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 Four: Unmerciful Struggle
*****************************************************************************
Ryoga charged Hidari, trying his best to block the screams of the
onlookers out. The roar of the crowd was painfully deafening. He sifted his
way through the rain of confetti and colored ribbons, assured in that at
least Ukyo was behind him. It was a good change. He liked knowing there was
someone there to back you up. He dashed forward, and saw Hidari coming at
him like a rabid bullet train. Ryoga braced himself as they collided, Hidari
suddenly ducking low and slamming into Ryoga’s stomach in a flying tackle.
The two burly youths went flying across the arena, and Ryoga felt himself
wince in pain as his back smashed into the hard ground with Hidari’s full
weight pressing on him, forcing the air from his lungs. Grimacing, he
grasped Hidari’s jade uniform and flipped him over with all his might.
Feeling the weight lift from him, he pressed his feet up and flipped into
the air, still holding the stunned Hidari. Then he uprighted himself in
midair and slammed Hidari face first into the earth. The audience went wild,
screaming so loud Ryoga’s head swelled and throbbed with pain. He considered
part of that pain may have been from Hidari’s attack, though it didn’t
really matter where it came from. It was there. He watched Hidari struggle
and stand on two feet, his face dirty yet apparently unharmed. He snarled
and charged forward again. Ryoga braced himself and countercharged, shouting
as loud as he could.
Ukyo had leapt over the two boys when they went flying, and Migi had
leapt up to meet her, the naginata spinning in a deadly vortex of sharpened
metal. Ukyo swung upward, and Migi spun the polearm up just in time to
deflect the blow, then followed with a blunt end strike that caught Ukyo in
the stomach. The two girls landed and spun quickly to face each other. Migi
smiled politely, still spinning the naginata in one hand. Ukyo winced
against the pain in her stomach and catiously approached, clutching the
spatula in both hands. Migi suddenly hurled the naginata towards her, and
Ukyo leapt just high enough to avoid the spinning, deadly blade. She landed
and began to advance on the girl in pink, but a strange buzzing sound behind
her caught her attention.
her instincts told her,
She wheeled around and dove out of the way as the spinning blade
soared past her again, and she cried out as it slashed a small wound into
her leg. Migi caught the blade and smirked, then turned to bow to the crowd,
who cheered even louder. Ukyo stood, slightly favoring her leg, and noted
that the blood flowed freely. Thankfully, it was a superficial wound. One
second less and Ukyo’d be short one leg right now.
she thought absently,
She gripped her spatula firmly and charged as Migi resumed her
fighting position.
Ryoga dodged Hidari’s strike easily; it was wild and undisciplined.
He quickly followed up with a few strikes of his own to his opponent’s
exposed chest. They thumped off harmlessly. Sucking a deep breath, Hidari
bellowed down at him with awful laughter.
"Stupid boy!" he shouted, pointing his Tonfa at Ryoga, "We are the Grand
Champions of Couples martial arts! Did you really think you stood a chance?"
"Well," Ryoga said, breathing heavily, "I had hoped so."
Enraged, Hidari swung wildly with a Tonfa. Ryoga leapt out of the
way, wincing slightly as a second strike clipped his shoulder. A third
struck him squarely in the stomach, and he staggered a little. Hidari
followed up with a strike across the face. White flashes danced in Ryoga’s
eyes as he felt the tonfa connect solidly with his jaw. His mouth filled
with the bitter, metallic taste of blood. He looked up, vaguely aware of the
two tonfas that were now rushing at his head. He snapped back just in time,
shooting his hands up towards the tonfas, and caught them.
The audience fell deathly silent.
Hidari stared at the two weapons he and Ryoga now both held in their
hands, then down at the Lost boy with what was a mixture of anger, hatred,
and utter terror.
"Release my weapons!" he shouted, heaving up with all his might. Ryoga felt
an odd sensation of weightlessness as he was lifted from his kneeling
position and flung out into the crowd. Screaming and shouting, the onlookers
parted like water as the bandannaed boy crashed into the soft grass. Ryoga
barely had time to regain his footing before he saw Hidari’s blurred image
smash into him, and he was lifted up and thrown further away from the arena.
"NO! NO! NO!" the referee shouted frantically, chasing after the two boys,
waving his red flags uselessly. "You have to fight in the ARENA! Not
downtown! Come back!"
