<g> Took a day off from posting to work and get ready for A-kon. As
usual, all comments are welcome (flames too, I suppose... nobody's given
me any of THOSE yet), although actual C&C would be ideal. Here's part
nine...
---
�So, where are we going now?� Asuka rubbed her sore foot. Mental note:
Don�t kick Ryoga. Even less effective and more painful than slapping
him. �It can�t be NERV; we�re leaving.� She peeked between the front
seats of Misato�s car. On her right, Misato was maneuvering the car out
of the parking lot. It had been a while since she�d seen Misato. She
still looked pretty good, although the whole purple hair thing was
getting old. Good taste in casual clothes, though.

�Nah, we�re home for the day. I, for one, am bushed.� Misato smiled.
�Besides, it�s his turn to cook dinner.�

Opposite from Misato, the Third Child fastened his seat belt. And
checked it. Ryoga Hibiki, if she remembered his last name right. Odd
sort, even considering that she hadn�t been expecting a normal Joe. For
one thing, he wasn�t fourteen. Theoretically, that disqualified him from
even synchronizing with the Evangelion. She�d seen him do it, though,
even if it was with HER Eva.

And he wasn�t quite normal. WAY muscled, the kind you get from lifting
heavy things every morning, every day, for years. No taste in clothing,
and the yellow shirt and black pants he had seemed to have been dirtied
so much that the whole color was one stain. A little bit brown, she
decided. Dust stains. Kind of odd, how he tied the pants at the bottom
with those thongs. It reminded her of nothing so much as a ballet
dancer, which REALLY didn�t fit. The bandana across his temples, while
not quite in fashion, was normal. Well, one would have been normal. He
had to have at least two to keep the neural sensors up there like that,
though.

He checked his seat belt buckle. And again. Then he eased back,
relaxing� no, not relaxing. He had a death grip on the arm of the seat.
Actually, the grip was MOLDED into the arm of the seat, like they�d cast
his hand into it when they were making the thing. He turned around,
looked at the massive backpack sitting in the back seat beside her. He
glanced at her, and seemed to make some sort of mental connection. �Um,
you should really buckle up, Asuka.�

�What, a traffic safety lecture? I�m sure Misato can handle�� He was
staring at her, wide-eyed. �What, she can�t?� His head shook, once, side
to side.�

�Yeah, no problem. I�ve got everything under control. Just wait until I
hit the highway.�

That look on Ryoga�s face� it was fear, fear he hadn�t felt when
fighting the Angel, fear he hadn�t shown when he could have died. (Oddly
enough, it was almost exactly like the look he wore when he had seen her
with Eva 02 for the first time. He was afraid of� water? What, did he
think he would melt?) But if he was afraid now� she sat back and
fastened her own seat belt.

After all, anything that could scare him�
---
Paradise Lost, part 9
Fan Fiction by Andy Kent
All copyrights belong to Rumiko Takahashi or Gainax
---
Ryoga had his belt loose before the engine stopped. He flung the door
open, lunged out, turned back around and tore his pack through the
opening. In one leap, he was fifteen feet away from the car. To heck
with the Eva and the world, to heck with not getting lost and having
three meals a day, if he had to ride in the car with THAT WOMAN one more
time�

�What, Ryoga-kun?� Misato climbed out, rather more sedately, then popped
the seat latch to let Asuka out. He thought it was Asuka, but at that
moment, it might just have been Rei with a different hairstyle and a few
more pounds. Wait, no, Rei didn�t have that green tinge to her skin. She
wobbled away from the car, fell to her knees, and kissed the concrete
once. �Not you too, Asuka.�

�Do you�� Asuka started to stand up. �Do you know that you don�t drive
on that side of the road in Japan?�

�There was a traffic jam! Hardly anybody else on the other side. Come
on, it�s not like anybody got hurt.�

Asuka straightened up, looked directly at Ryoga. �And you! What are you
doing, hanging on that pole like that?�

Huh? Hey, what was he doing hanging on the light pole like that? He
released the pole (noticing the bends where his palms had been) and
dropped to the ground. �Sorry, reflex action.�

�What, do you think you�re a cat?�

Now what did she mean by that� oh yeah. Cats climb trees. �No, I don�t.�

�Well, I sure hope you�ve got a nice place set up. Traveling on ship is
NOT my idea of fun. No bunks. I want a nice, solid, fluffy bed for
once.�

Misato started up the stairwell to the fourth floor. �Well, to be
honest, there�s not much there yet. We got you the place next door to
me, so it�d be easier for you. Not much in the way of furniture, yet.�

�Well, we can fix that.� Asuka followed her up the stairs. He decided
that it would be a good idea to go as well� it had been a long couple of
days and he�d just as well sleep in a house tonight.

---
Asuka sat in her �room�. Well, had to give Misato credit, it was a whole
apartment. And it did have a kitchen and three bedrooms, although what
she�d do with the other two, she had no idea. There was a chair and
table in the kitchen, a couch, and a futon in one of the rooms. That was
it, the whole kit and caboodle, so to speak.

And there was that hole in the wall. It was a good four inches wide,
about three feet off of the ground, and looked like it had come from the
room next door. When she�d asked Misato, Ryoga shuffled his feet. He was
depressingly easy to read. Of course, HOW he�d made that hole was a
different story, neither of them were talking about that. Probably
wanted to peep on her or something, the pervert. Not that he could
really help it, being a guy.

Somebody was knocking on the door. She got up and opened it, to see
Ryoga standing outside. He had his pack on. �You want some dinner? I
made extra.�

Food was exactly what she wanted, right then. �Why not? Lead on, big
lunk.�

He seemed immune to the insult. �Sure.� Turning around, he strode� the
wrong way down the hallway.

