Ryoga ½
by George Masologites
guilds@mail.serve.com [Hunter Kid]
© 07/22/1997  All Rights Reserved
8
Regarding Personality 

    The sun rose slowly above the eastern horizon, a few golden rays
beaming from the sliver of the sun that had appeared, marking the beginning
of a new day.  In the Nerima district of Toyko, Japan, several birds let
out loud shouts, happy to once again see the sun.  
    And, of course, sometimes mornings just didn't agree with certain people. 
    Ranma Saotome was one of those.  His eyes popped open and he
instinctively felt his chest, checking to see if he was male or female.
This morning, he was male.  He groggily stood up and stretched, looking out
the window and yawning expansively.
    "Stopped raining," he noted to himself.  That was good.  He gave
another wide yawn and stumbled into the bathroom, splashing his face with
cold water.  She sighed and began to brush her teeth, not even really
paying attention to the transformation.
    She walked out of the bathroom to a pile of neatly folded clean clothes
and began to search through the small pile.  "Hm," she muttered, looking at
a pair of soft dark blue pants.  "These'll do."  She pulled them over her
legs and took a shirt from the pile, a long sleeved red Chinese shirt that
opened down the front.  Absently putting on the band belt and attaching the
loose black wrist cuffs, she grunted slightly and walked back into the
bathroom, splashing a handful of hot water on her face.
    "That's better," he grumbled as he glanced down at the wrist cuffs,
which were now a perfect fit.
    He swaggered with all his usual confident demeanor out the door and
down the stairs, wondering what was for breakfast.

    Tsubasa Kurenai entered the okonomiyaki shop quietly, making sure not
to let anyone hear.  It wasn't opened yet, after all, but the window had
been unlocked so Tsubasa had let himself in.
    His intent wasn't malicious, he just wanted to give Ukyou a little
morning surprise.  He had originally planned to planned to give her a batch
of red roses, then he had wanted to disguise himself as a batch of red
roses, then had decided on a trash can.  
    After all, who suspected a trash can of wrongdoing?
    Tsubasa was a master of disguise.  He could easily change into a
costume that would make him look like anything - perhaps even anyone, but
he wasn't too familiar with that branch of his art.  Tsubasa was infatuated
with Ukyou, truth be told.  He would almost daily tell her of his undying
love or sometimes even stalk her, either of which often made her angry.
    He couldn't understand it.  Why wouldn't Ukyou return his affection?
    Everyone who saw Tsubasa didn't see a somewhat short, thin young man of
sixteen years of age, they saw a pretty young girl of the same age, with
long brown hair that was neatly combed and, on this day, a beautiful pink
dress.
    Tsubasa knew that if people found out, they'd call him a crossdresser,
but he didn't care.  He actually kind of liked the attention he got as a
woman, even if he had no interest in the boys who chased him.  Besides, he
was too good to let anyone find out, having been dressing as a woman since
he was about six years old.  There had been only once, lately, when an
unsuspecting young man who called himself 'Ranma' had accidentally ripped
off Tsubasa's dress.
    Tsubasa had thought that he would have been more embarrased than he
was, but instead he had made a snide remark to Ranma, who had promptly
stomped him.  He still remembered the huge bruises on his head from back
then, and rubbed his head unconsciously.  Those had taken weeks to go away.
    He had always thought that Ukyou and himself made a good pair.  After
all, Ukyou dressed as a boy half the time, and Tsubasa always dressed as a
girl, so they should have been a perfect couple.  Now if only Ukyou would
return the feeling.
    The crossdressed young man sighed slightly in his high, female voice
and lugged the trash can through the large window with a minimum of noise.
Perhaps, just perhaps, today would be the day that Ukyou would admit her
true feelings for him...
    
    Ukyou opened the door to the resturaunt, dressed in her usual
okonomiyaki cook's attire.  She flipped the sign in the window to 'open'
and unlocked the door, preparing the shop for customers to start arriving.
She looked up at the clock on the wall.  Nine thirty-five.  Jeikar would be
arriving at ten, as he usually did.
    She walked over to the griddle and started to heat it up to cook
herself an okonomiyaki for breakfast, when she heard a slight rustling from
the far corner of the room.
    "Who's there?"  She demanded, peering closely at the corner.  It wasn't
too well lighted as it wasn't near a window, and all that seemed to stand
there was a trash can.  Wait a minute, she thought to herself, scowling.
There was no trash can there, or at least there wasn't supposed to be.  She
took a few small razor-edged spatulas off from her belt and nonchalantly
tossed them at the trash can, which let out a startled yelp and jumped out
of the way.
