Disclaimer: The following is a fan-written fiction, the views and opinions in this story are not intended to be viewed as those of the author. Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura, Inuyasha, and Five Pound Gospel are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi, property of their respective rights holders and publishers. Please support the official releases.

CW: This story will contain violence, strong language, sexual humor and situations, drug use, Moroboshi Ataru, and Happosai. You've been warned.

|Fear of the Dark|

"Oh good, it's still a little light out, we should make it with your cart back to Furinkan before it gets too late," Ryūnosuke said to Ucchan as the two quickly returned to the Tomobiki neighborhood and the vicinity of his food cart. With the battle long passed, the streets were largely empty except for a few straggling shop owners cleaning up and boarding up their storefronts.

Ucchan smiled at Ryūnosuke. "You know, I can't thank you enough, Ryū. Going out of your way to help me out with all this."

Ryūnosuke tried not to look at Ucchan, keeping her eyes ahead. "I said it's nothin'. You helped me, and I'm helpin' you. That's what friends do!"

Ucchan lit up. "Wait, we're friends?"

Her face reddened. "O-of course we're friends! What have we been until now?!" Even though she asked, Ryūnosuke suddenly didn't want to hear the answer. "A-actually nevermind! We're here, aren't we?"

Luckily Ucchan's Okonomiyaki Stand was still intact in spite of the chaos. Not a bowl, ingredient, or spatula was out of place. Walking up to it and hugging the side of the cart, Ucchan sighed.

"Ah, you're okay! I'm sorry for leavin' you unattended! I'll never do that again," he said before he began to tear down the cart for transport.

Rather than mess with Ucchan's flow and slow his process down, Ryūnosuke stood back and kept watch. "You're really attached to that cart, huh?"

"Sure am! An okonomiyaki chef is nothing without their cart, and this is my very first one. I built it myself." Ucchan said with pride.

Ryūnosuke was fascinated. "You're handy with carpentry and stuff, too, huh?"

Ucchan nodded as he placed wet ingredients in the cart's small icebox and dry ingredients in secure cupboards. "Mmhm! It's a complete recreation of mine and my old man's first food cart…" He stopped and made a face like he had said too much.

Ryūnosuke didn't notice it, she was too busy cringing at the mention of his father. "You… got a good relationship with your Dad, huh?"

Ucchan looked up from his work. "… Eh… I guess? I emancipated two years ago and struck out on my own, but I'll still swing by on Christmas with a bucket of chicken."

Ryūnosuke sagged in relief, but then Ucchan asked. "What about your parents?"

"My old man and I fight all the time, and he's too cheap for a bucket of chicken on Christmas," Ryūnosuke replied brusquely. "But unfortunately, he's all I got until I graduate. At least I learned how to bust heads from putting up with him."

Ucchan stopped stowing his cart and stared at Ryūnosuke. "… Huh."

Ryūnosuke stared back. "What?"

After a moment, Ucchan went back to it. "Nothin', you just reminded me of somebody I used to know, is all."

Ryūnosuke tried not to be nervous, she was learning more about someone she–considered a friend. "… Were they another friend?"

Nailed it.

"… They were, but then they stabbed me in the back and robbed me."

Blanching, Ryūnosuke quickly spoke. "Well I'm never gonna do that, okay?! I'm not a stinkin' thief no matter what my old man says we gotta do to eat!"

Ucchan smiled big. "That's so good to hear, last thing I need in my life is another martial artist who gets all cozy just to make off with my okonomiyaki stand."

"Wait… they stole your stand?!"

"Straight up Whitesnake in this bitch, hon." Ucchan replied.

Ryūnosuke snickered. "Sheesh, why take the cart when you got the cook right there?!"

Ucchan slammed his hands atop his closed-up cart. "EXACTLY! Him and his Dad didn't even know how to freaking cook okonomiyaki, so why did they steal the cart and leave me behind?!"

Ryūnosuke stopped. "… Huh?"

Ucchan's face turned red. "Uhh… yeah… I mean, it makes no sense, right?"

Ryūnosuke agreed with a nod and decided to change the subject from such a sore point. "So… you all packed up, because we gotta go."

