Maybe a half an hour after Noriko and Yumi left the Tendou-ke, Kodora found
herself lying, exhausted, on the mats in the dojo. Souun relaxed from the
throw position, and stepped over to his soon-to-be adoptive daughter.
He smiled down at her. "Would you like a hand up?"
Kodora waved him off. "No, thanks.... just a moment.... catch my breath..."
Souun nodded. "You're in good shape, though. You need to work on a few things, but I can teach you about those tomorrow. Mostly how to punch, and a few lessons on how to fall. Though, you seem to have a bit of an instinct for that."
Smiling, Kodora flowed to her feet, only breathing a little hard anymore.
Her impending father shook his head at this. "Your recovery time is also... unusual. Eventually, we'll have to test that. Anything else is getting into actual katas and fighting methods."
As the two headed from the dojo to the house, Akane slipped into the dojo.
'I'll show them.' She thought to herself. 'I can learn this much faster and get it better than her, and I can do it on my own!'
Needless to say, within two minutes, she had very effectively bound her arms to her sides with the ribbon.
¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
Passenger
Chapter 18: Ripples Spreading in the Water
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction by S. Starblade
Dedicated to Love and Justice (and a night out with the neighbors).
Warning: High levels of copycatism contained herein. You have been warned.
Disclaimer: Not enough of these yet? Okay, fine. All characters from the original Ranma 1/2 manga and anime are property of Takahashi-sama Rumiko, not me. The ones who aren't from the manga and anime belong to me and noone else. If you want to use my characters, ask. If you want to copy my jokes and stuff, go ahead.
Key:
= English
" " = Japanese
[ ] = Jusenkyoo cursed signs
{ } = Chinese
* * = Internal conversation between Ranma and Kodora
¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
Akane sighed. She'd probably never get the ribbon. The clubs were closer to her style, anyways. She'd just practice with them instead.
Half an hour later, Ryoga, passing by the dojo, instinctively ducked the gymnastics club that went soaring over his head. He went to investigate, actually making it into the dojo.
There he found Akane, fouling up with the hoop.
Ryoga did a double-take. "Rhythmic Gymnastics? Never thought I'd see that again..."
Akane looked over at the stranger. Had she seen him before?
"Want some help practicing? I can show you some shortcuts. They won't let you learn the whole thing, but you'll get it faster..."
Akane frowned. "Buzz off. I'm doing this MYSELF. I don't need anyone's help."
Ryoga shrugged. "Okay, but would you at least let me help you get that hoop off? It can't be fun to have both arms and your right leg twisted like that."
"Buzz OFF, CREEP!" Growled Akane. "I can get out of this myself! Like-"
KRAK went the now-useless shards of plastic.
Ryoga, sweatdropping, left before she got mad at him.
******
A mysterious (yeah, right) figure waited outside the walls of the Tendoo-ke for nightfall. The figure was cloaked almost entirely in a brown cloth, which totally failed to ensure anonymity.
Largely because Kodachi had neglected to cover her head.
Sasuke, waiting in the shadows in case she needed him, shook his head. Mistress Kodachi was really quite dense in most ways. Had he not already pledged life service to the Kunos, he would be long gone.
"So." Kodachi Kuno said to herself. "They've asked for help. Those Furinkan High gymnasts are poor losers."
Removing the cloak, she somehow spoke loudly and intelligibly with a rose clamped in her mouth.
"Akane Tendou," Kodachi brandished her large wooden mallet. "Kodachi, the Black Rose.... Shall cripple you!"
The two college boys walking home from the public baths sweated and did their best to ignore the loony. Maybe she wouldn't notice them.
Then they each caught a bouquet of black roses on their bath implements, and passed out.
******
Akane Tendoo stumbled into her room, very ready to go to sleep. Putting her bath things down on the dresser, she stretched her yellow-pyjama-clad arms, and dropped into bed.
"Goodnight, room." She said, muzzily. "Goodnight dresser. Goodnight rafters. Goodnight tall girl with a mallet clinging to my ceiling."
