Two young wanderers sat beside the crackling
fire. It was dark already, and it would be foolish to go into the
forest at night. It wasn't the wild animals they feared. Far
from that. It was just that, they've done enough walking as is already.
They have been searching for weeks, to find a certain individual.
Okay.. two certain individuals. To be even more precise, two teenagers.
Their images, committed to memory from random sketches. Of course,
the said sketches were two happy faces; one with two pony-tails and adorned
a blue checkered bandana as a headband, the other was a spiky-haired boy,
with a yellow and black bandana. What do you expect?
The only art they practice are martial arts!
So, why spend time looking for these two teens?
Did they stand them up in a date? Did they dishonor their family?
No, it was much worse than that. They didn't pay their bill!
Mood-Swing Productions present:
A LizMUN Fic.
"Check Please."
Jiro looked up at the dark-haired boy that
was walking aside her. His skin was tanned from his days under the
sun. Was it a tan? Perhaps it's just dirt. It had been
two days since they've enjoyed a decent clensing. She sighed.
A life on the run was no way to spend her youth. She should be out
there stressing over exams, gossiping with her friends, becoming a slave
of fashion, and.. and giggle annoyingly! When was the last time she
actually "giggled"? Does she giggle? It's more of a chuckle, if you
ask her.
Anyway, at least she had a reason to spend
it here in the middle of nowhere. Ryouga, the boy aforementioned,
was just hopelessly lost, literally. He could get lost in a closet.
But she doesn't mind the company, in fact, she's truly greatful for it.
If it weren't for him, she'd truly be lonely. Durring their time
together, he had become like a brother to her, which was what she needed
at the moment, someone close. She had been disowned by her family,
banished from her village, and Jakku, her once true, close friend, is now
out to kill her. Which explains why she's wandering the forests of
Japan at this moment. But even with Ryouga around, she felt.. oh..
empty. Like she needed something to satisfy her in life, but had
no idea what.
"*Sighs*"
"You okay Jiro? Tired? We can stop,
you know."
"No, It's not that. It's just that...
" Jiro blinks as her stomach rumbles, doing all the talking for her. She
blushes. So that was what that "feeling" was.
Ryouga couldn't help but laugh. Okay,
he could help it, but he treasured times he was happy.
They decide to break camp for today.
Ryouga, first rummaged through his bag, and pulled out several styrofoam
cups of instant ramen, then started to pitch the tents. Meanwhile
Jiro went out to fetch some firewood. She didn't mind, it was best
that she'd go, instead of him. It'd keep the boy from wandering off.
As Jiro began doing her mindless task of picking
up sticks, she wondered if she would ever live a normal life again.
But then again.. what was normal? Ryouga, was anything but.. but
that made life a hell of a lot more interesting. First off, he's
cursed to change into a cute little black piggie! She laughed as
her thoughts strayed back to that first time she found out about it.
Her thoughts soon were interrupted as she
heard bells off in the distance. Not the kind churches would ring out,
nor the kind schools will sound off, but rather the kind kittens would
play with. She couldn't pin-point exactly where it was comming from,
since the sound was comming from all sides. She was about to call
out, when she heard a *thump* behind her. She spun quickly, ready
for an attack, but saw no one. She looked left, then right.. above
her, then finally below her. That's when
she saw the thing. It looked like a chinese stress-ball. The
metalic shell was well crafted, and had beautiful carvings. It was
beautiful, unlike anything she's seen before. Maybe she'll keep it.
Finder's keepers and all. And if times get rough, she'll pawn it
for some money. It looked as if it would be worth something.
She was about to pocket the ball, when she heard a *hsss'ing* sound.
She looks down at the object, and saw that it was splurting out a bluish
gas like crazy. Suddenly, the world began to spin.
Loosing her sense of balance immediatly, she falls to the ground.
The last thing she hears were bells, and a soft chuckle, then, everything
went black.
Ryouga was now begining to worry. It had been
more than fifteen minutes and Jiro still had not returned. Perhaps
she got lost? RIGHT! He's the one with the direction imparement!
