| Well, blame T.H.Tiger for this being a day late, and thank him
| for it being
| about 50% better. See, the system does work.
|
| School lets out! Ranma and Akane have a talk! Nabiki makes money!
| Kasumi cooks dinner! Action! WAFF! Streetgangs! Shopping! Ranma sings
| another song! All this, and Soun too. <Daffy Voice>Anyone for C&C? Eh?
| Anyone? </Daffy Voice>
| Ranma and Akane: A Love Story
| Chapter 1: The First Day
| Part C: Circumvallation, Shopping for streetgangs.
Someone loves their thesaurus. "Circumvallation" means, roughly, to surround
with barricades or ramparts.
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Disclaimer: The playground is by Rumiko Takahashi, I'm only playing
| in it. Remember to leave the grounds cleaner than you found them and
| please don't feed the Troll.
Actually, he's resorted to posting his inflammatory comments to a completely
different group. I think it's bad form to post comments on a story some
people may not even have read yet to discourage them from taking the time to
look it up, in a forum where the authors might not have the chance to defend
themselves and their works, but that's just me.
| *Lock keeper* is copyright by Stan Rogers (RIP) and mangled by me; if
| you haven't encountered him before go out and buy his CDs, he sings
| lots better than I write, and his estate could use the cash.
|
| *This is a sound.*
| 'This is a thought.'
| _This is emphasis._
| {This is a sign.}
| <This is Chinese.>
This is a test of the emergency fanfic system. Had this been an actual
emergency, a man and his robot friends would join you at this point to help
you keep your sanity. This concludes the test of the emergency fanfic
system.
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Ranma lowered her head, and the song, and Furinkan's school day,
| came to an end. Rising to her feet, she bowed to the rest of the class,
| who bowed back. An unbiased observer would have seen that several of
| them were suspiciously misty-eyed, but, fortunately, unbiased observers
| were thin on the ground at Furinkan that day. So this enormous breach
| of etiquette went unnoticed.
Right... the Japanese have strong cultural taboos against showing emotion.
Not that you could tell from the average anime, but still.
| Akane rose too, and behind her the rest of the class. Flowing out of
| their classroom, at the very back end of Furinkan's main building, and
| down the stairs, they noticed that they were about to resolve a mystery
| that had been plaguing some of them all day. First there would be a
| noise as of someone shouting afar off, then a rumble as of many feet
| going and then returning. Finally a distant murmur as of many voices
| one to another in the manner of a school building when rumor or news
| has broken out, and now runs flashing through the halls.
I'd put the first, then, and finally each to their own sentence or all
together in one. And while people may shout from afar, they can only manage
to shout from far off... and if rumor or news breaks out and runs flashing
through the halls, it kind of helps the comparison to be in the present
tense where it's likely being thought of. I see the effect you're going for
in the last sentence, but... I don't know, it sounds a bit wrong somehow.
| Annoyingly, though, the disturbance had never approached class 3-1
| closely enough to make out what was going on.
Why would the disturbance want to make out what was going on in class 3-1?
"closely enough so that its denizens could make out" would perhaps be a bit
better. Or if you want to name names...
| Nor had rumor spread, if
| rumor it had been, to the class' distant door, nor had any class member
| managed an explanation at lunch; unless, perhaps, it might have been in
| distant, unobserved corners, under strict and bloodthirsty oaths of
| secrecy.
Or not.
Nice setup yet again, by the way.
| So, to Ranma and Akane at least, the whole matter was still
| mysterious (what Ranma may have thought of the cause of the
| disturbance she did not say, Akane was frankly ignorant). Still it must
| be said that Ranma, at least, had guessed.
I don't really think you need the parentheses here. But that's just me.
| Thus, when, as they approached the front of Furinkan building, the
| noises from outside became clearer, it was Akane who pushed ahead, and
| Ranma who pulled a Samurai's fan from her jacket sleeve, popped it
| open, and, gently fanning herself, walked forward to join Akane on the
| Furinkan front steps, grinning.
|
| As she reached the top of the steps, and looked out on the yard,
| that grin became a full fledged chuckle. Spread out around the Furinkan
| yard ("Roses, getcher bunch Roses heaahh!") were a number of mobile
| vendors ("Caannndy, Bon-Bons, onna stick!") selling, our rather
But I want MY rather!
