Wild Kitten
Disclaimer: "Eep!" *Hide behind Aya* "Aya, save me!" *Aya glares at the incoming lawyers*. "SHI-NE!!!" *Aya shouted while chasing the lawyers*. "Feuh! Thanks, Aya-kun!" *waves at Aya*. "I don't own these characters but I wish I do though."
"..." - talking
/.../ - thought
~...~ - telepathy
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Chapter 5: A Trip Down The Memory Lane
Ranko had finally stopped dragging Omi and looked around in confusion. "Ano, where's the kitchen, Omi-kun?"
Omi chuckled a bit and replied, "It's right this way, Ranko-san." He gestured to his left where the kitchen is.
"Please, call me Ranko or Ko-chan," she said. "Ranko-san is too formal and I'm not the one for such formalities."
Omi nodded. They walked into the kitchen.
"What do you have to eat?" Ranko asked while looking at the kitchen.
"I'm sure we could find something in the fridge." He opened the fridge and looked at the contents. "We have some ham, lettuce, mayonnaise and a few tomatoes. I think there's some bread in the cabinet so you could make a sandwich," he suggested.
"That'll be great," she exclaimed happily. She went over to where Omi was and proceeded to take various things out and put them on the table. Omi retrieved the bread and placed it on the table too. Ranko then made a huge sandwhich which she quickly finished in three seconds flat. Omi's jaw dropped to the floor.
"Man, that hit the spot," Ranko sighed contently while patting her stomach.
Suddenly a blur of yellow entered the kitchen. The blur turned out to be a very frightened Yohji. He quickly hid behind Omi. "Omi, help. Don't let him kill me," he whimpered.
"Don't let who kill you, Yohji-kun," Ranko asked curiously before a very angry katana-wielding Aya entered the kitchen. "SHI-NE, KUDOU!"
Yohji eeped and tried to escape but Aya caught him. Fortunately, luck was with Yohji today.
"Nii-chan, what are you doing?"
Aya stopped trying to kill Yohji for a moment and replied, "Don't worry, Ko-chan. I'm not going to kill him." Just hurt him a little, he added silently.
Unfortunately or fortunately for Yohji, Ranko heard the thought and frowned. "Ran-niichan, let him go."
"But-"
She frowned a bit more. "No buts."
Aya relented. "Fine, but only because you asked," he said before letting poor Yohji go.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Yohji repeated over and over again to Ranko while kneeling in front of her.
She giggled. "That's okay, Yohji-kun."
"Hn," Aya grunted. "You still owe us an explanation, Ko-chan."
Her mood darkened considerably. "H-hai. Let's go to the livingroom."
Aya looked at his sister concerned before nodding. They all went back to the livingroom where Ken sat watching soccer on TV. He heard them coming and looked up. "What's up?" he asked noticing the seriousness on their faces.
"Ranko is going to explain some things," Omi supplied.
Ken nodded and turned off the TV. Ranko sat one of the couches and Aya sat next to her. Yohji, Omi and Ken sat on another couch. Ranko took a deep breath before she started.
"As you know, I am Ran's sister. When I was four-"
"Wait a minute, who is Ran?" Yohji interrupted. Ken and Omi nodded.
Ranko looked at them confused. "Ran is my brother, your friend. This Ran," she said patting Aya who was next to her.
"You mean Aya?"
"Who is Aya?" she looked even more confused. She turned to look at her brother for an explanation.
Aya aka Ran sighed. "I am Ran and Aya."
The others stared at him as if he was crazy.
/Smooth one/ Aya mentally chastised himself.
Ranko heard his thoughts. "Nii-chan?"
Aya sighed again. "My real name is Ran but I changed it to Aya."
"But why?" Ranko asked curiously.
He turned to look at her. His eyes showed deep pain. "Because Ran reminds me too much of you," he whispered.
"Oh, nii-chan." Ranko hugged her brother. "I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear. ~I didn't intend to hurt you~ she sent to him.
/It's okay, Ko-chan. I know you didn't./
Yohji, Ken and Omi watched the siblings quietly feeling sympathy for them.
Giving one last squeeze, she let go of her brother and continued her story, "When I was four, my father decided to take me on a training trip. He told me that we'll only be gone for three years. But three years turned into six and six turned into ten." She noticed Aya's quizzical gaze but she kept on going. "I trained hard hoping that if I'm good enough then he would take me home. We travelled from place to place, I learnt the art under different masters in various dojos. It was a lonely life because I didn't have anu companion except my father. In the tenth year, Pops decided to travel to China. We didn't have enough money to buy plane tickets so we swam all the way there."
