[Ranma][FanFic] Far and Away - Part 3

[Nicholas Leifker]

C&C welcome.

Leifker presents...

Kobe positively glowed with life that late April afternoon.
While the cherry blossoms had come and gone a month past, it did
nothing to discourage the city's beauty, nor the peace that permeated
the air. The wind brushed coolly against the skin, bringing a nice
chill to balance the sun's warmth, while the trees still did their
best to shield the powerful rays from the humans below.

Ukyou skipped along the city's streets, her heart aflutter. For
the first time in far too long, she felt... young. She no longer
lied to herself, denying her feelings and holding them deep inside,
thus allowing herself to revel in those feelings she'd denied for so
long. She was learning to trust herself again, and in doing so was
beginning to trust others. She was innocent once more, sinless,
without the burdens life had dealt her.

She stopped, and leaned against a tree. Children played nearby,
their shouts and laughter music to a dreaming woman's ears. She
watched in mild amusement as they kicked a soccer ball around, their
movements chaotic ballet to an outdoor backdrop. She smiled and
hummed an old tune to herself, remembering the fun times she'd had in
her childhood.

Her senses let her know of the object's approach, and she deftly
reached her hands up to catch at the last second.

"Nice catch, mister."

Ukyou paused for a moment to look at the soccer ball in her
hands, then at the small child who'd run up to retrieve it. With
dark hair, rich chocolate-brown eyes, and soft, delicate features,
the child could have been her double back then. Except... this girl
had eyes lighter than hers, by the tiniest shade. Ukyou smiled, and
silently threw the ball back to her.

"Thanks." The girl dropped the ball, and went back to join her
friends.

Ukyou spent another moment gazing at the children playing, then
resumed her walk back to the shop. She'd wasted enough time here,
and her parents would need her help tonight.

*********************************************************************

Leifker presents...

Far and Away

Part three (of three)

A work of anime fanfiction by Nicholas Leifker

All Ranma 1/2 characters created by Rumiko Takahashi. All others
created by Nicholas Leifker.

All rights reserved. I ask that you not do anything with any part of
this work without the author's permission.

The river goes on and on...

*********************************************************************

Hikaru Kuonji was worried.

This was not a new condition for him; he'd seen too much
heartache in his life for him not to know its darkening effects.
But, this time, it was different.

He'd always thought his child to be a levelheaded person,
obedient to her parents in a way so few children were anymore. She
ran the store with a skill and flair he could only dream of having,
and had brought nothing but honor to the family name.

Now, though... it seemed she was threatening to bring all of
that crashing down. Ever since she'd started hanging around that...
Toshi, she'd been a little more playful to the customers, sometimes
more playful than a boy should act. Indeed, she acted almost like
some giggling schoolgirl whenever that particular young man came
around. This was not good; Ukyou had a reputation and an appearance
to uphold, and her behavior was threatening to shatter that.

Something clearly had to be done, before the situation became
unmanageable. He really didn't want to send her to Uncle Tamiya; he
loved his brother dearly, but he had some problems that worried him.
He couldn't have her give up the boy's guise, as she was known both
professionally and legally as a man. Unfortunately... Ukyou didn't
seem to want to live as a boy anymore.

He went through the options in his mind over and over, searching
for some way to resolve the problem. Ideas formed inside of his
head, plans and plots that brought a thin, grim smile to his wizened
face.

*********************************************************************

Sheer poetry. Those were the words on Toshi's mind that
afternoon.

He stood on the rocks overlooking the beach, watching as his
friend played her dangerous games along the rocks. Her moves were
more fluid than the last time he watched from this position; more
relaxed, he decided. She looked like she was enjoying herself; she'd
occasionally throw in a bit of attitude, a gesture to the sea as she
fought with it to show it that it wasn't a victory, as nature might
claim, but rather a draw, with neither side claiming dominion over
the other. Toshi worried a bit at some points, usually when she
would start a particularly complex kata, but not too much; after all,
she'd been fighting this way since she was six, and she was quite
good when she had a level head.

After about an hour, the girl walked from the beach to the rocks
above, a wide grin painted on her salt-streaked face. Toshi pulled
out a large towel for Ukyou to dry herself off with, then invited her
to sit down.

"Ukyou... you frighten me."

"How so?" She wiped the spray from her face and arms, and
tossed the towel back to him. "Don't tell me you're actually worried
about me..."

