A Balance of Luck
Title: A Balance of Luck
Fandom: Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran
Pairings: Gen or Ran/Myao
Word Count: 1054
Disclaimer: If I owned it, it would be even crackier.
Summary: Myao has always lived a charmed life until Ran blows into her world like a hurricane.
Myao has always had more than her fair share of luck. Ever since she was a child, the dice of fate have always rolled to her advantage and by the time she’s grown, the martial artist doesn’t even question such fortune anymore. She simply expects good luck in all her dealings - expects her enemies to stumble and her feet to guide her to the place she's meant to be.
It's a fact of life, like breathing or the sun rising in the east. At least it is until Ran sweeps into Myao’s life and changes everything.
The day begins like any other: blue skies, bright sunshine, and three peasants asking Myao to aid their cause. Myao's luck and skill has made her a force to be reckoned with on the side of the downtrodden and the martial artist is always ready to lend a helping hand.
Admittedly, people don't usually begin the hiring process with an ambush, but she forgives the insult when these Bensai boys tell her about the evil Benitsubaki clan. Fraudulent gambling is such a lame way to make money, seriously, and so Myao is more than ready to take the clan's thugs down a peg. Indeed, her luck makes the search rather easy, the martial artist having barely agreed to assist the Bensai when her enemies attack.
And yet, that is the last moment that goes the way it should.
For when Myao begins her introduction, the Benitsubaki refuse to listen just as she's about to teach the fools a lesson, the boys who hired her interrupt the fight. They latch onto the martial artist, foiling her attack with their clumsy stumbling, and nothing like this has ever happened to Myao before. She actually has to be rescued - her, rescued! - though she can't deny that the lady samurai is skilled.
Another champion of justice, surely, but when the fight is finished, the other woman walks away without a word. It's like Myao doesn't even exist, the three boys who had hired her trying to hire the samurai instead, and her first instinct is to refuse when they turn back to her as second best.
But a true hero doesn't allow her wounded pride to stop her from saving people and Lady Myao is a hero of the truest kind.
So the martial artist agrees to help these boys again, figuring that her presence should at least stop them from doing something stupid and getting themselves killed. However, even though Myao should have stumbled upon the villains' hideout a few minutes later - while they're all passed out drunk, of course - that's not the case this time.
Instead some woman shows up to scold her little brothers silly and when they finally bring Myao to Benitsubaki's stronghold, she might as well be invisible. Because the samurai is there, interrupting the other woman’s speech of justice and throwing the Bensai boys back into the street. She doesn't even let Myao finish her challenge before attacking, though the martial artist was right about her honor after all.
Because this Ran decides to fight against the Benitsubaki instead of for them, taking out most of the clan's warriors singlehandedly. Myao only gets to punch a few of them, though kicking those men’s asses does make her feel much better about the way her day has gone.
Soon enough the evil in this town has been defeated and the martial artist doesn't have any reason to stay here after that. So Myao follows the samurai, wanting to know more about her fellow champion. Indeed, the other woman's continuing stoicism just makes her a more interesting nut to crack.
At the time, Myao has no reason to believe that Ran is responsible for her recent hardship, though her luck returns to normal the moment that they part. Soon she's back to finding gold coins in the grass and winning all her dice rolls, her enemies knocking themselves out as they try to flee her strikes.
Several weeks pass like this, Ran nothing more than a memory that sometimes runs across her mind. But then a group of bandits is kind enough to leave their purses behind when Myao drives them off and she takes this sudden windfall to a nearby sake bar. Fighting evil has always made her thirsty and the drinks slide down her throat easily. But Myao isn't drunk until suddenly she is and she isn't causing trouble until Ran starts a fight.
The other woman blows into her life like a hurricane, disrupting her calm serenity and leaving her with an aching head in the aftermath. Of course, the moment that Ran leaves her side, Myao stumbles upon a temple handing out free hangover potions and soon she feels right as rain again.
