The True Heir
By
Project Balrog Productions
Oh yeah, just in case you didn't know, there are a whole
bunch of people who own the rights to these characters and I
am not one of them. Or two of them for that matter.
Chapter four
The Trouble with Tofu...
no vegetable protein was harmed in the making of this chapter
[A long time ago in a Galaxy... Um, no. That's not right.
Oh yeah,
"When we last left you, Tarou had just returned from a
harrowing day of higher education. Knowing that the recent
revelation of his Jusenkyo curse would inevitably lead to
difficulties at his college, he decided to enlist the aid of
a priest in demonstrating to school officials that his curse
would not make him a danger to the other students. Mr.
Tendo quickly recalled that the family doctor was something
of an authority on supernatural matters, and would likely be
willing to provide his help in clearing up any
misunderstanding."
"And now, on with the show..."]
[The Streets of Nerima]
Tarou scratched his head in confusion as he looked at the
scrap of paper in his hand.
Who knew that Mr. Tendo's handwriting would be even worse
than pop's?
He was fairly certain that he was on the right street, but
beyond that, he had no clue. He didn't see any signs for a
clinic nearby either.
He was about to stop, reluctantly, and ask for directions
when he got splashed in the side of the face.
It took a long, horrified moment before he realized that for
once, he had been splashed with warm water. He did his best
not to growl. The damned curse was picking up a sense of
humor today.
He smiled grimly before turning, there was a good chance
that he'd get to work off some frustration.
He was greeted by a man in his late twenties with dark hair
and glasses. He seemed... peaceful, and sincerely sorry...
just great.
Biting back his growing irritation, Tarou decided he
couldn't honorably beat the annoying pansy into a bloody
pulp. He gritted his teeth.
"It's alright. Just look first next time."
"I really am very sorry, I was just closing up my clinic
early for the night..."
Tarou snorted loudly, cutting him off.
"You're Tofu aren't you? Just my luck."
"Well yes, how can I..."
"I don't suppose you've ever heard of Jusenkyo?"
"I might have..."
Tarou started to speak again, but this time Tofu didn't
allow the interruption.
"I can see that you're agitated, and it's at least partly
my fault, but that's no reason to be rude. If you'll come
inside and calm down a little I'm sure we can deal with your
problem, whatever it is."
"Fine."
Even as he stepped through the door, Tarou was starting to
have problems controlling his rising temper. There was
something about Tofu that just rubbed him the wrong way.
And to make it even worse, he needed the man's help.
"Now," Tofu said, in an infuriatingly reasonable voice, "how
can I help you?"
"Like I asked earlier, have you ever heard of Jusenkyo?"
"Hmmm, I think I might have..."
It's a yes or no question moron. It's not that hard.
"...lets see..."
How long is this going to take?
"...ah yes, I believe I have."
Finally!
"I believe I did hear at some point about some supposedly
cursed springs by that name. Some nonsense about
transformations utterly ridiculous of course, if nothing
else there's conservation of mass to consider."
Tarou snorted.
"Yeah, well I'd demonstrate, but there wouldn't be much
left of your office if I did."
"You mean to tell me that you've actually been there?"
"Twice, I only remember the last one though."
"And you actually believe that you transform into an animal
of some sort?"
Tofu began writing on a nearby pad of paper.
"A mixture of animals actually. If I remember right, it's
Ox, Crane, Yeti, Eel, and Giant Octopus."
"You do know that there's no evidence that Yetis actually
exist don't you?"
"Hey, it's just what the guide told me."
"The guide?"
"At the springs."
"Ah yes, of course."
"Well I don't know why you came to me specifically, but I do
believe that I have a colleague who can help you."
He tore off a piece of paper and handed it to Tarou, on the
paper was a name and a phone number.
"How exactly is this person supposed to help when you don't
even know what the problem is."
"Well to you it might not be, but I think the problem is
fairly obvious. Dr. Yamamoto should be able you help you
past this atavism delusion of yours rather handily. It's
amazing just how strong the power of suggestion can be on
the... well, lets just say 'certain people' in regards to
these regional 'curses'. I understand that his rates are
quite reasonable. I'm sure that the two of you will develop
a healthy doctor-patient relationship."