"Well... yes." He reached into his bag, and pulled out some
drinks. "Why you insist on risking your life on these rocks is
beyond me."

Ukyou popped open her drink, savoring the taste of citrus-sour
on her tongue, and looked out to the sea. "Those waves were my only
friend for ten years, Toshi. What may seem like a crashing wave to
you is a cool splash to me."

Toshi stared down at his feet, unsure of how to respond to that.
There was so much of her past that he didn't know, so many pains she
still kept hidden from the world. Ukyou shook him from his reverie
with a gentle touch.

"So... how have things been for you lately?"

"Oh... fine. Ol' Tanaka-sensei's giving us some grief, but I'm
handling it. How about you?"

Ukyou shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Things have been a little
tense around my parents, but otherwise fine."

"How so?" Toshi took a sip of his drink.

"Well... they've been kinda... distant of late. Dad hasn't said
so much as a word to me, and Mom hasn't been much better." She
looked down at her drink. "I think they don't like you very much."

"I tend to have that effect on people, for some reason," Toshi
quipped, not entirely in jest. "Do you think it'll be a problem?"

Ukyou ran a thumb along her drink. "I don't know. They were
the only people I had to talk to for a long time. Silence from
them... it hurts."

Toshi looked up, taking in the beauty of the infinite sea. "I
understand all too well. You are going to have to talk with them,
you know."

Ukyou sighed and looked at her friend, taking comfort in his
gray eyes. "I know." The two stood there for a moment, taking in
the ocean's deceptive peace before the tide came in to send them
running.

*********************************************************************

"Ukyou? We need to talk."

The young chef turned around from her chores, to face those she
cared about most. Her father sat in one of the store chairs,
silently fuming, while her mother stood supportive behind him.
Judging by their expressions, this was not going to be a fun talk...
Ukyou stopped her cleaning, and went over to them.

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

Mrs. Kuonji bit her lip for a moment, then placed a hand on her
husband's shoulder. "Ukyou, dear, we're concerned about all the time
you've been spending with your friend."

"You mean Toshi." Ukyou fought back her own concerns, and stood
her ground.

"Yes, Ukyou. We're concerned that the young man's being a bad
influence on you."

The teenager raised an eyebrow, and put her hands on her hips.
"How so?"

"Well, we've noticed some changes in your behavior since he
started coming around, changes that, while perhaps appropriate for a
girl your age, is unbecoming for a young man."

"What sort of changes?" Ukyou asked, genuinely curious. She
really hadn't noticed any change in her behavior, just her attitude.
She still acted like the tough guy at school, and tried to keep up
the act whenever in public.

"You don't even see it, do you?" Mrs. Kuonji stared at her
child, slightly puzzled.

"See what?"

The older woman started listing the pieces of evidence. "Your
stance right now, for starters. Guys just don't put their hands on
their hips like that. Then there's the occasional giggle you
produce, the exuberant way you've taken to greet some of our
customers..."

Ukyou turned away for a moment, considering what her mother had
just said. If she really was starting to act like a girl... "Mom,
what do you want me to do about it?"

Her father coughed, more to get their attention rather than
anything else. "Ukyou, we'd like you to work harder to maintain your
disguise, and to stop seeing that Toshi boy."

Ukyou swallowed, trying to absorb what they'd said - what they
asked of her. They wanted her to go back, to give up the only friend
she had in the world, to give up the nice, comfortable feeling she
had when he was around... "Dad, I can't do that."

"Excuse me?" her father asked, unsure of his ears.

Ukyou turned to face him, her eyes full of pain. "Father, I
can't go back. I... if what you say is true, that I _have_ changed,
then I can't hide who I am anymore, not in the way you want me to.

"Do you know how lonely it's been for me? How it felt to hide
in a corner of the locker room to change and shower? Putting up this
mask for everyone so they could see how 'manly' I am? Never getting
close to another human being for fear that they find out who I really
am? Dad, I can't live that way anymore. It's... It's not me."

Ukyou's father let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "I see. Then it
seems we have no choice."

"What do you mean?" Ukyou whispered, a trace of fear entering
her voice.

Mrs. Kuonji gripped her husband's shoulder. "Ukyou, your father
and I have uncovered some information about your friend's background,
information that could be damaging to his reputation at school. If
you're not willing to let him go, then..."

