With all that she has experienced in her short life to date, Ukyo moves towards balance as she confesses her sins to wash away her guilty conscience. This is yet another step on her trek on her road from childhood into adulthood without the trappings of anger and regrets of her lost youth.
My Love's Flame
A Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon Crossover
by Ryan Erik
Chapter Fourteen
Pulling up the long, sliding door to the east side of the kyūdō dojo, Kuonji Ukyo let the sunlight into the building at the same time that Saotome Ranma left class for the arcade. A cool, summer breeze calmed her as she mentally prepared herself to assist the club's instructor in this afternoon's practice. Two members of the club were already positioning makiwara, the straw mannequins that they would be using as target practice, about seven meters out from the edge of the dojo. The dojo was designed so that the kyūdōka, the practitioners of kyūdō, would stand at the edge of the dojo, and then fire at the targets in the field.
SAAS let its students out fifteen minutes earlier than the girls at TAS, so they would set up before the girls would arrive with the instructor Kihara Kaiya, who was a physical education teacher at the girls' school. The class contained nine students, five boys and four girls. Since there was only one locker room, the boys had to finish dressing in their uniforms before the girls arrived to maximize the efficiency of their preparation period. Both sexes dressed in a traditional kyūdō uniform, consisting of a standard dogi with a sash tying it closed, black hakama pants and tabi, split-toed socks and sandals. Not all of the male club members were advanced enough to be using arrows yet, so only Ukyo and Shiba Kyuichi, Ukyo's sempai, wore deer-skin archery gloves called yugake.
Although this was Ukyo's first year in the club, she quickly usurped the title of captain from Inihara Fumi, a ninth grade student of TAS, who was also the least popular member of the club. She had come into the role as the most senior club member, but Ukyo had partnered with Rei to elect a new leader after Inihara-taicho's teaching skills had been brought into question by even the new recruits and the second years alike. While she was an excellent shot, possibly one of the best in the junior league, and she had had adequate discipline to be a great performer, she had little patience for error, and even less for teaching.
During Ukyo's third club session, Inhara-taicho had threw a bow at one of other two new SASS students to join. He had been holding the rubber training bow incorrectly after she had corrected him earlier, and when she completely snapped. After pelting him with the bow, she cursed at him for a solid minute before Kihara-sensei had arrived. No one had spoken a word to the teacher at that point, but this trend had not been an isolated incident.
Despite her relative newness to the club, Ukyo had just advanced to firing live arrows at straw makiwara by that time, far advanced beyond everyone but Shiba-sempai and Inihara-taicho, the only two club members to have been on the team the year before. When Kihara-sensei acknowledged the new election, Ukyo won with both Rei's support, as the miko had rallied all of the girls to Ukyo's side, and the support of Shiba-sempai as well, despite the fact that he had grade and experience seniority to her. She was now one of four that Kihara-sensei considered tournament-ready, including the two upper-classmen and Rei, and second to only Inihara-sempai in skill.
With great pride, Ukyo welcomed the girls who entered the club together with Kihara-sensei, but Rei did not enter with them. Inhara-sempai, no longer the captain of the club, glared at Ukyo as she always did upon entry. They all walked single-file into the dojo, directly to the locker room, except for the sensei, who was already wearing her traditional kimono uniform, signifying her status as the master of the dojo. While traditionally a kimono only implied being a senior member, no one in the club was experienced enough to wear such a mark of honor.
Kihara-sensei approached Ukyo, who bowed to her sensei. The older woman nodded. Her short gray hair was messy as usual, for the woman focused far more on the inner self than the outer.
"Kuonji-san, good to see that our schedule is not interfering with your dueling today," she said without masking her irritation.
Ukyo bowed at the waist in apology, answering her formally. "Forgive me, Kihara-sensei. An old and bitter feud pushed me to disgrace myself."
Kihara-sensei nodded again, her acceptance of the apology genuine. The woman was not known for holding back anything. As severe as she could be, she was also a graceful and gentle person when her students behaved in an orderly fashion.
"Our teachings must go beyond the kyūdōjō, Kuonji-san," the woman said, her melodic voice falling on the gentle side of her spectrum. "Shin-zen-bi, and by extension mastery of kyūdō, is only possible if its doctrines apply to every part of your life, not just your time here."