"selling, or rather"
| _outrageously gouging_, the various implements of girlfriend pacifica-
| tion ("Joolry, getcher Joolry now-ow, best prices inna city, Guv'na").
And whose bright idea was it to dub them into Cockney? I'll admit, the
impression is fitting, but it seems ill at ease with the setting of the
story. Unless the English have colonized and standardized the langauge at
some point, but I don't think it's THAT much of an alternaverse.
| On the way down she passed Nabiki, standing slightly apart, grinning
| in glee and using a walkie-talkie to direct ("Short-term loaanns, only
| 30% interest over 1 month, just for you Guv'na, and I'm cuttin' me own
| throat") the effort of her minions.
Wot, it takes all of 'em ta manage one thing? "efforts of her minions".
| Reaching over as she passed, she
| tapped Nabiki on the shoulder and said, "You're welcome!", and then
| followed Akane trough
I don't think Akane was stomping on the ground quite THAT eagerly.
"through"
| the schoolyard to the street still fanning
| herself gently, and still chuckling.
|
| As they neared the gate, she drew level with Akane, who glanced aside
| at the fan still waving gently in her hand.
|
| "A little old fashioned, isn't that?", Akane asked.
|
| "Oh my, no! It's entirely practical, personal protection, you know."
And it comes with its own Kasumi mindset, I see.
| Another sideways glance. "It's a war fan? Razor edges and such?"
|
| "Oh no, not at all. The virtue of the warrior, after all, exists in
| the soul of the warrior herself. The weapon...", passing next to the
| gate-post she swung the fan, apparently, through it, "is merely the
| expression of it." Behind them, as she walked on still gently fanning,
| the gate-post divided itself at chest height, fell to the ground, and
| shattered into dust.
Woo! She musta studied the Hibiki School of Making Organic Polymers Really,
Really, Dense!
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Some blocks away, while passing through a park on the way to the
| Tendo Dojo, Ranma finally broke the companionable silence they had
| fallen into.
|
| "Would have been nice if some of that apologizing the guys were
| doing back there had fallen on the primary offendee."
|
| "Mmm. I don't know", Akane replied, "they might have been worried
| that I'd get mad at them for trying."
That was my first guess. Although I would have been more in favor of their
interpreting your interpreting their gifts as being romantic advances of an
entirely different breed.
| "Would you have?"
|
| "Don't know, depends on how they did it, I suppose. I think I've been
| given more than enough insincere flowers over the past year, anyway."
Most of them from one source.
| Ranma, was just then passing by a hedge of wild roses in the park,
| filling the air with a slightly bitter perfume.
Ranma filled the air with slightly bitter perfume. Yes, I know that's not
what you meant, but it's what you SAID.
"Ranma was, just then, passing by a hedge of wild roses in the park, which
were filling the air with their slightly bitter perfume."
| Her fan flashed momen-
| tarily in the sun as she took a 8 inch length of vine and wove it into
| a wreath.
|
| "How about sincere flowers?", she mused turning over in her hands,
| and offering it to Akane.
You know, right now would be a really good time for somebody dining on a
high overlook to spill their tea. But then, this isn't Takahashi physics
we're discussing.
| Akane paused and turned to face her, her eyes huge and dark in her
| face. "Ranma-san?!?"
Is this the "I've finally found a friend and I'm so HAPPY" or the "this girl
is coming on to me and I'm AFRAID" wide-eyed incredulousness? I'm hoping
it's the former.
| Ranma shrugged, and grinned lopsidedly, "I just don't think that,
| when _all_ the girls are getting flowers, that any _particular_ girl
| should be neglected. People might get to thinking that she wasn't good
| enough to get flowers or something, _might_ even hurt her feelings."
|
| "Avoiding hurt feelings is one of the most important tasks a
| gentleman can perform, after all. And I _am_ a gentleman."
