Twin Dragons under Moonlight
A Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon X-over
Chapter 2
Disclaimer: None of the characters from Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon
belong to me. I am merely borrowing them for this fiction.
Note: [] = English
"" = Japanese
:::: = Thought
Enjoy!
Ranma roused slowly from his rest and yawned deeply. The
ground outside his tent was still moist from the previous
night's rain and the smell of pine was strong in the morning
air. The morning mist was wispy and torn, and rather reminded
him of smoke from a battlefield. A second look by the drowsy
martial artist confirmed that the damage caused by the fight
the night before wasn't just a dream as he had hoped. For a
brief moment he missed the morning sparing he used to have with
his father, but he brushed that thought away.
He was stiff and in pain from the hits he had taken, but
the pain receded as he stretched and began to flow through his
forms. Even though his body was busy with the motions of the
kata, his mind was thoroughly analyzing the fight from as many
angles as he could think of.
The daimon, despite its ridiculous appearance, was a very
difficult opponent. Ranma frowned and put a little more energy
into a kick when he remembered how, for all his skill and
strength, he could barely get it's attention. He had managed
to hurt it, but only when he had actually used one of his
special attacks or when his battle aura was in full force. As
quickly as the anger had come to him, it melted away.
Then he thought about who had really won the fight,
Sailor Moon. It seemed silly to him that a girl that wore a
stylized sailor suit and made stupid speeches before starting a
fight could have the power to finish off the daimon.
He almost laughed as he thought about that. It seemed
like he had spent a fair portion of the fight keeping an eye on
her and saving her from any potential harm. What had really
surprised him was that even though she seemed like a startled
rabbit every time he had saved her, she did have enough nerve
to step between him and Ryouga while they were fighting, not to
mention tackle the daimon when it had both him and Ryouga by
the throat.
He shook the images of the blond Senshi from his head and
concentrated on remembering what moves had the most effect on
the daimon. After a few short minutes, he decided that he was
going to have to train harder with his special moves if he was
going to be fighting daimons again.
::Maybe I could find Ryouga sometime today so we can get
some real training done...:: He thought as he finished his
kata. He winced slightly as several bruises started to
complain again. Ranma frowned to himself while he gathered
what he needed for school, doing his best to ignore the pain
and stiffness that had returned full force.
A short while later, he dashed off for his first day at
Juuban High with a silly grin plastered on his face. He
ignored the startled looks he got as he rocketed down a fence
towards his new school.
"This is great! No more Kuno!" He laughed as he hopped
off the fence and walked through the gate for the school.
Activity in the yard seemed to stop as he made his way into the
building. He ignored this and made his way to the offices. He
looked around at the chaotic crowd of administrators and
teachers attending to the last minute details before the school
day and sighed.
"I ain't ever gonna get my schedule at this rate..."
Ranma muttered to himself before wading into the chaos.
"Can I help you?" a pudgy man asked Ranma as he wandered
aimlessly through the office.
"Yeah, I'm Ranma Saotome and it's my first day here. Do
ya got my schedule?"
"Hmm... Let's see... Saotome..." the man began flipping
through a pile of papers on his desk until he got to a fairly
thick file. "Ah, yes, Ranma. Have a seat," He gestured to a
chair in front of the desk. The administrator waited until
Ranma was seated before speaking again.
"Do you know what these are?" he asked as he held up the
thick files. Ranma shook his head.
"These are your discipline files from Furinkan High. It
seems that you have been in more than your fair share of
trouble."
"I can explain," Ranma said nervously before the man
waved him silent.
"I'm sure you can. The faculty at Furinkan seemed to be
making special effort to detail exactly who was at fault in all
of these disturbances. Fortunately for you, not many of them
were your fault, not directly anyway."
"So, I'm not in trouble?"
"No, you're not. I just wanted to warn you to be on your
best behavior while you are here and that includes wearing the
uniform," he handed Ranma a slip of paper. "Now get to class."
"Uhm... I don't have a uniform."
"Didn't your parents buy you one?"
"I'm takin' care of myself now. I'll get a uniform after
I'm sure I can eat."
The man's eyes took on a hard glint. "I think you had
better tell me what's going on, young man."
Ranma sighed, "I decided that Pops just wasn't doing the
right things anymore, so I moved out. I've got enough money to
eat for a while, and just as soon as I can get a part time job
or somethin' I'll be able to keep on eatin' and maybe get a
better place to stay."
Ranma sat nervously as the administrator made a quick
phone call. Once he had hung up the phone, the man sighed and
stood from his desk. "Come with me, Ranma. I think you need
to see our guidance counselor."
"I ain't done nothin' wrong yet!" Ranma protested as he
stood to follow him.
"It's not that. I think you need to talk about what was
happening at home, and I'm not qualified to help you with that.
Here we go, you just knock on her door and tell her everything
that's been going on at your house. Here, she's going to want
to see your files," he handed Ranma the files and walked off.
Ranma looked at the oak door blankly for a moment before
he glanced at the nameplate. What he saw made him do a double
take.
"Setsuna Meioh? Ain't that the same woman that wanted to
talk to Usagi the other night?" he asked himself as he knocked.
Shortly after knocking, he was asked to enter by a familiar
voice.
"Come in, Mr. Saotome. I've been expecting you."
Ranma opened the door and looked around the surprisingly
large office. The walls were covered floor to ceiling with
bookcases and behind a large oak desk sat Setsuna.
"Please, have a seat."
"Uhm... Thanks." He closed the door behind him and sat in
front of her desk. "Here, the guy who told me to come here
said you'd wanna see this." He handed her the file.
"Your discipline record is not as important as finding out what
caused the rift between you and your father," she said calmly
as she placed the file on her desk and steepled her fingers.
"Now that'll take a while," Ranma said sarcastically,
"Which part of messin' up my life did you wanna hear first?"
Setsuna merely raised an eyebrow at him and waited.
"He's engaged me to more girls than I can count, once it
was for a bowl of rice a fish and _two_ pickles. About the
only thing I can thank him for is training me to be the best at
Anything Goes Martial Arts."
"Is that the only reason you left?"
Ranma fidgeted in silence for a few minutes. "Well, no."
He finally admitted. "I got into a pretty big fight with Akane
the other day. I thought we were finally starting to get
along..."
"Go on," she prompted when he faltered.
"Well, it's like this; she thinks of herself as a martial
artist, but she ain't got none of the discipline needed to be
any good at it. She's always flying off the handle at the
least little thing, and then when you try an' help her she
blows up on ya and then beats you into the ground with the
nearest blunt object." Once his hesitation over talking about
this with a stranger faded, it was like a floodgate opening.
For some odd reason, he felt as if he knew her from some time
long ago, but he couldn't place exactly where.
"Her cooking is toxic, but instead of listening to Kasumi when
she tries to learn, she just improvises."
"Her cooking can't be that bad..."
Ranma gave her an odd look, "Only someone who ain't never
had to eat her cooking can say something like that. Anyway,
she expects to be able to train with me, but when I try to
seriously train her, she gets mad about something and loses
focus. I guess that's what really happened the other day..."
He trailed off as he thought back to the fight that led up to
his departure from the dojo. At the silent prompting from
Setsuna to continue, he preceded to describe the incident in
detail.
Once Ranma had finished telling Setsuna about that and
Mamoru and Usagi's subsequent arrival at the dojo, he slumped
in his seat.
"Come to think of it, I dunno know why she suddenly got
so mad," he said half to himself.
"She couldn't have always been like that." Setsuna
protested mildly.
"Oh sure," Ranma laughed, "Every once in a while she'd
give this little smile or do something nice for me. I guess
after ten years on the road with Pops I was a bit lonely at
first. After a while things had gotten better, kinda. Except
once she an' I started to get along better, Pops and Mr. Tendo
started pushing us to get married a lot. I couldn't stand it!"
He made a gagging noise.
"I see," Setsuna said mildly. "So that's why you are
living in a tent in the middle of the park."
"Yeah. That'll only be 'til I can find a better place to
sleep."
Setsuna regarded the young man across from her. It
seemed odd to her that no matter how much hardship he had
endured, he still seemed to have a fairly positive attitude.
"Tell me then, what did your mother have to say about
this?"
Ranma looked down and mumbled something under his breath
before he straightened back up. "I dunno. Pops took me on a
training trip ten years ago and I haven't seen her as a man,"
he snorted in disgust. "That's another reason not to go back to
Pops fer now."
Setsuna raised an eyebrow and started rummaging around in
her desk drawer. Despite his potentially disastrous ability to
alter the time stream, she found herself feeling just a little
sorry for the young man. After a moment she decided that if
she couldn't just get rid of him, she may as well keep an eye
on him. That being decided, she pulled out a small pamphlet
and handed it to Ranma.
"Here. That's a listing of the jobs a student is allowed
to take during the school year. With the kind of determination
that I believe you have, I'm certain you will find a decent job
and keep your grades up."
"Hey, thanks!" Ranma said as he started flipping through
the pamphlet before her words really sunk in. "Wait a sec,
what about my grades?"
"It's very simple. You must retain a certain grade point
average to be allowed to work after school. Otherwise, I'll be
forced to place you in a study group and you will not have the
time to be able to work even an hour." Her tone was level, but
her face betrayed a sternness that Ranma had only seen once or
twice before. It looked a lot different on a beautiful woman's
face rather than a wrinkled old woman, but it was unmistakable.
She quickly wrote down a quick note and handed that to him as
well.
"That is an explanation to your teachers about your lack
of a uniform. I do expect you to purchase one just as soon as
you can afford to. I think it's time you went to your home-
room."
"Uhm... Thanks," Ranma said as he got to his feet. "I
guess I'll be seein' ya again later." He waved jauntily as he
left her office and closed the door.
Setsuna leaned back in her chair, lost in thought. After
careful consideration, she decided that she needed to see for
herself what kind of upbringing he had. The files from
Furinkan were very carefully worded; as if they were trying to
hide something and Ranma himself had been less than forthcoming
about more than the very recent past.
With a dazzling display of flashing lights, she
transformed into Sailor Pluto and departed to the Gates of Time
to learn more about the mystery that was Ranma Saotome.
Earlier that morning, Minako Aino woke slowly to an
impatient tapping on her cheek. She drowsily batted at the
paws in front of her face and rolled onto her side. The
patting on her cheek resumed and she gradually became aware of
the insistent buzz of her alarm clock.
"Oh no!" She yelled as she sat bolt upright in bed,
sending Artemis flying, "I'm going to be late for school!!"
"Bwee!" P-chan complained as Minako's frantic movements
woke him up. Bemused, he watched as she dashed into the next
room and came back a moment later trying to tie her ribbon and
eat a piece of toast at the same time.
"Artemis! Why didn't you wake me up?" She said to the
dazed moon cat. Without even pausing for a reply from him, she
started stuffing books and papers at random into her book bag.
P-chan squealed indignantly as he was grabbed and shoved into
the bookbag as well. Minako either ignored or didn't hear his
panicked squealing as she finished getting ready and dashed out
of the house.
She barely managed to make it to her seat before the bell
rang. A small sigh escaped her lips as she watched her teacher
enter the room and begin with roll call. While fighting off
the inevitable boredom that was algebra class, she reached into
her book bag for her notebook. Her eyes widened when she felt
something small and warm inside her bag. She opened the bag
fully and looked inside, half expecting to find Artemis in
there. What she did find, though, was P-chan.
"Ryouga?!?" she whispered. "How did you get in there?"
P-chan did a little piggy shrug and did his absolute best
to look small and innocent. Minako gave him an unreadable look
as she retrieved the notebook she needed.
"We'll talk about this later," she whispered and returned
her attention to the front.
P-chan sighed a bit to himself and tried to make himself
comfortable. It was pitch black in the book bag and utterly
boring. The only thing he found that helped with the boredom
was to listen to the classes being taught.
