[Ranma] Destiny's Wish, Part Five

[Mike Koos]

"Kasuga...?" Surprise washed over Ranma's face, and her eyes
widened.
Ayumi nodded. "Tofu-sensei's in love with Kasuga, although
Kasuga doesn't know it. She kinda gets all misty-eyed whenever she
sees him, and starts acting weird."
"That does sound like love." As if she knew all about love,
herself... love, such as Kunou's suffocating desire for her or the
love they wanted her to share with Ayumi. She had spent most of her
life on the road; the issue of love hadn't come up that often. Now,
here she was, only sixteen years old, expected to deal with one
relationship after another. So much for any hope of a normal life,
right?
Ayumi caught her expression go slack. <Uh-oh. What's with that
look on her face?> She faced the floor, idly shuffling one foot back
and forth inside one of the large slippers she'd borrowed to take the
place of her shoes at the door.
The tension needed to be cut, somehow, but he refused to be the
one to do it. If Ranma was anything like him, getting her to open up
would be next to impossible.
"Are you two up to something out here?" It was Dr. Tofu. She
had decided to check the waiting room for her errant patient.
"Er... no. Right, Ranma?"
Uncertain, Ranma raised her head. "...Yeah."
"Well, then, come on back. I'm ready to treat that bruise of
yours now."
<I oughta get out of here. I really oughta get out of here!>
"Okay..."

Destiny's Wish
Part Five: Lost and Found
written by Mike Koos
-------------------------