This is still Ranma. If you want to separate these two thoughts, have her
pause or bow or some such between them. Otherwise, they should all be one
paragraph.
| "Of course you are", Akane smiled cutely at Ranma, "but I can't wear
| flowers unless you wear them too."
|
| "Then crowned with flowers we both shall be!", laughing, Ranma bowed
| flamboyantly. Her fan flashed again, and, crowned with flowers, as she
| had said, the two friends walked on, towards Akane's home.
Wait. Wait just a freakin'...
I KNOW WHAT THIS REMINDS ME OF! THIS IS SO MUCH LIKE CYRANO DE BERGERAC IT
AIN'T FUNNY!
That was one of my favorite plays of all time, and one of my favorite heroes
of all time. Ranma's actions in this early part are remarkably similar in
attitude and intent to Cyrano's when the play opens. Not that I'm suggesting
plagiarism or anything of the sort, but it's nice to know why something
strikes a chord in you.
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Ranma looked at the sign hung on the building's outside wall. "The
| Tendo Dojo, hmm? You hadn't said that your family owned your own Dojo,
| Akane-san."
Speaks the woman who could use dojo signs for fuel throughout an entire
winter if she really wanted to.
| "Dad hasn't done much teaching the past several years", Akane
| replied absently as she entered the house, "Hello, I'm home!"
|
| Ranma followed her inside and clapped once as she toed off her
| slippers. "Excuse me for disturbing you!", she called.
This is translated from the original Japanese, no doubt.
| "Oh, my!", came a sweet voice from the kitchen, "We have a guest!".
That's right... guests were more or less a rarity at the Tendo Dojo, weren't
they?
| Hard on the heels of the voice came the speaker, a tall, sweet-faced,
| girl, apparently a few years older than Akane. Ranma bowed to her
| politely, and raised an eyebrow at Akane.
|
| "Ranma-san, this my older sister Kasumi",
It IS Kasumi, isn't it? "This is my older sister..."
| Akane said, "Kasumi-onee-
| chan, this is my new friend from school, Bushiko Ranma."
|
| "Welcome to our home, Bushiko-san", Kasumi chirped, "will you be
| staying for dinner?"
|
| "Oh, I couldn't impose, Tendo-san, I'm only here to see about
| helping Akane-san to train in the Art."
|
| "In that case I insist you have dinner with us", Kasumi said firmly,
| "I couldn't have you training with Akane without something to eat
| afterwards. I know how martial artists are."
That's right... Doc Tofu's a martial artist of sorts, isn't he?
| "Well, if you insist... I accept, and with thanks." Ranma bowed
| again and waved grandly to Akane, "So let's see your Dojo proper, hmm?"
|
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Akane happily led the way to the Dojo, pausing only to change into
| her gi, not noticing Ranma's raised eyebrow. "Here we are!"
|
| Ranma bowed to the spirit of the Dojo and leaned against the wall.
| "Alright, start out with your katas; I'll just watch, for now."
|
| Akane centered herself, took a cleansing breath, and began. For 5
| minutes, and then 10, she performed her kata to the best of her ability,
| not noticing, as she continued, Ranma's increasingly serious and
| concerned expression.
Umm. Ranma. This Ranma. Concerned and serious is not good, no siree...
| Finishing with the hardest and most complex kata she knew, she
| returned to the outside world and noticed Ranma's distracted expression.
| Quickly becoming depressed, she sank into seiza and looked down at her
| hands, "Not good enough, huh?", she said quietly.
Well, compared to some of the people he's seen, no.
| Returning to herself with a start, Ranma considered momentarily,
| then replied. "No, the problem is that you're _too_ good." She looked
| down at her hands and briefly chewed her lip, "I mean to say, yeah,
| there's some things you could improve in, like speed, and maybe you're
| a little clumsy yet, but..."
