In other news for Fri, Jun 23, 2000 at 05:28:23AM -0400, Kenjiko2@aol.com has been seen typing:
Okay. I like such fics as Second Time Around, and Second Chances, and the
like. DAMN interesting fics.
But... they all depend on a character knowing EVERYTHING that happened the
first time around... which is the point, I guess.
I thought... well, a LOT of Akane's aggravation was based on the simple fact
that she had NO idea what she was getting into-- or rather wad being pressed
into.
General C&C beforehand: I like this idea. Could get interesting later on, too,
as Akane's faith gets tested when Shampoo and Kodachi (weren't they the first
two to show up? I'm a bit rusty on the timeline) go for him. Everyone in
school is going to be wondering just why she's acting so "not-Akane-like"
to this guy when she still pounds the Morning Hentai Horde flat
(This being Nerima, the obvious hypothesis that maybe it's because he
doesn't want to beat her up in order to force her to date him will be
rejected before it's even fully formed), and she might even get realistic
about Ryo-- Saay.
Cursed.
Mighty warrior.
Life on the road.
... Sound familiar?
There's a thought...
Anyways, I can't wait to read more. You *are* going to write more, neh?
The words filled Akane Tendo's head, repeating in a circle of
increasing aggravation, anger rising every second. And few would
argue that that anger wasn't well justified.
well-justified, if my grasp on english does not fail me.
And to her outright astonishment, this morning some thirty idiots
from various sports clubs had done that. En masse. Had she been
anyone else but the heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial
Arts, she would have been in big trouble.
Heh. I occasionally DO get tired of the Akane-hating ravers who belittle
her skills. OF COURSE Ranma can dance around her; unlike her he's spend
literally every waking moment of the past ten years training. But contrary
to what you see in movies, pounding flat a mob of maniacs in more-or-less
good shape takes SERIOUS skill.
</pet peeve>
(Kuno no baka. Kuno no baka. Kuno no baka.)
{snip}
(Kuno no baka. Kuno no Baka. Kuno no baka baka baka BAKA
BAKA!!!)
Occasionally I still wonder just WHAT the True Blunder was thinking.
Then I remember who I'm talking about. "Thinking" isn't part of his
vocabulary.
She had to find something to do. Something to distract herself
from her anger and frustration. Something other than stand across
from Doctor Tofu's clinic and sigh.
That was when she saw the small stall with the fortuneteller.
Feh. If anything was nonsense, that was. Mysticism and magic and
all of that was nonsense. But maybe the fortuneteller could at least
take her mind off Kuno.
She entered, expecting the usual trapping of the trade. A
trappings
crystal ball, maybe, like the popular western style, or a canister
^-- extra space
of scrying sticks. Perhaps cards or I Ching coins. Whatever, there
were sure to be various mystical posters and useless but impressive
looking charms.
Instead, the place was more like a small office, neat, sterile,
I'd suggest a colon instead of that second comma (the one after office)
with a literal bank of four or five PCs linked in a corner and a
downright peculiar keyboard and mouse combination connected to at
least three monitors. The only concession to the arcane was a small
framed horoscope diagram on one wall-- and that had binary code
attached to it scribbled on post-it notes.
heh.
Behind the desk was a man-- or rather a scarecrow with human
aspirations. His face was gaunt, with heavily shaded eyes. His hair
was thing and gray. He wore a pair of thin, gold-rimmed glasses and
a lab coat with a few buttons on it bearing what were either mystic
sigils or circuit diagrams-- she wasn't sure which.
"I can help you, Miss," the man said.
"Ah, isn't that 'Can I help you, Miss?' I mean..." Akane asked,
uncertainly.
"I was not asking a question. Please be seated. Fill out this
form. 1000 yen for the consultation. Results guaranteed."
Nice one. Akane probably feels just a TAD railroaded here :)
"Guaranteed?"
"Pepsi, Coke, or Calpis?"
Calpis? Wazzat?
"Immediate prognostications over the immediate future. Advice
couched in arcane terms. The usual, except again, results
guaranteed, as long as you pay attention to what I say."
You sure about the double use of "immediate" here?
Akane jerked upright. By all the kami and all the Buddha-- This
weirdo WAS for real!
<eerie music> Even though you do not know it, every time you open a
door you risk walking into... The Twilight Zone.
The man blinked himself, and added uncertainly, "And you're not
to cook for him until you learn how, and you're to be reasonable
about your clothes not fitting him right. Now, that last is
unusual."
Hrm. That'd clinch Ryoga not being the one referred to, which in
turn cuts down on the chaos potential. OTOH, you could probably keep
it in without trouble.
Akane left, feeling disoriented. The experience had somehow
rattled her nerves.
And the Pacific Ocean is "somewhat" wet, too, I suppose... You've
got a definite flair for understatements.
And alone, the man removed the 1000 yen and tossed it into the
wastebasket also. After all, that part was simply for appearances.
Heaven should be pleased with the tests so far, the routines were at
98.924 percent accuracy...
Wouldn't he walk out and randomly drop it into the hat of a beggar,
so that instead of starving to death on the street he goes into
a cafe to buy a sandwich and a cup of coffee, thereby being just
in time to perform the Heimlich maneuver on the choking wealthy
businessman, who helps him get out of the gutter and back to his
old job as one of the top surgeons in Japan... Or something? This
*is* Heaven we're talking about. How much good *can* you do with
1000 yen in the right place?
####
Time passed. The crowd of idiots not only did not quit, they
grew to nearly fifty. And every day, after them, she would have to
fight Kuno, and barely make it to class on time.
Her anger increased, her dislike of boys grew. The only thing
that kept her from becoming totally enraged at the entire male gender
was the fortuneteller's prophesying.
Prophecy.
And maybe you could let her discard the whole thing as "too weird to have
been real" the next day and slowly forget over the course of two months,
until everyone's favorite macho martial artist arrives....
Akane was staring at the transformation after the tale of
Jyusenkyo. And at the boy. Even the terrible curse part seemed
true.
I'd suggest "had turned out to be true" instead of "seemed true"
Kasumi and Nabiki stared. They had NOT wanted to be engaged to
this... creature, and had thus shifted the burden to Akane in a sort
of panic. But they were stunned at how Akane was taking it.
Nabs in particular is going to go nuts trying to figure out just what the
hell is going on with Akane. This could be fun.
"So... won't you please stay a while?"
Ranma began to sweat.
Did I say Nabs is going to be curious? Ranma's probably wondering what
the HELL is going on here... :)
But she wondered about the rest of what the fortuneteller had
said... and what her life was likely to be like from now on.
Don't we all? Can't wait to see more of this fic.
####
Robert Haynie Jr. Working at the moment on Pop's machine, so the sig isn't
Shad.
--
Rens Houben / Shadur t'Kharn: Linux geek, programmer, student.
PGP public key at:
http://dwagon.sandwich.net/~shadur/pgpkey
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