"We have to find out the relationship they had." At this statement, all gathered in the sitting room gave a solemn nod while exchanging serious looks. It was early in the morning, far before they had to go to school for the day, and they were busy conversing about all the various worries they had about Kodachi's past and current relationship with the Kung Fu star, Kuonji Ukyo. Well, everyone except Ranma. "I think you're all nuts," said Ranma with a snort. "Why do you even care what sorta relationship Dachi had with Ucchan? It's none of our business and whatever it was, it's obviously over with." Ranma paused to smirk, "And she's got a new man who's oh so much better." "That's up for debate," said Tatewaki dryly. "As for why we're interested in my sister's romantic past it's very simple. Unlike you, Saotome, some of us care for her welfare. Who knows what Kuonji might to do Kodachi's delicate sensitivities now that he's returned to her life." "I don't believe you, Ranma," said Nabiki. "You're telling me that you don't care what relationship Kodachi had with Ukyo and might end up having again?" "That's the past," Ranma scoffed as he wore a face of disinterest and looked out at the koi pond. "And I never was very interested in learning about ancient history." "Whatever you say," Nabiki said in droll tones. "But I'm still concerned. Was it just me or did Ukyo look terrified to see Dachi?" Simultaneously, everyone paused to think about this before they said, "He looked terrified." Looking satisfied at this, Nabiki turned to Ryoga and said, "What about you, Ryoga-kun? What kind of relationship do you think they had?" Blushing a bit at Nabiki's attention, Ryoga recalled Ukyo's smooth and charming behavior around Nabiki and twitched. He then said slowly, "I think they both dated and Kuonji still isn't over Dachi yet." "But didn't Kuonji speak of another girl with whom he was in love?" murmured Tatewaki. "It's possible that he broke up with my sister to date her and perhaps Kodachi did not take the news of this very well..." "You know," said Nabiki thoughtfully. "That almost makes sense. It certainly explains why he wasn't happy to see her. What do you think, Ranma?" When Nabiki turned to where Ranma had been sitting she was met with an empty space. Smiling at this, Nabiki said, "Nice try, Ranma-kun. You don't care about Dachi's past at all, huh?" It's true that con artists are expert liars amongst other things but there is one thing even the most talented of con men can never lie about. And that's feelings of the heart. Particularly, when that feeling just happens to be love. Love was something that Ranma found himself deeply entrenched in when it came to Kodachi. Which is precisely why he just left to find her. --- "You," Cologne said as her eyes narrowed by a rather dangerous notch. "What are you doing here?" "You know," said Siren with an easy smile and a toss of her blonde head. "From all these less than ecstatic greetings I'm getting I'm starting to think that people aren't happy to see me. It's all very troubling." "Siren," began Cologne in warning tones. "What are you doing here? I demand that you tell me." "You demand?" asked Siren as she quirked an eyebrow. "You certainly haven't gotten less imperious, Cologne, but you're still looking ever the Elder. Tell me," Siren's smile widened. "Why do you persist in denying your heritage just to fit in? It's so very unlike you." Hearing this, Cologne's eyes blazed fire and she said in low dangerous tones, "That's none of your--" "Grandma Siren!" Siren barely had time to take in Shampoo's bubbly frame before the lavender haired Amazon pounced on her for a tight hug. "What is you doing here, Grandma Siren?" exclaimed Shampoo. "Shampoo haven't seen you for two years and now you showing up in Nerima? What is for?" Smiling at Shampoo's exuberant nature, Siren gave the girl a gentle hug back before she pulled away from her and cupped Shampoo's cheek tenderly. "Well, now," said Siren softly as she pushed some loose tendrils of hair out of Shampoo's eyes. "Aren't you the picture of a perfect Amazon Champion? You look beautiful as ever, Shampoo. And to answer your question I'm here to train Tendo Kasumi as a Mage." "Aiyaah," said Shampoo with wide eyes. "That very big and important job for Kasumi." Her gaze then narrowed a bit and she said, "Why Perfume not telling Shampoo about such big news?" "I don't