Kasumi sat up in bed as the door to her room closed. She had watched from
mostly-closed eyes as Kodora got up and headed out of the room.
Kasumi was worried. After what had happened yesterday...
She wasn't sure that her imootochan was alright yet.
So, Kasumi got up and followed Kodora from a distance, tracking her through the chi-flows of the Tendoo-ke. Eventually, she caught up to her youngest/oldest (depending on how you look at it) sister, and peeked into the dojo to see her sitting indian-style, legs folded, her hands resting on the ground.
She seemed to be meditating.
Suddenly, Kasumi felt it. She couldn't see it anymore, she was out of practice, but she could faintly feel the disturbance in the Tendoo-ke's chi as Kodora activated her aura, opening her chi flows totally.
The aura was large, but very diffuse. Oddly, it was stronger around Kodora's right arm and left leg, but nearly nonexistant around her tail.
She heard Kodora mumble something, and the chi flows began to shift.
**************************************************************************** *************
Passenger
Chapter 22: A Revoltin' Development
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction by S. Starblade
Dedicated to anyone who likes both Shojo and Shonen anime and manga. You know who you are.
Key:
= English
" " = Japanese
{ } = Chinese
[ ] = Jusenkyoo Cursed Signs
* * = Internal conversation between Ranma and Kodora
**************************************************************************** *************
Kodora focused entirely on her chi. She felt it swell thinly out around her as she opened the flows fully. She noticed immediately the stronger and weaker areas of her chi, and frowned slightly, her tail lashing slowly.
That would have to be fixed.
"Where I healed before?" She mumbled to herself. "Why not? That's where I was focusing on when I meditated... makes sense."
She still wasn't sure exactly what she was doing, but she had the theory of how this should work, so if she did this slowly and carefully...
She reduced the chi flows to the stronger areas slowly and carefully, in semi-jerks of chi-contraction. Eventually, she overstepped where she was headed, and had to increase the flow again a tiny bit at a time. Once she had that balanced out, she stopped and remained that way for a few minutes, until she was sure she could keep that part under control. Then she turned her attention to her tail.
There was only a single thin trickle of chi flowing along its length, right down the middle of her fifth appendage. She idly wondered if that had something to do with her usual inability to control it without focusing on it, then nearly discarded that as a moot point.
Stopping her train of thought, she backed up some, and turned onto the alternate track. If that was so... then increasing the chi flow to and around her tail might allow her better control over it, and let her save her concentration for what she was doing otherwise. She began to feed more chi into the flow down her tail, to encourage it to branch into the area around her tail-
And cut short, gasping, letting her chi flows subsume themselves suddenly.
That had hurt. A lot.
She frowned. There had to be a way to increase the chi flows to that part of her body- there was no reason for that particular response she could think of, but she was smart enough not to just try forcing chi into her tail.
Putting that thought aside to work on later, she brought her aura back up- it wasn't serious enough to call a battle-aura right now- and resumed the control of her flows. She then forced the extra chi that she had blocked from her arm and leg into the other pathways, slowly and carefully, except for the one in her tail.
She silently rejoiced when she felt a soft tingle, and the chi flowed easily into place. Opening the flows to her right arm and left leg again, the small martial artist kept her sense wide, monitoring all of her own chi flows. She remained that way for almost twenty minutes, to ensure the continued flow of chi at that level.
Kasumi was getting bored. Her left leg was beginning to go numb, and all Kodora was doing was sitting there, playing with her chi. Kasumi yawned inadvertently.
Kodora turned her head, releasing her grip on her chi, and noting that the flow remained constant, although the parts of her with newly-expanded chi paths were beginning to ache dully.
There was noone in sight.
"Who's there?" Asked Kodora, out loud. "Oneechan, is that you?"
Sighing, Kasumi stood out of her crouch, and stepped into the doorway.
"Hai... Gomen nasai, Imootochan..."
Kodora smiled slightly, one of her fangs peeking out of her mouth. "Don't worry about it. I was starting to get bored anyways. Come over here and sit down."