Tofu, not too subtly, guides Tarou back out the door of his
clinic.
As soon as he realizes what's happening, Tarou turns around
and grabs Tofu by the front of the shirt.
"Look, doc, I don't think you understand what I'm saying to
you."
"Jusenkyo isn't a delusion. If I get more than a few drops
of cold water on me, I turn into an overgrown minotaur. I
don't need that fixed. All I need is for you to convince
the administration at my college that I'm not dangerous."
Tofu calmly raised his arm, lightly touching Tarou in the
process. Immediately, Tarou's hand spasmed open, releasing
him.
"Yes, because you're obviously doing a good job of
demonstrating that. I wonder if it ever occurred to you that
threats of physical violence rarely encourage willing
cooperation. They certainly won't convince anyone that
you're harmless."
"Yeah, well if you'd stop preaching and listen for a second
maybe I wouldn't have to threaten you."
"No, I think I've already heard more than enough from you.
If you don't leave now, I'll have to call... Ka... Ka...
Kasumi!"
"What?!"
Tarou whirled around to see that Kasumi was indeed walking
towards them. He had no clue why she'd cause that much of a
reaction, but he didn't like it. He might not have asked
for it but she was his fiance, and there was no way in hell
he'd let this stuck-up bastard get near her.
Not that his intentions had much effect. Before he could do
anything about it, he felt a hand grab him from behind.
Shortly after, he felt pain on a level he had never imagined
possible.
It was all he could do to stay conscious while this sadist
treated his body like an oversized piece of origami paper.
And his fiance was standing there giggling like it was the
funniest damned thing in the world!
It seemed like hours before she finally left, and during
that whole time, he'd been getting mangled and she hadn't so
much as acknowledged his presence.
"Oh dear, how did you manage to do that to yourself?"
"It's easily fixed though...."
Snap Crackle Pop!
And the pain was gone. Oddly enough, the burning murderous
rage didn't seem to vanish with it.
"Now I'm sorry, but I really don't have the time or the
inclination to deal with an irrational child. So run along
now."
Tofu gently but firmly pushed Tarou away and turned to
reenter his clinic. Just as he was opening the door, he was
tapped on the shoulder.
"Now look, if you don't leave now I'll... urk!"
Hearing a wild story about someone turning into a twisted
blend of animals is one thing. Being picked up in the
tentacles of said twisted blend is something completely
different.
The small part of his mind that wasn't gibbering in terror
wondered numbly how the creature could balance itself on
such small hoofs. That small part soon realized that the
way he was being restrained with his arms and legs extended
left him completely unable to defend himself in any way, and
the beast was cracking its knuckles. Yet another tentacle
wrapped over his mouth, presumably to muffle any screams.
That small portion of his mind decided to join the common
consensus at that point.
As a doctor, he would later be impressed at the skill and
care shown by the creature. It's blows were carefully
chosen to inflict a maximum of pain while leaving absolutely
no permanent damage.
It soon grew bored and tossed him to the ground. It was
rather unfortunate that he opened his mouth to protest as
soon as he landed. Strictly speaking, he might have been
able to guess that a creature that was part octopus could
project ink. That it seemed to do it through its fingers
was a complete surprise though.
He didn't quite have the strength to stand. Instead, he
leaned against the wall of his clinic. He was bruised,
blinded, and gagging on ink. Distantly, he heard the door
to his clinic sliding open, followed quickly by the sound of
an empty tea-kettle hitting the ground.
After a few seconds, he heard the voice of the young man he
had earlier dismissed as delusional.
"I came here to ask for your help. I was told that you were
open-minded and that you were interested in curses and other
unusual things. All you had to do was listen to me for a
few seconds and neither one of us would have gone through
this mess."
"Instead you judged me without bothering to learn the truth
and insulted me for no reason. Then you did your level best
to turn me into a pretzel. I'd have let that slide because
I do need help with the morons at my college if it weren't
for one thing. It's not my choice, and I don't even know
her yet, but our damned parents engaged me and Kasumi.
There's no way in hell I'm going to stand back and watch a
perverted cradle-robbing asshole like you drool over her."
"You make me sick."
As he heard the young man's footsteps heading away, Tofu
only thought of one thing.
"I really could have handled that better."
