Charlotte's Sequel
Chapter Sixteen
Confessions
Ryoga had been wandering all afternoon, he'd rather assumed it would take him a week to find the school so he'd left early.
And he didn't really want to talk to Nabiki. He had no right to be mad at her, but he was. He was mad at himself too. The difference was he still loved her, and he'd never loved himself so if one of them had to go it was himself.
So he did.
It always felt good to be out on his own, no leash, no walls.
He'd been out from the Tendo house for just half a day, and it was getting dark, he figured he'd set up a camp as soon as he found a good spot for it.
But then he noticed something very bizarre, even a little scary!
Furinkan High, he'd made it, and in less than a day!
Well that's just super! But there was no school yet. Sort of a disappointment, waste of his time really. He supposed he might as well try to see how far away the training hall was, or rather how many days it would take him to get there, so he was about to turn around and leave when he heard a crashing noise inside.
His eyes narrowed, perhaps that thrice cursed Jun was still there, perhaps he'd have another chance!
Another chance to what? Nabiki wasn't dead . . .
Well a chance to turn her would be murderer in to the authorities.
He faced the school, braced himself for a fight and charged!
He exploded through the door, knocking being out of the question and he having no time for knobs or the typical more dramatic but less impressive "burst." He did not however consider stealth.
He ran flat out and after about five entire minutes, at which point he found himself in the PE storage room, which he was certain was in an entirely different building than the one he'd come into, he decided he was doing nothing but wasting time.
Slowly, carefully he exited the storage room, but found himself somehow in the gym now.
Boy did that bring back memories.
He sighed weakly, "Memories." He said aloud.
"Oh? Of what?" A young woman asked.
Ryoga spun around, a red head was approaching him, for an instant he suspected it was Ranma, but he decided it couldn't be. She wore glasses and her hair was much longer than Ranma's, though Ranma had fooled him that way before.
She was a little taller than Ranko, but not much, could be platform shoes, Ryoga thought.
The young woman approached him, she shifted her weight to one leg and said "Why did you come back here, Hibiki?"
So she knew him eh? That settled it, this was so Ranma!
"What makes you think I've come back? How do you know my name?" Ryoga asked dumbly, playing along as he approached her, ready to get the jump on Ranma for the first time!
"Duh, because Tendo Nabiki was always bragging about her boyfriend, Hibiki Ryoga, the only kid who could match Saotome Ranma! And you guys fight in the gym a lot."
"Oh I wouldn't say a lot." Ryoga said.
"I heard a ruckus down here and came to investigate. When I saw you I thought Saotome was here too, but I guess not. Would have been awesome to see you two fight! I mean really just go at it, anything goes combat."
"Sounds like a good idea." Ryoga said darkly.
"I know." The girl shrugged. "That's why I say, too bad Saotome isn't here."
"Oh he's here." Ryoga grinned.
"Really?" The young woman blinked, "Where?"
Ryoga drew back his fist and slammed it into Ranma's cheek, "Hah! Got'cha Ranma, can't fool me with this one!"
"Ow!" The girl cried, holding her cheek as tears streamed down from her eyes, "What did you do that for you jerk?"
And . . . yep, good feeling's gone.
Crap! Crap he'd just hit some poor, normal girl! He rushed over to her, tripping over his own legs as he did, but she just snapped her leg up like lightning, kicking him right under the chin. "Don't try anything!" She warned.
Ryoga shook his head, having barely felt her blow but knowing it to be a clear sign to keep away he complied. "I'm really sorry," he said, "I thought you were Ranma in disguise, he does that to me sometimes because . . . well I really don't know why he does it, but I'm still really sorry!"
The girl stood up and spat some blood onto the gym floor, but no teeth. She opened her mouth and moved her tongue over her perfect white teeth, counting them Ryoga guessed. "All there . . . okay, you're lucky."
Actually she was lucky, that'd been a light tap compared to what he was capable of. Man did he feel bad!
