Ranma 1/2 : March of the Pigs
Part 5
A Ranma 1/2 FanFic by Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne
(All characters copyright Rumiko-san, obviously. If I ever
even considered claiming that these were my own characters
I'd probably be thrown into a small cell where I'd be forced
to eat my own legs to live.)
-=-
Plot update, just like before.
Ryouga meets Charlotte and Buford, two Jusenkyo-pig cursed
types and also Charlotte's brother Victor (who is on a sister-
hunt at the moment.) However, Victor looks like P-Chan when
dropped in water and is turned over to Akane, giving Charlotte
some free time to help out Ryouga's crush on Akane.
The usual mayhem, etc, and somehow Azusa ends up pig-napping
all four of the pigs. Ukyou, Nabiki and Ranma manage to break
them out of Azusa's house/prison, and they split up, Ranma to
give P-Chan back to Akane, Nabiki to have a chat with Victor and
the other two following Nabiki quietly.
-=-
Nabiki tucked the black piglet under one arm, and slid open
the door to the bathroom. A little hot water should do the
trick, she figured...
V-Chan had submitted to his fate. After all, things could
be worse; he could be sleeping crushed under Akane again. That
would be a fate worse than death, the pig noted, shivering.
"Calm down, I'll have you back to normal in a minute,"
Nabiki said, running some hot water under the tap. "Here, I dug
out some of Ranma's clothes before leaving. Figured they'd come
in handy. I'll wait outside while you change."
V-Chan bweed in agreement, and hopped to the ground. Nabiki
put the cup next to him, and left.
Strange girl. Unlike most of the people he had been meeting
lately, she wasn't violent, constantly confused or overly
affectionate. Just sort of... there. A straight poker face.
Could the Tendos actually have a NORMAL offspring in their midst?
Perhaps she could make a worthy pawn in his quest to bring
Charlotte back home...
V-Chan knocked the cup over, springing into full human form.
He towelled off, slipped on some more of Saotome's hideous
clothing, and walked out whistling.
"A sprinkle a day," he joked. "Thanks for the water. I
regret I can't stay very long--"
"Hold it," she said. "I'd like to talk with you for a
little while."
"No time," Victor said. "Terribly sorry."
"Okay," Nabiki said. "I tried. I bet all my friends at
school will be disappointed to hear that I had such an
influential and wealthy person such as yourself and just let him
walk away... him AND his sister. I bet they'd tell some of their
friends where you are, and some of their friends..."
Victor paused. "You wouldn't."
"Try me," Nabiki smiled.
"But... it would disgrace my family name if anybody was to
find out Charlotte had run away!"
"And that she had dad's credit card, AND that she and you
were cursed and turned into... gads, I hate to say it, common
farm animals."
Victor's usually smug face dropped to pure amazement.
"Nice trick you pulled on Ranma, but I'm afraid you have
nothing on me and I have everything on you. Now, in here,
please," Nabiki motioned, gesturing to her open door. "We have
financial matters to discuss."
Victor nodded slowly, loping off to Nabiki's room under the
heavy burden of his own shame. Nabiki, who didn't seem to give a
care, skipped inside and shut the door.
The two pigs who were watching from around the corner
grinned.
*
REC.ARTS.ANIME.STORIES PRESENTS
(musical insert : A Warm Place, Halo 8, track 11)
Ryouga and Akane sat on the beach. A private beach;
complete with crystal blue water and foam that lapped against the
shoreline with the lightest of touches. The sun was soft against
the warm sand, gazing down upon the cool breezes that made the
trees sway to and fro.
IN ASSOCIATION WITH FANFICTION WE'D LIKE TO SEE AND NOTHING/TVT
Akane, snoozing him her deck chair, leaned over, snuggling
against Ryouga's shoulder. Ryouga looked up from his Grisham
novel, and smiled. All was well.
RANMA 1/2 :
He returned to his book, but couldn't concentrate. The
contact of Akane's sleeping form on his arm was just too much.
