Lost Together chapter 19

Written By: Dr. Facer & DaisukiFox

DaisukiFox: Hey there everyone! It's finally time for another chapter and I hope you guys enjoy this! Spread the love for this story and keep those theories going because we know you're all observant! Also, I tried my best to reduce the amount of flashbacks and I'm sorry! In the next chapter I'm sure we're keeping it more in the moment. Thank you so much for your time and we hope this has you hyped for the epic showdown coming our way!

Also! To those who think it's not okay to review to show your hype I just called it a 'natural' just to make it clear! We don't mind repeat reviews for chapters! The last chapter did amazingly well! We hope this one does well too!

Dr Facer: Hello, everyone, I know it took a long time, but I hope the chapter makes up for it. This one's got a couple of interesting surprises and a hint of something important to come, so I hope you'll enjoy reading it. :)

Disclaimer: We do not own Ranma ½, Ranma ½ is owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media! Please support the official release!

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With a battle-hardened expression, the future King turned to the door he had come through. Now that the ball was almost in his court, could Lychee still accept him if he had to act on his country's honor and the image of its guardians? Kirin's mind wandered to the shame he would bring his family if all this came to light.

'Is there any way for me to win and still keep my relationship with my sweet Lychee?' he pondered, narrowing his eyes and clenching his hands into fists.

Lychee stared at her drink, letting out a heavy sigh as she recalled all her attempts at swaying the Prince into changing his mind. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so interested in the stories of his people, but it helped distract me from Ranko getting hurt…" she remarked sadly.

Making a somewhat deep groaning noise, the door to the room Lychee was in opened, and from the other end emerged the maid, Yu Nuo.

"Forgive me, Princess Lychee. Our Lord will be back as soon as he can be. In the meantime, is there anything I can get for you?" She inquired, tilting her head to one side and offering a warm smile.

"Do you happen to have any advice on how to keep my dear friend and my Prince from fighting each other?" The strawberry blonde asked in a sad and defeated tone.

"Perhaps it's better to ask someone else for questions like that?" She answered her question with one of her own. "I'm just a humble maid and servant to the Nekonron Kingdom," The simple worker added.

"I suppose I was asking for quite a lot, huh?" She asked with a sad smile as she put her cup down and rested her chin on her palm.

"I believe our Prince will know what to do when the time comes. In my opinion, he's kind and resourceful, and although temperamental sometimes, he always means well in the end…" She explained, sounding as if she were defending him.

"I hope-" Lychee began but stopped as the door where Lychee had last seen Prince Kirin opened.

"A thousand apologies!" Kirin spoke softly, straightening his back as he closed the door behind him, making his way over.

"My prince," The maid greeted, bowing her head.

"Thank you for your time but please, let us be for a moment…" The Prince instructed as he waved a dismissive hand, pulling up his chair before scooting it in.

Though surrounded by all manner of divine dining ware, including a beautiful dress even on Kirin's lovely date, there was still an element of caution and worry among them.

For the Prince, however, thoughts of the words exchanged between him and Ebiten haunted him like the whispers of ghosts. Ever present, a threat that had yet to be taken care of. The dire nature continued to gnaw away at him, the damage that had been done to his loyal friends and fellow protectors of their lands. 'Forgive me, my fellow Seven Lucky Gods, had Lychee not been of such importance, perhaps I should have dealt with them from the beginning…' he pondered the idea as an image of him confronting the two came to mind, his hand extended as the two shadows glared back at him, one with long red hair and the other just the visual of a man taller than her.

"My Prince, are you alright?" Lychee tenderly inquired as her eyes trembled with worry.

Kirin raised his head, so lost in his thoughts that it was as if Lychee had cleared a thick fog from his eyes. "Fret not! Though things are not going as expected, I'm more than confident we'll turn out victorious!" He assured her, but rather it sounded more like he had to assure himself.

Lychee offered an apologetic smile in return, though the Prince had yet to open his eyes; that's what awaited him. 'Kirin looks troubled. I don't think I could blame him if Ranko and Ryoga are still in this fight, a fight I hope they can make it out of unhurt, Ryoga... Hóng fā...' The strawberry blonde maiden pondered with a pained inner voice.

The meek restaurant worker understood the current predicament perfectly, but still, such clarity awarded her no peace of mind. Her Prince would have to meet her friend out in the field of battle, despite all her attempts to avoid this head-on collision.

"My prince…" Lychee began softly, lowering her eyes down to the table in front of her, placing her hands on her lap after putting down her own glass.

"You would still call me that, knowing what I must do?" Kirin inquired, crestfallen as he lowered his glass and instead reached for his bowl of rice with a pickled plum on top.

"Yes. Forgive me for sounding naïve, but though we haven't had much time to know one another, and the way we ended up having to meet was perhaps a bit much," she commented while looking away. At the end of her words and from the corner of her eye, she noticed her Prince's posture diminish. "I just worry about my friend… don't you have any friends that you worry about or want to see again? If you do, I'm sure you can understand how I feel…"

"Of course, I can, how foolish of me…" Kirin began, his voice dragging out. "I do have a good friend… I really miss him and I would certainly like to see him again."

"Still! I'm very much interested in getting to know my fabled Prince!" Lychee seemed to be promised as she then watched his gaze land on hers. "Would you care to tell me more about your memories with your friend?" She asked him softly but encouragingly, hoping to lighten the mood a bit.

'Maybe, just maybe talking to him about Jurojin could help him see the pain this is causing me…' she thought as her inner voice quaked, images of Ranko and their times together replaying like a movie reel. She desperately wanted to embrace her Prince, as just the mere thought of his smile and his kindness to her was a beautiful soul, yet he was plagued with hurting another wonderful person.

As if he could resonate with the energy given off by Lychee, the Prince straightened his back and watched her speak to him. His face softened, and the aura around the cute restaurant worker seemed to radiate something that confounded Prince Kirin.

"Yes. I believe that may be best, and it wouldn't hurt, I suppose…" Kirin responded in a less regal manner while nodding his head, lessening some pretenses as he felt that maybe there was more friction between them forming.

Unaware of her own inner turmoil, Lychee looked up at him with eyes on the verge of crying, shutting them at the right moment to let her tears fall from the sides of her cheeks.

"Near the bridge one day, Jurojin and I decided that since he had a day off from our training, we would finally explore what was north of the river. Jurojin and I always had a want to travel and explore but knew that we'd have to settle for getting the lay of the land instead…" Kirin's voice dragged on as he drifted back into that time…

A fifteen-year-old Jurojin walked with his hands propping his cane and two pairs of fishing rods, a steel bucket looped around his elbow from the bale.

Walking alongside him was a younger Kirin with a bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks.

Their carefree wide-eyed expressions were filled with endless wonder as they traveled upstream, catching sight of all sorts of Nekonron's large vegetation and the creatures it also helped to oversize near them.

Once the beauty and majesty had filled them, they eventually slowed down until they were somewhat near the base of a waterfall.

"I'm surprised they let us take a break, figured they'd make us fight about it longer…" Jurojin added all of a sudden as the soft hum of the shifting waters and splashing fish echoed around them in a harmonious but tranquil rhythm.

"From what I've heard from my Mother and Father, it's that tensions are getting difficult and Ebiten and the others of The Seven are needed to defend a side of the outer wall while repairs are underway…" The Prince remarked as he looked ahead with a soft smile.

"We're still fixing things since the Phantom Claw attacks, huh?" Jurojin inquired rhetorically, gaining a rather somber look as they continued to tread the path before them.

"Let's not dwell too much on that my friend, we finally get some time to spend together so let's not waste it…" Kirin reminded his friend what they were actually there for and closed his eyes, his smile now brimming.

"Careful how you say things Prince, you might go giving people the wrong impression…" Jurojin commented with a scoff and a smirk, blushing so lightly that it was practically invisible.

Much like a befuddled cat seeing the confusing actions of humans, Prince Kirin tilted his head to one side, then a look of realization struck him.

"I don't think Monlon would ever forgive me if I took you from her…" Kirin remarked after a long enough silence, letting himself fall behind a little as Jurojin was a bit ahead of him.

Rattling noises echoed from the young Shadow Hand's equipment, causing him to look to his right and find that his Prince had fallen behind him by a foot or so. "Like you could! You can barely beat me in a fight, even less so in that department!" The cheerful and slightly taken aback teenage warrior countered.

"So you 'are' interested in our future master of the Ongaku No Sento school, I take it?" The clever royal deduced from the unofficial future member of The Seven, noticing that he hadn't exactly denied his interest in the Elegant Egotist.

Freezing internally, the future Shadowhand felt himself start to sweat bullets for a second before blushing deeply and lowering his head a little, closing his eyes for a second before opening them again and revealing a proud and determined smile.

"You'd be right, no point in hiding it, I do like her and I swear on all the luck in Nekonron that she'll be my girlfriend one day!" The excited but young agent of Nekonron declared proudly.

"Excellent! I'm happy that your luck shines brightly enough to aim for someone like Monlon!" Kirin congratulated before unknowingly letting his smile falter.

"I'm probably going to be the first between us to get a girlfriend," Jurojin threw in as well before looking back at his friend and lifting an eyebrow in slight confusion.

"It's not for a lack of choice…" The Prince bashfully explained as he averted his eyes a little too quickly for comfort.

"I've seen, even though those girls knew you're supposed to be betrothed to the woman with the other half of the scroll…"

"I admit, I tire of waiting but the other half must be found before I am even to consider alternatives…" The Prince of Nekonron muttered.

"Imagine if she wasn't pretty at all or worse some old hag," Jurojin commented with a smile and a slight gag, not thinking about it, however, his words hadn't gone ignored but rather only seemed to do the opposite of lighting the mood.

"That could be a possibility and in that case, my luck wouldn't have shined when I needed it most and my time waiting would have been a waste…" The Nekonronian noble spoke barely above a whisper.

"Hey, sorry, I don't think that'll happen and it's tradition! You got no choice but to wait…" Jurojin defended.

"I suppose but at times my heart has grown wary and I sometimes wonder if I will be a King with no Queen…" Kirin remarked as he tilted his head back gently, the wind gently gliding against his skin.

"Don't worry about that right now, we shouldn't be wasting our time talking about what ifs but rather what we're gonna do about all the fish we catch…" Jurojin's voice dragged out as he remembered that was somewhat of a cause for concern.

