================= Part V Come Out And Play ================= "Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate." - Thomas Jones It was definite fall weather, Ryouga's favorite kind since the traveling is easier when the weather was mild as it usually was in the fall. He was enjoying the air, sweeping the front of Ucchan's. Suddenly, he sensed someone watching him. "Hey, Ryouga, you done out there? It's time to go, we're gonna be late." "Oh, yeah, I'll be done in a moment." Ryouga looked around at the surrounding neighborhood, searching for something out there, maybe hiding behind a trash can, maybe in the trees, or hiding in the shadows. He thought he saw nothing and walked back in. "Guess it was just Ukyou I was sensing" he muttered. He put the broom away, looking around one last time, then walked with Ukyou down the street. As they walked away, someone stepped out of the shadows, brushing leaves off of his suit. "So, you're here." *** Tsubasa had really outdone himself, he thought. He proudly sat in his new creation built out of miscellaneous Mishima Heavy Industries weaponry and technology: The Postal-110. Ceramic armor on the outside, cushoned inside to sustain shock impact, high voltage tazer, high-powered rapid-fire tranquilizer gun, and built in mini-bike for getaways, and several other interesting toys, all packed into a large mailbox. Tsubasa had given up on the severe weaponry when he realized that Ukyou would probably be in close proximity and in danger if he didn't aim carefully. Tsubasa waited patiently, his new creation parked on a city street, ready to ambush Ryouga if he came by. *** Sasuke was outside running an errand for his master. Specifically he was putting a letter addressed to the pig-tailed girl in the public mailbox. He came upon one, opened it, and dumped the letter inside. "HEY!" The mailbox yelled. Sasuke jumped back, startled severely. He stood a safe distance away as the mailbox suddenly grew tank treads and drove off towards two unsuspecting figures a block away... *** Ryouga walked along with Ukyou, on the way to the usual poker night at the Tendou residence. As usual, he didn't want to go. And as usual, Ukyou picked on him until he agreed to go. "Why do you seem so scared of Ranchan lately, Ryouga?" "Scared? Who's scared!?!" Ryouga yelled, trying to muster all the confidence that he could find. It didn't work. "You are, stupid. C'mon, tell me what happened! I promise not to tease you." "Promise?" Ryouga asked, looking warily at Ukyou. "Promise." "Well, y'know, I've never kissed a girl yet." Ukyou put a little distance between herself and him. "Hey, what're you..." "No! Hold on, I'm getting to the point! Er.. anyways.. I've never kissed a girl before, until recently, and... er... I don't think this should count as a first kiss." "Huh? Someone kissed you?" Ryouga nodded, looking quite embarrased. "Sooo, who's the lucky girl?" she asked. "Rmma," he mumbled. "Can't hear ya, speak up," she prodded. "Ramnnn," he mumbled. "Ran... Ran...," Ukyou blinked, trying to think of any girls she knew whose first letters started in 'Ran'... "Look, sugar, I can barely hear you. Now spit it out." "It was... Ranma, okay?" Ukyou stopped walking. "Ran...ma?" Ryouga nodded, looking very grave. "Noooo," she said. "Yes," said he. "Er... was he a he or..." "He was a she. But it still didn't make it feel any better." Ryouga shivered at the memory. feeling ill. "Oh... um... just a quick peck in the cheek or something, right? Hm?" Ryouga winced. "Tongue." "Aw! Now that's gross!" "And he groped me. He even grabbed my rear." said Ryouga, shaking with anger and revulsion. Ukyou stared at Ryouga, stunned. Then she laughed. "HEY! Stop laughing! This isn't funny!" Ukyou just couldn't take this seriously. Ryouga must be mistaken, right? Suddenly, Ryouga sensed danger. "Ukyou," he said, "there's trouble." A nearby public mailbox rumbled to life and turned to face Ryouga. A megaphone popped out as well. "Hibiki! Surrender! Now!" "Tsubasa?" she called out. "I do -not- believe this." Ukyou muttered, getting her