CHAPTER 2: Disasters
Shampoo ran as fast as she could toward Ucchan's, she outpaced Mousse
by several car lengths. The rain had long since stopped and they were
both dodging puddles.
"Shampoo, hold up," huffed Mousse trying to keep up. Shampoo just
wouldn't let up. She came upon her bicycle, it was still where she had
left it when she had met with Ranma earlier. She quickly mounted it, and
then peddled away. Mousse stopped, leaned over to catch his breath, then
ran after her. All the hardware he carried in his coat rattled
noticeably, it was beginning to feel heavy. His glasses kept sliding down
his face.
Finally, Mousse stopped, he took several deep breaths and thought for a
moment. Oh, the heck with it. I hope they have hot water. Mousse went
to a safe place where he could put his clothes, and stepped into a puddle.
The change was instantaneous. He flew and passed Shampoo on her way to
Ucchan's.
*****
Ranma was startled awake, as if from a dream, he felt weak. He was
laying on the floor of Ucchan's. Sensing a weight on top of him, he
looked down. Ukyou's head laid upon his chest, her breathing deep as if
sleeping. He could smell the fresh scent of her hair, and admired her
dark brown locks. She awoke.
"{Ran-chan?}"
Ranma was startled, it had been no dream, Ukyou was still using the
same means of communication used in the nexus. He became calm and joyous
when she raised her head and looked up at him, a strand of hair in her
face.
"{I'm here,...my love.}" He smiled down at her and, reaching over,
removed the stray lock of hair. She returned his smile. Slowly, she
shifted her weight and brought her head up with his. They kissed a soft,
gentle kiss.
Ranma found a strange feeling in his stomach. A sense of euphoria that
he had never felt before with anyone. A part of him wanted Ukyou more
than anything that could possibly be. While they kissed, he noted
something else and started to laugh.
Ukyou slowly pulled away still smiling. "W-what's so funny?"
Ranma looked down, then look back and said, "Your still wearing a boy's
uniform. What *must* this look like?" Ukyou giggled, pulling a hand to
her mouth.
When the memories re-emerged, her memories, Ranma lost his laugh and
his smile. "My God, how lonely you were. I can see the world you lived
in through your eyes now. I can feel the anguish you felt when you got up
day after day to this cold restaurant, with nothing but your dreams of us
together to comfort you. I now hurt as you did." Ranma said that last
line as if choked. She tightened her grip on him.
Ranma continued, "Even this morning you were in despair, thinking about
how much you desperately wanted to reach out and comfort me last night,
even when all I was thinking about was Akane. I never realized until
today how much of a good friend you were. How much you really cared about
my happiness and future, even if that future didn't include you."
Ukyou slowly lifted herself up to peer into his eyes with a concerned
expression, she was shaking waiting for the other shoe to drop. It never
came. Ranma smiled, "Now I know there can *be* no real future...without
you." She hugged him tightly and batted away a few tears.
The front door was still open from when Ukyou had led a thoroughly
soaked Ranma-chan in earlier. A duck flew in and started to flap its
wings frantically in their faces. The duck flew over near the counter and
pulled the two amulets behind him, and waited. Shampoo barreled in the
door, out of breath with bonbori drawn. Both Ranma and Ukyou jumped to
their feet. Ranma felt himself staggering and very weak, he felt very
sleepy.
"{Careful, Ranma. Take it easy.}" said Tori in his head.
"{W-what's going on? Why do I feel so powerless?}" Ranma inquired.
"{Though it was pretty easy to remove your curse, that curse was once a
part of your ki. When I removed it, a large part of your ki was removed,
also.}"
"{Can't you replace it? 'Cause I need it, now.}"
"{No, I'm afraid I can't do that,}" Tori said sadly, "{Only you can
generate your own ki field. It can be built up, enhanced, shaped, you can
gain it from others of your own kind, and I can teach you how to do all
that, but I am afraid you don't have the time to learn those techniques
right now. Given your remarkable recovery skills, you'll replace it
yourself in due time.}" This conversation took place in mere fractions of
a second.
Shampoo looked them over curiously. "What spatula girl do here with
Ranma? Where amulets?" Mousse made a squawking noise, indicating the
amulets with his beak. Ukyou tried to reach down for them, but was nipped
by Mousse, she drew her hand back.
"{Go ahead. Let them have the amulets. They're mostly deactivated
anyways, their power was diminished once you two crossed into the nexus,}"
said Tori.
"{You mean they can only be used once?}" asked Ukyou at the ready.
"{Well,...it is a little more complicated than that, but in your cases?
Yes!}" replied Tori.
Shampoo had her bonbori out and moved toward Ukyou. Ukyou's eyes grew
wide and she backed up. She swore to herself for not having time to
snatch up her combat spatula, or any of her throwing spatulas, before she
had been interrupted by Ranma-chan, earlier. Shampoo continued her
approach in a effort to herd Ukyou away from a shaky Ranma. She stopped
and took a momentary glance at Ranma before moving back to stare holes
into Ukyou. "What did spatula girl do to you, husband?"
