[Ranma][FanFic] Destiny's Wish, Part Thirty-Three

[Mike Koos]

Ranma's hands gripped the railing of her balcony in sheer
annoyance. With every additional thought as to how Ayumi and his
rivals were ruining her dream of playing Juliet in the play _Romeo
and Juliet_, her grip tightened. Only when the wood began to buckle
underneath her fingers did she realize how close she was coming to
destroying an important part of the scenery.
At least the spotlights weren't trained on the balcony or her at
the moment. Instead, they were trained on center stage... on Ayumi,
who was presently grousing for anyone who wanted to hear about the
very idea that someone believed he should kiss Ranma. "I won't kiss
her! Never! This isn't a part of the play!"
Of course, the audience knew better. "Yes, it is!" someone
shouted amidst a growing field of jeers. "The 'love scene' in _Romeo
and Juliet_ is famous!"
Ayumi refused to listen. Ranma growled, softly enough for only
her to hear. <Mou... he's screwing everything up!>
She'd expected him to do just that, however. Nonetheless, she
had steadfastly refused to forego her dream of playing the role of
Juliet simply because the four most likely to bring the play to a
screeching halt were each clamoring to be her Romeo for one personal
reason or another. And, despite the fact that Ayumi held little
interest in this play and obviously hadn't bothered to memorize a
fair amount of his lines, he still remained the best choice out of
all four would-be Romeos.
Kunou and Happosai both had their own reasons for trying to be
close to her... reasons which made Ranma want to stay far away from
them. As for Gosunkugi Hikaru, Ranma supposed he *was* harmless
enough - but he did unnerve her, somewhat. There was also his use of
weird disguises, such as the time he had actually pretended to be
her, school uniform and all; Ranma had never officially forgiven him
for that.
The frown which had taken shape on her lips now deepened. More
and more of late, she felt as though whatever tiny fragments of
control she had left over her life were rapidly disappearing. That,
in turn, fueled her anger. She knew this play wasn't that different
from her life - not with many people out to get her for one reason or
another, and her often being unable to do much about it. Fortunately
for her, events hadn't built to a point where she'd want to take her
own life as Juliet had, Ranma mused. And the first person who
started drawing parallels between Ayumi and Romeo in her presence
would be pounded into the floorboards.
Another glance down at the stage revealed that Ayumi was still
fretting over the concept of kissing her. Hadn't the idiot ever
heard of a 'stage kiss?' He didn't *really* have to kiss her, no
matter what their fathers believed! <Stupid old man...> The two
men would try just about anything to make the marriage they
envisioned between her and Ayumi become reality...

Destiny's Wish
Part Thirty-Three: A Kiss To End It All
written by Mike Koos
----------------------

