Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and all associated licensers. The King of Fighters and it associated series are the property of SNK-Playmore and all associated licensers. This is not a work for profit. I claim no rights to the characters. This is a work of fiction.
Continuity for Ranma is mostly derived from the manga, with some of the anime sprinkled in for good measure. Continuity for the King of Fighters is a modified form of the current story, how that is should be explained in story, but I am willing to explain for those with further questions.
Enjoy!
Chapter 6
Kyo Kusanagi arrived in Osaka early Friday morning. There was so much to do, and so little time to do it.
"Where to begin?" Kyo asked himself quietly. The family compound? The university campus? Yuki's apartment? She was living in an apartment these days, right? It was hard to tell from the address. Or maybe she was living with someone else, maybe a guy, who really knew anymore?
All right, it was time to cool down, Kyo thought to himself. This whole self-doubt bull crap had never been his thing, and he was not going to start indulging in it now. It was time to own up like a man and get things done. Otherwise, why had he come back here in the first place?
Home, that was where he would go first, Kyo decided. He owed it to the old man and his mom to show them he was still alright after all these years. He would have never being able to survive abroad some years without their financial aid, and they had always responded no matter what weird location he contacted them from. It was strange though, in many ways he had a far smoother relationship with them after he had practically disappeared from their daily lives. Was Kyo just stirring up trouble by…?
What did you just say to yourself Kyo? You were not going to do this. Go over there now and be done with it. It's not like you have much time anyway. You have to be at the campus in a few hours, and be back in Tokyo by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. It would be rude to Mr. Garcia to hold up the match.
As Kyo hailed a taxi cab to take him back to the Kusanagi residence, he thought for a moment about how that situation had developed. That punk with the pigtail had been rude, but Kyo could tell he was strong for his age. Maybe he could have given Kyo a run for his money, but picking a fight with Sakazaki without a second thought? That was a sign of immaturity if Kyo had ever seen one. Kyo knew the Kyokugen master was no pushover; he was easily one of Kyo's greatest living rivals, even though they rarely had any opportunities to fight these days. For that much, Kyo regretted the whole incident at the Big Sight; it would have been fun to see how Sakazaki matched up to him these days.
The trip back to the compound went smoothly. The taxi driver did not seem to recognize who Kyo was, or maybe he just did not care. At any rate, it was a nice change from the mobs of fighting fans that tended to hound him at the tournaments. How popular was he outside of the fighting circuit? Kyo wondered about that. Some guy, who beats other people up for a living, even in sanctioned matches, could probably never be seen as all that good a role model for others. Not that Kyo would ever quit while he was still fit to do it. Martial arts were his life, and the bonds he had made with others had overshadowed the other unpleasant parts of the lifestyle. It was sort of like that movie he saw in America a while back, with that big name actor, even though the rest of the story had been just been plain weird.
At last the taxi arrived at Kyo's house. The Kusanagis were an ancient and wealthy family, and by Japanese standards their homestead was gigantic. Kyo himself never put much stock in material things, even though as the head of the Kusanagi family he was nominally the owner of all of its assets. For him, the home's only value was drawn from the many childhood memories he had of his training and loved ones who raised him. Kyo walked through its front gate and knocked on the front door, awaiting some response from inside.
A very short time later, the door opened to reveal the stern but elegant figure of Shizuka Kusanagi, Kyo's mother. Kyo noticed that his mom had not changed a bit since he had last seen her. Not surprising, Shizuka had always kept herself in fighting trim despite her ostensible pacifism. Shizuka looked at her son, and without losing a beat, greeted him as if he had only been gone for a day or two rather than several years.
"Welcome back my son, I hope you had a pleasant journey overseas." Kyo thought about making a wisecrack about how understated the greeting was, but he knew better then to mouth off to his mother. She was one of the few people in the world that truly intimidated him, despite her outwardly gentle manner.