He set the book down, and brushed some sand out of her hair.
MARCH OF THE PIGS
Then Ranma briskly stepped in, knocked Ryouga into the
stratosphere and snatched Akane, diving into the ocean, never to
be seen again. P-Chan woke instantly from his nightmare, ready
to bwee his heart out... but Akane was still here, in her yellow
cat pajamas. P-Chan calmed down, and went back to sleep.
PART 5 : SOMETHING I CAN NEVER HAVE
*
Buford-boar nudged the pack over to Charlotte, who zippered
it open and pulled out her dress.
"I STILL say those silly springs should let you keep your
clothes," Charlotte complained. "It's such a bother to have to
lug all this baggage around."
"Who's doing the lugging? You?" Buford asked, wiping
freshly-splashed warm water out of his face. "You've got no
right to complain, little girl."
"Someone's testy today," Charlotte said, retying her bow to
accommodate her larger head size.
"I can't believe you're helping out this Ryouga character,"
Buford said. "With you, it's always whatever seems like a good
idea at a time. Want to go to the caribbean? Get Buford to haul
your bag there. Victor sets a private detective on us? Buford,
pound him for me. Naturally, I couldn't smack Victor around a
little, even if he was standing right there and asking for it."
"That's not the point of the game," Charlotte said. "We're
matching plots and plans, not fists."
"Then why was *I* happily wiping the mat with some wimpy
private dick?" Buford asked.
"It's part of the plan. Victor has to get new allies in
every city. You I always have. You're a formidable pawn."
"PAWN?!" Buford blurted. "Girl, I do practically everything
for you, and you don't regard me higher than a stupid little
painted chess piece? Ah, forget it. Carry your own bags form
now on. I'm outta here."
"Wh... wait!" Charlotte spoke, reaching after the exiting
cowboy. "Where are you going?"
"China," he said. "I'm going to track down that cure and
keep it up until... well, until I find it. You may not want to
be cured, but *I* do. Hasta la vista!"
"Not so loud!" Charlotte insisted. "You'll wake the
Tendos."
"All the better. You've got plotting and planning skills;
plot and plan your way out of here," Buford said, donning his hat
and striding out the door, floorboards creaking.
Charlotte dashed for the door, but the man was gone. Fast
walker, she noted. It has been of invaluable help, when we
needed to get away from a Victor-assisted lynch mob...
"Bwee?" bweed a voice near her ankle. P-Chan tugged at her
dress.
"Oh, it's you," Charlotte said, downfallen. "Alright.
Let's get you a little hot water."
*
"Ugh," Ryouga groaned, looking at his ruined campsite.
Repeated boat crashes and net-scuffs and tidal waves had not been
kind to the site. Still, a clearing was a clearing. "It'll have
to do. I can't wait any longer, I need to be with Akane. I need
to know your plan!"
"Plan. Right," Charlotte said. "Okay."
"Something wrong?" Ryouga asked.
"No... yes. Buford left," Charlotte said. "He said I was
treating him like a chess piece."
"Weren't you?" Ryouga asked before being slapped. He spin a
full three hundred and sixty degrees before falling over.
"I WASN'T!" Charlotte yelled. "He was a good man, and
always there to keep me out of trouble, even when we were in
serious danger... he never asked to follow me around, he just
started to after fishing me out of that fountain in Austin...
just like a big brother... and now he's gone."
"Sorry," Ryouga apologized.
"No, it's okay," Charlotte said, helping Ryouga to his feet.
"I was being pretty insensitive lately, ordering him around more
and saying please less... I guess I drove him away. I feel like
pond scum."
"You're NOT pond scum," Ryouga stated. "You're one of the
nicest people I've ever met, Charlotte. You like me even though
I'm cursed, and even want to help me. Nobody's ever helped me
before without asking for something in return. Making deals.
You're the first person who hasn't tried to use me for their own
agenda."
"Yes I have," Charlotte said. "I mean, I'm just doing this
because I love toying with people. Meddling. You could be
anybody, even Ranma, or Ukyou."
