Experimenting with my style again:
$Hey, cool. I need to try that excuse sometime.
Any and all C+C appreciated. You can contact me at:
sommer@3rdm.net
Standard Disclaimer:
I disclaim I own any of the Ranma characters. They belong to Takahashi and
whomever she sold the rights to
All of my stuff is now stored at:
http://angcobra.jumpfun.com/dbsommer.html
And here we go:
xxxxxxxxxxx
"In all of nature, there is one universal truth that applies to every race
in the animal kingdom: the female is always the deadlier of the species."
--Solomon Paine
Prologue
"Whoa. Did you hear what happened to her?"
Words said unthinkingly, spontaneous in nature as they form from the
cacophony of thoughts that make up the mind and emerge almost instantly from
the mouth. When 'restraint' is a word that is difficult to pronounce, and
certainly not understood, never will one know honesty in a truer form.
$Kids can be so cruel.
"I can't believe she got dumped like that."
Still incapable of understanding the damage that can be inflicted with
words, more pour from others with a basic savagery that lacks true malice.
That comes later, when such speakers suffer from the words of others
themselves, and that which is termed 'empathy' is conceived, understood, and
eventually manipulated.
"I'm not surprised. I wouldn't wanna marry her."
$Kid2:Yes, but you don't count. You're gay.
Kid1: No I'm not! Take that back you faggot!
Kid2: Make me, gayboy!
Kid1: I'll show you, I'll get every girl in the world!
And thus, Ataru's quest begins.
But not now. Not yet.
"Some guy ran off with her dowry."
$Kid2: Dowwy? What's that?
Kid1: I dunno, I think it's some kind of doll.
Adults have the benefit of experience, learning from past pains and forging
armor to protect themselves from those insults whose wicked barbs dig deeper
and reach into places that no physical weapon could ever touch. Though no
matter how strong and mighty the armor is, it can always be destroyed by a
single word employed in just the right place at just the right time. Flawed
creatures are incapable of creating perfect things.
$That's not entirely true. Perfect obliviousness is proof against any sort
of insult. Perfect obliviousness does require effort to maintain, however.
"No one's ever going to want to marry her."
$Considering that she's going to turn into a coniving little bitch,
probably not.
Children lack such protection and must suffer fully each and every jab and
thrust, learning through such gauntlets how to protect themselves from
others, as well as mastering how to inflict that self-same pain when the
urge/desire/need forms and there is not enough urge/desire/need to prevent
them from being used so that the cycle might be perpetuated once again.
"I heard he dumped her, just like that. Right after he found out they were
gonna be married."
Ah, the wonderful era of growing up that all are forced to enjoy/suffer
through.
$Others have already pointed out the problem with this sentance.
"Why would he want to take her with him? She's not pretty."
Welcome to a moment in the childhood of Ukyou Kuonji.
"I wouldn't want to marry her either."
Insults from friends, acquaintances, enemies, strangers, all sounding the
same and blending into one. Ukyou was too young to decide which were worse:
the cutting words from those that never liked her, or the ones from those
that were her friends.
"I bet he thought she was ugly."
An unending stream of slurs, battering and hammering without quarter offered
or given.
"He probably didn't like her okonomiyaki."
$Heh, they probably said that one in the canon R1/2.
Over and over again and again, words expressed in a variety of different
ways but with identical meanings.
"I think he didn't like her."
Children are so blessed with an infinite capacity for talk.
$So are adults.
"You know, with the way she dresses and acts, I bet she's not even a real
girl."
$Well, you know...
And when the degradation seems to twist into eternity, sometimes all that is
left is to react. To accept and believe the words, and form the majority of
one's life as a basis from them, or to-
"Liar! That's not true! I am a girl! A real girl! I'll show you! I'll be the
prettiest and nicest and bestest girl there is! All of the other girls will
be jealous of me because I'll be a better girl than they are! And all of the
boys will like me and not want to leave me! I'll make them all like me!
You'll be sorry you ever said those mean things about me!"
