Suggested changes: {before : after}
On Thu, 10 Oct 2002 17:14:29 -0400 "L.S McGill" <lsmcgill@hotmail.com>
wrote:
Oh, Akane still got mad at him, still called him a {Baka : baka} when he did
something dumb; still walked in on him nude in the bath ... She was still
the Akane he knew....
"My coach and my second." Akane growled. Ranma could see that Kodachi was
already making Akane seethe.{:
}
"Ah." Kodachi started to dismiss them, then she took a closer look at
Ranma. "You! The pigtailed girl! So ... we meet again." She smiled
viciously. "I still owe you for the other day. Perhaps I'll cripple her so
I can show you a proper thanks."
"Anytime." Ranma replied.
Kodachi laughed at the ice in her voice. "I suppose we should be sporting."
{ :}She stuck out her hand. "May the best girl win!"
Akane humphed. "I don't know about her sanity, but she's {defiantly : definitely}
twisted." She hefted her bag and began walking towards their dressing room.
{ :} "But what I don't understand is why you are spending so much energy
showing me peoples auras." She waved a vague hand. "I mean, you've been
glowing for days. Isn't it tiring?"
There's no doubt that she's twistied, possibly defiantly, but I'm fairly
sure you meant definitely.
" Not true. I told you that night on the roof when Kodachi nearly kissed
you, Akane was only mad because she got jealous. She started thinking why
would you want her when Kodachi was rich and pretty and sexy and not clumsy.
{ :}Things she felt because of the way you treated her in the {Dojo : dojo} while she
was trying to train, and the way you call her sexless, and a tomboy. I know
your first impulse in a stress situation is to lash out, but because you do
that, you made Akane feel like you didn't want her. And why would you want
her when there was Kodachi?"
"But I don't want Kodachi. I- I {wanted : want} Akane."
Akane said she {love : loved} him... but she had asked Zhu Shu to sleep with her! And
somehow... they had merged chi.
I'm fairly certain Akane didn't have sleep in mind. <G>
Ranma started at the quiet and kindly voice and turned to see a woman giving
her a freindly smile. She was fairly tall, and an obvious foreigner, with
long grey hair and pale skin. She was verry pretty, the {tattos : tattoos} on her
cheeks and forehead seeming to{: ???} She was dressed like a college student, and a
book bag with the words Nekomi Tech hung from her shoulder. Something about
her smile made him feel like the world was suddenly a much better place to
be. Shyly, he smiled back.
You seem to have lost part of that sentence.
Ranma shrugged, somehow instinctively knowing he could trust the other girl.
{ :}"I guess. I mean, if you really want to hear about the mess I call my
life."
A commotion arose at the {door : doors} as they opened and the audience started to
filter in, {along with : including} Genma and the other two Tendo girls. They took seats
at the front, the audience choosing not to argue with a giant panda. Kasumi
looked at Akane and asked, "Is she ok?"
The {Referee : referee} looked at her nervously before {proceeding with : giving} her opening. "And
now the Champions of the Schools! In this corner ... From St. Hebereki's
School for Girls ... Kodachiiiiii Kuuuuuuuunnnnoooo!"
"Champions to the center!" The {Announcer : announcer} called. Akane looked at Kodachi
with her head tilted to one side as she tucked her ribbons behind her back.
The two girls approached each other and the {Referee : referee} made them shake hands.
Kodachi had to get another dig in. "Well cow, are you ready to lose your
claim to my Ranma?"
"You betcha!" Akane answered. She leaned over the ropes and whispered
conspiratorially at Zhu Shu. "I don't know why'd she want him though. He's a
bitch! Thinks nothing {or : of} ripping out hearts. Maybe I should let her have
him." She looked at the stricken Chinese girl and winked. "Or maybe I'll go
to her. I'm already a slut, right! He said so. Wanna bet I can get her out
of that outfit before the end of the fight?" She giggled and leered at Zhu
Shu. "Hot girl girl action, doncha know."
"Just what we've come to expect from the Flower of Martial Gymnastics,
Kodachi Kuno! She handles the rope as if it's a rod!" the {Announcer : announcer} called.
