Lita paced
furiously in her room. How could that happen? How could
Kasumi Tendo become so villainess to claim that
she made Sage's
favorite dessert when it was actually Makoto who journeyed the
town and slaved all day over a stove. Makoto went through all
that effort and Kasumi gets the credit. Even Seiji praised
her!
Lita scowled, "Of
course, I couldn't cause a big scene!" she ranted which eerily
reminded Ranma of Akane.
"You should just
give the guy a break," Ranma advised. "No one wants to be
hassled by a bunch of uncute chicks anyway." He instantly
cowered as the inhabitants of the room, Lita, Akane, P-chan,
Pikachu, snarled at him.
Then, Lita slumped
down on her sleeping bag. "Perhaps, I should just let him go,"
she sighed.
A picture of Kuno
floated down from the ceiling next to Lita who picked it up.
He looks so much
like my ex-boyfriend, Jacq... She
remembered all those missed opportunities that comes when a loved
one is let go, but now she wasn't reminiscing over Jacq; she was
thinking about Sage.
Nabiki leaned back
in her comfy chair in one of the cafes. "So, Kuno, how much do
you actually love Makoto, hm? I'd want you to compare her to
Akane and the pig-tailed girl."
"Oh, Akane and the
pig-tailed girl, they are destined to be mine. We are from the
same territory, the same Anime."
Nabiki nodded,
"Yeah, yeah, same difference."
Kuno continued,
unpreturbed, "But the lovely Lady Jupiter, the Sailor Senshi who
controls the thunder... she is a prize that I must strive to
win."
"Did you know that
she's staying at my house for a few days?"
Sage was enjoying
a nice walk through the town, enjoying the scenery. Everything
was so pleasant and peaceful that afternoon... until some people
started asking him some questions...
"Hey, you're the
man who traveled in here with miss Jupiter, aren't ya?" a small bald
dirty old man who was as high has his knee asked
spontaneously.
"Um, yes," Sage
wondered how it was possible that a person could truly be that
short.
"Boy, I sure wish
that I had a beautiful young lady like her!" Happosai
exclaimed, "Do you mind if I borrow her for a long time?
I'll return her back to you, I promise."
"Um... ... I do
not know... ...you will have to ask her..."
"Aw, come
on! Be kind to your elders!"
Eventually, the
pervert left and Sage continued walking, trying to shake off the
strange encounter when another man had some questions.
"So, you came here
with Makoto, right?"
"How far have you
gotten with her?"
"I don't know what
you mean."
"You know what I
mean. She's your girlfriend after all. Have you-" the
teen whispered something in his hear.
Sage blushed, "No,
I haven't done anything like that."
"Liar, I bet
you've even-" more whispers. Then, the teen asked, "Are you
hot orsomething? Why is your face so red?"
"You know, you're
gonna have to save your girlfriend from Kuno cause he's starting to
make his move."
"She's not my
girlfriend so she can do whatever she wants to."
"Liar, she's your
friend, right?"
"So, she's your
girlfriend."
"Here you go,"
Nabiki tossed a bunch of letters and packages on the table near Lita
at the Tendo residence, "This is all your group's
junk."
Lita examined the
stuff carefully. One heavily-perfumed package was for
Sage. Curiosity over riding morals, she opened the small box
and pulled out a bra with a phone number and address written on
it. "I could probably wear this," she mused, highly doubting
Sage would need it for anything...
Nabiki glanced at
the blonde who was far away to listen to their
conversation.
Makoto then
noticed a bouquet of red roses on the table and gingerly picked them
up. She found a note amist the beauty of the romantic
flowers.
"Lovely Lady
Jupiter, you are the one my heart desires most.
You consume my
thoughts constantly ever since I first looked
at you.
Please meet me today at the local cafe near the
market place at
5:00 P.M.
Tatewaki Kuno,
Kendo Champion of Furikan High School"
Makoto sat down
instantly. She couldn't believe this. It was a
phenomenon. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man invites her out
for a date. "What should I do?" she groaned, still depressed
and hopeful over Sage.