He searched her green eyes for some sign of forgiveness, but none was forthcoming. Instead she said "What're you doing here?"
"Well I got lost." Ryoga admitted. "I was just—hey, what are you doing here?"
The young woman frowned. "Well me, I was just looking for someone, thought I might find a clue or two if I came to the place I last saw them. You haven't seen . . . no, never mind." The young woman decided.
Ryoga looked her over, she was not wearing the school uniform, but she seemed the school age. Her green eyes seemed to scream different, something about them seemed colder, older than this girl looked.
He still felt bad about hitting her though, so he said "Tell me who it is. I've been all over, maybe I've seen them."
"No, I'm sure I can find them on my own. I'm very good at it." She said with a smile. "But uh, I'll take a break. I'll take you home."
"Uh, this is going to sound really childish but I'm not supposed to go home with strangers." Ryoga said, and he was right, it sounded infantile! Curse Nabiki for making him say that, but it was surprisingly effective at helping him keep from being abducted by kidnappers and homicidal maniacs.
The young woman just laughed though, "Not my home! I mean yours! I'll take you back to your hot girl friend, I've got some business to discuss with her anyway and I don't think you should be going around unsupervised. If I were thirty or forty years older only one of us would still be alive right now, and I think you know which one of us it'd be."
Ryoga smiled sheepishly, "Uh, sorry about that."
"Never mind. Let's get you back where it's safe. For others that is." The woman said, rubbing her jaw. Ryoga was too embarrassed to argue.
"Gee, can you imagine it? We'll be months, maybe a whole year without parental supervision!" Akane said excitedly.
"I know, just think about it!" Ranma said, no less excited than she.
"I mean we can do . . . whatever we like." Akane said, scooting closer to him.
"I know, next time Ryoga and I fight there wont be anyone t'pull us off each other! Real deal baby!"
"What?"
"Oh, and the next time I fight you no one'll be able t'stop ya from whacking me t'death usin' the couch as a club!" Ranma assured her.
"Ranma, isn't there anything we might do aside from fighting?" Akane asked.
"I aint eatin' your cooking." Ranma said flatly.
Akane punched him in the head.
Oh no! That really was all they did!
She rushed over to him, "Are you okay?"
"Heeey, I'll take youse, all four of youse!" Ranma slurred and his eyes were staring off in different directions until Akane hit him again, causing his eyes to return to normal.
"Easy Akane!" He said, "They aint even gone yet!"
Akane shook her head. There had to be some way to get Ranma to want what she was pretending to want, how else could she turn him down and tease him for being the pervert she'd always known he really was?
Ushio Koruda leaned back in his chair re-reading the evaluations for his promising students. He needed a new K-Fighter, one of them had deserted at that dizzy little amusement park.
He whistled to himself to make the day go by faster, he was really starting to hate being the master of a dojo full of students who only paid for lesions so they could check out his hot instructors, one of whom was his daughter and therefore not to be touched by any but the most worthy students in his opinion.
He sat there thinking these thoughts to himself when the door burst open and a tall youth with shoulder length white hair entered the room. Ushio was trying to decide whether it was a slightly rough girl, or a rather pretty boy when the youth said "I am here to see Ushio Kuroda. I hear that's you."
"Then you hear wrong. It's Koruda, not Kuroda. You've mixed up the U and the O. A common mistake, but annoying."
"I'm sorry . . . " The boy said, looking ashamed, but he quickly collected himself, "Uh-I mean I don't care! You have information I want, and if you know what's good for you'll tell me what I want to know! That is, if you want to live."
"Do you have any idea how many times you've used the word "want" without even telling me your name? Not only do I not know what you want, but I refuse to give it to you. I don't give in to demanding, whining children." Ushio said, waving his hand to dismiss the boy.
The boy didn't move. Ushio looked very closely at him, he was not familiar, and he was not dressed as a Nekkekami, yet somehow he reminded the Koruda master of Jun's guild.
