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Ginga GIRI GIRI! The Universe is in Danger!
By SSJ Heero
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- OPENING SONG: SOBAKASU - 

Daikirai datta sobakasu wo chotto
Hitonadeshite tame iki wo hitotsu
Hebi ikkyuu no koi wa migoto ni
Kakuzatou to isshoni toketa
Mae yori mo motto yaseta mune ni chotto
"Chiku" tto sasaru toge ga itai
Hoshiuranai mo ate ni naranai wa

Motto touku made isshoni yuketara nee
Ureshikute sore dakede

Omoi de wa itsumo kirei dakedo
Sore dake ja onaka ga suku no
Honto wa setsunai yoru nanoni
Doushite kashira? Ano hito no namida mo omoi dasenai no?
Omoidasenai no
Doushitenano?

---- Recap ----

[Chibi characters of the five appear in the foreground as scenes from the last episode play 
in the background. Though, you can't see 'cause this is text. =P]

SSJ: Last time! On Ginga GIRI GIRI!

Amiko: You never thought you'd see a recap ever again, huh? HUH?

TM: Last time, we were caught in the middle of the terrorist organization known as the "Aku 
no Tsubasa".

DDT: Kino Tsumuji and his army- the Gemini project- slaughtered most of the members, 
and went after Tsubasa.

Cindy: And then Dark left with the fabled weapon- the Atma Weapon.

TM: And now there are BANANAS!

Amiko: Random plots! Bishounen! YES!

Cindy: YAY! BACK TO HOW WE STARTED!

---- Chapter 21: Heart of Sword ----

The five wandered through the forests of Mount Ueno. They brushed past trees, dodge 
thickets of plants and try their best not to get scratched by the leaning wood towers. 
Various wildlife animals skittered through the forest, and the five dodged their path 
around rocks. Finally, they came to a small riverbank, and sat down for a while. Amiko 
sighed, "So, what if Dark didn't come to this island, anyway? Maybe he went to a different 
one"

SSJ spoke, "Maybe," as he was looking out across the river.

Cindy turned to SSJ. "Why do you want to follow him anyway? He's stronger than you. You 
know it. You'll kill yourself if you follow him!"

SSJ sighed, hugging his knees and looking at the ground. "He didn't just defeat me in 
battle. He spat on me. He stepped on me. And then ran away so that I would never catch up."

TM called out, holding a banana in his left hand. "So," he thought aloud, "It's all about 
your AZN pride. He destroyed it, and you want to save face."

SSJ was silent and glared at TM, but the other four took the hint.

"Blunt," Amiko began, "are we, TM?"

TM took a bite out of his banana and swallowed. "Hey! It's the truth-"

SSJ interrupted, "It's alright, Amiko. He's right. It's just for my selfish reasons." He 
shifted his glances away from the four. The five were silent, and DDT stood up, his feet 
hurting from all that walking.

"Maybe I should have gotten shoes while we were on that boat to here," he complained.

SSJ smirked and sarcastically spoke, "Then we'll go and leave you while you're here whining 
like a baby."

DDT drop kicked SSJ. His face was twisted in anger. SSJ was dazed and disoriented from the 
pain, and simply muttered "Oro..."

"That's what you deserve!" DDT yelled.

***

:: Several Miles Ahead ::

Sometime later, the five reached the edge of a city in the middle of the island. The 
buildings lining the dirt roads of the city seemed to be of old Japanese fashion. The roofs 
were connected into one long network of shingles. People crowded the streets as the five 
entered, trying their best to not crash into the moving crowd. Eventually, the four stopped 
at the bottom of stone steps that led into a large imperial building. They sighed as the 
people pass by without looking.

"Geez," TM spoke with annoyance. "This city is crowded."

Cindy looked about and thought aloud, "This place looks familiar..."

DDT was twisting his head around and glanced at several places around the city. "It seems 
to be old-fashioned... Like... Medieval Japan."

SSJ sat at the top of the steps in silence, leaning on his bent knees. "Yeah," he added. 
"It sorta looks like..."

Amiko looked back at the towering building, and noticed a small sign in front of it, 
written in kanji. She read it, "Kyoutou..." Her eyes widened. "We're in Kyoto?!"

Cindy's eyes shot open in surprise as she looked back at Amiko. "Kyoto?!"

TM was in the background, muttering with his eyes wide open. "Kyoto, Japan?" he asked.

SSJ spoke with an annoyed face. He realized just how much they walked. "So, that means 
we've been wandering from Osaka Harbor?!"

DDT sighed, not quite knowing the layout of Japan, "I'm gonna guess that's far..."

The five sighed, for they are exhausted. They sat, silent, for what seems like ten minutes. 
Finally, TM spoke, "Well, what shall we do while we're here?"

"I'm tired of walking," whined Cindy.

TM looked at Cindy. "Well, let's get to an inn, everyone!"

***

It was 11:59 PM in Osaka Harbor that night. The skies were dark, and the stars dimly shone 
from far away. The seas were calm, and the winds slowly blew. The streets were empty, and 
the boats floated and rocked in the sea.

Except for one, which had its sail up and was about to leave port. A large wooden vessel 
slowly drifted away from the land, as a figure moved up to the side of the ship. The figure 
was covered with bandages, and beside him, was a young woman. An army of underlings dressed 
in black listened to orders shouted from a tall man wearing a brown coat. The figure, 
Shishio Makoto, said to his companion, of course, in Japanese, "Aa... Meiji no chikoku wa 
ore no doki ga shiru naa."