Pikachu advised,
"Lita, I'd be wary of any Main Character from this Anime if I were
you. This is the accursed Anime, you know."
Nabiki spoke
smoothly. "You must have your Animes mixed up. This is
Ranma1/2, not
Lodoss. Makoto,
just give Kuno a chance. You never know."
"Hm," she looked
at the card, pondering what decision to make. She doubted that
she would get Sage now. "I still have two hours until
five."
Chop!
Chop! Slam! Break! Thronk! Akane stepped
back and eased her stance, "Hey, you're really good," she
complimented Sage who was busy catching his breath. "I'm sorry
if I scared you with some of those moves, but you're actually really
agile. I bet you'll beat Kuno tomorrow. Well, I gotta
go. Ranma should be here to practice with you
now."
Just as she was
leaving, Ranma walked in scowling. Did his fiancee have to
talk to Sage like that? Oh, well, didn't
wanna marry Akane anyway. He got
into his fighting stance with Sage and they started slowly with a
few simple blocks and punches.
"So, do you know
what Makoto was talking to Nabiki about earlier?" Sage asked
conversationally.
"I think she's
going out with somebody for today, but I don't know
who."
"What? Do ya
like her or something?" Ranma wondered since Sage appeared to be
worried. "Usually, you don't ask questions like
that."
"You know who I'm
talking about," said Ranma. "The thunder chick." Ranma
frowned upon seeing that Sage was uncomfortable with the
conversation. "Just don't fall into an accursed spring and
then be forced to like someone."
"Do you have all
the supplies?" Nabiki asked her cohorts as she gazed at all the
technology with evil satisfaction.
"Yup, sure thing!"
Cohort1 chirped cheerfully.
"Wah!
Nabiki..." Cohort2 whimpered, sulking into the bedroom. "I
can't figure out all this wire and how to hook up the video
camera..."
"Don't worry,"
Nabiki said with confidence. "I'll take care of it!"
Money, money, money...
Akane sipped her
hot tea carefully with P-chan dozing in her lap. Pikachu was
pacing around furiously. "Just calm down," Akane told the
pokemon. "I'm sure Lita's fine wherever she is."
"No, I can
guarantee it that she's not fine!" Pikachu
spat. "Do you know who she's with?"
"Kuno!" Pikachu
spat yet again. "Tatewaki Kuno!"
Just then, Ranma
and Sage walked into the room. Pikachu instantly zoomed over
to the blonde samurai, begging and pleading, "Sage!
Sage! You have to rescue Lita!"
"What exactly is
wrong?" Sage demanded worriedly.
"Lita has been
forced to date Kuno!"
"Oh," he calmed
down. "What do you mean, 'forced'?"
Pikachu took a
deep breath. It didn't think talking to Sage would be this
hard.
"Lita is on a date
with Kuno."
"And she had no
choice in the matter?"
"Well, she did
decide to..."
Sage shrugged,
"She can do whatever she wants."
"Whoa," Ranma
intervened, "Kuno's bad news, man. Once he sees someone who
looks like a woman, he'll follow and annoy that person
forever."
Akane retorted,
"Hey, Ranma! Not only did you look like a girl when
Kuno saw you after you fell into the pool, but you actually
were a
girl."
Sage had learned
the past few days to ignore what those two say to each other.
"Well, I need to take a shower," he told them and left, not wishing
to participate in the conversation about Kuno anymore. What
little he knew about this anime was strange enough and he didn't
want to be told anything stranger.
"Don't use all the
hot water!" Ranma shouted.
"AAAHHHHH!!!!!! HENTAI!!!!!!!!!!" Nabiki shrieked as
the door opened and closedquickly.