�Hey, where are you going?�

�To eat, I told you.�

�Yeah, but your apartment is THAT way.�

He rubbed the back of his head. �Oh, yeah, thanks.�

As he was passing her, she asked, �What, are you stupid or something?�

�No, just don�t have any sense of direction.�

No kidding. �Where I�m from, it�s called being stupid.�

The two entered Misato�s apartment, upon which Ryoga dropped the pack.
As if he�d need that thing to go twenty feet. Something did smell good
in the kitchen, though. She decided to forgive him for being stupid, for
now, and see what was for dinner.

�Hey! Let�s eat.� Misato was lounging at her table, in an outfit that
was a tiny bit less than modest, and one that should have had Ryoga
melting into a pool of lava. Of course, it was just a tank top and
shorts (and they were!), but the WAY she wore them� Ryoga didn�t seem to
be affected. Funny, she had him pegged as the affection-starved type.

On the table was rice � she�d forgotten about that, she was going to
have to get used to it � and some kind of meat, pork probably. And a
Coke. And two beers. Well, maybe Ryoga didn�t drink. Except that the
Coke was in front of the seat that Ryoga wasn�t taking. �Um, don�t I get
one too?� The two looked at her, uncomprehending.

�I think she means the rice, Misato. Go ahead, take some.�

He was pretty dim sometimes. �No, the beer! I don�t like Coke anyway.�

�Asuka, you�re a bit young to be drinking beer with dinner. There�s Dr
Pepper in the fridge, though.�

A bit young? What did she� oh. �Misato, exactly where do you think I
spent the last few years, Spain? I�ve been drinking beer with dinner for
years.� Not precisely true, but she�d had a good amount of beer before.

>From the look on Misato�s face, she honestly hadn�t considered that.
�Well� you�re not in Germany anymore. When in Rome��

�Yeah, well, the only Romans I see here aren�t drinking Coke.�

Ryoga looked up from his dinner. Half of it was gone already. A speed
eater? �Huh? Come on, eat up, it�s getting cold.�

�Um� go ahead, then. Stay away from the Yebisu, though, it�s mine.�

Ha! Her first victory in Japan. �Thanks.� Maybe not enough sarcasm in
the voice, it didn�t register with Ryoga. Did with Misato, though. She
fetched a beer from the fridge and sat down.

Hm. Good rice, good pork. Well, time to solidify her gains. �You cook a
good dinner, Misato.� There, a compliment should� Misato was looking at
her funny. Ryoga was looking at her funny. That could only mean� yeah,
she could remember Misato saying that it was his turn to cook. �You mean
that you cooked this, Ryoga?� She definitely didn�t have him pegged as a
chef.

�Uh, yeah.�

How expressive. She turned to Misato. �And you actually eat his
cooking?�

�It�s a good change from instant.�

Ryoga started chuckling. �Misato�s cooking is NOT the worst that I�ve
ever eaten. It took me a week to decide, though.�

�No fair, Ryoga.� This had the feel of �old joke� written all over it.

�What was it� something I heard once� somebody talking about Akane�s
cooking. Oh yeah! �I don�t have to try it to know it�s toxic.� That was
it!� He was laughing now. Mental note, don�t eat Misato�s cooking.

It was good, though. She could get used to eating like this. �So, what�s
on the evening�s schedule?�

�Sleep.� Ryoga hadn�t stopped eating to tell his joke, and he was done
now. �I�ve got class tomorrow.�

�So do you, Asuka. You might want to turn in early.�

That made no sense. �You know perfectly well that I don�t need to go to
school any more, Misato.�

Ryoga chuckled again. �That argument doesn�t work on her, I tried it
already. Something in the pilot�s manual, she says.�

Well, damn. �So, where am I going?�

�We�ll put you in Ryoga and Rei�s class, for now. Easier to keep you all
in one place.�

�That�s what, senior year?� Ayanami must be pretty advanced on her own.
After all, it was certainly possible for a fourteen year old to do it�
she had herself.

�Senior year of middle school.� No. Misato looked straight at her. �Live
with it.�

�Why don�t you stick me in kindergarten while you�re at it?� That was
crazy! She could spend her time doing� well, something better than
review of things she already knew.

Ryoga stood up. �Look, they make ME go. I haven�t been in school for two
years, they bundle me up and put me back in. You might as well come
too.� Now she would not have believed that Ryoga had done it� he didn�t
seem that bright, although he wasn�t exactly stupid. Except for the
directions. ��Night, Misato. See you in the morning.� He headed down the
hall of the apartment.

�Um, where is he going?�

�Bed, like you should.�

�But he�s not leaving.�

�He doesn�t HAVE to leave. He lives here.�

Well, that was interesting. �He doesn�t� you know��

�Huh?� Misato glanced down at her second beer. �No! No, I can�t even see
him doing something like that.�

Asuka put on her best �yeah right� face. �Sure� you dressing up like
that. Even the dead would wake up for that kind of thing.�

�No, really, I don�t think he�s even noticed. I know he�s not gay, so
it�s not that. He just lost a girlfriend, maybe that has something to do
with it.�

Sometimes, Misato could be so na�ve. �That would make him more likely to
try something. You sure he doesn�t?�

�Nope.� Ryoga ducked his head around the corner of the kitchen door.
�Don�t ask me why. It�s not that you�re ugly, Misato, I�m just not
attracted to you.� He ducked back. Exactly HOW long had he been
listening?

�You�re blushing, Asuka. Don�t worry about him, he�ll find his room in
five minutes or so. Really, I believe him.� Misato lowered her voice a
little. �What brought that on? YOU don�t have something in mind, do
you?�

Not likely. �Yeah, but not with him�� Maybe with Kaji.

