Kodora looked around, in awe of the hugeness of the room.
There were fifteen coat racks, all full, along one wall.
Three wide cupboards held various things, a phone resting on top of each one, each bracketed by full umbrella stands.
There were five closets opposite the coatracks and cupboards.
This was the genkan.
The area for wiping off and removing one's shoes was easily twenty feet square, and the raised area before the actual home was maybe two, three times that large.
Dozens of pairs of house slippers waited on the lip of the raised area, in every conceivable size.
Tatewaki chuckled at the way Kodora was looking around. If she kept it up too much longer, her head might unscrew and fall off.
Changing his shoes, he opened a cupboard for Kodora to put her bookbag in, and then led the small girl deeper into the mansion.
**************************************************************************** *************
Passenger
Chapter 24: How About an Exhibition?
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction by Selene Starblade
Dedicated to all the people who only seem insane.
Disclaimer: The classic Ranma 1/2 characters aren't mine, but there are some characters in here who are. You'll know who they are.
Key:
" " = Japanese
= English
{ } = Chinese
[ ] = Jusenkyoo Cursed Signs
* * = Conversation between Ranma and Kodora
**************************************************************************** *************
They were walking along a hallway, Kuno in the lead.
"Wouldst thou deign to partake of a snack twixt meals ere you use the training facility, O Feral One?"
"Sure, I- wha??"
Kodora, suddenly wrapped in about twenty feet of rope, struggled for a moment, overbalanced, and fell on her face.
Kuno stopped and turned around. Seeing the problem, he shook his head, and lashed out with his bokken, cutting the ropes.
"I beg your pardons, Wild Kami. My sister doth have a great love of feindishly disguised and unerringly placed traps. I am experienced in avoiding them, although she does manage to catch me in a new one now or then. To avoid any troubles, 'twould be best for you to follow my steps exactly."
Getting up, Kodora nodded, and rubbed a slight rope burn on one arm.
******
"Agh!"
"You okay down there?"
"Verily, I have survived well enough. If you would be so kind as to grab the rope off the end table about ten feet back down the hall?"
"Sure."
******
"Gak!!"
"Back! Back, I say, vile foliage!"
******
"Oh dear."
"You wouldn't happen to have any lion food on you, would ya Kuno?"
"No, but I have taken to carrying one of these around."
"A taser! Quick, give it here!"
"No, Wild One! Do not hold it-"
BZZZZZZT!!
"....there."
******
A (mildly charred) Kodora rushed through the door, followed by a slightly chewed-up kendoist. Slamming the door, Kuno locked it.
Kodora leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees, to catch her breath, tail lashing wildly.
Kuno shook his head, also breathing somewhat hard.
"Aye, for who woulds't have suspected a mere lily to pose such danger? I am blessed with luck, indeed, to have managed to find its weak point."
Kodora favored him with a mild glare. "Yeah, well, you COULD have helped out with those electric wires some more, you know?"
Tatewaki shrugged. "My apologies. I hardly notice those anymore."
Kodora eyed him suspiciously before turning to get a look at this training room.
"........"
And she had thought the front hall was big. You could probably have fit a whole soccer field in the room they were in. Strewn all across the floor were all manner of ribbons, balls, clubs, hoops, a couple of what looked like wrestling rings, and more than a few random objects one might find in an arena: referee bells, folding chairs, a table, and a few chunks of wooden support post.
*wow.*
*Yeah. This is..... big doesn't even begin to describe it...*
*It's gimundigantihuge, Ranma. Gimundigantihuge.*
Kuno unlocked the door.
"I shall either send Sasuke for you at five-thirty in the evening, or come in person depending on whether or not my twisted sister has seen fit to plant new traps. Is that acceptible?"
Kodora nodded mutely, and wandered off towards the changing room on one side of the huge training area, green leotard over one arm.
Kuno disappeared into the rest of the mansion.
******
Kodora stood in the center of one ring, twirling the ribbon in a lazy cone over herself. What to do first...
"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOOO!!!!!"
