"Of course not…"
Ryuji pressed a hand to Shampoo's head, exasperated. This girl's eagerness to throw herself at him was one thing, but her intensity was something else entirely.
He finished dressing her properly, then dispelled the ice wall.
At once, he saw the full scope of the damage: every spring was overflowing except the Spring of Drowned Man, which lay completely dry.
Curious, he extended his senses once more. What he felt made him frown. The spring's water had surged far beyond his control. Though it was recovering, it would take at least three months to reach its former level, and half a year or more to overflow again.
Given Ranma and Genma's financial situation, there was no way they could afford to remain here that long. They'd starve to death first.
"Troublesome…"
He scratched his head. Call it fate or call it destiny, but the truth was plain: his intervention had made things worse.
And yet, he had noticed something peculiar. The Spring of Drowned Woman had been on the verge of drying up as well but after he used its waters to restore Shampoo and Misato, it had returned to normal.
Even stranger, the moment Ranma and Genma were forced out of the Spring of Drowned Man, the spring had shown faint signs of revival.
The evidence was clear: this wasn't about "plot" or fixed destiny. It was something stranger exactly what the guide had called it: karmic bonds.
Because if it really was fate, then it have been impossible for me to turn Shampoo back.
In the original story, Shampoo was destined to remain stuck with her cat transformation. If fate really dictated everything, then she would never have fallen for him, nor would she have been able to return to normal.
So the only explanation Ryuji could accept was what the guide had mentioned earlier—fate, or perhaps "connections."
Gazing out over Jusenkyō, Ryuji could faintly sense a strange power lingering in the springs, something elusive and beyond his comprehension.
"This really is incredible. So, is this also fate?"
He couldn't help but find it fascinating.
Was it the Spring of Drowned Girl that had drawn Ranma to it, or was it Ranma's hidden wish that had drawn him to the spring? It was a mystery he had no intention of solving. And he certainly wasn't going to dig open the Spring of Drowned Man again just to help Ranma.
After all—
Once he reached Japan, he could just sit back and watch the show.
And since he himself wasn't the type to be swayed by the charms of a cursed girl. That meant he could enjoy the spectacle without worry.
"Well then, looks like we can bottle up some of the water and get moving."
Ryuji chuckled lightly as he reached for a container to scoop some of the Spring of Drowned Girl's water.
The guide, however, quickly reminded him: for the water to have its effect, it had to completely envelop the body. A mere splash from a water bottle wouldn't be enough.
"That said, guest, with your ability to control water, the few bottles you're carrying could easily transform over a dozen people into women. But… please be careful. Use it recklessly, and people will hold a grudge."
Glancing at the large bottles in Ryuji's hands, the guide couldn't help but warn him. Even though Ryuji seemed strong, he knew how dangerous this water could become if abused.
Ryuji just smirked.
"That's a small problem. Besides, I'm only taking these to help others!"
To put it bluntly, he was already looking forward to the chaos that would follow.
Once he had finished chatting with the guide and purchased a few intriguing props, Ryuji was ready to leave.
Meanwhile, Misato looked thoroughly dejected. She hadn't gotten anything of real value. Sure, she bought a few items that seemed impressive, but the guide had said most of the good stuff was out of stock. Without Ryuji's ability to manipulate water, even a bottle or two of the cursed spring was useless to her. Naturally, she was frustrated.
Ryuji paid it no mind. After asking a few more questions about the area, he made up his mind: it was time to head for Japan.
After all, he had heard far too many familiar names from those old TV shows.
Here, there was no plot worth interfering in anymore.
"What a pain… I really don't like Japanese food."
He sighed. Of course, the meals at Erina's house had been heavenly, but Japan didn't exactly come with an Erina Nakiri to cook for him. Inevitably, his thoughts drifted back to an earlier idea perhaps he should make a detour to Shaolin Temple in Putian, Guangzhou.
And so, after bidding farewell to the guide, Ryuji and the others along with a completely dispirited Ranma and Genma climbed onto an ox-cart and set out.
For Ryuji, the trip had been fruitful. He was in high spirits as he shared his plans aloud. Misato, however, sat with her lips twitching, clutching the single bottle of the Spring of Drowned Girl she had managed to obtain, her frustration practically written on her face.