And Akane's okay with this because it's coming from a friend and not some
baka hentai unwanted fiance freeloader.
| She looked down again, briefly, and raised her head and captured
| Akane's gaze with her own, blue eyes serious and intense under flaming
| hair. "Look, Akane, there are two types of martial artists, okay?
| There's warriors, like me, and there's people with sticks like that
| Kuno lad I whapped earlier today. And the difference, the _important_
| difference is: warriors are in the business of killing people, and
| people with sticks are not. The Art of a guy with a stick ... well, it
| might be about art, or philosophy, or a sport, or exercise, or basically
| a lot of stuff, but _my_ Art, a warrior's Art, is about killing people,
| or sometimes _not_ killing people."
|
| "Ranma, I ..."
|
| "NO", Ranma held up a firm hand. "You haven't thought it through!
| Take a day, take a month, Hell, take the rest of your life if that's
| what you need; once you start down that road you can't go back. You
| don't want to go unless you have to."
Hmm. Seems Ranma-chan's being a little prophetic. Perhaps letting Akane
complete a few more words of that sentence, or even "Ranma, I want..." would
make it clear to the reader, at least partially, what Akane was trying to
say.
| Ranma stepped forward and put her hand on Akane's shoulder. "I'm
| serious about this Akane-chan, take the time to _be sure_. I wasn't, I
| didn't have a clue when I started, cause my Dad's an idiot,
Understatement of the millennium.
| and it
| _hurt_. It _always_ hurts, Akane-chan, or else _you're_ dead too", she
| moved her other hand to Akane's other shoulder, "and I don't want my
| friend to hurt like that unless there's no other choice."
|
| Akane whimpered into Ranma's embrace and sobbed. "Y ... y ... d-do
| you think I should just ... not ... then?", she mumbled into the other
| girl's shoulder.
Now would be a really good time for the water heater's pipes beneath the
dojo floor to burst.
| Ranma stroked the back of her neck and *shhhed*, "No, Akane, I don't
| know what your honor needs. I _do_ know that when you _have_ the power
| you _have_ to worry about it, not using power is a use, too." Back to
| arms length, "Take this morning, that Takuichi kid, he's in the hospital
| now; and you can say he deserved it, and you can say it could have been
| worse, and you can say he was stupid. But when it's totaled up, what it
| comes down to is that I maimed him, maybe permanently, and I didn't
| have to."
It could be worse. You could have done to him what Lina Inverse does to
annoying people. Hmm. Kneecap smashes, dislocated shoulders, and a nice
impact wound to the chest and back. Given Ranmaverse healing, the boy should
be up in no time.
| "Mind you", she continued, "6 months ago I'd have killed them all
| and laughed, but that was in a different place, and the rules are
| different here."
|
| "Do you think he _will_ be maimed?", Akane worried.
Worrying is best done in thoughts. "Akane said, worried." would probably
work out a bit better.
| "I don't know Akane-chan, Japanese medicine is lots better than I'm
| used to, and I've got some tricks of my own to use if it gets bad,
| but ... I don't know. And it was a mistake, and you know that at some
| point I'm going to have to pay for it too. It's a weight, Akane-chan,
| that you can't ever put down. Don't pick it up unless you've got no
| choice."
Ah. So it is the potential and not the actuality that is worrisome. Gotcha.
| "Okay, Ranma-chan, I ... I'll think about it first." Akane smiled,
| weakly.
|
| "Thank you." Ranma hugged her briefly, hard, and then let go. "And
| it's not all _that_ bad anyway, even if you decide to stay sane
| there's a lot we can do to help your Art. 'Kay?"
|
| "Uh-huh", Akane kawaiied, "Thanks. What should we do first?"
What in the name of Chibi-Usa does THAT verb mean? It's a nice trick and
all, I'll admit, but making up words can leave some of your readers out in
the cold. Though I think most of us got the impression, it still seems...
weird.
But then, this whole fanfic has been so very different, it makes perfect
sense in a strange sort of way.
| Ranma shrugged, "Change your wardrobe."
|
| "Huh!?"