"Goodnight, peasant."
"....."
FWONNNNGGGG!!! Said the mallet, impacting the head of Akane's bed where she'd been a moment before.
Akane landed on her feet, arms in ready position, as the world snapped back into focus. "Who are you?!"
Kodachi came off the bed swinging.
"I am Kuno Kodachi of St. Bacchus'" WHOOSH "School For Girls! I shall" WHISH "Be your opponent next week!" WHANNG
Akane began to get mad. She had LIKED that chair.
"So let us" WHISH "Fight in all fairness!"
DONGGGG Added the mallet, hitting the floor as Akane dodged.
"You call THIS" Akane fumed, reaching into hammerspace. "IN ALL FAIRNESS???"
WHAMMO Went Akane's mallet.
KRAKK Stated Kodachi's mallet, retiring to a life as toothpicks.
An average-height boy of muscular build, wearing a yellow-green tunic and black pants stepped into Akane's room via the window. His pants were tied with cord about the lower legs, and he also wore a yellow bandanna with odd black block-stripes on it.
Both girls stared at him.
Ryoga looked at Akane, pulling his backpack in through the window. "Excuse me, but I seem to be a bit... ah... misdirected. Which way to the bathroom?"
Akane pointed to the hall. "Downstairs, turn around, third door on the right."
The lost boy bowed to her. "Ah. Arigatoo gozaimasu. They really hide the bathrooms well in this theatre, don't they?"
Both girls watched as Ryoga stepped into the closet and closed the door.
"Wait!" Called out Akane. "That's-" She opened the closet to find that the boy had apparently disappeared.
Distracted, she almost missed hearing Kodachi try to strike her from behind with a gymnastics club.
Almost.
Lashing out with a foot, Akane caught the taller, more deranged girl in the forearm, knocking the gymnastics club out of her hand. "Give it up already!!"
Ryoga walked back in through the door to the hall. He looked around confused, as both girls gaped at him again.
"Wasn't I just here? Oh, no, not this again. I'm really tired of going in circles."
He turned to Akane. "Is the Tendoo Dojo around here somewhere?"
"You're in it right now."
Ryoga's mood seemed to drop even further. "So close, and yet so far. May I use your restroom? I will clean it up afterwards."
Akane blinked. "Ah, um.... okay..."
Nodding, Ryoga thanked her. "Domo arigatoo." And left the room. Via the window. He leaned back in for a moment. "Sorry about your closet, by the way." And then disappeared entirely.
Kodachi gave it up as a fouled attempt, and left silently while Akane was peering back into the closet.
What did he mean by....
Pushing some clothes aside, Akane found that her closet had a new door in it. That led to the hallway. A round, splinter-surrounded door.
******
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, KUNO KODACHI!!!!"
The panda sat up. "Grrf?"
It looked around the guest room, but didn't see anything edible, threatening, or unexpectedly valuable, so it went back to sleep.
******
Kodora, already fast asleep, didn't react at all. Not a twitch.
******
Kodachi stood in Dynamic Pondering Pose #3: Let Me Think.
Akane Tendoo would not be disposed easily. She must crush the girl before the match. However, there had also been mention of a "Kodora Tendoo" who might also be her opponent... but that girl would be apparently going for a "grace win" instead of an actual combat victory. Easy enough, but she might as well make sure... So what to use...
Ryoga walked across the roof, counting paces. "Ten, eleven, twelve..."
Kodachi ignored him; she'd seen him pass through the Kuno mansion, somehow without activating any of the traps, but once she'd given him directions to nowhere in particular, he'd made his way right back out and lost himself. No large concern, the man didn't seem much of a thief.
She began producing potential weapons from under her leotard (Do NOT ask. Do not EVER ask.), and tossing them aside.
"Thorned whip... metal pipe... explosive gymnastics ball... solid steel gymnastics hoop.."
