rewrite #5
I'm doing this just as a fun little thing, and something to do while
I'm stuck on my other fanfic "The Pursuit Of Happiness" (sequel to "The More
Things Change) or editing Nigel's "Eight Days A Week" fanfic (Yes, Part 5
is in rough draft stage)
And so far, considering that it feels like Seinfeld in that "it's about
nothing!", I think I'll just call this one "ongoing"
>From the initial versions I wrote, I added a hellovalot. Also, right
now I'm not sure which way to go, Washu or Tenchi...
Tenchi can compare notes with Ranma and be another source of aggrivation to
Ataru, but Washu's got that scientific experiment angle, y'know?
I thought about Mihoshi, but then again, she's not likely to leave the Tenchi
house, is she....
so, for the final spot...
Washu _____
Tenchi _____
???????
I'm also mulling that Tuxedo mask guy... anybody send me info on his name,
manner, appearance, and powers? A more mysterious Mr. Yotsuya type (he's out
all the time, nobody knows WHAT he does) could be fun...
-Rod M.
and now with the story...
========================================================================
The creative team at the Nippon Broadcasting Network was hard at work,
trying to come up with an idea for something to fill up several empty
timeslots for the coming summer season.
They needed something good.
Something cheap to produce
Something new...
"Hey, I just remembered something!" one of them said, "There's this
American show that's very popular, and cheap to make too!"
"Go on," said the programing director.
"Well, they randomly pick a bunch of ordinary people, put them in a
house, film their life, and put it on the air!"
The room was silent.
"This," said the director, tapping his head with a pencil, "actually
works in America?"
"Yeah! And get this: the people living in the house don't get paid!"
"You're kidding."
"Well, the station still has to pay for the house and utilities..."
The director thought about it.
The financial director spoke up. "Compared to what some prima-donnas
wanna get paid nowadays, that's cheap."
The director cleared his throat (*ahem*)
"I... I think I like it."
===============================================================================
=Anime Life: The Real World=
Writer: Rod M.
Story Concept: Isabel A. "Izzy-chan"
Advisors: Harvey G., WW, Izzy-chan, R.K. Bentley, and the Fanfic ML
-M- Productions
BETA VERSION
-subject to change, in case it sucks-
PART 1: Where the Boys Went
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Urd moped.
"I'm bored." she muttered. She went to the living room, where Keichi
and his sisters were watching television.
She sat down, still bored.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" asked Skuld.
"Bored."
"Oh."
Several hours later...
Keichi was asleep. So was Belldandy. Skuld was out there somewhere
messing with something small, mechanical, and hazzardous.
Urd was still watching television.
A laugh-track machine kicked in as a sitcom reached a "funny" moment on the
television set.
Y'know, she thought, it'd be amusing to have a life like one of those
they keep showing on television.
Wait... to be on a television show.
Hm...
This was an idea.
===========
Kyosuke Kasuga walked slowly back to his apartment. It had been one hell
of a day. It was the kind of day that made him really hate himself.
Good going, he thought to himself, finally get a date with Ayukawa and you
forget that you're supposed to be out with Hikaru-chan too. He ended up
loosing track of both, and Madoka was definitely put off when he accidentally
said "Well, Hikaru-chan, where to next?"
God, that was stupid.
He stopped and banged his head against a lightpole.
Stupid stupid stupid.
He liked Madoka... Hikaru-chan was a nice girl... argh!
He put his hands to his head.
"I need to get outta here!"
*
"Hey, Kyosuke, letter for you."
"For me?" Kyosuke took the envelope from his father and sat down on the
couch. It was from some television station in Tokyo, NBN. A pretty big
network, in fact...
Kurumi popped up behind him. "Hey? What's that?"
"It's a-"
"Hey! It's from NBN!" She used her esper powers to tear up the envelope
and unfold the letter.
"Kurumi! Don't use your powers! Our windows are open!" Kyosuke yelled.
"Hey! They're inviting you to be in a show!"
"What?" Manami popped into the conversation, seemingly from nowhere, "Hey,
that's cool!"
Kyosuke thought about this. Me? On television? He snatched the letter
away from Kurumi (well, actually from mid-air, in front of Kurumi's face) and
read it. Hm... free housing, a couple of months, signing bonus, water/power/
rent paid for too.
"I don't know, what if I get caught, well, you know..."