"Look, if you can master Martial Arts Fashion Modeling, everything else just
follows naturally."
| "You're wearing a gi."
|
| "Yeah ... so?"
|
| "Earlier today, did you feel comfortable fighting in your school
| uniform?"
|
| "No-ooo, I mean I had to, er, _if_ I'd had to I could, but..."
|
| "Exactly! When it's your art, it's got to be a part of your whole
| life. When Basho was wandering around, d'you think he only did poetry
| under special circumstances? Only when he had an audience, and a mat,
| and a formal ink stone, and a 3 foot brush and so on. When Hokusai did
| his art, do you think he only did art on the formal, final print, and
| not the rest of the time?"
|
| "Hell, no", Ranma continued, "Hokusai was doing art even when he was
| partying, (and believe me, Hokusai knew how to party, too)
"I know. I was there."
Come to think of it, he probably WAS, wasn't he?
| Basho did
| poetry all the time; even if they weren't doing the formal, get-it-down
| -right part, they were doing their art. And any art that's _real_ has
| to be like that. All the time. And you can't do your art if you're not
| being in a situation you're comfortable doing your art in. Which, for
| Martial Arts, includes the clothes you're wearing. So let's go see
| your closet."
|
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Somewhat dazedly, Akane led the way to her room, where Ranma was
| soon standing in front of her closet, sorting through her clothes, and
| muttering.
|
| "Uniform ... uniform ... bleah ... dress ... dress ...", Ranma posed
| briefly with a sundress, "mmm, looks good, but _I_ wouldn't want to try
| to high kick in it...".
|
| Akane megablushed. "Me neither."
|
| "Mmm ..., well, I don't see anything in here really suitable for
| combat, do you?"
|
| Akane shook her head, shyly, no.
|
| "Well, there's only one thing to do then", said Ranma, "go shopping!"
|
| Akane grabbed her arm urgently, "Ranma, I won't have the money for
| a shopping trip for..."
|
| Ranma patted Akane's hand gently. "Don't worry about it Akane-chan,
| for a good cause, you can always find _some_ kind of donor."
|
| Akane blushed again, "Ranma-chan, I can't ask you to buy me..."
|
| Ranma winked at her, "Who said anything about me? Come on!"
"Do you trust me?" (a la Aladdin)
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Ranma and Akane walked side by side deep into the Nerima Ginza.
| Deeply engrossed in conversation with Ranma, Akane failed to notice her
| steering their perambulations towards the less savory part of town.
It's going to be slightly less less savory when you're out the other side.
| She regained notice of her surroundings with the realization that
| several Bad Elements were attempting to loom menacingly in the back-
| ground. Ranma winked at her sudden start, and put a finger shushingly
| to her lips. "Donors", she whispered, and continued to chatter.
I'm bursting with barely contained laughter. I can see what's going to
happen, and I'm going to love every minute of it.
| "Heyhey, chickies, whatchoo doin out tonite, hah? Yew wanna _real_
| man, hah? Haw, haw, looka this Junichi, a _redhead_, think I'll see if
| she's a _natural_ redhead, haw!"
Red hair is extremely rare in Japan. Not that the average anime is any
indication, but still.
| "Take the trailers", Ranma stage whispered. Her mouth smiled at the
| forerunners of the 10 thugs surrounding them, but her eyes were cold.
| "Now, gentlemen, you wouldn't risk your reputations by harassing a
| pair of unescorted girls, would you?"
|
| "Hawhaw, and who's gonna stop us chikie, huh?" the first thug
| extended a tattooed hand.
Wait a... "chikie"... IT'S DON CORNEO BACK FROM THE DEAD! KICK HIS SORRY
PERVERTED BUTT!
| "Well, for one thing", Ranma's tone was conversational, "the element
| of surprise."