When lunchtime rolled around, Minako slipped away from
the classroom with her book-bag in hand. Once she was off
school grounds, she pulled Ryouga from her bag.
"I think we need to find your backpack," she said as she
headed towards the park where they had fought the previous
night. "Maybe it's somewhere near where I found you..."
After they had walked through the park for several
minutes, they came across the site of the previous night's
battle. Ranma's tent was pitched in a neat little camp on the
edge of the battlefield and Ryouga's pack was sitting out in
the open. Minako put P-chan down and began to rummage through
the pack until she found the small propane stove and a kettle.
She giggled a bit foolishly as she tried to set it up but never
seemed to get it put together quite right.
"Bwee!" P-chan snorted, a little annoyed at how long it
was taking her before he gently pushed her hands away from the
portable stove with his snout and proceeded to set it up
himself.
"Are you trying to say I don't know what I'm doing?"
Minako asked in a stern tone. P-chan spared her a glance as he
finished setting it up and dug a canteen of water out of his
pack. Once the kettle was full and sitting on the portable
stove, P-chan settled back on his haunches and watched the
kettle in earnest.
"Now I've seen everything, a piggy that boils his own
water," Minako giggled. The moment a puff of steam wafted
from the spout of the kettle, Minako grabbed it and poured its
contents over P-chan.
"Would you stop doing that?!" Ryouga screamed as he
covered himself while turning a bright red. "Could you look
away please?"
Minako did have the good grace to blush as she looked to
one side while Ryouga dug through his pack and quickly got
dressed.
"Now what do we do, Ryouga?" Minako asked when he was
done. "I've already missed out on class for the afternoon, so I
might as well do something. Besides," she continued with a
mischievous little grin, "I can't let you wander off, now can
I?"
"Uhm, I dunno," he looked around nervously.
"Well, what do you normally do during the day when you
want to stay in one place?" She asked with the sweetest smile
she could come up with.
"I either train or fight Ranma," Ryouga answered without
hesitation.
"Oooh! Can I watch?" Minako squealed.
"I guess..."
Mamoru Chiba sighed as he closed the door to his
apartment. A quick glance around showed him that Ryouga still
had not returned.
"Was it too much to ask for him to not get lost?" He
muttered as he dropped his books on the coffee table. He
paused for a minute and gazed at the framed photo of Ryouga.
As he stood there, there was a knock at the door. After
one last quick glance at the photo, he answered the door.
"Oh, Usako."
"Hi Mamo-chan!" She gave him a quick hug and then gazed
up at his face lovingly. Her face darkened when she noticed
his pensive look. "What's wrong?"
"It's Ryouga... I think he got lost."
"I think he's with Ranma right now, actually. There was
a second attack last night."
"There was?" He looked stunned, "Must not have taken
long, I never even felt you being in danger."
"Actually," she looked down and scuffed her feet a
little. "I was."
"What?!?" Mamoru half yelled as he dragged Usagi into
his apartment and slammed the door. "Are you alright? You're
not hurt anywhere are you?!?" He began to check for any
injuries in a panic.
"I'm fine, Mamo-chan!" She batted playfully at his
hands. "Ranma was there and he looked out for me!"
Mamoru's face darkened. "Ranma?"
"You should have seen it! He and Ryouga fought with the
daimon with their bare hands!" She made a few punching motions
to emphasize a point or two as she described the fight to a
stunned Mamoru.
"Wait a minute!" He stopped her when she described how
Ryouga had shot his shi shi hokkoudan, "Are you telling me that
those two can do energy blasts!"
"Yeah! Rei-chan says that Ranma uses his ego, while
Ryouga uses all these dark emotions, like depression and stuff.
Poor Rei-chan said she had a terrible headache because they used
way more of something she called 'Ki' than she's ever dreamed of
using. It really knocked that daimon for a loop! It caught
them by the throat then, but I tackled it. Then Ryouga ripped
one of its arms off right before it exploded!"
Mamoru felt more and more insignificant as Usagi
excitedly finished her story, but failed to mention Ranma's
transformation.
"I'm sorry, Usako. I should have been there."
"Don't worry about it, Mamo-chan." Usagi tried to
comfort him, "We beat the daimon, and Ranma went looking for
Ryouga."
"You said they both got hit by water from a Deep
Submerge, right? Did Ranma change as well?" He asked.
Usagi looked away and began to fidget. "Well, yes..."
"What does he turn into?"
Usagi fidgeted a little longer before she looked up at
his face again. "I'm sorry, but I really can't tell you! It's
Ranma's problem, and I don't think that I should be spreading
it around."
"Usako!" He sounded shocked and angry at the same time.
"He was really uncomfortable about it. If he wants to
keep it a secret, I'll do what I can to help him." She said
defiantly.
"So, you don't trust me enough? Is that it?" Mamoru
half yelled. "Your always so worried about other peoples'
feelings, what about mine?"
"I'm sorry, Mamo-chan," tears began running down her
cheeks as she rushed from his apartment. He sighed to himself
as he watched her go.
"That didn't go well."
Usagi wandered listlessly down the streets of the Juuban
shopping district. The few store windows she looked in only
reflected her tear-streaked face. She couldn't even bring
herself to go into the Crown Arcade. The other people on the
sidewalk gave the depressed girl a wide berth.
"Hey, Usagi!"
Usagi looked around for who had called her name, but
couldn't see anyone she knew. She let her head drop back down
and continued to trudge along.
"Up here," Ranma said from the fence next to her. When
she did finally look right at him, he frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing," she tried in vain to stop crying and
smile for him.
"Like heck it's nothing," Ranma said as he hopped off
the fence. "The last couple a' times I've seen ya, you've been
all smiles and now I see ya just wanderin' around crying? I
ain't that stupid."
Usagi just looked at him for a moment before latching
onto him with a death grip and she cried into his shirt causing
Ranma to wince thanks to his bruises.
"Mamo-chan's being mean! He's mad because I'm keeping
someone's secret from him. He doesn't think I trust him!" She
wailed.
"Uhm... Who's secret would that be?" Ranma asked after
he looked around frantically, fully expecting Akane to
materialize and pound him for letting another girl hug him.
Usagi suddenly froze and backed away from him. "I really
shouldn't tell you either."
Ranma shrugged, "Not a problem. It ain't like I care
what other people's secrets are or nothin'. Ain't it almost
time for yer study group?"
"Oh no! Ami-chan's going to scold me if I'm late!"
Usagi looked frantically at her watch, "Rei-chan's temple is
all the way across town and I only have five minutes to get
there." She slumped down and began dragging her feet as she
walked off, "I'll see you later, Ranma."
"Wait a sec!" Ranma jogged a few steps to stand in front
of her, "I can get ya there in a jiffy."
"Really?" Usagi looked up at him and dashed her tears
away with a fist.
"Yeah, but you gotta trust me," He said as he motioned
for her to get on his back.
"Uhm.. Ok..." She said a little dubiously as she climbed
onto his back.
"Hold on tight!" He said as he leapt into the air.
Usagi screamed and grabbed onto Ranma's neck with all her might
as they left the ground far below.
"Loosen up! I can't breath!" Ranma gasped as they
landed on top of a lamppost. Usagi loosened her grip just
enough so he could breath and he leapt again. Once he was on
top of the buildings, he ran fast enough to take Usagi's breath
away. One of the pedestrians in particular had stopped longer
than the others to watch the spectacle. Witch Mimette smiled
to herself as she stepped up to a public phone.
"Professor? I have a new target."
Rei scowled as she looked at her watch again. Everyone
else had already shown up for the study session, save Usagi.
"Where is she?" She asked irritably as she opened her
notebook.
"Now, now. Usagi-chan probably stopped off to see Mamoru
after school," Ami said before returning her attention to the
problem that Ryouga was struggling with.
"She better hurry if she knows what's good for her." Rei
growled and tried to study. There was an annoying high-pitched
noise that slowly grew louder. She tried rubbing her ear with
one hand, but the noise didn't go away.
"Hey, you guys hear that?" She asked. The others
stopped studying for a moment, and then they too could hear the
noise.
"What is that?" Makoto asked as she stood and tried to
follow the noise.
"It's coming from outside," Minako said sternly, "and it
sounds like someone screaming."
They all walked out to the front lawn of the temple and
strained their ears.
"That almost sounds like Usagi..." Rei muttered.
"What ever it is, it's coming this way," Minako frowned
as she began to wonder how she would be able to transform
without Ryouga seeing her. Similar thoughts were running
through the heads of the rest of the Senshi.
Suddenly, Ranma shot over the temple wall with a very
frazzled looking Usagi on his back. Her eyes were clenched
shut and she was still screaming. The rest of the girls face-
faulted at this sight, but Ryouga merely snorted.
"Showing off, Ranma?" he asked.
"Aww, shut up. Hey, we're there," Ranma said gently to
Usagi.
She stopped screaming and opened her eyes to look around.
"I think I'd rather take the bus next time..." She said
shakily as Ranma put her down.
"What in the world were you doing?" Rei asked angrily,
"You're late for the study group and you come in screaming your
head off, distracting the rest of us!"
"No fair, Usagi-chan! You've already got Mamoru!"
Makoto complained with a pout. She almost said something else
when Usagi burst into tears.
"Aw, geez... You got her started again..." Ranma
muttered as he knelt next to Usagi.
"Usagi-chan, what's wrong?" Ami asked as she moved to
comfort her as well.
"Mamo-chan and I had a fight." Usagi finally managed to
say between sobs.
The girls gave a collective gasp as Usagi continued to
weep.
"Come on, you two have had fights before," Rei said
comfortingly, causing Ryouga to give her a startled look, "And
you've always managed to make up in the past. What could make
this time any different?"
Usagi gave a quick, pleading look at Ranma. Rei shifted
her gaze to the pigtailed boy and gave him a quick smile.
"Ranma? Could you take Ryouga inside? I don't think
Usagi will tell us what's wrong while you're here."
"Uhm... Sure," Ranma said as he grabbed Ryouga's
shoulder. "Come on, I'm sure you could be studyin' instead of
listening in on some girl talk."
Once the boys were inside, the girls huddled close around
Usagi.
"I think you need to tell us what's going on." Rei said
firmly.
"Well, I told Mamo-chan about the fight last night. He
got mad when I wouldn't tell him about Ranma's curse."
All the girls but Minako gave her a disbelieving look.
"Let me guess, you didn't tell him for the same reason
you didn't tell me about Ryouga's?" Minako asked calmly.
Usagi nodded a little.
"What are you talking about?" Makoto asked, "Ryouga's
got a curse too?"
Minako blushed at the memory. "Is it alright if I tell
them, Usagi-chan?" She asked in a very small voice.
Usagi nodded slightly and wiped her eyes a little.
Minako then told them about how Ryouga was turned into a little
black piglet and she took him home to her bath.
"You took a bath with Ryouga?" Makoto asked in
disbelief.
If it was possible, Minako turned even more red.
"Well... He passed out almost right away though."
"I was wondering why you were the one to bring Ryouga
here today," Ami said, "he did seem to be a bit more,
distracted by you while we were studying."
"How did he look?" Rei asked suddenly.
Minako sighed and clasped her hands together, "Like a
Greek god..."
Usagi giggled at that, gaining the attention of the
others.
"Glad to see you're feeling better, Usagi-chan!" Makoto
smiled, "Come on, I brought some really nice snacks for while
we're studying."
Makoto had barely finished saying that when Usagi
rocketed into the room where they normally studied. The others
smiled indulgently at that and followed at a more sedate pace.
"Don't eat all of them!" Rei called after her.
"So, where had ya wandered off to last night?" Ranma
asked as they entered the house.