"I'm fine, Shampoo, now will you..." Ranma started.
"You no look fine," Shampoo interrupted.
While Ranma and Ukyou were preoccupied with Shampoo, Mousse waddled
behind the counter and spotted the hot water pot Ukyou kept for when Ranma
came to visit. He up-ended the contents, and released a small shriek when
he realized it was fresh. Grabbing a nearby tablecloth to cover himself,
he picked up the amulets and took a defensive stance behind Ranma.
"Really, I'm fine, Shampoo. I just...didn't get enough sleep last
night, that's all." Ranma lied. Mousse tilted his head in disbelief,
there was something more to it than that. He had seen Ranma and Ukyou in
a...questionable position when he flew in here.
"Uh, yeah!" responded Ukyou over near part of the counter, she was now
within snatching range of her combat spatula. "Ranma, had a dizzy spell
and...and he fell...a-and I helped him up," she said trying to look
sincere.
Shampoo looked at the two, doubtful. "Did anything...happen with
amulets?"
"Uh,...No! W-was something supposed to happen?" Ranma asked
questioningly. He big-sweated.
Shampoo thought for a moment, then brightened happily. "No, I suppose
not." She then glomped onto Ranma. Ukyou crossed her arms in a huff.
"What Airen need is good bowl of ramen. It perk you up. Come to..."
Shampoo said trying to pull Ranma out the door.
Ukyou released Ranma from Shampoo's grasp and started to escort the
Amazon out. "Well, it just so happens that I just got through making one
of my special okonomiyakis for Ranma. You see?" she indicated, pointing
to the okonomiyaki that had been left out from the previous night. "That
will perk him up, too." Ukyou said with a sudden affirmative head jerk.
Ranma agreed.
Mousse took this opportunity to leave with the amulets in hand. Before
he left he peered at Ranma and Ukyou incredulously. Shampoo was not put
off, and was about to turn around and say more, when Ukyou closed the door
on her. Ukyou made a show of dusting her hands and grew a smile. Ranma
just laughed and shook his head. He made a show of wiping sweat off his
brow.
"Were you jealous?" he smiled as he asked.
"You bet I was, Sugar." Ukyou said, trying to sound serious, but
failingly miserably. They both laughed again. "You know you could have
told her."
"Yeah. I could have, but I want to start with Akane, the Tendous and my
pop, first," said Ranma.
"Yeah, I suppose that's best," replied Ukyou thoughtfully, then added,
"You know you may need a new place to stay after this, the Tendous may not
want you around anymore. My offer of a spare room still stands. Just do
me a favor and leave that fat panda you have behind."
"Well, that 'fat panda` is going to be your father-in-law someday,"
Ranma said matter-of-factly, crossing his arms.
Ukyou was stunned for a moment, when the full implication of what Ranma
just said, hit her. She remembered what had been said in the nexus, but
only now were its implications of *marriage* dawning on her. She made a
show of holding her stomach at the thought of Genma being her
father-in-law, but in truth it was a ploy to hide her giddiness.
Ranma gave her a smirk. "Yeah. I know what you mean." After a moment,
he spoke to Tori, "{Hey, Tori? Uh, what do we do now?}" Ranma asked.
"{For now, I suggest you continue on with life as normal,... or as
normal as life will become for you two. Things are not yet in place for
us to begin our journey to retrieve the amulets, but the time will come
soon.}" responded Tori.
"Well, Ran-chan, I guess we still have to go to school," Ukyou spoke
with almost a slight question.
"Uh, yeah, I guess we should." Ranma said, also out loud. They looked
at each other for a moment, neither one moving, both had serious faces.
Ranma saw Ukyou give a momentary twitch with her right arm, then they
teleported into each others arms with a firm hug and a final kiss.
*****
Ranma slept. As he slept, he dreamed. He dreamed of the fields he and
Ukyou used to run, and play, and wrestle in, near Kyoto. He dreamed,
remembering a time when he and Ukyou came upon a stream and laughed each
other silly trying to catch fish with their bare hands. They both had
become thoroughly soaked to the bone when they were finished. Ranma
remembered being exhausted from laughing so hard. He wondered why then he
couldn't tell that Ukyou was a girl, but back then, that wouldn't have
really mattered. They were both too young, and he had never needed to
ask. He had assumed Ukyou was just another boy, like he was.
"Ranma." It was Akane, she was whispering forcefully. "Ranma?!"
"Go away! I want to sleep some more." Ranma responded.
"Ranma! It's time for school." Akane said exasperated, she was still
in a rough whisper.
"No! I said, 'Go away`!" Ranma said groggily. He was brought wide
awake when an chalkboard eraser bounced off his head. There was laughter
and giggles in the classroom.
