CATCHING THE BUTTERFLY VOL 2
It never rains, but it pours.
General disclaimer - All characters were stolen from Rumiko Takahashi. I think I also stole a few from Naoko Takeuchi, Hitoshi Okuda and Shinpei Itoh. I've only read about Skuld in Oh My Goddess, Sympathy for the Devil, but she was so cool, I just _had_ to use her. She may be a little OOC though. I've pinched the demons from the Amityville Horror story, although Jodie is the only one I actually know about (A giant demon pig. How ironic). And a lot of quotes I pinched from Friends and Red Dwarf. I will probably insert some silly and utterly useless cameo whenever things get a bit too dark, because I'm like that. I'm hoping that I don't get hunted down for using their chara's, because if they cut my hands off, I'll have to type with my toes, which will make writing the thing a whole lot damn harder. For all you lucky people who live in Japan or places with all the manga and anime, sorry but I will not be introducing Akari and Konatsu, for a few reasons - one, I've not seen much Ranma anime, so getting to know them that way is rather difficult, two, I can't read Japanese Ranma manga so getting to know them that way is rather difficult, three, they haven't been introduced in English or French manga yet which makes getting to know them ... four, I don't like them anyway, nasty people interfering in Ryoga and Ukyo's eternal happiness TOGETHER grumblegrumble and I will chew my eyelids off before I add them into any fanfic I write, which will be hard because my teeth don't reach that far up.
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PROLOGUE
Dreaming of a way out.
=================
Ryoga looked around. "Where on earth am I now?!!" he cried. It was very difficult to see - mainly because it was pitch black. He didn't notice the red puddle forming around him. He took a step forward ... and found himself falling.
Falling into a river.
A river of blood.
He hit the surface of the river with a splash, reverting to his female form. Gasping for breath, Ryoga-chan tried to ignore the feel of the blood on her skin and tried to swim to shore.
She never made it.
The demon hands reached out and dragged her back, pushing her head under and holding her there. She couldn't break free. She couldn't _breathe. The demons laughed and taunted.
"You killed her."
*Noo....*
"If you'd been faster, you could've saved her."
*No, please nooo ...*
"Aiko is dead and it's all your fault! You know it is!"
The demons howled.
"And now it's time to pay." The red exploded.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
~~~~~
Ryoga sat up with a gasp. *Just a dream ... another dream...* He glanced at the little clock Ukyo had brought to the hospital for him. *Three fifteen in the morning again?* He drew his knees up underneath his chin and rocked back and forth a little. *I can't cope anymore ...*
Shadowy figures crept around the ward, reaching for the most lethal instruments they could find. Ryoga stiffened as a chill ran down his spine and he turned around.
Moonlight glinted off the blade as it swung towards his neck. "For Aiko, you bastard!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
~~~~~
Once again Ryoga sat up with a gasp. Only this time Ukyo was sat on the edge of the bed. He looked at her fearfully. "Am I awake this time?" Ukyo pinched him. "Ow! What was that for?!"
"Just checking. With all these nightmares you keep having, it's hard to tell one from another." She looked at the clock. "Three fifteen again. What timing." She placed an arm around him. "So was it the same as the others?"
Ryoga nodded. He tried to look calm, but seeing how he was shaking like a leaf, the act wasn't too convincing. He glanced at Ukyo, who was doing her best not to yawn. "Ucchan, go back to bed."
Ukyo laughed. "Now, we both know how this goes - you go back to sleep and I keep you company. _Then_ I go back to bed."
"But ..."
Ukyo put on her best stern look. "Do as you're told! Or else!"
Ryoga gave her a weak grin and lay down again. When the fear of the nightmares had faded a little, he closed his eyes. A few minutes later he was asleep again. Ukyo stood up with a sigh. *Poor Ryoga ... I won't leave you to fight through this alone.* She leaned over him and brushed his hair out of his eyes. *Not any more...*
=============
PART I
Hospital Trust 1
=============
Maika and Miyu flew above the city, looking for an opening in Locust-Man's defences. "That's one ugly alien," Maika observed.
"Look who's talking!" Locust-Man snapped.
Maika glowered. "Is that any way to talk to a lady?"
Miyu tapped her on the shoulder. "Uhh ... Maika, don't look now but we've got company." She pointed to a nearby rooftop.
Maika groaned as she spotted who Miyu was referring to. On the rooftop were five girls in multicoloured sailor suits, doing silly poses. "The crops you contaminated were grown to save lives, not end them," they shouted. "For love and for justice, we are the beautiful Sailor Senshi,"
"Sailor Mercury!"
"Sailor Mars!"
"Sailor Jupiter!"
"Sailor Venus!"
"Sailor Moon!" Sailor Moon pointed at Locust-Man. "And on behalf of the moon, you're punished!"
Maika shook her head. "Why does nobody ever kill them during that speech?" she wondered aloud.
Miyu shrugged. "You know, we could leave them to deal with this and go visit Ryoga in hospital," she suggested.
"What for?"
"Because we are investigating where his strange energy patterns are coming from and where his siblings have disappeared to," Miyu reminded her, dodging a flaming ward from Sailor Mars. "Also, on Earth, it is customary to visit friends and relatives while they are in hospital to make them less lonely and to take them gifts of flowers and jigsaws. Also, we get to sign any casts he may have," she added with a grin.
"He didn't break any bones," Maika reminded her partner. "Very abnormal for an teenage boy hit by a truck doing 120mph."
"Which is why we should visit him," Miyu finished. "To find out why he's there."
They flew off, leaving the five Sailor Senshi to deal with Locust-Man. "Moon Tiara Magic!" Bunny cried, throwing her tiara at him and narrowly missing hacking off her pigtails in the meantime.
Locust-Man looked annoyed as the tiara bounced uselessly off his shell.
"Uhhh ... Bunny, I really think this one was one of the Hyperdoll's foes," Amy said, looking at her computer.
"Oh, now you tell us!!"
~~~~~
Akane and Ranma gazed in astonishment at the crowded room. "I didn't realised Ryoga was so popular with the girls," Akane said eventually, looking at Maika, Miyu, Mihoshi, Ukyo, Shampoo and a few others.
"I don't think he did, either," Ranma replied. He waded through the giggling girls to Ryoga's bedside. "So how are you then?"
Ryoga shrugged. "I feel fine, but they won't let me go. They've decided I'm suffering from depression and might be a danger to myself. Can't think why."
Ranma nodded slowly. "Somehow I can see where they're coming from."
Akane shoved past him. "Hey Ryoga, I made you some cookies," she said with a smile, handing them over.
"He's already _in_ hospital, Akane," Ranma joked, dodging the mallet.
Ryoga tried not to look ill. "Anybody want a cookie first?" he asked cheerfully.
Mihoshi bounced over. "Oooh! Look, they're cute little ..." She trailed off. "Thingys." She popped the cookie in her mouth. And chewed. And collapsed.
Ryoga handed the cookies back to Akane. "No offence, but you might want to work on them ..."
Akane pouted. "I was so sure ..."
Miyu patted her on the shoulder. "Don't feel down. I bet Maika would enjoy them."
"What?!"
"She's given up her diet, you see..."
"How dare you!"
A large nurse (fondly dubbed 'Sister Blister' for no known reason) lumbered into the room. "All right, everybody out now!"
Good natured grumbles and protests followed this request. "Just a second," Ryoga called. "Hey Ranma, has Kodachi been around lately?"
Ranma shook his head. "I haven't seen her since her little confession. It's weird. But nice."
"She probably found something fun to do rather than chasing you." Ryoga smirked. "Like swimming in shark-infested waters."
Ranma glowered. "If you weren't already in hospital, I'd ..."
Akane grabbed him by the ear. "Leave him alone, Ranma, you insensitive jerk!"
"Uncute tomboy!"
Ryoga watched them fighting, although they didn't seem to be taking it as seriously as usual. *Must be because there's no-one to interfere with their relationship. Shampoo, for some utterly unknown reason has decided she likes me better than Ranma...* He'd almost died of shock after hearing that one. *Kodachi hasn't been around for the past week...* Frankly, that just made him nervous. Then again, after being hit by a very large tanker - with no driver - and losing the person who meant the most to him in all his life - things did tend to make him slightly nervous nowadays. And nowanights. Try sleeping calmly after all that had happened to you less than a week ago. *If they didn't stick me full of sedatives, I wouldn't sleep at all!!* He laughed a little at this.
Mihoshi regained consciousness and flopped backwards onto the bed. "What's the time?" She glanced at the clock. "Oh, time to go." She sat up and grabbed Ryoga's hands. "You will come back to school soon, won't you? It's no fun otherwise."
Ukyo tensed, tightening the grip on her spatula, but Maika interrupted, not even realising the headache she was saving Ryoga. "Mihoshi, get a grip!" She grabbed hold of the collar of Mihoshi's school uniform and yanked the blond onto her feet. "We have to go now, anyway."
"Oh, but... WAOH!!"
Ryoga shook his head as the three aliens left the room, followed by an un- protesting Akai. "I'll never understand how Mihoshi can trip over nothing at all," he said, looking dazed.
A few of the other girls said their goodbyes and left too, Shampoo giving Ryoga a quick hug, much to his immense surprise.
Ranma looked at Ryoga (who still had a shell-shocked look on his face) with a look that was partly envy and partly sympathy. Envy because of all the attention getting his by a truck generates.
And sympathy. For once, he was actually feeling sympathetic towards the lost boy. It couldn't be easy, seeing the kid you think of as your daughter getting mashed by a tanker. And Ryoga _had_ thought of Aiko as a daughter. He made that obvious a few days ago...
"Can I leave tomorrow?" Ryoga asked again.
"NO!!" Sister Blister stormed out of the room.