Ryouga rubbed the back of his head and laughed a little,
"I got stuck in a tree and Minako found me..."
Ranma smacked his head, "Please tell me ya ran off before
she took you ta bed."
Ryouga blushed, "Actually, she took me into the bath..."
He stopped as Ranma fell down howling with laughter, "Shut up,
Ranma! It's not funny!"
"Sure it's not," Ranma laughed, "It's hilarious!"
Ryouga fumed and clenched his fists, but said nothing.
Ranma stopped laughing suddenly and his face took on a
determined cast. "Seriously, Ryouga, we gotta talk."
"Huh?"
"You remember the fight last night? I was thinkin'... If we
end up fightin' one of those things again, we might not win.
Not unless we train seriously."
Ryouga frowned, "You've got a point there, Ranma. That
thing was harder to fight than Pantyhose."
"You're the only martial artist around here that's even
halfway good enough to train with. If I wasn't worried about
Shampoo showin' up all the time, I'd get in touch with the old
ghoul."
Ranma started to pace back and forth as he continued,
"Anyway, the only things that seemed to hurt it were those
sailor girls' blasts and our special moves. I think we need ta
learn how to better work with our ki."
"Hey! I broke its arm just fine on my own!" Ryouga
snapped.
"I know that, stupid! Yer aura was practically blinding
when ya did it too. What we gotta learn is how to focus our ki
into more of our attacks without wastin' all that effort
lighting up an' makin' easy targets if we're fighting at
night." Ranma growled.
Ryouga thought about it for a few minutes, "You wanna
cooperate? So we can train to fight those... things?"
Ranma smiled, "Can you think of a better challenge? This
is what the Art is for! Think about it, Ryouga, if we can
fight off monsters like that, regular people ain't gonna get
hurt. A martial artists' duty is to protect those weaker than
himself ain't it?"
"Well, yeah I guess so..."
"Great!" Ranma smirked, "We'll start tonight in tha park
again, or maybe a vacant lot."
"What are you guys talking about?" Usagi asked from
behind them, causing both martial artist to jump.
"Geez, don't sneak up on me like that!" Ranma said.
"Well, excuse us for living!" Rei said as she crossed
her arms and frowned. Despite himself, Ranma found himself
cringing away from her.
"What were you talking about so intensely?" Ami asked
them. "We could hear the two of you outside."
"Uhm.. Training! Yeah, we were talking about training!"
Ranma said a little loudly while Ryouga nodded his head
vigorously in agreement.
"Can I watch?" Makoto and Minako asked simultaneously.
"Uh, sure. Why not?" Ranma asked.
"Since that is settled," Ami said as she held up one of
their books, "shall we get started with our studying?"
"You're more than welcome to stay and do your homework
here, Ranma." Makoto said as he turned to leave.
"Uh... Are you guys sure?"
"Sure!" Makoto picked up a plate of sandwiches she had
brought and held it up to Ranma, "Here, have some!"
"Hey, thanks!" Ranma said as he grabbed four and ate
them in only a few seconds. He blinked when he noticed that he
was subject to a lot of staring from the girls.
"Wow, you must've been hungry." Makoto finally managed
to say.
"He eats more than Usagi-chan," Minako said, stunned.
"Is that possible?" Rei asked.
"Come on, she can't eat that much!" Ranma said with a
smirk, "Look at how thin she is, she can't possibly pig...out?"
he trailed off as Makoto put the remainder of the sandwiches
down in front of Usagi and two of them disappeared almost
instantly and a third was being nibbled on.
"Whoa..."
A short time later found Ranma reluctantly studying with
them as well. He tried desperately to ignore the almost
constant giggling and other noises that surrounded him, but
there was one noise he just could not ignore.
"Meow."
He froze at that dreaded sound and slowly turned his head
to look straight into the face of his worst nightmare. For
some odd reason he didn't immediately react, his eyes glued to
the crescent moon sigil on the black cat's forehead. They sat
in that tableau for a full second before Ranma's reflexes
kicked in.
"Yaaaahhh!! Get it away from me!" He shot across the
room and became one with the wall. The girls all shot to their
feet, ready to transform, but there was no daimon. Just a very
scared looking Ranma, and a very startled Luna.
"Good grief," Ryouga said as he picked Luna up, "C'mon,
let's put you somewhere where you won't scare Ranma." Before
anyone could think to stop him, he had walked out the door.
"What the...? Hey, wait for me! Ryouga!" Minako said
as she dashed after him.
"What's wrong with you, Ranma?" Rei asked, "Scaring us
all half to death just because you saw a cat."
Ranma slumped down and hugged his knees. "You wouldn't
say that if you knew the hell I'd been through..."
The girls settled back down and looked at him
expectantly. The ensuing silence wasn't broken until Minako
returned with a slightly embarrassed Ryouga in tow.
"I can't believe you had gotten halfway down the block
before I caught up with you," Minako said as she flopped back
into her seat, "Honestly, Ryo-chan."
Ryouga just blushed and said something incoherent as he
sat as well. Makoto and Usagi looked at each other in shock.
"Ryo-chan?" they whispered to each other.
"Well, Ranma?" Rei said with a touch of an edge in her
voice, "Are you going to tell us about why you were so scared
of Luna or not?"
Ranma grumbled something under his breath before he
relaxed into a more comfortable position. "It happened when I
was ten years old. Pops got it into his head ta teach me some
supposedly invincible technique called the neko-ken. The
trainin' was deceptively simple. Wrap tha trainee from head to
toe in fish sausages and toss him into a pit of starvin' cats.
The stupid idiot didn't bother to turn the page and find out
that it causes the trainee to go insane."
The girls winced at that. A few quick glances were
exchanged between them before Usagi dared to speak.
"That's terrible! How could he do that to you?" she
sounded almost sick.
Ranma shrugged, "He wanted me to become the best martial
artist ever."
"How many times did he throw you into that pit?" Rei
asked suddenly.
Ranma winced at the memory, "Dunno. I lost count after
the second time." A stunned silence settled over the room as
Ranma stood and grabbed his bag. "I guess I'll be going. See
ya," he waved as moved to leave the room.
"Wait! Ranma!" Ryouga grabbed his arm, "are you going
to just walk out like that?" he growled. "Did you forget about
our training?"
"Don't sweat it piggy, I'll come back fer ya." He
slapped Ryouga's hand off his arm, "Or did you forget that
Friday is only three days away? I seem ta recall you sayin'
yer gonna take that test Friday."
Ryouga stumbled back. ::Oh no! I had forgotten!:: He
thought as he clenched his fists. "Heh, don't worry about
that, Ranma. I got this thing aced!" He began to laugh
maniacally.
"Wait a second, Ryouga," Ami motioned towards the paper
he was working on. "You got these problems wrong. See?"
Ryouga fell over almost bonelessly while Ranma laughed
and left the room. Minako moved to kneel next to Ryouga as he
twitched slightly.
"Ryo-chan? Are you alright?" She asked.
"Uhm... Sure! Why wouldn't I be?" Ryouga laughed
nervously as he sat back up and grabbed his pencil.
Sailor Pluto stumbled out of the Time Gates and knelt
heavily. She knelt like that for some time, clutching the Time
Key and breathing raggedly. She looked back at the images the
Time Gate showed and cringed as she saw yet another painful
scene from Ranma's life flow past.
"How? How could I have just let something like that
happen?" She asked no one in particular.
When she had decided to look into Ranma's life, she had
started at a fairly logical point, when he was barely a
toddler. She had smiled as she had watched his home life.
Things had seemed fairly normal until the day that Genma had
taken Ranma away from Nodoka. From there, it devolved into one
painful day after another. She had watched helplessly as Ranma
was mercilessly trained in the martial arts, moved from town to
town in search of new techniques and finally subjected to the
Neko-ken. What she had seen was just too much for her to
endure, and she had broken the promise she had made to herself
not to interfere with someone's past. She sighed as she
thought back to what she had done...
Genma pushed his screaming son into the pit before
closing the lid. He sat next to the lid and waited.
"Come on boy, do your old man proud and learn to get over
that fear of yours." He said to himself.
"That's no way to treat your own son!" Setsuna declared
as she burst into the room, disguised as an old woman.
Genma hardly looked at her. "Go away. This has nothing
to do with you, old woman."
"I warn you, Genma Saotome, if you do not bring him back
out of that pit this instant, there will be catastrophic
consequences to pay."
"There will be even worse ones to pay if he can't get
over his fear of cats!" He roared as he leapt to his feet, "My
son and I signed a pledge with my wife that should he return
and not be a man among men, we both would commit seppuku! How
manly is it to be scared of a cat?"
Setsuna's response was lost amongst the sharp reports of
boards splintering and the angry yowling that came from within
the pit. Genma rushed to the edge, only to have a white blur
shoot out of the pit and maul him.
Setsuna fought to keep from crying as she watched the
ten-year old boy finish clawing his father and made motions
like a cat was kicking sand over something undesirable.
"Ranma..." she said softly. Ranma spun quickly and
glared at her. She knelt and waited quietly while Ranma slowly
circled her before coming within reach.
Setsuna gingerly reached out and scratched the boy behind
the ear. Ranma began to purr like a kitten and rubbed his head
against her hand. In a few moments, Ranma was peacefully
asleep in her lap.
"What am I going to do with you, Ranma?"
She had stayed in that time period for a few months, long
enough for Ranma to not be quite as sensitive to the approach
of a cat. On a whim, she carefully set into his psyche to not
be afraid of the moon cats only if they spoke to him.
Shortly before Genma had taken Ranma and moved on
she disappeared back into the time stream, leaving Genma to
think that she had died. From then on, Genma could swear he
felt a piercing gaze at his back every time he decided to try a
new and dangerous technique. Unfortunately for Ranma, he
usually ignored it.
"I had a real chance to make a difference in his life and
keep him away from Juuban, but I blew it," Sailor Pluto berated
herself. Almost absently, she shifted the Time Gates to show
Crystal Tokyo again. There were even more splinters in the
time-stream now, and there were possibilities that were growing
as each moment passed. She frowned when she noticed a rather
large splinter had formed and was growing. She traced it back
and gasped when she discovered that this time, neither Ranma
nor Ryouga were at the core, but Usagi and Mamoru.
"This is not good." She muttered and probed the thread
some more. She frowned as the gates replayed Mamoru's angry
words.
"That idiot... Doesn't he realize what he's just done?"
She said angrily. She fumed for a few minutes before she
calmed back down and continued watching the significant points
of Ranma's life. There was still plenty of time for Mamoru and
Usagi to fix their own mess and she needed to know everything
she could about Ranma to be able to get him to leave Juuban for
good, or at least minimize his effect on her princess.
Ryouga let out a sigh of relief as he put his pencil down
on top of the mock exam he was taking with the others. He
shook his wrists for a moment to relieve a cramp while Ami
looked over his work.
"Ryouga," Ami said in a slightly concerned tone.
"Uhm... yeah?"
"You got the entire geography section wrong."
Ryouga facefaulted and fell on the table twitching.
Minako patted his back comfortingly.
"Don't worry about it, Ryo-chan!" she said brightly,
"You'll get it right soon enough."
Ryouga sat up, a blush covering his face, "Y-yeah.
You're right! I can do this!" He declared as his aura sprung
up around him.
The girls dove away from him, half expecting him to throw
another blast. Ryouga ignored them and grabbed another mock
exam and began writing furiously, his aura licking spectral
flames across the table as he worked. Rei grit her teeth a
little as she dealt with the storm of emotions coming from him.
::I use a little Ki in my fire readings, but this... At least
I wasn't transformed this time.::
"Wow..." Usagi said softly once she had gotten over her
shock, "He must be really determined to get into High School."
"Determined is an understatement," Makoto said. "If he's
not careful, he'll rip the paper."
