Well, after a long delay and a totally different second part chapter 8 of
my "however long it happens to end up" fic is ready for your reading
pleasure.  Not much happens in this but it moves the story a bit along and
has some small tidbits of what might be a bigger story tossed in there here
and there.  As always any comments and criticism are welcome, tell me
anythign you think is OOC or doesn't seem right or anything else you might
think to say.  Oh, and did I spell okinomiyaki right?  I didn't have any
reference handy when I was writing that part.  The next chapter will deal
with the two greatest evils in the Tendo Dojo, Happosai and Akane's
cooking, and I'm really not sure when that will be out, I tend to go in
streaks as the long delay between chapter 7 and 8 shows.  Anyway, on with
the show I guess.

Standard disclaimer: Ranma and all characters are the property of Rumiko
Takahashi and the various publishing and film companies, I'm simply
borrowing them for the time being.

Additional notes:
Words in *X* are in English, Words in <X> are in Chinese and words in any
other type brackets are in some other foreign language that will most
likely be specified within the text of the story.

The suffix -chan denotes the cursed female form of the characters, other
suffixes will most likely be self explanatory.

-------------------

Chapter 8-Lunch at the Ucchan

	After marking most of the landmarks of Nerima upon the map Kasumi had
given them, Ryoga and Jude decided that waiting at the high school would be
the best thing to do.  There was still a while before school let out so the
two passed the time by talking.
	"You know," Jude-chan said, "If you really think about it, this is still
all Ranma's fault."  She had been splashed when a bicycle had passed
through one of the many puddles that covered the streets of Nerima from the
recent rain and hadn't been anywhere to get hot water since then.
	"How's that Jude?  You fell in and I pulled you out, Ranma had nothing to
do with this curse."
	"Well, yeah, that's why I said you really had to think about it to find
out why it's his fault.  Okay, let's start from the beginning, he knocked
you into the piglet pool, whatever its name was, in the first place right?"
	Ryoga nodded, "Yeah, that's true."
	"Now, if you weren't cursed when you showed up at Jusenkyo this last time
would you have even stayed anywhere near it?"
	"No, no one in their right mind would, that place is dangerous."
	"And if we hadn't stayed at Jusenkyo I wouldn't have fallen in and you
wouldn't have been cursed getting me out right?"
	Ryoga nodded again, "I think I see where you're going Jude."
	"Okay, so if Ranma didn't curse you, you wouldn't have stayed at Jusenkyo,
I wouldn't have fallen in, and you wouldn't have gotten cursed getting me
out, so therefore, its still all his fault," Jude-chan paused and then
grinned, "If you want to think of it that way that is, it's a bit too
convoluted to be a rational reason for me."
	Ryoga was about to say something when the school bells began to chime.
The school day at Furinkan high was over for another day and its students
began to file out of its doors.

				***

	Ranma had cheered up over the course of the day and was back to his normal
self.  The fact that school was over with for the day was a great boost to
his morale as well.  Now he and Akane were walking with Ukyo on the way out
of school and all thoughts about his curse were left behind.
	"So Ryoga managed to make his way to Jusenkyo and got himself and another
person cursed the same as Ranchan?" Ukyo asked.
	Akane nodded, "Yeah, that's basically what happened Ukyo," she said.  She
and Ranma had told Ukyo the news during lunch and she was still having a
hard time believing it.
	"This I gotta see," Ukyo replied as they walked through the front doors of
the school.
	Akane looked toward the gates of the school courtyard and caught sight of
Ryoga and Jude-chan standing nearby.  "There they are now," she said, "Poor
guys, to get cursed like that."
	"Hey!  I got the same curse to ya know!" Ranma exclaimed, "Why do they get
called �poor guys' and not me?"
	"Because they aren't a jerk like you Ranma!  You of all people should have
some sympathy for them!"
	"Who're ya calling a jerk you uncute tomboy?!"
	Ukyo thought about trying to break up the fight but decided that it was a
lost cause and merely moved slightly out of the way of any flying mallets
or people that might result from such a fight.
	"You know," she said as she moved out of the way, "If you keep this up
people might think you two are already married."
	Hearing that was enough to make them quiet for a time, neither one of them
wanted anyone to think that.

