Ranma 1/2: The Magical Mystery Hibiki Tour

by Jaelle and Orla

***

The characters in this story are the property of Rumiko
Takahashi-sama. We prostrate ourselves at her feet and beg her
forgiveness for our temerity in using these characters. We're
not worthy! We're not worthy!

The other characters are copyright to Yukie Nasu and Pioneer
LDC.

C & C is welcome (although we don't like flames!). You can
contact us at either: ladyorla@yahoo.com or jaelle@ihug.co.nz

For more of our fanfiction visit our site 'Insane Musings'at:
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~jaelle/Jaelle_Orla.htm

***

This story occurs four years after Ranma 1/2 volume 38.

***

Part 13

Bangkok

"One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster," sang
Konatsu happily as the group wandered through the Grand
Palace. Mikado and some of the others joined in as they
wandered the hallways.

"Why are we here?" asked Ranma. "It's boring."

"It's cultural."

"Huh?"

"Educational," said Akane.

"That's what I said, boring."

"Grrr.... Oh look... the area where the priests
purified themselves, by dousing themselves with water!"

"What... Akane NO!!!"

*SPLASH*

"Oh good, we need another soprano," said Konatsu. "One
night in..."

***

After leaving the palace Ryoga took the lead and
successfully discovered Patpong. Since he had been aiming
for an entirely different district this was not such a
good thing.

"Still, at least it's better than Burma." said Ukyou.
"What does this sign say Ryoga?"

Nabiki inspected the illustration on the other side of
the sign. "I thought that was illegal."

Ryoga blushed.

"It's a drag, it's a bore, it's really such a pity, to
be looking at the store, not looking at the city..."
sang Konatsu. "So where are we anyway?"

"Er... this is the, er... red light district."

There was dead silence. Even Konatsu stopped singing.
Temporarily.

"I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine..."

"And how," Ranma purred, "do you know that, P-chan?"

Ryoga went bright red. "Uhh... uhhhh..."

"You realise that _any_ answer you give will automatically
be wrong," Miya added.

"In that case, I'll just stick with 'Uhhh...'" said Ryoga.

"That would explain why this place is virtually deserted,"
Godai observed. "It must fill up at night."

"Ecchi!"

"How come _you_ know so much about night parlours Godai?"

"Uhhh...."

"Look! This place has massages!" Ukyou said. "I'd _love_
to have a massage! And it says 'Full body', sounds good!"

Ryoga grimaced. "Not... a good idea Ukyou. When they say
full body they mean the _masseuse's_ full body."

"How would they... oh." Ukyou pulled her finger away from
the sign. "I think I should take the lead from here. This
way!" she led the way. As the group followed her, Ranma,
Mikado, Suka and Godai converged on Ryoga.

"_Full_ body? And you know this because...?"

"Uhhhh..."

***

"Bangkok, oriental city where the city don't know what
the..."

"Konatsu, I'm warning you... if you sing that song ONE
MORE TIME..."

***

That evening:

"So, what are our plans for the evening?" Ryoga asked.

"I don't have any," said Ukyou.

"We do!" chorused the rest of the group. Ukyou and Ryoga
stared at them. Nabiki grinned. "We want to go to a
nightclub - a specific nightclub."

"It's called the Palace, at Viphavadi Rangsit Hwy." said
Godai, managing to get the name out properly. (He'd been
carefully coached by Akane and Nabiki).

"A nightclub?" Ryoga raised his eyebrows. "Have fun!"

"But RYOGA, you HAVE to come." Akane pleaded. (Ranma had
told her, 'Ryoga will do it for you'. 'Why?' 'Trust me,
he'll do it for you.')

"Oh, uh, well, okay. But I don't have anything to wear!"

"We took that into account, come with us." with that, Suka
and Godai dragged him off. Ryoga complained all the way.

Ukyou watched him go. "Well," she said. "As long as you
get him back early so he can rest for tomorrow..."

"_You_ could do that Ukyou," Ranma said. "Then you could
both walk back here _together_."

"But... I don't have anything to wear!" Ukyou grasped at
the first excuse to come to mind.

"Yes you do," Nabiki reminded her with silken malice. "The
silver dress."

"I'M NOT WEARING THAT IN PUBLIC??!!!" Ukyou was shocked.

"What's the point of buying it then?" Kiyone asked. "If
you got it, flaunt it."