Ukyo swung low with her spatula, hoping to knock Migi’s feet from
under her, but the tall, slim girl leapt up, easily avoiding the strike, and
at the same time bringing her naginata down towards her opponent. Ukyo saw
it and barely managed to bring the spatula up to block the strike inches
before it would have struck her head. Sweating, Ukyo shoved the blade off
with all of her might and swung, smashing into Migi’s side with a loud thud.
To Ukyo’s shock, Migi smiled in a Kasumi-like manner and giggled.
"Oh my." She said with mock innocence, "Was that meant to hurt me?"
Ukyo grimaced. This was going to be a lot harder than she’d thought.
Her thoughts were cut short as a naginata blade swished by her, inches from
her shoulder. Ukyo leapt back, deciding to regroup with Ryoga. However,
glancing about, she didn’t see him in the arena.
In fact, the judge was gone too. So were a good number of the
onlookers. Distantly, she heard the sounds of battle outside of the pit, in
the direction of the downtown district. She looked back at Migi, who had
apparently noticed the same things.
"Oh, my!" she said again with an almost sickening air of concern, "Wherever
did the boys go?"
Suddenly Ryu ran over to the edge of the pit, waving at Ukyo
frantically. Behind him was Hiroshi, wearing the look he always wore when he
watched a fight.
"You, hurry miss! Boyfriend fighting Hidari downtown! Match continue there!"
Ryu shouted, then turned and ran off towards the fighting sounds, his hands
in knife-like form, slicing through the air. Ukyo looked from Migi to
Hiroshi, who was on his hands and knees looking over the side of the pit.
"That’s okay, Ukyo!" he said cheerfully, but with that sneaky, somewhat
devious undertone that bothered her. "You don’t have to go. You can stay
here. I’m sure Ryoga will be able to handle this on his own..."
Suddenly, Ryu ran back and smashed Hiroshi over the top of the head
with his katana, still in its scabbard. Hiroshi yelped in pain and tenderly
massaged his bruised cranium.
"Hey you crazy samurai freak!" he shouted, annoyed. "What the hell did you do
that for?"
Ryu looked at him with the same emotionless face he always wore.
Then, he grasped the light-haired boy’s collar and began to drag him off.
"Come!" Ryu said sternly. "Is no time for you to sabotage match for money!
Shut up talking!"
Hiroshi scowled but did nothing. He’d had rudimentary martial arts
training, but he wasn’t nearly as good as anyone else here, and he didn’t
feel like proving that to himself. He folded his arms in anger and he was
dragged down the street towards the downtown battlefield.
Ukyo glanced back at Migi one last time. The tall girl was holding
her hands over her chest, looking very concerned.
"Hold on, Hidari-kun!" she shouted, grasping her naginata firmly and leaping
out of the pit. "I’ll protect you from that mean little boy!"
The majority of the onlookers, mostly male, chased after Migi,
leaving Ukyo in a relatively deserted battlefield. Shrugging, she sighed and
leapt after them, only slightly noticing the pain in her injured leg.
****************************************************************************
Ryoga felt sharp pain as he was slammed against the side of a
building, and dully noted how the concrete behind him caved and cracked with
the force. He looked up and barely moved his head left in time to avoid
Hidari’s tonfa as it crashed into the building, burying itself and his arm
deep inside it. Ryoga, seeing his chance, grasped Hidari’s free arm and
kicked the champion in the chest with all his might. His arm wrenched free
by the force, Hidari stumbled backwards. Ryoga followed up by delivering
several more blows to the chest and face, all connecting solidly. Finally,
he ended the blinding flurry of punches by leaping into the air and
delivering a spinning kick across Hidari’s face. Ryoga smiled inwardly as he
felt his foot connect with the jaw, delivering enough force to shatter a 10
foot thick concrete wall. But, to his astonishment, Hidari’s hand reached up
and caught the foot in midair. The tonfa wielder grinned evilly. He was
dirty, sweaty, but completely uninjured. Heaving up with all his might, he
lifted Ryoga up and smashed him into the ground, sending a blazing white hot
flare of pain into the lost boy’s head. He looked up at the grinning
champion through a muddle of pain. Hidari chuckled. The gathered crowd held
its breath.
"Fool!" Hidari sneered, bringing his foot back and kicking the kneeling Ryoga
in the ribs. "There is no way to beat me!"
