[FFML] C+C QD 21

[DB Sommer]

“I suppose I should be flattered you keep having this dream, Ranko,” 
said Ranma Saotome dryly.

% Heh. Nice. Was thinking Ryoko/Ryouga for some reason.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Quantum Destinies
five hundred years ago, the Empire of Japan rules almost half the world 
and has done so for almost a century. Theorizing that one could travel 
to alternate timelines by possessing counterparts in them, a young 
scientist named Ranma Saotome, through use of a device of his own 
invention, accidentally obtained the skills and memories of a martial 
artist version of himself. In the Imperial Arena, Shampoo began 
integrating the memories that have been granted her, of a life spent as 
a loyal soldier serving the Solnoid Matriarchy in another timeline. 
After a misunderstanding, Ranma and Kodachi shared a private moment 
together and came near to exchanging a kiss before they were rudely 
interrupted. Ranma used the resonator and visited the other Earth where 
his father is currently trapped and confronted him about Project 
Phoenix. Kinnosuke Kashuoh learned an unpleasant truth about himself, 
but it only steeled his resolve to crush Ranma and claim Nabiki as his 
own. Herb and his cronies escaped from their prison in China. Kinnosuke 
and his trio of faithful catgirls battled Ranma and Nabiki, and Nabiki 
was forced to unleash the Nekoken in a desperate bid for victory during 
the brutal struggle against the four. Finally, the two fathers enjoyed 
drinking in the company of Akemi Roppongi and looked forward to uniting 
the two Schools.


% That will be real useful for people to pick up where they left off


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Chapter 21 - Yin And Yang, Part I

Romance is like a game of chess: one false move and
you’re mated.

- Anonymous



Ranko cursed Ranma Saotome for doing this to her. How could he have been 
so careless, for not using some kind of buffer in his device at least? 
She curled her hands into tight fists. If she ever met the guy face to 
face, she was going to give him a severe beating for what he had done to 
her, at the very least.

% I suspect that might be coming up soon.

Hoping to distract herself from her anger, Ranko picked up the remote 
for the television. It came on with a flurry of colored snow that 
quickly resolved into the late-night news.

“<...and Chancellor McCartney is still negotiating with the House of 
Lords concerning the wording of the latest bill,>” said the pretty, 
dark-haired newscaster in English. “<He continues to express his support 
for the besieged German peoples and has threatened military action if 
France continues with this aggressive course of action. In other news...>”

% That's silly. In no universe anywhere are the French any good at war.


Ranko snorted. Soap operas. Only housewives watched this stuff.

As the music swelled dramatically, the screen suddenly changed to a 
station identification and a deep male voice announced, “You are now 
watching ‘Roses and Swords’ here on Channel Six. We will be back after a 
word from our sponsors.”

% Cute




Running Deer had won her own match tonight as well, the debut of one of 
the new hopefuls out of Shanghai’s arena, a Taiwanese girl about their 
age by the name of Shenhua whose fighting outfit was a short-skirted 
cheongsam-style dress that showed off her long legs and bustline. She 
had fought very skillfully with a pair of kukri blades and an arsenal of 
thrown knives taken from a leather band around one thigh. Shampoo was a 
bit concerned that the girl was seen talking quietly with Mina Li 
afterwards, with the occasional glance towards Running Deer. There was 
something dangerous in the Taiwanese girl’s gaze, the same sort of look 
that the Korean girl often had towards Shampoo.

% Hmm. I had implied weapons weren't used in matches due to the ease of 
permenant damage from them. But if you need them for some reason, I'll 
keep that in mind, and adjust things if I ever get around to revising my 
old stuff.


% So far everything has come across as flawless. Good flow and no 
spelling errors, though I am rusty.


Ranma grumbled under his breath, but he decided to leave well enough 
alone for now. Three blows to the face in under a minute was giving him 
a severe headache and rattling his thoughts, making it difficult to stop 
himself from acting like his martial artist analogs. He still kept 
feeling strong déjà vu

% I know you're reusing the deja vu from before, but for some reason 
using it twice like this feels off, probably because it isn't used a lot


about the whole thing for some reason, as if he had been in almost this 
exact same conversation somewhere, most likely with some other world’s 
Akane.

He shrugged. It was probably best to avoid making any more comments 
about Nabiki within her hearing,

% Yes



Reminded about the symbiotes, Ranma briefly wondered if Nabiki knew 
about Project Phoenix. She most likely did, knowing who her father was, 
but now wasn’t really a good time to talk about such things. Visiting 
Dr. Tofu would be a better use of the time, if he wanted to be able to 
move at all in the morning. He could always feel her out later about 
what she might know about the Project.