know," said Siren humorously. "Perhaps you should go and ask her, Shampoo dear?" "Good idea," said Shampoo in grim tones. She then turned on her heel and shouted, "Perfume Cousin! You no get away with keeping secrets from Shampoo!" "Don't waste too much time," Cologne said. "You're going back to school today, remember?" "Shampoo remember!" called Shampoo as she dashed up the stairs and towards the room she shared with Perfume. When Shampoo left the room Cologne turned to face Siren and said, "How did you manage to convince the tribal Elders to allow you to train Kasumi as a Mage?" "It was really quite simple," said Siren with a smirk. "All I had to do is point out that with Kasumi as my apprentice there would be one more Mage in the tribe. One more that actually might listen to them." "Cleverly played," Cologne murmured. "But as I seem to recall, Kasumi had her heart set on being a Healer I don't suppose that you talked her out of that decision?" "Hardly," Siren replied in dry tones. "I simply explained the abilities that she would have as a Mage and she immediately accepted my offer. That's all." "Right," said Cologne skeptically. "Then why do I find myself not believing a word you say?" "I'm sure I don't know," said Siren smoothly. "Force of habit, perhaps?" She paused to study Cologne more closely then said with a serious expression, "I'm not doing this on a whim, Cologne. I need an heir. Someone to continue the tradition of magic in both the tribe and in my family. Kasumi is my only option. Not only that, the girl has a hidden strength about her. There's a fire inside of her that's just waiting to get out. And it would be in our best interest if we were the ones to feed that flame." "I know," said Cologne with a sigh. "Kasumi holds great potential. We must watch her closely." Forming a teasing expression, Siren quirked a blonde eyebrow then said, "We is it?" "Oh, shut up," said Cologne rather grouchily as she turned on her staff and hopped out of the room. "I'm not a fool, Siren. I know when to fight and when to withdraw. I won't contest you on this but I will be watching you." "Good," Siren called in sensuous tones. "I've always enjoyed being watched by pretty women." At this, Cologne snorted before she hopped out of the room entirely to leave Siren standing alone. Still smiling, Siren's blue eyes narrowed and the smile faded as she murmured, "Why you persist in keeping up this charade is beyond me, Cologne. But at least while I'm here I can have my usual fun irritating you." "Oh yes," said Siren with a chuckle as she strolled out of the building and onto the busy street. "I'm already starting to like the idea of living here. This should prove to be a very interesting experience." At that moment, Siren didn't know just how much of an understatement that would prove to be. --- Standing on the far side of the dojo rooftop, Ranma gazed at Kodachi's trim figure. She was gazing off into the horizon and the way the sun danced off her figure gave her an almost angelic glow. Despite what many would call a less than innocent past and a definite habit of doing things illegal in nature, he still thought Kodachi to be an angel in many ways. She was so kind to him... kinder than anyone else he knew. And she understood him so well, never punishing him for his mistakes, and never taking away her love. Now Ranma was a confident guy. He had been raised to be that way by his mother and his mom helped enforce that confidence in him as well. Not to mention his father and brother. In fact, Ranma's entire family was a huge boost to his confidence levels. They helped make him into who he was today. But still, more credit should be given to Kodachi because before her, Ranma never truly felt understood. He felt loved before. Even appreciated and admired but never had he met anyone who understood him like Kodachi. It was like that word Akane was always using, the one in her shojoai mangas, they were soulmates. Yeah, soulmates. That's what they were. And since he felt they were soulmates Ranma really never got jealous when Kodachi would flirt with other guys or girls. That's because he knew she would always come back to him. Because he was the only one that she loved. Because he was her soulmate. But that was before. That was before he showed up. Before Kuonji Ukyo came back into their lives. Ranma had always liked Ukyo, or Ucchan as he often called him, but he didn't