======================== THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS ACT 1 PART 5 A NIGHT OUT =========== "Bills, bills, junk..." Ukyou frowned as she sorted through the day's mail. Nearby, Ryouga was cleaning off the tables as Ucchan's was preparing to close its doors. "Hey," said Ukyou, "what's this?" She held up a post card and read it. Ryouga, a few feet away, looked at the postcard as if it was familiar. "Oh, that," he said. "So, you were in Tahiti last week?" asked Ukyou. "Well, yeah," replied an embarrassed Ryouga. "At least I got back before the postcard got here, right?" Ukyou laughed. "Yeah, good point." She put aside the postcard, planning to add it to the others that Ryouga occasionally sent when he got lost, and continued looking through the mail. "Hey, could this be..." She opened an envelope, pulled out some papers, and gave out a cheer. "Alright! Got'em!" "Got what?" Ukyou dramatically held out two slips of paper. "These!" she said proudly. "And those are...?" "Free movie passes! Won'em from a lottery contest at the local theater." "Oh, that's nice. So what're you going to go watch?" asked Ryouga. "_We_ are gonna watch 'Ghost in the Shell'." "We?" wondered Ryouga. "Why we?" "Because I've got two tickets, and I'd feel ridiculous going to a movie alone. So, are you coming or aren't you?" "Um..." managed Ryouga, taken by surprise by the offer. "Yeah, sure. Why not?" "So, c'mon! Let's get outta here," said Ukyou, still in a pleasant mood. Then she noticed the odd look Ryouga was giving her. "What?" "You seem to be really enthusiastic about just getting two free tickets." "Yeah, 'cause they were _free_!" "You're really Nabiki's long lost sister, right?" ***CLANG*** * Ryo stared at the ceiling of his apartment. He was bored. Bored, bored, bored. His little sister, Kyoko, hovered nearby, twirling her scissors. "Haircut?" she asked idly. "What did I say last time?" asked Ryo flatly. "No?" "Correct." "I'm bored!" whined Kyoko. "Go play with Kanrinrin-san's dog." "Kanrinrin-san took him to the vet!" whined Kyoko. "Go bug the ronin upstairs, everyone else does." "He's out!" "How about the neighbor's child, room 1?" suggested Ryo. "He's gross." Ryo sighed. "Come along, then." Kyoko blinked. "Hm? Where we goin'?" "Just taking a walk." * In a dark movie theater, two young people were sitting there, trying to sort out exactly what they were watching. There were also other matters to take care of. *WHAP* "Wake up, dummy! Snap outta it!" Ryouga woke up, feeling a little light-headed. "What? What?" "Ya gonna pass out EVERY time they show a naked body?" Ukyou sighed and rolled her eyes briefly, then started wiping off the blood that came out from Ryouga's nose. "It's just an anime! Jeez, you're a mess..." "Hey, I can do this myself!" Ryouga scowled, grabbed the paper napkin from Ukyou and started cleaning himself up. "What a wimp," muttered Ukyou. * Sitting in the park bench, Ryo looked over his umbrella for lack of anything else to do. Nearby, Kyoko was whirling around the playground in a frenzy, enjoying herself immensely, swinging on swings, sliding on slides, and giving squirrels interesting new haircuts. He yawned. So peaceful... and quiet... so terrible... "HEY! LET GO!" "NO! GEORGETTE ALL MINE!" Ryo turned his attention back to the playground, where his little sister was apparently fighting with another little girl over the possession of Kyoko's oversized scissors. "LET GO LET GO LET GO!" "YOU LET GO! IT'S MINE MINE MINE!" He sigh and turned away, intending to take a nap, with a light grin on his face. Before he could fall asleep, he heard a loud shriek and sat upright, wondering what happened. Kyoko was standing alone in the playground, grinning a silly grin, holding her large scissors in one hand, and a large mass of hair in her other. Ryo blinked. "Got her?" he asked. "Got'er!" Kyoko smiled happily and waved around the hair. "Good girl," he said, and went back to take his nap. Then he froze in mid-blink and said, "Kyo-chan..." "Yes?" "Do NOT cut my hair." "Awwwww. Pleeeeease?" * Ryouga reached for some popcorn. Ukyou reached for some popcorn. A moment later, the tub-o-popcorn dropped to the floor amongst a flood of apologies by both sides, and some low-level blushing ensued. It was the sort of thing that was horribly cliche'd, but it didn't help lower the amount of embarrasment they felt. * Kodachi tossed aside a folder and sighed. It had been a very busy time as of late, but now she was free once more to pursue whatever she wanted, which was, at the moment, either Ranma or Ryouga, she could not decide which. Kodachi hmmed for a moment, putting chin in palm, pondering how to go about