Ayumi found a marginally more comfortable stool to sit on, this
time without wheels. Ranma settled in behind him, seated on the
examination table, absently blowing on her tea to cool it.
"Yes, this was definitely caused by a softball," the doctor
concluded after a quick study of Ayumi's bruise. "Let me guess.
Ranma hit the ball?"
As Ayumi touched a wary finger to the bruise, Ranma swallowed
hard. How could Tofu-sensei tell all this by just a bruise?
"The signs are all here... the way the ball hit your face and
the impression it left."
"What?" There was a hint of a smirk. "Wow, the uncoordinated
tomboy strikes out again!"
"What did you say?" came the expected outcry from Ranma, who
was not the least bit happy with where this discussion was heading.
"I can't help it that you were daydreaming at the time! And besides,
I didn't strike! It was a foul!"
Ayumi stifled a laugh at his little joke. It was so easy to set
the tomboy off, sometimes. "I know you hit a foul, baka! It was a
joke, get it? Everybody knows you only strike if you don't hit the
ball!" That wasn't entirely true, but now wasn't the time to pull
out any rulebooks.
Tofu-sensei ran a hand through her hair. She did this often, in
fact - as a gesture of modesty, a quality which someone had once said
was one of her most endearing. "Well, gee... Ranma, you really were
the one that hit that ball?"
Looking for all the world as if she wanted nothing better than
to throttle Ayumi, the girl stopped in her tracks.
"I was only kidding."
An embarrassed Ranma blushed and lowered her head once more,
returning to the table.
Dr. Tofu patted her on the back comfortingly. "It's okay.
There's nothing to be ashamed about. You're an active and energetic
young girl."
"Idiot," Ayumi muttered from the background.
"But..."
Tofu smiled. "It's a good thing you're--"
"...an unattractive tomboy," finished Ayumi.
The anger was back. "*Put a sock in it*!"
Ayumi parried by sticking his tongue out at her. "Heh, you
should see your face when you get mad! Makes you look even MORE
unattractive, if that's possible!"
She fought to overcome the sound of blood rushing to her ears
and face. "What do *you* know about looks, you hentai *pervert*!?"
"Hey, you can't call me that!"
"Fair's fair." With a withering stare that would make crushed
dry ice jealous, Ranma turned up her nose. "You call me names, I
tell the world what you really are. An etchi, hentai pervert!"
"Yeah? Well, what makes you think you've got anything any guy
would want to look at?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're so smart, guess!"
Ranma began searching for the largest piece of furniture in the
room to break over the idiot's head. The nerve of him, insulting her
like that! He *knew* she could beat him up and yet he continued
provoking her! What, was he one of those sickos that *liked* getting
hurt?
Before too long Tofu knew she had to intervene, else Ayumi would
need attention for much worse than a bruised cheek. She had to
smile, really; these two were obviously meant for each other. Only
they were blind to that fact. Not having the weight of an arranged
marriage on their shoulders might have led to them being more civil
to each other... but there was no way Tofu knew of to change the
past, what had come and gone. You merely take whatever you are given
and try to endure.
Far away in the future days like this were likely to be fond
memories. Sure, they had fought, yet it only drew them closer.
"Here," she interrupted, still grinning. She couldn't help it,
really. "Just sit still so I can put some of this medicine on." To
make sure Ayumi kept still she kept one hand on the other side of
Ayumi's head to brace him. Things were bad enough without Ayumi
prodding Ranma.
The door to the adjoining waiting room slid open, and Kasuga
walked through. "Sorry to bother you, Doctor, but......"
<Elder brother...> was the last thought that struck Ayumi. Dr.
Tofu felt no pain as, with an unassuming simple smile on her lips,
she proceeded to dislocate the boy's neck - much to the horror of
Ranma and the panda.
He'd taken it unusually well, with barely a whimper, thought
Ranma, who understood she had a chance to see what exactly happened
when Tofu-sensei 'went bonkers' over Kasuga-kun... Ayumi's
description hadn't exactly done it justice.
"Good afternoon, Kasuga-san." The doctor's voice was clearly
shaken even though she wasn't appearing that way on the outside.
"Uh, good afternoon, Doctor." Kasuga glanced Ayumi's way; the
boy's head was tilted at a strange angle and his face was turning an
unusual shade of pale. "Umm... was that a loud *crack* I just heard?"
"I'm sorry, Kasuga-san, but I didn't hear anything." <Well, no
wonder,> Ranma nervously watched the exchange. <If her ears are as
fogged up as her glasses...>
Kasuga examined his younger brother closely, trying to emulate
the same head position. "Is something wrong, Ayumi? You don't look
right."
<Thanks for the update, elder brother.>
They heard an uneasy laugh from Tofu. "Oh, that's Ayumi. He's
brought in a good deal of business lately. Can't seem to stay out of
trouble, right, Ayumi?" She patted the panda on the muzzle.
[I'm Saotome Genma, not Ayumi!]
"Sensei!" wheezed Ayumi, although he knew it would be of little
use.
"So, what brings you by here today, Kasuga-san?"
Okay, why not one more time? "*Sensei*........."
"I wanted to return the book I borrowed and thought you might be
hungry, so I brought you some food." No matter the situation, Kasuga
always weathered it, an unflappable gentle demeanor and tone that
people found it hard to disagree with. He had inherited this from
his mother. He was a living reminder of what the family had lost...
enough that one could occasionally look at him and see his mother
instead.
"Oh, thank you! This is exactly what I needed!"
Kasuga smiled, patience setting in. "But I haven't given
anything to you yet, Doctor."
"Why, so you haven't."
Opening the box he'd brought carefully, Kasuga took out a paper
plate of food, covered with a faithful old cloth towel. "I wasn't
sure if you liked the taste of these... I forgot to put something
together in the kitchen before I left and, well..." He offered the
plate to Dr. Tofu, who promptly wrapped the towel around her face.
"Why, it's a mask, isn't it? I must say I like the taste of it
very much..."
Ayumi was by this time far too intent on vying for the doctor's
attention that he never saw the panda and Ranma's looks of
bewilderment. "Um, that's just the towel I used to cover the food."
Kasuga offered the plate again.
"Sensei...!" Was anybody *other* than Ranma even paying
attention to him, Ayumi frowned?
Tofu finally accepted the plate... and started to chew on it,
ripping a small bite from the plate and swallowing it whole. "Oh,
yes, this is very delicious, Kasuga-san."
"That's the plate, Doctor," corrected Kasuga, innocently enough.
<Stranger and stranger.> For a brief instant Ranma found
herself wondering what her father might be thinking. Fortunately, it
soon passed.
Somehow, somewhere along the line Kasuga had become a sort of
mother figure to them all. Not that Ranma held any malice toward
Kasuga or wanted to insult him, but... he was more of a girl than...
than she was. Sure, she knew how to cook and all that stuff people
believed a girl should know, but Ayumi was right. She was a tomboy.
Much more a boy than a girl, no small thanks to Dad. Guess it was
only fitting she had a curse that turned her into a boy, then.
Ayumi was right. She couldn't believe she'd thought that.
"SENSEI!!" Ayumi's shout broke her concentration, as he had
ultimately given up and thrown courtesy out the window.
"Oh, Ranma, what's the matter?"
"I'm *Ayumi*," he answered the doctor's question. "And my neck
*hurts*!"
Tofu's features softened. "My goodness, you've gotten yourself
hurt again? My goodness..."
Oh, brother. "*Ahem*..."
"Not to worry, this type of injury is easily fixed." So saying,
Tofu re-dislocated Ayumi's neck, twisting the head in the opposite
direction. With that out of the way she turned to her pet skeleton.
"Mr. Saotome, would you mind getting some tea for Kasuga-san?"
[I am over here!]
"Sensei!!" <No good. She's gone!>
Sighing quietly to himself, Kasuga came to stand near Ranma.
"Well, Tofu-sensei is always unusual, to say the least. Wouldn't you
say?"
"Uh, when you're not around she's not like this." Ranma did her
best to cover her uneasiness with the aid of a forced smile. Between
the ways Tofu-sensei and Kasuga were acting, she had a lot on her
mind... She made up her mind to leave. "Um... I'll see you at home
later. Bye!" Ranma hurried out the door.
"Ranma...?"
"Could something be wrong with her?" Kasuga asked, heedless of
the confusion taking place a few feet away. Ayumi sat with his head
off to one side wondering basically the same thing, while Tofu tried
to figure out exactly who the panda was. "It would have been easier
if we all walked home together."
Ayumi said nothing, taking everything into account... including
when the off-track doctor asked Genma how long he'd had delusions of
being a panda. Guess this meant he wasn't going to get his neck
fixed anytime soon.
He stood. "I'm going to go home too, elder brother."
"But, your neck!" Kasuga called after him.
"It's okay!"

