The All-Americans
By
Joshua Trujillo

Part 19 - Happy Days Are Here Again

"But why do we have to use MY car?" Ranma stammered.

"Because, you idiot," Ryouga began, "Your car is the only one that 
has any kind of pulling power. But I do have a question? Ukyou?"

There was a clang under the hood. Ranma looked on from a safe 
distance, but he never thought that he'd get upstaged this way. 
Okay, so Ryouga and Ukyou knew more about cars than he did, so 
what? But...His own car? Ukyou had seemed thrilled with the idea 
of Ranma's car. She'd said that it just needed a tune up and she'd 
have it running better than new again. Ranma doubted her for a 
little while until he remembered that Ukyou never let anyone touch 
her Mustang. Ranma just nodded in reply. If she worked on her 
own car, who was he to stop her? What's the worst that she could 
do to it?

"Hey," Ryouga tapped her leg with his foot, "Ukyou?"

"I WISH you'd stop pestering me," Ukyou said from underneath 
the car, "I'd get done a lot faster. Just concentrate on holding the 
car up, Hercules."

Ryouga shook his head. The car wasn't heavy to begin with, just 
kinda awkward.

"Well, I just wanna know why we aren't using your car?"

Ukyou stopped banging around and pulled herself out from 
underneath it. Ranma brought her a Dr. Pepper as Ryouga set his 
car down. Ryouga pulled a Citra from the cooler and sat down on 
top of it.

"Well?"

She wiped her hands on a towel and popped open the drink. Her 
bright eyes trailed on Ranma a little longer than he felt 
comfortable, but Ranma didn't say anything. He'd be damned if 
he'd let Ryouga find out...What happened...

"My car is being used."

Ryouga waited half a beat.

"By whom?" he asked.

Ukyou stretched slightly and took a drink.

"The cheerleaders."

Ranma looked back to Ryouga. Both turned to Ukyou, jaws slack.

"What?" she asked, indignant, "I'm dating one of them, you know."

Ranma began to snicker, but cut himself short when she shot him a 
look. Ryouga shook his head and stood. He stretched to try and 
work out a couple kinks in his shoulder. He was probably getting 
old if THIS was getting to him.

Assholes, Ukyou thought, What do they know? 'Course, Ranma's 
dating a cheerleader too.

It had been a couple days since she and Ranma-

Since they had their encounter. Yeah, that was the best way to put 
that. She shivered involuntarily. It wasn't cold in the garage, either. 
The car! Concentrate on the car. Actually, Ranma's car was in 
remarkably good shape, considering the age and the owner. He 
needed a new muffler, but Ryouga said he had a couple friends in 
town that would put on a used one for cheap. Ryouga hadn't been 
wearing his cast-brace-thingy the day before, but lifting the car, 
Ukyou made him put it on as a safety measure. He was about to 
argue, but Ranma reminded him that the game on Friday would be 
Homecoming, which meant Akane would be there. Ukyou smiled 
as Ryouga grumbled. Said he didn't care, but she just smirked as he 
put on the brace anyway.

Ryouga rubbed his hands and swallowed another splash of soda. 
He set the Citra on the nearby desk and picked up the car again as 
Ukyou slid underneath. He clucked his tongue at the back of his 
mouth and Ranma gave him an odd look. Ryouga ignored it. He 
chastised himself, as it was something he'd picked up from one of 
the dancers at work. Casey would do that whenever she was 
thinking about something or when she was reading. Ryouga felt 
Ukyou jiggle something under the car and tapped his leg. He let 
the car down slowly.

"Well, aside from the muffler, it should run fine," Ukyou said as 
she wiped her hands.

"So, the bonfire is when?" Ranma asked.

"Thursday," Ryouga chimed in, "After the parade."

"The game's on Friday and the dance is on Saturday," Ukyou said 
as she gathered the rest of her tools together.

Ryouga and Ranma groaned in turn. Ukyou shot Ranma a dirty 
look and he hurried inside the house to order the pizza. It was a 
small payment for her work on his car. Ryouga walked out of the 
garage and looked across the fields. He sighed and looked into the 
sky. Akane liked the openness of the sky and the endless land. She 
would have liked it out with Ryouga's grandfather. The land was 
so wide open and clean. Sure it was dry as hell and was often 
above a hundred, but there was a certain freedom to the whole 
thing. Ukyou walked past with her toolbox, out to her car. She 
opened the trunk and paused, seeing the look in his eyes.