"Yes, sensei," Ukyo affirmed, her head still bowed. "I have already made peace with the boy who I fought before. I believe I can finally leave that part of me behind now."
"I am glad for that, student," she said, patting Ukyo's head with her bare left hand. "May the new you progress further in your journey towards truth, goodness and beauty."
"Thank you, sensei," Ukyo said quietly, her voice only loud enough for her teacher.
Rei sneaked into the room, putting her index finger to her lips as she walked quietly to the locker room.
"Hino-san," Kihara-sensei called on the girl, whom she could not see from where she stood.
"Yes, sensei?" Rei asked, her voice pitched in worry.
"You can help Kuonji-taicho clean the dojo after club practice has ended."
"Yes, sensei," Rei said, her voice resigned.
Ukyo smiled at the raven-haired girl, who dejectedly walked into the locker room. Just as she entered, the other girls emerged. Unlike their male counterparts, all of them wore deer-skin yugake gloves. Of them, all three were Ukyo's sempai, two eighth graders, and one ninth. Rei was the only seventh-grader in the group of girls from TAS.
In addition to the regular uniform, all of the girls wore a black chest protector over their dogi. Although Ukyo did not wear one, she hoped she would become skilled enough to not require one when her chest grew to the point where it mattered. Only the more senior female kyūdōka such as her sensei did not wear one.
Inihara Fumi approached the teacher and student and bowed. "Sensei." Her voice lowered, and her eye twitched as she then said, "Captain."
"Hello, Inihara-sempai," Ukyo told Fumi, trying to maintain as much diplomacy as she could to avoid pissing her upperclassman off.
The fifteen-year old rolled her eyes when Kihara-sensei turned her back to face the class. Ukyo tried to ignore the girl, but it was difficult when she complained and shrugged off everything Ukyo said. Despite the fact that Fumi was the most skilled in the class, possibly enough to compete against high school students, she had the attitude of a spoiled child. It had not come to a personal challenge yet, but Ukyo had been practicing as much as possible in case it ever came up. If nothing else, she had nerves of steel compared to her sempai with the awful temper.
"Kuonji-taicho will lead the club in warm up now," Kihara-sensei explained.
A ponytailed version of Rei joined the warm up and stretching late, putting her hands together and bowing her head at Ukyo, who nodded for her to join. The stretching took fifteen minutes, but was an essential part of their practice.
After stretches, the kyūdōka all collected their yumi from the rack on the wall. Unlike western bows, the Japanese yumi is asymmetrical, as the length of the bottom part of the bow is shorter than the top. They then all formed into two lines, one at the edge of the dojo, each person lining up in front of a straw makiwara.All of the students not ready for live bamboo arrows would practice drawing the bow to build their strength.
While Kinahara-sensei moved to help the less advanced students, Ukyo moved into the head of the archery practice line on the right. The six archers on the live range line would fire right to left, two at a time, one in the center and one at the end so that no one next to another would interfere with the other's shot. While waiting, the archers would meditate on their knees until their turn. Technique in between shots was equally as important as the shot. The discipline in kyūdō was what drew Ukyo this form of martial art, even if her father had ridiculed her for it when she had mentioned it to him.
Ukyo took her stance, emptying her mind of everything as she faced the target with the left side of her body, pointing her left foot at the target and drawing her other foot back so that they were the length of an arrow apart. She shifted her balance so that her pelvis and shoulders drew a straight line to her target, and then straightened her back and posture. With her posture correct, Ukyo moved to ready her bow.
Already holding an arrow from the start of her footwork, she began by taking the bowstring in her right hand, and then shifted her left hand to grip the handle of the bow. She then turned her head to gaze at the makiwara in front of her. Despite its close proximity at seven meters, the idea was to practice technique more so than hitting a bull's-eye, as the straw doll had no center point markers. In this practice, hitting the center was worth as much weight as hitting the side. Only missing entirely was incorrect at this stage.
