==================== PART XIII A Sort of Homecoming ===================== [New Year's Day, 2:00am] Time was supposed to heal all wounds. It was working, but not as fast as she hoped it would. However, it was the holiday season, and Ukyou had made the best of it. She was walking home, escorted by Ranma and Akane, from the New Year's party held at the Tendou hall. It was as grand as the last one, with guests throughout the neighborhood invited. "Hey guys, thanks for walking me home." said Ukyou. "No problem. I mean, it's late already and you're carrying all this stuff," Ranma said, referring to the ridiculous amount of prizes Ukyou had won in the poker tournament, "and with you carrying all this stuff alone, somebody might try to rob ya." "After all," said Akane, "what are friends for?" *** Somewhere in town, a figure walked, wearing a dark overcoat to shield himself from the cold weather. He held an umbrella up to shelter himself from the snow that was flowing in flurries. He would have been like the many others who were traveling through the streets at this time, except for two outstanding characteristics. First of all, he was at the very top of a skyscraper. Second, his eyes were glowing a fiery purple. He seemed to look for something, searching through the city with narrowed eyes, then locked on to a sight far below. Then he faded into nothingness. *** As the trio of Ukyou, Akane, and Ranma approached Ukyou's restaurant, they noticed someone hiding in the shadows, waiting in front of Ukyou's door. "Hey," Ranma whispered, "get behind me. Someone's there." The trio approached the restaurant slowly, getting a better look at the figure in the shadows. Finally, they were standing next to him. The person was leaning on the door, in a reclined position, and had an umbrella covering the upper half of the body from view and a dark overcoat covering the rest of the clothing. "I think he's asleep." Ranma whispered. "Oh, why's that?" Akane whispered back. A loud buzzsaw snore erupted from under the umbrella. They blinked. "Wait a minute..." Ukyou said, "that umbrella..." It seemed to be a simple bamboo umbrella with red cloth. It also seemed to be very familiar. "No way," she said, "it can't be." She rushed forward. "Ukyou! Wait!" Ranma said, trying to stop her. Ukyou pushed the umbrella aside, and the there of them gasped in shock. "RYOUGA!" He woke up startled. "WHAT? WHAT?" He yelled. Then with tired eyes, he looked at the stunned trio. "Oh. Akane, Ukyou, er.. Ranma. Hey, guys, how've you been? Sorry I missed the Christmas party." He staggered up to his feet. "Ryouga you numskull, where've you been!" Ukyou yelled, and then wrapped him in a tight embrace, knocking him over.. "You jerk! We thought you were dead!" Ryouga wasn't quite sure what to do in this situation. It certainly wasn't an unpleasant sensation, being wrapped up... er, embraced tightly... on the ground... by Ukyou like this. Hm... no, definitely not unpleasant. But he was still feeling a bit strange inside. It didn't help that Akane was there looking at the two of them. "Er... um..." he said with all his dignity. "Heeey," Ranma said, "check out the hot couple." "Don't embarrass them!" Akane said, elbowing Ranma slightly. Ukyou froze. {Hey! What the hell am I doing?} She quickly rolled off of Ryouga. "Er..." she said eloquently. Ukyou and Ryouga immediately got up and started brushing the snow off. "Um, er, well, hey, friend, buddy, amigo!" Ryouga said, glancing nervously at Akane and patting Ukyou on the back in a way that said (Yes, we are merely friends! Very good friends, but still only friends!) "Er, hey, good friend, humble sidekick, pal'o'mine, er, hey!" Ukyou said, glancing nervously at Ranma and patting Ryouga in the back in a way that said (Certainly! Merely a platonic relationship here!) Ranma turned his eyes up in a way that said (Whatever.) "C'mon, let's get inside and celebrate!" Akane said, in a tone of voice that said (C'mon, let's get inside and celebrate!) *** [3:00am] The celebration, while a happy one, only lasted a few minutes. This was mainly because everyone was already extremely tired to begin with. The main topic of the night was what on earth Ryouga had been doing for the past month. He was willing to say that he had amnesia for quite a while and wandered around alot of strange places doing odd jobs. However, since they were all tired, everyone agreed that Ryouga would go into greater detail