In her mind, Ryomi berated herself for having made such a stupid mistake. She had had Saotome Ranma within her reach - and then *let her go*. The reasoning sounded perfect to her at the time. Destroy Ranma not all at once but undermine her slowly. Painfully. Make her suffer, as with all the suffering Ryomi held Ranma accountable for. Ryomi left the Fuurinkan courtyard shortly after confronting Ranma and making her declaration... but not before stopping to pull aside another student in order to learn the identity of the boy who was, apparently, Ranma's friend. If the boy wanted to put himself at great risk by staying so close to Ranma, then so be it! Then she found out *why* Tendo Ayumi remained with Ranma. They were engaged to be married, of their parents' arrangement. Ryomi frowned. Most likely a marriage of convenience. Oh, if she hadn't miscalculated her own hair-trigger temper and ability to get lost in no time at all! Taking Ranma out while she had the chance would have done wonders for all that burning anger stored away inside her. She wasn't sure which was worse... being able to think clearly, or letting her destructive temper take over. Ryomi trudged through the middle of a forest far too overgrown to let much sunlight through the canopy of trees, so caught in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice or care. It wasn't the first time she found herself wandering through places like this. In one hand, at her side, she held a pair of walnuts from her food supplies in a tight grip - an impromptu stress reliever, as it were. Ranma would not be able to escape her vengeance this time. The Saotome girl was responsible for all her suffering and an indirect cause of the latest curse to ruin her life. She would crush Saotome Ranma as easily and readily as she could one of the walnuts, which crumbled in between her thumb and forefinger. As soon as she found her way back. Destiny's Wish Part Six: It's Never That Easy written by Mike Koos ------------------------------ Ranma sat on the deck outside the Tendo family room, gazing up into the stars... they were quite an impressive sight, what she could see of them. A few feet away in the family room, Naka and Ayumi were in the middle of an evening tea-and-potato chip break. "You *sure* you don't know what that Hibiki girl's so upset about?" Ayumi thought to ask. "Not a clue," sighed Ranma. Earlier in the day she'd received a letter of challenge from Ryomi, saying that Ryomi would be back soon to make her life miserable. She didn't need *Ryomi* for that; Ayumi was already doing such a wonderful job... "This vendetta she's got against you is unnatural." Ayumi noticed the envelope from Ryomi's letter in Ranma's left hand. After a moment of brooding, Ranma hit on what she thought to be the answer. "You remember now?" a hopeful Ayumi asked. Naka edged closer. "This I've gotta hear." "It was back at the girls' private school we both went to..." Three lowlifes were chasing a young girl down one street after another. The girl wore the uniform of the private girls' school in the area, and her name... was Hibiki Ryomi. Ryomi played up the 'helpless girl' act, leading the toughs around. They had been harassing a great deal of girls from the school lately, so Ryomi wanted to teach them a lesson. They probably would forget it one to three girls later - but at least they would think twice before hitting on another girl. One more turn and they would be in a dead end where Ryomi planned to turn the tide on her attackers. She never made it. Another girl, wearing the same uniform as she and a small ponytail of hair reigned in by a simple ribbon landed in front of the trio and began to take them on one by one. Ryomi's mouth fell open in a mixture of shock and anger; this was *her* fight! Who was this girl that dared to interfere? The mystery girl held her own against the boys, until they eventually gave up and ran away, leaving her with a full load of empty threats. The girl then walked to Ryomi's side to check on her. "You okay? They won't be bothering you anymore--" Already at the boiling point, Ryomi cut her short with a sweep of the hand. "What did you do THAT for?" she yelled. "I was about to beat them up myself! I didn't need your help!" "Yeah, sure you didn't." The girl cocked her head to one side. The nerve... "Who are you?" "Saotome Ranma," the girl straightened herself and dusted off her uniform. Ryomi repeated the name. "I will never forget this," she growled. "No need to thank me," Ranma said, and then was gone, leaving Ryomi to fume alone in the middle of the street. "Sounds innocent enough," Naka offered. "Yeah, but that wasn't all. I wound up saving her over and over again, and finally that