"How dare you…WWWHULF!"
That noise was courtesy of a well-aimed punch to a badly-bruised Moroboshi Kinshō's gut, which folded her in half and dropped her to the floor of the main hall in her family home. "Oh, shut up, you worthless piece of garbage!" the woman who had struck her snarled, her dark blue eyes flaring with ki. "That you made our Emperor cry over the actions of the alien monster Redet is enough to see your throat slit from ear to ear!" She then leaned closer to the shuddering woman. "However, Kyōrei-sama wishes you to live so that you will continue to suffer an empty home for your abuse of your son! Be grateful to that, Yamaguchi Kinshō!" And with a two-finger stab into the older woman's eyes to cause her blinding pain — and possibly damage her eyesight enough to cripple her for life — the tanned and well-formed girl with the raven hair straightened herself before she looked into the living room. "Almost done?"
"Yes, I'm done," the very tall, well-built and quite handsome man who had been casually snapping the bones in Moroboshi Muchi's body breathed out as he stood up, wiping his hands clean as he gazed contemptuously at the bleeding and bruised mass of humanity on the floor close to the living room table. Possessing a crew cut of solid black hair and dark brown eyes peeking out of a rugged face which would make many thing of him as an Oriental version of George Clooney, he — like his cousin who had torn apart Ataru's mother so casually while he was doing the same to Ataru's father — had a silver magatama hanging off the lower lobe of his left ear. "It's no wonder Hiromi-sama's brother acted up like he did, even with Negako-sama's presence in his subconscious mind. Who would like being in this house full of child abusers?"
"Pity there were all the other aliens in this town. The ones with the bomb," she noted as they walked out of the Moroboshi home. "If that bomb wasn't here, Ataru-kun would've cleared out of this place long ago! And STILL leave them to grow old and die alone!"
She smirked on hearing Kinshō moan. As her distant cousin laughed in delight, she then winked before summoning a ki ball to fling it through the open door into the main hall. A second later, it detonated with enough force to blow out several main support columns in the house. With a tired-sounding groan, the interior of the house collapsed onto itself, burying both of Ataru's parents under tonnes of debris. The visiting tōshi shielded their faces from any splinters or shards of fallen glass, but nothing came their way. As the smoke finally settled and nervous onlookers — who had given the visiting tōshi a VERY wide birth; their reputation as bad-ass fighters who wouldn't take any crap from anyone was well known across Kantō — began to hiss and whisper away at each other, both of them then gazed on a wide-eyed Kanzaki Ryūha.
"Remember this," the girl — born as Koro Mihyō, the third-year Gogun High School A-rank fighter was better known amongst her peers as "Ryūhyō Satokiō" — warned. "Next time you get involved in something that hurts our noble cousin…"
"It will be the last thing you do in this life," her cousin — born as Koro Uwagi, the third-year Yōshū A-rank fighter was known more commonly as "Ryūhyō Keishō" — finished.
With that, they walked past the stunned Ryūha before turning to head towards Tampopo's Rāmen and Beefbowl Bar, Uwagi offering his arm for Mihyō to take. As gay laughter filled the air, Ryūha slowly turned to stare wide-eyed at the handsome, part-Western twenty-something in the Armani business suit…who had calmly stood by as the spiritual cousins of his new clan matriarch had delivered some tōshi justice to Ataru's parents. "Well, good thing I brought these cheques," Yumoa Reigi stated as he slipped the envelopes into the nearby mailbox. "They'll need them."
"Wh-why…?" Ryūha sputtered.
Reigi stared at him. "There's a saying on the planet Noukiios. You should remember what Nassur-san said of that world." As the younger man gaped at him, the chief of staff for Toranoseishin Finances smirked. "'Treat someone like a pariah, he becomes a pariah,'" he then quoted. "Sooner or later — regardless of what Negako-sama was doing with him — Ataru-kun's tolerance for all of you treating him like you did would have reached its limits…and, to borrow the American phrase, he would have gone postal on all of you. Be thankful that such didn't come to pass. With the skills he inherited from Negako-sama, it would have been a bloodbath the equal of what happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki COMBINED back in 1945." And with that, he was off…
Meanwhile, at Tampopo's…
"So while Ataru-kun was distracting everyone in Tomobiki and hoping the Oni would finally come clean about some things — and Tariko-chan was off to this Sagussa planet to fulfil the obligation she (as Ataru-kun) had to them — Negako-sama and you were busy tracking down the Niphentaxians and other aliens who were here on Earth illegally."
