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 16

***

"I can't believe it, Hong Kong." said Kiyone.

"Yeah, it's such an amazing place. But you know the weirdest
thing?" asked Nabiki.

"No, what?"

"I keep getting this strange sense of deja vu, like I've
been here before." said Nabiki.

"Oh wow, you too?" Miya twisted in her seat to talk to
them. "I thought it was just me!"

"Okay okay, I get it! I'm sorry we got lost in South
East Asia!" yelled Ryoga from the drivers seat. "But we're
back now, okay?"

Suka and Godai muffled laughs and concentrated on their
poker hand. Ranma sulked darkly in the corner, he'd been
politely dealt out of all subsequent hands when his debt
had reached twenty three trillion dollars. Akane grinned
at the others and then turned back to trying to coax
Ranma into playing snap with her. Mikado snored in the
back seat, head lolling back over the seat, whilst Konatsu
idly used him for target practice, aiming raisins at his
open mouth from the front of the bus. So far the score was
floor eighteen, Konatsu zero. He drew back his arm for
another throw and nearly hit Ukyou, who was standing behind
him.

"Gomen nasai!" he said.

"S'okay," said Ukyou. "Try aiming for a higher arc."

Konatsu tried again and the raisin lodged itself up
Mikado's nose. Ryoga, who had been keeping an eye on the
fun from the rear view mirror, snorted in amusement as
Mikado leapt up and fell over, choking and trying not to
do anything embarrassing.

Ukyou grinned and everyone pretended not to notice the
strange sounds emitting from the back of the bus.
Eventually, Mikado emerged red-faced and glared at the
rest of the bus.

"Who did that?"

Konatsu looked up from his demure seat in the middle
of the bus. "Did what Mikado-san?" he asked innocently,
sewing another stitch in his embroidery.

"Ah... never mind." Mikado growled. "Are we there yet?"

"We should see Mousse any minute." said Ukyou. "He said
he'd meet us around... there he is!"

Ryoga pulled the bus over to the curb as Mousse sprinted
over to it. "Quick! DRIVE!" he yelled as he scrambled
aboard. "They're after me!!!"

"What?"

Ryoga's eyes widened as he took in the horde of screaming
young women running towards the bus. "Shimata!" he threw
the bus into reverse and backed down the street at high
speed, then spun around the corner with the wheels on
one side in the air.

*Agh,* thought Godai. *And I thought _Kyoko_ was a lousy
driver!*

Ukyou watched to make sure they were no longer followed,
then turned to Mousse, who was lying on the floor, still
sweating in fear.

"What was THAT all about?" she demanded.

"My film..." said Mousse. "It was very successful."

"HOW successful?" Nabiki inquired.

Mousse shrugged. "I don't know, my boss started talking
about some guy called Oscar."

Everyone sweatdropped.

"Hmmm... who does your merchandising?" Nabiki asked.

"Not NOW Nabiki," said Akane. "Is this sort of thing
going to happen a lot?"

Mousse looked helpless. And frantic. "I don't KNOW!
Ukyou-san! You've GOT to get me out of Kowloon."

"We can't do that," said Ukyou. "You're not in the
tour!"

"I'll pay!"

"How much?"

Mousse dragged out a chequebook and scribbled on the
top cheque, then ripped it out and gave it to Ukyou,
who examined it and pursed her lips. "Welcome aboard
Mu Shu-san. Do you have any luggage I can carry for you?"

Mousse shook his head and headed for one of the seats.
"Ohhhh..." he landed in it with a groan of relief. "I
haven't done so much running since my Nerima days."

"You're just getting soft," Ranma needled. "So, what's
the plan Ucchan?"

"Well, we were _supposed_ to be staying in the hostel
again."

"I've got it, in return for taking me on the tour, _I_
will find you accomodation... on Hong Kong Island!"
Mousse proclaimed.

"Wow Mousse, that's so generous of you!" said Nabiki.
"Why if I weren't married..."

Everyone sweatdropped.

"... I'd definitely consider letting you take me out
to dinner." Nabiki finished.

Everybody facefaulted.

"Uh... thanks," said Mousse, fishing a mobile phone out
of his pocket. "I'll just make the arrangements. Head for
Hong Kong Island ferry Ryoga."

"Not more boats!" Godai moaned.

"Hello, Grand Hyatt hotel?"

***

"Whoa..." Ukyou's jaw dropped.

"Now _this_ is a hotel." Ryoga's voice was awed.

Ukyou pulled herself together. "Mousse, we can't possibly
afford this." she said sternly.

Mousse grinned. "Don't worry, I'm covering." He walked
through the glass doors that were held open by two smiling
doormen.

Ukyou warred with herself. One part of her was dying to
luxuriate in this super-plush hotel, the other part was
extremely reluctant to accept what seemed like charity.
As the group entered the front lobby, luxury won. Ukyou
touched Mousse's arm.

"Thanks, Mousse." she smiled. "This is fantastic."

Mousse looked a little embarrassed. "Well... it's the
least I can do." he shrugged. "Besides, I have to do
something with all this money I have."

