Disclaimer: I wish Ranma 1/2 belonged to me, but it doesn't. I wish I
was making a profit by writing this, but I'm not. Oh well.
Warning: Blue pattern detected!
Warning: Altaverse (Keichi ain't here, and the senshi timeline is
all messed up.)
"words"
'thoughts'
A Time for Wild Horses chapter 6
by Jose Argao
"Move over, I can't see a thing! What are they doing?"
Haruka tried to push Michiru to the side of the bench. She was
unsuccessful due to the fact that the aqua senshi was already sitting
at the edge of her seat, both figuratively and literally. She cursed
herself for picking the side of the bench where a large tree blocked
her line of sight towards where Ranma and Hotaru chose to sit.
"If I move any more, I'll fall off the bench. Stop pushing me,
Haruka."
Michiru was growing slightly annoyed with her blonde lover,
but she restrained herself from making a big deal out of it. If they
became too loud, Hotaru might hear them and recognize the voices.
"I'm still not clear on why we have to wear these disguises.
I mean, if we really wanted to watch over Hotaru, we could chaperone
her."
Haruka stopped a young man who was going to sit on the space
beside her with a look of pure hatred. She smiled as the terrified
youth ran off. That'll teach the little lecher what happens to perverts
who try to look up her skirt.
"We're wearing disguises because we don't want Hotaru to think
that we don't trust her."
Michiru sighed as she tried to answer the questions as quickly
and quietly as possible. Haruka could be such a pain sometimes,
especially now, when she was trying to focus on watching the cute guy
Hotaru was with.
'Huh, where'd _that_ come from?'
Michiru paused and puzzled over her little outburst of
infatuation. She looked at the young man wearing Chinese clothes that
Hotaru was sitting with. She decided to just ignore it. After all,
Hotaru's date _was_ pretty cute. There couldn't possibly be any harm in
recognizing that. She just smiled and continued watching intently as
Ranma finished what looked to her was a sheepish apology for being
late. She looked on with interest as he brought out a large scroll and
showed it to Hotaru.
"Well, if we _did_ trust Hotaru then why are we here, watching
her?"
Haruka was beginning to get annoyed. Since Ranma had arrived,
Michiru had been all but ignoring her. She couldn't understand what
could possibly be so interesting about Hotaru's new boyfriend. Granted,
he was possibly the same person who had supposedly leveled the district
of Nerima a while back, but that was nothing she or any other senshi
couldn't do if they really wanted to.
"Of course we trust Hotaru, it's Ranma we don't trust. By the
way, from the looks of it, he _is_ the guy from those old newspapers.
He's even wearing the same Chinese clothes."
Michiru barely glanced at Haruka as she gave her answer. There
was something about Ranma that she found fascinating. It was as if she
couldn't bear to take her eyes off him for even a second.
"Switch places with me, I want to see him."
Haruka poked her partner in her ribs as Michiru seemingly
ignored her. She was beginning to get really annoyed at Ranma for
getting Michiru all worked up like this. Michiru rolled her eyes and
stood up.
"Fine, go look all you want."
Haruka frowned as they switched places. Michiru seemed to be
really annoyed at having to switch places. If she didn't know better,
she'd almost be jealous of the guy.
When she finally got a look at him, however, she understood
Michiru's feelings completely. Whoever this new boyfriend of Hotaru
was, he was gorgeous!
*****
"Ranma, are you _sure_ this can help me get better?"
Hotaru looked back and forth between Ranma and the scroll that
lay open before her. She wanted to believe that this was really the
answer to her problems, she really did, but it was just too... strange
to be true. She wasn't sure if Haruka or Michiru would approve of some
of the steps in the procedure too.
"Um... I guess."
Ranma's face grew red as he continued to read what was in the
scroll. He wished that he had taken the time to read the whole scroll
before showing it to Hotaru. Knowing Happosai, he should have known
something like this would happen. If only he hadn't spent the morning
dreaming about strange women with bat wings on the back of their heads!
He stopped thinking when he felt Hotaru tapping on his
shoulder.
"Ranma, I don't think we can do this at all. These pressure
points you have to touch... they're a bit... personal, don't you
think?"
Ranma's blush grew brighter under her stare as he frantically
searched for a way out of the embarrassing situation. He had known that
Happosai used pressure points to do the technique on Hinako-sensei, of
course, but he had no idea what those pressure points were. Looking at
the scroll now, it's no wonder Hinako-sensei blocked the memory from
her mind.
Suddenly, an idea came to him.
"Listen, Hotaru. I've got this cousin who lives near here. Her
name is Ranko, and I was thinking that she could help you with this
instead of me. I mean, it's no big deal if it's another girl touching
you, right?"
Hotaru blushed as well. Her experiences with Haruka and Michiru
had taught her that it definitely _was_ a big deal when another woman
touched you. She decided not to say anything, however. She certainly
didn't want Ranma thinking that she was a pervert.
"Sure, Ranma. I guess there's nothing wrong if it's another
girl. We still need to go buy a new fuku though."
Ranma had been following her words perfectly, right up to the
point where she wanted to go shopping. Why would she want to shop for
a new uniform at a time like this?
"Hotaru, why would you need to buy a new fuku?"
Hotaru turned away from him shyly and indicated a small note
written at the side of the scroll. He squinted his eyes to read it,
as the handwriting was barely understandable.
'In order for this technique to be successful, the subject must
be a beautiful female. She should lie prone on a flat surface wearing
only a fuku with a skirt that shows at least ninety percent of the leg
area.'
Ranma silently cursed the lecherous master of his father and
Mr. Tendo as he read more of the small notes scattered throughout the
border of the scroll. They were so badly written that he had taken
them to be some sort of design around the scroll. Most of them were
unreadable, but some of the more recent ones were still a bit legible.
"Hotaru, something tells me that we can ignore these little
notes on the sides."
Hotaru heaved a sigh of relief. She still wasn't entirely
comfortable with the idea of Ranma's cousin poking and prodding her,
but she felt better now that she knew she didn't have to do some of
the more daring things the notes indicated.
*****
"Hmmm, she's a little young, but she'll do."
Urd watched with glee as Ranma carried on with his date.
She would have preferred someone older like Setsuna, but the
young senshi of Saturn would do nicely as well. She was certainly
cute enough, and would grow to be extremely powerful.
Then again, Ranma might choose one of the other senshi to be
his wife. In Urd's eyes, they were all very good candidates. They were
reasonably strong, and attractive as well.
'Maybe he'll even find a way to marry _all_ of them!'
Putting Ranma into the past had been a master stroke for her.
Not only did it open up a whole new world of possibilities for him, it
also put that annoying senshi of time in her place. Urd laughed at the
sad plight that awaited Setsuna. She would delay the change for as long
as possible, but it would inevitably consume her. Sooner or later, she
would be hopelessly in love with Ranma. By that time, however, Ranma
would have already hooked up with another senshi. Perhaps he would even
be married to the princess.
Of course, there was always the possibility that Setsuna would
realize the error of her ways and embrace the change. In that case, Urd
would be willing to forgive and forget. It was definitely a win-win
situation for the goddess of the past. Things were going better than
she had ever dreamed. She decided to reward herself with a bottle of
sake for a job well done and went off to get one from her room.
*****
Michiru was waiting impatiently for her turn to watch when
Haruka suddenly turned to her and grabbed her by her shoulders.
"Haruka, what's wrong? What are you... mmmph!"