A chorus of emotions flashed through Ukyou in a second: stark,
naked fear first, then dark shame, until finally settling on raw,
undisposed anger. Her words came out more a hiss than anything
coherent. "You mean... you'd ruin a person's life just to get him
away from me?"

Her parents, used to her anger, stood their ground. "We don't
want this any more than you do, Ukyou. However, your actions leave
us no choice." Traces of frustration crept in the older woman's
voice as she ended her words.

Ukyou nodded. She wasn't angry anymore; all she felt was a
sadness, a mourning of loss. "I see."

She shook her head, not able to look her parents in the eye.
"When I was growing up, the one thing I had pride in more than
anything else was the honor our family had. No matter what, we were
always fair to others, and carried on without getting involved in the
petty secrets everybody else did.

"Now... I can barely look at you without throwing up. All Toshi
wanted to be was a friend, nothing more, and to help me with problems
I had in my life. That's all he ever wanted, and for it, you'd ruin
his life. Real honorable, that."

Ukyou could hear her father's frustrated inhale. "Ukyou, we're
just looking out for your own best interests."

"MY best interests?!?" Ukyou snapped, incredulous. "Don't give
me that. All you ever cared about was your own 'honor'. Why else
would you take a six-year-old and force her to live a lie?"

"Ukyou." Her mother was shaking, desperately trying to control
her own temper. "We were only trying to protect you. Do you know
what it would have been like for you to grow up as a girl after your
fiance ran off? They would have torn you apart." She lowered her
head to the ground, not wishing her daughter to see her face. "We
only wanted the best for you."

The young woman swallowed, tears coming for the first time that
night. "I... I know, Mom. But that's done, now. I can't go back to
what I was." She mechanically picked up her jacket and headed for
the door. "Mom, Dad, I'm going out for a walk. I need some time to
think."

*********************************************************************

Toshi let out a gentle laugh as a meatball-headed character
tripped over her own feet. For some reason, Sailor Moon always made
him laugh despite himself. Sure, it was a show primarily geared
toward eight-year-old girls. But, it also contained some hilarious
dialogue, intriguing characters, and a storyline that appealed to the
romantic in him. Despite everything that had happened in his life,
he still found the courage to dream, and the show appealed to those
dreams.

*knock, knock*

He heard Ukyou's voice calling him before he opened the door.
His fingers fumbled with the latch, and he struggled with the door
before finally opening it. When he did, and Ukyou came rushing into
his arms, he almost wished he hadn't.

Ukyou's appearance could only be described as... haunted.
Red-rimmed eyes were shut tightly as she held him, with a frustration
and sadness only found among the lost. Her toned muscles shivered
involuntarily, and occasionally sobs would shudder through her frame.
He carefully guided the young woman onto his couch, gently sitting
her down before taking a seat himself.

"Talk to me, Ukyou."

Ukyou stared down at her hands, apparently pondering their
usefulness. She swallowed, and took deep breaths to gain her
composure. "Toshi, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... I can't come here
anymore..."

"Why?" He had an idea, but he needed to hear it from her.

Ukyou's mouth hung open for a moment, frozen in indecision. "My
parents... they ordered me not to see you anymore. They also found
out... about your background... and threatened to let everyone know
if I continued."

Toshi closed his eyes, fighting down the anger within. Events
of a year ago played in his mind, images that haunted his nightmares,
sending a chill through him. When he did finally speak, it was soft,
almost inaudible.

"I... see." He rubbed his eyes, in a vain attempt to hide the
pain. "Perhaps you'd better tell me the whole story."

Ukyou told the story to him as best she could, stopping at
moments to get her bearings. By the time it was over, both of them
were shaking. Toshi ran his slim, long fingers through his hair, and
let out a deep sigh.

"So... what are you going to do now?"

Ukyou threw her hands up in surrender. "What can I do, Toshi?
If I stay, you lose everything you've worked for! But if I go... I
lose everything I care for."

Toshi slid closer to Ukyou, and put his arm around her. He
honestly didn't know how to respond to that. "Ukyou... I... I care
about you more than anyone else. You're my friend... and about the
only one I have left in this world. I would love for you to stay
here... if you're willing."

Ukyou shook her head quickly. "But... but... I... I can't!
I... you... we..."

"I... I know," Toshi replied sadly, and he did. For all the
problems she had with her parents, Ukyou would still care for them
too much. He'd felt that way too a long time ago, and he missed that
love terribly. "I know."