"Are you really planning to visit that Shaolin Temple in Putian? Or is this just another excuse to go off chasing something strange?"
Misato squinted at him suspiciously. She wasn't very familiar with Guangzhou, but Putian she knew well, she'd been there once on business. And while the place wasn't nearly as notorious now as it had been in the past, the name alone still left her with a sour impression.
"Yes," Ryuji replied simply.
"You're not just going there to pick up some cute girls, are you?"
As she said this, Misato cast a sidelong glance at Shampoo. To her, this entire journey felt utterly bizarre, and she couldn't shake the feeling that Ryuji was hiding something from her.
When he'd met Ranma and Genma, his reaction had been far too calm. She herself was still marveling at their strange constitution, still struggling to wrap her head around the cursed springs of Jusenkyō, yet Ryuji had acted as if it was nothing new to him just a moment of surprise, and then nothing more.
His easy acceptance of Shampoo also unsettled her.
She herself was older than Shampoo and hardly unattractive; she'd worked hard just to get Ryuji to accept her as a companion. He had always been respectful—sure, he'd steal glances at her body now and then, but he never crossed the line.
But with Shampoo? It was different. He hadn't questioned her intentions, hadn't shown the slightest caution. She'd declared she wanted to marry him, and he'd gone along with it, even going so far as to "warn" her in advance that he would have a harem, as though he already knew exactly how she would react.
Yet with Misato, he'd always cautioned her not to follow him too closely... because if she did, she might die.
There was no way this wasn't tied to something bigger something crucial to their mission.
So she asked bluntly:
"How do you even know there's a Shaolin Temple in Putian? We came here together when would you have found that out?"
She was genuinely curious.
"Don't overthink it. Magic doesn't always follow logic. And… some things are better left unknown."
Ryuji had already prepared for this question. He didn't like lying, but telling Misato the truth was impossible.
Because if she knew how her future played out… she'd probably break. No matter which outcome it was, none of them were good for her, or for humanity as a whole. Across all the Evangelion timelines, only one had ever ended in peace, and even then… her fate hadn't been a happy one.
And despite her outward bravado, Misato was fragile. She might be an adult, but her heart was anything but invincible. Giving her certain answers would only lead her to despair.
After all, if Ryuji knew the "plot" of this world, wouldn't that mean he also knew the "plot" of her world?
But truthfully, he only knew scraps. Just as he only half-remembered Ranma's plot, his knowledge of Evangelion was even worse. He vaguely recalled Unit-01 going berserk, Rei Ayanami being some sort of clone of Shinji's mother mixed with Lilith, and that Asuka, Rei, and Mari were all… well, "colorful" characters. And Misato? She was the archetypal "older woman" type. Beyond that, he hadn't paid much attention.
Honestly, he'd spent more time looking at EVA doujins than watching the actual series or reading the news about it. Back in his world, that sort of thing was practically commonplace—nothing unusual. But now? Now it was a problem.
Because he had no idea which timeline Misato came from.
"Tch…" Misato bit her lip, frustration bubbling up. This whole trip had been pointless for her—she'd gained nothing, while Ryuji had walked away with everything.
"If you don't want to answer, just say so."
Crossing her arms, she turned away, sulking. He was infuriating, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling that he wasn't entirely wrong either.
After all, Shampoo wasn't a chosen warrior or some summoned savior. She was just a native of this world, with no deep ties to Ryuji. Misato, however, was different.
"Is this what they call the world's 'gift'? He knows things I don't… because of that?"
The thought nagged at her.
Especially since Ryuji's compass was, in her eyes, nothing short of divine. With something like that, even battling the Angels would be easy, the hardest part had always been not knowing where they'd appear. If that problem was solved, so much bloodshed could be avoided.
So Misato fell silent.
Ryuji, seeing she wasn't pressing the matter further, simply turned back to Shampoo and began discussing martial arts instead.
Ranma's resilience had caught his attention getting smashed in the face by a giant hammer and bouncing back in seconds wasn't something ordinary humans could do.
"So basically, your martial arts involve gathering qi, storing it in your body, strengthening yourself… and with enough mastery, you could even live for a hundred, maybe two hundred years?"
As he spoke, Ryuji touched Shampoo's hand, feeling the qi flowing within her. He quickly realized… it wasn't much different from the life energy of other worlds just a fusion of spiritual and vital force.