Kasumi stepped over, limping slightly at the pins-and-needles sensation in her left leg, and sat a foot away from her smallest sister, facing her, also with her legs crossed indian-style. Kodora scooted back, unfolded her legs, spreading them wide, and began to stretch, touching her toes.
"You know, Oneechan, there are only a few people I regret having left behind in my old life..."
Kasumi nodded.
"You remind me of two of them. One was my mother... she wasn't always calm and collected, but when she left that state, she usually returned to it very fast. She was very much in control of her own life, but was also one of the gentlest and kindest people I knew."
Kasumi smiled. "She sounds like a nice person."
Kodora stretched forward. "She was. She had her faults, though... and she totally failed to understand a lot of people. She tried, but she often didn't quite make it..."
Now she began twisting at the waist, almost 180 degrees, first left, then right. Kasumi winced slightly, surprised that anyone could do that. It was slightly... disturbing. It got even worse at one point, as the small girl's spine let out a series of snaps and pops.
"Pardon me, but doesn't that hurt?"
Kodora stopped and blinked. "Not really. I've been doing this so long, it's just a stretch now. I didn't used to be able to twist this far. But I kept stretching almost daily, and this is where its gotten me. I forgot to stretch a lot recently, and I couldn't with the injuries... but I used to be able to go full 180."
Now the small girl stood up, and began swinging her arms in circles, starting large, and gradually getting smaller.
"Anywhich, the other person you remind me of was this one guy I knew. He was really cool, actually. Come to think of it, that's the best way to describe how he was cool. If you did something, or said something you thought, as long as it wasn't outright wrong or harming someone, his typical response was pretty much 'That's cool.' Most tolerant person I ever met. I aspire to that, you know? I have my views, and if yours are different, I'll explain mine to you, and try to get you to see my side.." Now she was basically waving her fists in the air at arms length in very small circles. She reversed the clockwiseness of the motion, and began slowly enlarging the circles. "But that's all. I won't try to force anyone to think or do something. It's just... wrong, to me, you know?"
Kasumi nodded and stood up. "Could you teach me some of those stretches?"
Kodora smiled. "Of course, Oneechan. I'd love to."
******
Ranma was thinking hard.
He was awake. It was maybe 5:20 AM, and Kodora and Kasumi were taking their bath. He wasn't watching.
He had his mental eyes closed, and was thinking hard. He was trying to come to grips with something.
He had lost.
Or had he? Really, he had forefeited by running away, right? Wasn't that what he had done?
So why had he done it in the first place? It was dishonorable.
But Kodora knew how much honor meant to him, and she would know that that would damage or destroy his honor.
Which meant she was seeing something he had missed.
But what was it? She kept telling him he was as smart as she was, so he ought to be able to figure it out himself.
There was nothing actually in the code of honor, or in the code of martial artists…
Wait, martial arts. Something about that…
The Saotome Secret Technique! Running until you can think of something!
But wasn't that dishonorable?
Only… he would think of something. And besides, he himself hadn't actually left. Instead, Kodora had driven Ryoga off.
Still, it didn't quite strike him right. And with Ryoga…
Something was nagging him about that, too…
******
Ranma missed a step, missed the fence, and just barely missed landing on Akane when he ate pavement.
"Oh, KUSO!!!!"
Akane, who had almost stopped to help him up when he fell, kept going, walking fast so as not to have people think she was with him.
Ranma sat up.
*What the heck is it, Ranma? That hurt!*
*Kodora, did you notice that Ryoga wasn't surprised when I turned into you?*
Kodora thought a moment. *You're right, Oniisan. That's a little weird. Do you think he's been to Jusenkyoo?*
*I KNOW he's been to Jusenkyoo. And which pool he fell in.*
*What???*
*Think about it a moment. First off, our curse- your form, is totally unique. Even if he's been to Jusenkyoo, that would at least surprise him. Right?*
*…I guess so.*
*Okay, now, what else do we know about Ryoga? What does he always have with him?*
*Uh…. His umbrella?*
Ranma put his face in his hand. *Try again. Think about when I first described him to you.*
Kodora thought a moment. *What am I supposed to be looking for?*
*Something the same. Something he's wearing.*
*Uh… his bandannas?*
*Right! Now, what do his bandannas look like?*
*Well, they're yellow, with… strange… square… OH CRAP!!! He… he can't be…*
*That's right. Ryoga fell in the spring of drowned funny-colored rabbit. Or something like that.*
Mental silence.