Ayumi suddenly became aware of the sound of laughter approaching
him from behind, growing in intensity and volume as it did so. He
spun on one heel to find that his three rival 'actors' were steadily
edging closer.
Kunou folded his arms. "It was obvious to all that your
performance tonight would be as flat as this stage we tread upon,
Tendo Ayumi!" he announced in the haughty tone which wasn't that far
removed from his normal manner of speaking.
Ayumi opened his mouth to reply, but Happosai spoke first. "You
don't even know what you are doing, and are unprepared to take
advantage of an opportunity to steal a kiss from Ranma..." He latched
his pipe around the inside of one of Ayumi's wrists, flipping the
young man off-stage. "You make me sick, you false Romeo!"
"What do you think you're doing!? I'M the *real* Romeo!" Ayumi
yelled in mid-spiral.
Ranma shot him a glare he could practically feel before he
passed the edge of the curtain, then pivoted to face her would-be
suitors on-stage. "I hope you three don't think anyone's going to
kiss me except the *true* Romeo!" she told them, turning her face
away from everyone so that no one could see her fighting the
beginning of a round of tears.
Ayumi sharply withdrew his breath. Did Ranma *want* him to kiss
her? He recalled the last time he had attempted that... A girl by
the name of Shiratori Azusa had kissed him; a meaningless, confusing
kiss which also happened to be Ayumi's first kiss. Humiliated, he'd
taken a seat by himself in the middle of the dojo, and Ranma joined
him not too long after that. After a while, they had come
dangerously close to kissing, twice... and only Ayumi's reluctant
decision that if they were going to kiss, it should be a kiss they
truly meant - and the fact that everyone else in the house had been
eavesdropping on them at that exact moment - prevented them from
actually going too far beyond the thought of kissing each other.
But even then, Ranma had worn what he'd assumed was an
expression of slight disappointment. So perhaps a part of her *did*
want him to kiss her.
The problem with that, though, was that the audience and their
fathers would take a kiss between them as a sign that Tendo Ayumi and
Saotome Ranma really did love one another and were well on their way
to being married.
As if quite a lot of people didn't already believe that, now.
In the meantime, Kunou, Happosai and Hikaru had each found their
way onto Ranma's balcony and were attempting to 'console' her, or so
it appeared to the audience. "Poor Juliet," Kunou soothed, wasting
no time in wrapping an arm around the girl and placing a hand on her
shoulder. "For that false Romeo to render you so distraught..."
Happosai grinned. "Cheer up! You shouldn't be upset when our
love scene is right around the corner!" he enthused.
Before Hikaru could work up the courage to say anything, Ran ma
sent all three Romeos flying across the stage by way of a single,
forceful punch. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Backstage, Ayumi continued thinking about the situation at hand,
not having moved from the spot where he'd landed - on his head. He
folded his arms and muttered, "Damn idiots." Honestly, the other
three were only here because of Ranma. So was he, in a sense. Take
Ranma out of the picture, and what reason would they have to
participate?
Other than trying to show him up, of course.
His father and Mr. Saotome had insisted he be here, under the
pretense of being there for Ranma when she needed him... *not* so
that he could drool over the stupid tomboy.
"Oh, the sorrow felt by our beautiful heroine, Juliet," Kabuki -
in his role as narrator - announced over the sound system, hoping
that he could give the audience the impression that the crew *hadn't*
lost control over the play at large... whatever control they'd had
over the play to start with. "...as she waits for the return of her
one and only true love."
The audience resumed their low murmur. Most of them had come in
hope of seeing the much-publicized kissing scene between Romeo and
Juliet - and since Ranma was undeniably playing Juliet, everyone
assumed her Romeo was Ayumi.
Ayumi righted himself. This wasn't a matter of whether or not
he would kiss Ranma, he thought. Pride, yes, but it had gone beyond
Ranma's little dream. He had to prove to the three morons that he
could out-fight, out-think *and* out-act them - as individuals, or as
a group. Oh, he'd definitely show them...