like this relationship that his old friend seemed to have with Kodachi. It was obvious to see that Ukyo wasn't happy to see Kodachi again. That much was clear. But what about Kodachi? What was her reaction? That was a much tougher thing to answer. It seemed to be amusement and a sort of hidden longing in her gaze. Ranma could recall watching those violet eyes soften when she looked at Ukyo. Soften in a way that he thought had been purely meant for him and him alone. The sight of it was enough to make Ranma want to resort to his baser instincts, like his brother did so often, and go to his former friend then beat him within an inch of his life. So what was stopping him? Ukyo's reaction. Plain and simple. Ukyo hadn't seemed happy to see Kodachi. Ukyo seemed terrified. That meant he had no interest in her and that meant he was no threat to Ranma's relationship. Plus there was the fact that Ranma knew deep in his heart that Kodachi would never cheat on him. He also knew that he was twice as sexy as Ukyo and made a far better catch for Kodachi. So if he knew all this then why was he standing here? Why did he feel so unsure? So... nervous? "Ranma darling, I know that you must appreciate the view of both my backside and of nature's splendor but how long do you intend to stand there?" "Heh," Ranma chuckled a bit nervously as he scratched his cheek in an embarrassed gesture. Walking forward, he paused to stand next to where Kodachi was sitting on the edge of the rooftop. "Darling," said Kodachi, her violet eyes betraying an obvious concern. "Is something troubling you?" "Sort of," admitted Ranma. He paused to look at her for a moment then making a silent decision, he sat next to her on the rooftop. "I was just wondering... what kinda relationship did you have with Ucchan? Did you go out?" Gaining a look of sudden understanding, Kodachi smiled softly before she looked back into the horizon. "We were never a romantic couple. Do you recall our shock on finding that we knew of each other's first paramours?" "Hell yeah," said Ranma with an amused chuckle. "It had us laughing about it for days. Especially since they ended up as a couple and so did we. It seemed like fate." "Indeed," Kodachi said in warm tones as she smiled affectionately at Ranma. "Well, before I met you I hadn't quite gotten over my first love. That's when I found myself in Kyoto where I met Ukyo-kun." She paused to shake her head in humor. "I suppose the most accurate way to describe our relationship is one-sided. He was my outlet for all my hurt feelings from my fallen relationship. I was rebounding when I met him. I fixated on Ukyo- kun and began pursuing him aggressively. Particularly after he continued to turn me down." "But why did he turn you down?" asked Ranma in puzzlement. "Ucchan seems like a smart enough guy to be able to spot a real catch when he sees one." Turning to look at Ranma, she formed a slow smile as she lightly caressed his hand which she held in her own. "Ranma," said Kodachi in the softest of sighs. "You really are terribly sweet, do you know that?" Blinking in slight confusion, Ranma finally formed an easy smile then said, "Only when I'm with you, Dachi." "Touche," Kodachi murmured. "But to answer your question, the reason Ukyo-kun was not as enamored with me as I was with him was because he already had a girl that he loved. Some tall Amazon like creature always wearing her hair in a ponytail." She frowned then touched her own dark hair that was free flowing down her back and looking quite beautiful. "I know I sometimes like to wear my hair in that style, but all the time? Really, that's quite boring, don't you think? It's so--" "Dachi," Ranma interrupted as he coughed. "What about Ucchan and the tall Amazon chick?" "Ah, yes, them," said Kodachi as she tinged slightly. "I was very jealous of her... I saw her as my only obstruction to having Ukyo-kun as my own. So I set up a rather... implicating situation and allowed her to see it." His cobalt eyes growing lidded, Ranma studied the suddenly nervous figure of his girlfriend then asked, "What did you do, Dachi?" "I blindfolded Ukyo-kun, let him think I was his beloved, then tried to seduce him in the girls locker room," said Kodachi who was blushing by this time. "And his girlfriend saw all of this?" asked Ranma. "Well, yes and no," said Kodachi. "When she entered the room, as I planned since I had sent her an anonymous