Somewhere downtown, a lone figure wandered amongst the lunchtime rush,
obviously lost as he walked one way at first before changing his mind and
walking back the other way, only to wind up somewhere else.
"Arrrrgh! Where the hell am I now?!?" Ryoga yelled out to the heavens.
Passers-by shot him a queer look before going on their ways. After wandering
for another half-hour, an old man took pity on him.
"�Ere son, you lost?" the old man asked, tapping Ryoga on the back.
Ryoga spun around and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "What do you
think?!?�" he snarled back before catching himself. He lowered the old man
to the ground and quickly apologised. "�err, sorry, I�m just frustrated,
that�s all�" The old man appeared not to mind as he smoothed out his shirt.
"�Can you tell me where I am?" The old man didn�t reply but turned to leave,
Ryoga quickly hurried after him. "�Hey�HEY!�Where the hell are you going?!?"
The old man continued walking until they were away from the busy areas
before turning around.
"Where are you?�" the old man said, a mocking tone in his voice. "�You are
in Hell!" 
Ryoga�s eyes widened in shock. "What?!? What do you mean?!?�Don�t play games
with me old man!" he walked toward the frail looking figure standing before
him with every intention of knocking some sense into him when he spun around
suddenly and Ryoga barely dove aside as something came flying at him,
cutting off a lock of hair and embedding into the wall behind him. "�What
the?!?" Ryoga gaped.
The old man sneered. "Impressive�no ordinary man could have dodged that�"
"That�s it, you die! Take this!�" Ryoga screamed as he dashed toward the old
man. He stopped a foot short and punched the ground "�Bakusai-Tenketsu!" The
ground exploded as a geyser of sharp rock shrapnel struck the spot where the
old man was standing moments ago. 
Ryoga gasped as a finger touched his shoulder. "�Such a feeble attack�Hardly
worth my effort�" the old man yawned.
"Shut up! Take this, you old prune!" Ryoga screamed as he turned around and
in one fluid motion, unstrapped his umbrella from his pack and slashed
behind him. The old man dodged aside with a speed that made it look as if he
were teleporting out of the way and Ryoga�s missed strike cut into the wall.
Moments later a section of the wall slowly bent over and crashed to the
ground, shattering on impact. 
The old man�s eyes widened. "�Iaijutsu�not bad if I do say so myself."
Ryoga smirked "You�re quick old man, but let�s see you dodge this!" he
yelled as he charged forward, slashing at his opponent�s head. However, the
old man simply grinned and, when Ryoga�s umbrella struck, vanished.
"What the?!?�Where the hell did he go?!?" Ryoga gasped in astonishment,
peering quickly around.
"It seems that I have no further need of this disguise�" Ryoga turned and
looked up at the sound of the voice. Above him, hovering ten feet above the
ground was a tall, imposing figure, dressed in a black gi that hung loosely
about his shoulders. The sleeves had been torn off, showing off the figure�s
muscular arms. A sudden gust of wind pushed his long hair away from his
face, Ryoga gasped when he saw the figure�s eyes. The pupils were a bright
red, almost as if they contained orbs of flame within. As Ryoga watched, the
figure slowly floated over to stand on top of the nearby wall.
"Just who the hell are you anyway?!? And what do you want with me??" Ryoga
yelled at the figure who simply grinned.
"With you? Not much�I merely sought to test your abilities to see if they
were worthy of the man behind the name Hibiki Ryoga�" the man snickered.
Ryoga growled and reached a hand to his head, grabbing hold of a bandanna.
"You DARE mock me like this?!? You shall pay!�TAKE THIS!" Ryoga screamed as
five bandannas flew toward the man. At the last moment, the man raised his
right hand and the bandannas were engulfed in a miniature tornado that swept
them into the sky to land in a crumpled heap at Ryoga�s feet. Ryoga�s eyes
bugged out. "How�How the�"
The man raised his left hand and sneered "How? Like this�Yonokaze!" Ryoga
yelped as a twister formed at his feet and tossed him fifty feet into the
air. Moments later he crashed to earth, painfully. Ryoga groaned and got to
his feet, a bluish-green aura beginning to form around him.
