The umbrella flew from Ryomi's hands toward Ranma and Ayumi. "What now?" Ryomi drew out another handful of bandannas and sent them spinning into action. "You can avoid my umbrella, but you'll never escape from all the bandannas!" Ayumi had precious little time to think. Ranma still lay on the ground behind him, and he didn't want to see her get hurt. Nor did he want to see himself pierced or diced by their opponent's weapons. What Ryomi lacked in precision or subtlety she made up in raw power. The girl was right; if the umbrella missed its targets, they would still have to contend with all the bandannas careening around like enraged hornets... dangerous to the touch. How, then, to avoid both? Ryomi seemed to have an endless supply of bandannas. If they decided to stick in one spot, Ryomi would merely clog the air with bandannas until they had no other option but to be sliced to ribbons. Not a particularly appealing association. So - only one thing to do. As the umbrella drew close Ayumi timed a kick to strike it on its side, nudging it around to where he could grab the umbrella's handle. He scooped Ranma up into his arms. Popping the umbrella open, he turned it into a shield against the bandannas while he carried Ranma away to safety. "Don't let go!" Ayumi warned him. Even as a boy Ranma instinctively reacted as Ayumi imagined a girl might in this situation - 'she' held on to him tightly, a sense of fear slightly evident in 'her' eyes. They vaulted up and away. All Ayumi wanted to do was get Ranma out of danger. "Come back here with my umbrella, you *cowards*!" "I'll be back in a minute!" replied Ayumi. All of the students gathered were talking among themselves, especially Hiroshi and Daisuke. Wasn't Ryomi's umbrella supposed to be extremely heavy? Well, it had been for them... they'd tried and couldn't lift it off the ground. So how was *Ayumi* able to lift it? If he could, then Ranma could, too. Wherever she had gone... Maybe the girl's friends knew. Ayumi settled for alighting on the aluminum roof covering the bike racks, using the umbrella to slow his descent. Ranma would be out of danger here for the moment. Again... why was he doing this? When had he come to care so much about Ranma's well-being? This was her fight and he'd somehow managed to become a major part of it. Oh, Ryomi had called *him* out earlier, but the one she'd really wanted to fight was Ranma. Now Ryomi had it in for both of them. It all reminded him of Ranma's fateful first day of school, when the girl had intervened in his daily fight against what some people had come to call the 'Kunou crew.' And Kunou himself, who was now something of a lovesick puppy with a passion for Ranma. the thought alone made him sick. Thank goodness he was a boy. What if things had been different? Were he a girl, would Kunou have developed a crush on *her*, too? Or worse, what if Kunou had been a girl? Ayumi made a silent promise to himself - he would stay far away from Jhusenkyou and any ponds that would turn him into a girl, if such things existed. Ranma seemed to think so, at any rate. It was her hope to one day return to Jhusenkyou and find that pond, so that her curse would be neutralized. He exhaled. Ranma. Wait - weren't they still... holding on to... each other? Yes, Ranma was still keeping his hold on Ayumi, almost as though he wasn't aware the jaunt had come to an end. Ayumi blushed; he could feel Ranma's hair brushing against his cheek. Ranma slowly became aware of what was going on. He relaxed his grip. And looked, to his shock, straight into Ayumi's face. Ayumi was embarrassed... Ranma edged away from him on her knees. They both sat there for a second or three staring at each other, equally embarrassed, not saying a word. Just one more awkward moment in a growing line of uncomfortable instances between them. "You?!" they each shouted, if only to dispel the impression that either of them was really embarrassed by the fact that they had been locked in an embrace. Ayumi had yet to get used to hearing male Ranma speak the informal feminine version of Japanese. He'd thought about asking her to try to speak like a guy when she actually *was* a guy, but given that the transformations were fast and could happen at any time, remembering to speak like a boy would be the least of her concerns. Another silent, tense four seconds passed between them. They forced themselves to look away from each other. Both fumbled for something else to say. "This is all your fault, you know! If you hadn't been trying to run away like that..." Ayumi cleared his throat. "*What*? I was just trying to change back! I'm not as fast when I'm a