note asking her to be on the premises at a certain time, I immediately took off the blindfold that Ukyo-kun was wearing. This made it look like we were both participating in a very mutual form of affection." There was a long moment of pause as Kodachi looked at Ranma and said, "It was one of the few things that I truly regret doing now that I look back on it." Contemplating all this, Ranma said, "So that broke up Ukyo and his girlfriend but he still didn't like you. Then you skipped town and ended up meeting me." He paused to look at Kodachi then asked, "But how in the heck did you help Ucchan to become a Kung Fu star then?" "Quite easily, actually," said Kodachi. "I made a large profit by selling photos of Ukyo-kun to the many girls at the school who had crushes on him. On one such occasion the mob of girls was chasing him down the street, myself following at a safe distance, and when they did so they happened to run past a rather influential movie agent. He stopped me when I ran past and asked who Ukyo-kun was. I gave him all of the necessary information before I left town. The rest is history." "Huh," said Ranma slowly as he looked into the horizon. After a long moment of silence, he met Kodachi's gaze then said, "No offense or anything, Dachi, but I think I have a pretty good idea why Ucchan doesn't like you." "Yes," Kodachi said with a sigh. "I do admit to being a pain in his backside for most of our acquaintance." "And you're planning on being a pain again by representing Nabchan," said Ranma. "How come?" "Because," said Kodachi as she smiled. "Whether he likes it or not, Ukyo-kun is meant to deal with me. And what's so wrong with me being able to profit from that?" Chuckling at this, Ranma cupped Kodachi's chin lightly in his hand and murmured, "You're a sly one, aren't you?" "Naturally," Kodachi purred. "That's why you love me." Instead of replying, Ranma moved forward to meet their lips for yet another one of their passionate kisses. Some people are simply meant to be together. --- "Honestly, Ucchan. Why can't you just beat him up and get it over with? What's the point in dragging it out?" On hearing this, Ukyo drew his gaze away from the window of the limousine they were traveling in, to look at Tsubasa who wore a curious expression on his features. Flashing his patented lady killer smile, Ukyo said, "For one very simple reason, Basa. It's too damn easy. I want to make Ryoga suffer just like I have for the past ten years." "This is bad for your karma," Tsubasa said. "It's going to come back and bite you in--" "The ass, yeah, yeah, I know," said Ukyo in dismissive tones as he waved his hand. "You already gave me this speech a million times before, Basa." "Fine," said Tsubasa huffily. He studied Ukyo for a moment then sighed and said, "No offense, but I still don't get it, Ucchan. Wouldn't beating him up be more fun? It would be a lot better for your karma too, you know." "Maybe," Ukyo admitted. He paused to meet Tsubasa's blue eyes then asked quietly, "Didn't you see how he looked at her?" "How who looked at who?" asked Tsubasa in honest confusion. "What are you talking about now?" Rolling his eyes, Ukyo shook his head then said, "I'm talking about Ryoga and this so called iinazuke of his. I saw how he looked at her. He likes her, he likes her a lot, part of me thinks that he might even love her." "And this is important why?" prompted Tsubasa. "It's important because of how she acted around me," supplied Ukyo as he smiled at the thought. "I can find a fan at a mile away and she's definitely a fan. Because of that I've found the key element for my revenge on Ryoga." His blue eyes widening in sudden realization, Tsubasa said, "You don't mean that you're going to--" "Seduce Tendo Nabiki," Ukyo finished as he formed a slow and dangerous smile. "I'm going to steal away the woman that he loves and show him the true meaning of having your heart broken and your world destroyed." After saying this, the limousine stopped in front of Furinkan High school and Ukyo exited it with his usual ease to leave Tsubasa sitting alone in stunned silence. "Well," said Tsubasa to himself as he stepped out of the limousine and into the daylight. "This should prove to be an interesting first day of school." When Ukyo told him of his intentions to go back to school, Tsubasa volunteered to register with him so his friend wouldn't be alone. Tsubasa did this out