Minamo and Ryoga had wrapped up their conversation minutes ago. For the most part, she'd given him the general gist of what she wanted to talk to them about without going too much into detail. She'd save the rest for when they met with Sakaki, which wouldn't be long now since they were almost at the school.
In the meantime, there was something else that needed to taking care of, namely: Ryoga's appearance. The boy practically looked like he lived outdoors, especially with his hair and eyes being the way they were. Ryoga's dark hair was unkempt, his bangs kept in check by his bandana. And something about his eyes gave him a fierce, almost frightening, appearance. Yet, somehow, they were gentle at the same time which should have been an impossibility. Put simply, he looked more like a ruffian than a Tamer. It was a wonder, to Minamo, that Sakaki had approached him at all.
I guess you really can't judge by appearances she mused. After taking a second look, however, she added, But appearances can't hurt either.
Had she thought about it earlier, she would have brought an extra set of clothing with her. Since much of what Minamo wore was unisex, she didn't see Ryoga having a problem with wearing her clothing. And they were about the same height, he'd just fill them out a little more. On second thought, maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Yukari already thought of her as a jock as it was. She could only imagine how showing up at the school with some guy wearing her clothes would reinforce that image. Besides, she didn't have time to swing by the house anyway. Ruffian it is she decided. Minamo's eyes widened just a bit as, for some reason, the word "ruffian" made something stick out in her mind; like something she'd forgotten til now. Hmm... ruffian... ruffian...
An odd feeling came over her. Whatever she was trying to remember was right on the tip of her tongue, she could feel it. What was it? She kept repeating the word like a mantra, hoping it help jog her memory somehow. The closer they got to the school, the closer she seemed to get to- Wait, the school? She gasped unexpectedly and mentally exclaimed, That's it! If memory served her, it was last year during the school's festival. Tomo, Sakaki, and Kagura were the only ones who hadn't had costumes, so the school had given the three of them gakuran's. Minamo was certain at least one of the girls had returned theirs, meaning, there might still be one at the school.
Minamo pulled out her cell phone and quickly scrolled through her directory. As luck would have it, she had kept the number to the principal's office. She hit the speed dial. After what seemed an eternity, she got an answer just as she pulled in front of the school gate.
One thing became readily apparent to Ryoga the moment they set foot inside: Minamo Kurosawa was a celebrity. She had to be. Almost as soon as the first student laid eyes on her, she was mobbed. They surrounded her, asking questions about how she'd been and her new career, following her into the building. Minamo blushed in spite of herself and smiled, taking time to answer some of them though she was on a tight schedule. One girl even offered her flowers (though neither she or Ryoga knew where she'd gotten them from that fast)! And not just the students, it was the teachers too. All of them expressing how good it was to see her again and how much they missed having her at the school, adding how it just wasn't the same without her. They even kept her old work station open in hopes she'd return one day.
Eventually they seemed to notice that someone was with her, which sparked another round of questioning; mostly wanting to know if he was a new student. Only one bothered to ask his name, then it was back to Minamo. While she was touched that she'd made such a lasting impression, she felt embarrassed for being fawned over like that. She finally had to shoo them away (gently) so she could get back to business. This was met by a collective, "awww" from the female students.
"I'll come by and visit another time, I promise" she said to appease them. "Off to class now. Go on."
"Yes, Ma'am." they chorused.
Ryoga watched in awe as they departed, talking and whispering with excitement. For all the fuss they made, he was surprised none of them had ask for a- One girl, a short brunette, about fourteen he guessed, hurried back with a pen and a notepad. "Almost forgot, could you sign this please?"
Minamo sighed. "Now really."
"Pleeease?" the girl asked her.
Smiling wryly, Minamo rolled her eyes and relented. "Alright, but just this one" she said in case any of the others thought to do the same. Minamo signed her name and handed the notepad back to her. The girl let out a squeal of delight and skipped away, practically glowing.
"Wow" was all Ryoga could say when it was over.
"I'm sorry you had to see that" Minamo said with a sigh, still finding it hard not to smile. Okay, so it felt good to be missed. "I honestly don't know what gets into them. Anyway, enough about that, let's get you changed."
"Do I have to?"
"Yes," she replied. "You want to put your best foot forward, when you meet her, don't you?"
Ryoga thought for a moment then shrugged, "That's true."
Satisfied she'd made her point, she turned and lead the way to the principal's office. They found him waiting for them when they arrived, with the aforementioned uniform in hand. Minamo was sure to thank him for going to the trouble of finding it on such short notice.
"No trouble at all," he chuckled. "I'm more than happy to help."