"… Yeah, yeah…" Ucchan replied as he went around to the front to grab the cart's handles. When Ryūnosuke went for it, he stopped her. "Hey, no need for that. You may be a martial artist, but I ain't letting a lady do all the heavy liftin'."

Ryūnosuke's face turned a bright red, and she swooned. "Heheh, hey… don't go callin' me a lady, okay…?"

Which was her way of insisting she be called a lady, of course. It was her favorite thing about Ucchan. From the moment they met, he knew she was a girl and didn't poke fun, or make comments, or even ask about why she was named Ryūnosuke. Just right out of the gate, recognizing she was a girl and not asking her out on a date like some other guys she couldn't stand to run into right now.

Ucchan smirked back. "Sure thing, princess."

Ryūnosuke covered her face and swooned again, giggling. "I'm not a princess~!"

A young man called out to them. "I agree, you seem more like a queen to me."

Ucchan and Ryūnosuke both stopped to see four well-dressed young men standing at the corner, looking in their direction. Three wore dark green suits with stylishly combed dark hair, while the leader of wore a red jacket, salmon pink slacks and had spiked and feathered blonde hair. All three had clear skin, a strong posture, and smelled faintly of expensive cologne.

Ryūnosuke was impressed. She'd never seen such well-dressed young men before.

Mendō didn't count, because he wasn't much of a man to begin with.

Their red and pink-wearing leader smirked. "You guys are pretty bold to be hanging out after sunset."

Ucchan frowned. "Yeah, we were just leaving." He looked at Ryūnosuke. "Don't fall for their charm, those are Pick Up Martial Artists."

Ryūnosuke stopped and turned to Ucchan. "Yeah, sorry. It's not every day guys look at me and see that I'm a chick and not a really effeminate dude."

Ucchan's gaze moved down Ryūnosuke a bit. "Well, meaning no offense, but it's kinda hard to make that mistake right now."

Ryūnosuke looked down, and then turned away from Ucchan with her face a bright pink in embarrassment. "I can't help that!" She looked down and grumbled. "Stupid chest bindings got loose from all the fighting…"

"Like I was saying," the stylish man in red said, "It's getting dark, and you look like you could use an escort this evening."

Ucchan gave them a withering glare. "We don't have far to go, why don't you guys go back to Taian and not be out here harassin' ladies?"

"Harassment?! No, we're doing a service, seeing that ladies in the Special Administration District get to where they need to be safe and sound."

"Free of charge," one of his backup dancers in green said.

"The only way we're not getting home 'safe and sound' is if you shmucks keep holding us up," Ucchan snapped back. "Now can you move aside so we can get going?"

The leader took the edges of his jacket in hand, striking a cool pose for Ryūnosuke. "Come on, you don't want to walk home with a couple of handsome guys?"

Their charm had gotten to her, but their pushiness put Ryūnosuke right out of it. "Nah, you guys can buzz off if you're gonna bug us about it."

Ucchan nodded. "You guys don't want to be caught outside of Taian where there ain't no security."

Red Jacket folded his arms, his friends crowding around him for the maximum style points. "Babe, we are the security. We'll keep the monsters at bay."

Ryūnosuke and Ucchan both looked at each other, before Ucchan turned to face his cart, reached beneath it, and lifted it up above his head completely with one hand–to the disbelief of the fresh to death quartet. Pushing the cart even higher onto one finger, Ucchan savored the gobsmacked looks of the men.

"As you fellas can see? If we were to get into a scrap, you'd just get in the way," he taunted.

Ryūnosuke nodded in satisfaction. "Get on outta here, guys, before you get your nice threads all junked up."

Red jacket, wanting none of that, turned away. "Yeah, you guys got this. Later!"

He and his entourage fled, as Ucchan set the cart back down.

"What a waste of time," Ucchan muttered. "Let's get outta here before it gets too dark."

"So… what the heck is a Pick Up Martial Artist, anyway?" Ryūnosuke asked.

Ucchan sighed. "They're unique to this part of town. So… not too long ago, there was a pretty big deal of a dojo around here."

Ryūnosuke perked up. "Yeah?"

"And the head of that dojo taught a lot of the guys around here how to fight. Then one day, the guy just up and quits teachin', leaving something like fifty students with no one to teach them anything," Ucchan explained as they turned the corner and headed towards Furinkan.