For easy reading, subtitles ran across the screen with none thinking the wiser.
[Subtitles: Ah... The Meiji Government will know my hatred.]

And the mummy man continued to rant on and on and on for the next few minutes as the ship 
slowly moved away from land. His lover, Komagata Yumi, came around and hugged him tight. 
"Dare mo wa anta no ikkei ga zutto wakaranai ne, Shishio-sama..."

[Subtitles: No one will ever understand such a plan as yours, Shishio-sama...]

The mummy man pressed Yumi close to him. "Sou da. Nozoite... Ore no senpai wa..."

[Subtitles: That's right. Except... My predecessor...]

There was the sound of a horse's hooves in the background. The entire crew of the ship 
turned to see a carriage moving fast towards the port. The carriage slowed to a stop, and a 
short, red-haired man, followed by a taller black haired cop and a wily haired ex-gangster 
stepped out of the carriage. From inside the ship, the brown-coated person, Hoji, yelled, 
"Himura Kenshin da!"

[Subtitles: It's Himura Kenshin!]

The red-haired man, Himura Kenshin, yelled, making his declaration, "Shishio! Omae-"

[Subtitles: Shishio! You-]

At that point, a carrier pigeon flew to Shishio, and handed him a letter. Everyone stopped 
and looked at Shishio. Shishio raised a hand and said, "Senpai, matte naa."

[Subtitles: Predecessor, wait for a bit.]

Kenshin nodded, and Shishio picked up the letter, reading it carefully. He then murmured in 
English, "Ah... The author's commanding us to speak in English..."

"Oh," Kenshin replied. "Is that so?"

Sano was quite annoyed with the author's antics. He began, "Now, why would that asshole of 
an author make us do that?!"

Saitou took a breath of his cigarette, and then insulted Sano, "Isn't it obvious, jackass? 
He doesn't want to type out all our dialogue in Japanese and then subtitle it."

Sano fumed, and attempted to strangle Saitou. Shishio returned the letter to the pigeon, 
which flew away. "You were saying?" Shishio inquired.

"Okay," Kenshin started again, clearing his throat. "Shishio! Stop the plan to destroy 
Tokyo!"

"Heh. You really are naive, Kenshin. The world is all survival of the fittest. The strong 
live and the weak die. The Meiji government is weak, and I am strong. The Meiji government 
must die, and I must rule."

At this point, another carrier pigeon flew down and landed on Shishio. Shishio picked up 
the letter attached to its foot, and read it quietly. He muttered, "Ah... Rantmon wants us 
to find that five. He says they're in Kyoto." He was silent for a bit before turning to 
Kenshin again, "See ya."

The boat quickly sailed away and almost left the three in surprise.

Saitou yelled in anger, "HEY! WHAT ABOUT US?!"

"What about your plan to take over Japan?!" Kenshin asked.

"Forget all that!" Shishio answered. "I'd rather give up my plans then get on Rantmon's bad 
side." With that, Shishio disappeared from the scene, and Kenshin, Saitou, and Sano sighed.

"Ugh," Kenshin groaned.

"How shitty," continued Saitou.

"He said Kyoto, right?" Sano asked. The three looked at each other, and immediately forced 
the carriage to drive them back to Kyoto with all its speed.)

***

Meanwhile in Kyoto, the sounds of footsteps and screams filled the sky. Ninjas leapt from 
roof to roof, intercepting various henchmen of Shishio and preventing the Great Kyoto Fire. 
With great force, a weasel girl, Makimachi Misao, wearing blue, kicked a black-wearing 
henchman into the wall of an inn. The wall shattered, sending splinters and little bits 
into the room. She laughed with pride, "Hah! Take that ya stupid lackey!"

She ran past the inn, searching for more enemies. She stopped and turns back upon hearing 
screams from the inn. She turned back in time to see the henchman fly through the wall of 
the inn, and through the building opposite it. DDT stepped through the hole and looked 
around the city. "Now, what the HELL is going on?" he yelled.

From inside the inn, SSJ and Amiko stepped outside to follow DDT. SSJ looked around and saw 
a group of black-hooded lackeys run up from behind. He quickly grabbed his sword and 
knocked them all out with the backside of his sword. He then glanced at Amiko. "Is this the 
Kyoto Fire they plan to begin?!"

"If so..." She trailed off. Amiko pulled out her all-but-forgotten makeup kit and puts on 
her blue makeup. A bright light enveloped her and she emerged as Blue Bird Shadow Lady. She 
soared up into the sky and searched through the town.

Meanwhile back on ground, Misao was confused as she stared up at Amiko. She then turned to 
SSJ and DDT, asking rapidly, "HOW did your friend do that?!"

"I'm not really sure myself," SSJ explained... Well, he didn't really explain anything, huh?

"And that was the first time I saw it," said DDT.

After a while, Amiko landed on the ground in front of them, and informed them all, "There 
are a lot of black ninjas gathering in the North and Southwest part of the city!"

Misao heard this with eagerness, "Seriously?!" she replied. "Damn! I have to go, now!"

Misao then dashed off, leaving SSJ, DDT, and Amiko alone in the narrow alley. SSJ then 
turned to run after her, yelling over his shoulder, "I'm going to help stop this, as well!"

