The Amazon and the Moneylender: Episode 9, Part 1:
Kodachi, Sane?
-------------------------------------------------------
"This brings back unpleasant memories," Dr. Tofu
noted as he examined Kodachi briefly.
"Yes, it does," Kodachi agreed, quietly.
She was still flashing through old memories that
had been buried or warped since almost their
inception. It was a most enlightening experience, it
was funny how close she had been recently. Leaving her
brother in jail as a show of disapproval and the
relief at how less "boring" life would be. Then, of
course, she could give him an excuse for trying to
kill her later. Jumbled in this were all the times
Ranma had told her that he didn't love her, mostly
rude attempts, but she had to admit that she hadn't
earned politeness. Then, of course there were all
those "accidents," and the night she achieved an
acceptable level of "perfection."
"No physical injuries. Your chi is sluggish,
though. If I didn't know better I'd say you just came
out of a coma."
"She was catatonic until just before we came
inside."
"I didn't let her touch me," Kodachi noted proudly,
if subdued. "Then the bucket hit Ranma�and�and�"
"Saotome maliciously triggered his curse in front
of her," Mousse finished angrily.
"I hit Ranma with the water," Kodachi admitted
quietly, and scrunched her eyes in confusion.
"And�..how did that happen?"
"Hmmm, this is interesting," Dr. Tofu said, pushing
his glasses up on his nose.
"What is it?" Mousse asked anxiously.
"He was a boy�and then he was a girl�"
"Your chi flow is too free," he said tapping his
chin in thought. "The channels are too broad."
"What does that mean?" Mousse asked. The doctor
circled her, Kodachi watching nervously.
"Everywhere, wow, never seen a job this thorough,"
he sat down and turned to his desk. "Very clean too,
professional, odd that they took down everything,
maybe they were in a rush."
"Job?" Kodachi asked. The doctor opened a door and
pulled out a piece of polished jade. It was held in a
casing of some kind of bone, as they watched the
doctor carved kanji into the stone.
"What are you talking about?" Mousse demanded. The
doctor finished the kanji and began sorting various
strings until he found one to feed through the bone
casing.
"Well, Kodachi's chi flow is indicative of someone
who's natural mental defenses have been taken down,"
he slipped the new amulet over Kodachi's head after
imbuing it with a little chi. "Don't take that off for
the next couple of days. I doubt you'll run across any
demons, but around here you never know, and you are
certainly an easy target until your chi flow fixes
itself." The flood of memories slowed down
tremendously, and she was thankful for that.
"You're saying some demon was in her mind?" Mousse
asked nervously.
"I'm saying something was in her mind," Dr. Tofu
repeated.
"Could someone explain to me how Ranma and that
red-haired girl are the same person, please," Kodachi
demanded.
"Certainly," Dr. Tofu smiled. "Excuse me, Mousse."
"What do you�hey!" Kodachi's eyes bulged as Mousse
shrunk into a duck. "QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!" The doctor
then produced a kettle of hot water, and held down
Mousse's foot with his. Strangely enough Mousse-duck
was trying like crazy to get away.
"And now," he paused. "You might want to look away
a moment." Kodachi shrugged and looked towards a wall,
and the mirror she knew was there. Her skin actually
blushed past normal tones as Mousse transformed back.
"You can look now," Mousse said irritably. Kodachi
turned around and tried to blank her expression.
"What was that?" Kodachi demanded.
"A Jusenkyo curse," Dr. Tofu explained. "If you
fall into a Jusenkyo spring, then you become whatever
it was that drowned there. Mousse fell in the spring
of drowned duck, so when he gets splashed with cold
water�he turns into a duck."
"And Ranma full into one of these springs," Kodachi
asked. "The spring of drowned�girl?"
"That's about the size of it," Dr. Tofu agreed.
Kodachi thought about this for a moment when a small
twitter escaped her mouth. Dr. Tofu and Mousse blinked
and watched her in concern.
"Ha�the redhaired girl�is Ranma�Ha!
OHH-haahahahahaha!!" Kodachi threw herself back on to
the examination table and continued to laugh.