Wide-eyed, Ryūnosuke gasped. "Why'd he quit?"

Ucchan shrugged his shoulders. "Heck if I know, but anyway. A lot of the guys picked up the arts so they could impress girls and stuff with their moves, and for a while it made them really popular. Then some weirdo in Taian got it in his head to actually make it a thing. Then the next thing you know, there's Host Club Martial Arts 'dojos' all in the fancy part of town."

Ryūnosuke had heard of Host Clubs, places where women went to go be treated like princesses by handsome guys. It was actually something she wanted to go see, once she was able to get away from her dad. The thought of being catered to and told how beautiful she was by good-looking guys was exciting, and to hear there were Martial Arts Host Clubs was even better.

"I'd stop daydreaming if I were you, hon," Ucchan warned. "Those places are more often than not filled to the brim with scumbags who just want your money. The Martial Arts ones are even worse because they can get aggressive with the girls, and since not everyone is a monster like you, they get shaken down even worse."

Indignation flared up, hearing that. "You're kidding!"

"Yeah, and if we'd gone with those guys, they would've tried to shake you down–and it would've ended badly for them."

Ryūnosuke lifted her chin with an angry snort. "I'd have kicked their asses until they screamed for mercy!"

Loud screams of pain and terror stopped them, and both looked back to see the three green-wearing PUMAs laid out in pain, while their red-clad leader went flying into a telephone pole with an audible thud and a groan of pain.

Ryūnosuke looked at Ucchan. "Kinda like that."

Ucchan narrowed his eyes as he looked further into the darkness on the street. "… Oh shoot."

With Nabiki still at the school with Kodachi, Akane and Katie arrived at the Tendo Dojo. Both girls were exhausted from driving the tank around for hours, but Katie especially felt like she could fall forward in a dead faint now that the adrenaline was out of her system, and she was somewhere peaceful and quiet–after eating her weight in food.

"Is Kasumi gonna be okay with me crashing on such short notice?" Katie asked, briefly interrupted by a yawn towards the end.

Akane smiled. "Of course she is, do you not remember this morning? She wants you to come over, so she'll be happy to see you."

A red blush colored Katie's face. She put on a bit of a smile and tried not to let Akane see it by looking away from her. "… She does…? Hehehe…"

Akane smiled at Katie's reaction. "It's only been a couple of days, Senpai. Is it that bad?"

Katie stopped and looked at her. "Eh?"

Akane's expression was downright smarmy. A smirk and half-lidded stare that looked like it belonged on Nabiki's face instead of hers. "… The thirst."

Katie's green eyes flew wide at Akane's mischievous teasing. "… Uhhh… you noticed…?"

Bringing her hands behind her back, Akane sauntered ahead of Katie to the patio door of the dojo. "You're not the first person to get all messed up around Kasumi. She has that effect on people."

Katie relaxed. "Heh… I'm glad you don't think it's weird…"

"Why would I think it's weird?" Akane asked. "Girls falling for her never bothered me." She smiled. "And like I said… she seems pretty into you, too, so I'm cheering you on!"

While Katie welcomed the encouragement, something twigged that maybe Akane had an ulterior motive. Well now, what's your game, Akaneko…?

That thought vacated her skull and was replaced with sugary, spicy mush as Kasumi opened the paper screen door and greeted the two. "Welcome home, Akane-chan! And Katie-chan, too!"

"Thanks, sis," Akane said as she greeted Kasumi with a quick hug. "Senpai's staying the night, I'm gonna get the bath started because we got a workout in today!"

As Akane broke the hug and bounded off to the furo, Kasumi turned to Katie and looked down then back up at her face again. In spite of what she said before, Katie suddenly felt extremely exposed in her workout attire as Kasumi's warm smile was burned into her retinas. "It certainly looks like you did. Dinner will be ready soon, so you can go get scrubbed down before then. I'll bring you something you can wear…" She took Katie's uniform from her. "… After I put this in the wash, 'kay?"

"… 'Kay," Katie mumbled back, looking like a deer caught in headlights, as Kasumi led her inside.

While she would've liked to jump into the furo and completely melt into the water until she became a lump, Katie was fine with scrubbing off her long day and joining Kasumi and Akane at the sitting room table dressed in a yukata. Akane was already shoveling rice and meat into her mouth, so eager to recoup her lost nutrients after such a heavy load of exertion that she barely had her mouth empty enough to praise Kasumi for the quality.