It takes the martial artist a few more cycles before she finally gets it, her steps always leading her back to Ran just before her luck takes a sudden dive toward the unfortunate. With Ran her path's not easy, it's full of fights and thieves and hardship, and Myao has never been so broke in all her life. She’s never been so hungry or so bruised in the past either, and once she figures out the problem, she's sometimes tempted to run the other way when she sees Ran walking down the road.
But by the time Myao sees the samurai, it's usually too late to avoid whatever new disaster is heading both their ways. And in truth, she doesn't want to run, not really, because she's never had a real friend before.
Her time with Ran may be difficult but it's also the most fun she's had in years. They are champions of justice, cross-crossing the country in search of villains to conquer - and a whole lot of sake along the way. Myao can't give that up; she won't give Ran up even if the fates seem to curse the other woman's name. Indeed, the samurai's luck seems to be better when the martial artist is around, her face a little less pinched, her smiles a little brighter, and what's a bit of misfortune next to that?
So Myao starts stocking up on supplies whenever the two of them are parted, making sure that she always has a stash of gold with which to pay off the other woman's tab. Such preparation simply makes things easier and if the martial artist sometimes revels in her good fortune while she has it, all that sleeping on the ground with Ran has made her appreciate the luxuries in life.
Yep, these are the good times, Myao thinks with a happy sigh, stretching out on the cushions of her newly purchased sedan chair. She's comfortable and well fed, a nice pouch of gold coins burning a hole in her pocket, and when one of her bearers stumbles suddenly, the woman knows she's about to see her best friend again.
“Ah, well. It was nice while it lasted,” the martial artist mutters, wishing her riches a fond farewell as Ran strides into view. The samurai looks as broke and hung over as usual and Myao can practically feel her luck disappearing with every step that the other woman takes.
But she's used to the feeling by now and when Ran answers Myao's excited shout with a brilliant smile, she knows that she'll never turn her friend aside. Because the martial artist would give up every bit of her good fortune to keep the other woman happy, her life infinitely better when Ran is at her side.
End
Fandom: Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran
Pairings: Gen or Ran/Myao
Word Count: 1054
Disclaimer: If I owned it, it would be even crackier.
Summary: Myao has always lived a charmed life until Ran blows into her world like a hurricane.
Myao has always had more than her fair share of luck. Ever since she was a child, the dice of fate have always rolled to her advantage and by the time she’s grown, the martial artist doesn’t even question such fortune anymore. She simply expects good luck in all her dealings - expects her enemies to stumble and her feet to guide her to the place she's meant to be.
It's a fact of life, like breathing or the sun rising in the east. At least it is until Ran sweeps into Myao’s life and changes everything.
The day begins like any other: blue skies, bright sunshine, and three peasants asking Myao to aid their cause. Myao's luck and skill has made her a force to be reckoned with on the side of the downtrodden and the martial artist is always ready to lend a helping hand.
Admittedly, people don't usually begin the hiring process with an ambush, but she forgives the insult when these Bensai boys tell her about the evil Benitsubaki clan. Fraudulent gambling is such a lame way to make money, seriously, and so Myao is more than ready to take the clan's thugs down a peg. Indeed, her luck makes the search rather easy, the martial artist having barely agreed to assist the Bensai when her enemies attack.
And yet, that is the last moment that goes the way it should.
For when Myao begins her introduction, the Benitsubaki refuse to listen just as she's about to teach the fools a lesson, the boys who hired her interrupt the fight. They latch onto the martial artist, foiling her attack with their clumsy stumbling, and nothing like this has ever happened to Myao before. She actually has to be rescued - her, rescued! - though she can't deny that the lady samurai is skilled.
Another champion of justice, surely, but when the fight is finished, the other woman walks away without a word. It's like Myao doesn't even exist, the three boys who had hired her trying to hire the samurai instead, and her first instinct is to refuse when they turn back to her as second best.
But a true hero doesn't allow her wounded pride to stop her from saving people and Lady Myao is a hero of the truest kind.
