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. Not that you really suspected
otherwise...
Chapter Five
The Big Date
To misquote Bart Simpson -
"I didn't think it was physically possible, but this chapter
both sucks and blows!"
[Inside the Tendo home]
If Tarou had been thinking clearly, he would have taken his
time getting ready. After all, it is a law of nature that
no woman can ever get ready for a date, even one she does
not want to go on, in any period of time less than an
eternity. Well, actually that wasn't a fair statement.
A more fair statement would be that it will take an eternity
before there exists a woman who will not make a man wait for
her well past the borders of his patience before she is
ready to go. Anywhere.
And so Tarou sat there at the table across from Soun,
waiting.
He was wearing a simple but formal outfit that for some
unexplained reason he had seen fit to drag along with him
across two continents during the course of his most recent
training trip. Oddly enough, it wasn't as stupid of a
choice at it seemed at face value. This was the third
instance since he left home a few months ago in which he had
needed to be well-dressed. The other two are better left
unmentioned. Really.
Ordinarily if one is waiting for a woman to get ready for a
first date, and one is waiting with the woman's father, it
is a very awkward situation. The father glares, asks
probing questions, and above all implies or states outright
and frequently that the one in question is in no way fit to
exist on the same planet as his daughter, let alone date
her.
But then ordinarily the father isn't the one who set up the
date. And it's really not a common thing at all for the
father to be trying to force a marriage between the young
man in question and his ever so flawless daughter.
So while ordinarily a man in Tarou's position would be at
least a bit nervous and very ready to leave, either with his
date or alone and at a dead run, Tarou himself was only
annoyed. Well, if by 'only' we mean 'very'.
Kasumi's mother, Tarou decided, must have slept around an
awful lot. Really there was no conceivable way that any of
the three Tendo girls could be even remotely related to this
quivering, over-emotional mass of gelatin. He was very glad
that he'd already met Kasumi, or Soun's desperate and
overeager salesmanship would have convinced him that she was
some sort of cannibalistic axe-murdering circus side-show
freak of questionable species and gender.
If Soun did this to all of his daughter's dates, it was no
wonder that they were all single.
Mrs. Tendo must have been a saint to have not smothered him
with a pillow at some point.
Either that or both deaf and blind.
Tarou chuckled to himself quietly.
His laughter trailed off as Kasumi entered the room.
Obviously, she'd been using her time well. She was
beautiful. And untouchable. With a special emphasis on
that second point...
He felt mildly ashamed just for polluting her presence.
Then he remembered. He had a point to make with a certain
doctor.
He stood up. Compared to Kasumi's flawlessness, there was a
certain worn and rumpled look to him. He was casual,
confident, and oozing charm. With an appreciative look in
his eyes and a slow grin on his face, he held out his arm.
"Shall we go?"
Kasumi couldn't quite place why the date was going so
poorly.
Both of them were filling their roles well. She was the
perfect lady, and he was surprisingly being a perfect
gentleman. He made sure that they kept up a polite and
friendly conversation on their walk to the restaurant. He
even stopped to wave at Dr. Tofu as they passed the clinic.
He was intelligent, he was charming, he was acting
interested in her and her life.
He was acting.
She had nothing but a vague feeling to go on, but something
in her couldn't quite drop the feeling that he was being
dishonest. And she didn't know why.
She tried a few times to break the formal facade of their
date, but he wouldn't have it. Questions were deflected,
glances ignored, and anything that might have given life to
their conversation was stomped on ruthlessly. If this was
what a date was supposed to be, she hadn't been missing
much.
Finally, halfway through dinner, she arrived at an
explanation. Tarou obviously thought that this was
appropriate behavior for a date. He'd spent his entire life
wandering through the wilderness, and now that he was stuck
in a formal situation, he was overcompensating. Maybe she'd
gone a bit too far with the dress.
She sighed gently and took another small sip of her wine.
It was hard to believe that someone who had presumably lived
a life of travel and adventure could be so mind-numbingly
boring.
By the time they got to the theater, neither of their smiles
looked very convincing.
Tarou pulled the tickets from his pocket, and for the first
time looked at the movie title.
He flinched.
A quick glance to the posters lining the wall confirmed his
suspicions.
"Umm... Kasumi?"