"You will pay for that�" Ryoga snarled as he hunched over as if he was
holding his stomach.
"Oh will I�What will you�Huh?" The man taunted but stopped when he saw
Ryoga�s aura begin to flare. Suddenly, Ryoga snapped up from his hunched
position and screamed, blue-green flame exploding around him.
"Now you DIE!�" Ryoga screamed, cupping both hands at his chest. A globe of
green energy formed between his cupped palms and quickly grew in size and
intensity.
"Oh shit, here we go again�" the man muttered, remembering what happened
with Ranma. "�They don�t pay me enough to put up with this!"
Ryoga bared his fangs and began to speak slowly and deliberately "Shi�Shi�Ho�"
The man quickly gathered his own energy and crossed both arms in front of
his face. <Oh shit shit shit! Why didn�t anyone teach ME something like this
back in Hell?!?>
"�KO-DAAAAAAAAAAN!" Ryoga screamed and thrust both palms forward. A lancing
beam of green energy shot toward the man who thrust his own hands out in an
attempt to block the deadly attack. Ryoga�s blast struck the black energy
field around his palms and the man was hard-pressed to try to deflect
Ryoga�s attack. Green and black lightning crackled at the explosion point as
the green energy slowly began to neutralise the black and bore slowly forward.
"Now you die!�HYAAAAAAAAAA!" Ryoga screamed and with one mighty surge, his
attack surged through the man�s defences and exploded on contact with his
face. He screamed horribly as he flew off the wall and slowly phased out of
existence, like a shadow melting into the darkness. 
Ryoga took a deep breath and picked up his pack. "�Who the hell was that guy
anyway?!?" He was about to leave when the object embedded in the wall caught
his eye. He walked over to it and pulled it free from the wall. "�an
envelope?!!!" He quickly tore it open and read it. Moments later he crumpled
it in his hand and threw it into a nearby trashcan. "�Hah! So�you want ME to
fight in the tournament do you?�I don�t waste my time with�" Ryoga stopped
when a thought crossed his mind. <Wait a moment, if I go then I can fight
Ranma!�Let�s see the coward run this time!> "�I�ll be there�Ranma!"

**************
Ukyou looked up when she heard the restaurant�s front door open.
"Ran-chan!�" She hopped the counter, bounded over to Ranma and overwhelmed
him with a rib-cracking bearhug. "�Where have you been? You haven�t stopped
by the past few days! I�ve been worried about you!" she chided, still
squeezing. Ranma gasped from the lack of air.
"I�If you let me go�I�ll tell you�" he wheezed. Ukyou relaxed her grip and
took a step back, looking rather sheepish. 
"Sorry�" she said, blushing slightly. Ranma took a few deep breaths and
rubbed his bruised ribs. 
<Since when did Shampoo patent that glomp of hers?!?> he thought, scratching
the back of his head and peering around the restaurant. It was strangely
empty as the place was usually at least half full at this time. "�Hey
Ucchan, why so quiet in here today?"
Ukyou hopped back behind the counter and poured a cup of okonomiyaki mix
onto the grill. "Oh, I didn�t open today, didn�t you see the sign outside?"
Ranma shook his head <What sign?!?> "Err, nope�" he walked over to the
counter and took a seat. His brow furrowed when a thought entered his mind.
"�You feeling all right, Ucchan? You�re not sick are you?"
Ukyou shook her head. "No, I�m fine�I just felt like a day off, that�s all"
she gave Ranma a warm smile. "�Thanks for asking though."
"That�s good, if you�re sick be sure you get plenty of rest ok? I wouldn�t
want my best friend out for long�" Ranma grinned back. Ukyou blinked and
gave him a mock pout.