"You really believe that?" Ryouga asked. "I thought you
liked me."
"I do, Ryouga, just that... well..."
The two paused, not sure what words were supposed to follow.
They KNEW the words, but pretended not to.
"Plan," Ryouga managed.
"Plan. Yes, the plan," Charlotte said, pulling a rolled up
sheet of paper out of her dress sleeve. "The plan."
"How'd you fit that up there?"
"Woman's secret. Okay, I took what you've been telling me
the last few days and plotted it up in diagram format," she said,
unrolling the paper on the driest portion of dirt she could find.
Ryouga squinted at the paper. It resembled a fifty pound
bag of ramen noodles in two dimensions. Circles with names in
them had dozens of arrows, all point off in various directions,
with various colors.
"I'll translate," Charlotte said, fetching a stick to use as
a pointer. "Okay. The main relationship here is Ryouga to
Akane, which is in the form of not-yet-expressed love. Plus we
have a back-arrow from Akane to the P-Chan circle attached to
yours, of Motherly Love. In turn, we have Ranma reluctantly
engaged to Akane, and vice versa, with extra fiancees that love
Ranma under the circles with Shampoo, Ukyou, and Kodachi, and
'enemy' lines between all three and Akane, plus the various
seekers of Akane such as Kunou, Gosunkugi, and Mikado. Azusa
wants to hug P-Chan to bits and the pig-tailed girl is chased by
Kunou and Mikado. Mouse loves Shampoo and is an enemy of Ranma
for that. Cologne schemes with Shampoo and Happosai's a jerk and
three quarters. I have a feeling Nabiki is also twisting
Victor's arm at the moment. Did I forget anything?"
"Ummm... Tsubasa shows up occasionally calling in Ukyou..."
Ryouga thought, trying to puzzle out the links and dialog boxes
on the paper. "Ranma's mother will kill him and his father if
she finds out about the curses, and Mr. Tendo and Mr. Saotome
want Akane and Ranma together and I think Sasuke has a thing for
Azusa."
Charlotte perked an eyebrow.
"Or so I'm told," Ryouga shrugged.
"Okay. So we need to keep everybody that has an Akane-love-
link or a Ryouga-hate-link away from you. Hmm. This is going to
take some work."
"What are these circles off to the side?" Ryouga asked,
tapping the paper.
"Victor, Buford and I," Charlotte said. "Extra players.
Victor we can probably keep out of the picture... notice the fear
link to Akane and the slave link to Nabiki. That one's
speculation, of course."
"I think you can assume that one," Ryouga said. "Nabiki
wouldn't have singled him out if she didn't have a plan of her
own."
"That could be a problem. Hmm. Okay, the biggest threats
here are Ranma, Nabiki, Victor and Kunou. We can use the rest of
these guys to keep those four away, and that'll be that. Are you
sure you can win Akane over, if you're given a clear shot?"
"I don't know," Ryouga said. "I mean, I've never been given
the opportunity. Whenever I'm around her... not as P-Chan, that
is, she's sort of indifferent. Doesn't show any malice, but
nothing beyond friend-of-Ranma's either. What if you go through
all this trouble, and I screw it up? I'd have lost my one shot
at this, and let you down..."
Charlotte thought. "Okay, I have a solution. We'll do a
rehearsal date. Nothing fancy, just a quick troubleshooting run
to make sure you don't act like a male pig... err... no pun
intended... or say the wrong thing. Plus, you need to be taught
how to stay AWAY from water."
"How can we do a rehearsal date with the rest of them
around, looking after Akane?"
"Not with HER, silly. That's the final mission. We'll go
out tonight and do a quick run-through."
"What, with you?" Ryouga asked, confused.
"Of course," Charlotte said. "What, you got a problem with
me?"
"No!" Ryouga blurted. "Anything. I need to be prepared.
Yes, preparation is good. Lead the way."
"We'll stick to the basics. Food, movie, trip home.