				***

	Unluckily for Ranma and Akane, they weren't the only ones to hear what
Ukyo said, the person nearest to the group also happened to over hear what
was said, or at least, most of what was said.  "...You two are already
married," was all that carried over to their fellow student's ears.
	That was just enough to set the rumor mill of Furinkan High into high
gear.  Due to the fact that it was the end of the school day and Nabiki was
already gone the word spread as quickly as it could to the remaining
students.  Never mind the fact that this was the tenth time that Ranma and
Akane were rumored to be married this month or that this was based solely
upon what someone overheard, these things didn't seem to matter.  The rumor
spread.

				***

	Ignorant of the processes that had begun with one overheard phrase the
three walked over to where Ryoga and Jude-chan were waiting.  Although, to
tell the truth, Ranma and Akane would most likely have done nothing about
the rumor anyway, they had to put up with this quite often and once more
was most likely not going to hurt them at all.
	Seeing Ranma and Akane begin to fight had almost been enough to cause
Ryoga to challenge Ranma right then and there.  But Akane's presence and
the exercise of some self-control allowed him to pick a better time to work
out his anger with Ranma.
	Introductions were made between Jude-chan and Ukyo and since everyone was
a bit on the hungry side they agreed to head to Ukyo's restaurant to get
some food.

				***

	"So Ryoga ended up pulling you out of Nyannichuan and that's how you both
got cursed?" Ukyo asked as she flipped an okinomiyaki.  Ryoga and Jude had
been telling her their story as they ate.
	Jude nodded and took another bite his food.  "Yeah, that's basically it,
after that we wandered around until Ryoga found his way here."
	"Don't tell me your sense of direction is as bad as Ryoga's?" Ukyo asked,
she was a bit uneasy at the thought of two people without a sense of
direction.
	"No, I have a sense of direction," Jude replied, "But I figured we'd show
up wherever we showed up when we got there, I don't remember anything of my
past so I don't really have any particular place to get to really.
Besides, it was one hell of a sightseeing tour, that's for sure.  Except
for the side trip to Jusenkyo and a few other places it was kinda fun."
	"Well, I suppose I can see that," she said, "How's the food?"
	"It's great," Jude replied, "I haven't had this stuff before but it's
really good."
	"That's right," Ranma said from around his fifth serving, "Ucchan makes
the best okinomiyaki in Japan."
	"You sure seem to be putting it away Ranma, did you miss lunch or
something?" Jude asked, he was once again amazed at how much food Ranma
could devour in one sitting.
	"Well," Ranma started, and then he looked over at Akane, seeing that she
was busy talking to Ryoga about something he grinned and continued in a
quiet voice, "Akane is cooking tonight and that means this is my last
chance to get something edible until breakfast tomorrow."
	Jude replied in a normal voice saying, "Why does it matter that Akane's
cooking tonight?  It can't be that bad can it?"
	"It's worse than that," Ranma replied, "One bite of her cooking and you
might as well start digging your grave because you won't be alive long
enough to do anything else."
	Now, as luck would have it, Ranma had managed to say this at  just the
right, or wrong, time for Akane to hear it.
	"What was that?" Akane asked, "What were you saying about my cooking?"
She walked closer to Ranma and waited for his answer.
	There were many warning signs that perhaps Akane wasn't in the best of
moods at the moment.  Most of these should have been quite familiar to
Ranma as he was usually the one to cause Akane to get angry.  But, as
always, all the various signs were ignored completely as Ranma answered.
	"Well, I was just telling Jude here that your cooking was so bad that it
would be best to eat real food now while he still could because anything he
ate tonight might kill him."  Ranma's brain once again bemoaned the fact
that it and his mouth never seemed to be going at the right speed for
survival.
	In the blink of an eye Akane's mallet had appeared and was on a collision
course with Ranma's head.  "How dare he say that!" she thought, "I work
really hard to cook well and he always insults it!"
	Ranma watched as the mallet came closer and closer toward his head.  In a
rare moment where Akane's mallet is involved his martial arts instincts
managed to kick in saying, "Move out of the way you idiot!"  Ranma listened
to his instincts and managed to get out of the way of mallet.
	Akane noted his movement, a small part of her mind said, "He wasn't