With the arrow in place, she raised the bow above her head, at which point she began to draw the arrow back, while also pulling the bow forward. She continued drawing the bow, maintaining all of her concentration on the technique. Once it hit the midway point, she began to slide it down until it reached cheek level, the feather of the arrow drawn back to her ear, achieving a full draw.
Ukyo fully exhaled at this point, her body as still as her arms could provide with the strain of the bow causing only slight tremors in her arms. Imagining the bow as a part of the straw target, she loosed the arrow, extending her right hand back as the bamboo left her gloved hand. The bow's energy propelled it forward, causing it to turn around in a two-hundred-and-seventy degree angle, until it stopped before hitting her forearm.
Her arrow struck her target cleanly in the center. She lowered her bow slowly, coming back from the concentration and allowing the world back in. Breathing in generously, she took a few steps back, and then carefully lowered herself to her knees, giving her turn over to Rei who would repeat the process that Ukyo had just performed.
The practice did not run long as they repeated the maneuvers until they exhausted their arrows. Once finished, they collected them from the targets. While there, Rei turned to her friend. This was the only point that Kihara-sensei would allow any form of talking, as they had technically finished the round.
"I really admire your form, Ukyo-kun," she said, her face flushed and glistening with sweat. Her hair was damp at the root end of her hair. Her smile showed teeth as she beamed at her captain.
"Thank you, Rei-chan," she replied. "I'm sure your form is at least as good."
"Hah, no," Rei said, yanking her arrows from the straw makiwara. "I can never remember the right order for the footwork, and on my second arrow, I started drawing before I straightened my back. I'm surprised you didn't hear the string slapping my chest protector."
Ukyo chuckled under her breath, forcing her lips into a closed-mouth smile.
At the end of club practice, once everyone had put away their bows, the boys moved into the locker room to change first, while the girls brought the makiwara into the storage shed. Ukyo watched them as she stood in the center of the dojo. Rather than change with the boys, she moved to examine the bowstrings for wear and tear, and spent the next few minutes replacing the ones that had been damaged by practice. By then, the girls were entering the locker room.
"Bye, Captain!" Shiba-san called out, waving to the girl sitting on the dojo floor, restringing a bow.
Ukyo nodded at her sempai as she pulled the taut wood, bending it into shape. The remaining boys left, excluding their newest member.
"Kuonji-taicho," the heart-faced boy said with a respectful bow, causing his long hair to spill down from his shoulders. "Do you mind if I practice more with the bow? Just until you close up? I really want to be able to shoot like you."
Ukyo rose and walked to the rack, replacing the yumi she had finished restringing. "I admire your tenacity, but you should rest for the day. There will be practice tomorrow as well."
From the look on his face, Ukyo guessed he did not like the answer. He pouted through his nod, and left the dojo, kicking his feet.
Inihara Fumi was the first to exit the locker rooms, and she walked directly up to Ukyo, who braced for whatever insults the girl had ready for her today.
"Kuonji-taicho," she said, acknowledging her captain with about as much venom as she could place in the emphasis of her honorific. "You led warmups splendidly. If only that's all you had to do, you would be the best kyūdō archer of all time."
Keeping her mood in check, Ukyo focused on the truth, goodness and beauty she had practiced all day. Shin-zen-bi, she repeated in her head. Empty the mind.
"You're too kind, Inihara-sempai," she replied afterward, even managing a smile. "I'll try to apply that skill all around."
"You do that," Fumi said curtly, her glare sharpened by spite. "One day, Kuonji-tachi. One day."
Ukyo kept silent as the girl departed after the other two girls that had left before, echoing her unsaid threat once more before putting on her shows and exiting the dojo.
Rei poked her head out right afterward. She had wisely avoided the conflict altogether. No one, not even Rei wanted to be on that girl's grudge list. I don't blame Rei at all. She's a mean one. Though I'm glad Fumi doesn't really have many friends.
In Rei's hands, she held two brooms.
"Shall we start sweeping?" The girl beamed a smile at Ukyo, her mood brightening Ukyo's even after the awful run in with Inihara-sempai. She offered a broom to her. "I have so much to do at the temple tonight for Tanabata."
"Yeah, let's do it," Ukyo said, taking the proffered cleaning instrument. "Each take half?"