Time stood still for Michiru as she felt Haruka draw her into
a tight embrace. The kiss had been sudden, catching her by surprise.
It was also intense, however, and she soon found herself melting into
the arms of her lover. Thoughts of remaining undercover formed at the
back of her mind, but were ignored as she gave in to the wonderful
feelings she was enjoying. Finally, just as abruptly as it started, it
was over. She was left gaping at Haruka as she felt the herself being
released from the embrace. Haruka was now sitting quietly on her side
of the bench, thinking.
'Obviously, I still like Michiru so I haven't suddenly turned
straight. So, am I bisexual now?'
Haruka looked around her and carefully examined every male in
sight. None of them sparked any interest in her. They were the same old
bland men she had grown accustomed to ignoring. Of course, they weren't
really attractive to begin with, so perhaps they just weren't her type.
She imagined herself with several teen idols she had seen Hotaru watch
on television. The thought repulsed her, and she let out a sigh of
relief. She wasn't straight, and she wasn't bi.
So where did her reaction to Ranma come from?
She looked towards Ranma and Hotaru again, concentrating on the
young man in Chinese clothing. He was fairly muscular, but not too much
so. His hair was tied in a pig tail, which was unusual, but it suited
him nicely. The amazing thing about him was his complexion. He looked
virtually scar free. She would have expected a man with his reputation
for getting into fights to be riddled with scars. Finally, he exuded a
strange charm that made her want to trust him, though she had never
seen him before in her life. He was a man among men, if she had ever
seen one.
Haruka smiled to herself.
Ranma was obviously cut above the rest of the male population.
She would have to be blind not to notice that. This was no different
from the times that some women would notice and acknowledge the beauty
of another member of their own sex. It certainly didn't come from any
sexual desire for men. Satisfied with her rationalization, she settled
down for a nice session of Ranma watching.
Beside her, Michiru was still recovering from the kiss. It
didn't look like anyone had seen them, and for that she was thankful.
Still, it was so sudden that she still couldn't believe it had really
happened. Now Haruka was sitting on her side with that silly grin on
her face as if nothing had happened. Worst of all, that damned tree
was blocking her view of Ranma! She got up and turned towards Haruka,
who was now staring intently at the date as it unfolded.
"I'm going to buy a soda. Do you want anything?"
Haruka just waved her off. "No thanks, I'm fine. Don't take too
long, okay?"
As Michiru made her way towards the vending machines, Haruka
continued watching Ranma. He seemed nice enough, from what she could
see. He also hadn't tried to do anything inappropriate with Hotaru,
which was a big plus for him. She decided that she would allow Hotaru
to date this boy. After all, if Hotaru was going to end up with a man,
she'd want him to be someone like Ranma.
*****
"Tell me about Ranko, Ranma."
Hotaru smiled nervously at Ranma after asking the question.
Despite the fact that this was definitely _not_ a date, it was as close
to one as she had ever gotten. She wasn't really sure how to act, and
she wanted to make a good impression on him.
"Well, she's a bit shorter than me. She has red hair, and she's
really cute. She's also almost as good at martial arts as I am. She
knows everything I know. She's also a very good cook. Wait till you
meet her, she's just great!" Ranma spoke with great enthusiasm, beaming
with pride as he described himself.
"Oh, I'm looking forward to meeting her then." Hotaru gave
Ranma a genuine smile as she said this. If Ranko was even half as nice
as Ranma made her out to be, she would make a great friend. Hotaru
hoped she could be good friends with Ranko. There were so many things
she wanted to know about Ranma, but was afraid to ask. It was at this
point that she heard Ranma's stomach growl loudly. He grinned at her
and scratched the back of his head as he spoke.
"So, are you hungry?"
All that running around had finally caught up with him. He
hadn't noticed until now, but he was hungry enough to eat a whole cow,
literally.
"Sure, Ranma, let's go."
Ranma quickly rolled up the scroll and got to his feet,
extending his hand to Hotaru to help her up. She shyly took it and
marveled at the ease with which he pulled her into a standing position.
Side by side, they made their way towards the vending machines.
*****
"Hey, they're walking away!"
Haruka slapped Michiru on her back as she said this, causing
her to gag on her drink. She coughed and sputtered as the soda fizzed
in her throat. It was only through a Herculean effort on her part that
she avoided squirting it out through her nose.
"You needn't have hit me quite so hard, Haruka. I spilled the
soda all over myself."
Michiru reached into her purse and produced some tissue paper,
which she used to dab at the soda on her top. A passing teenager tried
to get a look at her as she cleaned up, but a look from Haruka made
him quickly reconsider his voyeuristic plans.
"I'm sorry, but they're getting away."
Michiru looked at herself and sighed. At least the soda had
been colorless, so there were virtually no stains on her top. She took
a deep breath, calming herself before she spoke.
"That's alright, I'm fine now. Let's follow them."
The pair quietly got up and proceeded to follow Ranma and
Hotaru as they walked ahead.
*****
"So, what do you want?"
Ranma gazed at his companion as Hotaru made up her mind. He
hoped she would choose something fairly cheap. He wasn't exactly
loaded.
"I think I'll have a can of soda and a bag of potato chips."
Ranma inwardly rejoiced. This truly was his lucky day. Not
only did Hotaru accept his excuse for being late without questions,
she had believed him when he explained about the scroll, too. Now
she had just picked the cheapest food out of all her choices. He was
starting to really like this girl. It was a refreshing experience to
be with someone who actually listened to you when you talked and
believed what you said. He smiled at her as he bought two bags of
potato chips and two cans of soda. He bought himself a candy bar too,
with the rest of his money.
"Is that for me, Ranma?"
Ranma looked back and forth between Hotaru and his candy bar.
He didn't have any more cash on him, so buying another one was out of
the question. He sighed before giving in.
"Of course it is, Hotaru."
Hotaru blushed. No guy had ever bought chocolate for her
before. It was almost as if they were on a date.
*****
"Would you _look_ at them. He's not even holding her hand! At
this rate, he'll _never_ get into Hotaru's pants."
Haruka paused after saying this, wondering if she had really
said that out loud. The look Michiru was giving her told her that she
had.
"Which is good, because we _don't_ want him doing anything of
the sort."
Haruka smiled at Michiru, hoping that her partner would just
let it go and pretend that the past ten seconds never happened.
"Never mind, it doesn't matter. You're right, anyway. Ranma is
evidently harmless, and I can see no reason for us to stop him from
seeing Hotaru. Hotaru seems happy enough about it. Perhaps it's best
that we return home."
Michiru turned to Haruka, who was still watching Ranma and
Hotaru as they ate.
"I guess you're right. Let's get out of here."
Haruka took one last look at Ranma before leaving, Michiru at
her side.
"Oh, and about that kiss you gave me a while ago..." Michiru
looked at Haruka with a gleam in her eye.
"Yeah, what about it?" Haruka grinned, recognizing the gleam
for what it meant.
"Once we get home, why don't we continue where we left off?"
Michiru wrapped herself around one of Haruka's arms and leaned
into the blonde's ear as she said this.
"I don't see why not."
The two of them walked a lot faster after that.
*****
"Where is he?"
Minako spared a glance at her companions as she looked around
her for Ranma. They had been looking for a while, but with no success
to speak of.
"I haven't found him yet. He shouldn't be too hard to find,
though. Most guys don't wear their hair in pigtails."
