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Enjoy!

The FFML Refugee List


Greetings all!

Okay, I know that people have been waiting for this to come out...'Cause 
they've told me...^_^

Yeahyeahyeah...So the last chapter was released LAST AUGUST...So what? ;P

I been busy...Anyway, here ya' go...Enjoy!

The characters are borrowed, the settings are not...They're
real...Kinda...Anyway, I'm just borrowing Ranma and the cast. I'll put'm
back when I'm done...promise...

C&C is always welcome
gargoyle@glasscity.net
gargoyle9@hotmail.com
or
gargoyle4@hotmail.com
Flames, as always, will be filed in the round folder...

Salud!

***

The All-Americans
By
Joshua Trujillo

Part 23 - The Sunshine of My Love

***

Nabiki looked out across the highway. She snorted at the lack of
traffic on the road. It was a wonder they could support themselves
in this podunk hick town. She turned out onto the main freeway
and headed home. The road soon lay back in monotony and her
eyes wandered to her passenger. Ranma sat in the next seat; staring
out the windows he idly stroked his little green parrot.

It had almost worked. Almost. Two things screwed it up. First was
that bitch Kuno. She couldn't follow orders worth anything, but
then she was like her brother, Nabiki supposed. The second was
something that Nabiki couldn't have foreseen, the bandanas. At
least the planned worked in separating Ranma from his
cheerleading section. The next problem was that Ranma was too
nice a guy for that to last. He was sure to make up to Shampoo as
soon as he could, which would put Nabiki back at square one.

"Why were you at the dance?"

Ranma's voice startled her out of her thoughts and she looked at
him.

"Why should I tell you?" she said hastily, "Maybe I was there
having fun like everyone else? Maybe I was doing business...What
do you care?"

Ranma was silent. He focused back on his bird for a second and
then stared out the window once more.

"Yeah," Ranma sighed finally, "It's not really for me to ask..."

"I should say," Nabiki snorted.

"Do you know a girl named Kodachi Kuno?"

"No, should I?" Nabiki asked, "Kuno...She any relation-"

"Tatewaki...Yeah, she's his sister..."

Nabiki almost snapped at him for cutting her off, but considering
his mental state, she held her tongue. There'd be time enough for
cutting him off at the knees later.

"Never heard of her," she said, "And Tatewaki hasn't ever
mentioned her either."

Nabiki concentrated on getting them home. Ranma took to petting
his bird again as he hummed a tuneless melody to the increasing
cold of the night outside.

***

Akane sipped at her tea and looked into the fire. There was so
much that she didn't know about Ryouga, so much pain in one
short life. She looked at the boy. He rubbed his eyes and smiled at
her. Akane smiled in return, but couldn't look him in the eye. She
wondered angrily at herself why she hadn't seen it before. He was
too damned cute!

"Akane," Tofu said from the doorway.

He tossed an apple to her, which she caught easily. He went back
into the kitchen for a moment, but returned with a couple of mugs,
steaming with a concoction of his own brewing. Ryouga leaned
forward.

"So," he cleared his throat, "Where was I?"

***

"She was a fireball back then," Ryouga said softly.

"Akane?" Kasumi interjected as she sipped her tea.

"Yeah," he said, "You have to understand, back then, I had
something to prove. I had come back from Grandfather Biin's place
a big, tough man. She got under my skin quickly. There was
something that she saw that she liked, I s'pose."

"Ryouga, you were a dick," Akane said.

"Akane!" Kasumi exclaimed.

"Sorry, but it's true!" Akane turned back to Ryouga, "You almost
ran over me and my friends when we first met!"

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, "I didn't see you."

"You wore your sunglasses to school, didn't you?" Tofu asked.

Ryouga nodded.

"I literally didn't see you," he smiled, "Anyway, I'm sorry about
my attitude, but really I don't think I was all that close to reality
back then. I was pretty messed up. After school, I'd head out to the
overpass and there was a little niche out to one side, there near the
railroad tracks where tough guys gathered."

"I think I remember something about that," Tofu said, "As I
remember, there were a couple deaths-"

"Did you kill anyone?!" Akane gasped.

"No," he sipped at his tea, "But there were times when I wondered.
Most of the guys never really went that far with the fighting. It was
usually until one of them either couldn't stand or until first blood,
whichever. Sometimes there were personal scores though, and
those got messy. Most of the time I went, I fought for money to
pay for the drugs. It...It's not something I enjoy talking about, you
understand."

"The truth hardly ever is," Kasumi mused.

"Yeah, I don't know, but could you keep this from everyone else? I
mean, I hate to say it but people like Nabiki I don't think would
understand," he said.

