(Writer's Note: Despite the fact that Hiromi does have an Ikkitōsen-style battle-name (Ryūkō Kyōrei), I will be addressing her as "Hiromi" and not "Kyōrei" in the narrative. All other tōshi will be addressed by battle-name [either the style name in cases like Ryomō Shimei and Ryofu Hōsen or the combined family/given name with people such as Gakushū]. As to how people will address her in conversation, it will depend on how the person would view her. G.)
Tomobiki…
Stepping out of the Tomobiki-chūō train station, Hiromi, Shinobu and Chigaiko were all smiles as they turned to head down the street towards the downtown restaurant district, which was located close to Tomobiki High School. "So you're hoping to use this Dragon Jade thing to go to this cave under Nanban High School out in the Izu-shotō to free the trapped spirits there and let them inhabit the bodies your friends on Okusei recovered from the You-Know-Whos, right?" Chigaiko asked as they walked in line of review towards Tampopo's Ramen and Beefbowl Shop, where Hiromi was currently living.
"Hai," Hiromi affirmed with a nod. "From what Onē-sama told me about those spirits, they were so badly affected by what happened to them that whatever sense of self-identity they might have has been totally wiped out." She shook her head as her eyes misted over. "Not even remembering their names, much less their past lives…"
"That's horrible," Shinobu breathed out as she gazed in sympathy at her new friend. "Do you have any idea what started all this in the first place, Hiromi-chan?!"
"I wish I did…"
"ATARU!"
Hiromi moaned on hearing that screaming voice, and then she spun around, her hand cupping as ki formed over the palm. "SEISHIN SHURIKEN ARASHI!"
Bolts of star-shaped energy lashed out from her hand to slam into the bodies of the four senior members of Lum's Stormtroopers, staggering all of them as their attempt to mass-jump the reborn Emperor Lìng was stopped right in its tracks. As Megane, Chibi, Perm and Kakugari all collapsed to the ground as they gripped their now-bruised bodies, Shinobu immediately shifted herself into a more protective position in relation to Hiromi, while Chigaiko moved to nearly drape herself on the tōshi's right side. "Oh, HONESTLY, you idiots!" Ataru's former girlfriend snapped at her classmates. "Why are you always trying to do that to her?! You know she's not Ataru…!"
"LIES!" Megane screamed as he bolted back to his feet and pointed accusingly at Hiromi. "ALL LIES! THIS IS JUST ATARU'S LATEST ATTEMPT AT HURTING LUM-SAN! TAKING HER AWAY FROM US AND SENDING HER BACK BROKEN-HEARTED TO HER HOME PLANET, AWAY FROM THOSE WHO REALLY CARE FOR HER! HOW DARE YOU STAND IN THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND PREVENT US FROM PERFORMING OUR SACRED DUTY…?!"
"SEISHIN-HASAI HI-KŌSEN!"
Megane screamed as a bolt of green ki lashed out from Hiromi's hand, lancing right at him. Only Perm's quick reflexes were enough to save the leader of the Stormtroopers from being hit by the Spirit-Breaker Fire-Light attack; the bolt sailed over their bodies to slam into a tree, leaving a faint burn-mark there. Before the four men could recover, they then wailed as a car of all things sailed in their direction. "GET OUT OF HERE, YOU MINDLESS FREAKS!" Shinobu screamed out.
The Stormtroopers all scrambled to their feet and ran away as fast as they could before they got buried under a tonne of steel. Panting heavily after using her ki-charged strength to get rid of the four nerds, Shinobu then blinked as she felt a warm set of arms embrace her from behind. "My hero!" Hiromi cooed into her ear before giving her a kiss on the cheek, which made Shinobu's whole body turn tomato-red.
Chigaiko laughed, as did people around them while Shinobu tried her best to not to totally embarrass herself while still enjoying Hiromi's hug. Then, before anyone else could react, a blur nearly slammed into Shinobu, knocking Hiromi clear as the passionate voice of the town's richest scion gasped, "Shinobu-san! Please, don't let…!"
CRUNCH! "GET LOST, YOU MINDLESS FOOL!"