---
�Good morning, Hibiki-kun!� Kensuke chuckled. It was getting to be a
morning ritual� he ducked his head inside the door with Touji. �Later,
Katsuragi-san!�

�Come on, guys, enough already.� Ryoga moved out of the door, taking
them with him. �Rei here yet?�

�She�s down below� maybe she didn�t want to climb that many stairs just
to see your face, Ryoga.�

�Uncalled for, Touji. Besides, it IS the fourth floor, and we have a
perfectly good reason for coming up anyway.� Well, he did. Touji�s
reason was a little far-fetched.

�Well, let�s get Asuka and get going.�

He had to be joking. �That�s not funny, Ryoga.�

�No kidding.� Touji shivered. �If I never set eyes on her again, it will
be too soon.�

They heard a voice behind them. �Good to feel so loved, huh, Ryoga?�
Dripping with sarcasm. Kensuke ducked behind Touji� that way, he�d catch
the flak. The brown-haired terror was standing there, behind Ryoga, with
some kind of bag. And that was NOT the school uniform she was wearing.
Of course, he was the only one there in uniform, but�

Ryoga chuckled. �Surprise, guys. Meet the new student.�

---
Ryoga would have nodded off during the lecture� but he had the sinking
feeling that his head would do serious damage to his computer as it hit.
Well, it�s not like hearing ANOTHER lecture on the Second Impact could
possibly matter, and since the darned thing is keeping him awake, might
as well use it.

He punched a few buttons and keyed it onto the class network. A few more
and he had broken out of the childish security system. User poll showed
half the class on-line. Kensuke was one. In fact� he glanced over, saw
Kensuke look at him and attack his own keyboard. A second later, an
incoming message dropped onto his screen.

Subject: �evil presence�

Content: �You have any ideas on how to get rid of her? Maybe you could
strangle her and make it look like an accident or something.�

He fired back a reply.

Subject: �stupid Kensuke�

Content: �I�m all for her being here. If I�ve got to put up with this,
it helps to know that as many people as possible are miserable with me.
Besides, she can soak up fire from the Angels, that way Rei and I can
take a few breaks now and then.�

Kensuke started chuckling at his desk, wrote another message. Must have
been to somebody else, though.

Maybe he would risk breaking the desk. Man, but class was boring.

---
�Class is OVER. Thank God.� Asuka strolled out of the room. How could
one man put so many people to sleep so fast? Oh well, she�d gotten some
reading done anyway. �Well, what now?�

Ryoga pulled up behind her. �I�m going to visit some friends. Come on,
Rei.�

�What, I�m not invited?� To be honest, Ryoga�s friends were not the
first people that she had in mind to meet, but anything was better than
hanging around an empty apartment. �And Rei is?�

�He needs me to find the dojo.� Rei was quiet, like she�d seen something
horrible and didn�t want to disturb it. And she didn�t blink. It wasn�t
natural. �He has NO sense of direction.�

�I hadn�t noticed.� Obviously she�d have to shelve her sarcasm for the
duration, it just wasn�t effective on these two. �Well, can I come?�

Ryoga nodded. �Sure. Just follow me� um, Rei. Don�t get lost. Don�t talk
to anybody, and whatever you do, DON�T take that water pistol.�

�What, this?� She poked the little piece of plastic at him. �It�s just
water.� Rather, she pointed it at where he was� he had jumped, straight
up, and landed on the roof of the gym. �Hey! Get back here! You afraid
you�ll melt?�

�He�s not fond of cold water.� She looked at Rei. If you gave her a lot
of credit, that could have been a smile. �Besides, he�s always telling
me not to shoot people.�

Asuka stuffed the pistol back into her bag. Ryoga, seeing that the coast
was clear, dropped back beside her. �You�re no fun at all, Ryoga.�

�Look, like I said, DON�T go waving that thing around. Where we�re
headed, some people would have fought rather than ran from that thing.�
He was serious.

�You ALL made of snow, or just you and Rei?� Well, a bit callous there,
but at least he smiled. �Don�t worry, you�ll not even know I�m there.�

---
What was this place? Asuka had seen some seedy neighborhoods before �
and this wasn�t seedy � but she�d never seen streets so bad. You could
build a house with the chunks of concrete rubble that lined the streets.
Walls with holes, potholes you could drown in, downed trees, everything.
�What happened here?�

�It�s always like this.� Ryoga smiled, took in a deep breath. �Nothing
beats Nerima.�

�Um, Ryoga�� Rei stopped from her position a few feet ahead of the
others, looked back. �It�s that Kuno person again.�

�Don�t worry about him, he�s harmless unless you talk to him.�

The �Kuno� person turned out to be a man wearing some kind of fighting
garment, carrying a wooden sword. Tall, not cute but not ugly, and older
than Ryoga by a year or so. �Looks fun.�

The Kuno looked across the street, spotted them, crossed over. �Ah,
noble wanderer, well met are we indeed. I even now withdraw from an
encounter with our common foe Saotome� the wretched being who holds the
fair Akane thrall to his evil will. Come, and we shall plot to bring
together his downfall.�

Ryoga yawned. �I don�t think so, Kuno, maybe later. I�m going somewhere
right now.�

�And I see that the sylph accompanies you still� I greet you, ethereal
one, and promise that should you need assistance, you need only call
upon the name of the great Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, Tatewaki
Kuno.�

Rei looked like she was stunned, which made sense. Did this guy have one
clue in his possession? He looked over at Asuka, smiled. �Lovely one,
truly is the city a more blessed place with your presence. May the
evening sunset be a flower for your hair and the stars a ceiling for
your dreams.�

�Enough already, Kuno, or I�ll tell your precious pigtailed girl that
you�re making time with other women.�

�Dare you mock me, vagrant dog? Then, you shall know the justice of the
Blue Thunder!�

What followed next was one of the most bizarre things that Asuka had
ever seen� the Kuno thing slashing with his wooden sword, demolishing
steel pipes and concrete barriers with ease. And Ryoga, he was all over,
jumping up and around, parrying the blade, occasionally throwing his own
attack back at Kuno.