Snapping back out from his thoughts and feelings of loneliness enveloping him, the Prince pondered what to do before smiling in delight. "We can take them into town and exchange them for something sweet! Perhaps Rice pudding!"

"Ah yeah! Good idea!" Jurojin grinned from ear to ear as they continued to travel towards the waterfall ahead of them.

Although it seemed that their intentional direction was going to be the waterfall closest to them, they instead stopped at what looked to be the more densely populated portion of the river, slowing down as they reached their secluded area.

"Ugh, my feet are killing me!" Jurojin groaned as his boots came to a scuffling stop atop the drop, looking at the water and at his reflection within it.

"Do you wish to dunk your feet in the water?" Kirin asked, looking at his friend with concern.

"Yeah, I'm sure the fish would love it…" Jurojin remarked with a snarky but playful grin, dropping down to start taking off his black boots.

"Not what I was getting at…" Kirin started with his eyes closed, lowering his head looking as though he had something else to say.

Splash!

"Ah, you gonna' keep talking or you joining me, Prince?" the shadowhand in training asked with a content and somewhat goofy-looking smile; setting the fishing rods to lean against a rock to Jurojin's lefthand side.

Kirin looked off to the side and held up his bowl and chopsticks, "I'd rather not touch my flats while handling food…"

"You're always handling food, live a little, my oh-so-precious Prince," Jurojin urged as he closed his eyes and splashed his feet in the water, little garra rufa fish gathering near his feet to take the occasional painless nip.

"It's all a part of my training! Something I'm sure you know of!" Kirin affirmed with his head held up high, a proud smile accompanying it.

"Alright then," Jurojin placed his hand on his chin in contemplation before snapping his fingers and holding his hand out to the still-standing Prince. "Stick your foot out!" he ordered the Nekonron royal.

"Why?" Kirin asked with a tilt of his head, doing as he was told.

Swiftly the future secret agent took the ballet flat as well as his sock and threw placed them down neatly to his side. Perplexed for an instant but recovering once the pieces came together in his head, the stoic Prince closed his eyes then lowered his foot, presenting his other for Jurojin to wordlessly slip off.

"Ready to get to some fishing?" His cheerful hazel-haired companion more so suggested with a question as he patted the ground next to him.

"Thanks to you, perhaps I can, though to be honest I'd rather go for a swim now since I find that it's much too warm today…" Prince Kirin moved over so that he could sit down and dip his feet in the cool waters in front of him.

"To do that first you'd have to put down your weapons my Lord…" Jurojin said as he reached out and swiped the eating utensils from Kirin's hands, swiftly placing them safely on top of a rock with the chopsticks resting on the rim of the bowl.

"W-wait my…!" Kirin tried to take his stuff back but as he reached out for them he felt himself being shoved back into the water before he could take his things back. Out from the corner of his eye he saw Jurojin giving him a cheeky smile while waving with one hand.

A loud splashing noise echoed as Kirin could hear the faint sound of muffled laughter, knowing that it was his friend and future Shadowhand but being too preoccupied with the fact the current was stronger than he could have anticipated.

"Now you're living a litt-" Jurojin began but paused as he opened his eyes to see that his Prince was gently but somewhat hurriedly being carried downstream.

Kirin's legs kicked around in the water, extending his feet as far as they could go in some vain attempt to touch the bottom only to learn that it was much deeper than he had thought. Swimming upward with as much force as he could apply against the current taking him, he opened his eyes to see that he was near the surface before emerging from the semi-depths of the river he had been shoved into.

Jurojin looked to breathe a sigh of relief, hand over his chest as he had gotten up and looked as though he was about to follow.

"How refreshing!" Kirin announced. "Join me!" The soaked nobleman said encouragingly with a hearty laugh.

Jurojin relaxed his expression and smiled warmly, "Coming!" He exclaimed, shutting his eyes the instant he hit the raging waters. It was then that Jurojin had realized he had been completely played as a fool, meeting the same struggle that Kirin had been forced to endure, trying desperately to get back up to the surface only to widen his eyes as he felt something grabbing him by the back of his tangzhuang.

Gaaahhh!

"You jerk!" Jurojin said as he breathed deeply.

"Suppose it takes one to know one?" Kirin countered as he released his friend now that they were in a much less dangerous spot than before.

"And what would have happened if I had hit my head on something before getting back up?" Jurojin asked his comrade, at first looking exceptionally annoyed but simmering down the longer he spoke.

"I would have saved you had you taken too long, of course," Kirin jokingly assured, trying to keep himself from cracking up.

"So would I but that still makes you a jerk," Jurojin remarked now with a snarky smirk before catching the vibes being emitted from Kirin; staring into his friend's eyes.

"Pfft!" They both started to laugh as they arched their heads back.

"Come! Let's get to fishing!" Kirin said suddenly as he began swimming to the shore.

"Ah yeah! I've picked up a few new lure tricks from Ebiten and I wanna' show them off!" Jurojin said as he followed after his Prince and future leader…

"From there, it was a picture-perfect moment, truth be told, I wish to take you to that place where this all happened, perhaps sharing a meal together…" Kirin was about to use the chopsticks he hadn't realized he had picked during his retelling to scratch his cheek but thankfully stopped himself before he could.

Feeling as though there were butterflies in her stomach, the shy princess found herself unable to control the blush spreading across her face, 'He's asking me on another date so we can get closer but…' she thought but found it hard to breathe for a second, without fully thinking it through she allowed her intuition to take the wheel for her response.

"I'd love nothing more…" Lychee began, her eyes widening a little as she saw the elated look in his eyes but that also triggered an image of her close friend smiling at her. "I'm pleased to know you understand how wonderful having friends can be my Prince." She spoke softly.

"I'd figure, considering what I had just told you." Kirin agreed wholeheartedly.

"I couldn't imagine how broken I'd be if I lost my friendship with her," Lychee began but choked on her words as she neared the end.

"My Princess…" Kirin's delighted demeanor faded quietly as he heard the agony in his sweet Princess' voice.

"Please reconsider fighting her, my Prince!" Lychee begged as she bowed her head, hands on her lap as she squeezed the fabric of her dress; a lone tear staining it as she whimpered.

"Believe me, my sweet, I had hoped I wouldn't, but after our talk of friendship and the importance it can have. I'm faced with the sad truth that this girl is far more precious to you than I had first thought, that this Ranko is someone I shouldn't take from you but I'm afraid that preserving the honor of the Seven Lucky Gods also weighs heavily on me…" Kirin explained as his voice trailed.

Lifting her head, the befuddled Princess tilted her head, 'The honor of The Seven Lucky Gods?' Lychee wondered to herself.

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The sound of Ranko's hurried steps resonated on the suddenly silent road as she continued running up the mountain. The path here had widened, and the sun filtered through the clouds, dispersing the fog that had caused her trouble before reaching the previous gate. The air was a bit chillier here, which helped bring her back to attention after the fierce battle she had endured against Monlon.

And loath as she was to admit it, Monlon had given her a very tough fight. That irksome musician may not have been as strong or fast as she was, but she did know where to hit to make it hurt, and the slight, persistent stiffness between Ranko's shoulder blades was a testament to that. Still, the redhead had no time to keep thinking about her recent battles; all that mattered was to make it to the top of the mountain and save Lychee, nothing else.

Ranko took a deep breath and followed the next turn on the road to find a very wide chasm that nobody would be able to jump over; fortunately, the people of Nekonron had built a large bridge that crossed over it, connecting it with the next portion of the road that appeared to go all the way to the top. Something notable, however, was that whoever built the bridge had also decided on a large pagoda right in the middle of it. A nice feat of engineering, she supposed, but irrelevant to her mission. Cautiously, but still keeping a quick pace, she approached the large construction, which appeared to be completely deserted. Perhaps she had gotten lucky for once, and the guardian in this gate was not here yet? Hoping that was the case and seeing no one here, the redhead entered the castle gate.

'Perfect… it seems there's nobody here…' Ranko thought with a smile and started running, only to come to a sudden stop that almost caused her to trip as a man, and a very short one at that, casually walked out from behind a support beam while smoking from his long pipe. The man stopped right in the center of the hallway, throwing puffs of smoke without even bothering to address Ranko.

"Hello, young one," the diminutive man said after studying his pipe for a second or two. "I must say you've impressed me… I really didn't think you'd make it this far."

"Does that mean you're gonna let me through?" Ranko asked, daring to hope she would have it easy here.

"What? No, of course not," the man said with a grin. "This is the end of the road for you; I can't let you go any further, you are under arrest."

"Well, you've got another thing coming, old man!" Ranko disputed, pointing her index finger at her new opponent. "I'm crossing this bridge, I'm saving Lychee… and nobody is going to stop me!"

"Oh, but you are quite mistaken; I am honor-bound to stop you," the man said. "I am Ebiten of the Seven Lucky Gods, and you're welcome to try to pass by me!"

"If that's the way you want it… then that's the way it's gonna be!" Ranko said, preparing her battle stance and then rushing at Ebiten, preparing a low kick that she hoped would connect with his head and be enough to render him unconscious.

Her leg did not connect; however, Ebiten moved with speed defying his short stature, performing a quick spin once he was above her to stab at her shoulder with his pipe, sending her stumbling forward, struggling not to lose her footing and slamming hands first against the bridge's railing. Annoyed more than hurt, Ranko spun to see Ebiten examining his pipe and not paying attention to her.

"A shame the tobacco fell off…" he lamented with a sigh. "That was the last of that blend I still had; I'll have to go to Yakusai to get more."

"Are you making fun of me?" Ranko asked, irked at Ebiten not taking her seriously. "I'll show you not to underestimate me!"

The redhead went on the offensive again, this time trying to sweep Ebiten off his feet first. Knowing he would jump over her attack, Ranko quickly followed with an uppercut, but that was also dodged as her opponent simply hooked his pipe on her wrist and spun out of the way, landing on top of the railing with perfect balance. Annoyed, Ranko tried to use her superior speed to try to land a punch, but Ebiten, while clearly surprised by the redhead's display of superior quickness, was still able to parry or block all her attacks using his pipe.

"You're not bad at all," Ebiten praised, understanding now how this girl had managed to reach his gate with such apparent ease. "I'll have to put some effort into this fight, it seems."