    A young girl with neatly combed long brown hair climbed out of the
trash can, or so it seemed.  Ukyou was well acquainted with this 'girl,'
knowing her full well to actually be a crossdressing young man who went by
the name of Tsubasa Kurenai.  And to make things worse, he wanted
desperately to date Ukyou.
    "Ah, Ukyou-sama," Tsubasa said in his high-pitched, feminine voice.
"It's so nice to see you again."
    "Likewise," Ukyou stated coldly, trying to pretend the crossdressing
boy wasn't there, staring at her with sparkling eyes.  Quite frankly,
Tsubasa made her sick to her stomach.
    Tsubasa looked ready to say something when the door suddenly flew open,
and a young man dressed in a green silk shirt with a dragon embroidered
across it sauntered in, grinning broadly.  
    "Oh, hiya, Jeikar," Ukyou greeted her assistant.  He wasn't her most
favorite person in the world, but he was a welcome sight compared to
Tsubasa.  He didn't crossdress, and he didn't try to hit on her.  Well, not
usually.  When he did, Ukyou smacked him and he forgot about it.
    Jeikar grinned at Ukyou.  "Ukyou-chan," he said with a snicker.  "How's
things this morning, my beautiful Ukyou?"
    Ukyou groaned.  Not now.  Not in front of Tsubasa.  The last thing she
needed was a fight to wreck her shop.  "Jeikar," she began in an icy tone,
but never got to finish her sentence.
    Tsubasa wailed.  "Ukyou-sama!  How could you date this...this cur when
you've got me!"  The crossdresser glared daggers at Jeikar, who looked back
at him, puzzled.
    A slow grin spread across Jeikar's face.  "Yo, baby," he slurred,
swaggering over to Tsubasa.  "Want to do the horizontal tango?"  He smirked.
    Tsubasa glowered darkly at Jeikar.  "Bug off," he said flatly, turning
away from Jeikar.
    Jeikar, for his part, was apparently having fun.  "Aw, don't be that-"
His sentence was abruptly cut off as Tsubasa turned and threw his
unsuspecting form into the wall, where he collapsed in a heap with a groan.
 "Ug," he grunted unhappily.  "I was just kidding..."  he mumbled, rubbing
his head where it had smacked the wall.
    Ukyou picked up her giant combat spatula and smashed it against
Tsubasa's head.  "That's my assistant you're beating up, you crossdressing
idiot!"  She stated, resheathing the weapon with a sour grunt.
    Instead of bouncing back from injuries, as Tsubasa usually did, he
clutched his head in pain and fell to the ground, landing with a soft thud.
    "Aw, man, Ukyou," Jeikar said ruefully, walking over to Tsubasa's
collapsed form.  "That was nice of you and stuff, but you may have hurt the
poor chick..."
    "That 'chick' is a man," Ukyou said icily, glaring at them both.  
    "Really?"  Jeikar looked impressed.  "That's a damn good girl act he's
got there.  He's really got the face of a woman."  He poked Tsubasa's prone
form, which stirred slowly, moaning slightly in pain.  "Hey, you alright,
bud?  Hitting on you back there was just a joke; sorry bout that."  He
offered his hand to Tsubasa, who didn't appear to notice.
    Instead, Tsubasa was staring down at himself with an expression of
undescribable horror on his face.  
    "What is it?"  Jeikar asked, a little concern creeping into his tone.
He grinned slightly and held up two fingers.  "How many fingers?"
    Tsubasa was startled out of his reverie.  "F-fingers?"  He asked
blankly.  "Two."  He looked a little shocked, and Ukyou noticed that his
voice was no longer quite so effeminate; it was more like that of a normal
male.  "Er...Ukyou?"  He asked, looking nervous.
    "What?"  Ukyou sounded  more than slightly irritated.
    "Why am I wearing a dress?"

    Kai Ch'entao had left his small second-story apartment that morning,
intent on exploring this new town.  He had only been here for a few days,
and hadn't gone sightseeing yet.  As of yet, the people here seemed most
interesting to him, and he was grateful in an indifferent sort of way to
his friend Jeikar for inviting him to come here, even if it had forced him
to learn a new language, Japanese.
    He had always picked up on things quickly; it was one of his strong
points.  Thus, he had no problems learning to speak Japanese - in fact, he
was quite fluid in it now.