�Then, if you value not your life, face my ultimate technique! STRIKE!�
Wow, but he could really move that bokken. Asuka couldn�t even follow
the blows. Well, Ryoga needed to be knocked down a peg or two.

�I do not even feel your attack!� Ryoga paused, grabbed his umbrella,
swung like a golfer. For some reason, the attack made it through the
storm of Kuno�s strikes, hit the man squarely in the chest, and
continued� Wow again.

�Yes, folks�� Ryoga was speaking into the end of his umbrella. �Another
HOME RUN!� He bowed to the two girls. �In case you didn�t know, the
crowd�s supposed to go wild.�

�Showoff.� Yes, Rei was definitely smiling.

�Isn�t he going to die, now? That must be a ten story drop, from the top
of that arc.�

�Nah, I�m not that lucky. Even Kuno knows how to take a fall.� Ryoga
replaced his umbrella on his pack and fell in behind Rei again. �Get
used to that kind of thing.�

�What did he mean by all of that?�

�Some day, somewhere, somebody will figure out just what Kuno�s
thinking� and maybe they�ll share with the rest of us. Not that anybody
would care.� Ryoga bit the end off that sentence. �Besides, he�s always
harassing Akane.�

Hm. An interesting statement, that, especially the last bit. �Akane� was
probably that ex-girlfriend that she�d heard about from Misato. Very
interesting.

---
Akane sneezed, once. �Darn pollen.�

Ranma called out from the yard. �You say something, Akane?�

�No, nothing.� She still couldn�t believe it. She�d asked Ranma what had
brought the whole thing on � his wanting to get married all of the
sudden, when he�d fought it tooth and nail for years � and he�d answered
RYOGA. She hadn�t understood, so he sat her down, and explained.

About Ryoga�s love for her. She hadn�t ever noticed it, she�d thought
that he was just a bit silly, or joking like Ranma did, or just stupid
sometimes, but there it was. Ryoga had loved her, and she hadn�t
noticed. (Well, there was a date or two, come to think of it. But she�d
just been getting back at Ranma!)

About Ryoga�s sense of direction, she knew.

About his new job, she didn�t. Of course, it was a crock of bull. No
sane person would POSSIBLY put Ryoga into a robot cockpit. By himself,
he caused more property damage than any single person Akane could
recall. And he kept wandering off, too.

About his decision� well, it was true, Ryoga could be dangerous to be
around. He didn�t really know his own strength, he�d never been around
people enough to learn, she thought. He could hurt her, he�d almost hurt
her a couple of times. He�d beat Ranma up severely a couple of times,
too, but that was different.

It was a horrible realization, that somebody could love you SO MUCH that
they�d have died for you, killed for you, (and that�s exactly what Ranma
had implied would have happened if the robot had finished that night�
fat chance) and you never knew. Never cared�

She heard Ranma spin around, saying, �Hey! Welcome back, P-chan!�

�QUIT calling me P-chan! <sneeze> Man, the pollen�s bad today.�

Think of the devil� that had to be Ryoga, now. Akane got up and looked
outside, to see Ryoga jump over the fence, followed by his friend Rei.
Rei�s hand looked all right, thank goodness. Immediately, there was a
knock at the door.

�I�ll get it, Kasumi!� Akane tugged the door open. Outside stood another
young girl, maybe fifteen, with brown hair in two ponytails. �Hello,
come on in.�

�Thanks.� She had a bit of a foreign accent, but Akane couldn�t place
it. Not Chinese, thank God, she was quite good at that one by now.
�Where�d the big lug go?�

�You mean Ranma? He�s out by the pond�� Wait a second. �Why do YOU want
to see Ranma?� Not again, oh no, not again�

�Who�s Ranma? I�m following Hibiki around.� That had a truly ridiculous
sound� like saying that Kuno would win a fight with Ranma one day. �You
seen him? One moment, I�m talking to him, and then he jumps a wall and
Wonder Girl follows him.�

�Um�� Sweatdrop. �They�re in the back too� this way.�

The three wandered onto the porch, Ryoga and Ranma rubbing each other�s
heads, Rei standing there not blinking. She caught Ranma�s eye� yes,
that was the �here�s your chance to tell him� look. She tried to shape a
�draw off the other company� look, sent it� there, he�d gotten it.

�Hey, Rei, you feel like another lesson?�

�It doesn�t involve breaking bricks this time, does it?�

Ryoga snorted. �Just don�t hit his skull and you�ll be fine.�

�Hey! Don�t� actually, that�s pretty good, Ryoga.�

�Heh. Too bad your fighting skills don�t match your sense of humor,
Ranma.�

Now, how could she talk to Ryoga if they kept teasing each other? �Go
on, quit it, Ranma.�

�Okay, all right already. Let�s go, Rei.�

The other girl looked at Akane. �He does martial arts too?�

�Yeah.� Obviously new in town� everybody knew Ranma.

Ryoga scratched the back of his head. �Yeah, if you thought what I did
to Kuno earlier was good, you ought to go watch. Ask him for some
roasted chestnuts.� Ryoga wasn�t usually this subtle.