Makoto continued looking, silently wishing that Minako would
stop asking if they had found Ranma every three minutes. They had been
looking for all of ten minutes, and she was acting like they had been
wandering for hours.
"I'm sorry, this is all _my_ fault."
Ami's face was red, and she was following her friends from a
distance. She couldn't believe she had left her computer at the temple.
She'd never done that before. It was so embarrassing. What was even
more embarrassing was that she was still clutching the glossy photo of
Ranma in her hands. She had forgotten to leave it, and she didn't want
to fold it so that it would fit in her pockets.
"That's okay, Ami. We'll find him sooner or later, so don't
worry about it. Everyone makes these kinds of mistakes."
Usagi continued looking for Ranma as she consoled Ami. She
could hardly believe what had happened herself. It just wasn't like
Ami to forget her computer. She _always_ brought it along no matter
where she went.
"Less talking, everyone. More looking."
Rei was annoyed. Instead of helping her look for Ranma like
they _should_ have been doing, her friends were too busy with their
own petty concerns. She was just about to complain again when she
heard a loud explosion, followed by the sound of people running.
"What was that?"
Makoto turned to Ami, expecting the blue haired girl to know
what had happened. She got a blank stare in return instead. She cursed
as she remembered that the computer was not with them. She turned to
Usagi instead, who was already running towards the women's rest rooms,
which were conveniently located near them.
"Everyone come with me and transform. I think were under
attack!"
Makoto and the rest of the inners wasted no time in following
her example.
*****
"Hotaru, stay here! Don't move until I tell you to."
Ranma leapt to his feet with superhuman speed, putting himself
between Hotaru and the source of the sudden noise. People were starting
to panic, and he wasn't sure what to do. He jumped into the branches of
the tree they were sitting under and looked around. He couldn't see
what could have caused the explosion, but he could see people running
away from a single general area.
"Ranma, what happened? Can you see anything from up there?"
Hotaru stood still, holding Ranma's scroll in her hands as
she watched Ranma scanning the park for signs of the explosion. She
was scared, but she didn't want to panic. Suddenly, Ranma leapt from
his perch and landed beside her. She felt herself being lifted easily
and carried away. A few seconds later, she was behind a large group
of trees and Ranma was standing beside her.
"You stay here. I'm going to find out what's happening. Don't
follow me."
Before Hotaru could answer, Ranma had already left. She could
still see him running towards the center of the park though. Hotaru
didn't like this one bit. She had a bad feeling about this.
She decided to follow him.
*****
"Yeeeeeeeeee!"
The youma watched another human run away in fear from her high
pitched wail. She silently wished she could make another sound,
preferably something with more than one syllable. Somehow, the sound
just didn't strike her as being particularly impressive. Alas, such was
not the case, and she was stuck yelling the same old unintelligible
sound for the rest of her life.
Whatever she lacked in conversational skills, however, she more
than made up for in sheer firepower. At least, she liked to think so.
The discs covering the more interesting parts of her anatomy could be
fired off at high speeds, exploding upon impact. The discs would then
be instantaneously replaced by other discs, which could also be fired
off. These discs were capable of explosions that would rival any hand
grenade the humans could make. Being a youma, she was also blessed with
incredible strength and speed. She was, for all intents and purposes,
a living weapon.
All that, and she had great legs.
It was one of the great frustrations of her life that no one
ever noticed or commented on her great legs. It wasn't as if she didn't
take good care of them. In her own not so humble opinion, they were
quite beautiful. They were free of any unsightly blemishes, as well as
long and well formed. They seemed to go on forever, and probably would
have looked great if she ever took the time to wear a bikini. She
stopped wreaking havoc long enough to admire herself in a mirror, and
was pleased with what she saw.
True, her hair may have been an unnatural shade of pink, but
so was just about any other girl's these days. Her waist was trim and
her stomach was flat as a board. Her hands were small and dainty, with
nails that she worked hard to avoid accidentally breaking. She wore
tasteful pink boots on her feet, which were almost (but not quite) as
beautiful as her legs. She wore bright pink bands on both of her arms,
and a similarly colored choker on her neck. She had on a matching pink
bikini, and the numerous discs covering her upper body completed the
ensemble. She was a perfect specimen of beauty in every way.
"Yeeeeeeeeee!"
Well, every way but one. She was sure that if she could just
lose the stupid wail men would be all over her trying to win her heart.
However, since that was out of the question, she had to resort to more
violent measures to attract men's attention.
She didn't particularly relish committing acts of violence. It
had been her pacifist nature that allowed her to survive while the rest
of her kind died in the service of Beryl. She had since chosen to lie
low, feeding off of whatever dark energy came her way and trying to
peacefully coexist with the human population. If only the young man she
had chosen as her mate had accepted her when she revealed herself to
him, all would have been well. But no, he had to run off screaming like
a baby at the first sight of her. She didn't like being rejected, not
one bit.
This was why she was here now, indiscriminately firing off her
discs and scaring the humans away with the only sound she had ever been
able to make. It was great therapy for her, and she felt much better
already. She was just about to fire off another disc when a powerful
blow sent her sprawling on the ground. She looked up to see a young
man wearing Chinese clothes staring at her with a determined look. His
body was held in a loose defensive stance, and his eyes were looking
directly at her. She blushed under his scrutiny.
He looked so manly!
Yes, he would do. That other guy was nothing compared to this
one. This man had all the qualities she was looking for in a mate. He
was a male with humanoid features and he wasn't running away from her,
that was good enough. However, his actions indicated that he was rather
averse to the idea of mating with her. No matter, it would be easy to
persuade him.
That was when she began her attack.
*****
Ranma didn't know what to make of the strange creature that
was approaching him. It was vaguely female in shape, and was wearing
some sort of pink uniform decorated with what looked like compact
discs. It had apparently caused the disturbance by using the explosive
discs strapped to her chest to scare the people into running away. All
that, and it was making a horrible wailing sound that reminded him of
the time Ms. Hinako had scratched her nails on the blackboard back at
Furinkan High. It had nice legs, though, he had to give it that.
It was apparently trying to tackle him. He dodged it easily
by jumping into the air and landing a short distance behind it.
"Yeeeeeeeeee!"
It looked pretty angry now. For a few seconds, Ranma wondered
whether or not he should try to catch the discs it was now firing at
him. He decided against it, and dodged them instead. It proved to be
a good idea too, since they exploded once they hit the clump of trees
behind him. It looked like this thing was playing for keeps, so he had
to get serious. He ran towards it, dodging the discs that it continued
to fire at him. Once it was within arm's length, he unleashed his own
special attack.
"Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"
Hundreds of blows hit the youma within the span of a few
seconds, knocking it into the ground. It was up again immediately,
running towards him to continue the fight. Ranma almost chuckled at
its lack of speed. This was like fighting Akane.
*****
"Yeeeeeeeeee!"
The youma was pissed. She couldn't understand how a mere human
could move so fast. Even with her enhanced speed, he was avoiding her
blows with ease. He hadn't even broken a sweat yet. Quick as he was,
though, he wasn't very smart. He wasn't attacking at all, and he was
backing up in a slowly shrinking spiral as he avoided her attacks.
Sooner or later, they would get to the center. When that happened, he
would have nowhere left to run. Suddenly, just as they had reached the
center, he raised his fist and shouted.
"Hiryu Shoten Ha!"
The massive whirlwind that erupted from the ground had startled
her, but it was nothing. She could fall from heights much higher than
the wind could carry her with no ill effects. She was figuring out what
to do once she got beck to the ground when she heard him shouting
again.
