The Ryoga/Ukyo Chronicles
By Jeremy Sumerlin aka the Girthman
Disclaimer:
Ryoga, Hiroshi, Daisuke, and Ukyo are not my creations and are all copyright of Rumiko Takahashi. I’d like to thank Takahashi-sensei for her great series. I once again claim no credit for their creation, however, some of the characters are my creations (aka Migi & Hidari and Ryu Itzuyo) and I do claim them, so there!
Chapter Three: Tournament
*****************************************************************************
Ryoga and Ukyo walked towards the tournament sight, hand-in-hand,
with Ryu slightly in front to show the way. As he shuffled along, he began
to tell them what he knew of the reigning Martial Arts Couples Tournament
Grand Champions. They listened intently, although with Ryu’s horrible
Chinese accent, it was still very difficult to make anything out.
"Are two of them." He said as they pushed through the throngs. "Boy and
girl."
"No kidding." Ryoga snarled. "I kind of figured that one out, this being a
Couples tournament and all."
Ryu frowned, but continued on undaunted.
"Migi is girl. She have pink costume on. It kind of look like your clothing."
He said, gesturing towards Ukyo’s clothing. "She is conservative. Polite.
Cool-headed. She fight with Naginata. Weaker of two, I believe." Ryoga
looked over at Ukyo.
"You take that one." He said. She scowled at him.
"Why?" she said angrily. "Because she’s weaker?"
"No!" Ryoga stammered, waving his free hand defensively. "She fights with a
polearm, that’s all! Plus, I don’t like to fight with women..."
She nodded, touching the combat spatula still strapped onto her backpack.
"Hidari is guy." Ryu continued. "Big. Very mean. He has jade costume on, and
it is somewhat like yours." Ryu said, this time noting Ryoga’s clothing.
Ukyo dismissed the irony of their similar clothing. Ryoga didn’t quite catch
it. Ryu proceeded on.
"He fight with twin Tonfas. He likes in close, aggressive fighting. Migi
prefers lots of open area to jump around and maneuver in." He paused
thoughtfully for a moment, then added, "They never been beaten. Have only
one weakness."
Ryoga perked up. But Ukyo beat him to the question.
"Weakness?" she said, intrigued. "And what is this weakness, pray tell?"
Ryu shrugged. "No one is know. Otherwise, they would maybe not be undefeated,
okay?"
Ryoga grumbled. "No, of course no one would know." He snarled to himself.
"That would make life easier. We couldn’t have that, now could we?"
As he expected, no one answered. He sighed and let Ukyo lead him
towards the outdoor arena.
*****************************************************************************
The three finally managed to push their way to the ring itself, which
was a pretty nondescript battle area, typical of almost any martial arts
tournament. Basically, it was a four foot deep pit dug into the ground,
lined with stone walls. The entire arena was about fifty yards in perimeter.
Releasing Ryoga, Ukyo scanned the area. Much to her dismay, she discovered
several pairs of people were signing up to fight. There must have been eight
or nine couples vying for the chance to battle with Migi and Hidari. Either
that, or they were all desperately in need of that 10,000 yen first prize.
Actually, now that she looked around, half of these people looked like they
had no idea how to handle themselves in a street brawl, let alone a martial
arts tournament. She couldn’t help but smile slightly. This was going to be
easier than she’d thought. Now, all that was left was to-
"Fine, I’ll take those numbers, buddy!"
The shout of a slightly familiar voice snapped her out of her
plotting haze. She turned towards the direction of the noise and grasped
Ryoga’s hand. He turned to look at her, somewhat startled by the sudden
jerk, and frowned.
"What’s wrong?" he said. Ukyo glanced to him, then to the voice, making sure
she didn’t lose it.
"Come on, sugar. I think I know that guy over there." She said, and
immediately began to walk towards the sound of the voice. Had she looked at
Ryoga, she might have noticed the annoyance that usually plastered his face
was highlighted by something else. Something undefinable, yet easily
recognized. It was almost...jealousy.
