-----Original Message-----
From: Matt Johnston <matt2518@gladstone.uoregon.edu>
To: ffml@fanfic.com <ffml@fanfic.com>
Date: 21 May 1999 
Subject: [FFML] [Orig]It's A Rainy Day Sunshine Girl -- Episode 03

Feel free to go to http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~matt2518/
There, you'll find episodes of this and my other fanfic series, 
the well-received "Boku No Marie: Music-Box Angel".

                  I T ' S  A  R A I N Y  D A Y
                    S U N S H I N E  G I R L

                           Episode 03
                     "...Suspended Seconds"

Yes! Another part! *grin* Can't wait to see what trouble 
Kenji gets himself into...

    The munchings and crunchings of oatmeal cookies followed 

It's nice to see that there are more cookies, just like last time. 
Keep them coming!

television, the boy pondered the sudden twist his life  path had 

An extra space or two there between "life" and "path".

    The young muse grinned.  "Okay then, let's go shopping."

I have a feeling it's not going to be a boring shopping. Heh, 
I love to Kenji suffer--I mean, develop and grow as a character.

    Sunlight from the west-facing window burst through what must 
have been an afternoon cloud; it filtered easily through the thin 
white cloth draped over the girl's form.  Kenji's eyes dilated 
slightly.  The golden ambiance blurred her; her inner details 

~"ambience" 

faded, leaving only lean shadow blocking the retreating rays.
    As another unseen cloud smothered the sun, Caravan's body 
returned to its normal shape, finding thin shade behind his shirt.  
The gentle curves once shown in gold-soaked outline became 
distant, subtle shadows barely rendered on plain white cotton.

Ooohh... I think I can guess what's going on here... Bad Kenji. ^_^ 

    "You could live in that shirt," he remarked as she handed the 
outfit to the clerk.
    "With what you're paying for it, you might want me to."  She 
grabbed a pair of imported Vans and added them to the pile.
    After the clerk had politely rung up the total, Kenji could 
only agree with his shopping partner.

^_^  I know the feeling. 

    "Tanako."  Kenji turned in slow-motion, his eyes panning to 

Oh my.

    Kenji felt Caravan's slender hand grasp his.  "Hey, Kenji!  I 
just found this... oh, hello."  Caravan's eyes, still bright from 
a triumphant find, locked on Tanako.

Oh dear.

    "Oh.  Caravan, this is Tanako, a classmate of mine.  Tanako, 
this is Caravan.  She's my... my..."  The truth was impossible to 
say, but Kenji lacked a plausible lie to replace it.

Oh dearie me. 

    Caravan nodded, her forced smile laced with a snarl.  "Yep, 
that's damn straight.  Ain't never seen Tokyo like this 'fore."

*laughs* Yeah, I can just picture Caravan acting like that, 
wish I could hear it, though.   

    "Wait!"  Kenji had thought the word, but Caravan had said it.  
"The store I found is right up your alley.  You'd... "  She groped 
for a colloquialism.  "...you'd really dig it.  It's funky."  She 

Right on, man! It's groovy, baby! <switches off Austin Powers video>

    Tanako shrugged.  "It was okay, I guess.  Nothing really 
great.  But I'm not much for his type of poetry.  Too many weird 
images."  She smiled.  "You could probably write a lot better than 
him."
    Kenji forced a smile.

Poor, poor Kenji. I feel for ya, man.

    "Are you okay?"  Tanako asked after him, but Kenji couldn't 
respond.

Yeah, who knows what she'd think of the answer! :)

    Feeling his pulse quicken again, he shook the thoughts from 
his mind.  "You've gotta go?"  He asked more indignantly than he 
had intended.

~"You've gotta go?" he asked more...

    "Hello, Caravan, Kenji."  The first thing Kenji noticed was 
Tanako's voice.  She sounded flat, dischordant.  He immediately 

~"discordant"

looked up, and saw her reaching next to her just inside the door 
frame.  She handed the uniform to Caravan  and smiled blandly.  "I 
hope it fits."

So, I wonder what's wrong with her? Interesting...

    "Oh good.  Ichiro called.  He said he'd stop by in a few 
minutes to talk about the homework tonight."
    "Thanks, Mom."  Kenji was half-way up the stairs, and 
answered without actually registering the words.

Hoo boy, Ichiro of all people. Kenji's not gonna live 
what he's about to do down...

    "I'm sorry about Ichiro," Caravan attempted, looking at 
herself in Tanako's old uniform.  "I see Tanako had a late growth 
spurt.  This skirt's a little short."  Kenji dared himself not to 
turn and look.  For several moments of silence, he bit his upper 
lip and occupied himself with paper clips.

That's a good boy. Just keep thinking pure thoughts and 
you'll manage... for a little while, anyway. ^_^

    "I had a couple.  Argent and Ange and I used to pretend we 
were wish-givers.  You know, where you pretend to appear magically 
and grant some imaginary kid a wish?  I remember we pretended 
there was this boy who dialed a wrong number and Ange--"

"Yeah, he was this boy at college who wished that someone
like Ange could stay with him for..."

And, in conclusion, another enjoyable episode with a 
few developments in the plot looks like they'll make Kenji's 
life more... interesting. ;) 

~Kayu-chan.

~~~
"A wise person has something to say, a fool has to say
something."
~ Ranma 1/2 fanfiction ~
~ http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~stroma/ ~
~~~