"Mouko Takabisha!"
She looked down and saw a massive ball of Ki headed straight
for her. In her current position, it would be impossible to avoid. She
closed her eyes and waited for death to overcome her. There were no
regrets in her heart as she resigned herself to her fate. Better to
have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
*****
Ranma watched the being burst into a shower of light upon
coming into contact with his Ki attack. He had never seen such a thing
happen before, and he found it fascinating. He was in the midst of
admiring the last vestiges of the light show when he heard someone
yelling his name.
"Ranma! Ranma Saotome!"
He turned around, and saw a group of girls in strange uniforms
running towards him. They looked vaguely familiar, but it wasn't until
they were much nearer that he finally recognized them.
"Hey, you're the girls from yesterday! What are you doing so
far from Nerima?"
They looked at him nervously for a few seconds, sweat drops
visibly forming on their heads. Finally, the blonde with the strange
hair style spoke to him.
"Um... I am afraid you have us confused with a different group
of girls. I am Sailor Moon, and I have never been to Nerima. They are
the rest of the Sailor senshi, and they have never been to Nerima as
well. Isn't that right, Sailor Mercury?" Usagi turned the conversation
over to Ami, who blushed under the combined stares of Ranma and her
friends.
"Yes, that is correct." Ami shifted her weight repeatedly from
one foot to the other, her face a bright shade of red. She hoped Ranma
wouldn't notice the picture she was hiding behind her.
"...right." Ranma decided to play along with them. If they
wanted to play secret identity like P-chan, that was fine by him.
"Anyway, what did you come here for? Did you come to cheer me
on?"
"Of course not! Whatever gave you _that_ idea?" Athan or not,
Ranma was turning out to be a big jerk. Rei decided that she liked him
a little bit less than she had before.
"Well, you're dressed for it."
The senshi all stopped and looked at their respective uniforms,
additional sweat drops forming behind them.
"These uniforms are not for cheerleading. We wear them to fight
evil."
Ranma looked at them thoughtfully, taking note that the ones
in green and yellow winked at him as he looked at them and that the one
in blue was about to die of embarrassment.
"I see, they distract the opponent so you can strike while
they're wondering why you're half-naked. Very clever."
Usagi and the others would have face faulted, if they weren't
so busy blushing. Ami in particular was starting to feel woozy from the
lack of blood going to parts of her body other than her face.
"That's not exactly right, either. You see, we're the defenders
of love and justice. We came here to vanquish whatever caused all this
destruction."
Ranma smirked at her. "Well, you're too late. I already beat
it."
Usagi grew wide eyed at this. "Really? You beat it all by
yourself? What was it anyway?"
Ranma grinned. "It was just some weird monster. It wasn't very
strong anyway."
Usagi looked at him for a few more moments before speaking
again. "I guess we should get going then."
Ranma shrugged. "I guess you should."
Usagi turned towards her companions. "Well, let's go."
Ranma watched them go with a mixture of curiosity and
amusement. They didn't actually think those disguises fooled anyone,
did they? He decided to just leave it alone. He was just about to go
and pick up Hotaru when he felt someone tapping on his shoulder. He
turned around and came face to face with Hotaru herself. He suddenly
found himself held in a tight embrace by the young girl.
"You were so great, Ranma! That thing never stood a chance!
Was that the Amazon technique you were telling me about before?"
Ranma quickly broke free from her grasp and held her at arm's
length. "I thought I told you to stay where you were."
Hotaru looked at him with sad puppy dog eyes. "I'm sorry. Are
you mad at me, Ranma?"
Ranma looked at her and found himself unable to utter a single
harsh word towards the helpless girl in front of him. He sighed and let
go of her. "Naw, I'm not mad. Don't worry about it. Maybe I should take
you home. It's starting to get dark, and you have school tomorrow."
"Okay, Ranma. Thanks for today, it was fun." Hotaru held onto
his arm, much to Ranma's discomfort.
"Yeah, sure. Let's just go."
*****
"What if he doesn't use this exit? We'll miss him! I can't
believe we forgot to tell him about the engagements!"
Makoto crossed her arms in front of her and silently seethed.
They had acted like a bunch of idiots in front of Ranma. She hadn't
even said a word!
"Let's just stop complaining and look for him, okay?"
Rei wasn't too pleased with the way things had turned out
either. A cheerleader indeed! She was going to have to teach him a
lesson or two in tact. After that, they could move onto other, more
interesting educational pursuits.
"There they are!"
Minako looked towards the direction Ami was pointing at and saw
Ranma walking towards the exit. Her smile quickly faded, however, when
she saw that a girl was holding onto his arm in a familiar way.
'Great, I'm not even twenty and I've already been passed up
for a younger woman.'
She glared daggers at the girl, who seemed oblivious to the
rest of the world as she held Ranma's arm tightly against herself. She
was so focused upon their point of contact that she never recognized
the girl until she heard Usagi talking excitedly.
"Hey, it's Hotaru-chan!"
She took a closer look at the girl and found that she was, in
fact, Chibi-Usa's little friend. If her memory served her correctly,
Hotaru was very shy around boys. Perhaps there was still hope...
*****
"Anyway, I'll just call you when Ranko wants to meet okay? Are
you listed in the phone book?" Ranma tried one more time to disengage
Hotaru's grip on him, and met with utter failure.
"No, we have an unlisted number. Here, I'll write it down for
you."
Hotaru took a piece of paper from her pocket and wrote her
phone number on it. She gave it to Ranma and they continued walking
towards her home. They had almost reached the exit when they were
intercepted by a group of teenage girls. Hotaru recognized them
immediately. They were Chibi-Usa's little friends.
*****
"Hello there, Ranma. What a coincidence seeing you here!" Usagi
quickly ran towards Ranma, followed by her friends.
Ranma looked at the blonde girl with the strange hair style
as she bounced towards him. He had to admit that she was kinda cute,
and her smile was sort of infectious. Her friends didn't look too bad
either. He smiled at the memory of their ridiculous costumes. They
were apparently the heroines he had heard about before. If they wanted
to pretend that wearing short skirts would render them unrecognizable,
he could play along.
"Hey, you're the girls from yesterday, right? Don't you live
in Nerima?"
Usagi smiled broadly at him as she stopped a few feet in front
of him. "We live here, Ranma. We were only visiting Nerima yesterday."
"Do you know each other, Usagi?"
Usagi and Ranma turned to Hotaru, who was still holding onto
Ranma's arm. Usagi smiled at her and started explaining.
"Hi there, Hotaru. Well, we were visiting Nerima yesterday. We
saw one of Ranma's fights and decided to help him afterwards. How about
you, how did _you_ get to know him?"
Ranma looked back and forth between the group of girls he had
met yesterday, and Hotaru. He wondered whether or not Hotaru knew that
the girls were the same heroines who regularly defended Juuban from
harm. Deep in thought as he was, he was caught totally unprepared when
Hotaru gave her reply.
"Ranma? He's my boyfriend."
*****
Author's notes:
I would like to thank Ash, Seaver, Chester, and Vex for all of
their help in getting this chapter done. I hope you liked Yee. I'm very
proud of her, actually. More to come in later chapters, so stay with
me!
I would like to extend special thanks to Chester, who showered me
with praise for this chapter. I think he was high at the time.