tomorrow, over dinner at the Tendou's. Ukyou shut all the windows and locked all the doors, with a tired but happy Ryouga sitting peacefully at a table drinking some hot tea. He was glad to be back, after wandering around so long. How much time passed? A month? Well, now he was back, and he was glad to be back. "Well, get some rest Ryouga. You look a little tired," said Ukyou. Ryouga smiled, got up, and then realized something. "Um, Ukyou, where's my room?" He grinned, somewhat embarrased, and scratched the back of his head. Ukyou sighed, but smiled. He was cute when he's embarrased, she thought. "C'mon, stupid, it's this way." She took him by the hand, which set off a deep crimson blush from Ryouga (which Ukyou somehow failed to notice, as she failed to notice all the other times before), and led him to the attic door. "Well, here's your room." "Ah... thanks." Before Ryouga could reach for the doorknob, Ukyou wrapped him in a hug. "Welcome back," she said quietly, then departed for her own room. Ryouga stood there, totally at a loss for words. His mind, such as it was, became blank. The nighttime sky over Nerima was peaceful and quiet. Akane and Ranma looked out to the skyline, in each other's arms. It was a beautiful end to a beutiful day. As the snow fell all around them, they turned to each other and kissed. They didn't notice the flares of purple light coming from the warehouse district. [4:00 am] He shook his head, trying to clear out the haze that seemed to be clouding it. It was dark. It was windy. It was cold. Those were the first three things that entered his mind. The fourth thing was that, obviously, he was lost. Something was wrong. How did he get there? What was going on? He touched a hand to his head. He absentmindedly wondered when he put on gloves. As his fingers touched his face, they felt slick, wet, sticky... He raised his hand up to the pale moonlight and could barely see what it was, but the smell was unmistakable. "Blood..." he mumbled in shock. "Blood?" He looked at his other hand. It was also covered in blood. What the hell happened? He got up fast, looking around. He was at a warehouse. In front of it, actually. He unsteadily took a few steps forward and peeked into the warehouse. Blood was everywhere. The floor, the walls, the windows. The stench of it was everywhere. Then there were the bodies. For the most part, they were stabbed and bludgeoned. Who, he wondered, did this? Me? He looked down to his gloved and bloody hands. Then something caught his attention. It was an umbrella, a bamboo one, and it was drenched in blood. He took a few steps back, stunned. "I... I don't remember..." But looking around, there was only one thing to assume. He did it. He was a killer. In his mind he could remember every little detail. And why? Oh, of course, it was the favor that the Lord of the Shadoloo asked of him. Naturally, he'd get compensated richly. He was just hoping to rest a while longer before he went to work. After all, he had just come back to town and was just getting ready to sleep, when suddenly... this happened. But why didn't he remember? Thousands of miles away, the Lord of the Shadoloo stood in his chamber. He grinned. It was a job well done indeed, and nothing could tie him to the crime. What a useful little puppet, that umbrella-weilding boy. He didn't even suspect what really happened... *** [January 2: Morning News] "This is network 23 reporting to you live at a crime scene where several yakuza members were found dead this morning at a warehouse by the docks. The only clue police have at the moment is a bloody umbrella..." *** [Afternoon] "So, what inspired this?" Ukyou asked. "I, ah... managed to get a little money from my travels. Just wanna splurge a bit. So, what movie do you wanna see?" Ryouga said. The two of them stood outside a movie theater, examining the choices. "Um... if you don't mind... I did want to see that new romantic comedy that just came out." Ukyou asked. {Damn. I guess the new Jacky Chan can wait} thought Ryouga. "So, basically, you had no memory and wandered all over the world for a month?" "Yeah. You learn the strangest things that way. Did you know they serve beer at movie theaters in Amsterdam?" Ukyou narrowed her eyes and looked at Ryouga. He was looking at the list of movies, so he unfortunately didn't notice. "And they don't just dump it in paper cups. They actually give you a big glass mug. Surprised