Ah. Cringe. That was the first thing she would do. Looking towards the source of the horrible noise, she saw Kodachi standing in the middle of the other ring.
*May as well find out what she's doing here right now...*
So thinking, Kodora moved to the side of the ring closest to the other ring, Grabbing the top rope, she pulled back as far as she could, then jumped. The rope flung her into the air, and she lashed out with the ribbon still held in one hand, catching the top rope on the other ring. Rolling in midair, the small girl wound the ribbon around herself like a yoyo, pulling herself towards the rope. Ranma could have cleared the distance without the ribbon easily, but she was getting better. Reaching out as she fell, she snagged the bottom rope and twisted herself around, slipping between the two lower ropes and into the ring as she shed the ribbon from around herself. She stood carefully, unwinding the ribbon from the rope.
Kodachi smirked.
"That was interesting. I was told you had no skills in Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics."
Kodora shrugged. "I'm a little bit of a fast learner. Runs in the family."
*At least,* she added on mentally, *It runs in the family now.*
"OHOHOHO! I see! My brother tells me that you are the other choice for Furinkan's champion in the match the day after tomorrow?"
Kodora nodded warily.
"And how will you peasants be deciding between yourself and that horrid Tendoo Akane?"
Kodora frowned slightly. This Kodachi had a pretty bad attitude...
"A sparring match. The victor will fight in the real match. Why?"
Kodachi smirked, almost evilly. "How does this sound? We make it an exhibition match instead. Tomorrow, you and Akane fight in the ring in public to determine who faces me, and the day after, we have the real match?"
Kodora frowned more. "It sounds like you're planning sabotage."
Now Kodachi frowned. "Very well, I will give you my promise that I shall not do anything to take either one or both of you out of the running for the match. Tendoo Akane has demonstrated a certain... resistance... that I find interesting, and I wish to fight the actual match itself."
"Hmmmm....."
"Of course, you will have to get the agreement of the other girl as well, but I have little doubt that she will agree."
"I suppose...."
"Very well, I shall take that as a 'yes'. Remember to come straight here after school tomorrow! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
And with a very, VERY large shower of black rose petals, Kodachi left.
******
Kuno opened the door and stepped in, not needing to lock it this time. Although he did look slightly damp.
"Feral One, are you done with your.... Why dost thou wear so many flower petals?"
Kodora, in her/Ranma's tang and kung-fu pants, turned to Kuno, rose petals decorating the ends of most of her quills.
"She's your sister. Can't YOU do something about that?"
Tatewaki shrugged. "Not really, no. True, I am her elder, but the girl simply refuses to listen to my wise and intelligent personage."
"Wonder why." Grumbled Kodora, as she stepped out the door.
"Wait! Be careful of the..."
There was a distinct rumbling sound as Kuno shut the door.
"...tsunami trap..."
******
Souun, Akane, and Genma were at the door of the Kuno mansion.
They were also badly charred. The special lock on the front door required a special passcode to be spoken. If you got it wrong, the entire street became electrified for a few seconds.
Needless to say, with Souun and Genma there, there had been a LOT of wrong guesses.
Nabiki, of course, had volunteered to stay home. She was protective of her family, but she certainly wasn't dumb. She was waiting by the phone, with her hand over the dialer.
A rumbling sound began slowly.
From inside the mansion, they could hear voices.
"CHIKUSHOO!!"
That sounded like Kodora...
"Quickly! Make haste to the door and do not fail to obtain your posessions and footwear!"
And that sounded like Kuno.....
GRMMMGRMMMGRMMM
..so what was that?
There was the sound of a cupboard slamming open.
Someone grabbed the doorhandle.
"KUSO!!!!!!!!!!!"
The door broke out of its frame, and plowed into the building across the street. Kodora flew out the door, tumbling into Akane, who fell into Souun, who flew into the panda.
Then the water came out the door. The entire stack found themselves pressed against the door which was now an integral part of the wall of the building.
Each one of the Tendoos took a moment to be thankful that Genma had been the one on the BOTTOM of the stack.