Ryoga opened his mouth to say something, but found he had no breath.
Hidari answered him with another crushing blow across the face with his
tonfa. Ryoga reeled back, noticing how he came ever closer to the brink of
unconciousness.
"I am Hidari!" Hidari shouted, delivering another tonfa strike to Ryoga’s
face. His vision blurred even more. Desperately, he sought his beaten mind
for what their weakness could be. He looked up in time to see another tonfa
soaring down towards him. Focusing, he caught the wooden weapon and, in a
fit of rage and desperation, twisted it. It snapped dryly. The audience
gasped. Ryoga dimly noticed Hidari’s face twist into an unreckonizable
emotion.
"My tonfa! For this...you die!" he wailed, then immediately swung the other
around to catch Ryoga in the exposed jaw. A death blow. Noting the impending
blow, Ryoga snapped his foot out, deflecting the strike and pinning the
oaken weapon to the ground, still in Hidari’s hand. Hidari looked at him
with a new emotion shining in his savage eyes. Pure, unrelenting terror.
Then, it clicked. Ryoga smiled sinisterly.
"So," he said, spittle and blood shooting from his clenched teeth. "That’s
it. Your weakness is your weapons. Without them, you’re nothing."
Hidari watched, horrified, as Ryoga pressed his foot down with all
his might. The remaining tonfa snapped in half with a sickening sound.
"NOOO!!!!" Hidari shouted, actual fear now in the voice that had been so full
of anger moments ago.
"Yes." Ryoga said, delivering a kick to the chest of the kneeling champion,
the blow connecting solidly. Ryoga followed with a circle kick, smashing
into Hidari’s jaw and lifting him off of the ground. Immediately, he
followed with a knife hand strike to the shoulder, then a knee to the
stomach, then finally, he grasped the champion and looked him dead into the
eye.
"You lose." He said, and smashed his head into Hidari’s, closing his eyes
against his own pain as he felt the teen’s body jerk in his hands. He opened
his eyes, slightly dazed, and saw Hidari’s smashed and bloody face. He
released the boy, who stumbled back, blood seeping from his nose and mouth.
He grimaced, snarled, and raised a shaky fist at the equally beaten Ryoga.
"I...am...Hidari...!" He said weakly, but seething with anger. "I will
not..be...beaten..."
Ryoga closed his eyes and focused, feeling the warmth come over his
body that accompanied this move. He felt it there, deep within him. The
pure, unfocused rage, boiling and churning, waiting to be tapped into.
Drawing this raw power into his hands, he slowly reopened his eyes and shot
both his hands forward. Hidari’s eyes widened in shock. The audience
watched, on the edge of their seats.
"SHISHI HOKOUDAN!" Ryoga shouted as the burning white hot energy of pure, raw
chi blasted from his hands, swallowing Hidari and pushing him off of his
feet into the side of 'Master Ryu’s Samurai Haircuts'. The front of the
building buckled and shattered as the blast of energy tore into it. Then,
with that final explosion, the battlefield was silent. Ryoga smiled weakly
and turned to see Migi leap into the smoldering building, screaming
"Hidari-kun!" Ukyo followed close behind, a look of shock crisscrossing her
lovely features when she saw his state. She ran over to him, and he did his
best to stay standing. Warriors did not show weakness.
"Oh my god, Ryoga..." she said silently as she looked him over. He was in
horrible shape. To tell the truth, she had no idea how he could be alive,
let alone standing. She wanted to reach out to him, to hold him and comfort
him, to take some of his pain away. She had no idea why, but she did.
Desperately. She catiously reached out, afraid that she’d hurt him if she
touched him anywhere. He smiled a bloody smile at her.
"The things...I do...for women..." he managed to say, before collapsing to
the ground, exhausted. The injuries, coupled with the drain on his chi from
the Shishi Hokoudan, were enough to finally knock him out. Ukyo held him as
he slumped to the ground, gently lowering him. Ryu suddenly peeked over her
shoulder at him.
"Hmmm." He said, looking the battered boy over. "He look pretty bad, yes?"
Ukyo glared up at him with a slight sense of hatred. He didn’t seem
to notice.
"Okay, then, I sorry for this. I did not mean for miss’s boyfriend to be
injured badly." He said, and Ukyo detected a slight emotion in his voice. It
was very unusual. And not entirely unwelcome.