SSJ disappeared around the corner. The two would have been chasing after him if not for a 
gunshot heard behind them. Amiko and DDT turned around and see Cindy with a smoking gun, 
and a guy on the ground screaming in pain. Blood gushed from his shoulder, with a 
smoldering bullet inside. Cindy spoke, "This is just like Rurouni Kenshin..." She looked 
back at them with the corner of her eyes.

Amiko meekly smiled. "Yeah. This world is strange," she explained. "I never did explain 
about the anime worlds or where the bishounen came from."

***

A small black bird beat its wings in the night sky. It was a freezing night, without sign 
of flames or smoke throughout all of Japan. It landed on a rather large battleship, a 
Rengoku. More specifically, Shishio Makoto's Rengoku. The wood of the cover was destroyed, 
as to drive the ship all the faster. Shishio was muddled in thought as he read and reread 
Rantmon's letter.

'Kyoto... This completely ruins my plans,' he thought to himself, 'Not only that, but this 
would severely annoy Rantmon if I were to fail. Damn it, all!

Yumi pressed close to Shishio, comforting him. She ignored the heat emanating from his body 
as she encouraged, "You don't need to torture yourself in your thoughts, Shishio-sama... 
Every one of us would do the same. This is Rantmon, after all."

The small black bird landed in front of Shishio, a letter tied to its leg. Shishio sighed 
again with frustration, struggling not to pull out his palm trees for hair. "Not another 
letter!" he yelled with complaint.

Shishio grabbed the letter and set the bird on fire, letting its ashes fall to the sea. 
Shishio opened the letter and read it. He sighed once more, "I'm to report to Rantmon's 
palace once I get those brats. The council is meeting again."

Yumi's eyes widened as she listens to Shishio, and bursted out loud, "THE COUNCIL?! IT 
HASN'T MET FOR YEARS!"

"I know," Shishio replied, "That is why I'm confused. Is it all because of those damn kids?"

Everyone was silent. The winds blew as the ship moves onward, with the sea glittering and 
sloshing about. Finally, Hoji declared, "We are near land. Kyoto isn't too far off."

"Fetch me a carriage, then," commanded Shishio.

Hoji saluted Shishio, who was stepping off the ship to a ramp which connected to a small 
boat. The wind howled once more, and Shishio's small vessel rocked in the wind as they head 
for shore. "We'll prepare," Shishio began his command, "and in three days time, we will 
find those five.

***

It was a success. The Great Kyoto Fire had been thwarted. With the help of Misao, SSJ, and 
his bishoujo, the North is clear. Amiko, her bishounen, along with Cindy and her guns had 
taken the West side, easily defeating the rather primitive enemies. (I mean, there was 
Squall and Cloud 'Omnislash'-ing and 'Lionheart'-ing most of them.) TM and DDT used their 
Zero Slash and Fireball respectively, easily cleaning out the Southwest. It was all and 
well, except now, they have to deal with quite a few of the Juppongatana.

Kamatari and Hennya met Amiko and Cindy at the West wall of Kyoto. Usui and Anji met TM and 
DDT at the Southwest corner. Fuji and Saizuchi met SSJ and Misao at the North.

SSJ raised up his sword, blade pointing to the sky, ready to fight the giant monstrosity 
that was Fuji. Saizuchi only laughed at the boy, "You think you can defeat Fuji?! What an 
insolent twerp you are!"

SSJ's glare did not fade, however. His determined glare shown through the night, with the 
torches burning on the ground. SSJ stood, feet far apart. Both his hands gripped his weak 
sword as tight as they could, with veins showing clearly on his skin. He panted with 
fatigue. Blood dripped from his blade. He then thought, 'None of those people I fought are 
going to die, are they? ...Bah. What does it matter? I don't know them. I don't care about 
them. Just think of the problems at hand.'

Saizuchi then smirked, and pointed a finger at SSJ. He laughed once more, and commanded 
Fuji. "Fuji! Why not have some fun?! KILL THE BOY!"

Misao stood a distance back, witnessing SSJ as he held his ground. He was a boy none older 
than her, yet, he was standing up against this freak! Fuji raised his sword in the air, his 
powerful muscles showing clearly in the dim light. "What courage he has... ...Or is that 
just stupidity?" Misao muttered to herself, with plenty of Oniwabanshuu ninjas surrounding 
the scene.

Fuji then raised his sword higher. His left hand came forward to balance himself. Then he 
let a slash down on where SSJ stood.

***

Meanwhile, Amiko and Cindy confronted Kamatari, the proud and scary fag, and Hennya, the 
bat-shaped, bony fighter. Kamatari stood, supporting his giant scythe on his shoulders. 
Hennya stood with his cape covering nearly every inch of his body. They were shadowed in 
darkness. Amiko stood, unarmed, but with her bishounen surrounding her. Her bishounen stood 
as well, armed to the teeth, and ready to pounce on the two. Cindy stood, armed with ten 
guns (SSJ *still* hadn't returned her two guns, yet), aimed at the two.

Kamatari only smiled, and Hennya seemed to grin under his mask. "It seems that we are 
outnumbered, ne," Kamatari calmly said.

Amiko raised up her fists, ready to fight the fairy dressed in a kimono. The sad thing 
would be that all of that about Kamatari was literally true. "Obviously," she agreed. "You 
won't stop us like we have stopped you, Kamatari!"