    The morning was a crisp one, and it had the oddly clean, damp scent in
the air that mornings always had after a rainy night.  So far the town of
Nerima had been fairly nondescrepit, a few shops here and there, a high
school, and a bunch of houses and a few apartment buildings.  There was
even a mansion at the edge of town, one of the largest structures he had
ever seen.  It was quite impressive, really, except for an unseemly looking
hole in one of the sides.  If he hadn't known better, Kai would have sworn
that an airplane had rammed out the side of the house.
    He looked up at where he was now, and saw a small statue of a cat and a
sign that read 'Nekohanten.'  
    "Cafe, hm?"  He muttered in his home language, Mandarin, realizing his
stomach was growling.  "Well, why not?" he asked himself, shrugging as he
walked in.
    There was a rough smattering of customers in the cafe.  The usual
breakfast crowd, he supposed, looking around absently for the order counter
and walked up to it, noticing that no one else was at the order counter
except him.
    A blue haired girl walked out of the back room.  He stared at her,
slightly slack-jawed.  She wasn't just pretty; she was exotic.  A perfect
figure and a beautiful cat-like face, matched by her somewhat bouncy walk
and long, thick blue hair.  He realized his mouth was hanging open
slightly, and closed it, trying to hide the fact that he had almost drooled.
    The beautiful girl didn't appear to notice.  Of course she didn't
notice, he told himself, scowling at himself inwardly.  You think you're
the only one that has that reaction to her?  
    "How Shampoo help you?"  She asked in somewhat broken Japanese, and he
looked at her closer, and realized that she was the same nationality as he
was, Chinese.
    He glanced at the menu on the wall.  "Erm," he mumbled, trying to
decide.  "Just a bowl of pork ramen, I guess," he stated, before realizing
with a start that he was speaking Mandarin.  Flustered, he was about to
give his order again in Japanese, when the blue haired girl smiled at him.
    "Ah, you speak Mandarin?"  She asked him, grinning.  "What a relief.  I
never picked up on Japanese very well, you know."
    She smiled at me, Kai thought happily, feeling relatively faint.
"Yeah, I'm from China, you know," he said, trying to think of something
specific to say.  "Qinghai province, actually.  Grew up in a sort of
isolated village..."  He trailed off and snapped his jaw shut, realizing
that this beautiful girl probably didn't care.
    "Qinghai?  Really?"  She smiled excitedly at him.  "Where was your
village?"
    He took a look at her face, looking cheerfully at him, and felt like he
was going to swoon.  He stammered slightly before responding, "B-Bayankala
Range," he managed.  "Er...not too far away from Mount Quanjing.  You could
always see the peak of the mountain in the distance..."
    "Me too," she said to him, still smiling enchantingly.  "My name's Xian
Pu."  Xian Pu.  The word went through Kai's head, and he nodded inwardly.
Mountain Girl, that would mean in Chinese.  "What's yours?"
    She wants to know my name, Kai thought, lightheaded.  "Kai Ch'entao."
    "Why're you in Japan?"  She asked him, making idle conversation.
    Kai shrugged.  "Just visiting a friend.  His name's Jeikar..."
    She frowned prettily.  "I think I've heard that name before.  Would you
mind coming to the back room for a minute or two?  I think my
great-grandmother might know your friend."

    Tsubasa Kurenai was locked in place, confused and more than slightly
embarrased that he was wearing a dress.  A dress, he repeated to himself in
amazement.  Why am I wearing a dress?
    "You always wear dresses," Ukyou said with a glower directed at him.
    Tsubasa swallowed hard.  "I-I do?"  He asked, still horrified.
    "I think you hit him too hard, Ukyou," a Chinese boy who had been
kneeling next to him stated dryly.  Tsubasa looked carefully at the Chinese
boy, taking in his appearance.  Light build, leanly muscled and dark
skinned, and wearing a green silk shirt with a swirling green dragon
embroidered on it, the head growling ferociously on the back, earth brown
trousers and soft leather boots.  "Hey, bud, you see any stars up there?"
The young Chinese man pointed vaguely to the area above Tsubasa's head.
    I'm wearing a dress.  He couldn't get the thought out of his head.  I
should be wearing...he grabbed the sides of his head, grimacing.  What
should I be wearing?  he asked himself, his thin brows narrowing.
    "Are you alright?"  Ukyou asked him grudgingly, trying to sound concerned.
    "Y-yeah," he managed, clambering to his feet.  "I think so.  But...why
am I dressed like this?"
    The Chinese boy smirked at him.  "Hey, man, actually, you make a good
chick, you know.  Fooled me in a heartbeat."
    "A good chick?"  He demanded, his eyes wide.  His head was echoing with
questions.  Why was he dressed like this?  He had been pretending to be a
girl?  This guy had been fooled?
