. "Kasumi, what
do you think of Ranma?"
"I think he's a nice young man."
"Is that it?"
"Well, what do you want me to say?"
"He makes me so... confused." Akane pulled out a helpless weed
forcefully.
"Confused? Why?"
"He's... strange."
"Strange in what way?"
"Strange as in... weird."
"Weird in what way?"
Akane growled. "He's just weird, all right!?"
Kasumi frowned slightly. "All right."
After a few seconds of choking silence, Akane gave in to her
conscience. "Kasumi, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's...
just that Ranma doesn't act like any boy I know of."
"It's all right, Akane. So how do you want him to act?"
Akane blinked. "How I WANT him to act?"
"His behavior somehow disturbs you, am I correct? So you want him
to behave differently, right?"
Akane put a hand to her chin and thought hard for a moment. "I...
don't know. If he acts like the boys at Furinkan High, that would be a
problem since he can actually beat me..."
"But he didn't try to hurt you, did he? Nabiki said that you were
the one who hit him first yesterday."
Akane's face flushed in embarrassment. However, she was mature
enough to admit a fact. "Well... yeah. I have been expecting him to act
like a pervert, but so far, he has proven me wrong. He's a jerk, but not
a pervert. I'm really confused about that."
"Not all boys are perverts, Akane. You should know that." Kasumi
replied.
"MOST are. Why should he be any different?" Akane retorted.
"The fact is that he IS different, regardless of how other boys
are." Kasumi unwrapped a new bag and restarted on her task. "I think he
will pleasantly surprise you, if you try being civil to him."
Akane chose not to challenge that statement. The two sisters
settled in a companionable silence, putting their hands to work and
letting their mind wander.
########################################################################
"And that will be five hundred yen."
Ranma grumpily took out an appropriate coin out of his wallet and
handed it to the ice cream vendor, grumbling under his breath.
Unlike her brother, Usagi was very happy. Half of the reason was
the mint-chocolate and mocha double scoop cone in her hand. The other
half came from the satisfaction of her plan working beautifully.
"Hey, lover-boy there! Why don't you get one of these babies for
your girlfriend?" A middle-aged man called out to the pair, obviously
trying to get some customer into his game booth.
"Ohh, I want it, Ranma! Win me that doll!" Usagi squealed before
he could protest to the man's statement.
Ranma glared briefly at Usagi, but knew better than to argue with
her. He handed the man a hundred-yen coin, accepting ten hoops in
return. He looked at them for a moment, then haphazardly threw them all
at once.
The man had worked at his game booth for quite some time, and was
quite used to have his customers walking away in disappointment.
Throwing hoops onto the necks of coke bottles were far more difficult
than it looked, and even the luckiest could get only one out of five.
Therefore, one can't really blame him for dropping his jaw when
eight of the ten hoops landed true to the targets.
"Nice shot, Ranma!" Usagi said, taking a lick from her snack.
Ranma was less satisfied with the result. "I was trying for all of
them."
The man came out of his stupor and handed Ranma eight dolls,
shaking his head in disbelief. He watched the pair walk away with their
prizes, reevaluating the profit potential of his game.
Before long, Usagi found another subject to pester her brother
with. "Hey, Ranma! Let's ride that Ferris wheel next!"
"Uh-huh, sure, whatever." Ranma's voice was anything but excited
as they got onto the ride.
"You could at least pretend to be enjoying this, you know." Usagi
chided as they sat down.
Ranma waited until their carriage started moving before
responding, "Like you are?"
"What do you mean?" Usagi asked back.
Ranma looked into the eyes of his sister, his expression somber
and serious. "Usagi, I appreciate you trying to cheer me up. Really, I
do. But making me grumpy won't work this time; the problem is too big
for me to be distracted."
Usagi blushed at being caught red-handed. "You figured it out?"
"This is the fifth time you dragged me into an amusement park
whenever I had some sort of trouble. It's starting to be cliched, you
know." Ranma reminded, not unkindly.
She looked down in embarrassment. "I just wanted to help you
out... I like you more when you're grumpy rather than gloomy."
Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Was that supposed to be a compliment?"
Usagi's reply was interrupted when their vehicle suddenly shook
forward. With a scream, she was thrown onto the other side. Ranma caught
her just before her head impacted against the wall. The continuing sway
of their ride forced them to stay in that position until the tremor
subsided to a negligible level.
Usagi opened her eyes slowly, still not quite grasping the
situation. She sighed in relief once she was sure that she wasn't going
to fall to her death. "What... was that?"
"Ah... I guess some sort of bad maintenance..." Ranma replied,
considerably surprised himself.
It was at this time that Usagi realized that she was in his arms.
Instinctively, she tried to move away, but stopped doing so when her
eyes met with his. Their faces were only a few inches away.
Usagi looked at his sharp, thick eyebrows as dark as midnight. She
noticed how blue his eyes were, clearer than any sky she had ever seen.