"Wait a minute, the {Announcer : announcer} cried. "It is a rod!! A rod disguised as a
rope!"
"Akane!" Zhu Shu yelled as Akane stumbled away from Kodachi, dazed by the
blow. She yelled at the {Referee : referee} "Kodachi's cheating!"
The {Referee : referee} looked at her. "So long as it's not a bare handed blow."
"She's using spiked clubs!" Zhu Shu yelled at the {Referee : referee}. She turned to
look, but as she did, the spikes snapped back into the club. "I don't see
any spikes." The {Referee : referee} called back.
"This match has... has taken a truly unexpected turn!! Can a kiss be
considered a bare handed blow? It certainly has set our {Champion : champion} reeling!"
Kodachi wiped the back of her hand across her lips, a lost look in her eyes,
then Akane giggled again and Kodachi's eyes flared. "So! Now you would toy
with my {Heart : heart}! Such insult cannot be allowed! You dreadful girl!"
She launched a furious assault on Akane, but Akane's ribbons kept
intercepting them. Akane skipped backwards as she sing-songed "Dachi and
Akane sitting in a tree-whups!" The {rings : ring's} ropes blocked her as Kodachi
grabbed a hoop from her second and screamed "I shall punish you!"
"And Akane razors Kodachi's hoop!" The {Announcer : announcer} screamed as Zhu Shu did a
double-blink. That wasn't part of Shiva's Dance.
"My God!" yelled the {Announcer : announcer}. "It looks like she's using twenty clubs!
There's no doubt about it! The madwoman from Furinkan has definitely raised
Kodachi's ire as well as her hemlines!"
"And the truth is revealed!" The {Announcer : announcer} called, still clutching her mike
amid the wreckage Kodachi had made of her table. "She was using twenty
clubs!"
"It's a battle for the ages!" the {Announcer : announcer} called. "The Black Rose is in
rare form today, but her opponent isn't giving an inch! What will happen
next! And all our male fans are wondering, I'm sure, will Kodachi lose any
more of her outfit? It's still anyone's match!"
"And Akane retreats!" the {Announcer : announcer} yelled. "But then that water does look
hot!"
"Is this it." The {Announcer : announcer} called. "Has Akane stripped Kodachi of not only
her clothing, but victory as well?"
Akane collapsed into tears as the shaky {Referee : referee} stepped up to her and raised
Akane's hand. "And the winner is..." The {Announcer : announcer} spoke in a quiet voice.
"Is Akane Tendo."
Belldandy smiled. "Absolutely. My Keiichi is the most wonderful person in
the world, and I'd do anything for him, and I think he'd do anything for me.
{ :}But love's course isn't always smooth. We've had many trials and
setbacks, but love makes it all worthwhile, and allows us to forgive the
mistakes we make and concentrate on the successes."
Belldandy smiled. "Your heart will tell you... everyday. You just have to
learn how to {interprete : interpret} it."
Ranma looked at her, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Well, thank you.
{ :}You've been really kind and you've really given me a lot to think about;
maybe even a solution."
Ranma gave her a smile. "I gotta get back to the {Dojo : dojo}. I think maybe I owe
Akane a real apology... for more than just today."
If he survives. Akane may still be feeling rather frisky when she wakes up.
"An aphrodesiac? Well, that explains that." The {Nurse : nurse} smiled. "She'll
probably not remember much of anything she did. Kind of a pity really.
Kodachi has needed a come down for awhile. It's amusing that she had a hand
in her own downfall. Still, I'd tell her to be careful. Kodachi's the type
to hold very long grudges and she was utterly humiliated.�"
* * * * *
The subject of the {Nurse's : Nurse's} comments sat in the locker room staring off into
space. She was still nude, the marks of the lashing she had received a
bright red against her skin. The other girls of the gymnastics team cowered
around the room fearing her reaction when she finally moved. She had never
been a kind mistress, and every girl there had felt her ribbon in a manner
similar to what she had received at Akane's hands. They all feared her
wraith.
A strange procession traipsed home from St Hebereki's towards the Tendo
{Dojo : dojo}. Kusumi led, with a depressed Zhu Shu at her side, followed by the
panda carrying the unconscious Akane. Nabiki followed behind, carrying
Akane's pack and listening to the conversation her sister was having with
the Chinese girl.