"Yes?"
"Why don't we try something other than a movie?"
He tried to hide the tickets, but his protests only drew her
attention. Before he could get them out of sight, she saw
the title.
Saber Stars, the movie.
She didn't know why he'd be that upset about going to see an
anime based on real-live superheroes. Until she saw it.
The poster.
There they were on the poster, in their ridiculous trademark
poses, facing off against a giant demonic monster. A giant
demonic monster that looked an awful lot like her date had
last night.
Kasumi's smile wasn't evil. It came close, but it wasn't
quite evil.
She took the tickets from his now-nerveless fingers, and
then grabbed his hand and nearly dragged him into the
theater.
"I think a movie would be perfect right now."
{][},?
The movie was silly. It was childish. It was completely
absurd. And with its frequent use of real news headlines
and actual people, it had a faint air of credibility.
Before long, Kasumi was completely enthralled.
Tarou began looking for sharp objects to aid him in his
suicide attempt less than five minutes after it started.
The story, essentially, was as follows:
A few years ago, there was an awkward young boy in junior
high school. He was a complete geek, and was the target of
much abuse from his classmates. One day, while getting
beaten to a bloody pulp, he noticed a shining metallic
object out of the corner of his eye.
After he recovered enough to investigate, he discovered that
it was a sword. More specifically, it was a western cavalry
saber with an ornate hilt in a simple but elegant leather
scabbard. When he drew the sword, he underwent a startling
transformation.
He gained at least ten years in apparent age, a hundred
pounds of assorted bone and muscle, and a disturbingly
bishonen (X) appearance. For some bizarre reason, he began
calling himself 'Orion' and set out to do battle against the
forces of evil.
(X) - bishonen, a term that generally refers to a male who
is very effeminate. For some bizarre reason this is
considered to be a good thing in many cases. Personally I
find that to be almost but not quite as disturbing as the
trend towards youth worship that seems to consider no one to
be quite so attractive as a pre-pubescent boy. Regardless
of gender preference. Shudder (X)
Eventually he found both allies and enemies. His allies
were universally female, and went by the names Canis, Ursa,
Leo, Draco, Scorpius, and Taurus despite the masculine
quality to several of the names. All of his allies were, of
course, in their early teens and unbearably cute.
His regular enemies chose to name themselves after the
planets. Some were male, and some female. The females were
universally trashy, and the males almost but not quite as
bishonen as Orion.
At first, the heroes were hopelessly outmatched by even the
weakest of their opponents. Eventually, however, they
learned to use the true magic of their blades. His allies
could, by crossing their swords and speaking a truly
disturbing magical phrase, combine to become obscenely
powerful legendary heroes. Canis and Ursa became Perseus.
Leo and Draco became Herakles. Scorpius and Taurus became
Gemini, the twins Castor and Pollux. And yes, all of these
legendary heroes were male. As the transformations were
only temporary and the heroes distinctly lacking in
personality, there wasn't much conflict with their original
forms.
Orion himself was nearly as strong as and of the legendary
heroes to begin with. When he performed his own
transformation and became the huntress Artemis, he surpassed
them in strength by a very wide margin.
Artemis had a completely independent personality and set of
memories. This occasionally leads to serious negative
issues.
The above was all backstory and was glossed over during the
first ten minutes or so.
The main story of the movie itself began when, during one of
the weekly major fights with the lesser villains, Tarou got
involved simply by being wet and in the wrong place at the
right time.
After being attacked by both sides, he lost his temper. He
started laying into the Saber Stars first. They hadn't used
their transformations yet, and he swatted them around with
little difficulty. Orion was the only one still conscious,
barely, when Tarou turned his attention on the 'bad guys'.
Not realizing that Tarou was going to attack the villains as
well, Orion reluctantly triggered his transformation.
Artemis was just rising to her feet when she saw him begin
his assault. She watched quietly, hiding herself and
waiting for a trap that never came. After he was done, he
looked around without seeing her before darting into a
nearby alley.
She followed, and saw him transform back into his human form
without seeing him use any hot water. In the movie he was
shown as being around 15, very attractive, and having a kind
face.
She stared, stunned, while he ran away.
The scene faded away with her whispering, "Icarus...".
