Chapter No. 2
"Enter the 'Ouch' doctor Tofu"

A clashing sound reverberated around the building.

Then there was silence.

Ryoga pushed with all his might against Kuno's blade, grasping his umbrella tightly with both hands. He grunted as his muscles flared. The kendo blade began to crack under the umbrella's pressure. At last it split completely. Kuno took an involuntary step backwards as the severed part clattered noisily on the floor. He was, without a doubt, extremely angry.

"Curse you!" he spat at Ryoga. "That is no normal umbrella!"

Despite the despising look he was being given, Ryoga could not help but smirk.

Ryoga's umbrella was tougher than a steel rod. Although the material wrapped around it was soft and velvety, the very tip of the umbrella comprised of the stuff that golf clubs are made of. But it wasn't the umbrella that caused all the damage; it was Ryoga's sheer strength that made him able to snap Kuno's solid training blade without breaking a sweat.

"You've lost," he told Kuno simply.

The hapless upperclassman muttered something that would not look at all good on paper. But he was too stupid to run. Just for that, Ryoga threw a punch which sent him sailing out the window.

After this was done, Ryoga turned away and sighed. Now that the adrenaline of the fight had expired, he found himself falling into the lowest depths of despair yet again. He remembered that Akane hated him. He had also forgotten again to ask her directions to China.

Ryoga silently bid farewell to Akane as he shuffled towards the gates of Furinkan High. He would never see her again, not with his sense of direction.

At that moment, a stray ball from a baseball match smacked him on the head. Ryoga collapsed unconscious. He hadn't known what had hit him, or more importantly, whom. Whoever had done it must have had great muscular strength.

Akane looked up to see where on earth she had hit the ball. She hadn't seen where it had gone but it had to be a home run, surely. She felt a sense of pride for being so successful in gym class but it was tainted with inexplicable shame. She sighed and watched the other players on the field scramble around in a hurry.

Abruptly, she heard some of her classmates yelling. "Someone's been hit!"

With a sickening sensation in her stomach, Akane turned her head towards the gates and saw a familiar figure lying flat on the ground. He had been knocked out cold.

When Ryoga came to it was on something resembling a hospital bed. The sheets were pure white and clean-smelling, though not particularly comfortable to lie in. Ryoga realised that he was not in a hospital very quickly. The room did not have a hospital feel to it. Hospital rooms always have a peculiar quality of having a cramped atmosphere, even when there is ample room. This room, Ryoga saw, did not serve only to contain an invalid. The building was not a large one, serving as both a house and a clinic. Ryoga's room, as a result, had many diverse objects within. There were chairs, a couch, and vases on the table, posters and even a creaky old skeleton beside the bed. And there was Akane and Dr Tofu leaning over him. They were peering at him.

"You're awake!" Akane exclaimed. "I'm sorry I hit you."

As you may imagine, Ryoga was not at all sorry to have Akane concerned about him. Even though she had brought attention to the dull ache in his head which he had not noticed earlier, Ryoga felt very happy indeed. Happy enough to wrap his arms around Akane but he wasn't likely to do that too soon because Dr Tofu was in the vicinity.

Dr Tofu stood up and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He chuckled. "Look at that bump on your head, young man! It's like an egg."

Ryoga gingerly rubbed the back of his skull. Dr Tofu was right. Ouch.

"Look at it," Dr Tofu was chuckling mirthfully. "It's got the mark of an Akane job!"

Akane, pointedly silent, obviously didn't think the situation was at all amusing. Ryoga kept his eyes to the floor.

At length, Dr Tofu realised that he was the only one laughing. He stopped abruptly and coughed into his handkerchief, muttering an apology.

Ryoga felt like leaving. It wasn't that he didn't like Dr Tofu, but the scene was getting awkward for him, and he hated being embarrassed.

"You'll be fine," Dr Tofu told Ryoga in an attempted matter-of-fact tone. "You've got a sturdy head on your shoulder. Drink lots of fluids and have a bit of rest. You're fit to go right now."

"Thank you." Akane had already turned towards the door.

As Ryoga and Akane were wordlessly crossing the front gate, Dr Tofu called out suddenly, "Ryoga! That's your name, isn't it? May I have a quick word with you?"

Akane nodded and remained where she was so Ryoga nodded too.

Dr Tofu took Ryoga back to the front door. He was smiling. It didn't take him long for him to explain to Ryoga what he had on his mind. "Akane's a nice girl, you know that?"

"Yes," said Ryoga, wondering what the point was.

"She's just a bit of a tomboy," Dr Tofu went on. "I always said short hair suited her better."

Ryoga shuffled his feet uncomfortably. It seemed as if Dr Tofu was inviting him to express his feelings about Akane to him.

"She says she hates boys," Ryoga said suddenly.

Was it him or did the light shining on Dr Tofu's glasses darken just a little?

"That's not true at all," Dr Tofu insisted. Then he sighed. "She's just confused, that's all."

Ryoga wondered what he meant.

The journey back to the Tendo household was thick with deafening silence. Akane was walking briskly and Ryoga fell in step behind her. Her head was down and she said nothing; nothing of her outburst earlier at school; nothing of what had happened at Dr Tofu's. Ryoga wasn't sure whether guilt was behind this behaviour or not. If it was, Akane was taking it a bit far. Ryoga felt uncomfortable in her stiff presence, but he was obliged to follow her because otherwise, he would never find his way to her house. At least, that was what he would say if Akane turned around and demanded to know why he was tailing her.

She did nothing on the sort. As she presented only her back area to Ryoga, he found himself being entertained by staring at her head. Her hair. It was long and swished behind her. Dr Tofu had said that short hair suited her better. Ryoga couldn't imagine an Akane with short hair. Her long hair, he reflected, was very cute on her.

Cute. But neither beautiful nor graceful.

So caught up in his thoughts, Ryoga failed to notice when he had arrived at his destination. He accidentally walked into Akane as she was taking off her school shoes.

"Ah, sorry! Sorry!" he exclaimed, backing away hastily. He expected Akane to run around and strike him just as she had struck the boys at school.

She turned around and gave him a weak smile. "Ah, Ryoga, you're still here? I forgot we have to get you to China."

Ryoga did not want to leave her for China right now. He wanted to know what was behind Akane's façade. He wanted to know where her true feelings lay. He wanted to place his hands on hers and ask her what she felt but he couldn't. Aside from being shy around girls, Ryoga was afraid of what the truth may be.

That night, Ryoga's second-priority dilemma was put forward and discussed.

"As you know," said Soun, "there is more to getting to China than knowing it's across the sea."

The Tendo family was sitting on the tatami mats wearing grave countenance. Ryoga was watching anime. He had never watched anime before, so it was rather exciting for him to see old reruns of Urusei Yatsura.

"We ought to get Ryoga a one-way plane ticket to China," Kasumi put forward in her delicate manner.

"But how much would that cost?" Mr Tendo asked anxiously.

"We could easily afford it if Nabiki cut back on her expenses just a little," said Akane.

Nabiki pulled a face that made it quite clear to everyone that there was no possibility that this would occur in the foreseeable future.

"I could get there myself," Ryoga suggested helpfully.

Everyone ignored that.

"Hey, I've got an idea for earning a quick buck," said Nabiki suddenly.

Kasumi frowned. "If it's dishonest…" she began.

Nabiki cut her off. "Of course not." Then she told everyone the idea she had in mind.

"No!" Akane snorted indignantly. "I'm not going through with it."

It was just after that when Soun asked, "Hey, where's the young man again?"

Ryoga was, quite randomly, nowhere to be found.