Basic defense and return attack unleashed, Ukyou turned and ran, the vow
spoken etching itself forever into the first layer of armor that the girl
was even now weaving to protect her from those tormenting words the others
had used against her.
"Just you wait and see, and I'll show all of you!
"I'll show everyone!"
$Show us your tits!
That is, later in life.
Time does many things. Heals. Hurts. Scars. It means different things to
different people as their meager existence passes during it. But the one
thing it does to everyone equally is that it passes.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A yawn found itself escaping Ranma's lips. In response, the young man began
twirling a pencil around between his fingers and forced himself to at least
try to listen to the droning voice of his homeroom teacher. It would not
have been so difficult if the man could talk in anything other than a
monotone that would have bored a fire into extinguishing itself.
$Teach countless unresponsive kids for half your life and see how
enthusiastic you are.
About the only time the teacher raised his voice was to send someone out
into the hall; a situation Ranma had found himself experiencing all too many
times in the past. He vowed if fate was going to have him holding a couple
of buckets again, it was not going to be because he dozed off in class.
$Oh, no. It'd be for a good reason, like beating the crap out of Kuno in
class.
Looking over his shoulder, he noticed Akane steal a glance in his direction,
then look back towards the front of the class, her interest obviously
piqued. The pencil was placed back upon the desk as he returned his
attention to the front of the class.
$Apparently, even a pencil loses its charm after a while.
Ranma was surprised to see the teacher seem almost nervous as he looked to
the open door that led to the hallway, then nod his head towards someone
just out of sight from the position Ranma had in his seat. Taking a deep
breath of air, the teacher adjusted his tie and said in a loud, unusually
authoritative voice,
$By which he vainly hopes to impress the new girl with his manly authority.
"Class, stand. I want to introduce to you a new transfer student."
All eyes in Homeroom 1-H of Furinkan High School followed the teacher's
stare as they turned to the doorway leading from the hall to the room.
The figure passed through the doorway and into the classroom itself, coming
into view for all to see. She moved slowly, but with a graceful, fluid
motion that suggested she were gliding across the tiled floor instead of
merely walking across it.
$And then they saw the skateboard.
Her outfit was the standard uniform all of the girls at Furinkan wore, but
her bearing as she approached the class made it appear that she was dressed
in an elegant gown that molded to her form perfectly. Her every movement
cried out for attention, though subtly, rather than overtly.
A soft smile, without the slightest hint of forcefulness or strain, was
etched on her features. It was warm and caring, and served to put many of
the students in the room at ease. Her features were attractive, very much
so, with just the right amount of make-up applied to just the right places
to make her seem beautiful without being unattainable. Even through her
school uniform, it was obvious her body was appealing, while being neither
voluptuous nor plain. Her allure was almost palpable, emanating from a
combination of her physical features, posture, and the warm smile she
carried into the room.
$RandomRabidFanboy: At last! Someone is writing Ukyo-sama in character!
As her half-lidded gaze poured over the students, every male in the room
became convinced that for one, brief moment, he was the complete center of
attention this newcomer had to offer.
$all the attention, I think.
Nearly every man in the room found his heart beat just a little faster, and
basic, primal urges called out to prove themselves worthy of this new girl's
attention.
$Student1: Uhg! Me big man! Watch me push this pipsqueak around!
For most of the girls, the response was to shoot the newcomer glares either
of hostility, both warded and open, or looks of awe.
$And beings how most of the fanservice here is for those who like Ukyo,
none of them were looks of lust.
Instincts cried out that this new student was someone to either be feared or
emulated, and each female reacted accordingly to her own instincts. The
newcomer's own gaze was that of open innocence, as though evaluating each
person with an open mind.
$Suggest replacing the first open with guileless (*snort*).
For her part, Akane found herself put on edge by the appearance of the new
girl. A bit of jealousy at how... feminine, she seemed, when compared to
Akane's own admittedly somewhat tomboyish demeanor, plagued her. It wasn't
$Don't need 'own'.
like Kasumi's own somewhat standard Japanese housewife appearance, which
Akane had never tried to imitate. This new person radiated something
different, and Akane reluctantly admitted some part of her wished she was
more feminine in the newcomer's manner.