"That's right. But I have no intention of living that long."
Shampoo beamed under his touch. To her, his caresses were proof of his approval. If only he could devote that same attention to her alone, she would be perfectly content.
Her gaze slid toward Misato, eyes darkening with hostility once again.
But she still answered his question honestly:
"No matter how much you train, it's mostly just for health and longevity. If you really live too long, like my great-grandmother has, the body eventually shrivels on its own, turning you into something like a monster. But until that point, qi techniques can keep our appearance unchanged for decades."
Shampoo spoke casually.
"After all, there's no such thing as immortality in this world, so I don't plan to use qi to prolong my life."
Although she respected her great-grandmother deeply, Shampoo never believed she could cultivate to that same level. More importantly, her great-grandmother's appearance was simply too terrifying. To their family she was still a respected elder, but in the eyes of outsiders, she looked like a monster shorter than a kettle.
And yet, her great-grandmother had once been a great beauty, just like Shampoo herself.
Resting her cheek against her palm, Shampoo sighed, then suddenly grabbed Ryuji's hands with firm seriousness.
"That's why we need to treasure our time, darling! Let's hurry and enjoy our youth. Let's have children to carry on the family line, then pass everything down to them, so the two of us can live freely and happily together!"
Her gaze was intense and filled with determination.
"Alright! But let's make one thing clear first, I'm building a harem."
Ryuji gripped Shampoo's hands, and Misato's eye twitched at the exchange.
"Ugh! Darling, having me is already enough, isn't it?"
Shampoo let out a pitiful cry, then leapt straight into Ryuji's arms, clinging to him and pouting coquettishly.
Misato: "..."
But in the end, Ryuji didn't get his way. Just as his hand slipped toward Shampoo's butt, both he and Misato abruptly lifted their heads.
"It's here!"
Ryuji sensed a faint trace of twisted World power and with it, a ravenous craving for the threads of fate tangled around him.
But before he could act, that twisted World power clearly sensed him. In the very next instant, it fled for its life, escaping his perception almost immediately!
The sudden shift made Ryuji frown. He pulled out his pocket watch and saw the compass once again spinning aimlessly. When he handed it to Misato, the needle still wouldn't stop.
Clearly, whatever was lurking behind the scenes had felt his presence and bolted without hesitation.
Ryuji scowled, annoyed.
"Not even daring to feed on the remnants of a broken 'plot'? Running away outright? This thing's a total coward…"
He was utterly speechless. Compared to the eldritch horrors he'd encountered in the last world, this one looked ridiculously timid.
"Maybe it's just because you're too strong," Misato said, shaking her head. She glanced at the compass spinning wildly in her hand before handing it back to him.
"Looks like neither of us are fit to use this compass."
Her words carried a deeper meaning.
Because when Ryuji used the compass, she had noticed something: several times, its needle pointed not toward monsters, but toward her and Shampoo. Clearly, in Ryuji's heart, they mattered far more than any lurking threat.
In her own hand, the compass spun without pause. And truthfully, she herself didn't even know what she wanted.
If this were her own world, perhaps it would have pointed toward the Angels. But here, where no Angels existed…
Misato bit her lip, clutching the compass tightly, staring at the frenzied needle. She had no idea what to say.
Because the truth was… she didn't know what she wanted, either.
The reason she had approached Ryuji in the first place was simple curiosity. A man of mystery, with an equally enigmatic logic and actions, such people naturally drew her in.
Especially when she had pointed a gun at him, but he had healed her wounds and protected her once the misunderstanding was cleared. That curiosity had only deepened.
And Ryuji…
Ryuji looked like someone who always knew where he was going.
So, without realizing it, she had simply followed him.
"I'll go take a look."
Ryuji frowned, reclaiming his compass. Before Shampoo could even ask what he was doing, he raised his hand streams of water and solid ice wrapped around her, binding her tightly. After all, her combat power was nowhere near enough to handle something like this.
Without another word, he darted off to search, focusing his mind, chanting silently to himself that what he wanted most was the monster's trail.
But it was no use.
Shampoo writhed against the restraints, her eyes filled with worry and confusion at Ryuji's sudden behavior.
"Darling! Take me with you!"
