Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, nor claim to.
Chapter Twenty Three: Meal Planning:
"But if you only have love for your own race, Then you only leave space to discriminate. And to discriminate only generates hate. And when you hate then you're bound to get irate, yeah." Black Eyed Peas: Where is the Love?
Ukyo sighed. "Well, they'll be here soon, sugar."
"Yes." Konatsu replied, carrying a stack of dishes into the back room.
Ukyo glanced at him once, before sighing and turning back to her work. There was a slight sizzle as the next okonomiyaki was placed onto the griddle. Gathering the rest of the ingredients in a snap, the woman laid each one on in seconds, before adding a liberal spread of bright red sauce. And with that, she moved onto the previous ones, making sure everything cooked right. "Twenty years." She muttered to herself calmly. "Twenty years since we've seen each other."
DING-DA-DING! The bell above the door sounded. Her head snapped up in a second, as four familiar faces walked in, from youngest to oldest. Ukyo sighed a tiny bit, before perking right back up. "Hello, Naruto, Kite, Akari, Ryoga! How are y'all doing?!"
"Hello, Kuonji-san!" Kite replied first, smiling, and walking up to the counter. "I take it we're the first ones here again, right?"
"You all always did like to come early."
"Want us to get the tables set up?"
Ukyo nodded. "But make sure to get another four seats out. We got a whole new group coming tonight." She glanced over at the normal space they used. "You know what, don't make the big line table this time. Break it into a few groups or so."
Kite nodded, before grabbing his little brother with a "Come on, squirt!" and dragging him along to help move around a bunch of empty tables.
Ryoga and Akari slid up, taking a pair of stools at the counter right near the chef. "Hey, Ukyo." The man said with a smile. "How's everything?"
"Oh, you know, sugar, same as always. Good business, a pair of bickering ninja kids, and something always looming in the background." There was a slight sigh from her, before she suddenly perked up. "But, it's not important. We got plenty of food, so let me know when you want something."
She turned back to the okonomiyaki started a few minutes ago, checking them, before sliding them onto plates, and bringing it to the middle-aged couple along one of the walls.
At this point, Keira bounded down the stairs, smiling happily. "Need any help in the kitchen, Mom?"
Ukyo turned, spotted her, and nodded, walking back to the counter. "Slide off those other two okonomiyaki, hon." Keira did, and handed the plates to her mother, carrying them to the only other two customers. The first was for a boy, about eighteen, with light blond hair and tough green eyes, who merely nodded to Ukyo as she placed down the plate. The second was a girl, more along the lines of sixteen, with soft brown hair tied in a short ponytail and pleasant gold eyes. She seemed very familiar, but a large scratch along her face was totally unfamiliar. But there was someone who she reminded Ukyo of, someone like . . .
"Thank you." The girl said pleasantly, smiling up at the woman, before happily digging into her food. The words snapped the woman out of her trance, and she went back to work.
"All right, Keira, help out with the tables, okay?' The mother semi-commanded, and the girl, brushing some crumbs off her light blue T-shirt, nodded and slipped around to help Naruto and Kite.
At this point, Keira bounded down the stairs, smiling happily. "Hello, Naruto . . . eep!"
Keira looked up to see her exact double, wearing the same blue shirt and jeans she was wearing, in the same way, with the same white bow tied in the end of her hair. She was a perfect match, except for the fearful look of surprise on her face. The first Keira muttered, "Haku!" before the second dashed back up the stairs. The girl scowled, before clicking her hands together, concentrating, and then muttering quietly.
With a quiet POOF! a new doppleganger of Keira appeared, facing the same direction as the original. Without hesitating, the third girl raced up the stairs, disappearing.
Keira nodded as her duplicate chased down her brother, before turning back to the work. Kite and Naruto were staring at her for a moment, but slowly, they went back to work, shuffling the chairs around.
DING-DA-DING!
Ukyo glanced up to see the next group to arrive, but blinked in surprise. Not because she didn't recognize the person, but because he was alone. "Sauske? What are you doing here by yourself?"
The boy smiled. "Oh, everyone else will be here in a minute. I just got a bit ahead of them."
Keira smiled at him, before hiding a bit as she worked, a very faint blush in her cheeks. Which suddenly grew very bright when an arm reached around her shoulder.
"Hey, Keira, how are you?"
"H-hey, Sauske-kun!" the girl replied a bit too enthusiastically, smiling up at the boy. "I . . . I'm good."
