Well, it's recently been mentioned a bit that one of the reasons the 
spam-to-fanfic&C&C ratio is way too high is that there aren't enough 
fanfics to comment on.  So, I'd like to toss out the first page or so of 
a fanfic I've been working on to see what people think.  Comments and 
Criticisms gratefully accepted - after all, that's what the list's 
supposedly about in the first place. ;-)


                                    *****
                              A Rose on the Grey
                                     by
                                Scott Johnson
                            Concepts and Characters
                          Created by Rumiko Takahashi
                                    *****
 
     The rain had stopped, but the clouds still hung over the city, 
turning the sky to an undistinguished slate grey sheet.  Now the fog was 
rolling silently in, slowly submerging the world beneath its gentle 
stillness.  The grey veil seemed somehow tranquil and calming, sending 
all of Nerima into a gentle, quiet state of contemplation.
     Certainly such was the state at the Kunou mansion, Kodachi reflected 
as she sat at the windowsill, gazing off into the fog.  Tatewaki had 
decided to take the day to contemplate the images of his two lady-loves, 
meaning he'd likely be occupied quietly (barring the occasional cry of "I 
love you both!" or the dull thud of him running into the wall by the 
pictures) for the rest of the day and well into the night.  Sasuke was 
out shopping for some trivial necessity of household maintenance or some 
such - she rarely bothered herself with keeping track of what he did to 
keep the household running.  Even Midorigame-kun was sleeping quietly - 
the coolness made him so sluggish.  As for Kodachi herself, she had done 
all the gardening that the plants needed, and the gymnastics club wasn't 
scheduled for practice this weekend.  Barring an unexpected visit from 
Father dear, which hardly seemed likely, or dear Ranma-sama dropping by 
to see her or challenge Tatewaki, it looked to be a very quiet day.
     Somehow, she didn't really mind.  Other times, she might have been 
bored out of her skull, and gone off to visit Ranma-sama, or perhaps 
found some unsuspecting local martial artist to practice her skills on, 
or started a project to breed a new strain of black roses, or otherwise 
found a way to occupy a dull afternoon.  But somehow, she felt almost 
relaxed - she almost felt like she'd be content to just sit quietly all 
day and watch the wind make interesting patterns in the fog.  She was so 
uncharacteristically tranquil that she'd likely have found it alarming if 
it wasn't so pleasant.  Perhaps it was just the coolness of the day.  Or 
maybe she had inhaled just a little too much of that new sleep formula 
she'd been mixing up - foolish, of course, as she hadn't nearly had 
enough time to develop a tolerance for it.  Mother dear had warned her of 
such often enough, back when she'd first started mixing her own formulas 
under Mother's watchful eye.
     Ah, Mother.  Would she be proud of her fine daughter now?  Kodachi 
smiled wistfully.  Of course she would.  She'd taught Kodachi to be 
honorable and creative, brilliant and loving.  And Kodachi had always 
tried her hardest to live up to her mother's ideal.  She'd carried on 
where Mother had had to leave off - in her botany, her martial arts, her 
devotion to beauty, and so much more.  If only Mother could see her now...
     Kodachi smiled slightly.  Of course.  The perfect way to spend a 
quiet afternoon.

--
Scott Johnson |
zagyg@io.com  |          This space intentionally left blank.