Please send C&C to ukyo_rulz@edsamail.com.ph
Visit my homepage (www.geocities.com/ex_fuk) for new chapters.
was making a profit by writing this, but I'm not. Oh well.
Warning: Blue pattern detected!
Warning: Altaverse (Keichi ain't here, and the senshi timeline is
all messed up.)
"words"
'thoughts'
A Time for Wild Horses chapter 6
by Jose Argao
"Move over, I can't see a thing! What are they doing?"
Haruka tried to push Michiru to the side of the bench. She was
unsuccessful due to the fact that the aqua senshi was already sitting
at the edge of her seat, both figuratively and literally. She cursed
herself for picking the side of the bench where a large tree blocked
her line of sight towards where Ranma and Hotaru chose to sit.
"If I move any more, I'll fall off the bench. Stop pushing me,
Haruka."
Michiru was growing slightly annoyed with her blonde lover,
but she restrained herself from making a big deal out of it. If they
became too loud, Hotaru might hear them and recognize the voices.
"I'm still not clear on why we have to wear these disguises.
I mean, if we really wanted to watch over Hotaru, we could chaperone
her."
Haruka stopped a young man who was going to sit on the space
beside her with a look of pure hatred. She smiled as the terrified
youth ran off. That'll teach the little lecher what happens to perverts
who try to look up her skirt.
"We're wearing disguises because we don't want Hotaru to think
that we don't trust her."
Michiru sighed as she tried to answer the questions as quickly
and quietly as possible. Haruka could be such a pain sometimes,
especially now, when she was trying to focus on watching the cute guy
Hotaru was with.
'Huh, where'd _that_ come from?'
Michiru paused and puzzled over her little outburst of
infatuation. She looked at the young man wearing Chinese clothes that
Hotaru was sitting with. She decided to just ignore it. After all,
Hotaru's date _was_ pretty cute. There couldn't possibly be any harm in
recognizing that. She just smiled and continued watching intently as
Ranma finished what looked to her was a sheepish apology for being
late. She looked on with interest as he brought out a large scroll and
showed it to Hotaru.
"Well, if we _did_ trust Hotaru then why are we here, watching
her?"
Haruka was beginning to get annoyed. Since Ranma had arrived,
Michiru had been all but ignoring her. She couldn't understand what
could possibly be so interesting about Hotaru's new boyfriend. Granted,
he was possibly the same person who had supposedly leveled the district
of Nerima a while back, but that was nothing she or any other senshi
couldn't do if they really wanted to.
"Of course we trust Hotaru, it's Ranma we don't trust. By the
way, from the looks of it, he _is_ the guy from those old newspapers.
He's even wearing the same Chinese clothes."
Michiru barely glanced at Haruka as she gave her answer. There
was something about Ranma that she found fascinating. It was as if she
couldn't bear to take her eyes off him for even a second.
"Switch places with me, I want to see him."
Haruka poked her partner in her ribs as Michiru seemingly
ignored her. She was beginning to get really annoyed at Ranma for
getting Michiru all worked up like this. Michiru rolled her eyes and
stood up.
"Fine, go look all you want."
Haruka frowned as they switched places. Michiru seemed to be
really annoyed at having to switch places. If she didn't know better,
she'd almost be jealous of the guy.
When she finally got a look at him, however, she understood
Michiru's feelings completely. Whoever this new boyfriend of Hotaru
was, he was gorgeous!
*****
"Ranma, are you _sure_ this can help me get better?"
Hotaru looked back and forth between Ranma and the scroll that
lay open before her. She wanted to believe that this was really the
answer to her problems, she really did, but it was just too... strange
to be true. She wasn't sure if Haruka or Michiru would approve of some
of the steps in the procedure too.
"Um... I guess."
Ranma's face grew red as he continued to read what was in the
scroll. He wished that he had taken the time to read the whole scroll
before showing it to Hotaru. Knowing Happosai, he should have known
something like this would happen. If only he hadn't spent the morning
dreaming about strange women with bat wings on the back of their heads!
He stopped thinking when he felt Hotaru tapping on his
shoulder.
"Ranma, I don't think we can do this at all. These pressure
points you have to touch... they're a bit... personal, don't you
think?"
Ranma's blush grew brighter under her stare as he frantically
searched for a way out of the embarrassing situation. He had known that
Happosai used pressure points to do the technique on Hinako-sensei, of
course, but he had no idea what those pressure points were. Looking at
the scroll now, it's no wonder Hinako-sensei blocked the memory from
her mind.
Suddenly, an idea came to him.
"Listen, Hotaru. I've got this cousin who lives near here. Her
name is Ranko, and I was thinking that she could help you with this
instead of me. I mean, it's no big deal if it's another girl touching
you, right?"
Hotaru blushed as well. Her experiences with Haruka and Michiru
had taught her that it definitely _was_ a big deal when another woman
touched you. She decided not to say anything, however. She certainly
didn't want Ranma thinking that she was a pervert.
"Sure, Ranma. I guess there's nothing wrong if it's another
girl. We still need to go buy a new fuku though."
Ranma had been following her words perfectly, right up to the
point where she wanted to go shopping. Why would she want to shop for
a new uniform at a time like this?
"Hotaru, why would you need to buy a new fuku?"
Hotaru turned away from him shyly and indicated a small note
written at the side of the scroll. He squinted his eyes to read it,
as the handwriting was barely understandable.
'In order for this technique to be successful, the subject must
be a beautiful female. She should lie prone on a flat surface wearing
only a fuku with a skirt that shows at least ninety percent of the leg
area.'
Ranma silently cursed the lecherous master of his father and
Mr. Tendo as he read more of the small notes scattered throughout the
border of the scroll. They were so badly written that he had taken
them to be some sort of design around the scroll. Most of them were
unreadable, but some of the more recent ones were still a bit legible.
"Hotaru, something tells me that we can ignore these little
notes on the sides."
Hotaru heaved a sigh of relief. She still wasn't entirely
comfortable with the idea of Ranma's cousin poking and prodding her,
but she felt better now that she knew she didn't have to do some of
the more daring things the notes indicated.
*****
"Hmmm, she's a little young, but she'll do."
Urd watched with glee as Ranma carried on with his date.
She would have preferred someone older like Setsuna, but the
young senshi of Saturn would do nicely as well. She was certainly
cute enough, and would grow to be extremely powerful.
Then again, Ranma might choose one of the other senshi to be
his wife. In Urd's eyes, they were all very good candidates. They were
reasonably strong, and attractive as well.
'Maybe he'll even find a way to marry _all_ of them!'
Putting Ranma into the past had been a master stroke for her.
Not only did it open up a whole new world of possibilities for him, it
also put that annoying senshi of time in her place. Urd laughed at the
sad plight that awaited Setsuna. She would delay the change for as long
as possible, but it would inevitably consume her. Sooner or later, she
would be hopelessly in love with Ranma. By that time, however, Ranma
would have already hooked up with another senshi. Perhaps he would even
be married to the princess.
Of course, there was always the possibility that Setsuna would
realize the error of her ways and embrace the change. In that case, Urd
would be willing to forgive and forget. It was definitely a win-win
situation for the goddess of the past. Things were going better than
she had ever dreamed. She decided to reward herself with a bottle of
sake for a job well done and went off to get one from her room.
*****
Michiru was waiting impatiently for her turn to watch when
Haruka suddenly turned to her and grabbed her by her shoulders.
"Haruka, what's wrong? What are you... mmmph!"