Without any other words passing between them, mother and son walked down the main hall of the house to the sitting room. Kyo almost forgot to remove his jacket and shoes beforehand. It was so odd for him to be doing that again, he had been out of Japan for so long that traditions like removing his shoes before entering someone's home seemed almost quaint at this point. He had to concede that he had been westernized to a great extent from living in America and Europe, or maybe it had merely given him the excuse to cast aside ideas he had long chaffed against?
As they walked through the house, Kyo noticed how sparsely furnished the house still was. His mother was a very conservative person when it came to aesthetics and tradition. Saisyu, Kyo's father, had always been the wilder, more adventurous one in the partnership, but he always deferred to his wife on issues related to running the house. Like Kyo, Saisyu stood in awe of his wife as much as he loved her, and he loved his wife above all else. It had never been a one-sided relationship however, for in many other areas Shizuka gave her husband a lot of freedom. It was the sort of pairing that Kyo truly admired, he had hoped to have that kind of relationship as well, but his responsibilities as both a martial artist and as head of the Kusanagi Clan had screwed that up. How did his father ever manage to balance it all back in his day?
Finally Kyo entered the sitting room. He took his place at a small table in the room's center. He kneeled upon a cushion that was laid out for visitors, and waited for his mother to take her place. Shizuka did so, but for an uncomfortable few moments neither of them spoke. At last, Kyo was unable to contain himself any longer and ventured a question.
"So, is dad around?"
Shizuka still looked at her son with no emotion. "Kyo… your father…" Her voice had a cold, listless quality to it.
"Yeah, my father…"
"Your father is…" Shizuka's voice seemed to take on a very concerned tone.
"Mom? What happened to dad?" Kyo was getting worried now; his mother never was one to hold back on information.
"Your father is… he is… right behind you."
"What? Oomph…" Kyo could barely register his surprise before Saisyu Kusanagi nailed his son right on the head with an open-handed chop. It was not a hard blow, but it nearly shocked Kyo out of his pants.
"What? You couldn't detect my presence you lazy boy? Have you even been training at all since you left this house? I'm so disappointed. What has become of the future of the Kusanagi clan?" Saisyu said in mock anguish. He quickly broke into a bout of hearty laughter. Kyo fumed for a second, but then he noticed something; did his mom have a thin smile forming on her lips?
"You set me up Mom!" Kyo gasped.
"Sorry son, but even an old lady such as me is allowed a little mischief once in a while." Shizuka seemed far more relaxed now.
"Besides that son, you had such a gloomy, self-absorbed look on your face. We had to do something about that." Saisyu added.
"You two, I see nothing has changed much since I left."
"Well, we both got older." Saisyu said. "You could have some pity on your parents for that. Visit us at least a little more often before we die."
"Geez, you're not that old." Kyo grumbled. "You're going to make me feel old too."
"But you are old Kyo." Saisyu chided, "You are no longer the cute little brat I remember. You look like a man now. I'm impressed."
"Well I guess I should thank you for the compliment… if you could call it that."
Saisyu went around the table and joined his wife.
"To be honest dad, I was half expecting you to be off somewhere raising hell." Kyo continued. "What? You lost your taste for adventure?"
"A man needs to rest himself at times. Besides, I enjoy being here with your mother. With this big house all to ourselves we have a lot of time to…"
"All right, I think I've heard enough information." Kyo repressed the urge to sigh. "I guess that answers the question whether or not you two are in good health."
"Very true Kyo, the real question is how you are?" Saisyu focused his expression.
"Well being officially back home in Japan for the first time in years was quite an experience. Maybe you heard what happened over in Odaiba?"
"Some young upstart challenging to a fight before you could finish your big homecoming speech? Yes, we heard about that." Saisyu smiled as he stroked his beard. "Like I said son, you are getting old. By the way, what did you mean when you said officially? I thought the last time you were in Japan was…"
"It's a long story. Let's just say that a lot of stuff that went on during the last tournament never reached the news headlines. I wish I could say more than that, but it's not safe to yet."
"You have become such an aloof and secretive man, Kyo." Shizuka finally spoke once more. "I do not think it is a good quality, especially because it seems so against your nature."