% By saying, I was thinking about Project Phoenix. What's your take on 
it? and seeing how she reacted.



Nabiki forcibly turned her mind away from thoughts of Akane, and her 
mind was still regrettably blank on how she would explain her recent 
engagement to Ranma to her little sister.

% well, that's already been taken care of


“No,” she whispered hollowly,

% Just think of it as your father has taken a vacation and his uncle is 
taking care of you in the meantime

“You’re damn right we’re going to get him back, Ranma,” she said slowly 
as she lifted her face to look at him once again. “We’re going to get 
them both back, no matter what it takes.”

Ranma was surprised to see the tears on her cheeks, underscoring the 
determined set of her jaw and mouth. As far as he knew, nobody at the 
Academy had ever seen her like this. Nabiki Tendo was near legendary for 
her ability to maintain a stoic composure and remain in control of a 
situation, no matter what. So it was a shock for him to realize that 
inside the hard shell she always projected was a girl with feelings and 
passions, that this was the same person who had coolly beaten him up in 
a fight only mere days ago. He nodded as they looked at each other.

Nabiki suddenly felt a bit ashamed of herself, for showing weakness like 
this to anyone, let alone him. She was the Iron Bitch of the Imperial 
Academy, and to show tears in front of Ranma, her rival, the guy she had 
taken down in a duel recently, offended her pride. But she just couldn’t 
seem to bring herself to push him away, to reassert that role, her pride 
be damned.

% I'd cut one of the two perspectives as they basically say the exact 
same thing, just from different perspectives. (Don't get me started on 
Wolf's Rain)



“I see.” Nabiki’s tone was calm, but irritation seared within her. It 
was just like the nobility to try and buy loyalty with money or gifts.

% Only because it works.


What concerned her most was that the only person who had been quite 
noticeably unconcerned with Directorate politics lately was Soun Tendo. 
He had been working less than his usual twelve-hour days, and her spies 
among his underlings reported that he was far more interested in this 
engagement going on between his middle daughter and the Saotome boy for 
the past couple of days. Such a breech in his character meant he was up 
to something clever, she was certain of it.

% Heh. Uncharacteristic behavior puts people more on edge than knowing 
an actual plan.


An almost predatory smile brushed across her lips at the notion. It had 
been a long time since she had felt this sort of anticipation about 
spending time with a man (or boy in Ranma’s case). Well, she mused, she 
would make him a man soon enough and she was confident that it would 
only take a little coaxing on her part. She chuckled at that.

Hinako turned the corner to the street her apartment high-rise was on, 
and she was surprised at who she saw sitting astride a motorcycle with 
some girl who was vaguely familiar to her for some reason,

% two 'some's close together. perhaps change the first to 'a girl'


Nabiki began dialing the number Touga had given her, already thinking 
about what sort of dress she would buy for herself while she was out 
shopping with Yohko. It would have to be something stunning.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“I’m home,” Ranma called out tiredly as he kicked off his shoes in the 
entryway area,

%an entryway is an area. I think I'd ditch the 'area' part



Nodoka came out of the kitchen, smiling as she wiped her hands on a 
towel. “Hello, Ranma. How was your eve-” she began and then stopped, 
staring at his battered appearance. “Ranma! What happened?”

“Hmm?” said Genma, coming into the room. “Something happen on your date 
with Nabiki, boy?”

% Nice to see him taking it in stride



This was only a minor setback for him. He would let Nabiki have back the 
pieces of her organization. It no longer interested him, and pawns were 
meant to be sacrificed after all, as he had sacrificed the Wolf Pack 
when they proved too weak for his uses. No, his only interest was for 
the queen now. He had let himself get distracted from that goal, playing 
petty games with pawns. But, once the queen was taken, the game was all 
but won.

% And then it'll be time to move on to another game



No matter how hard she tried, she could not remember his name, and she 
did not know who he was. She could not even remember this picture ever 
being taken. But looking at it always awoke something buried within her, 
something deeper than conscious memories.

% Hmm. Someone erased her memories.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


“I’m not stupid, Ryoko-chan,” Achika said a little crossly. “You go off 
on one of your training trips, I don’t hear from you for a couple of 
weeks and then you show up on our doorstep with some strange boy in tow. 
What am I supposed to think, knowing my daughter has been alone with 
some teenaged boy out on the road? I was a girl your age once myself. I 
know what it’s like when youthful hormones get going.”

% Achika: You wouldn't believe some of the sexual antics I used to get 
involved in, both men and women. And the gang bangs. Oh, those were the 
days...



While eating meals with the Masaki’s


% Masakis



Yumi’s gaze narrowed. A typical Hibiki, she mused. She was about to deny 
knowing anything about Ukyo when their words finally sank in. They both 
thought Ukyo was a boy? This could be entertaining.