Kamatari's grin grew. "So it seems a cute girl like you already knows my name."

Amiko facefaulted, and her bishounen gritted their teeth. They glared at Kamatari as Amiko 
murmured, "I'm too damn sexy... But anyway... Aren't you in love with Shishio?!" She yelled 
this as she pointed to Kamatari.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with having two loves." Kamatari then looked at Cindy, 
scratching his feminine chin with his feminine hands. "Or three, at that."

Cindy facefaulted as well, and responded with a volley of bullets. Kamatari defended the 
fury, spinning his scythe around to block the many bullets, he then counters with a sweep 
with his chain. "You two are cute and all," he commented, "But that won't stop me from 
proving my love for Shishio!"

And over in the corner, Hennya stood, sulking off a distance away. He was only visible by a 
spotlight from nowhere, and he muttered to himself, "Well, I'm in the background again..." 
With that, Amiko and Cindy began their fight with Kamatari, while Amiko's bishounen quickly 
ganged up on Hennya, defeating him easily.

***

TM and DDT stood, facing the blind spearman Usui and the rebel monk Anji. TM, with his 
bloody sword in hand, held his position, ready to fight. DDT stepped up to TM, and then 
asked, "So... Who are these people?"

TM restrained himself from facefaulting, and muttered back, "You never saw Rurouni 
Kenshin?!"

DDT shook his head, wondering what the heck a "Rurouni Kenshin" was. TM then went on, 
ignoring Anji and Usui, explaining the basic plot of Rurouni Kenshin. He outlined the Kyoto 
Arc, and the priest arc which will not be discussed, since it is not in the manga.

DDT nodded in apprehension as TM explained all the battles and how everyone was defeated. 
He then asked, "So, how does it end?"

TM was silent. "I don't know," he said after a pause. "The anime doesn't go to the end. It 
was cancelled before it could. Ask SSJ for the end of the manga."

Usui interrupted with a cough, and Anji sneezed in the background. TM and DDT finally 
noticed the two again. And then their fight would've begun, if not for a loud call 
throughout the city. It sounded like a bullhorn, sounding through the city and interrupting 
all action. Anji and Usui looked towards the direction of the sound, and back at the two.

"Feh," Usui murmured with conceit. "You kids aren't worth the effort. Let's go."

Anji was silent, still. The two left, with TM and DDT in the dust of their stances. TM's 
curses echoed through the city.

***

SSJ stood in place. He saw the towering Fuji walk away, thundering footsteps echoing 
through the dirt. His right hand throbbed in a violent pain. He wasn't bleeding, thankfully 
enough, but he stood, glaring at the hulking giant. He was defeated and useless. He looked 
at his sword, or what was left of it. It was torn to pieces from the large impact.

When Fuji attacked, SSJ was fast enough, luckily, to jump to his left. Unfortunately, the 
dodge wasn't fast enough, and the attack came down on his cheap, useless, mass-produced 
sword. The impact was too great for his arm, let alone his hand.

So now, it was numb. He was not able to do anything about it, but he didn't care. Another 
sword was wasted. Its scattered shards spread along the ground. All because he lacked any 
skill whatsoever.

"Damn it all!" he swore. "No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, I'll always 
fail... I lost against the androids, and only won against the last one because it was 
severely weakened. I couldn't defeat Jallopsimon where DDT could with ease. Dark utterly 
destroyed whatever pride I had left in myself. And now... Once more..."

SSJ gritted his teeth, grinding them against each other. His eyes were wide, and his pupils 
tiny. Hatred ran through his veins.

'DAMN THEM!' he screamed in his mind. 'DAMN THEM ALL! HOW DARE THEY SHATTER MY PRIDE, AND 
THEN RUN AWAY!'

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps. He turned around and saw Misao, 
looking absolutely cute as she walked up to him. His eyes widened as she came closer; her 
eyes seemed to reflect pain.

...But then she jumped and gave him a kick straight to the nose. His nose bled from the 
impact, and he held it in pain. "WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID?!" Her scream echoed through the 
area. "CRAZY LITTLE ASSHOLE! THINK OF ALL THE PROPERTY DAMAGE YOU CAUSED BECAUSE YOU WANTED 
TO FIGHT THAT THING!"

SSJ fell to the ground in a heap of pain. Misao sighed, and then looked down on SSJ's 
unconscious body. She turned around, and walked back to the Aoiya restaurant. SSJ lay on 
the floor, with swirls for eyes. "Oro..."

Later, Amiko and Cindy approached the body of SSJ. Amiko could only sigh as she and Cindy 
dragged him back to the room.

***

TM and DDT returned to the room the next morning, finding that the wall was already fixed. 
It had been a long night. All they did all night was fending off ninja hordes for Shishio 
after the two Juppongatana members ditched them. They returned to the room to find only 
Cindy and Amiko, sitting and leaning on the wall opposite the door they entered, half 
asleep. The futons on the floor were tossed away from the center, and a puddle of melted 
wax and a black wick lay in a small bowl in the corner.

They saw that SSJ wasn't in the room. TM inquired, "Where's SSJ?!"

Amiko opened her eyes, and looked at the two, then at Cindy, on her right. She looked 
around the room, and replied, "Gah. How should I know?!"