[Kasumi was by now riveted to the movie. Tarou groaned
loudly, but shut up when she whispered at him to not be
rude.]
From that point on, the movie was a tragic romance starring
Artemis and Tarou, told from her perspective. She believed
that he was Icarus, her long lost lover from several
millennia ago, and that he had been cursed to turn into the
minotaur that had enslaved his people.
They ran into each other several times, but only when he was
in his human form. She tried repeatedly to talk to him, but
he always edged away.
He denied her claim that he was really Icarus, and told her
to leave him alone. He also told her that she was crazy if
she thought he'd be interested in someone who spent half her
time as a guy.
From those conversations, she reached several...
interesting... conclusions. One, because of his rudeness,
she was certain that he was in fact Icarus (this is
emphasized by flashbacks). Two, that his memory was somehow
being blocked. Three, he had at least temporarily fought
off his curse (completely unfounded, and her view of what
the curse is was rather amorphous). And four, that if she
was going to win his love again, she'd better find a way to
ditch Orion.
To accomplish her goal in point number four, she decided to
do the logical thing. She made a pact with Uranus, the
ruler of her enemies, in order to gain an independent form.
Needless to say, there were unintended consequences that
weren't exactly pleasant.
The movie showed her romance with Tarou (who doesn't realize
that it's her in her new body) progressing well, if slowly.
It made it obvious that despite his protests, he really
loved her deep down and that they were destined to be
together.
Unfortunately, her former friends and allies were now
getting their collective asses kicked. She saw several of
the fights, but did nothing. If she ever used her powers,
she'd lose her temporary body and be stuck with Orion again.
In the climax of the movie, she was walking with Tarou when
they stumbled onto a battlefield.
By this time, Tarou knew who the bad guys are, and he
ditched Artemis (who he assumed didn't know about his
transformation) in order to transform and head into battle.
He was getting killed.
Believing that he permanently abandoned his own humanity in
an attempt to rescue her and her friends, she abandoned her
newfound freedom in order to save him and her allies.
After she won the battle, she gave him a tearful goodbye
speech. She will never truly be a whole woman, and he will
never be free of the Minotaur that curses him. The two will
live on forever, cruelly separated by fate.
The movie ends on a sad note with the two of them thousands
of miles apart, but looking back toward each other
longingly. Tarou is of course in his minotaur form.
{{{{{
Not long after they left the theater, Tarou turned to look
at Kasumi. When he spoke, his voice was filled with
disgust.
"I don't see why you're crying, you never had to talk to the
delusional twit."
She looked up at him through her tears.
"How can you be so heartless? She loved you. How can you
say you didn't feel anything in return."
He snorted.
"No, she loved some poor sap named Icarus. I was just a
convenient target. Sure I felt sorry for her, but that's
it."
"But still..."
"What, you mean you've never dealt with an unwanted crush?
That's hard to believe."
"Well, there was that Tatewaki boy, but he was just so
silly. I don't think he was ever serious."
"And what makes you think I ever took little miss 'love and
justice' seriously?"
Kasumi giggled.
"She is a little... odd."
"Feh. A little? How 'bout a lot."
Neither of them seemed to notice that they were holding each
other's hands as they headed back to the Dojo.
}}}}}
[outside the gate of the Tendo home]
Tarou's breath caught as he looked down into Kasumi's eyes.
They had been standing outside the gate for a couple minutes
now, hesitating awkwardly. Yesterday, she was an unwanted
burden. A few hours ago, she was a tool to get back at Tofu
a little more. Right now, with that soft look in her eyes
and that shy blush on her cheeks, she was making thought
impossible.
As he leaned forward, he wondered somewhere in the back of
his mind just what her lips would taste like.
The gate opened. He didn't jump out of his skin, but it was
a very close thing.
It wasn't too surprising that someone from inside the house
interrupted them.
The fact that they were being interrupted by a police
officer was a bit of a surprise.
"Saotome Tarou."
"Umm... yes?"
"I have a warrant for your arrest for the assault of Dr.
Tofu Ono..."
End Chapter
[][][][]
Author's Notes:
And the quote I censored in last week's Author's Notes was -
"No one has more potential to be dangerously stupid than a
man who knows he's right."
Tarou only has a lot of common sense if he's actually right.