Jiro always found her way back. He began to wait some more.
She could take care of herself. Then again.. when he first met her,
she was tied to a tree, and looked as if she was in a fight. He should
go look for her. But what if he goes, and she comes back? He'll get
lost! But what if she's in trouble?
"AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!" Ryouga decided to
let out his fustration verbally.
"ACK!" *THUD*
"Huh?" Ryouga spun, at the sound behind him.
There, face implanted into the ground, was someone dressed in a grey, high-collared
boys school uniform. The boy pushes himself off the ground and stands
up gracefully, trying to make up for his previous blunder. He dusts
himself off, and looks up at Ryouga. He was roughly around Ryouga's
age. Tall, well-toned, and had a bit of elegance whenver he made
a movement. Must study martial Arts, Ryouga thought. His dark-brown
hair was tied loosely in a ponytail, which reached just below the shoulder,
and across the boy's chest, was a bandolier, very similar to that Ukyou
Kuonji wears for her mini-spatulas, but his was different. Instead of spatulas,
he seemed to carry little chinese stress-balls. Ryouga didn't know
what to make of him. Perhaps he was just another traveler, looking
for some food.
"Uh.. may I help you?"
The boy eyes look at Ryouga, as if in recognition,
then narrow, as if in anger.
"YOU! After Weeks of searching, I've caught
up with you, you... you.. you thief!"
"WHAT? Hey! I didn't steal anything! What
the hell are you talking about?"
"Forgeting about it won't change anything!"
"FORGETING ABOUT WHAT? Listen, I don't know
who you are, but if it's a fight you want.. a fight you'll get!"
"And fight we shall! I intend to make you
pay for what you've done!"
"Are you sure you're not looking for a guy
in a braided pig-tail?"
The new boy blinks. He rummages into
his pockets, and pulls out a sheet of paper. He looks down at it,
then up at Ryouga. Down, up, down... down.. up. He shakes his
head. He crumples the paper and stuffs it back into his pocket.
"Nope. A guy in a Yellow and Black Bandanna,
and you sir, fit the bill!"
With that, he pulls out a bag of marbles.
Reaching into the bag, he pulls one out, and throws it at Ryouga.
Ryouga, not expecting much from the glass ball, mearly catches it.
But instantly, as his fingers come into contact with the object, the marble
explodes, excreeting a mass amount of smoke and debri. The smoke
clears up, and Ryouga is leaning against his knees, coughing up a storm.
His clothes are ripped, and scorched. His skin, scratched. Ryouga
glares at the boy, who looks back at him, giving a smug grin and a bow.
"The name's Sheinin Miyo, student, and heir
of the Sheinin School of Martial Art Pyrotechnics. And you, dear
customer, are today's special!"
"ENOUGH WITH THE COOKING JOKES ALREADY!"
"What.. you don't like them? And here I worked
so hard for them. Very well.." Miyo pulls out three marbles, and
holds them between his fingers. He jumps high into the air, and starts
throwing them at Ryouga's feet. The said marbles explode withing
contact of the ground.
"YOU SHALL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE.. UH...uhm...
" Miyo blinks from his mid-air attack, then lands gently on the ground.
He looks at Ryouga, confused. "I never did get your name..."
At this Ryouga facefaults. He quickly retaliates,
clenching his umbrella.
"The name's Hibiki Ryouga. Remember
it.. CAUSE IT'LL BE THE LAST THING YOU'LL EVER HEAR! HYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Ryouga then charges at Miyo, who was busy
taking the name into memory. He swings his umbrella, but the weapon
never made contact with the opponent.
Miyo dodge at the last moment. He then began
to dodge all other attacts that the Ryouga boy was giving him. And
that itself was no easy matter. Miyo admired the boy's ability, even
if was a strange way of fighting. But, at least it wasn't as bad
as that one boy who studied Martial Art Taffy making. His thoughts
went back to that incident, and he began to chuckle, thus causing a distraction,
which Ryouga took advantage of immediatly. Ryouga thrusted his umbrella
at the boy's shoulder, missing the bandolier by two inches. This
caused Miyo to be slamed into a nearby tree. Ryouga, thinking the
match was over, since Miyo's eyes were shut, appoaches his knocked out
opponent.