They ask "who". She answers as if they had asked "what". I realize she
probably doesn't CARE if what she says makes sense, but it's nice for the
little nitpicky readers like me.
| Her foot snapped up in a repeated high kick that landed 15 blows to
| the thug's chin in a fifth of a second, then pivoted around the raised
| foot in a ki charged arc that smashed the 2 forward flankers into their
| respective walls. (Akane spun and launched a straight power kick into
| the gut of the thug directly behind her. As he folded, her hand rose
| and fell in a well-timed strike to the back of his neck.) Ranma shifted
| position in midair, flashing to her left in a jump kick into a fourth
| thug that carried him into the fifth, her hand blurred briefly as they
| landed to the blurry *thud* of many blows to exposed heads and torsos,
| then launched herself backward. (Akane continued her motion to the side,
| launching herself at the thug there and blasting through his defenses
| with a flurry of punches that soon sent him into unconsciousness.)
| Ranma flipped through the air towards the remaining two thugs on her
| side, altering course at the last instant to pass between them, her
| hands blurring as she passed. She landed lightly on her feet, preparing
| to move towards Akane as her last opponents slumped heavily to the
| ground. Akane however, had already bounced off the wall in a long jump
| kick that took her fleeing final foe in mid back, smashing him limply
| into the other wall of the alley.
Gad. Nice fight scene. But you don't need parentheses, I don't think.
| "Well", Ranma beamed, "not bad at all."
|
| "What the heck was that for?", Akane all but shrieked, "What were
| you think... What are you _DOING_?"
If she's outraged, shouldn't she have been outraged BEFORE they started
kicking butt? Or is the outrage at Ranma's looting, in which case...
actually, Akane's always been one for delayed reaction rage.
| "Hmmm ... looting the bodies, Akane-chan, what does it look like?"
|
| "You _killed_ them!!??!"
|
| "No, no. If I'd killed them, I'd have said I was looting the
| _corpses_."
Heh. One gets the feeling she's been doing a bit of both.
| "But ... but ...", Akane could only watch in stupefaction as Ranma,
| in less than a minute, stripped the brainless bodys down to their under-
| wear, stacked their jackets, shoes, shirts, pants, and paraphernalia in
| the middle of the alley, and rifled their wallets, throwing their
| cards and photos to the ground and counting their cash.
"Bodies". "Bodys" is not a word.
| "Nearly 4 million cash!", Ranma gloated, "and better than 2 million
| 5 in loot too! As I said, not bad at all!"
Nyah wah hah? Oh. Wait. Japan. Yen. Not dollars. That's a bit more
reasonable, then. But 65,000 bucks just waiting to be eliminated from street
trash?
| "Ranma, what...?", Akane stood openmouthed in shock, "How can you
| just...?"
|
| "Well, after all, Akane-chan, they did try to accost us, you know.
| If you don't apply some kind of penalty, they'll surely slip further
| and further into Crime, ne? And we do deserve some sort of compensation
| for our efforts, right? Besides: to the victor, the spoils."
|
| "Now, here, take this pile of pants and shirts and come on, we've got
| to go fence this stuff, and then go shopping."
|
| "Shopping?", Akane queried weakly.
|
| "We need to get you a new wardrobe, remember?"
|
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Later, Ranma turned from Akane's closet and pronounced herself satis-
| fied. "Hah! Hah! Still got that haggling touch! Hah!"
|
| Akane turned from the mirror, and tried to see how her long hair
| _really_ looked against the back of her new leather vest. "Do you
| _really_ think this looks good, Ranma-chan?"
|
| Ranma looked at Akane's black velvet pants / white silk shirt /
| black leather vest combo and raised an OK sign. "Trust me, Akane-chan,
| you look great. And there's nearly a million yen left for other stuff
| you might need too!"
Hmm. Perhaps this Ranma does have a bit of a fashion sense after all.
| "Are you _sure_ you won't take any of this money, Ranma-chan, you
| did most of the work."
Seperate that sentence into two. One a question, the other a statement. You
have 15 seconds. Begin.
| "Nah!", Ranma waved her hand, "don't need it at the moment. Besides,
| we're friends right? One day you'll do something like that for me. Now
| let's get going, your sister just called us to dinner!"
|
| Returning to the dining room, Nabiki frankly stared at Akane's new
| look. Introductions to Nabiki and Soun were made, and one of Kasumi's
| typically excellent meals was consumed.
|
| Mealtime conversation was mostly superficial, enlivened only by
| Ranma's presentation of a guesting gift (Wrapped bottles of Sake and a
| box of exotic spices for Kasumi) at the beginning of the meal.
|
| Nabiki had been looking at Ranma with what seemed to be a certain
| amount of unease throughout the meal, and after Soun excused himself
| she appeared to come to a decision.
|
| "Um, Ranma-san, I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity you
| provided me this morning. And, um, Ithinkyoushouldtake10percentofthe-
| moneyinthanks", Nabiki blushed as though she could not believe what
| she had just said.