"This can't be easy on Ranma," Sayuri shook her head in disgust.
"Can you believe that?" she asked her sister, who sat beside her in
the audience. "She's up there trying to play Juliet the way she's
supposed to, and Ayumi and those three idiots are turning this
into... into... whatever mess they're turning this into!" Sayuri
growled. She was almost inclined to make her way backstage and yell
at all four of the 'Romeo Crew' in Ranma's place.
Yuka nodded. They knew Ranma well enough that they could
recognize the signs of her distress or anger from a distance, even
when she wasn't facing them. Ranma was trying her best not to break
character, but much more of this lunacy and she would lose her
temper. She was straining to keep her infamous temper from exploding
now...
What Ranma needed was encouragement. Yuka stood. "Ganbatte,
Ranma!" she called to her friend. "Don't let them get to you!"
Soon others in the audience were adding their own encouragement
and cheers.
Ranma scanned the audience until her eyes found Yuka.
<Yuka-chan...> she thought, then gathered her determination. <She's
right. I can't let them upset me. I've been dreaming of this
opportunity since I was a child, and they are NOT going to ruin it
for me!>
She noticed Kunou running across the stage toward her balcony.
<And the sooner I get this over with...>
Ranma threw her arms wide. "Romeo-sama!"
Kunou's expression brightened considerably. "Oh! How fortunate
for both of us that you finally remember who I am, my Juliet!"
When he had come close enough to embrace her, Ranma shot a hand
forward, grabbing what she could of the elaborate costume he wore and
heaving the Kendo swordsman over the heads of the audience. "You are
NOT my true Romeo!"
In the next instant, she looked up and found that a large cargo
net was about to envelop her. A cry of surprise rose from the
audience.
Happosai quickly wrapped the net around the cursed girl and,
with a leap, carried her from the balcony to the stage. "Now, it's
time we were married!" he cackled, too caught up in the fantasies of
what he *truly* planned to do with Ranma to recognize that his
captive was barely struggling. He was enjoying his role, really;
Ranma - an innocent, beautiful and young Juliet, so pouty-lipped and
full of feminine spirit - had no choice. She would follow the rules
of her character, becoming his in the end. And she would be, too.
"Oh, dear!" Kabuki spoke into his microphone as the
martial-arts master reached the end of the stage. "What a tragedy!
Our heroine has just been abducted by an evil demon!"
Happosai set his bundle down long enough to run off-stage and
bring the weighted end of his smoking pipe down on the young man's
head. "Who do you think you're calling an 'evil demon,' boy!?"
That done, he dashed back onto the stage. Hopefully, Ranma
hadn't had enough time to break free of the net. She was a
considerable martial artist, yet nowhere in his league... though if
she were determined, as she usually was, freeing herself wouldn't
take her much time at all.
Fortunately for him, she apparently had not.
As he moved to pick up the bundle, a hand burst forth from the
netting, grabbing him and lifting him off his feet.
Juliet emerged from the net, bringing him up to her face so that
she could meet his gaze. "Niihao, Romeo-sama!" she smiled.
"Huh?" Happosai was puzzled. This was Juliet, dressed in the
exact same costume and wearing her long hair exactly as Ranma had
worn hers, but... this was *not* Ranma. Given his refined senses for
many things female, this imposter could *not* expect to trick him
into believing she was Ranma.
Shampoo smiled. It was practically impossible to go anywhere in
the district without hearing something about a diminutive old pervert
stealing lingerie and groping every girl he could find; once she had
hear that the 'pervert' was seen most often near the grounds of the
Tendo Dojo, a slight bit of surveillance helped her determine the
truth.
Nearly everything she'd heard about the man was true, the
twisted lot of it. Somehow, he had talked everyone at the Tendo home
into letting him live there, and now spent a portion of each day
tormenting them - especially Ayumi and Ranma.
Shampoo felt a touch of sympathy for Ranma. Being the only girl
in the house meant that the pervert would target her more often than
any other family member. But the fact that he was causing problems
for Ayumi angered Shampoo most of all. Regardless of what debatable
skill this 'Happosai' had as a fighter, there was no way a pervert
would get the better of her!
She had come prepared, having learned what the man's apparent
weaknesses were. Getting close to Ayumi would be a problem if she
didn't get the other Romeos and one Juliet out of the way, first.
She'd bound and gagged Ranma backstage, then carefully concealed
several bottles of hard liquor within her own costume's dress. The
extra weight - along with the glass bottles - made moving about
harder, though Shampoo hadn't planned on leaving the bottles there
for long.
Shampoo reached for one, using the thumb of the same hand to
pull out the cork before she shoved the open end of the bottle into
Happosai's mouth. Soon, he was finishing off every bottle she handed
him without any prompting. "Why, Juliet-chan," he slurred ever so
slightly, "you always know what I want."
She frowned and placed another bottle within his hands. "Very
impressive, Romeo-sama!"
Time for the final lure. Shampoo slowly drew out the extra bra
she'd worn over her regular bra. The pervert's eyes widened; she
knew this was the kind of thing he truly wanted. Great-great
grandmother wouldn't approve, but one needed drastic measures to take
out this particular pervert.
She dangled the garment before Happosai's face, using it to lead
him into the barrel of sake she had hidden behind the curtain at the
end of the stage. Once she'd had him trapped within the barrel, she
promptly nailed it shut and began tying a thick rope around it as
many times as she could. So much for *this* pervert... now all she
had to do was ship him off to some obscure part of the world.
A pair of arms wrapped around her, catching her tightly in a
near-choking embrace. "Oh, Juliet!!" the owner of those arms
exclaimed.
Shampoo recognized the voice. It was the Kunou boy, a Kendo
swordsman who was deliriously in love with Ranma even though Ranma
had no love for him. Did Ranma feel sorry for him? she wondered,
reminded for a fleeting second of her own 'relationship' with Mousse.
No matter how many times or how often she told Mousse she didn't love
him, he continued chasing her - occasionally beating up anyone who
dared show interest in her. The same could have been said of Ranma
and Kunou.
Why was it that whenever she convinced herself she had little at
all in common with Ranma, something new appeared to contradict that
thought?
Ranma was her rival. Not a friend, though they might have been
good friends had events played differently. Thinking about the
possibilities had kept Shampoo up late one night or three. The idea
of wondering what one simple change would mean to the 'universe'
she'd known was difficult to resist. What if Ranma had remained in
her village, become a member of the 'warrior tribe' alongside her?
Ranma did have potential; great-great grandmother had admitted that.
The Saotome girl deserved a measure of respect even if she wasn't a
part of their village.
But as for these *boys* who insisted on chasing them and
harassing any other boy who happened to show them even a slight
measure of consideration... Shampoo's anger rose once more. This
Kunou boy was reminding her more and more of Mousse. She'd done a
bit of checking into Kunou as well as Happosai - the Gosunkugi boy
wasn't much of a threat, in her opinion - and found that he
apparently liked bossing the entire school around, not just Ranma or
Ayumi. One of those people who thought that a weapon gave him
uncontestable power over everyone else.
She had also watched Ranma pretend to tolerate the boy's
advances backstage, before the play began. Everyone thought that she
was Ranma, now, which meant that the lovesick delusional fool would
be after her.
That, she couldn't have.
Shampoo extended a foot backward into Kunou's midsection, not
particularly caring where her foot landed. The only part of the blow
that mattered was whether or not Kunou was sent reeling away from
her. "Fancy meeting *you* here, Romeo-sama!" She was mimicking
Ranma's voice. All her efforts would go to waste if everyone
recognized she wasn't the original Juliet... at least, not until she
had shared a kiss with Ayumi. *That* would show Ranma she did not
have a chance in winning Ayumi's heart...
Kunou rebounded from the edge of the stage. Spotting one of the
open bottles of liquor, he snatched it on his flight back to his
Juliet - and before she knew it, he was forcing her to drink from the
bottle.
Her eyes widened as she involuntarily swallowed. She'd never
been much for drinking alcohol, and that was an embarrassing fact she
knew too well. But while her cheeks began to flush, Shampoo knew it
was beyond her control. Oh, she'd get him for this...
Assuming she remembered this instance later.
A yell cut through the confused murmurs of the audience. One of
the teachers' aides assigned to keep an eye on the Drama Club was