KLANGGGG
Ryoga found himself falling off the roof. Straight towards the koi pond. "Dammit! Ranma, this is probably your-" SPLASH
******
It will be noted that, in most Ranma universes, Ryoga gets knocked into a spring at Jusenkyoo by Ranma, who is chasing her (at the time) father. This causes him, in the end to desire further retribution upon Ranma, turning him into a more-or-less total nemesis.
Not so in this universe. This time, in his single-mindedness, Ryoga has discovered the Shi Shi Hokodan much earlier than usual.
But he's not as depressed, because less has happened to him. So, where is he getting his depression from?
Simple. Look at his lot in life. As far as he's concerned, someone has been conspiring to screw Ryoga's life up royally. But... who can he blame it on?
Why not Ranma? That's the guy he's trying to beat anyways, right?
So, he's convinced himself that Ranma is at work behind the scenes to screw him up.
Oh, boy. Ranma had better be prepared for this...
******
Kodora failed to wake up when a large rabbit finally made it to Kasumi's room, and snuggled up with her on the bed.
She also failed to wake up when Kodachi snuck in the window, holding an ominously-shaped object.
When the rabbit bit her on the ear to wake her up, though...
"YEOWTCH! ITAI!" She jumped to her feet.
Ryoga almost snickered. He certainly didn't mind Ranma getting beat on, but he didn't want his adversary to perish at the hands of some mystery girl.
Rubbing the sore point of her right ear, Kodora got a good look at Kodachi and her object.
"The hell are you?"
It should be noted that one of her favorite characters in FFVII was Barret.
Kasumi sat up, stretching. "What's happening, Kodora?"
Kodachi winced. She hadn't expected this. She would have to be extra careful to not injure the eldest Tendoo daughter. After all, that was KASUMI. People don't hurt Kasumi. At least, not when they can help it even the least bit.
Quickly, she grabbed Kodora and strapped the modified video camera to her head, then spun the girl around until she couldn't stand up.
Kasumi stared as the girl then leapt out the window and into the night, trailing rose petals.
Kodora, sitting on the bed, a little dizzy, was forced to watch the tape on the camera.
It was Barney.
******
Across the Fuurinkan-cho, Daisuke sat up in bed, and blinked. He could have sworn he just heard the most awful scream... like someone having their soul ripped out or something...
He reached over and grabbed his bagful of anti-demon and anti-spirit charms, and strapped the ten-pound sack to his neck, then pulled the covers over his head.
He didn't get any more sleep that night.
******
Kodora sat very, very still, screaming at the top of her lungs. "GET IT OFF!!! GET IT OFF!!!! WAAAAAAAAGH!!! I DON'T WANT TO SING THE HAPPY SONG!!!!! HELP!!!!!"
Kasumi got up, and carefully removed the headpiece from the smaller girl.
Kodora grabbed the tape-playing camera from her elder sister's hand, and dug her fingers slightly into the plastic on either side of it. Then she pulled. Nothing happened.
Kasumi started as Kodora turned to face her, a blank look on the demon- girl's face.
"Kasumi..." She asked. "Do you have a hammer handy?"
"Ah..." Kasumi hesitated. She couldn't give the girl the FAMILY hammer, that was too precious... wait. What about...
Reaching into the ki flows of the house, Kasumi strained, and pulled the sledgehammer from the garden shed into her hand.
"...here?"
Grinning, Kodora took the sledge. She threw the camera into the air between her and the window, and hauled back.
"FORE!!!"
KURRRUNCHAKK!!!!
The two halves of the camera flew off into the night, the magnetic tape ribbon linking them together.
Kasumi sat down heavily, exhausted, and collapsed back into sleep on the futon.
Kodora, her mind still in "sleep mode", fell back to sleep immediately when nothing else presented itself. She collapsed onto the bed, wrapped around the handle of the sledge.
******
On the way to school, Ranma walked along the top of the fence, distracted.