"Shouldn't have been distracted. Heh.. didn't
even break a sweat."
"Ugh.... Yeah.. but Martial Art Taffy Making...
just lingers in your head for some time...hard to forget." Miyo blinks
out the stars from his head, and attempts to get up, using the trunk of
the tree to push himself up. Ryouga just grins.
"Back for more? Fine with me. I could
use the workout!"
"Take your best shot!"
Ryouga smirks, then raises his umbrella again,
intending to do more damage this time. Miyo pulls out a metalic ball
from his bandolier, and throws it up in the air.. then runs like heck.
Ryouga, seeing this, and just blinks in confusion, too shocked to stop
running. The umbrella impales itself deep into the trunk. At that moment,
the said ball explodes, but instead of smoke and debri shooting out, a
clear liquid goo splatters all around him.
"You rely to much on that umbrella of yours,
lets see how you fair without it."
Ryouga was now covered head-to-toe with the
goo, but it was warm, so it did not trigger his curse. Furious now,
he begins to yank out his umbrella, but it stayed within the tree.
Upon closer examination, the goo had covered the umbrella, and solidified,
acting as a cement to keep the umbrella lodged where it was.
"Sheinin School mastery technique: disabling-opponent-with-cement-glue
attack!"
The goo that was on Ryouga was begining to
solidify as well, making it harder to move. Sensing it was "safe", Miyo
hops down elegantly from a high-up tree branch. With fluid movements, he
approaches the now rock-hard boy.
"You should never had crossed me, Whatever-your-name-was-again!
Now, you shall pay!" Miyo glares at the boy.. then turns, heading to where
the tents were set up. He goes into each of the tents, and pulls
out their packs. He begins to rummage the larger one's first. Finding
nothing of interest, he begins to rummage into the smaller pack.
Blushing furiously when he encountered some very revealing lingerie.
Quickly stuffing back the contents he pouts. Then gets up, and walks
back to where the statuesque boy stood.
"Um.. you wouldn't happen to have 50,000 ¥en
at the moment.. do you?"
"MFPH??"
"50,000 ¥en! To pay for the damages you
did to my restaurant: Two orders of dumplings, soba and miso soup, and
tip for our troubles."
"MRGHPMPHHPFHGHRGHM"
"Listen.. I don't know what you are saying.
Hold on, cold water should do the trick."
Ryouga's eyes go wide.
"What.. afraid of taking a bath.. believe
me buddy, you need one!" Miyo then pulls out a water-bottle out of nowhere,
and splashes Ryouga's face, as to free his mouth. What came next
was totally unexpected. Miyo blinked as the boy disapeared into thin
air. All that was left, were a crumpled up pile of wet clothes.
"By the Gods!"
"Bwee!"
Miyo blinked once again. Something was
moving within the clothes. Miyo kneels, and reaches to uncover the
mysterious thing, only to be bitten by a black piglet.
"OWOWOWOWOW!!"
Miyo shot his arm back, and began to nurse
it. He looks up at the pig, a hurt expression in his eyes. The pig
had now taken a defensive position against Miyo.
"What I ever do to you?"
The Pig just squeeled angrily at Miyo. This
was when he noticed something odd about the said piglet, other than the
fact that it understood what he said, and seemed to be responding.
Miyo noticed that the porcine was adorning a black and yellow cloth around
his neck. Cloth that looked so much like the one in.. the... pic....ture...
"You...you're Him!"
The pig just scoffed at Miyo.
"But.. how?"
"Talking to yourself, Brother?"
Miyo and the piglet looked up at the new voice.
