Chapter One

Several Months Later…

In his dojo, on his property that was situated in a well populated urban district in the small town of Nerima, Oro Hiroshi, a very well-educated martial artist, spoke to his students. Inside, his twenty students listened intently to his every word. He stood while his students sat in a circle around him.

The Hiroshi Dojo was a prominent school of martial arts in the town of Nerima, second only to the Tendo Dojo in notoriety. But to date, it had more attention from students than the Tendo Dojo. The Tendo Dojo had no applicants, the Hiroshi Dojo had many. This class was one of five weekly classes.

"Wisdom," he started to say meaningfully, "is the martial artist's greatest weapon! You will never need a better tool than this to defeat his opponent. With it alone, you can achieve ultimate victory! It's the most important weapon you will have. Accurately summon up your enemy's weaknesses and exploit them. If you can summarily integrate both wisdom and your opponent's failing into an equation of strategy, there is no way your opponent can win! If you come out of my teachings remembering only that then I will consider your time here well spent. But hopefully, that's not all you will learn -- I hope?" He smirked, and there was a round of chuckling from his students. "Second, and this is also very important. Stay focused, and never lose your cool. Carpe diem -- seize the day! If you see an opening, exploit it! Chances are it could be the only one you get!"

Oro Hiroshi continued to speak to his students and address the major issues of combat. Then he began to discuss the applications and advances of taking martial arts. After twenty minutes of lecturing to his students, he began to demonstrate some advanced techniques, a forthcoming of what to expect. For them, however, as they were his younger students and just starting out, he demonstrated some basic, starter techniques.

Outside the dojo, Ranma Saotome listened to the lesson. He was actually spying.

Ranma was an expert in martial arts, though he had no true rank in which to be judged. He had no trophies like that displaced on wall shelves in the Hiroshi Dojo that his advanced students had won in competitions, nor had he participated in any martial arts tournaments outside the mainstream fights he had inside the town of Nerima.

And yet, in his opinion, those tournaments were not a true testament to the fighting ability of a martial artist, they were merely showmanship. The only prize a martial artist needed was his self-respect. He had thought about entering some of the tournaments Oro Hiroshi was talking about to his students, but he was just too lazy to enter.

He was versed in a specialized martial arts, designed for an elite few, called Anything-Goes Martial Arts, and it was not like any normal teachings. They fortified techniques not taught in any textbook, and they were passed down from generation to generation from father to son. And some of the techniques were thousands of years old. If he did enter a tournament he'd wipe the floor with the competition -- it wouldn't be fair!

But as he continued to listen to Oro Hiroshi, he wondered if he was being selfish. The Tendo Dojo was in financial straits at the moment and maybe if he won some money in one of these tournaments he could help Mr. Tendo. But with fame and fortune came a price. And he liked his life just the way it was at the moment. He didn't want it to change.

He decided it was time to leave, he had heard enough.

Ryoga Hibiki considered himself a worthy martial artist, but he had one thing that was keeping him from becoming even better and that person was Ranma Saotome! If only he could defeat him, then he'd win the heart of his beloved Akane. But until that day came he'll remain in Ranma's shadow. There had to be someway of defeating him?

After a long and arduous journey across Japan, the lone warrior finally navigated back to Nerima, against the odds. He was elated, but he had left more than a month ago from his training grounds and that didn't please him.

He walked down the street, holding himself up with a stick. He was totally exhausted and hadn't eaten in nearly two days. He was about to faint from hunger when his noise caught the whiff of something delectable and very familiar. It was Okonomiyaki!

Then he saw a red curtain flapping in the wind to a familiar locale. It was Ukyo Kuonji's Okonomiyaki's Restaurant.

FOOD! He mentally cried out loudly, and started to cry.

He wiped the tears from his eyes and pressed on to the eatery.

He brushed back the entrance curtain and looked around at the corral of customers that filled the one-room restaurant. They were eating, laughing, talking, and overall having a good time in this place. Ukyo did well for herself here. This place probably made a lot of money. Then why in the world did she hang around a deadbeat like Ranma?