Ranma yawned. "Give it up, Ryoga. You've been haggling poor old Sis' Blis' for an hour now. This isn't like begging to have your friends stay a little longer." He patted Ryoga on the head, much to his anger. "That cute l'il boy act ain't gonna get you outta here."
Ryoga flopped back onto the pillows with a groan. "Argh! What is going on here!! I perfectly fine!" He chopped at the cabinet next to him, disintegrating it into tiny fragments. "I-am-perfectly-fine!!!"
Ukyo sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you?!! They want to keep an eye on you to make sure you are emotionally stable. You had a bad shock. You've been having awful nightmares and they just want to make sure you won't be a danger to yourself or to anyone else."
Ryoga looked puzzled. "Huh?"
Ranma sighed. "Ryoga, they think you might go insane."
Ryoga looked even more puzzled. "But why?"
Ranma rolled his eyes. "Because you and your damn little kitty got hit by a truck and they were dumb enough to think she was a real girl..."
The rest of the words that had fallen out of his mouth before he'd remembered to turn his brain on were cut off by the application of Ryoga's fist to Ranma's skull. Ranma flew across the room, taking out most of opposite wall. Ranma wheezed for breath - difficult. Ryoga had his one hand clamped against his throat and pounded his fist up and down on Ranma's face. "DON'T YOU _EVER_, _EVER_ AGAIN IMPLY THAT SHE WASN'T IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!" Ryoga screamed.
Ukyo pulled him away. "Ryoga, clam down..."
Ryoga burst into tears. "S-s-she wa-was m-mine, m-my l-l-little g-girl.."
Ranma wished he could learn how to keep his mouth under control as he gasped for breath and left the room sheepishly. Looking back at them, he couldn't recall ever seeing Ryoga so upset...
Ryoga looked curiously at Ranma. "Why on earth are you staring at me, Saotome?
Ranma shook his head to clear it. "I was just remembering how you went berserk at me the other day."
Ryoga groaned. "You just had to bring that up, didn't you? We have a normal little discussion and they won't let me out now."
Ukyo shrugged. "You caved the wall in."
"But that's not unusual!" Ryoga protested. "Well, at least, not by our standards."
"Well, what's so bad about being in hospital?" Ranma asked. "You get to miss school - Happosai's started lurking around the gym armed with water pistols. And Kuno's upset that his bandannad girl is missing."
Akane whapped Ranma lightly on the head. "Shut up you. You have _no_ bedside manner whatsoever, do you?" She dragged Ranma out of the room.
Ryoga looked at Ukyo. "You'd better be going in a minute too." Ukyo nodded. As Ryoga's fiancee, that meant she was allowed to visit him at any hour. Still ... "Ucchan, you don't have to stay here overnight."
Ukyo smiled at him. "Try saying that to me at three-fifteen tonight," she pointed out. "I'll be back later." She left the room with a wave.
Ryoga returned the wave. And waited a little while. Then up-ended a glass of cold water over his head. People were always more willing to lend a sympathetic ear to a crying girl than a crying boy, he'd discovered.
End Part I
Final song - Save Tonight
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PART II
Demons and Angels
===============
"You know, Miyu, this is getting rather ridiculous," Maika commented.
Miyu nodded. "At least the arrival of Compiler and Assembler means we can have a rest."
They watched the fight for a little longer. "It's a shame that the little Magical Girl Pretty Sammy is having such trouble trying to persuade them to let her have a go," Miyu said after a small pause.
"Do you believe this is one of her missions?"
"Of course." Miyu pointed over the balcony. "You see? There's Pixie Misa."
Another strange creature loomed over buildings. "Is that one of our..."
"Men in Black, Agent's J and K." The girls turned. One of them almost smiled. "I'm Agent J. We need to use your apartment for a moment, Hyperdolls."
"What for?" Maika asked.
Agent J broke into a light sweat and crossed his legs. "Well actually, I just wanted to use the bathroom."
~~~~~
Ryoga looked at the Doctor in frustration. "WHY can't you just give me a prescription of anti-depressants or something and let me go home?" he pleaded. "It's been _days_ since I broke that wall! And it was an accident!"
The Doctor sighed. "I told you, we'd talk about it tomorrow. We're just interested in your sleep patterns."
Ryoga blinked in astonishment. "B-but I thought this was all because of my emotional state! What does me sleeping have to do with anything?!"
"You've been having bad dreams each night since we admitted you. You never had them before the accident ..."
"Sure I did," Ryoga said, slightly confused. "I had nightmares quite a lot."
The Doctor shifted. "But these nightmares follow a continuous pattern. You have recurring dreams and wake up every night at exactly the same time." He paused for emphasis. "_Exactly_ the same time." He grinned. "Frankly, that makes you a very interesting person as far as science is concerned."
"What do you mean?"
The Doctor resisted the urge to bash his head against the wall. "To make it clear, we want to study you more, while you are sleeping and try to see happens. You know, maybe record them, take neural impulse readings and such like ..."
"No." Ryoga stood up. "I don't want people poking around in my subconscious mind just to find out why I have bad dreams. I'll cope with it back at home."
The Doctor nodded his understanding. "How about we do a compromise?"
Ryoga looked at him suspiciously. "What kind of compromise?"
"We let you go home. Physically, you're perfectly fine, although only god knows how. We'll give you some anti-depressants to cope with the shock."
"And?" Ryoga prompted.
"And, if you keep having all these recurring dreams, waking up at the same time each night or if you start sleepwalking or something..."
"Sleepwalking?!!"
The Doctor nodded. "Sleepwalking. It's possible that the stress could make you sleepwalk. Which, given your sense of direction, could be a bit dangerous." He paused again. "There is a chance that you even start going through motions in your sleep too - like training, or cooking. But there's also a chance you could hurt yourself if you're left unsupervised."
Ryoga thought for a second. "I think I choose going home." He stood up and walked to the door "I'll come back if there's any problems though."
"Ryoga, your room's _that_ way."
"I knew that," he lied, turning and walking away, surprisingly enough, in the correct direction.
The Doctor groaned and took some pills out of his desk draw. "It's a pity we can't do anything about your infernal sense of direction," he muttered to himself, swallowing two of the pills. *I hate to discharge you so soon, but after you walked in on three of the nurses while they were bathing, they've threatened to quit and we can't afford to lose any more staff now.*
~~~~~
Kodachi was pissed off. She lit the candles again and started chanting. It had been over a week since she'd decided to carry out the most drastic plan ever to ensnare her beloved Ranma, and the only interesting thing that had happened so far was that Hibiki and a young girl had been hit by a tanker. That was all well and good, in Kodachi's opinion - if Hibiki was an obstacle, then it served him right. Pity the girl had to die. But surely the demons should be killing the Kuonji girl, the ramen witch and the awful Tendo girl too? After all, they were far more dangerous, in her opinion. Well, she wanted an explanation as to why she still didn't have Ranma, and she wanted an explanation now.
Satan appeared in a puff of evil-smelling smoke. "What the heck d'ya want now, Toots?" he growled.
Kodachi tried to look calm. "I asked for Ranma Darling to fall for me, and for anyone who interfered to die. Why isn't that happening?"
Satan looked surprised. "Oh, sorry." He whipped out a mobile phone and dialled a few numbers. "Hey, what's the deal on the Kuno case? We've had complaints. Amityville demons? But those guys are supposed to be the best. Well, what's the point of taking out Hibiki, the biggest threat in all this, if you're just gonna torment him for a week?!! I don't care if it's fun! Take out the others too. Then you're gonna have to deal with Hibiki again. Of course he isn't dead, you moron! You think a measly little tanker could bring the guy down?!! Hell, this guy could survive the Blitz!!! You'd better, buster. Or heads will roll.!" He hung up and wiped his brow. "Sorry about the delay Miss Kuno. The Amityville demons were having such fun tormenting Hibiki that they forgot the rest of the case. The rest of your rivals will be taken out as soon as possible, then we'll work on making Saotome fall for you."
Kodachi smiled. "Why, thank you." *Ranma Darling, soon you will be mine!!!!!*
~~~~~
"Hey, Skuld!!" Urd looked around for her younger sister. "Skuld?" She sighed. *Where the heck are you, you little brat?!!*
Skuld poked her head out of her bedroom doorway. "What do you want, Urd?"
Urd put on her best sincere look. "Guess what? The Almighty has a job for you!"
The younger goddess blinked. "For me? What is it?" Then she narrowed her eyes. "This is a trick of some sort, isn't it?"
Urd looked hurt. "Of course it isn't! It's just, Belldandy is busy here with Keiichi, and I busy keeping an eye out for Mara, and you're the best girl for the job!"
*Keeping an eye out for Mara? You just don't wanna do whatever it is!* Skuld decided to play along for a little while. "So what do I have to do?"
"Well, have you ever heard of a place called Nerima?"
"No."
Urd settled down to outline the mission. "Well, a girl lives there called Kodachi Kuno. She recently summoned the Devil ..."
"What the heck did she go and do _that_ for?!!" Skuld never understood why people were willing to sell their souls to evil forces.
"Would you let me finish?!!" Urd snapped irritably. "She wanted some guy called Ranma Saotome to fall in love with her, and for anyone who interfered to be killed." She paused. "There's a guy who lives in the same area, called Ryoga Hibiki..."
"Oh, _I_ see!" Skuld jumped to her feet. "He's the one, isn't he? And you want me to train him!" She crossed her arms. "Well, I ain't gonna do it! I have bugs to zap!!"
Urd looked pleadingly at her. "But you're the best! You're the only one with the right technology! And they're Amityville demons!! And your Mister Bug Zapper works fine!"
Skuld paused. "Amityville demons? They're here?!!" Urd nodded. Skuld sighed. "All right. But only because they destroyed my Super Lesser Demon Zapper Mark 1."
Urd grinned. "Well, you're the best, sis! I've already run a bath for you to move through!"