A crowd had gathered around the front gate of the clinic.
"What's the deal with this crowd?" asked a passer-by, on his way to
a public bath.
"Kasuga's dropped by," one man answered sheepishly. "We all
need treatment, but we're afraid to go in there."
"I'll bet. I've seen Tofu-sensei once when Kasuga came by.
Glad *I* wasn't the one she was examining at the time."
Ayumi politely pushed his way through the crowd. "Excuse me.
Sorry!" Everyone in the crowd withdrew their breath at the sight of
his head, not exhaling until after Ayumi was safely on his way.
"Poor kid. That was Tendo Ayumi, wasn't it?"
"He never had a chance."

"Ranma?" Naka forced down another potato chip. He loved the
things, and made sure the pantry was well-stocked with several bags
of chips. "She's out back, I think." He cocked his neck but
couldn't quite match Ayumi's. "Why do you have your head like that?"
Thanking him, Ayumi ran toward the very rear of the grounds. It
had taken a little getting used to, the different balance and way of
looking at everything. Rotating one's eyes ninety degrees tended to
do that.
Behind the dojo was the area reserved for Ayumi and now, Ranma,
as well as any other student of the Tendo martial-arts school who
felt up to it, to vent frustration or anything else that needed
venting, so to speak, on a few rounds of cinderblocks or wooden
planks.
On the menu today? Both, as Ranma had taken to. Ayumi peered
around the corner of the dojo at her. All he could see of her was
her back, as she knelt in the midst of all the concrete and wood
she'd just halved.
<Is she... crying......?>
She picked herself up, straightened the gi she'd thrown on
immediately after coming home, and walked ever so slowly over to the
property wall... propping herself against the wall by one hand, head
lowered. <Gotta be strong... gotta be strong...> One of the first
few lessons her father had forced her to learn. She was a martial
artist first, a Saotome; and then farther down the line, a girl dead
last.
Dead last.
Dad would've been a lot happier with a son instead of a
daughter, she knew. Sure, he pretended otherwise, pretended to have
interest in her life... but were she to drop everything to become a
normal girl, he'd likely disown her. He was all she had; according
to Genma, she had to face the harsh reality that her mother was no
more. She had to be a tomboy martial artist in order to remain with
him.
But more and more of late she'd seen martial artists and
fighters that *proved* she didn't have to be the way Dad wanted her
to behave just to be a fighter. Genma wouldn't have it any other
way, though. Here he was, trying to steamroll her into a marriage
and he still insisted on controlling the way she acted...
Ranma opened her eyes to find her iinazuke looking up at her
from underneath her arm, pulling his mouth wide to stick that
*stupid* tongue out...
She deftly pushed him down into the rocky soil before he could
withdraw the tongue, sending forth another crackling sound not unlike
the neck-breaking snaps they'd heard earlier at the clinic. "What in
the world do you think you're doing!?" grated Ranma. "Sneaking up
on a girl like that!"
Out of brand-new habit Ayumi stood on his head - but assuming
his neck was still misaligned, he appeared more as if he were lying
down, arms folded, save for the feet keeping him aloft at an angle.
"Gee, you're in a great mood."
"What's that supposed to mean?" A ripple of understanding
passed through Ranma. "Don't tell me you thought you had to cheer me
up? I don't need cheering up, so go away."
Ayumi inhaled, propelling himself upright. "So? What if I did?
Anything wrong with that?"
Wait - there wasn't any pain or stiffness! He could move his
head again! "Y'know, I think you actually fixed my neck!"
Try as she might she wasn't in the mood to hold a grudge against
him for long. This time. "Well, if you're up to it, maybe you could
spar a couple rounds with me? I need the practice."
"Hm?" Ayumi had been enjoying able to move his head freely once
again. Spar? She hardly ever sparred with him. Their last real
practice fight had been when Ayumi thought she was an
honest-to-goodness boy. That fight she hadn't even taken seriously.
Nowadays, if she wanted to fight him, it was to turn him into a Human
punching bag.
He deserved it, too... conscience telling him that; there were
times when he gazed directly into her features and couldn't bring
himself to insult her. Like now, for instance. It was a lot easier
when she was angry or upset, but that wasn't the case here.
He'd just have to try a different tactic.