More mental silence, as Ranma got up and hopped back on the fence.
Ranma was surprised that he arrived at school without Kodora uttering another mental word.
******
Ranma, on top of the clock tower of the school, looked around.
*Here?*
*Hai, oniisan.*
*Okay...*
Ranma upended a thermos of cold water on himself. Kodora immediately retied the hair-ribbon into a fluffy bow. She adjusted their clothing so it wouldn't get in her way. Then she set to stretching.
First, she put her feet about shoulder-width-and-a-half apart, and twisted one way, then the other, at the waist, eight times each way. Then she began reaching for her right toes, left toes, roof underneath her, back to right toes, repeat eight times each direction.
*Why are we stretching? This doesn't seem like any sort of martial arts...*
*It's not, Ranma. It's dancing. These are stretches used for jazz and ballet dancing.*
She began tilting her head, first forward eight times, then left eight times, then right eight times, then back eight times.
*You mean you're going to DANCE up here?*
Kodora managed to shrug with her head tilted 90 degrees to the right.
*It helps me think sometimes. Only a few other things are as good for thinking to me, and the Tendoos don't have any video games, and we don't have a good Geimenhardt open-hole flute or even a recorder, so this is what I've got right now.*
She had moved on to sitting stretches, splay-legged, reaching to one foot for eight counts, the other foot for eight, and then leaning over as far forward as she could.
*Wow. That really pulls. I don't usually get that when I warm up for martial arts...*
*You've spent most of your life on martial arts. It's been a few years since I've danced seriously. I used to be more flexible, before.*
Now she had her feet together and was stretching for her toes.
"Ah, the feral one! Glad I am that I followed you all the way up here! For I, Kuno Tatewaki, the Muddy Oar of Furinkan High... wait but a moment, I fear me I have made a mistake..."
Kodora sat up, reached back, and grabbed Kuno, who was sitting a short way behind her, by the neck. She twisted at the waist and neck until she could look him dead in the eye.
"Kuno-senpai, if you are going to be up here, you will be silent and you will stay out of the way. Or I will kick you off of this clock tower myself. Repeatedly." Here, her eyes seemed to harden to a pair of crystalline crimson rubies. "Do. You. Understand?"
Smiling magnanimously, the ersatz kendoist stood, incidentally helping Kodora to her feet. She took advantage of the opportunity to untwist at the waist and neck, while keeping her eyes locked on him.
"Yea, for I am so in love to thee, I shall hear thine request, and remain here, that you might view my magnificence whilst you do exercise yourself, much as I contemplate some photographs of you, my kami, and my beloved Tendoo Akane!"
"Kuno?"
"Yes, o Feral One?"
"SHADDUP AN' SIDDOWN!" Bellowed Kodora, several veins standing out on her forehead.
Kuno gladly complied, once he had rolled to a stop.
Kodora's expression instantly returned to one of calmness. "Thank you. Keep this up, and you just might be bearable."
She returned to her stretches, now with her feet together at the heels, though they were pointed at a 110 degree angle to each other. Sticking her arms out to either side, making a fist with each hand, she started windmilling them. Gradually, she closed the circle until she was basically rolling her arms, then reversed directions and the process, just as slowly. All the while, she was conversing with Ranma.