"Well," he began asking, "if he's not here, WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!"

Amiko put her hands in her hair and nearly pulled it out. "LIKE I WOULD KNOW?!"

Cindy woke up from the yelling. She yawned, and drowsily muttered, "What's going on...?" 
She rubbed her eyes to find Amiko and TM grappling with each other. She sighed when she saw 
Kamui appear and psychically run TM into a wall.

She saw DDT sigh and speak, "We should find SSJ... Who knows what he got himself into NOW."

"You mean like that time on Christmas?" said Cindy.

DDT nodded, and Cindy stood, following DDT as he stepped outside. Amiko returned Kamui, and 
followed as well. TM crawled close behind.

***

SSJ sat over in the forested mountains. He sat under a tree, a little ways from a small hut 
he found. He sat with bent knees, hugging them and sighing. Depression tore away at his 
heart, and hatred resided in his soul. He was slowly weakening. He muttered under his 
breath, "Tired... So tired... Of losing... Why can't I win? Why?! Why am I fighting, 
anyway?! Just for my ego? If I am fighting for myself, why can't I win?"

A shadow and voice interrupted his thoughts, "You can't win because you're weak."

SSJ's eyes opened, and he looked up to see the giant Hiko Seijuurou. His large manto seemed 
to block out the sun as he stood over him. He held a jug over his shoulders as he stood. 
SSJ quickly rose to his feet, and still had to look up to Hiko. "Then, how do I become 
strong?!" he asked. It was the one thing he needed to know.

Hiko sighed, and began to walk away towards his small hut. He talked over his shoulders, 
"If you want to be strong, then you have to work at it."

"Then, why not train me, Hiko?!"

Hiko stopped in his tracks, and turned back at SSJ. "How the Hell do you know my name?"

"It's a long story, and it'll make your head explode."

Hiko turned around and stepped towards his hut once more. He spoke again, "Come with me. 
We'll get some basic techniques down."

SSJ smirked. He was finally going to get powerful!

But that smirked was wiped straight off when he received a kick straight to his side. He 
flew into the forest in pain, and turned around to see Amiko, hair full of leaves and face 
red with anger.

***

Sometime later, SSJ, Amiko, Cindy, TM, and DDT were gathered in front of Hiko's hut. SSJ 
had his lower torso covered with bandages from Amiko's attack. He glared at Amiko, who 
glared back at him. She simply advised him, "You've got to stop running away, you know 
that?"

SSJ turned away. "Tch. What do you care?"

"Y'know, we aren't the kind who doesn’t care. You're our friend, and we worry about you, 
damn it! You've got to stop abandoning us for yourself!"

SSJ rose to his feet, and so did Amiko. "Well, if you care so much," he challenged, "how 
about we fight?! Mano a mano! Man to man!"

SSJ only got a fist to his left cheek for that, because after all, she wasn't a man. Hiko 
could only sigh as SSJ lay on the ground. Hiko then noticed the sword and sheathe on TM's 
belt. "Boy," he commanded TM. "Show me a stroke."

TM looked up at Hiko, and rose to show him how he struck with the sword. He raised the 
sword up, and sliced downward. Hiko facefaulted, and said, "Damn it, that's horrible form! 
Is that how you really attack?!"

TM nodded. Hiko grabbed TM by the shirt collar and dragged him to the waterfall. With the 
other hand, he grabbed SSJ as well.

DDT could only mutter aloud as they were dragged away, "I guess they were really that 
bad..."

"Yeah," agreed Cindy. "And I thought they were pretty good."

The two followed the strong master to the waterfall, and saw SSJ and TM's harsh training. 
Amiko, along with them, returned to Kyoto.

***

Amiko, Cindy, and DDT returned to the city to find Misao and the Oniwabanshuu waiting for 
them. Aoshi was missing, of course, and Misao walked up to Amiko. Amiko smiled, along with 
Misao. "Thanks," said Misao as she bowed. "I heard you all helped a lot- Hey, where're your 
friends?"

Amiko sighed, and looked back towards the mountains. "Hiko's training them."

"Ah! Kenshin's master!"

Amiko nodded. Misao sighed. "Well, since you helped us, I'm inviting you to the Aoiya. Come 
on, we've heard a lot about you. Shishio's out to get you."

Amiko and Cindy's eyes shot wide open. "SHISHIO?! WHY?!" screamed the two.

Misao smiled. "I'll tell you along the way."

***

A small carriage appeared in Kyoto. Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Saitou both rushed out of the 
cart, searching for any sign of Shishio. Of course, there was none, and they all faulted 
onto the floor. Boy, they were tired, and so was the horse and driver. Dead tired. Driving 
from Osaka to Kyoto in a little over six hours was a feat. Especially when they had to 
fight through swarms of ninjas and random battles. But in any case, they were finally in 
Kyoto.

Saitou announced his plans, "I'll search for whatever information I can find on Shishio."

Saitou began to walk away, if not for Sano yelling at him, "Hey! What about *us*?!"

Saitou glanced at Sano. "What *about* you?"

Sano sighed, and Saitou walked off. He then turned to Kenshin. "Looks like Shishio is in 
Kyoto," he stated the obvious.

"Indeed, Sano."

"Any idea on where we will find information?"

Kenshin began to walk away from the tired carriage. He spoke over his shoulder, "Aoiya."