Moroboshi Hiromi nodded. She, Shinobu and Chigaiko — joined by the Sebone cousins — were now relaxing at one booth inside Tampopo's. As a small crowd of onlookers warily watched events at that booth — though the stocky matron of the place made sure they weren't loitering; pretty waitresses were busy filling orders — they knew what was happening now was simply unprecedented when it came to the world of tōshi. Having joined their reborn emperor, her classmates and the Sebone cousins were the leaders of four of the Seven Battle Schools of Kantō: Tsukasa Torusuke (Sōsō Mōtoku) of Kyoshō, Koro Sonami (Ryūbi Gentoku) of Seito, On Tsuguta (Enshō Honsho) of Yoshū and Kokoni Kichimi (Ukitsu) of Gogun. As Shikuko and Mimōko could be seen as representing Rakuyō and Nan'yō respectively — the former was the second-rank tōshi of all of Kantō while the latter was one of the "Four Divas" of Nan'yō — this gathering could be interpreted by some of the onlookers as a council of war to help Hiromi seek out vengeance for all the things her brother had suffered at the hands of the people of Tomobiki over the last year because of Redet Lum.
Then again, Hiromi mused to herself as she took note of the people nearby whispering away to each other as they sent fearful looks at the tōshi with her now. People in Tomobiki — like many in Nerima when it comes to poor Ranma-san — always experience selective amnesia when it came to Onii-san…
"Indeed we did, Mōtoku-dono," Hiromi then stated as she sipped her tea. "We believe we got them all by the time the Noukiites were summoned here last week to whisk them away to Her Imperial Majesty's prison world of Hichkyech'eng, but Onē-sama believes there might be long-term observers from Phentax Two who have been here for decades and have so integrated themselves into surrounding society that sensing them out would be quite difficult even for her." A smirk. "Still — given what was discovered about one of those agents whom we encountered about two months ago in Britain — I don't believe the other stragglers (if they are there) are loyal to the so-called 'one true faith.'"
"Why would these people worship Lum-san, Hiromi-san?" Sonami asked. "Setting aside the fact that she can fly and can project bio-electric shocks from her body, she seemed quite normal to me from what I saw of her from the newscasts."
"Aye, cousin, she is quite normal in many aspects," Hiromi mused. "And because of that, I would have considered her as a potential wife for Onii-san in my capacity as Matriarch of the Clan." She scowled as what had recently happened concerning that woman — from what she had learned directly from Ataru when they had met a couple hours after Lum had been chased off back to Uru — replayed in her mind. "But given her insecurities when it comes to Onii-san — let alone her actions when Prince Rupa tried to claim her as his wife — I don't think it would have worked out in the long term."
"So what's this about the Nanban Forest, Hiromi-sama?" Tsuguta asked.
Hiromi smiled on hearing the leader of Yoshū address her by real name and not her battle name. Much that she understood the desire of her brother and sister tōshi to honour their past-selves, Negako had warned her that many of them were often too slavish about that for their own good. Anything the reborn Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn could do to wean them of such blind allegiance to their "fates" would be a good thing in the long term. "During our travels, Onē-sama sensed the souls of over thirty thousand of our lost brothers and sisters within that forest, Tsuguta-san," she explained. "Supposedly, when a tōshi dies, their soul is seized by whatever kami controls the forest, stripped of his or her sense of self, then preserved there. As for what, I can't say and Onē-sama has not had the chance to properly examine the forest to see what has caused all this. She did sense that there was a way to extract those souls and allow them to be reborn again. Hence, my quest for the Lóngyù."
"It is said to have the power to change a tōshi's destiny," Koeru Kumomi — Chōun Shiryū; she had been the one who had come with Sonami to this meeting as her personal bodyguard — noted. "Indeed, if it could do that…"
"But how would the souls be reborn, Hiromi-san?" Torusuke asked.
