"DB Sommer" <sommer@3rdm.net> writes:
Like that would happen, Ranma thought to himself. While he was taking
Kachiko seriously, he was still handcuffed by being unable to strike her. He
was uncomfortable with the idea of punching her out, and then there was the
fact he'd be tossed out on his rear end by the rest of the Tendous (other
than Akane, evidently) if he hurt Kachiko in any way. The handicap would
make things competitive, but there was no doubt that with his ability to
evade any attack from her, his own impressive inventory of grappling
techniques, combined with superior strength, that he would come out on top.
There was nothing she could do to stop him.
Sweet confidence.
For the third time in three sparring matches between the two, he moved
first, intent on ending things quickly.
In response, Kachiko fell to her knees, ripped open her gi so that it fell
off her shoulders, barely covering the upper half of her breasts, and
screamed at the top of her lungs.
Ranma leaped back for a second at the unexpected action, though remained
he remained
ready to counter anything she might follow up with. Instead she remained on
the ground, sniffling as a cascade of tears flowed down her face.
Ranma felt pity toward her if she thought anything that blatant was going to
work. "Forget it. I ain't falling for whatever you have plann-"
The rest was cut off as the door to the dojo flew open and Soun entered.
Panic stricken, he shouted, "What's going on?! I heard Kachi scream!" He
Panic-stricken
took in the sight before him and began trembling in rage.
Kachiko pointed weakly at Ranma, barely managing through sobs, "Ruh, Ranma.
He tried to... me," she broke down and began outright bawling.
Well, she didn't lie, exactly...
Nabiki stared at her curiously, as though not quite grasping the question.
"Kachi asked me to do a favor for her. I could hardly pick Ranma over my own
dear, sweet, mother, now could I?"
dear, sweet mother
"Paralyzed by his demon head attack is not the same thing as being beaten.
It just meant I could have been easily defeated. But you didn't defeat me.
You just let me lay there until I recovered," Ranma said
satisfactorily.
Good for him.
Genma cleared his throat. "Ah, didn't Kachi explain it as a big joke
and
was a big joke, probably
(as works, but sounds awkward)
With Ranma gone and with her date assured, Kachiko allowed herself to relax
and return to reading her book. She was just getting to a good part, when
the door to her room was thrown upon once again.
"Did knocking suddenly become a lost art?!" Kachiko threw the book aside and
stood up to confront the intruder: Hinako. "Oh, it's you. Well, I can see
why someone like you would get confused and mistake 'knockers' as being the
same thing as 'knocking'. I have yet to meet someone with a huge chest whose
IQ exceeded her bust size."
So if the chest is large enough...
"Just bear with it!" The Gargoyle demanded. "We have not gathered here to
comment on my choice of raiment. Rather we are here because of a common
past we share."
"Daddy?" one of the creatures asked, hope filling its voice.
Heh
"Ahem! Excuse me!" An odd creature, one with the form of a toaster with
legs, spoke up, attracting the Gargoyle's attention.
"What?" he asked irritably.
"Is that one of the Sailor Senshi in their true form?"
"Of course not. That's a high school disciplinarian."
"Isn't this the 'Youmas Against Mass Murdering Sailor Senshi' meeting?"
"No, this is the 'Miss Hinako Revenge Squad' meeting."
The youma flicked one of his buttons. From the slot on the top of his head,
a sheaf of papers sprang out, just like a piece of toast would. The paper
was lightly done, and crinkled as the youma unfurled it. "This is Warehouse
Secret Lair #255, Dockside District, correct?"
This particular part (with the toaster) was a let down, I thought. The
concept's been used before a bunch (not accusing you of copying
anything, just letting you know that the joke fell flat).
In fact, the whole 'lots of people in a reunion against their enemies
while wisecracking against the person who called them together' seemed
a bit stale. Maybe that's just because it's otherwise hard to assemble
a league of evil. The "Daddy?" part was noticeably funny, though :-)
The Road Ronin shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
"And you Kyosuke Takiawa!" the Gargoyle pointed to the shadows. "You were a
ninja cadet of unparalleled skill. A shadow among shadows. You already knew
what you wanted to be when it came to entering the job market, and isn't
school meant to train us to enter society by becoming a productive member of
it? You were destined for a greatness that few could know. But then it was
all cut short by our common foe when she caught you sneaking into the
principal's office late at night, trying to alter your grades."
A figure dressed in the familiar black garb of a ninja emerged from the
shadows. "I should have had a higher grade. It wasn't my fault that when
they took attendance the teachers didn't see me."
Nice :-)
The janitor pet his mop affectionately. "Me and Clementine can take on a
dozen snot-nosed punks like you and wipe the floor with them. But then I'd
Is this a harder-edged UHF reference?
"I'm a lawyer," Chuck beamed.
And this too fell a bit flat.
But his plan had backfired as horribly as possible. Akane's teacher had
somehow been substituted for Kachiko, and ended up the recipient of his
demand.
Would 'target' be better?
Hope griped Soun's heart. She had heard of his dilemma and came to help.
Deep down inside he knew she could never stand to have another woman date
him. "Just say the word and I'll cancel the date, Kachi." Honor be damned.
He would be with his wife no matter what. All she had to do was ask.
Kachiko lifted one eyebrow in surprise. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm here to
help you pick out what you 're going to wear so you can impress her."
you're
By the time the doorbell ran for the tenth time, Ranma decided he had
rang
"He's dead," Kasumi answered.
KIRK: You're a house wife, not a doctor!
"She's kidding," Ranma said quickly before Hinako could react to the
statement. "Come on in."
Hinako entered the home. "Thank you for having me over."
Kasumi followed up with, "You don't want to date Father. He beats women up."
"If I was married to that little brat, I'd beat her up, too." Hinako's
eyebrow twitched and slight hint of anger entered her voice. It left just as
quickly and she turned pleasant again. "Would one of you kindly inform Soun
I am here?"
"I'll get him." Ranma hurried off.
"Father's impotent," Kasumi told Hinako.
"When the times comes, I think I can take care of that," she said, adding a
meaningful wink, posing slightly for Kasumi's benefit.
Nice byplay.
Kachiko tried her best to be civil to the house guest. "That dress hides
your sag well."
"A problem you'll never have, since there's nothing for gravity to effect.
And I don't have sag."
affect
The girls shared a mutual glare at one another, neither blinking as the
tension between them rose.
Surprisingly, it was Soun who defused the situation. He offered his arm to
Hinako. "Perhaps we should go now."
That shook Hinako out of her anger. She accepted the arm as she genuflected
in Soun's presence. "Yes, it would be wonderful to go out with you. It's
like a dream come true."
With a visible effort, Kachiko said, "You two should get going. Have a good
time. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"If you're certain," Soun said, an unspoken reminder of Kachiko's ability to
end things with a word.
Urm... it is spoken.
"No, but I'll compromise. When we do go out to eat on our official date, I
won't order the most expensive thing on the menu and just pick at it and
make you feel like you completely wasted your money."
Ranma considered the proposition. From what other guys said when they went
out on dates, girls always did that to them. It sounded like a decent
concession.
Ouch. Bitter? ;-)
Very nice chapter (including the second part). It actually looks like
it may end up not-tragically for Soun, which is a big plus. So I'm
looking forward to chapter 13, regardless of whether Ranma wins a
confrontation or not :-)