Suggested changes: {before : after}
On 04/09/2005 06:16 PM, Thunderstruck said:
The late autumn weather in China seemed bent on making Saotome
Ranma's life a lot more dangerous. Snowstorms in the mountains had
forced the cancellation of the last two trains he'd intended to
catch, and transportation by road to the next major town had all but
ground to a halt. Black ice on the bridges had scared most drivers
into parking their vehicles and waiting for this cold snap to pass.
Ranma didn't have the luxury {to stay : of staying} in one place,
though. If he couldn't hitch a ride, he'd just have to make his way
on foot.
<First {thing's : things} first,> he told himself as he paused to
double-check his map again. <Gotta get outta these mountains, hop a
train. No tellin' how close the Reikoku is to... me...>
"Hold up for just a minute there, {sugar : Sugar}," Ukyou said,
trying to keep her voice as soothing as possible. "I got something
to talk to you about."
I've ignored Ukyou's manner of speaking up to now since I'm not sure
sugar counts as a name the way she uses it.
Ryouga-chan withdrew her head from her collar, dazed and grinning.
"Heh," she managed to articulate, raising one wobbly finger for
emphasis. She then toppled backwards like a plank, blood flowing
from her nose.
I could smell that one coming. Not that there's anything wrong with it,
it's just very predictable.
Natsume and Kurumi, she realized, were just as bad. The past few
mornings she'd asked to walk with them to school. This represented a
deviation of pattern for her adopted sisters - they tended to race
one another to school every morning, sprinting at top speeds and
seeking shortcuts over rooftops to try to shave off a few seconds
from their previous best times. Of course, they had to slow down to
accommodate {for :} Nabiki's traveling speed. To compensate for
this, they made up little practice games for each other as they
walked.
"That fiend!" exclaimed another student. "Is there no limit to the
depths he'll sink?"
Probably somewhere between 8 and 12 feet. :}b
With that, the glorious Kunou Tatewaki did apply his boot to the
diabolical head of his malignant cur of a father. Well did he apply
it, with great force mustered behind the mighty boot. And lo! The
hellspawed headmaster was indeed caught completely by surprise, not
suspecting to be faced with such a subtle and wily strategy from his
foe. His loathsome body did hurtle through the sky, until his
recently- booted head truly collided with the stout walls of that
noble institution of learning, Furinkan High. And so it was that his
head did become buried in the concrete, and lost unto him was his
consciousness.
It's a good thing Natsume isn't bothered by purple prose.
"Hey, he gave you flowers!" Kurumi observed brightly. "Nobody's ever
{give : given} you flowers before."
So immersed was Kunou in the throes of his own poetic rapture that he
failed to notice that his object of affection was now thrashing on
the ground in the grips of convulsive seizures. Nor did he manage to
register the approach of Kurumi, desperate to protect her sister from
the onslaught of Kunou's verse, armed with the headmaster's podium.
The diminutive girl wielded the podium like a hammer, pounding the
kendoist into the ground like a tent peg until his mouth was buried
below the dirt.
At which point he finally stopped talking, or at least was no longer heard.
"Ha ha ha!" Kurumi laughed in a very strained voice. "Well, it's
almost time for class, wouldn't you say? Come on, {sis : Sis}... we'd
better get moving!" She hauled Natsume up to her feet and
practically dragged her towards the door.
"Try not to dwell on it," Nabiki soothed. "Just think of something
else. Like... well, have you ever considered trying some modeling?
You have such a striking figure, you know. I'm something of a
photographer, you see, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in
posing for a few snapshots..."
Like blood in the water, Nabiki smells money.