Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 20:06:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: Thryth <thrythlind@yahoo.com>
Subject: [Ranma] The Amazon and the Moneylender: The
Kodachi/Mousse Project
To: ffml@fanfic.com
"Is she gone?" Akane heard the voice emanate from
around the corner. She didn't even bother to turn
around to face the sound.
"Ranma, you are aware that she isn't really a
cat,
aren't you?"
"Of course I know that," Ranma whined as he
stepped
out.
"Then why do you faint every time you see
Shampoo-Neko?"
"B-b-but," Ranma stuttered. "She's bad enough
just
being Shampoo!"
"Quiet, Baka," Akane shushed him. "She could hear
you."
"And what?" Ranma demanded. Then he continued
quietly as Akane stood over his crouched form with a
raised mallet. "Hurt the psycho's feelings? Since
I've
met her, she's tried to kill, drug, attack, and
shame
us and all our family and friends. She's never taken
the least interest in our feelings."
"That's no excuse fo-" Akane was interrupted by
two
blurs, one black and one white.
"Son, did I just here you refer to you and Akane
as
'us'?" Soun inquired.
"You know what this means boy," Genma hinted
softly.
"Oh Akane, isn't it wonderful," Kasumi asked
sweetly.
"What a beautiful moment," Soun declared, letting
loose with the fireworks. "Ranma is finally
admitting
to himself how he loves Akane."
"Yes, Tendo," Genma agreed. "This is a moment
that
will live on in my memory forever."
"Oh my, where did they go?" Kasumi asked. The
fathers scanned the now couple-less room. "Oh hello,
Shampoo, is there anything wrong." They looked to
where Shampoo was standing quietly as Nabiki also
came
into the room.
"No....*sniff*...Shampoo fine....*sniff*...." She
walked around the corner toward the front door,
stiffly. Genma and Tendo sweatdropped as she
disappeared from sight.
"Shampoo-" Nabiki started to follow her.
"WAAAAA!!!!"
*THUD-CRASH*
Nabiki flinched as the wall caved in from Shampoo
hitting it.
Kodachi examined a table full of various trick
clubs and other rhythmic gymnastics props. She
looked
up for a moment at the next table where they were
selling a variety of specially designed robes.
"Excuse me, sir" Kodachi said to the man in front
of her. "But you look familiar somehow."
"Kasumi Tendo?" Mousse asked as he turned to face
her. "What are you doing at this hidden weapons
convention?"
"I am not Miss Tendo," Kodachi protested. "Oh
yes,
now I remember. You're that blind Chinese peasant
that's always after that blue-haired harlot."
"Shampoo is not a harlot, Ukyou!!" Mousse
shouted.
"Silly boy," Kodachi laughed. "I am Kodachi Kuno,
the Black Rose of St. Hebereke High School, not some
second rate Okonomiyaki chef!"
"Achoo!!"
"Bless you," Ryouga said, then suddenly he
started
getting protective. "You're not catching a cold, are
you?"
"I don't think so," Ukyou said. "But I might if
you
don't find a way out of this theme by nightfall."
They
were walking through an indoor aquarium surrounded,
behind the glass, by a variety of sharks, rays and
assorted fish.
"Hey, you're not helping any."
"Well, I'm stuck down here in a wheelchair. I
can't
see past most of this crowd."
"Not that, I mean hold off with the spatulas.
Violent maniac." The last was not said quite softly
enough.
*CLANG*
"Watch it P-Chan," Ukyou said to the dazed form.
"Oh, you're that insane woman that is chasing
that
womanizing Saotome," Mousse noted.
"How dare you talk about my darling Ranma like
that!!?" Kodachi shouted. "I'm not going to allow
some
floozy's dog to insult my love like that!"
"'Some floozy?'" Mousse repeated. "You have no
room
to talk, chasing after a masochistic casanova who
avoids you like the plague!!" The pair glared at
each
other and then stomped off angrily. Neither noticed
that one of the booths was apparently manned by
classmates of Akane's, or that one of them had a
camera and the other had video camcorder.