"Well Mom, if it makes you feel any better, I don't like it either. But I've learned through painful experience that I need to play things close to the vest."
"Ha! Aloof nothing, Shizuka my dear! Our son has grown into a full blown paranoiac!" Saisyu said as he turned his head to the side momentarily. "Not to mention he does not give his parents enough credit. You honestly think that you can hide everything from us Kyo? We know about the Yata Mirror and Yasakani no Magatama, that someone has stolen them."
Kyo was surprised by his father's revelation. "How could you have known about that?"
"Never forget Kyo, we are also of the Kusanagi bloodline." Shizuka sternly intoned. "We have known for more than a year now. We felt a shift in magical energy that disturbed the balance of nature, and realized that it could have come from only one source. We also know that this shift has caused a weakening in the seal that holds Orochi in its slumber, and that the world is again in peril because of that."
Kyo was more than a little bit humbled by his mother's words. "So you know who took the treasures as well I assume?"
Saisyu shook his head. "That one you will have to fill in for us. That is of course if you feel like telling us." His tone was slightly mocking.
"Fair enough old man, would you believe me if I told it was a little fairy boy dressed in red?"
"I would say that was a bad joke."
"Well it's true. The little prick's name is Ash Crimson, and uh… well that's all I really know, honest. Oh, did I mention he wields green flames?"
"Green Flames?" Saisyu and Shizuka both said in unison.
"Yeah, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
"Unfortunately I do not." Saisyu said as he regained his composure. "Nothing in the old legends ever referred to such a thing. I must say it's very troubling."
"Well I did try to protect you. Anyway, if there's no reference to it in the old legends, that's fine by me. I told you once long ago Dad, I never put a lot of stock in prophesies or fate. I'll write my own ending to this story!" Kyo cracked a cocky grin.
"Now you sound more like the son I remembered!" Saisyu beamed.
Kyo began to get up from the table. His parents were surprised.
"Leaving us so soon Kyo?" Shizuka asked. "I have not prepared any tea yet."
"Sorry mom, I really wish I could stay, but I'm on a very tight schedule. I have to be at the University of Osaka in less than two hours for an important meeting. And I have to be back in Tokyo by tomorrow afternoon at the very latest, but even that's pushing it. I really do wish my visit could be longer."
"This meeting, it wouldn't have anything to do with…?"
"It's exactly what you think it's about."
"Well then, I would hardly want to keep your friends waiting. Let me call up another taxi for you." Shizuka walked into the kitchen so that she could use the phone there.
Kyo looked at the empty seat where his mother had been. "You know Mom didn't have to do that for me. I have a cell phone."
"Mothers want to do whatever they can for their children, even if it is a small thing. If you do not understand that son, then you still have a lot more maturing to do. Then again, you never had much sense when it came to women." Saisyu shook his head, heaping pity on his son.
"Give it a rest."
"Have you even spoken to that girl since you returned to Japan?"
"No. I've been thinking of visiting her before I leave Osaka, but I don't know if it's even worth it. For all I know, Yuki moved on already and I'd just be burdening her."
"You idiot!" Saisyu screamed with a passion that caught Kyo off guard. "You never learn do you? Even when I went through all of the trouble to teach you all those years ago, you still do not understand that you must stay at the side of the ones you love, no matter how great the adversity!"
"That was a long time ago dad! Things changed. My enemies…"
"Your enemies nothing! What, you lack confidence in your ability to protect others? To vanquish your opponents? Then you might as well walk away now! There's no sense in you wasting your time fighting when your heart is so clouded. In your state, you would lose anyway."
"Hey, when I was made head of the Kusanagi clan, you told me I was free to use those powers as I saw fit, that as a man I had to carve my own path in the world."
"That is correct. I gave up the mantle of leadership to you, and from that point forward it was your choice on how to lead our clan. But this is an affair of the heart, and in that area your father still knows best!"
Kyo put one foot on the table, his eyes burning furiously. "You think you can still order me around old man? Why don't you put your money where your mouth is?"
