Chapter Text
Sitting on a plane was never a comfortable experience for Andromeda. Even with the assurances of her uncle that no, she would be blown out of the sky at any moment. Barely, but it was good enough. Of course she still looked like a crazed maniac to every sane person aboard, what with the paled face and constant whispered prayers, deals, and compliments. Never had Zeus had a more devout worshiper than for those 15 hours.
Andromeda had some sleeping medication her mom had given her, but the fear in her had burned it out the moment the plane had left the ground and so her reign of terror began. Mostly just freaking out the rest of the passengers.
But the deal had held out, and she reached the sweet embrace of the earth once more. Though that was a recent development to, what with Mother Earth being slain not even two months ago by the efforts of the Seven. Andromeda had been part of the quest to save the world, for the second time.
In two years.
What a blast. All she had to do was lose her memories of all friends and family, be lost on the other side of the country, take on more and more dangerous quests and fight more and more dangerous enemies.
Then fly back to the lands of ancient times. Then fall into the pit alone. And travel it for what felt like eternity. Then escaped the gods' be damned thing while losing three brand new friends. Then go fight the giants and their mother.
So really in hindsight, not too much really.
And now it had led Andromeda Jackson, daughter of Poseidon, to one Nermia, Japan. Thankfully not for a quest, if it had been she might have imploded. No, this was for a peaceful, and most importantly, healing vacation. All away from friends and family that she couldn’t hurt.
The scars of Tartarus ran deep unfortunately.
She shook the depressing thoughts away, not wanting to think about the past years, for now Andromeda was going to be a normal 17 year old girl. And a new, godly free place was just what she needed too.
But now off the plane she began the first steps to normalcy since she had turned 12.
Approaching a few workers near the landing gate she was able to get directions to the baggage claim, and put her gift from the Hecate cabin to use. It was a small bracelet that had been enchanted to let her understand and be understood in Japanese, which really solved the whole language barrier issue. It was also far easier than learning a new language in two months. Still no cure for her dyslexia though.
Wandering through the crowded terminal she got to her luggage, a blue suitcase and bookbag, and began to head for the exit. It said it was gonna be a decent ride to Nermia and man, she was hungry!
xXx
As Ukyo Kuonji, sole owner/employee of Okonomiyaki Ucchan’s, manned the grill on a slow Sunday afternoon. Really nothing had been going on in Nermia for a while in town, not a new fiancee nor rival had graced the streets. Not that she could complain of course,
It was nice not to worry about more competition for Ran-chan.
Then she heard the door slide open, and she snapped out of her daydream. Ukyo looked over and took a look at the next customer. At first all she could see was the luggage she carried, they were hidden behind a large map, muttering to themselves. Then finally they had pulled it away, allowing Ukyo to truly see them.
She was a young woman, standing quite a bit taller than herself. Deep black hair, with a noticeable grey streak, sat in a high messy ponytail. Striking sea-green eyes caught her attention next, shimmering almost as water. Then she saw the tan, and the bright orange shirt, with a winged horse on it oddly enough. She saw her hand go to the well-faded blue jeans, pulling out a small wallet.
“Welcome to Ucchan’s, what would you like?” Ukyo asked, then she saw the other woman frown.
“Oh, Is this not Kyoji’s? I thought the street sign looked a little off.” Was what she said, seeming quite confused.
Ukyo laughed, flipping over an okonomiyaki as she did, “Not anymore, but this place used to be before I got here.”
The other woman laughed, moving to the counter and taking a seat. “Well I’m starving and really don’t feel like wandering around anymore. What are ya making? I’m Andromeda, sorry for not introducing myself earlier!” She looked over the menu, eyebrows furrowed in focus.
“Okonomiyaki, I grew up learning to cook it from my father.” Was Ukyo’s reply, still cooking the one on the griddle. Andromeda looked interested, and clearly hungry.
“Well I’ll take your regular one, it looks pretty good! First food I get to try here in Japan.” She began to get settled in her seat, looking to Ukyo.
