-------------------------------------------------------------- 
 < > - English
 // // - emitted from a P.S. system, telephone, or other
        electric medium.
-------------------------------------------------------------- 

 ------------------------
 The Pursuit of Happiness
 Act 2 Epilogue
 A Life Less Ordinary
 -----------------------

***

   [ 6:15, Tokyo Harbor ]

   The two adopted Tendo sisters, Kurumi and Natsumi,
watched the setting sun as they sat at the edge of the pier.
They idly dangled their legs over the edge and waited.

   "Tell me again why we're going to China?" asked Kurumi.

   "To train harder," answered Natsumi solemnly.  "To
perfect our fighting skills and become worthy of being
teachers of the Tendo Dojo."

   "But China?" asked Kurumi doubtfully.

   "Yes, China.  I have heard good stories of their training
grounds, and masters of the art that know secret techniques
not found anywhere else in the world."

   "I dunno.  This might not be a good idea."

   "You just want to go to Togenkyo Island with that Toma
boy, don't you," teased Natsumi.

   "Oh yeah?  I bet you found out that Kumon boy went to
China and just wanna follow him there."

   "Kurumiii-"

   "Oh, hi there."

   Kurumi and Natsumi blinked.  Natsumi turned around
slowly.

   "Kumon-san?"

   "Tendo-san, what are you doing here?" he asked, taking a
seat next to Natsumi.

   "Waiting for our ship to come in," said Natsumi
pleasantly.

   "Looks like it already did," muttered Kurumi.  This
earned her a swift elbow from her sister.

   "Ship?" asked Ryuu.  "Where are you going?"

   "To China," answered Natsumi.  "To continue our
training."

   "What a coincidence," said Ryuu Kumon casually.  "I was
headed that way myself."

   "Oh really?" asked Kurumi, grinning nastily.  "Isn't that
nice, sis?  Hm?  Hey, are you blush-"

   *BAP*

***

   [ Gosunkugi residence, 6:00pm ]

   Nobody noticed Hikaru Gosunkugi, but then again that
seemed to be the nature of things in general.

   He was glum.  That, too, was usual.

   He'd found himself a nice, ordinary girl with a nice
ordinary name (Manami) who had actually wanted to be his
friend.  And she had, as any girl he'd ever held a
fascination for, a crush for a martial artist.

   He tried in the past, but he knew he couldn't possibly
compete against that.  So he'd resigned himself to the
possibility that this was friendship and nothing more.

   Although he was lonely, there was always magic to fill
his time.

   Not that it was terribly useful.

   The electricity bill in his house had gone down a lot
since he learned how to create small but bright points of
light.  That was about the best use he could find for it at
the moment.  He thought he really had something when he
actually managed to call down a lightning strike... but it
just didn't seem to affect his target (ironically, some
psycho named Ryo that looked almost identical to him) at
all.

   He dismissed it as a useless illusion and nothing more.

   So he killed time at home and at school by pulling
rabbits from out of a hat (where the rabbits came from was a
subject he didn't care to ponder), minor feats of
levitation, and turning pencils into flowers.

   There was always magic, but that seemed to be pointless
now too.  What good was it if it didn't bring him happiness?

   The phone rang, snapping him out of his bout of wallowing
for the moment.  A phone call?  Must be for the parents.
Nobody called for him.  Might as well get the message.

   "Gosunkugi residence, Hikaru speaking."

   //Hikaru-kun?//

   "Manami?-san"

   //H-hi.  Wanna go out?//

   "O-out?"  This wasn't real.  This was  a hallucination.
Any minute now he'd wake up.  "I-I thought you'd be watching
that martial arts tournament, the one with R-"

   //I... I wanted to, but there's no point.  I mean... he
doesn't really like me, not like that, and I don't think he
ever will.  I don't think he even remembers me.//

   "Oh."

   //And... I... thought I might as well be with someone
that does know me... and is always nice to me... and likes
me...//

   "I... 

   //I... I just need to know... I mean... you always give
me the flowers you pull out of your hat, and the rabbits...
although they always seem to disappear...//

   "I... I do."

   //You do?//

   "Y-yes, I do.  Do you..."

   //I-I think I do.//

   "So... should w-we call it a date, then?"

   //I think I'd like that.//

   "Y-you would?!"

   //Y-yes, I would.//

   "Great!  I'm on my way!"