Ryoga was allowed to use the teacher's lounge in order to change. As he put the uniform on, he found he had mixed emotions, mainly because he hadn't worn one in years. It was weird, but a nice fit, though the slacks were a little long; not that anyone would notice. Since there wasn't a mirror, he used his reflection, in the window, to look himself over. As long as he was getting dolled up, he figured he ought to do something with his hair and straightened it a bit. It wasn't much of an improvement though.
Minamo eyed him critically when he came out, nodding in approval when she was done. All they had to do now, was find Sakaki, and she knew just where to start. If she knew her girls, they'd be done eating lunch on the roof, by now, except maybe Osaka since she had a habit of falling asleep up there... or anywhere else for that matter. Chiyo, Yomi, and Sakaki were the studious types so they were usually the first to return to class. Kaorin and Kagura were usually next, followed by Tomo, unless she was with Yomi.
As expected, they bumped into Chiyo on her way to class, but Minamo was surprised to see that Sakaki and Yomi weren't with her. That wasn't like them. The child prodigy beamed when she saw her old PE teacher and greeted her cheerfully.
"Kurosawa-sensei! Good evening!"
"Hello to you too, Chiyo-chan" Minamo said affectionately as the eleven year old hugged her around her waist. Noting that top of the her head now reached her stomach, Minamo realized that Chiyo had gotten taller. "Chiyo, this is Ryoga Hibiki, he's visiting our school today."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Happy to see a new face, she turned toward him with her book bag dangling just above her knees. "Hi, my name is Chiyo Mihama. How do you do?" she said, making a polite bow.
"Okay, I guess" he replied, clearly confused that an eleven year old was at a high school.
"I forgot to mention," Minamo said, "that Chiyo attends school here too."
"Oh, I see. Well, that's ni- She what?!"
Chiyo's smile grew brighter as Minamo repeated it for him, going on to explain how the girl had been skipped five grades and was the smartest girl at the school, adding that she was also class president. "She's something isn't she?" The wide eyed, utterly confused look on his face, and his lop sided smile was all the validation Chiyo needed. She ate that stuff up.
"Boy... I'll say," Ryoga croaked.
"By the way, Chiyo-chan, have you seen Ms. Sakaki? It's important that I speak with her," Minamo told her.
Ms. Sakaki? Ryoga wondered in amazement, finding it incredible that a teacher would refer to a student that way.
Chiyo shrugged her small shoulders. "She went somewhere with Yomi, during lunch, but I don't know where they went."
"I see." The statement was more to herself than Chiyo, however. It was only a small setback since she was sure that the two of them wouldn't be along soon. She'd just have to wait. Of course, that also meant she chanced an encounter with you-know-who, which is exactly what she hoping to avoid. The plan was to get Sakaki, then get the hell out before she showed up. Just her luck that something like this would happen now and screw things up.
Well, the good news was, she didn't have long to wait. Sakaki and Yomi ascended the stairs at that moment, on their way to class. Yomi was pleasantly surprised to see Minamo there along with Ryoga, who looked as if he'd made a complete recovery. She hurried over and greeted the two of them.
"Ms. Kurosawa, Ryoga, how are you?"
Minamo breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe her luck was changing. "We're fine Yomi. And you?"
Here she glanced in Sakaki's direction before looking back and answering, "Couldn't be better."
"That's good."
Their voices seemed to fade as Sakaki's eyes met with Ryoga's. Her smoky grey irises widened ever so slightly, relieved to see he was fine. What really stood out, in her mind, was that she wasn't surprised to see him there. Plus, that same feeling from before seemed to come over her. For reasons she still couldn't understand, she wasn't the least bit shy about approaching him or establishing eye contact like she usually was; making her wonder why.
Ryoga's own eyes mirrored Sakaki's. Even in that uniform, she was... whoa. Somehow, in his heart of hearts, he knew only Sakaki could make naughty look nice, without even trying. But that wasn't what appealed to him. It was something else entirely and, while he'd admit to not being the sharpest knife in the block, he had no clue what that something was. All of that, and still no nosebleed! Ironically, he was actually starting to wonder if her was feeling alright.
This silent exchange didn't go unnoticed. All around them, Minamo, Chiyo, Yomi, as well as the other students watched. There were curious whispers, some wanting to know who he was, others asking if he was putting the moves on Sakaki, which was unheard of til now. Of all those present, only Minamo knew what was taking place and was the very reason she had come.
"What's everybody standing around for? And who's he?" came the all too familiar voice. Minamo's shoulders slumped, recognizing who it was and cursing her luck all over again because of it.
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Nyteflite
(Posted Thu, 10 Jan 2008 21:54)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.