Roamin' Ryoga – Chapter 4
I've been re-watching Ranma ½ with a friend of mine and we've been talking about fanfictions we read back in the day. We used to read A LOT of Ranma ½ fanfiction. So, while at work, this idea came to me. I hope I can do it justice.
I don't own Ranma 1/2, or any other properties, songs, movies, or people mentioned in this story. Any resemblance to real people, or events are entirely coincidental.
"So I click this?"
A click could be heard, and a flash of light illuminated part of the small room.
"Yeah! You got it! Let's check how it looks." Hiro walked towards Ryoga and gently moved Ryoga's hand to face him. "Click right there in the bottom left corner!"
Ryoga pointed to a small square in the corner of the screen that showed a tiny Hiro, "There?"
"Yes! It should bring up the picture you just took."
Ryoga pressed his finger down on the square and the small picture took over his screen. It was Hiro, smiling wide, and giving the V for victory sign. "Whoa!"
"That came out pretty good. Nice and clear. I'm glad Ms. Tendo bought you the plus model. Your hands are so large, it's the only way you can hold onto it without getting in the way of any of your shots." Hiro gave a small laugh.
"The basics of it isn't all that different from old fashioned film cameras. The only difference is… I can see this one right away!" Ryoga seemed more confident about what he was doing. Most of what Hiro had been teaching him was actually pretty easy. It's like someone took a bunch of others things, and just put them all in the palm of your hand.
"I knew you'd pick up on it! Apple did a pretty good job at having a simple interface that most people could just pick-up and learn… even without much training in technology or computers." Hiro seemed more excited than ever. Everything was going so smoothly! Ryoga had learned how to enter information into his contacts page, how to make a phone call, how to send a text message, how to use his e-mail (that Nabiki set up), and even how to take a picture! All in one afternoon! Well, they had taken a break for some dinner… where Ryoga regaled Hiro with stories of his youth (some involving Nabiki)… It had actually gotten quite late.
Ryoga yawned. "What time is it?"
Hiro pointed to Ryoga's phone, "Your phone should have the time. Anytime you go to the home screen, or your lock screen, you should see what time it is."
Ryoga clicked the home button and saw that it was nearly midnight. "It's nearly midnight! I think we should call it for the day."
"Yeah, I guess I should let you get… to…" Hiro yawned really loudly. "Huh. I guess it is later than I thought."
Ryoga looked to Hiro, "Are you gonna be okay getting home?"
Hiro thought about it. "I'm not even sure if the trains are running this late. I've never been out this late alone. One of my friends will usually have a car."
Ryoga walked over to his backpack and pulled out a worn sleeping bag. He rolled it out over an open part of the floor. "You take the bed. I'm used to sleeping in my bag."
Hiro looked at him in shock. "I can't do that! Ms. Tendo set up this bed for you! I'll sleep on the floor."
Ryoga stopped him before he reached his sleeping bag. "No, you've worked so hard to help me, and I really do sleep in this bag most of the time. I'll probably sleep better since it's familiar."
Hiro gave a small bow and thanked Ryoga. They shut out the lights, and readied themselves for bed. It would be a long day tomorrow…
When Ryoga woke up, he didn't quite know where he was. He was in his sleeping bag… but the ground was very flat and kind of hard. It was very dark. He was sure it was morning though…
*beepbeepbeepbeepbeep*
Ryoga looked towards the sound of the beeping and remembered where he was. A screen on the other side of the room lit up as the beeping stopped. Illuminated by the screen, Ryoga could see a disheveled Hiro, fumbling for his glasses. A few moments later, Hiro had found his way to the light switch and the room was as bright as it had been the previous day.
"Good Morning, Hiro." Ryoga was used to waking up pretty early. Usually with the sun.
Hiro's eyes were barely open, and he grumbled a barely audible "Good Morning…" Hiro shuffled over to what they were calling the kitchen area. He opened one of the bottom cabinets and looked inside. "Score!" He pulled out a small red machine and placed it on the counter. He plugged it into the wall and grabbed a mug from another cabinet. He filled the cup and poured the water into the machine a few times.
"What is that?" Ryoga had rolled up his bag and was watching what Hiro had been doing.
Hiro didn't look up and kept working with the machine, turning it on. "I'm making coffee. I found a Keurig in the cabinet. It's small and one of the cheapest models… but it'll do what I need it to do for now." He had found a box in the cabinet and took a small sealed cup out of it. He opened the top of the machine and placed the cup in. When he closed the lid, a small pop could be heard as the cup had been punctured. After about a minute, Hiro placed the mug in the front of the machine and pressed the button on the right side of the machine. Hiro looked at Ryoga for the first time that morning, "Do you want any? I can make you one after my cup is done."
The machine had started sputtering a little and coffee started pouring into the cup. "I've never much cared for coffee. It tends to be too bitter."
The machine seemed to have finished filling the mug and Hiro moved it out of the way, adding a packet of sugar to it. "I understand. It's not for everyone. I think we do have some tea though…" Hiro took a sip of his coffee and looked in the cabinet once again. "Ah! Here we go. I found some Tazo green tea."