She also felt the gentle hold of his arms on her back, somehow warming
her both inside and outside.
Ranma looked at her long, curled eyelashes that crowned her eyes.
He noticed her angelic features, from her small, rosy lips to her
velvety cheeks. He also felt her left pony tail caress his cheek, the
silky sensation calming and thrilling him at the same time.
Gravity then returned to work, starting at the melting glob of
sucrose in Usagi's raised hand.
*SPLAT*
".........."
".........."
"MEATBALL HEAD!!"
"Hey, it wasn't my fault!"
########################################################################
Sasuke Sarugakure was not having a good day. Then again, that
wasn't anything unusual. Since beginning his servitude to the Kuno
house, he rarely, if ever, had any day that could be considered even
remotely good.
But today was even worse than the norm, primarily because his
master was also having a bad day. It wasn't due to an undying loyalty
by the ninja that caused him to be distressed; rather, it was because
when Kuno has a bad day, he took it out on his poor servant. Today,
Sasuke was ordered to polish Kuno's collection of bokkens that went well
beyond a hundred.
So imagine, if you will, Sasuke's mood when he warily answered a
ring of the doorbell and saw a man in suits with a briefcase.
"May I help you?" Sasuke greeted, his tone none too friendly.
"This is the residence of esteemed family Kuno, am I correct?"
The man asked amiably, a very nice-looking smile on his face.
"Yes, it is."
"Well, I happen to have some very interesting wares with-"
"Sorry, we are above from needing services from the likes of
you." Sasuke tried to close the door, only to find out that the
salesman had placed himself on its path, forcibly keeping it open. "Hey,
I told you, we aren't interested!"
The man maintained his smile. "Oh, but do please grant me an honor
of showing my products to you!"
Sasuke lost his temper. "Do I need to kick you out!? GET LOST!"
"I beg of you, just a quick look-"
"DIDN'T I SAY IT LOUD ENOUGH?! GET-"
"SASUKE!!!"
The dwarfish ninja jumped, then turned around fearfully. Sure
enough, there was his master, looking none too pleased.
"You cretin! For what ungodly purpose dare you interrupt my
training with your commotion?!" Kuno thundered.
"M-my deepest apologies master," Sasuke stuttered, "I-I was simply
trying to chase this annoying vendor away!"
Kuno turned to the said vendor, and saw yet another opportunity to
annoy his servant. Smiling handsomely, he proclaimed, "My good man, as
the head of this domicile, I plead of you a pardon for immoral conducts
of this unworthy menial whom you just had the displeasure of dealing
with. Pray tell us your objective of this sojourn."
Sasuke groaned at the injustice of it all. The man ignored him
completely and took out a business card, handing it to Kuno. "Greetings,
sir Kuno. As it is written on that card, I am called Kojiro Miyamoto."
"Kojiro Miyamoto, eh?" Kuno's smile broadened. "Named after two of
the greatest swordsmen in medieval Japan? I assure you that few are
blessed with such a glorious name. Perchance you practice the art of
sword as well?"
"I did, and still do. However, I am not blessed with the talents
for my namesake. Let me ascertain that my skill is nothing compared to
yours, Tatewaki Kuno, the national champion of high school Kendo."
Kuno positively swelled with delight. "Ah! Indeed you are well
informed of my status. Have you come to praise my glory then?"
"More than that, sir. You see, I must make my living like any good
man. Therefore, I journey all over Japan in order to vend my family-made
bokkens. And while I cannot claim the mastery in use of these wooden
swords, I do hold confidence in their quality. They say a swordsman can
never have too many swords, do they not?" Kojiro opened his briefcase,
showing off about a dozen of ordinary-looking, if brand-new bokkens.
"Please inspect them to your liking, sir. I am certain that you will
find them more than satisfactory."
Kuno eagerly took one in his right hand. He stared at it for a
moment, then held it before him. With a loud "Ha!", he slashed
downwards, cleaving the air in front of him. A second later, the wall
on the opposite side of the hallway sported a vertical crack.
Kojiro raised an eyebrow. *He can use the air pressure to attack?
I guess he has some small amount of skill after all.*
"This is most certainly one of the finest bokkens I have had come
across! It would be a dishonor on my part not to purchase them for any
price lower than five thousand yen each. How many of these have you, my
trustworthy merchant?"
Kojiro broadened his smile, and presented his wares proudly. "I am
very glad that you can understand the quality of these swords. I have
twelve of them here. How many do you desire, sir?"
"I shall take them all. As you have remarked earlier, a swordsman
can never have too many swords, especially ones as fine as these.
Sasuke, you shall polish them with utmost care for each one."
Sasuke groaned again and concluded that yes, today was indeed a
bad day.
Kojiro slipped away quietly, neither of his customers noticing the
strangely wicked grin on his face.
########################################################################
Juuban district was not considered a particularly strange place.