[The Tendo Home]
Soun looked up from his paper as he heard Kasumi enter the
house.
"Ah good, you're home."
"Hello Father, I was just going to get cleaned up and then
start dinner."
"Don't worry about dinner Kasumi, I've had Nabiki order
takeout for us. Besides, you should be getting ready."
Kasumi's face fell, almost imperceptively.
"Getting ready for what, father?"
"Why for your date with Tarou, of course. Saotome and I
made reservations for the two of you at that new restaurant
you mentioned last week. And we have a pair of tickets for
you two to go see a movie."
"Oh my, that's... kind... of you. You really shouldn't
have..."
Soun goes on as though he doesn't notice her reluctance.
"Nonsense! It's the least we can do. You and Tarou need a
chance to get to know each other without us getting in the
way. Besides, it's about time you got out of the house for
a while."
Kasumi sighed softly and tried to smile.
"I suppose I should go get ready then, it is a rather formal
restaurant after all."
"Yes, that would be best." Soun's voice softened, "And
Kasumi..."
"Yes father?"
"...I'm sure you two will have a wonderful time."
"I hope you're right father."
After she left, Genma poked his head out of a nearby door.
"I'm amazed Tendo, that went better than I had imagined
possible, I guess you were worried for nothing."
It was then that he noticed Soun's face. His friend was
crying openly.
"Tell me we're doing the right thing Saotome. Tell me it'll
work out for the best."
"It will Soun. You've done a fine job with your daughter,
there's no way even my hard-headed son will be able to
resist her. You should be proud. At last our old dream
will come true."
"But what if...?"
"There's no 'ifs' Tendo. They'll be happy together, and the
future of the school will be assured."
Soun seemed determined to further wallow in his own misery,
but the phone rang, forcing him to gain some semblance of
control.
"Hello."
"Yes this is the Tendo household."
"Tarou, yes actually he is staying here. Excuse me miss..."
"Ah yes, Miss Hinako, why were you calling again?"
"No, not at all."
"Jusenkyo"
"Yes."
"Yes, thank you, I'm sure he'll be grateful to hear it."
"Actually, he's off now to get assistance with that, but
I suppose it's no longer necessary."
"Thank you again. Yes, he'll be there."
"I'm sure he'd rather explain the details himself."
"I'll tell him."
"Goodbye."
After Soun hung up the phone, he looked much happier than he
had been a moment ago.
"Well Saotome, it looks as though Tarou's problem has
resolved itself."
"How so?"
"That was one of his teachers, apparently she has some sort
of curse of her own, and has already explained things to her
employers."
Just then, Tarou himself walked in, he's a little roughed up,
but is whistling cheerfully.
Genma pounces on the opportunity.
"Tarou!"
"Yeah pops?"
"You're taking Kasumi out on a date tonight!"
Tarou's face darkens and he starts to shout a refusal when he
hesitates. Slowly his expression brightens and his smile
stretches from ear to ear.
"Sounds great. I'd better get ready."
Tarou walked past the two stunned fathers and headed straight
to his room.
After a moment, Genma spoke up.
"This isn't good Tendo."
"What do you mean?"
"If Tarou's giving in that easily, he's got something
planned. And if he's that cheerful, it's something very,
very bad."
"Surely you're exaggerating."
"I hope so Tendo, I hope so."
End Chapter four
[an infinite field of white space.]
Gradually, an object fades into view. It's a podium with a
microphone, and soon after it appears a man fades into view
behind it.
He's very tall, relative to the podium, and is forced to
adjust the microphone. By the time the microphone is set to
an acceptable height, you've had a good chance to get a look
at him.
He's somewhat thin. His skin is lightly tanned, but still
quite pale. His hair is very short, and he's wearing a
goatee and fair a bit of stubble besides. Behind his
glasses and his thick eyebrows, his blue eyes are sunken and
vaguely bloodshot. He's wearing a simple white t-shirt and
a pair of faded and worn blue-jeans. He appears to be in
his early to mid twenties.
He taps the microphone before recoiling from the piercing
feedback.
"Ahem..."
"Oh wait, what was I going to say?"
"Oh yeah, that's right."
He looks directly into your eyes.
"Hello."