One rich idiot — and yes, that was Mendō Shūtarō — into lower Earth orbit in the blink of an eye. The three women watched him go, and then they all sighed. "I don't understand it," Hiromi mused as she reached over to rub Shinobu's shoulders; doing this gave her empathic powers a chance to surge into her friend's body to calm her down. "I explained everything about what was discovered about Onii-san and how it affected Onē-sama and myself the first day in class! Why can't they see the truth?"
"They don't WANT to see the truth, Hiromi-chan!" Chigaiko said as she gazed sympathetically at her. "Atop that, look what you did to 'Lum' when she tried to instigate that second Tag Race. Anything that hurts Lum in their eyes is evil!"
A shrug. "I only did what was necessary…!"
A week before…
"…not be allowed to fly higher than the mushroom caps!"
"Geez! That's got to be like fifty-seven metres! Right?!"
"Naah! More like sixty-two!"
Hearing the comments from the crowd around him, Moroboshi Ataru remained quite still as his eyes focused on the green-haired woman in the tiger-striped bikini about five metres away. Ignoring the mix of looks from his classmates and the other hangers-on who had interacted the most with him over the last year or so — especially when it also came to his living with a certain Oni — he felt the ki in his body move to harden his muscles to the point where his skin would now be bulletproof.
After so long, it was WONDERFUL to finally tap into the gift Onē-sama had given him.
BANG!
"START!"
As Lum leapt into the air, Ataru's hands came up nearly at the speed of sound.
KK-KRACK! KK-KRACK!
EVERYONE in the middle of town winced as many reached for their ears as they quaked hard thanks to the ki-charged sonic boom that had echoed from Ataru's hands as the bony horn-buds he had recovered from the scene of Lum's kidnapping a few days before by Prince Rupa of the planet Yaminokuni were crushed. Of course, the extra ki boost to make the noise loud and clear to all around him wasn't really necessary. Given what he had learned six months ago during a delightful little two-month vacation he had taken from the madness of Tomobiki, the one who he wanted to target with the act that signified a final divorce among Oni would still be able to hear him even from the range Lum was at now.
And she did.
As people turned back to morbidly watch, Lum collapsed to her knees, her eyes wide and her skin a sallow shade as a look of stunned disbelief crossed her face. As the strength in her body seemed to flow out from her, she didn't react as Ataru calmly walked up behind her, clearly unbothered by what he had just done. Before people — especially Lum's alien friends like Benten, Oyuki and Ran — could react to what was happening, his hands reached out and made their mark.
"Tag."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then…
"HEY! HE TAGGED HER HORNS! HE SAVED THE DAY!"
Everyone exchanged looks, and then a wild scream of relief escaped the crowds around Ataru. He remained in place, his hands now pulled away from Lum's horns as he allowed the cheers and whoops to wash over him, and then he turned to walk away from her, heading back to where a stunned Rupa was now standing, the smoking starter's gun still in his hand as he stared wide-eyed at the Terran onigokko champion. Noting that look, Ataru then allowed a mirthless smile to cross his face.
Oh, yes. Clearly, Rupa KNEW what shattering an Oni's horn-buds meant.
Finally, the cheers died off as people turned to gaze on the two men staring at each other, the Terran clearly expecting something and the alien still stunned silent by what his so-called "rival" for Lum's hand in marriage had just done. Silence then fell as people seemed to expect something. Ataru remained rock still as he gazed intently at Rupa, his only motion an arched eyebrow. Still nothing from the Yaminokuni prince.
And then…
"I see."
Silence.
"You see what, Ataru-kun?"
Ataru smirked as he turned to gaze on Shinobu. "My dear Shinobu-chan, it's quite obvious, of course." He then gazed intently at Rupa. "We were lied to." He then waved around him to indicate the alien fungi now growing out of every building around them. "He won't summon his pigs to clean up the mushrooms here!"
More silence.
Still more silence.
And then…
"WHAT?!"
