[Part 3:
Gosunkugi is walking dejectedly through some street.
He absentmindedly turns down an alley.  Behind him
we hear voices..]
 
Kodachi: Are you sure that this is the right way?
 
Ryouga: I think that your ribbon is right around this corner
here.
 
[Gosunkugi breaks into a run.  Unfortunately, the end of
the alley that he's running towards happens to be blocked
by a parked delivery truck.  At this point, Kodachi notices
him and starts advancing towards him in a menacing fashion.
Gosunkugi looks around for someone to throw at Kodachi,
but can't find anyone.]
 
Gosunkugi: [draws a circle on the ground with chalk and lights 
an egg on fire.  A fairly small [10-20 feet tall] tornado 
appears.]
 
Gosunkugi: [to himself] So *that*'s what that spell does.
 
[Gosunkugi smiles as the tornado envelopes Ryouga and Kodachi.
He starts to walks confidently out of the alley.  Unfortunately,
he gets caught up in the tornado also.]
 
Ryouga: Hibiki Wind Dissipation Kick!  
[yes, he performs the kick along with shouting the name.
Exit Tornado, stage out.  Ryouga and Kodachi land on
their feet.  Gosunkugi hits the ground with an unpleasant
sound.]
 
Kodachi: [puts an arm around Ryouga.  Ryouga blushes.]
  I'm glad I've got a REAL man to protect me.
[looks at Gosunkugi and smirks.]
  [to Ryouga] Let's go, darling.
 
[Ryouga gets that blank "Some woman actually *cares* about
me" look that he usually gets when Akane speaks to him.
He and Kodachi leave the alley.  We hear their voices 
from offstage]
 
Ryouga: I think that your ribbon is this way.
 
Kodachi: I don't need the ribbon.  I've got you to protect me.
I believe that you offered to take me to a movie.
 
[Gosunkugi slowly begins to grin.]
 
Gosunkugi: I'm FREE!
 
[We see Nabiki approach behind him.]
 
Nabiki: Free?
 
Gosunkugi: How'd you get there?
 
Nabiki: We Tendo's are good at sneaking around.  Would
you like to tell me what that little incident with
the tornado and Kodachi was about, or should I blackmail
it out of you?
 
Gosunkugi: [sigh]  I suppose I may as well tell you.
You see, before I lived in Nerima, I lived on the
other side of Tokyo.  Due to a misunderstanding,
I was wandering through the halls of the St. Hebereke
school...
 
Nabiki: Isn't that a girl's school?
 
Gosunkugi: It was a *large* misunderstanding.
 
Nabiki: Go on.
 
Gosunkugi: Well, Kodachi was being chased by a wild
boar.  I still don't know what a wild boar was doing
on the third floor of a girl's school, so don't ask.
They were coming towards me.  Kodachi leapt over me.
The boar didn't.  When I woke up, she thanked me for
trying to save her.  We were a couple for a while.
It was nice having someone pay attention to me, but
eventually the monomaniac obsession became too much
and I broke up with her.  Unfortunately, she wasn't
too keen on this....
 
Nabiki: And?
 
Gosunkugi: She's been trying to kill me ever since.  
 
------------------------------------------------
 
[Ryouga is walking down the street with Kodachi glomped onto 
his arm.]
                -       -       -
[Ryouga and Kodachi are sitting in a theater, watching a 
movie, "Harvey".  The one starring Jimmy Stewart.]
                -       -       -
[Ryouga and Kodachi split an ice-cream sundae at a small 
parlour.  It is very firmly nighttime.]
                -       -       -
 
[Ryouga and Kodachi are again walking down the street, in the 
glomp position.]
 
Kodachi: I'd suppose that I should be getting home soon.  
 
Ryouga: Why?
 
Kodachi: Because it's getting late.
 
[Ryouga thinks about this for a little while, then nods.]
 
Kodachi: When do you have to be home?
 
Ryouga: Last time I was home, Dad said something about being 
back by next September, but I think I could stay out until 
January if I had a good excuse.
 
Kodachi: September?!  Where are you staying for the rest of 
the year?
 
Ryouga: I camp out.
 
Kodachi: You just pitch a tent under the stars and stay there?
 
Ryouga: Yes.
 
Kodachi: That sounds so romantic.  I'll have to join you some 
time.
 
[Ryouga nods]
 
Kodachi: But perhaps tomorrow night.  They're expecting me 
inside tonight.
 
[They enter the gates of the Kunou estate.  Ryouga stops.]
 
Ryouga: Well, I suppose that I should be going now.
 
[Ryouga turns and starts walking away.  A ribbon wraps around 
him, and he is drawn back to Kodachi.]
 
Kodachi: No kiss?
 
Ryouga: I'm sorry.  I hadn't...I haven't...
 
Kodachi: I just want a perfect end to this evening.
 
[Kodachi puts her arms around Ryouga and leans towards him.  
She stops suddenly.]
 
Kodachi: You're doing this entirely wrong.  I want this to end 
perfectly.
 
Ryouga: What should I do?
 
Kodachi: [sighs] If you want something done, you have to do it 
yourself.
 
Ryouga: Excuse me?
 
[Kodachi pulls out a small vial of powder.  She opens it and 
shakes it towards Ryouga.  He inhales because he doesn't know 
any better.]
 
Ryouga: I can't move.
 
Kodachi: Right.  I just want this kiss to be done properly.
 
[Kodachi looks Ryouga over.  She glances down and moves his 
feet a few inches further apart.  She places a hand on the 
small of this back and corrects his posture.  She glances 
around and redirects several of the nearby lights so that they 
shine towards him.   Kodachi looks Ryouga over again.]
 
Kodachi: Almost.  Breathe in.
 
[As Ryouga does so, Kodachi steps in and kisses him, the two 
of them silhouetted against the screen.   After a few moments, 
Kodachi laughs and walks away.]
 
 
                        The End
 
 
[Closing song: "Sinister But Happy" by Robyn Hitchcock.  I 
think that it makes a very good Kodachi Theme.  It's on "Moss 
Elixer", one of Mr. Hitchcock's better albums [He's made about 
30 albums]]
 
She was sinister but she was happy,
Basically she was the Jeanne Moreau type.
Sinister but she was happy
Sinister but she was always pleased to see you 
and her living words were her dying words, she said "yeah"
 
Sinister but she was happy,
with a cheery smile and poison blowpipe.
Sinister but she was happy,
Like a kind of spider half-inclined to free you.
Her lopsided grin made it so hard to win, she said
"Oh, right you are, and your promises are just promises",
but a sinister little wave of her hand goes a 
long long way in these troubled times.
 
Sinister but she was happy,
And you can't say that of everyone, now can you?
Sinister but she was happy,
like a chandelier festooned with leeches.
and she rode along, till she came on strong
"Oh, right you are, and your promises are just promises, 
they're just promises"
But a sinister little wave of her hand goes a 
long long way in these troubled times.
 
                        *       *       *
 
Epilogue:
 
[Morning at the Kunou Mansion.  Kodachi walks outside.  Ryouga 
is still at the gate.]
 
Kodachi: You're here to see me again?  How sweet. [she smiles]
 
Ryouga: I can't move.
 
Kodachi: (shocked) You can't move?  Who did this to you?
 
Ryouga: --
 
Kodachi: I know.  It was that horrible red-headed woman, 
wasn't it.  Don't worry.  I know a cure.  Let me take you 
inside.
 
[scene fades with Kodachi dragging Ryouga into the Kunou 
Mansion.]


Terrence Marks
Second Student in the Tendo Kasumi School of Philosophy
-Seeking enlightenment through normalcy.
normal@grove.ufl.edu