That'll cover it," Charlotte said. "Don't worry, I'm an expert.
Daddums would constantly parade me for other rich brats. I know
what doesn't work. Boy, do I know what doesn't work."
*
Ryouga sat outside the toy store, wondering what was going
on.
Charlotte had agreed to go on a rehearsal date... well, more
like suggested it in the first place. First stop was going to be
dinner, but why were they at a toy store?
"Wait here," she had ordered. So Ryouga did. Anything to
make sure this worked.
"Alright," Charlotte said, bounding out of the store with a
multicolored plastic tube slung onto her back.
"What's that?" Ryouga asked.
"This?" Charlotte said, sliding the tube down her shoulder
and into her waiting hands. "SuperSoaker. Just a fifty, I'm
afraid, but I have some refill tubes handy."
"Wh... what's that for?" Ryouga asked, alarmed.
"Our purpose tonight is twofold. One, to make you into
Prince Charming. Two, to make sure Akane doesn't find out your
little secret by training you to avoid water," she said, pumping
the front barrel of the gun. "Let's see how well you dance."
The stream of water shot out, Ryouga hopping on one foot to
avoid it. "Hey, cut that out!"
"What, are you kidding? We'll be doing this all the way to
the restaurant. Heads up."
Ryouga ducked as another stream shot over his head. "Argh!
Get that stuff away from me!"
"I've still got a hundred shots to go! Now, let's move.
Ucchan's is that way," she said, pointing. A stream approached
his back, edging him on.
Innocent bystanders giggled to themselves at the sight of a
boy in yellow being chased by a watergun-wielding girl in a blue
dress. It was just like being in a wacky cartoon comedy!
One bystander detached from the crowd and slinked along
after the pair. He wasn't laughing. He had a job to do.
END - Part 5
(Closing theme : Little Date (the no-mix mix))
All characters copyright Shonen, created by Rumiko
Takahashi. Music citations copyright Nothing/TVT. Charlotte and
Buford and Victor by Stefan Gagne.
Part 5
A Ranma 1/2 FanFic by Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne
(All characters copyright Rumiko-san, obviously. If I ever
even considered claiming that these were my own characters
I'd probably be thrown into a small cell where I'd be forced
to eat my own legs to live.)
-=-
Plot update, just like before.
Ryouga meets Charlotte and Buford, two Jusenkyo-pig cursed
types and also Charlotte's brother Victor (who is on a sister-
hunt at the moment.) However, Victor looks like P-Chan when
dropped in water and is turned over to Akane, giving Charlotte
some free time to help out Ryouga's crush on Akane.
The usual mayhem, etc, and somehow Azusa ends up pig-napping
all four of the pigs. Ukyou, Nabiki and Ranma manage to break
them out of Azusa's house/prison, and they split up, Ranma to
give P-Chan back to Akane, Nabiki to have a chat with Victor and
the other two following Nabiki quietly.
-=-
Nabiki tucked the black piglet under one arm, and slid open
the door to the bathroom. A little hot water should do the
trick, she figured...
V-Chan had submitted to his fate. After all, things could
be worse; he could be sleeping crushed under Akane again. That
would be a fate worse than death, the pig noted, shivering.
"Calm down, I'll have you back to normal in a minute,"
Nabiki said, running some hot water under the tap. "Here, I dug
out some of Ranma's clothes before leaving. Figured they'd come
in handy. I'll wait outside while you change."
V-Chan bweed in agreement, and hopped to the ground. Nabiki
put the cup next to him, and left.
Strange girl. Unlike most of the people he had been meeting
lately, she wasn't violent, constantly confused or overly
affectionate. Just sort of... there. A straight poker face.
Could the Tendos actually have a NORMAL offspring in their midst?
Perhaps she could make a worthy pawn in his quest to bring
Charlotte back home...
V-Chan knocked the cup over, springing into full human form.
He towelled off, slipped on some more of Saotome's hideous
clothing, and walked out whistling.