"You've been planning this, haven't you?"
End Part II
Final song - Angels
====================
PART III
Meet the new Magical Guy!!
====================
There are three major gods who play a large part in everybody's lives. They are Destiny, Fate and Luck. It's difficult to tell sometimes who is responsible for what happens in life. For example, was Ranma and Akane's engagement Fate, Destiny or just Luck? Was it bad Luck that made Ranma mistake Ukyo for a boy? I can tell you now that most of Ryoga's misfortunes came from Luck. Luck did not like him in the slightest. Even gods can hold grudges. And Luck has a major grudge against Ryoga.
~~~~~
Ryoga relaxed in the hot tub. Baths in hospital were not nice and he'd been looking forward to a nice, hot, relaxing bath for the past few days. He let his thoughts wander. *What am I going to do with my life now I haven't got Aiko to care for?* he wondered, feeling the horrible hollow feeling of loss. *I _could_ stay here - Ukyo's willing - but that's because she feels guilty for letting Aiko run into the road. Even though it's _my_ fault she's dead.* He sighed. *I don't deserve the sympathy everyone's been giving me. I don't deserve anything. I should ... go.* He thought about this for a little longer. It made sense. Finish paying off Mr Tendo, then resume wandering. Give up on Akane, Shampoo and Uk-anyone else. He didn't deserve to be loved. Everyone he loved always left him in the end at any case. He'd just go ... was it his imagination, or was there a swirling vortex in the bathtub?
In a bright flash of light, Skuld flew out of the water and hovered above the water. "Hi there!"
Ryoga shut his eyes. *If she's still there when I open my eyes, I'm going to scream.* He opened his eyes.
Skuld turned to face him. "Oh." A deep blush flooded across her face. *Urd never told me this guy was so cute!* Ryoga screamed for a whole four seconds, before Skuld gathered her wits about her and clamped a hand over his mouth. "Jeez! Sorry!"
Ukyo burst into the bathroom. "Whatisit?!!! Wha..." She stopped in her tracks. She rubbed her eyes and wondered if somehow, she'd ended up with Mousses eyesight. Another look informed her that the scene hadn't changed and there was still a fully clothed girl in the bath, leaning over Ryoga, who was wearing slightly less. OK, so he wasn't wearing anything, which made things a bit distracting. She began to glow with anger anyway. "Ryoga, you ... you ..."
*Oh dear, Urd never told me he lived with someone else,* Skuld thought to herself.
"PERVERT!!!"
Skuld winced as a very large spatula connected with Ryoga's skull and was surprised to see him unharmed. *Then again, that shouldn't be surprising. But I guess I'd better explain myself.*
Ryoga finally managed to grab the spatula and yanked it out of Ukyo's grasp. "What was that for?!! I've never seen her before!!!"
Ukyo yanked her spatula back. "Well what the hell is she doing in the bath with you then?!!"
Skuld sighed. "My name's Skuld. I'm a goddess, second class, limited. Sorry about this."
Ryoga and Ukyo looked at her in surprise. "A goddess?" Ukyo asked. "Why are you here?"
"Um..." *Sheesh! This is getting messy!* And idea popped into Skuld's mind. "Well, remember when those copies of Ryoga here got made when he was struck by lightning?"
"How could we forget," Ryoga mumbled.
"And then he got by a truck," Skuld continued. "Which wasn't supposed to happen. So I've been sent to make sure nothing else interferes in your life that isn't supposed to." There. A cover story and an excuse to stay a while too.
"That doesn't explain what you were doing in my bath," Ryoga grumbled.
Skuld blushed. "Sorry about that. I can only travel through hot water and it happened to be the hottest water close to you."
~~~~~
Ryoga sat down on the edge of his futon and began to get dressed. He didn't notice the mug of tea he'd placed on the floor beginning to bubble until Skuld popped out of it and clamped her hand over his mouth. "Ssh... I need to talk to you alone," she whispered. "So no screaming!" Ryoga nodded silently and Skuld lifted her hand. "Good. Now listen carefully. Do you remember your parents?"
"Not really. It's been years since I saw them," Ryoga said with a sigh. He always hoped that one day, he'd meet his parents again and they could be a normal family. But that was pretty unlikely to happen.
Skuld felt a little sorry for him. "Well, your father is a god..."
"A WHAT?!!" So maybe that made being a normal family even more unlikely.
"A god. A war god. That makes you and your sister pretty special, huh."
Ryoga blinked. "Sister? What sister?"
The dark-haired goddess continued, oblivious to Ryoga's question. "But now the Amityville demons want you dead - you and your friends. So I need to help you to fight them." With a grin, she handed him a wand. "Sorry if this sounds a bit too Sailor Moon- ish, but you have to become a magical warrior to fight against them. That's all that'll save you and your friends."
"Goodnight." Ryoga rolled on to his futon and pulled the covers over his head.
"YOU ARE NOT DREAMING!!!!" Skuld hit him over the head with the wand. "The more you put this off, the more danger your friends are in!"
He sat up slowly, with a groan. "All right, all right. I'll play along." *And I thought my life couldn't get any weirder!* "What do I have to do?"
She handed him the wand. "Wave this and say..."
"I'm not saying 'Moon Prism Power Make Up', not even if you turn me female," Ryoga interrupted.
"No, all you have to say is 'Power up.' I never saw the point in long, pointless transformation passwords. Be glad you're not Magical Drama Queen Roxy," Skuld explained. "Stand up and say it."
Looking mortally embarrassed, Ryoga waved the wand over his head and said the phrase. There was a flash of light and a few moments of silence. He broke the silence. "Why am I dressed like Tuxedo Mask?"
"You look nothing like Tuxedo Mask!" Skuld protested. "Your outfit is a _totally_ different colour!"
A small problem poked it's nasty little head up. "Skuld, what about if it rains?"
Skuld was puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Best to demonstrate. "Pour some cold water on me," Ryoga explained. Skuld did so, jumping backwards in surprise as he turned from a tall, well-built guy into a petite, slim girl. Ryoga-chan laughed a little. "See what I mean? This outfit is fine when I'm a guy, but not when I'm a girl."
Skuld nodded. "I'll see what I can do." Waving her arms in the air, she muttered a small spell under her breath. Ryoga-chan's outfit immediately turned into something looking like a cross between Magical Girl Pretty Sammy and Moldiver's. "There! Now pour a little of that tea over yourself." Ryoga-chan did as she was told and the outfit turned back to the Tuxedo Mask one. "From now on, whenever you change, your clothes will change too. But only when you've powered up."
Ryoga nodded. "So when I'm a guy, I get a tux. But when I'm a girl I get a tiny skirt, high heels and a sleeveless top? Isn't that a little impractical? I can't walk in heels!"
"You're not going to walk, you're going to run." Skuld almost laughed at the expression on his face. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. I'll teach you every..." She stopped. *Those waves - they're after the Tendo girl!!*
~~~~~
Things seemed normal enough in the Tendo Dojo - Akane and Ranma-chan were fighting, Nabiki was taking photographs from her window, Soun and Genma were playing shogi and Kasumi was humming to herself while stirring some soup. "Ranma, you jerk! Stand still and let me kill you!" Akane shouted in frustration. Ranma-chan just laughed. Neither of them took much notice of the swirling darkness behind them.
The demon that emerged from the darkness watched them for a second, before lazily pointing a finger at Akane. A line of energy sliced through the ground just in front of her. "This is Reality FM, and thank you for tuning in to the same wavelength!" it said sarcastically.
Akane and Ranma-chan glared at it. "What was that for?" Akane growled. "And just what the hell are you?"
"Me? I'm just a demon." It bowed mockingly. "I'm sorry, but you have to die now. Nothing personal."
Akane jumped out of the way as another furrow blasted through the ground. "For a demon, that was one bad shot," Ranma-chan said dryly.
"Oh, I just like a bit of fun," it replied, dodging Ranma-chan and Akane's attacks easily. "But I guess it's time to get serious."
Inside, Kasumi stepped back from her soup as a guy with a tiny little girl sitting on his shoulder popped up out of it. "Oh my!"
"Sorry Kasumi!" he called, running out of the kitchen.
Mini-Skuld pointed. "That way. That's where the waves are coming from."
Ryoga nodded and burst into the garden, knocking the demon over. The energy bolt hit the ground just in front of Akane, who jumped back with a squeal.
"Just who the heck are you?!!" Ranma-chan exploded.
Ryoga blinked. "Me? I'm ... uh ... Skuld, help me here!" Mini-Skuld sighed and whispered in his ear. "I'm Magical Guy Makoto!"
End Part III
Final song - Something Happened On The Way To Heaven
==============
PART IV
Sleepless in Tokyo.
==============
"Magical Guy Makoto?!! What were you smoking when you thought up _that_ one, Skuld?!!" Ryoga muttered under his breath.
Mini-Skuld shrugged. "It was all I could think of a such short notice." She pointed to the demon, who was carefully studying them with a Look. A kind of look that implied that it was wondering whether to bother attacking them or continuing it's attack of Akane. "Take it out with an energy ball."
"How?"
"Point the wand at it. And hope genetics helps you grasp magic."
The demon decided to attack them. After all, it's orders were to kill anyone who interfered, and they'd interfered. "Prepare to..."
Ryoga pointed the wand at it. The energy ball struck it and it disappeared. "Huh. That was easy."
Mini-Skuld shrugged. "That was a boring, insignificant demon. Don't expect the rest to be so easy to take out." She posed dramatically. "Back to the soup!"
Akane and Ranma-chan gaped at them as they disappeared back into the Dojo. Upstairs, Nabiki switched off her camcorder and phoned a few contacts. *Magical Guy Makoto, hmm? Interesting.*
"Hey, Akane?" Ranma-chan said finally.
"Yes Ranma?"
"Did you see some guy in a tux just blast away a demon thing?"