supposed to do that!"  Any more that this small part would have said was
blocked as she felt the mallet connect not with the chair Ranma had been
sitting on like she expected, but with Jude's head.
	Jude, being new to Nerima and its people, had missed all the signs that
told other people to leave the area when Akane was mad at Ranma.  He had
watched in astonishment as Ranma had managed to put his foot even farther
down his mouth.  Then in the blink of an eye Akane managed to pull a mallet
out of nowhere and swung at Ranma.  Somehow Ranma had moved out of the way.
 But some dark mysterious force decided to once again bring a hard object
into contact with his head and he was soon laid out upon the floor.
	Needless to say that this was not the reaction that Akane was hoping for,
the mallet disappeared and she went over to check on Jude.  Much to her
surprise he sat up as soon as she got close.
	"Are you okay?" she asked, she hoped he was alright, it wasn't him that
she wanted to hit but Ranma.
	"Yeah," he said as he rubbed a spot on the top of his head, then he smiled
and said in an English accent, *It's only a flesh wound!*
	Seeing Akane's blank expression he said, "Never mind that, I'm okay
though."  He made a mental note that Monty Python wasn't quite as popular
here and continued, "You should watch where you swing that thing though,
it's dangerous."
	"I'm sorry, I don't know how it managed to hit you, you were sitting by
Ranma, not in his chair, it should have missed you."  Akane helped him up
to his seat and sat down in the chair that Ranma had vacated in his rush
not to get his head flattened.
	"No, don't worry about it Akane, for some reason when I'm around the
chance of someone getting knocked on the head go up, like the sign last
night and," Jude stopped there and decided not to mention what had happened
with Shampoo earlier in the day.  "Well, and other times as well," he
finished.
	Ranma and Ryoga sat down around the table as well checking to see if
Jude's head was still intact after meeting Akane's mallet.  Ukyo noted that
he was sitting and seemed conscious so she went back to her other costumers.
	"No, I'm fine," Jude said when asked, "In fact, Ryoga, I want to thank you
for bashing those boulders into me a few weeks ago, that seems to have
toughened me up a bit."
	"Boulders?" Akane and Ranma asked at the same time.
	"You don't mean Bakusai Tenketsu training do you?" Akane asked.
	"Yeah, it was a pain while I was doing it but now I think I see why Ryoga
decided to teach it to me," Jude replied.
	"Isn't he a little inexperienced to be taught that Ryoga?" Ranma asked Ryoga.
	"Well, it was the best way I could think of to build his endurance up, and
it's not like its that dangerous in the long run, it won't work on people
or anything.  And he's really not that inexperienced, he seems to have
known some martial arts from previously because he picks up on most of what
I teach him pretty quickly."
	"I suppose you're right Ryoga, and it's not like you tossed him into a pit
of starving cats or anything. You're smarter then some people I could
mention when it comes to that sort of thing."
	Jude spoke up then, "A pit of starving cats?  What's this all about?"
	Ranma, Akane, and Ryoga proceeded to tell Jude about Cat-fu and its
training methods.  They also told of its main side affect as well.
	"Your father did all that?" Jude asked.
	Ranma nodded, "Yep, Pops was too stupid to read the rest of the book and
the rest is history."
	"Okay, so, he's taken you to a cursed training ground because he couldn't
read Chinese, gave you an extreme phobia because he didn't turn a page, and
engaged you to who knows how many fiancee's right?"
	Ranma nodded.
	"Is he just naturally an abysmal parent or did he practice?" Jude asked.
	"We're not sure about that yet." Ranma replied.
	After thanking Ukyo and saying goodbye made their way back to the Tendo Dojo.

-------------

Okay, so I might have lied a bit about special attacks in one of my notes,
but Jude is still low on the power scale by a goodly bit and I do have an
actual reason for what he has learned so far.  Hopefully it isn't a bad
reason either, at least, I don't see it as one.  All I have to do now is to
work it in just right over the next chapters.. but anyway.. Once again,
tell me what you think, I appreciate anything that a person might have to
say about this story.  My email address is in my sig so just reply to that,
although its the same address that sent this so you don't really have to do
much more then merely click on the reply button and delete the main body of
the text to reply.

Hope you liked it,

Jeremy



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