"What?! You swam all the way to China?" Yohji exclaimed in disbelief. Ken and Omi had similar expressions on their faces. Aya didn't show any expression at all because he knew about their father's so called training.
"Yeah," Ranko replied. "He said, 'A true path to martial arts is fraught with peril'. Anyway, we swam to China. There, we went to a training ground called Jusenkyo." Her thoat tightened up as she recalled that time.
"Jusenkyo?" Omi piped up.
"Yeah, Jusenkyo is a cursed training ground."
"Cursed, what do you mean?" Yohji asked.
Ranko turned to him annoyed. "I would have gotten to that if you didn't keep interrupting."
Yohji flushed. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"That's okay. As I was saying, the training ground is cursed. The guide tried to warn us about it but we ignored him. Pops and I leapt to one of the bamboo poles and started sparring. I kicked him and he flew into one of the spring-" she broke off and started sobbing. Aya tried to comfort her while trying to remain calm himself. He had guessed what happened to their father when she didn't come with him because he knew their father wouldn't let her out of his sight.
After calming down a bit she continued, "He didn't resurface. I thought he was trying to get me off guard but after several minutes he was still inside. I looked in and saw his body at the bottom of the spring. The guide informed me that Pops is dead but I wouldn't believe it. I started running and didn't watch where I was going. I slipped and fell into one of the springs."
Aya stiffened at this. "Ko-chan, you mean-"
"-that I am cursed," she finished for him.
The others were shocked and didn't say anything for a few minutes. Ken was the first one to break the silence. "What's your curse?"
"Ken-kun!" Omi exclaimed.
"What?" Ken asked dumbly.
Yohji shook his head at his team mate naïvety.
Ranko giggled at their antics. "That's okay, Omi-kun. I don't mind. Well, Ken-kun, I turned into a..."
*End Chapter 5*
AN: You will probably kill me for doing this but I want it to be a big surprise for the next chapter. The next one won't take too long providing I have enough reviews otherwise I won't post it up until I have enough. Meanwhile, please review!!!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: "Eep!" *Hide behind Aya* "Aya, save me!" *Aya glares at the incoming lawyers*. "SHI-NE!!!" *Aya shouted while chasing the lawyers*. "Feuh! Thanks, Aya-kun!" *waves at Aya*. "I don't own these characters but I wish I do though."
"..." - talking
/.../ - thought
~...~ - telepathy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 5: A Trip Down The Memory Lane
Ranko had finally stopped dragging Omi and looked around in confusion. "Ano, where's the kitchen, Omi-kun?"
Omi chuckled a bit and replied, "It's right this way, Ranko-san." He gestured to his left where the kitchen is.
"Please, call me Ranko or Ko-chan," she said. "Ranko-san is too formal and I'm not the one for such formalities."
Omi nodded. They walked into the kitchen.
"What do you have to eat?" Ranko asked while looking at the kitchen.
"I'm sure we could find something in the fridge." He opened the fridge and looked at the contents. "We have some ham, lettuce, mayonnaise and a few tomatoes. I think there's some bread in the cabinet so you could make a sandwich," he suggested.
"That'll be great," she exclaimed happily. She went over to where Omi was and proceeded to take various things out and put them on the table. Omi retrieved the bread and placed it on the table too. Ranko then made a huge sandwhich which she quickly finished in three seconds flat. Omi's jaw dropped to the floor.
"Man, that hit the spot," Ranko sighed contently while patting her stomach.
Suddenly a blur of yellow entered the kitchen. The blur turned out to be a very frightened Yohji. He quickly hid behind Omi. "Omi, help. Don't let him kill me," he whimpered.
"Don't let who kill you, Yohji-kun," Ranko asked curiously before a very angry katana-wielding Aya entered the kitchen. "SHI-NE, KUDOU!"
Yohji eeped and tried to escape but Aya caught him. Fortunately, luck was with Yohji today.
"Nii-chan, what are you doing?"
Aya stopped trying to kill Yohji for a moment and replied, "Don't worry, Ko-chan. I'm not going to kill him." Just hurt him a little, he added silently.
Unfortunately or fortunately for Yohji, Ranko heard the thought and frowned. "Ran-niichan, let him go."