<Not *this* again...>
"At least TRY to hit me!" Her voice rose, breathing hard. She
tried a straight kick; her target bounced upward and away.
There was something about fighting in the dojo she couldn't
explain. Something about the warm atmosphere, the almost-feeling of
being at home... the feel of the finished wood floor under her bare
feet. One of these days she'd come to a conclusion.
Ayumi feinted and sidestepped a punch. "But......"
"Try to be serious, willya? I'm trying t'work off my stress!"
Ranma executed a roundhouse kick. Ayumi flipped over the crest.
He landed before she recovered from the kick. "Such anger...
doesn't it wear you down?"
"Mind your own business!" she yelled, punctuating her yell with
a punch.
"It's just that..." Ayumi dodged. Her punch went wide.
"When you smile, you're really cute..."
Ranma's heart nearly skipped a beat. "Eh...?"
She was so stunned she fell backward onto her rear when Ayumi
touched a single finger to her forehead. "Gotcha."
"N-no *fair*!" She shook both fists at him. "That doesn't
count!"
Whistling an unfamiliar tune, Ayumi walked away.

A few hours later Ranma opened the door to her room, rubbing a
towel through her hair to remove the last traces of the night's bath.
She finally had the opportunity to wear her new pajamas - *pajamas*!
She hadn't had *that* luxury in a long time, either.
Too, her room was also coming along nicely. There was now a
little painted animal plaque bearing her name hung on her door. A
few odds and ends, including a cheap tape player. A real bed. She
hadn't slept on a real bed for as long as she could remember. Some
curtains, a coathanger with the jumper part of her school uniform on
it and a handful of posters from anime magazines filled out the
walls. Yes, it was starting to feel a lot more like her room. But
there were still a lot of touches left to be made.
She sat on the side of the bed, bouncing for good measure, and
sighed. A minute after that, she fell back across the bed, her towel
falling underneath her.
<'When you smile, you're really cute...'>
Ranma let the words echo around in her thoughts. <'When you
smile...'>
<'When you smile.'>
On a sudden whim she got up, reaching for the framed mirror on
the nightstand next to her bed.
<Really? I wonder...>
She held the mirror close and studied the reflection of her
smile. A tilt of the head and a tentative giggle...
The next thing she knew, her bedroom window was sliding open.
"Why are you torturing that mirror like that?" asked Ayumi, crouched
within the open window. "I think I'm gonna be sick."
Her right hook nearly sent him flying over the property walls.
"And stay out!"