Saying nothing more, Ebiten dropped to the ground and used his smaller size to rush under Ranko's defenses, hooking his pipe on her left heel and applying force to drop the redhead on her back hard before she could try to avoid it.

"That hurt, you little, big-eared… you!" Ranko complained as she shot her hands behind her head to push herself up with a backflip, though her back immediately protested, a clear reminder she was still not fully recovered from the damage Monlon caused between her shoulders.

'I'll have to get rid of that pipe of his,' she thought, her eyes set on her adversary, who was closely following her every move as well. 'He uses it to attack and defend, so I bet he'll be much easier to deal with without it.'

"I don't see how you defeated Monlon," Ebiten said, moving to the right while Ranko moved to the left to avoid getting cornered. "You are very good, but not so good that you could have defeated her… I can't understand how you did it."

"I'll show you how!" Ranko swore, dashing towards Ebiten. The redhead, who was somewhat experienced in fighting shorter opponents thanks to her previous scuffles with the Niku-men gang, realized that the best chance she had was to use downward punches to take Ebiten by surprise and then smash him upwards, and she did just that. Resorting to the Amaguriken to enhance her speed even further, Ranko was able to surprise Ebiten again, snatching his pipe before he could even tell it was gone, and just to make sure the fight moved in her favor, Ranko punched the short martial artist over sixty times straight in the face, ending her barrage with a right hook that sent her opponent crashing against the railing, cracking it with the force of the impact.

"How did you like that, huh?" Ranko asked, feeling very pleased with herself for being able to teach Ebiten not to underestimate her. "I bet you can see how I beat that musical pest now, don't you?"

Ebiten rubbed his jaw as he slowly got back to his feet. It had been a long time since he last saw someone use the Amaguriken if that was the technique the redhead had used and had never been attacked with it himself. But if this girl could use this technique, then it meant she had learned it from an Amazon elder somehow.

'No, I'm quite certain this girl is not from Joketsuzoku,' Ebiten thought as he glanced at the redhead with curiosity. 'She's not wearing their typical battle outfit with that chest plate or bracelets they favor, no weapons either… and she lacks the elegance of movement even younger girls from the Amazon village display… no, this one, she's more about effectiveness over grace; whoever first trained her was more interested in teaching her ways to always win in the most effective way… which means she picked up the Amaguriken later somewhere. I can't take this fight lightly from now on.'

"Nothing to say, old man?" Ranko asked, twirling Ebiten's pipe between her fingers. "Good, then stand down or I'll pummel you for real."

"I am afraid I can't let you pass," The Lucky God answered, his voice turning serious and more than a little bit cold. "Much less after you defeated my colleagues. You obviously can't understand this, but this is now a matter of honor for us, and we can't let you win. I'll defeat you and then I'll take you to jail!"

"Oh, for the love of…" Ranko said, distractedly snapping Ebiten's pipe in her frustration, "Why can't you guys just give up? You think I enjoy punching you into paste?"

"You… that was my favorite pipe!" Ebiten yelled, eyes wide open as he saw what Ranko had just done. "I bought it twenty years ago at Tong Po harbor! It was one of a kind, even!"

"Huh?" Ranko blinked and looked at the pieces of the pipe she held in her hands. "Oh… sorry 'bout that, but it's your fault for being so stubborn! Do you have any idea how frustrating you guys can be?"

"Enough games!" Ebiten declared, rushing to a door hidden on the side of a wall and quickly reaching behind it for a fishing pole, which he levered at the redhead as he let his battle aura flow. "I was hoping you'd listen to reason and allow me to arrest you, but now you've forced me to fight you seriously!"

"Oh?" Ranko frowned, dropping the broken pipe and raising her fists while slightly flexing her legs, adopting a defensive form that she favored. "Very well, then, if we're really fighting seriously, then show me what you can do, old man!"

Gritting his teeth and strongly grasping his fishing pole, Ebiten jumped high, prepared to fully go on the offensive…

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From within the quaint country cottage of a school, Mousse stepped out, his hands up his sleeves as he watched the students fading into the distance. Although his cautious look of concern changed as he tilted his head up a little, the sound of flattening blades of grass hitting his honed hearing senses.

'Soft and poised, nearly deftly silent…' he deduced to himself as he turned in the proper direction and could feel the familiar ki signature of their peculiar ally.

"Who's there?" He asked stoically, narrowing his eyes.

Chervil stopped to blink in surprise, tilting her head to one side the way a cat might. Thinking to herself that despite not seeing so well, Mousse could actually pick up on her footsteps. 'He's sharp!' She concluded her thought with.

"You're the one called Mousse, right?" The impressed-sounding Musk warrior said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"And if I remember correctly, you're that Musk woman called Chervil…" His voice trailed, a noticeable growl of annoyance following it.

Not wanting to start anything, she had to remind herself that she had hit him in the face and broke a pair of his glasses as those memories played out in her head. 'Guess I don't blame him after that kind of first meeting…' she thought to herself, sighing out the last word.

"Anyways, I came here wondering if you or... err... Shampoo! Had any information on the other redhead!" Chervil began, putting her hand on her chin, but before she had said the lavender battle maiden's name, she had to pause to remember, snapping her fingers when she recalled it.

"Don't talk about it here in the open, just follow me so we can get this over with," Mousse instructed the feline-esque girl.

'Chervil seems like nothing but trouble; she's a Musk, yet she enlisted me and Shampoo of all people for help?' He pondered to himself as he tilted his head down a little while they made themselves less known behind some trees.

An ever-radiant Shampoo nearly wanted to skip, all the way to her destination. Her life had taken a turn for the better, thoughts of how Mousse and she had come to truly know and appreciate each other filling her mind. To her, he was her hero in her movie, valiant and ever steadfast in his need to please her and yet ever-growing by her side and even to the point of officially defeating her.

Pressed up against her lavender cheongsam blouse were three lunch boxes stacked neatly atop one another and held together at the top by a beautifully wrapped lavender scarf. 'I hope Father-in-Law comes by; I want to make a good impression, and showing him I can cook so well should help!' she thought when her eyes widened as faint voices in the distance were clear but sounded like whispers she could just make out before noticing the closer he got the more clear the direction of the voice were coming from. Then she heard another and noticed the pitch and tone of the other; it was distinctly female she became aware.

"Sorry about before, I wasn't sure who you two were at first, and you attacked me…"

"It's fine. Whatever."

"I'll get to the point then, what have you got?"

"I'll feel better about talking with Shampoo here…"

Sniff! Sniff!

Mousse tilted his head back all of a sudden, eyes widening.

Furrowing her brows as she approached, Shampoo focused on the direction of the last words she heard, turning to the trees next to the school and evaluating where one of the tones could be.

"Mousse? Who are-" Shampoo tried to say.

"Shampoo. Please don't shout, but Chervil's here…" Mousse spoke in a louder than-usual whisper but did so quickly to keep anyone from possibly hearing.

It took a second for Shampoo to recall what the girl was hearing, but as Mousse spoke, it became crystal clear once within view. "I remember you, anything you want to share?" the Amazon battle maiden inquired.

"Funny, that's why I'm here too," Chervil replied with a sign of disappointment, her eyes zeroing in on the lunchboxes in Shampoo's arms.

"So like she was telling me before you got here, Shampoo, she doesn't have anything worth sharing, well, more like, she doesn't have a scent she can work with." Mousse decided to pick up where they left off.

"So you want to know if we have anything?" Shampoo inquired as she looked plainly at the other girl like she was disappointed that she hadn't really managed to gather much.

"I-I can't help it if magic is involved! Or at least I think it's magic…" The feline Musk member said with a crossing of her arms.

"Why do you say that?" Mousse pressed.

"It's more like I can smell a scent, but then it's like it vanishes, and when that happens, I'm stuck. But then the wind kicks up her scent except somewhere else, and then I find another dead end and-and…!" Chervil said as she kept going with her explanation, her voice gradually getting louder until she was almost speaking above comfort levels and holding the sides of her head from how dizzy with all the zigzags and turns the other redhead made her endure.

"That bad, huh?" Shampoo asked with a hum of uncertainty as her mind wandered to an image of the boy helping that aggravating fake woman. The young Amazon wondered then if that young man was the one who could hide their tracks so well, to the point of being able to confuse even a Musk tracker.

"Last time we came across that other redhead, it was near Yakusai," Mousse explained, keeping his responses quick and concise.

"If anyone could help you, it'd more than likely be Pink and Link, two herbalist pests who live in Yakusai," Shampoo answered with a slight upward tilt of her head, still not too fond of the herbalist twins even if she had recently given up on her grudge against them.

Chervil sighed. It wasn't much information to work with, but it's not like she had many other choices or leads for that matter, so this would have to do.

"Guess I'll give them a shot," Chervil said with a slightly irritated groan in her throat, nodding her head while eyeing the box lunches in Shampoo's hands like a starving dog; puppy dog eyes included.

"May I join you for lunch? If not, maybe I can pay you for a lunch box?" The redheaded Musk girl clasped her hands together with hope-filled eyes.

"Fine. Having you running around half-starving would mean someone could see you, so come with us," Mousse concluded with a long sigh afterward, looking at Shampoo who looked off to the side but closed her eyes and hummed in slight annoyance.

With a gentle jerking motion towards the back of the school, Shampoo gestured for them to follow. The three seated themselves atop some soft blades of grass, except Chervil who found a rock to sit on.

"Here," Shampoo said plainly, her serious mood a shared reflection of Mousse's as she handed him the top lunchbox and then the middle one out toward the mighty Musk would-be royal.

"Thank you, Shampoo," Mousse said as he took his lunchbox, putting on his glasses and taking out his chopsticks.

"Yes, thank you!" Chervil said as she placed her lunchbox on her lap before reaching around her neck and lifting out a thin gold necklace she offered as payment.

"Don't worry about it; we're not exactly happy having a Musk here, so please excuse us if we're not the most gracious hosts…" Shampoo made her stance very clear.

"Plus, that's so obviously Musk in style and pattern, a dead giveaway to us talking to you," Mousse added further, knowing it wouldn't do them any good given the current situation.

"Looks like we need to work on our reputation here," Chervil said with a defeated look but tucked her necklace back into her shirt.

"Let's just say we're happy to share," Mousse chimed in.

"Speak for yourself, I wanted to give this one to my father-in-law…" Shampoo mirrored Chervil's look of utter defeat.