    "Yeah," the Chinese boy grinned.  "It's okay, though, I never would've
seen through it if my loving boss here hadn't told me."  He made a face at
his 'loving boss,' who scowled back at him.
    Tsubasa wasn't quite sure what to say, so he just sputtered the first
thing on his lips.  "Clothes," he said.  "C-can I buy some clothes off
you?"  He directed the question to the young Chinese man.  "I'd pay for
em," he tried again.  "But can you imagine what people would do to me if
they saw me walking around in a dress?"
    "Hit on you, probably," the boy said with a smirk.  "But sure, I got
some extra clothes.  You want to come back to my apartment and try some
on...?  I won't charge you too much," he said, grinning nastily.
    Tsubasa still looked befuddled.  "Er...sure, that'd be fine," he
stammered, following the Chinese boy, who dragged him out of the
resturaunt, calling back to Ukyou, "I'll be back in a half hour, boss!"

    The Chinese boy's apartment was fairly nondescrepit, with a small bed,
a reading desk, a cabinet, and a tiny kitchen off to the side.  
    When Tsubasa walked in it, he was almost dying of humilation.  The
phrase, 'You are a crossdresser' kept reverberating through his mind,
making him wish he could just lie down and vanish.  And the whole time, he
didn't understand it - he certainly never recalled putting on any dresses,
especially ridiculously girlish pink ones that reached down to his ankles.
    And on top of that, his head hurt from where Ukyou had smacked him with
her spatula.  Why had she done that, anyway?  He didn't remember doing
anything to her.  He racked his brain, and found that he didn't remember
much about Ukyou at all.  They had been classmates in Junior High, he
recalled, but not much else.  She had been a girl going to a boy's school
for whatever reason, and while she was fairly attractive now, Tsubasa
certainly had never been interested in her.
    "Well, here we are," the Chinese boy said, opening the small closet
door and pointing inside.  "If you really want some new clothes, you're
welcome to buy some from me.  It won't be -too- expensive, of course."  He
grinned in what Tsubasa could only consider to be a completely greedy manner.
    Tsubasa muttered his thanks and gratefully stripped out of the pink
skirts, throwing them to the side as if they burned his skin.  He stood
there for a moment in his boxers and a white undershirt, looking into the
closet thoughtfully.  "These are Chinese clothes," he noted.
    "Yeah, well, I -am- Chinese, after all," the boy standing next to him
said with a shrug, sitting down on the bed and crossing his legs.
    And they're Kung Fu outfits, Tsubasa realized, surprised.  Ukyou's
assistant cook was a fighter?  Not that it really mattered to him.  He
hurriedly picked out a pair of dark brown trousers with cords for being
tied at the ankles and slipped them on, picking out a black silk top that
opened down the front, and had white cuffs at the ends of its long sleeves.
 It looked too big for him, but then, the Chinese boy was quite a bit
taller than he was.  He put on the shirt, closing up the front and tying it
tightly with a blue-black silk sash, then picked up a pair of heavy-looking
dark brown boots.  They didn't look like they'd be really easy to move
around in, but they looked fairly soft.  He put his feet into them, and was
surprised to note that they were fairly light, and had fur-lined insides
for comfort.  It fits nicely, he noted, looking at the soft boots that
reached halfway up his calves, then at the rest of the outfit.  Better than
that awful dress.  He shuddered.
    "Okay, that'll come to a total of nine thousand yen," the Chinese boy
said, grinning toothily.
    Tsubasa scowled at him.  "Kind of steep, don't you think?"  
    "Hey, if you don't want the clothes..."
    "Fine, fine," Tsubasa gave in with a grunt.  "But all I have is seven
thousand five hundred yen.  Take it or leave it."  He grabbed a small black
cord from the reading desk and tied his long nut-brown hair back into a
ponytail.  He frowned as he did so; he certainly didn't remember his hair
being that long.  
    "Deal."
    "It's in the dress's front pockets."  He looked disgustedly at the
dress, then watched with a sigh as the Chinese boy removed the rather large
sum of money and pocketed it with a wide grin.
    "Nice doing business with you," the boy stated, hopping to his feet,
shoving Tsubasa out the door, locking it, and starting down the stairs.
"Now I gotta get back, before the boss gets mad at me.  Later!"  
    Tsubasa followed him quickly.  "Wait...I'll come with you.  What did
you say your name was?"  He asked as the two of them jogged down the
stairs.  He realized he only came up to about the other boy's nose, a fact
that was soft of embarrasing in itself, since the Chinese boy wasn't
particulary tall, just of moderate height.