striding through the center aisle toward the stage. "Stop this play!
There is to be NO drinking of alcoholic beverages on school grounds!"
Reaching the stage, the aide leveled the Kendo practice sword he
carried for disciplinary purposes directly at Kunou. It had taken
some time for the news of this violation to reach him, but once he'd
been told that the actors were actually daring to drink *real*
alcohol on-stage... he knew he had to act fast. "If you do not want
to be suspended, young man, you will--"
The words died in his throat as Kunou effortlessly diced his
bamboo sword into several pieces with the aid of an actual katana.
This was Kunou's attempt at copying the move Ranma's mother had
previously used against him; what better way to prepare for an
opponent using such tactics than learning to execute a similar move,
himself? "I do not see any alcohol here. Do you?" Kunou brought
the blade of the katana even closer to the man's face. "Leave! You
are disrupting this play!"
"Er... r-right," the aide nervously stammered, edging away in
retreat. "Carry on."
If anything, the distraction had given all the alcohol Shampoo
had swallowed time to have an effect on her. Having pulled herself
upright, she drunkenly swayed forward a few steps. This wasn't
right... her balance was off. She made herself stand straight,
hiccuping once or twice along the way.
Kunou returned his attention to her, sword held ready as if he
thought it improved his image. "My life means nothing if I cannot
spend it in your embrace, fair Juliet," he improvised. Hardly anyone
was going by the script any longer, anyway. Plus, if Ranma realized
that he was speaking directly to her as well as her character...
Juliet giggled. "Er... okay, why not, Romeo-sama?" Shampoo
asked, forgetting that she should be disguising her voice.
Her odd behavior did not go unnoticed by Kunou or the audience.
"You!" Kunou took a step forward. That had not been the angelic
voice of his pig-tailed goddess! Had someone dared take her place?
"How dare you mock me! Who are you?"
When she didn't answer, he charged her with a quick sword slash.
Ranma could easily avoid such an attack; if this Juliet was *not* her
but some fool stealing her appearance for evil purposes... well, it
would be her loss.
Shampoo let him come close, then turned and gave him a solid
back-kick, connecting with Kunou's chin... before passing out.
The audience applauded. Anyone who could get the better of
Kunou deserved the applause.
Kunou rose from where he had landed, several feet from the
fallen Juliet, and studied her. The girl was sprawled out upon the
stage, her condition somewhere between unconsciousness and sleep,
snoring loudly. "J-Juliet...," he stammered. Could he have been
mistaken? Perhaps Ranma was proving the range of her skill as an
actor by playing hard-to-get. Certainly, no one but his pig-tailed
goddess would have the courage or skill to dare striking him...
He dropped to one knee, carefully scooping her into his arms.
"Juliet... let us prove our undying love for one another with a
kiss..."
Someone tapped the point of a prop sword against his cheek
before his lips could touch hers. "That is *NOT* the real Juliet!"
Anger, undeniable spirit and beauty, all vying for control of a
single voice. There was no mistaking that voice! Kunou's gaze
followed the length of the sword to the hand that held it, then to
the face of the girl who dared wield a sword against a fighter as
skilled as he.
"I believe *I* am the one you want," Ranma insisted.
It was her, speaking words he'd previously only heard her say
in his dreams and fantasies! And here he was, preparing to kiss an
evil doppelganger... "Oh, Juliet! Please forgive me! I did not know
this was but a mere shadow of your true beauty."
Ranma barely withheld her scowl. She was understandably angry;
first the Romeo quartet had turned the play into a competition over
her, and now Shampoo had joined the fray as well, holding Ranma
captive backstage so that she could pretend to be Juliet. Well,
Ranma thought, if she had to reclaim this play from Shampoo and the
loon squad, so be it!
She shook her head slightly, making the large braid of false
hair concealing her smaller braided pigtail sway an inch or three.
"You must pay for your infidelity," Ranma declared, striking a
fencer's pose. "Come!"
Kunou did. "Fair enough! I shall redeem myself by letting you
prove your desire to share my heart!"
Saying nothing, Ranma lunged. Had the original Juliet as written
had any experience with a sword? she wondered as Kunou proceeded to
parry each of her strikes, her tin sword making an odd clanging sound
when it struck Kunou's steel katana. Sword-fighting wasn't one of her
established skills - not yet, anyway. She had been training in Kendo,
and one day, her mother had announced that she would pass down the
family katana to Ranma.
Nodoka, unlike her, was quite skilled at using an actual sword.
That thought had inspired Ranma to try harder in mastering the use of
a sword.
Dad had insisted countless times that it was better to learn
unarmed combat. That was true; if you depended only upon a weapon in
a fight, you would find yourself at a tremendous disadvantage
whenever an opponent disarmed you. But had her father also said that
to steer her away from being able to use her mallet and mother's
katana against him?
Kunou was also more skilled than she at using a sword.
He was also somewhat prone to being fooled. Ranma grit her
teeth, pretending to have difficulty keeping up with Kunou's attacks.
If she could make him believe she had less skill or endurance when it
came to swordfighting, he would eventually make a mistake that she
could exploit. "Ah, you are quite skilled with a sword, my dear,"
Kunou gave her a tight smile. "But none in this world can hope to
compete with my skill!"
As if proving his boast, he dashed under Ranma's next strike and
his hands firmly on her shoulders to keep her from moving. "We
mustn't be fighting, Juliet. The scene of our passionate kiss is long
overdue."
Ranma brought up a clenched fist underneath his range of vision.
Hopefully, the audience wouldn't see it, either. Oh, she'd give him
something to kiss...
She never had the chance. Ayumi dropped out of the rafters onto
Kunou's head, sending the other crashing to the floor.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ranma hissed in a low voice.
"I was about to--"
"About to what? Don't tell me you *want* to do the 'love scene'
with Kunou," Ayumi said from his perch on Kunou's head, making 'quote
marks' in the air with his fingers to emphasize the words.
The blush rose in Ranma's cheeks. "N-no! Of course not!"
"Oh, really?" Ayumi turned away from her, hopping off the Kendo
swordsman's head. "What are you so afraid of? Here, I'll show you
how it's done." He walked over to Shampoo, who was busy deciding if
she should wake up for a few more minutes or simply sleep off the rest
of the alcohol, center stage. Taking the fallen girl into his
embrace, Ayumi pressed his lips to hers and bent her backward, making
a rather obvious show of kissing her.
The audience collectively gasped as a whole. They had hoped
Ayumi would kiss someone - but *Ranma*, not a girl whom most of them
did not know.
Shampoo decided that she was still fairly drunk, hallucinating,
and quietly passed out again. Ayumi promptly carried her limp form
off-stage.
Unseen by Ranma nor the audience, he had fitted a piece of duct
tape over Shampoo's mouth before pretending to kiss her. No doubt
Shampoo was here to be with him; he was in enough trouble over her
kissing him as it was. Once Ayumi was certain that no one could see
them, he wrapped Shampoo up from neck to toe with the rest of the
duct tape and hid her behind one of the wardrobe racks.
Now, to get back on stage, and get on with the play.
"Juliet!" Ayumi called, striding toward her. She had turned
her back to him. He had to admit, she'd done a great job of staying
in character all this time.
Then, once he was close enough, he could see that she had her
head lowered, and fists raised. Ranma was trembling - or perhaps
quivering in anger; he wasn't sure which.
"So that's it," she said.
Ayumi blinked. "Huh?"
"You've really only wanted Shampoo all this time, and you've
been playing with my emotions." She spun about to face him. Ki
flared into her hand, fueled by her anger, though she didn't notice
this until she had thrown Ayumi all the way across the stage with a
single slap. "WELL, I HOPE YOU TWO WILL BE HAPPY!"
Ranma stared at her hand in wide-eyed surprise. <How...?> She
had been trying for a while to develop her own ki-based special
techniques, without much luck... and now, she knew she had used her ki
in an attack without thinking about it at all. Could that be part of
the way to adapt her ki for use in her techniques? Not to give it
much thought?
Ah, well - she could think about it on the way home. "I'm going
home," she told Ayumi, not caring whether or not he could hear her
from the other end of the stage. "You can stay here with your beloved
Shampoo."
"Can it be?" Kabuki despaired from his announcer's post
off-stage. Certainly, no one among the members of the Drama Club had
seen *this* coming when they recruited Ranma and Ayumi. "Are our
star-crossed lovers through with each other, forever?"