The boy ignored the death glare he was getting from Naruto, as he leaned in closer to her. "That's good." He said in a soft voice. Naruto's glare grew worse.
Keira was bright red, smiling up at Sauske. "I'm in heaven, or I'm dreaming." She thought to herself. "But either is okay."
Suddenly, she heard a very faint snicker coming from behind her. The laughter was trying to be stifled, before being followed by a sudden CLOMP! The giggles continued unabated, before there was another loud CLOMP!
The girl straightened up, turning around and facing the stairs, where a stool could be seen climbing up one step at a time, a camera resting on top, hopping to get to the next one. A single word escaped her lips.
"Haku!"
That was followed by a bright red aura from Keira, the girl racing towards the stairs, the stool sprouting the head and legs of Haku before he began racing up as fast as possible, and both children disappeared in an instant.
Naruto ignored the scene for a moment, still focused solely on the boy, before Sauske burst into a puff of smoke and disappeared. Another doppleganger. He blinked, glanced around, before his brother dragged him back into their work.
Ukyo sighed, glanced at the door, and then followed her children upstairs slowly.
- - -
Fifteen minutes later, Keira, Haku, and Ukyo walked back down the stairs to see the Saotomes, the Reynolds, the Tofus, and the Amazons had already arrived. Ukyo sighed, as the two children went to sit in the table with the other children of their respective ages, before she walked behind the counter. Konatsu glanced up at her, smiling. "Anything wrong?"
Ukyo took a deep breath, calming her nerves, before smiling. "Nope. Everything's fine now."
"Hey, Ucchan!" Ranma said with a smile from the far end of the row of six, made up of Ryoga, Akari, Shampoo, Mousse, Akane and Ranma in that order.
Ukyo smiled. "Hello, Ranma, Akane, Mousse," the girl paused a second, before keeping that same honest smile when she said, "Shampoo."
The purple haired Amazon smiled back, replying with "Hello, Ukyo." And, somehow, that was that. The past was done with. Time does heal wounds, it seems.
- - -
Keira glared at her brother as she walked up to the table. "Okay, what do you all want?" She said, suddenly cheerful again, looking away from the thirteen-year-old sibling.
First was Auska. "Um . . . well, how about . . . everything?"
"You got it." She turned to the next person, before stopping. "Oh, hello, I don't know if we've met."
The young girl shook her head, the short black hair whipping around with it. Suddenly, she swung up her arms, holding a sign that read "I'm Pai!" Keira blinked, before the girl flipped the sign over. "I'm Aki, Chii, and Tenchuu's sister!"
Keira blinked again, before smiling and bowing a bit. "It's nice to meet you, Pai. I'm Kuonji Keira. What can I get for you?"
The girl drew down the sign, flipping a sheet of paper over, and scribbling with a big marker with a squeaky sound, before holding it back up. "Whatever Auska is having!"
Keira smiled, saying, "Okay, then. Joseph, what do you want?"
"Chicken and bok choy." The boy replied immediately.
"And Amy?"
"Same!"
"Okay." Keira turned on her angry stare as she turned to her brother. "And you want the usual, right?" Haku nodded. "Okay." And with that, Keira walked back to the counter to relay the orders to her mother, before walking to the middle table, occupied by only three.
"Hello." Keira said kindly to the boy she hadn't seen before. He wore thick glasses over his eyes, tied around the back of his head, a set of long white robes similar to Pai, with a long mane of black hair trailing down behind his shoulders. He had on a very calm, cold, stoic face, and his eyes mirrored that look. "My name's Kuonji Keira. What can I get for you?"
The boy thought for a moment, before replying "Haddock and cabbage." His tone was cold, but respectful.
Keira blinked at his stoic voice, odd to her even though it was fitting for his body language, before nodding. "Okay. And what about you, Sakura?"
The girl looked up at her, smiling. "Uh, I'll have the usual."
"Same here." Kite added.
Keira smiled, remembering what they always got, before rushing back to her mother to give out the next group of orders. Turning, she returned to the second to last table, with Naruto, Sauske, a new boy she had also not met from her class in high school, a space for herself, and, unfortunately, Aki.
Turning to the only person she didn't know, she smiled politely. "Hello, I'm Kuonji Keira. What can I get for you?"
The boy smiled immediately. "Hello, Keira. I'm Chii. And I'll have the okonomiyaki."