�That I�ve got to see. I�ll leave you two alone for a bit, then.� The
way she�d said �you two� made it pretty obvious what she had in mind.

Ryoga puffed up a bit. �Be nice, Asuka. I won�t stand for you insulting
Akane like that.�

�Yeah, quite an insult.� She stuck her tongue out, left through the door
that Ranma had taken Rei to.

Well, here goes. �So, how�s life going, Ryoga?�

�Not bad. It�s been really busy lately, though. I haven�t been really
lost for a while.�

She sat down at the table, motioned for him to do the same. Obviously he
was trying to keep up a front. �Look, Ryoga� Ranma told me. Everything.�

She saw the blood rush from his face, the look of utter betrayal, the
eyes open with shock. �E� e� everything?�

�Why? Why didn�t you tell me, all of this time? I was your friend!�

That brought him around, almost like a slap would have. He jerked the
same way. �I� I� I thought you�d� hate me�� His voice was very small. �I
was embarrassed� and you wouldn�t understand� I just don�t��

�HATE you? Why� I don�t love you, Ryoga.� That HAD hit him, she could
see it going in, see the wound. �But you ARE one of my best friends� and
I can talk to you, and you won�t call me uncute, or try to make me feel
stupid, or�� No, she wasn�t going to break down, not now, it would be
too cruel in front of Ryoga. �You did so much for me, and Ranma� why
didn�t you say something?�

He exhaled, a deep sigh that took all the fight from his demeanor. �I
didn�t know� it was good, it was the best I ever had felt, knowing you,
even though you didn�t really know, you didn�t really care� but I was
happy with it for so long. It was all I had, see? And if I said
something, did something� it could have ended, and that would have been
all. I didn�t want to hurt you, that�s why, didn�t want to make you
angry or sad or�� He almost sobbed there. �And I was right, because now
you know, and it�s over, really over. I made my choice, Akane.�

�Ryoga�� He really did love her, then. Maybe he still loved her, sitting
there and saying that. �Just because� just because I love Ranma, it
doesn�t mean I didn�t care.� His head came up. Something in his eyes� �I
DO care for you, and I�m sorry. I�m sorry that you�re hurting like
this.�

�I�� sob �I�ll be okay. I always am. Nothing can hurt me, right?� He
forced a smile on his face. It was frightening, like a grinning skull.
�I can take anything� survive anything�� And he suddenly collapsed.
�except this. But I�ll be okay, really. Besides, I can still protect
you, make you happy. Me, and Rei, and Asuka. You and Ranma� you�ll be
happy.� He was crying now, tears of sadness.

�I don�t know what to say, Ryoga.� What did he mean, protect her? And
Rei? Asuka? �Can you forgive me, for not knowing?�

�I� I dreamed of this day� and always, it ended with you screaming,
hating, wanting to erase me from the earth� and now, this� So much more
than what I hoped for� and I�m still� Oh God�� He rested his head on his
arms and wept. �I�m still alone, in the end.�

She edged around the table, put her arms around his head. �Not alone,
Ryoga. Never alone. Remember that. You can always come here, you know.
Even Ranma�� Maybe she�d better not mention Ranma now. �You�re not
alone.�

�Th� thank you.� He moved his arms, not quite encircling her. �See? I
can�t even give you a hug� I won�t hurt you, not ever. Never hurt you.
Never�� He tensed up, gathered himself, and sat up straight, pulling
himself from her arms. �Thank you for being here. I�ll� we�ll protect
you, always. You know that. If anything ever hurts you� I�ll��

�You don�t need to say it.� On the last, his fist had curled into the
table, through the wood. He really wasn�t human, she thought, not all
the way. It was a pity� he was so good-hearted, and now� �Come on, cheer
up. You�ll find somebody too, you know. You�re quite popular with women
now, I�ve noticed.�

He looked at her as if she�d gone insane. �Huh? I� um��

�You know, those two you came with.� Well, he was still good old Ryoga.

�What, Rei? Asuka? They�re not�� He giggled. Ryoga, huge juggernaut of
physical force, giggled. �They�re Eva pilots� not� that.�

Eva pilots? �What do you mean, Eva pilots?�

�We pilot the Evangelions. You know, big robots, fight Angels, blow up
your classroom the other night?� His eyes narrowed a little. �I thought
Ranma told you everything.�

�Yeah, well, I could believe the other part, but you a robot pilot? Come
on, it�s pretty far-fetched.�

�Don�t I know it.� For some reason, he seemed relaxed now. �Anything
else he told you?�

�No, just� he respects you. I think he has some kind of idea what you�re
going through. I think I do.�

�No.� He moved his gaze away. �No, you don�t know, and you�ll never have
to, and you�re better off that way. But� he loves you, and now there
won�t be any more of this fianc�e nonsense and he can take care of you.
And I�ll take care of everybody.�

�Thank you, Ryoga.� She grabbed his hand, squeezed it. He tensed again,
but didn�t twitch the hand at all. �It really means a lot to me, you
know. Thank you� for giving him to me.� Or the reverse, more likely, but
she didn�t want to think that way. �I never really thought about it
before. A house� this house, probably. Me, him, maybe a kid. A pet pig,
too.� She laughed at the last.