me." "Hey, I told you that you shouldn't drink!" said Ukyou, elbowing him. "Er... um..." stammered the surprised Ryouga, "yeah, but I had amnesia." "That's no excuse," Ukyou said, pouting. Ryouga shifted topics, noticing that this wasn't going quite right. "Um... you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in France?" "Le quarter pounder?" Ukyou flatly replied. "Royale with cheese." "Ha ha, very funny." "I'm not kidding!" *** As Ukyou was watching the movie and having a sip of megajolt cola, she suddenly started to cough violently. "Hey, you okay?" Ryouga asked. He noticed her primarily because he wasn't looking at the screen. At the moment there were things going on that might cause severe blood loss on his part. Already, he was blushing a bit badly. Ukyou pointed a finger at the screen. "Well, yeah, it's a bit shocking they'd do a love scene right there next to the river in broad daylight. I mean, they're totally nak-" Ukyou cleared her throat and lightly punched him on the arm. "Not THAT, stupid! Look behind them!" "Eh?" He cautiously looked up and tried to ignore the passionate couple on the screen. "Oh. So THAT'S what all those people were doing there." In the background, behind two rather passionate people, was a bandanna-clad black piglet, dragging itself out of the river and trudging across the background of the scene. *** [Sunset] Tatewaki Kunou was on patrol once more, strolling down the streets with his bokken by his side. It had been a long time indeed since he had seen his pig-tailed girl, and he suspected the demise of the dread sorcerer Hibiki to be linked to this somehow. Kunou thought it should have worked the other way, actually. With Hibiki dead, would the pig-tailed girl not be free once more and race into his arms? Alas, that was not the case. In fact, during the only times he'd seen his beloved pig tailed girl she had reacted very violently to his appearance. Without realizing it, Kunou began soliloquizing. "What holds back the love of my pig tailed goddess? What dark forces are cast upon her heart?" He closed his eyes, concentrating. Then he opened them and raised his voice in anger. "The scoundrel Hibiki must have placed some enchantment upon her before his demise! Yes, that could be the source of her reluctance! Or... or perhaps... perhaps he did not perish as my good servant Sasuke had reported? If he is a mage equal to that rogue Saotome, then surely an exploding bridge would be nothing but an inconvenience." He seemed satisfied with that answer for a moment. Then his face darkened once more. "But wait! There indeed lies one more possibility. Yes, one other dark scenario. Perhaps the original dark mage of Furinkan, Saotome, has reclaimed the pig-tailed girl as his mistress? I would not put such vile behavior beneath him." Then Kunou stopped. He noticed something standing by the edge of the waterway. Actually, it was floating. "Alas, what manner of creature is this?" Kunou murmured. It was a person. It was perhaps one foot above the ground with it's back turned away from him. It was wearing an overcoat and had an umbrella in one of it's hands. It was glowing with fiery swirls of purple, blue, and red around it's figure like a cyclone. "A Demon!" Kunou gasped. He readied his bokken to vanquish this dark visitor from stygian depths. After all, was the banishment of evil not part of his duty? "RETURN FROM WHENCE YOU CAME, DEMON!" Kunou yelled, charging madly at the figure. It turned around too late. It seemed as if it was too tired to dodge even a full Tatewaki Kunou attack complete with pre-strike warning yell. The skill of Tatewaki Kunou did not fail him this night, for his bokken had found it's mark and struck the mysterious demon in the very center of it's chest. Suddenly, Kunou was surrounded by the dark mysterious flames as well. He felt a surge of energy taking over his body and then he stumbled back. His foe also stumbled back, and dropped clumsily to the ground. For the first time, Kuno got a good look at the face of his enemy. He stared in disbelief. "You? It cannot be!" The glowing man got up to his feet, stared angrily at Kunou, purple fire flaring from his eyes. Then he leaned forward and fell on his face. "What? I... cannot fly! I can't fly anymore? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" Then he looked at Kunou. Kunou was surrounded by a light glow of dark purple and red. It swirled around his body and even around his bokken. "YOU!" the man yelled. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" "Silence, you demon! I now know you for what you really are! It was most clever to disguise yourself as a mere mage for so long. You must have abducted my pig-tailed goddess! WHERE IS SHE! I DEMAND AN ANSWER, VILE WIZARD!" As quick as lightning, the man grabbed Kunou by his neck before he could dodge and concentrated, trying to regain what he had lost. "Give me back my power!" he yelled. The aura around Kunou flickered for a moment but did not disappear. The man raised Kunou high and threw him high across the skies of Tokyo. "DAMN YOU!" the figure yelled. His aura flared violently for a moment, then he dissapeared from sight. *** "Ryouga! Hey, you ready yet? Where are you?" Ukyou yelled. It seemed like Ryouga was lost again, _inside_ the restaurant. She sighed and turned around, bumping straight into Ryouga. She gasped and stepped back a bit. "Don't scare me like that!" She yelled. "C'mon, you ready to go? We're gonna be late. Where'd you disappear to anyways?" "Tried to find the front door. Didn't make it." Ryouga said nervously. "Well, Ranma and Akane are waiting for us." Ukyou said impatiently. "Oh. Uh oh. Wait." Ryouga said, frowning. "What is it _now_?" asked Ukyou. "Er... did you ever find out why... um.... Ranma-chan.... um..." "Oh! Er... um. After you dissapeared, I didn't see much point in asking." "Hm. Maybe we should just use the phone to talk to them?" asked Ryouga. "You can't run away from him every time he gets near you, y'know." said Ukyou. That remark stunned Ryouga. {I'm RUNNING AWAY from _Ranma_? I? Me? Run Away? NEVER! Well he did kiss me and... NO! I do NOT run away from my enemies!} Ryouga suddenly looked confident. "Guess we'll confront him about it today." *** Tatewaki stood at his practice hall with his bokken at his side. He was smiling. "The Gods themselves have imparted upon me the means which will allow me to forever vanquish all dark forces in all of Japan! I am unstoppable! Unbeatable! Foes shall tremble at my feet! Shadows shall shrink at my approach! The very heavens shall cheer on as I, Tatewaki Kunou, the Blue..." Kunou paused, uncertain. "No. Somehow that seems to be no longer appropriate." Kunou examined himself and the strange aura that now surrounded him. "Purple Thunder? There is certainly plenty of that color swirling around me. Plenty of crimson and blue as well. Many a dark color indeed." He concentrated for a moment. "Hm... ah! Just the thing. I am now... the Dark Thunder of Furinkan High!" yelled Kunou, and as if on cue, thunder rumbled in the distance. His thoughts turned to other matters, like his enemies. "Ah, Saotome, you fiend! And your dark ally Hibiki as well! Tremble, thou wretches, that hast within thee undivulged crimes, unwhipp'd of justice!" The training hall was a wreck. Practice dummies were mutilated and shattered everywhere. There were gashes on the walls and floors. It would take Sasuke a month to repair, at least. *** "Hey! What? Tell me what's going on!" Ranma demanded. He had walked into the main room just in time to see both girls glance at him and giggle a bit. Ukyou, Akane, and Ryouga were kneeling down at the table. "I guess that explains everything." Ukyou said, smiling. Ryouga was grinning stupidly and rubbing the back of his head. "They, ah, explained something to me." "Akane? Wha'd I miss?" Ranma asked. He hated missing a good joke. They told him about it. "You idiot! You had 'em thinking I kissed you!" Ranma yelled, grabbing Ryouga by the shirt. "I said I was sorry, didn't I?" Ryouga shot back. "I ought*ACK*" Ranma's tirade was interrupted by an elbow from Akane. "Stop. That. Now." She said. After they calmed down, Ryouga started asking some questions. "So, where's my tombstone?" "You don't have one," Ranma flatly said, "you've got an umbrella." "An umbrella?" "Yeah, next to the bridge you destroyed." he answered. "Oh." "Hey, P-Chan," Ranma said. "Who's P-Chan?" Ryouga flatly replied. He smiled briefly and then grabbed Ranma by the shirt collar. "You wanna settle this outside?" "Fine by me, ya pig." Ranma said. They both grinned. It was too long since they fought each other. *** "Come on you two! Ryouga just got back yesterday and now you're fighting again?" Akane yelled. Ryouga and Ranma were poised on opposite sides of the pond, waiting for the other to make the first move. Ranma was deeply concerned about the