An old topic, something I've tackled at least twice before. The
thing about us math majors is that we never let go of an interesting
mapping. If this eventually comes out, maybe I'll be able to say
I'm out of my rut. Chapter 19 of Switch will be out sometime in the
month, but I'm really hoping to get Letter #361 out of my system.
***
The college student peeked around the illuminated street corner.
Seeing no one and sensing no one were two different matters entirely.
Luckily for him, they were in sync today, and he flew through the
cone of light with relative ease. Up the stairs, down the hallway,
key the lock: by the time he had closed the door (silently - the
neighbors were kind, friendly folk to whom you'd never want to slam
the door on), he was breathing easy.
He slumped down, wiped his brow and unloaded his cargo: vegetables,
meat, cup ramen and a single notebook tumbled out of his package
and onto the floor. He stood, removed his shoes, and carefully
took the foodstuffs in arm - the notebook he chose to ignore, the
day being Saturday and damn those plates that he needed by Monday
first thing...
"Curry," he said. "Definitely a curry night."
He once again thanked his uncle for being rich enough to own an
apartment house. It was hard enough, leaving Hokkaido to study
in Tokyo U, without having to try and find a place to stay at.
Of course, part of the plus factor was that he was leaving the
chaos at the house. He thought he had never seen his dad so
happy - happy that he was grown up, happy that he was getting
into his own, happy that he was being left in the company of
so many women, or at least he had thought.
In any case, this was the reason he had to be ever cautious. He
*was* the one that wanted the identity change, but he didn't
think he had to wear a costume all the time! It was all
necessary, or at least his "personal tutor" thought so.
It was okay... most of the time. He thought the spiky hair was
a dead giveaway, but no one was giving him much attention, so it
was okay. The height thing was an interesting twist, though -
it would make him less conspicuous, more maneuverable, and it
sure kept the girls away. There was still some part of him that
was wondering if his tutor had another reason. He deposited the
goods onto the kitchen table.
He fluidly strapped on the apron, and opened the faucet. He
grabbed the first carrot... only then realizing that he had none.
"Oh... yeah, right." He closed the tap, and rubbed his brow -
he just could not remove the image of a steaming pot of pork and
potatoes and reddish-brown curry sauce with laurel leaves... and
carrots.
He was halfway out the door before his tutor's words stopped him
in his tracks - no bringing carrots into the house. He sat
right where he stood, and tallied his options. He really wanted
some curry. He couldn't buy carrots for the curry. He couldn't
cook the curry without carrots - it'd change the taste. He did
not want - absolutely did not want to even think of - the food
he used to eat at home - wonderfully exotic homemade cooking -
it just made him think of curry all the more.
Steeling his will, he decided: calling for take-out wouldn't be
taking carrots, in that sense of the word - and it would be a
break from the usual. He eagerly reached for the phone receiver
and the phone book for number of that local Indian restaurant.
"Damn!" No delivery service. Not to worry - some restaurants
carry curry on their menu - just a matter of elimination.
"Sorry, we only deliver up to 7PM." *klic*
"We only cook Chinese dishes! So sorry." *klic*
"We've got a spicy okonomiyaki meal..." *klic* He shook his
head. "No, nope... not gonna."
"I'm sorry. Would you like a Big Wac meal, instead, sir?"
*klic*
"C-C-Curry..." With the desperation imbued in the truly
hungry, his fingers flew across the numerical keypad.
"Haro! You leach Noboyuki House of Sushi -" *klic*
"I'm sorry, Carrie isn't in right now." *klic*
"Tenchi? Is that y-?" *klic*
"You have reached the Tendo residen-" *klic*
The look on his face at this point was no longer the simply
determined expression he wore mere minutes ago - he now bore
the marks of near-obsession. "Curry... curry... curry..."
"You have reached the Goddess Relief Office."
"Huh?" That helped shake his belfry.
"All operators are currently busy. Please standby for our
operative to arrive. Thank you. *klic*"
"Eh?" He stared at the receiver, completely confounded -
even more so when it began to shake in his hand. "Wh-what?"
The whole room was reverberating. He crawl-slid across the
floor to the wall, where the mirror was clanging noisily. He
stared at it from his sitting position, twisting his neck in
a slightly cramping manner. That was when the hand came
through it.
"Eeyagh!" He ducked barely before the wall exploded.
He sat, violently displaced, coughing and staring at the largish
hole in what used to be the wall to the hallway, clouded by a
fine mist. It began to clear - and settle. The sillhouette took
detail - into a largish lump covered in fine silk of pinks.
"Wha-wha- the-the wall- !" His apartment mates were beginning to
open their doors, demanding explanations.
The lump spoke. "Greetings, Tenchi!" A head un-bowed, and an
open, soft female face framed in long purple hair with the most
startling blue eyes emerged.
"H-Who? How do you know my name?" My real name, that is, he
didn't say.
She bowed again. "Excuse me and my entrance - you're the first,
um, that is, this is the first time the Goddess Relief Office
has done this type of thing."
That phrase again. "What are you? A-A Goddess?"
"Not exactly." She stood - and almost immediately mended the
wall. Almost, because Tenchi was still able to make out that she
had not only fixed it, but reinforced it. "A permanent servitor,
so to speak. I'm Cherry."
***
A you'll-never-see-it-ever-again production
Puppet Gods
A Saber Marionette J - Tenchi Muyo! - Oh My Goddess! amalgamation
(Actually, more of Shin Tenchi, except that I haven't seen it, so
we'll just say after the TV series, k?)
I'd call it God's Toys if Chris hadn't used it before...
***
With my humblest apologies to the Eternal Lost Lurker, who will
probably be bringing no sushi soon - but only after 30 mins. :)
Happily, I will attribute this to watching three of the first
five eps of SMJ on TV (not even cable... though the Filipino
translation isn't half-bad... I think...) When I get to watch
Ruroni Kenshin, then I'll get back to you. :P
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention that the apartment house is called
Paradise Heights. If you can tell me who the apartment mates
are, I'll get you a copy of the sequel of the game when I get
a copy. (I might! I just might! H)
***
Why call this post "Threes" then, you may ask?
Ever wondered about what it is with three female siblings in a
family? There's the Tendo girls, the Goddesses, and I'd like
to think of the Marionettes as sisters. Since I've tried
mapping some of the Tenchi girls as Lime, Cherry and Blood Berry
(Mihoshi, Sasami and Ryoko), I thought Tenchi should have his fun.
For recycle potential, try the above with Sasami/Tsunami instead
of Cherry, and remove the backstory of Washu being Tenchi's
personal tutor and all that.
Pray that I don't get any red-hooded ideas soon.
Switch
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