Then his dad jumped into the conversation. "Well, son, go ahead and have a
good time. I think you might deserve a break. Just be careful, okay?"
"But what about money, Dad?"
"I have a friend in town there. He can probbably get you a summer job."
He thought about it some more.
"C'mon! It'll be cool having a brother on tv!" said Kurumi.
Hm...
The phone rang. "Hey, Kyusaku, it's Madoka," said Kurumi
He thought more...
"Hold on," said Kurumi, "someone else is calling." She switched lines.
"Hey, Kyosuke, Hikaru is on the other line."
Uh oh...
"I'm going!"
==========
Ataru raced down the street, luggage in tow. He had the letter safely
tucked in his pocket and his luggage (A backpack) ready to go.
Things were getting bad here, really bad.
He hadn't been able to get to any girls in a month. Not even a cheap
feel. This was killing him.
And so, when this golden opportunity presented itself, off he went.
"Babes! And my own house to heheheh entertain them in! Yeah! And
most of all, no interference from Lum! HAHAHAHAHA!"
==========
Kyosuke arrived at the place after a long trip via train.
And he was impressed when he arrived.
He was at the door of a rather large, two floor house. Very
traditional looking yet very roomy, it seemed. This was, he began to
think, a good idea.
He knocked.
A rather plain young man with a videocamera opened the door. "You one of
the guys that'r supposed to live here?"
"Er, yes. Kasuga Kyosuke."
The man checked a piece of paper. "Kasuga... Kasuga... oh, yeah.
Come on in. You're the first to arrive. Go ahead and pick a room."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
camera focuses on Kyosuke sitting on a bed in an empty room.
KYOSUKE: Hi, um... I'm Kasuga Kyosuke. I'm from a small town just
outside of Tokyo.
Er... well... I've got two sisters, and my dad too.
My mom passed away a long time ago.
Anyways, I'm here to do something a little different from the usual
for the summer, I guess.
Oh yeah... can I say hi to a few people?
Really? Thanks.
Hi Kurumi, Manami! Hi dad!
(Sound of knocking)
Hey, I think one of the other guys is here.
(He goes out of camera view)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kyosuke opened the door. A skinny guy with brown hair was nervously
looking around, as if making sure he wasn't being followed.
"Hey," he said, "this the place for that tv thing?"
"Thing?"
The camera guy joined in. "Yeah, this is it. Which one are you?"
"Moroboshi Ataru."
"Come on in..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Mobile Camera following Ataru into the house, into the living room...)
ATARU: So do I go ahead and pick a room?
KYOSUKE: Well, I guess so.
(Ataru goes upstairs, enters the first room to the left)
ATARU: Hm... nice room, big window, access to the roof...
(Ataru opens the window and climbs out of it)
KYOSUKE: Um, what are you doing?
ATARU: Testing the escape route.
KYOSUKE: Escape route?
ATARU: When you have a life like mine, you always need one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ataru and Kyosuke headed downstairs. Kyosuke went to the living room
while Ataru stormed the refrigerator.
"Hey! This thing is stocked!" Ataru smiled as he took out a creme soda.
"You want anything?"
"They got a Coke?"
Ataru entered the living room with a bottle of creme soda and a can of
Coke. "Here ya go. Heeeey, nice couches. Big, lotsa cushions too!" He
flopped down on the other couch. They were definitely big, each one
could probbably hold four people. They were arranged in a "V" shape and
faced a jumbotron television. "I think I'm gonna like it here."
The camera guy entered the room. "Got a minute?"
"Me?" asked Ataru....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Camera is aimed at a lounging Ataru holding a bottle of soda. He's
definitely in a relaxed mood.)
ATARU: Anyways, for all you people out there, I'm Moroboshi Ataru. You
might remember me as the guy that *ahem* saved the earth from those
_nasty_ alien invaders. And you know what I get as a reward?
NOTHING!
KYOSUKE: That was you?
ATARU: (grins) Yup. Anyways, I hope to meet the fair women of this fine
town and...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*knock*knock*knock*
"I'll get it."
Kyosuke got up and opened the door.
"Ayukawa! Um, what a surprise..."
"I heard about you staying over here over the summer and... I just
came over to see if you needed any help moving in..."
Kyosuke smiled. "Ah... come on in!" Then he got an idea. "Hey, do
you have your saxaphone with you? There's a guy here filming..."