things. Then the solution presented itself to her. She'd just go about the town, and whoever she saw first, was going to have _all_ of her loving attention for the night. * Ryoko looked at the door to Ucchan's, a bit puzzled. "Ukyou? Ryouga? Hello?" She knocked on the door for a bit, sprang to the roof and went to the back, looked around in the backyard, then sighed and walked off. * Ryo leisurely strolled down the street, his little sister hopping about, full of far too much energy (in his opinion) and tying up her ill-gotten hair samples into a locket of sorts. "C'mon, meet the neighbors!" prodded Kyoko. "I'd rather not," muttered Ryo. "Just go ahead and go home." Ryo patted her on the head. "You can visit the manager again, you two get along well, right?" "Yup!" bubbled Kyoko. "There you go. Now go on in. I'll be back later." "Where ya goin'?" asked Kyoko, looking at him with curiosity-filled Kawaii-Boosted eyes. "Target practice, Kyo-chan, target practice." "Okaaaaay!" Kyoko zoomed into the apartment complex, giggling happily and waving around the Azusa-hair that she sheared off earlier. "Miss Manager! I'm baaaaack!" Ryo waited until she disappared inside the building, and walked away as he heard voices drift from within. "Kyoko-chan, how are you doing today?" "Fine! I was with my brother!" "Oh, what's this in your hand?" "It's hair," said Kyoko, matter-of-factly, "I scalped someone!" * Another night, another bunch of failed would-be boyfriends, thought Akari as she observed her pet sumo-pig finish off the last of the crowd of boys that he attacked. Nobody left standing. She sighed. she wondered sadly. Being single in Nerima was rough already. Her case didn't help lower the averages. * Ryouga and Ukyou sat in their seats, staring blankly at the screen as the credits rolled by. Ryouga slowly looked into Ukyou's eyes. Ukyou slowly turned towards Ryouga. "Ukyou..." "Ryouga?" "I didn't understand that ending at all," said Ryouga, "did you get any of it?" "Well... kinda." Ukyou sipped on her soda thoughtfully for a moment as the end credits rolled by, then said, "let's see... um, the two personalities, in the end, merged into one, new personality, but stuck in the woman's head, who was rebuilt into the woman's head, which was stuck onto some spare android, which then wandered off to find it's destiny... or something like that." "Er..." Ryouga still looked confused. "Okaaaay.... then who was section 6?" "Some other section of the government. Doesn't matter." "That was... what's her name... Kusanagi's department, right?" "Nooo, that's Department 9." "I thought Department 9 was the bad guys?" "No! The Foreign Ministry was the bad guys!" "Ah... right... why?" Ukyou frowned. Actually, she wasn't 100% sure herself, but she was sure it would work itself out after a few hours of thought. "I'll sketch ya a diagram later. C'mon, let's go." The two left the movie theater, entering the cool, breezy evening, and stretched a bit, experiencing the universal sensation of Movie Theatre Stiffness (you know the feeling, after watching a long movie and finally getting up only to have your body become unstable) and rested briefly by the wall of the building. "Hey," she said, pointing to a large movie poster on the wall, "an Audrey Hepburn festival! Let's go watch it next week!" "Audrey Hepburn? Who's that?" wondered Ryouga. She smirked. "You really _are_ outta touch with pop culture, aren't ya? I'll tell you 'bout her some other time." "Ah... right." Ukyou sighed and closed her eyes, tilting her head back, and let the breeze blow through her face, lifting her hair slightly. Ryouga couldn't help but look at her, just mesmerized. She might've passed as a boy in the past, but now, as she was maturing, and finally accepting she was a girl... at that moment he couldn't imagine her any other way... and for a moment, just a moment, she was the only girl in the world. She noticed his attention and turned away, blushing, but with a small bit of a smile. she wondered. "So, ah, where do you wanna go now?" said Ryouga. "Go?" asked Ukyou. She really hadn't thought of post-movie activities. "Hmm... go... hey, how about a dance club?" "A what?!" "A club! Y'know, music! Dancing! It'll be fun!" Ryouga panicked. He didn't know how to dance and wasn't in the mood to show a large crowd exactly how bad of a dancer he was. "But I don't-" "Oh, come on, don't be scared!" said Ukyou. "Hey, there's one nearby, it'll be great!" "I don't-" "One more negative outta you, sugar, and I'll have to hit ya," she said jokingly, dragging him along. * "Who'd have thought it would happen?" said Ukyou, sitting on a street bench. Her expression was that of mild surprise. "Well, in