Narita International Airport, Sunday afternoon…
"Ah! There she is! Hiromi-chan!"
Hearing that shouted voice, the woman officially registered as "Moroboshi Hiromi" in the National Family Registrar of Japan perked, and then she turned to wave as two people came up to her. "Konban wa, Shinobu-san! Chigaiko-san!" she called out as Miyake Shinobu and Inu Chigaiko ran up to her. "Were you waiting long?!" she then asked before yelping in delight as both girls gave her warm hugs.
"We just got here!" Chigaiko said as she tenderly kissed the other woman on the cheek. "Was it difficult?" she then asked in a whisper as she and Shinobu walked their friend and classmate off the ground floor of the main Terminal Two building into the basement, which would lead to the JR station and the Narita Express that would take them to Tōkyō Station itself, the first part of a three-part journey back to Tomobiki.
"Not really," Hiromi said as Shinobu reached into her purse to pull out the reservation tickets that would get all three of them aboard a train. "The guardians of the Dragon Jade did not like the idea of my taking their charge away from them, especially after I spoke out against the continued bloodlust the magatama forces on all their victims."
"We know."
Hiromi gazed on Shinobu. "Eh?"
Shinobu frowned. "We saw it on NHK. Strange lava geyser levelling a pagoda in Hong Kong." She then wagged a warning finger at her friend. "Lucky thing you learned all those stealth tricks from Negako-san and Ranma-san. If you were caught…"
"No doubt, whoever was also there would have made it easy for me to escape."
Both Tomobiki High sophomores jolted on hearing Hiromi's calm comment. "There were other people there?!" Chigaiko gasped.
"Three of them," Hiromi answered. "Couldn't tell who they were. It's only been a week since I came to Earth for the first time in my own body, so…!"
She shrugged as the other girls nodded…
Some distance behind the three women, Ryomō Shimei could only gape in disbelief.
A week since she came to Earth for the first time in her own body?
What in the name of all that was holy did THAT mean…?!
Minutes later, the sleek train departed from Terminal Two westward and southward towards Tōkyō itself. Hiromi, Shinobu and Chigaiko had got a cabin all to themselves in one of the green cars. As the countryside of northern Chiba-ken passed by them, all three chatted animatedly about events over the last week, ever since a beautiful girl calling herself "Moroboshi Hiromi" had walked into Class 2-4 for the first time.
When many people in Tomobiki learned that the "carnival" that had ruled their lives since the First Tag Race had more attractions — and more dangers! — than anyone could ever have conceived.
When some finally realised they couldn't allow their dreams to rule their lives…
…while others found the true reality around them far too much to take.
"So have people noticed what I warned them about?" Hiromi then asked.
The other girls nodded. "We think we've scoped out all the potential trouble spots in Tomobiki itself. As for places beyond that…" Here, Chigaiko shrugged. "The girls in the schools in town don't have much in the way of contacts beyond the town limits. And given that your friendship with Ranma-san — and how that really blew the steam out of his fiancées when you gave them that beat-down before the weekend and scared Shampoo-san off because you're a tōshi — isn't going to do Tendō Nabiki any good, I doubt we could try to tap into her information network for help."
Hiromi sighed. "I suspected that much. A pity. Nabiki-san has such a remarkable mind. Surely she could come to realise what the true danger is."
"We don't need someone like her just yet," Shinobu noted. "Besides, if you're able to win over some of the tōshi — especially the more respected ones — that should form the basis of whatever force you want to use to put down You-Know-Who."
Hiromi sighed, nodding. "Agreed."
In another car on the train…
"You're saying another tōshi got the Dragon Jade?!"
Shimei sighed. It had taken her a little bit of money, but she had been able to get her own cabin for the trip back to Tōkyō. As to what she would do once she got to the downtown station, she had no idea. Not yet. "Unfortunately. She's literally brought the whole temple down with some sort of lava-venting blast that totalled the place."
Silence.
"Lava-venting?!" Saji Genpō replied from his private home in Kimitsu.
A nod. "Hai. I even saw that it made the morning news here."
"Did you get her name?"
A shake of the head. "Not yet. But I do know something about her. She's travelling under the name 'Moroboshi Hiromi.'"
More silence.
"Moroboshi?!"
"Hai. Have you heard anything about tōshi rising up in Tomobiki?"
A sigh. "Not really. Still, there is one thing that might point to what could be going on there. Remember that weird story that came out at the time that odd plague of giant mushrooms broke out there last week? About alien dragons showing up to eat them all, not to mention chase off that Oni girl Lum and her friends off Earth?"
"I did hear that." Shimei then hummed as she considered that. "Interesting."
A chuckle. "Do you really believe your late cousin's would-be boyfriend is…?"
"Right now, I don't know what to believe."
Still more silence.
"Keep your mind and heart clear, Mō-chan," Genpō urged.
Hearing the soft tone of his voice, Shimei blinked as she felt tears appear in her eyes. "I'll be alright," she whispered back. "Ja."