She shoved her way through the throngs of people, still hand-in-hand
with Ryoga, and finally located the center of that familiar voice. Standing
with two very shady looking men in black trenchcoats was a boy about Ryoga’s
age, with short, light brown hair. He wore black slacks and a collared white
shirt with short sleeves. He turned to face the two of them and grinned
broadly.
"Hiroshi!" Ukyo exclaimed. She remembered him from her life back in Nerima.
He was one of Ranma’s friends, as she recalled. Then again, the few times
she’d seen him hanging around with Ranma, he was either picking on him or
asking to be introduced to some of Ranma's fiancees. In fact, as she
considered it, he wasn’t much of a friend to Ranma at all. Well, at any
rate, he and this other guy always seemed to be hanging around somewhere.
Now, here one of them was.
"Hey...um...that girl!" Hiroshi exclaimed with equal enthusiasm. He looked
over at the muscular young man holding the hand of this beautiful girl in
front of him. He recalled she was one of Ranma’s fiancees before the
wedding. The guy was that crazy guy who was in love with Akane and was
always trying to kill Ranma, usually when there were a lot of innocent
bystanders around.
Like him, for instance. Hiroshi swallowed hard and looked them over
nervously, almost completely missing the garishly clad man with a daisho
walking up behind them.
he thought as he looked the two of them over,
Ukyo frowned as she watched Hiroshi thinking.
"It’s me, Ukyo." She said, looking distinctively less enthusiastic. Hiroshi
grinned in a way that Ryoga could only describe as idiotic.
"Oh, of course. Ukyo. The okonomiyaki chef, right?" he said, slightly ashamed
that she had realized he’d forgotten her name. He vied desperately for
something to say.
"So," he splurted out, looking around, "What brings you two all the way out
here to Awasa? Gonna watch the tournament?"
Ukyo laughed nervously. Ryoga stepped forward.
"Nope." He said matter-of-factly. "We’re going to be in the tournament."
"Really?" Hiroshi said, his eyes suddenly taking on a glazed, distant look.
Ryoga and Ukyo exchanged an uneasy glance.
"Um, Hiroshi?" Ryoga said, waving his hands in front of the light haired
boy’s eyes. He snapped back into reality, looking around, slightly confused.
"Huh?" he said undignifyingly. "Who’sa? Wha?"
"You kind of...well, zonked out there for a minute." Ryoga said. Hiroshi
suddenly grinned evily and snapped his fingers, standing tall as if with
some silent triumph.
"Right!" he semi-said, semi-shouted. "You two are entering the tournament as
a team?"
Ukyo looked back at Ryoga, who shrugged. She nodded at Hiroshi slowly.
"Yes..." she said, as if speaking to a child, "That’s right."
Hiroshi seemed to almost glow with an inner light. His eyes shone
with keen, dry intellect, and his smile beamed so much it could’ve signaled
traffic. Or low-flying passenger planes.
"Perfect!" He said. "The odds are heavily in your favor! Hell, you two are a
sure bet! I’ve seen how you like to destroy things! None of these other
couples have a chance! Well, except for Migi and Hidari, but then I’ll just
have to play the numbers against you in that fight..."
His voice trailed off as he began to silently calculate numbers in his head.
"Play the numbers against us?" Ukyo said. "Hiroshi, you’re gambling?"
Hiroshi flashed his most angelic smile.
"Of course not." He said smoothly. "I’m playing the numbers, like I said.
There’s a big difference."
Ukyo scowled. "No there isn’t!"
"Ah, but there most certainly is." He said simply. "You see, gambling means
there is chance involved. What I do is called playing the numbers, well,
because it’s a sure thing. Instant profit."
Ukyo rolled her eyes. He sounded a lot like Nabiki Tendo. She
wondered if the two had ever dated one another. Or, perhaps, shared the same
Economics class. She decided to change the subject.
"So," she said suddenly, "Where’s that other guy?"