Emerging from the trees was a girl, similar in looks as Miyo except for
some minor differences. Her eyes were a lighter shade of green than
Miyo's, and her light-brown hair was longer, reaching mid-back. It
too was tied loosely in a ponytail. She wore a white-uniform blouse,
and a long grey silk vest, that reached mid-thigh. Her pants were
loose, and were tucked into knee-high boots. She too was wearing a bandolier
across her chest. Behind her, she seemed to be dragging a body.
The body pertained to a young girl, blond, with two high pig-tails, and
a blue and black bandanna.
The girl looks around, seeing only Miyo, she
lets go of the body which slumps to the ground. The girl then glares
at Miyo, hands on her hips and all.
"So.. where is he? I heard some fighting,
what happened? Don't tell me you lost!"
The pig, comming out of his shock, from seeing
Jiro tied up, sprints directly toward Jiro to protect her as much as a
little piggie can. The brown-haired girl blinks, and looks down at
the pig, which was trying to wake the blond-haired girl up. She squeels,
and picks up the cute animal.
"EEE!! OHMYGAWD!! ITS SO CUTE!! Where'd you
find it Miyo? Can we keep it? Please say yes! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE?" She
hugs the pig against her chest tightly, and looks at Miyo, doe-eyed, pleading,
using every dirty-yet-kawaii trick in the book.
"Uhm.... Umi?"
Umi looks down, and see's the pig has now
fainted. It's snout was covered in blood. (it was a good thing she decided
to hug the pig facing outward, or she too would be covered in blood.
Umi also saw that it was scratched in a couple of places. Her maternal
instints took over.
"OH NO! It's hurt! MIYO! What did you do to
it? I hope you weren't trying to eat it!" She glares at Miyo, who's
shaking his head profusely. Umi smiles, and looks adoringly at the
piglet. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of you! You'll have a nice
bed, plenty of leftovers to eat, and someone who'll love you always."
Of course, Ryouga would've cared, if he hadn't
been unconsious at the moment. It was at that moment, Jiro woke up from
her state, and whipped her head around, frightened.
"Where am I? Who are you two? Why m'I tied
up? What do you want? Where's Ry.. Leave Him alone!" Jiro glares at Umi,
who was clutching Ryouga possesivly. Jiro tries to squirm free of
her bondage, but find it useless.
Umi chuckles. Confusion was always a
result from the Sheinin School final technique: Knock'em-out-gas attack.
She approaches Jiro, petting the piglet in her arms gently.
"Do you want that in order? Alright.
You're with us. I am Sheinin Umi, and over there, is my brother Miyo.
You're tied up because you're our prisoner of war, silly. What we
want from you, is to pay for what you've done!"
"Pay? For What?"
Miyo gets up, and walks over to Jiro, and
glares down at her.
"Pay.. for damages you three did to my restaurant!"
Miyo looked out from the order window, to observe
the three new customers that entered his shop. They were probably
visiters to the town, since he didn't recognize any of them. The
first one was an middle-aged man, roughly around his forties. He
wore a nice three-piece suit, and carried an air of arrogance with him.
In his hand, he carried a suitcase. Probably plans to dominate the
world! Not if he could help it! It was Miyo's job as a martial artist to
prevent such things from happening! Hmmm. Umi's going to approach
him! Bust his brains in, sister!
"Ohayo Gozaimasu, Yamato-sensei! How's
the Fourth Grade treating you? Would you like your usual?"
Miyo Blinks. That's Yamato Toshi-sensei?
He's changed! Didn't recognize him because of the suitcase. Sigh.
Miyo puts back the cynide from the locked cabinet, and begins to prepare
the order. Today's been so borring, that his imagination was getting the
best of him. Damn! Why can't he recognize anyone!? It's a curse.
He probably upset a witch in disguise, and she placed a curse upon him!
He shakes his head. Then he peeks over
to the other two new-commers. Teenagers. Probably out on a date or
something. Nah.. the blond girl, with the two pig-tails looked too
young for him. That, or she's too short. Though, what does
she see in that guy? He looks to sullen to be enjoying himself.