Chervil chuckled nervously and clasped her hands in prayer to Shampoo, a nervous sweat drop forming on the top of her head. "I'm so sorry!" the fang-toothed woman said honestly.

"It's whatever," Shampoo said and then feigned a smile.

Seeing this as her sign of approval, Chervil smiled before bowing and giving thanks. "I won't forget this! Once everything is fixed and I'm officially the Musk Princess, I'll make sure to repay this favor tenfold!" she offered instead as she broke her chopsticks, her cute little fang poking out from the corner of her mouth.

The three ate in relative peace, Shampoo, and Mousse seated next to one another while the redheaded Musk clansmen ate across from them. Once she finished, she clasped her hands together, showing additional thanks and how much she approved of Shampoo's cooking.

"Goodbye!" She exclaimed with a smile before handing the empty box back to its owner and turning around.

'Yakusai! Here I come!' she thought to herself as she hunched forward and dashed forward until becoming a blur, vanishing between the trees with amazing speed, leaping high onto the trees and even using the branches as diving boards to spring her forward onto the next.

"At this rate, Rin Rin!" A girl's voice resounded, drawing Chervil's attention once she had almost gone around the Amazon village.

"We'll win the martial arts tournament when we're older, Ran Ran!" Another girl's voice echoed after the first.

Chervil's attention landed on the two girls now known to her as RinRin and RanRan, watching them as they practiced katas on a hanging log. The would-be Musk Princess smiled warmly and then sighed as she recalled her own participation in the Musk women's tournament...

Frantic cheering and jeering bellowed from all directions. Chervil stood in the middle of a ring located at the bottom of a wide circular pit. Carved into the stone walls were holes made to simulate seats and stairs segmenting between them, the round arena going as high as four stories.

Though the redhead was still standing, it might not have been for long, for her opponent seemed to know no remorse in her powerful swings Chervil was forced to dodge. First a right hook, then a left, and following that her opponent spun around to deliver a powerful kick the lioness was forced to duck at the last moment, widening her eyes and emitting a small shriek of surprise.

"Why are you taking this so seriously, Papri? You're not even interested in becoming the next princess of the dynasty!" Chervil said, noticing that it made her friend pause at the other girl's question and then statement.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"I may not be interested in becoming a princess, but I am into winning and showing off my strength!" She explained as she took a cautious step forward, her stance never faltering even as she spoke.

Gasping, the lioness felt the back of her heel slide off the edge of the platform a little, causing her to glance down in the direction of her foot and behind her, then back at her opponent.

"Sekkin Kohō!" Papri roared with a fierce fire in her eyes, reeling her arm back as her aura took on the form of ki that surrounded her fist; this was the Approaching Tiger Cannon, and it was her clan's most powerful and destructive technique.

Narrowing her eyes, knowing that if she didn't time this just right, she'd lose right then and there, Chervil gritted her teeth and dove out of the way, just outside of Papri's vision.

Boom!

"Argh! Dammit!" Papri grumbled to herself as she watched how a fourth of the platform they were standing on was destroyed and crumbled.

The soft echoes of a ki attack forming rung in Papri's ears. She had hoped that her ears were playing tricks on her, but when she saw a green hue of light start to brighten, she instinctively, like a deer caught in headlights, slowly turned to find the source of this bright yellow light was coming from the ball of energy swirling in Chervil's right palm.

"Shin Shishi-Dan!" Cried out Chervil as her other hand immediately reached out to steady her firing arm the ball launched with such intensity that the wind that followed caused both hers and Papri's clothes to sway about wildly as it soared, and then Chervil's Real Lion Shot collided hard against Papri's crossed arms.

"Nooo…!" Papri screamed in denial, being pushed back so hard that she was eventually sent flying back onto the ground and out of the ring.

THUD!

A chorus of praise and protests followed as Chervil stood as the automatic winner, panting, with a bit of sweat coming from her brow. However, she still smiled. She had won against one of her closest friends and possibly most difficult rivals as well.

Walking out from the arena and onto the walkway that led there, the victorious Musk teenager strode with her head held high and a bandage on her cheek. Unbeknownst to her was her friend who, from her perspective, was invisible until she was close enough to see that Papri was there with her back against the wall, her arms crossed.

"I really thought I had you there," The tiger woman uttered softly.

"You almost did. I really had to chance it," Chervil answered calmly and kindly as she came to a stop to look at her friend.

"Congratulations on learning the lion clan's signature technique, by the way!" Chervil's friend praised before pushing her back off the tree she had been leaning against.

"I'm impressed you developed a technique yourself," The fang-toothed lioness returned the appraisal, crossing her arms with an amused smirk.

"My Sekkin Kohō? All tiger clan members know it too," Papri made clear, not wanting to take credit for something she hadn't made.

"Oh! Still! At least it was new to me!" Chervil added with a chuckle, to which Papri joined her and moved so that she could stand by her friend's side and walk together with her to the dressing rooms at the end of their path.

For a short while, they walked together with their eyes closed, Papri putting her hands behind her head as they walked. Their pleasant smiles lasted until both caught the sound of approaching footsteps shifting dirt and gravel.

"Hope you're real proud of winning the semifinals, slacker, because I'm going to win my match too and then take you down at the finals tomorrow!" Vanille announced boldly, placing her hands on her hips and meeting her enemies' now open and focused eyes.

The following day…

Anise and Krème sat side by side in the same circular arena as before, though behind them all the seats were filled. Waiting with bated breath as they witnessed the entrance of each potential suitor to the Prince of the Musk.

"Now for the fight that'll determine the future Queen of these lands!" An announcer said from the sidelines as the two combatants were being set across the battlefield from one another.

Chervil looked none too surprised that it had been Vanile and even seemed to smile at this chance. Not only was this her stake at Herb's heart, but it was also a defining moment for her to show Vanile that she wasn't some pushover and that even those born of less warrior-based roots could blossom into fully-fledged Musk champions.

Vanile pushed her fists together and cracked her neck to one side, then to the other, before closing her eyes and then opening them with a cocky, fang-toothed smile.

"Before we start this fight, I'm gonna' make it clear that I don't care at all about my chances of becoming Herb's fiancee!" Vanile said, slowly sliding into a defensive stance with both legs bent and her right foot in front of the other. She held one hand out in front of her chest and the other held up high and next to her head.

Taken aback by Vanile's vow of abstinence from the Prince during the ceremony to determine the next Queen was enough to make Chervil pause from taking her stance. She stopped before she took the same fighting stance as her opponent.

"If you're wondering why, it's because I got my own boyfriend, so beating you is all the motivation I need!" Vanile explained with a smirk.

At first, Chervil was ticked off, but as Vanile continued, she found that although she already had a boyfriend, she still wanted to test her skills against her. "At first, I thought you were just wasting our dear Prince's time, but now that I understand that you're just like me…"

"How's that?"

"You're not just fighting for yourself but to prove to your lover you're worthy too…" Chervil said softly as she fully settled into her stance, giving her opponent an encouraging smile.

Once a calm second went by, they nearly vanished with the intense speeds the two Musk lionesses released before clashing in the middle. Now that they had collided, the audience could clearly see Chervil and Vanile's fists meeting in the middle, but the expressions on their faces were anything but confident. Once the force of their attacks dispersed, they jumped back with their hands trembling as they then went back to the middle.

The pain of their evenly matched punches became an afterthought as they traded fists faster than the average person could perceive. Vanile took a right hook straight on her cheek, reeling back before jumping at the last second to avoid a kick from Chervil, only for Vanile to return the kick and land it on Chervil's side!

Vanile was about to leap back but saw at the corner of her eye that although Chervil had taken the hit, she had endured. Instead of recoiling long enough to give her a breather, the resilient redhead merely landed while holding her sore side and launched herself hard enough to crack the ground beneath her. She swiftly closed the distance between them and punched Vanile hard enough in the gut to send her flying back and rolling backward before stopping herself just at the corner of the ring.

Chervil looked as though she were about to continue the assault but winced and grabbed her side, dropping to a knee while gritting her teeth.

Getting on her hands and knees, the emerald green-haired girl coiled inward as her insides wretched from the blunt force applied. From the looks of it, she looked as though she were ready to throw up with the spittle on the edge of her gasping mouth.

"Need to make this quick…" Chervil's voice trailed in uncertainty as she straightened her posture and threw out her arm.

"Huh!?" Vanile grunted as she lifted her head to see Chervil sticking her hand out, her eyes widening before hardening as she stuck her arm out and called out at the same time as her opponent.

"Shin Shishi-Daaannnnn!" Both teens shouted almost simultaneously.

The two glowing orbs of light smashed against each other, and the resulting explosion released a tremendous gale that almost pushed both girls out of the ring. They needed to dig their nails into the ground and infuse them with ki.

"Whoaaa…!" A large part of the audience gawked in awe.

"Heh! Bet you didn't know that we lion clan members can't beat each other with ki attacks!" Vanile taunted mockingly as she dashed towards Chervil, feigning a kick only to redirect her attack so she instead elbowed Chervil's stomach as hard as she could.

The nerve endings of Chervil screamed out in anguish, but the prevailing thought of Herb came through the fog and strengthened her resolve! She still staggered back, losing her balance for a moment. Chervil looked dizzy as she spun around on her left heel to deliver a powerful kick that caught Vanile off guard.

The recoiling green-haired Musk girl and the sore redhead lioness parted from the middle of the platform, eyeing each other down as they breathed heavily. Once they had taken enough breaths, they both swallowed hard, silently thankful that they both needed to catch their breath.

"It's over for–" Vanile began but winced as she bared her fangs in pain, using one hand to clutch her spasming shoulder.

Chervil smirked a little as she noticed how Vanile's bluff had immediately come apart, 'Looks like she took it harder than I did, not to mention that wasted Shin Shishi-Dan cost me some energy too!' she thought.

Vanile looked at Chervil immediately after wincing. She opened her eyes as quickly as she could but saw that her adversary had pressed the attack but rather seemed more reserved, her eyes focusing on the hand Chervil had used for her ki attack.

"Hey referee!" The emerald-eyed Musk inquired while backing up to the edge.

"Huh?" Chervil stopped and looked dumbfounded, unsure of what to make of this, so she just continued to stare.

"Do we have a choice of weapons?" Vanile demanded to know as she made sure to keep her guard up around Chervil.