    "Jeikar Tsiang," the taller boy said absently.  "And you...?"
    "Tsubasa Kurenai."  He paused slightly, then added hesitantly, "Jeikar?
 What's going on here?"
    Jeikar shrugged.  "Nothing, far as I can tell, girl-boy.  I suppose
only you know why you were wearing a dress."
    Considering that Jeikar's legs were much longer, Tsubasa had to exert
himself slightly to keep up with the taller boy's powerful strides.
"That's the problem," he said, frustrated.  "I don't know why I was wearing
a...you know."  He didn't even want to say it.  It was too humiliating.
    "Maybe you have amnesia," Jeikar suggested, glancing at him with a bit
of concern, as they strode outside the apartment complex into the bright
morning sunlight.  "But you remembered your name just fine, so..."  He
shrugged.  "We can ask Ukyou when we get back, I suppose.  You and her seem
fairly familiar with each other..."
    "Not really," Tsubasa admitted, pushing a stray strand of long hair out
of his face.  "We were classmates in junior high.  Kind of friends, I
suppose."
    "Friends?"  Jeikar cocked an eyebrow at the shorter boy.  "You called
her 'Ukyou-sama' and asked her how she could be dating me when she had you."
    "You two are dating?"  Tsubasa asked him, confused.
    "No," Jeikar grunted.  "I took that to mean that she was dating -you-.
You mean you aren't?"
    "Of course not," Tsubasa stated, chuckling.  "Ukyou dresses like a boy
most of the time, and the school I met her at was a boys' school, anyway."
    Jeikar looked puzzled.  "A...a boys' school?"
    "Yeah..."
    
    Ukyou wasn't particulary worried, just annoyed.  Mainly at Jeikar for
running out of the shop like that with Tsubasa, yelling that he'd be back
in a half hour.  Well, he's got five more minutes, she thought irritably.
She wondered what Tsubasa was up to now - probably some plot to get her to
fall in love with him.  She smirked to herself, absently cooking up an
okonomiyaki.  He had looked really...horrified when he had come around from
that blow to the head, though.
    If Ukyou was a little bit concerned, it would have had to have been
over that look that Tsubasa had directed at himself.  Then he had asked if
he could buy some clothing from Jeikar...
    She shuddered.  If Jeikar was a crossdresser, too, she was sure that
she would be sick.  Forcing herself to think about something else, her
thoughts drifted to Ranma, and she wished he would stop by.  Her dreams
last night had been about Ranma, as usual, but they had another person
mixed in with Ranma - Ryoga.  She really didn't want to think about that,
even less than she wanted to think about Tsubasa.
    After all, she and Ryoga hardly knew each other.  That wasn't quite
true, she amended silently.  They had been partners for that crazy 'Tunnel
of Lost Love' place, in a plot to get Ranma and Akane to split up.  It was
when they arrived back at the hut after the ordeal with the insane spirits
of the tunnel that she had really looked at Ryoga for the first time.
    And he had looked back, and smiled ever-so-slightly, and they had both
collapsed from sheer weariness.
    "He's a nice guy," she grumbled to herself, "but nothing like
Ran-chan."  Besides, Ryoga had hardly done anything to make her think that
he had feelings for her, beyond simple friendship.  That day, when he had
given her the hawk talisman, sometimes he had looked at her oddly, a gaze
that had made her uncomfortable.  She now realized that perhaps - just
perhaps - it had been a loving gaze.  She smiled for a moment, lost in
thought as she stared at the hawk carving hanging around her neck.  It was
so beautiful...
    She shook her head, coming out of her reverie.  "Bunch of nonsense,"
she muttered, picking up a finished okonomiyaki off the still hot grill and
tasting it.  Strong, tasty, and good.  Fairly spicy, too, with just the
right consistency.  
    "We're back, Ukyou-chan," a cheerful voice said from the doorway, and
she looked up to see Jeikar and another young man who she didn't recognize
stride in.  She was slightly disgusted to see that the second young man was
dressed in a similar manner to her assistant, save a different colored
shirt.  He was even wearing a pair of those boots that Jeikar was always
strutting around in.
    "Took you long enough," Ukyou grunted, looking flatly at him.  "What
happened to Tsubasa, anyway?"  Whatever had happened to him, she hoped it
wasn't pleasant, then felt slightly guilty about thinking that way.
    "I'm right here, Ukyou," the somewhat short young man standing in the
doorway stated, cocking his head sideways at her curiously.