Time stood still for Michiru as she felt Haruka draw her into
a tight embrace. The kiss had been sudden, catching her by surprise.
It was also intense, however, and she soon found herself melting into
the arms of her lover. Thoughts of remaining undercover formed at the
back of her mind, but were ignored as she gave in to the wonderful
feelings she was enjoying. Finally, just as abruptly as it started, it
was over. She was left gaping at Haruka as she felt the herself being
released from the embrace. Haruka was now sitting quietly on her side
of the bench, thinking.
'Obviously, I still like Michiru so I haven't suddenly turned
straight. So, am I bisexual now?'
Haruka looked around her and carefully examined every male in
sight. None of them sparked any interest in her. They were the same old
bland men she had grown accustomed to ignoring. Of course, they weren't
really attractive to begin with, so perhaps they just weren't her type.
She imagined herself with several teen idols she had seen Hotaru watch
on television. The thought repulsed her, and she let out a sigh of
relief. She wasn't straight, and she wasn't bi.
So where did her reaction to Ranma come from?
She looked towards Ranma and Hotaru again, concentrating on the
young man in Chinese clothing. He was fairly muscular, but not too much
so. His hair was tied in a pig tail, which was unusual, but it suited
him nicely. The amazing thing about him was his complexion. He looked
virtually scar free. She would have expected a man with his reputation
for getting into fights to be riddled with scars. Finally, he exuded a
strange charm that made her want to trust him, though she had never
seen him before in her life. He was a man among men, if she had ever
seen one.
Haruka smiled to herself.
Ranma was obviously cut above the rest of the male population.
She would have to be blind not to notice that. This was no different
from the times that some women would notice and acknowledge the beauty
of another member of their own sex. It certainly didn't come from any
sexual desire for men. Satisfied with her rationalization, she settled
down for a nice session of Ranma watching.
Beside her, Michiru was still recovering from the kiss. It
didn't look like anyone had seen them, and for that she was thankful.
Still, it was so sudden that she still couldn't believe it had really
happened. Now Haruka was sitting on her side with that silly grin on
her face as if nothing had happened. Worst of all, that damned tree
was blocking her view of Ranma! She got up and turned towards Haruka,
who was now staring intently at the date as it unfolded.
"I'm going to buy a soda. Do you want anything?"
Haruka just waved her off. "No thanks, I'm fine. Don't take too
long, okay?"
As Michiru made her way towards the vending machines, Haruka
continued watching Ranma. He seemed nice enough, from what she could
see. He also hadn't tried to do anything inappropriate with Hotaru,
which was a big plus for him. She decided that she would allow Hotaru
to date this boy. After all, if Hotaru was going to end up with a man,
she'd want him to be someone like Ranma.
*****
"Tell me about Ranko, Ranma."
Hotaru smiled nervously at Ranma after asking the question.
Despite the fact that this was definitely _not_ a date, it was as close
to one as she had ever gotten. She wasn't really sure how to act, and
she wanted to make a good impression on him.
"Well, she's a bit shorter than me. She has red hair, and she's
really cute. She's also almost as good at martial arts as I am. She
knows everything I know. She's also a very good cook. Wait till you
meet her, she's just great!" Ranma spoke with great enthusiasm, beaming
with pride as he described himself.
"Oh, I'm looking forward to meeting her then." Hotaru gave
Ranma a genuine smile as she said this. If Ranko was even half as nice
as Ranma made her out to be, she would make a great friend. Hotaru
hoped she could be good friends with Ranko. There were so many things
she wanted to know about Ranma, but was afraid to ask. It was at this
point that she heard Ranma's stomach growl loudly. He grinned at her
and scratched the back of his head as he spoke.
"So, are you hungry?"
All that running around had finally caught up with him. He
hadn't noticed until now, but he was hungry enough to eat a whole cow,
literally.
"Sure, Ranma, let's go."
Ranma quickly rolled up the scroll and got to his feet,
extending his hand to Hotaru to help her up. She shyly took it and
marveled at the ease with which he pulled her into a standing position.
Side by side, they made their way towards the vending machines.
*****
"Hey, they're walking away!"
Haruka slapped Michiru on her back as she said this, causing
her to gag on her drink. She coughed and sputtered as the soda fizzed
in her throat. It was only through a Herculean effort on her part that
she avoided squirting it out through her nose.
"You needn't have hit me quite so hard, Haruka. I spilled the
soda all over myself."
Michiru reached into her purse and produced some tissue paper,
which she used to dab at the soda on her top. A passing teenager tried
to get a look at her as she cleaned up, but a look from Haruka made
him quickly reconsider his voyeuristic plans.
"I'm sorry, but they're getting away."
Michiru looked at herself and sighed. At least the soda had
been colorless, so there were virtually no stains on her top. She took
a deep breath, calming herself before she spoke.
"That's alright, I'm fine now. Let's follow them."
The pair quietly got up and proceeded to follow Ranma and
Hotaru as they walked ahead.
*****
"So, what do you want?"
Ranma gazed at his companion as Hotaru made up her mind. He
hoped she would choose something fairly cheap. He wasn't exactly
loaded.
"I think I'll have a can of soda and a bag of potato chips."
Ranma inwardly rejoiced. This truly was his lucky day. Not
only did Hotaru accept his excuse for being late without questions,
she had believed him when he explained about the scroll, too. Now
she had just picked the cheapest food out of all her choices. He was
starting to really like this girl. It was a refreshing experience to
be with someone who actually listened to you when you talked and
believed what you said. He smiled at her as he bought two bags of
potato chips and two cans of soda. He bought himself a candy bar too,
with the rest of his money.
"Is that for me, Ranma?"
Ranma looked back and forth between Hotaru and his candy bar.
He didn't have any more cash on him, so buying another one was out of
the question. He sighed before giving in.
"Of course it is, Hotaru."
Hotaru blushed. No guy had ever bought chocolate for her
before. It was almost as if they were on a date.
*****
"Would you _look_ at them. He's not even holding her hand! At
this rate, he'll _never_ get into Hotaru's pants."
Haruka paused after saying this, wondering if she had really
said that out loud. The look Michiru was giving her told her that she
had.
"Which is good, because we _don't_ want him doing anything of
the sort."
Haruka smiled at Michiru, hoping that her partner would just
let it go and pretend that the past ten seconds never happened.
"Never mind, it doesn't matter. You're right, anyway. Ranma is
evidently harmless, and I can see no reason for us to stop him from
seeing Hotaru. Hotaru seems happy enough about it. Perhaps it's best
that we return home."
Michiru turned to Haruka, who was still watching Ranma and
Hotaru as they ate.
"I guess you're right. Let's get out of here."
Haruka took one last look at Ranma before leaving, Michiru at
her side.
"Oh, and about that kiss you gave me a while ago..." Michiru
looked at Haruka with a gleam in her eye.
"Yeah, what about it?" Haruka grinned, recognizing the gleam
for what it meant.
"Once we get home, why don't we continue where we left off?"
Michiru wrapped herself around one of Haruka's arms and leaned
into the blonde's ear as she said this.
"I don't see why not."
The two of them walked a lot faster after that.
*****
"Where is he?"
Minako spared a glance at her companions as she looked around
her for Ranma. They had been looking for a while, but with no success
to speak of.
"I haven't found him yet. He shouldn't be too hard to find,
though. Most guys don't wear their hair in pigtails."
Makoto continued looking, silently wishing that Minako would
stop asking if they had found Ranma every three minutes. They had been
looking for all of ten minutes, and she was acting like they had been
wandering for hours.
