I have orders to fight Sonsaku.
That mantra had been repeating in Shimei's head the whole day.
I have orders to fight Sonsaku. Straight from Enjutsu herself.
She had hoped to challenge the Shôhaô while within the confines of Nan'yô, so that no collateral damage or outside casualties wouldn't occur.
Saji definitely has something to do with this. no doubt. Bitch!
But Hakufu had disappeared for the day.
I have orders to fight Sonsaku.
She had been able to track the younger girl down. All the way to Nerima, in fact. One of the three districts in Kantô — the other two were Minato Ward in Tôkyô itself and the town of Tomobiki in Nishitôkyô west of Nerima — where the tôshi of the Seven Schools NEVER went under any circumstances.
Put frankly, the situations in those places were too freaky even for tôshi!
And then…
Sonsaku is lovers with Ranma Saotome!
The greatest of the so-called "Nerima Wrecking Crew."
The person who attracted Chaos to him/her like honey does bees.
The martial artist who could take down all comers.
The man who had fought a prince with dragon blood in him.
The man who had killed an immortal phoenix of all things!
And that last one was to save a person he loved.
And if Ranma truthfully loved Sonsaku…
Screw it! If they want Sonsaku to die, let them do it themselves!
"Mô-chan!"
Shimei perked on hearing Hakufu's voice, and then she stared at the strawberry blonde tôshi, who was holding Ranma close to her side as they moved to exit from Shinjuku Station and head out through the eastern entrances towards Kabuki-chô. "Eh?! What is it, Sonsaku?" the blue-haired tôshi asked as she walked closer to them.
"Ma-chan and I're going to a yatai," Hakufu said. "You want to join us?"
Shimei blinked, and then she nodded…
"So all your real 'fiancées' are lesbians, right?"
"No, Shän's bisexual. But Akane and U-chan are," Ranma replied as she, Hakufu and Shimei enjoyed bowls of hot râmen — Hakata-style; Ranma's favourite — at a yatai close to one of the entrances to Kabuki-chô. "Noticed it shortly after U-chan arrived in Nerima coming after Tô-chan and me because of her family yatai. At first I was upset…but after thinking about it for a bit, I realised that all three of them were more comfortable that way. And since I was honour-bound to each of them, anything I could do to help them live their lives better was proper."
Shimei stopped as she took that in, and then she sighed before slurping up more of the soft noodles into her mouth. "Some would say that's too forgiving, Ranma."
"Maybe. But look at their situation." Ranma raised a finger in emphasis. "Akane. Youngest of three daughters. Practically orphaned when her mom died and her pimp of a dad broke down and nearly cut himself off from the rest of the world. Kasumi works her butt off to keep the house clean and intact. Nabiki takes over financial management. Akane is then pigeon-holed into being Sôun's icon for his only hope for the future."
"Uniting your two schools of Musabetsu Kakutô," Shimei finished.
"Right." Ranma was grateful to Nabiki for managing and distributing information about the NWC all around Tôkyô. It generated income for the Tendô family and home as well as made things easier for Ranma to explain when she met people she wanted to befriend. And Shimei Ryomô struck her as someone worthy of trust and friendship. "So when Akane discovered herself, she found herself trapped. If she ended up dating girls, she couldn't marry me and unite the schools. By the time Tô-chan and I showed up there, Kasumi and Nabiki were totally shoved off to the side." A snort. "Ornaments for the house. Useful when needed, forgotten when not needed."
Shimei made a face. "Pathetic!"
"Yeah," Ranma breathed out. "U-chan's in the same boat. She's been forced by her dad to do everything she can to marry me. But she doesn't really want me, much less have anything to do with boys in that way. So she's trapped, too. And in meeting Akane, she found a kindred spirit. It's no wonder they get along so well."
A nod. "What about the Nyûjiézú girl?"
"She wanted out of the village, period." Ranma stared at the blue-haired woman for a moment. "You've got memories going back 1800 years, Mô-chan." She really liked Hakufu's nickname for Shimei and the latter didn't seem to mind being called that by her. "The Nyûjiézú were around then, just at the edge of the territory controlled by Shû Hàn when everything fell apart. I'm sure you've heard how territorial they are."
"They were that," Shimei agreed.
"Still are. Shän didn't like the idea of living in an isolated village. When I came along and we fought, she saw her chance to get out of the village. She took it."
A nod. "I can understand that." Shimei then looked at Hakufu. "So when did you meet up with Ranma, Sonsaku? You just only recently came to Kantô."
"Oh, it was about a year ago, just after Ma-chan moved in to live with the Tendôs," Hakufu replied. "Akane got stupid with Ma-chan and smacked him through the sky with her mallet, sending him flying right into the grounds of my old middle school. I had just bumped into Hannô for the first time." A sigh. "Hannô thought Ma-chan was a tôshi, then got pissy all over her for not wearing a magatama like everyone does. Ma-chan showed her a few things." A grin. "I asked her for a spar and we fought. She handed me my butt right then and there. Well, I couldn't take that, so…"
"We became training partners," Ranma finished. "Only could visit when I could find an excuse to get away from Nerima. Akane helped there a lot, which covered things quite nicely for me. After all, if old man Tendô, much less Jijii, found out I was training another person — Especially another girl! And a TÔSHI atop that! — I'd have been drugged and dragged off to the altar so fast, it'd make my head spin. It's only these days that I felt comfortable enough leaving Nerima to visit and train Saku-chan without worrying about Mister Waterworks and the old freak."