“Well I’ll get started on that, and It’s my honor to serve you your first meal here! Say where are you visiting from?” Ukyo asked, pulling the one off on a plate for herself, and prepping one for her customer.
“NYC, my dad suggested I come here and take some time to explore.”
Ukyo looked surprised at that, and then her mind kicked into overdrive. An equation began to form in her mind’s eye. One obviously beautiful young woman, told by her father to come to Nermia of all places, and to her own eyes Andromeda seemed to be a fighter of some sort. Just looking at her arms Ukyo could see scars running up and down.
Now she just needed some information “Oh really, what did your dad recommend you do here?” Hopefully nothing involving a certain dojo. She passed the completed pork okonomiyaki to her customer.
“Well this was from my mentor, but he recommended a Tendo Dojo here. He said that it was home to a great martial artist.” Well damn, that was the worst case scenario. Ukyo quickly thought through the options left to her.
Lying really wouldn’t help here, and no reason to be unfriendly yet. Maybe it wouldn’t be anything to it. But if there was, it wouldn’t hurt to be on the frontlines of the next battle to rock the ward.
Ukyo took a quick breath and turned to her customer, reply at the ready “I know the owner actually, if you want I could show you over there after you finish. I was fixin’ to close up the store for the day anyways.”
Andromeda looked up from her plate, surprise evident on her face, “If you wouldn’t mind, that would be really helpful! Save me a lot of time from just wandering around.” The okonomiyaki quickly disappeared from the plate.
With Andromeda finishing up her plate, Ukyo handed over the bill and collected her payment. Not too long after, both of them were standing outside the store as Ukyo locked up.
The two women made small talk as they wandered down the street, heading to the cauldron of chaos that was the Tendo Dojo.
xXx
As they approached the dojo, Ukyo could say that whatever she was expecting was thrown out the window. She asked about what she was looking for at the dojo, and to surprise, it was actually training. Now who there was to train her when they got there was another question entirely.
Finally they approached the entrance to the dojo, Andromeda letting out a low whistle, seemingly impressed with the compound.
“Annabeth would love this place, looks pretty old school. How do we get in anyways?” Was what she asked, looking over the front gate.
Ukyo laughed, amused by the foreign woman's amazement “Yeah it's something alright, we can-” The ring of a bell cut off any further thoughts. Ukyo turned to look at Andromeda, who was staring at the sign above the bell.
“Kinda a weird doorbell, wonder how they hear it from here?”
Ukyo was amazed, had she not read the sign, or was something else going on here. She cleared her throat, getting her companions attention.
“That's for challengers of the dojo, are you planning on fighting today?”
Andromeda looked surprised, then turned back to the sign. “That’s what that says? Oh man, I really thought it was the doorbell.” She covered her eyes with a hand, a blush of embarrassment spread over her cheeks. Then she shook her head,
“You know what, this kinda works out. Was coming to train here possibly.” Was all she said.
Well at least she would be getting a show out of this. Yelling could be heard inside, and finally two figures approached them. It was both Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo, stepping out with matching looks of determination. Akane took the lead, as heir of the Tendo Dojo.
“Ukyo, are you coming to challenge me?” Akane shouted across the lawn, Ranma wincing at the volume as a look of surprise appeared.
Ukyo waved to him, then answered Akane “No actually, that would be her.” Pointing to the woman standing beside her. She saw both Ranma and Akane’s eyes dart to the newcomer, and then both immediately came to the same conclusion.
“So your next fiancee Ranma, you know that getting old!” Akane shouted, turning to Ranma.
“The hell you mean, maybe we should ask her first, you know!”
The tell-tale signs of a fight between the two brewing was evident to both Ukyo and Andromeda, the latter of which was incredibly caught off guard. Ukyo just sighed and shook her head, far too used to these two and the fighting.
Andromeda turned to the two, and yelled “Fiancee? That's flattering I guess, but no, I’m here cause I’ve heard you have a few sword fighting techniques.”
That cut the argument off rather quickly, Akane immediately brightened, happy for once a new visitor wouldn’t be a problem.
“Well, I’m Akane Tendo, heir to the Tendo Dojo, and I accept your challenge!”