“Well, that could have gone better.”
“Hey! You shouldn’t have tried to run off like that,” Miu replied to Ranma’s comment as they made their way home the fastest way a martial artist could. After they made their way over a street on onto another building. The only way to deal with him when he got like that was to pin him down. “And while the subject’s still fresh in my mind, you have anything else you want to confess to?”
Ranma slumped his shoulders and groaned before he increased his pace to make the next jump. When he heard Miu land behind him, he looked back to her to continue the conversation. “What they heck do you mean confess?”
Another leap brought them to a roof across from a building too tall for them to jump at their current height without putting in too much effort for the act. Ranma led the way down the street level by hopping off the edge and jumping from a flagpole, to a windowsill, and finally into the limbs of a tree to help redirect the fall.
“I mean you never talk about yourself until you’re put on the spot,” Miu told him when she caught up. “Getting you to talk about your past is like pulling teeth. I know I always say that what matters is the now, but knowing about your past is good too.” If anything, it would let her know if some crazy ex-girlfriend was going to come calling.
“I know you’re probably scared because I won’t like what I find, but I would have thought the whole marriage thing would have given you enough assurance that I wouldn‘t kick you out,” she continued before leading the way up the side of another building.
Does she have to make it sound like I’m a chicken? Ranma asked himself before increasing his pace to keep up. “Hey that’s not it. I just don’t like to think about my past that much. Hell, it took me ten years just to ask Genma about the old woman.”
Miu looked back as they were in midair. “See, that’s exactly what I’m saying. All you ever tell me about her is-”
“She’s a stupid old woman who might as well have thrown me away when I was six years old,” Ranma told her with a frown. “The next time I see her, she’s got this stupid agreement that says I have to die if I don’t live up to her expectations. The one person in my entire life I decide to trust, and she bosses me around like all the others. Do this, marry that girl, let me decide your whole freakin life for you.”
They went down to the street level again, and landed on top of a city bus right before it started moving.
After taking a moment to breathe, Miu looked back to Ranma and sighed. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. I’d do anything to see my mother again.”
Ranma suppressed a groan, and wisely kept his mouth shut. Why was it that everyone who’d lost a family member when they were young think like that? They seemed to think of their parents as perfect, when the truth of it was that those people simply died before their children could see their faults.
“Yeah, they’re just so much alike. I mean, you’re mom died keeping you out of the hands of the martial arts mafia that your father runs,” Ranma told her sarcastically. “Mine gave me to my criminal of an old man, and waved goodbye with a smile on her face while he dragged me off into the sunset.”
With the harsh interpretation of reality put into her face like that, Miu let the subject drop. She would do almost anything to have a mother figure in her life, but Ranma had a point. No matter what kind of spin she put on it, a woman who removes herself from her child like that for whatever reason wasn’t the kind of person Miu was wishing for.
The bus came to a turn, and the Furinji couple jumped onto the nearby street before heading into an alley to resume their trek home.
Since it looked like the talk about the past had run its course, Miu switched to plan about the future. “So, I was thinking we could leave for China a day after tomorrow. How’s that sound?”
“Why then?”
Miu looked over to her husband with an embarrassed blush on her face. “Well, I’m kind of leaving Honoka holding the bag, and I need to make sure that she won’t just run off like Kenichi does all the time.” If the girl really didn’t want to take care of Ryozanpaku, then Miu would have to try teaching the masters how to do the chores.
Please, please, please don’t change your mind Honoka, Miu begged.
When she regained her composure, Miu looked back to Ranma. “So, I know you’ve said you’ve got a plan to see if there’s a cure in China, but could you spell it out for me one more time.” A rather horrible thought occurred to her, and she frowned. “You do have everything figured out, right?”
Ranma laughed nervously at the question. “Sort of. I’m hoping the guy I met at Jusenkyo knows something about curing the curse, so he’s my best bet. If not, I’ll have to go and ask the Musk.” Which would probably lead to a disaster in Ranma’s opinion. Miu was the exact type of girl that got those idiots excited. But, they were the only ones with artifacts that had to do with Jusenkyo magic, which meant they must know how it works in some small way.
“Those animal guys you told me about?” Miu asked. “I thought you said they came to Japan. You know where they live?”
No, but after what happened at the meeting, I’m not too thrilled to tell you how I plan to figure it out, Ranma thought to himself. Still, keeping his mouth shut about stuff had already gotten him in trouble earlier tonight so… “I’ll ask the Amazons.”
Miu blinked, and looked at Ranma as if he’d gone insane. “What?”
“Well, it’s not exactly like these guys have their homes labeled on a map Miu,” Ranma told her quickly after hearing her disbelieving tone. “Besides, they’re the much more preferable ones out of the three groups that live in that area. Don’t worry, I’ve got an idea to make them help us.”
For a moment Miu stayed silent. The newlywed part of her wanted to trust her husband, but the part that had lived with Ranma for three years said that his plans always ended up full of holes in some way or another. In the end, the pragmatic part of her mind won out. “What plan?”