*You LET him STAY?!?*
*Yes... is something wrong with that?*
*Imootochan, the guy practically proclaimed he was gonna ogle ya!*
*Ranma, it's not like I have anything TO ogle. Besides, he's not so bad.*
*You're kidding, right? C'mon, you were ready to kill this guy earlier! Twice, even!*
*That was when I was angry. Ranma, the guy's got to have one heck of a good side to him, with the downside he's got. Everyone's worth knowing for some reason. If I let him hang around, I may just find it. Besides...*
*What?*
*He may just learn to be a bit better of a person by watching us.*
*Imootochan, for your sake, I'll hope you're right.*
**************************************************************************** *************
Okay. Time for a serious, big note here.
I have to say, when I got the reactions to the last few chapters, I was rather miffed. Here, I had told everyone how I felt, and I got all of TWO positive responses, and at least three negative responses, all with a lot of upsetness behind them.
I was ready to go back and rewrite everything all over, change stuff.
It took me a while to get there, a lot of thinking about it.
Then I realized something.
I am the one writing this.
And, you know what? I think I'll stay honest about my feelings. So I'm not taking back what I put about Kodora's/my depression. 'Coz I really feel like that. I don't care about out-angsting Ryoga. That wasn't the point at all. Although I can honestly say that I would rather be Ryoga than me.
The point, however, was not that I have more problems, or worse emotional problems than Ryoga.
The point was that being there in the Ranmaverse, that version of me finally found some good people to start to open up to. The point was that I AM depressed. That I feel that way. That having someone who actually tries to understand, and realizes when they don't, could do me a lot of good. Incidentally, this has helped me decide to finally see a psychiatrist, but that's a little bit besides the point.
It was nicely cathartic, too.
And as far as acting all happy and cheerful, and turning out to be so depressed... you say that's not possible? Then what the frack am I doing, then? I work at a freakin' FAST FOOD JOINT! I spend all day acting friendly and cheerful. I went to a school where we had to do theater. Acting happy is easy. Acting cheerful is easy. 'Specially when you get yelled at for acting how you really feel. By your parents, nonetheless.
Self-centred indeed.
As for out-depressing Ryoga, yes, I could. Even if not canon Ryoga, I could outdo this Ryoga. Why is this Ryoga less depressed?
He doesn't turn into a pig, so not many people are going to try to eat him. He doesn't love an Akane who doesn't love him. Also, he's had less time to get depressed by failing to beat Ranma than canon Ryoga has by the time HE finds the Shishi Hokodan.
So, there.
And I don't want to hear any more about that. It's writing, okay? You don't like it, you don't read it. You only don't like that part, you don't read that part. It's not like I'll be offended. I know not everyone thinks like I do.
Heck, given some of my thought processes, I'm just about ready to say noone thinks like I do. Well, almost ready.
Anyhoo... don't let the whole depression thing turn you off from the fic. Just please, no more reviews loudly and lengthily declaiming the incorrectness and stupidity of such an idea, alright?
Alright.
On a slightly lighter note, I'd like to know what you think of the second part of Dissertation. Clear up some stuff? Do you think I need to talk a little more about ki and chi, or is it okay to go on to magic yet? Who would you like to see running the fundraiser? Any other questions?
If you'd like to mail me and be sure I'll get it relatively soon, Email to "Selene Starblade@aol.com".
Yeah, there's an actual space in it. That's why I didn't put it on my Author page. Most Web stuff doesn't like that, gets all hiccuppy on you, and whatnot.
What else was there...
OH, yeah. Pretty soon, I'm gonna skip ahead a day or two, so we can FINALLY get to the Kodora/Akane spar, and the ??/Kodachi Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics thing.
I know I'm doing the days and such in a lot more detail than Takahashi-sama did. Why?
Well, things really haven't fallen into any sort of a daily pattern yet, so I really CAN'T skip them. Once things settle down into a typical Neriman wierdity (is that even a word? Probably not. Oh, well.), I can start accellerating time a little.
And no, I'm still not sure when, exactly, I'm going to have the Amazons reach Nerima.
But I'm gonna have a lotta fun with Mu Tsu.
But no bashing.
I think that's it for now, so... until next time, Jaa ne!
"Father, dear, you *are* an idiot, aren't you?"