"Ranma Saotome." It was Hinako-sensei, she was in her girl form.
"Were you asleep in my classroom?"
"Uh, No!" Ranma lied. Miss Hinako approached from her desk. She
looked like she really didn't belong in a classroom full of high-school
students. She had a fifty yen piece in her hand, she held it aloft. Uh,
oh! Ranma thought.
"Then, I suppose you can share with us the answer to the last question
I posed to the class?" Ranma was shaking. Oh No! Not now. He was
ready to target her five pressure points that would stop her ki sapping.
Tori came to the rescue, "{The answer is 'it's a noun`.}" Though he
didn't need to, since no one but Ranma and Ukyou could have heard, it
sounded like Tori whispered the answer.
"It's a noun! It's a noun!," Ranma immediately shouted out.
Hinako-Sensei was surprised, she then looked doubtful, then looked
upset. She threw her fifty yen piece into the air and caught it in a
tight fist. "Correct, Saotome." She returned to her desk. "Now, can
anyone tell me..."
"{Way to go, Ran-chan!}" That was Ukyou.
"{Tori?}"
"{Yes, Ranma?}"
"{Thanks.}"
"{Sure thing. I can't have her sucking up your ki when you are already
depleted enough as it is. I still need you to retrieve the amulets.}"
"{Where were you when I took all those exams last week? I could've
used you back then.}" asked Ranma.
"{That probably wouldn't have been a good idea. Your life is your own
to pick and choose as you want. Remember you have Ukyou now to think
about. Through your own choices, through your own actions, and through
your own dreams, you decide your own destiny. I won't be there all the
time to pull your butt out of the fire. You will have to do that for
yourself. You could cheat on a test, but then, you would be cheating on
life.}"
"{Tori?}"
"{Yes, Ranma?}"
"{Thanks.}"
"{Sure thing.}"
*****
[ Author's Note: I don't really know if they have a study hall period in Japan. I'm just making this up as I go along.]
Ranma and Ukyou met in the hallway on their way to study hall. Akane
was scheduled to attend her Home Economics class at this hour, so was not
around. When Ranma was positive no one was looking, he slipped Ukyou a
kiss. Hiroshi chose at that moment to round the corner. Ukyou, still in
her boy's uniform, said, "Oops!" Ranma just gave Hiroshi a stern look.
Hiroshi just raised his hands and said, "Hey,...I-I didn't see a thing.
No one would believe me anyway. Uh, w-why don't I just go this way," and
quickly ran off. Ukyou and Ranma went on to study hall, grinning.
Ranma was in study hall along with Ukyou. On the surface and to the
other students, it looked like both were hard at work and had their noses
buried into their books. The truth was a little different.
"{I love you, Uc-chan!}"
"{Yeah? Me too.}"
"{You mean you love you, too?}"
"{Yeah, that's true.}"
"{But if you love you, what about me?}" asked Ranma.
"{Oh, I love me, too}"
"{What?!}" He looked up at her.
"{I am you, silly. Don't you remember? At least in part.}" said Ukyou
returning his gaze.
"{Oh, how could I forget?}"
"{Okay, you two. Knock it off.}" That was Tori.
"{I just said, 'I love you, Uc-chan`.}"
"{And I said, 'Yeah? Me too.`}" said Ukyou.
"{Then I asked...}"
"{I think I'm going to be sick.}" interjected Tori. When there was
finally some restful silence, Tori changed the subject. "{Okay, since
this is a school, let's have our first class.}"
"{First class?}" they both asked surprised.
"{Yeah. First. Class.}" Again, there was silence. "{Now, since
Ranma needs to build his ki back up, we will start with that subject...}"
Tori then went into exhaustive detail about the human aura, and its
relationship to the rest of the universe: How it could be built up, how
it can be shaped, how it could be released, and how it could be used as an
effective weapon. Ranma wasn't surprised at all that a lot of what Tori
taught him were things he already knew about in part, and had used many
times before, but he had overlooked things that now seemed obvious to him
on reflection. Like when Tori used the example of breaking bricks: If
just the hand is used, the hand will break. If the hand surrounded by a
concentrated ki field is used, the bricks will break. It was simply a
matter of moving them both in unison. Letting your ki take the brunt of
the force.
Tori also instructed them on how to broadcast their aura. How people
do actually read the aura of another person subconsciously, they just
aren't aware of it. Through this subconscious reading they can detect
when a another person is calm, agitated, excited or aggressive. They were
taught that this, too, could be used as a weapon to allay a persons'
fears, or make the other person take the first punch.
Both their heads swam after this and they practiced on each other until
everything became second nature. The entire class took over a second. In
unison, they lifted their heads to looked at each other, and then looked
up at the clock. Forty-nine minutes to go until their next class.
******
The fishing was good this time of year on this southern lake. The bass
and trout were always excellent and tasty. Michael Parks had gone hunting
and fishing all his life, and this was always his chance to get away from
the city and its hectic pace. He ran a central gun shop in a town 40
miles away. He came to this spot every year just for the peace and quiet.