situation. "Ryouga, are you _sure_ you want to fight _here_?" he asked, nervously glancing at Akane, then at the fish pond. "As if you can beat me." Ryouga snorted. "Your funeral," Ranma said, leaping across and aiming a foot at Ryouga's head. "Maybe ours," Ryouga said, as he took the impact of the foot in the stomach and then grabbed Ranma in a bear hug. Then he jumped off the rock (using the patented Martial Arts Super Jump (TM)) with Ranma still in his grip. "Are you insane?!" Ranma yelled, pounding at Ryouga's head with his free arm. "We're gonna land in the water!" They started descending towards the water. "Ryouga, what are you doing?!" Ukyou yelled. "She'll kill us!" Ranma yelled, glancing again at Akane. "I don't care anymore." Ryouga flatly replied. "Noooo!" *SPLASH* They landed in the pond with a big splash. Akane went to the water's edge. Ukyou was waiting for the moment when Akane would go balistic when she found out her pet pig that she had brought to bed so many times was, in fact, Ryouga. More specifically, she was getting ready to grab Ryouga before Akane could kill him and run as fast as she could. Akane saw Ranma-chan's head surface, partially out of the water somewhat like an aligator's. "Hey, Ranma, where's...." She stopped. She noticed that Ranma-chan was wearing a bandana. Her hair was a darker shade of red too, almost black. Come to think of it, that girl didn't even look like Ranma. The headband... the facial features... and then those fangs... "R-Ryouga?" Akane asked. Ryouga-chan emerged from the pool, dragging a very wet Ranma-chan with her. "Ryouga? What happened to you?" Akane asked. "Don't kill me!" Ranma said, and covered her head with her hands. "What are you talking about?" asked Akane. Ranma finally looked up to see _who_ exactly had dragged him out of the pool. Her jaw dropped. "Ryouga?" *** After the boys-turned-girls dried off, they all went inside the Tendou home and sat around the table. Kasumi entered and brought in some snacks. "I thought you four might be a little hungry." She said. Kasumi glanced at the four girls. Internal stabalizers kicked in. "Oh, Ryouga! Nice to see that you're not dead. Welcome back." she said sweetly, and went to the kitchen. The four looked on as she walked away. "How'd she...?" said Ukyou. Ryouga checked herself. Yup, still a girl. How did Kasumi know...? He shrugged and wrote it off as uncanny intelligence and went back to the business at hand. "Well," Ryouga began, glancing at Akane, "I was ... just wandering around for a while when suddenly..." *** Ryouga scrambled through the bush. "Where is it... where is it... *whack* stupid grass... *whack* stupid trees... I could swear it was around heeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEeAAAAAAAAAARGH!!" *splash* The Jyusenkyou guide looked up from his recliner chair and put down his magazine. He reached over and turned off his CD player. He looked around. "Someone there? Hello? Anyone? Nihao?" He could have sworn he heard something. He resumed his reclined position looking over several of the glimmering acursed pools, looked sadly at the remaining devastation, and resumed reading his magazine. If he'd turned around, he would have seen a young, bandanna-clad person falling off a cliff and directly into a spring. But alas, such is fate, and it wouldn't have made a difference anyways. Someone tapped the Jyusenkyou guide's shoulder. He woke up. "Oh sirs! Greetings and welcome to Jyusen... en..." The reason for his sudden stop was because he finally saw what it was that had just woken him up. "Ook!" It said. *** "You fell into the spring of drownd orangutan? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Ranma turned on his side, laughing. "Cut it out, Ranma!" Ryouga yelled. "Anyways, that's when I got my memory back in full. The shock of turning into an orangutan brought everything back to me." Ryouga paused. He knew Ranma might get annoying again for this last part of the story. Besides, that's where the bad news was. "Go on..." said Akane. "Well..." *** "Oh sir! Let me boil hot water, yes?" the guide anxiously said. "Ook." Ryouga said. Ryouga-orangutan and the guide sat by a fire, watching the kettle boil. "What you come here for? Is very dangerous place!" The guide said. "Ook...ook ook...EEK!" Ryouga said, getting frustrated at his limited vocal capabilities. "Here?" the guide said, offering a sign and some markers. "OOK!" Ryouga said, nodding