was when she challenged me. I think she would've been a lot happier if I hadn't butted in." Ayumi sat beside Ranma. "I know the feeling." She sent him reeling back into the family room with a single punch to the face. "Shut up, baka!" Naka, meanwhile, was speed-reading Ryomi's letter. "Ranma? I don't suppose you've read this?" "I did, why?" "This says she was supposed to arrive like sometime yesterday." "Oh, that," Ranma grinned. "No biggie. Ryomi's got this REALLY lousy sense of direction. I found out about it right before Dad and I left for China. She'll probably take another week or two just getting back." "Thank you. I'm off to Tokyo now..." "No, not that way! I keep telling you it's this way!" The farmer exhaled. Here he was, wasting valuable time getting his vegetables to market by helping an idiot who couldn't get her directions straight! "Oops," Ryomi blushed. "That would've been a big mistake!" She deliberated, and set off on the same trail again, running. "Thanks for the help!" "Wait! You're going the wrong..." Ah, forget it. She wanted to be lost, so why delay the girl any longer? ** ** ** One week later, Ryomi made her way back to the Fuurinkan High School grounds, after hours. Only this time she hadn't come to fight Ranma. She had come to call out Ayumi. "What's this all about?" Ayumi asked her, trying to buy some time. Shouldn't this be Ranma's fight? Ranma had gone to change into one of her Chinese fighting outfits just in case; she disliked fighting in her school uniform - too many loose ends to get in the way. She hadn't been as careful in the uniform from her last school, the one she and Ryomi attended, but at the time she wasn't also paranoid about whether or not she could be changed into a boy at the time. "I vowed to eliminate Ranma's happiness for all that she's forced me to endure. You, Tendo Ayumi, are part of that happiness." He figured Ranma might have something to say to the contrary, but kept his mouth shut. Ryomi was quick to find her temper, Ayumi knew, and it was best not to incite her just yet. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ranma running onto the field. "I won't fight a girl," he said. "Then you're a fool," Ryomi narrowed her eyes. "I mean to destroy you!" She brought her umbrella to bear, swinging it at him, but Ayumi easily dodged Ryomi's strikes. Kunou was more precise and coordinated with his wooden sword; Ayumi had had plenty of practice avoiding those types of attacks. By contrast Ryomi was not aiming for precision but blunt, more forceful hits that affected a wider area, like fighting with a club or baseball bat. Ranma's voice rang out. "Hold it!" She ran to confront Ryomi. "Ryomi, what do you think you're doing?" "What does it look like I'm doing? Didn't I say I would rid you of your happiness?" a fleeting smile came to Ranma. "This isn't because I beat up all those guys for you, is it?" They could see the anger rising within her. "Is THAT what you think? No, Ranma! What you have done to me is far worse!" Passing on Ayumi, Ryomi made a lunge for Ranma. "Me? What did *I* do?" "The time for talk is OVER! Shut up and fight!" Spectators watched Ryomi try to carve up the inside of Ranma's stomach... yet Ranma was faster, making sure to stay just out of the range of the umbrella in order to frustrate Ryomi. The two girls leapt to cross blows in midair. "Tell me what this is all about!" demanded Ranma. "It's about me, sending you to *Hell*!" Ranma landed. "So I guess you won't tell me why, huh?" Ryomi popped her umbrella open and sent it spinning toward Ranma, snorting a laugh. "You can wonder all the way to your grave!" As Ranma dodged Ryomi was there to secure a bandanna around Ranma's wrist to serve as handcuffs. "There! Now you can't run and hide this time!" The routine was starting to wear thin on Ranma. "Oh, shut up, already! YOU'RE the one who keeps running off and getting lost!" In a surge of strength she ripped apart the bandanna connecting them. Meanwhile, crowds were gathering all around to watch the fight; a match with Ayumi or his iinazuke, Ranma, versus anyone else promised to be an ideal spectator event. People who had come for that purpose were lined up all the way to the fences at the end of the field in which the fight was currently taking place, some having brought snacks or drinks. Yuka and Sayuri were in the crowd, watching, as were Daisuke and Hiroshi. Unfortunately, in everyone's desire to keep their eyes on the fight - well, it was free admission, wasn't it? - no one had bothered to track the path of Ryomi's umbrella after she sent it flying to distract Ranma. Somehow, somewhere, Ryomi had learned to turn the umbrella into a dangerous weapon and could even fling