"I'd have to say you're right," Akane said, "Your secret is safe with
us."

"Thanks."

"Actually, I was the one that originally found out about his habits,"
Akane said to her sister and Tofu.

"How?" Kasumi asked.

"She followed me one day, after school. I actually had to save her
from a couple of brutes," he said, "I took her home and we had a
yelling match."

"Why did you go?" Kasumi asked of her sister.

"Well, I'd been watching him all during school and he just
intrigued me. I don't know what it was-"

"Hormones."

"Shut up, Ryouga," Akane smirked in response, "I just wanted to
know what made this guy this way. I mean, I didn't see anything at
school that suggested he be this way."

"You were curious," Tofu said.

"Yeah."

"So she followed me to the one truly dangerous spot in a three
county area," Ryouga sighed.

"Needless to say, I wasn't thrown off just because he yelled at me,"
Akane smirked as she squeezed Ryouga's hand.

"It was about two weeks later when I found out about his
addiction," she continued, "I wanted to help, but I had no idea how
to start without bringing in the cops."

"Then she did a REAL stupid thing," Ryouga mused.

"What was that?" Kasumi asked.

"She asked me about my problem."

"And stop smirking!" Akane snapped, "You were an even bigger
dick when I found out."

"Yeah, I know. And I'm sorry. I was just so ashamed that a girl that
I found attractive found out about something so bad about me," he
said, "I just thought that if I was a big enough jerk, then you could
go and find someone who'd treat you right."

"...You..." Akane breathed, "You liked me back then?"

"...Yeah," he continued, "Akane, you have to understand that I had
spent the last few years of my life becoming the hardest person I
could be. I was always training and fighting and-Well, that didn't
leave a lot of room for anything else."

"Ryouga," Akane looked like she was ready to cry, "You mean to
tell me that we've been dancing around each other for this long?!"

There was a silence in the room and Ryouga looked into his half-
empty cup. Metaphorically too. Ryouga flinched when Akane
picked the teacup from his hands and placed it on the coffee table,
along side her own. She flung her arms around him and fiercely
held on. Ryouga slowly returned the hug as Akane began to cry.
They weren't tears of sadness, but tears of relief and maybe even,
of joy. That she was crying for Ryouga made his heart soar and
drop at the same time. He pulled her out to arm's length and wiped
at her tears.

"Please don't cry," he asked softly, "I'm not worth crying over-"

The punch cut him off and knocked him cleanly from his seat.

"Akane!?" Tofu exclaimed.

A gentle hand held him on his arm.

"That's just how Akane is sometimes..." Kasumi smiled.

***

Nabiki looked slowly around her room, her cordless phone to her
ear. It rang on the other end once. She had various posters up on
her wall, just like any good teenager. Movie posters. Wall Street.
Basic Instinct. The Firm. Fatal Attraction. The Care Bears
movie...The phone rang a second time and the person on the other
end finally picked it up.

"You screwed up by doing that to Daisuke," Nabiki said.

She listened as she sat down at her computer. She type in a few
things, minimized a few things, maximized something else and
continued typing.

"I NEVER wanted to hurt the little guy!" Nabiki stood quickly,
"Don't you DARE imply that! I go to school with these people, you
know..."

She sat back down. She began to type something else, but stopped.
The little hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

"Hang on a sec," she said.

It'd been half an hour since she and Ranma had come home. He
went straight to bed, or so she thought. She couldn't get that feeling
out of her that he was watching her. She quickly poked her head
out into the hall and even looked up the stairs toward his room.
Nothing.

"Okay...You want Ranma?" she asked quietly into the phone as she
closed her door, "Then you only need to remember three things..."

***

It was cold. Not as cold as Ranma's heart as he hung there
watching and listening. Nabiki, you cold-hearted bitch...How dare
you...How DARE you...

The wind blew slightly and Ranma shivered as he hung upside
down outside of Nabiki's window. He almost wanted to cry, but he
wouldn't give her the satisfaction. She wanted to hurt him and he
wouldn't let himself be hurt by such a petty woman as this. He
almost sneered, but caught himself. Best to keep those emotions to
himself until he was ready. The chain keeping his rope in place
creaked slightly as Ranma pulled himself back over the edge of the
roof. Nabiki opened the window below and looked out. She
couldn't see him as he lay on the roof, but she knew he was there.
He smiled. Nabiki would never make it physically against him, but
then that wasn't the point, was it? He dumped her and now she was
getting him back...How petty.