Nabiki hadn't been able to locate Shampoo since
she
burst out of the Tendo Dojo. This was decently
disturbing, usually Nabiki had no trouble finding
anybody. For some reason though, she was having a
hard
time thinking about anything else.
"Here's the surveillance, chief," Sayuri said as
she handed Nabiki an envelope and video cassette.
"Why are we watching Kodachi anyway?" Yuka asked.
"It's not like you can tell when she is going to do
something."
"Somebody asked me to do them a favor," Nabiki
explained sedately.
"Chief, are you all right?" Yuka asked. "You seem
a
little down."
"I'm a little preoccupied," she told them while
flipping through the photographs.
"Preoccupied, you?" Sayuri asked. "I've never
even
heard of you being distracted."
"What's going on Chief?"
"I've been having a little trou-" Nabiki paused
and
blinked at the photo in her hands "This is Mousse!"
"It was a hidden weapons convention, chief,"
Sayuri
noted. "He was bound to show up sooner or later."
"Yes, but was he bound to end up in a shouting
match with Kodachi?" Nabiki asked. "Hmm." Then her
eyes narrowed and she started laughing softly and
evilly.
"Um, is this good?" Sayuri asked.
"For who?"
"Hey, did you here?" Sayuri asked excitedly as
she
ran up to a group of her friends. "One of Ranma's
fiancee's gave up on him."
"Really?" Yuka responded from inside the group.
"Which one?"
"Ukyou!" Sayuri answered, saying it in disbelief.
"Yeah, I heard about that," a third girl added.
"She ran off with Ryouga after he saved her from
Kuno."
"Well that makes since," somebody else added, and
the gossiping was on in full. The girls had one
spectator, a Chinese boy with thick glasses and long
hair eating his lunch nearby. "They were always
doing
things together."
"Yeah, but wasn't that because Ryouga always
helps
Ukyou with her matchmaking plans? Why would you help
someone you love win somebody else's heart?" The
Chinese boy perked up at that.
"Oh that was just cover...."
"I think--Achoo!!---that somebody is gossiping
about us."
"You kn-kn-kn---Achoo!!!---You know what, I think
you're right sugar."
"Couldn't this hap--Achoo!!--pen while we're
fighting?"
"Shut--Achoo!!--up and enjoy the view."
"Welcome, Nabiki Tendo," Cologne said without
turning her back. "What brings you here?" The middle
Tendo smiled confidently as she walked from the Cat
Cafe's doorway to the middle of the room. Cologne
noted for once that the confidence was a facade, the
girl was nervous about something.
"I was hoping to find Shampoo here," Nabiki told
her. "She heard something earlier that...upset her."
"And what concern of yours is it if Shampoo is
upset?" Cologne asked.
"Unhappy customers don't spend as much money,"
Nabiki responded glibly. "What else."
"Your greed will be your downfall, girl," the
pair
were watching each other very closely now. Nabiki
smiled, the action held more in common with a
predator's glance.
"I don't claim to know more about fighting than
you," Nabiki said. "Don't claim to know more about
people than me."
"Don't push your luck, girl," Cologne growled.
"I've been pulling strings since before you were
born." Nabiki smiled again.
"I assume this means that Shampoo isn't here,"
she
decided. "I have no reason to stay here then."
"Stay away from my granddaughter, girl," Cologne
commanded her. Nabiki scowled and turned slowly to
face Cologne.
"Well that all depends on whether she asks for my
services again," Nabiki told her.
Kodachi ran towards the horse, leaped into a
handstand. From there she sprung into a reverse
double
flip, twirled herself length wise
three-hundred-sixty
degrees and landed.
"OO-hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!" she laughed
cheerfully. "Isn't it wonderful my dear Sasuke?"
"What is that Mistress Kodachi?" he asked
despondently.
"The freedom," Kodachi responded.