Just as Kodora was sure she was going to run out of breath and drown, the water stopped.
Gasping, she looked to find an unconscious Kuno wrapped around his bokken, which had wedged against the doorway, preventing him from leaving the mansion.
The three Tendoos and the panda all got up, groaning, and did their best to dry off.
Then they headed for the Tendoo-ke, as Kodora explained, in detail, each and every trap she had run into.
******
" -and THAT's why Kodora had all those rose petals stuck in her hair."
The family plus one-and-a-half had just finished dinner, and were sitting around the table, talking.
Akane looked doubtful. "Are you sure she won't try anything?"
Ranma sighed. "She promised. Kodora agreed. There's really nothing to do about it now, unless you really don't want to make the pre-match public."
Akane shrugged. "Why not. It'll at least get some publicity for the Dojo." This had nothing to do with the way Nabiki was elbowing her and holding one of Genma's signs, which read [family finances]. It was all about making sure people got to see things, and that her family honor was upheld.
Really it was.
******
Somewhere in Tokyo, Ryoga was wandering.
Now he wasn't so sure anymore. It sounded like Kodora hadn't had much of a good life. He hadn't either.
And here he had gone and tried to make it worse, instead of trying to get along with what was probably a kindred spirit.
He winced and put one hand over the pencil-thin puncture wound in his arm.
At least she mostly wasn't angry at him. If she could have done all that with a tight beam, she could probably have really beaten him up just then if she had made it wide blasts like he had been using.
And Ranma... well, it really wasn't all Ranma's fault, was it?
Ryoga was ashamed. He had let his way of training for the match overwhelm him, had lost sight of reality in it.
All things considered, with the level of focus and the volume of the depression-driven chi the small girl had been putting out, he'd gotten off lucky.
He supposed Ranma had run off from that fight, sort of, but then he himself hadn't been all that honorable about seeking it. He hadn't even given Ranma any real time to prepare, much less a warning that he wasn't feeling friendly.
He absently noticed that he was walking through yet another living room.
A young man with black hair and a pigtail was being used as a rope in a game of tug-o-war between a cyan-haired girl who wasn't wearing a whole lot, and a purple-haired girl who was speaking with a refined accent.
The young man was pleading for the other two to 'Just cut it out!'
Holding his nose lightly, Ryoga shook his head.
'Weenie.' He thought.
He waved to himself as he walked past. "Hi Ryoga."
"Hello, Ryoga." Said the slightly taller, older Ryoga, who was walking alongside a short, redheaded mad scientist.
Being this lost was awfully annoying.
**************************************************************************** *************
Okay, just a few things...
Thank you all for the kind reviews.
It's good to see that there ARE people out there who will support people like me. I just wish you were all here instead of out there. Oh, well. Can't always get what you want.
As for the one review mentioning the 'Dojo Destroyer' arc... actually, Akane specifically refuses her father's help in it, despite her injured hand. At least, that's how it goes in the Manga.
It's not that Akane's stuck up or anything, she just desperately wants to prove herself. She has almost as much of a confidence problem as Ranma has a sexuality problem, with the curse and his mother and all.
Incidentally, her reaction to the curse this time around should be interesting to see, when I finally get to it.
So... Ryoga has started to think again. And may be returning to Nerima.
As soon as he finds his way out of that alternate dimension.
Next chapter, we'll be having at least the Kodora/Akane match! Who's gotten more practice? Who's better? Who WILL face Kodachi?
And what about Kodachi's promise?
This story arc comes to a head next chapter!
See you all next time! Ja ne!
"It's been- One week since the show about
Psycho killers with problems they should work out
Five days since the big surprise
Where some loser's wife said that she's still dating twenty guys
Three days since he interviewed
A bunch of psychic porn star midgets who were all nude
Yesterday, it occured to me
That I've been watchin' a bit too much Jerry Springer
Tired of wastin' my time on that Jerry Springer
I've got way too much class to watch Jerry Springer
Come over here and pull on my finger...."
-Wierd Al Yankovic, "Jerry Springer", a parody of "One Week" by E. Robertson.