He knew everything he needed for now. He took the stethoscope
out of his ears and placed it on the roof. He thought he wouldn't
have use again for all his stealth gear. He hoped he wouldn't. He
was wrong. Ranma untied the cording from the chain and bundled
it together again, placing it back in his bag. The stethoscope and
the felt pads on his hands were next. The chain he'd keep in place
since he was the only one to come up on the roof anyway.

Ranma picked up the bag, slung it across his shoulder and slipped
easily back into his own room. He placed the bag back into the
trunk at the foot of his bed and picked up his backpack from his
desk. It was already put together with what he'd need. He was as
ready as he felt he'd ever be...Time to face the piper.

***

The phone rang. Tofu looked up to the kitchen, where the phone
was located and glanced to Ryouga. He nodded and got up. A cold
chill ran down Akane's spine as she wondered what information
Ryouga would come back with. It was almost surely bad news,
after what Akane saw of Daisuke from the party that seemed like
so many years ago.

She remembered as Ranma and Ryouga carried out their fallen
friend. She remembered his bruises and the small cut above his eye
that had swollen the whole thing shut. She shivered again as she
tried to dispel the memory. It didn't work. Her hand leapt to her
heart as Ryouga came back in from the kitchen. She looked worn.
Maybe it was from everything that went on that night, maybe it
was from the news, she couldn't tell. Ryouga took a breath before
he spoke.

"That was Yuka and Hiroshi from the hospital," he said wearily,
"The...The doctor's said that Daisuke's been beaten pretty badly
and that-"

"Well, we KNEW he was beaten up!" Akane said angrily, "What
the Hell?! We were the ones that pulled him out of that stall!"

"Akane, please," Kasumi said quietly, "Please continue, Ryouga."

He nodded.

"There is more...He's..." Ryouga swallowed and ran a hand through
his hair, "He's been raped."

Akane closed her eyes and scowled. Kasumi closed her eyes,
wondering how such a thing could happen. Tofu took off his
glasses and began to clean them. He took a breath.

"Just what exactly happened at this dance tonight, Ryouga?" he
tried to assume a clinical air, "Seems to me like a night at the
Hole..."

"No," Ryouga sat down, "Nothing like that. Just a few things that
happened to spoil it...Akane, I'm sorry. The guys on the team are
my responsibility and-"

Akane held a finger to his lips.

"No Ryouga," she said softly, "This isn't your fault. Anymore than
Toma is your fault. Neither of them. Understand?"

He nodded reluctantly. Akane sighed and hugged Ryouga, as much
for her own comfort as his. Just a stable person to hang on to in a
really unstable world. And she wondered to herself why the Hell
she hadn't seen him sooner...

Something stirred in Ryouga. He didn't feel his normal bliss he
normally did when he was with Akane. He felt...He didn't really
know WHAT he felt. He hugged her back. It felt good that they
were together, but it also felt like another responsibility. A good
one, though. One that he felt he needed. To protect her. Probably
not from most, but from those that she couldn't protect herself.
Like Toma. And by God, he would.

"They're so cute like that," Tofu said softly.

Ryouga broke the hug and Akane blushed. Kasumi had her left arm
draped over Tofu's shoulder, her head on his shoulder.

"Don't tease them," Kasumi reproached softly, "We were that way
once, you know."

He turned and nodded.

"I suppose we were," he said, "Young and free."

They kissed in the glowing firelight. Ryouga could feel the blush
rise in him at the sight. Somehow, he never got used to thinking
that his elder brother, the person who was so clinical most of the
time, could be this passionate. Ryouga looked to Akane and smiled
slightly. She was smiling at the couple, her eyes glittering softly in
the same firelight. She looked so beautiful, her hair slightly mussed
from the night activities and everything else, but it was a good kind
of mussed. A good kind of woman. She snuck a glance in his
direction and he turned away, embarrassed to have been caught
watching her. He was surprised when she took his hand and gave it
a slight squeeze. She smiled warmly and he smiled back, knowing
that the blush had finally risen to his face.

"Wonder if they're gonna DO it?" Kasumi whispered loudly.

Akane shot a glance, askance, at her older sister.

"Kasumi!?"

Kasumi laughed and got up.

"Come along Tofu," she said, holding her hand out, "Let's retire for
the evening."

He smirked at her and got up as well.

"Now, Ryouga," he said, "Be good. Don't do anything that you
would normally do, okay?"

"What d'ya mean by THAT?!" Ryouga shot back.

Kasumi and Tofu chuckled as they headed up the stairs.

"Honestly," Ryouga began, "I'm a gentleman...Aren't I?"

Akane chuckled softly.

"Aren't I?" she wasn't answering him.

She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"I'm going to make some more tea. Do you want some?"

He nodded. She smiled and went into the kitchen. Ryouga folded
his arms in a huff.