"My name is David, and I am the 'head' so to speak of
Project Balrog Productions. Well, actually I'm currently
the entire company, but that's not important."
"Most of you are aware of us due to our current major
project, 'The True Heir', a Ranma 1/2 story in which
Pantyhose Tarou is dumped into Ranma's miserable excuse for
a life."
"We're still not sure whether or not we're doing him a favor
with that actually..."
"In any case, I have an request to make on behalf of the
company."
"Does anyone know of any good long stories heavily
featuring either Rouge or Kiima? I mean other than 'The
Warrior That Returned' by Drakuzz. By the way, that's a
pretty good story for those of you who haven't read it.
Well assuming you can get past the vastly over-powered main
characters and the way that almost no one bears more than a
superficial resemblance to their original personality. But
hey, I like it."
"It's really unfair that someone as hot as Kiima gets so
little attention in fanfiction. And she's amazingly bright
compared to just about everyone else in the manga. Not that
that's much of a compliment..."
"And Rouge's 'I'm a sweet little innocent girl' act is
pretty damned hilarious. Not to mention she's hot."
"Certainly they're both far more attractive than anyone in
Ranma's fanclub anyway."
"Not that I'm superficial or anything..."
A screen pops up out of nowhere showing the scene in the
last chapter where Tarou stares at Hinako's ass.
"Er... right."
"Anyway, thanks for reading. And stuff..."
"Oh yeah, the opinion was expressed that I'm not doing
enough 'Akane Bashing' in this story." He arches an
eyebrow. "That's... interesting. In truth I mean to push
Akane and the other staples of the original series further
and further into the background as the story progresses. I
might show Tarou training her in true Saotome fashion, which
I'm sure will satisfy all but the most sadistic of you, but
I really intend to avoid mentioning her as much as possible.
For my purposes in this story, she's little more than a
distraction."
"I need to get back to my original schedule for writing, so
I'll try to have something out by Wednesday night.
Fortunately, I've planned ahead for occasions like this.
Hopefully I'll pick up enough time to get back on schedule
and not pump out pure crap..."
He fades away slowly, along with the podium.
"...stupid cheesy special effects..."
By
Project Balrog Productions
Oh yeah, just in case you didn't know, there are a whole
bunch of people who own the rights to these characters and I
am not one of them. Or two of them for that matter.
Chapter four
The Trouble with Tofu...
no vegetable protein was harmed in the making of this chapter
[A long time ago in a Galaxy... Um, no. That's not right.
Oh yeah,
"When we last left you, Tarou had just returned from a
harrowing day of higher education. Knowing that the recent
revelation of his Jusenkyo curse would inevitably lead to
difficulties at his college, he decided to enlist the aid of
a priest in demonstrating to school officials that his curse
would not make him a danger to the other students. Mr.
Tendo quickly recalled that the family doctor was something
of an authority on supernatural matters, and would likely be
willing to provide his help in clearing up any
misunderstanding."
"And now, on with the show..."]
[The Streets of Nerima]
Tarou scratched his head in confusion as he looked at the
scrap of paper in his hand.
Who knew that Mr. Tendo's handwriting would be even worse
than pop's?
He was fairly certain that he was on the right street, but
beyond that, he had no clue. He didn't see any signs for a
clinic nearby either.
He was about to stop, reluctantly, and ask for directions
when he got splashed in the side of the face.
It took a long, horrified moment before he realized that for
once, he had been splashed with warm water. He did his best
not to growl. The damned curse was picking up a sense of
humor today.
He smiled grimly before turning, there was a good chance
that he'd get to work off some frustration.
He was greeted by a man in his late twenties with dark hair
and glasses. He seemed... peaceful, and sincerely sorry...
just great.
Biting back his growing irritation, Tarou decided he
couldn't honorably beat the annoying pansy into a bloody
pulp. He gritted his teeth.
"It's alright. Just look first next time."
"I really am very sorry, I was just closing up my clinic
early for the night..."
Tarou snorted loudly, cutting him off.
"You're Tofu aren't you? Just my luck."
"Well yes, how can I..."
"I don't suppose you've ever heard of Jusenkyo?"
"I might have..."
Tarou started to speak again, but this time Tofu didn't
allow the interruption.