"Kyo? Dear? What's going on in there?" Shizuka's voice called out from the kitchen. Both men went into a state of mortification.
"Uh, nothing dear! Nothing at all!"
"Yeah Mom, just having a friendly father-to -son chat!"
Shizuka seemed satisfied by their response, as she did not question them further.
"But really Kyo," Saisyu continued, much calmer then he was a moment before. "You should go and see the girl. You owe it to both her and yourself."
"I won't give any promises, but I'll keep it in mind."
"I guess that is all I can really get out of you at this point, eh my son?"
Shizuka finally walked back into the room. "I brewed up a pot of tea while I was in the kitchen. Your taxi will not arrive for another ten minutes or so anyway. Let us use that time to enjoy a cup together, as a family."
And so for the first time in many years, the Kusanagis enjoyed tea together, as a family.
Traveling to the University of Osaka turned out to be more of a problem then Kyo anticipated. An accident had caused a major traffic jam, and he spent the better part of an hour looking out from a taxi at the same boring scenery. Eventually he decided just to give up the idea of getting to the university by car, and after paying the cabbie, decided to walk to the campus. Still, it was a long distance to cover, and after awhile he had to run to arrive there in a reasonable amount of time. Even after all that, Kyo was late, and tired as well. His mood was briefly soured from the experience, and he hoped that things would not be further complicated. The meeting was the whole reason he had come out to Osaka in the first place, it was critical that he accomplished his goal.
As Kyo arrived at the campus's massive athletic complex, he marveled at all of the renovations that had been done on it since the last time he had been there. Unlike his house, other parts of Osaka had changed greatly in the time he had left. Kyo considered it a sign that things are always in flux, even if the basic form of them are consistent. The same way he kept getting dragged into new battles, but resolved to overcome them and strengthen himself in the process, Kyo wanted to believe that while the places and people he cared for might change superficially, their core nature, and their relationship to him would stay consistent. His visit to his parents had seemed to confirm that, and he wanted to believe that it was true for other things as well.
Kyo smiled, that would be a great topic for his next poem. Maybe for once other people would like it as well! Not that it would ever stop Kyo from indulging in his favorite pastime aside from fighting.
The particular destination Kyo headed for was the judo dojo. He was fortunate in that of all of the buildings, that one had changed the least in appearance. Another good omen, he thought to himself. No classes were currently being held in the dojo, and only a few people were inside. Most were students putting in some extra practice, but two other figures at the far end of the room were standing around, waiting for something, or someone.
"So you two did decide to show up." Kyo called out casually. "I really wondered this time if you would."
"And you reward us by being a half hour late." One of the men replied somewhat jokingly, though he was annoyed. He was only of average height, but this was offset by his towering dyed-blonde hair, which was styled in a way that seemed to defy physics. The man was also distinguishable by his turquoise blue eyes, which were an unusual sight in Japan. "I see you haven't changed at all Kyo, so flakey."
"And you're as gaudy as ever Benimaru." Kyo replied, as he walked over to shake the man's hand. He then turned towards the other man and greeted him as well. "Looking solid there Daimon, but then again, when haven't you?"
"Thank you Kyo, you also seem to be in good health." Goro Daimon towered over both Kyo and Benimaru, and was dressed in a traditional white gi.
"So your classes are going well I guess." Kyo inquired. If he remembered correctly, Daimon had been promoted to head instructor of the university's judo program a year or two back.
"Yes, I see a lot of promising talent in the new generation coming into the school. Japan might have a true rebirth in the international circuit if things go well."
The three men engaged in small talk like this for a little while, catching up on the things that had been going on in their lives. Despite not having been together like this for over a year, they quickly regained much of their old camaraderie. Eventually however, Kyo decided to get to the matter at hand. Benimaru and Daimon's faces lost their smiles as they realized that it was time to get down to business.
"So," Kyo began as he pulled an envelope out of his jacket, "I assume both of you have received one of these by now."
"Last week." Benimaru replied.
"Three days ago for me." Daimon confirmed.