*Why do you think it was there?*
*I dunno. I had this wierd dream last night, but I can't really remember it. Something about purple is all I get. Somehow, I think the sledgehammer was involved with that, but I can't say why...*
*Oh well. Think about that later. Look, I'm feeling kinda guilty now.*
*What for?*
*Well, I mean, since we healed, I've been up alla th' time, except when we get splashed.*
*Like in math class, when you got sent to the hallway, and some nut with his hall-buckets went racing by?*
*Right. And even then, you've been heading for the restrooms right away, and sending yourself back down. It's really not fair. Stop doing that. Next time we get splashed, leave off turning back until it's convenient to get hot water, like PE or when you use the restroom after lunch, okay?*
*But-*
*No buts, Imooto. I know you got two weeks, but that was all at the Tendoo's house. You didn't get to do anything. You deserve to spend time up. I wish we could change off days or something, but since there's no way to protect against unexpected shifts...*
*(sigh) Okay, Ranma, you win. I'll spend some time up. I just hope it doesn't go over too poorly.*
*Really, what could go wrong?*
¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
Okay, by request, I've toned down the amount of Japanese.
Now, as to the spelling...
Here's how it is: "Imouto" and "Tendou" are romanized kanji. You know that.
I didn't use romanized kanji all the time. Some of that was Roomaji. What's the difference?
Take "Imooto". It is composed of the "i", "mo", "o", and "to" sounds. In kanji, however, any double-o sound with few exceptions is printed with a "u" kanji for the second half. Hence, in romanized kanji, it's written "Imouto". I use roomaji, which uses the correct letters for the actual sound, making it "Imooto". Starting with this chapter, I'm going to use only roomaji where I use forms of words other than the officially Viz- approved spelling.
So expect "Imooto", "Tendoo", "Otooto", and the like.
It's like with translation and literal translation.
"Watakushi wa Kodora desu." Translated, comes out "I am Kodora."
Translated literally, however, it comes out "I, being the subject, Kodora am called." Vaguely Yodaic.
But, "I am Kodora" comes closer to the actual meaning.
Get it? Okay.
Oh, one more thing:
I need to know if people want me to continue the "dissertation" extra I began in Book Two.
And the previous two questions still stand.
Till next time!
Jaa ne!
He smiled down at her. "Would you like a hand up?"
Kodora waved him off. "No, thanks.... just a moment.... catch my breath..."
Souun nodded. "You're in good shape, though. You need to work on a few things, but I can teach you about those tomorrow. Mostly how to punch, and a few lessons on how to fall. Though, you seem to have a bit of an instinct for that."
Smiling, Kodora flowed to her feet, only breathing a little hard anymore.
Her impending father shook his head at this. "Your recovery time is also... unusual. Eventually, we'll have to test that. Anything else is getting into actual katas and fighting methods."
As the two headed from the dojo to the house, Akane slipped into the dojo.
'I'll show them.' She thought to herself. 'I can learn this much faster and get it better than her, and I can do it on my own!'
Needless to say, within two minutes, she had very effectively bound her arms to her sides with the ribbon.
¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
Passenger
Chapter 18: Ripples Spreading in the Water
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction by S. Starblade
Dedicated to Love and Justice (and a night out with the neighbors).
Warning: High levels of copycatism contained herein. You have been warned.
Disclaimer: Not enough of these yet? Okay, fine. All characters from the original Ranma 1/2 manga and anime are property of Takahashi-sama Rumiko, not me. The ones who aren't from the manga and anime belong to me and noone else. If you want to use my characters, ask. If you want to copy my jokes and stuff, go ahead.
Key:
= English
" " = Japanese
[ ] = Jusenkyoo cursed signs
{ } = Chinese
* * = Internal conversation between Ranma and Kodora
¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
Akane sighed. She'd probably never get the ribbon. The clubs were closer to her style, anyways. She'd just practice with them instead.
Half an hour later, Ryoga, passing by the dojo, instinctively ducked the gymnastics club that went soaring over his head. He went to investigate, actually making it into the dojo.
There he found Akane, fouling up with the hoop.