"Bioroids," Hiromi finished. "The Avalonians. You can sense what my body is like, I believe." As the others nodded — even an inexperienced and unwilling fighter like Sonami had been quick to note the slight difference of ki emanating from Hiromi in comparison to other people — the reborn emperor smiled. "With that, the ships Tsukihana-kun and Ayami-chan constructed prior to the liberation of the bioroid factory four months ago can be properly crewed and our planet better shielded from whatever is out there that might come to threaten us all. Given our experiences with the Oni…"
The others nodded. One only had to have reviewed all the major events between the Tag Races to understand the implications of what the presence of aliens on Earth could mean in the long term. Especially if it grew out of acute cases of misunderstanding as witness what happened when the Stormtroopers had called down that space-taxi to take them to Uru after the First Tag Race…to say anything of how Lum had been willing to hold all of Earth hostage to force Ataru to admit that he loved her in public not a week before. "How long will that field protecting our planet stay up?" Kichimi asked.
"As long as required, Kichimi-san," Hiromi mused. "The Academician bears no allegiance to anyone save her counterparts in the Circle of Thought on Yiziba. Given that she is one of 'They Who Must Never Be Named'…" — she winked as the others laughed on hearing that nickname for the Yizibajohei — "…and that 'You Know Where' is not a member-state of the Galactic Federation, there's simply no way that anyone could persuade her to lower the shield and allow travellers passing our system to do as they have done before. And with Nassur-san firmly supporting our side of the argument, many of the Federation's leaders would be loath to cross him. He has quite the reputation of honesty and standing for his convictions; that is backed by his success rate in hunting down miscreants who have fled due justice for their crimes."
"So what would you need from us?" Tsuguta asked.
"Need? Nothing at all, Tsuguta-san," Hiromi answered, which made him gape at her and Torusuke and Sonami giggle while Kichimi and the Sebone cousins all grinned. "What I would ASK of you all is your assistance in helping defend the planet against those who could get past that shield." She sipped her tea. "Fortunately for us, most races who might be interested in our world use some form of antimatter fuel to propel their warp drive systems, so the Academician's shield can catch them at the Ceres orbit line."
"It leaves those who don't use that sort of drive system," Torusuke noted.
"Aye."
Everyone paused to consider that for a moment, and then Mimōko sighed. "Well, I'm not sure I can speak for all of Nan'yō, but I think they'd want to join up," the raven-haired tomboy mused. "It's for a very good cause and past loyalties to you would immediately attract their interest, Hiromi-san." Hiromi had advised the older woman to stop being so formal with her. "I don't know about the others, though…"
"Many at Kyoshō would volunteer," Torusuke confirmed.
"Ditto with Gogun," Kichimi noted. "Tsukasa-kun?"
The leader of Yoshū nodded. "Aye. We will not turn our backs to this." To Shikuko. "What of Rakuyō, Shikuko-san? Would Suguta-san go for this?"
"He might," Shikuko mused. "This is something that doesn't concern things like the Great Fighters Tournament or his standing amongst tōshi. Look at the Attendants and the Kōshi Kasshi. They proved that we could escape our fates if we're just cautious about it. This would give us an opportunity to do just that."
"What about Yōshū, Nanban and the other schools?" Kichimi asked with a frown.
Everyone then perked on sensing a pair of powerful ki nexi approach the front door. "Well, given that one of my other noble cousins attends Yōshū at this time, I think the word could be spread out amongst them," Hiromi said as her eyes twinkled in amusement as the door opened to allow Koro Uwagi and Koro Mihyō to walk inside. "Would you not agree to that, Uwagi-san?!" she then called out towards him.
The reborn governor of Jīngzhōu perked on hearing that, and then he went to one knee as he gave his reborn emperor a fist-in-palm salute. "Forgive me, Majesty, but I did not understand your question," he stated. "What do you desire me to agree to?"
Everyone — even the other patrons — gaped at him before Mihyō roared with laughter. As the other tōshi and Hiromi's friends snickered, Uwagi blinked. "What's so funny?!"
