On Sat, 12 Apr 1997, Hitomi Ichinohei wrote:

On Fri, 11 Apr 1997, Thomas R Jefferys wrote:

Just use a name _other_ than "Kaneda"! Every time I see that name in a
'fic, I think of a guy in a red biking suit shouting "TETSUO!" while
lifting a big rock over his head... :P

	This Kaneda didn't get a motorcycle :-)

	Her eyes suddenly twinkled, "Besides, the only time you talk about
finances these days is when it has something to do that will make Kaneda
mad, like how you had me 'convince' him not to get a motorcycle." 

see? :-)

	She went to her shelf and took down a couple of her favourite
stuffed toys and hugged them to her.  "Well guys, I suppose this day had
to come.  Mothers been preparing me for this ever since I was a little
girl, and now I'm about to meet the man I'm supposed to marry.  I just
hope he's kind and understanding, especially since I don't know that many
boys." 
	Nodoka chose that moment to look in on her daughter, the bright
spot of her life since her husbands death almost ten years before, and
smiled.  *She's still so innocent in so many ways.  Genma, I know that we
have to honour the agreement between our family and the Tendo's but I also
don't want her to lose that innocence when she grows up to be a young
woman instead of my little girl.  In a way, I wish this day had never
arrived.*

	Mind you, technically, Ranko never was a little girl :-)

	Kaneda turned to his father, fuming at the old man for having made
_HIM_ the one who was the baggage carrier for a girl he didn't even want
to get to know.  If it wasn't for their guests, he would have expressed
himself as he usually did; by hitting the offending object a good five to
ten metres away. 

	This sounds familiar :-)

	So he missed the wide-eyed, surprised look that Ranko had and the
quick pull she did on her mothers Kimono.  He also missed the quick and
hurried, yet quiet, conversation that Ranko had with her.  As far as
Kaneda was concerned, the sooner that he got this...this weight away from
around his neck, the better. 

	Triggered by the word "daughters", of course...Presumably, Nodoka 
thought Kasumi was a housekeeper or such hired by Souun.

	Kasumi and Nabiki noticed this however, and also noticed how she
blushed and tended to stick close to her mother.  Apparently Ranko was not
only a very well brought up young lady, but a somewhat nervous and shy one
as well.  Both of their instincts screamed at them to protect her at much
as possible. 
	Nabiki's instincts also said that she could have a lot of fun,
especially pestering and deflating her stuck up younger brother. 

heh.  Fun to come!

	Ranko's eyes quickly glanced at Kaneda, who had already walked
over to the taxi, and she blushed.  He was definitely cute, and a lot of
her girlfriends would go for a guy like this in a minute, but she still
couldn't really feel much for him.  *Well, as mother said, give it time
and I'll eventually learn to love him.*

	In some ways, perhaps...

	Soun laughed as he looked at Kaneda, manfully trying to carry all
the luggage at once next to the frail young girl blushing and trying to
hold the umbrella over both of them. 

	Aww... too bad for Soun this picture is a little deceptive...


SKJAM!