There was a short pause. "Okay." Keira replied. "And what do you want on it?"
"Oh, right. I'll have the sauce on it."
Another pause. "Um, they all come with sauce."
"Oh, yeah . . . I'll have the hamlem."
"What?"
The boy suddenly shook his head. "Sorry, I mean, the salmon."
Keira paused, before nodding, and continued taking orders. Except for Aki referring to her as "Fast-girl" again, they went much smoother than with Chii. After bringing the orders up to her mother, Keira went to the final table, occupied by Ono, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Brandon.
"Hello, what can I get for you all?"
- - -
After ordering, the four of them watched Keira bring the orders up, then her return to her seat next to Chii and Naruto, with Sauske facing Naruto and Aki sitting next to the Saotome, facing Keira. It seemed like a very uncomfortable seat for the Kuonji.
"So, that's Aki?" Nabiki said to herself, glancing over her shoulder at the table with the Chinese Amazon for a moment, before turning back to the other three.
"She's quiet beautiful." Kasumi noted. Keira, out of sight, sighed a bit at that moment.
Ono nodded. "She is." Keira sighed again. "But, anyway, how have you two been? I heard that you came back from another trip a few days ago, Nabiki."
Nabiki nodded. "Sure did."
"How was it?"
"Over and done with. Hopefully the last one for a few weeks. Otherwise, it wasn't anything worth talking about."
- - -
Squeaky-Squeaky! "You did that, Haku?!" Pai's sign read.
The boy nodded.
Squeaky-Squeaky! "Wasn't Keira upset?!"
The boy nodded again.
Squeaky-Squeaky! "That's so funny!"
"What was the look on her face like?" Joseph asked.
"Bright red, through and through. I'll show you the pictures tomorrow."
Amy gave a dour look to the boy. "Now now, Haku, that was slightly cruel to Keira." Her stoic face broke out smiling. "Hilarious, but cruel . . . but mostly hilarious."
- - -
"So, Tenchuu-san, what's it like out in China?" Sakura asked.
The boy thought back. "More rural, and more Chinese. But it not much different otherwise. Where we live now is like modern Amazon village." He paused. "And no Jusenkyo here."
There was another long pause. Kite sighed. "A man of few words. Tenchuu, I think you'll fight right in at this table." Sakura rolled her eyes. "And it's all her fault."
"My fault?!" Sakura replied angrily. "How is it my fault?"
"You always mess up the conversation by telling me I smell! You always do!"
"I haven't yet!"
Kite paused, before sneering. "But you're going to! I know it!"
"No I'm not!"
"I bet you are! Five minutes from now, you're going to tell me I smell!"
"I won't!" Sakura shot back.
"Or, you're going to bring up Jusenkyo!" Kite snapped. He downed the last contents of his glass, before reaching for the pitcher of water resting on the table.
Sakura's hand shot out, grabbing the handle. "Here, I'll get it for you Kite."
"No, I got it!"
"No, really!"
"Sakura!"
With a yank, the girl pulled the pitcher away, swinging it out to her side to avoid any sloshing water. "Want any, Tenchuu-san?"
The boy glanced at her, then the other boy, who was glaring angrily at Sakura. Then, he sighed.
- - -
"So, Chii, I take it you practice martial arts like Aki here does?" Keira asked, glancing towards the boy with silver hair.
He and Aki glanced at each other strangely for a moment, before the boy turned back to her, smiling. "Yes, I certainly do. But I'm not nearly as could as my sister." Everyone looked at him strangely, except for Aki. The boy suddenly realized his mistake. "Sorry, I mean, not as good as my sister." Everyone nodded, before the boy continued again. "Sorry, I haven't learned the vocabulary of this language very good yet."
"Aww, that's okay." Naruto replied. "No real problem, anyway."
Chii nodded at that, smiling at the boy, before Keira spoke up again. "So, what do you know?"
There was another strange glance between Chii and Aki again, but much shorter this time, before the boy turned to Keira. "Most of the basics, punches, kicks, throws, clocks . . . I mean, blocks, general things like that. I don't have as much talent as my sisters or brother. Bad muck, I suppose."
"Luck." Aki corrected.
"Right, luck." Chii repeated.
Keira studied the boy for a moment, before sighing to herself. "So, Aki is better than you?"
The Amazon girl turned to the ninja. "Why are you . . . so interested? . . . Are you thinking of . . . challenging Chii, Fast-girl?"