Hiroshi went blank. He shrugged.
"Other...guy?" he said, completely at a loss.
"You know, the one you’re always hanging around with. Black hair?" she said,
slightly annoyed. Surely he knew who she was talking about.
"Oh, him." Hiroshi said after another few moments of silence. "You mean
Daisuke."
Ukyo guessed that must’ve been his name. She nodded uncertainly. Hiroshi
didn’t seem to notice much.
"Ah, well, he’s somewhere around here." He said, unconcerned.
Ryoga turned away from this rather boring conversation to see Ryu striding up
to them. He bowed in front of the Lost Boy and began to speak.
"Um, I am begging your pardon, but is time we sign up for tournament, okay?" he said, struggling to communicate in Japanese. Ryoga frowned.
"(Listen,)" he said in Chinese, "(I can speak Chinese, you know. If it’s
easier for you)."
Ryu frowned. He looked confused. Ryoga was, too. He may not be the
greatest Chinese speaker in the world, but he was sure he’d picked enough up
in his travels to at least communicate basically to a Chinese person.
However, the look Ryu gave him was similar to one he’d have gotten had his
head suddenly turned into cabbage. Ryoga searched the wording over, looking
for mistakes. He found none.
"Right." Ryu said uncertainly. "Is time to sign up. Tell miss we must to go."
With that, he scurried off. Ryoga turned back to Ukyo, who was giving
Hiroshi a rather distasteful look. Ryoga smiled inwardly. He had no idea
why, but he did. He squeezed Ukyo’s hand and she turned to him.
"C’mon, Ukyo, we gotta go." He said, glancing at Hiroshi. She nodded.
"Well," she said, giving the light-haired boy one last look, "See you around,
Hiroshi. Hope you win your bet."
He nodded, dreaming of the money, and waved. A fairly idiotic grin slinked
across his face.
"All, that is," Ryoga added as they walked away, "Except for the last one."
Hiroshi frowned as they disappeared into the throngs.
*****************************************************************************
The referee strode into the center of the ring, glancing from one
side to the other. Even through the thin black veil that hung over his face,
he could see the odd looking couple to his left. The boy was definantly
strong looking, and he wore a yellow long-sleeved shirt that opened over the
left breast and a yellow and orange bandanna. He also wore green traveling
pants bound at the ankles. In his right hand he held an umbrella. His hair
was thick and unkempt, and he wore a scowl.
The girl wore a dark blue shirt and black pants. Her hair was long
and brown, but tied with a white ribbon. Even through her somewhat baggy
attire, she obviously had a good figure. She carried what appeared to be a
giant spatula. The referee shook this off.
he thought distantly,
He quickly checked the other couple, a fairly normal man and woman,
armed with nothing but their hands. The referee leapt up and swung the two
red flags in his hands down.
"Hajime!"
Ukyo heard the referee’s call for the start and quickly closed in on
the girl she was fighting, a fairly plain woman with shoulder length black
hair and a somewhat athletic form. The girl charged forward, planting her
foot firmly and then pushing off into a standard flying kick. Ukyo feinted
right, then leapt left, easily dodging the attack. She turned as the girl
landed and swung hard, hearing a resoundingly dull *thud* as the spatula
flat connected, send the off balance girl careening into the stone walled
edge of the fighting pit. Her body smashed into it, and slumped to the
ground unconscious.
Ukyo smiled and thought to herself,
Meanwhile, Ryoga had charged full speed at the man, who had taken a
standard defensive posture. Ryoga leapt at him and released a flurry of
punches. Several of them connected with the man, who seemed stunned by both
the speed and strength of his opponent. Ryoga followed up on the dazed man
by grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and smashing into him with a
headbutt. It wasn’t one of Ryoga’s favorite attacks, but it usually got the
job done. After all, this guy didn’t look very tough. Ryoga didn’t want to
kill him or anything. Needless to say, the man, already dazed, went limp as
unconsciousness seeped into him and blood poured from his broken nose. Ryoga
turned to face Ukyo, who had just finished the girl off. He grinned at her
triumphantly. She returned his with a smile that made him blush. The fight
was over in about ten seconds.