of loyalty to his friend and a desire to want to help Ukyo in any way. But when he agreed to attend school with Ukyo, he didn't know what his friend was planning. Tsubasa was a big believer in karma, and he saw the bad things people did come back to bite them in the ass more than once in his lifetime. Hence his tendency to often say this statement and remind people of karma's power. And his belief in karma was precisely why he was so determined to keep an eye on Ukyo. Who knows what sort of karmic damage Ukyo might do if Tsubasa wasn't around to wean him away from his more harsh plans? So in agreeing to attend high school again, Tsubasa had thought about a good many things but the one thing he hadn't thought about was the one thing that would serve in distracting him from his original mission. He didn't think about the fact that Furinkan High, like many other schools, had a large population of pretty girls. All of which knew of him and found him more than a little bit attractive. Since Tsubasa's dating habits were worse than Ukyo's flirting habits, it's safe to say that this development made him an extremely happy guy. This meant all that Ukyo didn't find himself confronted by another one of Tsubasa's infamous speeches on karma. Lucky him, huh? --- The impossible had happened. Akane, for the first time in years, didn't find herself enjoying the morning run with all of her teammates for the girls basketball, soccer, and volleyball teams. Normally the morning run was one of Akane's favorite things to do with her teammates because of how it helped to clear her mind and be at ease. When she ran with all of them they became of one clear mind and body and she could feel the synchronization they needed on the court and the field to play their sports growing as they continued on. But today Akane simply couldn't clear her mind. A truly baffling problem, isn't it? Then again, Akane had a very good reason for not being able to clear her mind. And what was this very good reason? Chocolate, plain and simple. Or as the Chocoholics liked to say, "Sweet and tasty." Either way, she was the reason why Akane couldn't clear her mind of thoughts. She didn't know why, but Akane couldn't stop herself from thinking about Chocolate. Every waking instant of the day she found herself occupied by thoughts of the girl who had completely stolen away her heart. One of the things that Akane couldn't stop thinking about was how Chocolate had the bad habit of disappearing on her for no apparent reason. Yesterday she had tried several times to introduce her to Shampoo and Tatewaki amongst other people and whenever she did, the girl would just up and vanish leaving Akane alone. Alone and feeling quite frustrated. What made it worse was the fact that since yesterday afternoon and their session with the Doctor, Akane hadn't seen hide nor hair of Chocolate. It almost felt like the other girl was avoiding her. Was that it? Was Chocolate avoiding her? Was it possible that maybe, just maybe, Chocolate didn't like Akane as much as Akane liked her? That it was all a game? This thought made Akane's eyes tear up a bit and pausing in her run, she called to her teammates, "I need to take a cool down. Go on ahead, I'll join you later!" Her fellow athletes shouted their agreement then moved on in their run to leave Akane with the rare privacy she sometimes felt that she needed. Leaning up against the high brick wall next to her, Akane tilted her head back and murmured, "Chocolate." "Yes, Akane?" Jumping at least five feet into the air with fright, when Akane fell to the Earth she found herself once again being held in the arms of the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. "Chocolate!" exclaimed Akane happily as she wrapped her arms around the neck of the other girl. "I've missed you so much! Where have you been?!" Smiling and wheezing a bit from the strength of Akane's hug, Chocolate moved to set the athlete down on the ground but was surprised when Akane didn't release her from the hug. With a happy sigh, Chocolate relaxed into the embrace and returned it with a gentle squeeze. "I've been at my hotel," replied Chocolate who was looking at Akane with earnest teal eyes. "I needed to sort some things out with the management. Apparently they've had to add extra security to keep my more exuberant admirers away." "Oh wow," said Akane with wide eyes. "Did you make sure they hire from