a way, it was bound to happen, I guess," grumbled Ryouga. "They banned us," said Ukyou. "The nerve of them!" declared Ryouga. "Whoever heard of a 'No Martial Artists' policy?!" Ukyou yelled. "Oh well, might as well go ho-" "Ryouga-chan!" Ryouga froze, turning around slowly. That was _not_ Ukyou's voice. Those were not Ukyou's arms that had latched around him either. Ukyou stiffened suddenly and her smile quickly faded, replaced by a look of definite discomfort and barely visible yet definitely tangible irritation aimed at Ryouga. Ryouga stuttered, "R-Ryoko, um, w-what're you doing here?" "Ryouga! Ukyou! Hi! What'cha two doing?" "Um, we, ah," stumbled Ryouga. "There's this movie, um, break, well," floundered Ukyou. "Just taking a, uh, break," finally managed Ryouga. "Yeah, aheh, just taking a break from running the store!" agreed Ukyou. "Oh, that's good. You shouldn't work too hard, Ryouga-chan! You too, Ukyou!" Then Ryoko pouted. "But you should've invited me too!" "Um, er," stuttered Ryouga. "Well, we, um," tried Ukyou. "It's okay, I know you weren't able to reach me, I was out all day." Ryoko snuggled up next to Ryouga, while Ukyou scowled and Ryouga started sweating badly. Ryouga also forgot one rule of the universe: it can always get worse. "OH-HOHOHOHOHO! Ryouga-sama! I've found you!" Ryouga cringed. Ukyou sighed. Ryoko scowled. "Ryouga's MY boyfriend, who the hell are you?!?!" Before any of them could answer, several bouquets of flowers landed on the floor and began smoking. "So, another would claim my Ryouga-sama as her own? Very well then, PREPARE TO DIE!" Within a second, the whole street was clouded with thick gas. From above, Kodachi in a gas mask and leotard leapt into the fray, whipping around indiscriminately. Ryouga frowned. This wasn't the way tonight was supposed to go. All he wanted was a nice, non-violent day with Ucc... his _friend_. Everyone began to cough and gag in reaction to the fumes. Without thinking, he grabbed Ukyou by the hand, held his breath, and ran blindly in one direction. Ryouga blazed through the streets, running blindly and coughing due to the gas attack from Kodachi's bouquets. Finally he stopped, partially because he was tired, but mostly because Ukyou booted him in the head. "IDIOT! What have you done???" yelled Ukyou. "I got us away from Kodachi!" countered Ryouga. "And left Ryoko alone back there against her!" "Oh, um..." Ryouga began to look somewhat guilty. "We'll just go back then, okay?" "Ryougaaaa!" "What? What?" Ukyou sighed. "Ryouga, WHERE ON EARTH ARE WE NOW?!?!?!" Ryouga looked around. "Hey! Where'd all these big trees come from and where'd Tokyo go?" "IDIOT!" *CLANG* * Meanwhile, back in Nerima... The citizenry, once they got clear of the gas attack and settled down to get a good view of the fight (fights in Nerima are considered Free Entertainment, and it's common for a sudden brawl to get a large audience). They were very disappointed. Ryoko, tangled in ribbons, coughing, wheezing, and somewhat disoriented, had her hands around Kodachi's throat. Kodachi, who had her gas mask knocked off, was wrapped in an amazingly long yo-yo string, coughing, wheezing, and had her hands around Ryoko's throat. Hiroshi and Daisuke passed by, noticing the squabbling pair of ladies and the crowd that was watching them. Hiroshi went up to one person in the crowd and asked, "good fight?" The man frowned, "feh, it started out alright, but then they both started chokin' on some poison fumes and such." Daisuke shook his head sadly. "So it degenerated into a typical cat-fight between women, with little martial arts prowess shown?" The man nodded. "An' they're still going at it now." Even as they spoke, the crowd was slowly dispersing, disappointed. Hiroshi shook his head. "No technique, no finesse." Daisuke sighed. "Maybe there's something good at the movies?" * Ryouga and Ukyou did the only thing they could do in their position (which was Being Lost), and strolled leisurely in a direction that seemed right. In general, it seemed to be a good evening for a stroll. The sunset was at it's waning moments, and darkness already was settled into the streets. Unseen to them both, a pair of eyes that were tracking them leapt onto a nearby rooftop. Inside the house, there were yells of "Dammit, they're at it again!" and "My roof! My roof!" but any veteran martial artist tends to ignore this out of habit. Somewhere in the dark, that person grinned. Ryouga blinked. He looked around cautiously, with the martial artist instinct within him sending warning signals. Ukyou, being a martial artist as well, also took a moment to glance around. "You get the feeling..." said Ryouga. "We're being