More outtakes from "Genma's Daughter"...
Deborah
*****
Cologne hopped down off her stick and sat. "Let me think for a few moments.
I've never seen this before. I've never seen a normal Jusenkyou curse act
this way, even with the Chiisuiton involved." She thought furiously. "I
wonder... maybe that's it..." She hopped over to the shelves where she kept
her books, selected one, and started browsing through it. The three teenage
girls watched her, wondering what she could possibly have thought of.
Cologne nodded, and closed the book. She hopped back over to where the
others were standing. "I think I understand what's happening. Let's go sit
in the office. This may take a while."
A minute or two later, they were seated in the restaurant office, crowded
around a small table. Cologne winced as she heard the sound of...
A 747 taking off in the restaurant.
"CUT!!"
Mousse's voice echoed from backstage. "Sorry! Wrong tape."
"We guessed."
*****
Cologne hopped down off her stick and sat. "Let me think for a few moments.
I've never seen this before. I've never seen a normal Jusenkyou curse act
this way, even with the Chiisuiton involved." She thought furiously. "I
wonder... maybe that's it..." She hopped over to the shelves where she kept
her books, selected one, and started browsing through it. The three teenage
girls watched her, wondering what she could possibly have thought of.
Cologne nodded, and closed the book. She hopped back over to where the
others were standing. "I think I understand what's happening. Let's go sit
in the office. This may take a while."
A minute or two later, they were seated in the restaurant office, crowded
around a small table. Cologne winced as she heard the sound of...
The bells of Notre Dame ringing out in the restaurant.
"CUT!!"
"I'm sorry! The labels on these tapes are nearly illegible!"
"Try your glasses, Mousse-san."
There was a long pause.
"Ohhhhh..."
*****
Cologne hopped down off her stick and sat. "Let me think for a few moments.
I've never seen this before. I've never seen a normal Jusenkyou curse act
this way, even with the Chiisuiton involved." She thought furiously. "I
wonder... maybe that's it..." She hopped over to the shelves where she kept
her books, selected one, and started browsing through it. The three teenage
girls watched her, wondering what she could possibly have thought of.
Cologne nodded, and closed the book. She hopped back over to where the
others were standing. "I think I understand what's happening. Let's go sit
in the office. This may take a while."
A minute or two later, they were seated in the restaurant office, crowded
around a small table. Cologne winced as she heard the sound of...
Crockery breaking out in the restaurant!
The cast and crew gave a standing ovation.
*****
Ranko spoke. "Cologne, I came to return something." She reached into her
purse and drew out the spell jewel, holding it out in her hand. It was dark.
Cologne nodded, and took it from Ranko's hand. "I see. When was the last
time you changed, child?"
"Last night, in the bath. It took ten minutes, and a couple of times I went
almost all the way back to being a girl before I started changing again. I
could only see the glow of the jewel if I turned out the lights in my room.
This morning, when I took a bath after our workout, nothing happened, and
the jewel was dark. I even shut myself in the closet to make sure it wasn't
glowing..." She trailed off, a sober look on her face.
Cologne scrutinized her carefully. "And how do you feel about this?"
Ranko pursed her lips. "I... I don't want to be that black-haired boy ever
again, but... but it's strange. It's strange that my boy side is gone;
that's the face I saw in the mirror for twelve years. It's strange that I'm
just an ordinary girl, when... when I didn't even know I was a girl at all.
And... it's scary. There's no turning back now. But..." She paused, and a
smile crept onto her face.
A voice floated over from off-camera. "I'm not dead yet."
"CUT!!"
"Oniichan!!"
"I'm getting better!"
Akane stalked off the stage, and there was the sound of a mallet being
applied and an "Owwww!" Several people winced.
Akane walked back on, smiling. "He's dead now."
*****
Ranko faced her class, and blanched. She felt as if thirty pairs of eyeballs
were searing her, probing every inch of her body and her soul. Had she known
about the crowd in the hallway, drawn here through the grapevine, she
probably would have turned and run. She swallowed, and tried to speak, but
nothing came out. She started trembling, and looked down.
Her mother came over, and put her hands on Ranko's shoulders. She whispered,
"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm right here."
Sayuri turned to Yuka, and whispered "Let's do it now. She needs it."
Ranko looked up, and tried to find her voice, when she saw a motion at the
back of the classroom. Yuka and Sayuri stood on two chairs, and unfurled a
homemade banner, which said "Pod Racing on Bunta's Eve!" They looked back at
her with affection, and she burst out laughing.
"CUT!!"
Ranko, her mother, and the teachers were in hysterics, as were the crew. The
students turned around to see why, and soon everyone was laughing.
Yuka and Sayuri looked bewildered, then looked down at their banner and
turned bright red.
Yuka glared at Sayuri. "I *told* you we should have checked that we had the
right one before we left the prop department! But nooooo, you were sure!"
Sayuri smiled sheepishly.
*****
"Who says you're a girl? You're just fakin' it, like you always do."
Ranko was about to earnestly defend herself and launch into the whole
explanation about birth certificates and her mother, when inspiration
struck. Hirota wasn't looking for proof, not really. He'd been in the
classroom that morning, after all.
She fluttered her eyelashes. "Why, Hirota-kun, I'm shocked. I would think
you're old enough to know the difference between boys and girls." She drew
herself up. "Surely you're not expecting me to educate you?" She hmphed.
"I'm not that kind of a girl."
Somewhere, someone snorted.
"I HEARD THAT!! YOU TAKE THAT BACK!! I AM NOT!!"
"CUT!!"
*****