"Right, so we all know what's going on. A new King of Fighters tournament is close at hand." Kyo pulled a piece of paper out of the envelope. "By the way, did you guys notice who signed the invitations?"
Benimaru shook his head slowly and smirked. "Oh yes, the significance was not lost on me."
"More to the point, do you think this is the same group that held the tournament last time?" Daimon asked.
"I'm sure of it." Kyo answered. "I have no doubt in my mind that this tournament is being held by that organization. The real question is what do they want this time?"
"Well from what the charmingly delightful Miss Elisabeth told me when I teamed up with her, they seem to be quite intent on wiping out humanity. Of course at this point it seems like every crazy megalomaniac we fight wants to do that. It's getting quite boring." Benimaru was trying to keep some humor in the conversation, but he could see his friends were not in the mood for jokes.
"From what I've seen of them, they could pull it off." Kyo intoned solemnly. "But that's only half the problem. Ash Crimson is gunning for me as well."
"If I remember correctly, he was the weird little boy who showed up two tournaments ago?" Daimon asked again, he had been out of the loop for a while.
"He was at the last tournament as well. He's been causing me a lot of problems over the last year." Kyo voice grew angrier as he remembered what happened. "He's already stolen two of the Sacred Treasures, and now he wants mine."
"I knew that as well. Ash said as much when my team confronted him." Benimaru said. "Yagami disappeared after the last tournament as well, and while I don't think much of him, I wanted to know if he was okay, but he seemed to disappear off the face of the earth. That could only mean something really bad happened to him, since normally he's not that hard to find, what with his habit of leaving behind a trail of beat up people whenever he gets into a foul mood. Shingo wouldn't talk about it either, and that made me really concerned."
Kyo wondered if he should answer that, but he realized there was no point in holding back. "Well, Yagami is alive is that what you're asking. He's been spending a lot of his time recovering and adjusting to the loss of his powers, but he can still fight. Hell, in some ways he's a better fighter now that he has to rely more on technique instead of raw power."
Kyo continued after taking a brief pause. "As for Shingo… yeah, things went badly at the end there. He felt like he screwed up, he feels it's his fault Ash was able to take Yagami's treasure."
"Poor Shingo, always putting too much on his shoulders." Daimon said as he shook his head. "Is he okay otherwise?" Daimon had always had a fond spot for the kid. He admired his determination and high spirits, and his ability to grow as a person.
"He seemed so when I last saw him." Benimaru said. "He said if I saw you Kyo, that I should tell you he would be ready to team up again in another tournament."
"I wish I could take him up on the offer, but the reason I'm here is because I want to form a new team, different from the one in the last tournament. Besides, Shingo fought well, but he almost got killed at the end. I don't want to put him in that kind of danger again."
"He will not take that well Kyo." Daimon said. "He will think you have no confidence in his ability as a fighter, and I would have to agree with him in this case."
"I'll explain it to him later, when the time is right. Right now, I need to focus."
"So did you invite us here so that you could reform the old Team Japan?" Benimaru asked. "I may be interested in doing that, for old times' sake."
"No, that would be impossible under the circumstances. Yagami demands that I team up with him again." Kyo seemed truly regretful about that.
"And you actually agreed to it?" Benimaru seemed surprised by that. Even Daimon, who was normally pragmatic about such matters, raised an eyebrow.
"I really don't like the guy, you two know that. But this has to do with his personal honor, and I couldn't refuse him on those grounds."
"So where does that leave us?" Benimaru was very curious now. Why had Kyo asked both of them here if he only needed one other member? Kyo was normally very decisive. He would have made a choice beforehand instead of having a meeting like this.
"It's something I want you guys to choose for yourselves. The way these invitations are worded, any of us three could form a team. I know both of you have your own ambitions as fighters, and it's a little selfish of me to ask you to give those up for my sake in a dangerous situation that could get us all killed. If neither of you want to join up, I'm fine with that as well, even if it puts me in a hard spot."
"Well, that's very different from how you would have handled it in the old days." Daimon smiled. "If that's your stance on it, then I respectfully decline your offer."
"May I at least ask why?"