Once backstage, Ranma yanked the false braid of long hair from
her head. "That's it! I'm through!" she snorted.
Ayumi pushed his way through the curtains leading to the stage.
"What are YOU so angry about?" he demanded. The tomboy could be set
off by the most ridiculous things, sometimes. From her words, she had
misinterpreted the dual purpose of his act with Shampoo - a quite
painful misinterpretation, from the way she had slapped him. The
makeup crew would probably have to cover up the mark left behind.
When had she learned to boost the power of her slap like that?
Her only response was to stick out her tongue at him.
"We're so close to the ending!" lamented Kabuki, turning off
the microphone so that no one would hear his words. "*So* close! I
thought we could make it before the whole play fell apart around
us..."
"You stupid tomboy! I didn't do that with Shampoo because I love
her or anything," Ayumi near-shouted, sprinting to catch Ranma before
she left the backstage area.
"Leave me alone!"
"I put some tape over her mouth and *pretended* to kiss her!" he
persisted.
She ignored him. "Whatever."
They were heading for the backstage exit, Ayumi saw - which,
thankfully was near the clothes rack behind which he'd hidden Shampoo.
He dashed ahead of her and pulled Shampoo's happily unconscious form
out for Ranma to see, pointing to the tape covering the girl's mouth.
"Here, see? Told you."
He could see indecision play for a second across her face as he
turned to look at her - and something else. Gosunkugi was creeping
from behind another rack of clothes toward Ranma!
The boy slipped a cloth over Ranma's mouth and tried to keep it
there. "H-how about some *chloroform*, my love?"
<Chloroform?> both Ranma and Ayumi wondered at almost the same
time. <Isn't that the stuff that knocks people out?>
Ranma's anger surged when she thought about the person using
chloroform on her in the first place. <Using stupid disguises isn't
enough, and now he's trying TO DRUG ME!?> She wrenched the cloth from
her mouth, using her other hand to grab the pale boy's head and shove
him to the floor. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
A blissful smile crossed Hikaru's lips. <My beloved Ranma has
yelled at me...>
Ranma felt her eyes grow heavy. The drug was having an effect on