Junko's Bodyguards Etc and not Linlan's Protect You Tough? Junko is a much better guy to work with and his bodyguards are so nice." "We hired Junko," said Chocolate as she rubbed the back of her head. "In fact, he tried to get me to let one of his guys trail me around today for extra protection. I told him no but I keep finding people following me anyway." Smiling at this, Akane tapped Chocolate on the nose and said, "Not just bodyguards would follow you. I know that I would follow you to the ends of the Earth." Blushing furiously, Chocolate hesitantly reached out to cup Akane's face in her hands and said, "Thank you for saying that and for being who you are." She paused to release a wavering sigh then said, "Akane. I think I'm in--" It was then that several dozen horrified screams that seemed to break the sound barrier were heard. Meeting each other's eyes with alarm, both Akane and Chocolate took off like a shot for the direction of the screams only to find something that horrified them more. Or at least would have horrified Chocolate if she had been the one to reach the athletes first but since it was Akane that was hardly the case. Instead, Akane stopped to look at the strange creature glomping onto her fellow athletes in puzzlement. "Uhm, you guys," Akane said slowly. "What's going on and what is that weird thing hugging you?" "Captain!" shrieked one of her teammates. "Get this thing away from us! It's perverted!" "Yeah, Captain Akane! Get rid of it!" "Help us, Akane!" "Please, Akane-chan, for the love of the Kami!" The creature ceased in its assault to turn towards Akane with glazed eyes and inspecting her head to toe and on finding her acceptable it cried out, "Sweeeet!!" There was a very long pause as the creature glomped onto Akane's chest and all of the athletes were frozen in anticipation and terror as they waited for her reaction. That was when Chocolate rounded the corner and on seeing her, Akane looked up from studying the strange thing attached to her chest to the girl that she loved. "Look Chocolate," began Akane. "It's a barnacle." After hearing this, there was a huge moment of dead silence as everyone, including the barnacle creature, sweatdropped at Akane's words. Everyone except Chocolate. Because Chocolate was occupied with fuming in rage at what she saw. "Hey you!" Chocolate shouted as she rushed forward and tried to pry the barnacle creature off of Akane's chest. "Let go of Akane you pervert!" The creature refused to let go of Akane and scowling at this, Chocolate produced a big mallet out of nowhere and raised it into the air. "I'll make you let go!" Chocolate declared. "Chocolate?" asked Akane in confusion. "Why do you want to mallet, Barnacle-chan? It's really harmless." These words were accompanied by a much shorter sweatdrop as Chocolate looked to all of the athletes for support but they merely shrugged in easy acceptance. Shaking her head, Chocolate thought about attempting to reason with Akane but thought better of it. Then she came to a sudden inspiration. Chocolate slid closer to Akane and wore her best sensuous smile then started to leave a trail of kisses on her neck and when Akane closed her eyes as she enjoyed the feeling of this, Chocolate whacked the creature on the top of the head with her mallet, causing it to fall to the ground. Seconds after she did this, the barnacle creature rose to its feet and the athletes were stunned to see that it wasn't really a barnacle but rather a dirty old man. Well, okay, so maybe they weren't so stunned. But Akane would have been if she hadn't been busy making out with Chocolate in the middle of the street. "How dare you remove me from sweet Akane's chest!" the creature proclaimed. "I'll have you know..." It trailed off in frustration as it watched Chocolate completely ignore it, because of her far more interesting pursuits with Akane. "You can't ignore me!" the creature shouted rather indignantly. "I'm Master Happosai of the--" The creature, who was apparently named Happosai, was cut off as Chocolate abruptly dropped her heavy mallet on his head so she could place her hands on much more desirable places on Akane's body. Dusting himself off, Happosai frowned a bit then jumped up on the high wall where he could get a good look at the two girls who were so involved in their make out session. Forming a slow and definitely wicked smile, Happosai launched himself at them and