"It's nothing about personal ambition or pride. I just figure that if you are teaming up with Yagami, Benimaru is the best choice to balance things out. He's fast and his style compliments yours far better than my Judo techniques." Daimon turned to Benimaru and nodded.
The blonde man thought about it for a moment. "Well, I haven't agreed to anything just yet, but I do have to say that an opportunity to get to the bottom of all these weird things that have been going on balances out the idea of teaming with a gloomy thug like Yagami."
"Well, then it's settled!" Kyo started smiling again.
"Look at you. Maybe you haven't matured so much as we thought Kyo." Benimaru sighed. All three men began to burst out in laughter.
"So Daimon, are you still going to show up at the tournament?" Kyo asked.
"It won't be easy. Unlike you I have a wife and child to consider. I will do everything I can to make it possible though. I even have some good ideas on who to team up with."
"Really?" Benimaru was even more curious about Daimon's idea then he had been about Kyo's.
"Yes, there's this kid, kind of a screw up, but he fights well and always give his best…"
"Thanks Daimon," Kyo said as he knew right away who Daimon was talking about, "Shingo will appreciate that."
"Don't mention it Kyo. Remember, he deserves it too."
"Well I guess that settles things. If you two gentleman don't mind, I have to get ready for a date tonight." Benimaru pulled out his cell phone to tell his lady friend that he would be on time.
"Date? Crap! What time is it anyway?" Kyo started to panic a little. His friends were a little confused.
Daimon looked up at a clock on the wall. "About a quarter after four. Why, are you late for something?"
"Not really, but I have to do something before I go back to Tokyo!" Kyo took another piece of paper out of his jacket and handed it to Benimaru. "This is my cell phone number. The tournament is two months away, so call me in a few days so we can make arrangements for travel and the like. I have to go guys! Later!" And with that Kyo ran out of the dojo.
"Kyo can be a strange fellow at times, despite all that bravado, eh Benimaru?"
"That's what happens when you try too hard Goro. So uncool."
Kyo was still unsure if this was a good idea. His dad may have advised it, but was the old man really the best person to take advice from? Still, he had to admit he was curious. What had Yuki been up to all this time? She was far too independent a woman to be just lying around pining for her white knight to return to her. Benimaru had been in infrequent contact with her in the beginning, but even he had been unable to keep up with her after a while, so that source of information had dried up as well. The only thing Kyo had was an address, of dubious accuracy, and a few hours to spare.
No sense backing out now though. If he was this far along with things, then Kyo had no good excuse not to do this. He asked the cabbie (number four for the day) to take him to the address on the piece of scrap paper, and then settled back into the cab and waited. The previous traffic problems seemed to melt away, unusual for that hour, and the cab seemed to reach its destination all too quickly, though in truth it had taken them a good hour to get there. Kyo had thought that he would have at least some more time to mull over in his head what he was going to say, but it seemed fate was not going to be that generous.
Looking over the apartment building that he was now in front of, Kyo felt surprisingly introspective. There was nothing really special about it per say. There were hundreds if not thousands of other buildings just like it scattered all over Osaka. But each one contained thousands of people, all with their own lives, all doing what they could to survive…
Kyo gently reminded himself not to spend so much time philosophizing. It was a bad habit for a man who lived by his fists to get into.
After signing in at the front desk (the watchmen wanted an extra signature as a souvenir) and taking the elevator up to the fourth floor, Kyo walked into the hallway where Yuki's apartment was supposedly located. It was all so bland and lifeless, badly lit too, sort of an underwhelming location for what was supposed to be a dramatic reunion. Provided Yuki was even living here. Did Kyo read that address correctly?
Summoning up the courage to confront the issue once and for all, Kyo went up to the small apartment door and knocked three times. He waited for a few seconds and then knocked again; still no one could be heard on the other side. He thought about knocking even louder, but decided against it. There was no sense alarming the other occupants of the floor. Yuki either really did not live there or maybe she was out doing something. Kyo really did not want to wait around and find out what that something was.