He wondered if Jun had sent this boy here to kill Anzu for trying to fight him in the tournament.
Well that simply wasn't to be tolerated, that girl was necessary to carry on the family line, and she'd grown on him, as children tended to do, he was quite fond of her.
"In this place, young man, threats are answered with force. Change your tone, or I force you out."
The youth didn't seem at all afraid, he just crossed his arms and said, "I'll sing while standing on my head if that's what it takes to get answers out of you. But answers I'll have, you understand?"
"Haven't heard your tone change . . . also, I would like to see the upside down singing thing." Ushio said, preparing himself for battle just in case.
Ranko was sitting in front of the koi pond, having attempted as Ranma to see if he was fast enough to strike and claim a fish without touching the water.
In retrospect it had been pretty stupid, but since Ranma had heard that blood flowed faster through women's brains or something of that nature he figured if there was a way to figure out how to do it, he'd do well to retain his fine feminine form.
That's when Akane strode over and handed Ranko about an inch thick stack of paper.
She raised an eyebrow, "Uh, okay . . . what's this?"
"Home work." Akane said.
Ranko blinked, "School's still a month away!"
"A week Ranma, a week."
"I know that, I'm just ignoring the fact!" Ranko said indignantly. She took the stack of papers and looked at the first page.
Whoa.
The next page and . . . wow, she didn't know two people could even do that!
Page three . . . holy cow! Page four . . . son of a gun, look at them twist.
Ranko slapped the pages back together, closing the "book", and sent Akane a sideways glance, "Akane, this is just—"
"That, Ranma darling, is what we're going to do while the adults are away. Do you understand now? Do the pictures help?"
Ranko sneered, Akane was totally coming on to her, and she was a girl! But she so knew how to get out of this, she threw the stack of paper, she held it high and said, "This is brilliant!"
Akane blushed, "R-really? There's some things we can do when you're a girl too, I mean to experiment y'know? I mean I don't think I am . . . that way, but maybe I am, Nabiki used to keep telling everyone I was."
'Sounds like Nabiki' Ranko thought. However she said, "Yeah? Great! I mean this is the coolest martial arts manual I've ever seen!"
"Yeh-what? No. No, Ranma just . . . no." Akane said.
"Shh! No time! I gotta practice these, you're gonna be so surprised!" Ranko said, running off.
"Ranma, its not martial arts!" Akane shouted after her.
"Whazzat? I didn't hear you Akane!" Ranko cried as she ran for the dojo.
"And you need a partner to 'practice!" Akane added.
"I'll get Ryoga! Thanks Akane!" Ranko cried.
"You'll do what?" Akane screamed and Ranko realized that last quip might not have been too smart, so she put on a little extra speed for the dojo.
Ryoga was amazed at the ease with which this young woman guided him back home, she clearly knew her way to the Tendo Training Hall, though Ryoga didn't recognize her.
They arrived and she led him right to the door, which was answered by an annoyed looking Akane. "Ryoga!" She growled, "Don't you dare spar with Ranma! Don't you dare!"
"Uh . . . what?" Ryoga frowned.
"Until I get a chance to talk to Ranma you're not allowed to practice with him, no practice at all, you hear?"
"Uh . . . okay." Ryoga said.
"Ah, you must be Akane." The young woman said.
"And how do you know that?" Akane asked, her expression unsure.
"Your sister talked a lot about you, you're obviously not the motherly type and you're clearly criminally insane so . . ."
"You must be one of Nabiki's friends!" Akane scoffed, "Nabiki one of your friends is here with Ryoga!" Akane glanced at Ryoga, slight concern in her eyes, "She's not pimping you out again is she?"
"Again?" Ryoga frowned. "When was the first time?"
But Nabiki showed up and roughly shoved Akane away from the door, "Ryoga!" She shouted, "Where the heck were you? And who the heck is this woman? Heaven help you if you say she's another long lost fiancée!"