"I'm sorry, this is all _my_ fault."
Ami's face was red, and she was following her friends from a
distance. She couldn't believe she had left her computer at the temple.
She'd never done that before. It was so embarrassing. What was even
more embarrassing was that she was still clutching the glossy photo of
Ranma in her hands. She had forgotten to leave it, and she didn't want
to fold it so that it would fit in her pockets.
"That's okay, Ami. We'll find him sooner or later, so don't
worry about it. Everyone makes these kinds of mistakes."
Usagi continued looking for Ranma as she consoled Ami. She
could hardly believe what had happened herself. It just wasn't like
Ami to forget her computer. She _always_ brought it along no matter
where she went.
"Less talking, everyone. More looking."
Rei was annoyed. Instead of helping her look for Ranma like
they _should_ have been doing, her friends were too busy with their
own petty concerns. She was just about to complain again when she
heard a loud explosion, followed by the sound of people running.
"What was that?"
Makoto turned to Ami, expecting the blue haired girl to know
what had happened. She got a blank stare in return instead. She cursed
as she remembered that the computer was not with them. She turned to
Usagi instead, who was already running towards the women's rest rooms,
which were conveniently located near them.
"Everyone come with me and transform. I think were under
attack!"
Makoto and the rest of the inners wasted no time in following
her example.
*****
"Hotaru, stay here! Don't move until I tell you to."
Ranma leapt to his feet with superhuman speed, putting himself
between Hotaru and the source of the sudden noise. People were starting
to panic, and he wasn't sure what to do. He jumped into the branches of
the tree they were sitting under and looked around. He couldn't see
what could have caused the explosion, but he could see people running
away from a single general area.
"Ranma, what happened? Can you see anything from up there?"
Hotaru stood still, holding Ranma's scroll in her hands as
she watched Ranma scanning the park for signs of the explosion. She
was scared, but she didn't want to panic. Suddenly, Ranma leapt from
his perch and landed beside her. She felt herself being lifted easily
and carried away. A few seconds later, she was behind a large group
of trees and Ranma was standing beside her.
"You stay here. I'm going to find out what's happening. Don't
follow me."
Before Hotaru could answer, Ranma had already left. She could
still see him running towards the center of the park though. Hotaru
didn't like this one bit. She had a bad feeling about this.
She decided to follow him.
*****
"Yeeeeeeeeee!"
The youma watched another human run away in fear from her high
pitched wail. She silently wished she could make another sound,
preferably something with more than one syllable. Somehow, the sound
just didn't strike her as being particularly impressive. Alas, such was
not the case, and she was stuck yelling the same old unintelligible
sound for the rest of her life.
Whatever she lacked in conversational skills, however, she more
than made up for in sheer firepower. At least, she liked to think so.
The discs covering the more interesting parts of her anatomy could be
fired off at high speeds, exploding upon impact. The discs would then
be instantaneously replaced by other discs, which could also be fired
off. These discs were capable of explosions that would rival any hand
grenade the humans could make. Being a youma, she was also blessed with
incredible strength and speed. She was, for all intents and purposes,
a living weapon.
All that, and she had great legs.
It was one of the great frustrations of her life that no one
ever noticed or commented on her great legs. It wasn't as if she didn't
take good care of them. In her own not so humble opinion, they were
quite beautiful. They were free of any unsightly blemishes, as well as
long and well formed. They seemed to go on forever, and probably would
have looked great if she ever took the time to wear a bikini. She
stopped wreaking havoc long enough to admire herself in a mirror, and
was pleased with what she saw.
True, her hair may have been an unnatural shade of pink, but
so was just about any other girl's these days. Her waist was trim and
her stomach was flat as a board. Her hands were small and dainty, with
nails that she worked hard to avoid accidentally breaking. She wore
tasteful pink boots on her feet, which were almost (but not quite) as
beautiful as her legs. She wore bright pink bands on both of her arms,
and a similarly colored choker on her neck. She had on a matching pink
bikini, and the numerous discs covering her upper body completed the
ensemble. She was a perfect specimen of beauty in every way.
"Yeeeeeeeeee!"
Well, every way but one. She was sure that if she could just
lose the stupid wail men would be all over her trying to win her heart.
However, since that was out of the question, she had to resort to more
violent measures to attract men's attention.
She didn't particularly relish committing acts of violence. It
had been her pacifist nature that allowed her to survive while the rest
of her kind died in the service of Beryl. She had since chosen to lie
low, feeding off of whatever dark energy came her way and trying to
peacefully coexist with the human population. If only the young man she
had chosen as her mate had accepted her when she revealed herself to
him, all would have been well. But no, he had to run off screaming like
a baby at the first sight of her. She didn't like being rejected, not
one bit.
This was why she was here now, indiscriminately firing off her
discs and scaring the humans away with the only sound she had ever been
able to make. It was great therapy for her, and she felt much better
already. She was just about to fire off another disc when a powerful
blow sent her sprawling on the ground. She looked up to see a young
man wearing Chinese clothes staring at her with a determined look. His
body was held in a loose defensive stance, and his eyes were looking
directly at her. She blushed under his scrutiny.
He looked so manly!
Yes, he would do. That other guy was nothing compared to this
one. This man had all the qualities she was looking for in a mate. He
was a male with humanoid features and he wasn't running away from her,
that was good enough. However, his actions indicated that he was rather
averse to the idea of mating with her. No matter, it would be easy to
persuade him.
That was when she began her attack.
*****
Ranma didn't know what to make of the strange creature that
was approaching him. It was vaguely female in shape, and was wearing
some sort of pink uniform decorated with what looked like compact
discs. It had apparently caused the disturbance by using the explosive
discs strapped to her chest to scare the people into running away. All
that, and it was making a horrible wailing sound that reminded him of
the time Ms. Hinako had scratched her nails on the blackboard back at
Furinkan High. It had nice legs, though, he had to give it that.
It was apparently trying to tackle him. He dodged it easily
by jumping into the air and landing a short distance behind it.
"Yeeeeeeeeee!"
It looked pretty angry now. For a few seconds, Ranma wondered
whether or not he should try to catch the discs it was now firing at
him. He decided against it, and dodged them instead. It proved to be
a good idea too, since they exploded once they hit the clump of trees
behind him. It looked like this thing was playing for keeps, so he had
to get serious. He ran towards it, dodging the discs that it continued
to fire at him. Once it was within arm's length, he unleashed his own
special attack.
"Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"
Hundreds of blows hit the youma within the span of a few
seconds, knocking it into the ground. It was up again immediately,
running towards him to continue the fight. Ranma almost chuckled at
its lack of speed. This was like fighting Akane.
*****
"Yeeeeeeeeee!"
The youma was pissed. She couldn't understand how a mere human
could move so fast. Even with her enhanced speed, he was avoiding her
blows with ease. He hadn't even broken a sweat yet. Quick as he was,
though, he wasn't very smart. He wasn't attacking at all, and he was
backing up in a slowly shrinking spiral as he avoided her attacks.
Sooner or later, they would get to the center. When that happened, he
would have nowhere left to run. Suddenly, just as they had reached the
center, he raised his fist and shouted.
"Hiryu Shoten Ha!"
The massive whirlwind that erupted from the ground had startled
her, but it was nothing. She could fall from heights much higher than
the wind could carry her with no ill effects. She was figuring out what
to do once she got beck to the ground when she heard him shouting
again.