it around like a boomerang, so that she was hardly ever far away from her trusted weapon. This time she hadn't thrown it with a specific target in mind; it flew into the air - not quite making it over the boundary fence it came closest to but went *through* it instead, swinging back around through another section of fence then dipping into the unsuspecting crowd directly below. A handful of boys narrowly missed being carved up by the whirling top before it lost momentum and fell over, closing itself. Out in the middle of the battlefield Ryomi was becoming frustrated trying to hit Ranma, who dodged everything... one lesson Ayumi and Ranma seemingly had taught each other. "Hey, what's with this umbrella? I can't even lift it!" Yuka turned around. "Hiroshi!" She noticed the boy straining to lift Ryomi's umbrella off the ground. What did he hope to accomplish by doing that, anyway? Ayumi's friends could be such idiots sometimes... but anything to help, right? "Yuka-chan..." Daisuke looked embarrassed. "We were just trying to lift this thing... y'know, for fun... but it's too heavy!" "Oh, please!" scoffed Yuka. Sayuri stood behind her with a dubious stare, her brown ponytail swaying back in forth in what little breeze there was. "You're both wimps!" If they couldn't lift a simple *umbrella*... "I suppose YOU could lift it?" "I can try..." Yuka bent at the knees to make her attempt. Surprise! She couldn't lift it either; it *was* too heavy! But if it was this impossible to lift, how could Ryomi wield it with one hand? Could Ranma do the same? Perhaps their friend was in real danger! "Ranma!" she cupped her hands around her mouth, hoping that her voice made it over the noise of the crowd. "Don't get too close to her!" The distraction gave Ryomi a chance to go for Ranma's head. Ranma leaned to one side, but not fast enough to avoid the very edge of her opponent's thumbnail. A line of blood formed below Ranma's eye. Ryomi tightened her smile. She was making progress. "Okay, that's it," Ranma put a thumb to her mouth. It wouldn't do to have blood trickling down her cheek in the middle of a fight... rubbing a little saliva on the wound would have to do to keep the blood down for now. "I'm tired of the games. You wanna fight for real? Okay. We'll fight for real." Ryomi laughed. "It's about time! I was getting tired of holding back!" When Ranma didn't take the bait, she moved to strike Ranma again in the face. Ranma would do *more* than just bleed... "You're too slow!" But Ranma had already ducked down, faster than her eyes could see, and swept Ryomi's feet away from her. "So tell me, when're you gonna stop holding back?" Ryomi righted herself. "Why, you......" She checked around for her weapon and dived for it. Ranma and Ayumi's friends were the last to run from the area. Yuka watched in amazement as Ryomi briskly tossed the umbrella's handle from one hand to the other as though it were no heavier than a normal umbrella. Just how strong were these two combatants? Yuka and Sayuri had never bothered to ask. Ayumi's two friends, on the other hand... Speaking of the Tendo boy, where was he? He was supposed to be engaged to Ranma, and he couldn't protect her from harm? While she fought, maybe for her life, was he off somewhere *hiding*? Yuka put the question to Hiroshi and Daisuke, though far more politely. Hiroshi scanned the field. "I dunno - I can't see him anywhere." "Me either," agreed Daisuke and Sayuri. Ranma cartwheeled just into Ryomi's range and, planting both hands on the ground, executed a solid mule-kick into Ryomi's chin. Ryomi flew off into another bank of students, scattering them. Ayumi was there as Ryomi sat up. "Tell me... why are you doing this? Why do you want to hurt Ranma?" She fixed him with a glare of contempt. "I don't have to tell you." Ryomi stood, intending to return to her fight with Ranma. Ayumi caught her firmly by the arm instead. A look of annoyance rose in her eyes. "You'd better tell me. I'm not going to let you attack Ranma just for the fun of it. I don't usually fight girls, but I will fight you if I have to." a tiny voice in his mind asked. Sticking up for Ranma, he supposed. But why? Did she need him to do this? No. So then why do it? "Your loyalty to her's touching," said Ryomi with scorn. "But if you want to try to stop me, go right ahead. After that I can finish my fight with Ranma." "You think that highly of yourself?" Ryomi held her gaze steady. "Don't we all? You must, if you think you can fight me." "No." Well, if the boy *wanted* to fight her, the least she could do was punch him a few times. However... anyone engaged to Ranma probably wasn't bound to be a pushover or a coward. Ayumi had already proven he