    She peered incredulously at him.  It -was- Tsubasa!  And he was
dressed...not normal, but at least he was dressed like a boy.  "You're
dressed...like a boy," she managed, still surprised.
    "Erm..."  Tsubasa ran a hand through his brown hair, which was now tied
back into a loose ponytail by a piece of black cloth.  "Yeah," he said
blandly, then looked closely at Ukyou.
    "Ukyou," he began in a serious tone, swallowing slightly, "will you
answer a question for me?"  She nodded, and he continued hesitantly.
"Am...am I a crossdresser?"  He asked at last, looking afraid of the answer.
    "Amongst other things," Ukyou replied dryly.
    He grimaced, and he appeared sincerely repulsed - at himself.  "Ukyou,"
he said, clearing his throat, "tell me.  About me.  Your assistant Jeikar
says I may have...amnesia."
    "A-amnesia?"  Ukyou looked up at him, startled.  A slow smile crossed
her face, and she decided to be straightforward about it.  "Tsubasa," she
said in serious tones, "are you in love with me?"
    Tsubasa blinked.  "Eh?  In love with you?"  He laughed.  "Of course
not!  Why...why do you ask?"  He looked as her closely, and she looked
absurdly happy.
    "No reason," she stated simply.  She, in reality, was ecstatic.  This
meant that there would be no more Tsubasa chasing after her, disguised as
trash cans and such.  
    Tsubasa looked slightly embarassed.  "It's not to say that you're not
pretty or anything," he amended quickly.  "It's just that...well, I never
really...thought of you as a girl, I guess."  He shrugged.
    He thinks he hurt my feelings, Ukyou realized with a start.  And what
does he mean, never thought of me as a girl before?  "What are you talking
about, Tsubasa?"  She asked him, cocking an eyebrow in his direction.
    "Nothing," Tsubasa responded, smelling the air and taking in the scent
of okonomiyaki.  "Just saying, you know, when you went to my school, it
-was- a boys' school.  We were friends, but I'm not in love with you.  Hope
you understand."
    Ukyou grinned.  "Yup, no problem.  Here, you want an okonomiyaki?  It's
on the house."  He sat on a table and grinned, catching the flying
okonomiyaki mid-flight with his mouth and taking a large bite out of it.  
    "Not too bad," he remarked, taking another bite.  "Kind of spicy."  He
grinned again and contentedly wolfed the rest of the okonomiyaki down.

    "Another one, eh?"  Soun asked, putting his hand behind his head and
chuckling a bit.  "You're really bringing me a lot of students, Tsiang."
    Ranma leaned back, bored, against the wooden wall of the dojo.  Mister
Tendo sure is getting a lot of new students, he noted.  Guess this'll help
fund the dojo.  I wonder how he took care of it before, anyway?  He
shrugged it off and looked closer at the new student; he didn't recognize
him, but had the strange feeling that he'd met him somewhere before.
    Jeikar nodded.  "In this case, it's me doing him a favor."  He patted
another boy on the shoulder, who was kneeling in front of Soun
respectfully.  The other boy was shorter than he was, with the same build
but lacking Jeikar's wiry strength.  He had long brown hair, slightly
disheveled, that was tied back loosely with a piece of black cord, and was
dressed similar to Jeikar himself, save a different colored shirt.  "I met
him this morning, and we were talking at lunch, and he told me he wanted to
learn martial arts, so I figured..."
    "...you'd bring him to me."  Soun nodded.  "Well, good choice, I have
to say.  Yes, I suppose I can teach him, at that.  What did you say his
name was?"
    "Tsubasa Kurenai," Jeikar responded.
    Ranma gagged slightly.  "T-Tsubasa Kurenai?"  He spluttered, looking
closely at the shorter young man, who gazed back at him curiously.  This
wasn't Tsubasa!  It couldn't be - Tsubasa was always dressed as a woman, or
a mailbox, or something like that.  
    Tsubasa looked back at him, cocking his head slightly.  "Have we met
somewhere before?"  He asked, staring blankly at Ranma's surprised face.
    Jeikar grunted and leaned closer to Ranma.  "He's got amnesia, I
think," he hissed softly into his ear, making sure no one else heard.  "So
don't do anything stupid, Saotome."
    Ranma swallowed and nodded.  "Erm...right."  He folded his arms across
his chest and looked away, gazing nonchalantly around the room, trying to
hide his puzzlement.
    Tsubasa shrugged, and looked back to Soun.  "So when do I begin training?"
    "In about an hour," Soun replied, standing up and stretching slightly.
"Training sessions are at two o'clock in the afternoon, if you want to
train with the rest of my students.  Which I assume you do."