% One person's torture is another's entertainment.

whacked him over the head with it. “Calm down, Hibiki-kun,” she said in 
a mild tone as he stood there, looking a bit stunned. While her spatula 
was looking a little dented, at least the blow seemed to calm him a bit. 
To the shocked girl she

% girl, she

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The rain started letting up while Nodoka waited in one of the sitting 
rooms of Kuno Manor. The chair she sat in was comfortable and the 
surroundings were pleasant, but they could not seem to ease

% recommend dropping 'seem to'


Kenseiko seated herself gracefully, gesturing for Nodoka to sit as well. 
“Please, we can forego the proper formalities when we’re alone. After 
all, you and I have known each other for such a long time. Tea?” She 
snapped her fingers imperiously and a house servant scuttled in with a tray.

“Uh, thank you,” Nodoka said, bowing again slightly. She doubted that 
Kenseiko had poisoned it this time, but old habits died hard.

% And so do people that have been poisoned



Ryoko blinked when Ryoga suddenly sprinted off and then leaped, taking 
his umbrella in both hands, his mouth opening to scream.

Ranma was about to take another bite of his lunch when he heard a voice 
coming through the window, one that he had never expected to hear in 
this life.

% But most things in his 'previous' life keep popping up in this one. 
You think he would be used to it by now


“Hey, let Ranma go, Ryoga.” Ryoko laid her hand on his arm. “I don’t 
want you to hurt him. He doesn’t have anything to do with your feud with 
Ukyo.”

% Ah a voice of reason, if only momentarily.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Touga Kiryuu leaned back, allowing his head to rest against the side of 
the hot bath as his tense muscles unwound. Of all his personal rooms in 
the Kiryuu Estate (his wing of the mansion being larger than most 
commoners’ houses) the bath was his second favorite. The first was his 
bedroom, since over the course of the last few years he had spent more 
time there than anywhere else.

His eyes scanned the room, enjoying the texture of the place. He had 
never cared much for Japanese style baths, and had instead opted for 
something grander in an ancient Grecian style. Fluted columns and marble 
were everywhere. The tub was built flush with the floor, like a pool, 
and closer in size to one rather than a standard bathtub. A number of 
hand-sculpted statues of exquisite nude men and woman rounded out the 
decor. Like most things Touga Kiryuu owned, it defined the term opulent. 
But when one was due to inherit control of the fifth largest zaibatsu, 
there were certain expectations to uphold. Doing everything in 
extravagant style was one of them.

% nice description of it


“A girl you haven’t slept with? I didn’t think there were any of those
left.”

The corners of Touga’s mouth curled upward slightly. “You’re being
exceptionally impudent today.”

“Indeed. Perhaps it would be best if I was released from my position.” 
The withered face betrayed no emotion. Only the voice held its 
distinguished tone, despite the sarcasm of the words.

% Nice. I like the character a lot.



The salary and inheritance had been a cause of consternation among the
Kiryuus but Maasaki was a force no one ever crossed, even in death. 
Those that tried never lasted long. He had made the Kiryuus into the 
second most powerful zaibatsu in the Empire when he was alive and had 
personally held the Emperor’s ear. Having no proper successor was why 
the Kiryuu fortunes and prominence had slid slowly over the last decade. 
No one had ever replaced the old man. However, Touga would change all 
that, once he was given control of the family. Everyone agreed he 
inherited Maasaki’s wits (and rather decadent tastes when it came to 
women), and it had been decided internally that he would be groomed to be

% groomed as the (might sound better



“Your eyebrow shot up. You only do that when something catches your
interest. Something that you think shouldn’t catch your interest, but 
did anyway. On you, it qualifies as an emotional outburst.”

For a moment, it appeared Laughlin would dismiss the accusation. Instead 
he said, “For the first time in your vapid little life, you’ve mentioned 
a woman’s intelligence before her appearance. It’s quite shocking.”

% Indeed


However, it was that mind that excited him. Even now he was trying to
maneuver things before the dance so that he had the upper hand against 
his newest romantic interest. He wondered how she’d react to his 
present. It was something of an unusual approach to courtship, this 
scheming for an advantage, but they were exceptional people, and needed 
to do things in exceptional ways.

% Indeed


In a tired voice, Laughlin said, “I see your periscope has surfaced, 
sir. Shall I send one of the bath girls to scrub it free of barnacles 
while I acquire the information you desire?”

% Nice




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Thanks go out to DB Sommer for the last couple of sections, one of his 
many contributions to the Quantum Destinies storyline.

% That must be why I approved of it. I thought it was familiar.