   For the first time in a long time, Hikaru Gosunkugi had a
happy smile on his face.  He sprang out the door whistling a
little tune and walked briskly down the street.

   The night air seemed a little better, the stars a little
brighter.  Life was great.

   Who needed magic when you had love?

***

   [ Ucchan's, 9:00pm ]

   The day wasn't quite over, but Ryouga was inclined to
disagree on that point.  For him, the day might as well be
done.

   He'd blown it.

   Again.

   The fact that something small and cold struck him near
the eye just as he was flying upwards to hit Ranma was
dismissed.  He had Ranma dead in his sights and he let
something small, probably a stray raindrop, or maybe sweat
dropping from his arm, something stupidly small, throw him
off.

   And Ranma won again.

   The sounds of partying and cheer drifted upwards from
below, where Ranma and the crowd from Furinkan was
celebrating Ranma's victor.

   -sigh-

   Things haven't changed, not at all.

   "Hey sugar, what'cha doing up here?"

   He glanced briefly at Ukyou, then continued to gaze
aimlessly out to the city.  "Not much."

   "Still bummed out over losing, huh?"

   Ryouga nodded.  "Sorry."

   "Sorry?"  Ukyou took a seat next to Ryouga, then asked,
"Sorry for what?"

   "I guess I let you down," he said absently.

   "Let me down?"

   "Yeah.  I lost again.  Same as always."

   The two sat in silence for a while, watching the world go
by with its passing planes and congested cars.

   "Y'know, you really oughta get off of this self-pity
thing," said Ukyou calmly.

   Ryouga blinked.  "Huh?"

   "I mean, life doesn't always go the way you want it, but
y'gotta move on."

   Ryouga remained silent, but his face did seem a little
less melancholy.  It was almost neutral.

   Ukyou saw the improvement and smiled.  "Y'know what?"

   "Hm?"

   "You might not'a beaten Ranma, but I think you did great
out there."

   "Really?"

   Ukyou rested an arm on his shoulder, leaning slightly on
him.  "Not too bad at all.  I mean, y'almost got'im."

   "Thanks, I-"

   Something here has to be explained.

   Ukyou had spent much of her life as a boy.  She was used
to hanging around 'with the guys'.  It wasn't unusual for
her to occasionally lean on someone, in a macho sort of way
with the elbow up and with absolutely no romantic
undertones.

   Which is exactly why she didn't think much of leaning on
him now.

   Until he turned his head towards her, and she turned her 
head towards him.

   And they both found themselves surprisingly close to each
other's lips.

   "Ah..." said Ukyou.

   "Er..." replied Ryouga.

   Trying to talk was a mistake.  Lips being near each other
was one thing.  Open lips near each other was another thing
entirely, especially when those lips could feel the hot
breath coming from the lips across from them.

   They were frozen in the moment, utterly spellbound by
each other.  They both tried to look _away_ from the lips,
which only resulted in them locking eyes.

   Close intense eye contact was, if anything, worse.

   There is something about the human eye, something
undefinable, the sort of thing that made a poet say
something about eyes being windows to the soul.

   It was a stupidly sugary sweet moment.

   Someone was fated to interrupt it.  And tonight, that
someone carried a soot bomb and a nasty sense of humor. 

   *POOF*

   "AAACK!"  *COUGH*COUGH*

   "Ryouga, don't mo-"

   *COUGH* COUGH* COUGH* COUGH* "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-" -THUD-

***

   From a neighboring rooftop, Tanya Noori watched with some
satisfaction as Ryouga slammed into the ground below.  She
responded to Ukyou's hostile glare with a friendly wave.
Konatsu also waved, but in a rather embarrassed and
apologetic manner.

   <Heheheh.  At'wos satisfyin.>

   Konatsu frowned.  "Noori-sama, that wasn't nice."

   Her grin widened.  "It was for me."

   He sighed.  "I think they'd make a sweet couple."

***

   Mio looked at the results of the King of Nerima results,
somewhat puzzled at it all.

   According to her card reading of Ryouga, the end should
have been a decisive battle.  Instead, it was incredibly
close.

   The Devil, the Hermit, the Wheel of Fortune, Justice and
the Hanged Man.  Perhaps, she wondered, the cards had told
of Ryouga's fortunes of a later time? 

 - end Act 2 -