The referee simply stood there for a moment, trying to sort out what
happened, and quickly realized that the odd couple had won. In fact, they
had won very well. He raised the flags up and waved them again.
"Ippon!" he shouted, signaling the end of the match. He watched the two teens
take hands and walk towards the seating area. The girl walked slightly
ahead, as if leading the boy. The referee chuckled as he watched them.
"Young love." He said with a hint of melancholy before starting to help move
the unconscious challengers out.
Ryu ran up to them after the match, and tore Ryoga’s hand from
Ukyo’s, shaking it vigorously.
"Many thanks to you, sir, and to miss!" he said excitedly. "You was very
good! Fight like that again, okay?"
Ryoga wrenched his hand from Ryu’s grasp, annoyed.
"It was too easy." He grumbled, disappointment flowing in his words. "I hope
the champions can at least hit back."
Ukyo remained quiet, but stifled a giggle. He was right. Those two
weren’t much of a challenge at all. Plus, Ryoga seemed to be getting into
this tournament. She hoped he was as enthused by his impending haircut. Just
then, Hiroshi ran up and seized Ryoga’s hand again, and he too shook it
vigorously. Daisuke followed closely behind, apparently having returned from
wherever it is he was. He was dressed similarly to Hiroshi, but his shirt
was long- sleeved.
"Good job!" Hiroshi said happily. "Great! Keep it up. Keep winning, by all
means! I’m with you 100%, buddy!"
Ryoga scowled and tore his hand from Hiroshi. He was getting tired of
this. If Ukyo suddenly shook his hand, he thought he’d scream.
"I plan to keep on winning. And I’m not your buddy." He said coldly. Hiroshi
shrugged.
"Whatever you say." He said. "As long as you keep winning, I don’t care if
you call me mother."
Ryoga clenched his fist, and Ukyo knew he was close to striking the
light haired boy. She didn’t blame him, but, at the same time, she didn’t
feel like having to break Ryoga out of jail for murder. She put a hand onto
his. He jerked away, and let out a scream. Ukyo wrinkled her nose at him.
Hiroshi cowered. Ryu was emotionless. Everyone nearby turned in their
direction. There was silence. Inexplicably, a tumbleweed rolled by,
apparently from out of nowhere, and disappeared just as suddenly. Ryoga
looked around, his face flushing to a bright crimson color.
"Um, sorry, Ukyo." He said quietly. She nodded, placing her hand on his again
to lead him to their seats.
"What was that about?" she whispered fiercely as they approached the grassy
spot on the lawn.
"Oh, nothing." He said. "Don’t worry about it."
Shrugging, she set up the okonomiyaki grill and began to cook. Ryu
came up and stood beside them, arms folded, in an 'at attention' position.
Hiroshi slinked up next to Ryoga meekly. Ryoga rolled his eyes.
"What?" he said angrily. Hiroshi chuckled.
"Hey," he said in a friendly tone. "Calm down. Ryoga, right?"
Ryoga nodded.
"Well then, Ryoga," he said, extending his hand. "Let’s call a truce, okay?
Let bygones be bygones and all that, right?"
Ryoga looked at the extended hand and then at Hiroshi. He didn’t know
him very well, but there was something about Hiroshi that he didn’t like. He
was...well, kind of weasily. But, Ryoga surmised, it was better to have a
weasily friend than a weasily foe. He grasped Hiroshi’s hand and shook.
"Great!" Hiroshi said, brightening. "We’re gonna be great friends!"
Daisuke slid smoothly next to Ukyo, who was still cooking on the grill.
"Hello there," he said in a low voice. "My name is Daisuke. You must be
Aphrodite, the greek goddess of love and beauty." He flashed a smile that
said 'cheesy-pick-up-lines-come-from-here'. Ukyo rolled her eyes.