"Mouko Takabisha!"
She looked down and saw a massive ball of Ki headed straight
for her. In her current position, it would be impossible to avoid. She
closed her eyes and waited for death to overcome her. There were no
regrets in her heart as she resigned herself to her fate. Better to
have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
*****
Ranma watched the being burst into a shower of light upon
coming into contact with his Ki attack. He had never seen such a thing
happen before, and he found it fascinating. He was in the midst of
admiring the last vestiges of the light show when he heard someone
yelling his name.
"Ranma! Ranma Saotome!"
He turned around, and saw a group of girls in strange uniforms
running towards him. They looked vaguely familiar, but it wasn't until
they were much nearer that he finally recognized them.
"Hey, you're the girls from yesterday! What are you doing so
far from Nerima?"
They looked at him nervously for a few seconds, sweat drops
visibly forming on their heads. Finally, the blonde with the strange
hair style spoke to him.
"Um... I am afraid you have us confused with a different group
of girls. I am Sailor Moon, and I have never been to Nerima. They are
the rest of the Sailor senshi, and they have never been to Nerima as
well. Isn't that right, Sailor Mercury?" Usagi turned the conversation
over to Ami, who blushed under the combined stares of Ranma and her
friends.
"Yes, that is correct." Ami shifted her weight repeatedly from
one foot to the other, her face a bright shade of red. She hoped Ranma
wouldn't notice the picture she was hiding behind her.
"...right." Ranma decided to play along with them. If they
wanted to play secret identity like P-chan, that was fine by him.
"Anyway, what did you come here for? Did you come to cheer me
on?"
"Of course not! Whatever gave you _that_ idea?" Athan or not,
Ranma was turning out to be a big jerk. Rei decided that she liked him
a little bit less than she had before.
"Well, you're dressed for it."
The senshi all stopped and looked at their respective uniforms,
additional sweat drops forming behind them.
"These uniforms are not for cheerleading. We wear them to fight
evil."
Ranma looked at them thoughtfully, taking note that the ones
in green and yellow winked at him as he looked at them and that the one
in blue was about to die of embarrassment.
"I see, they distract the opponent so you can strike while
they're wondering why you're half-naked. Very clever."
Usagi and the others would have face faulted, if they weren't
so busy blushing. Ami in particular was starting to feel woozy from the
lack of blood going to parts of her body other than her face.
"That's not exactly right, either. You see, we're the defenders
of love and justice. We came here to vanquish whatever caused all this
destruction."
Ranma smirked at her. "Well, you're too late. I already beat
it."
Usagi grew wide eyed at this. "Really? You beat it all by
yourself? What was it anyway?"
Ranma grinned. "It was just some weird monster. It wasn't very
strong anyway."
Usagi looked at him for a few more moments before speaking
again. "I guess we should get going then."
Ranma shrugged. "I guess you should."
Usagi turned towards her companions. "Well, let's go."
Ranma watched them go with a mixture of curiosity and
amusement. They didn't actually think those disguises fooled anyone,
did they? He decided to just leave it alone. He was just about to go
and pick up Hotaru when he felt someone tapping on his shoulder. He
turned around and came face to face with Hotaru herself. He suddenly
found himself held in a tight embrace by the young girl.
"You were so great, Ranma! That thing never stood a chance!
Was that the Amazon technique you were telling me about before?"
Ranma quickly broke free from her grasp and held her at arm's
length. "I thought I told you to stay where you were."
Hotaru looked at him with sad puppy dog eyes. "I'm sorry. Are
you mad at me, Ranma?"
Ranma looked at her and found himself unable to utter a single
harsh word towards the helpless girl in front of him. He sighed and let
go of her. "Naw, I'm not mad. Don't worry about it. Maybe I should take
you home. It's starting to get dark, and you have school tomorrow."
"Okay, Ranma. Thanks for today, it was fun." Hotaru held onto
his arm, much to Ranma's discomfort.
"Yeah, sure. Let's just go."
*****
"What if he doesn't use this exit? We'll miss him! I can't
believe we forgot to tell him about the engagements!"
Makoto crossed her arms in front of her and silently seethed.
They had acted like a bunch of idiots in front of Ranma. She hadn't
even said a word!
"Let's just stop complaining and look for him, okay?"
Rei wasn't too pleased with the way things had turned out
either. A cheerleader indeed! She was going to have to teach him a
lesson or two in tact. After that, they could move onto other, more
interesting educational pursuits.
"There they are!"
Minako looked towards the direction Ami was pointing at and saw
Ranma walking towards the exit. Her smile quickly faded, however, when
she saw that a girl was holding onto his arm in a familiar way.
'Great, I'm not even twenty and I've already been passed up
for a younger woman.'
She glared daggers at the girl, who seemed oblivious to the
rest of the world as she held Ranma's arm tightly against herself. She
was so focused upon their point of contact that she never recognized
the girl until she heard Usagi talking excitedly.
"Hey, it's Hotaru-chan!"
She took a closer look at the girl and found that she was, in
fact, Chibi-Usa's little friend. If her memory served her correctly,
Hotaru was very shy around boys. Perhaps there was still hope...
*****
"Anyway, I'll just call you when Ranko wants to meet okay? Are
you listed in the phone book?" Ranma tried one more time to disengage
Hotaru's grip on him, and met with utter failure.
"No, we have an unlisted number. Here, I'll write it down for
you."
Hotaru took a piece of paper from her pocket and wrote her
phone number on it. She gave it to Ranma and they continued walking
towards her home. They had almost reached the exit when they were
intercepted by a group of teenage girls. Hotaru recognized them
immediately. They were Chibi-Usa's little friends.
*****
"Hello there, Ranma. What a coincidence seeing you here!" Usagi
quickly ran towards Ranma, followed by her friends.
Ranma looked at the blonde girl with the strange hair style
as she bounced towards him. He had to admit that she was kinda cute,
and her smile was sort of infectious. Her friends didn't look too bad
either. He smiled at the memory of their ridiculous costumes. They
were apparently the heroines he had heard about before. If they wanted
to pretend that wearing short skirts would render them unrecognizable,
he could play along.
"Hey, you're the girls from yesterday, right? Don't you live
in Nerima?"
Usagi smiled broadly at him as she stopped a few feet in front
of him. "We live here, Ranma. We were only visiting Nerima yesterday."
"Do you know each other, Usagi?"
Usagi and Ranma turned to Hotaru, who was still holding onto
Ranma's arm. Usagi smiled at her and started explaining.
"Hi there, Hotaru. Well, we were visiting Nerima yesterday. We
saw one of Ranma's fights and decided to help him afterwards. How about
you, how did _you_ get to know him?"
Ranma looked back and forth between the group of girls he had
met yesterday, and Hotaru. He wondered whether or not Hotaru knew that
the girls were the same heroines who regularly defended Juuban from
harm. Deep in thought as he was, he was caught totally unprepared when
Hotaru gave her reply.
"Ranma? He's my boyfriend."
*****
Author's notes:
I would like to thank Ash, Seaver, Chester, and Vex for all of
their help in getting this chapter done. I hope you liked Yee. I'm very
proud of her, actually. More to come in later chapters, so stay with
me!
I would like to extend special thanks to Chester, who showered me
with praise for this chapter. I think he was high at the time.
Please send C&C to ukyo_rulz@edsamail.com.ph
Visit my homepage (www.geocities.com/ex_fuk) for new chapters.