Keira turned to Aki with a cold look, glaring at the Amazon. "If you mean what I think that means to you, no, I don't. I'm just curious. And I think it's better to ask questions than to go around behind someone's back, Murderer."
Aki's face flushed red with fury. Keira always said that on purpose. She couldn't stand the Amazon constantly treating her like dirt, and the only way to make her react to anything she said was that murder bit. And she always got a reaction out of that. A big one. Maybe a bit too big, but when you have the choice between nothing and too much, too much usually wins.
"I was not trying . . . to kill him, Fast-girl . . . I was simply . . ." Aki was cut off by Keira.
"Oh, really? You weren't trying to kill him? Well, maybe chasing someone around a field with a big sword is a sign of affection in your country, but here it's a threat! A big one!"
The two young women glared at each other, both with tightly clenched fists and teeth. There was rage in both girls' eyes, and all the boys could almost see the crackles of lightning between their eyes. Sauske knew he had to do something. He found an idea in a split second. "Hey, Naruto!"
The blond boy looked up at him, confused. "What, Sauske?"
Sauske gave a smirk at the Hibiki, before taking again. "I bet I can beat you in . . . uh, rock paper scissors."
"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted suddenly. "Oh, you just think you're so awesome, don't you Sauske?! You're ON!"
"On three." Sauske replied, as both "combatants" clenched one fist, holding it in the palm of the other, clicking their hands with each count. "One . . . two . . . three!"
Naruto slammed his hand down, showing scissors, a big, confident grin on his face.
Sauske had rock.
"How do you do that?!" Naruto asked to nobody in particular.
"Too bad, Naruto," Sauske began, noticing that Keira and Aki were no longer looking at each other, instead focused on them, and seemed a bit quieter than before. "Rock beats scissors. I win."
"EERGH! Sauske!" Naruto shouted. "One day, I'm going to beat you at this!"
"Really?" Sauske began, smirking more. "So, you're giving up on beating me in a fight?"
"WHATEVER IT TAKES!" Naruto shouted, before realizing what he had said. "I mean, no! or . . . YES! NO! WAIT! AAARGH!"
Sauske simply smiled a little more, as Naruto began shaking his fist at the Saotome.
- - -
Ranma sighed as he turned back to the group. Ukyo looked up. "Haku, okonomiyaki are done."
The boy bounded over, grabbing several plates, and began delivering them to the rest of the four families seated around the restaurant. Ukyo began pulling other meals off, handing them to the adults seated at the counter. It was time for the one thing nobody wanted to get into. But you can't escape the thing that brings you together.
"Okay, here's the plan." Ranma began suddenly. The group turned to Ranma with a somber look. "We've gottah find Happy and keep him from goin' after anyone else."
"You mean, like what happened to Auska?" Ryoga asked.
Ranma nodded. "Exactly. I don't know what the old freak is plannin', but he's been striking all over the city, usually far off from us. If everybody goes after him, someone's gonna' get left behind. We can't let him get us in the back.
"So, we split into two groups: one looks for Happy, one watches over everybody else." Ranma continued. "We switch off who goes searchin' and who stays behind, but we have to find him before he finds us. You know, make him fight us on our terms."
The "conversation" wasn't much beyond a one-person explanation, but nobody wanted to stand in Ranma's way. After Auska had nearly been taken from him, he always seemed to get unusually cold whenever the man's name came up. Same with Akane, but she normally left the planning for this particular maniac up to her husband.
It was almost an obsession for him whenever there was a sighting, which was rare. But he held his control, and there was no way they would stand a chance without him. Happosai was powerful, even next to Ranma. And after he had gained some control over his impulsive nature . . . the strengths of that man had become more profound with fewer weaknesses to exploit.
"So, what about them?" Konatsu asked, signaling to the group of children continuing to eat.
Ranma sighed. "I think we could use their help. I know Sakura's ready to be part of it."
Akane glanced at him. "She is?"
Ranma nodded. "Yep. But I don't want them to do any more than we do."
"You sure you want to bring them into this?" Mousse asked.
"Absolutely." Ranma replied. "I know it ain't gonna' be easy, so we gottah' make sure we have everybody help us win. Besides, Tokyo's no little village. The more people we got looking, the faster we find him."
"And if they get hurt . . ." Ukyo began.
"They won't." Ranma replied immediately. "I swear it."