"I can see that you're agitated, and it's at least partly
my fault, but that's no reason to be rude. If you'll come
inside and calm down a little I'm sure we can deal with your
problem, whatever it is."
"Fine."
Even as he stepped through the door, Tarou was starting to
have problems controlling his rising temper. There was
something about Tofu that just rubbed him the wrong way.
And to make it even worse, he needed the man's help.
"Now," Tofu said, in an infuriatingly reasonable voice, "how
can I help you?"
"Like I asked earlier, have you ever heard of Jusenkyo?"
"Hmmm, I think I might have..."
It's a yes or no question moron. It's not that hard.
"...lets see..."
How long is this going to take?
"...ah yes, I believe I have."
Finally!
"I believe I did hear at some point about some supposedly
cursed springs by that name. Some nonsense about
transformations utterly ridiculous of course, if nothing
else there's conservation of mass to consider."
Tarou snorted.
"Yeah, well I'd demonstrate, but there wouldn't be much
left of your office if I did."
"You mean to tell me that you've actually been there?"
"Twice, I only remember the last one though."
"And you actually believe that you transform into an animal
of some sort?"
Tofu began writing on a nearby pad of paper.
"A mixture of animals actually. If I remember right, it's
Ox, Crane, Yeti, Eel, and Giant Octopus."
"You do know that there's no evidence that Yetis actually
exist don't you?"
"Hey, it's just what the guide told me."
"The guide?"
"At the springs."
"Ah yes, of course."
"Well I don't know why you came to me specifically, but I do
believe that I have a colleague who can help you."
He tore off a piece of paper and handed it to Tarou, on the
paper was a name and a phone number.
"How exactly is this person supposed to help when you don't
even know what the problem is."
"Well to you it might not be, but I think the problem is
fairly obvious. Dr. Yamamoto should be able you help you
past this atavism delusion of yours rather handily. It's
amazing just how strong the power of suggestion can be on
the... well, lets just say 'certain people' in regards to
these regional 'curses'. I understand that his rates are
quite reasonable. I'm sure that the two of you will develop
a healthy doctor-patient relationship."
Tofu, not too subtly, guides Tarou back out the door of his
clinic.
As soon as he realizes what's happening, Tarou turns around
and grabs Tofu by the front of the shirt.
"Look, doc, I don't think you understand what I'm saying to
you."
"Jusenkyo isn't a delusion. If I get more than a few drops
of cold water on me, I turn into an overgrown minotaur. I
don't need that fixed. All I need is for you to convince
the administration at my college that I'm not dangerous."
Tofu calmly raised his arm, lightly touching Tarou in the
process. Immediately, Tarou's hand spasmed open, releasing
him.
"Yes, because you're obviously doing a good job of
demonstrating that. I wonder if it ever occurred to you that
threats of physical violence rarely encourage willing
cooperation. They certainly won't convince anyone that
you're harmless."
"Yeah, well if you'd stop preaching and listen for a second
maybe I wouldn't have to threaten you."
"No, I think I've already heard more than enough from you.
If you don't leave now, I'll have to call... Ka... Ka...
Kasumi!"
"What?!"
Tarou whirled around to see that Kasumi was indeed walking
towards them. He had no clue why she'd cause that much of a
reaction, but he didn't like it. He might not have asked
for it but she was his fiance, and there was no way in hell
he'd let this stuck-up bastard get near her.
Not that his intentions had much effect. Before he could do
anything about it, he felt a hand grab him from behind.
Shortly after, he felt pain on a level he had never imagined
possible.
It was all he could do to stay conscious while this sadist
treated his body like an oversized piece of origami paper.
And his fiance was standing there giggling like it was the
funniest damned thing in the world!
It seemed like hours before she finally left, and during
that whole time, he'd been getting mangled and she hadn't so
much as acknowledged his presence.
"Oh dear, how did you manage to do that to yourself?"
"It's easily fixed though...."
Snap Crackle Pop!
And the pain was gone. Oddly enough, the burning murderous
rage didn't seem to vanish with it.
"Now I'm sorry, but I really don't have the time or the
inclination to deal with an irrational child. So run along
now."
Tofu gently but firmly pushed Tarou away and turned to
reenter his clinic. Just as he was opening the door, he was
tapped on the shoulder.