"Akane is going to the dance on Saturday, you know."

Ryouga shifted his eyes to fall on the tall girl. He was going to 
snort at her and declaim his feelings, but he knew that she knew 
better.

"Is she now?" he more said than asked.

"Yes, she is," Ukyou closed her trunk, "And she doesn't have a 
date yet."

"Doesn't she now?"

"Ask her, you dolt."

Ryouga stared at the rising moon as Ukyou walked back into the 
house, a feeling of joy washing into his heart. He sniffed once and 
nodded to himself.

***

Thursday came and school eaked by for those who looked forward 
to the parade and bonfire that night. Akane was one of those 
people, not only because she liked to set things on fire as much as 
the next teen, but that Kasumi always came home for the 
Homecoming parade. She had said that she had to work that night, 
so she'd have to leave before the bonfire was lit, but at least she 
could ride on the Alumni float.

Akane happily ate her lunch, which Nodoka had packed that 
morning. She frowned slightly. Her mother still wouldn't let her 
around the kitchen because of what had happened two years ago. It 
really wasn't her fault, but they were still making payments to the 
EPA. Akane didn't want to think about that, so she pushed ahead 
into her pudding. She smiled at the thought that the caffeine from 
the Coke and the chocolate should keep her on a complete high 
until dinner.

***

The old lot on the outskirts of town were the main staging area for 
the high school flotilla. The football float was shaped like a 
football with a green shag rug on the top. Ranma lay on top and 
looked up into the deepening blues and oranges of the setting sun 
sky. He thought on the small stars that he thought he could see 
twinkle in the distance overhead. Shampoo wanted him to take her 
to the dance on Saturday.

That, in and of itself, wasn't all too shocking or surprising. He had 
expected it. But it was a masquerade ball. That meant that people 
would be dressing up and he really didn't have anything to dress up 
as. And that was a problem. Shampoo had told him not to worry 
about it, but he couldn't help it.

The float rocked gently as Hiroshi and Daisuke climbed aboard. 
Ranma pulled himself up as Ryouga climbed up, followed by 
Kuno and the rest of the team. It was, after all, a big football. 
Henry, the kicker, started Ranma's car and the float pulled out onto 
the roadway south, into town. Ranma looked ahead of him, on the 
next float up. The cheerleaders had a large platform, but it was so 
they could cheer while the float moved along. Ranma could see 
that Yuka and Sayuri cheered as the first sections of town came 
into view. Ranma smiled and waved at the assembled people, 
giving them a little wave. Ryouga gave him a slight cuff on the 
back of his head.

All this annoyed Ranma. But Ryouga was right; he should be more 
enthusiastic about it all. The cheerleaders called back to the 
football float and Shampoo blew him a kiss. He smiled shyly and 
waved back at them. He was so damned confused about the whole 
thing.

He sighed and looked around as the floats turned to the main 
sections of town. Towards city hall and the fire station, the crowds 
got thicker and the cheering grew louder. The echoes in his heart 
meant little to them, he knew. Something had...Changed since the 
whole thing with Ukyou. Something inside that he couldn't readily 
put a finger on. Or punch out, really. Ranma knew that Ukyou 
wasn't in the parade. She had come in too late, but also that she 
wasn't in extracurricular activity. Akane was on the theater float, 
wherever that was, possibly ahead of them. The Alumni float was 
traditionally the last one in the procession and Ranma knew that 
Kasumi was on that one.

Nabiki could really have been on any float she wanted, since she 
managed finances for most of the groups of the school, but she 
chose to stay behind. Ranma looked across the crowd and smiled 
when he saw his mother wave back. Ukyou was standing with her 
and smiled and waved. He waved back and felt something pull at 
his heart. He couldn't describe it and felt that perhaps, maybe he 
shouldn't. Nabiki wasn't with them. Ranma filed this thought away 
for later questioning. He might have a little talk with his sister 
about what she truly felt. He realized that it would most likely 
degenerate into an argument, but it needed to come out. All of it.

***

"Hey monkeys," Ukyou laughed lightly as she bobbed up.

"Who're you callin' a monkey, bitch-boy?" Daisuke said as Yuka 
wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"He's calling you a monkey," Ryouga said as he pushed his way in, 
"And I happen to agree."

Daisuke stuck out his tongue.

"Hey!" Yuka yelled, pulling his face around, "Don't waste that!"