guy!" She felt she needed the slight edge to keep ahead of Ryomi's brute-force attacks. "Oh, don't give me that! You were running away!" "Like *you* were doing any good!" "I was winning!" "Only because you got upset when she called you a girl!" Ranma snorted. "It's an insult to all girls, saying a pervert like you's a girl!" "What did you call me?" Ranma and Ayumi were too caught up in their argument to see Ryomi strolling up to the rack. She removed her belt and shook it to make the belt turn solid... like a sword. Ryomi used the new blade to cut a wedge from the support pole closest to Ranma and her boyfriend. The roof moved underneath them. "Why do you ask that every time I say something? Geez, you'd think you were deaf." "I'd rather be deaf than a sex-changing tomboy weirdo like--" All of a sudden neither of them had a roof left to sit on. Thinking fast, Ayumi grabbed for the umbrella and Ranma again as the roof collapsed, burying the bikes below. Ryomi was in the air at once, using her multi-purpose belt-slash-weapon as a lasso to snare whoever she could. Ayumi held the umbrella out and let the belt tighten around it. They were all falling back to Earth now; with any luck maybe he'd be able to reverse the attack and yank Ryomi out of the air. The belt cut cleanly through the umbrella and severed the top half. Ayumi gaped. So much for that idea... He felt Ranma try to push away from him. "Let go of me, you pervert!" The boy drummed both fists on Ayumi's chest. "Idiot!" Of all the times to come up with another argument! "I'm holding you for your own good, not because I love you or anything!" Tears welled up in Ranma's eyes. Once they landed, at last apart from each other, Ranma slapped him. Not one of her usual 'How dare you!' slaps, either. Ranma had put all of his weight behind this one. Enough of a blow that it took Ayumi a few seconds to make sure all of his senses were still there. "If worrying about me is such a big strain on your life, then don't bother!" He stormed away. Ayumi watched his retreating back for several steps. "Ranma..." he ran to the transformed girl's side. "Ranma!" "I... uh..." Ranma stopped. "We don't know each other." The boy wheeled about to face him. "From this point on, our engagement is OVER!" His declaration made, Ranma ran away. Ayumi didn't bother to stop him. Things had definitely changed. Originally he'd have celebrated if *anyone*, particularly Ranma, were to call off the engagement. Ayumi was forced into an engagement to a tomboy with a gender-changing curse and about as much defiance as him. Neither of them wanted to be engaged to begin with. "Once we get there, we're strangers. Got it?" he'd told her on the way to her first day of school at Fuurinkan High. "I don't even want you in the same area as me if you can help it." She had glared at him. "What are you so worried about? You think I *want* people to know I'm engaged to a hormone-crazed macho pervert!?" Despite all their arguments, he was developing feelings for her. "When you smile, you're really cute..." His own words. Whether Ranma believed it or not, it...... it was true. Terrific; he had developed a soft spot for the kawaikunee tomboy. "Ayumi?" A girl's voice. Not as familiar as Ranma's, but he knew who it belonged to. Sayuri called his name again. "Ayumi!" He turned to look at her. "What's going on? Where's Ranma? And... who was that guy?" His voice went unexpectedly hoarse. "Ranma's... gone home." Apart from the crowds, Ryomi was walking off in an entirely new direction. She smiled. The first part of her plan had come to pass. Now, all she had to do was find the Tendo Dojo and end Ranma's miserable existence for eternity... Destiny's Wish Part Seven: Cute, Not Cute - What's the Difference? written by Mike Koos --------------------------------------------------- He had almost missed her. After making such a dramatic departure Ranma had doubled back, heading into the school building to find some hot water and then change into her school uniform before heading home by herself. Ayumi trailed her at a distance. She was in no hurry; after all, if she went home and told Mr. Tendo and her father that she'd called off the engagement, they'd undoubtedly clobber her again to show her the error of her ways. Actually, she had a lot more than that on her mind, and felt like letting it stay there until she found a better use for it. Anger. Yes, good. She was angry. At whom? Ayumi, for starters. Ryomi, Dad... ah-ha, a little resentment there, too. Right now, the brain-dead hentai pervert was first in line. Why did he have to be such a jerk? Treating her the way he did... like a little child