Until recently, this area was undisturbed with its lush greenery and
crystal clear water. About two years ago, all that changed when a
microwave antenna was erected on the northern bank. The company that had
installed it swore up and down that there was no chance of any damage to
the local Eco-System, but that still didn't explain why fish had been
found belly up near the northern shore.
Mike sat in a boat with a line in the still water. He had caught two
large bass that day, his mouth watered already. A flock of geese took to
the air and flew north. He watched as they flew in interest and saw the
reflection of the tower in the water. A brilliant flash burned his
vision.
*****
The mall was crowded that day because of the approaching holiday.
People scurried left and right to get their last-minute shopping done. A
jolly fatman entertained the kids. A man carrying two leather-bound
briefcases drifted down the central aisle. The cases had stickers, so
security thought they were freshly purchased. They were wrong, dead
wrong. The shattered store windows and the appalling gore sat as a sad
reminder of just how wrong they really were.
*****
Ranma sat down to eat lunch under a tree. Ukyou had left to go open
her restaurant. He could not find Akane, and had spotted Nabiki eating
lunch with Kunou. It looked like they were making a deal. Probably more
pictures, he guessed, he was unruffled.
"{Ranma?}" it was Tori.
"{Uh, yeah! What is it?}" He was looking around, like he could see
who he was talking to.
"{It's time I shared something more with you. There have been
some...recent developments that require your attention.}"
"{Oh yeah, what's that?}"
"{I am not the only one from the nexus that is here. There are now
others, and they have entered your world. Even as we speak, they are
wreaking havoc.}"
Ranma jumped up and caught some strange looks from nearby students.
"{I thought you guys had to have a host, or something.}"
"{That's true, but I am one of the good guys. I asked you first if you
would host me. These beings don't bother to ask, they just take.}"
"{You mean like a possession, like the Exorcist?}"
"{You've got the concept.}" Ranma dropped his jaw.
"{So, why are they doing this all of a sudden? Haven't you guys been
around for a while?}"
"{Yeah?!}" it was Ukyou.
"{Ukyou, are you listening to this?}" asked Ranma.
"{I've been listening all along, Ran-chan,}" Ukyou responded.
Tori continued, "{When you and Ukyou entered the nexus, you joined with
each other. When you did that, you became the brightest object in the
nexus. You definitely drew some attention. When you returned, your
afterglow opened a trail into your world and provided a doorway.}"
"{Can't you close it?}" asked Ranma.
"{I am afraid there are only two ways to close it: I can either
re-awaken the Starmaster, and he can close it, or close it myself by
killing the both of you.}"
Ranma hunched down like he was expecting a bomb to go off. "{Don't
worry,}" Tori added, "{I have no plans to do that,...unless it is your
choice. You could choose to sacrifice yourselves together in order to
close the portal, and save your world, but that would only delay their
takeover. The next time the nexus is opened, they would flood in like a
horde of locusts. The true answer lies in finding the remaining
amulets.}"
"{Well, it sounds like we have some amulets to find. Don't you agree,
Ran- chan?}" asked Ukyou.
"{Uh, yeah! So, when do we start?}" Ranma was ready to go.
"{I am still waiting for certain...events to transpire first. All I
can say is soon, real soon. Just do me a favor, will you? Stay away from
reflective surfaces: like mirrors, or lakes. Don't ask me to explain why
just yet, because it's complicated. Just do it.}"
"{Okay,}" both Ukyou and Ranma responded. Ranma just shrugged.
*****
An urgent wire had come for Ukyou, it bore tragic news. Her father was
dead, killed when a bomb exploded on board a JAL flight to Kyoto. She was
devastated. She was an only child and had no close living relatives she
could depend on. The wire said that she would be notified when there were
enough pieces put together to identify the bodies.
Ukyou closed her restaurant after the lunch rush ended and dismissed
Konatsu for the day, she sat in her room. The tears came, and she stared
at the floor. She had not notified Ranma yet of the recent events. She
felt he would already have his hands full with what he was about to tell
Akane, the Tendous and his father about their newfound relationship. At
one moment, she almost blew it.
"{Uc-chan, are you okay?}" Ranma suddenly asked, sounding concerned.
He was still at school.
She tried to sound cheerful. "{Yeah, w-why wouldn't I be?}"
"{I don't know. Something inside me feels sad, for some reason. I
guess it's this depleted ki thing.}"
"{Yeah. Yeah, that must be it.}" Ukyou responded, wiping a tear away.
"{Love you!}" Ukyou felt warmed by his sincerity.
"{I love you too, Ran-chan!}" Despite her melancholy, Ukyou gave a
small laugh, but it was short-lived.
"{Do you miss me?}" asked Ranma.