"A sprinkle a day," he joked. "Thanks for the water. I
regret I can't stay very long--"
"Hold it," she said. "I'd like to talk with you for a
little while."
"No time," Victor said. "Terribly sorry."
"Okay," Nabiki said. "I tried. I bet all my friends at
school will be disappointed to hear that I had such an
influential and wealthy person such as yourself and just let him
walk away... him AND his sister. I bet they'd tell some of their
friends where you are, and some of their friends..."
Victor paused. "You wouldn't."
"Try me," Nabiki smiled.
"But... it would disgrace my family name if anybody was to
find out Charlotte had run away!"
"And that she had dad's credit card, AND that she and you
were cursed and turned into... gads, I hate to say it, common
farm animals."
Victor's usually smug face dropped to pure amazement.
"Nice trick you pulled on Ranma, but I'm afraid you have
nothing on me and I have everything on you. Now, in here,
please," Nabiki motioned, gesturing to her open door. "We have
financial matters to discuss."
Victor nodded slowly, loping off to Nabiki's room under the
heavy burden of his own shame. Nabiki, who didn't seem to give a
care, skipped inside and shut the door.
The two pigs who were watching from around the corner
grinned.
*
REC.ARTS.ANIME.STORIES PRESENTS
(musical insert : A Warm Place, Halo 8, track 11)
Ryouga and Akane sat on the beach. A private beach;
complete with crystal blue water and foam that lapped against the
shoreline with the lightest of touches. The sun was soft against
the warm sand, gazing down upon the cool breezes that made the
trees sway to and fro.
IN ASSOCIATION WITH FANFICTION WE'D LIKE TO SEE AND NOTHING/TVT
Akane, snoozing him her deck chair, leaned over, snuggling
against Ryouga's shoulder. Ryouga looked up from his Grisham
novel, and smiled. All was well.
RANMA 1/2 :
He returned to his book, but couldn't concentrate. The
contact of Akane's sleeping form on his arm was just too much.
He set the book down, and brushed some sand out of her hair.
MARCH OF THE PIGS
Then Ranma briskly stepped in, knocked Ryouga into the
stratosphere and snatched Akane, diving into the ocean, never to
be seen again. P-Chan woke instantly from his nightmare, ready
to bwee his heart out... but Akane was still here, in her yellow
cat pajamas. P-Chan calmed down, and went back to sleep.
PART 5 : SOMETHING I CAN NEVER HAVE
*
Buford-boar nudged the pack over to Charlotte, who zippered
it open and pulled out her dress.
"I STILL say those silly springs should let you keep your
clothes," Charlotte complained. "It's such a bother to have to
lug all this baggage around."
"Who's doing the lugging? You?" Buford asked, wiping
freshly-splashed warm water out of his face. "You've got no
right to complain, little girl."
"Someone's testy today," Charlotte said, retying her bow to
accommodate her larger head size.
"I can't believe you're helping out this Ryouga character,"
Buford said. "With you, it's always whatever seems like a good
idea at a time. Want to go to the caribbean? Get Buford to haul
your bag there. Victor sets a private detective on us? Buford,
pound him for me. Naturally, I couldn't smack Victor around a
little, even if he was standing right there and asking for it."
"That's not the point of the game," Charlotte said. "We're
matching plots and plans, not fists."
"Then why was *I* happily wiping the mat with some wimpy
private dick?" Buford asked.
"It's part of the plan. Victor has to get new allies in
every city. You I always have. You're a formidable pawn."
"PAWN?!" Buford blurted. "Girl, I do practically everything
for you, and you don't regard me higher than a stupid little
painted chess piece? Ah, forget it. Carry your own bags form
now on. I'm outta here."
"Wh... wait!" Charlotte spoke, reaching after the exiting
cowboy. "Where are you going?"
"China," he said. "I'm going to track down that cure and
keep it up until... well, until I find it. You may not want to
be cured, but *I* do. Hasta la vista!"