"No."
"Good. Neither did I."
~~~~~
"Power down."
Mini-Skuld watched Ryoga lose the disguise. "Well, that went well for a trial run," she said cheerfully.
Ryoga looked at her. "What was it you were saying about more demons?"
"What, you think that's the best they could come up with? That demon probably wouldn't be a match for Magical Girl Pretty Sammy!" She grinned at him. "You did good back then. Some people find it harder to grasp magic powers than others. Even with magic in their blood."
"All I did was imagine what I wanted the attack to do," Ryoga said in response.
Mini-Skuld nodded. "That's how it's done. Easy in theory, not always so easy in practice. Good thing you've got it though." She stood up and stretched. "Come on, lets go downstairs. I wanna get back to the rest of me."
~~~~~
Later that night, Skuld tapped a few numbers on her calculator, mumbling measurements under her breath. She was presently working on a way for Ryoga to detect the arrival of demons himself, without her around. "3 times by 5.78 divide by cos 92 equals ... 666." She frowned at the output. "No it doesn't!" She tried again. "66.6? That can't be..." It finally clicked.
666. The sign of the devil.
Footsteps above her made her drop the calculator. *They can't have realised Magical Guy Makoto is really Ryoga yet, can they?!!* She looked at the clock. *Ten past three. Couldn't they've waited till morning?* she wondered, making her way up the stairs.
Ukyo turned to face her. "Skuld! I'm sorry, did I wake you?"
"Nah, I was already awake." Skuld looked at the chef. "But what are you doing up so late?"
Ukyo looked at the floor silently. Finally, she decided she could trust the goddess. "You know Ryoga and Aiko were hit by a truck?"
"Of course. Aiko died, didn't she?" *Damn those Amityville bastards! That kid was innocent!* Skuld knew it was because Ryoga was the biggest threat to their plans - his father was a very powerful god ...
"Yes. But since then, he's had nightmares every single night. And each time, he wakes up at exactly three fifteen. Spooky, but true." Ukyo sighed. "I figured if I get up at ten past, I'll be there when he wakes up."
Skuld nodded slowly. *So _that's_ where these faint waves are from... demons playing in his sleep.* The revenge of the Amityville demons. If he was going to screw up their plans, they were going to screw up his mind. She was going to have to find a way to stop that. "Well, I hope he's OK. Do you want me to come along too?"
"No, that's OK. You should get some sleep," Ukyo quickly insisted.
Skuld nodded, smiling a little. *Urd would just love to poke her nose into all this! Still...* She decided to take Ukyo's advice and go to bed.
Ukyo waited for a moment, before continuing to Ryoga's room. Settling down on the edge of the futon, she watched him in the dim moonlight. He looked so peaceful ... *Pity he's gonna wake up in about three minutes.*
~~~~~
Ryoga walked forward, looking cautiously from side to side. *I _know_ they're out there ...* he thought to himself, trying to see through the dense blackness. The air felt thick, like it hadn't been breathed for a while, and there was a faint smell, like flowers. He pricked his ears up at the sound of a pipe organ. *What is a pipe organ doing here?!! Where am I anyway?*
A faint glow flickered in the corner of his vision. A candle. The glow grew brighter as more candles ignited, forming a trail. He followed it curiously, half noticing that the smell of flowers was getting stronger and the music from the pipe organ was getting louder. He stumbled into a clearing, lined with flowers and candles. To one side, a figure was playing a wedding march and a girl in a wedding dress had her back to him.
"A-Akane?" he whispered, walking forward.
She turned around. "Ryoga, you jackass! You promised you'd try not to get lost this time," she cried, smacking him over the head with her spatula.
"Ouch!" Ryoga looked at her in surprise. "Ucchan! What did you do that for? Where am I?"
Ukyo giggled. "It's a wedding, silly. Took you long enough to get here."
"And I'm the best man, right?"
*CLANG*
"Ouch!!!"
"You're the groom!!"
Ryoga blinked a few times and rewound the words through his head. "G-groom? W-who's the bride?"
"Me, idiot!!! Oh, for goodness sake!" She grabbed the stunned boy by the arm and dragged him over to the alter. "Hey, Mousse, get on with it!"
Mousse, who was now a priest, grinned happily. "Glad to see you finally came to your senses and gave up on Shampoo, Ryoga. Now, Ukyo, do you take Ryoga to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"Sure do."
Mousse turned to Ryoga. "Do you take Ukyo to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
Ryoga looked dazed. "Me? Well ... um... I..."
Ukyo hefted her spatula. "Saying something, Darling?"
"Yes, I do!!" *After all, it's only a dream...*
Mousse grinned. "And it's about time too! I pronounce ... oh, wait. Does anyone know of any reason why these two should not be wed?"
Ukyo groaned. "Mousse, we're the only people here, except for Ranchan and Akane, and they're not gonna say..."
"I know."
Ryoga and Ukyo spun around at the voice. "Who's there?!!" Ukyo cried, on guard.
A small figure stepped out of the shadows and Ryoga's heart almost stopped. It was Aiko. "I know why they can not be happily married," the little girl said solemnly. She pointed at Ryoga. "Because he killed me! He can never be happy now!!"
The flames of the candles increased in intensity as Ryoga fell to his knees. "No... Aiko, I tried..."
"It's your fault I'm dead! You could have saved me and You Know It." she snarled, walking forward. He didn't notice everyone else dissipate into mist. "I'll never let you be happy. Not now, not ever."
"Please, Aiko..."
The flames drew closer around him. "Not even in the eternal sleep of death." The flames engulfed him and Aiko smiled. "As you will soon find out."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
~~~~~
Ukyo watched as the young martial artist screamed and sat up. "Hush Ryoga. It was only a dream," she murmured, placing her arms around him comfortingly.
Ryoga jerked away from her and stood up. "Don't." He walked over to the door.
Ukyo was puzzled. "Ryoga, what's the matter?" She stood up to follow him. "Tell me what's wrong."
"Stop feeling SORRY for me!!" he shouted at her, before running out of the room and making his way up onto the roof. *Why are you doing this? I don't _want_ your sympathy, Ucchan! I don't deserve it!* He shivered a little - it was a cold night and he was only wearing his boxers. He didn't care though. He didn't deserve to sleep in a nice warm bed when he'd killed Aiko. He didn't deserve to stay here, in the restaurant, when he was guilty for her death. *I could have saved her. If I'd just been a little faster, she'd be alive now...* Sobs wracked through his body as he remembered the little girl.
"Hey."
Ryoga glanced up at the okonomiyaki chef and tried to stop the tears. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel sorry for him. "I thought I told you to leave me alone," he mumbled.
Ukyo sat down next to him. "Hey, I was worried about you, jerk! And cover yourself up a little, you'll freeze." She ignored the part of her mind that reminded her that she only wanted him to cover himself up a little so she wouldn't be able to ogle him any more, because it seemed kinda unfaithful to Ranma. *Then again, I'm not engaged to Ranchan, I'm engaged to Ryoga. But I'm only engaged to Ryoga because I feel guilty for getting Aiko killed and it meant I could visit him all the time. Sooo ... I should dump Ryoga. Before he gets the wrong idea and thinks I actually like him or anything... but not yet though. Later, when he's better...*
"I don't care. Just go away," Ryoga muttered.
Ukyo fixed him with an angry glare. "I got up at three fifteen in the morning to keep you company, jackass!"
"What for? I don't need you. I'm only here so I can earn enough money to pay back Mr Tendo. Not for the good of my health, you got that?"
Ukyo looked at him with even more concern, her little spurt of anger forgotten. "Ryoga, please tell me what's wrong, I can help you..."
"Fffft. I don't _want_ your help," he growled. "I never wanted your help. If I wanted help, I'd have asked for it!!" He jumped to his feet. "I'm going back to bed."
Ukyo watched him walk away, worry apparent on her face. *Ryoga? What happened to you...?*
~~~~~
"Anything interesting in the news?"
Ukyo looked at Ryoga in surprise as he walked into the main part of the restaurant the next morning. He appeared to have forgotten the events of the night before, and was acting normally. Which was strange.
"Ukyo? Are you awake?" Ryoga waved a hand in front of her eyes.
Ukyo shook her head. "Yeah, sorry." She flicked through the paper. "Just normal stuff, mass property damage from the Hyperdolls, the Sailor Senshi took out more of the dark kingdom and most of Tokyo Tower, Magical Girl Pretty Sammy blew up Riaoh Academy _again, Mishuma Heavy Industries created some more robots and are suing Compiler and Assembler for destroying them...." She groaned. "Ugh. Japan has far too many super-heroes. Look, here's a new one."
"What, SuperTed?" Ryoga picked up his cup of tea and raised it to his lips.
"No, some guy called Magical Guy Makoto ... Ryoga, are you all right?" she asked, seeing him choke on his tea.
Ryoga coughed in embarrassment. "Sorry, drank it too fast. So, Magical Guy Makoto, eh?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
Ukyo, luckily, didn't pick up on his mood. "Yeah... Oh, I can't believe these guys were dumb enough to swallow a story from Nabiki!"
"Nabiki?" *I hate her, I hate her, I hate her!!!!!*
Nod. "Apparently a weird creature attacked Akane yesterday and this Makoto guy rescued her and Nabiki got it on film." She folded up the paper. "I mean, how dumb is that? Ranchan would've told me if something like that had happened."
"So you don't think this Magical Guy is real then?" he asked quickly.
Ukyo shook her head. "Nah. I bet it's one of Nabiki's get rich quick deals."
Ryoga sighed in relief. *Thank goodness for that!*
Pausing to write a quick note for Skuld when she woke up, Ukyo headed towards the door. "You don't have to come back to school yet, you know."
Ryoga shrugged. "I've missed too much school already. Lets go."