"Kodachi?" Then the gymnast rolled off the
examination table falling to the ground with a thump
that didn't interrupt the laughing for more than a
moment.
"Hahahahaha! I at least had the right gender!"
Kodachi declared, returning to laughing almost
immediately.
"Are you okay?" Dr. Tofu asked cautiously, looking
over the table at Kodachi's mirthful seizure.
"My brother's obsessed with a man," she giggled.
"And he doesn't even know it!"
"Is she okay?" Mousse asked anxiously.
"Ranma in a leotard, snicker snicker."
"Very much so I'd say," Dr. Tofu smiled. She was
laughing, really laughing for the first time in years.
The doctor felt relieved, and to a degree, vindicated
by this development. Kodachi was coming back to real
life.
"Well," Akane turned to face Shampoo. Ranma came in
from the living quarters drying himself off, steam was
still rising up from his head and shoulders.
"Well, what?"
"You were about to go full out against her," Akane
accused. "Weren't you?"
"No I was not! Shampoo no bully the weak. Shampoo
just teach crazy-girl lesson that's all."
"Teach her a lesson!" Akane yelled indignantly.
"Something like banging her head into a boulder?"
"Hey!" Ranma's attempt at interruption called down
a bonbori and a mallet to his head.
"Uh, why we just clobber Ranma?"
"Bad habit I guess," Akane said.
"This is just great," Ranma grumbled. "I get a
concussion, and they're trying to decide why."
"Well, stay out of way of womans arguing!" Shampoo
snapped.
"Yeah, what did you want to say anyway?" Ranma
looked at them for a moment, deciding whether or not
to run.
"Shampoo wasn't going full out," Ranma noted.
"There were no large bladed objects involved."
"See, Nabiki-sister not know everything." Shampoo
crossed her arms smuggly.
"So you think she's right then?"
"No, I think she was about to beat Kodachi into a
bloody pulp, and that she wouldn't think much of it."
At Ranma's disapproving tone Shampoo's ego deflated
substantially. She didn't just descend into a hissy
fit over it either, she cocked her head at that
thought. "She just wouldn't have killed her."
"Shampoo go talk to people that not so uptight,"
she hmphed and walked out of the dojo.
"Speaking of bloody pulps," Akane noted
dangerously. "Why aren't you one?"
"For what?"
"Baka, you just insulted her again!"
"When?"
*SLAM*
Shampoo watched as Kasumi walked out of Nabiki's
room, closing the door behind her softly. She turned
to face Shampoo and elicited a brief gasp of surprise.
Like everybody else, Shampoo liked Kasumi, that was
just natural, practically everybody liked Kasumi.
"Oh, hello Shampoo."
"Nihao!"
"I didn't hear you come in."
"Came in to the dojo."
"Oh dear, I'll call the contractors tomorrow I
guess," Kasumi paused in passing her and turned to
face Shampoo. "Ranma was in the dojo, so why are you
here?"
"Checking on Nabiki," Shampoo answered naturally.
"She look really bad this morning."
"Well she's sleeping now," Kasumi said firmly. "And
after everything else today I don't think she could
use any more visitors."
"Plus you not trust me?" Shampoo nodded
expectantly. "How is she?"
"She would be fine if she weren't pressing herself
so hard," Kasumi said sweetly. "Nabiki works so hard
all the time, and she's never been so injured before.
She really doesn't know how to deal with it."
"She stupid."
"That too," Kasumi said calmly. "Would you like
some tea?"
"Sure," Shampoo shrugged after a little bit of
thought. She followed the calm serene girl downstairs,
and kneeled down at the table while Kasumi prepared
some tea.
"Are Ranma and Akane still mad at you about the
kiss?"
"No, they seem to forget," Shampoo blushed in
memory of that event. Then she recalled the daydream
that followed, and that the girl involved was
upstairs. All this combined made it hard for Shampoo
not to bear a striking resemblance to Ranma's shirt.