wasn't a coward. But anyone could *talk* tough... like those guys who'd always harassed her and other girls. "Fine. Prepare yourself, then!" She attacked. For now, she was refraining from using any of her special weapons; no sense in going all-out against an opponent who wouldn't be able to withstand such an assault. The boy put on a show of easily avoiding all her punches and kicks. Something he'd learned from Ranma, no doubt! Okay, fine, on to Level Two... At that instant Ayumi landed a weak blow to her stomach. Strong enough to break her rhythm and knock the wind out of her for a few seconds - his gentlemanly policy of not fighting a girl was still keeping him from fighting her effectively. From the look on his face, Ryomi guessed that would change if she kept up the attack. "*Ayumi*!" yelled Ranma. Oh, there she was. "What do you think you're doing?" "Oh, nothing much," Ayumi pretended not to be concerned. "You?" Ryomi took to using her umbrella before he finished speaking. "Who asked YOU to get involved!? This is MY fight!" Sayuri and Yuka stepped forward to hold Ranma back. "Shh! He's defending your honor! Isn't that great?" Ranma scowled. "I can defend my own honor." The three girls watched Ryomi try a four-corner umbrella jab against Ayumi. "I'll bet! But why don't you see if Ayumi-kun can do it for once? You *are* supposed to be engaged to him..." "That wasn't my idea!" the martial artist protested. Sayuri gave her friend a lopsided grin. "We know! You said that already!" Reluctantly, Ranma gave in. Hadn't she told Sayumi and Yuka-chan a little about honor, pride and the martial artists' code already? They were always telling her how cool it was that she had martial-arts training and knew how to fight and all that stuff... yet they didn't take it as seriously as she did. Why should they? Let innocents remain innocent... She definitely had a dilemma on her hands. On one hand, as a girl she was expected to default to the man in the relationship - in this case, Ayumi, if you could call him a man. On the other hand, she was an independent tomboy of a trained martial artist and didn't need Ayumi or anyone else to fight her battles for her. How would Dad take this? With her luck he'd probably take the angle that since they became engaged, her fights also became Ayumi's fights. Dad and Mr. Tendo would praise Ayumi for being such a gentleman and defending the honor of his iinazuke. Was there any way - *any* way at all she could win? And the curse... the Tendo family had accepted it without much doing, but she refused to tell anyone else, not even Sayuri and Yuka. Well, there was Dr. Tofu, but Ranma wasn't sure if the good Doctor knew her secret. All the same, maybe Tofu-sensei knew an ancient cure or something to help her cope with this curse. If she did discuss it with Tofu-sensei, it'd have to be a serious discussion... Kasuga would have to stay at home. The thought brought a smile to her face. Oh, and keep Ayumi far away. Dad, too, because he worked at the clinic. She couldn't confide in him for anything anyway... Ayumi and Ryomi's game of attack-and-miss was far from over. Why were they both holding back? Well... Ranma was aware Ayumi held back because of his gentleman's code, although he did seem to be a fair enough match for Ryomi. But Ryomi... Ryomi had come to fight *her*, not Ayumi! That couldn't be the reason why Ryomi was pulling her punches, so to speak, against Ayumi - especially if this vendetta was about her finishing Ryomi's fights for her and then the missed fight. In that case, why even bother fighting Ayumi at all? Because he was a boy? Who better to ask these questions than her? Ryomi blocked two of Ayumi's kicks with first the back of her hand, then a foot, amazed. She could tell Ayumi was more powerful than he let on. That was precisely what she did, however, as she tripped while stepping back with her guard raised, falling onto her back... the grass a raw presence at the back of her neck. Ayumi took advantage of the opening, leaping in to deliver a swipe with the side of one of his feet. Ryomi rolled to her left, then pushed her umbrella up at Ayumi before he could land. The umbrella cut a diagonal opening in Ayumi's shirt from chest to shoulder. "Aww, man, this is my favorite shirt, too!" Ryomi hopped back to catch her breath. "Do you *always* act like a girl in the middle of a fight?" Okay, maybe that wasn't the wisest thing to say while fighting a guy who was a better fighter than she'd originally thought. Her mind and her mouth occasionally worked independently of each other. Something about the wording of Ryomi's insult angered Ayumi. "Did you just call me a *girl*!?" Suddenly, there was a brand-new ferocity to Ayumi