"But... but..."

"Got no choice, we're gonna make you wear it."

"Mikado, stop dribbling."

***

"I feel really stupid," complained Ryoga. "Why couldn't
we go with the girls?" He fiddled with his hair again. It
felt odd without the bandanna, but Godai had gotten away
with all of them while he'd been having his hair cut and
was too busy worrying about the proximity of the scissors
to his ears. (Yes, he has no bandannas...)

"You look GREAT!" Suka said. "Doesn't he Ranma?"

"Hn," Ranma grunted. He was beginning to think this was a
bad idea after all. Ryoga looked better than he did.

"Look, there it is!" said Godai. "Let's go in and meet
the girls!"

***

"I feel cold," said Ukyou.

"You'll warm up on the dance floor," Kiyone assured her.

"Dance? I'm afraid to WALK in this thing. Not to mention
these heels. Are you sure I'm modestly covered."

"Modestly? No. But you are covered," Nabiki assured her.
"Just."

"I personally don't know how you're keeping that thing
up," said Akane.

"Oh, it's martial arts anything goes keeping your dress
up technique," said Ukyou. "It's a breathing technique."

"Oh yeah." said Konatsu, uncharacteristically.

Miya, keeping watch at the doors, gave Nabiki the signal.

"Ukyou, why don't you go wait at the top of the stairs?"
Nabiki suggested. "We'll be up in just a minute, but you
need more time to get settled."

Ukyou nodded. "That's true." She brought her hand up to
brush her fringe away.

"Don't touch your face!" everyone screamed.

"*sigh*" Ukyou dropped her hand away and everyone sighed.
The glitter gel had been the hardest to apply.

Ukyou started up the stairs.

***

The boys entered the nightclub. The music was quite low
at this point of the evening, to let people relax into the
groove, so they had no difficulty hearing the girls.

"Heya!" said Ranma. "Where's Ukyou?"

"Oh, we thought we'd get a table upstairs and drink so she
went up to save us one, but now we've changed our minds,
let's dance first!" said Akane. "Ryoga, could you go and
get Ukyou for us?"

"Okay," Ryoga headed for the stairs, rolling his shoulders
uncomfortably. "Dammit Ranma, couldn't you at least have
found me a t-shirt that fit?"

"I told you man, that was the only size they had!" Ranma
grinned at him.

"It's two sizes too small!" Ryoga complained as he walked
away.

"It certainly is!" said Kiyone, following him with her
eyes. "What?" she said, as everyone turned to look at her.

"He looks great, you guys did a good job with him,"
said Miya.

"Well, he's no Mitsuru or Shinobu, but he cleans up okay,"
said Suka.

"I still think we should have made him wear the temporary
tattoo," said Mikado.

"So what about Ukyou?" Suka continued, ignoring Sanzenin.

"Oh, you'll be surprised." grinned Akane.

***

Ukyou checked her ring watch. "Taking them long enough,"
she grumbled. "I bet Ryoga got lost. I'll go see what's
happening." she started down the stairs.

***

Ryoga got to the bottom of the stairs and looked up.
In the background, music started playing. Ukyou was
halfway down the stairs and his jaw dropped as she seemed
to float towards him.

"The sky isn't always blue,
A sun doesn't always shine,
It's alright to fall apart, sometimes..."

Ukyou was almost luminous as she floated down the stairs.
She was a vision in a silver spaghetti strap dress. The
bodice was low-cut, and high waisted. Ryoga's eyes
travelled down the short distance to the bottom of the
skirt where it ended at her upper thighs.

"I am not always you,
And you are not always mine,
It's alright to fall apart, sometimes..."

*I think I'm dying*, he thought.

Ukyou looked up from the stairs as she neared the bottom
step and stopped at the sight of the handsome young man
transfixed by her appearance. He was tall, and VERY
muscular, wearing a tight white t-shirt and black satin
jeans. Tight black satin jeans we might add. Her eyes
ran back up to his face and she took in the hair that
neatly framed his face, and the blue pendant earring
in his left ear.

"After all is said and done,
One and one, still is one,
When we cry, when we laugh,
I am half, you are half."

*Oh my god, it's Ryoga!*

Ryoga couldn't take his eyes off her. She stood in
front of him.

"Hi." she said.

"H..." was all he managed. "Hi."