"According to the rules, it is possible!" The referee declared as he then turned to some guards standing nearby, who stepped aside to reveal a weapons rack.

"Please hand me a steel polearm!"

"What!? She's only doing this because I'm less hurt than-" Chervil wanted to contest this abrupt change but saw the referee hold out a cease hand at her.

"All types of martial arts may be used during the finals, including but not limited to the use of weapons!" The spokesperson for the rules insisted.

Looking rather ticked off for a second but sighing afterward, Chervil muttered the following to herself in dismay, "Wish I had practiced with weapons more."

As per Vanile's request, the guards near the weapons rack grabbed the best polearm for someone of Vanile's stature and tossed it to the referee, who in turn chucked it towards Vanile, who expertly grasped it with one hand before lowering it to hold it with both.

"I-I guess I'll go with a Dao. It's at least something I'm familiar with," The redhead decided as she, in the same manner, tossed a weapon, catching it with one hand before holding it out with the tip pointed at her opponent.

Encircling each other, they seemed to be waiting for the perfect moment to strike, neither letting their weapons lower. Even the crowd held their breath, that was until Chervil missed a step, almost tripping since she had tried to pass one foot over the other so she could keep walking in a circle but failed to lift her foot high enough and thus stumbled a little.

"Now!" Vanile said but took in a quick breath of air like a shot of adrenaline shooting through her body.

Pow!

Reeling back with her arms over her head but one hand still clenching her Dao, Chervil gritted her teeth as she saw that Vanile had batted her Dao off to the side and then reeled her polearm back to immediately jab Chervil with it and sent her flying back.

Although Chervil was mostly able to recover by getting back up on her feet, she had little room for recourse as Vanile was now claiming dominance, forcing Chervil to keep dodging while hurt.

"So slow! And you want to be the Prince's wife!?" Vanile goaded Chervil, taunting her to attack.

"Don't you dare mock my–" Chervil roared as she swung her Dao right after, only to fall into Vanile's trap as she intended.

Cling!

Chervil's sword flew from her hand and out of the ring with a loud clicking noise before settling.

Vanile unleashed all her force and fury into her next jabs, focused on speed and power as she landed hit after hit.

The redhead ducked under one strike, attempting to punch the green-haired girl in the face, only for Vanile to take a step back and swing the bottom of her polearm in the opposite direction, smacking Chervil across the face with it. 'At this point, all I can hope to do is block!' Chervil thought frantically.

"It's over! I'm going to be the champion!" Vanile celebrated, refusing to relent even for a second. The prospect of becoming the strongest and taking down someone as beneath her as Chervil drove her to go beyond even what she had thought she was capable of.

'If I let up even for an instant! I can't attack properly without a weapon either! Ki attacks she'd just counter! Wait!' Chervil's eyes widened as she was hit with an epiphany.

"Quit getting distracted!" Vanile demanded as she took that look as her chance for one more well-timed forward jab.

'I'll use my father's technique…!' Chervil's mind whispered to herself in a deafening calm.

Her polearm was slapped to the side by the sharp edge of Chervil's glowing ki-infused nails! The slash had been directed downward; however, Chervil's arms were already moving above her head as she aimed to bring them both down onto Vanile's head.

"Tatsu Riba!" Chervil screamed with frightening determination burning in her eyes.

Translucent white streaks in the shape of lion claws flew through the air and across Vanile's polearm, slicing straight through with enough force to not only send the shocked Musk girl flying backward but also tear at her clothes and leave long bruises on her arms and shoulders, not to mention tearing Vanile's shirt enough for her breasts to be partially exposed.

THUD!

Vanile grunted in pain as she was whipped off the arena and then landed but continued to roll with enough momentum until she was outside the ring and resting on her stomach, her hand defiantly grasping onto the chunk of her polearm that remained.

"It was like she whipped the wind…" Vanile mumbled before flopping her face back into the dirt.

The crowd roared in cheers and some complained about it being rigged, though that hadn't changed the fact that Chervil had claimed victory as the referee went over to check on Vanile. All he could hear were grunts, though, even if she wasn't, she had still been ringed out.

"The winner!" He exclaimed, holding a hand out to Chervil.

Rather than basking in her crowning moment, Chervil looked at Vanile and saw her struggling to get back up, maybe to spare herself some humiliation by at least standing, paying attention to cover her chest with her arms. Wasting next to no time, the redheaded Musk went over to her fallen adversary and took off her cloak, placing it around her shoulders.

"W-what are you doing?" Vanile inquired, shocked as she was being supported so she could stand while covered modestly by Chervil's cape.

"You know, I have nothing against you or your friends, so, I'd be happy if you three instead agreed to help me from now on. After all, Vanile, we're two lion clan girls and we shouldn't fight amongst each other, you know?" Chervil offered her rival a genuine smile of compassion.

Vanile gawked at her for a moment before she honestly couldn't take it anymore, so she started chuckling uncontrollably.

"So I'll take that as a, uh…" Chervil's eyes went wide and blank, confused as to what was happening exactly.

"Take that as a yes," Vanile raised a tired hand to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye. "I don't have anything against you either. I just thought I had an image to maintain, but after this and how nice you're being about all this if you or your pal Papri ever need 'anything,' you let me know." Vanile grinned widely at a softly smiling Chervil…

"That's when Papri and I finally got Vanile, Krème, and Anise as friends. I just never imagined what happened after being declared worthy of becoming Lord Herb's fiancée…" She mumbled to herself, lowering her head and holding her hand over her heart.

'I should have been more patient with him, but I'll be ready next time, even if it means taking my clothes o-off…' she thought, blushing before shaking her head and covering her chest with both arms.

"I swear I'll find that ring, my Prince!" She swore, focusing on the most important matter.

----------------------------------------

Ranko found it increasingly difficult to move forward as Ebiten wielded the fishing pole with surprising skill. Each attempted maneuver was swiftly countered, and the extended reach of the pole prevented her from gaining any ground. The strikes from the pole stung, leaving cuts on her arms and shoulders that bothered her more than she cared to admit.

'He's not particularly strong, but with that weapon, he's become far more dangerous,' Ranko thought, trying to ease the bleeding from her wounds. 'I can't just rush him head-on, so how can I win?'

Ebiten remained confident, keeping his pole aimed at Ranko. Now wielding his chosen weapon, he was determined to defeat her and make the arrest. He hoped to accomplish this before her companion arrived, not wanting to leave anything to chance.

'I wish I knew more about her fighting style,' Ebiten pondered, observing Ranko's movements. 'It's unlike anything I've seen in the region, and she doesn't seem to be using any traditional Chinese martial arts. Perhaps she's employing a highly flexible style that adapts to any situation, but it's beyond anything I'm familiar with. Nonetheless, I must stop her.'

Ranko moved left slowly, noticing Ebiten didn't move this time; instead, he simply focused on keeping her in his sights. It was obvious he would use his fishing pole to attack her again the moment she tried to cross the bridge, but maybe…

'If I can't go left or right…' Ranko mused, then recalled she was very good at aerial combat, so perhaps attacking from above was the key to winning here. 'Can't hurt to try…'

"You're not bad with that thing," the redhead admitted, moving slowly towards the fisherman martial artist. "But I think I know how to win."

"Feel free to try," Ebiten invited, curious about seeing more of the girl's particular fighting style.

"Try this!" Ranko exclaimed, suddenly jumping as high as she could and then aiming a kick at her opponent's head. She had moved so quickly she was certain he would not be able to react in time to dodge, and even if he blocked, her kick should be strong enough to at least drop him on his back, giving her the chance of a follow-up attack.

Unfortunately for her, the plan didn't work. Ebiten simply knits his brow and proceeded to twirl his fishing pole, sending up the fishing line in a circular pattern that entangled Ranko from her knees to her shoulders, dropping her unceremoniously on the ground with a loud 'thud'.

"Oh, crap…!" Ranko cursed bad memories of what Monlon could do returning to her mind. She was still resenting some of the cuts she had gotten from that musical menace and was not looking forward to having that happen again. Struggling to get free, the redhead found that this line was as strong as Monlon's lute strings had been.

"Relax," Ebiten said, noticing the way Ranko was trying to drag herself away from him. "I'm not going to cut you with the line; I'm not using Ongaku No Sento."

"You're not?"

"I'm the master of the Tsurizao No Ken school and also Nekonron's top fisherman; what good would it make me to cut the fish into pieces before I lure it in?" The little martial artist said with a smirk. "No, I won't cut you; my Fishing Rod Fist doesn't have those kinds of techniques."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I'm just going to soften you up a little... Sakana no Hokaku!" Ebiten declared as he called the name of his special move and, pulling with his full strength, he reeled the line back, and as it tensed, Ranko was sent up all the way to the roof of the gate's entrance, where she smashed with great force. Ebiten then pulled the line down, sending the redhead crashing against the floor. Not giving the girl a chance to recover, the fisherman martial artist repeated the motion but this time pulled the line left, sending Ranko flying hard against the bridge's railing. "Sometimes one has to tire strong fish, you know? Tire them up until they have no fight left in them."

"I'm not a fish, you big-eared moron!" Ranko complained after hearing the name of the technique was pretty much 'fish capture'. The redhead groaned then and spat some blood as she had inadvertently bitten the inside of her cheek after crashing on the ground.

"It's all the same," Ebiten smirked. "You won't break the line, so I'll just keep doing this until you're unconscious."

Struggling against the pain she felt all over, Ranko tried to find a way to escape, but she couldn't think of anything. The way she had gotten tied up by the line didn't give her much leverage if at all, and she couldn't even find the way to stand up or to use anything to counter. It was then she felt Ebiten pull again, and she found herself being flung against one of the castle gate's columns. As she braced for impact, an image suddenly came to Ranko's mind: the moment Monlon bounced off the wall to launch herself like a missile. Could she use that trick?

'It's the only option I have so…' she thought and quickly maneuvered herself, hoping to do it right and… she did it! Her feet hit the column first, and putting all she had on this one chance, she ricocheted from it like a bullet, taking Ebiten by surprise as she slammed her right shoulder directly into his face.

"How did you…?" Ebiten managed to get out when he saw the redhead had bounced off the column. The surprise left him motionless, and he could not defend himself when her shoulder collided against his jaw so hard he let go of his fishing pole as he was sent spiraling headfirst against the railing on the other side of the bridge.