And she proceeded to try to remove it with her own. Ryouga just 
shook his head and moved around the group to Akane. Sayuri 
pulled Ukyou towards her and squealed lightly as Ukyou put her 
arm around her. Ranma looked at her and Ukyou shook her head 
with a sigh. Ranma sat down on a log next to Shampoo, who 
curled up next to him and began to purr, which unsettled him in a 
way he couldn't exactly put his finger on. He hated when that 
happened. Akane sat down on the other log and Ryouga glanced to 
Ranma.

Ranma poked his head towards Akane and Ryouga nodded. He 
took a deep breath and sat down next to Akane. She flashed a smile 
at him and it seemed that Ryouga melted into the increasing flames 
of the fire. Ranma chuckled slightly.

"And what's so funny, honey?" Shampoo asked, propping her head 
on his shoulder.

Ranma shook his head and smiled as he reached forward. Outside 
the ring of fire, there lay another ring of coat hangers, stretched out 
to make little pokers. Ukyou took the bag of marshmallows from 
Daisuke and poked a couple for herself and Sayuri, who held them 
into the flames as Ukyou passed the bag to Ranma.

"So, I suppose that you still want me to go to this dance tomorrow 
night?" he asked Shampoo.

Shampoo looked shocked as he gave her a marshmallow pole and 
passed the bag along to Akane.

"Of course I do, honey," she said, "An don'chu worry none 'bout 
what yer gonna wear. Grannies got all that fixed up."

Ranma thought for a second.

"So...What am I going as?"

"I ain't tellin'," Shampoo giggled.

Ranma rolled his eyes.

"I think I'll go as an island girl, if the weather stays nice," Akane 
said.

"Yeah, it said on the Weather Channel that tomorrow night is 
gonna be much warmer than it's been," Ukyou said as she blew on 
a marshmallow, "I still have no idea what I'm going to go as."

Sayuri leaned in close and whispered something into Ukyou's ear. 
She chewed on her marshmallow and carefully kept her face 
completely neutral. Akane turned to Ryouga.

"What are you going as?"

"Well..." he giggled like a schoolgirl, "I hadn't really thought about 
going..."

"Oh c'mon," Akane punched him lightly in the arm, "Who'd I go 
with if you don't go?"

Ryouga turned in his seat and tired very hard to ignore the growing 
swell on his arm.

"D-d-did you really mean that?" he stammered, "I mean, I'd LOVE 
to accompany you to the dance!"

"Well..." Akane laughed as she turned back to her marshmallow, 
"Of course, I want you to go. You're my friend."

Ranma noticed that he didn't hear THAT part of it.

***

The bell rang, ending class for that Friday and a general sensation 
of excitement and wonder seemed to be ripping through the whole 
student body. There had been a pep rally that afternoon and Kuno 
even said that he'd try to take a couple snaps that night, though it 
came out sounding as though they'd lose without him.

Ranma sighed. They didn't need Kuno, or the baggage of his 
family. Ranma glanced sidelong at the teachers near the entrance 
and watched for a couple minutes as the principal, Kuno's insane 
father, hungrily eyed the hairdos of one of the substitutes. 
Something needed to be done about him, but Ranma filed that 
away for later reference. Something else was bugging him, but he 
couldn't figure it out. The new moon wasn't until the middle of 
next week, so he should be fine for the game and the dance the 
next night. Which reminded him that he'd need to leave a little 
early for Shampoo's to get dressed up. He shivered reflexively.

Ranma made his way into the locker room and began to get ready 
for the workout. The game wasn't for a few hours still, but even 
though this was Homecoming and they had already clinched a 
playoff spot, Coach had insisted that it be like every other game. 
Video tape, game meal, exercise, more video, more video 
and...Ranma sighed. The monotony of it was bugging him and he 
knew it was related to whatever he couldn't figure out. Which 
bugged him some more.

At the beginning of the second video session, Ryouga returned and 
the team doctor proudly proclaimed that Ryouga had the green 
light to play. A cheer came up from the team and Ryouga went 
around high-fiving each. Ranma thought it was unusual of him, but 
considering he'd been out of action for the last few weeks, this 
probably felt damn good. And Ranma wouldn't begrudge him his 
happiness.

Time rolled away and the other team's bus pulled in to the lot. 
Ranma sat in the corner of the locker room, half asleep. It was a 
good centering exercise that ran through his mind, a kind of mental 
workout that kept his mind sharp while letting his body lull into a 
state of restful sleep. Events of the past few days and even the time 
since he first arrived in Earnest flashed across his mind.