"Best friend?!? Is that it?�No �kawaii innakuze�?!?" Ranma gulped.
"Err, that too�" he quickly peered around for signs of something big and
mallet-like in size and shape. Ukyou however, appeared satisfied and flipped
the okonomiyaki over to Ranma. 
"Here you go Ran-chan�" she said, smiling. "�Eat up!" Ranma gladly did so,
inhaling the okonomiyaki in under ten seconds. Ukyou clapped a hand to her
mouth.
"Wow! You are hungry today! Did you miss lunch or something, Ran-chan?" she
exclaimed, throwing another okonomiyaki on the grill.
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, some jerk came in during math class today and decided
to give me this�" Ranma rummaged through his book bag, took out the envelope
and handed it to Ukyou who looked at it curiously. "�Anyway, he put up one
helluva fight before�"
"You aren�t going are you?" Ukyou interrupted, looking up from the letter.
"Huh? What?�Oh, the tournament? Sure I�m going�Why not? I�ve always won it
before�" Ranma boasted proudly. Ukyou didn�t appear to notice his boast.
"I hear it�s going to be different this year too�" she said. Ranma could see
that she was looking a bit worried.
"Hey! No sweat! Who else around here could beat me?!?" Ukyou rolled her eyes.
"Earth to Ranma, Earth to Ranma, you have clearance to land, come down from
there now!" she said, giggling.
"Har har! Very funny!" he deadpanned.
"Seriously now, aren�t you worried even in the slightest? I hear they will
be inviting the best from China as well as all over Japan, it isn�t just a
local thing like before�" Ukyou said, flipping the cooked okonomiyaki onto
Ranma�s plate. This one lasted 9.5 seconds. Ok, ok, 9.5 recurring, but who�s
counting ^-^
"Nope, I�m not worried�Though I�m sure itching to find out who they�re
getting from China�" he said, an absent look on his face. After a moment he
caught the worried look on Ukyou�s face.
<Sigh, Ran-chan�I hope you know what you�re getting into this time�I�> Ukyou
blinked when she felt Ranma�s hand covering her own. 
"Hey! Ucchan! Don�t worry, I�ll be fine�" Ranma said, patting her hand
reassuringly. Ukyou felt a flush rise to her cheeks at the contact. "I�If
y-you say so�" she stammered. She quickly pulled her hand away, knowing she
was bound to say something stupid if she didn�t. "�S-so where were you for
the past three days?" Ukyou asked, quickly changing the subject. Ranma
sighed and stood up.
"I had another fight with Ryoga a few days ago�" he said after pacing the
room for a moment. "�It sort of got out of hand�" Ukyou looked surprised.
She hopped from behind the counter and walked over to Ranma. She peered up
into his face, it wasn�t hard to see the faint outlines of the
recently-healed abrasions and fading-bruises. She touched a bruise at a spot
just below the jawbone. Ranma winced slightly, the bruise still hurt though
not as badly as before.
"You okay?�" Ranma nodded. "�What started it? You two don�t usually make
something really big out of a simple match�Who started it?" Ukyou asked,
worry etched on her face. Ranma took a deep breath, his first answer was to
say Akane started it, if it wasn�t for her, he never would have lost it like
that. Then images of her back at the Nekohanten came flooding back. She was
genuinely sorry for what she�d said, they�d made up rather well since then,
not counting the little spat this morning but that was standard deal.
"Well, Ryoga jumped me�" Ukyou nodded an �uh-huh�, and waited for the rest.
After a few minutes, Ranma added. "�Probably coz I had a little fun playing
�P-chan soccer� earlier on�" Ukyou giggled when she got a visual on that.
"�After that we were both in traction for a little while."
"Basically you were both at fault then�Still it doesn�t explain why you two
would be out for blood from what I see here�These were pretty serious�"
Ukyou gently prodded another sore spot. "�Ran-chan are you sure you�re okay?
You want me to take a look at those?" 