"I believe this is my cue." Nabiki appeared beside Mousse.
"Let me talk to you about investments..."

Ukyou's eyes narrowed. "I don't think so Nabiki." she said.

Mousse laughed. "Nabiki, this may come as a shock, but I
really don't care about money. Now excuse me while I get
the keys for your rooms."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Well, _he's_ no fun." she turned
to Ukyou. "So have you and Ryoga had your little chat yet?"
she asked with a smirk.

Ukyou was thrown by this sudden switch in topics. "Uh...
well..." she stuttered. "That is... we..."

"In other words, no."

"Er... yes." Ukyou looked a little frustrated. "It's just
with everything else..."

"No time?" Nabiki nodded, then she patted Ukyou's shoulder.
"Don't worry, I have just the thing to get you both started."

Ukyou shot her a suspicious glance. "What do you mean?"

Nabiki just laughed and walked away. Ukyou groaned mentally,
*Great, just great. Why can't people stop interfering with
us?*

***

Shampoo stood at the top of Nathan Road and glared down its
sparkling length. She was dirty, her hair was a mess and she
was very, very unhappy.

*<They'd better be here.>* she thought, *<Otherwise I'm going
to go mad!>*

Some people obviously already considered Shampoo over the edge,
pedestrians (and a few cars) were giving the faintly glowing
young woman a wide berth.

Shampoo walked down Nathan Road and scanned the area for the
Tour bus. Nothing. Then her eyes hit a large billboard.

*<That guy looks familiar... looks like... nah, no way.>*

Shampoo shook her head and continued her trek through Kowloon's
'Golden Mile'.

***

"Mmmmm... luxury!" Miya slouched comfortably on the couch in
one of the hotel's sitting rooms. Suka smiled down at her.
"Is there room for one more?" he asked hopefully.

Miya wrinkled her nose. "Nah. My couch."

"Oh."

She giggled. "I'm kidding, silly. Sit down!"

Suka settled down next to her and put his arm around her.
"Enjoying yourself?" he asked.

"I am now." Miya squeezed his hand and smiled.

Ryoga watched the couple from his position on the window
seat and sighed. He hadn't seen Ukyou since dinner, she'd
been busy doing accounts and other things. He knew it was
important that she make sure everything was running smoothly,
but he had hoped that tonight they could have sat down and
had their long overdue 'talk'. He yawned.

"Hey, Ryoga." Mikado came up to him.

Ryoga hastily shut his mouth. "What?" he asked.

Mikado sat down beside him. "Konatsu just told me that Ukyou
is in love with you." he said.

Ryoga stiffened. "Well... we... I..."

"I just wanted to say," Mikado continued blithely. "That
I will take a kiss from Ukyou Kuonji before this Tour is
over, perhaps I'll take more."

"You do that..." said Ryoga in a soft, yet deadly voice.
"And no one will be able to find enough of your remains for
a decent burial!"

Mikado raised an eyebrow. "That's a rather extreme reaction
to my decision." he looked determined. "I will kiss the lips
of the fair Ukyou Kuonji, nothing will stop me."

Ryoga snarled. "That's all you think about, isn't it! Kissing
girls. What about _how_ they feel?!"

"Why they are honoured, of course."

Ryoga stood up and stalked away. *I've got to get out of here
before I _kill_ this moron! And I swear I will eviserate him
if he lays one finger on Ukyou!*

Mikado shook his head. "Strange man." he murmered.

Godai, Kiyone and Konatsu who had overheard (Kiyone had had a
tight grip on a glass of water, just in case) shook their
heads.

"Moron." said Konatsu.

"Does he have a death wish?" wondered Godai.

"No," said Kiyone. "He's just stupid."

At this point Ukyou came in, she paused in the doorway and
looked around. Not seeing Ryoga she walked up to Ranma and
Akane who were seated at one of the card tables playing
snap.

"Hi, guys." she greeted them.

"Hi, Ukyou." said Akane cheerily. Ranma grunted, he did not
look happy.

Ukyou blinked. "Don't tell me you're losing at _snap_,
Ranchan."

"He's just terrible at all card games I guess." said Akane.

Ranma shoved the cards away. "Whatever." he growled. "What
did you want, Ucchan?"

Ukyou blushed faintly. "Have either of you seen, Ryoga?"

Akane looked around the sitting room. "He was here, I guess
he went to bed."

"It's only 9 o'clock!" Ukyou looked a little exasperated.
"I wanted to speak to him."

"Perhaps I can help, Ukyou." Nabiki spoke from her seat
where she was reading some investment magazines.

Ukyou went over to her. "Oh?" she asked warily.

Nabiki bent and picked up a package that was by her feet.
"Here." she held out the package.

Ukyou looked at the package with suspicion. She couldn't
tell what was in the purple paper bag. "What is it?"

"Something to get you and Ryoga talking about your
relationship." Nabiki said reassuringly. "But don't open
it until you are both together in private."

Ukyou took the bag. "Uh huh. Well, I'll corner him in the
morning and..."