battle-spatula ready. "Go away, ya pest!" Ryouga yelled. "Oh, is THAT the way it's gonna be?" Tsubasa yelled. "Fine!" Suddenly, various interesting items which were probably all weaponry popped out of the mailbox, all pointing at Ryouga. "I do _not_ believe this," said a very nervous Ryouga. "Run!" Ukyou yelled. And so two figures blazed quickly through the city streets pursued by a rampaging mailbox. *** Mousse, Akane, and Ranma sat in the living room of the Tendou residence, watching televisiona and talking. "Hey," Ranma said, "Ukyou's a little late today." "In a hurry to lose again?" Akane teased. "Hey, I am getting better at it." "Yes, that is true," Mousse added, "he used to lose everything before. Now he only loses almost everything." He nodded solemly to emphasise the point. "Wiseguys," Ranma grumbled. "Still, it's unusual for her to be late on poker night." *** The person in black was perched in a tree near the Tendou residence. He'd put this off for a while, but now he had nothing better to do so... Suddenly, he was knocked off the tree and fell face-first into the pavement. He heard a giggle and a cry of "What a haul!" and sprang back up, twirling something in his hands. "WHO DID THAT?!" Happousai stopped in his tracks and turned around, looking at the figure in shadows curiously. "Yeeeeees?" "Did you... just run over me now?" he asked in a polite manner. Happousai looked, amused, at this newcomer. He was dressed a bit formally, with the black suit and all. A bit young too, maybe one of Ranma's classmates that wanted revenge? That sort of thing seemed to be happening alot. "Sure did, sonny boy! What can I say, I'm in a hurry, now if you'll excuse me," he said, pausing to sniff an undergarment. "No... you should be more considerate to people who might kill you," replied the stranger. "And who dares challenge me?" the old troll asked. "I am Ryo Muhoshin, who the hell are you, troll?" "Here, youngster. Catch." Happousai flung a bomb at him. He batted away the bomb with his umbrella. "FOOL!" Ryo yelled, "You think you can defeat me with simple firecrackers? Idiot!" "Heh. Looks like I'll have to use a special technique of the Anything Goes Martial Arts on you." "I can just kill you quickly. It'll be easier for all concerned." With the speed of lightning, Happousai ran behind Ryo, grabbed him by the seat of his pants, yelled "HAPPO-WEDGIE-SATSU!" and yanked his underwear up violently. With an *ACK* Ryo collapsed to the ground. "Nnng... aargh.... kill you.... old man...." "Yes, yes, so everyone says. The name's Happousai, MASTER Happousai, of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Don't mess with master martial artists, m'boy. You could get hurt." And so Happousai bounded away and into the Tendou home to enjoy the day's catch. "Okay," the wedgified victim said, straightening out his undergarment, "after I beat up Hibiki, the freak is DEAD." "Freak?" Happousai asked, standing in front of Ryo. "Um..." "Did you say... freak?" "Didn't you leave already?" "I'll leave when I want to. But you..." said the old master, as he used his pipe to fling Ryo to a wall, rendering him unconscious, "should be more respectful to your elders." *** "Ryouga! Got any bright ideas?" Ukyou yelled, running as fast as she could. "Well, one or two," Ryouga answered, "lemme see how this works out." Ryouga jumped to the air, waaaay up high with that absurd hangtime that's reserved for martial artists, and out of view of the Postal-110 assault disguise. "Darn! Where'd he go!" Tsubasa yelled. He shifted the visor of his postal-mech left, right, and finally up, where he saw a fiery Ryouga falling down fast. "Oh boy." Ryouga descended like a comet, hands first, with a glowing sphere of energy glowing inbetween them. With a yell of "SHISHI HOKOU-DAN!!!" the ball became a blast as he crashed into the Postal-1 with his ki-blast leading the charge, kicking up an incredible dustcloud which covered the impact site up entirely. "Ryouga! Are you alright! Ryouga!!!" Ukyou yelled, sounding very worried. "AAAARGH!" yelled Ryouga, as he was flung out