"You don't know her?" Ryoga was surprised.
The young woman adjusted her glasses and extended a hand to Nabiki, "I am Professor Tosa, from The University. I have recently been informed that you would be majoring in my class, good for you."
Nabiki's jaw dropped. "You're from the university for the obscenely wealthy?"
"I am." Tosa said. "I have taught there for five years."
"You look sixteen." Nabiki said, arching her eyebrows.
"I am not." Tosa said simply, looking down at her hand a if to be sure Nabiki wasn't going to take it, then retracting it. "May I come in? There are things I'd like to discuss with you in private."
"Uh . . . sure."
"I'll just uh . . . go do something." Ryoga offered, and Nabiki nodded dismissively.
So what was there to do if he couldn't fight Ranma or uh . . . 'hang out' with Nabiki?
Nabiki and Tosa sat down at the table and began to speak quietly, he sat nearby and watched. How boring.
"Ryoga!" Kasumi gasped, "Where have you been today? I've been looking for you!"
"I tried to get to school." Ryoga said.
Kasumi laughed softly, but it was a pleasant laugh, not the sort of laugh Ranma would have used on him if he'd told him that. It was as if Kasumi actually was laughing with Ryoga even though he wasn't laughing. In fact it made him want to laugh.
"What ever will we do with you?" Kasumi asked, sitting down in front of Ryoga.
Ryoga noticed Nabiki's eyes flash for an instant, what was her problem?
He wondered this but Tosa diverted Nabiki's attention again before too long. Kasumi took Ryoga's hand in hers and said "Ryoga, when the time comes I will walk with you to school, how's that?"
"Uh . . . okay." Ryoga said, and he was pretty sure he was blushing.
Now Nabiki was wringing her fists, but remaining perfectly calm and polite in front of her new teacher.
Kasumi's smile took on a different tone, and Ryoga would have sworn it was the one Nabiki wore when she wanted to get busy, but this was Kasumi so it had to mean something else. She came a little closer to him and said "You've still got a week before you need to worry about school anyway, and I told you I didn't think it'd be safe for you to be wandering around on your own."
"Well yeah but I actually got there, a little slow but I got there, so maybe I'm getting better."
"That's great!" Kasumi said.
"No you're not," Happi said, appearing out of nowhere and landing on Ryoga's shoulder, he took a little microphone out of Ryoga's ear, "I was using this to subliminally control your movements and direct you towards the all girls school, you failed terribly and ignored every direction I gave you."
Ryoga stared at the little microphone. "How long has that been in my ear?" He asked casually, though he tensed up.
"Since y'woke up m'boy!" Happosai said, bouncing around happily, "Didn't even notice, did you? Heehee!"
Ryoga relaxed. So Happosai hadn't been the voice in his head. Well okay.
Who was it then? What game were they playing? Could it really be his voice?
He noticed now that Kasumi was rubbing his shoulder, what the heck was going on in this house? "It feels like you've been fighting too much lately, maybe you need to spend this week resting." Kasumi said.
Ryoga shrugged. "Maybe."
"Here, you can just rest in my bed, it's more comfortable than Nabiki's. I'll sleep in living room tonight."
"Wow, that's awfully nice of you." Ryoga said.
"So long as she really does sleep in the living room." Nabiki loudly whispered, though Kasumi acted as if she didn't hear at all.
"It's really no trouble, Ryoga dear."
The young man sighed as Ushio passed him another soda. "I usually don't drink this stuff."
"Get over yourself kid, it's just root beer. We had a ton left over after the tournament, turns out Anzu and Tomoko don't like this stuff."
"Very unhealthy." The young man said.
"So's challenging me in my own dojo sonny." Ushio pointed out.
"Uh, I kicked your butt." The youth said.
"Well yeah . . . I'm just sayin' is all." Ushio said.
That's when Anzu and Tomoko came in, "Hey! Who's that? Why are you two in my office?" Tomoko demanded.