Ryoga did a double-take. "Rhythmic Gymnastics? Never thought I'd see that again..."
Akane looked over at the stranger. Had she seen him before?
"Want some help practicing? I can show you some shortcuts. They won't let you learn the whole thing, but you'll get it faster..."
Akane frowned. "Buzz off. I'm doing this MYSELF. I don't need anyone's help."
Ryoga shrugged. "Okay, but would you at least let me help you get that hoop off? It can't be fun to have both arms and your right leg twisted like that."
"Buzz OFF, CREEP!" Growled Akane. "I can get out of this myself! Like-"
KRAK went the now-useless shards of plastic.
Ryoga, sweatdropping, left before she got mad at him.
******
A mysterious (yeah, right) figure waited outside the walls of the Tendoo-ke for nightfall. The figure was cloaked almost entirely in a brown cloth, which totally failed to ensure anonymity.
Largely because Kodachi had neglected to cover her head.
Sasuke, waiting in the shadows in case she needed him, shook his head. Mistress Kodachi was really quite dense in most ways. Had he not already pledged life service to the Kunos, he would be long gone.
"So." Kodachi Kuno said to herself. "They've asked for help. Those Furinkan High gymnasts are poor losers."
Removing the cloak, she somehow spoke loudly and intelligibly with a rose clamped in her mouth.
"Akane Tendou," Kodachi brandished her large wooden mallet. "Kodachi, the Black Rose.... Shall cripple you!"
The two college boys walking home from the public baths sweated and did their best to ignore the loony. Maybe she wouldn't notice them.
Then they each caught a bouquet of black roses on their bath implements, and passed out.
******
Akane Tendoo stumbled into her room, very ready to go to sleep. Putting her bath things down on the dresser, she stretched her yellow-pyjama-clad arms, and dropped into bed.
"Goodnight, room." She said, muzzily. "Goodnight dresser. Goodnight rafters. Goodnight tall girl with a mallet clinging to my ceiling."
"Goodnight, peasant."
"....."
FWONNNNGGGG!!! Said the mallet, impacting the head of Akane's bed where she'd been a moment before.
Akane landed on her feet, arms in ready position, as the world snapped back into focus. "Who are you?!"
Kodachi came off the bed swinging.
"I am Kuno Kodachi of St. Bacchus'" WHOOSH "School For Girls! I shall" WHISH "Be your opponent next week!" WHANNG
Akane began to get mad. She had LIKED that chair.
"So let us" WHISH "Fight in all fairness!"
DONGGGG Added the mallet, hitting the floor as Akane dodged.
"You call THIS" Akane fumed, reaching into hammerspace. "IN ALL FAIRNESS???"
WHAMMO Went Akane's mallet.
KRAKK Stated Kodachi's mallet, retiring to a life as toothpicks.
An average-height boy of muscular build, wearing a yellow-green tunic and black pants stepped into Akane's room via the window. His pants were tied with cord about the lower legs, and he also wore a yellow bandanna with odd black block-stripes on it.
Both girls stared at him.
Ryoga looked at Akane, pulling his backpack in through the window. "Excuse me, but I seem to be a bit... ah... misdirected. Which way to the bathroom?"
Akane pointed to the hall. "Downstairs, turn around, third door on the right."
The lost boy bowed to her. "Ah. Arigatoo gozaimasu. They really hide the bathrooms well in this theatre, don't they?"
Both girls watched as Ryoga stepped into the closet and closed the door.
"Wait!" Called out Akane. "That's-" She opened the closet to find that the boy had apparently disappeared.
Distracted, she almost missed hearing Kodachi try to strike her from behind with a gymnastics club.
Almost.
Lashing out with a foot, Akane caught the taller, more deranged girl in the forearm, knocking the gymnastics club out of her hand. "Give it up already!!"
Ryoga walked back in through the door to the hall. He looked around confused, as both girls gaped at him again.
"Wasn't I just here? Oh, no, not this again. I'm really tired of going in circles."
He turned to Akane. "Is the Tendoo Dojo around here somewhere?"