** ** **

<Soon. Very soon, I will find her and make her pay!>
It was her single-minded ultimate goal now. All that mattered.
Vengeance, and retribution.
Hibiki Ryomi stood atop a cliff, surveying the peaceful village
below. Where she was she didn't know, and her quarry likely wasn't
in the area, but maybe these villagers could offer her directions to
help her on her way.
Correct directions, she hoped. For every time someone gave her
directions they always seemed to turn out incorrect. It had always
been this way, ever since childhood. Their laughter and scorn stung
her just as much as their pity. "Don't you know where you are little
girl?" she could still hear them clearly. "This is Hokkaido! How
could you go out in your backyard and wind up *this* far from home?
No, I think you're telling me a story. I'd better take you to the
local authorities."
It was a curse and she despised it. Oh, yes, she was one for
curses, wasn't she? Yet this curse which kept her from getting to
wherever she wanted to go on time was nowhere near as bad as another
of the curses she carried... the curse that was a primary part of her
reason for her quest. Nothing would *dare* keep her from finding the
girl.
Ryomi had no idea how long she had been lost this time. Her
hair, which she kept short for travel - if that were any indication -
had grown long enough in front that she needed the aid of a bandanna
to keep the hair out of her eyes. She wore a long-sleeved canvas
shirt that almost obscured her chest, which, in combination with her
hair, made her appear to be a boy unless one looked closely.
Rounding out her 'travel outfit' was a pair of baggy canvas pants
hemmed in at the lower half of the legs by leather straps designed to
keep bugs, animals and loose foliage from getting into her clothing.
A lifetime of wandering the islands of Japan had taught her that
much. Other than her pack, the only other thing she carried was what
appeared to be a bamboo umbrella.
That, and her skill, would be the end of her quarry.
Ryomi leapt down from the cliff, popping her umbrella open late
to slow her fall. Amazingly, the umbrella did not break.
The village, on the other hand, was having worse fortune.
The village alarm rang. "Minna! Look out! There's a wild boar
on the way!"
"A *large* wild boar!"
No sooner was the alarm sounded than the boar smashed through a
house with very little effort, then followed a road, sending people
scurrying for high ground. Property values were most likely on the
decline.
And then the boar found Ryomi.
Ryomi was walking along that same path, her back to the monster.
"Ah! Hey, you! The boy with the umbrella!" they tried to warn her,
mistaking Ryomi for a boy. "Get outta there!"
Upset by the notion that someone might mistake her for a boy,
Ryomi wheeled about to see whom she needed to direct her fury at. "I
am *NOT* a boy! I'm a girl!" she yelled, opening her mouth wide
enough to show her teeth. For some reason, in Ryomi's family there
was a tendency for each person's teeth to develop more like a dog's
might, leaving Ryomi with what looked like fangs.
Then she saw the boar. Drawing her umbrella like a sword she
held it at arm's length in front of her - in time to meet the boar
snout-on. The amazed boar pressed on yet couldn't make progress
against the very tip of the umbrella.
"What? She's holding it there like it was nothing!"
Ryomi paid no attention to the spectators; she had her opponent
right where she wanted him... Her next move was to shift the tip of
the umbrella down a fraction of an inch, catch the boar's snout just
right... then, Ryomi used the umbrella as a catapult to launch the
giant animal into the clouds.
Seconds later the boar crumpled back to the ground behind Ryomi
while she cockily slid her umbrella back into the straps that kept it
secured to her backpack when she wasn't using it.
Needless to say, the villagers were thoroughly amazed by this
little show. "My gosh!" an elderly man remarked. "I don't believe
it!" another man said in awed, hushed tones.
"Bet you're some kind of fighter, right?" a village elder
approached Ryomi. "We get a lot of martial artists coming through
here to train in the mountains near here."
Ryomi paused, not wanting to let her trepidation show. She'd
never been one for small talk, considering that most of the time she
rarely had anyone to talk to. Oh, well... time for the usual
routine. She pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket. "Do
any of you know where Fuurinkan High School is?"
The elder blinked. "Fuurinkan High School?"
"I've got a map," Ryomi replied, handing the map to the elder.
A man wearing a sweater - odd for this time of year, Ryomi
thought - peered over the elder's shoulder at the map. "Hey, that's
Tokyo!" he pointed out.
"Then this is..." Ryomi began expectantly.
"Shikoku," the elder told her.
"Oh," the Lost Girl retrieved her map. "Sorry to have bothered
you." She turned to leave.
"She must be lost..."
"This far away from her destination? I wouldn't doubt it."
Ryomi kept walking. <Your days of running are over, Saotome
Ranma! The day of our fight will come!>

