That didn't mean that he wasn't about to be annoyed by the way that his path seemed to be completely obstructed. No matter which way he turned, he couldn't seem to find a path from one point to any goal that he set for himself. To him, it was like being in a maze, where bland walls and vaguely similar houses just seemed to go on forever.
About all that he could do was to growl under his breath even though he actually had company this time.
"Is husband angry?" Xianghua asked, mild concern in her voice.
"Well, yeah. Of course I am!" he bit out, but then ducked his head apologetically. "Not at you. It's just that I can't even find a way to a main road, never mind finding Saotome!"
"Didn't think that you mad at wife. Just wondering what make you unhappy."
"Yeah, well, it'd be nice if I could find a way to get free of all this."
"Do have to wonder if not too bothersome how street was made," the Chinese girl murmured.
"Eh?"
"Just look. All roads look uniform. Same basic size, shape, and walls. Not even put in good signs to help. And not like label by streets. Would be better if have more and better landmarks, no?"
He could only stare open mouthed at her.
"What? Say something wrong?"
"No.... You're just the first person to sympathize with me in a way that makes sense," Ryoga mumbled as he stumbled away.
Watching others from rooftops was familiar work for Taki, and she knew enough to keep from being spotted. Yet, she had little expectation that she would be joined by someone on top of a building. Fortunately, her sister had never been one to try to sneak up on her, but was restrained enough to make a fuss when she showed up. Since she wasn't all that skilled in covert actions, that just seemed to be for the best.
Then again, there were times when one could be hit by a freight train before ever hearing the whistle.
Taki never took her eyes off of those that she was looking at. "You want to see them too, Akane?"
"Perhaps," the younger girl agreed as she looked coolly over the edge of the roof. "That them?"
"Pretty sure that it is."
"Ah. They're going to bump into each other. Lost boy's going south, the one with the copy of Kuno's doll's going east."
"And it looks like things are going to get interesting."
As Ranma walked along, he was rather lost in thought, given that he had a rather troublesome issue on his mind. His father had alluded to some sort of past transgression, just when there was a group of what seemed to be ninja hurrying around him. Considering the fact that the last time that one of his old man's 'activities' had come to roost, he had wound up having to deal with kamikaze hamsters, he didn't want to go through that again. That meant figuring out what to do about it, since the time for pressing his father for answers, or getting ready to prepare for an attack was right then.
Due to that preoccupation, he didn't see the other boy turning around the corner until they smacked face first into each other.
Knocked onto his ass, Ranma glared at the other teen and rubbed at his back. "Hey! Watch where you're goin'!"
"I could say the same to you...." the other boy trailed off... until he looked up and saw who he'd bumped into. A mixture of anger, excitement, and surprise filled his voice as he pointed at the pigtailed boy. "YOU! You're Ranma Saotome! I've finally found you!"
"What? You're.... Just one moment...."
"Yes?"
"Who are you?"
Genma and Xianghua nearly fell over, and Rei raised a brow.
"What?"
"I'm Ryoga Hibiki, and because of you, I've seen hell! Prepare to pay!" the boy in the bandana declared.
Nodding in agreement, the leggy Chinese girl slid to a ready stance and pulled out a sword, but found her path blocked and a pair of red eyes looking steadily into hers.
Ranma got to his feet, and stared down the other boy with a smirk. "Hey, I'm Ranma Saotome, and I don't lose."
"We'll see about that," Ryoga growled, while:
(Posted Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:30)
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.