I can't believe it either. Nabiki would be a lot more likely to portray the
ten percent as a share in the profits rather than an expression of
gratitude. But that's just me.
| Ranma winked at her "Already taken care of, Nabiki-san, and thank
| you. Kasumi-san, may I speak with you privately for a moment?" Then
| whispered in her ear, "Take 350k and use it for incidental household
| expenses please, Nabiki isn't as solvent as she'd like you to think."
And this money is where, exactly? If it's changing hands, say so.
| Kasumi nodded gravely, and Ranma turned to the still seated girls.
| "It's time I went home, I think; I'll see you tomorrow before school,
| Akane?"
|
| Akane nodded brightly, but Nabiki seemed confused, "err, the money?"
|
| "Oh, don't worry about it, Nabiki-san, I picked your pocket for it
| earlier", Ranma winked at Nabiki's open-mouthed shock, "It's every
| persons duty, after all, to speed the right; and in the spirit of that
| duty, Gentles all, Goodnight!"
Hmm. Can't place it. One of her originals?
| And whistling, and winking to Akane, Ranma turned out the door of
| the Dojo, and walked down the street to her apartment, under the Moon
| and the stars.
|
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Walking down the street alone, Ranma thought to herself, 'Wow,
| friendship, I wonder if...'
|
| 'NO', herself replied, 'she's straight, she's a girl, and she thinks
| you're a girl. This is the best friendship you've had since Kitsune
| or Usagi, _don't mess it up_! Besides, you've got some kind of
| arrangement coming from Dad, right? No More Romance, and that's
| _final_."
Usagi? As in Sailor Moon Usagi? And I'm afraid I don't know about Kitsune...
And if only you knew what that arrangement from your Dad WAS...
And the whole gender-swapping thing is going to have to come up at SOME
point if you want Akane to trust you...
| So thinking, Ranma walked on down the darkened street. It is the
| privilege of a Martial Artist to ignore the little voice inside that
| says 'Sure' after all. Presently she began, somewhat unconsciously, to
| sing. A song she had learned from a Gaijin ship crewman and translated
| to Japanese:
|
<snip song>
Man. That... that FIT. That actually fit, and fit well. Where do you find
these things?
|
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Much later, Akane stood in her bedroom looking out the window at
| nothing in particular. She considered honor, and duty, and leather
| vests. She saw in her mind a kendoist flying backwards to a wall, and
| a katana snapped in two hanging momentarily in mid-air. She weighed
| her life against pain, and tumbled thugs, and a crown of roses.
|
| And then she smiled, and returned to her bed, and fell deeply asleep.
| A response which is noted as common, in cases of great Decision.
|
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| And across Nerima, silence fell, and quiet reigned. And if, in some
| corner, those who felt themselves abused whispered, and plotted revenge,
| Ranma and Akane, at least, took no notice. And slept the sleep of the
| just, till morning came.
And the narrator closes the chapter as nicely as it was opened.
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Next, Chapter 2: the second day: Assaulting the walls.
|
| Various people plot revenge! Various people are silly! Nabiki makes
| more money! Ranma pontificates! Akane resolves! Swimming! Showers!
| Training! Magic! And just what is that ring Ranma's wearing on her
| braid, anyway?
|
| Coming soon, hopefully.
YES YES YES YES PLEEEEEEASE!!!!
Again, I'll say... this is one heck of a story. Carefully proofread, it
approaches perfection. Problem is it needs a good, thorough proofread before
the final copy goes out. But still...
This is one heck of a story.
Can't wait for part 2.
--G. Falconar