His hand clenched, hard enough to hurt, a little. �No, no pig. P-chan�
he won�t be coming back, Akane.�

What did he mean by that? �You know where P-chan is?�

�Something like that.� He let go of her hand, pulled off a bandana and
wiped at his eyes. �He�s� happier now, really.�

Oh, no� nobody EVER used that phrase unless� �You�ve never lied to me,
Ryoga.� He flinched at that too. �He�s dead, isn�t he?�

She didn�t expect that reaction. First incomprehension, then shock,
then� he smiled. �No, he�s not dead� not dead at all. He�s just� away,
like I always used to be.� He was grinning like an idiot now. �That�s
exactly it, I�ll bet.�

�Whew. I was worried about him, you know.� That brought him back down a
bit. �Well, I�m glad that all of that is out in the open, then. Thanks,
really, for all of this. You�re coming to the wedding, right?�

�I have to.� He chuckled. �I�m supposed to be the best man, I think.�

She stood up. �Better go check on Ranma� he�ll probably break something
showing off to those two.�

�Good idea, that. Let�s� let�s go.� He grabbed his pack from the side of
the door, started walking toward the dojo. Standing much straighter then
when he came in, she noticed. If Ranma hadn�t been there, or hadn�t been
Ranma� but no. Ryoga, though, he deserved to be happy. Maybe� and she
was� oh my. That just might� oh my indeed.

---
Urk. Ryoga couldn�t remember EVER hurting like that. Not in the Eva, not
in training, not after getting beat within an inch of his life. Like
ripping your soul out and sewing it back in� but she cared. At least he
could be happy with that� she really did care.

He ducked into the Tendo Dojo, expecting to see Ranma doing some
incredibly over-the-top martial arts display� and wasn�t disappointed.
He was practicing on one of Akane�s dummies, kicking, punching, and
moving almost faster than Ryoga could follow. Rei was watching with
interest, Asuka with awe.

�Hey, Ranma, don�t slow it down for them or they�ll never pick up the
technique��

�Well, if you say so�� He paused, changed his footing, then attacked.
The speed technique he was so proud of simply annihilated the head of
the dummy in an explosion of straw� then the arms� then the chest and
wooden frame.

Asuka swallowed, loud. �Uh� what exactly was that?�

�Little something I picked up a couple of years back. Nice, huh?� Ranma
stretched one arm out to the side. �Fairly effective, too, right Ryoga?�

Huh. �In your dreams, Ranma. That couldn�t take Mousse out, much less
me.�

Rei went over, picked out another dummy, set it up over the remains of
the last one. What was she thinking� Ryoga recognized the stance
immediately. Definitely the same as Ranma�s. She narrowed her eyes,
pulled back, and started� well, she was TRYING to do the technique. She
was fast, yes, but the fists were all wrong, and if he could see them,
she was going pretty slow too.

�Hey, not like that�� Ryoga tapped her on the shoulder, gestured, took
her place. �Now, I never could pull that one off, I don�t have half the
speed that it takes, but the fists I can help with. You take your hand,�
he held his own up, clenched it tightly, thumb outside the wrapped
fingers. �Do it like this, and it won�t hurt you when you hit
something.�

Asuka wrapped her own fist, and slugged him on the shoulder. Not really
slugged, more like a pat, but she was shaking her hand like she�d thrown
all of her weight into it. �Liar! That hurt like hell!�

�I�m not a straw dummy, you know.�

Akane walked into the room. �How�s it been going?�

Ranma edged next to her. �Rei�s got something going� she learns pretty
fast, you know, but she�s got no training and not much conditioning.
Even if she did learn it, one round of it would tire her out completely.
The other one, she�s hopeless.�

�I heard that!� Asuka reached behind her, produced a fair-sized mallet,
whapped Ranma on the head. She dropped the mallet, staring at it in
horror. �Where the heck did I get that from?�

She shook, a little, as Akane walked over, picked up the hammer, and
tossed it behind her� into� he never could tell where they went when
Akane was done with them. �You stop asking after a while.�

This wasn�t going very well, Ryoga thought. Maybe it would be better to
leave for home now� before dinner, at any rate. He didn�t feel up to
trying Akane�s cooking today, and didn�t want to risk it in any case.
�Come on, guys, we�ve got to go.�

Rei looked up at him. �Why? It�s still early.�

How had Akane and Ranma worked out that earlier? He couldn�t read their
looks, although that had to have been it� he tried his best �trust me�
look on Rei, and said, �Yeah, but we�ve got to get home before Misato
has a chance to remember that it�s her night to cook, right?�

Rei looked confused. Oh, well, he hadn�t really expected it to work. �If
you say so��

Ranma bounced a dummy fragment off of Ryoga�s forehead. �What, worried
that she�ll get lonesome or something?� His face didn�t quite match the
words, like he was thinking about something� �YOW! COLD!� Ranma whirled
around� and displayed a joyous Happosai attached to her rear.

�Ah, Ranma, so good to see you again.�

Asuka�s eyes bugged. �What, what, what the hell is that!�

�You mean the girl or the pervert?� Rei was smiling, much more than
usual.

�I mean� what do you mean? That� wasn�t Ranma a GUY?�

Ryoga scratched the back of his head, chuckling. �That�s� a bit hard to
explain. Yeah, Ranma�s� a guy.�

�Doesn�t really look like it, does� he?� She pointed over at Ranma, who
had just kicked the withered but oversexed Happosai through a window.

Akane gestured to the window. �Honestly, Ranma, I wish you�d stop
encouraging him like that.�

�ENCOURAGING him? I couldn�t possibly� argh! What did I do to deserve
this?�

�You want a list?�

�See? His hair�s red, and he�s got� you know! This is really odd, even
for you, Ryoga.�

�Not odd for Ryoga.� Rei was laughing out loud by now, even if it was
quiet laughter.