===================
Ranma sat in the dojo, thinking.
He looked at the letter he had recieved. He was invited to stay at some
apartment for a couple of months, and get paid for it too. It was a tempting
offer. His dad was all for it, since there _was_ pay attached to it. Mr.
Tendo objected at first, wailing about abandoning Akane, but Genma reminded him
about the cost of constantly fixing the house which was usually linked to Ranma
and his "friends" anyways. Soun agreed to it as well. And it was his vacation
time too, so he wouldn't be missing any school.
But something was holding him back.
"Ranma?"
He turned nervously. "Oh, hey, Akane."
"Are you, um... thinking about that letter?"
"Yeah. But..." He was getter more nervous by the second. He didn't
understand why.
"But what?" Ranma looked at Akane's face. Was that actually worry that he
saw there? Nah, couldn't be.
*WHAM* -ringring- "Nihao Ranma!"
"Shampoo, get this thing offa me!"
"Husband okay? Ranma take Shampoo out to date now, yes? You promised!"
Oh man, Ranma thought, I knew she wouldn't forget about that. Ranma had
recently required her help in one of those routine misadventures he seemed to
always get himself in. Unfortunately, the price of her help was a date and as
usual he agreed without really thinking things through.
And the end result?
What else?
"Ranma you JERK!"
*WHAM*
Ranma flew through the dojo wall and out into the street. "Maybe it would
be a good idea for me to get away... for a while."
*
Ranma liked what he saw when he arrived at the house, at first. It was big,
it was spacious, and it was new. Not only that, but it was fully furnished.
It was a two-story house, very big, and with alot of lawnspace. Considering
the housing shortage in Japan, he thought this was great.
He knocked on the door and was greeted by a somewhat another teenager who
was holding a cordless phone to his ear.
"Is this the place for that television show thing?" asked Ranma.
"Yes, this is is. Hold on a sec," he put the phone back to his ear, "what
was that, Hikaru-chan? What? No, no, you don't have to visit today, really.
Look, I gotta go, okay? Bye."
"Girlfriend?" asked Ranma.
"Um, sorta. Anyways, I'm Kyosuke Kasuga. Nice to meet you."
"Ranma Saotome. You're one of the people that's gonna be living here?"
"Yeah. There's several others here too already."
"You mean I'm the last one to arrive?"
"No, I think we're missing a few more. Come on in."
From within the house, the sound of a saxaphone playing drifted out.
"One of our roommates a musician?"
"That's a... a friend of mine." Ranma noticed the slight trace of
discomfort and nervousness on Kasuga's face.
They entered the living room where a long haired girl was playing the
saxaphone in front of the cameras.
"Hey, she's good," said Ranma. Then he noticed the skinny teen lying
unconscious on the couch. There was a large bruise on his head and it looked
like his lip was swolen.
"Hey," said Ranma, "what happened to that guy?"
"Oh, him? He grabbed my friend in the wrong way."
"The one with the sax?"
"Yup. That's Madoka Ayukawa. Don't get her mad. The guy's name is Ataru
Moroboshi. He's living with us."
"Moroboshi? That sounds familiar."
"Remember when those weird aliens threatened to take over the earth unless
an earthing beat them at a game of tag?"
"Oh, yeah, that. Wait, you mean he's the guy?"
"Yup."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scene: Living room, brightly lit with white wall backgrounds. The camera
focuses on Madoka holding her sax.
MADOKA: This is really gonna be shown on tv?
(slight pause)
MADOKA: Oh. Well... I'm Madoka Ayukawa. I'm from out of town, just came
along to help my friend over there settled in. Anyways, I also play
the saxaphone. Maybe I'll make a living from it. I dunno.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well, all the electrical, water, and repair bills will be covered by the
television station, but we've got to get our own food and clothes," said
Kasuga.
"Wait. I thought we were getting paid to stay here?" Ranma started feeling
nervous.
"Well, yeah, a signing bonus for agreeing to take part, but that's it.
Anyways, we've got plenty of rooms left, go ahead and pick one. I'm gotta go
do something in the kitchen." Kasuga walked off.
Ranma thought about it. Which room... which room... obviously something
with a window. He knew that he'd probbably need an alternate route in and out
of this place, considering how often his life just gets messy. What else...
he liked watching the sunset, so it oughta be on the second floor where he
could easily get to the roof.