~What if she finds out about that? Silly, what does
Nabiki care if a love potion makes me
kiss�Her�Sister�oh�uh oh�she'll kill me�she'll put
Nekohanten in bankruptcy!!~
"Oh don't worry about that," Kasumi said as she sat
down and poured the tea for Shampoo. "With all the
craziness around here it was almost long over due, and
I can see you're just as embarrassed about it as Akane
is."
"Yeah, that true," Shampoo breathed a sigh of
relief.
"So why are you so concerned about my sister?"
Kasumi asked sweetly.
"Huh?"
"That is if you don't mind me asking."
"She help me with lots of favors," Shampoo said.
"And it not right to bully the weak."
"I see," Kasumi said. "Then you aren't asking her
to win Ranma's heart?"
"She say no will do that," Shampoo grumbled
irritably. "Won't hurt sister."
"I see, and what favors does she do for you then?"
~Think girl, think.~ Shampoo's forehead crinkled as
she tried to come up with a plausible lie in the face
of Kasumi's overwhelming niceness. "She tell me where
other girls are who obstacles to Shampoo's Airen."
"And how much does that cost you?"
"All total eighty thousand yen," Shampoo grumbled.
"Ahh, and perhaps you should return to work in
order to make up that money," Kasumi suggested. "After
all you won't soon be needing my sister's services any
more."
"Really?"
"Yes, strange that so many of Ranma's would-be
girlfriends are finding alternative matches," the
older girl smiled warmly. "More tea?"
"Yes, then Shampoo go back to work." Shampoo said.
~She's not so out of it.~
"It doesn't seem you'll need to know about their
movements anymore." Shampoo nodded enthusiastically.
"And perhaps you can tell her that?"
"Why me?" she asked nervously. Nabiki hadn't really
talked to her since coming back, besides she was a
client and that's all. Nabiki had said that herself.
"You're the client," Kasumi said. "She is very
professional, Nabiki won't stop because I ask her to,
and I'd rather not have to force her to take some time
to heal." Shampoo blinked. Kasumi's tone of voice
hadn't changed at all, as if she had total confidence
her ability to do that.
"Shampoo not hire her last," the Amazon said
suddenly. "Great-Grandma did." Kasumi regarded her for
a moment while pouring the tea, and smiled.
"Well, that is different then," the tall girl sat
down and sipped her tea. Shampoo sighed in relief, as
that weight of disapproval vanished. She pondered on
how amazing the pressure was when someone who was just
totally and completely nice disapproved of you.
"Oh, Shampoo go back work now," Shampoo said,
sweatdropping. "Goodbye." She left quickly and quietly
through the door.
"Have a nice day," Kasumi called cheerily. Then she
sighed and shook her head, well she could try
convincing Nabiki to rest one more time. She would
have to prepare for the likely event of Nabiki trying
to get around her again.
The sound of Shampoo's bike over head grated on
Ukyou's nerves. The reason being that her dinner crowd
took a moment to rush outside and watch the
purple-haired girl bicycle along the rooftops. Ryouga
looked at her, carefully avoiding mentioning the
distinct smell of cooked beef. She'd been in a bad
mood since he and Nabiki met the group in the airport,
the free publicity the Nekohanten was now getting at
her expense was not helping her mood.
"Next time we train you for chi channelling,"
Ryouga started cautiously. "Let's do it along
Shampoo's delivery routes." Ukyou blinked and looked
at him, then laughed. This was much to Ryouga's
relief.
"Fist of the insulted businesswoman," Ukyou agreed.
"Deadbeats of the world beware. Can you get this to
that table?" Ryouga looked and shrugged.
"I think so," he muttered.
"Good, we only have another hour until closing and
then we have to go visit the Tendos," Ukyou paused.
"It will go a lot faster with a little help." Ryouga
ducked his head as a playfully tossed mini-spatula
passed over his head. The regulars didn't pay much
mind, other than to get out of the way and watch the
show, but a pair of gaijin tourists were not so calm.
Especially not when three more spatulas zipped toward
the boy, who was trying to find the indicated table.