"{Oh,...I miss you more than you realize, Ran-chan.}" Her eyes started
to well up, again.
"{Okay, see you later, bye! I'll try to stop by tonight, if I can.}"
"{See you then, Ran-chan.} Ukyou laid her head on the bed. In short
order, she fell asleep for a small nap.
When Ukyou awoke, she cursed herself for closing her restaurant. She
needed to keep herself busy in order to keep her mind off the tragedy.
She tried cleaning, solitaire, her new okonomiyaki recipe, etc. Nothing
worked. So she went out for a stroll and sat by a river. She began
throwing rocks into the river, and thinking and remembering.
When she was younger, her and her mother were never close. When her
mother died, there was only a short period of grief on her part. Ukyou
was closest to her father, he had been the one that had taught her the
family business and was there to take care of her. All that changed when
Genma left her by the side of the road, and ran off with the yattai
(okonomiyaki cart), her dowry. It was then that her father, too, became
distant, and forced her to become a boy instead of a disowned daughter.
Still, her father had always been there when she needed help and
assistance, needed advice. All that was gone now. Ukyou sighed.
She wanted desperately to be comforted, she wanted to go to Ranma, but
still didn't want to burden him further. After all, there was a good
chance that he, too, would be disowned by the end of the day, especially
after his parents found out about their relationship. She wanted to talk
to Tori, but knew that whatever they talked about would be picked up by
Ranma, like a three-way party line. Still...
"{Tori? Are you there?}"
"{Yes, Ukyou.}" Tori's voice was soft, gentle, fatherly.
"{You know, don't you.}"
"{Yes, Ukyou,}" Tori responded.
Ukyou had a thousand questions she wanted to ask, mostly about her
father, but knew she couldn't. She had a theory though, and wanted to
test it.
"{Tori, you said in the nexus that you knew what our answers would be
before you asked them.}"
"{Yes, that is correct.}"
"{Then, can you predict the future?}"
"{To you, it is a prediction; to me, it is a reality. As I said, I am
a lightroid, a being of light and intelligence. Light is the same whether
you go forwards or backwards in time, one of your own Earth scientists
discovered that, just this century. To me, time is a dimension that is
the same as the other three spatial dimensions you're familiar with.}"
"{Huh?}" inquired Ukyou.
"{What I mean is, I can see your future and your past the same as you
can see this river, this tree over there or those ducks swimming by.}"
"{So you already know whether we are going to find the amulets or not,
don't you.}"
"{Yes,}" Tori said.
"{Will you tell me?}"
"{You know I couldn't, shouldn't, and wouldn't do that. To do so,
would be to create a time paradox. I've seen three in my lifetime, and if
you've ever seen one from my perspective, they are pretty repugnant,
they're like a hole without a middle. And besides, if I told you, that
would spoil the surprise.}"
"{What surprise?}" No response, then Ukyou remembered something else.
"{In the nexus, you said you could just barely remember your former
Starmaster. Could you please tell me why? Especially, if you are able to
see the past, as well as the future.}"
"{Funny, I don't really know,}" responded Tori. Ukyou was astonished.
*****
Ranma was slowly walking home from school. He had trouble following
Ukyou's conversation with Tori.
"Ranma! Wait up." It was Akane. Ranma stood by a fence, and waited.
As Akane approached, he could see that there was still some small spark of
love for her. I suppose that will never change, he thought. But his
love for Ukyou was by far the strongest. Ranma couldn't get the image of
the color of Ukyou eyes, and the smell of her hair out of his mind. Also,
they had shared something, something far deeper, and far more meaningful
than anything he had ever felt with anyone, including Akane.
When Akane stopped in front of Ranma, she spoke with a concerned voice,
"Ranma, w-what's going on? I didn't see you at lunch, and you weren't
there at the first class. Where were you?"
Ranma looked her straight in the face and said, "I was at Ucchan's."
"You were with Ukyou, weren't you." Ranma could see that a battle aura
was starting to form around Akane.
"{Ran-chan,...a-are you going to tell her?}" interjected Ukyou from
somewhere far off. She sounded sad for some reason, but under the present
circumstances, Ranma dismissed it.
"{Seems like as good a time as any, I suppose. Hold on to your
okonomiyaki, here it goes.}"
Ranma tried to radiate calm, but found it difficult. "Yes, I was with
Ukyou." Then he added, "Akane,...I-I'm in love with Ukyou." Akane was
stunned, her mouth began resembling a carp. She looked wide-eyed at
Ranma, and then grew angry,...incredibly angry.
"Why you...you...you STUPID JERK!!!" Out came the mallet from hell
aimed at Ranma's head. Ranma simply raised his hand, the mallet struck
his hand, his hand never moved. The force, however, threw Akane back
against the fence where she fell and caught her uniform on a jagged edge
protruding from the fencing. It produced a rip in her uniform and caused
a bleeding gash to form. Akane cried uncontrollably and ran off before
Ranma could catch her.