    "Hai, sensei."

    It felt good to be holding the spirit flows again.
    Ryoga felt the gentle wash of the spirit element rush through his
bloodstream, cleansing him of his angry thoughts that usually clouded his
mind.  He pulled the spirit barrier down from his mind, letting it turn
into pure spirit power, then slowly formed the barrier again.  This was his
training so far, forming spirit barriers and pulling them down, then doing
it over and over again.  And each time, the barrier seemed more flawless
then the last.
    He had been doing this same training now ever since he had discovered
how to make the spirit form into a mental barrier.  How long had it been?
A week?  He shook his head, not particularly caring, as he slowly made the
barrier vanish, then set about forming it again, making sure it didn't have
any holes that could be expanded to breach the wall.
    He always had to be careful with defects.  His trainer, Ryako, was used
to reading people's thoughts and was constantly trying to pry into his with
probing spirit flows.  She had succeeded a couple times, much to his
irritation.  Every time she was successful in destroying his barrier, it
sent him into a short shock, for some reason.  When he had asked her, she
simply said that destroying the barrier was sent such a jolt through his
mind that it temporarily shut down, if only for a moment.  Henceforth, he
was extremely careful not to let his magics have any weaknesses in them.
Even the seconds that his barrier wasn't there, he had a secondary sort of
backup barrier that, while weaker, was always there.  Ryako told him that
he had probably been unconsciously holding up the secondary barrier ever
since his curse had been altered, not knowing about it.
    He still remembered the short conversation he had held with the Voice
in his head the previous night, and the thoughts that had gone through his
head.  The Voice had been telling him he was in love with Ukyou!
    That's crazy, he thought angrily, before the calming influence of
spirit washed away his anger, leaving him in a complete calmed state again.
 It was just that stupid Voice playing with my mind, he told himself,
sighing.  I barely even know Ukyou.  Well, I do know her, but we're barely
even friends.  There's no way we could fall in love.
    He looked up at Ryako, who was sitting cross legged on a rock that she
had carved to be flat on top with the stone element.  She wasn't looking at
him, and appeared to be lost in thought.  He gazed at her intently, taking
her appearance in.  She really was pretty, even if he had trouble admitting
it sometimes, chiefly because she looked identical to his and Ranma's
female forms.  
    I wonder what she thinks of me?  Ryoga thought to himself absently.
    And then a flood of thoughts rushed into Ryoga's startled mind, though
he was careful enough not to show it on his face.  She's working with fire,
he noted, apparently putting the fire element into the dead pine needles
that littered the ground, causing small sparks to jump among them, then
burn out.  His eyes went wide as he realized he had discovered the
technique for reading thoughts.  He concentrated a little, opening a tiny
conduit between his mind and hers, and noticed that she wasn't holding a
spirit barrier.  The torrent of thoughts came again, this time almost
completely overwhelming his mind, as he tried to sort the jumbled thoughts
into some sort of order, hurriedly cutting off the flow that connected
their minds.
    He vainly tried to sort the newly found knowledge in his mind, when
suddenly something clicked in his head, and he knew exactly how to draw the
fire element.  He sighed the spirit flow in him disappeared entirely,
leaving an empiness in place of the cool flows, and he concentrated,
knowing now what he was supposed to do.  Do not force the flames.  The
words that had come from the girl's head reverberated through his mind as
he reached out into the blackness of his mind, and felt that he was coming
close to the fire element, which seemed to be a tiny flame, burning quietly
in the distance. 
    Do not force the flames.
    He cleared his mind, breathing deeply as he approached the tiny flame
with his mind, knowing perfectly what to do.  As he went towards the small
flame, it suddenly expanded and exploded at him, rushing at his mind,
burning furiously as it began to consume him.  He gnashed his teeth
together, trying vainly to gain control of it and force it to do his
bidding, when the words came back to him, a cool void in the midst of the
fiery ocean that consumed his thoughts.
    Do not force the flames.
    Ryoga breathed deeply once more, and stopped fighting the flames,
allowing them to rush through his mind at will, even as every ounce of him
screamed for him to fight the oncoming rush of fire.  The flames, no longer
being held back, seethed through his mind, searing it with their brilliant
heat, and he forced himself to not hinder them, and stood there, accepting
the punishment with dignity.  And suddenly, the pain receded, but the fiery
feeling remained, now coursing through his body like a raging torrent of
searing magma, but it no longer burned him, instead filling him with a
flaring energy.
    "I did it," he breathed softly, his eyes flashing as he slowly opened
them.  