Sage slammed the
door and tried to prevent himself from hyperventilating. He
had no idea Nabiki was in there! "Sorry! I didn't know
you were in there!" He calmed down and was grateful that he
didn't see anything... although his mind conjured up images,
he shoved those aside and out of his mind. I am much too young to
think about stuff like that! However, he
quickly began dwelling on Makoto which he didn't mind cause she was
a very good friend. She was beautiful and she was more like a
peer to him than any other woman. No, I am too young to think about that, he told himself again. Nabiki then came out, looked at
him, smiled and giggled, and walked off.
"I can't believe
it!" Cohort1 giggled a little too hyperly as she watched the
television in Nabiki's room.
"Is he really
gonna take it all off?" Cohort2 wondered.
Nabiki smirked,
"Girl, he doesn't even know we're watching." Through the
television, they saw Sage check the water's temperature. Then,
he carelessly took his shirt off and tossed it aside. Both
cohorts squealed in delight and Nabiki kicked them outside before
Sage could hear them from the shower.
Akane sighed as
she watched the two girls leave. Nabiki started chanting,
"Money, money, money," and said to Kasumi, "Don't worry. Sage
is gonna be all yours!"
Akane sighed yet
again and spoke to her beloved piglet when her sisters were gone, "I
just wish they'd leave Sage and Lita alone. Those two deserve
to be together and I'm tired of this."
Ranma stood up,
"Yeah, well, I'm gonna go take a nap." He started to walk
away, "They can take care of themselves."
P-chan paced back
and forth across the hall. His beloved Akane was distressed
over what was going on. His beloved Akane wanted Sage and Lita
to be together... Suddenly, he got a wonderfully, awfully
wonderful idea! But where was Sage? The piglet was
asleep when the blonde announced where he would be... For no
other reason than it was on his way back down the hall, P-chan
peeked into Nabiki's room. Nabiki Tendo was leaning back on
her chair with her feet propped up against the desk. She ate
some noodles and never took her smug gaze off the TV screen.
"That body is worth... ten thousand yen? Nah, a hundred
thousand." Curious, P-chan tiptoed over and tried to see what
was on the screen. He could see Sage in the TV.
Apparently, the blonde finished his shower and was now blissfully
and ignorantly relaxing in a nice hot bath. The figure in the
TV moved slightly and Nabiki stopped chewing to stare with
fascination. "That body is worth a hundred billion
yen."
Sage sighed,
closed his eyes, and leaned back further in the tub. He
enjoyed a nice comfortable warm bath, but although his body was
relaxed and comfortable, his mind was still troubled.
Something about Lita being with Kuno disturbed him. True, he
had been thinking about women alot more the past year ever since his
friends had dared him to flirt with a girl. That girl flirted
with him instead! And asked him for marriage two minutes after
he stood next to her! Lately, he was noticing how they acted
and how they looked alot more often now. They all wanted him
like he was some prized object whereas Lita treated him like a
person and she didn't ask for much in return. She was his peer
and perhaps the only woman closest to his own age that he could
confide in. They had been traveling together for a few months
and his grandfather is the type who would arrange a marriage if he
didn't become interested in a woman soon. Sage sinked lower in
the tub. This bath wasn't so relaxing anymore...
Suddenly, he heard
a sound like a pig and he heard something clattering on the tile
floor. Sage sat up and looked around. The door was still
closed. That was good, but P-chan was approaching the tub and
the little piggy marched towards the hot water with a purpose.
Curious, Sage continued to watch him and then, the little pig hopped
into the tub.
"Oh, God!
Creators!" Sage exclaimed, jumping up in fright as P-chan
transformed into Ryouga Hibiki. "What kind of anime is
this?"
Ryouga blinked,
startled. He never got this reaction before... "Um, I'm
not here to hurt you, ok?"
"Listen, you love
Makoto, right?"
"Um," Sage thought
about it, "Yes." Then, he noted, "Your voice sounds
familar."
"Yeah, I think
I've heard your voice somewhere before too. Anyway, I'll help
you get Makoto away from Kuno, ok?"
"Um, sure, I
guess. I don't know."
"Good."