"He’s not my-" Ukyo began, but sighed and looked down at his unconcious form,
his head resting in her lap. She decided she’d never be able to get it
through Ryu’s head.
"Yeah, well, it was partially my fault." She said, sniffing. "If I hadn’t
been so eagar for him to get his stupid haircut, then...And I don’t even
know why I wanted that so badly?! It’s such a trivial, stupid thing..."
Ryu nodded slowly. "Indeed." He said sternly. "Is stupid. And is your fault.
I agree on this, yes."
Ukyo frowned and glared at him. He looked back at her as if he’d done
nothing wrong. She sighed and cradled Ryoga’s head in her hands.
"I’m sorry, Ryoga." She said. All around, the crowd watched in silence. A few
had taken out handkerchiefs and were dabbing their watering eyes. Hiroshi
saw his money slipping away with each tear of sympathy.
"My god...." A man with glasses said as he watched. "What have we become?"
"What kind of people are we, to watch these things?" A woman beside him said,
crying.
"To cheer them on, no less!" Another man shouted sorrowfully. Hiroshi
desperately searched his mind.
"Hey!" he shouted. "Migi’s still concious! The fight isn’t over!"
All the crowd looked at one another.
"He’s right!" the man with the glasses said sternly.
"The match must continue!" the girl next to him shouted.
"Blood!" another man shouted. "More blood must be shed before the sun sets!"
The crowd began to cheer wildly. Looking around at them, Hiroshi
smiled to himself. There was no way that chef’d win one on one against Migi.
No way. Migi and Hidari would win as long as one of them were concious.
Red-eyed from tears, Migi crawled from the wreckage of the building, tossing
the 'Master Ryu’s Samurai Haircuts' sign aside with distaste. Ryu saw it and
his brow creased with concern.
"Hmmm." He said emotionlessly. "My shop is been destroyed. Is a unseen
problem..."
Ignoring him, Migi raised her naginata at Ukyo, who was still
cradling Ryoga’s head.
"Your stupid boyfriend hurt my Hidari-kun!" she said angrily.
"He’s not my boyfriend!" Ukyo shouted angrily.
"He’s not?" Migi said, taken aback.
"He’s not?" the referee said, poking his head through the crowd.
"He’s not?" Daisuke said, suddenly standing over Ukyo with devious hope in
his eyes. "Great!"
Ukyo punched him in the face. He yelped in pain and retreated to the crowd.
"You realize that you two can only be in this tournament if you’re a couple,
right?" the referee said sternly. "Otherwise, your victories are illegal and
they win by default." He pointed to Migi and the debris where Hidari was
buried as he said this.
"Yes!" Hiroshi said under his breath. "I’m going to be rich..."
Ukyo looked at the referee, trying to see his eyes behind his black
veil. She looked at Migi, who watched her with stern silence. She looked at
Ryu, whose emotionless face bore deep into her own. She even looked at
Hiroshi, silently calculating all the money he’d have when it was discovered
that she and Ryoga were just ...friends.
She looked down at Ryoga. He was so injured. He’d fought so hard, as
hard as Ranma had when he and Saffron battled at that mountain what seemed
to be so long ago. Could she just let his struggling, his determination, and
his fight mean nothing? She resolved that she couldn’t. She gently patted
his cheek.
"Ryoga, wake up." She said lightly. He shifted, but didn’t wake up. Frowning,
she patted his cheek a litter harder.
"Ryoga." She said, louder. No response. Frowning, she hauled back and slapped
him.
"Ryoga, wake up you big idiot!" she shouted. His eyes flew open and he began
looking wildly from side to side.
"Who? Wha?" he said, then coughed. Ukyo smiled down at him. He saw her smile
and grinned weakly.
"Oh, hey Ukyo," he said, as if it were normal conversation. "Did we win?"
"Um, not yet." she said nervously. She glanced around and realized everyone
was watching them.
"Then what..." he began, but she put a finger on his lips and he fell silent.
Leaning over, she whispered into his ear, "Look, we’re not supposed to be in
this tournament unless we’re...a couple. A real couple. Like boyfriend /
girlfriend. So, if anyone asks, that’s what we are, Okay?"
Ryoga looked up at her and nodded, wide-eyed. Ukyo smiled and turned
to the judge.