***

Cindy, DDT, and Amiko sat on mats opposite from Okina, Misao, and Kaoru. They all wore new 
kimono and yukata, for their old clothes were bloody and dirty as Hell. So, they discussed 
about SSJ, Shishio, Kenshin, and the like. Cindy was eating a rice ball when Misao spoke, 
"When will your friend return? I think I forgot to thank him for the help."

"SSJ?" Amiko thought aloud. "Who knows when he'll get his act together."

Cindy swallowed a rice ball, and then spoke, "It might take a while. I mean, he's been 
really depressed recently."

"Really?" Kaoru inquired. "Then it might be a good thing that he's training with Hiko."

DDT started a flame inside his fist, and quickly made toast. He stuffed it into his mouth 
as they all heard footsteps. Within a few seconds, Kenshin and Sano enter the room. Both 
Amiko and Cindy instantly swoon.

"KENSHIN!" screamed Amiko.

"SANO!" screamed Cindy.

Kenshin and Sano turned chibi for a bit. "Oro?" both managed to mutter.

Less than a second later, before even Kenshin knew it, Amiko and Cindy had their arms 
around Kenshin and Sano respectively. Amiko's bishounen weren't too happy, of course, nor 
was Kaoru.

"Even though I shouldn't care at all," Squall complained, "but don't you already have 
enough bishounen?!"

"Aren't you my fiancée?!" echoed Kamui's voice.

Trowa whined, "What about me?!"

And finally, Kaoru yelled, "KENSHIIIIN!"

Amiko sighed, and peeled herself off Kenshin. Cindy didn't follow suit with Sano. Kenshin, 
Sano, Kaoru, and Misao turned and saw DDT.

Sano asked, "Is your friend always like this?"

"Pretty much, whenever they see a bishounen."

Sano and Kenshin sighed. Kaoru fumed.

***

Three days passed, and SSJ and TM were still training with Hiko. Their training had been 
intense, but it was all worth it. TM lay on the ground, full of fatigue and sweat soaking 
into his clothes. SSJ sat on a rock, panting loudly from the training. He had a bruise on 
his left arm. Three days ago, his defense was poor, and his offense was even poorer. Not 
even Arashi's skill could salvage the wreck that was form. TM, similarly, had horrible form.

Over the last three days, the two had trained extensively with Hiko, learning basic 
maneuvers, defensive techniques, and many other escapes. Hiko even went ahead to teach them 
every technique before the Kuzu Ryuu Sen. They were always progressing; he saw it in their 
eyes. He couldn't teach them the Kuzu Ryuu Sen, however, because of SSJ's weakness. He 
wanted SSJ to find it on his own.

Hiko sat in his hut, drinking sake as his students rested and chatted. TM lay on the dirt, 
panting as the sun hit his eyes.

"Why won't he teach us the Kuzu Ryuu Sen?!" TM complained.

SSJ sighed, and muttered under his breath, "Because of my weakness..."

"What could that be?"

"I don't know... It's that something that always made me lose. Was it the fear of losing 
that caused me to lose?"

"That would have been ironic."

"Yeah... I don't know why."

Then the realization hit him. "Wait, you weren't depressed after you lost to Dark. How did 
you deal with the fact you couldn't have defended your friends? Dark could have killed us 
at any time!"

TM smirked. "One word explains it all: "Could"."

SSJ's eyes shoot wide open as TM continued, "He didn't kill us. We're still alive. You 
dwell too much on the past. You once said yourself when we were in school, 'Just deal with 
today. There's no good dwelling on yesterday.' What happened to that? You can't change 
yesterday, but you can change today. But, you can always learn from yesterday to make today 
better."

TM paused, and SSJ was as silent as he could be. "Was that the answer? Don't let your 
bitter memories cloud your mind."

TM turned to SSJ, and saw that SSJ's frown finally turned into a smile. TM smirked as he 
realized he said something right. The two were silent before SSJ spoke, "Thanks. For the 
advice. You've been a great friend throughout this adventure."

And at that point, Hiko approached the two. He grinned, and spoke, "Looks like you two are 
ready for the Kuzu Ryuu Sen."

***

Amiko, Cindy, and DDT were helping in the Aoiya when they heard giant, thundering 
footsteps. They rushed outside to see a giant shadow cast over them. Misao, Kenshin, and 
Sano followed close behind the three. Amiko and Cindy couldn't have resisted themselves 
again as they jumped on Kenshin and Sano.

DDT sighed as Fuji came into clear view from afar, "Dear Lord... Looks like this'll be 
problematic."

"Sounds like Shishio is finally attacking," announced Kenshin.

Cindy grabbed her hair and tugged on it. "SSJ AND TM AREN'T DONE, YET?!"

The group then ran towards the giant. They ran into Saitou on the way, who had information 
aplenty on Shishio and his Juppongatana. Soon after, Shishio came in sight, only a carriage 
behind Fuji.

Kenshin yelled at the mummyman, "Shishio!"

Sano noticed the monk riding on top of the carriage. "ANJI!" he yelled in surprise.

"Aoshi!" yelled Misao as she saw Aoshi.

Fuji stopped, and Shishio stepped out of his carriage. The rest of the Juppongatana 
appeared, and Shishio smiled. "Senpai... Looks like we meet again. However, I'm not after 
you or Japan." Shishio looked at Amiko, Cindy, and DDT. He sighed, "Three out of five? Oh 
well. Good enough for Rantmon, I guess."