And why would they be on a date so early in the morning? But they've
gotta be a couple, after all.. they're both wearing the same type of head-bands.
Hmm.. Umi's approaching them.
"Ohayo gozaimasu! Never seen any of
you round these parts. What can I get for ya?"
"Uh, we're just passing by." The blond girl
spoke. "I'll like an order of Miso soup, dumplings, and... oh.. I guess
some Soba."
Umi jots down the order, then looks at the
brutish boy.
"And for you, cutie?"
Ryouga was too depressed to take note what
the girl called him. He'd rather be in Nerima at the moment, bashing
in Ranma's head, but he was at the moment in Tokushima; that's 500 km south
of Tokyo. (Translation, he's somewhere in Morioka; roughly 500 km North.)
Jiro jabs him in the ribs, to get him to pay
attention. He looks up, and see's the waitress looking down expectingly
at him. He sighs.
"Whatever's she's getting." Ryouga points
at Jiro. Umi nods, and jots it down.
"Okies, got it! Your order'll be right out."
And with that, she walks over to where Miyo was starring at them.
"What do you think, bro? Don't they
make the cutest couple?"
"I don't think they're actually a couple,
per-say."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I mean, look at them, sis! That girl's
not exactly looking adorringly at him, and that guy wishes to be somewhere
else at the moment."
"It's amazing, how you can see all that, and
yet think that Yamato-sensei be a terrorist or something! I saw you
take out the cynide when he came in, you know."
"Who say's he ain't a terrorist! Anyone who
can still keep his sanity with a couple of eight-year olds has either got
to be insane or evil.. or BOTH!" Miyo shakes his head, and puts up
the orders on the counter. Umi rolls her eyes, grabs the three trays
of food, with care, and takes them to their respective owners.
Yamato-sensei quickly finishes his meal, and
pays. Jiro and Ryouga take their time with their food. Suddenly,
a shout is heard outside the restaurant. A boy enters the restaurant,
slamming the slide-door to the wall. He looks appoligicly at Umi
and Miyo, but then his face cringes with anger as he see's the two teenagers
sitting in one of the tables.
"THERE YOU ARE! Haha! Thought you can hide
from me, eh Jiro?"
"Aw Geeze, Jakku! I'm getting sick and
tired of this!"
"Not my choice! Now get up and fight!"
The boy Jakku pulled out a staff, from it's
holding place behind his back, and thrust it at Jiro's table, causing the
furniture to collapse, food and all.
"AW JAKKU! That was my breakfast! And
it was mighty tasty too!"
To make a long story short, Jakku, Jiro, and
Ryouga fought, causing mass distruction on their wake. Leaving tables
crumpled, two holes in the wall, and food, flung everywhere. Umi
and Miyo stood there, in shock. Take note, that had it been Nerima, they
would be used to this stuff, but such was not the case.
Miyo emerged from the kitchen to take a full
look at the damages. He mumbles something, and goes back into the
kitchen. Umi blinks at her brother's "calm" actions. She was
expecting him to be screaming off the deep end. She started to pick
up pieces of wood, and place them into a pile.
"Leave it. Get your stuff, we're going."
Miyo's voice rang loudly from the kitchen.
"Miyo?"
"We're going on a training trip. Don't
know for how long."
"But.. Look at this place! I can't just leave
it like that! The food'll rot and get all icky and stuff!"
"Get that kid that has an IOU with us.. have
him clean up."
"Matashiko Yoshi? I guess. Why
the training trip? Why now?"
Miyo emerges from the back room, a pack upon
his shoulders, bandolier strapped across his chest.
"We're going to get those three ditchers!
No one runs out of a bill while I'm around!"
Miyo sat in front of the fire, looking smug
as ever. He had finished telling his story to his prisoners.
Umi had stopped listening. Bad enough she knew the story, Miyo insisted
on rehearsing it all throughout their journey in order to tell it proffesionally,
but he seemed to exaggerate in a couple of areas. First off, he did
scream hystericly, and faint when he saw the mess. Secondly, It was
her idea to get the Matshiko kid to clean up as repayment. She sighed,
and began to nurse the poor little piggie, that was "sleeping" in her arms.