cried out, "Sweet!" That was when Akane and Chocolate found their making out rudely interrupted by a dirty old man glomping onto both of their chests simultaneously. "Sweet!" Happosai cried again. "I'm in heaven being squished between two such lovely ladies!" "Oh wow!" exclaimed Akane as she smiled at Chocolate who was turned red with anger. "Barnacle-chan can talk! Isn't that neat of him? He must be really special!" Instead of replying, Chocolate pulled out a mallet even larger than her last one and swung at Happosai who merely lifted his finger to send the mallet flying into the air. Blinking at this, Chocolate formed a scowl then demanded, "How did you do that?! Who are you?!" "I told you," said Happosai with an easy smile. "I'm Happosai of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts." "Anything Goes?" echoed Akane and Chocolate. A moment of silence passed then Akane clapped her hands together and exclaimed, "You must know my dad! My name is Tendo Akane and he's Tendo Soun." "I know," Happosai said. "I guessed that when all of the lovely ladies shouted out your name, Akane." "Really? Neat!" said Akane happily. She hooked her arm in Chocolate's then leaned on her as she said, "So are you here to visit with my dad and Ojisama Saotome?" "Eh? So Genma is here as well?" asked Happosai in certain surprise. "You bet!" said Akane with a nod. "He's been here for awhile with his sons, Ranma and Ryoga." "And his pretty wives too?" asked Happosai as his eyes gained an eager gleam. "I have missed those two little spitfires. Even if they did make mischief for me." "No," Akane said slowly. "I don't remember meeting any wives of Ojisama Saotome's so far." "A shame," said Happosai with a sigh. He then looked at Chocolate's ample frame and formed a very lecherous expression as he said, "But at least I have worthy replacements with you two around. Swe--!" Happosai got cut off from trying to glomp onto Chocolate when she produced gigantic metal mallet out of nowhere and whacked him hard on the head with it. It was just the start in a long series of assaults that Happosai would have to deal with when it came to her. Too bad for Chocolate that when it came to a lady as pretty as she was, Happosai would endure any assault for just a chance of being able to steal a quick feel from her. So began the continuous assault of Chocolate and various other pretty girls in the Nerima distract. And all who knew of Happosai could only shudder in sympathy at their plight. --- Ryoga was angry. He glared at the figure of Kuonji Ukyo who was wearing his usual charming smile and felt himself seething inwardly at it. This was because Ukyo was currently holding Nabiki's hand in his own and lightly kissing the top of it. Stomping over to Nabiki's side, Ryoga tried to touch her waist to pull her closer to him and away from Ukyo but he found himself too nervous to move. What if Nabiki yelled at him for touching her? Or even worse, what if she got disgusted at his touch? He didn't think he could deal with that sort of rejection from her. As if sensing his dilemma, Ukyo lifted his head and met Ryoga's eyes as he formed another smile. "Ryoga," he said in his smooth drawl. "What are you doing there, hm?" Narrowing his eyes, Ryoga said tightly, "Nothing. I just wanted to remind Nabiki that school's about to start and we don't want to be late for our first class." "What an incredible coincidence," said Ukyo with a smile. "I was just about to tell Nabiki that I've decided to enroll in school here so we might become closer. Because after all," Ukyo paused to wink at Nabiki who blushed at this. "Co-stars, especially of the romantic kind, should always be good friends before they start filming." "You're going to school here?" asked Ryoga as his eyes went wide in certain horror. "Yup," said Ukyo as he tilted his head to one side and eyed Ryoga's discomfort with some amusement. "Me and Basa decided it would be a good idea. Plus, it'll be a nice change to be somewhere more normal than a movie set." Before Ryoga or Nabiki could reply to this, a huge crowd of athletes that was led by Akane and a drop dead gorgeous girl who was holding her in her arms, ran across the campus screaming as a small creature pursued them while it continuously shouted, "Come back pretty ladies! Come back and let me glomp onto you!" Sweatdropping at this, Ryoga looked at the shocked Ukyo and said rather drolly, "You