"That'll teach ya!" Ranko celebrated, noticing her strategy had worked very well, to the point the line had gone loose, and she was finally able to untangle herself and get back to her feet.

"Nobody… ever… got free from that…" Ebiten managed to get out as he got back to his feet. The fisherman martial artist managed two steps before his eyes went blank, and he fell backward, this time fully unconscious.

"Well… this guy was strong but not all that difficult to deal with," Ranko muttered as she started walking, only to reach for the railing as her strength failed her. Her whole body hurt, and she knew it was because of the way Ebiten had slammed her against the ground and ceiling. While the fight itself had not been that difficult, it seemed that the miniature fisherman had been the one who ended up causing her the most damage so far.

"Getting tangled up is really the worst," Ranko spat, not too happy about having fought two adversaries with similar techniques one after the other. "At least Ebiten couldn't use that fishing line to do the same thing Monlon did and cut me."

Glad for small favors, Ranko noticed the door to enter Ebiten's castle gate was ajar, so she made her way inside. As urgent as the situation was, checking if there were some medical supplies wouldn't hurt, and she could also use some water, too.

The inside was not very luxurious, but it was very clean, orderly, and it had several paintings depicting fishing and several fishing lines neatly arranged on a rack, as well as some cabinets and a small kitchen. After looking, Ranko found the bathroom, and in there, was a box with bandages and other medicine. Carrying it back to the kitchen, she sat on a stool and began to disinfect the cuts and bandage them, wincing a bit as the alcohol touched her flesh.

The cuts weren't so bad, at least not when compared to the way she was still resenting being slammed against the ground or the way Monlon had gone at her back with that stupid lute of hers. Rummaging through the box of medicine, Ranko found a clear bottle containing a green liquid marked with a series of Chinese characters that she recognized from a similar bottle she once saw inside Lotion's medicine cabinet.

"I remember this thing," Ranko muttered as she picked the little bottle up. "What did that old ghoul say this was for when I asked, an analgesic for general pain or something?"

The redhead opened the bottle and tentatively sniffed at the liquid, nodding when she confirmed the smell was the same as the one Lotion had at home. Recalling the way to take it was to mix three drops in a glass of water and let it rest for a few minutes until the water changed color to orange, Ranko decided to prepare the medicine, hoping it would relieve her sore shoulders and back.

As she waited for the water to change color, Ranko sighed and ran a hand over her hair, reminding herself that she couldn't waste much time here. Lychee was waiting for her, and the redhead was not going to let her friend down.

"I did promise to bring her back home, too," Ranko muttered, remembering her conversation with Lychee's parents. "I won't fail, I'll save her, I swear I won't."

Her resolve strengthened, Ranko noticed the water had finally changed colors, so she grabbed the glass and downed the medicine in one gulp, forgetting that one was supposed to take it in little sips. The taste, as she found out when her stomach churned in protest, was horrendous, so bad indeed Ranko dropped to the floor, twitching as her whole body protested the noxious taste.

"...Uh… where?" she blinked, recovering consciousness after several minutes, her mouth still aching, and her head still spinning a little as she managed to get back on her feet. "That thing… ugh… I think I almost died… just what's in that medicine? I'd never zoned out like that before…"

"But nothing hurts anymore," Ranko whispered, moving her arms and rotating her shoulders back and forth, smiling when she noticed the pain was gone, not even her cuts bothered her!

Feeling lucky and glad that she had endured the foul taste of the medicine, Ranko rushed out of Ebiten's chambers and rushed out of the bridge, feeling like she could take on anyone now.

Or so she thought.

The burst of energy she had felt faded quickly, and the steep climb that she found after Ebiten's Castle Gate didn't help matters; she was running up a set of steps carved in stone at almost a ninety-degree elevation, and while normally this wouldn't be a problem, the beatings she had taken finally took a toll on her. Taking one last jump to the next rest a few meters further up the mountain, Ranko finally lost her breath.

"I guess… I guess the remedy hasn't fully worked its way through my body, or something. I suppose I can take a couple of minutes here to rest," she said as she took in a deep breath, bending down and resting her hands on her knees. "Damn… I wish I had brought some of our stuff too, I hope Ryoga catches up soon."

'Ryoga…' she thought then, her heart aching for her boyfriend's presence and for her arms around her. Still, she also felt glad he was not here to see her like this. 'Heh… if he saw me like this, I wouldn't hear the end of it… that pig-headed boy can be such a worrywart sometimes… but I guess I wouldn't… love… him that much if he weren't…'

"I… I think I really should tell him how I feel soon," she whispered as she sat on the steps, reflecting for a few minutes on her relationship with Ryoga, finally realizing it was unfair of her to never let him know she loved him back.

'...I'll tell him when this is over,' she thought, her heart beating a bit faster at the idea of telling Ryoga how she truly felt. 'Once Lychee's safe back home, I will tell him I love him.'

A few minutes later, finally feeling rested enough and with a new sense of conviction both for saving Lychee and for letting her boyfriend know how she truly felt, Ranko resumed her way, determined to reach the top of the mountain and save her best friend.

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The heavy fog in that section of the mountain cleared slowly as they ascended, and Ryoga was happy to leave it behind. He had been forced to walk very close to Jurojin to avoid risking losing sight of him, which would mean getting lost in the mountain, and that was something he could not afford. He had to catch up to Ranko quickly, and staying close to Jurojin was his only option to make sure he could.

'I wonder if she's still fighting Monlon?' Ryoga wondered silently, hoping his girlfriend had won, and also that she had decided to wait for him. 'But who am I kidding? She must be almost to the top of the mountain by now.'

"We'll reach Monlon's gate soon," Jurojin said; worry was evident in his voice as he kept moving, following the ascending curve on the mountain path. "Maybe your girlfriend is still there."

"Chances are she's not," Ryoga said, but didn't elaborate and instead focused on following his guide. "But who knows?"

"Yeah, who knows?" Jurojin said as he and Ryoga reached the plateau where Monlon's gate was.

The place was empty and no sound other than the passing of the wind could be heard. Jurojin frowned as he paid attention, hoping to hear the sound of Monlon's lute playing but to no avail. Ryoga, too, hoped to see Ranko there, but she was nowhere to be seen. Both men knew this meant the fight, if there had been a fight, was over, and that the winner had left several minutes before. Now the question was, who won?

"If Monlon won, she's probably about to reach the Royal Tower by now," Jurojin said, hoping that was the case and that his girlfriend wasn't hurt.

"I think Ranko won, which means she's on her way to meet your prince," Ryoga disputed, not too happy with Jurojin mentioning his dear redhead had been defeated.

"Perhaps she did," Jurojin conceded; he had walked closer to Monlon's gate and found her broken lute on the ground, and he knew this most likely meant her musician had lost the fight.

"Taking a closer look at this place it does seem the girls fought," Ryoga observed as he noticed some spots on the rocky ground that could not be anything else but drying blood.

"I agree," the shadow master of the Lucky Gods said, heading for the actual castle gate. "I need to check if Monlon's in there, you can wait for me here or join me inside."

Not wanting to risk getting lost, Ryoga had no choice but to follow.

Ryoga paid little attention to the decorations in Monlon's castle gate, instead focusing on finding Jurojin. Fortunately for him, it was not difficult to do, as the noises in a room to his right told him where he was. He went in to find Jurojin gently picking up Monlon, who by the looks of things had passed out next to her telephone.

"Is she alright?" Ryoga asked, honestly concerned about the woman.

"She took a beating," Jurojin said gravely, but no anger was present in his voice. "And she's obviously exhausted, she must have used all she had during the fight and she still lost. Your Ranko must be quite strong if she was able to defeat Monlon like this."

"Yes, she is strong. Uh… look, I'm sorry about Monlon, it's…"

"You don't have to say anything," Jurojin interrupted, placing Monlon carefully on a couch. "In a martial arts duel you win or lose, and you can get hurt… I'm not happy Monlon lost, but it is clear she lost fairly and I don't hold you or Ranko responsible."

"I… thank you," Ryoga said, relieved to see Jurojin was being reasonable about this.

"Wait here," Jurojin said then, leaving the room and returning a few minutes later with a water jar, two cups, and a bottle of what Ryoga supposed was medicine.

"What's that?" The young Hibiki asked, faintly recognizing the smell of the substance inside the bottle once Jurojin opened it.

"Medicine," Jurojin answered as he added a few drops of the liquid to a cup. "We get it from Yakusai, all the Lucky Gods keep it in their Castle Gates. It's a strong analgesic, it gives a quick energy boost once it's gone through your system, too."

Ryoga watched as Jurojin drank the medicine, and winced as he noticed the way the unofficial Lucky God had to grab the edge of the table to avoid falling as his face contorted into a painful frown.

"It does taste horrible, though," Jurojin admitted after a moment. "Would you like some?"

"No, thanks," Ryoga said, not wanting to suffer the taste of that potion. "I don't really need it, I'm barely tired."

"Yeah, I can tell," Jurojin said, remembering Ryoga's stamina was just almost beyond human and wondering again if he had Musk blood in him and once again thinking it wasn't possible.

"I could use some water," Ryoga said while filling the other cup with water and taking a sip. "And maybe some ointment for sore muscles? My shoulders do bother me a little, I must admit."

"The medicine box is in the next room," Jurojin pointed out. "Go ahead, I'll wait here."

Ryoga nodded, and paying close attention to where he was going, he entered the next room. It didn't take him much time to find what he needed, some arnica oil that he rubbed on his left shoulder and then on his right one, feeling relieved almost instantly. He wondered if Ranko was doing alright, and seriously hoped she wasn't hurt. Because if she had been hurt, he didn't know what he would do.

'Can't think of that, too painful,' he thought, as the idea of seeing Ranko hurt made him feel so worried and angry that… a crunching sound made Ryoga blink, and looking down he realized he had just crushed Monlon's medicine box between his hands like an accordion. 'I really hope she's not hurt.'

Because Ryoga knew if Ranko was even slightly hurt he would probably be so angry he wouldn't stop until he had severely punished the one responsible.

"If you're done breaking my girlfriend's things…" Jurojin said from the door, interrupting Ryoga's grim thoughts. The young Hibiki turned to see Jurojin was carrying Monlon in his arms, and he had covered her with a warm-looking white blanket. "Then I think we should go, you still want to go to the Royal Tower, don't you?"