Rupa awked as he sensed THOUSANDS of people glare death at him. Before he could squawk out a protest, his megaphone was seized by Ataru, and then he was backhanded by the Terran to send him flying over three metres away to crash into the ground at the feet of some very irate citizens. Before he could recover, before Carla could yank out her handy anti-personnel missile launcher to save her beloved, before anyone could do anything, Ataru cupped the device to his lips and shouted to the heavens:
"MOST NOBLE LORDS AND LADIES OF THE HEAVENS! WILL YOU JOIN US?!"
Suddenly, the skies over Tomobiki darkened as a guttural chorus of growls and roars began to shake the ground as if the Great Kantō Earthquake had decided to revisit. As people began to scream and wail in fear, the darkness melted into DOZENS of flying reptilian creatures, the smallest of which was as long as an aircraft carrier! Eyes spun up to look as several of those awesome entities turned to peer down at them with whiskered and hair-lined reptilian heads that were as big as the average family home. One of them, a massive creature as long as a country mile with crimson-red scales and a look of bemused wisdom flashing in his deep green eyes, seemed to focus on Ataru directly. Noting that, Ataru placed the megaphone on the ground, and then went to one knee, placing his left fist in his open right hand in a solemn salute as he bowed his head. Seeing THAT, people fell silent as they gazed in disbelief and awe at Tomobiki's most infamous resident.
«YOU REQUESTED OUR PRESENCE HERE, YE OF THREE SOULS?»
Everyone gasped on hearing that booming voice echo in their minds, and then they turned to see Ataru gaze up at the crimson dragon gazing upon him. "As I did, Lord Nengmek'i," he solemnly declared, which earned him shocked gasps from Lum's friends. "As my friends on Oku-ch'ehek so warned me months ago, the barbarians of the so-called 'Galactic Federation' planets will do only what pleases them, not what is right and proper. I humbly ask you and all those who came with you today to help us redress this crime." He then waved around him. "You can see what has happened."
«SO WE HAVE!» that voice boomed over Tomobiki as a strange fire seemed to glow in the crimson one's eyes. «AND WE DO NOT APPROVE! VERY WELL, THEN! THE FUNGI OF THE DARK LAND WILL BE CLEANSED FROM THIS WORLD!»
"May I humbly offer you an appetiser, Lord Nengmek'i?"
An eyebrow arched. «AN APPETISER?»
Ataru waved to Rupa. "This one's pigs." As the Yaminokuni prince squawked in horror at what was about to be done, the Terran waved up to where his flock of now-shivering pigs were seated atop one of the large mushrooms growing out of Tomobiki High School. "To teach him never to ignore his proper responsibilities to those less powerful than he."
A nod. «A JUST PUNISHMENT, INDEED! VERY WELL! WE WILL TAKE THEM AS WELL! AND IF THOSE WHO WOULD PERPETUATE SUCH A CRIME DONE ON INNOCENT BEINGS — OR SUPPORT SUCH A CRIME — DO NOT VACATE THIS WORLD AND VOW NEVER TO RETURN…!» — A morbid chuckle then seemed to rattle Tomobiki to its foundations and send chills down everyone's backs — «…THEN THEY SHALL EXPLAIN ALL THEIR MISDEEDS BEFORE THE KING OF KINGS WHEN THEY ARE EATEN!»
"LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!"
People spun around to watch Ran race off towards her spaceship home, followed by a daintily-running Oyuki and Benten on her airbike, the latter dragging a STILL-dazed Lum with her by her sash chain as they made a break for it…
Shinobu and Chigaiko were both laughing hard as they recalled what happened that day. "You remember the looks on the idiots' faces when they saw no sign of Lum or any of her friends after the smoke finally settled and all the mushrooms were gone?!" the latter then asked the former before laughing. "And what was worse, when they came to the school to do their 'ventora, ventora' summons to get a space-taxi here…?!"
"…and they only got a note saying, 'We aren't picking up fares on planets where DRAGONS live! Get another cab!'" the former finished before keeling over in giggles.
"A pity I wasn't here to see that," Hiromi lamented.
The other girls howled. "Hey! We'll have a pyjama party one day and we'll let you mind-probe all of us so you could see it for yourself!" Chigaiko promised…
…as a voice called out, "Excuse me."
The three stopped as…
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(Posted Tue, 04 May 2010 05:03)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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