his head. <> Ryouga wrote. "Oh?" <> "Oh. So sorry! But I no remember cooking ape." <> "What you come here for? Is very very dangerous!" <> "Oh no. I am sorry sir. Great mixup in China bureaucracy. Very tragic story." He pointed out to the field of springs and Ryouga noticed a few of them seemed to be filled in and a few more slightly paved over. "EEEEEK!" *** "You mean... you mean... it's gone?" Ranma said. "Yeah. It's gone." Ryouga said. Both of them were looking down at the floor. "How about... how about the spring of the virtuous man?" Ranma asked. "Gone." "Drowned warrior?" "Gone." "Drowned pervert?" "When he gets wet, he'll be himself," Akane whispered to Ukyou. "Gone." "Drowned lawyer?" "Boy, he's desperate," Ukyou whispered to Akane. "Gone." "Is there ANY spring of ANY drowned MALE left???" *** "Oh sir, terrible government accident. Take out every pool that drown man, chicken, or dog. Very strange accident in Chinese bureaucracy, yes." "EEK! EEK! EEK!" Ryouga said, walking (sort of) in circles and slapping his head. This was bad. Definitely bad. Being stuck as an orangutan for the rest of his life! "Hm. Maybe sir does not like being orangutan?" <> "Maybe you like try another pool?" "Ook?" he replied. "OOK!" Ryouga said, slapping his head. He realized that he certainly didn't have to stay as an orangutan when when forever. After all, he had a whole selection of pools! The pair ventured in and walked around the pools. Ryouga jumped in to several of them, with the guide giving an explanation. *SPLASH* "squeak" "Oh sirs, that spring of drowned skunk! tragic story of skunk that..." {No way!} *SPLASH* "sssssss" "...spring of drowned snake...." *SPLASH* "meow" "...drowned cat....." {Might be fun around Ranma.... nah.} *SPLASH* "rowrf?" "...panda that drown many year ago..." Ryouga thougth about it for a moment. Mr. Saotome seemed to do pretty well in panda form. It wasn't bad. If there was nothing to eat, he could chew on a tree for a while. Maybe... hm... nah. *SPLASH* "bzzz" "...drowned mosquito..." *SPLASH* "glub..glub..glub.." "...drowned fish..." {How did a fish get drowned in the water?} Ryouga thought. *SPLASH* "Ark ark ark!" "...drowned seal..." *SPLASH* "HONK?" "Oh!" Said the guide with great emotion, his face a mask of sorrow. "That is Nissanniichuan! Spring of drowned Nissan Pathfinder. Very tragic story of Pathfinder I just buy two weeks ago and crash into pond. Very tragic story!" The guide wiped a tear from his eye and felt all the bad memories coming back. *** "Oh come on! Now you're joking!" Ranma accused. "Hey, it happened." Ryouga said. "A guy turnin' into a car... sounds like a bad cartoon plot!" "Actually, I think it might be fun," said Ukyou. "We coulda called you 'Turbo Teen', eh Ryouga?" "Not really," he said. "I'd just get lost faster. "Pathfinder, huh?" said Ranma. "Too bad it won't help with your sense of direction." "Shut up Ranma," muttered Ryouga. "Well, what happened next?" asked Ukyou. "After that, I tried all the other springs left and..." "How about the spring of drowned twins?" Ranma asked. He thought that becoming two seperate boys wouldn't be as bad as turning into a girl. "The guide said that it had weird effects on people already cursed." "Damn," Ranma calmly said. Akane was wondering why Ranma was taking the news so well. Denial, maybe? She'd think the news of his cure being destroyed would have devastated him more. "Anyways, I figured that I might as well stay human no matter what and went with the spring of drowned girl." "Heh, just don't let Kunou see ya," Ukyou said. "Oh? Why's that?" wondered Ranma. "He's ugly in either form. Now, me on the other hand..." "Oh, you saying I'm not good looking?" "Unsexy, definitely." "Hmph. Sexier than YOU, definitely," said Ryouga-chan. "Oh yeah?" "Yeah!" "I don't think so!" The two naturally inclined girls looked on. "Idiots, both of 'em." Ukyou said, rolling her eyes up. "Definitely." said Akane, nodding solemnly. "AKANE! PIG-TAILED GIRL!" The four looked outside as they saw Kunou running quickly to them. Ukyou, Ryouga-chan, and Akane looked annoyed. Ranma-chan readied herself for the solid puch to the face that she always inevitably gives Kuno when this sort of encounter happens. "Oh, but who is this?" Kunou said, stopping in front of Ryouga. "Get lost, Kunou." Ryouga-chan said. "Ah, another beauty graces the Tendou home? And she even knows of my name? No doubt my legendary reputation has