Nabiki Tendo. Ranma certainly cared for her. She was technically 
his sister and he felt that there was a sibling feeling there that he 
liked. A kind of gentle rub that went between two siblings under 
normal circumstances. But with Nabiki, there was more. She had 
actually loved Ranma. Ranma tried to sigh, but his relaxed state let 
out a snort instead. She was just someone for which Ranma didn't 
think he could ever feel more than friendship. He felt bad about 
that because she was a loving, sweet person. But Ranma could also 
see something of a mean streak, especially when she got going in 
Jeopardy.

Lately, she'd been keeping more to herself, and his mother had 
commented on her uptake in the business. Ranma knew his mother 
thought this was due to midterms, and in some ways, she was right, 
but Ranma knew there was more. And it irked him to think that he 
was at the base of the discontent.

Akane Tendo. The younger spitfire who constantly played with 
Ranma's mind. He'd had a couple dreams about the youngest sister, 
one of which was erotic. He wasn't exactly uncomfortable thinking 
of her in those terms, but it led her teasing into a different light at 
that point. He liked Akane, but didn't really know if it could work 
between them. Besides, if Ranma tried for Akane, he knew that 
Ryouga would be right there to keep them apart.

Ryouga Hibiki. His oldest nemesis and newest friend. There was 
something underlying the bandana wearin' fool that led Ranma to 
want to find out what they were. Curiosity and all.

Speaking of cats, which was an odd segue of thought, Ranma 
thought as he shifted where he sat propped against the locker.

Shampoo. The purple-haired cheerleading beauty was certainly one 
of the most beautiful women he'd ever dated. She could fight 
almost as well as he, though she often tried to hide it from him. 
She probably got her notions from the hideous mummy of a great 
grandmother of hers. Ranma shivered. Cologne gave him the 
creeps every time he thought of her. That old hag had started 
whacking him with her cane to make sure he wouldn't fight back. 
To his credit, Ranma saw through her ploy and didn't fight back, 
but she left him with a few nasty bruises as a reminder. Ranma also 
knew where Shampoo got her fighting style. It was quite...Unique.

Then there was Ukyou. Ranma sigh-snorted again. His feelings 
were so misfuckled when it came to the woman, it wasn't funny. 
Did he love her? He didn't know. He really didn't know. One thing 
was damned sure; he'd keep her as his best friend. She deserved 
everything from him and he'd be sure that she got it.

Someone kicked his foot and Ranma woke up. He looked up and 
Ryouga kicked his foot again.

"C'mon, let's go kick some ass," he said.

Ranma nodded and grabbed Ryouga's hand up.

***

The locker room was once again a buzz of excitement, but this 
time, of the conquering team again. Ranma walked from the 
showers and began to get dressed, slightly stiff from the weird 
bruises.

"Okay, so you got all of us here," Daisuke said as he dried his hair, 
"We won the game, what do you want to yell at us for now?"

Ryouga shot the smaller boy an eyebrow and nodded as Kuno 
stood near Ranma. Ranma looked up toward the taller boy and 
smiled a stupid grin. Kuno shook his head and sat down. Ranma 
WAS happy that Kuno took a couple snaps late in the game. 
Something positive for his senior year and all.

Hiroshi sat on the other side of the bench from Daisuke and was 
putting his socks on, watching Ryouga.

"I know that most of us are probably going to the dance tomorrow 
night, right?" Ryouga finally asked.

A general assent of nods went around the group. Even Kuno 
nodded, though Ranma wondered if he'd fallen asleep instead.

"I thought that, since we did such a good job that I'd take..." 
Ryouga paused a little, "My friends...Out...Somewhere. Just us 
guys."

Ranma thought a half step and nodded.

"Like what?" Hiroshi asked.

"Your work?" Ranma asked.

Ryouga nodded.

"I'm the head bouncer at a certain place and, as long as you jerks 
keep your damned mouths shut," he pointed looked to Kuno, 
"Then you can stay."

"Isn't it a bar?" Hiroshi asked.

"Well, are you twenty-one?" Ryouga asked in return.

Hiroshi shook his head.

"Then you can't get trashed and stupid!"

"Daisuke, it's...Slightly more than a bar," Ranma said as he tied his 
shoes, "I'm sure you guys'll like it."

Kuno nodded sagely, but, as Ryouga said, kept his mouth wisely 
shut.

***