At that precise moment, however, Saotome Ranma was indeed
running.
Kasuga had asked Ranma and Ayumi to drop by the shopping
district after school to pick up some vegetables for supper. It had
been raining off and on all day; Ranma was thoroughly worried her
umbrella wouldn't be enough to keep her from getting wet and
transforming out here in public - not to mention her school uniform.
Her body increased in size significantly whenever she was changed
into a guy... and she didn't feel like having her uniform, dress
jacket and all, ripped to shreds about her.
"Ranma, wait up!" It was Ayumi, holding the bag of vegetables
to himself while chasing after her. "Don't you know you're more
likely to get wet if you're running?"
This made sense. She skidded to a halt, allowing Ayumi to catch
up. "That's better. Hey, I'm getting drenched here. Can't we at
least share the umbrella?"
"Are you nuts? I need all the cover I can get! And you know
what people'll say if they see us sharing an umbrella?"
He should've brought along an umbrella of his own... though guys
rarely ever brought umbrellas to school. "You're right! What was I
thinking? Two people using an umbrella because they don't wanna get
wet? Must be a conspiracy!"
Ranma ignored him, walking faster.
"Okay, all right. If you're gonna keep the umbrella, could you
at least take the bag? Kasuga's not going to like it if we bring
home soggy vegetables."
It was a sorry attempt at a joke and they both knew it.
"Well... I guess so," the cursed girl stopped again. "Here, hand
'em to me. *Carefully*."
Ayumi did so. "You know, you don't have to be so paranoid about
getting wet. What's the big deal if you get turned into a boy out
here? It's not like you're planning to go around as a guy all that
much..."
She frowned. "You just don't get it, do you? It's all *so*
simple for you. Well, why don't you go take a flying leap into a
Jhusenkyou pool and see how paranoid YOU become?"
Ayumi had to concede the point to her. "I'll admit I don't know
all what it's like to live with that curse. But it could've been
worse, right? At least you stay human. Look at your father..."
Ranma shook her head. "Being cursed is bad enough."

<Stupid directions! Why does this keep happening to me?> Ryomi
muttered several choice curses under her breath. She had traveled
for the better part of a week and still ended up far from her
destination... Tokyo. No matter how much she tried, she hardly ever
wound up anywhere useful whenever she wanted.
It was extremely frustrating. Many times Ryomi felt like
venting that frustration on any inanimate object she passed. She
did, from time to time, but only on rocks and trees. The rest of her
anger... her pain, suffering... all locked away, to be used on
Saotome when they finally met face-to-face. Yes, Ranma would feel
her full wrath!
Ryomi caught sight of a farmer tending to his cows in the middle
of a field. "Excuse me!" she yelled, vaulting the fence. "Can you
help me?"
"Yes?"
Ryomi brought out her map of Tokyo. "I'm looking for Fuurinkan
High School. Can you tell me where I am?"
The farmer scratched his head. Strange question for someone to
be asking this far into the territory. "We are in Hokkaido."
Hokkaido. From Shikoku all the way to Hokkaido. The thought
made Ryomi sigh; this meant she had almost traveled from one end of
Japan to the other in search of Tokyo. Well, she was narrowing it
down...