She struggled hard, but the ice couldn't be broken so quickly.
Still, Ryuji wasn't cruel. The moment the bindings left his control range, he released them but by then, with his speed, Shampoo had no chance of catching up.
Misato, watching Shampoo's anxious expression, suddenly blurted out a question she hadn't meant to ask.
"Shampoo, why are you so determined to marry Ryuji?"
Misato genuinely couldn't understand her reasoning.
Just because she lost a fight, she was ready to marry him? What if Ryuji had been ugly? What if he were abusive?
What if he couldn't even support himself?
What would Shampoo do then?
"Hah? What's there to be confused about?"
Shampoo looked at Misato like she couldn't follow her train of thought at all.
"Ryuji is handsome and strong, he has all kinds of secret techniques, and he's satisfied with my looks and my body. He defeated me in a formal challenge, we agreed on the terms beforehand, and I accepted those terms. Why wouldn't I marry him?"
From Shampoo's perspective, Ryuji had clearly said: if you lose, you'll have my child. She had still chosen to attack, to challenge him. Since she lost, she should keep her promise.
Would it be right to break her promise just because Ryuji hadn't taken it seriously?
A person who betrayed their own oath—what right did they have to live?
"But Ryuji was obviously joking! How can you treat something like marriage so lightly?"
Misato still couldn't wrap her head around it. To her, a cute girl like Shampoo shouldn't throw herself into marriage so casually, especially not with a pervert like Ryuji, who hadn't even bothered to ask before accepting!
"Then tell me, what do you think marriage is?"
Shampoo was briefly at a loss for words, but she knew well enough that outsiders weren't like the women of her tribe.
"It's the crystallization of love, of course!"
Misato answered without hesitation.
"And what do you think love is?"
Shampoo shot the question right back, and Misato froze, caught off guard. She blurted out the first answer that came to mind.
"Of course, it's the feeling of liking someone!"
That answer only deepened Shampoo's confusion.
"Then what's so hard to understand?" she tilted her head.
"Ryuji might not be the most dazzlingly handsome man in existence, but he's definitely the reliable, attractive type and he happens to be exactly my type. The martial arts I admire most, the way of strength I respect most Ryuji far surpasses me in all of it. He's so strong I can't even resist him. He's powerful in every sense. I like his looks, his muscular body, his strength and skill. Isn't that love?"
Her words shook Misato's entire worldview.
"And besides," Shampoo continued, "Ryuji isn't a dishonorable man. He values propriety and his own reputation. He wouldn't just abandon a wife or a child. Isn't that enough? Why shouldn't I pursue him?"
She crossed her arms. Though she longed to stay at Ryuji's side, if he had told her to wait here, then she would wait.
Misato, overwhelmed by the conviction behind Shampoo's reasoning, blurted out her protest.
"But… but that's not love!"
To her, this way of thinking felt too materialistic. Too casual.
Yet Shampoo only grew more puzzled. For someone who looked older and more experienced, Misato seemed to understand so little.
"Then tell me—what is love, to you? Who deserves to receive it? Someone strong, who can give you strong and clever children, who walks the same path as you, who never stops learning and striving to grow stronger alongside you? Or someone who appears when you're young and inexperienced, offering comfort, but who can't even defeat you in a fight, who likes you just for your looks, and who abandons you for his career or his duties, unable to give you anything lasting? Miss Katsuragi isn't love something meant to be given to the one who can truly walk beside you for life? Or are you saying you'd love one person, but marry another? Or simply fall in love with someone else again?"
Shampoo frowned.
"That's betrayal. And what's the point of a love that can't walk beside you? Love only has meaning when shared with someone who can walk the same road. Even if he's not handsome, even if he's bad-tempered, if you travel the same path together, he can change. Life isn't just about romance, Miss Katsuragi."
Misato froze.
Her thoughts turned to Kaji Ryoji—her former lover.
He had appeared when she needed comfort most. But for the sake of his work and his mission, he had disappeared again.
The question gnawed at her.
If she had clung to her love for Kaji, would he have stayed?
Would she and Kaji ever have walked the same road?
Her heart was growing restless, uncertain.
She realized now she couldn't sway Shampoo. This wasn't some naïve girl who didn't know better, Shampoo had her own mature view of love and marriage. To her, love wasn't something passively received from others. It was something she chose to give.