"Not so loud!" Charlotte insisted. "You'll wake the
Tendos."
"All the better. You've got plotting and planning skills;
plot and plan your way out of here," Buford said, donning his hat
and striding out the door, floorboards creaking.
Charlotte dashed for the door, but the man was gone. Fast
walker, she noted. It has been of invaluable help, when we
needed to get away from a Victor-assisted lynch mob...
"Bwee?" bweed a voice near her ankle. P-Chan tugged at her
dress.
"Oh, it's you," Charlotte said, downfallen. "Alright.
Let's get you a little hot water."
*
"Ugh," Ryouga groaned, looking at his ruined campsite.
Repeated boat crashes and net-scuffs and tidal waves had not been
kind to the site. Still, a clearing was a clearing. "It'll have
to do. I can't wait any longer, I need to be with Akane. I need
to know your plan!"
"Plan. Right," Charlotte said. "Okay."
"Something wrong?" Ryouga asked.
"No... yes. Buford left," Charlotte said. "He said I was
treating him like a chess piece."
"Weren't you?" Ryouga asked before being slapped. He spin a
full three hundred and sixty degrees before falling over.
"I WASN'T!" Charlotte yelled. "He was a good man, and
always there to keep me out of trouble, even when we were in
serious danger... he never asked to follow me around, he just
started to after fishing me out of that fountain in Austin...
just like a big brother... and now he's gone."
"Sorry," Ryouga apologized.
"No, it's okay," Charlotte said, helping Ryouga to his feet.
"I was being pretty insensitive lately, ordering him around more
and saying please less... I guess I drove him away. I feel like
pond scum."
"You're NOT pond scum," Ryouga stated. "You're one of the
nicest people I've ever met, Charlotte. You like me even though
I'm cursed, and even want to help me. Nobody's ever helped me
before without asking for something in return. Making deals.
You're the first person who hasn't tried to use me for their own
agenda."
"Yes I have," Charlotte said. "I mean, I'm just doing this
because I love toying with people. Meddling. You could be
anybody, even Ranma, or Ukyou."
"You really believe that?" Ryouga asked. "I thought you
liked me."
"I do, Ryouga, just that... well..."
The two paused, not sure what words were supposed to follow.
They KNEW the words, but pretended not to.
"Plan," Ryouga managed.
"Plan. Yes, the plan," Charlotte said, pulling a rolled up
sheet of paper out of her dress sleeve. "The plan."
"How'd you fit that up there?"
"Woman's secret. Okay, I took what you've been telling me
the last few days and plotted it up in diagram format," she said,
unrolling the paper on the driest portion of dirt she could find.
Ryouga squinted at the paper. It resembled a fifty pound
bag of ramen noodles in two dimensions. Circles with names in
them had dozens of arrows, all point off in various directions,
with various colors.
"I'll translate," Charlotte said, fetching a stick to use as
a pointer. "Okay. The main relationship here is Ryouga to
Akane, which is in the form of not-yet-expressed love. Plus we
have a back-arrow from Akane to the P-Chan circle attached to
yours, of Motherly Love. In turn, we have Ranma reluctantly
engaged to Akane, and vice versa, with extra fiancees that love
Ranma under the circles with Shampoo, Ukyou, and Kodachi, and
'enemy' lines between all three and Akane, plus the various
seekers of Akane such as Kunou, Gosunkugi, and Mikado. Azusa
wants to hug P-Chan to bits and the pig-tailed girl is chased by
Kunou and Mikado. Mouse loves Shampoo and is an enemy of Ranma
for that. Cologne schemes with Shampoo and Happosai's a jerk and
three quarters. I have a feeling Nabiki is also twisting
Victor's arm at the moment. Did I forget anything?"
"Ummm... Tsubasa shows up occasionally calling in Ukyou..."
Ryouga thought, trying to puzzle out the links and dialog boxes
on the paper. "Ranma's mother will kill him and his father if
she finds out about the curses, and Mr. Tendo and Mr. Saotome
want Akane and Ranma together and I think Sasuke has a thing for
Azusa."