"We sort of messed up mine." Ushio said. "But I tell you it was the best challenge I've ever had!"
"You actually fought in your office?" Anzu gasped.
"What? Of course not! We had a hamburger eating contest, he creamed me but the winner had to pay for the burgers so who really came out on top, eh? Your old man knows a thing or two!"
"There's still some left if you want." The young man nodded.
"Sweet!" Tomoko lunged forward, snatching the bag and hitting her head on her desk. She seemed not to mind as she reached into the bag and pulled out four big fat hamburgers, "Two for me, two for you Anzu!"
"N-no, I'm watching my girlish figure." Anzu said. Tomoko didn't argue. The young Koruda looked at the handsome young man and then to her fater, "Want to tell me what he's doing here?"
"Hmm? Oh he's got something he wants to talk to your uncle Jun about, I didn't really pay attention to what it was, but I haven't seen Jun since the tournament so . . ."
The young man shrugged, "Have either of you seen Jun? It's vitally important that I find him."
"Why don't you tell me what you want with him?" Anzu asked.
"I'd rather not." The youth said, standing up. He was pretty tall, Tomoko was staring at him like a starving woman, which didn't make sense because she was half way through her second hamburger.
Anzu shifted her weight to her left leg and said "I want to know what you have to do with Jun. I want to know that you're not part of his crew before I tell you anything. I'll challenge you if that's what it takes."
"I just ate." The youth frowned.
"I mean actual martial arts, not food." Anzu said.
"I know, and I just ate." He said with a frown.
"Get over it," Anzu said, "if you really want to know about Uncle Jun."
His expression changed instantly, his eyes were narrow, his face was serious. "Fine. The dojo, if you please."
"I gotta see this!" Tomoko said.
"Hmm, dinner and a show, I like this guy." Ushio decided.
Anzu threw her coat to the ground, she was wearing only her tight training outfit, she hoped her exposed cleavage would throw the young man off guard, he seemed about her age and probably liked girls.
But his expression was serious as he stepped onto the floor, gently setting down a pouch he'd worn over his neck. He watched her closely and Anzu was just about to shout for the match to begin when he held up his hand. "Time out!" He said. "Wait."
"What?" Anzu frowned.
"Well this doesn't seem fair does it?" He protested.
"Look, I know you just ate," Anzu said, getting sick of his whining, but he held up a hand to silence her.
"Excuse me, ma'am. Yes you," He said to Tomoko, "Can you go help your friend over there?"
"What? Uh . . . sure." Tomoko said, standing alongside Anzu. She wore her normal outfit, fishnet stalkings and gloves, a black skirt that Anzu often accused her of buying from the gothic baby slut rack.
The guy just nodded and said, "Okay, that's a little better. Now it's fair." He stood there, and raised his hand and motioned for them to come.
Anzu scoffed, "Let's get him Tomoko!"
The other girl needed no second bidding, she leapt into the air, actually touching the dojo ceiling, and threw one of her boomerangs at the young man, Anzu leapt forward and did a round house kick, just to start things off soft.
She hit air, and Tomoko's boomerang swept through emptiness and hit the ground, he'd dodjged to the right hand side, Anzu twisted and brought her fist towards his head, he twisted as well and dodged.
Tomoko was on him before Anzu even realized she'd failed to punch him, the other girl tried to knee him in the base of the spine, but he slid to the left and Tomoko had to stop her attack quickly to avoid hitting Anzu.
The two stood side by side, glaring at their opponent.
The young man smiled a rather charming smile at them, and Anzu found herself blushing, wondering if maybe he'd like her phone num—
Suddenly he was coming at them, he covered the distance between them before Anzu could bring up any kind of defense! Curses, hadnt it been her idea to use sex appeal against him?
His fists shot out forward, one slammed into her chest, the other into Tomoko's. It must have been a light hit because she barely felt it.
But it threw her far back, she flew backwards at break neck speeds, terrified because she knew once she hit the wall it'd be the end of her!