- - -
Keira gathered the last of the plates from the youngest kids' table, bringing them up to the counter, and passing them off to her parents as they continued their discussions on Happosai. Ukyo asked her to check on the other customers, and so off the girl went. It would be good to get a break from Aki.
"Is there anything else I can get for you two?' the teenage girl asked as she stepped up to the middle aged couple.
The man and woman glanced at each other, before both turned back to her, smiling. "No, we're all set. Thank you for the delicious meal."
"Oh, You're welcome." Keira replied, gathering their dishes up, and bringing them to the counter again.
Their conversation brought her back to Happosai. She had met him, once, staying a good meter and a half away at all times, and had seen him many times. The only thing she liked about him was that she had never been forced to face off against the pervert. She had heard almost all the stories, and the guy was pretty crazy to her. How could anyone want to train under him?
"Would you like anything else?" the girl asked, the eighteen-year-old boy glancing up at her.
"Yeah, two more of these." He said gruffly, before turning back to the last remnants of his food, ignoring the girl beyond that.
Keira nodded, walking back up to her mother to give out the two extra orders. What could be so great about this Happosai anyway? He had lost to Saotome-san, so he couldn't be that great. He was the really great martial artist. Happosai was just a pervert who stole girls' underwear, groped them, and then tried to abduct Auska to teach her everything he knew. Like that would be a good way to fight.
Anyone who trained under him would probably be an idiot or something after a while.
"Would you like anything else?" Keira asked the girl sitting in the booth alone.
She shook her head. "No, I am all set. I don't think there's any reason for me to hang around longer, taking up space for you customers."
"No, it's all right if you want more. We have plenty of space." Keira replied.
The girl with gold eyes wouldn't hear of it. "No, I'm finished here." She reached down, grabbing her bag, and flinging it over her shoulder.
"Well, thank you for coming to Ucchan's." Keira replied, stepping out of the girl's way to let her walk out the door. The girl paused at the door, smiling, bowing a little, before disappearing out into the night calmly.
- - -
Ukyo sighed again, as the whole group began to leave. "Well, Konatsu, looks like we've got dishes galore for a while." She muttered quietly, boxing up the second okonomiyaki that boy had ordered. The guy was a bit of a jerk, but not every customer can be perfect. She passed the box off to him, he took it without thanks, and walked out the door.
"Well, Ukyo, thanks for givin' us a place to meet. Sorry it couldn't be about somethin' good." Ranma said tentatively, scratching his head.
The woman smiled. "It's no trouble, sugar. Besides, it's better we get the problems fixed before we start celebrating, right, hon'?"
"Yeah, you're right." Ranma replied. "So, it's good we can fix this soon."
Next Chapter: Two weeks without finding the old man, as Happosai inches closer and closer to home; once again, though, even after two weeks, the crew sets up for another night of searching.
And that's the end of chapter twenty-three. I just have a warning out there for all you readers. While I don't think it'll be a problem, I do have college applications coming up, so I might not be putting up anymore Ranma ½: The Fanfiction chapters, for those few of you who read that, and I might miss a couple weeks of Youth of the Nation. I am going to do my best to keep that from happening, but just as a heads up, don't be surprised if I miss a week or two.
Anyway, on with the reviews;
Shinjiku: Okay, you're right, Ranma and Akane fought a lot, and ended up together anyway. Maybe that will happen with Sauske and Aki. But there's more to it than simply being able to be together despite bickering. After all, Sauske and Naruto are sort of friends most of the time, and they fight all the time. (And before anyone asks, no, they aren't getting together) It is going to take more than simply getting through fights for anyone to end up together. So, you'll have to wait a while until you find out more. Sorry.
The Liz: Happosai and The Joker? Hmm, sounds interesting; I think I get what you mean. And yes, Kuno Tabakatsu does have a little more sense than his father. As for whether or not Kuno knows that the female Ranma is the male Ranma too, . . . well, you'll just have to wait some more. (Again)
Paige Crews: Yeah, it was a dream. As for Happosai teaching Auska the Good Child Exercise technique to drain battle auras . . . well, it's possible. But that wasn't one of his best techniques, since he never really used it too much. Also, if you look at the beginning, when Hinako uses it as a child, it does nothing to her to increase her size. It's only when she's an adult that it turns her into the adult Hinako. I don't think it's as effective as some other techniques he knows, but it is possible that he would have taught it to her.