-Tendoo Kasumi, 'Worst Case', by Scott K. Jamison
Kasumi was worried. After what had happened yesterday...
She wasn't sure that her imootochan was alright yet.
So, Kasumi got up and followed Kodora from a distance, tracking her through the chi-flows of the Tendoo-ke. Eventually, she caught up to her youngest/oldest (depending on how you look at it) sister, and peeked into the dojo to see her sitting indian-style, legs folded, her hands resting on the ground.
She seemed to be meditating.
Suddenly, Kasumi felt it. She couldn't see it anymore, she was out of practice, but she could faintly feel the disturbance in the Tendoo-ke's chi as Kodora activated her aura, opening her chi flows totally.
The aura was large, but very diffuse. Oddly, it was stronger around Kodora's right arm and left leg, but nearly nonexistant around her tail.
She heard Kodora mumble something, and the chi flows began to shift.
**************************************************************************** *************
Passenger
Chapter 22: A Revoltin' Development
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction by S. Starblade
Dedicated to anyone who likes both Shojo and Shonen anime and manga. You know who you are.
Key:
= English
" " = Japanese
{ } = Chinese
[ ] = Jusenkyoo Cursed Signs
* * = Internal conversation between Ranma and Kodora
**************************************************************************** *************
Kodora focused entirely on her chi. She felt it swell thinly out around her as she opened the flows fully. She noticed immediately the stronger and weaker areas of her chi, and frowned slightly, her tail lashing slowly.
That would have to be fixed.
"Where I healed before?" She mumbled to herself. "Why not? That's where I was focusing on when I meditated... makes sense."
She still wasn't sure exactly what she was doing, but she had the theory of how this should work, so if she did this slowly and carefully...
She reduced the chi flows to the stronger areas slowly and carefully, in semi-jerks of chi-contraction. Eventually, she overstepped where she was headed, and had to increase the flow again a tiny bit at a time. Once she had that balanced out, she stopped and remained that way for a few minutes, until she was sure she could keep that part under control. Then she turned her attention to her tail.
There was only a single thin trickle of chi flowing along its length, right down the middle of her fifth appendage. She idly wondered if that had something to do with her usual inability to control it without focusing on it, then nearly discarded that as a moot point.
Stopping her train of thought, she backed up some, and turned onto the alternate track. If that was so... then increasing the chi flow to and around her tail might allow her better control over it, and let her save her concentration for what she was doing otherwise. She began to feed more chi into the flow down her tail, to encourage it to branch into the area around her tail-
And cut short, gasping, letting her chi flows subsume themselves suddenly.
That had hurt. A lot.
She frowned. There had to be a way to increase the chi flows to that part of her body- there was no reason for that particular response she could think of, but she was smart enough not to just try forcing chi into her tail.
Putting that thought aside to work on later, she brought her aura back up- it wasn't serious enough to call a battle-aura right now- and resumed the control of her flows. She then forced the extra chi that she had blocked from her arm and leg into the other pathways, slowly and carefully, except for the one in her tail.
She silently rejoiced when she felt a soft tingle, and the chi flowed easily into place. Opening the flows to her right arm and left leg again, the small martial artist kept her sense wide, monitoring all of her own chi flows. She remained that way for almost twenty minutes, to ensure the continued flow of chi at that level.
Kasumi was getting bored. Her left leg was beginning to go numb, and all Kodora was doing was sitting there, playing with her chi. Kasumi yawned inadvertently.
Kodora turned her head, releasing her grip on her chi, and noting that the flow remained constant, although the parts of her with newly-expanded chi paths were beginning to ache dully.
There was noone in sight.
"Who's there?" Asked Kodora, out loud. "Oneechan, is that you?"
Sighing, Kasumi stood out of her crouch, and stepped into the doorway.
"Hai... Gomen nasai, Imootochan..."
Kodora smiled slightly, one of her fangs peeking out of her mouth. "Don't worry about it. I was starting to get bored anyways. Come over here and sit down."