The laughter increased…
An hour later…
"I should apologise for that, cousin. I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that."
Uwagi smirked as he, Mihyō and Sonami relaxed in Hiromi's guest bedroom on the second floor of the building holding Tampopo's above the main restaurant, all enjoying tea. All the others had gone back to their homes a half-hour before to give the Koro cousins a chance to spend some "family time" with their reborn kinsman and emperor. "Don't apologise for that, Hiromi-san." He then sighed before sipping his tea. "Given what I can sense of your feelings and desires when it comes to the issue of how our souls have been reborn and reborn throughout the years since the Three Kingdoms era, anything that makes you laugh and feel joy would do you much good in the long term."
"I'm forced to agree with that," Mihyō added. "Much that I understand you wanting to repent the actions of your past-life, there is such a thing as feeling TOO guilty, Hiromi-chan. It's not going to do you or your family any good in the long run."
Hiromi breathed out. "Aye. You make a good point, cousin." On hearing her call her that, the reborn Worthy King of the Left deeply blushed; in their first lives eighteen centuries ago, Liú Bào was the son of a Xiōngnú chieftain and was no blood relation to the ruling family of the Middle Kingdom at the time. In this life, Mihyō was blood related to both Uwagi and Sonami, so — given Hiromi's desire to recognise her spiritual kinship to the Koro Clan — her calling Mihyō "cousin" was to be expected.
Still, to actually HEAR something like that from the reborn Liú Hóng…!
"So Reigi-san delivered their money to them?" Hiromi then asked as she gazed on Uwagi.
"He did," Uwagi answered with a smirk before sipping his tea. "The fool who delivered Redet's suicide note to you watched it happen. He won't be bothering you again."
"If he does…!" Mihyō threatened.
Sonami sighed. "I just wish it didn't have to happen THIS way," she mused.
"It is good to show compassion, Sonami-san," Hiromi noted. "But a line has to be drawn between those who deserve such compassion…and those who don't." She sat back in her chair. "Onii-san doesn't hate his parents. He understands their grief at the loss of Kaeru-san so long ago. But given their verbal abuse towards him since that time, whatever love he might have held for them disappeared long before Lum-san came into our lives. They should have expected that sooner or later, Onii-san would have walked out of that place once and for all, leaving them alone for the rest of their years. That might actually explain their actions with Lum-san's parents six months ago aboard the Kashin when we encountered Queen Elle." A shrug. "Well, it was their choice and they now have to learn the consequences of that choice. All of them. I will not shed any tears for them, nor waste my time with them anymore. Neither should you."
"Unless they try to stir up the pot again," Uwagi warned.
"They did strike me as being quite stubborn about things," Mihyō added.
Hiromi sighed. No doubt, her A-rank cousins were hoping to get some sort of "imperial order" to be more lethal when it came to Ataru's parents. And while she knew that Ataru simply didn't want to have anything to do with them anymore, she also knew he didn't want them to be killed. "If they are, they will only show all around them what idiots they are. Don't waste too much energy when it comes to them."
Sonami was quick to notice the slight flash of disappointment in her cousins' eyes. Even if she was basically a bookworm and loathed violence with a passion, she could read people very well when given the chance. Uwagi and Mihyō were looking at Ataru's parents as a potential threat to Hiromi. In the viewpoint of most tōshi, any person that they saw as a threat was to be targeted and killed as quickly as possible. It could be seen as extreme paranoia to normal people…though most fighters would simply view it as being cautious. If people would only just calm down and think it out for a change, we wouldn't have situations like what happened to poor Ryomō-san's friend in the last Tournament, she mused to herself before finishing her tea.
"Oh, enough about that!" Mihyō then mused. "So, Hiromi-chan, tell us: Those seriously hot babes that were waitressing in the restaurant? Are they…?"
"Avalonians. Hai, Mihyō-san, they are," Hiromi nodded. "Why? Isn't chasing after Mienka-san not enough for you, cousin?! Honestly…!"
Uwagi and Sonami laughed as Mihyō — who had a reputation like Sebone Shikuko's when it came to being sexually promiscuous — blushed while we…
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:57)
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.