were saying?" "Oh, well," said Ukyo who recovered from his shock very quickly. "This school still has things that makes me drawn to it. Very charming and pretty things." As he said this, Ukyo looked at Nabiki meaningfully and flashed her another heartbreaker smile that caused her to blush from head to toe on seeing it. "Well, now. If this isn't the oddest threesome that I've ever witnessed I'm not sure what would be." Turning his head, Ukyo screamed when he saw the figure of Kodachi standing in front of them with Ranma. "Jeez, Ucchan," said Ranma as he winced. "I know you and Dachi don't get along but do you gotta do that each time you see her? It's sorta extreme, dontcha think?" "He merely wants attention, darling," Kodachi purred as she leaned against Ranma who smiled at her. "But fear not, my dear Ukyo-kun, I'm here for Nabiki dearest and not for your far too handsome figure." "Dachi?" asked Nabiki in confusion as she quickly found herself escorted away from Ryoga and Ukyo by the couple as they walked across the campus. This left Ryoga and Ukyo alone. Not a very safe situation for either one of them. "Kuonji," said Ryoga in a growl after a moment. "What do you think you're doing flirting with Nabiki-chan? She's my iinazuke. You shouldn't do things like that!" "Iinazuke does not a wife make," replied Ukyo with an easy drawl and a smirk. "I think Nabiki is quite the catch and as such I won't let a clod like you have her just because she was unfortunate enough to be engaged to you." Scowling at this, Ryoga looked at Ukyo with honest confusion and asked, "Why are you doing this? I thought that we were friends, Ukyo." At this statement, Ukyo's eyes darkened and he seemed to grow very tense before he said, "If you don't know why I'm doing this then I'm not about to tell you, Ryoga. But it's like my Poppa once said, 'There's nothing dishonorable about taking a honorable lady away from a dishonorable man.'" "Who's dishonorable?!" Ryoga growled in low and dangerous tones. "And you'll take Nabiki-chan away from me when pigs fly, Kuonji! She's the girl that I--" Ryoga suddenly paused in his speech to look up with wide eyes and following his gaze, Ukyo could only stare in shock at the form of a big fat flying pig floating over them holding a lunch bag in its mouth. Then after a moment, Ukyo's shock was replaced with a smirk. Because it seemed that even the Kami were on his side when it came to this particular mission. "Dad!" Ryoga wailed as he angrily waved his fists around at the flying pig. "What are you doing?! Don't you know that you just jinxed me now?!" The flying pig flew to meet Ryoga's eye level and then dropped the lunch bag at his feet. After it did this, the pig squealed indignantly at Ryoga. "You don't understand, Dad!" Ryoga cried. "You just totally screwed up my speech! Why couldn't you have come to school in your human form, huh?!" For a response the flying pig merely squealed again and caused Ryoga to grow even more frustrated. While Ukyo watched this in certain amusement, he found his eyes drawn elsewhere when out nowhere the girl with purple hair he met yesterday appeared chasing a small bulbous ball of light that was making bell like sounds at her. And behind them was Tatewaki, whom Ukyo still felt a tad nervous around due to the uneasy ending of their duel. An ending which had come about because of a mass mobbing of all Ukyo's fans once they recognized just who was dueling on the street and in various restaurants across Nerima. But as Ukyo watched Ryoga shout at the flying pig, Shampoo and Tatewaki chase the tinkling ball of light, and Akane's crowd of athletes flee from the dirty old man, he felt strangely at home. Because this was just as crazy as any movie set. To be continued... ------------------------------------------------ I'd like to thank Jim Robert Bader, Red Death, and my brother Patrick for listening to my goofy ideas. Also special thanks to Wade Tritschler for allowing me to be a part of his Altered Destinies project. Chat with me on ICQ! My ICQ # is: 37674780 Thanks to Red Death all of my fanfics are archived at: http://www.lvdi.net/~reddeath/dreiser.htm Next up: Happy is introduced to the entire gang and as this happens, one of the many that he's wronged makes his way towards Nerima for revenge on the Demon Master. "She can violate my rights!" -Brock; Pokemon-
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