$I should hope not. There're enough heartless women in this world as there
is.
Guilt followed on the heels of jealousy. Akane quickly squashed those
feelings of distrust and tried looking at the new girl with a more positive
attitude. She was new and probably needed friends. Just so long as she
didn't try to cozy up to Ranma, like far too many other girls had already
done.
$Look at it this way, Akane. If he falls for it, he deserves what he gets.
Time seemed to stretch into an eternity as the girl finally bowed with a
grace that made nearly every man in the room want to stand and bow back,
though all remained in their seats.
$Clearly, no one obeys that teacher at all. I distinctly remember him
telling them to stand for the new student.
At last she spoke. "Greetings. My name is Ukyou Kuonji. It's a pleasure to
meet you all."
Of all the men in the room, only Ranma had remained impassive to the girl's
appearance.
$But he's oblivious. That's a normal reaction.
But all of that changed the instant her name passed her lips. His head
jerked up; a reaction that did not go unnoticed by Akane.
"It can't be," Ranma murmured under his breath. Memories conflicted with one
another at what was supposedly 'known' and the obvious evidence before his
eyes.
$He couldn't have been more confused than if Ryoga had shown up wearing a
nice green dress and an obvious lack of underpants.
Familiarity hammered at his memory as he carefully looked the newcomer over,
trying to reconcile the image of a boy from his youth with the obvious
symbol of femininity before him. Perhaps it was nothing more than a
coincidence; it was the only explanation that made sense.
$Mystery over, he promptly went back to pencil twirling, leaving Ukyo to
wonder just where she went wrong.
A pencil in Akane's hand snapped in half as she absorbed every intent stare
Ranma was shooting the new girl. Of course he would react the same way every
other guy in the room was; he was a stupid boy, after all. Ranma could do
whatever he wanted to that Ukyou girl, and Akane wouldn't care in the
slightest.
The halves snapped into quarters.
The teacher closed his mouth as he realized he was staring at the new girl.
Again. He knew his reaction was highly improper, the girl was less than half
his age, but he was still a man. "There is a seat next to Miss Tendou over
there." He pointed towards the empty chair and desk. "Please be seated and
we'll begin class."
$Heh, he just wanted to watch her walk away.
Still moving with a casual, yet captivating, gait, Ukyou made her way
towards the seat the teacher had indicated. She flashed a wider smile
towards each of the boys she passed, riveting their attention to her even
after she had moved her smile on to another. It was not until she came to
Ranma's desk, nearly across for her own, that she paused and gave her most
winning smile yet.
"It's been a long time, Ranchan. Surprised to see me?"
$Ranma: Huh?
Ranma's jaw dropped low enough to almost hit his desk. He paled slightly as
he mouthed barely audibly, "Ucchan?"
$Squeaked would have conveyed the same impression much more easily.
Through the sudden haze of anger that formed when Ranma was looking
slack-jawed at the newcomer, Akane would have sworn that, for the briefest
of moments, Ukyou's smile went from heartwarming to feral, but then it
disappeared so quickly that the youngest Tendou daughter was certain she had
made a mistake. Besides, there were more important things to worry about,
like why Ranma was acting as much of a jerk as every other guy in the room.
$Usually he was a bigger jerk. Akane wondered if he was sick.
And for Ukyou, who felt her heart skip a beat at Ranma's obvious attention
towards her, she knew that things were about to come full circle at last.
$Err, how? Is she going to steal his dowry and leave him crying on the
side of the road?
She wondered to whose soul Heaven should have mercy.
$DB's.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
All I have written out so far. Let me know what you think
$Righto. Heh, this lack of an easily accessable computer isn't slowing me
down at all.
Well, so far it's kind of short. I take it that you're going to leave it
serious, but the occasional humor couldn't hurt. I personally didn't care
for the writing stye in the first part, but it seemed okay. I'm a
whitebread kind of guy, I guess. Anything else I'll just have to wait and
see.
Finish Old Aquaintance!
C&C ya next chapter.
Kichigai