her after all. She fought against it... but the chloroform had had
too much of a head start.
With a sigh, she collapsed into Hikaru's waiting arms.
As Ayumi watched, Hikaru brought the edge of a dagger against
Ranma's neck. "Keep away from us, Tendo! Unless you want to see her
hurt!" he laughed.
"Gosunkugi...," Ayumi warned.
Hikaru stared for a moment at the gentle beauty and innocence
the sleeping girl's face held. He couldn't truly hurt her, could he?
Of course not. But as long as Ayumi didn't realize that, everything
would be fine.
Now, for the getaway. "Come, my Juliet," he said. All he had to
do was carry her away, and... "We must flee this place, quickly."
If only he hadn't underestimated his strength in carrying an
unconscious Ranma away. She wasn't heavy - rather, he simply wasn't
strong enough to hold her entire body within his arms. The best he
could manage, straining, was to drag her along the floor by her
shoulders.
Ayumi rolled his eyes. The guy was completely pathetic! It
would take Gosunkugi forever to get Ranma anywhere, even outside the
auditorium. Still, Ayumi figured he had better teach Gosunkugi the
lesson the guy had coming. Ranma would have, had Gosunkugi not
drugged her.
A second later, Kunou burst forth from the racks to snatch Ranma
from Hikaru and send both him and Ayumi tumbling into the props
stacked nearby. "*Juliet*--!!"
He carried her back onto the stage, feeling her chest fall and
rise with every breath as he held her closely to him. "Forgive me,
Juliet, but we must continue the play if we are to share a kiss..."
Ayumi kicked Kunou in the face and retrieved Ranma from the
swordsman's embrace. "C'mon, wake up!" he urged her. "We've gotta
get this play over with and go home!" The sooner, the better. The
sensible choice would be to get her out of here and take her home,
but he knew Ranma would probably be upset if she couldn't finish the
play.
He was aware of Kabuki's voice, making another announcement. Oh,
right - they *were* back on the stage. Ranma lay limp, draped in an
undignified position within his arms. He shifted her to a more
comfortable position.
"Will our fair heroine ever wake from her deep slumber?"