Dropping down into the nearest open spot at the table, Katie was handed a bowl by Kasumi and invited to have at the rice, beef, miso, and vegetables spread out on the table. "Thank you…" As she began to serve herself, she noticed that besides Nabiki, someone else was missing. "Where's your dad?"

"He received a call from Dr. Tofu, and went out to see him," Kasumi replied. "It's probably something related to the neighborhood watch; he goes out every so often to keep a lookout for trouble."

Akane finished her current bowl. "Dinner's good as always, Kasumi." She quickly went to fill her bowl again. "I guess tonight will be busy after what happened in Tomobiki."

"I saw the aftermath of that," Kasumi said before looking back and forth between the girls. "Were you two caught up in that mess?"

Both nodded, Akane more sheepishly than Katie, who flat out owned it. "I thought I was just going to be in and out for lunch, and I guess Mendō Shūtaro decided to start a civil war? I dunno."

"Like I said, it's Tomobiki," Akane said grimly.

Kasumi was relieved at least. "Well, I'm glad you're both safe–and let that be a lesson to you both not to go over to that crazy place!"

Katie nodded. "You do not have to tell me twice. The only reason I'll ever go back to that part of town is to destroy it!"

"At least we got something out of it," Akane said.

Katie agreed. "Yeah, a tank."

Kasumi looked at Katie with raised eyebrows. "… A tank?"

"I meant Ucchan coming to sell Okonomiyaki at school…?" Akane corrected.

Katie froze, then cleared her throat. "Heh, yeah… that's right…"

Kasumi regarded Katie's fluster with a soft laugh. "It sounds like you got two things out of it that are great. What happened to the tank?"

"We left it with Kodachi," Akane replied as the air appeared to sparkle around Kasumi in Katie's impressed eyes. "Since we have no room here in the dojo for a main battle tank."

She stopped and looked at Katie. "I'm kind of creeped out at how not weird that is to say."

Katie shrugged her shoulders. "There are so many worse things to get used to."

Kasumi readily agreed. "Yes, there is."

"Speaking of Kodachi," Akane continued, rather than press what either of them could get used to, "She's transferring to our school. We're going to be classmates."

Kasumi was pleased to hear Akane's excitement at the prospect. She was, also, concerned about the prospect all the same. "I hope the third Kuno is the charm. I enjoyed having her over, but still…"

"I haven't seen the downside to her yet," Katie said brightly.

Akane paused eating and gave Katie an amused look. "… You see the upside in a lot of people, huh, Senpai?"

Katie smiled big as she set down an empty bowl. "I like to think that I'm a good judge of character, even if I may be affected by strong first impressions."

Giggling, Kasumi took it upon herself to refill it. "Well! I think you'll all have a splendid year together. And do invite Kodachi-chan over when you can, she was so gracious."

And the compensation she left was enough for her to get the Neptunian Wok she cooked dinner with this evening among all the other nice items from her shopping trip.

Taking her refilled bowl of rice and meat, Katie tore into it. "No problem…!"

Akane set her bowl down, finally feeling sated. "I'll see if we can get Ucchan to come over, too. He seemed super nice."

As Katie agreed with a nod, Kasumi tried to not get overly excited at Akane saying nice things about a boy. "It's just been a wonderful week, hasn't it, Akane-chan?"

Akane nodded in agreement, as she set her chopsticks down. "All things considered; it has."

"And we got the next three days off from it," Katie said, "I love Golden Week."

The patio door opened, signaling Nabiki's arrival at home. Seeing Katie sitting at the table wearing a yukata gave her pause for a moment, and she stared at their guest as Katie looked up, lit up, and set her bowl down to wave. "Oh, hey Nabiki."

"Welcome home, Nabiki-chan," Kasumi said before gesturing to an open spot. "If you're hungry, sit down! There's still plenty left to go around."

"Hey, sis," Akane greeted just as warmly.

Nabiki smirked a bit and sauntered over. "Aren't you all in a festive mood."

Kasumi was practically vibrating with excitement as she sat down. She quickly grabbed a bowl and began serving her. "I was able to buy a new wok and so many good ingredients with the money Kodachi gave us, I had so much fun cooking with them this evening."