watched?" added Ukyou. They took a moment to look around. Nothing. Then Ryouga spotted it. In the dim moonlight, he saw a shadow on the ground zooming towards him. "What the..." He looked up and saw Ryo zooming through the air, using his umbrella as a glider. Ryo frowned, realizing the element of surprise was gone. "Hibiki prepare to die!" He snapped his umbrella shut, which drastically changed his aerodynamics, sending him rocketing down. He aimed his bladed umbrella at Ryouga's head. "Ryouga look out!" yelled Ukyou. "Ukyou, get back!" Ryouga stepped protectively in front of Ukyou and blocked Ryo's incoming strike. Then, a flury of slashes, parrys, and feints ensued while Ukyou backed away and watched. She would've helped out, but knew Ryouga was the proud sort. If he got in trouble, then she'd help. "What *CLANG* do you *SLASH* want now?? *SWISH*" asked Ryouga. "Just *SLASHSLASH* a little *OOF* entertainment," answered Ryo. "Why can't *SWING* you just *SLASH* leave me alone?!?!" Meanwhile, a block away... Akari rode atop her gigantic sumo pig, sad that another day had passed, with no worthy suitor in sight. "I think you're just too tough," she sighed, as she petted the pig on the forehead. It grunted with pride. Then, in by way of some sort of predatory instinct, it sensed worthy foes nearby and charged like a pig possessed. "Katsu-nishiki! Slow down!" pleaded Akari, but it was too late for that. Ryouga took a step back, surprised when Ryo's gloved fists suddenly lit up with ki energy. The effect was nearly dazzling, as Ryo swung ki-charged punch after punch, mixed in with occasional ki-charged umbrella hook swipes, towards Ryouga. None made it through Ryouga's defenses, but the punches that he blocked definitely did sting. Ryo allowed himself a slight grin as he saw how much his new attack was surprising his foe. Of course, this sort of ki usage was incredibly draining, but Ryo was gambling that Ryouga would be thrown off stride enough to leave some sort of opening, one that he was ready to strike at with deadly force. And then he saw his opening, a clear shot to Ryouga's chest. It was there, if he reacted fast enough. If only he wasn't a typical Nerima Martial Artist. "AN OPENING!" he yelled, swinging wildly with a left hook. Ryouga, being warned by the yell, dodged away, but not quick enough to evade Ryo grabbing him by the shirt. Apparently forgetting what happened the last time he tried it, Ryo went for the headbutt to Ryouga's face. At the very last second he managed to slip away from Ryo's grasp, pulling himself down and away as Ryo's headbutt attempt surged forward. At the same time, Ryouga felt something big brush past him. Ryo felt his skull connect solidly, but with something not... not quite Ryouga-ish. Bigger, yes. Harder, definitely much harder. There was pain. Definitely. Ouch. It was apparently a pig. A really big one too. Ryo swaggered, almost falling off his feet. The pig, who knew what it was hitting beforehand, also had its pride and refused to fall. The two were locked in post-headbutt position, slowly stepping away from each other while trying not to look utterly dazed. The pig snorted defiantly. Ryo grunted and slugged it in the jaw. The pig toppled over. *THUD* Soon after, so did Ryo. *THUD* "Well, that was weird," said Ukyou. "Who'd think that a giant pig would come rushing out like... like..." Giant pig? Uh oh. "Oh no," muttered Ukyou. "Please tell me Akari isn't around." "Oh my!" said Akari, rushing up to Ryo's fallen form. "Is he okay?" "Aaaargh, no no no!" griped Ukyou. "Er, what's going on?" asked Ryouga. "Akari," said Ukyou, "you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?" "Huh? Will someone tell me what's going on?" wondered Ryouga. "And why's she got his head on her lap like that?" "Remember how I explained to you about Akari and her pig?" said Ukyou. "Yeah, so?" asked Ryouga. Trying not to cringe at the sight of Akari gently stroking Ryo's hair, Ukyou said, "remember the part about BEATING her pig?" "So what if someone beat... oh. Uh oh." He finally got it. "Akari, just this once, I don't think following your grandfather's wishes is such a good idea," said Ukyou. "From what I hear, he has his good traits," said Akari casually. "He doesn't look too bad either." "Akari, do you know WHO this person is?" asked Ukyou. She took a moment to examine him. Fighting with Ryouga, dressed well, had a surly look to his face. Hrm. "This is Ryoko's brother, isn't it? Ryo?" asked Akari. "If he's anything like his sister, he can't be all bad." "Akari, this guy isn't someone you can trust," said Ukyou. Ryouga nodded vigorously in agreement. "In fact, he's dangerous." It was at