He shot a look at Rei. Venom, he could communicate. �Quit teasing Asuka
like that, Rei�� He made for the door. �Ranma, you�d better not go out
like that. YOU know what kind of perverts wander around here.�

�Just one that I know of.�

Akane snorted. �Two, I thought.�

�Yeah, there�s Kuno to think about.�

�Oh? That makes three.�

Ranma did a double take. �Akane��

�Except maybe you should count double, since��

Rei was REALLY laughing now, like she was going to hurt something.
�These guys are great. How come nobody at NERV is like that?�

Well, she hadn�t ever had to LIVE with them. �Just be thankful, Rei.�

---
Ritsuko put the finishing touches on the last battle reports. Not much,
really, since it hadn�t been on land. Mostly damage repairs to drain all
of the salt water out of Eva 02. They really hadn�t designed for that
problem.

She felt a pair of arms drape over her shoulders. �Hello, Ritsuko. I
sense� that you�ve been enduring an unrequited love.�

�How could you guess?� She hadn�t heard that voice in years� not since
college, maybe.

�Because a woman with a mole in the path of her tears�� Kaji shifted in
front of her, �is destined to a life full of them.�

�Not a good time, Kaji.� She punched her terminal off.

�And why is that?�

�Because Misato�s right there.�

He looked up, shrank back a bit. As well he might! Misato was standing
at the window, with a very menacing, very unforgiving expression on her
face, and what would have been two jets of steam coming from her
nostrils if life were less serious. As it was, it was only fog on the
glass� she opened the door. �You shameless pig! Here for what, a day
now? Two? And you�re already rutting around.�

�Now, now, that�s not fair, Misato-chan. Besides, you�re not jealous,
are you?�

�Damn right I�m not.� She dropped a stack of paper on Ritsuko�s desk.
�I�ll talk to YOU later.� Turning, she stormed out of the office.

�My, she hasn�t changed at all, has she?�

Well, no. �Kaji� could I ask you a favor?�

He bowed deeply. �Anything, oh beauteous one. Your wish��

�Can it.� She took a deep breath. �I need you to find somebody for me.�

�Why, then, my search is over, for I am here.� He smiled, a roguish grin
through five days� stubble.

�Could you be serious for five minutes, please?� He dropped into the
chair next to hers. �Okay, then. Were you told about what happened at
the end of the attack on the fifth Angel?�

�No details, although I know the outline.� His face turned grim. �I had
no idea that Eva could do something so� powerful.�

�It wasn�t Eva.� His eyes widened. �We think it was the pilot.� Not just
wide eyes� that was full-on shock. �And from how this looks, he almost
did it twice. Something stopped him.� She paused. �No, somebody.
Somebody who knew him, and came running. Somebody who could move faster
than I can see� whoever it was, we need her. In case it happens again.�

�So�� He was completely serious now. �Any details?�

�No name, or I wouldn�t need you. Not much from a physical description.
Red hair, one tightly braided pigtail. She was wearing a red silk
Chinese shirt and black pants� but they were really loose on her. She�
you wouldn�t believe how fast she was, she knocked out two technicians
and I didn�t even see her strike. She can jump at least twenty yards,
horizontally.�

He let out a long whistle. �Well, if NERV doesn�t need her, the Olympic
team might. How old? Measurements?�

�Like I had a tape measure handy, Kaji. Old� no, not old at all, maybe
not eighteen. Fairly short, five six or so? Shorter? I had other things
on my mind, understand.�

�So, what do you want with her? A name, address, dossier? Her
motivations? Or� something else?�

�No, don�t try to� it�s not necessary, really, and it might not work
either. She� I wouldn�t believe that a human was that fast, not if I
hadn�t seen it.�

�Yeah, well, I hear you didn�t believe about Ryoga either. You say she
knows him? Why don�t you ask?�

�He gave an evasive answer to Misato� and that means he�s hiding
something. I want to know what before I ask him.�

�Well, then, I�ll give it my best effort.� He rose to his feet, bowed
again. �If that is all, dear lady, I will away on your quest.�

�Kaji, will you EVER stop doing that?�

He chuckled on his way to the door. �Not very likely.�

---
Well, that whole trip had been� not just odd. Bizarre. Completely weird.
�All right, I went, I saw, now I need an explanation or two.� They were
sitting around Misato�s table, and she hadn�t made it home from work.
Asuka had her hand wrapped around a beer, as did Ryoga, while Rei just
drank Coke. It figured. �First off� what the� how did he� she��

Ryoga leaned back. �What, Ranma?�

�YES, Ranma! First question, is he really a guy or a girl?�

�Guy.�

�Well, then, what were� how��

Rei got up, poured herself a glass of water. Who drank Coke and water?
She was as odd as the rest of them. �Like this.� She took the glass of
water� and threw it on Ryoga.

And then Ryoga was gone. Just a pile of clothing on the chair, with
something moving inside� Asuka leaned over, pulled a small black pig out
of the pile. She held it up by the stupid yellow-and-black bandana.
�Well, it�s cute, but where�s Ryoga?� The pig started twisting around�
and� gesturing?� to itself. �What, you mean� YOU�RE Ryoga!�

The pig tugged itself out of her hold, jumped back into the clothes, and
somehow dragged the entire pile over to Ryoga�s pack. It bit open an
outside pocket and pulled out a thermos. Then, it crawled back into the
pile, and tipped the thermos over�

And Ryoga was standing there again. He wasn�t happy. �REI! I can�t
BELIEVE you did that! What were you thinking?� He was yelling at the top
of a particularly loud pair of lungs. �I could have explained it without
that, you know.� His shirt was on backwards, now.