End Part IV
Final song - It's A Kind Of Magic
It never rains, but it pours.
General disclaimer - All characters were stolen from Rumiko Takahashi. I think I also stole a few from Naoko Takeuchi, Hitoshi Okuda and Shinpei Itoh. I've only read about Skuld in Oh My Goddess, Sympathy for the Devil, but she was so cool, I just _had_ to use her. She may be a little OOC though. I've pinched the demons from the Amityville Horror story, although Jodie is the only one I actually know about (A giant demon pig. How ironic). And a lot of quotes I pinched from Friends and Red Dwarf. I will probably insert some silly and utterly useless cameo whenever things get a bit too dark, because I'm like that. I'm hoping that I don't get hunted down for using their chara's, because if they cut my hands off, I'll have to type with my toes, which will make writing the thing a whole lot damn harder. For all you lucky people who live in Japan or places with all the manga and anime, sorry but I will not be introducing Akari and Konatsu, for a few reasons - one, I've not seen much Ranma anime, so getting to know them that way is rather difficult, two, I can't read Japanese Ranma manga so getting to know them that way is rather difficult, three, they haven't been introduced in English or French manga yet which makes getting to know them ... four, I don't like them anyway, nasty people interfering in Ryoga and Ukyo's eternal happiness TOGETHER grumblegrumble and I will chew my eyelids off before I add them into any fanfic I write, which will be hard because my teeth don't reach that far up.
=================
PROLOGUE
Dreaming of a way out.
=================
Ryoga looked around. "Where on earth am I now?!!" he cried. It was very difficult to see - mainly because it was pitch black. He didn't notice the red puddle forming around him. He took a step forward ... and found himself falling.
Falling into a river.
A river of blood.
He hit the surface of the river with a splash, reverting to his female form. Gasping for breath, Ryoga-chan tried to ignore the feel of the blood on her skin and tried to swim to shore.
She never made it.
The demon hands reached out and dragged her back, pushing her head under and holding her there. She couldn't break free. She couldn't _breathe. The demons laughed and taunted.
"You killed her."
*Noo....*
"If you'd been faster, you could've saved her."
*No, please nooo ...*
"Aiko is dead and it's all your fault! You know it is!"
The demons howled.
"And now it's time to pay." The red exploded.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
~~~~~
Ryoga sat up with a gasp. *Just a dream ... another dream...* He glanced at the little clock Ukyo had brought to the hospital for him. *Three fifteen in the morning again?* He drew his knees up underneath his chin and rocked back and forth a little. *I can't cope anymore ...*
Shadowy figures crept around the ward, reaching for the most lethal instruments they could find. Ryoga stiffened as a chill ran down his spine and he turned around.
Moonlight glinted off the blade as it swung towards his neck. "For Aiko, you bastard!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
~~~~~
Once again Ryoga sat up with a gasp. Only this time Ukyo was sat on the edge of the bed. He looked at her fearfully. "Am I awake this time?" Ukyo pinched him. "Ow! What was that for?!"
"Just checking. With all these nightmares you keep having, it's hard to tell one from another." She looked at the clock. "Three fifteen again. What timing." She placed an arm around him. "So was it the same as the others?"
Ryoga nodded. He tried to look calm, but seeing how he was shaking like a leaf, the act wasn't too convincing. He glanced at Ukyo, who was doing her best not to yawn. "Ucchan, go back to bed."
Ukyo laughed. "Now, we both know how this goes - you go back to sleep and I keep you company. _Then_ I go back to bed."
"But ..."
Ukyo put on her best stern look. "Do as you're told! Or else!"
Ryoga gave her a weak grin and lay down again. When the fear of the nightmares had faded a little, he closed his eyes. A few minutes later he was asleep again. Ukyo stood up with a sigh. *Poor Ryoga ... I won't leave you to fight through this alone.* She leaned over him and brushed his hair out of his eyes. *Not any more...*
=============
PART I
Hospital Trust 1
=============
Maika and Miyu flew above the city, looking for an opening in Locust-Man's defences. "That's one ugly alien," Maika observed.
"Look who's talking!" Locust-Man snapped.
Maika glowered. "Is that any way to talk to a lady?"
Miyu tapped her on the shoulder. "Uhh ... Maika, don't look now but we've got company." She pointed to a nearby rooftop.
Maika groaned as she spotted who Miyu was referring to. On the rooftop were five girls in multicoloured sailor suits, doing silly poses. "The crops you contaminated were grown to save lives, not end them," they shouted. "For love and for justice, we are the beautiful Sailor Senshi,"
"Sailor Mercury!"
"Sailor Mars!"
"Sailor Jupiter!"
"Sailor Venus!"
"Sailor Moon!" Sailor Moon pointed at Locust-Man. "And on behalf of the moon, you're punished!"
Maika shook her head. "Why does nobody ever kill them during that speech?" she wondered aloud.
Miyu shrugged. "You know, we could leave them to deal with this and go visit Ryoga in hospital," she suggested.
"What for?"
"Because we are investigating where his strange energy patterns are coming from and where his siblings have disappeared to," Miyu reminded her, dodging a flaming ward from Sailor Mars. "Also, on Earth, it is customary to visit friends and relatives while they are in hospital to make them less lonely and to take them gifts of flowers and jigsaws. Also, we get to sign any casts he may have," she added with a grin.
"He didn't break any bones," Maika reminded her partner. "Very abnormal for an teenage boy hit by a truck doing 120mph."
"Which is why we should visit him," Miyu finished. "To find out why he's there."
They flew off, leaving the five Sailor Senshi to deal with Locust-Man. "Moon Tiara Magic!" Bunny cried, throwing her tiara at him and narrowly missing hacking off her pigtails in the meantime.
Locust-Man looked annoyed as the tiara bounced uselessly off his shell.
"Uhhh ... Bunny, I really think this one was one of the Hyperdoll's foes," Amy said, looking at her computer.
"Oh, now you tell us!!"
~~~~~
Akane and Ranma gazed in astonishment at the crowded room. "I didn't realised Ryoga was so popular with the girls," Akane said eventually, looking at Maika, Miyu, Mihoshi, Ukyo, Shampoo and a few others.
"I don't think he did, either," Ranma replied. He waded through the giggling girls to Ryoga's bedside. "So how are you then?"
Ryoga shrugged. "I feel fine, but they won't let me go. They've decided I'm suffering from depression and might be a danger to myself. Can't think why."
Ranma nodded slowly. "Somehow I can see where they're coming from."
Akane shoved past him. "Hey Ryoga, I made you some cookies," she said with a smile, handing them over.
"He's already _in_ hospital, Akane," Ranma joked, dodging the mallet.
Ryoga tried not to look ill. "Anybody want a cookie first?" he asked cheerfully.
Mihoshi bounced over. "Oooh! Look, they're cute little ..." She trailed off. "Thingys." She popped the cookie in her mouth. And chewed. And collapsed.
Ryoga handed the cookies back to Akane. "No offence, but you might want to work on them ..."
Akane pouted. "I was so sure ..."
Miyu patted her on the shoulder. "Don't feel down. I bet Maika would enjoy them."
"What?!"
"She's given up her diet, you see..."
"How dare you!"
A large nurse (fondly dubbed 'Sister Blister' for no known reason) lumbered into the room. "All right, everybody out now!"
Good natured grumbles and protests followed this request. "Just a second," Ryoga called. "Hey Ranma, has Kodachi been around lately?"
Ranma shook his head. "I haven't seen her since her little confession. It's weird. But nice."
"She probably found something fun to do rather than chasing you." Ryoga smirked. "Like swimming in shark-infested waters."
Ranma glowered. "If you weren't already in hospital, I'd ..."
Akane grabbed him by the ear. "Leave him alone, Ranma, you insensitive jerk!"
"Uncute tomboy!"
Ryoga watched them fighting, although they didn't seem to be taking it as seriously as usual. *Must be because there's no-one to interfere with their relationship. Shampoo, for some utterly unknown reason has decided she likes me better than Ranma...* He'd almost died of shock after hearing that one. *Kodachi hasn't been around for the past week...* Frankly, that just made him nervous. Then again, after being hit by a very large tanker - with no driver - and losing the person who meant the most to him in all his life - things did tend to make him slightly nervous nowadays. And nowanights. Try sleeping calmly after all that had happened to you less than a week ago. *If they didn't stick me full of sedatives, I wouldn't sleep at all!!* He laughed a little at this.
Mihoshi regained consciousness and flopped backwards onto the bed. "What's the time?" She glanced at the clock. "Oh, time to go." She sat up and grabbed Ryoga's hands. "You will come back to school soon, won't you? It's no fun otherwise."
Ukyo tensed, tightening the grip on her spatula, but Maika interrupted, not even realising the headache she was saving Ryoga. "Mihoshi, get a grip!" She grabbed hold of the collar of Mihoshi's school uniform and yanked the blond onto her feet. "We have to go now, anyway."
"Oh, but... WAOH!!"
Ryoga shook his head as the three aliens left the room, followed by an un- protesting Akai. "I'll never understand how Mihoshi can trip over nothing at all," he said, looking dazed.
A few of the other girls said their goodbyes and left too, Shampoo giving Ryoga a quick hug, much to his immense surprise.
Ranma looked at Ryoga (who still had a shell-shocked look on his face) with a look that was partly envy and partly sympathy. Envy because of all the attention getting his by a truck generates.
And sympathy. For once, he was actually feeling sympathetic towards the lost boy. It couldn't be easy, seeing the kid you think of as your daughter getting mashed by a tanker. And Ryoga _had_ thought of Aiko as a daughter. He made that obvious a few days ago...
"Can I leave tomorrow?" Ryoga asked again.
"NO!!" Sister Blister stormed out of the room.