"I bet I get my half done faster than you!" Rei said, half-jokingly as she began madly sweeping the north side of the dojo.
"Ranchan is rubbing off on you," Ukyo teased, moving to the south side.
"Oh no, why would you say that?" Rei asked, frowning as she pushed herself to sweep her first dust pile out the archery range. The expression broke as she looked up, her serious mood defusing. A grin poked out as she made fun of Ranma. "Does everything I do embarrass you?"
Ukyo chortled, nearly spitting all over the dojo floor as she laughed, but she managed to put her hand up to cover it. "No, no! Nothing so terrible. It's just, that's what he does. He makes everything into a competition, even if he's terrible at it. Then he gets better than you, and rubs your nose in it."
"Well, I wasn't going to rub your nose in the dirt," Rei said, smirking as she kept up her brushing pace. "But I might have to if you aren't even half as far done as I am when I finish."
"I won't let you lap me so easily!" Ukyo exclaimed, pushing herself to catch up.
They laughed together as they kept their sweeping at a furious pace.
Ukyo paused as she thought about the boy, her mind lingering on her shared childhood with Ranma. Everything afterward made those memories so warm and pleasant, that she lost herself a bit. "He tries so hard to win at everything, and he never lets you win just because you're..."
Rei noticed the sudden stop in her voice, and looked up at her. "What?"
"Well, he just never patronizes you by letting you win, even if you're not nearly as good," Ukyo corrected, biting her lip. Why am I hiding from her? she thought as she swept out a pile of dirt.
"What were you going to say?" Rei asked, stopping by the bow rack, resting her chin on the broom stick. "You were going to say something else."
She's so perceptive, Ukyo thought as she kept sweeping, trying not to shake at the thought of being found out. She'll pick up on it sooner rather than later, and I need her in my corner. It'll make it easier on Ranma, too.
"Rei-chan, if I told you something bad," the girl-disguised-as-the-boy started, unable to hide the vulnerability in her voice. Her heart skipped a beat as she continued. "Something that would be enough to get me expelled from school, something that might make you think I'm a bad person, would you still be my friend?"
The girl in the seifuku thoughtfully looked back at Ukyo, her consideration over the question genuine. It made Ukyo feel all the better for deciding to tell her.
"Yes," Rei said, sweeping the last section of the dojo on her side, and then continuing onto Ukyo's.
"Okay, there's something I've been wanting to tell you for months," Ukyo said quietly as she too continued sweeping. "I'll tell you in the locker room after we finish."
"Okay," Rei replied.
The last minute of sweeping was quiet except for their brooms brushing the last bits of sand and dirt from the dojo. They then moved to opposite sides of the open east end of the dojo, grabbing the sliding door, and pulling it shut. Ukyo then walked along its length and pushed the locks into place so that it could not be opened from the outside.
With their job done, Ukyo and Rei moved to the locker rooms, where they put the brooms away in the supply closet. From there, Ukyo motioned for the girl to follow her to where her locker was located. She opened it and pulled out her uniform, placing it on the bench in front of her. She sucked in a nervous breath as she looked up at the girl who was staring at her.
"Okay, what is so bad that you can't even tell me in the empty dojo?" Rei asked, turning her back to Ukyo.
"Please face me, Rei-chan," Ukyo asked, her heart beating so fast she could barely catch her breath. "This is something that you have to see."
Rei did as she was asked, turning around with a curious expression on her face. "Okay?"
"This is something that only my father and Ranma know," Ukyo said, inhaling deeply in an attempt to calm herself.
"If Ranma-kun can handle it, I can," Rei told her putting her hands on her hips.
"Alright, please don't freak out," Ukyo said, pushing her hakama pants down suddenly.
"What?!" Rei said, her face turning red suddenly. She averted her eyes. "Why are you undressing?"
Ukyo removed the garment, and then folded it neatly and placed it in the locker. "It's the thing I've been hiding."
"I don't want to see the thing you've been hiding!" Rei said, her face flushing fully as she turned. "You've been hiding that you're a hentai?"
"No!" Ukyo exclaimed, pulling at her sash to loosen the knot. "That's not it at all. Rei-chan, please turn back around."