of the cloud at high speeds, wrapped up by a net, and impacted solidly into a wall. The Postal-110 emerged from the dustcloud barely scratched. "SURRENDER HIBIKI! THIS IS THE LATEST IN HI-TECH ARMOR, WITH TITANIUM ALLOYS, CERAMIC-" "Ceramic?" Ryouga asked, confused, as he cut the net away using one of his bandanas as a blade, "like pottery and plates?" "SHUT UP! CERAMIC PLATING, AND.. AND.. ALL SORTS OF STUFF! YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY HOPE TO WIN!" "Ceramic... ceramic... hm..." Ryouga was briefly lost in thought, then he suddenly charged straight at Tsubasa, whipping out his umbrella and using it as a shield. "Ryouga! What are you doing!" yelled Ukyou. "Alright then, have it your way," Tsubasa muttered. He reached down and pulled several triggers. Ryouga ran on, his umbrella withstanding the impact of high-speed net projectiles, tranquilizer darts, rubber bullets, and tazer wire, rearing his arm back with a finger pointed out. Finally, as he got into striking distance of Tsubasa's "disguise", he lowered his umbrella to strike. "BAKUSAI-TEN-" "Gotcha!" Tsubasa yelled, getting a clear shot at Ryouga. "KETSU!!!" The Postal-1 was destroyed with a spectacular explosion, sending the mechanic transvestite flying across the skies. "When did _he_ start using mecha?" wondered Ryouga. "Hm, dunno. Ryouga, you ok?" Ukyou asked. "Yeah, let's get going before any other surprises show up." "How'd you know that move was gonna work? I thought that move only worked on rocks." "Just a hunch." *** Ataru Moroboshi was walking casually along doing nothing in particular. He'd managed to get out of the house, and away from his so-called-wife. It was girl-hunting time. Suddenly a little blond girl flew right by him and crashed into a stack of garbage cans. Ataru noticed long blond hair, and his curiosity was raised. He noticed a skirt and his curiosity was even greater. Suddenly, internal warning systems switched on in Ataru's head. His hands, ready to get a quick feel, retracted to his sides. This was the same feeling he got like before.... "Hey," he said, "you alright?" "Yeah." a tiny voice replied. "You're a guy, aren't you?" "Yup." Ataru shook his head. "Man, there's sure alot of transvestites going around Tokyo these days." *** It has been known that Tatewaki Kunou has often attacked Ranma Saotome on many occasions. What was somewhat unclear was why Kunou's attacks were rather lacking in inspiration or foresight and seemed very much like randomly chosen times of attack for the most part. The closest Kunou had ever come to a strategic attack was when he tried to use Ranma's fear of cats against him, which didn't work out that great at all. However, what was not understood by Kunou's foes was WHY Tatewaki Kunou had such a random attack pattern. Actually, the timing of his attacks were not so much random as they believed. Kunou usually sets off to attack his foes whenever one of the following *conditions was met. 1) Kunou had heard some information about his foe which angers him, thus prompting him to seek out his enemy and serve justice. 2) Kunou had just finished watching something inspirational such as "The Seven Samurai" or such, and thusly inspired, marches on to glorious battle. 3) Kodachi really gets on his nerves, thus revving up Kunou's fighting spirit. 4) Kunou's father was visiting, giving Kunou the urgent need to do something that required Kunou to leave the home. 5) Kunou had just spent a long amount of time viewing his picture collection of "the Pig-Tailed Goddess" or Akane Tendou. 