"I see mistress," Sasuke said, yawning. Kodachi
backflipped across the small gymnasium her home
contained.
"For once, I'm actually having fun training."
Sasuke half-glared at her, but ceased soon enough.
He
didn't see how she could get any decent training
without Mas-...Tatewaki Kuno to run the exercises.
"That is good, Mistress Kodachi." She leaped up
to
the rings and performed a quick series of motions
before launching herself over to the parallel bars.
She had seen her darling Ranma perform better, but
to
most people she appeared to be nothing more than a
blur.
"...the chef and the vagabond out together on
some
sort of vacation..."
"Yes, Mistress Kodachi."
"...It'll be boring without my brother around..."
"Yes, Mistress Koda-" Sasuke paused, blinked and
then smiled.
"...but otherwise, everything is going my way,
soon
I'll shall be my darling Ranma's one true love. Then
we shall live on to dignified old age as Lord and
Lady
of the Kuno fortunes."
"Oh, definitely, Mistress Kodachi," Sasuke
answered
a deal more cheerfully than he had been. Then he
started to edge out of the practice room. "If you'll
excuse me, Mistress Kodachi, I have some errands I
need to run."
"Oh, I don't care," Kodachi said, waving him off
as
she performed a standing forward flip. "In fact, I
have something that I need to do myself."
"Thank you Mistress Kodachi, I'll be off now,"
Sasuke was gone in the next moment.
Only a few minutes later Kodachi was leaping
across
rooftops cackling away with more than her usual
insane
glee.
"OO-hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! Oh my darling
Ranma, how can anything go wrong now. All that
remains
between me and you, oh my truest love, is that
blue-haired hussy and your so-called fiancee, Akane
Tendo."
"Hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm!!" Kodachi stopped as she
heard
the low, sinister laughter.
"Oh," Kodachi said flatly. "It's you."
"Do you really think you'll succeed in acquiring
your Ranma-darling's love merely because you've been
having a lucky streak."
"No, I expect him to fall in love with me because
I
am obviously the best choice for him. And I suppose
you expect that air-headed floozy would pick a
spineless moron like you over a peerless-warrior
like
my Ranma-darling."
"Point taken," Mousse said after a moment's angry
thought. "But perhaps if we pool our resources...."
"Hmm, intriguing," Kodachi said, rubbing her
chin.
"You get your floozy."
"And you get your jerk," Mousse tossed in.
"OO-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"
"Hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmh!!!"
The pair stopped laughing and stared at each
other
in mild shock and surprise, and then each went back
to
their own variation of the insane laugh.
"Ah ha," Nabiki declared as she climbed up to the
rooftop Shampoo had chosen. "I found you."
"Xie Xie," Shampoo said glumly.
"What are you doing up here anyway?" Nabiki asked
as she sat down next to the glum amazon. Shampoo
pointed out away from the building and Nabiki saw
Ranma and Akane sitting at a window seat in the
restaurant across the street. They were laughing and
generally relaxing away from the prying of their
parents and friends.
"Oh...Shampoo," Nabiki started gently. "Watching
Ranma and my sister get along isn't really the
healthiest activity you could be doing."
"Airen think Shampoo psycho," Shampoo sniffed.
"Oh don't worry about that," Nabiki said gently,
a
depressed customer was not good. "He calls Akane a
violent maniac all the time, and they..." Shampoo
looked at Nabiki, stricken. Suddenly Nabiki was
thinking, "Oops....that was the wrong track."
"Money-girl saying Ranma really love
violent-girl?"
Shampoo asked, sniffing.
"Now, I don't know that," Nabiki said
desperately.
It seemed that she was losing her touch somewhat
recently, especially around Shampoo. "I just know
that
they really get along despite all the..."
"WAAA!!!" Shampoo started wailing and Nabiki
quickly moved to try to comfort her.
"Oh, calm down," Nabiki said quietly, patting the
Amazon on the back and letting Shampoo cry on her
shoulder. "They haven't made any real commitment to
each other, you have plenty of chances left."