"Hai, killing Saffron would make quite the impression even with the likes of Happôsai," Shimei said with a nod and grin. While the tôshi Nan'yô was too far away from Nerima to concern themselves with stolen panties thanks to the grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutô-ryû, Rakuyô and Seito were within range. Shimei had heard from sources in both schools that there were the odd times that Happôsai had tried to "liberate" the many "silky darlings" from those places. Usually when that happened, he was sent back to Nerima in a body cast. Experienced and trained he was, Shimei had heard, even his fighting skills couldn't match the killer's instinct many tôshi had, especially the higher-ranked ones such as Unchô Kan'u and Hôsen Ryofu. "So how long is this going to happen this way? You sneaking out of Nerima to visit Sonsaku?"
"End of term," Ranma reported. That was just a month away, Shimei heard. "Tô-chan's arranging for it now. I'll transfer into Nan'yô after summer break."
Silence.
"You're coming over to us?" the blue-haired tôshi squeaked.
"Yep," Ranma said with a smile. "New identity and everything." She then held out her hand to Shimei. "Kanami Hayashi. Pleased to meet you, Ryomô-sempai."
Shimei blinked, and then she grinned as she reached over and gripped the redhead's hand. "Pleased to meet you as well, Hayashi-san."
"Oh, SHIT!"
"While I wouldn't be as profane as you in describing that situation, it does seem apt."
"Tell me about it," Unchô said as she and Shiryû relaxed at a nearby yatai. "Gods! Ranma Saotome of all people, going to school in Nan'yô of all places?! If that doesn't set everyone off across the basin, NOTHING will!"
"Something tells me that Saotome-san doesn't really care about that. And she would be really angered if Sonsaku-san was drawn into it more deeply than she is now."
The raven-haired tôshi took a moment to consider that, and then she sighed. "Agreed. We'll have to discuss this with Gentoku, Ekitoku and Kômei before deciding on a course of action. Maybe an alliance with Nan'yô might be formed much earlier than expected."
"It will have to be done delicately, especially if Tôtaku or Sôsô decide Saotome-san is too much of a threat to their own ambitions."
"Agreed. And we'll ALL suffer from the fall-out. Let's go home."
Shiryû nodded.
"Ryofu-sama…!"
"Relax, Kôdai. This is a good thing."
Kôdai jolted on hearing that comment from her lover, and then she stared wide-eyed at the older woman. "How can that be a good thing?!"
Hôsen chuckled before she slurped down her râmen noodles. The two Rakuyô students were enjoying food at another yatai, also within hearing range of where the two Nan'yô tôshi and their soon-to-be schoolmate were located. "I've always said it this way, Kôdai: I wear the magatama. The magatama does not wear me. And by the sounds of it, Fu-chan and Kanami-chan…" — Hôsen actually liked the new name Ranma had chosen for herself — "…don't care a whit about what many tôshi believe. They allow the past to rule their lives TOO much, which is stupid in this day and age." A sigh. "Not that reflecting on the past is a bad thing. It actually prepares us for the future. But too many of us take this whole 'romance' WAY too seriously. Look what happened to Mô-chan's friend Tokubô Teifu. You want that to happen to other people?"
Kôdai blinked as she considered that, and then she shook her head. "No."
"Well, maybe Kanami-chan can help us get through this time in our lives with as minimal amount of scars and injuries as possible," Hôsen noted, a frown turning her lips.
Seeing that, Kôdai tried not to weep as she moved to hold her lover close.
"So you'll be here all day?"
"Yeah. Probably tomorrow, too," Hakufu admitted as she and Ranma stopped before walking into a karaoke bar Shimei had been quick to sense also doubled as a love hotel. "I'm really tired of being separated from Ma-chan all the time. Believe me, we're gonna enjoy summer vacation; we've already got the training trip planned."
An amused chuckle escaped the older woman. "'Training trip?'"
"Hey, sex IS training," Ranma said with a leer before she turned to Hakufu. "C'mon, Fu-chan. I want to get out of these clothes as soon as possible."
"Hai, hai! See you later, Mô-chan."
Shimei smiled as they headed inside. "Have fun."
As soon as they were gone, the blue-haired tôshi turned and headed back to Shinjuku station, her grin turning savage as the image of a blonde-haired, dark-eyed senior student at Nan'yô — a woman Shimei didn't really know how to think of — flashed past her mind's eye. Genpô Saji, the master manipulator of Nan'yô, was about to get something dumped on her that would catch EVERYONE off guard.
Oh, the news of THIS would really cause heads to turn back at Nan'yô!
Better get ready, Saji, Shimei mused to herself. You won't see THIS coming at all.
As people headed back to their home bases to spread the news…
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(Posted Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:16)
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