They watched him in silence as he worked furiously for
the next half-hour.
"Hah!" Ryouga yelled as he stood and held the test up,
"I'm done! I'm ready!" He laughed maniacally. Ami gently
pulled the test from his hand.
"It's good to see that you're so confident on this,
Ryouga," She said gently, "But let us see if you answered the
questions correctly."
"Come on, Ami-chan! With concentration like that, how
could he get them wrong?" Usagi said as she clapped for
Ryouga.
"Oh dear," Ami's soft words brought an instant halt to
Ryouga's celebration.
"What is it?" He asked worriedly as he knelt to look at
the paper Ami was grading.
She didn't say a word, but held the piece of paper up so
everyone could see it clearly. The paper looked like it had
been scorched and was completely unreadable. Ryouga's jaw
dropped as he realized what he'd just done.
"Now that's just too rich!" Ranma smirked from the
doorway.
"Ranma! When did you get here?" Usagi asked as she
twisted to look at him.
"About the time pig-boy over there started laughing his
fool head off."
"Shut up, Ranma!" Ryouga growled as he clenched his
fist, "I will be ready for that test by Friday!"
"Of course you will, Ryo-chan! I believe in you!"
Minako grabbed onto his arm, causing his angry expression to
shift into a somewhat goofy one.
"'Ryo-chan'?" Ranma asked with a raised eyebrow. He
glanced back and forth between Ryouga and Minako for a second.
Ranma smirked as he walked over to Ryouga and hit him on the
shoulder, "You sly dog you! Congrats!"
"Huh?"
"Don't play dumb on me, man! You know what I'm talkin'
about! C'mon, let's get some trainin' done."
Ryouga suddenly looked really serious, "Yeah, training.
I'll see you guys tomorrow!" He gathered his things and left
following Ranma. The girls turned a hard look towards Minako.
"So, when did he become Ryo-chan, Minako?" Rei asked as
she crossed her arms.
"Well..." Minako fidgeted a little as she blushed, "He
just looked too cute when I had caught up with him, and he had
finally realized that he was lost."
"That's it?" Makoto asked skeptically.
"That and the bath you took with him, right Minako-chan!"
Usagi giggled. The others began to giggle as well when Minako
turned a very bright red.
"That was an accident! I swear!"
"Of course it was," Ami said placatingly.
"That's why he looked 'like a Greek god'!" Makoto teased
her.
"Let's celebrate for Minako-chan by getting some ice-
cream!" Usagi declared as she stood, "Minako Aino, future
idol, has fallen in love! How can we let an occasion like that
slide by without celebrating?" She asked in her most serious
tone before turning for the door. "To the ice cream parlor!
That's the perfect place to celebrate for Minako-chan!"
"Face it, Usagi, you just want some ice-cream," Rei
stood as well, though.
Mimette peeked around the corner of a fence that bordered
a vacant lot. Her target was there, and there was another
young man with him as well.
::Look at him! He's gorgeous!:: She thought to herself,
::Maybe I can get him to kiss me before I unleash the daimon on
him...:: She giggled as she patted the briefcase.
"Ya ready, Ryouga?"
"Bring it on, Ranma!"
With a shout, the two martial artists rushed each other
and began their sparring, although to the casual observer, they
looked more like they were trying to kill each other. Punches
and kicks flew faster than most people could follow them, and
Mimette was no exception. She gazed on Ranma with starry-eyed
wonder as a small crowd gathered around the lot to watch the
two martial artists train.
"Wow! I had no idea they were so healthy! Too bad I
only have one daimon, I'm sure they both have pure heart
crystals!" She giggled as she walked into the vacant lot.
Neither Ranma nor Ryouga noticed her approach as they
were too intent on their training. Ryouga flew backwards from
a well placed kick from Ranma and landed in the dirt near
Mimette.
"That was a good one, Ranma!" Ryouga snarled as he
regained his feet. "I actually felt it."
"You should've! I tried focusing my ki into that kick,"
Ranma smirked and then started looking around the vacant lot
with a worried expression on his face.
"You're going to have to tell me how you did that."
Ryouga grudgingly admitted as he walked up to Ranma.
"Sure man, it's like this..." Ranma beckoned him close
and began to whisper, "Something's out there."
"What?" Ryouga frowned as he tried to adjust to the
sudden change in the topic.
"I dunno..." Ranma glanced around the lot, "But it has
the same feel to it as that thing from last night."
"How far?" Ryouga tensed as he strained to feel the
presence as well. "I feel it, but I can't tell where." He
grumbled.
"Excuse me?" Mimette said meekly as she approached. She
screamed in fright when both Ranma and Ryouga turned on her and
fell into their stances.
"Geez! It's just a girl!" Ranma muttered.
"What's the matter with you two?" She half yelled as she
held one hand over her heart.
"Sorry, Miss, but we are in training to fight monsters,"
Ryouga explained.
Mimette's face took on a hard look. "You two fight
monsters?"
"Yeah! It's every martial artists' duty to protect the
weak." Ranma said sternly as he crossed his arms.
Mimette backed away from them slightly and held the
briefcase in front of her in both hands. "Well then, how about
this?" She said as she slapped the briefcase onto the ground
and popped the latches. "Go, daimon!"
"What the?" Ranma and Ryouga leapt away from her as
purplish smoke gusted from the briefcase and a vague form began
to take shape.
"You! You're helping the monsters!" Ranma accused.
"I am Witch Mimette, and your pure heart is mine!" She
laughed as she held up her staff, "Charm Buster!"
"Yow!" Ranma dodged to one side while the Charm Buster
left a shallow crater where he had been standing. Ryouga
scowled at Mimette, but diverted his attention to the strangely
silent daimon that had finished forming. This one resembled a
female samurai, but the sword it held in one hand was an ugly
serrated blade. Its armor was black and trimmed with a sickly
looking yellow. What really unnerved him, though, was the
silvery skin the daimon had. It almost looked like it was
completely metal.
"Go, daimon! Get his pure heart!" Mimette commanded.
The daimon exploded into action then, rushing the still dazed
Ranma with one hand outstretched towards him.
"Oh no you don't!" Ryouga snarled as he leapt to engage
the daimon. He knocked it off balance with a jump-kick to the
shoulder. The daimon countered with a lightning quick slash of
its sword that Ryouga barely managed to dodge, leaving the
sword to cut harmlessly through the air.
"Great, a Kuno monster," Ranma muttered as he almost
casually landed on the daimon's head, driving it to the ground.
"Careful, Ranma! That thing's fast!" Ryouga warned him
as the daimon rolled away from them and stood in a classic
kempo stance.
"Let's get it!" Ranma yelled as he charged, fully
confident that he could defeat the thing in front of him.
The daimon made a slow, deliberate arc with the sword
before bringing it up faster than the eye could see.
"Air blades!" It called out in a monotone, but the
effect of its attack was immediately apparent. The air
surrounding the daimon swirled with dark energy that suddenly
lashed out towards a very surprised Ranma. Although he managed
to dodge that attack, the daimon had closed in with him and
grabbed his shirt collar and lifted him off of the ground.
Ranma blanched when the daimon seemed to be moving in to kiss
him. He turned his face to one side, but he felt a suction
that seemed to be pulling at his very soul.
"Ranma!" Ryouga yelled as he kicked the daimon squarely
in the small of its back. He did not relent there as he
continued to punch and kick with a sudden fury.
"Fool!" The daimon declared as it backhanded Ryouga
away, "You would live longer if you didn't interfere!"
"That," Ryouga smirked as he stood, "Was a mistake!"
With a vicious grin he grabbed his umbrella.
"Idiot! I have a hostage!" The daimon declared as it
hauled around the arm that had Ranma to show Ryouga, but held
nothing other than Ranma's shirt. "What?"
"Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma called out as he began
punching the daimon as fast and as hard as he could. The armor
the daimon was wearing began to buckle before the force of the
attack sent it flying.
"My turn!" Ryouga yelled as he leapt high into the air,
the tip of his umbrella aimed straight for the daimon's face.
The daimon barely got out of his way before he crashed into the
ground where it had been a moment earlier. Ryouga stood in the
crater formed by the force of his blow and smirked at the
daimon.
"What are you waiting for? Kill him and take the other
one's heart crystal!" Mimette yelled at the daimon.
"Fury strike!" The daimon yelled as it rushed Ryouga,
its sword blurring into a silver streak as it swung it in a
dizzying pattern. Rainbow like glitters of light trailed each
swing catching Ryouga's eye with its hypnotic pattern. For a
split second Ryouga did not move, his eyes glued to the silvery
streak that was the sword. Some deeply ingrained survival
instinct prompted his first clumsy dodge, but the pain from the
cut broke him out of the trance and he began to dodge in
earnest.
Ranma gasped and began mustering all the confidence he
could when he saw that despite Ryouga's desperate dodging,
there were more and more rents appearing in his shirt and small
droplets of blood tainted the dirt at his feet. ::It's only a
matter of time till it scores a clean hit,:: Ranma thought to
himself.
"Mouko Takabisha!"
The sphere of brilliant blue ki sped across the lot and
slammed into the daimon, knocking it off of its feet. Rather
than waiting for it to get back up, Ranma launched himself at
it with every intention of crushing the daimon's head.
Ryouga tried to blink away the fuzzyness before his eyes
and gasped for breath as he stumbled backwards. He watched in a
peculiar kind of detachment as Ranma was caught by his foot and
flung into the fence by the daimon. Even as Ranma regained his
feet, Ryouga's eyes glazed over and his umbrella slipped from
fingers as he collapsed in a heap.
The daimon chuckled evilly as it slowly approached the
dazed Ryouga.
"Now, there's no point in resisting. Time to die, pest!"
it called out as it raised the sword high.
Ranma let out an inarticulate yell as he leapt over the
daimon and picked up Ryouga.
"Not today!" He shouted before leaping over the fence
and dashing down the street.
"After them!" Mimette commanded as she began to pursue
Ranma. The daimon followed suit, it's bloodied sword held
high.
"Wasn't that a great idea?" Usagi asked the others as
they walked out of the ice cream parlor.
"It wasn't the best use of our time, Usagi-chan," Ami
said mildly, "But that parfait was good."
"Huh?" Makoto looked down the street at some sort of
commotion, "What's going on?"
"Where?" Rei asked a split second before Ranma landed
right in front of her, a barely conscious Ryouga still slung
over one shoulder. He didn't even notice their presence before
he leapt off again. A few seconds after he was gone, the
daimon tore past them with Mimette right behind it.
"We need to transform!" Makoto said in a hushed voice,
but then looked around in concern.
"Hey! Where's Minako?" She asked.
They looked around for a few seconds before Usagi pointed
down the street. They all looked that way just in time to see
Minako sprint around the corner, apparently having no trouble
keeping up.
"We'd better catch up with her and quick!" Rei said as
she turned towards the alley.
"Sometimes I forget exactly how fit Minako is," Makoto
muttered to herself. "And then she goes and does something
like this."
Ranma was gasping for breath when he stopped inside a
junkyard and put Ryouga down.
"Come on, man! Snap out of it!" He growled as he shook
the larger boy a few times while keeping a careful watch out
for the daimon. Ryouga groaned and sat up holding his head in
one hand.
"Watch out for its Fury Strike, Ranma," he muttered. "It
can hypnotize you if you aren't careful."
"I'd wondered about that, I never saw it get a clean hit
on you."
"If it had, I'd probably be dead right now," Ryouga said
as he stood.
"Get down, moron!" Ranma hissed as he yanked Ryouga back
down. "They were right behind me."
Ryouga nodded and picked up a solid piece of rebar and
swung it experimentally a few times. They waited in silence
after that.