"I don't want to see you naked," Rei said, her hands held high up to cover her face, despite the fact that she was turned around.
"That's not what this is," she said. "I've been hiding something from you since we've met, from everyone but Ranma. He only knows because he knew me back before I had to hide who I truly am."
Pulling open her dogi, she placed it on the hanger in her locker. She then lifted her arms, and tugged off her undershirt, leaving only the tight bandages underneath. "This is important."
The girl slowly turned around, her hands against her eyes. "Promise you're not going to flash me your thing or anything like that? I don't think I could ever look at you the same again."
"I wouldn't do that to you, even if I could," Ukyo said, trembling as she stood, nearly topless in her boxer shorts. "Please look at me."
"Alright, I'll trust you," Rei said, her face still piping hot with embarrassment. She slid one eye open, and then the other, her face quickly changing to one of concern. "Wait, why are you wearing a bandage over your chest?"
Ukyo felt giddy as she tugged at the end of the bandage, causing it to unravel. After it fell to the floor, she stood in front of the girl topless.
"Huh?" Rei asked, her confused expression. "Wait... you're a...?"
The sudden clatter of something out in the dojo caught both of their attention. Ukyo quickly covered her chest with her arms, and then hid behind the locker door.
"Who's there?" Rei demanded. She turned and ran out into the dojo. As Ukyo was quickly dressing in her school uniform, the girl returned. "No one was there, but half of the bows fell off the rack."
The only thing that Ukyo felt was mortification. She quickly dressed as her arms trembled at the very thought of being caught.
"Hey, hey," Rei said, walking up to the girl. She put her hand on Ukyo's arm. "It's okay, Ukyo-kun. You have nothing to be embarrassed about."
The warm hand against her skin reassured Ukyo as she tried to button her shirt up. However, her hands were shaking too badly. "I—I can't..."
"Let me do that," Rei said, helping her with the buttons. "Really, I thought you were a leper or a burn victim for a bit there, and yet you're healthy and well. There wasn't anyone out there, and your secret is safe with me."
Still unable to get control over her nerves, she held her arms to her chest. "Thanks."
Rei pulled her into a hug. "You're like a brother to me. Just because you're a girl doesn't change how I feel about you." She then pulled back and wiped away the tears Ukyo hadn't even remembered shedding. "Although I feel weird about having a crush on you the first week of club."
The thought caused Ukyo to laugh out loud, her lips curving into a smile directly afterward. "Really? You liked me?"
"Well, up until I realized you didn't feel the same," Rei told her, averting her eyes. "You were so cool when you started training, pushing harder than everyone else combined. I really admire you, Ukyo-kun. You're strong, but not a braggart, unlike someone we know."
"Well, he's not that bad," Ukyo said, grabbing her pants from the locker, and then slipping a leg into them.
"Wait, so Ranma knows you're a girl?" Rei said in wonder as she looked up, her brow furrowed.
"We were engaged as kids," Ukyo admitted, buckling her slacks.
"What?!" Rei exclaimed wide-eyed as she took a step back. "You're engaged?! To Ranma?!"
"No, not anymore," Ukyo said, regaining some of her composure. She slipped into her jacket, buckling it up to hide her chest entirely as she was no longer wearing her bandage. "His father took off with my dowry and left me behind."
Her jaw dropped as she stared at Ukyo. "And you forgave him?!"
"Not Ranma's father," Ukyo said vehemently. "But Ranma was just six, and he doesn't even seem to remember the engagement at all. He just thinks his pops stole my father's cart."
"You wanting revenge makes so much more sense now," Rei said, collecting her bag from her locker on the other side of the room. Out of sight, her voice still rang out clearly. "Though I still don't get why you're pretending to be a boy."
Collecting her bag as well, Ukyo closed her locker. "Well, that's a bit of a long story, and you need to get home."
Rei didn't respond at first as Ukyo heard a locker slam shut. "You can come with me again tonight."
"My dad will be pissed if I don't come home tonight," Ukyo replied, wishing beyond anything else in her entire life not to have to go home.
"Oh," she told the girl as she popped back into view. "Well, I'll walk you to your bike, and you tell me as much as you can on the way."