"Yes, I do… and sorry, I didn't mean to break anything," Ryoga apologized.

"Don't worry about that," Jurojin sighed, knowing it was best not to antagonize Ryoga. "Just follow me and stay close, the shortcut we're taking can be a little tricky to navigate."

"I'll remember to do that," the young Hibiki promised, following Jurojin out of Monlon's castle gate and into an almost hidden-from-view lateral path that went up, zigzagging along the face of the mountain.

"It seems you're feeling much better," Ryoga observed a few minutes later, noticing Jurojing was no longer giving any indications of being tired or weakened.

"The medicine helps," he answered, securing Monlon in his arms as he kept going, not looking at Ryoga as he went. "But don't worry, I'm not interested in fighting you again right now if that's what you're thinking."

"Is it safe to move her to the Royal Tower?" Ryoga asked, looking at Monlon once they made a short pause.

"I'm being very careful," Jurojin said, pressing Monlon against his chest, his expression determined. "The maids at the tower will make sure she is treated well… it's the best place for Monlon to rest and recover."

"If you say so…"

"Anyway," Jurojin said, motioning upwards with a move of his head, towards a bridge that connected the schism on the mountain they were currently climbing. "We'll reach Ebiten's gate soon, and from there we'll reach the stairs that go to the Tower."

"Good, then let's keep going," Ryoga said with a nod, waiting until Jurojin moved to continue following him.

'I wonder if Ebiten captured that redhead…' Jurojin thought, glancing to his side to see Ryoga frowning as they went, an indicator that he was starting to wonder if his girlfriend was safe or hurt and captured. 'Damn it… if Ebiten won this Ryoga guy is probably going to go berserk, and I don't think even Kirin can defeat him unharmed…'

Unsure of what outcome would be better, Jurojin secured Monlon in his arms and continued going up, listening to the ominous sound of Ryoga's steps behind him…

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The fallen lucky fisherman winced as he struggled to gather himself, a stinging sensation spreading throughout his head and upper spine as his consciousness returned to the waking world. He looked around with his fogged-over vision, his eyes struggling to adjust to the world of blurry visuals he found himself in.

Instances of his encounter flashed through his mind's eye, remembering how surprised he had been when his enemy had drastically changed the variables of their fight. The memory of her final blow was what finally woke him up, prompting him to open his eyes. He winced again as he sat up, both of his eyes closing before only one opened.

He shook his head as he tried to fight off some latent dizziness. "Forgive me, Lord Kirin. She was more resourceful than I gave her credit for, and if I see her again when I'm well, I won't let it happen again!" Ebiten lamented his defeat remorsefully, but near the end, he groaned in pain and focused on forcing himself back up with a determined but strained glare.

Shakily getting back on his feet, the wounded fisherman pushed himself off the ground, bending his knee so he could plant his foot down and come to a complete stand. He moved a hand over his chest as he limped over to his fishing rod, doing his best to use it as a makeshift walking stick.

"...Must warn the prince," He grumbled to himself as he hobbled through his gate doors. Once inside, he made a beeline for the phone, sighing.

'I pray for the day we get better telephones…' he begrudgingly thought to himself while enduring intense pain and going through the agonizingly long process of making a call on his old rotary phone.

Pressing the phone to his ear, he heard it ring a few times, and someone picked up. He cleared his throat to try not to sound so hurt.

"Greetings, this is Yu Nuo. You have reached Nekonron's Royal Tower. Please state your business." A maid from before answered, so used to her routine she hadn't noticed the gasps of pain.

"I-I must speak with Prince Kirin!" The battered Lucky God said before seething in pain, placing his hand over his chest as he recoiled inwardly enough to drop his rod before clenching his chest and squeezing the phone.

Back at the Royal Tower…

Yu Nuo finally heard the pain echoing loud and clear, knowing what this could be. She left the phone hanging, exiting her office at breakneck speeds before stopping outside the tea room again and suddenly opening the doors.

"...That this Ranko is someone I shouldn't take from you, but I'm afraid that preserving the honor of the Seven Lucky Gods also weighs heavily on me," the telephone operator slash loyal maid heard Kirin's trailing voice explain upon entry.

Averting his eyes from his confused princess and landing them on the maid's, he noticed that this time she hadn't even bothered to straighten herself out before getting there. Lychee joined Kirin, noticing how urgent this must have been if the prim and proper maid from before was now there with her arms holding the double doors open.

"Lord Kirin! There's an urgent call from Master Ebiten!" She informed him, wasting no time in getting to the point.

Lychee winced a little from the grinding noise of Prince Kirin's chair, watching as he took his bowl and chopsticks with him as he looked at his maid. "If she's here, then Ranko must've…" The docile strawberry blonde's voice trailed off as she whispered, realizing that Ranko was far stronger than she even thought.

"Excuse me, my Princess, but there's another call in need of my attention," Kirin hurriedly said with shocked eyes as he power-walked his way over to the door, Yu Nuo stepped out of the way and bowed her head as he walked past her.

Lychee sighed, squinting her eyes as she picked up her glass, and with a wistful gaze she swirled the pale liquid in slow, deliberate circles.

Kirin ended up running while masterfully keeping his rice from dropping even a single grain nor pickled plum. Placing his rice and chopsticks down on a table next to the phone, the troubled Prince picked up the phone and held it to his ear.

"Ebiten? Are you alright? The maid's words are quite worrying!" The Nekonron noble asked with genuine concern laced into his words.

'Forgive me, my Lord, I've failed to capture the redhead,' Ebiten stuttered then seethed, the sound of him rubbing to soothe his head echoing through the call.

"Worry about yourself for now; you did your best, and that's all we can ask. So, rest while I take it upon myself to restore honor to the Seven," Kirin dismissed his fellow Lucky God before hardening his resolve for the upcoming battle.

Creak…!

Lychee had been left to the silence, though upon hearing something from where she had last seen Prince Kirin and sure he was uniformly closing the door behind him and marching over to her as though he were a mighty general.

"Your friend Ranko has gone through all of the Seven's gates and is on her way here to my Royal Tower," Kirin spoke, knowing that what he was about to do she didn't approve of.

"Ranko and Ryoga have really beaten all of the other Lucky Gods? And have you decided whether or not you're going to talk to her, my prince?" Lychee at first became shocked. The Lucky Gods of lore were taken down by her amnesiac friend and boulder-like boyfriend. After this epiphany, her times with Ranko spoke of the care and admiration she had towards her.

Kirin's seemingly impenetrable demeanor began to buckle when faced with the sheer adorableness emanating from Lychee. 'I fear I may no longer have any choice. Father had always said never to escalate the situation unless it was deemed 'absolutely' necessary,' he thought, finding some conflict of interest in the way he and his father would do things.

Letting his breath out like a slow steam valve, he closed his eyes before softening his hardened steel-like face to a more remorseful one. He spoke his next words carefully.

"My position as leader of the Seven Lucky Gods demands me to be honor-bound to fight your friend Ranko. As you can imagine, she is putting our reputation as the protectors of these lands in jeopardy, so I'm afraid I can't take these defeats lying down," Kirin admonished, opening his eyes to see Lychee disheartened by those words. He had to continue regardless, though.

"Even if I am to fight Ranko, I promise to hear what she has to say about these supposed charges of hers before deciding whether or not to deliver her to Prince Herb…" His voice trailed softly afterward.

"Please don't fight Ranko! What if you accidentally hit her too hard or one of you takes it too far or-or…!" Lychee began to beg openly, tears forming freely at the corners of her eyes.

"Forgive me, my Princess, this is the best offer I can make under these circumstances. I'm gambling on a long-sought-after peace treaty with the Musk Dynasty, one that would be greatly beneficial for my people and all, on your behalf!" Kirin conveyed the weight of his royal duties, finding that his raised voice seemed to startle the begging girl.

After which, a deafening silence fell over them, Kirin lowering his chopsticks and bowl lower than Lychee had ever seen him do. "Royal responsibilities aside, as a martial artist myself, I have my duty to attend to. I imagine Ranko, of all people, would understand that as well…" Kirin added, his voice trailing in worry, hoping Lychee could see where he was coming from given their differences.

Remembering how happy Ranko looked when explaining she was a martial artist and how it had put her on the same level as her boyfriend, she knew that Ranko would understand. 'Prince Kirin is not just fighting to arrest Ranko but to show his people that their guardians aren't weak,' she thought, narrowing her eyes in dismay.

"I-I think I understand. All that I ask is that you don't force me to end my friendship with Ranko after all is said and done…" Lychee's voice mirrored her dismal outlook.

Later…

Glad she was physically fit to an inhuman degree and that the medicine had finally kicked in, helping her feel almost as good as new, Ranko continued her upward ascent toward the Royal Tower. It had been visible for some time, but now that she was closing in on it, the redhead took a moment to gaze in awe and amazement, whistling at the impressive display. After she crossed a certain threshold, she noticed it flattened out into a wide, roughly circular plateau, with the huge royal structure sitting in the middle.

"Looks like that brought the welcoming party…" Ranko's voice trailed with grim determination as she started cracking her knuckles while walking over to the stationed but clearly high-strung soldiers.

"Outta the way!" Ranko unleashed a battle cry while reeling her right fist back, sprinting over to the huddling, defensively postured horde of guards, preparing to fight her way to the tower's doors if she had to.

"Let her through!" A man's voice ordered, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Everyone stopped in surprise and looked back at the tower. There, behind the group of Nekonronian guardsmen stood Prince Kirin, his arm outstretched as he then dropped it to his side and walked towards Ranko with a stoic but static face.

Further behind him were two maids, and between them stood Lychee, her hands clasped together and close to her waist, her head cast down with her eyes closed, though her expression showed she was quite conflicted by what was happening. They too followed behind the prince.

"Lychee?" Ranko questioned as she immediately shut her eyes and came to a skidding halt, her pigtail whipping behind her.

"Go around and past the redhead so we may be alone. Guard the path leading to the tower!" The Nekonron Royal commanded sternly, throwing his arm out and flapping his cape behind him a little in doing so.

Receiving the Chinese equivalent of a "Yes, sir!" His men did as they were told and scattered from Ranko's point in the center to run past her and down the way she came.