"*sniff* really?" Shampoo asked looking up into
Nabiki's face.
"Hey, would I lie to you, Kitty," Nabiki asked,
looking back and brushing back some stray locks of
blue hair from Shampoo's face.
"Aiya!" Shampoo virtually glomped Nabiki, the
brown-haired girl patted her on the back and smiled
in
relief. Then both blinked and scuttled away from
each
other about a foot.
"By the way, I've started on the two favors you
asked me about," expertly reclaiming her
professional
tone.
"Really?" Shampoo asked, in a neutral, curious
tone. "What you doing?"
Nabiki merely smiled and snickered.
"So your saying that Shampoo has to marry the man
that beats her in combat?"
"Yeah, and she was beaten by Saotome twice,"
Mousse
confirmed.
"Then why, pray tell, haven't you beaten her
yet?"
Kodachi asked.
"I can't really fight her," Mousse said aghast.
"She might get hurt."
"You think that she is really so weak as that?"
Kodachi hmphed. "And yet you let her treat you like
dirt? No wonder she dislikes you, what kind of woman
goes for a doormat?"
"As if a Borgia-reincarnate is anything anybody
wants to mess with."
"It appears quite simple then," Kodachi trilled
her
words. "All we have to do is give you some
backbone."
"And maybe convince you to stop tossing around
paralyzation powders," Mousse suggested. Kodachi
almost seemed to get paler than her normal unhealthy
shade. "Anything wrong with that?" He asked
curiously.
"I..." Kodachi faltered. "...You are absolutely
positive this will help me win Ranma-darling?"
"It will at least be a large step in the right
direction," Mousse noted. Kodachi produced a small
packet from somewhere inside her brown school-girl's
outfit. She started to set it aside and her hand
started shaking. "Are you all right?" Mousse asked
for
the second time.
Kodachi closed her eyes and sighed once before
whispering in a voice that Mousse could barely hear.
He only caught "...gone," before Kodachi seemed gain
some willpower and set the packet down.
"That was easy," she said and drew out about five
more similar packets. She hesitated setting down the
last one and replaced it somewhere. "Just in case."
She said it by way of explanation, but whether the
explanation was to herself or Mousse, the boy could
not tell.
"Well, I guess it's a start," Mousse said.
Kodachi
turned to look at him, and the gleam in her eye made
the master of dark magic more than a little nervous.
"And now, we start with you," Kodachi hummed
softly
to herself.
"W-w-what do you mean?" he asked nervously. "What
can you tell me about being presentable."
"Well there is that in the first place," Kodachi
noted. "How can you be such a doormat and at the
same
time be so insulting?"
"Insulting?" Mousse nearly shouted. "How dare you
call me insulting?"
"I request that you remember that I am of the
samurai caste," Kodachi told him in a soft dignified
manner. "And that you treat me with the respect I am
due."
"I-I-I beg your forgiveness," Mousse stammered,
kowtowing.
"That is exactly what I'm talking about," Kodachi
declared as she walked about the virtually prone
Mousse. "Hmmm, I think this may take some time."
"You want me to do what?" the speaker on the
other
of the phone asked. "And you are willing to pay for
this?"
"Name your price," Sasuke stated.
"Oh, that is very simple," the other answered. "I
merely want another shot at him. What else does
anybody want?"
"Hmm, oh yes, that is a very good point, and very
easily obtained. After the job though, we don't want
anybody to know you are there."
"So I'm supposed to sneak in past her eyes as
well?"
"I think she has been distracted of late," Sasuke
told him. "It should be relatively easy to enter the
city without her knowing it."
"Well then, whoever you are, you've hired me."
"Very good, I hope my master will be pleased with
your results."
"I've never failed professionally," he responded.
""And only once in a personal matter."
=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?"
-
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
Signed
He of Too Many Names
(Thrythlind/Thryth/Luke/Hyperbole/Pika/Pooka)
http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html
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