As they began to replace the bows back on the rack, Ukyo began. "After Ranma left with our yattai, my father fell on hard times, and I was ostracized at school and in the community. My father had made a big deal about arranging my marriage..."
"You mean pawning you off to some wandering martial artist?" Rei interrupted, her voice filled with more anger than Ukyo even felt anymore. The cross-dressing schoolgirl smiled at her friend's empathetic nature.
"Yes, pawning me off to the family of the first boy I got along with," Ukyo amended as she replaced the last bows on the rack.
"I can't believe he did that to you at six-years-old!" Rei fumed, as they walked to the exit of the dojo.
"I didn't even see it that way until after I lost to Ranma, and forgave him," Ukyo said, her eyes a bit watery. She wiped her face before they found slipped into their shoes at the entrance of the kyūdōjō., She then cast a sidways glance at a coat rack with several boys jackets hanging off it. Had then been there before? She shrugged.
After she fished the key to the dojo out of her pocket, she locked the entrance. "In the following years, I swore vengeance against the Saotomes, and then swore away my womanhood until I could avenge myself. I trained for years so that when I met up with Ranma and his father again, I could beat them and regain my honor."
Rei no longer had any comments as the two walked across the empty field towards the front of the school, where the bike racks were located. She seemed to listen carefully as Ukyo tried to tell her the quick version of her life story. She owed that much to the girl, at least.
"How does everything else fit in? Kyūdō, baseball, et cetera?"
Ukyo inhaled deeply and tried her best to explain it simply. "I mostly just joined two clubs to not have to go home, and then got a part-time job for the weekends to save money. After my father lost his last job two years ago, he took to drinking and really started getting invested in my vow to throw away my womanhood. Before, I'd still be normal at home, but he started punishing me for acting girly at home. He even shaved my head before I started coming here."
Rei placed her hand on Ukyo's shoulder. "He shaved off your hair?" When the girl turned to look at her, she saw real anger in Rei's eyes.
"Yeah, but it's just hair," Ukyo said, pushing a hand through the back of her full head of hair. "It grows back."
"But, that's just so wrong," Rei replied. "I'd never forgive anyone who did that to me."
They reached Ukyo's bike, one of two still chained to the bike rack near the school entrance. Rei surprised her at that moment, pulling her into a hug. Ukyo closed her eyes and hugged the raven-haired girl back, feeling the unease still in her fly away.
"I will support you however I can," Rei promised as she pulled back, staring directly into Ukyo's eyes. "If you need anything, anything, I want you to come to me first. I'll drop whatever I'm doing."
Ukyo laughed at her seriousness. In response, Rei put her hand on Ukyo's shoulder and squeezed. "I'm serious, Ukyo-kun. I know you're really strong, but there has to be things that even you can't handle."
"Alright, Rei-chan," Ukyo said, putting her arm atop her friends, and resting her hand on the girl's shoulder. "I really owe you one."
Rei shook her head, scoffing at that. "We're friends, and that means we stick together through thick and thin."
As Ukyo rode her bike home she smiled the whole way.
Minutes after the two girls exited the dojo, Tsubasa Kurenai slipped out of his handmade coat rack costume, which he had designed especially for hiding at school. While his goal had been to hide in the dojo to practice for an extra hour after everyone had left, he had discovered something that changed everything.
"I can't believe it!" he said aloud, his eyes shiny with admiration. The sight of her in the locker room had stunned him beyond anything else in his short life. "She's better at being a boy than boys are! I think...I think I'm in love!"
Notes: I have now put everything in place that I need to in order to crank up the silly misunderstandings now that Ranma is still in the dark about Ukyo, and Rei isn't. This will be fun for the next chapter or two.
On the bright side of things, I now have three beta readers (1 editor, 2 content reviewers), and they've already helped me tremendously. You're not reading a text book of kyūdō information because of this, and a lot more.
Again, let me know what you think of the chapter, characterizations, or just in general, or if you have an idea for anything. I read every review and PM and love feedback, whether negative or positive, or somewhere in between, even if it's just a "yay love it!" comment. If my writing ability was a race car, your feedback is the fuel!
Next Chapter is a Rei chapter, so be prepared for some more Ranma/Rei time!