"{Sounds like she took that well,}" said Ukyou.
"{It was as I...expected,}" said Ranma threw his hands up sadly, before
running to catch up.
Ryouga had been walking along a pathway that paralleled the fence
trying to find the Tendou Dojo (which was, of course, in the opposite
direction). Akane passed him, and he could see she was visibly shaken and
in tears. He also saw her ripped uniform, despite her best efforts to
cover up.
"Akane, what the...?" Then he turned and saw Ranma giving chase. He,
of course, jumped to the wrong conclusions.
"RANMA SAOTOME...PREPARE TO DIE!!!" Ranma could see Ryouga's green
aura build up and his anger. He stopped and radiated calm, he knew what
was going to come. Ryouga didn't disappoint him.
"{Careful, Ran-chan!}"
"{Don't worry, Uc-chan, I've got it covered.}"
"SHI-SHI-HOKODAN!!!" The ki blast had been the largest Ranma had ever
seen Ryouga produce. Ryouga was throwing everything but the kitchen sink
into it. Ranma simply raised a hand and it dissipated. Astonished at his
lack of results and drained, Ryouga dropped to his knees and wept.
"Ranma, what did you do to her?" he inquired incredulously.
Ranma walked up, went down on one knee and placed a hand on Ryouga's
shoulder. He continued to radiate calm. "Akane fell back against a fence
and it tore her school uniform."
Ryouga somehow sensed Ranma's sincerity and accepted that, then Ranma
added, "I told her that I was in love with Ukyou, and she...overreacted."
Ryouga stared at Ranma for a moment stunned, then laughed. "Huh, I bet
she did." Ranma stood, then reached down a hand to pull Ryouga up.
Ryouga accepted, he wobbled, still lightheaded.
"Come," said Ranma, "let's go see if the dojo is still standing." They
both laughed.
*****
Kasumi was in the living room, dusting furniture. At first, she heard
the bang of the front gate, then the front door. Akane didn't even bother
to take her shoes off.
"Akane! Honestly..." began Kasumi. Akane didn't even stop, she just
tracked mud all the way up the stairs. Before she hit the top of the
stairs, she bursted out into tears...loudly.
"Oh my!" Kasumi said, bringing her hand to her mouth. She dropped her
feather duster and went up the stairs after Akane. She heard Akane's
bedroom door slam. Kasumi walked up to the door, and listened for a
moment, she heard weeping inside.
"Akane?" Kasumi knocked. No one answered, just more weeping sounds.
Kasumi tried the door, it opened, and she walked in. "Akane, what's
wrong?"
"Onee-chan!" Akane flew off the bed and grabbed Kasumi in a tight
embrace. Tears streamed onto her apron and down to the floor.
In the embrace, Kasumi noticed the rip in Akane's uniform, she became
more concerned. Kasumi tried again, quiet, yet firmly. "Akane, what's
wrong?"
"E-e-everything!" Akane lifted up her head, she was a mess. "R-Ranma
s- said..." Just then her eyes grew large, and she looked over. Ranma was
standing in the doorway behind Kasumi. Akane lowered her head again, and
fell silent.
Kasumi looked back and forth at the both of them, then raised her
eyebrows at Ranma. "Ranma-kun, do you know anything about this?"
Ranma tried to radiate as much calm as he possibly could. Try as he
might, he couldn't look Kasumi directly in the face, so he, too, lowered
his head. "Kasumi? I told Akane...that I am in love with Ukyou." The
results were predictable.
"Oh my!"
*****
The Nekohanten was hopping. For some reason there was more business
tonight than usual, many new faces Shampoo didn't recognize. Mousse
worked the kitchen, and Shampoo would take and pass out orders, both
Amazons were exhausted. Shampoo wished Cologne were here to help relieve
some of the pressure.
When there was a lull, she went into the restroom to freshen up. She
looked at herself in the mirror, her purple locks were in streams. She
quickly cleaned herself up and returned to the restaurant.
When she took a break, she thought of the mess she was in. Mousse now
knew about the amulets. Though he didn't know what they were used for, he
knew she had them and that they belonged to the matriarches. In her haste
to retrieve them that morning, she had enlisted his help. That morning
she had sworn him to secrecy not to tell Cologne and avoided his question
when he had asked why. She worried about what Cologne's reaction would be
if she found out Shampoo had them.
Shampoo went straight up to her room and retrieved Cologne's spellbook
and amulet out of hiding. The other amulet she kept locked away for safe
keeping. Knowing that Mousse was still busy downstairs, she stole back to
Cologne's room and placed the amulet and spellbook back the way she had
remembered it, then left to go for a short walk.