"Now look, if you don't leave now I'll... urk!"
Hearing a wild story about someone turning into a twisted
blend of animals is one thing. Being picked up in the
tentacles of said twisted blend is something completely
different.
The small part of his mind that wasn't gibbering in terror
wondered numbly how the creature could balance itself on
such small hoofs. That small part soon realized that the
way he was being restrained with his arms and legs extended
left him completely unable to defend himself in any way, and
the beast was cracking its knuckles. Yet another tentacle
wrapped over his mouth, presumably to muffle any screams.
That small portion of his mind decided to join the common
consensus at that point.
As a doctor, he would later be impressed at the skill and
care shown by the creature. It's blows were carefully
chosen to inflict a maximum of pain while leaving absolutely
no permanent damage.
It soon grew bored and tossed him to the ground. It was
rather unfortunate that he opened his mouth to protest as
soon as he landed. Strictly speaking, he might have been
able to guess that a creature that was part octopus could
project ink. That it seemed to do it through its fingers
was a complete surprise though.
He didn't quite have the strength to stand. Instead, he
leaned against the wall of his clinic. He was bruised,
blinded, and gagging on ink. Distantly, he heard the door
to his clinic sliding open, followed quickly by the sound of
an empty tea-kettle hitting the ground.
After a few seconds, he heard the voice of the young man he
had earlier dismissed as delusional.
"I came here to ask for your help. I was told that you were
open-minded and that you were interested in curses and other
unusual things. All you had to do was listen to me for a
few seconds and neither one of us would have gone through
this mess."
"Instead you judged me without bothering to learn the truth
and insulted me for no reason. Then you did your level best
to turn me into a pretzel. I'd have let that slide because
I do need help with the morons at my college if it weren't
for one thing. It's not my choice, and I don't even know
her yet, but our damned parents engaged me and Kasumi.
There's no way in hell I'm going to stand back and watch a
perverted cradle-robbing asshole like you drool over her."
"You make me sick."
As he heard the young man's footsteps heading away, Tofu
only thought of one thing.
"I really could have handled that better."
[The Tendo Home]
Soun looked up from his paper as he heard Kasumi enter the
house.
"Ah good, you're home."
"Hello Father, I was just going to get cleaned up and then
start dinner."
"Don't worry about dinner Kasumi, I've had Nabiki order
takeout for us. Besides, you should be getting ready."
Kasumi's face fell, almost imperceptively.
"Getting ready for what, father?"
"Why for your date with Tarou, of course. Saotome and I
made reservations for the two of you at that new restaurant
you mentioned last week. And we have a pair of tickets for
you two to go see a movie."
"Oh my, that's... kind... of you. You really shouldn't
have..."
Soun goes on as though he doesn't notice her reluctance.
"Nonsense! It's the least we can do. You and Tarou need a
chance to get to know each other without us getting in the
way. Besides, it's about time you got out of the house for
a while."
Kasumi sighed softly and tried to smile.
"I suppose I should go get ready then, it is a rather formal
restaurant after all."
"Yes, that would be best." Soun's voice softened, "And
Kasumi..."
"Yes father?"
"...I'm sure you two will have a wonderful time."
"I hope you're right father."
After she left, Genma poked his head out of a nearby door.
"I'm amazed Tendo, that went better than I had imagined
possible, I guess you were worried for nothing."
It was then that he noticed Soun's face. His friend was
crying openly.
"Tell me we're doing the right thing Saotome. Tell me it'll
work out for the best."
"It will Soun. You've done a fine job with your daughter,
there's no way even my hard-headed son will be able to
resist her. You should be proud. At last our old dream
will come true."
"But what if...?"
"There's no 'ifs' Tendo. They'll be happy together, and the
future of the school will be assured."
Soun seemed determined to further wallow in his own misery,
but the phone rang, forcing him to gain some semblance of
control.
"Hello."
"Yes this is the Tendo household."
"Tarou, yes actually he is staying here. Excuse me miss..."
"Ah yes, Miss Hinako, why were you calling again?"
"No, not at all."
"Jusenkyo"
"Yes."
"Yes, thank you, I'm sure he'll be grateful to hear it."