"No, actually, I’m Ukyo Kuonji." She said snidely, flipping an okonomiyaki
pizza.
"My mistake." Daisuke said smoothly, "Your great beauty threw me off. Be
careful, though. I heard she gets jealous when she finds any women more
lovely than herself."
Ukyo groaned inwardly.
"Say, Ukyo," Daisuke continued, apparently not noticing her demeanor, "Would
you like to go out with me tonight? Dinner, dancing, perhaps a little
romance?"
Ukyo scowled and prepared to bash his face in, but suddenly she
smiled. A plan sprung into her mind.
"Sure," she said sweetly. "Can my boyfriend come?"
"B-boyfriend...?" Daisuke said, swallowing nervously.
"Sure, my boyfriend." She said matter-of-factly. "I’ll tell him you’ve asked
us out. Oh, Ryoga!"
Daisuke watched as the very strong looking guy with the bandanna on
looked over at them. Ukyo waved him over, and he stood and began to
approach. Ukyo turned and smiled sweetly at him.
"He’ll be absolutely thrilled!" she said giddily. "We haven’t been out since
the last guy that asked us got put into the hospital."
"H-hospital?" Daisuke said breathlessly. Ukyo nodded.
"Sure thing. Two broken arms, A shattered leg, multiple skull fractures...Oh,
I forget what else. He’s doing better, though. I heard he can say 'yes' and
'no' now." Ryoga walked up and glanced at Daisuke quickly.
"What is it?" he said sternly.
"Nothing!" Daisuke shouted, backing away on hands and knees. "Nevermind!"
He scrambled up and took off into the crowd. Ryoga shrugged. Ukyo
giggled with self-satisfaction.
"Anyway..." Ryoga continued, "What’s wrong?"
"Oh, nothing." She said happily. "Thanks, sugar. You're the best boyfriend
I've ever had."
Ryoga frowned, her words not quite registering. Suddenly, his eyes widened.
"B-b-b-boy-fri-i-" he stammered, but Ukyo popped an onkonomiyaki into his
mouth, and he swallowed it all in one huge gulp. She tossed him a plate with
another fresh one on it.
"Eat up, sugar." She said cheerfully. "You need your strength."
Ryoga nodded, confused, and sat down beside her to eat. Ukyo hummed
happily. Soon, their names were called for the second match.
*****************************************************************************
The second battle was pretty much like the first one. The guy Ryoga
was fighting had actually managed to hit him, though. Ryoga didn’t recall
feeling it, though. The guy was fairly fast, but it wasn’t much of a match.
Ukyo’s opponent had been similar, from what she said. This tournament was
turning out to be quite a disappointment. Evening was approaching, and the
ring was being prepared for the final battle. Ryoga glanced at Ukyo, who
sitting beside him at her grill, selling okonomiyaki to the onlookers. He
smiled, noting that she looked happy. Ryu stood nearby, gazing reflectively
out into the horizon, arms folded and tucked into his sleeves. Hiroshi was
busily counting money. Nearby, he saw a young woman slap Daisuke and walk
off. He stood, grumbling, and immediately walked off to another woman.
Strangely, Ryoga had yet to see the Champions enter the area, and the fight
was less than ten minutes away.
Hiroshi finished counting his money and cackled loudly, clenching his
fists in triumph.
"Yes!" he shouted. "I am a genius!" Then, he remembered that the same couple
he’d bet on to win every time he was now betting against. He frowned and
walked over to Ryoga, who was lost in thought. Hiroshi slapped him on the
back, snapping him back into reality.
"Hey, buddy," he said. "Hyped up for the big fight, huh?"
Ryoga grumbled. He considered bashing Hiroshi to a pulp, but decided
it probably wouldn’t look too good. He didn't want to drive off Ukyo's
customers, after all.
"Yeah, that’s it." He said, annoyed.
"Great." Hiroshi said, patting Ryoga’s shoulder. Then, he patted his other
shoulder. Then his arms. It felt like Hiroshi was giving him an exam.