There were fifteen coat racks, all full, along one wall.
Three wide cupboards held various things, a phone resting on top of each one, each bracketed by full umbrella stands.
There were five closets opposite the coatracks and cupboards.
This was the genkan.
The area for wiping off and removing one's shoes was easily twenty feet square, and the raised area before the actual home was maybe two, three times that large.
Dozens of pairs of house slippers waited on the lip of the raised area, in every conceivable size.
Tatewaki chuckled at the way Kodora was looking around. If she kept it up too much longer, her head might unscrew and fall off.
Changing his shoes, he opened a cupboard for Kodora to put her bookbag in, and then led the small girl deeper into the mansion.
**************************************************************************** *************
Passenger
Chapter 24: How About an Exhibition?
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction by Selene Starblade
Dedicated to all the people who only seem insane.
Disclaimer: The classic Ranma 1/2 characters aren't mine, but there are some characters in here who are. You'll know who they are.
Key:
" " = Japanese
= English
{ } = Chinese
[ ] = Jusenkyoo Cursed Signs
* * = Conversation between Ranma and Kodora
**************************************************************************** *************
They were walking along a hallway, Kuno in the lead.
"Wouldst thou deign to partake of a snack twixt meals ere you use the training facility, O Feral One?"
"Sure, I- wha??"
Kodora, suddenly wrapped in about twenty feet of rope, struggled for a moment, overbalanced, and fell on her face.
Kuno stopped and turned around. Seeing the problem, he shook his head, and lashed out with his bokken, cutting the ropes.
"I beg your pardons, Wild Kami. My sister doth have a great love of feindishly disguised and unerringly placed traps. I am experienced in avoiding them, although she does manage to catch me in a new one now or then. To avoid any troubles, 'twould be best for you to follow my steps exactly."
Getting up, Kodora nodded, and rubbed a slight rope burn on one arm.
******
"Agh!"
"You okay down there?"
"Verily, I have survived well enough. If you would be so kind as to grab the rope off the end table about ten feet back down the hall?"
"Sure."
******
"Gak!!"
"Back! Back, I say, vile foliage!"
******
"Oh dear."
"You wouldn't happen to have any lion food on you, would ya Kuno?"
"No, but I have taken to carrying one of these around."
"A taser! Quick, give it here!"
"No, Wild One! Do not hold it-"
BZZZZZZT!!
"....there."
******
A (mildly charred) Kodora rushed through the door, followed by a slightly chewed-up kendoist. Slamming the door, Kuno locked it.
Kodora leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees, to catch her breath, tail lashing wildly.
Kuno shook his head, also breathing somewhat hard.
"Aye, for who woulds't have suspected a mere lily to pose such danger? I am blessed with luck, indeed, to have managed to find its weak point."
Kodora favored him with a mild glare. "Yeah, well, you COULD have helped out with those electric wires some more, you know?"
Tatewaki shrugged. "My apologies. I hardly notice those anymore."
Kodora eyed him suspiciously before turning to get a look at this training room.
"........"
And she had thought the front hall was big. You could probably have fit a whole soccer field in the room they were in. Strewn all across the floor were all manner of ribbons, balls, clubs, hoops, a couple of what looked like wrestling rings, and more than a few random objects one might find in an arena: referee bells, folding chairs, a table, and a few chunks of wooden support post.
*wow.*
*Yeah. This is..... big doesn't even begin to describe it...*
*It's gimundigantihuge, Ranma. Gimundigantihuge.*
Kuno unlocked the door.
"I shall either send Sasuke for you at five-thirty in the evening, or come in person depending on whether or not my twisted sister has seen fit to plant new traps. Is that acceptible?"
Kodora nodded mutely, and wandered off towards the changing room on one side of the huge training area, green leotard over one arm.
Kuno disappeared into the rest of the mansion.
******
Kodora stood in the center of one ring, twirling the ribbon in a lazy cone over herself. What to do first...
"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOOO!!!!!"