6) Kunou had absolutely nothing better to do (i.e. he's bored.) *Notice that actual **planning and scheming do not play a factor here. **Actually, the planning and scheming genes were inherited by Kodachi. Tatewaki just inherited an inflated belief in the importance of self. Both were spared the dreadful 'Pineapple fetish' gene that was so prominent in their father. On this day, Kunou had just finished watching "Lone Wolf and Cub", flipping through his "Pig-Tailed Girl" photo album during commercial breaks, had a long arguement with Kodachi over the destruction of certain photos (he used her Ranma pictures as target practice and she used his Pig-Tailed Girl photos in the same manner), was called by his father who announced he'd be visiting for dinner, and was informed by Sasuke that Hibiki was once again traveling towards the abode of his longtime nemesis, the evil sorcerer Saotome, undoubtedly to scheme heinous deeds. The final insult was when Sasuke had reported that Hibiki had destroyed the mailbox in which Sasuke had deposited a letter adressed to the Pig-Tailed Girl (he strongly suspected that she lived with the Tendou family since he saw her there often.) This was plenty of motivation. Somewhere deep in Kunou's mind, gears spun, engines revved, and his massive ego roared, demanding justice. It was time to turn on the extra adrenaline, turn off those acursed pain sensors, and activate the battle mode. It was Time To Smite. "My sister, I shall be back later today! For now, I go to smite my enemies!" Kunou strode out the door with his bokken in hand. And then he quickly strode back in. "By the way, our dear father is coming by to visit so you might wish to cook something for him. I suggest the arsenic laced fugu." *** Ryouga and Ukyou walked into the Tendou dojo, looking a bit worn. "Sorry we're late, guys" Ukyou said, "but Tsubasa ambushed us today." Ranma blinked. "Tsubasa? Then... why do you guys look so worn out?" "He's started using mechs," said Ryouga. "Oh." Ranma blinked, then shrugged. Things ceased to amaze him after all the things he'd seen while living in Nerima. "Again, sorry we're late," apologized Ukyou. "Don't worry about it. Have a seat. I'm finally on a roll." Ranma proudly said, pointing to a modest pile of chips. Ukyou and Ryouga sat down. They both seemed to be a bit tired, as if they had ran a mile. As usual, Ryouga sat as far away from Ranma as possible. "Hey, Ranchan," Ukyou asked, "have you been feeling okay lately?" "Yeah, why?" "Nobody hit you on the head or anything like that?" "No..." "Oh well, never mind." Ukyou glanced at Ryouga, who looked confused. She surpressed the urge to snicker, or to tell Ranma what Ryouga thought he did. Everybody looked at their dealt cards, some in disgust, some happily, some keeping a straight face. "I'm out" Ramna said. "Me too" Ryouga added. "RANMA SAOTOME! RYOUGA HIBIKI! PREPARE TO DIE!" "Huh?" *** Many observers of Tatewaki Kunou wonder why on earth Kunou totally _ruins_ the element of surprise almost every single time whenever he charges at his foe with the ridiculous battle cry of "[insert name here] PREPARE TO DIE!". Many feel that it's the rough equivalent of yelling "here I come, beat me up!" Why does he constantly ruin his advantage time after time? It's still a mystery. *** Kunou was sailing high in the air, bokken held high overhead, flying towards Ryouga, who whipped out his umbrella, blocked the attack, and flung Kunou back out. Ryouga then ran outside to continue the battle, muttering "I know, I know, don't damage the dojo." *** Ryo slowly got up and started brushing the dust off his suit. Much to his relief, it didn't get damaged in the melee. The sounds of battle caught his attention and so he took position in a tree near the Tendou residence once more and observed the action. He was pleased to find that Hibiki was fighting with someone. He dug around in his pockets until he found a small piece of paper and a pencil. Then he observed. *** Ryouga went outside, followed by the rest of the Poker Night crew. "Feh," Kunou sneered, "Such cowardly tactics from one such as yourself. STAND AND FIGHT!" He charged, swinging with blazing speed. Ryouga was barely blocking the strikes, unable to block them all, using one hand to hold the umbrella, the other to tear off a small amount of bandanas from his head. He then flung the bandanas at Kunou, who amazingly began knocking them all away. {Wow, he has improved} Ryouga thought to himself, {just not enough}. As Kunou was busy swatting away the bandanas, Ryouga leapt in foot-first and nailed Kunou on the side of his