It wasn't long before the daimon appeared at the
junkyard, followed quickly by Mimette. Ranma motioned for
Ryouga to follow him and he scampered up one of the piles of
junk. Ryouga followed as silently as he could, and crouched
next to his erstwhile ally and watched the enemy.
"You up to a Shi Shi Hokkoudan?" Ranma whispered.
"If you're up to a blast of your own!"
"Ok, on three we jump towards it and blast it at the same
time! Three!"
They burst from their concealment and descended like
hawks upon the daimon.
"Mouko Takabisha!"
"Shi Shi Hokkoudan!"
The twin spheres of energy exploded against the daimon
with the force of a cannon sending it head first into a pile of
scrap where it lay still.
"Hah! That was too easy!" Ranma gloated as he turned
towards Mimette. "Now, why don't we have a bit of a talk about
that thing..."
Unnoticed, the daimon had regained its feet and was
quietly stalking up behind them. It raised its sword for a
fatal strike against an unsuspecting Ryouga when suddenly the
blade was wrapped by a golden chain with heart shaped links.
The sound of the sword being ripped out of the daimon's hand
was enough to warn Ranma and Ryouga who both turned and
delivered round house kicks to opposite sides of the daimon's
head.
"Who dares?" Mimette demanded as she watched the sword
arc through the air towards one of the many piles of scrap
before a white-gloved hand snapped out and caught the sword by
the hilt.
"I dare, Witch Mimette," Sailor Venus declared as she
strode into full view while holding the sword. "In the name of
Venus, I shall chastise you!"
"Daimon! Kill her! Kill all of them!" Mimette screamed
before she retreated.
The daimon suddenly backed away from Ranma and Ryouga and
held one hand out towards Sailor Venus. The sword pulled
towards the daimon, but she refused to let go. Despite her
best efforts, she was slowly being pulled towards the daimon.
The daimon snarled and made a curious wrenching gesture with
its hand. Suddenly, the pull was too much for Sailor Venus to
resist and she was lifted off her feet and dragged through the
air towards the daimon.
::No! If it gets it's sword back...:: Ryouga thought
furiously as he charged the daimon with his piece of rebar held
low and slightly behind him. He was peripherally aware of
Ranma running next to him.
"Hold onto that sword!" Ranma yelled as Sailor Venus
smashed into the daimon with her shoulder. She nodded briefly
and struggled to keep the blade out of its reach.
With a metallic snap, metal claws shot out of the
daimon's armored forearm. It held the claws up to Sailor
Venus's throat.
"Back off, or she dies!"
They skidded to a stop a mere meter from where the daimon
stood. Sailor Venus stiffened and the sword was pulled from
her fingers. The daimon stopped holding the claws up to her
throat and instead picked her up by her neck. Ranma and Ryouga
backed up a few steps.
"Ok, now let her go!" Ryouga demanded as Sailor Venus
clasped her hands together with the index fingers pointing out
and brought them up to the arm with the claws.
"Heh, too bad, she dies anyway!" The daimon cackled as
it raised its sword.
"No!" Ryouga yelled and he threw the rebar like a spear.
The daimon slapped it out of the air with its sword, but that
distraction bought Sailor Venus the time she needed.
"Venus Crescent beam!" She barely managed to say the
name of the attack, but it was enough to trigger her magic. A
thin yellow beam of light arced out of her fingers and cut
deeply into the daimon's arm, forcing it to drop her. She
collapsed into a boneless heap at its feet and gasped for
breath, oblivious of the sword descending at her unprotected
neck.
"Dead Scream." Despite the fact that the words were
barely a whisper, they were clearly audible to everyone on the
battlefield. The daimon looked up from its intended victim
just in time to be blasted away by a purple ball of energy. It
stood shakily and leaned against a pile of scrap while it
searched for this new adversary.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Ranma
practically flew towards the downed daimon, his aura flaring
like a bonfire.
"Kachuu Tenshin Amauguriken!" he screamed as he unleashed
his attack on the pinned daimon. This time, the daimon had no-
where to go and it received the full force of the attack. The
daimon's body was smoking when Ranma finally pulled away from
it, wearied by his attack.
The rest of the Senshi had shown up while he had been
pounding on it, and were either gaping at him or helping
Sailor Venus back to her feet. Ranma caught himself staring
when he saw an elegant green haired Senshi standing off to one
side. For some reason, she seemed to spark a long forgotten
memory but he could not place exactly where he had seen her before.
The daimon shifted a bit, causing some of the scrap to
fall over. Ranma half snarled at it as he turned and unleashed
a Mouko Takabisha at it point blank, leaving the daimon buried
in the rubble.
"That was a tough fight, eh pig-boy?" Ranma commented as
he walked up to Ryouga.
"Don't call me that!" Ryouga snarled before he walked
off in a huff towards the Senshi. Ranma shrugged and followed
him over.
"Hey, you alright?" Ryouga asked Sailor Venus when he
reached her side.
Sailor Venus looked at him dreamily as she nodded, "Yes,
thank you."
"Hey thanks for the save earlier!" Ranma piped in, "I
thought that thing was down for the count."
"Is it gone?" Sailor Mars asked Sailor Mercury, "I
couldn't see if it was destroyed."
Sailor Mercury pulled her computer out of subspace and
tapped on it for a few moments. While she was doing that,
Ranma approached the tall Senshi with the green hair.
"Hey, you feel real familiar to me. Kinda like I've
known you fer most of my life. Why is that?" he asked in a
no-nonsense tone.
Sailor Pluto gave him a slightly amused look. "Do not
worry, Ranma Saotome. You may find out why in time."
"How do you know my name?" He asked suspiciously, but
before she could answer him, Sailor Mercury gave a startled
shout.
"It's still alive!" She yelled just before the pile
of scrap it was under exploded. They dodged for cover as
shrapnel hummed through the air all around them.
"I fight on!" the daimon screamed as it finished
standing.
"Geez, that thing even sounds like Kuno!" Ranma
complained as he rushed towards it.
"Fury Barrage, Silver Rain!" The daimon glowed for a
brief second before its armor shattered into the form of a
hundred knives that rocketed towards Ranma. He backpedaled
away from the daimon and dodged the knives.
"Hang on, Ranma!" Ryouga yelled as he leapt towards the
daimon holding an old safe above his head.
"Burning Mandala!" Sailor Mars unleashed her magical
fires at the daimon, hoping to distract it from Ranma and
Ryouga. The daimon blocked the flames with its sword,
momentarily obscuring it from view as the small rings of fire
slammed into the ground around it.
The rest of the Senshi fanned out as Ryouga threw the
safe at the daimon, missing by only the slimmest of margins.
He landed on top of the safe in a crouch and he leapt straight
at the startled daimon.
"Fury Strike!" It called out and started following the
complex routine again.
"That won't work this time!" Ryouga yelled as he caught
the daimon's wrist with one hand and he poked the sword with
the index finger of his other hand.
"Bakusai Tenketsu!"
To the disbelief of the Senshi and the daimon, the sword
exploded. Ryouga ignored the shrapnel and began kicking the
daimon as hard as he could without releasing his grip on its
wrist. The daimon recovered long enough to kick him to one
side, only to be hit by the Sparkling Wide Pressure thrown at
it by Sailor Jupiter.
"Ryouga!" Sailor Venus leapt over to his side to help
him stand. "You're hurt!" She gasped when she saw the
numerous cuts that were still bleeding slightly.
"It's nothing," Ryouga panted as he tried to regain his
breath, leaning slightly against her. Despite herself, Sailor
Venus blushed a little at the contact.
The daimon recovered from the attack and rushed towards
Sailor Moon, a new sword materializing in its hand.
"Moon Tiara Action!" Sailor Moon cried as she
desperately threw her tiara at it, only to have it slapped to
one side by the daimon. Sailor Moon froze and looked at the
approaching daimon with wide, scared eyes.
"Hey! Look out!" Ranma yelled as he ran towards her and
the daimon as fast as he could. He had picked her up and had
leapt away a split second before a single rose struck the
daimon in the forehead forcing it to fall over backwards.
"I cannot forgive those that would attack in the guise of
the honorable." A male voice rang out across the battlefield,
causing everyone to look up to where a man in a tuxedo and cape
stood with his arms crossed. "Retreat now, evil one!"
"Who's that weirdo?" Ranma asked Sailor Moon, who was
blushing slightly from being held against Ranma's bare chest.
"Huh?" She blinked, "Oh, Tuxedo Mask!" She waved at him
a little. Tuxedo Mask frowned slightly when he saw who was
holding her. His frown turned into an outright scowl when he
noticed that she was blushing as well.
"How about coming down here and helping instead of
standing there making stupid speeches?" Ryouga yelled as he
charged the daimon again.
"Hey, wait!" Sailor Venus yelled and ran after him.
With an inarticulate shout, Ryouga began grappling with
it, attempting to blow the sword up again with the Baksai
Tenketsu. The daimon stubbornly kept the sword out of his
reach and tried elbowing him in the face.
Ryouga leaned back a little from the daimon and grinned
wickedly, "You know, that felt like a baby's kick!" he
declared as he headbutted the daimon, causing its head to snap
backwards and it fell to the ground. Venus took advantage of
the opening with her Crescent beam, opening up a large cut
across the daimon's back.
"Uhm, Ranma?" Sailor Moon asked in a small voice as they
watched the fight.
"Yeah?"
"Could you put me down now?"
Ranma reddened as he quickly placed her back on her feet.
"Sorry!" he said as he backed away nervously.
Sailor Moon watched him for a moment and started
giggling. "I'm not mad at you! Thanks for helping back
there."
"No prob! I'd do it again any time!" he laughed
nervously and rubbed the back of his head. He turned away from
her to hide a blush and watched as Ryouga worked with Sailor
Venus to back the daimon into a corner. Finally, Ryouga gave
it one mighty punch that launched it into the air and Sailor
Venus promptly tied it up with her Love Me Chain.
"Now! Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Mask said from where he
stood.
"Spiral Moon Heart Attack!" She unleashed her magic at
the bedraggled daimon, utterly destroying it. It faded from
view and revealed the breastplate from samurai armor that fell
harmlessly to the ground.
Ranma cracked his knuckles and then assumed a Kunoesque
pose. "And hark! Yon monster hast been vanquished!" he
intoned with a poor imitation of the kendoist.
"Knock it off, Ranma," Ryouga half growled as he brushed
the dirt from his hands.
"Are you two alright?" Sailor Mercury asked as she
walked up to them, "You both took a few hits back there."
"We're fine!" Ranma laughed as he slapped Ryouga on the
shoulder, "It ain't like that thing could hit hard enough for
Ryouga to feel it."
"Just shut up, Ranma," Ryouga hissed as he clutched his
side, blood seeped from between his fingers.
Sailor Moon walked up; from her expression it was easy to
tell that she had a few things she wanted to say, but the wail
of a police siren caused all of them to pause for a moment.
"We'd better split, Ryouga. Cops don't like it none when
there's fightin' for no reason that they like," Ranma tugged
at his arm before waving at the Senshi. "See you guys at the
next fight!"
"But, you can't keep fighting the daimons! They'll kill
you!" Sailor Moon blurted out.
Ranma smirked. "They'd try. Maybe I'll have a chance to
give you a few pointers, like when to dodge." He waved
jauntily again before leaping off over the wall with Ryouga
right behind him.
"Come on, we'd better get going too," Sailor Venus said
as she ran towards the wall.
"Isn't that the same direction that Ranma and Ryouga ran
off?" Sailor Mars said slyly. Sailor Venus skid to a stop and
laughed sheepishly as she turned to follow the others away.
Mamoru stormed into his apartment and slammed the door.
He could not believe the nerve of those two boys! Not only was
Ranma slowly stealing his girlfriend, his own cousin was
berating him for not fighting with the rest of them. He
growled to himself as he recalled the way his Usako blushed in
Ranma's arms and made no struggle to get free of him. He was
still pacing angrily when there was a knock at the door. With
two quick strides he reached the door and flung it open.