Ryoga’s eyes widened.
"So," Hiroshi said as he checked Ryoga’s arm, "You’re okay then? No sore
muscles? Joint pains? Any other debilitating injuries you haven’t told
anyone about?"
Fuming, Ryoga turned and grasped Hiroshi by the collar. All the
light-haired boy could do before he was jerked from his feet and hurled
across the grass to the ground was shout out an undignified "Urk!"
"Geez," he said as he stood on shaky feet, trying to wipe the haze of pain
from his head, "Just...concerned about you, buddy..."
"Right." Ryoga snarled. Just then, the referee appeared, and he walked up to
them.
"Hibiki Ryoga and Kuonji Ukyo?" he said. Ryoga nodded. Ukyo looked up from
her okonomiyaki grill.
The referee gestured towards the ring. "It is time for the fight." He said.
Ryoga nodded, and he stood, offering Ukyo a hand. She accepted gratefully,
and turned to Ryu.
"Well," she said, "Wish us luck."
Ryu bowed. "Hai." He grunted. "Go and to fight good."
They began to walk off, but Ukyo spun on her heels and faced him again.
"Oh, and I’ll charge you if you eat any of that okonomiyaki." She said,
glancing at he and Hiroshi. "Either of you. Understood?"
Ryu’s emotionless face shifted to disappointment, then back again. Hiroshi
eyed the food longingly, and folded his arms in protest.
"Dully noted." He grumbled. Ukyo flashed him a warm smile and turned back to
Ryoga, and they strolled to the battle area. Hiroshi turned back to see Ryu
sitting behind the grill, eating an okonomiyaki pizza contentedly.
The light-haired boy frowned and stood to watch the fight.
*****************************************************************************
"This," the referee bellowed as Ukyo and Ryoga stood in the ring, "shall be
the final battle!"
The audience cheered loudly. Ryoga looked about, wondering if Migi
and Hidari even existed. He hadn’t seen either of them once since the
tournament started. He glanced at Ukyo, then at the sea of people in the
crowd above them. The fighting pit seemed like one of those things you saw
in a gladiator tournament. He shrugged that feeling off and steeled himself.
"And now," the referee continued, "Please welcome the Grand Champions of the
Couples Martial Arts Tournament..."
The crowd exploded, tossing ribbons and confetti into the air. Two
cloaked figures leapt from the crowd into the arena, holding hands. They
each tore their cloaks off as the onlookers cheered madly.
"Migi..." the referee yelled, pointing his flags to the first figure. She was
distinctly female, and very attractive on top of that. Her clothing was all
a bright, distracting pink color, but did look much like Ukyo’s. The only
difference was Migi’s was slightly...tighter. A rather nasty-looking
Naginata was strapped to her back. She unsheathed it and spun it quickly,
blowing kisses to the crowd with her free hand. She looked at Ukyo
cheerfully. Ukyo met her gaze with a determined look, drawing out her own
combat spatula.
"...and Hidari!" the referee finished, turning his flags to the strong,
arrogant looking young man standing beside Migi. He looked very strong, in
fact. He wore a solid jade colored suit somewhat like Ryoga himself was
wearing. On his belt hung twin Tonfas, which he drew and spun in each hand
before drawing them into their normal forearm position. He smiled with a
savagerly that made Ryoga uneasy.
"You’re going down, little boy." He snarled. Ryoga grimaced back, cracking
his knuckles.
"We’ll see." He said.
"Say," Migi said in a sweet, innocent voice, to Ukyo. "No hard feelings,
right? We can still be friends after the fight?"
Ukyo frowned, offset by the girl’s sweet demeanor. Sickly sweet, in a
way. She raised her spatula defiantly.
"Like he said," she replied, looking at Ryoga, "We’ll see."
The referee leapt into the air, swinging the flags downward.
"Hajime!" he shouted, and the crowd went wild.
*****************************************************************************
End of Chapter Three.
Comments and criticisms welcome!
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