face. Kunou stepped back, stunned, and then resumed his fighting stance. "I fight on" Kunou said, showing his grim determination. *** From within his hiding place, Ryo began to write. [Still has sledgehammer model depleted uranium umbrella. Defense weak. Amazing trick with bandanas as distraction/attack.] Actually, Ryo had no idea what the umbrella was made of. He only knew that it was incredibly heavy and extremely painful if one got hit by it. *** Kunou charged and this time his battle aura was actually visible. He swung down hard and fast at Ryouga's head, which caused Ryouga to raise his umbrella in defense. Suddenly and in the blink of an eye Kunou pulled his sword back and swung low this time, catching Ryouga off-guard and connected solidly with a blow to the gut which sent Ryouga stumbling back and open to several more solid hits by Kunou's bokken. Any normal person would be on his knees by now, but this was Ryouga, who could withstand the impact of a full-force kick in the head in battle situations and not be affected (as Ranma had once learned). Ryouga lept back to get some distance, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and focused on his enemy once more. Off to the sides, Ranma wasn't sure what to make of this. "Now, either Kunou hasn't taken me on yet with his full effort, or Ryouga is a bit out of practice." *** Ryo looked puzzled. He scribbled in his notes. [Ryouga's super-endurance now increased? Took hard hits, wasn't stunned.] *** "I hope Ryouga doesn't get hurt." Ukyou said. "Aaaand why's that?" Ranma asked, grinning. *whop* "This isn't the time to joke around." {Enough} thought Ryouga. {One big assault oughta end this} Ryouga tore off even more bandanas with one hand, readied the umbrella with his other hand, and began to glow with a fiery yellow aura. Kunou's battle aura was flaring as well, as he assumed a ready position, getting ready to unleash his fastest flury of strikes. Ryouga flung his bandanas at Kunou, creating a swarm of spinning, buzzing cloth, and flung his umbrella which spun like a top towards its target. Kunou was a blur, striking away the bandanas, but was being cut despite his best efforts. Then the umbrella slammed into him, knocking him back and dropping his guard, allowing the remaining bandanas to pelt at him. Finally, Ryouga held out his hands and yelled "SHISHI HOUKOU-DAN!!!" unleasing a blast of energy that hurled Kunou through the air and solidly outside of the Tendou fence. *** Ryo looked fascinated. He wrote enthusiastically into his notes. [New trick: Ki-blast attack? "Shishihowdedodan?" Overall, minimal use of umbrella, lots of bandanas.] *** Ryouga turned around to the sound of clapping and cheers. "Hey, nice show!" "Good going, Ryouga!" "Ah, I coulda finished him faster*OOF*" *** Ryo took a deep breath, looked at the Tendou residence, and made a decision. "Maybe later." He folded his notes, then stuffed them into his jacket. Then he scaled a nearby tree and waited for Hibiki to leave, pulling out a mini-tv to kill time. *** The late night festivities finally wound down and everyone went on their way, some with a little more money and some with a little less. Ukyou was happy: she hit the jackpot. Ryouga came out even. Mousse did almost as well as Ukyou. Akane managed to not loose too much at all and Ranma, as usual, came out of this the big loser. Ryouga didn't care too much, he just wanted to get very far away from Ranma, especially if he turned into a she. And so, with winnings in hand, Ukyou and Ryouga walked back to Ucchan's. "You feeling better now Ryouga?" Ukyou asked. "Yeah. Feel good as new. Guess it was enough rest... or those bottles of Megavolt Cola." "That stuff's not good for your health y'know." "It seems like from their motto they don't care. How did it go? Hm... 