But she didn't hit the wall, not for a while at least, and it terrified her for every second she expected to hit the wall, until finally she gently tapped it and fell to the ground, Tomoko collapsed on top of her.
"Impressive. I have no idea what you just did, but it was impressive." Anzu's father said, patting the young man on the back.
"Yeah well—" The youth coughed and began to throw up all over the floor.
"Ah, never fight on a full stomach." Anzu's dad suggested.
"Hey, what's he barfin' for when he didn't even get hit? I'm the one who'se gonna—ugh!" Tomoko complained but then she began to vomit as well.
Anzu shook her head. "What was that? What technique was that?"
The young man wiped his mouth and looked miserable, "It's just what I do." He said. "D'you have like . . . a mop or something?"
"Y-yeah boss, there's some here too. Sorry Anzu." Tomoko said.
"Just get off of me." Anzu told her, and the other girl did. Anzu went over to her father and said "Hey, what the heck? What did he do to us?"
Ushio shrugged. "I don't know. But can you do it again?"
"If I have to." The young man said, standing up straight and eyeing Ushio. "If you please, the information about Jun?"
Anzu shifted uneasily, "Well you won fair and square. Worse you humiliated the finest students of this dojo."
"I wasn't trying to. I was just trying to win without really hurting you."
"Right, well whatever. Your reward is well earned." Anzu took a deep breath, "But all I know of Jun is that he wants someone called Ranma."
The young man's hopeful face became a depressed frown. "Oh . . . thanks . . . I knew that."
"Ah, well Anzu's information may be a wash," Ushio said, "But I have information. I can bring you to Jun in no time at all."
"You said you didn't know where to find him." The young man accused.
"And I do not. But I know how to contact him, I will bring him here and you may speak to him here."
The youth frowned, "And what do you want in return?"
"I would like for you to aid my girls here. They are trying to fight Ranma and the other students of Tendo Training Hall and prove the superiority of our school."
"I haven't been traiened by you." The young man said.
"And Tendo hasn't trained most of the students under him, so I'm sure it's perectly fair. All I need is for you, them and a few others to fight, and win, I'll bring Jun to you."
The young man frowned. "Well . . . if it will bring Jun . . . very well."
Anzu's heart skipped a beat. She'd be on the same team as this super cute guy? Okay, time now to start applying liberal helpings of makeup before combat, yessir!
Tomoko seemed to be thinking the same thing because she'd suddenly collected herself and moved to slide up next to him. Anzu meant to beat her to it!
But Anzu's father led the young man back into Tomoko's office where they could discuss the uniform size, and both girls just slammed into each other.
By the time Anzu woke up again it was dark.
Ryoga watched Nabiki, she was being very quiet, she hadn't punished him, though she seemed really angry whenever Kasumi was speaking to him.
"Nabiki . . ." Ryoga whispered.
"Mm? Yes my love?" She asked.
He wondered if she really meant that.
Maybe she did.
That evening the mind of Ryoga Hibiki had been working hard to convince him that Nabiki was his one true love, perhaps she'd been manipulating Kuno, perhaps they had not really been kissing, at least not so passionately, perhaps she was simply using him for something!
After all, she was now going to attend a college for the obscenely wealthy . . .
With him.
She'd leave soon, and the odds of her telling him what she'd done were slipping. He'd probably do best to simply ask her, but then he'd just be asking her, true trust came from her feeling she loved him enough to tell him . . . or something like that.
"You're going to college . . . are you . . . nervous, Nabiki?" Ryoga asked.
"A little." Nabiki said with a shrug.
"But you'll have friends there, wont you? I mean you talked to one of your professors, and Kuno will be there."
"Yeah, I guess so." Nabiki shrugged. "But I don't think I'll spend too much time with Kuno, he and I have never gotten along very well."
'Yes!' Ryoga thought triumphantly, then he frownd, 'Wait a minute, she's lying, because they get along well enough to kiss!' his demeanor became depressed.