He went back down the elevator and was ready to exit out the lobby when he was stopped cold. Coming right through the entrance with a bag of groceries in each hand was Yuki. Kyo had to admit that God had one wickedly dry sense of humor, or maybe Kyo simply had a lousy sense of timing.
Yuki did not even notice Kyo at first. She simply brushed by him in a rush to get into the available elevator. She might have very well have done so if the watchman had not made a comment.
"Oh, Miss Kushinada, guess who's here to see you! I didn't know you had such famous friends!" The watchmen just continued to stand there with a big idiotic grin on his face. Kyo was seriously considering making an exception on his policy about not punching out people with no means to defend themselves. Yuki turned around, and once she got a look at her visitor promptly lost grip of her groceries. Thankfully, Kyo was able to use his highly tuned reflexes to catch them before they made a mess on the floor.
After regaining her wits, Yuki took a seat on one of the couches in the lobby. She took one look at Kyo and immediately one question came to mind.
"That a lot of leather you're wearing there. Did you have to slaughter a cow or something to get it?"
Kyo was more than a little taken aback. "That's not really what I was expecting."
"Still no manners I see."
"I'm getting tired of people saying that about me." Kyo looked over and noticed the watchman was still looking at them. "Hey man, can't you give us some privacy?"
"Can I get another autograph? For my son."
"I'll think about it, after you leave."
The watchman shuffled off with a rather dejected look on his face.
Yuki watched the whole scene unfold in front of her with great amusement. "You don't treat your fans very well Kyo. You still have not matured a lot."
"I'm getting even more tired of people saying that about me." Kyo shook his head for a moment. "You know, maybe it was a mistake for me to come here and trouble you…"
Yuki's slap stopped Kyo dead in his tracks. For a moment he stood there frozen in shock. Even in the old days, when they still saw each other on a daily basis, Yuki was liable to erupt in anger in him over a single ill-made comment. He could see the years had not mellowed her out in that regard.
"Don't you even start…" she began, "All of these years waiting, and you're talking about running off again? Unbelievable!"
"What if I told you I had a really good reason? At least for the first few years, I'll admit I kind of screwed up after that."
Yuki looked at Kyo straight in the eyes. "Kyo, do you remember the last thing I said to you before you went off?"
A light went off in Kyo's mind. "Yeah I remember. You said, "I'll wait for you Kyo, always.""
"Well?" Yuki looked very impatient.
"I thought that was a figure of speech."
Yuki slapped Kyo once again.
"I waited Kyo. I waited a really long time. It got to the point where I wondered what the hell I was doing waiting for someone who seemed to have just disappeared, but some part deep inside of me said that I should stay true to my promise. And now you're here in front of me, and… and…" Yuki was trying her best not to lose her composure. Not at this moment, not when she had so much to say.
Kyo stood there for a moment, considering what he should do. It was because he had been holding back so many secrets that he had gotten into trouble in the first place, but if he blurted out everything out right now it would come off as ridiculous. After all, a tale of mad scientists, clones, space stations, guys who looked like girls, and magical supermen (in that order) would have come off as pure fiction to him if he had not witnessed it all first hand. Then there was Orochi… Kyo hated to think that Yuki might get mixed up in that business again. She had no idea how important she was to all of that, and if he had had it his way, she never would; it would be an awful burden to shoulder.
Really, Kyo did not have the faintest idea of what to say to Yuki. So he did the one thing he felt was appropriate, he slowly wrapped his arms around her and held her until she finally calmed down.
Yuki looked up at Kyo again. "Why did it take you so long to do that?"
"I've been out of practice."
"It's nice. It makes me feel that it was worth all the waiting."
It suddenly occurred to Kyo what he should ask Yuki. "Hey Yuki… I know this is sudden, but are you free this weekend? I'm heading to Tokyo. Maybe we can talk more about things on the way there."
Yuki smiled. "Well I had some homework for class that I wanted to get out of the way…"
"You're in school?"
"Like you said, we can talk about it on the way. Let me just go upstairs to get something ready." She looked over at her groceries, "I don't think we want to take those with us to Tokyo."