The link was cut as Shimei slipped her cell phone away…
A little under an hour later, the Narita Express arrived in Tōkyō Station, disgorging its passengers and allowing Hiromi, Shinobu and Chigaiko the chance to transfer to the Metro Marunouchi subway line for the trip up to Ikebukuro Station and a transfer to the Seibu Ikebukuro line for the final leg of the trip to Tomobiki-chūō. The three women walked onto the train, making their way to one of the women-only cars to relax at a booth. As they sat down, Hiromi then tensed before she glanced over her shoulder. The others were quick to notice. "Is something wrong, Hiromi-chan?" Chigaiko asked.
"The girl with the patch over her left eye."
Both women looked to see a girl dressed in plain clothes, an overnight bag slung over her shoulder, get into the car just as the doors were about to close. Noting the short-cut, blue-tinted black hair and the pale aqua blue eye, Shinobu blinked before her eyes widened. "Oh, my!" she hissed out. "I know who that is!"
"Who?!" Chigaiko whispered as the train got underway.
"Ryomō Shimei of Nan'yō," the other woman responded. "She's one of the 'four divas' that are the best tōshi in that school!"
Hiromi took that in, and then she hummed. "Lǚ Méng. Lord Zǐmíng."
The other girls nodded. Seeing that, Hiromi closed her eyes as she recalled what she knew of that particular warrior. A native of Rǔnán, Lǚ would eventually join the armed forces of the famous Little Conqueror and his younger brother, the founding Emperor of Dōng Wú. The one ultimately responsible for the death of the legendary Guān Yǔ, Lǚ had been well known as much of a scholar as he was a warrior. If his modern incarnation was anything like that, then perhaps…
"Let her follow us," she then whispered to her friends.
Shinobu and Chigaiko stared at Hiromi for a moment, and then they nodded…
She clearly can sense me, but she's not doing anything about it.
Shimei was gazing narrow-eyed at the back of her target's head as the train moved on.
Either she's confident in her abilities or she might have friends waiting for her when she gets to Tomobiki. Or wherever she's going with Miyake and the other girl.
And most likely, it would be to Tomobiki.
After all, it had been quite easy to recognise the girl with the soft-flowing brown hair now sitting to her target's left.
Miyake Shinobu. Moroboshi Ataru's former girlfriend.
Does Ataru-kun have a sister?
Wondering that, she then shook her head. No. Given all the weird things that had happened to Moroboshi Ataru since the first Tag Race with the Onis over a year before, the chances of something like a sister of all things escaping public notice was well to the left of miniscule. So where did this "Hiromi" come from? And who on Earth had she been in her first life? How had she escaped potential attention from any tōshi, especially if they attended Rakuyō (which was in the Bunkyō Ward of Tōkyō itself), Seito (just northwest of Tomobiki in Chichibu) or Kyoshō (due south in Ninomiya on the shores of Sagami Bay)? A tōshi living in a place like Tomobiki would have been a giant beacon to any other fighter across Kantō!
Who are you? she hissed to herself as the train came into Hongō-Sanchōme station, and then she tensed on sensing a familiar presence. Oh, crap…!
Well, well, well! Who's perked Mō-chan's interest this day?
A smirking Ryofu Hōsen remained calm and collected as she made her way aboard the train after the doors opened. She had been actually shopping in Shinjuku when she had sensed a very unfamiliar ki nexus come into the Tōkyō basin from the direction of Nerima. And while she resented receiving an SMS from Tōtaku Chūei — in actuality, from Kaku Bunwa — ordering her to investigate what this way, she would have gone out to look into this problem on her own. After all, anything that had the ability to pump out ki that equalled the Imperial Seal that Tōtaku had stolen sometime ago from Seito would be of interest to ANY tōshi from ANY of the Seven Schools.
And whatever it was…
…it was on the train Shimei was currently riding on.
Taking her place at a seat some distance from her cousin, Hōsen relaxed herself as she began to scan around the train for whomever might be holding Shimei's attention…
"OH — YE — GODS!"
Hiromi and Shinobu both perked on seeing Chigaiko staring wide-eyed towards the back of the train. "What is it, Chigaiko-san?" the latter then asked.
"You are NOT going to believe who just walked onto the train," Chigaiko said as she nodded past them. "Ryofu Hōsen herself!"
Both women blinked. "Ryofu Hōsen?!" Shinobu squeaked.
Hiromi could only sigh. "Lǚ Bù. Lord Fèngxiān."
And given what she knew of THAT particular warrior's history…!
Let's only just hope there's no 'reception committee' awaiting us in Tomobiki itself, the reborn second-to-last Emperor of the Hàn Dynasty — her chosen "battle name" was Ryūkō Kyōrei, in tribute to that man's birth name (Liú Hóng) and his posthumous name (Xiàolíng); she would not take the name "Reitei" for herself as she did not feel worthy of being treated as an emperor — mused as we…
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(Posted Mon, 03 May 2010 04:36)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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