She thought back to that morning's event with Ranma and his spatula
girl. Something was wrong and she just knew it, she could feel it. Ranma
knew that the amulets could remove his curse, but he gave them up too
easily. Mousse had seen something too, but wasn't saying what. Plus,
there was the event that took place between her and Mousse once they had
gotten back to the Nekohanten. While they were fumbling with the amulets,
they had inadvertently exchanged them, nothing happened, and she was sure
that was how the amulet's power was released. Part of her was relieved,
and she swore to herself in mandarin when she thought of spending the rest
her life tied to Mousse.
*****
Ranma was beginning to feel like Typhoid Mary. He had told all those
at the Tendou-ke that he wanted to marry Ukyou. It didn't go well. Akane
wouldn't speak to him, and would turned up her nose whenever he was
around. Nabiki called in all her loans that he owed, and wouldn't loan to
him anymore except at highly-inflated rates, and would double the interest
if he didn't pay on time. When Souun wasn't bawling, he was giving him
that demon-head thing. Genma just punched him. Kasumi was, well, Kasumi.
When all was said and done, Genma and Souun concluded that it was just
another phase he was going through, and would wait until he got...better,
but he still had to eat and sleep in the dojo.
Ranma had left to go somewhere. Akane had a headache and had just went
to sleep. Nabiki was trying to catch the latest business reports on the
television, but they were abbreviated because of all the disaster
coverage. Genma and Souun were as usual cheating at Shogi.
"Well, old friend, what are we going to do?" said Souun solemnly.
"I haven't a clue, Tendou," said Genma moving a piece.
"Do you think that girl added something funny to one of her
okonomiyakis?"
"Well, that's possible, it's happened before. If so, I sure hope it
wears off soon."
"Yeah, me too," as Souun took his turn.
"I'm calling in Nodoka," Genma said looking up.
"Do you think it's that serious?" Souun sat back surprised.
"I hope not, but she can be...persuasive."
"Do you think she'll bring her katana?" asked Souun.
Genma sat back feeling his neck. "No-chan always brings her katana."
*****
Despite the news he had given the Tendous and his father, Ranma was
feeling better. He had spent time in the dojo practicing his art and
employing the ki rebuilding techniques he had learned from Tori. He put
on a jacket and walked swiftly toward Ucchan's. Something, maybe it was a
gut feel, or an inkling, told him something was terribly wrong, something
was up with Ukyou, and he needed to find out what.
When he arrived at Ucchan's, he was surprised to see that it was
closed. He went around to the back door and knocked, no one answered and
there were no lights on. Ranma was about to throw a pebble up to Ukyou's
bedroom window, in case she was asleep, when he spotted a figure walking
up the street, slowly. At first, he thought it was a beggar woman, but
finally realized it was Ukyou when the woman got closer. He was stunned,
then he felt sick to his stomach.
"W-what happened?" he asked.
Her eyes were downcast, and slowly she lifted her eyes to meet his
gaze. She jumped into his arms. "Hold me," she cried, and then latched
on tight. He stroked her hair with great concern and waited for her to
recover.
"R-Ranma, my father is...dead. I-I have no one," then she cried
intensely. He continued to try and comfort her.
"Ukyou...*Saotome*,... you will always have me." Her grip became
tighter and she actually laughed a moment before loosing her smile again.
He reached over and pulled her hair out of her eyes and wiped her tears.
A lone figure stood wide-eyed, but quiet, off in the distance, watching
the whole thing.
*****
Ukyou and Ranma sat at a table in the restaurant, drinking the green
tea Ranma had made from her supplies. It was already past midnight.
Ukyou had stopped her tears, but her eyes were red and puffy. She had on
Ranma's jacket over her shoulders. Both were practically still and off in
their own reflections. Ranma spoke without looking over.
"I told the Tendous and Oyaji."
"A-and?" asked Ukyou looking up.
Ranma gave a short laugh. "I have to sleep in the dojo." She, too,
laughed shortly and then returned to gaze at her tea. Ranma continued,
"I'll probably have to move out soon."
"I still have that room." said Ukyou hopefully.
"I-I don't think that would be...*proper* just yet. I...don't know if
I would be able to trust myself." he said shyly. Ukyou looked up
suddenly.
"Why, Ranma Saotome,...are you thinking of my honor?" she deadpanned.
Ranma looked her square in the eyes. "I love you, Uc-chan. I don't
ever, ever want anything to happen to you. I want everything between us
to be perfect." Ranma was shocked by his own words, at what had come from
his heart, and then looked down at the floor in stunned silence and
embarrassment. Ukyou rose up and came around the table to sit next to
him, and moved up close to his face. Ranma continued to stare down.
Ukyou reached an arm around and pulled his pig tail down gently, causing
his face to rise up to her's. She leaned over brushing her lips across
his, and kissed softly. She pulled away slowly and brought her other arm
around his other shoulder.
Ranma seemed lost and in a whole different world, until he was brought
out of his trance. "{May I remind you two that you have school
tomorrow!}" said Tori suddenly.