"I'm a gentleman, dammit," he swore softly.

***

Ranma landed on the roof. It looked quite a lot like all the other
roofs in the neighborhood, slanted blue-gray slate. This one had a
dormer and Ranma remembered that it was one of the few houses
in the area that had a dormer, so it was easy to find in the dark.
Had he been driving, finding the damned place wouldn't be hard at
all, but he couldn't afford the chance that he might wake the
grandmother. That old biddy would beat him senseless, especially
since Shampoo would have already told her about what happened.
Ranma didn't want a war; he just wanted the truth out. Ranma
tiptoed to the dormer and tapped lightly on the window.

"Shampoo," he whispered, "Come on Shampoo, I know you
haven't gone to bed yet 'cause your ICQ icon is still active...Come
on-"

"Honey, if you don't get off my roof right now," a sultry Southern
accent said from behind him, "I'll be forced to throw you off."

Ranma stood and turned. The moonlight slid across the roof to
reveal Shampoo standing, in her pajamas, her arms folded across
her chest.

"Shampoo," he put up his hands, "I came here because I want to
talk about what happened. Because what you think happened really
didn't..."

He stopped when she reached a hand up to her eye and wiped away
a tear. A wrenching pain tore through him. He'd made her cry, and
that was worse than-

She sped forward and threw a lightening kick at his head, which he
barely avoided. He attack was precise and calculated, but intensely
fast. He ducked under a palm thrust only to be met by a knee to his
chest and a kick at his shin, taking him down to one knee. His
backpack took the brunt of an axe kick that might have crushed his
spine. His backpack!

Ranma rolled forward, trying to balance, block and control the pain
raging through him all at the same time. He got a little separation
when Shampoo slipped on the gravely roof and he flung himself
back. He reached into his backpack and threw the soft object right
at her head. She caught it without a second glance, but caught
herself as the softness of it registered in her brain. She stopped her
attack and Ranma went to one knee again in pain.

"A bandana?" she said more to herself.

"It's...Daisuke's," Ranma said as he spat out a mouthful of blood.

He reached back into his backpack and tossed another. He also
quietly thanked God he packed them the way he did. He had a
thought that something like this might happen, especially after he'd
seen her fight.

"It's Hiroshi's," he said, "See any difference?"

Shampoo compared the two bandanas in the moonlight.

"The difference is-" he began.

A cold shiver ran down her spine as she realized.

"Oh my God..." she breathed, "You weren't WEARING a
bandana!"

Ranma would have laughed, but that would've hurt too much. He
snickered slightly and went down to both knees as the pain in his
ribs flared. God, could she punch...Soft, trembling hands wrapped
around his head. The pain subsided and Ranma could hear her cry
as she gathered him into her arms. And while being between her
breasts was always a pleasant sensation, this hadn't been the way
that he'd envisioned getting there.

She reached down and kissed his face here and there, trying to
undo the pain. Shampoo realized what a fool she'd been. She'd
been played by that black haired bitch and she'd pay. But that was
later, now her Ranma was hurt, BY her hands and it was getting
cold outside. A thousand apologies ran through her head, but she
couldn't verbalize any of them. The thought that she'd been duped
into fighting her lover ate away at her.

"Please Ranma," she pulled him to his feet, "Please honey, come
inside and let me help ya'..."

He waved her off slightly and steadied himself.

"It's okay, Shampoo...You finally get it and that's what I came for,"
he said, "I was expecting a fight, but damn...I thought it'd be
verbal..."

Shampoo felt the tears well up in her once more, but was surprised
when his hand brushed a tear that escaped her away from her
cheek. His large eyes peered back in the moonlight.

"Shampoo," he said, "I just want to go home and get some sleep.
It's been a LONG night..."

They looked at the absurdity of the situation and couldn't help but
laugh. She had been ready to kill him and, at the time, he had been
willing to let her, if she'd only seen the truth. He was thankful that
it hadn't come down to that.

"Okay," she said, letting him go, "But I still want to talk about
this...And about being...friends..."

He nodded.

"Yeah...I think that's a good idea..."

She hugged him softly to her and she skipped off the roof and back
into her window in one fluid motion. Ranma dropped to his knees
as he admired her. He laid his head for a moment on the roof and
sighed. GOD could she punch...

***

Her lips were soft. At least that was the first thing that came to his
mind. Not that he'd kissed many girls to compare, but Akane had
the softest lips of any girl he'd known. And they tasted sweet and
kinda lemony. That was from the tea. And why was he analyzing
this experience? He smiled slightly and let his brain go. Well, let
his brain go the REST of the way. They had cuddled on the larger
couch and one thing had led to another. She had leaned across to
him and kissed him. It was only proper that he return the favor, of
course. And it went back and forth like that for a bit, until she
wrapped her arms around his head and leaned into him.