'Megavolt Cola: Caffeine Crazy!'" Nearby, Ryo had fallen asleep watching on a badly dubbed American show about a lab mouse bent towards world domination. Suddenly, he woke up. "Damnation, fell asleep! Where are they! Where are.... ah, there they are." He jumped down to the street, readied his umbrella, and went to pursue his target. "Excuse me! Pardon me!" someone asked, running towards Ryouga and Ukyou. "Hm? Who's that? Gosunkugi?" "Dunno, Ryouga. Looks kinda like him, doesn't it?" The man finally caught up with them, meeting them at a bridge above a waterway. "Hi there. Excuse me. Sorry to ask, but I've been wandering around here for quite a while now..." Ryo knew he should just go for the kill, but he just loved ambushing his adversaries boldly, "Gosunkugi? Is that you?" Ryouga asked. It _looked_ like Gosunkugi, but a bit taller and with a bolder attitude in a suit. This threw Ryo off his stride. He resembled somebody Ryouga knew? Hm... it could come in handy later, but at the moment that question nearly ruined the dramatic mood Ryo was in. "Er... no. I've been looking for the Hibiki residence. Would either of you know where that may be?" "Well," said Ryouga, looking embarrased, "actually I don't know, although I really should. I..." He paused, examining Ryo. Ryouga noticed the man had an umbrella, which seemed to nag at deep warning systems in Ryouga's mind, but failed to pull up the appropriate warning in time. Another thing that should have warned Ryouga was the apparent lack of rainclouds. The two inch blade at the end of the umbrella should have been a clear warning. Definitely. "You mean you don't know where your own house is? Shame." said Ryo. "What the-?" This little statement threw Ryouga off-guard entirely. Suddenly, Ryo yelled "GEKIHOU!" and swung the umbrella forward. The curved end glowed white with ki-charged power as it swung forward and it connected with Ryouga's chest. He was thrown back five feet and landed on his back. "The masters send their regards." "Ryouga!" Ukyou yelled. "Alright, mister, I don't know who you are but you're going down now!" She whipped out her smasher-spatula and stood between Ryo and Ryouga. Ryo got a perplexed look on his face. "Say, are you from the Kitchen Utensils Division?" "What? No!" Ryouga stood up slowly (his super-endurance saving him once again) and hefted his own umbrella to an attack position. Meanwhile, Ukyou swung with her spatula but it was hooked by the umbrella handle. Undeterred, she held onto the spatula handle, jumped up, and kicked him in the face. As she landed, Ukyou twisted her spatula free. Ryo staggered a few steps back, and then held his umbrella like a rapier. He thrust forward several times and she blocked with her spatula. She noticed that he was making several serious dents in the metal. Suddenly he twirled the umbrella so that the handle was pointed outwards. He swung forward but too far for the strike to reach. To her surprise, she was hit solidly in the jaw. She took a step back and examined her adversary carefully, finally noticing that it looked like his umbrella seemed a bit longer than it was before and was retracting back to it's original length. "Telescoping umbrella." said Ryo with a smirk. "You like?" Ukyou took hold of several mini-spatulas and aimed for his legs. He jumped forward to attack and to jump over the mini-spatulas and was met by a spatula thrust straight to the gut. He managed to land on his feet after that, but he was a bit dazed. "Not bad, Madam. I'd love to spar more, but I've got a matter of honor to settle with Mister Hibiki. Step aside before I get serious." As Ryo was speaking, he lost track of Ryouga, who was getting into position safely hidden from view behind Ukyou. "You want me to step aside? O-kay..." Ukyou smiled, and totally surprised Ryo by revealing the charging Ryouga that suddenly came into view. "DAMN!" was all he could get out before Ryouga's umbrella point slammed into his gut and slammed him nearly off the bridge. Noticing that he was ever-so-close to falling into the water, he panicked and flailed, trying to regain his balance. "nononono! Not water! I *ack*" Ryo was grabbed by his shirt collar by Ryouga, who seemed to take notice of Ryo's apparent aversion to water, and held him above the waters. "Now, who the hell are you?" "Don't ruin the suit," said Ryo flatly. "Shut up