Ah. Cringe. That was the first thing she would do. Looking towards the source of the horrible noise, she saw Kodachi standing in the middle of the other ring.
*May as well find out what she's doing here right now...*
So thinking, Kodora moved to the side of the ring closest to the other ring, Grabbing the top rope, she pulled back as far as she could, then jumped. The rope flung her into the air, and she lashed out with the ribbon still held in one hand, catching the top rope on the other ring. Rolling in midair, the small girl wound the ribbon around herself like a yoyo, pulling herself towards the rope. Ranma could have cleared the distance without the ribbon easily, but she was getting better. Reaching out as she fell, she snagged the bottom rope and twisted herself around, slipping between the two lower ropes and into the ring as she shed the ribbon from around herself. She stood carefully, unwinding the ribbon from the rope.
Kodachi smirked.
"That was interesting. I was told you had no skills in Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics."
Kodora shrugged. "I'm a little bit of a fast learner. Runs in the family."
*At least,* she added on mentally, *It runs in the family now.*
"OHOHOHO! I see! My brother tells me that you are the other choice for Furinkan's champion in the match the day after tomorrow?"
Kodora nodded warily.
"And how will you peasants be deciding between yourself and that horrid Tendoo Akane?"
Kodora frowned slightly. This Kodachi had a pretty bad attitude...
"A sparring match. The victor will fight in the real match. Why?"
Kodachi smirked, almost evilly. "How does this sound? We make it an exhibition match instead. Tomorrow, you and Akane fight in the ring in public to determine who faces me, and the day after, we have the real match?"
Kodora frowned more. "It sounds like you're planning sabotage."
Now Kodachi frowned. "Very well, I will give you my promise that I shall not do anything to take either one or both of you out of the running for the match. Tendoo Akane has demonstrated a certain... resistance... that I find interesting, and I wish to fight the actual match itself."
"Hmmmm....."
"Of course, you will have to get the agreement of the other girl as well, but I have little doubt that she will agree."
"I suppose...."
"Very well, I shall take that as a 'yes'. Remember to come straight here after school tomorrow! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
And with a very, VERY large shower of black rose petals, Kodachi left.
******
Kuno opened the door and stepped in, not needing to lock it this time. Although he did look slightly damp.
"Feral One, are you done with your.... Why dost thou wear so many flower petals?"
Kodora, in her/Ranma's tang and kung-fu pants, turned to Kuno, rose petals decorating the ends of most of her quills.
"She's your sister. Can't YOU do something about that?"
Tatewaki shrugged. "Not really, no. True, I am her elder, but the girl simply refuses to listen to my wise and intelligent personage."
"Wonder why." Grumbled Kodora, as she stepped out the door.
"Wait! Be careful of the..."
There was a distinct rumbling sound as Kuno shut the door.
"...tsunami trap..."
******
Souun, Akane, and Genma were at the door of the Kuno mansion.
They were also badly charred. The special lock on the front door required a special passcode to be spoken. If you got it wrong, the entire street became electrified for a few seconds.
Needless to say, with Souun and Genma there, there had been a LOT of wrong guesses.
Nabiki, of course, had volunteered to stay home. She was protective of her family, but she certainly wasn't dumb. She was waiting by the phone, with her hand over the dialer.
A rumbling sound began slowly.
From inside the mansion, they could hear voices.
"CHIKUSHOO!!"
That sounded like Kodora...
"Quickly! Make haste to the door and do not fail to obtain your posessions and footwear!"
And that sounded like Kuno.....
GRMMMGRMMMGRMMM
..so what was that?
There was the sound of a cupboard slamming open.
Someone grabbed the doorhandle.
"KUSO!!!!!!!!!!!"
The door broke out of its frame, and plowed into the building across the street. Kodora flew out the door, tumbling into Akane, who fell into Souun, who flew into the panda.
Then the water came out the door. The entire stack found themselves pressed against the door which was now an integral part of the wall of the building.
Each one of the Tendoos took a moment to be thankful that Genma had been the one on the BOTTOM of the stack.
Just as Kodora was sure she was going to run out of breath and drown, the water stopped.