"Nabiki . . . what would you do if I told you . . ." he trailed off. He couldn't tell her he'd witnessed her kissing Kuno . . .
"Told me what dear?" Nabiki asked, trying to sound sweet as she leaned closer to him.
Ryoga frowned. He looked downwards, maybe if he was honest with her . . . she'd be honest with him. "Nabiki, I kissed another girl."
Nabiki slapped him.
Then she slapped him again.
Then she punched him. It kind of hurt.
"Who the hell do you think you are, kissing my sister?" She demanded.
"But I didn't kiss Akane!" Ryoga protested.
"Oh like that makes it any better!" Nabiki shouted, "Akane at least I could understand, this-this-this thing you've got going with Kasumi just came out of nowhere! I mean what the hell?"
"I didn't kiss Kasumi!" Ryoga said.
"Then who?" Nabiki asked darkly. "Tell me her name. Tell me it was Yoshimi. Tell me she forced you. Tell me she hada gun to your head." Nabiki said.
Ryoga frowned, feeling worthless. She had every right to be angry, he'd been angry too, the only difference was that Nabiki was obviously quite good at sharing her anger with him, he'd kept it to himself.
Ryoga took a deep breath. "At the amusement park I kissed Ukyo."
"Why?" Nabiki demanded.
Ryoga frowned, he wanted to tell her the truth, but that seemed like a bad idea. So instead he said "Well she found me after I got lost, I uh . . . I got upset. And Ukyo was trying to comfort me and we sort of kissed."
"Bitch is going down." Nabiki punched her palm, "No wonder I couldn't find you, you were off making out with Ukyo!"
"How hard did you look?" Ryoga snapped, and he couldn't believe he'd said that do her!
It rolled right off of Nabiki though, she just grabbed him by the collar, "You're my fiancé, and you can't kiss other girls at all. As for touching, yeah, that's off limits too. Not so much as a shake of hands, and if you bump in to somebody in a crowd you're going to rush home and shower thoroughly, because you'll be unclean!" Nabiki warned.
Ryoga shook his head, "That's a little—"
"Extreme? Well then don't go around kissing other girls, I don't care how upset you are! I'll comfort you, you idiot! It's called sex, it's good, you should have some!" Nabiki shouted, then added as if an afterthought, "But only with me!"
She paced back and forth for a minute, then slapped him one last time, "Did you sleep with her?"
"It was only the kiss." Ryoga said, feeling miserable. How could he have sunk to such a level, Nabiki's trespass was forgotten for the moment because he was so miserably thinking about what he'd done!
Nabiki sat down again and eyed him cautiously. "I'm . . . sorry." She said. "I . . . I really have no right to be mad at you over that, I mean I . . ." Ryoga tensed, thinking she was finally going to confess!
"I shouldn't have hit you." Nabiki said, wiping tears from her eyes, "You bastard. You're supposed to be mine alone."
"I'm . . . uh, sorry." Ryoga said.
"Just don't do it again, okay?" Nabiki said.
"Y-yeah!" Ryoga said. Nabiki kissed him, and she left.
Ryoga sat there for a few minutes alone.
Gosh he was lucky Nabiki hadn't dumped him.
He was so lucky to have a girlfriend like her, who'd forgive him for something like that.
He was so amazingly fortunate to . . . hey wait a minute!
"Man . . . she's good." Ryoga decided, then began to try to find his way back to Kasumi's room.
Maybe Nabiki was cheating on him with Kuno . . . he'd need to really work hard and decide whether or not that mattered, because really he still loved her, and really it might have been nothing at all!
She played him often enough, maybe she'd just been playing Kuno.
He considered her reaction to him telling her he'd kissed Ukyo, and rubbed his cheek. She hadn't cared that he didn't love Ukyo, or that he hadn't meant to kiss her, she'd simply gotten angry. Why would a girl who's already having an affair get angry like that?