"You're in it right now."
Ryoga's mood seemed to drop even further. "So close, and yet so far. May I use your restroom? I will clean it up afterwards."
Akane blinked. "Ah, um.... okay..."
Nodding, Ryoga thanked her. "Domo arigatoo." And left the room. Via the window. He leaned back in for a moment. "Sorry about your closet, by the way." And then disappeared entirely.
Kodachi gave it up as a fouled attempt, and left silently while Akane was peering back into the closet.
What did he mean by....
Pushing some clothes aside, Akane found that her closet had a new door in it. That led to the hallway. A round, splinter-surrounded door.
******
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, KUNO KODACHI!!!!"
The panda sat up. "Grrf?"
It looked around the guest room, but didn't see anything edible, threatening, or unexpectedly valuable, so it went back to sleep.
******
Kodora, already fast asleep, didn't react at all. Not a twitch.
******
Kodachi stood in Dynamic Pondering Pose #3: Let Me Think.
Akane Tendoo would not be disposed easily. She must crush the girl before the match. However, there had also been mention of a "Kodora Tendoo" who might also be her opponent... but that girl would be apparently going for a "grace win" instead of an actual combat victory. Easy enough, but she might as well make sure... So what to use...
Ryoga walked across the roof, counting paces. "Ten, eleven, twelve..."
Kodachi ignored him; she'd seen him pass through the Kuno mansion, somehow without activating any of the traps, but once she'd given him directions to nowhere in particular, he'd made his way right back out and lost himself. No large concern, the man didn't seem much of a thief.
She began producing potential weapons from under her leotard (Do NOT ask. Do not EVER ask.), and tossing them aside.
"Thorned whip... metal pipe... explosive gymnastics ball... solid steel gymnastics hoop.."
KLANGGGG
Ryoga found himself falling off the roof. Straight towards the koi pond. "Dammit! Ranma, this is probably your-" SPLASH
******
It will be noted that, in most Ranma universes, Ryoga gets knocked into a spring at Jusenkyoo by Ranma, who is chasing her (at the time) father. This causes him, in the end to desire further retribution upon Ranma, turning him into a more-or-less total nemesis.
Not so in this universe. This time, in his single-mindedness, Ryoga has discovered the Shi Shi Hokodan much earlier than usual.
But he's not as depressed, because less has happened to him. So, where is he getting his depression from?
Simple. Look at his lot in life. As far as he's concerned, someone has been conspiring to screw Ryoga's life up royally. But... who can he blame it on?
Why not Ranma? That's the guy he's trying to beat anyways, right?
So, he's convinced himself that Ranma is at work behind the scenes to screw him up.
Oh, boy. Ranma had better be prepared for this...
******
Kodora failed to wake up when a large rabbit finally made it to Kasumi's room, and snuggled up with her on the bed.
She also failed to wake up when Kodachi snuck in the window, holding an ominously-shaped object.
When the rabbit bit her on the ear to wake her up, though...
"YEOWTCH! ITAI!" She jumped to her feet.
Ryoga almost snickered. He certainly didn't mind Ranma getting beat on, but he didn't want his adversary to perish at the hands of some mystery girl.
Rubbing the sore point of her right ear, Kodora got a good look at Kodachi and her object.
"The hell are you?"
It should be noted that one of her favorite characters in FFVII was Barret.
Kasumi sat up, stretching. "What's happening, Kodora?"
Kodachi winced. She hadn't expected this. She would have to be extra careful to not injure the eldest Tendoo daughter. After all, that was KASUMI. People don't hurt Kasumi. At least, not when they can help it even the least bit.
Quickly, she grabbed Kodora and strapped the modified video camera to her head, then spun the girl around until she couldn't stand up.
Kasumi stared as the girl then leapt out the window and into the night, trailing rose petals.
Kodora, sitting on the bed, a little dizzy, was forced to watch the tape on the camera.
It was Barney.