Jiro was looking down at her feet, ashamed of what happened to Miyo's restaurant.
She was responsible for everything that happened. Okay, Jakku was
mostly responsible, but if only they'd taken the fight outside..
Ryouga was having a nice dream. He dreamt
he was in Akane's arms. How nice it felt, it felt so real!
Her soothing voice was like the whispering of angels to him. She
even told him that she would love him forever! He did not want to
wake up from this dream! No way!
Miyo looked back at the girl with the blue-bandana.
Although Umi wasn't what you called a sketch artist, she did get the bandana's
and the pig-tails right. Keep it simple, and he'll remember it..
usually. He walks over to Jiro, and holds his hand out.
"So, If you'll kindly pay us, we'll leave,
and never bother you ever again."
"But I don't have that kind of money with
me."
"Hmmm... Miyo? Um... maybe we can work out
something in exchange?"
Miyo and Jiro look up at Umi, who was scratching
the little piglet behind the ears. The said piglet seemed to be smiling,
and snuggles closer to Umi, while still asleep.
Miyo was getting a sick feeling in his stomach,
as if he knew what Umi had in mind, that or the cuteness the scene was
eminating.
Umi looks down at Jiro expectingly.
"What do you say, girl? Do you accept?"
"Accept to what?"
"The terms! I keep him, and your debt
will be cleared! More than a fair trade!"
"What? Umi, are you nuts? That Pig ain't
worth 50,000 Yen!"
Umi blinks at her brother, then looks down
at the pig, and holds him tighter. For a while, nothing is said.
Then, suddenly Miyo jumps back, as he see's a tear fall from Umi's
eyes. Umi looks up at her brother, tears freely flowing. Miyo's will
was shattered. He had promised years ago to never make her sister
cry. It was sort of a final wish from his father. So far he
had fufilled his promise, and never regreted it since. Sure Umi may
use her doe-eyes or lip-pout to try to manipulate him, but never did she
truly cry, unless something was bothering her. And at that moment,
he would have given his life to make sure she was happy. But.. how
can he tell her that the pig was actually a human in disguise. A
very good disguise. Damn best he's ever seen. He was probably
a sorcerer! He'll have to think about that later. Right now,
try to stop her from crying.
"Umi.. okay.. I'm sorry. *sighs* Alright..
I accept the deal."
Umi looks up, her eyes shining brightly.
She runs up to Miyo, and hugs him tightly, squishing the poor pig in the
process.
"Oh thank you, Miyo! *Sniff* You don't know
how much this means to me!"
"Well, I for one don't accept!"
Miyo growled, and looks down at the girl.
If that girl didn't accept, Umi may start crying again. Then, he
get's an idea.
"Well, you don't have a say, now do you? After
all.. it was *your* fault my restaurant's in shambles! I can tell
you're a martial artist, so listen up. As a martial artist, I order
you to honor my family's name by giving up the pig. Failure to do
so, will not only ruin not your honor, but I'll make sure you work tediously,
for little pay, until you're able to pay me that 50,000 yen!"
"But.. you can't! I mean.. He's... he's
well.. that pig's not really a pig!"
"I think all this time on the road has made
you a little 'out of it'. No matter! I'm keeping the pig! It was
nice doing business with you. Goodbye!"
Umi gets up from the ground, and skips over
to their camp, which was remarkably close by. It seems that it had
only been half an hour ago, that Jiro and Ryouga skimmed by their camp.
Their talking had grabbed Umi' and Miyo's attention, so they decided to
eavesdrop. There they recognized the bandanas, and began to formulate
an attack. But enough with the chit-chat. As Umi made her way
toward her camp, Ryouga started to wake up. He looks around, and
finds himself moving very quickly, but he wasn't running. He looks
up, and sees a cute brown-haired girl looking adorringly at him with her
crystaline green eyes. Ryouga began to panic. Where was Jiro?