who couldn't be trusted to make her own decisions! Did he think he was her elder brother or something? She came to a stop. All this anger made it hard to rant properly. Scream? No, not here. But maybe... There was a utility pole nearby. She wound up and aimed a fist at one of the flyers stapled to the pole - an advertisement for some place or other, she didn't care - and hit it squarely. Hard enough of a blow to make the entire pole shake. It made her feel a little better. Except for one thing. Ranma looked down at the foot in question. She hadn't moved it since feeling the pain... having braced herself on it for the punch. She sighed. Ayumi reached the pole. It was still vibrating from the sheer force of Ranma's punch. Once home Ranma went up to her room and locked the door behind her. She hastily tossed her bookbag into a corner and dropped into the chair at her desk... to do exactly the same thing she had done outside, except this time she wasn't going anywhere. Her mind drifted, searching for memories. Several years past... "Tadai--ma!" Little Ranma threw open the door to her father's apartment. She'd run directly home after school, hoping Father hadn't heard about what happened at school today. Things were confusing enough as it was. Hmm... he didn't seem to be anywhere around... Genma appeared behind her. "Ranma," he said, sternly, arms folded. To a child Ranma's age he could be very intimidating. So he *had* heard. "Father!" "One of your teachers called today. She said you were in another fight." Her expression fell. "Yes..." "Did you win?" "No, the teachers broke it up." Ranma took her backpack off. "They wanted me to bring you a note to sign..." "Oh." The disappointment in Genma's voice was crystal-clear. "Maybe next time. Now hurry up and change into your training gi. I have some exercises for you to learn." Ranma gave the note a brief glance and then looked up at her father. "...Father?" "Yes?" "I'm confused. They told me at school I shouldn't be fighting, 'specially since I'm a girl. They said it's not proper for a girl to fight." "They did?" "Yeah. They said that no one should fight, that we should just try t'talk our way out of it." Genma knelt in front of his daughter. "Ranma? Let me ask you one question. Do you want to be one of the strongest martial artists in the world?" "I wanna be the strongest!" "Good, good." Genma nodded. "Then always remember this: Those who try to talk their way out of a fight are those who do not have the strength to fight to begin with." Ranma wasn't through asking questions. "But what about all th' people who say I shouldn't be fighting 'cause I'm a girl? They say it's not fem... famine..." "*Feminine*," her father corrected. "Yeah. I heard them say it's too bad I don't have a mother, 'cause she woulda taught me to know better." "Well, umm..." hemmed Genma. "What was Mother like?" He always dreaded this question, of course. Genma had gone to great lengths to keep Nodoka's influence out of Ranma's life and training - which he considered to be the same thing - even to the point of telling Ranma and everyone else who asked that her mother was deceased. It was bad enough maintaining the girl's edge as a fighter without her picking up influences from everyone else. Perhaps it would have been better to train Ranma in near-seclusion. As for the 'agreement' Nodoka held that both he and Ranma had signed, yes, it was valid... but he was trusting Nodoka to give up easily and not do anything about it. So far he hadn't heard any reports of Nodoka trying to locate them. If she wasn't bothering to track them now, what were the chances Nodoka would come after them when the time came? "You would have liked her," Genma told her at last. "She was a lot like you." "Really?" Ranma became aware of a faint knocking at her window, just above the desk. Her room was in the second floor of the Tendo home, so not just anyone could walk up to it and knock. And out of the people that could... well, to be honest she knew of only one person who liked coming in through her window. She'd guessed right. Ayumi was there, hanging upside-down from the gutters by his feet, tapping at the window. He hadn't bothered to change his clothes since coming home from school, either. Ranma slid the window open. "What do you want?" "Uh..." the boy twiddled his thumbs. "You thought I was gonna be crying on my bed, didn't you?" More fidgeting. "...But..." She wrapped a hand around the base of her desk lamp. "You don't have to worry. I'm fine, so go away!" To add weight to her words she threw the lamp into Ayumi's face and slammed the window shut... on the cord, which was still