Ranma yawned. "Give it up, Ryoga. You've been haggling poor old Sis' Blis' for an hour now. This isn't like begging to have your friends stay a little longer." He patted Ryoga on the head, much to his anger. "That cute l'il boy act ain't gonna get you outta here."
Ryoga flopped back onto the pillows with a groan. "Argh! What is going on here!! I perfectly fine!" He chopped at the cabinet next to him, disintegrating it into tiny fragments. "I-am-perfectly-fine!!!"
Ukyo sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you?!! They want to keep an eye on you to make sure you are emotionally stable. You had a bad shock. You've been having awful nightmares and they just want to make sure you won't be a danger to yourself or to anyone else."
Ryoga looked puzzled. "Huh?"
Ranma sighed. "Ryoga, they think you might go insane."
Ryoga looked even more puzzled. "But why?"
Ranma rolled his eyes. "Because you and your damn little kitty got hit by a truck and they were dumb enough to think she was a real girl..."
The rest of the words that had fallen out of his mouth before he'd remembered to turn his brain on were cut off by the application of Ryoga's fist to Ranma's skull. Ranma flew across the room, taking out most of opposite wall. Ranma wheezed for breath - difficult. Ryoga had his one hand clamped against his throat and pounded his fist up and down on Ranma's face. "DON'T YOU _EVER_, _EVER_ AGAIN IMPLY THAT SHE WASN'T IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!" Ryoga screamed.
Ukyo pulled him away. "Ryoga, clam down..."
Ryoga burst into tears. "S-s-she wa-was m-mine, m-my l-l-little g-girl.."
Ranma wished he could learn how to keep his mouth under control as he gasped for breath and left the room sheepishly. Looking back at them, he couldn't recall ever seeing Ryoga so upset...
Ryoga looked curiously at Ranma. "Why on earth are you staring at me, Saotome?
Ranma shook his head to clear it. "I was just remembering how you went berserk at me the other day."
Ryoga groaned. "You just had to bring that up, didn't you? We have a normal little discussion and they won't let me out now."
Ukyo shrugged. "You caved the wall in."
"But that's not unusual!" Ryoga protested. "Well, at least, not by our standards."
"Well, what's so bad about being in hospital?" Ranma asked. "You get to miss school - Happosai's started lurking around the gym armed with water pistols. And Kuno's upset that his bandannad girl is missing."
Akane whapped Ranma lightly on the head. "Shut up you. You have _no_ bedside manner whatsoever, do you?" She dragged Ranma out of the room.
Ryoga looked at Ukyo. "You'd better be going in a minute too." Ukyo nodded. As Ryoga's fiancee, that meant she was allowed to visit him at any hour. Still ... "Ucchan, you don't have to stay here overnight."
Ukyo smiled at him. "Try saying that to me at three-fifteen tonight," she pointed out. "I'll be back later." She left the room with a wave.
Ryoga returned the wave. And waited a little while. Then up-ended a glass of cold water over his head. People were always more willing to lend a sympathetic ear to a crying girl than a crying boy, he'd discovered.
End Part I
Final song - Save Tonight
===============
PART II
Demons and Angels
===============
"You know, Miyu, this is getting rather ridiculous," Maika commented.
Miyu nodded. "At least the arrival of Compiler and Assembler means we can have a rest."
They watched the fight for a little longer. "It's a shame that the little Magical Girl Pretty Sammy is having such trouble trying to persuade them to let her have a go," Miyu said after a small pause.
"Do you believe this is one of her missions?"
"Of course." Miyu pointed over the balcony. "You see? There's Pixie Misa."
Another strange creature loomed over buildings. "Is that one of our..."
"Men in Black, Agent's J and K." The girls turned. One of them almost smiled. "I'm Agent J. We need to use your apartment for a moment, Hyperdolls."
"What for?" Maika asked.
Agent J broke into a light sweat and crossed his legs. "Well actually, I just wanted to use the bathroom."
~~~~~
Ryoga looked at the Doctor in frustration. "WHY can't you just give me a prescription of anti-depressants or something and let me go home?" he pleaded. "It's been _days_ since I broke that wall! And it was an accident!"
The Doctor sighed. "I told you, we'd talk about it tomorrow. We're just interested in your sleep patterns."
Ryoga blinked in astonishment. "B-but I thought this was all because of my emotional state! What does me sleeping have to do with anything?!"
"You've been having bad dreams each night since we admitted you. You never had them before the accident ..."
"Sure I did," Ryoga said, slightly confused. "I had nightmares quite a lot."
The Doctor shifted. "But these nightmares follow a continuous pattern. You have recurring dreams and wake up every night at exactly the same time." He paused for emphasis. "_Exactly_ the same time." He grinned. "Frankly, that makes you a very interesting person as far as science is concerned."
"What do you mean?"
The Doctor resisted the urge to bash his head against the wall. "To make it clear, we want to study you more, while you are sleeping and try to see happens. You know, maybe record them, take neural impulse readings and such like ..."
"No." Ryoga stood up. "I don't want people poking around in my subconscious mind just to find out why I have bad dreams. I'll cope with it back at home."
The Doctor nodded his understanding. "How about we do a compromise?"
Ryoga looked at him suspiciously. "What kind of compromise?"
"We let you go home. Physically, you're perfectly fine, although only god knows how. We'll give you some anti-depressants to cope with the shock."
"And?" Ryoga prompted.
"And, if you keep having all these recurring dreams, waking up at the same time each night or if you start sleepwalking or something..."
"Sleepwalking?!!"
The Doctor nodded. "Sleepwalking. It's possible that the stress could make you sleepwalk. Which, given your sense of direction, could be a bit dangerous." He paused again. "There is a chance that you even start going through motions in your sleep too - like training, or cooking. But there's also a chance you could hurt yourself if you're left unsupervised."
Ryoga thought for a second. "I think I choose going home." He stood up and walked to the door "I'll come back if there's any problems though."
"Ryoga, your room's _that_ way."
"I knew that," he lied, turning and walking away, surprisingly enough, in the correct direction.
The Doctor groaned and took some pills out of his desk draw. "It's a pity we can't do anything about your infernal sense of direction," he muttered to himself, swallowing two of the pills. *I hate to discharge you so soon, but after you walked in on three of the nurses while they were bathing, they've threatened to quit and we can't afford to lose any more staff now.*
~~~~~
Kodachi was pissed off. She lit the candles again and started chanting. It had been over a week since she'd decided to carry out the most drastic plan ever to ensnare her beloved Ranma, and the only interesting thing that had happened so far was that Hibiki and a young girl had been hit by a tanker. That was all well and good, in Kodachi's opinion - if Hibiki was an obstacle, then it served him right. Pity the girl had to die. But surely the demons should be killing the Kuonji girl, the ramen witch and the awful Tendo girl too? After all, they were far more dangerous, in her opinion. Well, she wanted an explanation as to why she still didn't have Ranma, and she wanted an explanation now.
Satan appeared in a puff of evil-smelling smoke. "What the heck d'ya want now, Toots?" he growled.
Kodachi tried to look calm. "I asked for Ranma Darling to fall for me, and for anyone who interfered to die. Why isn't that happening?"
Satan looked surprised. "Oh, sorry." He whipped out a mobile phone and dialled a few numbers. "Hey, what's the deal on the Kuno case? We've had complaints. Amityville demons? But those guys are supposed to be the best. Well, what's the point of taking out Hibiki, the biggest threat in all this, if you're just gonna torment him for a week?!! I don't care if it's fun! Take out the others too. Then you're gonna have to deal with Hibiki again. Of course he isn't dead, you moron! You think a measly little tanker could bring the guy down?!! Hell, this guy could survive the Blitz!!! You'd better, buster. Or heads will roll.!" He hung up and wiped his brow. "Sorry about the delay Miss Kuno. The Amityville demons were having such fun tormenting Hibiki that they forgot the rest of the case. The rest of your rivals will be taken out as soon as possible, then we'll work on making Saotome fall for you."
Kodachi smiled. "Why, thank you." *Ranma Darling, soon you will be mine!!!!!*
~~~~~
"Hey, Skuld!!" Urd looked around for her younger sister. "Skuld?" She sighed. *Where the heck are you, you little brat?!!*
Skuld poked her head out of her bedroom doorway. "What do you want, Urd?"
Urd put on her best sincere look. "Guess what? The Almighty has a job for you!"
The younger goddess blinked. "For me? What is it?" Then she narrowed her eyes. "This is a trick of some sort, isn't it?"
Urd looked hurt. "Of course it isn't! It's just, Belldandy is busy here with Keiichi, and I busy keeping an eye out for Mara, and you're the best girl for the job!"
*Keeping an eye out for Mara? You just don't wanna do whatever it is!* Skuld decided to play along for a little while. "So what do I have to do?"
"Well, have you ever heard of a place called Nerima?"
"No."
Urd settled down to outline the mission. "Well, a girl lives there called Kodachi Kuno. She recently summoned the Devil ..."
"What the heck did she go and do _that_ for?!!" Skuld never understood why people were willing to sell their souls to evil forces.
"Would you let me finish?!!" Urd snapped irritably. "She wanted some guy called Ranma Saotome to fall in love with her, and for anyone who interfered to be killed." She paused. "There's a guy who lives in the same area, called Ryoga Hibiki..."
"Oh, _I_ see!" Skuld jumped to her feet. "He's the one, isn't he? And you want me to train him!" She crossed her arms. "Well, I ain't gonna do it! I have bugs to zap!!"
Urd looked pleadingly at her. "But you're the best! You're the only one with the right technology! And they're Amityville demons!! And your Mister Bug Zapper works fine!"
Skuld paused. "Amityville demons? They're here?!!" Urd nodded. Skuld sighed. "All right. But only because they destroyed my Super Lesser Demon Zapper Mark 1."
Urd grinned. "Well, you're the best, sis! I've already run a bath for you to move through!"
"You've been planning this, haven't you?"