Ukyou moved forward, Ryoga moved back. In this manner they
advanced onto the dancefloor. Ukyou smiled. "Do you want
to dance?"

*Is this right?* Ryoga asked the spirits. In answer, the
song began the next verse and they began to dance.

"The heart isn't always true,
And I am not always fine,
We all have an angry heart, sometimes...

After all is said and done,
One and one, still is one,
When we cry, when we laugh,
I am half, you are half.
Look how far we have come,
One and one, still is..."

Ukyou moved to the beat, a dreamy smile on her face, her
eys half closed. Ryoga, stiff at first, began to move with
her. She spun around him, the flashing lights of the club
caught the glitter on her face and he gasped.

"One moon (One moon), One star (One star)
I love the one we are
One thrill (one thrill), one life (one life)
Let's stand still in time

A neon light spotlighted them. Ukyou's dress lit up in
brilliant ulta-violet. Ryoga reached out. *This is a dream,
I can't touch her.* Then his fingers met hers and he clasped
her hand gently. Ukyou smiled at him. *I never realised. But
he's... so handsome... and his smile, I... I want this
moment to last.* Ryoga just had one thought: *Ukyou*

"One moon (One moon), One star (One star)
I love the one we are
One thrill (one thrill), one light (one light)
That runs through a life

Ryoga was hit by a sudden profound realisation. *I'm... in
love... with... Ukyou.* He pulled her closer, all his usual
hang-ups and insecurities disappearing. Ukyou came to him
with a little sigh. He put his other arm around her, the
other hand he used to hold her hand to his chest. They moved
in perfect unison.

"After all is said and done,
One and one, still is one,
When we cry, when we laugh,
I am half, you are half."

Ryoga stopped and Ukyou stopped with him. He leaned closer.
She tilted her head and her lips parted slightly.

Look how far we have come,
One and one, still is one"

Ryoga's heart pounded as he moved in to kiss Ukyou.

Then the music stopped.

"Whooo hoooo!!!" Ranma's voice rang across the silent
dance floor. "Look at the lovebirds!"

"Ranma no baka!" snarled Akane as the moment was destroyed.

Ukyou's eyes snapped open and she let out a squeak of
shock as she realised her position. "Oh... let go of me,
Ryoga!" she cried, her face was red with embarrassment.
She pulled away from him and put both hands to her hot
face.

Ryoga stood dumbly, his heart desolate. "Ucchan... " he
murmured.

Ukyou glared at him. "Who gave you the right to call me
that?" she snapped, then she turned on her heel and stalked
away.

Kiyone and Miya exchanged glances and followed her, Akane
was too busy pounding Ranma into the floor. Suka went up
to Ryoga.

"Uhhh... Ryoga?"

Suddenly the dance floor was lit by a very bright green light.
Unfortunately it was not from the club lights.

"Oh sh*t!" yelled Ranma from behind a table where he was
hiding. "He's going to... "

"SHI... SHI...

HOKODAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

*BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!*

***

"And last night Bangkok's most popular nightclub, The Palace
was destroyed by terrorists using highly sophisticated
weaponry. Police as yet have no leads, but suspect an
international gang that have already struck twice in Burma."

Kiyone turned off the English language news. "Well... that
plan failed dismally."

"One might almost say catastrophically." Nabiki observed.

"At least they don't know who was responsible," said Miya.

"Still, I think it would be prudent to leave Thailand as soon
as possible, don't you agree Ukyou?" The group turned to
observe Ukyou.

"Totally," she said frostily. "Ryoga won't be able to drive
for a while with all his injuries, so Mikado, GET MOVING!"

"Yes ma'am!" Mikado fled. Ukyou rubbed her hand over the
edge of her spatula, rage still simmering at Ryoga for
both destroying the nightclub and for somehow causing her
to lose her mind there.

***

In the upper part of the bus, Ryoga lay curled into a ball.
The injuries weren't bad, although he'd rarely had worse.
What was painful was the terrible hole in the centre of
his chest where Ukyou had ripped his beating heart out
and stomped on it. *I don't care if she does hate me.
Ukyou Kuonji - I love you! I don't know why, but I do.
And nothing you do or say can make me stop!*

***

Song Credits:

One Night in Bangkok - Chess Soundtrack
One and One - Robert Miles, _Dreamland_.

To be continued 

 

Chapter 14

Index