Kasumi stepped over, limping slightly at the pins-and-needles sensation in her left leg, and sat a foot away from her smallest sister, facing her, also with her legs crossed indian-style. Kodora scooted back, unfolded her legs, spreading them wide, and began to stretch, touching her toes.
"You know, Oneechan, there are only a few people I regret having left behind in my old life..."
Kasumi nodded.
"You remind me of two of them. One was my mother... she wasn't always calm and collected, but when she left that state, she usually returned to it very fast. She was very much in control of her own life, but was also one of the gentlest and kindest people I knew."
Kasumi smiled. "She sounds like a nice person."
Kodora stretched forward. "She was. She had her faults, though... and she totally failed to understand a lot of people. She tried, but she often didn't quite make it..."
Now she began twisting at the waist, almost 180 degrees, first left, then right. Kasumi winced slightly, surprised that anyone could do that. It was slightly... disturbing. It got even worse at one point, as the small girl's spine let out a series of snaps and pops.
"Pardon me, but doesn't that hurt?"
Kodora stopped and blinked. "Not really. I've been doing this so long, it's just a stretch now. I didn't used to be able to twist this far. But I kept stretching almost daily, and this is where its gotten me. I forgot to stretch a lot recently, and I couldn't with the injuries... but I used to be able to go full 180."
Now the small girl stood up, and began swinging her arms in circles, starting large, and gradually getting smaller.
"Anywhich, the other person you remind me of was this one guy I knew. He was really cool, actually. Come to think of it, that's the best way to describe how he was cool. If you did something, or said something you thought, as long as it wasn't outright wrong or harming someone, his typical response was pretty much 'That's cool.' Most tolerant person I ever met. I aspire to that, you know? I have my views, and if yours are different, I'll explain mine to you, and try to get you to see my side.." Now she was basically waving her fists in the air at arms length in very small circles. She reversed the clockwiseness of the motion, and began slowly enlarging the circles. "But that's all. I won't try to force anyone to think or do something. It's just... wrong, to me, you know?"
Kasumi nodded and stood up. "Could you teach me some of those stretches?"
Kodora smiled. "Of course, Oneechan. I'd love to."
******
Ranma was thinking hard.
He was awake. It was maybe 5:20 AM, and Kodora and Kasumi were taking their bath. He wasn't watching.
He had his mental eyes closed, and was thinking hard. He was trying to come to grips with something.
He had lost.
Or had he? Really, he had forefeited by running away, right? Wasn't that what he had done?
So why had he done it in the first place? It was dishonorable.
But Kodora knew how much honor meant to him, and she would know that that would damage or destroy his honor.
Which meant she was seeing something he had missed.
But what was it? She kept telling him he was as smart as she was, so he ought to be able to figure it out himself.
There was nothing actually in the code of honor, or in the code of martial artists…
Wait, martial arts. Something about that…
The Saotome Secret Technique! Running until you can think of something!
But wasn't that dishonorable?
Only… he would think of something. And besides, he himself hadn't actually left. Instead, Kodora had driven Ryoga off.
Still, it didn't quite strike him right. And with Ryoga…
Something was nagging him about that, too…
******
Ranma missed a step, missed the fence, and just barely missed landing on Akane when he ate pavement.
"Oh, KUSO!!!!"
Akane, who had almost stopped to help him up when he fell, kept going, walking fast so as not to have people think she was with him.
Ranma sat up.
*What the heck is it, Ranma? That hurt!*
*Kodora, did you notice that Ryoga wasn't surprised when I turned into you?*
Kodora thought a moment. *You're right, Oniisan. That's a little weird. Do you think he's been to Jusenkyoo?*
*I KNOW he's been to Jusenkyoo. And which pool he fell in.*
*What???*
*Think about it a moment. First off, our curse- your form, is totally unique. Even if he's been to Jusenkyoo, that would at least surprise him. Right?*
*…I guess so.*
*Okay, now, what else do we know about Ryoga? What does he always have with him?*
*Uh…. His umbrella?*
Ranma put his face in his hand. *Try again. Think about when I first described him to you.*
Kodora thought a moment. *What am I supposed to be looking for?*
*Something the same. Something he's wearing.*
*Uh… his bandannas?*
*Right! Now, what do his bandannas look like?*
*Well, they're yellow, with… strange… square… OH CRAP!!! He… he can't be…*
*That's right. Ryoga fell in the spring of drowned funny-colored rabbit. Or something like that.*
Mental silence.