Kyo picked up the bags and walked over to the elevator. "Well let's get a move on missy, time's a wasting!"
"Whatever happened to ladies first? You really do not have any manners Kyo." Yuki chided him as the elevator doors closed behind them.
Kyo had to concede that coming back to Osaka had not been such a bad experience after all.
End Chapter
I know, I'm evil. You waited two weeks to see what happened to Ranma, and you got a chapter about Kyo instead. Sorry, it was needed to move the story forward. The good news is in the next chapter we get back to the situation in Nerima and that will be posted next week.
Now, last chapter got quite a few reviews, and people had a lot of observations about what happened. The major division was over Ranma losing, or more to the point, how he lost. That was the first time in my life that I have written a fight scene, and I think it came out well all things considered. There is a lot of room for improvement though, and I think the future battles will end up being even better reads. I just did not want to get bogged down in minute details about how Ranma and Ryo fought, as it would drag down the pace of the story.
Let me address some more specific comments.
Chm01: Ranma's chances of winning will be address in a future chapter. Sorry I cannot say anymore for now.
Tribun: Yes, there could be some drastic consequences if nothing was done. Good thing someone is going to try something, otherwise we would not have much of a story going on here. But honestly, your comments gave me a lot to think about as I edit my work, thank you.
Chaosmagez: It was not as one-sided as you might think. Remember here, Ryo is much older and experienced than Ranma, yet he was still put on his guard by the younger man. Yeah Ranma took a beating, but Ryo had to reconsider his opinion of Ranma's abilities. If Ryo had just flattened him with basic attacks I could see your point, by Ryo was using some of his most powerful techniques to take him down.
eac: Yeah, a lot of people tend to overrate Ranma's power when they write a story. Remember, Cologne and Happosai are still stronger than him at the end of the manga, and Herb is still arguably more powerful than him as well. Ranma is strong for his age, but he has a lot of room to grow. The trick is to write that growth in a convincing manner.
Cat on a Shtick: My humor is a little on the dry side, I'll be the first to admit that. Still, there have been jokes in the story from the first chapter. I guess if it's not all that funny I could always remove the humor subgenre, but for now I'll just try and punch up the text a bit. Again, thanks for the input.
OlympicHam: Some of your points were already addressed elsewhere, but let's talk about Ranma's honor a bit. First of all, very few people outside of Nerima and the Amazon village had any idea of what Musabetsu Kakutou Ryu was before this fight, and frankly even if they did, they would not care all that much. Yeah, Ranma made a damn fool out of himself, but he does that a lot anyway .He's still a kid, as Robert aptly pointed out to Ryo, and they make mistakes all the time. You can learn from your mistakes, if you have the right insight and the honesty to confront your faults, but first you have to learn from hard experience what works and what does not. Ranma just had that demonstrated to him in a very vivid way. Also, considering one of the underlying themes of Ranma ½ is that honor can be a very fickle and absurd thing; I do not think Ranma life would be forever ruined by something like this, unless he lets himself be ruined by it.
I should also clarify something. That news crew I described was from a local station. Very few people in Tokyo let alone the rest of the world would know about that fight unless they made it a point to research such things. The loss is there, but Ranma is not going to be known as a loser to everyone he meets. Well there might be one or two… but that is best left for another time.
Thank you for your comment, this one really made me think hard about certain elements in the story.
epsilonSquared: I'm not sure the Hiryu Shoten Ha would work the way I described it either. Still, the manga showed that Ranma was very clever in how he could modify that technique, so I just went with it. Just one of those things, you know?
Fionn the Otaku: Ranma really did not have any time to react. It was a quick, nasty battle with an opponent who really knew his stuff, so Ranma had less time to think through his strategy then he might otherwise. If Ranma had come into this fight not thinking he was the favorite, he might have devised some better ways of countering Ryo. He would not make the same mistake twice however.
Everyone else who has also read and/or reviewed my fic, thank you! I really appreciate it and hope to continue to entertain you. Until next time, stay well!