and talk." said Ryouga. The Gosunkugi lookalike smirked. "You really have forgotten, haven't you. Eh, Ryouga? I feel insulted even more." "What are you talking about?!" "We've met." Ryouga still looked confused. This wasn't what he was expecting. "I've been chasing after you for quite a while now," said Ryo in a low voice, "through Okinawa, across Vietnam, all over China... I must say, you do travel. Gave me alot of exercise." "You've been," Ryouga paused, merely for dramatic effect, "following my trail," another pause, "for a year now, eh? Say, you wouldn't have happened to have been through Jusenkyou?" He shook Ryo a bit. "Well, maybe I have..." Ryo saw an opening. The fool was too concentrated on rattling his cage and had left a very vunerable spot very much open. "DIE!" he yelled, kneeing Ryouga in the crotch. Ryouga's face twisted in pain. He let go of Ryo and stumbled back a bit. Ryo grinned, satisfied that the move had the desired effect. Unfortunately, he had forgotten entirely about the swiftly moving waterway below. "NOOOOOO!" *splash* was the last Ryouga heard of his adversary, as Ryo fell into the water. Ryouga and Ukyou quickly went to the edge of the bridge, looking down, but saw nothing. "Hm... I wonder what his curse was." Ryouga turned away from the stream. "Whatever he is now, I hope he can swim." "Why do you think he's cursed?" "He was looking for revenge, wasn't he? And he did say he followed me to China. He did seem really adverse to water too." *** Once more, Ryouga and Ukyou walked down the streets of nighttime Nerima, casually strolling and enjoying the night air. "Well," Ukyou said, patting Ryouga in the back, "three deadly foes in one day. You're up to Ranma-esque levels now." "Hey... I never thought about that..." "About what?" "Well, ever since Ranma and Akane got serious, look what's happened to me. I got engaged to Shampoo, Kodachi is obsessed with me, Kunou is out to kill me, Tsubasa is jealous, a mysterious person from my past has come seeking vengence, and you..." "Eh?" Ukyou said uneasily, her eyes scanning the surroundings. "er... turn out to be my best friend." Ryouga nervously tugged at his shirt collar. Ukyou looked away, her expression hidden from Ryouga's view. "Ryouga," Ukyou said, closing her eyes. "What is it?" Ryouga nervously asked. Ukyou turned her back to him, her arms hugged around herself. She turned her head to the left, then to the right, and then turned to face him. She looked him in the eyes. "RYOUGA, WHERE THE HELL ARE WE?!?!" He looked around, noticing that they were deep in a forest with city lights blinking far away behind them. "Huh? How'd we get here?" *** Much later... In a hotel room, Ryo Muhoshin was taking a relaxing hot bath. He also was nursing a nasty bruise where Ryouga's umbrella had impacted and a cut across his stomach where Ukyou's spatula him him. The Dojo Destroyer was easy. The idiot from the Martial Arts Tea Ceremony Dojo (HAH! Tea ceremony indeed) was pathetic. The sad little man who did Martial Arts Handwriting was absolutely a disgrace to martial artists everywhere. Ryo had brought them all down, in the name of the Unorthodox Weaponry School of Martial Arts (or UWSMA, pronounced as ew-smah) Ryouga was proving to be different. It seemed that he was just supernaturally unlucky, as far as trying to take down Hibiki. A wrong step here, a bad guess there, it was always _something_. He had yet to face Hibiki without something utterly stupid happening that ruined the moment. He'd lost to Hibiki before, but never like this. One thing, a odd little thing, was puzzling him. He _thought_ Ryouga should have been at his place of residence. Ryo broke into the Hibiki household one night, a while back, only to find a dustly, unkept, dark, and obviously long-unlived-in household. He didn't understand that particular mystery at all. He knew Ryouga's sense of direction was bad, but to not even live at his own house? And what about the rest of his family? Could the _entire_ family be as directionally challanged as Ryouga? It seemed to be the case. - end part 5 -