** ** **

Applause masked the sound of the curtain sliding open for the
final scene.
The crew had taken care to lay the sleeping Ranma upon a bed of
flowers within an open-air glass coffin at center-stage. "As the fair
Juliet continues to sleep," Kabuki read from a script, "waiting for
the only one who can awaken her with a kiss--"
"Isn't that from _Sleeping Beauty_?" Sayuri asked her sister.
"I think so," answered Yuka. What, was Ranma now a princess
under a spell in addition to being Juliet?
"...her Romeo--" Kabuki's voice came to a strangled halt as Ayumi
lifted him off the ground by the folds of his robe.
"And just WHEN did this become a part of the script?"
Kabuki shrugged, pointing toward a pair of men - or rather, a man
and a panda - who were watching them from director's chairs stationed
nearby, stern expressions to their faces.
<Dad and Mr. Saotome,> Ayumi frowned. <Figures.> Thank goodness
he'd tied Kunou, Happosai and Gosunkugi in a not-so-neat bundle and
deposited them next to Shampoo, at the least. With any luck they
wouldn't cause any problems until the end of the play. "Who said you
two could make changes to the script?" he growled. It was just like
them to make such a change! The original script had nothing about him
needing to kiss Ranma to wake her up; he knew that much. Playing dead
would have saved him from having to worry about what the audience
thought of his acting.
Soun stood, looming over him. "There's no time to lose, Ayumi.
You must get out there, now!" Next to him, the panda offered his
agreement.
"Why should I?"
From her place on-stage, Ranma kept her eyes shut, despite what
she could hear of the argument taking place backstage. <So that's
what's going on,> she realized. The effects of the chloroform hadn't
worn off until the curtain was already opening, and Ranma had taken
her cue from the applause and Kabuki's announcement. <If Ayumi
doesn't pound them for this, I will!> Why were their fathers so
desperate to have them kiss, in front of everyone? They didn't care
at all that they were ruining a dream of hers... Unfortunately, there
wasn't much she could do about that here and now.
"Your honor is riding on this, son!" she heard Soun tell Ayumi.
It was? Since when? "And so is Ranma's. Are you willing to destroy
her dreams while the entire school watches?"
Ranma suppressed a snort at that thought. <Isn't it a little
LATE for that?>
"I'm *not* going out there!" Ayumi yelled.
The two fathers grabbed him, heaving him onto the stage with all
of their strength. "Of course you are, Ayumi! Show me and everyone
out there that you actually have *some* backbone for once in your
life!"
Ayumi latched onto the only thing available to halt his flight
across the stage - the side of Ranma's coffin. He came to a stop
inches from Ranma's face, then quickly drew back once he realized how
close he was to her lips.
The lights dimmed, save for one spotlight that was soon trained
on both of them. For a full three minutes he stood in place,
half-hiding from the audience and half-peering over the rim of the
coffin at them. Each person waiting, wanting to know whether or not
he would kiss her. Would they turn into an angry mob if he didn't?
Ranma lay before him, unconcerned. Why should she be? he
wondered. There was no one pressuring *her* to kiss him, here.
Whether she was awake or not, the audience would probably side with
her, no matter what happened.
Their stares were each directed at him. Him, and no one else.
Not even Ranma.
Her friends were in that audience somewhere, too; Ayumi recalled
hearing Yuka lead a wave of encouragement for Ranma earlier in the
play. Maybe they would be among the first in line to come after him
when the mob formed.
<I have to do this,> Ayumi told himself. <I have to. Maybe not
for honor, but...> Gritting his teeth, he gripped Ranma's shoulders
and stared nervously down at her face. Everyone was expecting a
kiss. But could he do it? Could he kiss her?
If he did, the play would be over - but everyone's opinion of his
relationship with the sex-changing tomboy freak would be changed.
He moved closer to her, a foot from her lips, now... and froze.
"Come on, hurry up!" his father urged from the sidelines. "We
don't want to be here all night!"
"Leave me alone!" Ayumi hissed in return. Already, it felt as
if his cheeks were a full shade of red, what with all the blood
surging into or through them.
What did *Ranma* think about the idea of having to kiss him?
Would she have agreed to be a part of this kissing lunacy if she
hadn't been drugged and playing the role of Juliet? Probably not.
If only she were awake now...
Kunou burst through the line his father and Mr. Saotome had
formed, having broken free of Ayumi's duct-tape bonds. "Such is your
downfall, you false Romeo! The *real* Romeo, none other than myself,
would never hesitate to kiss--"
Ayumi's left hook sent Kunou cartwheeling back into the wings.
"We've already settled this, *remember*?"
"Hmmmmmm...," Soun frowned. "I think Ayumi needs further
persuasion." He had developed a technique, based on the technique
his Honored Master used which could project an image of himself
twenty times larger than normal, that projected a large image of only
his head. It worked quite well for making people see his point,
particularly when he was angry. Genma had learned Happosai's version
of the projection technique... but not Soun's version, which required
far less amounts of ki and could be executed with fewer risks.
He used the technique to project a giant representation of his
head above and behind Ayumi. "Why don't you kiss her? Do you not
love her?" his projection boomed, eyebrows furrowing in anger.
In the audience, one of Naka's friends gave him a sidelong
glance. "Naka? Isn't that your Dad up there?"
Naka shook his head. "Nope; just a bunch of special effects."
<Dad, you're embarrassing us again...>
"Hey!" Ayumi argued with his father. "Will you quit trying to
force me to kiss her?" Lowering his voice to a level which his father
and the audience couldn't hear, he added, "I haven't decided whether
or not I... if I... l-love her."
Ranma's eyes opened wide.
She hesitantly extended a hand, resting it atop Ayumi's fingers.
"Ayumi...," she whispered, somewhat urgently.
Ayumi started, then bent closer to her. "Y-y-you... you're
awake?" And she had heard, too...
"You want to get this over with, right?" she asked him, shutting
her eyes. "Come on, kiss me."
He backed away from her. "I... I can't! You don't understand!"
"Please, Ayumi-kun? Won't you do this...... for me?" Ranma
pleaded.
Ayumi found himself leaning even closer. Peering into her eyes,
following the soft outline of her features... <She *is* cute.>
She pulled him close to her, her hands on his cheeks, and they
kissed.
<R-Ranma...>
The audience erupted into cheers, catcalls and applause.
Banners unfurled amidst a sudden storm of confetti, proclaiming a love