"Why not now?" Nabiki asked. "He's probably alone in his
room, and if I know Ryoga, he's probably depressed. Why don't
you go and cheer him up?"

Ukyou went red. "I can't just go into a man's room _alone_!"
she whispered in shock.

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Sometimes you are _such_ a
traditionalist!" she groaned. "Stop being such a stick-in-
the-mud and act like a woman. If you want him, you're going
to have to grab him. Ryoga's changed alot, that's true, but
he's still a little shy."

Ukyou gripped the package. "Perhaps." she said. She got up.
"I'll think about what you said, Nabiki."

"Oh. I do hope so." purred Nabiki.

Ukyou walked out of the sitting room. Akane came over to
her sister. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Nabiki shrugged. "Angst makes my teeth ache." she said as
she picked up another magazine. "I'm just trying to give
them a subtle kick in the rear."

Akane frowned. "You never did that for me and Ranma." she
pointed out.

"You two were fun, you weren't as serious as Ukyou and
Ryoga."

Akane spluttered for a bit, then laughed. "You are too bad
oneechan!"

"Yes, I know." Nabiki murmured.

***

Ukyou hesitated outside Ryoga's door. *Maybe he's asleep,
maybe he's in the shower, maybe he's not in... oh god,
he left on his own, maybe he's LOST!* "RYOGA!!!!" she
banged on the door. "You better be in there!!!"

No answer.

"Baka. Baka. BAKABAKABAKABAKA!!!" Ukyou felt a little
better, but somewhat depressed. Downhearted, she headed
for her own room. Without really paying much attention
she opened her door, closed it, and then leant against
it apathetically.

*Damn it. Oh well. Guess I better go to bed. Got a lot
to do tomorrow... Damn!*

Movement.

Ukyou froze. *I don't believe it, there's someone in
my bathroom!* She wondered if she had enough time to
get to her spatula by the bed when Ryoga wandered
out of the bathroom.

Ryoga was confused (so what else is new?), "I think I'm
in the wrong room!" he said. "Where am I?" He turned
around. "Ukyou!" Then he took in the spatula by the
bed. "Oops." *Of all the hotel rooms in all the world,
I had to walk into hers!*

Ukyou stared at him. *Well, now there's a sign from
the kami if ever I saw one.* "Ryoga, sit down."

"Ahhh... I'm sorry! This was an accident I never meant
to... forgive me!" Ryoga considered prostrating himself
on the floor.

"Oh stop it," said Ukyou. "I want to talk to you."

A look of horror plastered itself across his face. "What
did I do? Whatever I broke I'm sorry!"

"No I want to talk about US!!!"

"Oh," said Ryoga. "Okay." he looked around for a place to
sit down. There was only the bed. "Ummm..."

"It's not going to bite you," Ukyou was beginning to get
exasperated. "Now SIT!"

Ryoga sat.

Ukyou stood in front of him.

"Right, when we... when you... when I..." she stuck. Her
cheeks flushed. She suddenly had second thoughts about
this whole thing. "I... uh..." she fiddled with the paper
bag that Nabiki had given her. "Uhhh... ummm..." the
bag ripped.

A small pot of chocolate mousse, two spoons and a brush
fell onto the carpet. Ukyou and Ryoga stared at these
items.

Ryoga went bright red. *She can't want me to... I'm not
ready!* he thought in panic.

Ukyou stared. *What the heck is the brush for? I don't
get it.* "I thought this was supposed to help us sort
things out!"

Ryoga felt his blood pressure skyrocket. "Isn't that
rather drastic?" he squeaked.

Ukyou looked at him. "What's wrong with you, it's
perfectly natural." She picked up the pot and opened it.
She stuck a finger in and then licked the mousse off.
"Mmmmmmm... good!"

The world blurred out of focus for Ryoga. "Give it here,"
he said hoarsely. He grabbed for it and it slipped out
of Ukyou's hands. On its way back to the floor, it
spilled onto his shirt.

"Oh no!" Ukyou shouted. "That's going to stain! You've
got to get that shirt off." she grabbed his shirt.

Ryoga grabbed his shirt. "No, no, NO!!!! I'm too young!"

"What are you talking about? Do you want me to splash
cold water on you or something? If we don't act immediately
you'll never get the stains out. Now LET GO!!!!"

There was a brief struggle. Ukyou triumphed. "There! Now
we... now we... weeeee.... aiyaiyai..." she stared at
Ryoga's slightly chocolate mousse spotted chest and
suddenly realised that she was very close to him.
"Aaahhh..."

Ryoga concentrated on his mantra, drawing all his inner
strength to concentrate on it. *I will act noble, I will
not take advantage of this situation... I will not get a
nosebleed... Ohmmmm...*

"You've got chocolate mousse on you sugar..." Ukyou watched
her hand move towards his chest as though it belonged to
someone else. *Damn that hussy that's trying to do that to
Ryoga! Oh wait... that's me... oh well.*

It really was very good chocolate mousse. But Ukyou was
right and they never did manage to get the stains out of
Ryoga's shirt.

***
to be continued 

 

Chapter 17

Index