Both Ukyou and Ranma dropped their arms as if they'd been caught at
something. Ranma sobered and looked put off. "{And who are you, my
mother?}" He looked over at Ukyou and began an oration, "It seems like
people are always reminding me I have school tomorrow. First, it was
Akane, then it was Uk..." Ukyou shut him up by placing her mouth back on
his, "Ym mmm-mm mm mm- mm...MMMMMmmm!"
Tori sounded relieved, "{Thank you, Ukyou.}"
Ukyou broke the kiss. Ranma was silent, he was in heaven. "{My
pleasure,}" said Ukyou. Ranma was still smiling. He stood up finally,
picked her up and carried her up the stairs. He put her to bed, pulling
up the covers. Ukyou looked up at him seriously and said,
"Ran-chan,...thanks for being there...when I needed someone. What would I
do without you?"
"I hope you never have to find out."
"Yeah, me too." said Ukyou. Ranma gave her a slow farewell kiss on the
forehead and left.
*****
Shampoo was redecorating her room...pieces at a time. Mousse just
stood out in the hallway watching wide-eyed, dodging an occasional object
that would come flying by. He didn't ever remember her being
this...emotional before. The restaurant had become suddenly deserted when
a purple-headed Amazon began throwing bowls and utensils everywhere on her
way through the kitchen and up the steps.
Finally, the crashing stopped and Mousse slowly crepted in among the
chaos that had resulted. Shampoo sat in the middle of the wreckage with a
bonbori in one hand and the palm of her other hand on her forehead. She
wasn't happy, and there were silent tears.
"W-what are you doing?" Mousse asked cautiously through a
side-glance.
"Go away, Mousse," Shampoo returned. She then dropped her hand from
her forehead and admired her handiwork, and started to cry, "Ranma is
gone!"
Mousse was slightly relieved, but tried not to show it. For good I
hope! he thought. "So, uh, where did he go?"
Shampoo continued to cry, "My Airen is lost!"
Mousse frowned in confusion. "Y-you mean like Ryouga?"
Shampoo looked over at him incredulously. "Mousse!" She then
continued, "Ranma and his spatula girl have used Cologne's magic."
"You mean those amulets we retrieved from them this morning?" asked
Mousse.
"Uh-huh."
"It's some kind of love thing, isn't it?"
"Uh-huh, and Ranma and his spatula girl have used it on each other,"
Shampoo reported.
"So that is what I witnessed this morning," he snapped.
Shampoo looked down at her bonbori, back at Mousse, then off into space
in anger. "I am going to have to kill this *spatula girl* in order to
break the spell."
*****
"{Ukyou, wake up! UKYOU, WAKE UP!}" Ukyou was startled awake, it was
Tori.
"Uh-what?" she jumped, peering into the darkness.
"{Sshhhhhh! Someone is about to attack you.}"
"{Who is it?}" Ukyou asked, but moved just in time to avoid a bonbori
hit that landed beside her. Her pillow erupted, there was the rain of
bird feathers in the air. Someone moved swiftly in the darkness. She
didn't have time to grab any of her spatulas, so she blocked with her ki
field instead. Ukyou jumped off the bed in time to avoid a third hit and
slammed on the lights. It was Shampoo. She didn't look friendly.
"{What's going on?!}" Ranma piped in urgently.
"{Ran-chan! It's Shampoo,}" Ukyou responded.
Elsewhere in Nerima, Ranma took to the roof as fast he could in route
to Ucchan's. He almost consider popping off an insult to Akane, just so
he could get *airborne* and get there faster, but knew she was too
unpredictable. "{Hold her off as long as you can. I'm on my way!}"
"{Ukyou! Remember your techniques,}" reminded Tori. Ukyou jerked her
head in remembrance, she started radiating serenity and tranquility.
Shampoo hesitated for only a moment, but then launched a fierce attack.
Ukyou did well at blocking her blows, but was being pushed back. Shampoo
came at Ukyou with increased savagery. Ukyou finally cupped her hands in
front of her and shouted, "MOUKO TAKABISHA!" Shampoo was blown out the
window by the resulting blast. Ukyou ran over to the remains of her
window, and peered out. Shampoo was flat on the ground unmoving, her
bonbori a pile of smoldering molten metal. Ranma ran out of nowhere and
checked the Amazon. She wasn't dead, but, then again, she wasn't well
either.
Ranma looked up at the hole in the wall of Ucchan's and up at Ukyou, he
whistled in astonishment. Ukyou was shaking, then she fainted out of
sight. Ranma ran to the door -- it had been forced, then up the steps.
When he got to the bedroom, he picked her up and laid her on an undamaged
part of the bed. Ukyou came to with a start.
"Calm down! Calm down! You're safe," reassured Ranma, holding her
down.
Ukyou sat back and looked up at him, then asked. "How'd I do?"
Ranma looked toward the window and shook his head unbelieving.
"Well,...I'm sure glad your on our side." Ukyou smiled.
*****
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End chapter 2.