between a boy and a girl that would never be destroyed.
Ayumi withdrew from the kiss. "So, what do you think?" Ranma
grinned, sticking her tongue out at him again. She had used precisely
the same trick he had used when kissing Shampoo - a wide strap of duct
tape now completely covered Ayumi's mouth. "Did you like my
performance?"
He could only mumble a few words and hope that Ranma wouldn't be
able to discern what they were.

** ** **

It was mid-evening by the time Ranma and Ayumi had changed into
their 'street clothes' - their school uniforms, rather - and started
on their way home.
Ranma walked with an energetic spring in her step, carrying her
clothes bag behind her back and humming a song she had heard while out
at the arcade with Sayuri and Yuka. She looked up at Ayumi, who was
walking on the top of the chain-link fence bordering a drainage ditch,
all to keep his distance from her. "Gonna sulk all the way home,
huh?"
"Just shut up," snorted Ayumi. Residue from the tape she'd used
still coated his mouth; no amount of soap had succeeded in cleaning
all of the stuff from his face. <Stupid tomboy,> he turned his gaze
away from her, spitting out more of the blasted glue. <Who does she
think she is?>
She continued to smile, raising a finger to her mouth in apparent
thought. "I'm sorry. What do you say we try that kiss again - this
time without the tape?"
Ayumi lost his footing on the fence and nearly fell into the
drainage ditch.
Ranma blinked, watching him cling to the fence in a frantic
effort not to fall. "Sheesh, it was just a joke. You really are
easily fooled, you know that?"
"You are SO not cute!"
She shrugged. "Ask me if I care."

<end>

------------
Credits:

Written by: Mike Koos
Pre-readers: Richard Beaubien, Kevin D. Hammel, Jonathan Ng, Tom
Williams

With apologies to Takahashi Rumiko...

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

*****************************
* Mike ('Kino Makoto') Koos * "I can do nothing to stop you.
*---------------------------* Your background music is too
* email: mak...@mother.com * strong for me."
***************************** - Whose Line is it Anyway?
www: http://www.anime.usacomputers.net/~makoto/index.htm