"What?!" He half yelled before he had even checked to
see who it was.
"Geez, Chiba. Don't blow an artery or somethin'," Ranma
said mildly.
"Did you have a bad day at class, Mamo-chan?" Usagi
asked as she peeked from between Ranma and Ryouga's shoulders.
"Uh, yeah," Mamoru stepped aside to allow them to enter.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked once they were
inside. Ranma and Ryouga exchanged a quick glance.
"Uhm, weren't you the one that wanted Ryouga ta stay
here?" Ranma asked.
Mamoru said nothing as he stalked into the kitchen area
of the apartment. Usagi watched him walk off with a worried
expression on her face.
"Somehow, I think he had a worse day than we originally
thought," Ryouga muttered as he snapped out his sleeping bag
and sat down on it.
"I'm outta here then. I'll see you guys later," Ranma
said before he left and closed the door behind him. Usagi
nervously peeked into the kitchen where Mamoru was busy making
some tea.
"Mamo-chan?" She asked timidly. He turned and looked at
her with an angry expression, causing her to shrink back a
little. "What's wrong?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Why? Why won't you tell me what's wrong?"
"..."
"Mamo-chan," she moved to give him a hug, but he pulled
away at the last moment. Usagi's eyes filled with tears as she
clasped her hands under her chin. Without another word, she
fled from the kitchen and out of the apartment.
Ryouga shot to his feet when she ran through, but made no
attempt to stop her. Mamoru stomped out of the kitchen, his
face contorted into a scowl a minute later.
"Maybe you should try being nicer to her," Ryouga said
as he settled back down.
"Shut up," Mamoru barked as he pulled out one of his
texts and stubbornly began to read it.
Ryouga gave him a slightly angry look. "Look, making her
cry twice in one day ain't very good at all," his voice got
louder as his anger built. "Usagi is one of the kindest people
I've ever met, and if you keep treating her like this, she'll
leave you!"
"Impossible!" Mamoru snapped, "We're fated to be
together! She is mine!"
Ryouga snorted. "Fate is cruel, and so is life in
general. You'd better get used to it!"
"Just what are you trying to say?"
"I'm starting to think that fate was cruel to give Usagi
to you. Cruel to her anyways. Can you prove me wrong?"
"Get out!" Mamoru yelled as he leapt to his feet, "I
won't let you talk to me that way!"
Ryouga looked stunned for a moment before he silently
picked up his stuff and walked out the front door that Usagi
had left open behind her. He waited until he was well away
from Mamoru's building before he let his feelings show on his
face.
It hurt, a lot, to have alienated his own cousin. Even
though Ryouga knew deep down in his heart that Mamoru was
overreacting he still got depressed over it. He hung his head
as he walked, not noticing the sickly green aura that began to
play across his skin.
The worst part, he suddenly realized, was that he no
longer had a stable place that he could be found at. Unless he
found someone he knew, and quickly, he was doomed to never make
it into High School. Determination replaced his depression, he
had a goal and nothing on earth was going to stop him! He
looked up and clenched his fist in a silent vow, right before
he tripped over a crying Usagi.
He landed face first in the dirt, but that was a minor
inconvenience to him. He quickly regained his feet and looked
down on her. She was so lost in her personal misery that she
hadn't even noticed his tripping over her. Ryouga squatted
down next to her and ripped off a bandanna.
"Here," he said simply as he held it out to her. She
didn't even look up to see who had offered it to her before she
took it and noisily blew her nose. Ryouga glanced around and
realized that they were in a wooded park, in fact they were in
a thicket.
He smiled a bit ruefully to himself. ::Well, if I wanted
to be completely alone, I would look for the woods as well.::
He settled down to wait for her to finish crying. When it
became obvious that she had no intention of finishing any time
soon, he dug through his pack for some trail rations and his
portable stove.
It wasn't long after he had started cooking that her
crying had tapered off. He looked over at her and saw that she
was sitting quietly and watching him cook.
"I see you're feeling a bit better now," he said a bit
gruffly as he fought a wave of sudden sadness that seemed to
bore its way into his very soul just from seeing the pain in
her blue eyes.
"How'd you find me?" she asked, her voice barely above a
whisper thanks to how raw her throat was from crying for so
long. "No-one knows about this place, not even Luna."
"Honestly?"
She nodded.
"I got lost."
Her sudden laughter at such a simple statement rang like
a silver bell throughout the thicket. Ryouga seemed startled
at her sudden outburst.
"Oh Ryouga, that's funny! I come here to be alone and
you get lost and find me," she giggled for a while at that
thought.
Ryouga dished out a bowl of food for her and handed it to
her. "Here, I think we both missed dinner."
Usagi accepted the bowl graciously and began to eat.
"By the way," she asked between mouthfuls, "why aren't
you at Mamo-chan's apartment? I thought you were staying with
him."
Ryouga's expression turned melancholy. "We got into a
fight, and he kicked me out."
Her eyes went wide. "Why? He was so happy when he found
you."
He rubbed the back of his head a bit sheepishly,
"Actually, the fight was about you."
"Me?"
"Yeah. As far as I know, the last two times you've seen
him you ended up leaving in tears," He shrugged. "I yelled
at him about it, so he kicked me out."
"You poor thing!" she cried as she impulsively gave him
a hug, "you're not supposed to get caught up in the middle of
our problem. Where are you going to stay now?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe I'll just find Ranma and camp with
him, that way we'll be able to train before he goes to school."
She gave him a startled look, "How can you be so calm
about this? If my cousin got angry with me to the point of
kicking me out of his home, I'd be in tears by now."
"Easy, I've had a lot worse things happen to me so I'm
used to my luck running out on me. Life's tough, but every
hardship we face just makes us stronger," he looked away for a
moment. "Besides, it's just as well. There's stuff going on
that's pretty dangerous and I don't want it to follow me back
to his place."
"Something dangerous?" She asked while her stomach sank.
::Oh no, he's talking about the daimons!::
Ryouga nodded and carefully rolled up the sleeve of his
shirt to reveal several bandages and a few ugly bruises.
"You're hurt!" Usagi gasped even as she remembered the
fight from earlier that afternoon and the wicked looking sword
that the nameless daimon had been wielding.
"A little. I'll be OK if this one cut on my side ever
stops bleeding."
"How did you get it?" She asked despite her knowing
exactly how.
"We got into a fight with some kind of witch and her pet
monster."
Usagi leapt to her feet and grabbed his arm, "Come on,
Ryouga! We gotta get you to Ami-chan's mom! She's a doctor!"
"I don't need to see a doctor," he said a little
indignantly, "it's not that bad."
"You got cut by a monster! What if it gets infected?"
She said as she tried dragging him out of the thicket. When
she couldn't get him to budge, she turned her large blue eyes
on him. She gave him her most pitiful, pleading look.
"Please? For me?"
He melted at that point.
It was well after dark by the time they had reached Ami's
house. Usagi had been keeping an eye on Ryouga from the corner
of her eye, and she was getting more and more worried. There
was an almost unnoticeable tightness around his eyes, but her
biggest concern was the slowly growing bloodstain low on his
left side. She ran up to the door and began alternating
between pounding on the door mercilessly and ringing the
doorbell. After a few moments of that, Ami's mother opened the
door.
"Usagi! What on earth is the matter?"
"Miss Mizuno! Ryouga's hurt pretty bad!
Hegotintoafightandgotcutandnowhewon'tstopbleedingwegottahelphim
!"
Miss Mizuno gathered Usagi into a comforting hug while
she cast her gaze at Ryouga and saw the bloodstain on his
shirt. "You'd better come inside."
After she had brought them inside, she had him sit on the
kitchen table. "Take off your shirt, young man, and let me
take a look."
Reluctantly, he pulled off his shirt. Usagi gasped when
she saw the full extent of his injuries. Miss Mizuno carefully
peeled off the crude bandages and examined the various cuts and
contusions across his chest and abdomen.
"How did this happen?" She asked him.
"I got into a fight with a monster. It was a rough fight
even after those girls in the funky fukus showed up."
"Sailor Senshi," Usagi absently corrected him.
"Whatever."
"Do you know why it attacked you?" Miss Mizuno asked as
she started rummaging through one of her cupboards.
"It wasn't really after me. It was trying to get Ranma's
heart crystal or something."
Ami walked into the kitchen at this point and handed her
mother a black case.
"Here, Mother, I believe that you were looking for this."
"Thank you, Ami," she smiled as she opened the case and
pulled out a surgical needle and thread. "I'm going to have to
stitch up that one cut on your side. Did you want to hold one
of the girls' hands while I do that?"
Ryouga instantly turned red and began to babble
incoherently and waving his arms about. Ami and Usagi gently
restrained his flailing arms while Miss Mizuno deftly stitched
up his side.
"There. I'm going to call your parents and let them know
your staying here tonight, Ryouga. It's getting late, and you
are hurt."
"Don't bother trying to call them, they aren't going to
be at home," Ryouga said sadly.
Miss Mizuno would have questioned further, but she caught
the steady gaze from her daughter and the almost imperceptible
shake of her head.
"Very well. I'm still calling your parents, Usagi. I'm
not going to let you go out alone at this hour. You can sleep
in Ami's room once you get him settled into the guest room."
Usagi went to attention and gave a very sloppy salute.
"Yes Ma'am!"
A short time later, Usagi and Ami had gotten Ryouga
settled into the guestroom, and they retired to Ami's room.
Usagi smiled a little to herself as she did every time she came
up here. Ami's room resembled a library more than a teenage
girls' room, but somehow it still felt warm and inviting.
"Well, now we know what Minako-chan meant about him
looking like a Greek god," Usagi said as she sank into the
chair at Ami's desk.
"Maybe. But we didn't see enough to be able to make a
fully accurate comparison," Ami commented.
Usagi gave her friend a startled look and began giggling
as Ami slowly turned a bright crimson.
"We need to talk," Usagi said softly. Ami nodded and
pulled out the Mercury computer and ran the program that would
detect any humans that came within a certain distance.
"All set, Usagi-chan."
"I found out why Ranma and Ryouga were fighting with the
daimon."
"Oh?"
"Ranma was its target. Oh Ami! I'm so worried for him!
What if another one finds his camp and attacks him while he's
asleep?" Usagi half cried.
"It's unlikely," Ami said gently to her distraught
friend, "Usually after the daimon for a particular target is
destroyed, they ignore that target. Otherwise, we all would
have had daimons coming after us once again now that the
talismans have been found."
Usagi didn't take that too well, "Oh no! I couldn't
stand for you or Mako-chan or Rei-chan or Minako-chan to have
your heart crystals taken again! Wasn't once bad enough?"
"Usagi-chan! I just said that they were not doing that!"
Ami sighed as Usagi caught her up in a fierce embrace.
"I won't let them hurt you! Any of you!" Usagi
whispered into Ami's shoulder even as she wept.
The next morning, Miss Mizuno hurried the girls off to
school and called in sick to work. She had been holding a
suspicion in the back of her mind for quite some time that her
daughter and her friends were the Sailor Senshi, but she didn't
say anything about it to them. She had decided a long time ago
that she would remain silent on that and quietly bandage any
wounds from their battles or any of the unfortunate victims
they sometimes brought her. She sighed to herself as she
looked in on Ryouga. He was still asleep, but he seemed to be
caught in some kind of nightmare. He was thrashing about on
the futon so violently that she was concerned that he might
accidentally re-open the cut she stitched up the previous
night.
"Ryouga! You need to wake up!" she said sharply. She
almost screamed when he surged out of the futon and landed
right in front of her in a fighting stance. He was sweating
profusely and breathing hard like he had been in a fight
recently, but he slowly relaxed out of his stance and bowed in
embarrassment.