She lay down on the couch, and put her head in his lap. "Why
does it have to be this way, Toshi?" she asked wearily. "Why can't
we just live our lives in peace?"

Toshi took her hand, and gently rubbed his thumb along her
fingers. "I don't know, Ukyou. Believe me, I wish I did. I wish I
could take you all away from this, and let you live a life of your
own... unfortunately, running has never solved anything - not for me,
anyway."

"Running? You?"

The pair shifted around a bit, allowing Ukyou to look up at
Toshi's face. "Look at me, Ukyou. I hide from everyone and
everything, just so I can try to live a normal life. I almost never
see my family; they're busy hiding or mourning my brother."

Toshi smiled bitterly, and stroked his fingers through her hair.
"Maybe that's why we care about each other. We've both been running
from ourselves for far too long."

Ukyou swallowed, then shifted her head slightly. "When you
said... you'd still accept me... did you mean it?"

He smiled. His throat hurt; he was holding in far too much.
"Of course. That's what friends are for, ne?"

She clumsily reached up a hand, to feel the tears coming down.
Her voice was hoarse from her sobs, but her meaning was still clear.
"Friends?"

Toshi never knew smiling could hurt so much. "Friends."

*********************************************************************

Gentle footsteps shuffled along in the night in a slow,
seemingly-random pattern, like a lost soul trying to find a home.
The artificial shadows from the lights stretched to infinity, the
original form twisted in silhouette against the concrete.
Occasionally a sound would come from the darkness, a faint touch of
life from a nearby house or the scavenging of some animal, but
silence still held sway over much of the night.

Ukyou walked alone along the city's streets - the closest place
she could think of to home. Going back to Toshi after tonight would
mean turning her back on her family; going back to her parents would
mean caving in, and throwing away a friendship she held too highly to
tarnish. So... she continued her walk, her thoughts her only family.

How had she ended up here? She only wanted a little light in
her life; was it wrong for her to have a friend? If her parents were
to be believed... yes. Unfortunately, the feelings she had gained
from her friendship with Toshi could not be discarded. Giving up on
this side of herself would be like cutting off an arm, or never
cooking again. It was a hardwired part of her now, forever enmeshed
in her soul.

So... what was she to choose? Her family, or her friend? The
people who gave her life and a home, or a person who gave her a new
definition of living?

No matter which she chose, she lost.

She looked down at a pebble on the ground, and kicked it out of
sight. This wasn't some bully she could trash in the courtyard, or
an overly-drunk customer who chose not to pay his bill. This was the
ocean, in all its fury: indomitable and unstoppable, crashing against
anything in its path. No matter what moves she made, no matter how
many times she stabbed at it with her tools, it kept coming,
relentless, until it overwhelmed her.

Biting her lip, she stopped, and remembered the first time she
went to the ocean for comfort. She had been just a child of six;
Genma and Ranma had just abandoned her near the ocean; she was left
to fend for herself. She wandered around for a few hours, not
wanting to go back home, and not knowing if there was a home to go
back to.

The sea called to her then; after all, wasn't the ocean where
everyone went to play? It was not the gentle seas and comforting
beaches she found on that day, though; this was the spring, when the
spray chilled the bones and the rocks held dangers unknown to a
child. She walked out to the sea, encountered her first wave... and
stood her ground, though just barely.

Finally, she had found something she could fight. She swung her
spatulas at the crashing waves, fighting back against nature with all
of her anger, salt tears and salt water mixing on her face, until she
broke down on the rocks, too exhausted to continue. It took her an
hour to go back to civilization and call home.

The young woman looked back at the path she had taken, and wiped
her tears. Somehow, she knew the answer, the only possibility open
to her, no matter how difficult. She had to erase ten years of
darkness, of pain, of fighting the wrong battles in the wrong wars.
It was time, she knew; she was strong enough to go on her own, and
had saved up enough to make it on her own and then some.

Ukyou pulled a spatula from her bandolier and hurled it at a
nearby pole, neatly landing it on target. She was ready, and it was
time.

*********************************************************************

Kyoko Kuonji sighed contentedly to herself, and looked from her
position at the grill to the street outside. The past week had been
so peaceful, ever since she and her husband had taken a firm stand
with Ukyou. They had nipped the problem in the bud quickly, saving
their child (and, by extension, their family) from a potentially
embarrassing situation. After scaring her away from Toshi, Ukyou had
moped around for a couple of days, but soon got over it.