This girl was no longer just a girl. She was already a woman.
"So, even if Ryuji decides to keep a harem, you'd still stay with him?"
Misato gave a bitter, self-mocking laugh. She had thought she could guide this "inexperienced" girl, only to be schooled instead.
"Of course," Shampoo declared confidently. "But I'll make him understand, in my own way, that having me alone is enough."
She clenched her fist with pride. Ryuji was her chosen husband she could allow him much, but as his wife, she would fiercely protect her own interests. Openly, and without shame.
She would tell him plainly that she didn't want his love divided, that she didn't want other women bearing his children. If he strayed, she would be furious.
And whenever his eyes wandered, she would drain him dry until seeing another woman's breasts made him think only of Shampoo's breasts, until seeing another woman's hips made him recall only hers. Even if he was inside another women, he would feel nothing compared to what he felt with her.
Let him stray if he dared. She would never give up.
She would wear him down, reshape everything he was until it belonged to her alone.
This was a new kind of duel.
And she had every confidence she would win.
After all, as the saying goes—there are only tired ox, never barren fields.
Men might excel in combat, but in the bedroom, women unquestionably held the upper hand.
Her hand brushed the secret manuals she had bought from the guide, as well as her great-grandmother's carefully guarded intimate arts. Shampoo felt fully confident.
"…Well, looks like I worried for nothing," Misato admitted, scratching her head with a sigh.
Still, she resolved she would at least try to talk to Ryuji. If he couldn't return Shampoo's feelings, perhaps it was better to let this determined girl go free.
Although it is annoying to do this, the kind that would earn her resentment, but as an adult, sometimes you had to do the unpopular thing.
Even if it meant being hated for it.
And yet… as she looked out at the world around her, at the strangely relaxed feeling in her body, a troubling thought crept into Misato's mind.
Do I even want to go back?
Her father's last wish had been for her to live well. And since arriving here, though she had followed Ryuji through one bizarre adventure after another, bewildered and half-dragged along, this world… was fascinating. Its people were fascinating. Like something out of a manga.
There were even "Sailor Moon" like warriors, things any girl might secretly long for.
And as for her mission… so long as she didn't covet the world's gifts, Ryuji, the seasoned veteran, seemed unlikely to oppose her.
At NERV headquarters, though she bore the title of commander, her presence had barely mattered. Decisions were always made above her head, truths kept from her. Even she hadn't been trusted with the full picture.
Her disappearance wouldn't change anything. She could abandon that doomed world, live here instead. With her equipment and her skills, she could enjoy life as a wealthy woman.
She could eat her fill of all kinds of delicacies here, without ever having to worry about an Angel suddenly dropping onto her head and killing her out of nowhere.
But…
Her mind wandered to the boy who had been discarded by her superiors and summoned without a word. She thought of the doll-like girl back at the base. Misato's gaze hardened with resolve.
The sign of an adult…
…was responsibility.
And she, Misato Katsuragi, was an adult.
An adult already starting to rot.
The thought of her own age made her let out a bitter laugh.
For men, their thirties marked the start of their golden years. For women, it was the age when they began to spoil.
And here she was, spoiling away, unmarried, with her only lover barely even deserving the title in the eyes of others.
Just as that melancholy weighed on her, Ryuji suddenly appeared at their side, his face carrying the weary look of someone who had come up empty-handed.
He hadn't been able to track down the monster. Clearly, whatever that monster was, it didn't lumber through the skies. Before manifesting, it must have had some sort of teleportation ability that Ryuji couldn't yet grasp.
Still, he was certain of one thing: its hunger was overwhelming. If he disrupted the plot enough, eventually it wouldn't be able to resist showing itself.
Like just now. Its desire had gotten the better of it, and it had exposed itself.
"Looks like we'll have to cause a bigger disturbance," Ryuji said, sitting back down and glancing toward Misato.
His efforts had worked, but the impact wasn't large enough to force a full appearance.
"So this time, you're planning on a real spectacle?" Misato asked, flicking her eyes toward Shampoo, then Ranma.
Her mind worked quickly. So far, Ryuji's actions had only brought about two changes: Shampoo had become his wife, and the Spring of Drowned Man was temporarily unusable.