Half a week later she arrived at her destination - though she
didn't realize it at the time.
Scrapes and dirt on her skin were reminders of all that she had
gone through on her way. Her clothes definitely needed washing, but
only after her revenge was complete - or she couldn't stand the dirty
clothes a minute more - there was no time to set aside for clean
clothes. Saotome Ranma, allowed the chance to escape because Ryomi
was busy with less important concerns? Not if she had anything to
say about it! Personal vendettas before personal concerns.
Ryomi heard the final bell of the day at Fuurinkan High, though
she thought nothing of it. Voices. People, saying good-bye to each
other. Knowing she should ask where she was, she swallowed her
pride, gripping the torn, yellowed map in between her fingers that
much tighter.
"Hey," one of the students leaving the courtyard voiced. "Who's
that girl?"
Boys and girls her age, in school uniforms. A stroke of luck.
She pulled the next student to pass her aside by his shirt - a
lanky young man whose name just happened to be Hiroshi.
"Tell me where Fuurinkan High School is," she demanded, drawing
a bewildered stare from Ayumi's friend. This girl was kidding,
right? They stood right outside the front gates to the school, a
large bronze plaque with the words 'Fuurinkan High School' in equally
large Kanji affixed to the wall, that Ryomi had so conveniently
missed...
When it became obvious Ryomi wasn't going to let him go unless
he answered, Hiroshi drew her attention to the sign. She read the
Kanji aloud one by one to be absolutely sure. "Is this a trick?"
asked Ryomi, releasing him.
"No. This is Fuurinkan High School."
"Then where can I find Saotome Ranma?"
They heard a girl's shout in the courtyard. "Come back here,
Ayumi!"
Hiroshi turned. "I think she's coming."
Students made way for Ayumi as he ran, chased by an angry Ranma.
Ayumi sprang into the air to avoid her. "Can't catch me!" he
laughed.
"Why you--" All of a sudden Ranma's sixth sense kicked in to
warn her of danger to come. But where...? A shadow crossed her
path, prompting her to look up.
A figure was descending upon her, holding a bamboo umbrella
clearly meant to be driven into her. "Prepare yourself, Ranma!!"
Who...?
Ryomi brought the umbrella down intending to pierce Ranma.
Ranma backflipped as the tip of the umbrella struck the ground where
she had stood seconds earlier.
The shock wave from the impact opened a crater three-and-a-half
yards wide... an effect that was not lost on anyone who saw it.
"Still the same Ranma," Ryomi sneered. "Always running from a
fight."
More interested in this skilled newcomer, Ranma only vaguely
acknowledged Ayumi coming to stand off to one side of her. "You know
her?"
Ranma thought about it. The girl admitted she knew her, so they
must both know each other, right?
Nothing came to mind.
"You've got to know her. She knows you," said Ayumi.
Still nothing.
"Don't pretend you don't know who I am, Ranma. You're not
getting out of this that easily!" Ryomi waited. The crowd's
impatience was beginning to show.
Ranma's face took on a look of recognition. "Er... we went to
the same private school, didn't we?" Finally, the name. "Hibiki
Ryomi!"
"Your memory serves you well," she mocked Ranma. "Why did you
never show up for our fight?"
"You kidding? I waited at that lot for *three days*!"
<Hold on,> Ayumi couldn't believe his ears. <*Three* days?>
"So you say. But don't deny that you weren't there on the
fourth day when I arrived!"
<The *fourth* day?>
"Ryomi?" Ranma directed an odd stare Ryomi's way. "Why'd you
make me wait for you all that time?"
"Fool! However much you suffered waiting is NOTHING compared to
how much I suffered trying to get there!"
The undeveloped lot where Ranma had agreed to fight Ryomi was
only a few blocks from the Hibiki home, in a straight line. Ranma
had no problem finding the lot, while Ryomi had taken a wrong turn
upon leaving her house and was well on her way to faraway places
unknown.
"Then, not only did I find that you chickened out, you had your
father take you to China to hide from me!" Ryomi yelled, attempting
to pummel Ranma with her umbrella.
Another misguided person who jumped to conclusions. Well, at
least this Ryomi girl seemed to have an actual mind, unlike a certain
Kendo champion they knew and disliked, Ayumi thought.
"So," Ranma casually took a stand a few yards away. "After all
this time, you've come to renew the fight?"
"Oh, I've come for much more than that," the Lost Girl shook
open her umbrella. "*Much* more. I've come for vengeance!" The
umbrella flew from her hand like a boomerang - or better yet, a top.
Ranma let the weapon arc harmlessly around her and Ayumi...
although other bystanders in the path of the umbrella weren't as
lucky, or as skilled. Apparently the umbrella's edges were as good
as razor-sharp, carving both a deep rut in the ground with its handle
and holes in the clothing of anyone who happened to be within range.
The umbrella returned to Ryomi. She caught it, raising it high
above her head. "By my hand, Ranma - I swear, your happiness will be
no more!"
<Happiness?> Ranma looked Ayumi's way. "Do I look happy to
you?"
Ayumi sighed. "How the heck should I know?"
A smirk turned up the corner of Ryomi's mouth. <Perfect.>

(...to be continued...)

----------

Credits:

Written by: Mike Koos
Prereaders: Richard Beaubien, Tom Williams, David Wills

With apologies to Rumiko Takahashi...

All parts of this series available at the RAAC archives at
ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works
or from my WWW pages at
http://www.mother.com/~makoto/stories.htm
Comments and questions welcome.

**********************************
* Mike "Ranma Saotome" Koos * "I can do nothing to stop you. Your
* (AKA "Makoto Kino") * background music is too strong for
* -------------------------------* me."
* Internet: mak...@mother.com *
* * - Whose Line is it Anyway?
**********************************
WWW: http://www.mother.com/~makoto/stories.htm