There was definitely something to be said for taking a firm
stand with children.

Her thoughts, quite naturally, drifted to her progeny, and she
turned to look toward the upstairs area they lived in. Much as she
wished otherwise, Ukyou wasn't a child anymore; she was growing up in
ways that frightened her. Was the dilemma with Toshi just a one-time
affair, or the symptom of a larger problem? If so, what could be
done about it, if anything? Should they even be trying to make her
live as a boy, due to a family dishonor ten years ago?

The mother left her place at the grill. Ukyou hadn't been seen
all day; she was apparently in her room, but hadn't bothered to come
out yet. She walked up the steps to Ukyou's room, and knocked at the
door.

"Ukyou? Can I come in?"

"Sure, Mom." The door slid open in front of her, allowing her
access.

"Ukyou, dear, I was wondering what you... what are you..." The
words faded from her lips as she took in the state of Ukyou's room.
Walls adorned with posters for years were now bare, their bright
emptiness glaring out at the older woman. A pile of packing boxes
lay stacked and labeled neatly in a corner, unobtrusive yet speaking
volumes. In the middle of the room was a single suitcase,
half-filled with Ukyou's clothes. Mrs. Kuonji walked over to her
child, and placed a hand on her arm.

"What are you doing? Why are you packing your things?"

The glare that came from her child's eyes was almost painful.
The brown orbs held every bit of the fire and anger they'd held in
the past, but there was a stabilizing factor tempering them now:
determination. Ukyou had apparently made her decision, and it didn't
appear to be in her family's favor.

The young chef coughed once, and returned her mother's grip.
"Mom... I'm going away for awhile."

It took all of Mrs. Kuonji's self-control to keep from
screaming, or holding her fast, or pleading for her to stay. All
that came was a single tear. "To... Toshi?"

To her surprise, Ukyou shook her head and smiled. "No, Mom.
I'm going to start a restaurant in Tokyo. Nerima district, to be
precise."

Pain and confusion roared through the mother, sending more
tears down her cheeks. "Why there?" she wailed, her voice cracking.
"What in the world's in Nerima that you can't find here?"

Ukyou let go of her grip, and pulled some shirts out of the
closet. "A young high-school student by the name of Ranma Saotome."
She set the clothes in the suitcase with a purposeful air.

Mrs. Kuonji blinked. She was going after... which meant... She
grabbed Ukyou by the arm, stopping her motions. "Wait a second.
You're leaving your father and me - everyone you care about - to go
find someone who you haven't seen in ten years, and who ABANDONED
you? That's... that's..." Her voice trained off, as a low feeling
started in her gut - feelings of guilt, and loss.

Not noticing the change in her mother's demeanor, Ukyou stormed
to the offensive. "That's the reason why I'm dressed up as a boy
right now, Mom! Did you ever think that maybe - just maybe - I might
have had a chance to live a normal life if I'd caught up to them
before?" She shook her arm from her mother's grip, and laid the
shirts in the suitcase. "I have to go, Mom. I can't live like this
anymore, and this seems to be the only way out."

The older woman looked at the packed goods around her, the
shiver in her bones uncontrollable. Ukyou was leaving. In a foolish
attempt to preserve her own family, she'd succeeded in tearing it
apart. The tears were flowing freely now, though she couldn't bring
herself to dry them off. Not knowing of anything else to do, she
leapt for her child, sobbing soft pleas for her home.

"Please... don't go..."

Mrs. Kuonji began to hope when she felt the arms wrap around
her; her child at least loved her that much. She felt strong hands
separating her from her child, and forcing her into Ukyou's gaze.

To her surprise, the older woman found tears rolling down her
only child's cheeks. The child tried to dry them off vainly, but
couldn't quite manage it.

"Mom... I know this hurts... but I have to. I've been fighting
the wrong battles in the wrong wars for far too long. If I didn't
go... we'd probably be at each others throats by the end." Ukyou
managed a weak smile for her mother. "At least this way... we remain
friends. Okay?"

Mrs. Kuonji looked hard into those eyes, light and darkness
intermingled in her soul. Ukyou was leaving; she knew that now, and
there was nothing she could do about it. Her child had set her mind
on resolving this, and she was unstoppable once she'd set her mind to
something.