More mental silence, as Ranma got up and hopped back on the fence.
Ranma was surprised that he arrived at school without Kodora uttering another mental word.
******
Ranma, on top of the clock tower of the school, looked around.
*Here?*
*Hai, oniisan.*
*Okay...*
Ranma upended a thermos of cold water on himself. Kodora immediately retied the hair-ribbon into a fluffy bow. She adjusted their clothing so it wouldn't get in her way. Then she set to stretching.
First, she put her feet about shoulder-width-and-a-half apart, and twisted one way, then the other, at the waist, eight times each way. Then she began reaching for her right toes, left toes, roof underneath her, back to right toes, repeat eight times each direction.
*Why are we stretching? This doesn't seem like any sort of martial arts...*
*It's not, Ranma. It's dancing. These are stretches used for jazz and ballet dancing.*
She began tilting her head, first forward eight times, then left eight times, then right eight times, then back eight times.
*You mean you're going to DANCE up here?*
Kodora managed to shrug with her head tilted 90 degrees to the right.
*It helps me think sometimes. Only a few other things are as good for thinking to me, and the Tendoos don't have any video games, and we don't have a good Geimenhardt open-hole flute or even a recorder, so this is what I've got right now.*
She had moved on to sitting stretches, splay-legged, reaching to one foot for eight counts, the other foot for eight, and then leaning over as far forward as she could.
*Wow. That really pulls. I don't usually get that when I warm up for martial arts...*
*You've spent most of your life on martial arts. It's been a few years since I've danced seriously. I used to be more flexible, before.*
Now she had her feet together and was stretching for her toes.
"Ah, the feral one! Glad I am that I followed you all the way up here! For I, Kuno Tatewaki, the Muddy Oar of Furinkan High... wait but a moment, I fear me I have made a mistake..."
Kodora sat up, reached back, and grabbed Kuno, who was sitting a short way behind her, by the neck. She twisted at the waist and neck until she could look him dead in the eye.
"Kuno-senpai, if you are going to be up here, you will be silent and you will stay out of the way. Or I will kick you off of this clock tower myself. Repeatedly." Here, her eyes seemed to harden to a pair of crystalline crimson rubies. "Do. You. Understand?"
Smiling magnanimously, the ersatz kendoist stood, incidentally helping Kodora to her feet. She took advantage of the opportunity to untwist at the waist and neck, while keeping her eyes locked on him.
"Yea, for I am so in love to thee, I shall hear thine request, and remain here, that you might view my magnificence whilst you do exercise yourself, much as I contemplate some photographs of you, my kami, and my beloved Tendoo Akane!"
"Kuno?"
"Yes, o Feral One?"
"SHADDUP AN' SIDDOWN!" Bellowed Kodora, several veins standing out on her forehead.
Kuno gladly complied, once he had rolled to a stop.
Kodora's expression instantly returned to one of calmness. "Thank you. Keep this up, and you just might be bearable."
She returned to her stretches, now with her feet together at the heels, though they were pointed at a 110 degree angle to each other. Sticking her arms out to either side, making a fist with each hand, she started windmilling them. Gradually, she closed the circle until she was basically rolling her arms, then reversed directions and the process, just as slowly. All the while, she was conversing with Ranma.