Ranma shook his head. "Nah, I�m fine�" he reached out and gave her a small
hug. "�Thanks for asking though." Ukyou blushed, she could feel the flush
rising hot to her face again.
<Sigh, Ran-chan�I wish it meant a little more when you hug me like this�>
she thought sadly after the flush had subsided, it never did last long. She
knew Ranma did love her, though it was different. He loved her as a brother
would a sister, not as lovers. Ranma released her after a moment and
quickly, instinctively, peered around for something large and mallet-like in
shape and size.
Ukyou walked over to a nearby table, pulled up a chair and sat down. Ranma
did the same. "Ran-chan�"
"Hmm?"
"You�re not telling me the whole story�" Ukyou stated a-matter-of-factly.
"�What else are you hiding?�Can�t you even tell me?" she said, looking
almost disappointed.
"W-what do you mean? There�s�" Ranma�s voice trailed off when he saw Ukyou�s
hurt expression. He sighed and decided to tell her the rest. "�Okay, I�ll
tell you the rest�" Ukyou immediately perked up. Ranma took a deep breath.
"�The truth is, the fight got out of hand because of something Akane said�"
Ukyou�s eyes widened. "What did she say?" her curiosity was aroused now.
Ranma told her. "What?!?�She actually said�?!?"
Ranma nodded sadly. "Granted it was another of her spur-of-the-moment
slip-ups but it still hurt, a lot�" he sighed, thinking back. Ukyou, in the
meantime, was fuming. How dare that macho, sexless, uncute tomboy treat her
beloved Ran-chan like that!? Ranma caught the look on Ukyou�s face and
reached out to pat her hand again. "�Ucchan, it�s okay, really�" he said
softly, reassuringly. Ukyou didn�t buy it.
"It�s okay?!? It�s OKAY?!?�That�that�" she struggled to find a word that
wasn�t too offensive in front of Ranma. "�has the nerve to insult you like
that and�and�" she paused for breath. "�how�HOW can you just take it like
that??!?" she demanded of Ranma who cringed from the force behind her words.
"Ucchan�calm down, please�" Ukyou gulped, took three deep breaths and tried
to calm herself. "�Like I said, it�s over now." Ranma said in a calm voice.
Ukyou did her best to calm herself as Ranma asked her to but inwardly she
was still seething. <Why that bitch! That uncute, violent, mannerless�How
dare she treat Ran-chan so?!? I have half-a-mind to go and beat some sense
into her!!! Can�t she see how she�s hurting poor Ran-chan every time she
snaps like that?�> Ranma watched the emotions play out across Ukyou�s face
for five minutes. It wasn�t very hard to guess what she was thinking. The
last thing he needed now was for Ukyou to go give Akane a piece of her mind.
He sighed and got up. Ukyou snapped out of her reverie when she heard his
chair scrape on the floor. "Ran-chan, where are you going?"
"I think it�s best if I left for a while�If I say I�ll only upset you
more�and who knows what you�d do?" he replied. "�I don�t want my friends
fighting amongst themselves�Not after what I know can happen." Ranma turned
to leave. "�Most of all, I don�t want you to get into any trouble,
Ucchan�Sorry for bothering you�" Ukyou quickly dashed over to Ranma and
caught him by the arm. "Ran-chan, wait!�" Ranma paused and turned to look at
her. "Umm�I�m sorry Ran-chan�" she slowly said, looking at the ground
sheepishly. "�Please don�t go, I promise I won�t do anything rash�" she
fidgeted uneasily for a moment, not really knowing what to say. Ranma
stepped away from the door and put a hand on her shoulder. "Ok Ucchan, as
long as you�re okay now�" he said, grinning as he hopped back to the table
and sat down. Ukyou joined him after a few moments� hesitation.
"Umm, so you were saying?" Ukyou asked, trying to forget the rather bad
episode that had just transpired.