It was starting to be, due to recent cases of monster attacks, but so
far it was still relatively normal.
On the other hand, there WAS something going on that would have
been considered weird by most standards. However, it was an event that
the residents had gotten used to, and thus paid no mind.
Specifically, it was the sight of a muscular young man in tattered
clothes that was using his umbrella as a crutch, looking ready to fall
over any moment. He was muttering "Where am I?" as he looked around
himself.
"Oh, hi Ryoga!"
The said boy froze for a moment, before turning to face the owner
of the voice he so longed to hear. "U-Usagi! I can't believe it! Am I
really back in Juuban?"
Usagi giggled cutely, unintentionally causing the older boy to
stumble a little. "No, this is Kyoto, and I'm on a field trip. Really
Ryoga, where have you been for last two weeks?"
Ryoga scratched the back of his head in a classic gesture of
embarrassment. "I-I'm not really sure. I think I was at Kyushu, but that
doesn't explain why it was snowing at this time of year."
"Well, that's certainly like you. Come on, I'll get you to your
home." Usagi grabbed Ryoga's hand, not noticing the furious blush that
came up on his cheeks. "You really should be careful not to leave by
yourself. And Ranma..."
Ryoga's world currently consisted only of his hand in Usagi's, and
was barely able to catch her words. He completely missed the look of
discomfort that briefly showed on her face at mentioning her brother's
name. "What... about Ranma?"
"He was getting mad at you. For missing practices, you know."
Ryoga's all-too-brief state of bliss was crushed down by the
arrival of guilt and nervousness. "...Oh. Um, well, I really couldn't
help it." He mumbled lamely.
"Do you think he will be satisfied with that?"
"Uhh... I guess not."
"Well, I will try to get him to be not too angry. It shouldn't be
that difficult, given that he has his own problems to deal with."
Ryoga failed to notice the second half of her speech as he was
brought back to mental heaven. *She's helping me...!*
"...Oga? Hello! Earth to Ryogaaaa!!"
Ryoga stumbled again as he was forcibly brought back to reality.
"Um, yes, Usagi?"
"Are you aware that you are crying like crazy?" Usagi gestured to
the twin ribbons of tears that extended from his eyes to his jaw.
"Oh, ah, I, eh, had something in my eyes. Heh, heh..." Ryoga was
scratching the back of his head again.
Usagi stared at him dubiously, wondering how he got something in
both of his eyes at the same time. She then shrugged it up to being one
of his many, many weird quirks. "Well, here we are. I will see you
tomorrow morning, okay? Just don't leave the house."
"Yes, Usagi..." Ryoga replied absently as he waved at her
retreating figure, feeling his heart swell with joy as she waved back.
Once she stopped waving and turned around, he sighed and started
walking into his house... or tried to, at least.
"RYOGA!! THE HOUSE IS TO YOUR RIGHT!!"
"Whoops..."
Author's notes: Ouch. Another half-year lag between each chapters. This
is starting to be a bad trend... At least some people inquired about it
now and then. Well, sorry, and stuff, for making you wait so long; if
you were waiting at all, that is.
Okay, the subject I wanted to address in here the most; Akane, and
the way I write her. When I started writing this series, I vowed not to
treat her as harshly as Metroanime does. Unfortunately, she came off
pretty much as a psychobitch so far. I wasn't happy with it, so I tried
to show her good side in this chapter while keeping her in character.
I'm not sure if I was successful, but then that's the norm for me.
Really, I DO prefer Akane for Ranma's lover out of all females in Ranma
1/2 (although Kasumi comes in a close second). Of course, my ideal is
Ranma/Usagi. And speaking of them, I hope you liked that scene for those
two. One of my pre-readers got nauseous upon seeing it; it's not THAT
sick, is it? ^_^;
Ryoga's crush on Usagi; I honestly didn't plan it at all. I was
trying to think of an introduction scene for him, then this new angle
came to me. Hey, many fics has him falling for Ami, and I thought it
would be original. Besides, with Mamoru gone, Ranma needs him as a
rival for her heart.
Next time on Moon Martial Marital Melee, Ranma meets Kuno.
Remember that he's a little weaker in this version, and with the new
bokken Kuno got (you CAN guess who the vendor was working for, right?),
he's not gonna have an easy time. Expect plenty of action scenes. I love
writing them!
I would like to thank Kenneth Lam, Mark Christopher Boileu, Tom
Sticka, Gary Wong, Kevin Cox, Slyke, and Jeremy Harper for pre-reading
this, Metroanime for starting 'The Bet', and YOU for reading this.
Now, I should work on my Sakura Taisen fusion fic... But first,
I gotta find my muses. Those sneaky little... If you see them around
anywhere, please tell me. ^_^
Tell me what you think:
VGAP <vg_ap@hotmail.com>
VGAP's weird page at:
<http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/thunder/181/index.html>