"Hey miss," one of them shouted. "Are you crazy or
something." Ryouga spotted his goal as he snatched the
spatulas with his free hand and sent them back Ukyou's
way. Deciding that no serious training exercises were
going on, the regulars sat back down and watched as
they ate.
"What do you mean by that?" Ukyou asked, confused
as she launched another salvo of spatulas. She caught
the returned projectiles almost absent-mindedly, and
waited for the next three as Ryouga set down the dish
he was delivering.
"You're throwing kitchen ware about the room, are
their no health codes in this country?" Ukyou narrowed
her eyes.
"Are you suggesting I use these to cook?" She
brandished the three, and suddenly six, spatulas in
her hand.
"Uh, what else would you use them for?" The
tourist's apparent girl-friend asked, confused. Ukyou
at least noted that they spoke good Japanese, even if
they showed no common sense. Noting the glare of the
challenged in the chef's eyes, most of the customers
stood with their back to the walls.
"Ryouga, remember that game javelins we saw in
Texas?"
"Yeah," he smirked as the tourist couple stared at
the boy, his arms grimmly crossed.
"Two points?" Ukyou suggested, the Lost Boy
shrugged.
"Fine with me."
"This could be good," one of the Nerimans
whispered. "I'll bet�"
"Excuse me," a non-descript school girl
interrupted. Finally, she was the one on hand for a
martial art fight, this would be her commission.
"That's my job."
"Are you two going to get out of the way," Ukyou
asked irritably as she walked around the corner
standing about ten feet away from Ryouga. The tourists
cleared the main floor. "Finally, ready?"
"Ready."
"Go!" The air between the two was suddenly filled
with spatulas and bandanas circling at an insane
speed. Neither moved their feet and just concentrated
on the projectile war.
"Uh, what's going on?"
"You turned a simple training exercise into a
decent sparring match," somebody explained to the
completely lost tourist.
"Training exercise, what?"
"I've got two hundred on Ukyou!" somebody shouted.
"Look at that bandanna swarm, Ryouga to win for
sure!"
The tourists sweatdropped as they turned back to
face the two martial artists. One of the spatulas
broke through Ukyou's catches and scraped along her
shoulder.
"Ha! First point," Ryouga noted with a laugh. Now
he just needed, Ryouga almost fainted as perhaps every
projectile in the past two volleys combined rocketed
his way. He blocked nearly twelve of them before a
bandana and a spatula whipped in smacking him nearly
simultaneously.
"Beginner's luck, Ryochan," Ukyou smiled as she
flipped her hair back. The gaijin blinked as she
flipped back behind the counter and cheerfully went
back to cooking, snatching the few remaining
projectiles from the air as she did so.
"Heh, I'll get you sooner or later," Ryouga
answered. Collecting the dropped weapons, the tourists
noted with dismay as he examined the bent and ruined
throwing spatula. "You'll need stronger spatulas he
noted, after you finish the baksai tenketsu we could
quickly run through your ammo in these games."
Ryouga tossed it in the trash as everybody returned
glumly to their seats. Ukyou noted angrily that only
three people seemed to have bet on her, and then
smiled evilly at all the people that had lost money.
That served them right. All around Ryouga was better,
but she used weapons far more than he did.
"Well, are you going to be making any more
complaints," Ukyou asked the gaijin couple. They
hastily shook their hoods and scooted to their seats.
"Good, here's your okonomiyaki." Two dishes landed
perfectly in front of the two. They looked at their
food and concentrated fully on its consumption
ignoring the martial chaos around them.
"Wow," the schoolgirl said quietly as she started
walking out of the door. Until she found herself
facing a battle spatula.
"Excuse me, what's your name?"
"R-r-ruri," the girl answered.
"Hey, don't worry, girl," Ukyou said. "We're not
going to do anything, but I'm heading to the Tendo
dojo anyway so I thought maybe I could take that to
Nabiki?"
"But�.I'm supposed to take that to Yuka�and this is
my first time�" She whined. Ukyou smiled, good, a
beginner. Sayuri or Yuka wouldn't have given in.
"Ukyou, what are you doing?" Ryouga asked
curiously. Ukyou smiled.
=====
"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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