So the martial artist agrees to help these boys again, figuring that her presence should at least stop them from doing something stupid and getting themselves killed. However, even though Myao should have stumbled upon the villains' hideout a few minutes later - while they're all passed out drunk, of course - that's not the case this time.
Instead some woman shows up to scold her little brothers silly and when they finally bring Myao to Benitsubaki's stronghold, she might as well be invisible. Because the samurai is there, interrupting the other woman’s speech of justice and throwing the Bensai boys back into the street. She doesn't even let Myao finish her challenge before attacking, though the martial artist was right about her honor after all.
Because this Ran decides to fight against the Benitsubaki instead of for them, taking out most of the clan's warriors singlehandedly. Myao only gets to punch a few of them, though kicking those men’s asses does make her feel much better about the way her day has gone.
Soon enough the evil in this town has been defeated and the martial artist doesn't have any reason to stay here after that. So Myao follows the samurai, wanting to know more about her fellow champion. Indeed, the other woman's continuing stoicism just makes her a more interesting nut to crack.
At the time, Myao has no reason to believe that Ran is responsible for her recent hardship, though her luck returns to normal the moment that they part. Soon she's back to finding gold coins in the grass and winning all her dice rolls, her enemies knocking themselves out as they try to flee her strikes.
Several weeks pass like this, Ran nothing more than a memory that sometimes runs across her mind. But then a group of bandits is kind enough to leave their purses behind when Myao drives them off and she takes this sudden windfall to a nearby sake bar. Fighting evil has always made her thirsty and the drinks slide down her throat easily. But Myao isn't drunk until suddenly she is and she isn't causing trouble until Ran starts a fight.
The other woman blows into her life like a hurricane, disrupting her calm serenity and leaving her with an aching head in the aftermath. Of course, the moment that Ran leaves her side, Myao stumbles upon a temple handing out free hangover potions and soon she feels right as rain again.
It takes the martial artist a few more cycles before she finally gets it, her steps always leading her back to Ran just before her luck takes a sudden dive toward the unfortunate. With Ran her path's not easy, it's full of fights and thieves and hardship, and Myao has never been so broke in all her life. She’s never been so hungry or so bruised in the past either, and once she figures out the problem, she's sometimes tempted to run the other way when she sees Ran walking down the road.
But by the time Myao sees the samurai, it's usually too late to avoid whatever new disaster is heading both their ways. And in truth, she doesn't want to run, not really, because she's never had a real friend before.
Her time with Ran may be difficult but it's also the most fun she's had in years. They are champions of justice, cross-crossing the country in search of villains to conquer - and a whole lot of sake along the way. Myao can't give that up; she won't give Ran up even if the fates seem to curse the other woman's name. Indeed, the samurai's luck seems to be better when the martial artist is around, her face a little less pinched, her smiles a little brighter, and what's a bit of misfortune next to that?
So Myao starts stocking up on supplies whenever the two of them are parted, making sure that she always has a stash of gold with which to pay off the other woman's tab. Such preparation simply makes things easier and if the martial artist sometimes revels in her good fortune while she has it, all that sleeping on the ground with Ran has made her appreciate the luxuries in life.
Yep, these are the good times, Myao thinks with a happy sigh, stretching out on the cushions of her newly purchased sedan chair. She's comfortable and well fed, a nice pouch of gold coins burning a hole in her pocket, and when one of her bearers stumbles suddenly, the woman knows she's about to see her best friend again.
“Ah, well. It was nice while it lasted,” the martial artist mutters, wishing her riches a fond farewell as Ran strides into view. The samurai looks as broke and hung over as usual and Myao can practically feel her luck disappearing with every step that the other woman takes.
But she's used to the feeling by now and when Ran answers Myao's excited shout with a brilliant smile, she knows that she'll never turn her friend aside. Because the martial artist would give up every bit of her good fortune to keep the other woman happy, her life infinitely better when Ran is at her side.
End