Ryouga stepped out of the tub and retrieved a piece of paper off the
floor and handed it to Sage. "That's where you'll find
them."
Sage nodded,
reading the note. "So, um," this was very strange and
weird. He was used to floating heads, not gender and species
transformations. "What all do we need? I, um, probably
need to get dressed first..."
"Oh, yeah."
Ryouga hadn't thought about what to wear. "Can I borrow some
of your clothes?"
Ranma was sleeping
peacefully, unaware of Ryouga hissing at Sage, "Don't wake him up!"
and he was unaware of being carried halfway across town. He
might've woken up when Ryouga tripped and spilled cold water all
over himself, but for some reason, he remained asleep during
that. He also might've woken up when Sage and Ryouga couldn't
find a street sign so therefore they didn't know where they
were. Fortunately, Ryouga did the intelligent thing and forced
Sage to choose which way to go.
All in all, the
majority of the date was a total waste of time. Wait, not the
majority, all of it was a total waste of time. Kuno just kept
rambling on and on about the same thing over and over again...
Well, she thought it was the same thing, but she didn't really know
cause she started to ignore him a long time ago cause nothing he
said made sense. She wished he would just leave.
Then, as though a
miracle was granted to her, Kuno zoomed away, apparently forgetting
all about her. Makoto blinked. He was gone just like
that. That was perfect. Too perfect. Curious, she
turned around to see Kuno squeezing the life out of a soaking wet
red-haired girl. Sighing, she picked up her purse and
left. There were just so many more important things she
could've done... Her entire day was wasted.
She saw him
though. Sage was there, nearby. Charming Seiji was
walking towards her. Sage had to be one of the most polite and
courteous men she ever met. He looked at her and
smiled.
"Hello," Seiji
spoke cheerfully and conversationally. "This is a very strange
territory, isn't it?"
Lita nodded.
There were times when she was nearly breathless from being near
him. "I bet you're used to seeing floating heads instead of
all this stuff."
He chuckled,
"Yeah, I suppose you can get used to that if you encounter it over
and over again." His smile faded and he looked away
seriously. "Did, um, did you ever hear any rumors that we were
going out? Together?"
Makoto
blinked. That was a drastic change in topic and she didn't
expect him to talk about that. "Um, yeah. I think I
heard about it in passing. This really, really short old man
came to me and said that I needed to dump you."
"Ah. And
what did you say?"
"Not much.
He wouldn't leave me alone so I kicked him away."
Seiji nodded, "I
think you did the right thing considering where we
are..."
Makoto sighed and
brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. "Some people
wanted to know why I was cheating on you... but how can I
cheat on you if we aren't even..."
"Yeah.
So..." Urg! Why did his throat have to clench
up!
"Hm?" Sage was too
busy, focusing on the energy needed to speak that he didn't hear
Lita, but he understood what she was trying to say and summoned the
strength, "So... you... want to... be my girlfriend." A
strange and frightening concept.
Sage took a deep
breath. He did need to find a woman whom he loved or else face
an arranged marriage and marry a woman he hated.
"Okay."
Makoto was
shocked. Was he actually agreeing to this? "K, but, um,
not right now? Maybe I could be your girlfriend
tomorrow?"
"Um, I guess if
you want to... I have that Kendo battle
tomorrow..."
"Yeah, so you'll
be my boyfriend tomorrow and I'll be your girlfriend?"
Smiling, they
walked together silently, feeling rather warm with embarrassment
from their conversation which was certainly bizarre in both their
opinions. Just then, Ryouga Hibiki ran up to them and grinned
widely.
"So, are you
two... beyond friends?" he wondered expectantly.
"Yeah, kinda."
said Lita.
"Whoohoo!!!"
Ryouga shouted. "And guess what! I finally got rid of
Ranma!" Then, he ran off, chanting, "I got rid of
Ranma!!!!"
Lita blinked, "His
voice sounded familar..."
Sage shrugged, "I
suppose only so many voices exist in this
realm..." |