"So the {Nurse : nurse} said she'd be ok?" Kasumi asked Zhu Shu again. "That all the
effects would be gone when she awoke?
"All the effects of the drugs Kodachi gave her. I'm not sure about other
things." She gave the unconscious girl a look and sighed. "I'm worried
about how Ranma took off."
"Oh, I'm sure we can work that out." Kasumi said. "Once he's had a {cnach : chance} to
think, I'll talk to him. I'm just glad the match is over with. Your
teaching Akane really helped. I had no idea that you had taught her so much
when you taught her the Dance! She could never do half the stuff she did in
the ring before. I had no idea there was so much to it."
I'da thunk a spel cheker woulda catched that.
Zhu Shu started to say something, then {shook : nodded} her head in agreement. Ranma
sighed
Perhapse 'shook her head to acknowledge him'.
The small red head disappered into the building, leaving a stricken looking
Zhu Shu staring after him. Kasumi put a hand on the smaller girls shoulder.
{ :}"It'll be all right Zhu-chan."
Men simply were not appealing to her, if not so strongly as to be an actual
dislike. She had no more response to them sexually than she did to a rock.
Even Ranma, much as she liked to look at him when he was female, evoked no
interest. Zhu Shu had toyed with the idea when she had first met him, but
interest had died as he had proven that even as a girl, he was forever male.
{ :}Zhu Shu had become convinced she was doomed to a loveless marriage and
what amounted to giving her consent to being raped. She wanted to see her
friends happy because she was convinced she never would be. Duty wouldn't
allow it.
Akane mourned for her. She herself had always liked men, and had never even
thought about women until Zhu Shu had arrived. The thought of liking them
sexually had been alien to her, yet Ranma had awoken strange feelings in her
that Zhu Shu had helped her define. She liked men. Ranma had been right
about her taking a long look that first day, and as frightened as she was,
she had also been incredibly aroused. He'd been so good looking. Then, the
whole {Fianc�e : fianc�e} thing had gotten her riled, and she'd hated him for being
forced on her. What she had hated the most about Kuno and his idiotic
challenge had been the forced attentions she'd had to fight off. If Kuno had
just _asked_ for a date, she might have gone out with him.
It wasn't until that day she had listened in on the conversation in the
{gargen : garden} that she'd found out Ranma was just as unhappy with being forced, and
that he had been taking it out on her as badly as she had been taking it out
on him. It had robbed her anger over the whole thing of any justification.
She had tried to find every reason for not liking Ranma before then, and
yet, she _had_admired him for the way he had stood up to Kuno. As hard as
she had tried to deny it, the attraction had been there for Zhu Shu to see.
Zhu Shu had complicated her life enormously, but Akane had to admit she had
simplified it in some {way : ways} as well, ways which had confused her immensely .
She would have bungled her relationship with Ranma, she was sure, and taken
who knows how long to recognize or even admit to herself that she loved him,
let alone that she loved him in either form. How long would she have fought
herself over that? Over admitting that his female side fascinated her? How
long would she have tried to convince herself it was perverted had she not
admired Zhu Shu for being strong enough to admit she preferred girls?
Zhu Shu sighed and repressed the urge to strangle him. "Your aura has
changed, you are wounded, Akane has trimmed your hair to suit her whim, your
skin is still slightly flushed, your chi is jittery, your chakras are
disarrayed, you smell of sex... and perhaps most important... you seem to
have an air of peace with being female at the moment... You finally seem
comfortable in your body." _Because you have been together, in each {others : other's}
{embraces : embrace }, and I envy you_ she admitted to herself. Ice seemed to creep
across her soul.
"Oh, Zhu Shu. You're not... Akane told me about what happened in the {Dojo : dojo},
and I know that your emotions are all confused. Akane is acting like you,
you're acting like Akane... Zhu Shu... You are not a failure in anything!
You are one of the most wonderful people I have ever known..."
"Yes, son." the woman with the bundle said quietly. "The young lady who has
just so ardently refused to marry you, despite her obvious love for you, is
the Blood-Sister of Shan Pu, your second {Fianc�e :fianc�e }..."