    Ryako looked carefully at him.  "You did what?"  She asked, before her
eyes opened a little wider, realizing what he had done.  "Be careful with
that, Ryoga!"  She gazed in alarm at him, but he paid her no heed.
    "I did it!"  He bellowed, raising his arm in victory.  The rush of
flame through his blood almost caused him to faint as it flew upwards
through his arm, his mind locking into the task of forcing it out of his
outstretched hand.  Now!  He commanded it silently, as the rush grew
stronger, and suddenly burst out of his palm in a powerful explosion of
flames.  The fiery wave blasted upwards, burning through the air and
alighting the forest for a moment with a brilliant orange light, then
imploded in on itself high above their heads, falling into the tiny flame,
then vanishing, winking silently out of existence.
    "I did it."  He threw back his head and bellowed a laugh, clenching his
fist in triumph.  
    
    Kai walked into the back of the resturaunt willingly enough; he
probably would have jumped in a fiery pit right that moment if the
stunningly beautiful girl in front of him had asked him to.  
    He looked around; the back room was sparsely lighted, and an old woman,
withered from age, sat on a pillow in the center, looking up at the
beautiful girl, Xian Pu, curiously.  
    "Who is this young man?"  The ancient woman asked in flawless Japanese,
gazing sharply at the girl.
    Xian Pu smiled.  "His name is Kai Ch'entao," she responded in Mandarin,
obviously preferring her native language.  Kai didn't blame her.  "He's
here visiting Japan with his friend, Jeikar, and I thought I remembered you
mentioning Jeikar once to me, a few years back..."
    The old woman nodded, and switched to Mandarin, also.  "Yes, I do know
Jeikar.  He came to our village three or so years ago to ask for my aid."
She turned her sharp, unblinking gaze to Kai, who shifted uncomfortably.
"So the boy Jeikar is here in Japan, eh?"
    "Erm..."  Kai looked nervous.  "Yes," he stated, not exactly sure how
to address the ancient woman.
    "So he is.  Oh, you don't say," she smiled ever-so-slightly, and
inhaled on her small pipe.  "I wonder if he ever found that legendary
spring he was looking for."
    "So -that's- who you are!"  Kai said, suddenly understanding.  "He
mentioned something to me about meeting a beautiful blue-haired girl in
China once," at this Xian Pu smiled slightly, "at a village called
Joketsuzoku, after he spoke with the Elder Matriarch there about the
spring."  He paused slightly.  "I take you're those two?"
    "That would be us," the old woman affirmed.  
    Kai bowed with profound respect.  "Ah, I see.  I apologize for any
earlier disrespect, then, Elder."  
    "Don't worry about it," the woman said with a sigh, and was about to
say something else when someone walked through the door to the back room.
Kai looked back, and saw a tall young man standing there.  He had long
black hair, thick glasses, and was wearing a volumnous white robe.  
    "Shampoo?"  He asked, speaking Japanese.  "Are you back here?"
    Xian Pu rolled her eyes, and Kai made a quick guess that 'Shampoo' was
a rough Japanese translation of her name.  The young man, upon seeing her,
grinned and switched to Chinese.  "I was just wondering where you went;
we've got a flood of customers out there and I need some help..."  His eyes
turned to Kai.  "Who are you?"  He asked accusingly.  "And what're you
doing with my beautiful Xian Pu?"
    Kai blinked.  "Erm...doing?  I'm not doing anything.  She just wanted
to meet a friend of mine, that's all.  And you are...?"
    The black-haired young man hurrumphed.  "I am Mu Tsu, Xian Pu's fiance.
 And you?"
    "Kai Ch'entao."  Kai nodded his head politely.  "And you're a very
lucky man."  He nodded towards Xian Pu, who looked angry, but beautiful all
the same.
    Xian Pu stood up and gazed flatly at Mu Tsu.  "Shampoo not your fiance,
stupid Mousse," she stated evenly in Japanese, stalking angrily out of the
room.
----------------------------------
Not much to say about this chapter, really, other than the next one should
be out in a few days. :)  As for Hiroshi and the rest of them on the run
from the law, I decided to take a chapter away from them.  Yes, yes, I
remember Rayne and Daisuke, and they'll make an appearance here soon.
Characters don't just vanish, after all. :)  Mu Tsu and Xian Pu are the
Chinese versions of Shampoo and Mousse, by the way, and, as will be stated
later, Khu Lon is the translation of Cologne.

Tsubasa:  I decided to switch his personality around a bit for added
amusement, and the storyline around him will continue for awhile yet.  Look
for chapter 9 soon. :)

Zai jian!