End Part II
Final song - Angels
====================
PART III
Meet the new Magical Guy!!
====================
There are three major gods who play a large part in everybody's lives. They are Destiny, Fate and Luck. It's difficult to tell sometimes who is responsible for what happens in life. For example, was Ranma and Akane's engagement Fate, Destiny or just Luck? Was it bad Luck that made Ranma mistake Ukyo for a boy? I can tell you now that most of Ryoga's misfortunes came from Luck. Luck did not like him in the slightest. Even gods can hold grudges. And Luck has a major grudge against Ryoga.
~~~~~
Ryoga relaxed in the hot tub. Baths in hospital were not nice and he'd been looking forward to a nice, hot, relaxing bath for the past few days. He let his thoughts wander. *What am I going to do with my life now I haven't got Aiko to care for?* he wondered, feeling the horrible hollow feeling of loss. *I _could_ stay here - Ukyo's willing - but that's because she feels guilty for letting Aiko run into the road. Even though it's _my_ fault she's dead.* He sighed. *I don't deserve the sympathy everyone's been giving me. I don't deserve anything. I should ... go.* He thought about this for a little longer. It made sense. Finish paying off Mr Tendo, then resume wandering. Give up on Akane, Shampoo and Uk-anyone else. He didn't deserve to be loved. Everyone he loved always left him in the end at any case. He'd just go ... was it his imagination, or was there a swirling vortex in the bathtub?
In a bright flash of light, Skuld flew out of the water and hovered above the water. "Hi there!"
Ryoga shut his eyes. *If she's still there when I open my eyes, I'm going to scream.* He opened his eyes.
Skuld turned to face him. "Oh." A deep blush flooded across her face. *Urd never told me this guy was so cute!* Ryoga screamed for a whole four seconds, before Skuld gathered her wits about her and clamped a hand over his mouth. "Jeez! Sorry!"
Ukyo burst into the bathroom. "Whatisit?!!! Wha..." She stopped in her tracks. She rubbed her eyes and wondered if somehow, she'd ended up with Mousses eyesight. Another look informed her that the scene hadn't changed and there was still a fully clothed girl in the bath, leaning over Ryoga, who was wearing slightly less. OK, so he wasn't wearing anything, which made things a bit distracting. She began to glow with anger anyway. "Ryoga, you ... you ..."
*Oh dear, Urd never told me he lived with someone else,* Skuld thought to herself.
"PERVERT!!!"
Skuld winced as a very large spatula connected with Ryoga's skull and was surprised to see him unharmed. *Then again, that shouldn't be surprising. But I guess I'd better explain myself.*
Ryoga finally managed to grab the spatula and yanked it out of Ukyo's grasp. "What was that for?!! I've never seen her before!!!"
Ukyo yanked her spatula back. "Well what the hell is she doing in the bath with you then?!!"
Skuld sighed. "My name's Skuld. I'm a goddess, second class, limited. Sorry about this."
Ryoga and Ukyo looked at her in surprise. "A goddess?" Ukyo asked. "Why are you here?"
"Um..." *Sheesh! This is getting messy!* And idea popped into Skuld's mind. "Well, remember when those copies of Ryoga here got made when he was struck by lightning?"
"How could we forget," Ryoga mumbled.
"And then he got by a truck," Skuld continued. "Which wasn't supposed to happen. So I've been sent to make sure nothing else interferes in your life that isn't supposed to." There. A cover story and an excuse to stay a while too.
"That doesn't explain what you were doing in my bath," Ryoga grumbled.
Skuld blushed. "Sorry about that. I can only travel through hot water and it happened to be the hottest water close to you."
~~~~~
Ryoga sat down on the edge of his futon and began to get dressed. He didn't notice the mug of tea he'd placed on the floor beginning to bubble until Skuld popped out of it and clamped her hand over his mouth. "Ssh... I need to talk to you alone," she whispered. "So no screaming!" Ryoga nodded silently and Skuld lifted her hand. "Good. Now listen carefully. Do you remember your parents?"
"Not really. It's been years since I saw them," Ryoga said with a sigh. He always hoped that one day, he'd meet his parents again and they could be a normal family. But that was pretty unlikely to happen.
Skuld felt a little sorry for him. "Well, your father is a god..."
"A WHAT?!!" So maybe that made being a normal family even more unlikely.
"A god. A war god. That makes you and your sister pretty special, huh."
Ryoga blinked. "Sister? What sister?"
The dark-haired goddess continued, oblivious to Ryoga's question. "But now the Amityville demons want you dead - you and your friends. So I need to help you to fight them." With a grin, she handed him a wand. "Sorry if this sounds a bit too Sailor Moon- ish, but you have to become a magical warrior to fight against them. That's all that'll save you and your friends."
"Goodnight." Ryoga rolled on to his futon and pulled the covers over his head.
"YOU ARE NOT DREAMING!!!!" Skuld hit him over the head with the wand. "The more you put this off, the more danger your friends are in!"
He sat up slowly, with a groan. "All right, all right. I'll play along." *And I thought my life couldn't get any weirder!* "What do I have to do?"
She handed him the wand. "Wave this and say..."
"I'm not saying 'Moon Prism Power Make Up', not even if you turn me female," Ryoga interrupted.
"No, all you have to say is 'Power up.' I never saw the point in long, pointless transformation passwords. Be glad you're not Magical Drama Queen Roxy," Skuld explained. "Stand up and say it."
Looking mortally embarrassed, Ryoga waved the wand over his head and said the phrase. There was a flash of light and a few moments of silence. He broke the silence. "Why am I dressed like Tuxedo Mask?"
"You look nothing like Tuxedo Mask!" Skuld protested. "Your outfit is a _totally_ different colour!"
A small problem poked it's nasty little head up. "Skuld, what about if it rains?"
Skuld was puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Best to demonstrate. "Pour some cold water on me," Ryoga explained. Skuld did so, jumping backwards in surprise as he turned from a tall, well-built guy into a petite, slim girl. Ryoga-chan laughed a little. "See what I mean? This outfit is fine when I'm a guy, but not when I'm a girl."
Skuld nodded. "I'll see what I can do." Waving her arms in the air, she muttered a small spell under her breath. Ryoga-chan's outfit immediately turned into something looking like a cross between Magical Girl Pretty Sammy and Moldiver's. "There! Now pour a little of that tea over yourself." Ryoga-chan did as she was told and the outfit turned back to the Tuxedo Mask one. "From now on, whenever you change, your clothes will change too. But only when you've powered up."
Ryoga nodded. "So when I'm a guy, I get a tux. But when I'm a girl I get a tiny skirt, high heels and a sleeveless top? Isn't that a little impractical? I can't walk in heels!"
"You're not going to walk, you're going to run." Skuld almost laughed at the expression on his face. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. I'll teach you every..." She stopped. *Those waves - they're after the Tendo girl!!*
~~~~~
Things seemed normal enough in the Tendo Dojo - Akane and Ranma-chan were fighting, Nabiki was taking photographs from her window, Soun and Genma were playing shogi and Kasumi was humming to herself while stirring some soup. "Ranma, you jerk! Stand still and let me kill you!" Akane shouted in frustration. Ranma-chan just laughed. Neither of them took much notice of the swirling darkness behind them.
The demon that emerged from the darkness watched them for a second, before lazily pointing a finger at Akane. A line of energy sliced through the ground just in front of her. "This is Reality FM, and thank you for tuning in to the same wavelength!" it said sarcastically.
Akane and Ranma-chan glared at it. "What was that for?" Akane growled. "And just what the hell are you?"
"Me? I'm just a demon." It bowed mockingly. "I'm sorry, but you have to die now. Nothing personal."
Akane jumped out of the way as another furrow blasted through the ground. "For a demon, that was one bad shot," Ranma-chan said dryly.
"Oh, I just like a bit of fun," it replied, dodging Ranma-chan and Akane's attacks easily. "But I guess it's time to get serious."
Inside, Kasumi stepped back from her soup as a guy with a tiny little girl sitting on his shoulder popped up out of it. "Oh my!"
"Sorry Kasumi!" he called, running out of the kitchen.
Mini-Skuld pointed. "That way. That's where the waves are coming from."
Ryoga nodded and burst into the garden, knocking the demon over. The energy bolt hit the ground just in front of Akane, who jumped back with a squeal.
"Just who the heck are you?!!" Ranma-chan exploded.
Ryoga blinked. "Me? I'm ... uh ... Skuld, help me here!" Mini-Skuld sighed and whispered in his ear. "I'm Magical Guy Makoto!"
End Part III
Final song - Something Happened On The Way To Heaven
==============
PART IV
Sleepless in Tokyo.
==============
"Magical Guy Makoto?!! What were you smoking when you thought up _that_ one, Skuld?!!" Ryoga muttered under his breath.
Mini-Skuld shrugged. "It was all I could think of a such short notice." She pointed to the demon, who was carefully studying them with a Look. A kind of look that implied that it was wondering whether to bother attacking them or continuing it's attack of Akane. "Take it out with an energy ball."
"How?"
"Point the wand at it. And hope genetics helps you grasp magic."
The demon decided to attack them. After all, it's orders were to kill anyone who interfered, and they'd interfered. "Prepare to..."
Ryoga pointed the wand at it. The energy ball struck it and it disappeared. "Huh. That was easy."
Mini-Skuld shrugged. "That was a boring, insignificant demon. Don't expect the rest to be so easy to take out." She posed dramatically. "Back to the soup!"
Akane and Ranma-chan gaped at them as they disappeared back into the Dojo. Upstairs, Nabiki switched off her camcorder and phoned a few contacts. *Magical Guy Makoto, hmm? Interesting.*
"Hey, Akane?" Ranma-chan said finally.
"Yes Ranma?"
"Did you see some guy in a tux just blast away a demon thing?"