Gasping, she looked to find an unconscious Kuno wrapped around his bokken, which had wedged against the doorway, preventing him from leaving the mansion.
The three Tendoos and the panda all got up, groaning, and did their best to dry off.
Then they headed for the Tendoo-ke, as Kodora explained, in detail, each and every trap she had run into.
******
" -and THAT's why Kodora had all those rose petals stuck in her hair."
The family plus one-and-a-half had just finished dinner, and were sitting around the table, talking.
Akane looked doubtful. "Are you sure she won't try anything?"
Ranma sighed. "She promised. Kodora agreed. There's really nothing to do about it now, unless you really don't want to make the pre-match public."
Akane shrugged. "Why not. It'll at least get some publicity for the Dojo." This had nothing to do with the way Nabiki was elbowing her and holding one of Genma's signs, which read [family finances]. It was all about making sure people got to see things, and that her family honor was upheld.
Really it was.
******
Somewhere in Tokyo, Ryoga was wandering.
Now he wasn't so sure anymore. It sounded like Kodora hadn't had much of a good life. He hadn't either.
And here he had gone and tried to make it worse, instead of trying to get along with what was probably a kindred spirit.
He winced and put one hand over the pencil-thin puncture wound in his arm.
At least she mostly wasn't angry at him. If she could have done all that with a tight beam, she could probably have really beaten him up just then if she had made it wide blasts like he had been using.
And Ranma... well, it really wasn't all Ranma's fault, was it?
Ryoga was ashamed. He had let his way of training for the match overwhelm him, had lost sight of reality in it.
All things considered, with the level of focus and the volume of the depression-driven chi the small girl had been putting out, he'd gotten off lucky.
He supposed Ranma had run off from that fight, sort of, but then he himself hadn't been all that honorable about seeking it. He hadn't even given Ranma any real time to prepare, much less a warning that he wasn't feeling friendly.
He absently noticed that he was walking through yet another living room.
A young man with black hair and a pigtail was being used as a rope in a game of tug-o-war between a cyan-haired girl who wasn't wearing a whole lot, and a purple-haired girl who was speaking with a refined accent.
The young man was pleading for the other two to 'Just cut it out!'
Holding his nose lightly, Ryoga shook his head.
'Weenie.' He thought.
He waved to himself as he walked past. "Hi Ryoga."
"Hello, Ryoga." Said the slightly taller, older Ryoga, who was walking alongside a short, redheaded mad scientist.
Being this lost was awfully annoying.
**************************************************************************** *************
Okay, just a few things...
Thank you all for the kind reviews.
It's good to see that there ARE people out there who will support people like me. I just wish you were all here instead of out there. Oh, well. Can't always get what you want.
As for the one review mentioning the 'Dojo Destroyer' arc... actually, Akane specifically refuses her father's help in it, despite her injured hand. At least, that's how it goes in the Manga.
It's not that Akane's stuck up or anything, she just desperately wants to prove herself. She has almost as much of a confidence problem as Ranma has a sexuality problem, with the curse and his mother and all.
Incidentally, her reaction to the curse this time around should be interesting to see, when I finally get to it.
So... Ryoga has started to think again. And may be returning to Nerima.
As soon as he finds his way out of that alternate dimension.
Next chapter, we'll be having at least the Kodora/Akane match! Who's gotten more practice? Who's better? Who WILL face Kodachi?
And what about Kodachi's promise?
This story arc comes to a head next chapter!
See you all next time! Ja ne!
"It's been- One week since the show about
Psycho killers with problems they should work out
Five days since the big surprise
Where some loser's wife said that she's still dating twenty guys
Three days since he interviewed
A bunch of psychic porn star midgets who were all nude
Yesterday, it occured to me
That I've been watchin' a bit too much Jerry Springer
Tired of wastin' my time on that Jerry Springer
I've got way too much class to watch Jerry Springer
Come over here and pull on my finger...."
-Wierd Al Yankovic, "Jerry Springer", a parody of "One Week" by E. Robertson.