Ryoga was confused for a moment. "Tazo?"
"It's just the brand. I think they're owned by Starbucks. It's American… but should be more your speed." Hiro had pulled out the small white cup with a green seal on top.
"I'll give it a try. I like green tea… so I guess where it comes from shouldn't matter." Ryoga was doing some morning stretches in an open part of the room.
Hiro pulled another cup out of the cabinet and ran the machine. Plain hot water with a few dark flecks was in the cup. He dumped it into the sink, rinsed it, and placed it back into the machine. After adding the pod, he ran the machine again and green tea flowed into the cup. When it was done brewing, he offered the cup to Ryoga while sipping his own coffee.
"Thanks." Ryoga stopped stretching to take the tea and drink it. 'Well, it's not great… but it's not the worst thing I've ever had.'
"Any good?" Hiro was cleaning the counter they just used, but left out the machine for drinks later in the day.
"It's not terrible." Ryoga drank the rest of the tea. "I could go for some breakfast though… "
Hiro thought about it for a moment, "I think I remember where the cafeteria is. I'll go get us breakfast."
Ryoga started to get up from the table he sat at…
"No. You stay here. I don't want to lose you on my third day of work." Hiro pointed at the table, asking Ryoga to stay in the room.
"What should I do while you're gone?" Ryoga didn't like to be cooped up alone for long.
"You just got a brand new smartphone, play with it." Hiro waved behind him as he left the room.
'Great. I only know how to do a few things… and none of them seem useful right now…' Ryoga looked over at the table they had left his phone on. He picked it up and pressed the home button, letting his finger linger to unlock the screen. To his surprise, there was a small red bubble with the number 1 in it on the e-mail button. Hiro had told him that that means he has an unread e-mail. Ryoga pressed the e-mail button and there was an e-mail from Nabiki. He gently pressed the email and a window popped up with the message in it, but disappeared when he lifted his finger. He wasn't sure what just happened, but the mail still seemed to bet there so Ryoga tried pressing it harder, and it seemed to open for real this time.
[From: Nabiki Tendo Hide
To: Ryoga Hibiki
Hi There!
June 23, 2016 at 6:23 AM
Hey Ryoga! I'm sending this as a test, to see if you
learned to use your email yesterday. I know everyone
back home will be really excited when you finally
learn how to use everything. They miss you a lot
when you aren't around, you know? Anyway, I'll see
you tomorrow!
Nabiki Tendo
CEO Tendo Consulting Firm]
Ryoga read the short message. It didn't seem to have much point to it. 'I guess I should write a response? Hmmm….' Ryoga thought about it. If he could send any response, it would let Nabiki know that he learned something. He tried to remember what he had to press… 'I think he said the small square with the pencil will write a new e-mail… but I think it's different if I have to respond to one sent to me?' Ryoga carefully considered each of the five icons at the bottom of his screen. The first three seemed obviously not what Ryoga was looking for. 'Was it this arrow?' Ryoga pressed the left facing arrow and 4 options showed up on his screen. [Reply, Forward, Print, Cancel] With a little more confidence, Ryoga pressed the option that said Reply. Another window popped up.
[Cancel Re: Hi There! Send
To: Nabiki Tendo
Cc/Bcc:
Subject: Re: Hi There!
Sent from my iPhone
|On June 23,2016, at 6:23 AM, Nabiki Tendo
|nabiki tendocon,com wrote:
|Hey Ryoga! I'm sending this as a test, to see if you
|learned to use your email yesterday. I know everyone
|back home will be really excited when you finally
|learn how to use everything. They miss you a lot
|when you aren't around, you know? Anyway, I'll see
|you tomorrow!
|Nabiki Tendo
|CEO Tendo Consulting Firm]
There was a blinking cursor after the subject line and right before the line that said Sent from my iPhone. The bottom part of the screen had a keyboard. Ryoga typed in a quick message.
[Cancel Re: Hi There! Send
To: Nabiki Tendo
Cc/Bcc:
Subject: Re: Hi There!
Hey! I learned how to send this last night. Hiro is
getting us breakfast. Thank you for the phone, you
seem to be going through a lot of work to get me to
learn how to use it though. Are you going to tell me
why? -Ryoga
Sent from my iPhone
|On June 23,2016, at 6:23 AM, Nabiki Tendo
|nabiki tendocon,com wrote:
|Hey Ryoga! I'm sending this as a test, to see if you
|learned to use your email yesterday. I know everyone
|back home will be really excited when you finally
|learn how to use everything. They miss you a lot
|when you aren't around, you know? Anyway, I'll see
|you tomorrow!
|Nabiki Tendo
|CEO Tendo Consulting Firm]
Ryoga clicked the send button in the corner of the screen and the window disappeared with a literal whooshing sound. Ryoga smiled to himself. He had done something all on his own.