******
Across the Fuurinkan-cho, Daisuke sat up in bed, and blinked. He could have sworn he just heard the most awful scream... like someone having their soul ripped out or something...
He reached over and grabbed his bagful of anti-demon and anti-spirit charms, and strapped the ten-pound sack to his neck, then pulled the covers over his head.
He didn't get any more sleep that night.
******
Kodora sat very, very still, screaming at the top of her lungs. "GET IT OFF!!! GET IT OFF!!!! WAAAAAAAAGH!!! I DON'T WANT TO SING THE HAPPY SONG!!!!! HELP!!!!!"
Kasumi got up, and carefully removed the headpiece from the smaller girl.
Kodora grabbed the tape-playing camera from her elder sister's hand, and dug her fingers slightly into the plastic on either side of it. Then she pulled. Nothing happened.
Kasumi started as Kodora turned to face her, a blank look on the demon- girl's face.
"Kasumi..." She asked. "Do you have a hammer handy?"
"Ah..." Kasumi hesitated. She couldn't give the girl the FAMILY hammer, that was too precious... wait. What about...
Reaching into the ki flows of the house, Kasumi strained, and pulled the sledgehammer from the garden shed into her hand.
"...here?"
Grinning, Kodora took the sledge. She threw the camera into the air between her and the window, and hauled back.
"FORE!!!"
KURRRUNCHAKK!!!!
The two halves of the camera flew off into the night, the magnetic tape ribbon linking them together.
Kasumi sat down heavily, exhausted, and collapsed back into sleep on the futon.
Kodora, her mind still in "sleep mode", fell back to sleep immediately when nothing else presented itself. She collapsed onto the bed, wrapped around the handle of the sledge.
******
On the way to school, Ranma walked along the top of the fence, distracted.
*Why do you think it was there?*
*I dunno. I had this wierd dream last night, but I can't really remember it. Something about purple is all I get. Somehow, I think the sledgehammer was involved with that, but I can't say why...*
*Oh well. Think about that later. Look, I'm feeling kinda guilty now.*
*What for?*
*Well, I mean, since we healed, I've been up alla th' time, except when we get splashed.*
*Like in math class, when you got sent to the hallway, and some nut with his hall-buckets went racing by?*
*Right. And even then, you've been heading for the restrooms right away, and sending yourself back down. It's really not fair. Stop doing that. Next time we get splashed, leave off turning back until it's convenient to get hot water, like PE or when you use the restroom after lunch, okay?*
*But-*
*No buts, Imooto. I know you got two weeks, but that was all at the Tendoo's house. You didn't get to do anything. You deserve to spend time up. I wish we could change off days or something, but since there's no way to protect against unexpected shifts...*
*(sigh) Okay, Ranma, you win. I'll spend some time up. I just hope it doesn't go over too poorly.*
*Really, what could go wrong?*
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Okay, by request, I've toned down the amount of Japanese.
Now, as to the spelling...
Here's how it is: "Imouto" and "Tendou" are romanized kanji. You know that.
I didn't use romanized kanji all the time. Some of that was Roomaji. What's the difference?
Take "Imooto". It is composed of the "i", "mo", "o", and "to" sounds. In kanji, however, any double-o sound with few exceptions is printed with a "u" kanji for the second half. Hence, in romanized kanji, it's written "Imouto". I use roomaji, which uses the correct letters for the actual sound, making it "Imooto". Starting with this chapter, I'm going to use only roomaji where I use forms of words other than the officially Viz- approved spelling.
So expect "Imooto", "Tendoo", "Otooto", and the like.
It's like with translation and literal translation.
"Watakushi wa Kodora desu." Translated, comes out "I am Kodora."
Translated literally, however, it comes out "I, being the subject, Kodora am called." Vaguely Yodaic.
But, "I am Kodora" comes closer to the actual meaning.
Get it? Okay.
Oh, one more thing:
I need to know if people want me to continue the "dissertation" extra I began in Book Two.
And the previous two questions still stand.
Till next time!
Jaa ne!