He'd just have to trust her.
He felt hands connect with his, and Nabiki's head appeared on his shoulder, "Come with me you directionless buffoon."
"O-okay." Ryoga sighed, and he let her guide him.
Knowing Nabiki he expected her not to guide him to Kasumi's room, but to her own room, but to his surprise she opened the door and it was indeed Kasumi's amazingly organized room.
"Thank you." Ryoga said.
"Don't mention it. You can repay me, and kind Kasumi by helping her keep this bed in good shape. I'll bet you she's never had sex in it. It probably wishes someone would. We should help it Ryoga."
"It's only a bed." Ryoga said firmly. "And I'm really tired." He added.
Nabiki shrugged. "Fine. I'll stay with you anyway. Maybe you'll change your mind in the middle of the night."
It was the middle of the night, but Ryoga didn't say so. Didn't really want her to leave.
So they slept—and only slept—together in Kasumi's incredibly comfortable bed.
And though Ryoga still wasn't sure what he'd seen at the amusement park, he was convinced that there was no way Nabiki would ever cheat on him.
He sat alone in the darkness, the wet damp hiding place deep beneath the school.
Water had become his ally, water had become his only ally.
The chosen one wanted him dead! But he was safe if he was near water. He would live if he was near water.
Jun sat, curled up in a ball against the cold, what a sad sight the master assassin had become, and he knew it.
Curse Han for betraying him, curse Maro for ruining everything, curse himself for doubting the true chosen one!
He heard a soft panting, and he stopped making noise.
He heard the gentle patter of soft feet, the tapping of claws.
What monster was coming for him now?
Terrified the assassin wished he still had his coat, so that he could hide under it.
It would also have made a good shield; it could cushion the chosen one's blows when he found him!
But to his surprise it was not Ryoga Hibiki who appeared.
It was a dog.
An enormous German Shepherd dog, he wore a collar that said 'Mercedes' and had a rolled up piece of paper tucked into it. The dog barked and took a step nearer to Jun.
Jun reached out and took the paper. He opened it and read it quickly.
The fear was gone.
He stood up to his full height and patted the dog on the head, the animal recoiled from his touch but what did he care?
The fear was gone.
He gripped the letter tightly.
In a weeks time, it would be Ryoga, the chosen one who would need to fear. Jun read the letter once more for confirmation, and he knew.
He'd have to find a new gun. Several new guns. The fear was gone, the assassin was back.
To Be Continued . . .
Next Time: Kasumi will flirt with Ryoga in front of Nabiki again! Ranma, Ryoga and Akane face off with the new and improved K-Fighters, but when all seems lost will Mercedes save the day? Jun is back to full strength and now he's not alone, what will become of them? Kasumi and Nabiki have a very important talk, and Nabiki finally agrees to tell Ryoga about Kuno, and Kinnosuke! Yoshimi sends some of her father's pink ninja disguised as police officers to arrest Ukyo for food poisoning, but they'll never take her alive and the task may just become impossible when her customers rise up in arms against them!
AN: I'm not sure how many chapters there will be, it was scheduled for thirty like Charlotte's Web 1, then I shot for 45, then I tried going for 25, in the end I'm just going to surprise myself (I'm hoping it'll be less than 40!) however some chapters run long, sometimes I feel the urge to just throw something in, so right now I'm behind not only because it should have been finished by now, but also because by chapter seventeen we should have already had Nabiki at school flirting up a storm with Kuno and Kinnosuke, and be well into the Ryoga/Kasumi/Ukyo love triangle, that's all close but it should have happened already. We should have had two lemon chapters as well, but I removed both because I didn't feel like writing them.
Also, if we were going according to schedule someone other than Lotion should have left the cast by now, I'm not talking about Doctor Perverse because he will show up from time to time (is it wrong to like someone so disgusting, perverted and cruel? Why yes, yes it is, be ashamed now!) Long story short (too late) the ride ends when it ends!