about this time that Ryo regained consciousness. The way in which he woke up reminded Akari of a pig. He first opened one eye, slowly, then closed it again and snorted. Then he opened the eye again. Slowly. And saw a rather cute girl's smile. He couldn't help but blink. "Hi there," she said gently. "Ah... hi." This was a situation he was entirely not used to. A gentle smile, a loving gaze, kind words, and his head resting on a female lap. It was absolutely terrifying. He bolted upright immediately, giving her a wary, narrow-eyed look. "um... pardon me... must be running." Without further ado, he wobbled up to his feet then sprang away. "Wait!" cried Akari. "Come back!" Before Ukyou could stop her, she ran off after her new infatuation at an amazing speed. Sighing was the only thing Ukyou could do after seeing that. "Oh boy, this isn't good." "Come on," said Ryouga, "we might as well go home." "Yeah," she said, looking absently in the direction in which Akari ran off, "I'll just talk to her later." For Ryouga, it was another reminder of the problem of a romantic nature he was facing, one that he really didn't want to think about either. * "Sorry the evening got ruined like that," mumbled Ryouga. The two of them moved around the store front of Ucchans, making sure it was locked up for the night. "Ruined? What do you mean?" wondered Ukyou. "Well... running into everybody like that." "Oh, that?" Ukyou wasn't sure what the problem was. Being in this neighborhood for the past year made her numb to attacks on dates by various martial artists. It was something that was expected. Although it was awfully sweet of Ryouga to apologize about it. "No big deal. Weird coincidence, I guess." "But I... I mean, I wanted..." Ryouga twiddled his thumbs, loosing sight of what it was he was wanting to say. "I mean... we don't get to relax much... and..." Possibilities of what Ryouga was trying to say danced around the edge of Ukyou's mind. She almost blushed. "That's okay, sugar," said Ukyou, smiling. "There'll be other times." "Yeah, I guess." Ukyou proceeded to lock up the restaurant while Ryouga mulled in the middle of the room. She couldn't help but feel mildly irritated, though, as a scene from earlier in the days kept on replaying on her mind. Today's events only helped to remind her of it - Ryoko hanging on to Ryouga like that, while the dummy just stood there and stammered. Unfortunately, Ryouga noticed, and he began to look a bit more uncomfortable, and that set off a chain reaction of her noticing and getting a bit more irritated, which in turn got him more uncomfortable until... "Hey..." she said, "something else bothering you?" "Hm?" "You're looking weird." "I am?" "Yes," she said, "you are." "Look," he said, sounding embarrassed, "Ryoko and I... we're not..." Ukyou frowned. "And, ah, why are you telling me this?" "You... I just don't want you to get the wrong idea, that's all. I just wanted to clear that up, okay?" Ukyou sighed, sitting down next to Ryouga and looked him in the eye. "Listen, sugar, we both know what happens when you aren't honest about your feelings towards somebody." "What do you mean by..." "Don't be like Ranma," she said, her gaze unwavering. "Understand?" "What d-" "If you don't feel the same way," said Ukyou, "tell her. Don't keep her hanging on. Now do you understand?" "I... guess I do. I'll.. talk to her about it." Ukyou nodded approvingly. "Well... I'm bushed. Guess I'll go to sleep. G'night Ryouga." "Yeah, good night." Ukyou headed for her bedroom, then hesitated when she realized she'd left Ryouga at the kitchen, with no way for him to find his room. It might take him hours just to find his room again, and that'd mean she'd have a hard time waking him up the next day. Not good. As she headed back to find Ryouga, she heard the phone ring. Ukyou crept back, silently, and peeked around the corner at the front register, where the phone was, and where Ryouga picked it up. //Ryouga?// "Ah... Ryoko?" //Hi! What happened to you? You disappeared after I got through beating up that psychotic weirdo girl.// "I... ah... got lost. Look, I've gotta..." //Hey, are you doing anything this Saturday?// "Ah, Saturday? No. But I..." //Great! Then WE can go out on a date Saturday, right?// "Er... a date?! I, er..." //Great! See you Saturday! Byebye!// **click** "A ... a date?" Ryouga slowly put down the phone, took a deep breath, and tried not to yell. It didn't work. "WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME?!" Unseen and unheard, Ukyou went back to her room with a frown, muttering, "Spineless Moron! Wimp! Idiot!" As far as she was concerned, that moron could find his room on his own. -end part 5-