"Um, I mean, of course he’s my boyfriend." She said sweetly. Ryoga strained
and propped himself up on his elbows, ignoring the raging fire of his
injuries.
"That’s right..." he said weakly. "That’s my Ucchan..."
"And that’s my Ryo-chan." Ukyo said, putting her best Kasumi-esque look on.
The referee looked at each of them, considering.
Hiroshi frowned, realizing that they were going to try to scam their
way out of this. Well, not on his time. No one had ever outscammed Hiroshi
Kakeru. Well, no one but a particular brown-haired Tendo girl. He pushed
that memory from his mind and his eyes lit up. He slipped on a fidora and a
pair of dark glasses from out of nowhere and donned them, chuckling
deviously.
"Prove it!" he shouted suddenly, trying his best to blend into the crowd and disguise his voice. "Kiss her!"
Ukyo frowned. Ryoga teetered to and fro, on the brink of fainting.
The referee was silent, as was Ryu. The crowd murmurred their agreement.
Hiroshi beamed inwardly.
he thought inwardly,
Ukyo turned and looked down at Ryoga, who she still cradled in her
lap. He looked up at her, and they could both see the fear in each other’s
eyes.
"Ukyo...you don’t...I mean...we don’t have to...it, it wouldn’t..." he
stammered nervously, his face turning bright crimson with embarrasment. But,
in his voice, as meek and shy as it was, she heard something. It was very
faint, but it was there. Excitement. Desire. He wanted to kiss her, deep
inside, she told herself. And, deeply, she wanted to kiss him too. But not
like this. She didn’t want her first kiss to be forced. But it had to be.
She smiled and gently wiped his mouth of dirt and blood, as clean as she
could.
"Shut up, you big idiot." She teased. "Just do it and let’s get this over
with. I want to be out of this town so much right now."
"But...I never...I mean, I.." he stammered, in a whisper. Ukyo smiled.
"So, your first kiss, too?" she said. He looked around, blushing.
"Well, yeah, I guess it'd be my first real one..." he said.
"Good." she said cheerfully, looking into his beautiful eyes. "We'll learn
together."
He opened his mouth to protest, and she saw her chance. Placing her
hands on his cheeks, she drew him into a deep kiss, like the kind she saw on
movies. It was electric. The feeling of their lips pressing together,
toungues dancing and intertwining, sent shockwaves through her nerves. She
could tell he was having similar feelings, as he gently put a hand on her
head to press her closer. After a few more seconds, they broke apart, and
for them both the sensation ended. The crowd exhaled. Hiroshi teetered and
fainted. Ryu seemed as emotionless as always. The referee nodded.
"Ucchan..." Ryoga said under his breath, his eyes staring into hers. "I..."
Ukyo put a finger on his lips and shushed him.
"Rest." She said softly. "You aren’t going to be much of a traveling
companion if I have to carry you everywhere. Now, let me finish this fight."
"Be careful." He said. "You won’t be much of a traveling companion if you’re
in a coma."
She smiled and smacked his shoulder playfully. He winced against the pain
inwardly, but his smile didn’t faulter.
"Hey, you big idiot!" she said teasingly. "She’s the weaker one, remember? I
can handle it."
"Their weapons." Ryoga said lowly, so Migi couldn’t hear. "Break their
weapons and they can’t fight. That’s their weakness."
Ukyo nodded and gently helped him to his feet. He took a shaky step
forward, then another. Ryu strode over and slung the bandannaed boy’s arm
over his shoulder, supporting him and walking him to the crowd. He nodded at
Ukyo. She returned it, and spun to face Hidari.
she thought,
The judge walked over to her.
"You know," he whispered to her, "I believed he was your boyfriend. You
didn’t need to give us all such an...effective floorshow."
Ukyo turned bright red as she realized that all the crowd were
looking at her when they’d kissed.
"The match continues!" The referee said, taking up a place between the women.
"Hajime!"
In a rage, Migi charged, her naginata spinning wildly. Ukyo raised
her spatula and readied herself. Migi swung wildly in a wide arc, and Ukyo
knelt under it easily, swinging her own spatula up to connect solidly with
the wooden stock of the polearm. There was the sound of wood and metal
colliding, and the naginata cracked and strained, but didn’t break. Migi,
horrified, drew the polearm back protectively.
Ukyo smiled evilly.