With that, Shishio commanded his Juppongatana to attack. Hennya was first up, and faced off 
with DDT. It wasn't a very long match, for DDT quickly launched a fireball at Hennya. 
Shishio's face twisted in surprise as he sees the ball of flames raced towards Hennya, 
catching him on fire. All of Hennya's explosives quickly caught on fire as well, and with a 
great boom, Hennya was thrown into a building, nearly rendered dead. One down, nine to go. 
(Chou is in prison, and Aoshi joined Shishio, remember?)

"Well," began DDT, "That was simple."

Aoshi's voice called through the group, "Battousai. Get up."

Kenshin quickly took on Aoshi. With a lightning fast Ama Kakeru Ryuu no Hirameki, Aoshi was 
quelled, and his senses returned. With a Zero Gatotsu, Usui was impaled right through the 
heart by Saitou. With a great Futae no Kiwami, Sano took out Anji.

"I didn't even get a line..." was all Anji said in the entire fic.

Then, there were six Juppongatana left. Kamatari quickly went forward to face Cindy, Misao, 
and Kaoru. It wasn't a hard fight. With a volley of bullets from Cindy, the staff 
shattered, and the blade flew into Iwanbo. With a loud tearing noise and the clink of 
armor, a person inside Iwanbo was revealed. Everyone looked at the person, Gein, who 
quickly ran away as fast his legs could take him. Misao and Kaoru quickly took out Kamatari.

"No!" he screamed as he as knocked away. "Shishio-sama!"

Yumi only laughed at Kamatari. Next, Amiko and Ranma quickly got rid of Saizuchi and Houji 
in a gigantic team-up technique a la Rival Schools. Now, only Soujirou and Fuji was left. 
Fuji roared as he took a giant step forward, causing everyone to disperse. Everyone looked 
up at the gigantic monster. No one had any technique capable of defeating it. Cindy 
exhausted all her bullets. Amiko's bishounen couldn't even touch it, since they were all 
quickly knocked out. Kenshin, Sano, and Saitou failed to do any damage whatsoever. Shishio 
laughed as Fuji dominated them all. Not even Ifrit could cause harm to the monster, Fuji. 
Shishio laughed louder as his enemies could only run away from Fuji.

That was, until a voice rang out through the air. "ZERO SLASH!"

A razor sharp wave of red flew through the air, striking Fuji in the chest. Fuji was 
knocked back, and his giant sword split in two. The tip of the sword flew away and landed 
in the middle of a nearby abandoned street. Yumi, Shishio, and Soujirou were all taken 
aback by the surprise attack, and Amiko, Cindy, and DDT turned around, knowing who to 
expect arriving in cliché anime style.

They saw TM, clad in new clothes, landing behind them. He wore leather shoulder pads and 
chest armor. Underneath that was a black shirt, loosely tucked into blue pants. His pants 
were tucked into new boots, with two straps on it. On his right side, rested his sheathe. 
In his left hand, Hiko's sword was clearly visible in the light. "It's showtime!" he yelled.

"TM!" exclaimed Cindy.

Amiko grinned. "Finally back!"

"YES!" DDT yelled.

Fuji regained his ground, and yelled in fury. A large cut was seen in his armor, and TM 
smiled at his handy work. He ran his hand through his hair. "Yes, I rock."

Fuji took another step forward, but this time, two large waves flew at Fuji. They were 
invisible, being nothing but currents of air circulating around a void. The attack struck 
Fuji at both shoulders, and Fuji was thrown into the air. Shishio's mouth dropped open, and 
Fuji fell into a block of houses. Houses were crushed under Fuji's weight. Everyone turned 
to see where the attack came from. SSJ was seen falling to the rooftops, still without a 
sword. He jumped to the floor beside TM. "Sorry for being late, Amiko-chan," he said with a 
smirk.

Cindy and DDT quickly restrained Amiko as she shouted in anger, "DAMN RIGHT, YOU'RE LATE!"

Shishio's voice cut through Amiko's yells, "Kid. What was that?!"

Amiko shut up, and turned to Shishio. SSJ smiled, "That was one of my less original 
attacks, the Wind Slash."

"A copy of my Zero Slash," added TM.

"How the Hell did you two perform these techniques?!" Shishio yelled.

TM smiled, and explained, "Well, the sword is not only a channel for your attacks, but for 
your soul and ideals. The Zero Slash is nothing but a void created from my swordsman 
spirit, or kenki. I use the void, nothingness, Zero, the cut through objects, made sharp by 
my sword."

SSJ continued, "The Wind Slash is a different form of the Zero Slash. Not only do I create 
a void from my own kenki, but mine is crystal clear. I learned to gather my spirit in my 
fists, and I managed to do the Wind Slash barehanded and without a sword. Heh. It's not as 
sharp and concentrated as TM's Zero Slash, but it does the job."

Shishio's mind was filled with doubt. He muttered quietly, 'Oh no... These kids... They're 
impossible... Not even I would be able to beat them, with attacks as powerful as those...'

Shishio got up, and commanded Soujirou to run away. Soujirou tried to rebuke, but Shishio 
explained, "There's no way we can win, now. We've lost. Just get going."