He took a seat in front of the frying table and dropped his dusty pack on the floor beside him. Ukyo stood behind the frying table flipping Okonomiyaki paddies. The aroma of her cooking was intoxicating. "Those smell great, Ukyo," he finally said.

She smiled. "Oh, hello sugar, long time no see," she said in her usual friendly tone. Sugar was her nickname for him. He never did ask why. "How long has it been this time?"

"A month," he replied back causally with a thin smile.

She noticed him staring at the Okonomiyaki, and without even asking him, she flipped one in the air, grabbed a plate, and it dropped down in the centre right in front of him. "Here ya go, sugar," she said, "you look like you could use something to eat."

He started to cry. He put his arm to his eyes and said, "You're so kind, Ukyo."

Tears dripped down onto the Okonomiyaki, and she noticed this. "Eat it, don't cry into it," she said.

He wiped his nose with his sleeve and took a set of chopsticks and started to eat. He was hungry, but he had manners and ate it slowly to partake in every bite. Once he was finished, he smiled at her and asked for another one. She gladly gave him one.

When he was finished with that one, he felt his belly and sipped some green tea she gave him. "I'm in your debt, Ukyo," he said. "Is there anything I can do to repay you? And I won't take no for an answer. I'm a man of honor. I always repay a debt."

"On the house, you look like you needed it," he said.

"No, no… I can't accept that. I'll bust tables, sweep the floor -- anything!"

"Tell ya what, I'll take a rein check, okay?"

Ryoga smiled. "Deal," he said. "But I won't forget this. It's bad Karma if I do!"

It was at this time that Ranma walked in and took a seat on a stool next to Ryoga. "Hey buddy, nice ta see ya! Been what, a month now? How long were you lost for this time?" he said jokingly, grinning big. He gave Ryoga a pat on the shoulder.

Ryoga shrugged him off. "None of your business, Saotome!" he said foully.

Ranma snorted annoyed. "Fine, whatever, see if I care," he said, turning to Ukyo. "One order of your best Okonomiyaki with the works. I'm starving!" he said to her, smiling.

Ryoga finished his green tea and then prepared to leave. He reached for his pack and accidentally bumped Ranma's leg. Ranma took offense to it and said, "Watch it, bacon-butt."

"Don't ever call me that again, Ranma!" he said angry.

"Ooo, I'm scared," he said sarcastically. "Go back to where you came from, Ryoga, and the next time you return, ditch the attitude." He waved him off.

Ryoga's eyes narrowed in a hateful manner as he looked at Ranma. "I'll see you on the battlefield, Ranma," he said. "The stars are aligned for your defeat to finally happen, I can feel it. Soon, very soon, you'll fall at my feet and beg for mercy!"

Ranma laughed. "Keeping dreamin, bud!" he said. "But I accept your challenge, Ryoga. Just name the time and place and I'll be there. Just give me plenty of warning first, 'kay? I don't wanna hafta wait 'round for ya." He turned around and took a bite of his Okonomiyaki.

Ryoga growled angry at him. "How 'bout right 'ere and now?" he said, dropping his pack.

Ranma looked back at him with a full mouth. "Can't you see I'm eating?" he said, talking from the side of his mouth. "I came 'ere to eat, not fight. I'll fight you later."

"How dare you refuse my challenge!"

"He's not refusing it, Ryoga," Ukyo explained. "You two can have your fight later. And besides, this is a restaurant and you're creating a scene."

Of course, she would be on his side, wouldn't she? She's his fiancée, after all, one of many if he recalled.

Ryoga snorted angry, grabbed his pack and then stormed out of the restaurant.

"Man, he's so annoying sometimes," Ranma said, after taking a sip of tea Ukyo gave him to compliment the Okonomiyaki. "He hates me so much. I said I was sorry. What more does the guy want? I can't turn back time. Tried that already!"

"You have a lot of enemies, Ran-Chan," she said. "But Ryoga's the worst of them. You'll have to fight him eventually."

"Yeah, I know… can we get on another subject now?" he said, sighing.

"What's wrong, Ran-Chan?" Ukyo asked.

And he told her about Mr. Tendo's financial debt.

To be continued…