Looking at the time at the top of his phone, he sees that it's only been a few minutes. He had already done his stretching… and there wasn't enough room to do a kata in the room. Looking back at his phone screen, there were still a lot of square buttons he wasn't familiar with. Some seemed obvious, like the Calendar, Clock, or Notes. Some were still a mystery… What was Podcasts, Twitter, Facebook, or Pandora? What's an App Store? Ryoga noticed two things that he might be able to figure out. One said iBooks and the other was a square filled with other squares labeled Games.
'Well, that one may have a book for me to read, but that might have games? I wonder how games on this works? And can you play a game by yourself?' Pushing that last thought aside for now, Ryoga clicked on iBooks and a screen came up that said [iCloud for iBooks]. Ryoga had heard Hiro talk about the cloud, but still wasn't quite sure what it was, or what it did. It seemed to be waiting for a response… Deciding to deal with it later, he pressed the [Not Now] button. It opened to a page with a variety of current books. After clicking on one, Ryoga noticed that this was a shop. It was trying to sell him books. 'I don't have any money on me… Games it is then.' He clicked on the home button and then on the square labeled [Games].
This one didn't launch anything. The square expanded on the screen, the title [Games] large at the top. The smaller squares inside the other one seem to be the games it was referring to. There were a few to choose from. There seemed to be Solitaire, Go, Angry Birds, and a few others. 'I've always enjoyed a good game of Go…' Ryoga clicked the one labeled [Go]. A small Go board appeared on the screen. After hitting a few things, it seemed pretty easy to play on it against an invisible opponent. You just pressed where you wanted your piece to go.
"I'm back. I have breakfast for both of us." Hiro seemed to be struggling with the door a bit, juggling the 2 meals like he was, but seemed to get in the room fine. He saw Ryoga sitting at the center table clicking away at his phone. "You seemed to find something to pass your time." Hiro put the meals on the table and looked over Ryoga's shoulder. "Ah, Go. I figured you might like that one. It's such an old game, I figured you might already know how to play."
Ryoga looked up, startled. "When did you get here?"
Hiro looked at Ryoga quizzically. "Just now, I brought our breakfasts." Hiro pointed to the meals he placed on the table.
Ryoga shook his head a little and looked back at the screen of his phone. He had really zoned out on this thing…
Hiro grabbed Ryoga's phone gently and placed it on the table. "Don't go getting too caught up in games on your phone. They're only supposed to help pass some times when you have nothing better to do. You don't want to lose yourself in your phone. Here… I got you an Omurice." Hiro passed Ryoga a covered plate.
Ryoga took the cover off and saw a steamy rice filled omelet. "Thanks. I'll try not to get caught up in it again." The steam from his omelet hid the slight blush on his face.
Hiro laughed, "Don't worry about it! It happens to everyone at some point. I'm just glad it happened to you while I was here and not while you were doing anything important." Hiro took a large bite of his own Omurice.
Ryoga gave a small laugh back. "Yeah… I guess you're right." Ryoga looked at his Omurice and thought, 'I've never zoned out like that before… What's wrong with me… ?' He quietly started eating his breakfast.
Day two of Ryoga's training to join the Twenty-first century was almost over. It had been a very long day for both Ryoga and Hiro. They had finally gotten through everything on Nabiki's list. Now they just had to worry about Ryoga remembering it all…
"I put my contact info in your phone. If you have any problems, you can text, email, or call me and I'll be happy to help." Hiro was extremely tired, but happy. He believed he did a good job, and did it to the best of his ability. Hopefully Ms. Tendo would be proud.
"Thanks a lot Hiro… You've taught me a lot. Maybe I can keep in touch with everyone back in Nerima now. I'm sure Momo-chan will be happy." Ryoga smiled. He had learned how to use many things, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and a variety of other useful things. They had taken some pictures of themselves to post to each as practice. Hiro called them… selfies?
Hiro nodded and got up from his seat. Stretching a bit, he looked at his own phone screen. "It's getting pretty late, but I think I can still catch the train home. I'm sure my parents are wondering where I am. I'll text them I'm on my way."
"Not staying tonight?" Ryoga got up and stretched a bit too. They had been sitting for a while at the end there.
"No… you take your bed. I need to go home sometime. I'll be back in the morning, give you a quick refresher on anything you think you may have forgotten, and then get ready to see Ms. Tendo at lunch time." Hiro pocketed his phone after sending a quick message to his parents and waved to Ryoga. "I'll see you in the morning. I'll bring breakfast."
Ryoga waved back to Hiro and yawned. 'I guess it is time for bed…'
He turned off the light, and plugged his phone in to a cord Hiro had plugged into the wall. Laying down in the bed, Ryoga fell right to sleep…
A/N – Chapter 4… the first one written after I uploaded the first chapter. Sometimes I think I'm going into too much detail… but I kind of like it. Ryoga is learning… and so he pays way more attention to stuff the rest of us don't even think about. The next chapter is the meeting with Nabiki! I'm sure we'll find out what she's doing all of this for then… right?