plugged into the wall. When Ayumi didn't move, she closed the curtains as well. Ranma made up her mind to hobble downstairs. While she could feel sorry for herself all night long, her ankle needed attention. Kasuga was in the kitchen, stirring together a pot of soup for the night's supper and taking the occasional taste. "Hmm," he said to no one in particular. "It needs a little salt." Ah, she hated to interrupt him when he was having fun. "Kasuga?" Kasuga turned. "Ah, Ranma... I didn't hear you come in. Did you just get home?" "Er, yeah," Ranma put more weight on her uninjured ankle. "Sayuri and Yuka wanted to take me to an ice cream shop after school." Hopefully neither Sayuri nor Yuka had called looking for her. "Oh, did you have fun?" Strange question to ask of a tomboy like her. "I guess. Anyway, I just wanted to say I might be late for supper. I tripped on the way home, and I think I sprained my ankle. I'm gonna go to Dr. Tofu's and have it looked at." Kasuga turned his attention to her ankles. "Which one?" "This one," she lowered the sock, placing her worst foot forward. "Hmm... it does look a little dark and swollen. Okay, I'll make sure to save something for you. Where's Ayumi? He ought to help you get there. I really don't think you should be putting much pressure on that foot." She raised her eyes. "I don't... know." Realizing how that must have sounded, she quickly added, "It's okay, Kasuga. I can make it on my own." Ayumi leaned against the wall of the dojo and sighed. The words Ranma left him with at school were still playing back in his thoughts. She had slapped him. <'If worrying about me is such a big strain on your life, then don't bother!'> Then, <'We don't know each other. From this point on, our engagement is OVER!'> He caught sight of his shirt. A new one, to replace the one Ryomi had cut. Yes, that was the right thing to do. Ranma did have feelings, and he'd trampled all over them. Now could he explain *why* he had done it? Ayumi ran into the house and up the stairs to Ranma's room. She wasn't there. He ran down the stairs. Maybe elder brother had an idea as to where she was. "Kasuga?" he called. "In the kitchen!" came the answer. "Ranma?" asked Kasuga, in response to Ayumi's question. "Oh, she's gone to see Tofu-sensei about a sprained ankle. I told her she should wait for you, but-- huh?" The latter, because as he said it he realized Ayumi was no longer in the room to listen to him. Oh, well, one more plate of food to save from supper - assuming Father and Mr. Saotome didn't eat everything first. Compared to them, Naka's appetite was diminutive. Kasuga smiled to himself. Ayumi may make a big production about disliking the whole prearranged-marriage idea, Ranma, and annoying her... but unavoidably, he was coming to care for the girl. For the first time since their mother's passing, Ayumi was beginning to open up. The girl walked slowly along the road, dragging one ankle as she walked. She wore the girl's uniform of Fuurinkan High - a sky-blue jumper over a white dress shirt, with longer sleeves as something of an indication of the weather or seasons - and a pig-tail of black hair swaying back and forth with a faint rhythm. "Ranma...!" Ayumi jogged up to her. "Ranma!" Her gaze drifted to the sky. "Nice weather we've been having lately." The voice was distant and had a touch of sadness to it. Huh? This was not the greeting he had expected to receive. He'd expected at the very least for Ranma to lash out at him in anger or annoyance. But here she was being civil to him, and he wasn't sure how to follow up on her observation. "Er... yeah." Ranma said nothing. "Ranma..." Ayumi tried to keep pace with her. "I... I'm..." Better start again. "I'm sorry... 'bout what happened. I didn't mean what I said." "Well, this is an unexpected surprise..." Now that was more like it. "But..." She lowered her head slightly. "You don't really need to apologize. I did overreact a little, I guess." Ayumi fell in behind her. "You sure you're okay? Umm, if your ankle hurts I can carry you." "Stop trying to be so nice. You'll make me throw up." They arrived at the clinic seven minutes later. Genma the panda let them in - did he *always* remain in panda form while working at the clinic? - then went back to sorting a load of cloth towels. A panda, doing laundry. Tofu's sight fell on the cut on Ranma's cheek and her ankle... her limp was enough to point the doctor in the right direction. "Ranma-chan... what happened?" Ranma smiled. "Good afternoon, Tofu-sensei. I... had a little accident coming home from school. I tripped..." She ran a finger along the cut on her cheek. "...and got a