He then faced Kenshin. After a harsh battle which shall not be discussed, since most people 
know how that battle went, Kenshin won, and Shishio exploded in flames along with Yumi. The 
Juppongatana was defeated. All of them. Amiko ran to help Kenshin, knocking Kaoru into a 
wall. "Are you okay, Kenshin?!"

Suddenly and randomly, the Fox lady, Megumi, appeared from out of nowhere. "Ken-san!" she 
said as her only line was used up.

And then, one more day passed.

***

After a day, Kaoru wouldn't stop complaining about Amiko hanging around Kenshin. It took TM 
capturing her in order to make her shut up. Needless to say, it surprised everyone.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Misao yelled at TM, pointing at the bishie ball in his hand.

TM didn't want to bother explaining, so he said simply, "Well, she'll be fine inside my 
bishoujo's waiting room."

The group then explained the entire concept of catching bishounen and bishoujo. How they 
could capture bishounen, and they'd wait in a waiting room of sorts until they were called. 
Megumi looked over everyone's wounds, and Kenshin inquired to Hiko, who had visited from 
the mountains, "Why does TM have your sword?"

"Well," Hiko replied, "He was the best pupil I ever had, and it would be bad for him to use 
a mass-produced sword."

An imaginary dong sound called in the background. SSJ turned his head around, looking 
around for the source of the sound. Kenshin's expression became lifeless. "B-b-best 
s-student you ever h-had?!"

Hiko nodded, and Amiko comforted Kenshin. Her bishounen got tired of complaining, and were 
busy with a Gamecube in their own waiting room. SSJ then turned to Misao, who sat next to 
him, "Well, I guess I'm sorry for the property damage I caused."

Misao sighed, "I guess it's okay, as long as that thing was defeated."

"Heh."

After a silence, Misao spoke, "I guess I should apologize for kicking you right in the 
face."

"Well, it was my fault for challenging the thing."

"If it helps I'll come along. I need to find Rantmon one of these days."

SSJ smiled. "Heh. Thanks."

Amiko stood up. "Well, I don't think we should stay here long. Rantmon could be coming at 
any moment." Everyone agreed. TM convinced Megumi to join him, and she disappeared in red 
to join his bishoujo in the waiting room. Amiko managed to use her cuteness on Kenshin and 
Hiko, and they both joined her ever growing army of bishounen.

Cindy yelled to Sano, latching onto him, "SANO! YOU'LL BE MY HUSBAND!"

Sano grinned and Saitou sighed, muttering something like "Aho" under his breath. "Well, 
it's good enough for me," Sano simply said at last to Saitou.

Amiko lended Cindy a bishie-ball, and Sano disappeared into Cindy's waiting room. Just for 
fun, she captured Saitou and Aoshi as well. Subsequent screams could have been heard from 
her bishie ball. Misao disappeared in red and joins SSJ's ranks of Relena, Arashi, Suzuka, 
Yuzuriha, and et cetera. DDT was left bishoujo-less, but it was not like he knew any of the 
bishoujo, anyway.

From there, the group said good bye to the Oniwabanshuu, and then left Kyoto. With a 
carriage, they reached Osaka harbor again.

DDT smiled as he began, "Well, that was a nice five days."

Cindy nodded. "Yes, it was! I got me Sano!"

Aoshi and Saitou's voices called through the bishie balls in her pocket.

"What about me?" Aoshi muttered, feeling dejected.

"...Aku? Soku? Zan?" The author needs not emphasize who said that.

A boat arrived, and the crew boarded. One more step forward for them. SSJ sniffed the ocean 
breeze, then turned to Amiko. "Well, here we go again."

Amiko smiled as she looked at SSJ. She nodded, "Yep. Another adventure."

And all the while, TM had to lean over the rail, vomit flying from his mouth. The boat 
sailed further from Osaka, leaving the little island of Japan behind them.

---- To Be Continued ----

- ENDING SONG: TACTICS -

Gira tto shita kimi no me ni Doki tto shita hirusagari 
Shakki tto shita ore no karada marude tamesareteru you ni 
Tsun tto shita kimi to kuuki ni zoku tto shita koigokoro wa 
Zara tto shita suna wo kami sareru ga mama yoru ni naru 

Sorosoro jiman no kuchibiru de wain wo nomasete kurenai ka 
Mangetsu no yoru ni musubareta otoko to onna wa eien sa 

Hageshiku Lady Ah Give me your love 
Ayashiku Lady I need your love 
Tama ni miseru samishige na me ga 
Uso ka hontou ka wakaranai 
Sunao ni Lady Ah Give me your love 
Kanjite mite Lady I need your love 
Kimi no shigusa ni furimawasarete 
Muchuu no ai wa ore no naka de odoru 

---- Preview ----

[Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! Preview music plays in background. The five appear as chibi style, and 
random scenes from the next episode play, though you can't see because this is text. =P]

SSJ: WHOA. DEAR LORD THAT WAS LONG.

Amiko: NO THANKS TO YOU!

TM: Okay! Next! On Ginga GIRI GIRI!

Cindy: We find a deserted mansion off in the middle of nowhere.

DDT: Now, this isn't just any ORDINARY mansion... There's a secret to be had in it.

SSJ: And in there, we find more than we ever bargain for.

TM: With 100% more wackiness. That, and killer zombies.

Amiko: Next! On Ginga GIRI GIRI! "The Mansion of Nightmares".

Squall: ...Whatever.

----