*You LET him STAY?!?*
*Yes... is something wrong with that?*
*Imootochan, the guy practically proclaimed he was gonna ogle ya!*
*Ranma, it's not like I have anything TO ogle. Besides, he's not so bad.*
*You're kidding, right? C'mon, you were ready to kill this guy earlier! Twice, even!*
*That was when I was angry. Ranma, the guy's got to have one heck of a good side to him, with the downside he's got. Everyone's worth knowing for some reason. If I let him hang around, I may just find it. Besides...*
*What?*
*He may just learn to be a bit better of a person by watching us.*
*Imootochan, for your sake, I'll hope you're right.*
**************************************************************************** *************
Okay. Time for a serious, big note here.
I have to say, when I got the reactions to the last few chapters, I was rather miffed. Here, I had told everyone how I felt, and I got all of TWO positive responses, and at least three negative responses, all with a lot of upsetness behind them.
I was ready to go back and rewrite everything all over, change stuff.
It took me a while to get there, a lot of thinking about it.
Then I realized something.
I am the one writing this.
And, you know what? I think I'll stay honest about my feelings. So I'm not taking back what I put about Kodora's/my depression. 'Coz I really feel like that. I don't care about out-angsting Ryoga. That wasn't the point at all. Although I can honestly say that I would rather be Ryoga than me.
The point, however, was not that I have more problems, or worse emotional problems than Ryoga.
The point was that being there in the Ranmaverse, that version of me finally found some good people to start to open up to. The point was that I AM depressed. That I feel that way. That having someone who actually tries to understand, and realizes when they don't, could do me a lot of good. Incidentally, this has helped me decide to finally see a psychiatrist, but that's a little bit besides the point.
It was nicely cathartic, too.
And as far as acting all happy and cheerful, and turning out to be so depressed... you say that's not possible? Then what the frack am I doing, then? I work at a freakin' FAST FOOD JOINT! I spend all day acting friendly and cheerful. I went to a school where we had to do theater. Acting happy is easy. Acting cheerful is easy. 'Specially when you get yelled at for acting how you really feel. By your parents, nonetheless.
Self-centred indeed.
As for out-depressing Ryoga, yes, I could. Even if not canon Ryoga, I could outdo this Ryoga. Why is this Ryoga less depressed?
He doesn't turn into a pig, so not many people are going to try to eat him. He doesn't love an Akane who doesn't love him. Also, he's had less time to get depressed by failing to beat Ranma than canon Ryoga has by the time HE finds the Shishi Hokodan.
So, there.
And I don't want to hear any more about that. It's writing, okay? You don't like it, you don't read it. You only don't like that part, you don't read that part. It's not like I'll be offended. I know not everyone thinks like I do.
Heck, given some of my thought processes, I'm just about ready to say noone thinks like I do. Well, almost ready.
Anyhoo... don't let the whole depression thing turn you off from the fic. Just please, no more reviews loudly and lengthily declaiming the incorrectness and stupidity of such an idea, alright?
Alright.
On a slightly lighter note, I'd like to know what you think of the second part of Dissertation. Clear up some stuff? Do you think I need to talk a little more about ki and chi, or is it okay to go on to magic yet? Who would you like to see running the fundraiser? Any other questions?
If you'd like to mail me and be sure I'll get it relatively soon, Email to "Selene Starblade@aol.com".
Yeah, there's an actual space in it. That's why I didn't put it on my Author page. Most Web stuff doesn't like that, gets all hiccuppy on you, and whatnot.
What else was there...
OH, yeah. Pretty soon, I'm gonna skip ahead a day or two, so we can FINALLY get to the Kodora/Akane spar, and the ??/Kodachi Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics thing.
I know I'm doing the days and such in a lot more detail than Takahashi-sama did. Why?
Well, things really haven't fallen into any sort of a daily pattern yet, so I really CAN'T skip them. Once things settle down into a typical Neriman wierdity (is that even a word? Probably not. Oh, well.), I can start accellerating time a little.
And no, I'm still not sure when, exactly, I'm going to have the Amazons reach Nerima.
But I'm gonna have a lotta fun with Mu Tsu.
But no bashing.
I think that's it for now, so... until next time, Jaa ne!
"Father, dear, you *are* an idiot, aren't you?"
-Tendoo Kasumi, 'Worst Case', by Scott K. Jamison