Rei shrugged. �She might need to know, right?�

�Argh! You could have asked me, at least.� He sat down, still annoyed.
�Well, do you see now?�

See what? �Not in the least. You were that pig? Nice trick. What does it
have to do with Ranma?�

He snorted, amazingly like the pig. �No trick. It�s a curse, literally.
I fell in a pool at this place in China, and now I�m cursed.�

Rei sat down again as well. �He was pushed, actually.�

�Yeah, well, that happened a long time ago. But now, whenever I get
splashed with cold water, I turn into� that. And hot water changes me
back.�

Well, she had THOUGHT she had seen bizarre things. �And� he does that
too?�

�Yeah. I fell� was pushed into the Spring of Drowned Pig, he fell into
the Spring of Drowned Girl. He definitely got the better half of that
one.�

�Wow.� Asuka digested that for a moment. �Okay, so that explains how
she� he changed. How did he do that,� and she moved her fists back and
forth, in parody of his technique, �so quickly?�

�Wish I knew. It�s a trick he picked up from Cologne� ah, an old lady in
the neighborhood. It�s effective, too.�

�And the little guy?�

�Happosai. World�s biggest� well, most lecherous man. Also the original
master of Anything Goes Martial Arts, or at least the branch that Ranma
uses. Stay away from him, he�s bad news.�

�And� the hammer?�

Ryoga looked surprised. �You mean you don�t know? Akane�s been doing
that� ever since I met her, I think. I always wanted to ask, but� well,
you saw, right? I don�t really understand myself.�

That explained everything. It must be some kind of weirdness sink, where
everything turned weird. The only rational explanation. Well, it wasn�t
rational, but neither was the hammer� �So, the other one, she�s your
girlfriend?�

All of the poise went out of him like a pricked balloon. �No� she�s not,
never was. Akane�s� getting married to Ranma in a couple months.�

No wonder he looked like that. �You liked her, didn�t you.�

�It was love. Hell, it might still be love, for all I know. But it�s
over, never really started, and now it�s gone.�

Rei looked at him. �I still don�t understand why you gave up.�

Ryoga grabbed his beer can, started squeezing. He crumpled it into a
tiny ball with one hand. Hey� that had NOT been an empty can, the beer
was squirting all over. �That�s why� I don�t trust myself not to hurt
her, with what I am. So I gave up.�

�Well, cheer up. I hear lots of girls go for the muscular type.� Asuka
blushed into her beer.

�Not that I�ve noticed. Besides, it�s more than that. I�m not� not
really human anymore, I�ve trained for so long and now� I�m a monster.�

If there was one thing Asuka couldn�t stand, it was a whining man.
�You�re an Eva pilot, right?�

�Hey, yeah.� That perked him up immediately. �I guess I am. That�s
something, then.�

�There you go. In with the rest of the freaks.� Although, she thought,
his friends were much odder than she was. Even Rei seemed normal next to
those people.

�Heh. I guess so.� He sat up, grabbed a towel from the counter and wiped
up the spilled beer. �I�m going to get some dinner started before Misato
gets here. You�re welcome to it.�

�Don�t mind if I do, then. To be honest, I don�t particularly want to go
next door. Huge apartment with nothing in it? No thanks.�

�Um�� The two looked at Rei. �I could move in� if it wasn�t� a� bother
or anything��

�Huh? Why, where do they have you?� Asuka hadn�t even wondered about
that before.

�You should see the dump they�ve got her living in, Asuka. Completely
trashed, tiny, run-down and everything. Horrible place to be, I�d
think.� Ryoga turned to Rei. �Shouldn�t you ask Misato first, though?�

�Why? I�m not moving in HERE.�

�Good point.� Asuka finished her own beer. �Well, I don�t mind, so long
as you don�t mess the place up or party all night� well, I don�t think I
have anything to worry about. Of course, you�ve got to clean the
bathroom.�

Rei�s eyebrow twitched. �Why?�

�Well, you have to clean one now, so it�s not any worse is it?�

Ryoga chuckled. �Well, go ahead then� heck, you can always borrow my
sleeping bag if you don�t want to drag that bed over here. I don�t need
it, not unless I get lost or something.�

Asuka threw her beer can into the garbage. �Well, then, go ahead, I�ll
see about picking a room or something. Dinner�s how long?�

�Probably half an hour.� Ryoga growled as Asuka walked toward the door.
�Oh, Asuka?�

�Yeah, now what?�

�If you EVER tell anybody about my curse, or splash me with cold water��
His eyes flashed in the light. �I�ll do to you what I did to that can,
but slower. Got it?�

�Okay, okay, no talk, no water, got it.� That would explain why he�d
been so antsy about that water pistol earlier, she supposed. �I�ll be
back later, then.�

---
Ryoga slipped the headphones on and relaxed. It was surprising, really,
how much better he felt. Maybe it was the music� Misato had given him a
tape with the walkman. It was English and he didn�t understand the
lyrics well, but it was soothing. Well, no, it was rock, but it soothed
him anyway.

He reminded himself to thank Ranma for his unusual definition of
�everything�. For a second, he had thought that Akane knew about the
curse, and man that would have been a completely different story now,
wouldn�t it? But no� she didn�t know� and she did care.

For some reason, it didn�t hurt as bad as it had the week before. When
she hugged him� normally something like that would have turned his brain
off and sent him into hallucinations. Normally. Now, it didn�t have that
effect. It was like� he was getting over it. A clean break. No, a really
nasty ragged tear, more like. But still, a separation.

*[Yeah, you�ll get over it, kid.]*

Oh, great. He was still hearing voices. At least it wasn�t telling him
to kill people or anything�

Ryoga turned over and pulled the cover over his body. Damn, but it was
good to sleep on a futon.

---
End of part nine

Questions, comments, flames go to akent@pdq.net
Next time: Heh� NOT what you expect.