"I'm sorry I startled you. I guess I was having a
nightmare," he said a bit sheepishly.
"Quite all right, Ryouga. What school do you go to so
that I can call in for you?"
Ryouga blushed in even further embarrassment, "I'm not
going to school right now." He continued quickly when he saw
the disapproving look begin to form on her face, "But I'm
studying to take the placement test tomorrow! Ami has been
helping tutor me so that I can get back into High School."
"That's very kind of her. Try not to disappoint her.
Now, why don't you let me take a look at your wounds?"
Ryouga shrugged and pulled off the shirt he had worn to
sleep. Miss Mizuno gasped in shock when she saw that the bulk
of the bruising was already gone, and most of the smaller cuts
were already healed over. Even the one that she had to stitch
up looked like it was almost ready for her to remove the
stitches.
"That's amazing!"
"I heal fast," he said modestly. "It's real handy when
you're a martial artist."
Miss Mizuno took a closer look at him and frowned. "Your
family name wouldn't happen to be Hibiki would it?"
"Uhm... Yes," he admitted reluctantly.
"That explains a lot," she smiled. "One of my colleagues
transferred from Nerima General and had all kinds of stories
about the martial artists that periodically showed up there. I
didn't believe him at first, but he was insistent."
"We weren't all that bad..."
"Maybe not, but yours and Ranma's names came up a lot in
his stories, either people you sent there or you two
personally. Now why don't you follow me down to the kitchen
and we'll get you some breakfast and then you can study all day
while the girls are at school."
"Uh, sure."
Ranma scowled as the lunch bell sounded. His stomach was
achingly empty and the school food was woefully inadequate. He
decided that rather than waste his money on the pitiful school
lunch he would dash off campus and grab a bowl of noodles and
be back before he could be missed. He wasn't prepared,
however, to find Setsuna waiting for him at the gate.
"Going somewhere, Mr. Saotome?" she asked archly.
"Yeah, I forgot my lunch this mornin' and I gotta get
more than I can get at the cafeteria," he replied blandly.
"I'll be back before class starts up again."
"You know it's against the rules for a student to leave
campus without permission."
"Fine. Ya mind if I go get some food now?" he asked as
he jammed his hands into his pockets.
"I do mind. You need to learn responsibility, starting
with being prepared in the morning," she said sternly.
"I ain't got time fer this," Ranma grumbled as he leapt
to the top of the wall. "Ya want me to bring ya back
somethin'?" he asked sarcastically.
"Actually, that would be very nice. Why don't you get me
some yakitori and a small bowl of ramen," Setsuna said after a
moment of consideration.
"Fine. I'll take'em to yer office when I get back," with
that, he leapt off the wall and bounded down the street like an
overgrown grasshopper.
Setsuna sighed to herself and shook her head. She knew
that getting him to follow school rules was going to be hard,
but she never realized that it would be this difficult! Still,
maybe by letting him get himself some food now she could start
earning his trust. Then she could concentrate on having him
follow the rules.
Almost exactly a half-hour later, Ranma leapt through her
office window with a takeout box spinning idly on one finger.
Setsuna nearly fell out of her chair when he arrived. Ranma
almost smirked as she quickly regained her composure, but he
managed to keep a straight face.
"Here ya go," Ranma said as he placed the box on her
desk.
"Thank you. Next time, though, please use the door," she
said with as much dignity as she could muster.
Ranma merely gave her his best smirk before he leapt
right back out the window. Once he was on the ground he cast a
thoughtful look back up to her window.
::Maybe she has a point... Shampoo always did annoy me
by not using the door, but then again I ain't breaking the
walls or nothin',:: he thought about it for a moment more
before he shrugged and made his way back to class.
Once school let out, he made his way over to Mamoru's
apartment to pick up Ryouga. ::Maybe we'll have enough time to
spar before his study group gets going.::
When he reached Mamoru's door, he knocked and waited
patiently. After a few minutes, Mamoru answered.
"Oh, it's you," he said flatly.
"Good afternoon to you too, Chiba. Is Ryouga here?"
"No. He left last night," Mamoru answered shortly and
slammed the door.
"Geez, he's still in a bad mood," Ranma muttered as he
made his way back down the stairs. "Now I hafta find Ryouga
before the study group gets started and who knows where he ran
off to."
After running around Juuban for several hours in search
of the lost boy, he finally gave up and made his way to the
Hikawa Shrine to break the bad news to the girls. When he
stepped into the room they usually study in, he nearly lost his
footing when he found Ryouga already there and getting help
from Ami. Makoto looked up as he came in and smiled.
"Hi, Ranma! Come on in and have a seat, we're just
getting started."
"Uh, sure," he said as he sat down. "Hey Ryouga, I'm
kinda surprised ta see you here, since Chiba said you left his
place last night."
Ryouga swore under his breath while Usagi suddenly looked
stricken. Ranma looked between the two of them and frowned.
"Now what did I say?"
"It's not your fault, Ranma," Ami said.
"He kicked me out last night for telling him off about
yelling at Usagi," Ryouga growled.
"He did what?!?" Ranma shot to his feet.
"Sit down, Ranma!" Rei snapped, "You can't do anything
about it."
"Like hell I can't! I'm gonna go beat some sense into
that moron! You don't go and yell at girls fer no reason."
"I swear, if you do something rash I'll take my broom to
you!" Rei threatened.
Ranma cringed for a second before he laughed. "You know,
you sounded almost just like Akane there fer a second."
"Just be quiet, Ranma. My entrance exam is tomorrow and
I want to study as much as I possibly can," Ryouga said as he
turned back to the book in front of him.
Ranma bit back a retort as he settled back down and
pulled out his homework. The hours seemed to go by slowly, but
eventually it was time for them to leave.
"You'd better show me where you're camped, Ranma," Ryouga
said as they stood to leave. "It looks like I'm going to be
camping in the same spot for a while."
"Yeah. Maybe we'll be able to get some training in each
mornin'," Ranma said as he shouldered his bag.
"Don't forget that I will be showing you to where you can
take your entrance exam tomorrow," Ami said.
"Same here, Ryo-chan!" Minako chimed in.
"Don't train tomorrow morning, Ryouga. We still have to
take you back to Ami-chan's mom to get those stitches out,"
Usagi cautioned.
"You needed stitches?" Ranma asked.
"Yeah, that one on my side that just wouldn't stop
bleeding," Ryouga said quietly.
Ranma frowned for a moment before he smiled again. "Nice
to know you still heal as quick as ever. How many stitches did
it take."
"Twelve," Ryouga shrugged.
Ranma let out a low whistle, "Man, that thing tagged you
better than I thought it did."
"So you two did fight a monster yesterday," Rei
commented. "And here I thought Usagi had gotten over excited
again." She loftily ignored the raspberry that Usagi blew her.
Ranma shrugged and merely waved as he half dragged Ryouga
out of the room. Once they were a little ways down the street
from the shrine, Ranma turned on Ryouga.
"Just what did you tell them?" He demanded.
"Just that we fought one of those monsters with the
Sailor Senshi yesterday," Ryouga said. "Why? It wasn't really
a secret, was it?"
"Never mind," Ranma sighed. "I just didn't wanna make
'em worry."
"Whatever."
The dawn seemed sickly the next morning. The sky was
overcast and the air was very still when Ranma and Ryouga
emerged from their tents. Ryouga sighed as he quickly prepared
a breakfast while Ranma did a quick kata.
"Cheery morning," Ranma said as he sat down to eat.
"Take an umbrella, it's going to rain," Ryouga grumbled.
"Ain't you in a good mood?"
"Shut up, Ranma. I'm not in the mood for your smart
mouth this morning."
"Stop frettin' about that test already! If I can pass
it, so can you."
"At least you managed to go to most of Junior High. I
couldn't find the place again after you ran off to China with
your father."
"Are you still on that?" Ranma asked tiredly.
"No, just the truth. You didn't just walk off down the
road. Knowing Genma, he made you run," Ryouga replied.
"Heh, you got me there. He did make me run."
Usagi, Ami, and Minako approached their camp at that
point.
"Good morning! How are you two doing today?" Usagi
chirped.
"Just fine, Usagi, just fine," Ranma said as he stood and
stretched.
Minako sat down next to Ryouga and attached herself to
his arm. "What about you, Ryo-chan?"
He sputtered for a minute before he managed to say that
he was fine as well. Minako and Usagi giggled at his antics,
while Ranma affected the look of the long suffering.
"Gotta run. I can't be late fer class," he said as he
dashed off.
"We'd better hurry as well, Ryo-chan. They are holding a
mock placement test at my school today," Minako said as she
stood. "Ami and I talked with one of the administrators and he
said you could take it for real while Usagi-chan, Ami-chan and
I practiced."
"I thought you went to a different school from the
others," Ryouga said as he grabbed his pack and stood as well.
"I do, but my teachers agreed to let me and Ami-chan go
there for extra practice," Usagi said.
"Well, Usagi does need the extra practice. I think that
our teachers wanted to show me off though," Ami said just a
bit glumly as they started walking.
"Don't let it get to you, Ami-chan! We are all proud of
how smart you are, the teachers just want a bit of credit.
After all, a student is only a dissection of a teacher," Minako
said seriously while the others sweatdropped.
"Minako-chan, that's supposed to be 'A student is a
reflection of the teacher,'" Ami corrected gently.
Minako giggled sheepishly, "I messed that one up pretty
bad, didn't I?"
The others could only laugh and nod.
To say that Ryouga was nervous would be an extreme
understatement. He barely heard the conversation from the
girls around him as they walked towards Shibakouen Junior High.
It didn't help his mental state much to have Minako hanging off
of his arm either. When they did reach the school, Ryouga was
painfully aware of the looks he was receiving from the other
students there, and the whispered conversations around him
seemed to set a constant hiss in the air.
Unnoticed behind them, one young man had stopped to stare
at the way Minako was hanging onto Ryouga before he burst into
a fit of swearing. With a great deal of effort, he managed to
stop swearing before he angrily jammed his hands into his
pockets and stomped his way into the building.
Ami noticed Ryouga's shell-shocked look once they were
inside the school and sighed. She knew this was going to be
tough enough for him without Minako embarrassing him.
Since Ryouga wasn't very coherent, they sat him in a
chair outside the school's offices. Minako ran off to her
class while Ami and Usagi checked in with one of the
administrators. Occasionally, Ami would come out of the office
with a piece of paper for him to sign, but otherwise Ryouga was
left alone with his thoughts.
When the time for the mock exam rolled around, he was so
nervous he could vomit. The trip to the room where the exam
was being held passed in a blur. The other students filing in
steered clear of him while he nervously broke chunks off of the
corners of his desk. He barely registered the droning voice of
the instructor while the exam booklets and answer sheets were
passed out, but he very clearly heard what came next like the
crack of doom.
"You may begin."
The next hour was a living hell for him. The pressure to
do well sat heavily upon him. He wanted so much to be able to
show Ranma that he could get into High school that he very
nearly let his aura blaze. He clenched his teeth and willed
himself calm as he continued to write his answers. The only
sound he heard was the ticking of the clock and the rasp of his
pencil against the paper.
Finally, he reached the end of the exam and he turned it
over on his desk with a barely audible sigh of relief. The
exam may have been over for him, but now he had the wonderful
task of waiting for the results to come back. He didn't move a
muscle when the teacher took his exam off of his desk, and he
barely dared to breathe while he waited.
"Time is up, pencils down everyone. The results shall be
posted shortly after lunch period is over. Mr. Hibiki, why
don't you go with Miss Aino to her class? I'm sure it will be
time well spent for you." The old man smiled briefly when he
saw Minako's sudden smile.