"Well, after the fight, I felt I needed a some time off to think�Like I
said, what Akane said did hurt�I tried to convince myself that she didn�t
mean it but at the time, try as I might, it still hurt badly�" Ranma said,
eyes shining at the memory.
"Ran-chan�" Ukyou reached out and touched Ranma�s hand. Ranma lowered his
gaze to look into her eyes for a moment. Ukyou flinched inwardly when she
saw the hurt there, the pain he was going through just remembering. She
shook her head. How could Akane bear to look at herself if she really knew
what he had been through.
Ranma quickly wiped his eyes and continued. "�Well anyway, I�d picked one
helluva time to leave�A storm was brewing and it broke about fifteen minutes
later, I had to find shelter fast�The nearest place I saw was the
Nekohanten�" Ukyou�s eyes widened when she heard this.
"Of all the places to pick! Why there?!?�Who knows what that Chinese hussy
and that old ghoul might have done to you while you were out!!" Ukyou almost
shouted, causing Ranma to wince slightly. She caught herself after a moment.
"�Sorry, Ran-chan�I�"
Ranma smiled knowingly at her. "It�s okay, Ucchan�I know�Truth is, I was
thinking the exact same thing�But if you�re passing out, I don�t think you
exactly have a choice, ne?" he shot her a grin. <Hmm, I wonder what they DID
do while I was out�I wouldn�t put it past that withered old mummy to try
something while I was at her mercy�> Ranma mused. Ukyou took a good look at
Ranma. He appeared to be telling the truth but she had a gut feeling
something wasn�t right. Call it whatever you will, women�s intuition,
prophecy, far-seeing, something had happened that Ranma didn�t know about,
that was for certain. It was clear in his eyes, he was confused as well,
something must have happened that Shampoo and Cologne hadn�t wanted him to
know about.
"Anyway�" Ukyou was jolted out of her thoughts when he spoke again.
"�something DID happen though�" he said, a grin on his face a mile wide.
Ukyou suddenly got a funny feeling that this was going to be the icing on
the cake. "�I�m glad you�re sitting down, Ucchan, you need to be when you
hear this�"

**************

 "Hmm, yes, yes�Inform Mr.Tananda that there is absolutely nothing to worry
about, the merger shall go ahead as planned. " Jyusei waved off an employee
who hurried to relay his instructions only to have another step up with yet
another problem.
"Mr. Shimada, these documents require your signature, sir�" Jyusei sighed
and took the proffered sheaf of papers from his eager employee and proceeded
to sign every one after skimming through the contents. After finishing the
last one, he turned to his secretary to give instructions.
"Tell the staff that any other �urgent� problems requiring my attention is
to be put on hold unless it is absolutely world-shaking�" the secretary
could almost see the quotation marks around the word �urgent�. "�And contact
Ken, tell him to meet me in my office immediately." The secretary nodded and
picked up the phone as Jyusei strode into his office, shutting the doors
behind him. Inside, the lights had been intentionally left off and the
blinds drawn, shrouding the room in almost total darkness even though it was
the middle of the day. Jyusei walked over to his desk and sat down. A few
moments later, strange scraping and moaning sounds could be heard as the
shadows extracted themselves from the darkness and flitted around the desk.
"Is it done?" Jyusei asked in a voice not his own. One spectral figure
glided forward and bowed in subservience before answering.
"Yes lord, all is done�The fighters have received their invitations�Most
have proven worthy of the test we imposed on them�" It hissed, it�s voice a
little more than a harsh whisper and a loud exhalation of breath.
Jyusei nodded. "�And what of our competitors from China?"
"They have received their invitations as well, all of them have proven
exceptionally skilled fighters, a few even had powers bordering on
god-like�" Jyusei raised an eyebrow in fascination. 
"I am assuming you are speaking of the one known as�" Jyusei paused and
consulted the roster in front of him, the name appeared to stand out.
"�Pantyhose Tarou?" 