Even Ranma and Genma were still stuck in their cursed bodies.
"Wait a second…"
A spark lit in Misato's mind.
Causality… fate's influence… Back in Hong Kong, Ryuji killed so many people before a monster appeared. But this time, just one small disruption was enough to draw one out…
Her eyes darted between Shampoo, Ranma, and Ryuji as she recalled the chain of events.
Shampoo's tournament—her prize was food. Ranma, starving for days but still strong, would've fought her without us around. He and Genma would've stolen her prize, fought Shampoo, and won. Shampoo would then marry someone stronger than her, as her tribe's law demands, and her fate wouldn't have shifted. Which means… originally, Shampoo's destiny was to marry Ranma?
Her head lifted sharply as the pieces clicked together.
If disrupting fate draws monsters out, then that means fate exists... everyone's fate is fixed. Ryuji's interference altered Shampoo's fate, and that change was enough to summon a monster. That means not all fates carry equal weight. Shampoo's fate is stronger, more important like a protagonist in a story. And Ryuji… does he know this? Does he have some artifact or ability that lets him see fate itself?
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became. Ryuji had either the means or the intuition to see the fate of some people.
Which explained why he had so easily accepted Shampoo.
Either he didn't care about her loyalty, planning to discard her when he grew bored…
Or he already knew she would never betray him, no matter what.
He was utterly confident.
"Still… it's only a theory," Misato muttered, rubbing her chin. "It could all just be coincidence. Nothing's certain yet."
She knew better than to jump to conclusions. As someone entrusted with humanity's survival, she had been trained to think critically, to avoid rash decisions. But she was getting close—close enough to brush the edges of the truth.
After all, NERV was staffed by the best humanity had to offer. Even if she often played the clown, even if her plans sometimes failed, those failures had usually been because of withheld intel, or deliberate sabotage from those above.
Her own ability was undeniable. Misato Katsuragi was, without question, a high-quality woman.
…Just one who couldn't get married.
Meanwhile, Ryuji continued playing around with Shampoo. But despite the closeness, he wasn't in the mood to push things further.
The sudden appearance of the monster born from the twisted world power soured Ryuji's mood completely. What made it worse was the painful realization that, once again, he had no way of dealing with it.
"I need to learn some kind of spatial ability," Ryuji muttered, scratching his head. But if spatial abilities were easy to obtain, they wouldn't be so rare.
"In the worlds I can travel to, the only places where spatial abilities might exist are Azeroth, the Naruto world, the Arad continent, and Rias's world, right?"
Holding Shampoo in his arms, Ryuji sank into thought.
He had already asked Rosh about the spatial magic of Arad, and she had even shown him some.
Learning them wasn't actually that difficult on the surface, at least. The catch was that the prerequisite textbooks stacked taller than he was, unless one happened to be the kind of once-in-a-millennium magical prodigy who could instinctively grasp the elements and their immense power.
In simple terms: either bury yourself in knowledge until it crushes you, or be gifted with absurd talent.
So, he had once tried to split his time half reading, half fucking around with girls to test whether he might be that once-in-a-millennium genius.
But judging by the fact that he was still struggling over spatial powers now, it was clear enough... Ryuji wasn't that prodigy. Or maybe he just hadn't dug deep enough yet.
"I remember the Harry Potter world has spatial magic too, and it's pretty convenient… Maybe if I go there, I'll turn out to be a rare magical genius after all."
He rubbed his chin, considering which world to visit after he had taken care of this world,
Which world should I go for fucking… no, learning some spatial techniques.
"Apparition in the Harry Potter world is handy, but not suited for combat—the wands are way too fragile. Even if it worked in other worlds, it wouldn't be reliable in a fight. Flying Thunder God Jutsu from the Naruto world, though it had strict limits, but it's straightforward to apply. And with Tsunade on my side, I might not even need to visit Konoha to get it… As for the spatial teleportation spells in Rias's world and Arad…"
Ryuji fell into deep thought, though his hands never stilled. He continued fondling Shampoo's breasts, making her melt against him with a blissful little sigh.
"Let's eliminate Rias's world first… So should I go to Naruto next?"
Just as that thought crossed his mind, another suddenly followed.
"Wait…does this mean taking Mai's virginity has to be postponed again?!"
~~~~~~~~~~
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