"But-"
She frowned a bit more. "No buts."
Aya relented. "Fine, but only because you asked," he said before letting poor Yohji go.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Yohji repeated over and over again to Ranko while kneeling in front of her.
She giggled. "That's okay, Yohji-kun."
"Hn," Aya grunted. "You still owe us an explanation, Ko-chan."
Her mood darkened considerably. "H-hai. Let's go to the livingroom."
Aya looked at his sister concerned before nodding. They all went back to the livingroom where Ken sat watching soccer on TV. He heard them coming and looked up. "What's up?" he asked noticing the seriousness on their faces.
"Ranko is going to explain some things," Omi supplied.
Ken nodded and turned off the TV. Ranko sat one of the couches and Aya sat next to her. Yohji, Omi and Ken sat on another couch. Ranko took a deep breath before she started.
"As you know, I am Ran's sister. When I was four-"
"Wait a minute, who is Ran?" Yohji interrupted. Ken and Omi nodded.
Ranko looked at them confused. "Ran is my brother, your friend. This Ran," she said patting Aya who was next to her.
"You mean Aya?"
"Who is Aya?" she looked even more confused. She turned to look at her brother for an explanation.
Aya aka Ran sighed. "I am Ran and Aya."
The others stared at him as if he was crazy.
/Smooth one/ Aya mentally chastised himself.
Ranko heard his thoughts. "Nii-chan?"
Aya sighed again. "My real name is Ran but I changed it to Aya."
"But why?" Ranko asked curiously.
He turned to look at her. His eyes showed deep pain. "Because Ran reminds me too much of you," he whispered.
"Oh, nii-chan." Ranko hugged her brother. "I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear. ~I didn't intend to hurt you~ she sent to him.
/It's okay, Ko-chan. I know you didn't./
Yohji, Ken and Omi watched the siblings quietly feeling sympathy for them.
Giving one last squeeze, she let go of her brother and continued her story, "When I was four, my father decided to take me on a training trip. He told me that we'll only be gone for three years. But three years turned into six and six turned into ten." She noticed Aya's quizzical gaze but she kept on going. "I trained hard hoping that if I'm good enough then he would take me home. We travelled from place to place, I learnt the art under different masters in various dojos. It was a lonely life because I didn't have anu companion except my father. In the tenth year, Pops decided to travel to China. We didn't have enough money to buy plane tickets so we swam all the way there."
"What?! You swam all the way to China?" Yohji exclaimed in disbelief. Ken and Omi had similar expressions on their faces. Aya didn't show any expression at all because he knew about their father's so called training.
"Yeah," Ranko replied. "He said, 'A true path to martial arts is fraught with peril'. Anyway, we swam to China. There, we went to a training ground called Jusenkyo." Her thoat tightened up as she recalled that time.
"Jusenkyo?" Omi piped up.
"Yeah, Jusenkyo is a cursed training ground."
"Cursed, what do you mean?" Yohji asked.
Ranko turned to him annoyed. "I would have gotten to that if you didn't keep interrupting."
Yohji flushed. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"That's okay. As I was saying, the training ground is cursed. The guide tried to warn us about it but we ignored him. Pops and I leapt to one of the bamboo poles and started sparring. I kicked him and he flew into one of the spring-" she broke off and started sobbing. Aya tried to comfort her while trying to remain calm himself. He had guessed what happened to their father when she didn't come with him because he knew their father wouldn't let her out of his sight.
After calming down a bit she continued, "He didn't resurface. I thought he was trying to get me off guard but after several minutes he was still inside. I looked in and saw his body at the bottom of the spring. The guide informed me that Pops is dead but I wouldn't believe it. I started running and didn't watch where I was going. I slipped and fell into one of the springs."
Aya stiffened at this. "Ko-chan, you mean-"
"-that I am cursed," she finished for him.
The others were shocked and didn't say anything for a few minutes. Ken was the first one to break the silence. "What's your curse?"
"Ken-kun!" Omi exclaimed.
"What?" Ken asked dumbly.
Yohji shook his head at his team mate naïvety.
Ranko giggled at their antics. "That's okay, Omi-kun. I don't mind. Well, Ken-kun, I turned into a..."
*End Chapter 5*
AN: You will probably kill me for doing this but I want it to be a big surprise for the next chapter. The next one won't take too long providing I have enough reviews otherwise I won't post it up until I have enough. Meanwhile, please review!!!!!!!!!