Ranma hadn't seen before. He charged Ryomi, delivering a one-two kick in midair. Ryomi somehow managed to avoid the kicks. She ran in the opposite direction, bounding over one of the boundary fences to escape. Ayumi bounded after her. "Hey! Come back here! I didn't hear an apology!" Ranma got to her feet and ran after the two of them before Sayuri and Yuka could restrain her. "*Ayumi*!!" Yuka and Sayuri looked at each other. "Maybe she *does* care about what happens to him!" Sayuri grinned. Yuka nodded. "Umm..." she added after another thought. "Shouldn't we be following them to see what happens?" "Yuka!" admonished Sayuri. "Everyone *else* is!" This was true. Most of the crowds had thinned out, leaving few people in the field with them. Ranma was able to catch up with Ryomi beside one of the school's outdoor water fountain stalls. "You shouldn't have called him a girl," she told Ryomi. "He *really* hates that." "Get lost," Ryomi replied, although she wanted to know why Ayumi felt the way he did. "HIBIKI!" a voice came from above. Both girls glanced up with a start. Ayumi, still quite angry, was descending on Ryomi with a foot extended for a kick. Ryomi scrambled out of the way, leaving Ayumi to plow straight into the water fountain. Ranma yelped as the water began shooting out at her. The column of water that took the place of the water fountain could be seen from a distance, rising nearly twenty feet into the air. No one knew what to make of it. Ryomi used her umbrella to deflect the water away from her; one of the few times she actually used the umbrella as an umbrella. She landed near Ranma, who hadn't been as lucky. "See what you did?" the girl-turned-boy growled. "What *I* did!? He's the one who..." Ryomi rubbed her eyes to make sure the image confronting her was real. The clothes, the style of hair... it couldn't be... "Ra... Ranma?" Ranma averted his eyes. "Yeah, it's me. Who else could have my luck?" Ryomi was taken aback. Ranma changed into a boy when hit with water...? "Ranma... you..." Words weren't coming as easily as they should be. "Ranma..." Ayumi approached, his anger forgotten momentarily. "You gonna be okay?" "Hmph," the boy said in response. "Laugh all you want, Ryomi. This is what happened when my dad took me to China. I'm still trying to lead a normal life even with this curse. Why you've got it in for me, I don't know..." Laughter convulsed through Ryomi's body. She bit her lip - dangerous, what with her teeth the way they were. "How pathetic. You're cursed with a body many girls would find handsome... and to you it's the worst thing that can happen. Well, let me tell you..." She pulled out several bandannas and twirled them among her fingers. "There is much worse luck to have!" Ryomi sent the projectiles whirling toward her enemies. She had meant to throw the bandannas so that they would swarm around everywhere until their spins died down, and they did exactly that - starting with a group of boys who had eagerly arrived on the scene to watch, slicing through more hair and clothing. By now most of the students had learned how to duck when it came to Ryomi's wild attacks. Ranma hastened off in one direction, heedless of the bandannas whisking through the air all around them. "I've gotta get some hot water!" "W-wait!" Ayumi yelled. "You'll get yourself killed, baka!" "No, I won't!" She kept going. "Besides, I can't fight like this!" She had to tempt Fate by heading into the thick of all these... bandanna *sawblades*, didn't she? It was much more sensible to wait in one place and let the things lose their stored-up energy instead, but no... Sensibility wasn't one of Ranma's strong points. And what had she meant by 'I can't fight like this!'? She'd fought as a boy before, many times since being cursed! The curse was one of the reasons she'd changed outfits before confronting Ryomi. Then Fate cause Ranma to trip over an exposed tree root. She fell over just as three bandannas came within a hair's-width of cutting through her. Ayumi ran to help her. "Now I've got you!" snarled Ryomi, throwing her umbrella like a javelin at the pair's backs. Of all the rotten luck... (...to be continued...) ---------- Credits: Written by: Mike Koos Pre-readers: Richard Beaubien, Tom Williams, David Wills With apologies to Rumiko Takahashi... All parts of this series are available at the RAAC archives at ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works or from my WWW pages at http://www.fanfic.net/~makoto/ Comments and questions welcome. * Mike ('Kino Makoto') Koos: makoto@cal.net * http://www.fanfic.net/~makoto * * "I can do nothing to stop you. Your background music is too strong * for me." - Sam Johnson, Whose Line is it Anyway?