Right. Big windows, second floor. He went upstairs, dumped his luggage,
and went back down for a drink. He hoped at the very least that the fridge was
stocked already.
Ataru shook his head to clear the cobwebs away. Wow, that Madoka girl could
hit! Felt like one of Shinobu's punches. He wobbled over up to his room and
flopped on his bed.
*WHAM*
"Ow!"
He didn't notice the luggage there.
"What the hell..." Ataru, being the person that he was, opened the luggage.
Clothes, clothes, a thermos (felt warm), hey... a picture.
Kasuga and Ranma went upstairs.
"So, you picked a room out yet?"
"Yeah," he said, turning left, "this..." then he noticed the skinny guy
from downstairs was looking at a photo from his luggage, which was open. "Hey!
What do you think you're doing?"
"You left your luggage in my room," said Ataru.
"What?"
"Er, Ranma, he already picked this one."
"I didn't see any luggage..."
Kasuga opened the closet. There was a backpack in it.
"Oh."
Ranma was dissapointed. The room across the way would do, but it seemed
harder to get to the roof and the window was a bit smaller. "Alright, I'll
move."
"Hey, no hard feelings," said Ataru. "So who's the babes in the picture?"
Ranma paused.
He thought about it.
He thought more.
Aw heck, he thought, they're gonna track me down and start a mess sooner or
later. Guess I might as well tell these guys before they get here.
"That," Ranma said, pointing to a short-haird girl, "is Akane. She's kinda
my fiancee."
"Tsk tsk, engaged already," said Ataru, "never to know the joys of a
bachelor life. Feel sorry for ya, pal."
"I thought you were supposed to marry that Oni princess..." said Kasuga.
"Yeah, right," Ataru muttered.
"And that," said Ranma, pointing to a purple-haired girl, "is Shampoo.
Dont't say it."
"Don't say what?" asked Kasuga.
"Why is her name Shampoo?" asked Ataru.
"Dunno. Anyways, she's also my fiancee."
Ataru's eye raised in interest.
"And this is Ukyo, also my fiancee. And that is Kodachi, who is NOT my
fiancee, but is chasing after me anyways. All of 'em are martial
artists, so if they happen to visit just be very careful."
Ataru couldn't believe it. This guy had a harem.
"You... you lucky dog! Can I have one of them? Pleeeeease?"
"What? No!"
"Oh, so you're hogging them all to yourself, is that it?"
"No! It's not like that!"
Madoka stuck her head in the door. "Hey, you," she said, looking at Ranma,
"the guys downstairs wanna talk with you."
"Who, me?" Ranma exited and headed down the stairs.
Ataru sprang like lightning towards Madoka's chest. "Madoka-chan!"
From the staircase, Ranma paused as he heard Ataru scream in pain. Violent
girl, he thought, kinda like Akane.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scene: Couch. Ranma is sitting alone. The camera focuses only on him.
He's definitely nervous.
RANMA: Um, this is gonna be on television, eh?
But what's the show about? Just us?
... you're kidding, right?
Kinda strange show, isn't it? Who came up with this idea?
Oh, an AMERICAN show. No wonder...
I'm, um...
KYOSUKE: (from out of camera range) Nervous?
RANMA: Who's nervous?! I'm Ranma Saotome. I'm a high school student and a
student of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts.
(brief pause)
ATARU: (from behind the camera) That's it?
RANMA: Well, yeah.
(Ataru plops down into view, sitting next to Ranma)
ATARU: Hey, you ain't telling them about your harem?
RANMA: SHUT UP!
ATARU: Well, he's got these four girls chasing after him, and he's already
engaged to three of them!
RANMA: (muttering) oh god Akane is gonna kill me.
ATARU: And he ain't letting go of any of them! Isn't that selfish?
C'mon, Ranma, gimmie just one?
RANMA: ATARU!
(Ranma's eyes get that murderous look)
ATARU: Whoops! Seeya later! (Dodges Ranma's fist and runs out of camera
view. Ranma chases after....)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tendo household watched the television, surprised.
Akane sat, fuming. "Why that... I'M GONNA KILL HIM!"
"Well," said Nabiki, "he must miss you after all. He said your name on
national television."
========================================================================
-end part 1-
Next: Part 2: The Ladies Cometh...
Email the writer at:
-- rpm39788@bayou.uh.edu --
-- rpm@uh.edu --
- Rod M.