Meanwhile, in another part of the city…
Kenichi sighed as he watched Ranma and Miu leap off into the night. He really couldn’t say if he was jealous or not. Miu had been the first girl to show any real interest in him, although initially it was more the interest of a memory than Kenichi himself. While something had grown from that in the end, Kenichi decided to back off because Miu became way too dangerous for his survival instinct to deal with, and he found himself drifting away from her.
“Hey Kenichi, walk me home, okay?”
He looked over to Renka, who had already attached herself to his arm, and sighed. “Sure.”
Renka frowned at his lack of enthusiasm. “Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on Miu! You know it’s rude to be thinking about other girls when you’re with one.”
Kenichi looked away to try and straiten his thoughts as they started heading to the train station. “It’s not that… not really, I don’t think so at least.”
When he went silent shortly after that rather confusing statement, Renka waited a minute before prodding him on. “Well then, what is it?”
Taking the time to actually consider the question, Kenichi looked down at the ground and let Renka guide their path while he thought. Just what was he so bothered about ever since graduating? It wasn’t like he was all that disappointed with Miu choosing the other guy. Kenichi had seen that coming years ago.
“It’s just…” he paused to try and put everything into words. “… I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.”
They turned a corner, and Renka blinked as his defeated tone. “What’d you mean by that?”
Kenichi looked over to Renka’s face. She really was a beautiful young woman, with a body every bit as sexy as Miu’s. If anything, her breasts were even bigger than the blonde’s. She was sweet, energetic, fun loving, outgoing, she never tried to disguise her real self to others, and she was an all around nice girl in normal situations.
He pushed such thoughts to the back of his mind, and tried his best to answer the woman’s question. “When I first came to Ryozanpaku, it was just because a bunch of bullies were beating me up. I wanted to learn how to defend myself. After that, the only reason I could really bring myself to get serious training was that it would also get me closer to Miu. Then I wanted to protect Miu from guys like Sho.
“But Ranma was the one who beat Sho at the tournament, and then Miu started learning all that weird crap afterwards that made it dangerous for me just to be around her,” Kenichi explained rather dejectedly. “I never really gave it much thought because we were in school at the time and I just didn’t have the energy to think about anything but surviving Ryozanpaku. But my biggest reasons for sticking around just slowly disappeared. Now that I’m out of school and have to start thinking about either going to college or getting a job, I’m kind of lost on what to do here.”
When Kenichi finally finished talking, Renka let out an annoyed puff of breath and frowned at him. “So are you finished beating yourself up? Because if not, I can help you know,” she offered with a raised fist.
“Huh?”
Renka lowered her arm as they climbed the stairs to the railway platform to wait for the train. “So, you’re feeling bad because you didn’t get a girl you were only really interested in because she had big boobs and a huge butt?”
“I wouldn’t put it like that-”
Ignoring his comment, Renka continued on. “You’ve done plenty of good stuff, like beating up most of Ragnarok and reforming them. You got me to notice you, which is pretty damn good considering I don’t consider most guys worth my time, beat up that weirdo Fortuna… although I heard Hermit helped with that one, and took out most of YOMI Mr Number One Disciple.”
Kenichi laughed and scratched his head. “Yeah, but that’s only because Ranma started training with the other masters two months after I showed up. They wouldn‘t even take him on before then.” Thanks to the timing and the fact he didn‘t want the position, the more skilled and older fighter was actually the junior of the two. Feeling that he was getting off topic, Kenichi shook his head. “And it’s not my damaged pride and inferiority complex that‘s bothering me…”
“It’s just… now that I’m out of school, I’ve got no idea what I’m supposed to be doing!”
Surprisingly, and much to Kenichi’s dismay, Renka just let out a happy laugh as the train pulled up. “Oh is that all? I thought you had a real problem on your mind.”
“Hey! Stop laughing at my troubles!” Kenichi yelled.
Although she was obviously holding it in, Renka did stop. “So, what’s going on with you and Izumi?”
Kenichi scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. “Nothing. We cut it off awhile back. I think after all my time at Ryozanpaku a normal girl like her just can’t take the martial artist world.” After he realized the deeper meaning of that statement, he cried in despair. A ‘normal’ person? When did I start referring to people who don’t use martial arts as normal?
“Oh… well then…” Renka looked at the doors of the train and rolled her eyes. Oh screw it. She grabbed Kenichi by the arm and pulled him in for a deep kiss. His body immediately went rigid, and she snaked her tongue into his mouth and rolled it around for a few moments.
As she expected, Kenichi collapsed onto the floor the second she let him go.
“Call me tomorrow okay? We can set up a real date,” she told him before flashing a V and turning around to see the train departing. Renka rolled her eyes and hurried after it to jump atop the thing.
Down on the floor, Kenichi moaned as the world seemed to spin around him. Almost a year with Miu, and never got anywhere despite living in the same house. Months of being in the gardening club, and all he and Izumi did was go out to dinner a few times. One night with Renka, and he was getting tongue.
Girls are complicated.
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(Posted Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:25)
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