"Actually, he's off now to get assistance with that, but
I suppose it's no longer necessary."
"Thank you again. Yes, he'll be there."
"I'm sure he'd rather explain the details himself."
"I'll tell him."
"Goodbye."
After Soun hung up the phone, he looked much happier than he
had been a moment ago.
"Well Saotome, it looks as though Tarou's problem has
resolved itself."
"How so?"
"That was one of his teachers, apparently she has some sort
of curse of her own, and has already explained things to her
employers."
Just then, Tarou himself walked in, he's a little roughed up,
but is whistling cheerfully.
Genma pounces on the opportunity.
"Tarou!"
"Yeah pops?"
"You're taking Kasumi out on a date tonight!"
Tarou's face darkens and he starts to shout a refusal when he
hesitates. Slowly his expression brightens and his smile
stretches from ear to ear.
"Sounds great. I'd better get ready."
Tarou walked past the two stunned fathers and headed straight
to his room.
After a moment, Genma spoke up.
"This isn't good Tendo."
"What do you mean?"
"If Tarou's giving in that easily, he's got something
planned. And if he's that cheerful, it's something very,
very bad."
"Surely you're exaggerating."
"I hope so Tendo, I hope so."
End Chapter four
[an infinite field of white space.]
Gradually, an object fades into view. It's a podium with a
microphone, and soon after it appears a man fades into view
behind it.
He's very tall, relative to the podium, and is forced to
adjust the microphone. By the time the microphone is set to
an acceptable height, you've had a good chance to get a look
at him.
He's somewhat thin. His skin is lightly tanned, but still
quite pale. His hair is very short, and he's wearing a
goatee and fair a bit of stubble besides. Behind his
glasses and his thick eyebrows, his blue eyes are sunken and
vaguely bloodshot. He's wearing a simple white t-shirt and
a pair of faded and worn blue-jeans. He appears to be in
his early to mid twenties.
He taps the microphone before recoiling from the piercing
feedback.
"Ahem..."
"Oh wait, what was I going to say?"
"Oh yeah, that's right."
He looks directly into your eyes.
"Hello."
"My name is David, and I am the 'head' so to speak of
Project Balrog Productions. Well, actually I'm currently
the entire company, but that's not important."
"Most of you are aware of us due to our current major
project, 'The True Heir', a Ranma 1/2 story in which
Pantyhose Tarou is dumped into Ranma's miserable excuse for
a life."
"We're still not sure whether or not we're doing him a favor
with that actually..."
"In any case, I have an request to make on behalf of the
company."
"Does anyone know of any good long stories heavily
featuring either Rouge or Kiima? I mean other than 'The
Warrior That Returned' by Drakuzz. By the way, that's a
pretty good story for those of you who haven't read it.
Well assuming you can get past the vastly over-powered main
characters and the way that almost no one bears more than a
superficial resemblance to their original personality. But
hey, I like it."
"It's really unfair that someone as hot as Kiima gets so
little attention in fanfiction. And she's amazingly bright
compared to just about everyone else in the manga. Not that
that's much of a compliment..."
"And Rouge's 'I'm a sweet little innocent girl' act is
pretty damned hilarious. Not to mention she's hot."
"Certainly they're both far more attractive than anyone in
Ranma's fanclub anyway."
"Not that I'm superficial or anything..."
A screen pops up out of nowhere showing the scene in the
last chapter where Tarou stares at Hinako's ass.
"Er... right."
"Anyway, thanks for reading. And stuff..."
"Oh yeah, the opinion was expressed that I'm not doing
enough 'Akane Bashing' in this story." He arches an
eyebrow. "That's... interesting. In truth I mean to push
Akane and the other staples of the original series further
and further into the background as the story progresses. I
might show Tarou training her in true Saotome fashion, which
I'm sure will satisfy all but the most sadistic of you, but
I really intend to avoid mentioning her as much as possible.
For my purposes in this story, she's little more than a
distraction."
"I need to get back to my original schedule for writing, so
I'll try to have something out by Wednesday night.
Fortunately, I've planned ahead for occasions like this.
Hopefully I'll pick up enough time to get back on schedule
and not pump out pure crap..."
He fades away slowly, along with the podium.
"...stupid cheesy special effects..."