indeed traveled far and wide! Allow me to introduce myself..." Ryouga realized he was still in she-mode. "Too late." "I am indeed Tatewaki Kunou, mightiest of all Kendo practitioners, Dark Thunder of Furinkan High." Ryouga took a step back. Kunou grabbed her hand and kissed it. Ryouga jerked her hand away from his lips, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him face-first into the pavement. "And your name is?" Kunou asked, his face _still_ in the pavement. "You jerk, I'm Ryouga H-" Ryouga was suddenly stopped by Ranma covering her mouth. Ryouga pushed Ranma's hand off of her mouth. "What are you doing?" "You idiot, he's gonna-" Ranma said, before being cut off by Kunou. Kunou stood up quickly. "WHAT? YOU ARE CLAIMED BY THAT SORCERER HIBIKI? HOW DARE HE!" Kunou's newly aquired aura flared around him, surprising everyone else. "I knew he might not be dead, and this tragedy solidifies my belief! I shall hunt him down and smite his darkness from this world!" he said dramatically, and whipped his bokken dramatically. A string of dark aura flew from the bokken and impacted with a nearby tree. It was sliced in half. "I shall return victorious!" Kunou yelled, and bounded away. "Damn." Ryouga said. "Shoot." said Ranma. She was looking particularly agitated. "What's wrong with you?" Akane asked. "I forgot to ask him who looks better." she answered, then started laughing hysterically. Ukyou, Akane, and Ryouga-chan booted her into the pond. *** Ranma-chan was still in the pond, soaking in the realization that the spring of drowned boy was _gone_. Not just that, but the spring of _any_ drowned male person had been destroyed in an incredible mistake in Chinese bureaocracy. She was still laughing hysterically. "Ranma, get out of there! You'll catch a cold," Akane said, standing at the doorway. "Leave'em alone, Akane," Ryouga said, "it took me a while to get over the horror too. He'll get over it." "Hey, one thing's still bothering me," Ukyou said quietly, "when we last saw you, it was raining. Do you understand?" She looked at Akane who was fortunately still standing away looking at the soaking Ranma. "I was... er... inconvenienced... for a couple of days... until I had some good luck. I wandered into a public bath, fell in, and managed to steal some clothes. Still didn't remember anything at that point, but I knew by instinct that, er," he made sure Akane was still away, "a cold rain would be disasterous for me, y'know?" "And then?" asked Ukyou. "Well, I wandered around again until...." *** A small bush snuck sprouted a head and limbs and snuck off. {He's still alive!} Tsubasa angrily thought, {HE is STILL alive!} Tsubasa was already laying out blueprints for the next disguise-mech in his head. *** Some hours later, Ukyou had gotten a map and they had tracked down Ryouga's travels. To everyone's surprise, he'd managed to walk through Tokyo once before, and within 100 miles several other times. The only problem was that once he got near Tokyo he didn't stop and proceeded to badly overshoot past the city and turn back only after a _long_ distance. Basically, Ryouga was traveling in figure 8 loops, with Tokyo as the center of the 8. "Wow, I really did some walking," Ryouga said, as he examined the map. "So that _was_ you we saw before," Akane said. "You saw me?" asked Ryouga. "Me and Ranma," Akane said, pointing a thumb at Ranma (who was now doing a full Soun Tendo Wail (TM) in the pond), "were out one night when we saw a guy with a bandana hobbling around a corner. We thougth it might have been you." "What's the first thing you remembered anyways?" Ukyou asked, "I mean, next to avoiding cold water, that is." Ryouga blushed. "Well, um..." he nervously fingered the compass necklace hanging around his neck. "I was reminded of somebody when I was in America. I met her-" "Her?" Ukyou said, raising her eyebrow. "Well, ah... it's just... aheh, I met this girl while I was wandering around, um..." "And the point is?" said Ukyou, frowning. "Well, I guess it was because of her long hair, or maybe because she cooked pancakes for me at one time, but..." "You remembered Ukyou first? How sweet!" said Akane. "Er... well..." Ryouga poked his fingers together and laughed nervously. "Me?" said a surprised Ukyou. "Is this true?" "Well, um, she did look kinda like you... that's why," said Ryouga. "You understand, right?" "Oh, yeah, perfectly." said Ukyou, who was smiling a bit. - end part 13 -