"Come on, Ryo-chan! Let's go!" Minako hauled at his
arm. Usagi and Ami gave them a covert thumbs up before they
departed. Minako took up her now usual position on his left
arm and led him down the hallway to her classroom.
"Don't worry about the exam, Ryo-chan. I'm sure you did
just fine." Minako whispered to him before she opened the door
to her class.
"Come on in Miss Aino," her teacher nodded to her as the
door opened. "And why don't you introduce yourself young man?"
it may have sounded like a request, but it definitely was an
order.
"Ah, I'm Ryouga Hibiki and I was here today for the
entrance exam," he said just a touch nervously.
"Wasn't it just a practice exam?" the teacher asked.
"Not exactly. Since it's been so long since the last
time I was in school, it's going to be used to judge what grade
I belong in."
"I see. Since you are already familiar with Miss Aino,
why don't you sit next to her for today," she handed him an
English translation book. "We are on page ninety seven."
Ryouga sat at his desk and did his best to ignore the
stares from the other people in the classroom as he opened his
book. He almost laughed out loud when he saw the simplicity of
what was being translated and apparently, it showed on his
face.
"Since you seem to have already translated it, why don't
you share it with the rest of the class, Mr. Hibiki."
Ryouga gave a nervous shake before he stood and began
reading. Minako almost stared in amazement. All traces of a
Japanese accent had disappeared when he began reading.
::He's fluent in English?!?:: She thought to herself,
::That's amazing!!::
The teacher seemed to be in a similar state of shock,
since she gave no indication for him to stop reading. He read
aloud until the bell rang, indicating that it was time for
lunch. Ryouga put the book on the desk with a certain amount
of relief.
"Thank you, Mr. Hibiki. That was very well done," the
teacher smiled as she began to gather up some papers on her
desk. "You may all go to lunch now."
[Why didn't you tell me you were fluent in English?]
Minako smiled impishly as she spoke in her own flawless
English.
Ryouga gave her a toothy smile, [You never asked. Why do
you think Ami never said anything to me about English?]
"Hey you," One of the male students said as he
approached Ryouga's desk, "What makes you think you can waltz
in here and start showing off?"
Ryouga gave him a startled look. "Showing off? The
teacher asked me to translate, so that's exactly what I did."
"Don't get cute with me, pal," The other boy growled.
"When all is said and sifted, you're still nothing but a
worthless dropout."
His words started an excited buzz of gossip in the
classroom, which caused Ryouga to rub the back of his neck in
embarrassment. He really didn't like being the center of
attention like that.
"That's enough, Imotoku!" Minako snapped when she saw how
embarrassed Ryouga was getting, "It's not his fault he couldn't
go to school for a long time. At least he learned something
while he wasn't attending."
"Stay outta this, Aino. It ain't got nothing to do with
a quitter like you."
That got Ryouga upset. "And just why do you think she's
a quitter?" he snarled.
"Simple. She quit the volleyball team just when they
were ready to go to the championship! Without her, they failed
to take the trophy. She just quit, with no real reason, not to
mention she's been real standoffish with the rest of us,"
Imotoku crossed his arms and smirked.
"I'm positive she had a very good reason," Ryouga
growled and fixed a stern glare on the younger boy.
Imotoku seemed to at a loss once he heard the conviction
in Ryouga's voice. They stood glaring at each other over a
desk while the whispers around them increased in volume.
"Isn't that the guy Minako turned down flat a few weeks
ago?" Ryouga heard one of the other girls whisper behind him.
"Yeah. She was saying that he was too much of an
obsessive jerk. He didn't stop following her for a week. You
should have seen how angry he was this morning! I wonder what
happened?"
"Isn't it obvious? He saw Minako hanging onto Ryouga
here on the way in."
"Please, can we not talk about this?" Minako pleaded.
She really didn't want to think about all the gossip and rumors
that this scene was going to start, and she definitely didn't
want it to get any worse.
"Right, we just can't let it out that you've been late so
much that when you're actually on time the teacher has to
change her pre-marked sheet. Nor can we let this dropout know
that you fall asleep in class on a regular basis, now can we?"
His tone dripped with malice and he had a superior smirk on his
face. "Poor friendless Minako... Always too busy to do
anything with anyone here," Imotoku said as condescendingly as
he possibly could.
Ryouga was stunned to see the somewhat hesitant nodding
of agreement from the other students in the class. He gave
Minako a quick glance and what he saw made his blood boil.
Crystalline tears were standing in her eyes and Imotoku was
doing everything he could to make her cry in front of the
entire class.
"Alright you, I think you've done enough to ruin her
day," Ryouga snarled.
"Not nearly enough."
"That tears it! I challenge you, Imotoku!" Ryouga
roared, startling the rest of the class
"What?" Imotoku looked startled.
"Are you deaf as well as ugly?" Ryouga sneered. "I said
that I challenge you to a duel. If I win, you will apologize
to Minako about everything you've said today and leave her
alone."
"Fine, if I win, you will have to buy my lunch for the
rest of the year!"
The teacher walked up to them at this point. "I will not
allow you two to fight in my classroom!" she declared. "So why
don't you run down to the athletic field and get it over with."
Half the students facefaulted, but they all ran for the
door. As Minako turned to leave, the teacher caught her arm.
"Yes?" Minako asked a bit nervously.
"I know you're wondering why I'm allowing this to go on,
so I decided to let you know right now," She sighed. "That
young man decided to engage in a duel to defend your honor.
That's the most romantic thing I've seen in this school in
years! Go and cheer him on now!"
Minako ran to catch up with the rest of the class. She
got to the field just in time to be surrounded by a cluster of
girls.
"Wow, he's fighting a duel for you? I hope Imotoku
doesn't hurt him too much."
"What do you mean?" Minako asked.
"Well, he is the captain of the boxing club."
Minako doubled over laughing at that.
"What's so funny?" A different girl asked.
"You'll see," Minako smiled.
"Are you prepared for your doom, Imotoku?" Ryouga
declared as he stood a few feet away from the other boy.
"Ha! I hope you got the money for all those lunches your
going to have to buy!"
"Heh. Just give me your best shot. I'm certain I won't
feel a single one of your punches."
That enraged Imotoku, and he charged Ryouga with his fist
cocked. Ryouga merely yawned. There was a resounding smack as
Imotoku's fist impacted with Ryouga's jaw, followed by a howl
of pain. It wasn't Ryouga that howled though. Imotoku danced
around in front of Ryouga while clutching at his bruised hand.
"That felt like an autumn leaf brushing my cheek as it
falls. Try again," Ryouga said in his most insulting tone.
Imotoku decided to try hammering Ryouga's stomach, but every
one of his punches was deftly blocked.
"Sorry, got some stitches down there and I don't need you
getting them infected," Ryouga said in an offhand manner that
only enraged Imotoku even more. ::Wow, now I know why Ranma
likes taunting people when he fights!::
He let it continue for a few minutes before he decided to
end it. He sidestepped a particularly wild attack and smoothly
punched Imotoku in the stomach. Imotoku folded nearly in half
around that fist and collapsed limply to the dusty field.
Ignoring the cheers from the crowd that had gathered, Ryouga
picked him up and shook him till he regained consciousness.
"Why don't you apologize to Minako now?"
"Go to hell!"
"Been there, done that," Ryouga replied blandly.
"Apologize now, or next time I won't pull my punch."
Ryouga set him on his feet and turned him towards where
Minako was standing. Imotoku hesitated until he felt Ryouga's
breath on the back of his neck.
"If you don't start moving now, I'm going to break every
single bone in your body as slowly as I possibly can."
Shaken, Imotoku staggered over to Minako and knelt in
front of her. He then placed both hands on the ground and bent
forward until his forehead touched the ground.
"I apologize," he muttered.
"Say it again! I couldn't hear you!" Ryouga snapped.
"I apologize!" Imotoku practically screamed this time.
"That's better," Ryouga smirked at that point and
started to walk away. Minako quickly walked after him.
"Thank you, Ryo-chan," she said softly once she had
caught up with him.
"You're welcome," he blushed as she reclaimed his arm
again, "I couldn't just let him talk that way about you."
"I did have my reasons."
"I'm sure you did. He was just jealous."
They swung over to where the test results were being
posted and met up with Usagi and Ami.
"Did you hear? There was a duel during lunch!" Usagi
squealed with excitement, "I wonder who was fighting and what
it was about."
Ryouga and Minako blushed in unison, causing Ami and
Usagi to share a glance.
"Don't tell me you were in that duel, Ryouga?" Usagi
asked.
"Actually..." he said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"You didn't strain too much, did you?" Ami asked in
concern, "You still have those stitches in."
"It was amazing!" Minako gushed. "He let Imotoku get the
first hit, but Ryouga acted like he barely felt it."
"I did only barely feel it," Ryouga muttered.
Minako ignored that and described the fight in some
detail.
"...and then he made Imotoku apologize for insulting me!"
she finished.
"If you're done talking about today's entertainment," the
vice principal said as he walked up to them. "I need to speak
with Mr. Hibiki regarding his placement test."
"Good luck, Ryo-chan!" Minako said as they walked off.
Ryouga watched them walk a short distance away, all three of
them giving him a thumbs up.
"Well young man," the vice-principal handed Ryouga a
small slip of paper. "I'm sorry, but your score was not quite
good enough to get into High School."
Ryouga slumped as he looked blankly at the sheet of paper
that declared in writing that he failed.
"What we did decide, though, was that it was because of
your lack of formal education that caused that score. So, the
faculty here has decided that the best thing for your education
is if you repeat our last grade level from the current point
and try again at the end of the year."
"You mean?" Ryouga asked blankly.
"What I mean is this, re-do the ninth grade and take the
entrance exam again. I'm sure you'll pass it the next time you
take it, if you study here with us."
Ryouga muttered something noncommittal as he shuffled
over to where the girls were waiting anxiously.
"Uh oh..." Usagi whispered. "He doesn't look happy."
"Ryo-chan?" Minako asked softly.
Ryouga continued to hang his head and said nothing.
"Ryouga? What's wrong? Didn't you pass the exam?"
Usagi asked, her voice filled with concern.
The almost imperceptible shake of his head confirmed the
girls' fear.
"I'm so sorry, Ryouga. You did your best," Ami tried to
comfort him, but he didn't respond at all.
"Ryo-chan, look at me," Minako said gently. When he
still didn't respond, she began to plead with him. "Please,
Ryo-chan. I still believe in you. I have to! You've done
almost as much for me as Usagi has! Please, just look at me!
Ryo-chan!"
Ryouga looked up with a slightly dead look in his eyes.
His eyes locked with Minako's for a split second before he
looked away and began to recite.
[The world is a dark and lonely place.
What light could shine where there is
nothing but shadow?]
They looked stunned, and for once Usagi was speechless.
Minako placed her hands on Ryouga's cheeks and forced him to
look her in the eye before she spoke.
[Only the single ray of hope pierces
the shadow, but hope is only the
forerunner. Love, passion, kindness
and companionship follow in its wake.
The world does not have to be dark and
lonely, but it will be if you do not
hold the last virtue close to your heart.
Hope.]
Ami dabbed at her eyes with a small lace handkerchief as
she watched Minako slowly lead Ryouga out of the school. Usagi
looked confused for a few minutes before she turned to Ami.
"Ami-chan? What did they say when they spoke in
English?"
"Only the most beautiful thing I've ever heard," Ami
sighed. "It's time for us to go home too."
They had barely gotten out of the doors of the school
when the sky began to weep as well. Despite the gloomy
weather, Ami thought that she saw a ray of light walking in
front of her, directly under a red bamboo umbrella.
**End of Chapter 2
Author's Notes:
I hope that you all have enjoyed the second chapter of Twin Dragons under
Moonlight. Feel free to e-mail me with your comments, I will try to respond
to all of my mail.