Cautiously, Ranko whipped her head from right to left, keeping her arms out and at the ready in case it had all been a ruse. Seeing that it hadn't, she looked back at Kirin, but then at her friend. The strawberry blonde in a beautiful dress opened her eyes and looked up at just the right moment to see that Ranko now stood between the way down and the tower.

"Hong Fa!" Lychee exclaimed in tears as she dropped her formal pretenses in front of her prince. Not to mention, the tattered state of Ranma's apparel and well-being looked a little worse for wear than she had expected.

"Cheng Fa!" Ranko called back with just as much relief, sprinting towards her at relatively the same pace before the two embraced in the middle.

"Thank you! Thank you for coming this far for me!" Lychee expressed her appreciation for how happy she was to be reunited, shaking her head from left to right in a state of unbelievably happy disbelief.

"We ain't best friends for nothing! Of course, I wouldn't let ya down!" Ranko reassured with a choking voice, hugging Lychee back just as tightly as she was holding the crimson redhead.

Once the worry for each other's safety died down, they broke from the hug, with Lychee sniffling and wiping one of her eyes. Ranko, on the other hand, had a soft expression, looking beyond relieved to see that nothing bad had befallen her dear friend. Ranko broke her gaze away from Lychee to see that Prince Kirin had been standing behind Lychee with a strong look in his eye.

"So, I'mma gonna' go out on a limb here and ask if you're gonna' let my friend Lychee go?" Ranko asked, staring at the Prince of these lands in which Ranko found herself.

"Lychee is not a captive, for fate has chosen her as the next princess of this kingdom," Kirin answered, speaking very formally but being somewhat bashful as he blushed ever so lightly when saying so.

"So that scroll was the real deal after all…" Ranko's voice trailed in utter disbelief, honestly having expected that one day she'd be comforting her friend over realizing something like a scroll like that, could bag her a dream guy so easily.

Ranko's well-dressed best friend confirmed with a nod and a hum when she saw that Ranko's gaze was drifting back down to her own. "He's my prince! The one I've been waiting all this time for!" Lychee proclaimed with her eyes closed in delight.

At first, the redheaded tomboy blinked, her mind projecting Monlon's words from their earlier encounter, a look of sudden realization hitting her as she swallowed a little thickly. "D-does that mean we can't be friends anymore?" the pigtailed prodigy asked with hesitation and notable fear in her somewhat meek utterings. The worry in her chest grew, Ranko felt a weight on her shoulders though – both metaphorically and quite literally.

"Prince Kirin promised me he won't end our friendship," Lychee said, letting Ranko know that no matter what position in life she had, she would still be her closest friend.

"And now I feel bad for ever doubting you," Ranko admitted with a look of relief, a tired smile crossing her face.

"You should know that the mighty Lychee will always be your friend…" Lychee said as she started with a grin, but after declaring her title, she softened her face and answered honestly and as sweetly as she could, trailing her voice at the end.

"And here I was worried for ya, oh mighty Lychee," Ranko added to the conversation before chuckling to herself. Although Lychee also couldn't help but laugh at the silliness of it all.

Letting go of Ranko's shoulders, Lychee then took her friend's hands into her own. "I was starting to lose faith, but it's thanks to you that we found each other!" Lychee added, not knowing why, but she figured maybe a part of her mind felt that Ranko probably thought badly of herself.

"Hey, yeah, come to think of it because if they never tried to find you because of me…" Ranko said as her voice trailed in realization before shaking her head, remembering she had something to say.

"Anyways! I'm happy you finally got your Prince, Lychee!" Ranko beamed with a grin.

'Gotta remember to get her to spill like she got me to!' the redheaded tomboy plotted in her head despite being genuinely happy for her.

"Thank you! Though, you should know, I'm a bit ashamed about this but–" Lychee thanked before losing steam, which made her unable to finish and look off to the side.

"What're you getting at?" Ranko asked, tilting her head and blinking her sapphire blue eyes.

Before answering, Lychee pursed her lips lightly. In the time she had spent talking with Ranko, her Prince had taken it upon himself to stay closely within eyesight. Meeting his gaze, she waited for anything from him. Her gaze was met with a tiny pause then answered with a determined nod.

"Well, since you bested all the other members of the Seven, it falls on Kirin's duty to restore honor to the Lucky Gods of Nekonron by facing you in an official duel…" Lychee touched the subject delicately, more so because she still didn't want it to happen, but also seeing that Ranko was more than likely not one to back down from a challenge.

As if to confirm her suspicions, Ranko smirked in the oh-so-cocky way Lychee had grown accustomed to. The redheaded martial artist then turned to look at the battle-hardened royal holding a bowl of rice with a pickled plum and a pair of chopsticks.

"Don't worry about it so much, I was looking forward to duking it out with this Prince Kirin guy anyways, see if he's really stronger than the rest of his servants and whatnot," Ranko remarked softly while narrowing her eyes in anticipation.

"Have you decided to accept my challenge?" Prince Kirin inquired, his voice resonating with both command and pride.

"Sure did, 'sides, I know I'm gonna win anyways," Ranko boasted with a determined smile, flicking the corner of her lip before pointing to herself with her thumb, earning a sigh from Kirin.

"You shouldn't be so overly confident. That's beside the point, though… I do have one simple question for you, one which requires an honest answer from you," Kirin admonished at first, then decided that it wasn't important and closed his eyes, lowering his head.

"I promise I'll be honest, as long as it ain't too personal," Ranko agreed almost dismissively, though she added to the end as she remembered the strawberry blonde and her questions from before.

"Ehehe…" Lychee chuckled nervously but feigned an awkward smile.

"Prince Herb has claimed you stole a very valuable treasure from him. Is this true?" Kirin asked with a calmer and more polite inflection.

"I ain't ever met this Prince Herb or whatever, so I can't say I've ever taken anything from 'em," Ranko answered plainly, shrugging with her eyes closed.

"Are you certain you're being honest?" Kirin repeated his question, taking a step closer and noticing that Ranko appeared annoyed with the twitch in her right eye.

"I'm not telling you any lies, pal…" Ranko's voice trailed in annoyance, looking kind of insulted.

"Lord Herb claimed that a redhead stole some treasure from him! If you know anything, anything at all!" Kirin warned Ranko while raising his voice. This was a very delicate matter, and coming back empty-handed to Herb after all this wasn't the ideal situation for the worried Prince.

Frowning, the redhead retracted her hand from Lychee's own and then crossed her arms. Understanding that this must've been far more important than she even knew, she closed her eyes and thought back, Chervil's broken Japanese accent reverberating inside her mind and most notably her head.

"I remember some other redhead weeks before, but I ain't seen her since. And if there's a thief out there with red hair, then that girl is probably your best bet…" Ranko's voice trailed as she thought about how that other redhead was acting so scared but also rather suspiciously, Ranko's mind's eye revealed.

"I believe you, Ranko. I can hear it in your words!" Lychee encouraged as she put a hand on Ranko's shoulder as a show of support.

Looking between the two girls, Kirin saw Ranko opening her eyes and smiling back at her friend, taking a deep breath and lowering his head.

"I admit I didn't sense any duplicity in your friend's words either. If anything, it seems we've been trying to arrest the wrong redhead," Kirin admitted to that very real possibility, even if red hair was a rarity there.

'Perhaps I should speak to Prince Herb once again, maybe request a portrait of whoever the actual redhead is. For another time though, right now I must restore the honor of The Seven before I am to make peace with my fiancé's friend,' Kirin thought as his study returned to the reunited pair of girls.

Furrowing his brow and pursing his lips lightly, the future king of Nekonron extended his hand with his chopsticks out, pointing their wooden tips menacingly toward the crimson combatant.

"I'll believe you for now! Know that we still have to duel, for the honor of the Seven Lucky Gods of Nekonron has been tarnished and I must try to make amends!" Kirin declared with a commanding but prideful call to the fields of battle.

Ranko stared at Kirin and then back at Lychee, seeing her still smiling at her caused the redhead to also smile appreciatively before shutting her eyes. "Ready whenever you are, just know that I won't be going down so easily…" the redheaded martial artist's voice dragged on in excitement.

"I would expect nothing less from those who can defeat my allies," Kirin added as his battle aura flared to life, revealing it to be turquoise-colored.

Lychee's smile died down as she saw the stare-down between the two combatants, and though they were fighters, both were still very important to her. "Be careful. This is just a fight to restore honor, not a fight to the death…" the meek future princess commented, her closed hand hovering about her mouth in worry.

The two maids, upon seeing the air take a dramatic turn, one of the maids clearly more scared from this turn of events than the other, placed their hands on Lychee's shoulders. This surprised her enough to look over her shoulder.

"Please come with me and Miss Yu Nuo. I'm afraid it isn't safe here," the maid Lychee remembered helping before suggested.

Looking back at them once more, Lychee nodded her head and allowed herself to be escorted away from what was likely to be ground zero very soon. However, as she was looking over her shoulder, she saw that the maid who had spoken to her appeared more invested in the fight than her fellow worker, quite interested; in fact.

They stopped once they were a safe enough distance to watch, making their way back to the front doors of the tower.

The world around Ranko and Kirin faded into insignificance, their auras intermingling violently against the others like a cosmic dance. Assuming their stances, the two glared at each other with unwavering bravado.

Setting the stage for the wayward martial artist and destined Prince of Nekonron…

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Dr Facer: And the stage is set for the fight against Kirin, but Ryoga isn't here yet! Will he even need to fight Kirin? Well, that's something we'll find out in the next one, make sure to tune in next time! And also, thank you very much for reading and supporting our work, we really appreciate it!

DaisukiFox: And in this corner, we have the Prince of All Nekonron! The Mighty Kirin! Queue the entrance music! Lolz

For real though, thanks for this guys, no matter how you feel about how we do some things you know we're still gonna keep trying our best to make it good and we have quite some chapters before we're done. This is a learning experience for me and I'll never stop trying to learn and listen to those who just want what's best for the story. We hope you join us for the next chapter!

Notes:

These are the special techniques mentioned in the chapter:

接近虎砲 - Sekkin Kohō, Approaching Tiger Cannon

真獅子弾 -Shin Shishi-Dan, Real Lion shot

魚の捕獲 -Sakana no Hokaku, Fish capture

They were fun to create and are useful for narrative purposes later on, it's not the last time some of them will show up so setting a precedent was important.