Despite the loss she felt, a hole which tore at her insides, she
still found some reason to be happy. Ukyou was going away to set
things right again, and to bring honor to her family. Nothing
greater could be asked of her, and she was giving it willingly.
Also, whatever mistakes she and her husband had made in the past were
forgiven, if not forgotten.

Mrs. Kuonji grabbed her child in a hug, savoring the few
precious moments before it all slipped from her grasp. "Okay...
daughter." She swallowed, and tried to dry her tears as best she
could. "Do you need any help packing?" she forced out.

Ukyou nodded. "Sure, Mom," she whispered, her voice strangled
with emotion.

Mrs. Kuonji took in one last look at her ch... her daughter,
wanting to remember her as she was before she faded away. She truly
was a beauty; hands strong enough to handle any problem, but gentle
enough to hold someone close... dark eyes shining with intelligence
and passion... a trim, fit body the envy of any person, man or
woman... The mother smiled, and reached into the closet.

Now, perhaps, the healing could begin.

*********************************************************************

The restaurant held the vacant openness typical of abandon;
however, the shine to the grill and the gleam of the implements and
furniture showed that this was a beginning, rather than an ending.
The grill off to one side was smaller than the one she'd worked on at
her parents' place, but such things to be expected. The faux-wood
tables and chairs that littered the rest of the shop sat empty,
begging to be filled with customers.

Ukyou took a sip of her tea, admiring her new home and
restaurant. She still wasn't quite used to the 'hers' part of her
thoughts; dreaming of owning a shop was one thing, actually seeing it
in plain sight and feeling the solidity of the tables and chairs was
another matter entirely. Here was a child's lifetime's worth of
dreams, gambled into one small place on Nerima's east side. Part of
her still wanted to go back ho... to her parents' place, to work and
live safely - but she knew the folly of such 'safety'. For better or
worse, she had built a home here, a place to build a new life and
repair her old one.

She looked down at the letter sitting innocently on the table.
She knew who it was from, and why it was written, and it scared her.
She gently opened the letter, and spread its contents on the table.

Ukyou -

Hello. I apologize if my words are a little rough; I may have a
rogue's tongue, but I have an idiot's hand.

I just wanted to say thanks. Part of me wanted to strangle your
parents for what they were doing to us. It seemed so much like what
had happened in Kyoto that I was ready to scream. I don't think I
could have withstood another mess like that. While I do miss you a
lot, this was probably the best solution overall; leaving, but
leaving to something, not away from it.

Things have sure been quiet since you left, although not as quiet as
they used to be. I've actually gotten involved in school a bit more,
crazy as that sounds. I'm scared one of them will find out, but at
least that's better than total loneliness. Thanks for showing me
that.

I hope your quest ends successfully, if it hasn't already. I will
never forget that night we spent along the shore, or the peaceful
evenings at my house. Take care, Kuonji-chan.

Your friend,
Toshifumi Yamada.

Ukyou wiped the tears from her eyes, and stared out at the dawn
outside. The early light was always a welcome beacon to her whenever
she opened, a calling for her to get up and go on. As she looked on
at the light from her new place, she picked up her mug, snuggled into
her chair, and smiled.

Today, it had come to welcome her home.

*********************************************************************

Hello.

This is the perfect example of a story changing over time. My
initial concept was for Ukyou to have a falling out with her parents
after trying to begin a relationship with a young man, resulting in
her making an interesting wish in a fountain - that Ranma know every
bit of the pain she went through over the years. Hence, EVERYTHING
that happened later on, from the curse to the monsters of the week,
was all Ukyou's fault. Also, the concept of Ukyou-pre-Nerima hadn't
been explored, nor her reasons for going to Nerima after all that
time.

Well, I tried writing that... wrote a first draft, and part of a
second... but it just wasn't working. I showed copies to people,
talked a bit about it... then shelved it away for later use.

Sometime around early August, I dusted it off, and tried again, with
a different focus. The relationship between Ukyou and Toshi was
taking up more and more of my thoughts for the piece, and the work
eventually focused on it. The result is what you see here.

Thanks to "Da Guyz" (James "Zen" Bateman, Sean Gaffney, Richard
Lawson, Greg Sandborn, and Sebastian Weinberg) and to Doug Reeves and
Bridget Ellen Engman for their C&C and help with this.

Nicholas Leifker
nwl...@unix.tamu.edu
http://people.tamu.edu/~nwl9354
October 12, 1997