"No."
"Good. Neither did I."
~~~~~
"Power down."
Mini-Skuld watched Ryoga lose the disguise. "Well, that went well for a trial run," she said cheerfully.
Ryoga looked at her. "What was it you were saying about more demons?"
"What, you think that's the best they could come up with? That demon probably wouldn't be a match for Magical Girl Pretty Sammy!" She grinned at him. "You did good back then. Some people find it harder to grasp magic powers than others. Even with magic in their blood."
"All I did was imagine what I wanted the attack to do," Ryoga said in response.
Mini-Skuld nodded. "That's how it's done. Easy in theory, not always so easy in practice. Good thing you've got it though." She stood up and stretched. "Come on, lets go downstairs. I wanna get back to the rest of me."
~~~~~
Later that night, Skuld tapped a few numbers on her calculator, mumbling measurements under her breath. She was presently working on a way for Ryoga to detect the arrival of demons himself, without her around. "3 times by 5.78 divide by cos 92 equals ... 666." She frowned at the output. "No it doesn't!" She tried again. "66.6? That can't be..." It finally clicked.
666. The sign of the devil.
Footsteps above her made her drop the calculator. *They can't have realised Magical Guy Makoto is really Ryoga yet, can they?!!* She looked at the clock. *Ten past three. Couldn't they've waited till morning?* she wondered, making her way up the stairs.
Ukyo turned to face her. "Skuld! I'm sorry, did I wake you?"
"Nah, I was already awake." Skuld looked at the chef. "But what are you doing up so late?"
Ukyo looked at the floor silently. Finally, she decided she could trust the goddess. "You know Ryoga and Aiko were hit by a truck?"
"Of course. Aiko died, didn't she?" *Damn those Amityville bastards! That kid was innocent!* Skuld knew it was because Ryoga was the biggest threat to their plans - his father was a very powerful god ...
"Yes. But since then, he's had nightmares every single night. And each time, he wakes up at exactly three fifteen. Spooky, but true." Ukyo sighed. "I figured if I get up at ten past, I'll be there when he wakes up."
Skuld nodded slowly. *So _that's_ where these faint waves are from... demons playing in his sleep.* The revenge of the Amityville demons. If he was going to screw up their plans, they were going to screw up his mind. She was going to have to find a way to stop that. "Well, I hope he's OK. Do you want me to come along too?"
"No, that's OK. You should get some sleep," Ukyo quickly insisted.
Skuld nodded, smiling a little. *Urd would just love to poke her nose into all this! Still...* She decided to take Ukyo's advice and go to bed.
Ukyo waited for a moment, before continuing to Ryoga's room. Settling down on the edge of the futon, she watched him in the dim moonlight. He looked so peaceful ... *Pity he's gonna wake up in about three minutes.*
~~~~~
Ryoga walked forward, looking cautiously from side to side. *I _know_ they're out there ...* he thought to himself, trying to see through the dense blackness. The air felt thick, like it hadn't been breathed for a while, and there was a faint smell, like flowers. He pricked his ears up at the sound of a pipe organ. *What is a pipe organ doing here?!! Where am I anyway?*
A faint glow flickered in the corner of his vision. A candle. The glow grew brighter as more candles ignited, forming a trail. He followed it curiously, half noticing that the smell of flowers was getting stronger and the music from the pipe organ was getting louder. He stumbled into a clearing, lined with flowers and candles. To one side, a figure was playing a wedding march and a girl in a wedding dress had her back to him.
"A-Akane?" he whispered, walking forward.
She turned around. "Ryoga, you jackass! You promised you'd try not to get lost this time," she cried, smacking him over the head with her spatula.
"Ouch!" Ryoga looked at her in surprise. "Ucchan! What did you do that for? Where am I?"
Ukyo giggled. "It's a wedding, silly. Took you long enough to get here."
"And I'm the best man, right?"
*CLANG*
"Ouch!!!"
"You're the groom!!"
Ryoga blinked a few times and rewound the words through his head. "G-groom? W-who's the bride?"
"Me, idiot!!! Oh, for goodness sake!" She grabbed the stunned boy by the arm and dragged him over to the alter. "Hey, Mousse, get on with it!"
Mousse, who was now a priest, grinned happily. "Glad to see you finally came to your senses and gave up on Shampoo, Ryoga. Now, Ukyo, do you take Ryoga to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"Sure do."
Mousse turned to Ryoga. "Do you take Ukyo to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
Ryoga looked dazed. "Me? Well ... um... I..."
Ukyo hefted her spatula. "Saying something, Darling?"
"Yes, I do!!" *After all, it's only a dream...*
Mousse grinned. "And it's about time too! I pronounce ... oh, wait. Does anyone know of any reason why these two should not be wed?"
Ukyo groaned. "Mousse, we're the only people here, except for Ranchan and Akane, and they're not gonna say..."
"I know."
Ryoga and Ukyo spun around at the voice. "Who's there?!!" Ukyo cried, on guard.
A small figure stepped out of the shadows and Ryoga's heart almost stopped. It was Aiko. "I know why they can not be happily married," the little girl said solemnly. She pointed at Ryoga. "Because he killed me! He can never be happy now!!"
The flames of the candles increased in intensity as Ryoga fell to his knees. "No... Aiko, I tried..."
"It's your fault I'm dead! You could have saved me and You Know It." she snarled, walking forward. He didn't notice everyone else dissipate into mist. "I'll never let you be happy. Not now, not ever."
"Please, Aiko..."
The flames drew closer around him. "Not even in the eternal sleep of death." The flames engulfed him and Aiko smiled. "As you will soon find out."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
~~~~~
Ukyo watched as the young martial artist screamed and sat up. "Hush Ryoga. It was only a dream," she murmured, placing her arms around him comfortingly.
Ryoga jerked away from her and stood up. "Don't." He walked over to the door.
Ukyo was puzzled. "Ryoga, what's the matter?" She stood up to follow him. "Tell me what's wrong."
"Stop feeling SORRY for me!!" he shouted at her, before running out of the room and making his way up onto the roof. *Why are you doing this? I don't _want_ your sympathy, Ucchan! I don't deserve it!* He shivered a little - it was a cold night and he was only wearing his boxers. He didn't care though. He didn't deserve to sleep in a nice warm bed when he'd killed Aiko. He didn't deserve to stay here, in the restaurant, when he was guilty for her death. *I could have saved her. If I'd just been a little faster, she'd be alive now...* Sobs wracked through his body as he remembered the little girl.
"Hey."
Ryoga glanced up at the okonomiyaki chef and tried to stop the tears. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel sorry for him. "I thought I told you to leave me alone," he mumbled.
Ukyo sat down next to him. "Hey, I was worried about you, jerk! And cover yourself up a little, you'll freeze." She ignored the part of her mind that reminded her that she only wanted him to cover himself up a little so she wouldn't be able to ogle him any more, because it seemed kinda unfaithful to Ranma. *Then again, I'm not engaged to Ranchan, I'm engaged to Ryoga. But I'm only engaged to Ryoga because I feel guilty for getting Aiko killed and it meant I could visit him all the time. Sooo ... I should dump Ryoga. Before he gets the wrong idea and thinks I actually like him or anything... but not yet though. Later, when he's better...*
"I don't care. Just go away," Ryoga muttered.
Ukyo fixed him with an angry glare. "I got up at three fifteen in the morning to keep you company, jackass!"
"What for? I don't need you. I'm only here so I can earn enough money to pay back Mr Tendo. Not for the good of my health, you got that?"
Ukyo looked at him with even more concern, her little spurt of anger forgotten. "Ryoga, please tell me what's wrong, I can help you..."
"Fffft. I don't _want_ your help," he growled. "I never wanted your help. If I wanted help, I'd have asked for it!!" He jumped to his feet. "I'm going back to bed."
Ukyo watched him walk away, worry apparent on her face. *Ryoga? What happened to you...?*
~~~~~
"Anything interesting in the news?"
Ukyo looked at Ryoga in surprise as he walked into the main part of the restaurant the next morning. He appeared to have forgotten the events of the night before, and was acting normally. Which was strange.
"Ukyo? Are you awake?" Ryoga waved a hand in front of her eyes.
Ukyo shook her head. "Yeah, sorry." She flicked through the paper. "Just normal stuff, mass property damage from the Hyperdolls, the Sailor Senshi took out more of the dark kingdom and most of Tokyo Tower, Magical Girl Pretty Sammy blew up Riaoh Academy _again, Mishuma Heavy Industries created some more robots and are suing Compiler and Assembler for destroying them...." She groaned. "Ugh. Japan has far too many super-heroes. Look, here's a new one."
"What, SuperTed?" Ryoga picked up his cup of tea and raised it to his lips.
"No, some guy called Magical Guy Makoto ... Ryoga, are you all right?" she asked, seeing him choke on his tea.
Ryoga coughed in embarrassment. "Sorry, drank it too fast. So, Magical Guy Makoto, eh?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
Ukyo, luckily, didn't pick up on his mood. "Yeah... Oh, I can't believe these guys were dumb enough to swallow a story from Nabiki!"
"Nabiki?" *I hate her, I hate her, I hate her!!!!!*
Nod. "Apparently a weird creature attacked Akane yesterday and this Makoto guy rescued her and Nabiki got it on film." She folded up the paper. "I mean, how dumb is that? Ranchan would've told me if something like that had happened."
"So you don't think this Magical Guy is real then?" he asked quickly.
Ukyo shook her head. "Nah. I bet it's one of Nabiki's get rich quick deals."
Ryoga sighed in relief. *Thank goodness for that!*
Pausing to write a quick note for Skuld when she woke up, Ukyo headed towards the door. "You don't have to come back to school yet, you know."
Ryoga shrugged. "I've missed too much school already. Lets go."
End Part IV
Final song - It's A Kind Of Magic