True, his parents always seemed happy to see him every time 

he

went home for break. But somehow that didn't count. People who were
related to you had a built-in obligation to put up with you.

Hikaru has obviously never met my grandmother.

Well, not everyone *honors* that obligation... :)

True enough.  :)

       The steady hum of the microwave ended with the ring of the 

bell.

Hikaru stepped across the cramped one-room apartment and removed the 

TV

dinner from the oven, cautiously inspecting the steaming food items. 

The

potatoes felt a bit rubbery and the corn was brownish-colored, but 

all

in all it would be okay with some salt and pepper for flavor. It was 

a

change from instant ramen, anyway.

In that it tasted awful, whereas instant ramen is Food of the Gods?

Nope. Both tasted awful, but this one was a new and different kind of
awful. :)

You need to buy a better brand of instant ramen, Gary.  ;p

Okay, I'd like to officially declare if anyone ever writes 
"Rosemary's Baby 1/2" I will be forced to respond in kind by writing
something like... I don't know, "Waters Under Earth : The Musical".
Yes, that sounds sufficiently horrid.

Wouldn't bother me. I already suggested to Krista that she write a
skating musical version of her series. If Hearts ON Ice ever comes out,
you'll know who to blame.

The only definite number at this point is Ranma and Tarou singing "Who's 
Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?" during Chapter 13.  ;p

       "My name is Yuka. I live on the second floor." She showed an 

ID

card.

       "Yes, I think I've seen you before." He motioned for her to 

go

in.

And an immense groaning sound was heard throughout the entire 
universe.  

Wow, didn't know I had that many readers....

The universe senses the use of bad jokes, Gary, and responds with pain.  
I'm sure there's a word for this in German...

Cool... they let the profs smoke in class at this university?

Dunno. Some of them might carry their pipes with them, or maybe Gos has
seen them in their offices.

My father actually mentioned this as one of the appeals of university 
for him once... he got to smoke in class.  :)

       "Oh Ranma!  It's so *big*...will it fit?"

       "Hey, no sweat, Akane. Just move your end down a little." 

Ranma

pulled the refrigerator in through the doorway towards the kitchen, 

as

Akane followed behind holding up the other side.

Innuendo.  Where would we be without it?

The line above was posted by someone in a spam thread as an example of
what a really raunchy lemon is like. I felt the need to use it in a
totally non-lemon context. :)

Obviously.  :)

       "Did you get them?" Happosai sat idly on the chair, like a 

king

on his throne, eating all of Hikaru's snack food.

At once?  He'll lose that svelte figure.

Not with his metabolism....

Do you think there'd be a market for a Happosai Diet?

       The door opened. A woman entered, one whom Akane recognized
instantly. She stood tall, elegant, with an air of superiority, and, 

as

if the rest weren't distinctive enough, pale white hair and skin.

Oh my god!  Kima got to appear in a fic for once!  

Nope. But expect her to show up in HaM.

WAI!

<Alan bows down and worships Gary as his new god>

       "Sweetie!" Happosai suddenly appeared on stage, grabbing onto
Liang and fondling her breasts. The cheers of the audience changed to
startled gasps.

Hmm... shouldn't that sentence be "the cheers of the audience of
drunken male college students increased tenfold"?

Nah, they were outraged that Happy got to do it and they didn't.

Look, when you're a hundred year-old martial arts dwarf, you have to get 
your kicks somewhere.  ;p

       "Let's put it this way. If there's anybody who did, he 

probably

didn't live to talk about it." Ranma pulled his chair back and 

started

to get up. "Look, I gotta be going. Really Thanks for the tea and all
but...."

Shouldn't be a capital on that 'thanks', and there probably should be
a comma between the 'Really' and the 'thanks'.

I think the problem is I left out a period after Really.

Yup, that works as well.  Either way.

       "A one night... WHAT?! You're a liar! We didn't...." Ranma 

felt

a soreness from below, telling him that he was the liar. How could 

this

have happened? HOW?

Drugs, Ranma.  Why do you think they call it dope?

Sometimes they call him that too....

"When Dopes Take Dope"

Doesn't this sound like an ABC After-School special?

Primary problem I have with this chapter arises in the latter half,
after Ranma's been seduced by Asuka.  Akane is way too quick to
forgive him.  Even with Hikaru's evidence.  Even though they're
married now, I don't think her mind works that way; she'd 
automatically start seeking explanations other than the one Ranma
gave her.  I think she'd eventually begin to forgive him after a few 
days, but not so quickly.

Point taken. It's been argued that Akane is overall too nice in this
series, and I think there's some truth to that. When I first started
plotting and writing it, "Akane the Psychotic Maniac" stories were
popular, and I probably overcompensated.

<shrug>  Quite honestly, I can't say I blame you.

 And all excuses aside, her husband did end 
up making love to another woman... that carries a lot of emotional
baggage with it, no matter what context it's in.

True -- though things have been superficially worked out for the 

moment,

Ranma and Akane will have to come to terms with their feelings on this
incident. You'll see this in subsequent installments.

<nod>  No doubt.

Beyond that, I remember not being too keen on this chapter the
first time I read it, but on a second reading, I really began to
like it; there is a sense of low-key sadness to Hikaru's story that
is very powerful at times.  Not the same level of emotional drama as
the death of Cologne in Prelude Six, but deeply effective all the
same.  I think it's mostly because he doesn't get anything even
resembling a happy ending, except for his realization about not
wanting to become like Happosai... Despite having some of the
funnier jokes in the series so far (I cracked up at the "I live on
the second floor" one), this one ultimately left me feeling very sad.

It's sad, but in some sense I think of it as a victory for Gos -- in a
moral sense. In any case, his story's far from over, and we'll see what
happens to him in HaM.

Hopefully it won't be too unpleasant.  ;p

Ciao,
-Alan Harnum

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