The spectre in front of him appeared to nod. "He is the one�" then it
appeared to scratch it�s head in confusion. "�Though I fail to perceive how
so powerful a fighter bears so�so�ludicrous a name!" Jyusei smirked.
"You tell me�" he stood up and began to pace the floor. "�The tournament
begins in a week�It is imperative that my essence�My stolen powers are
recovered�" he raised a hand and made a fist. Dark lightning crackled around
it. "�Even if it means killing those who possess it�"
A spectre stepped forward almost tentatively. "Um, Lord, there is a problem
with that�" Jyusei�s head snapped around to glare at the speaker.
"What do you mean?!?" he asked hotly. The spectre shivered at Jyusei�s
eerily glowing emerald green eyes.
"We have discovered only just recently in a �test� with one of the fighters
that if the bearer is killed, the essence my be lost�" Jyusei�s eyes
widened. Suddenly he phased out of existence, only to reappear beside the
spectre who gagged as Jyusei�s clawing hand found it�s throat. 
"I warn you, you pathetic slave�Do not try my patience on such matters!" the
spectre scrabbled frantically at Jyusei�s death grip. "�Now what is it that
you mean? Get to the point!" Jyusei released the spectre and whacked it
across the room with a sideways glance at it, a sharp burst of light flaring
up at the contact point. The other spectres in the room cringed.
"I-I�I am s-sorry Lord�" it stammered pathetically. "�W-what I meant to
s-say was that if you kill the ones who h-hold the essence, the essence may
die with the bodies�" Jyusei glared at it.
"Are you certain of this?!?" he half-shouted. The spectre shook its head
after a moment�s hesitation. "�W-we cannot be sure Lord, I am simply bearer
of a warning that could cost you dearly�Please forgive me�" 
Jyusei considered destroying the pathetic creature that was prostrated
before him but relented, he had better things to do.
"In THAT case, there may be a problem�" Jyusei muttered, walking over to the
mini bar in the corner of the room. "�How am I going to�"
*KNOCK* *KNOCK* 
"WHO IS IT?!?" he shouted at the door in annoyance.
"You sent for me, sir?" came the voice of Ken from behind the door.
"Ahh yes, come in�" Jyusei said evenly. The latch on the door popped with a
gesture. The doorknob turned and Ken strode in, clad in the usual attire a
chauffeur usually wore. Unlike the spirits about the room, Ken exuded an air
of confidence. He did not openly fear Jyusei though he had the utmost
respect for his master, his �new� master, as he�d come to discover recently.
"Ken, my good man, it seems�we have a problem." Jyusei said, handing Ken a
glass of whiskey.
"How so, sir?" Ken walked over to the couch next to the desk and sat down,
pushing a few of the shadowy apparitions out of the way as he did so. 
"I have just discovered that recovering my stolen powers shall not be as
easy as we first thought�For two reasons�"
"One, the various Martial Arts dojos around town would never approve of a
death match tournament and, Two, killing the victims may cause the essence
to die with them, right?" Ken interrupted. Jyusei allowed himself a small,
private smile. Ken, as usual, was as quick as a cat.
"Exactly�" Jyusei nodded approvingly. "�Astute as always, my friend." Ken
stood and politely bowed to his employer and master.
"You flatter me, sir�" a few of the spectres around the room skulked at the
special favors Ken enjoyed from Jyusei. If any one of them had interrupted
like that, they would be long sundered to the Four Winds by now.
"So you understand the problem, do you have a solution?" Jyusei asked,
teleporting back to his desk and sitting down.
"Hmm, I can�t say that I do�" Ken admitted, pacing the floor. "�Give me a
moment to think on this�" Jyusei nodded and turned his attention to the
roster on the table, the list of participants for the upcoming tournament.
On the list, certain names were marked with an asterisk. Those are the names
of the participants from China. Also, in addition, some names also had a �#�
symbol next to them, those represented those who were cursed and were the
targets.