"Cool," Nabiki chimed back as she took her bowl. After her first bite, she agreed it was a worthwhile investment.

"Definitely cool, right?" Katie asked. When Nabiki nodded assent, she returned it slower. "Yessir."

After savoring a few bites, Nabiki delivered the good news. "There'll be more where this came from, as long as Kodachi keeps me on as a consultant."

Kasumi gasped, as her sister and classmate raised eyebrows. "Consultant?"

Nabiki nodded, pausing for a moment to chew. "Yeah, she's got plans for the school and wants to keep me close to bounce ideas off. She's certainly paying me more than anything her brother did."

Akane leaned closer, arched eyebrow lifting higher. "What did he pay you for?"

"Stuff," Nabiki quickly said, "Really dumb stuff, man was a sheep and easily fleeced." She looked to the side, with a smirk. "And terminally cheap, too."

"Well, shoot. Get us those good, good uniforms then, hon," Katie insisted. "And see if you can do something about the girls' locker room showers. Those suckers don't work."

Kasumi gasped. "They still don't work? They were always out of service when I went to high school."

Akane nodded. "It's annoying, I have to always take it easy during gym class so I'm not sweaty for the rest of the day."

Nabiki agreed. "I'll pass it along… and I'll hook you up with access to the pool showers if you like until then."

Akane furrowed her brow. "Aren't those off limits except to swim classes?"

"That's why I said I'll hook you up." Nabiki tapped the side of your nose. "I am pretty well connected, you know. Or do you like being grimy all day because Okamada refuses to fix shit?"

For Akane that was a no-brainer. "I'll take the shower, please."

Kasumi clapped her hands together. She was just so excited. "Now I can't wait to see what Kodachi does with the school. I'm so envious!"

Akane lounged back on her hands. "Between Kodachi taking over and Tomobiki getting a riot out of its system, I hope things will be quiet for a little while around here."

Katie looked at her, worried about Akane's habit of asking for something to go wrong. Nabiki noticed the worried look and wagged a hand in assurance. "Usually after a riot, the whole town cools down for a bit as people try to clean up. So, we're guaranteed at least a week of peace and quiet."

Several blocks away from the Tendo Dojo, at that moment, Soun and Dr. Tofu reached the street corner where residents nearby reported a racket to the latter. The two men, volunteering their time as members of Furinkan's neighborhood watch, were partly the reason why the neighborhood was a relatively safe place at night–compared to the likes of Butsumetsu and Tomobiki in the Special Administration District.

In the dark with their dark-colored attire, the men moved like shadows, hoping to get the jump on the miscreants making a racket–Dr. Tofu taking the lead while Soun was just a footstep behind. "Tendo-san, the caller said that the fighting was around here."

Soun nodded. His face, a stoic mask reflecting the gravity of the situation, hid his tremendous fear for what lay in the dark awaiting them. "It is the duty of a martial artist, especially a master, to lend his strength to his community."

Dr. Tofu glanced back. "Hopefully, that strength will not be robbed by another stomach cramp."

"Right, of course," Soun said quickly.

Turning back to face the street corner, Dr. Tofu crept towards the end of the brick building they'd taken cover behind. It was quiet, too quiet. "Be on your guard, whatever is responsible for the noise could still be there."

Soun nodded, even as he felt the beginnings of a stomach cramp coming on.

"Ready?" Dr. Tofu asked, Soun was not, but nodded anyway. "Let's go."

On his cue, the two leaped out around the corner, and stopped in shock. They did not find the culprits behind the noise complaint, but they certainly found proof of their racket.

"Oh dear…" Dr. Tofu murmured in distress.

Sitting on the edge of the street where it had been set down, Ucchan's Okonomiyaki Cart lay shattered, with its wheels broken, the cooking surface bent, and ingredients sprayed and splattered all around it. Ucchan himself lay at the foot of the cart, face down on the ground covered in bruises, his white shirt torn and bloodied in places. Sitting against the wall on the other side of the cart was Ryūnosuke, likewise heavily beaten and slumped to one side barely conscious, groaning.

Fear of the dark

Fear of the dark

I have a constant fear that something's always near

Fear of the dark

Fear of the dark

I have a phobia that someone's always there