"What’s wrong?" she sneered at the now very scared looking Migi. "No hard
feelings, right?"
Migi’s face twisted into one of unfocused rage, and she raised the
polearm up above her like an axe and charged, screaming. Ukyo knelt,
steadied herself, and then rolled at the last moment, as Migi brought the
naginata down with all her might. Ukyo breezed by, and the polearm connected
with the street, the force and strain finally snapping it.
Migi opened her mouth to say something, but Ukyo stood up behind her
and swung, connecting into Migi’s back with the flat of the spatula and
sending her careening into the ruins of Ryu’s store, which teetered and
collapsed. The crowd looked from the two unconcious champions to the spatula
wielding girl and the badly beaten boy. Then, they exploded in cheers.
Colored ribbons and confetti rained down like a mighty flood. Ukyo turned
away from the sight and walked over to Ryoga, kneeling down beside him.
"Hey, sugar, we did it." She said. He smiled weakly.
"Was there ever any doubt?" he responded. They looked at each other for a
long moment, lost in their own mutual silence while the world cheered around
them. She lifted him up and put his arm over her shoulder, while Ryu did the
same with Ryoga’s other arm. Together, the three of them began to slowly
walk down the street.
"Um, Ryu," Ukyo said softly. "Where are we going?"
"Come!" he said, sounding slightly happy. "I know where is good doctor, fix
you up good. Oh, and haircuts is on the house." Ukyo and Ryoga both scowled
at him hatefully.
"What!?" Ukyo shouted. "After all that, you’re not charging us!?"
"Ah, will need that money to repair store." Ryu said thoughtfully. "After
all, you is ones who destroyed it. Plus, since it is costing much more than
10,000, I must to travel with you until you get money to pay it all, okay?"
Ryoga rolled his eyes. Ukyo giggled at the sight of it.
"Fine." Ryoga grumbled. "We’d be honored."
Ryu smiled with self satisfaction.
"Yes." He said as they strolled along. "Yes, you would be. I agree."
The three of them limped by a nearby intact building. Awake, Hiroshi
was now clutching a stone pillar and slamming his head into it time and time
again, screaming.
"No! No! No!" he wailed between thuds. "I bet everything! They were supposed
to LOSE! I’m a failure! A failure, do you hear me!? A broke, broke BROKE
failure!!"
Sobbing, he sank to his knees and leaned against the pillar. He
looked up to see two shady men in trenchcoats standing before him.
"Hello Hiroshi." One said. "Who’d’ve thought those two newbies’d beat the
champs. Tough luck."
"For you, anyway." The other added. All Hiroshi could do was smile weakly and
reach into his wallet for the money. Distantly, he thought he heard Daisuke
get slapped. Hard. He shrugged it off. He handed them the wallet and stood
to his feet, noticing the three walk by. He frowned, knowing those two would
probably be back for the rest of their money. Smiling, he ran up to the
three and began to walk beside them.
"Hey guys." He said cheerfully, patting Ryoga on the back. Ryoga winced at
the pain and snarled. Hiroshi ignored it. "Great fight. You two really
surprised me."
"The point." Ukyo said to him suddenly. "Get to it."
He put his hands up defensively. "Hey, I was just thinking, you know, maybe
we could all hang out for a while. Travel together. See the world. So,
whadda you think?"
Ryoga looked at Ukyo. She shrugged. Obviously she thought this was
something he could handle himself.
"Hiroshi, you’re a weasel and a coward." Ryoga said sullenly. "But I guess
that could be useful. Somewhere. Welcome aboard."
Hiroshi beamed. He’d just bought himself some top-rate protection. "Great!"
he said. "We’ll be great friends! You’ll see!"
Suddenly Daisuke popped up beside Hiroshi.
"Right!" he chimed in, and Ukyo noticed a red mark in the shape of a hand on
his cheek. She shrugged it off. "The five of us will be unstoppable!"
Ryu grunted. Hiroshi smiled slyly, congradulating himself. Daisuke
ran into a lamppost watching two girls walk by. Ryoga looked at Ukyo,
concerned. She giggled.
"Geez, my parents’ll have a few more guests than I thought." She said to him.
He chuckled, then winced. She held him a little tighter, and the five
figures walked slowly down the street towards the last rays of the setting
sun.
*****************************************************************************
End of Chapter Four.
Comments and criticisms welcome!
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