Ryouga leaned back and found that she fit nicely on top of him as
they continued to kiss. She was warm and soft. The way she ran
her fingers through his hair as they kissed electrified him in odd
ways. Perhaps it was her fingernails, he didn't know. He liked it
nonetheless. He kissed along her jaw and down the right side of
her neck as she shifted against him. She moaned slightly in his ear.

"Ryouga," she whispered, "I'm not wearing any coconuts now..."

His eyes shot wide open...

***

Thus the conquering hero returns from his travels hence to reclaim
glory amongst the homestead once more, Kuno thought.

The Kuno estate spread far out in front of him, covering two
hundred odd acres of midwestern farmland. The darkness of the
night was waning and Kuno knew that dawn was not far off.

"I should've gone as something else," he muttered to his horse,
"How cowboys were romantic chaffing as much as this is beyond
me."

The horse neighed once and began a slow trot towards the
residence in the distance. Lights slowly scrawled his outline on the
road ahead and Kuno turned as one of the family limo's pulled up
beside him. He stopped his horse and one of the back windows
rolled down. A pair of baleful eyes glared out at him appraisingly.

"I don't know why you insist on keeping that old nag, brother
dear," Kodachi said, "You should have her put down."

"This stallion is the pride of the Kuno stables," he said
imperiously, "I'll have you speak of it with honor. What are you
doing out so late on this night sister?"

"If you must know, which you don't, I was just returning from a
fact finding mission."

"Fact finding mission, huh?" Kuno snorted, "I'll alert John
Stossel."

Kodachi titched at him and waved her driver on.

"We'll see who knows what about who, brother dear!" she laughed
as the limo sped into the distance.

Kuno coughed slightly in the dust and spurred his steed back into
action.

"What about WHOM, you arrogant bitch," Kuno swore softly.

The sun rose slowly on that Saturday morning for Tatewaki
Kuno...

***

Sunrise met them on the way back to the house. The bright, warm
sun poked holes in the chill that bent around the motorcycle.
Ryouga didn't feel a thing, but then, he could've probably been shot
at the moment and he wouldn't have felt it. He was so deliriously
happy about his condition, yet he was cautious. He certainly loved
Akane, but he didn't want to push her into anything that she didn't
want. He nodded to himself. He could wait if that's what she
wanted.

Akane found that she really didn't feel the cold either, mostly for
being behind Ryouga on the bike. Her head still swam from the
night of passion that she could NEVER tell Nabiki about. Kasumi
knew and that was bad enough but Nabiki would...

Would she blackmail her own sister? Akane didn't know.

Akane held on tighter and closed her eyes, preferring to think
about the wonderful gentleness that Ryouga showed her that night.
It made her want to jump around giggling. She NEVER giggled.
For anything. Akane smirked. She thought she'd giggle for
Ryouga.

A few short moments later, Ryouga slowed the bike and turned
into the gravel road that led up to the house. The bright sun lit out
across the frost, still clinging to the broken shafts of whatever that
their neighbors had planted. The fall harvest had come and gone
and the fields were being prepared for the final rites before winter's
cold embrace. Ryouga thought it was a sad state. He hated winter.
Pulling in along side Ranma's beat-up wreck, Ryouga noticed
something and tapped Akane lightly on the arm.

"Akane?" he asked, "Does your mom have a van?"

Akane looked across the parking area to the dull blue and steel
colored van sitting there. She got off the bike and gave Ryouga
back his jacket. He smiled in thanks as the ride had cooled him off
despite his passion fire.

"Maybe a friend of mom's?"

They both shrugged and Ryouga followed Akane up the front
stairs. She fumbled for her keys and opened the door. She stopped
and Ryouga saw that her mother, Nodoka, set in the kitchen with
an older man who looked like he was in his pajamas. He wore
some kind of white do-rag on his head and, when he turned to face
the two, he reminded Ryouga nothing so much like a squished
frog. The glasses that occupied that face were held on to the sides
of his head with that looked like wire, but Ryouga discounted all
these things for Akane's reaction, which was one of almost fear.

Ryouga didn't know who this guy was, but he wasn't going to do
anything to Akane. Ryouga'd make damn sure of that.

***

Joshua "Gargoyle" Trujillo
"Stone Cold Protector of the Righteous"
"Owner of The Anime Bar & Grille - We don't suck!"

Come visit The Anime Bar & Grille!
Now with two locations!
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/1509
and
http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/museum/1275



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