Who is this girl? Where was he going? The girl stopped running
after comming to another camp. There was one big tent, but two sleeping
bags can be seen from the opening. The girl fetched out a pillow, and placed
the pig on it.
"Now don't move.. I'm going to make dinner
for the three of us!"
With that, she gave the piglet a kawaiish smile,
and fetched out a skillet, a pot, and a couple of ingredients from inside
the tent. She first started to steam the rice, then began to chop
the vegetables. Then she cut a few slices of chicken, and started to mix
the ingredients together in the skillet.
"It's not much.. we were running out of provisions
anyway." Umi then left the food to cook, occasionally stirring the
vegetables in order to prevent scorching. Her attention was now focused
on the little piggie. "You need a name. Let's see, well, since
you're little, and all black.. Kuro-chan! (Mind you, that her philosophy
in names is a notch higher than Akane's. Let's review: Akane; Pig small=
P-Chan/ Umi; Little Black= Kuro-chan. Thank you for enjoying this
pointless fact. Now.. on with the fic.) OH KURO-CHAN! With you around,
I'll be soo happy! We'll have the funnest of times! Share secrets, (Kuro-chan
gulps) be together for always! Oh Kuro-chan! I thought I'd
be lonely now! Miyo's growing up.. and he's the heir to our school,
he's gotta marry. Where would that leave me? But I shouldn't
worry, right? You're here now! What could go wrong?"
(Enter Murphy's Law, and Douglas Adam's Philosphy.
[1])
Meanwhile, back in the Hibiki camp.
Miyu was busily scribbling something down.
Occasionally he would glance up at the captive Jiro, then hastely jot some
more stuff down. Jiro, having her curiosity get the best of her,
voiced out in a query.
"Will you stop that already? It's annoying!
What the heck are you doing anyway?"
Miyu blinked, unconsiously pulling up the
note-pad, towards his chest, so that Jiro would not see.
"If you must know, scientific research!
I am trying to figure out how 'what's-his-name' turned into a pig.
That's it! I got it!" Miyu writes something down, happy with his
outcome. He stands up from his place beside the fire, and walks toward
Jiro. "After much self-debating, I came up with only one possible
explination! Take a look!" Miyu puts the notepad down on her lap.
Aside from the chicken-scratches with the
pen, Jiro saw the paper was crammed full of elaborate diagrams, bar-charts,
and some more happy-faced doodles. She began to read some of the
texts.
"Theory # 4, "All men are Pigs" theory.
No, that would mean I too would change. Void.
"Theory # 7 "Hallucination" theory. Walking
for days, resting only because sleep overtook our senses, food rations
low (cannot even make a decent curry! Barbaric!) No. Even with no
spices, Umi can still make one mean pickled-rice and squirrel." At this,
Jiro wrinkled her nose.
"Hey! Excuuuse us for not lugging around a
cow! Sheesh!" Miyu protested.
Jiro rolled her eyes at him, then scanned
her eyes toward the bottom of the page.
"After much consideration, (Even though I
still somehow think that the Americans had *something* to do with it) the
conclusion for Rioko's transformation is... ALIENS!"
Jiro facefaulted. After pulling herself up,
a difficult task when your legs and hands are binded behind you, she glared
at Miyu, who had a smug, overly-proud face.
"Aliens? You idiot! It's a curse! Ever hear
of Jusenkyou?"
"A curse? Are you sure? I mean, I once
saw this one movie where these aliens would take the shapes of other people
and they would go out and try to eat the other people's brains and it was
so neat and..."
"Will you shut up? Ryouga fell into
Heituenniichuan. Spring of drownned piglet! Now, whenever he's spashed
with cold water he turns into a pig, but if he gets spashed with hot water,
he turns back!"
Miyu thought about this carefully.
"So you're saying... his name's Ryouga? How
come I kept comming up with 'Rogaine' or 'Rioko'."
If Jiro would, she would be banging her head
against a tree right now.