Charlotte perked an eyebrow.
"Or so I'm told," Ryouga shrugged.
"Okay. So we need to keep everybody that has an Akane-love-
link or a Ryouga-hate-link away from you. Hmm. This is going to
take some work."
"What are these circles off to the side?" Ryouga asked,
tapping the paper.
"Victor, Buford and I," Charlotte said. "Extra players.
Victor we can probably keep out of the picture... notice the fear
link to Akane and the slave link to Nabiki. That one's
speculation, of course."
"I think you can assume that one," Ryouga said. "Nabiki
wouldn't have singled him out if she didn't have a plan of her
own."
"That could be a problem. Hmm. Okay, the biggest threats
here are Ranma, Nabiki, Victor and Kunou. We can use the rest of
these guys to keep those four away, and that'll be that. Are you
sure you can win Akane over, if you're given a clear shot?"
"I don't know," Ryouga said. "I mean, I've never been given
the opportunity. Whenever I'm around her... not as P-Chan, that
is, she's sort of indifferent. Doesn't show any malice, but
nothing beyond friend-of-Ranma's either. What if you go through
all this trouble, and I screw it up? I'd have lost my one shot
at this, and let you down..."
Charlotte thought. "Okay, I have a solution. We'll do a
rehearsal date. Nothing fancy, just a quick troubleshooting run
to make sure you don't act like a male pig... err... no pun
intended... or say the wrong thing. Plus, you need to be taught
how to stay AWAY from water."
"How can we do a rehearsal date with the rest of them
around, looking after Akane?"
"Not with HER, silly. That's the final mission. We'll go
out tonight and do a quick run-through."
"What, with you?" Ryouga asked, confused.
"Of course," Charlotte said. "What, you got a problem with
me?"
"No!" Ryouga blurted. "Anything. I need to be prepared.
Yes, preparation is good. Lead the way."
"We'll stick to the basics. Food, movie, trip home.
That'll cover it," Charlotte said. "Don't worry, I'm an expert.
Daddums would constantly parade me for other rich brats. I know
what doesn't work. Boy, do I know what doesn't work."
*
Ryouga sat outside the toy store, wondering what was going
on.
Charlotte had agreed to go on a rehearsal date... well, more
like suggested it in the first place. First stop was going to be
dinner, but why were they at a toy store?
"Wait here," she had ordered. So Ryouga did. Anything to
make sure this worked.
"Alright," Charlotte said, bounding out of the store with a
multicolored plastic tube slung onto her back.
"What's that?" Ryouga asked.
"This?" Charlotte said, sliding the tube down her shoulder
and into her waiting hands. "SuperSoaker. Just a fifty, I'm
afraid, but I have some refill tubes handy."
"Wh... what's that for?" Ryouga asked, alarmed.
"Our purpose tonight is twofold. One, to make you into
Prince Charming. Two, to make sure Akane doesn't find out your
little secret by training you to avoid water," she said, pumping
the front barrel of the gun. "Let's see how well you dance."
The stream of water shot out, Ryouga hopping on one foot to
avoid it. "Hey, cut that out!"
"What, are you kidding? We'll be doing this all the way to
the restaurant. Heads up."
Ryouga ducked as another stream shot over his head. "Argh!
Get that stuff away from me!"
"I've still got a hundred shots to go! Now, let's move.
Ucchan's is that way," she said, pointing. A stream approached
his back, edging him on.
Innocent bystanders giggled to themselves at the sight of a
boy in yellow being chased by a watergun-wielding girl in a blue
dress. It was just like being in a wacky cartoon comedy!
One bystander detached from the crowd and slinked along
after the pair. He wasn't laughing. He had a job to do.
END - Part 5
(Closing theme : Little Date (the no-mix mix))
All characters copyright Shonen, created by Rumiko
Takahashi. Music citations copyright Nothing/TVT. Charlotte and
Buford and Victor by Stefan Gagne.