**************

Ukyou shook her head in disbelief. Regardless of Ranma�s insistence that it
was true, it was still hard to believe.
"Woah woah WOAH here�" she said, holding a hand up to call time out. "�Let
me get something straight here�You�re saying that some crazy powder of
Shampoo�s cured your curse by splitting your two halves?!?" Ranma nodded.
"That�s what I said, about two-hundred times�" he replied, smirking.
Ukyou sighed and rubbed her temples. "This is deep�like REALLY deep�" she
muttered. "�So basically what you�re saying is that you�re cured, but
everything that was your girl side was made real?" Ranma nodded again. "�AND
she has no memories of her own?" 
"Yep, as far as I can tell, she didn�t know who she was even, much less my
memories after Jusenkyo�" Ranma said, patting Ukyou on the shoulder. Try as
she might, Ukyou still found this hard to believe. Granted that living in
Nerima in close proximity to Ranma, you would expect insanity to be a normal
part of life, but still, there ARE limits! Though if you think about it, it
isn�t as ludicrous as some of the usual stuff that goes on around town.
"Though she did get something from the split�" Ranma muttered, almost
jealously. "�She got all my martial arts training�and the brains�" Ukyou
giggled.
"So she�s as good a fighter as you but she�s smarter than you are??�Oooh now
THAT is funny!" Ukyou gasped before breaking out into a fit of giggles.
"Hey! Now cut that out!�" Ranma exclaimed. After five minutes, he threw his
arms in the air in exasperation. "�I give up!" He glared at Ukyou who was on
one knee trying to stop laughing. Ranma waited for her, tapping his foot.
"�If you�re quite finished�"
"�H�S�Sorry�R-Ran-chan�" Ukyou managed to get out before breaking into
another fit of giggling. After a while, she managed to compose herself
enough to let Ranma continue.
"Hmmph! If you�ve quite finished�Where was I?�" Ranma asked, having
completely forgotten what it was that Ukyou was laughing about.
"Your �sister� being smarter than you�" she said, suppressing another
giggle. "�Though it�s strange�" she said, suddenly solemn and serious.
"What is?"
"�How could she have gotten brains from the split if you didn�t have any in
the first place?" she asked, grinning wickedly?
"Oh, har har, VER-REE fuu-nee!" Ranma deadpanned. After ten minutes of more
joking around, Ukyou ran out of jokes and sat back down.
"Where is she, by the way?" she asked. "�I�d like to meet her."
Ranma looked up from the table. "Oh, she went home after school with Akane,
they were going to visit�" Ranma�s eyes widened. "�OH SHIT!" he exclaimed,
jumping out of his chair.
"What? WHAT?!?" Ukyou asked. "�Akane cooked her dinner?"
"Ack no! Not THAT bad!" Ranma retorted, gagging slightly. "�I forgot to meet
her! Everyone�s going to visit Toma today and we were supposed to meet by
the beach at five-thirty and�"
"Woah! Hold! Time-out!�TOMA?!?" Ukyou asked, eyes wide. "�Toma as
in�Togenkyo?!?" Ranma nodded.
"Didn�t you know? The island is just off the coast of Japan�For some strange
reason, it�s what we were going to find out�"
Ukyou moaned and rubbed her temples. "Great, just great�Just when I thought
things couldn�t get any crazier�" was all she could say before she found
herself being dragged out the door by Ranma. "�H-HEY! Where are we going?!?"
"To the beach! So come on!" Ranma yelled in reply. Ukyou sighed. <And I
don�t even have my bathing suit with me!> she thought.

*************
      K  u  s  a  n  a  g  i       K y o
      --|---|--    --|---|--     ----+----
       +-----+     /-, +-+-       +-----+
       |-----|      |  |-|-       |     |      
       +-----+     -|- |-|-       +-----+
      ----|----    / \ +-+-       /  J  \
 -----------------------------------------------
  "Kusanagi Flames, Yagami Tears, Orochi Blood"