little scraped up, too." "Let me take a look at your ankle first," the doctor patted the examination table. "Have a seat." Ranma did so. Dr. Tofu eased the sock away from her foot; Ranma and Ayumi had customarily taken off their shoes at the door. "Ranma, you've got a minor ankle sprain here. The good news is, it should be better in no time at all." "That's good," the cursed girl straightened her legs. "Now, as for that cut, I'll put something on it. It's a shame to have a face as cute as yours marred by anything." "Thank you, sensei," Ranma smiled again. Genma, however, frowned... which seemed more menacing coming from a panda. Ayumi kept an eye on him. What was the old man thinking? Ranma hadn't yet told anyone all her reasons for despising her father and everything he had put her through, but it was clear Mr. Saotome wanted to control a lot of aspects of her life. Good thing she was now at an age where she could do something about it. Was her disrespect toward her father justified? Only time would tell. Assuming Ranma's past continued to come back to haunt her. She wasn't concerned about it, though. He could tell this by the smile she wore, even as Dr. Tofu fitted a bandage to her cheek. "I guess this means you and Ayumi are competing now to see who can get the most injuries, huh?" Tofu grinned. "Ayumi's got a good head start, however, and I think you had something to do with that." Ayumi watched Ranma laugh. The sky was shifting colors by the time they left the clinic, warm hues smearing and blending behind the clouds. Evening was well on its way. "I feel better now, don't you?" Ranma's step was a bit livelier, although she played it safe by not putting too much stress on her sprained ankle. She knew how to live with injuries; this wasn't the first time she'd gotten herself hurt and definitely wouldn't be the last. Wait. Shouldn't Ayumi have said something by now? "Ayumi?" "Hey, where'd you go?" She looked over her shoulder at him. Ayumi was lagging behind and seemed to be lost in thought. "Ayumi?" "Tofu-sensei said you have a cute face. That was a nice thing to say." "Oh, I don't know," Ranma said, spreading her arms and walking an invisible tightrope, one foot in front of the other. "What do you mean, 'I don't know?'" "I'm... really not worried about that. Whether I'm cute or not." Yeah. Right. Then why had she reacted the way she had when he told her she was really cute when she smiled? Ayumi placed himself in her path. "But it's true. You really do look cute..." Just saying the words made him wish he were in another hemisphere. He could barely bring himself to look her in the eye. If he had, he would have seen her eyes grow large. "What?" he asked. "You don't have a fever, do you?" "Of course not!" "I'm fine." Ranma clasped her hands behind her back. "You don't need to bother with cheering me up." "That wasn't what I was doing! Just 'cause I wanted to give you a compliment..." He stopped, but she didn't. "I told you, I'm not worried about whether or not I'm cute." "Well, you are, whether you like it or not." The compliment made her pause. She glanced back at him. "Huh?" Ayumi had taken up a perch atop a pole in a chain-link fence overlooking a storm drain, his back to her. "Uh, er... yeah! It's true," he fidgeted. "But that's just what I think..." "Ayumi." Her voice was gentle and without any traces of hidden intent. "Thanks. I'm glad to hear it, even if you aren't telling the truth." She beamed at him warmly. A weapon more deadly than any he'd ever faced, the smile hit Ayumi with every last bit of its brain-numbing force. By all rights he would have dropped off the side if his footing had been any worse. Not only that, the setting sun was behind her, framing her face in soft light and enhancing the effect. He fought to keep the blush from showing on his face. Ranma prodded him with a finger. In his state it was enough to send him tipping over into the storm drain below. "Gotcha!" She was paying him back for his little stunt in the dojo, he supposed. He surfaced, spitting out a mouthful of rainwater - at least he *hoped* it was rainwater - to find her leaning on the fence above, arms folded. "What'd you do that for?" spluttered Ayumi. Ranma laughed. "There, now we're even. You can stop feeling guilty now, right?" "You are NOT cute!" She stuck her tongue out at him. "So what?" Somehow, some way, the Lost Girl had wound up in Okinawa. Ryomi considered herself fortunate that she had never unintentionally left Japan in her lifetime - *yet*. (...to be continued...) ---------- Credits: Written by: Mike Koos Prereaders: 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?