He's generally angry, single minded, and arrogant. He also
has blind spots larger than most oceans. Never having to
deal with the name 'Pantyhose' has blunted his edges a
little in this story, but he's still the same somewhere deep
inside (in my opinion). I'd say his upcoming jail time
might be evidence that he does still, occasionally, make
mistakes. If nothing else, it shows that the world doesn't
always play by his rules.
Or did you think I'd just have Tofu kick his ass?
Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, the "Saber
Stars" is my thoroughly un-original annoying new parody. I
needed magical girls in mini-skirts to explain Tarou's
willingness to beat the daylights out of cute girls. The
whole Orion/Artemis deal was set up because it just wouldn't
be right to have a Ranma 1/2 story without the obligatory
gender-confusion.
I considered making this a Sailor Moon crossover for a
while. I was actually going to have Haruka play Ukyou's
role. To a degree anyway - I wasn't going to change her
preferences. She'd have been Tarou's fiance, his former
childhood friend, and also a rival for Kasumi's affections.
Not that Kasumi would have realized it. I decided after a
while that any Sailor Moon crossover was, inherently, a bad
idea. No matter how entertaining that particular love
triangle could have been.
Oh, and I realize that I'm telling more than I'm showing in
several places, but I don't think it would have helped the
story if I'd tossed a screenplay into the middle of it. The
movie was a way to have one of Tarou's ex-girlfriends
embarrass the hell out of him, and show Kasumi a side of him
she'd never have thought to look for.
After next week, it isn't guaranteed that I'll have internet
access in the immediate future. I just did the 'getting a
job' thing, and now I'm doing the 'finding an apartment'
thing because of the 'you can't housesit after the owners
come back' thing. If I literally can't post for a while,
I'll still write. I'll just release the intermediate
chapters in bulk when I get back.
Of course the 'getting a new job' thing is interfering with
my 'more or less infinite free time' thing, but so far it
just means I'm tired and I don't play as many video games.
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. Not that you really suspected
otherwise...
Chapter Five
The Big Date
To misquote Bart Simpson -
"I didn't think it was physically possible, but this chapter
both sucks and blows!"
[Inside the Tendo home]
If Tarou had been thinking clearly, he would have taken his
time getting ready. After all, it is a law of nature that
no woman can ever get ready for a date, even one she does
not want to go on, in any period of time less than an
eternity. Well, actually that wasn't a fair statement.
A more fair statement would be that it will take an eternity
before there exists a woman who will not make a man wait for
her well past the borders of his patience before she is
ready to go. Anywhere.
And so Tarou sat there at the table across from Soun,
waiting.
He was wearing a simple but formal outfit that for some
unexplained reason he had seen fit to drag along with him
across two continents during the course of his most recent
training trip. Oddly enough, it wasn't as stupid of a
choice at it seemed at face value. This was the third
instance since he left home a few months ago in which he had
needed to be well-dressed. The other two are better left
unmentioned. Really.
Ordinarily if one is waiting for a woman to get ready for a
first date, and one is waiting with the woman's father, it
is a very awkward situation. The father glares, asks
probing questions, and above all implies or states outright
and frequently that the one in question is in no way fit to
exist on the same planet as his daughter, let alone date
her.
But then ordinarily the father isn't the one who set up the
date. And it's really not a common thing at all for the
father to be trying to force a marriage between the young
man in question and his ever so flawless daughter.
So while ordinarily a man in Tarou's position would be at
least a bit nervous and very ready to leave, either with his
date or alone and at a dead run, Tarou himself was only
annoyed. Well, if by 'only' we mean 'very'.
Kasumi's mother, Tarou decided, must have slept around an
awful lot. Really there was no conceivable way that any of
the three Tendo girls could be even remotely related to this
quivering, over-emotional mass of gelatin. He was very glad
that he'd already met Kasumi, or Soun's desperate and
overeager salesmanship would have convinced him that she was
some sort of cannibalistic axe-murdering circus side-show
freak of questionable species and gender.
If Soun did this to all of his daughter's dates, it was no
wonder that they were all single.
Mrs. Tendo must have been a saint to have not smothered him
with a pillow at some point.
Either that or both deaf and blind.
Tarou chuckled to himself quietly.
His laughter trailed off as Kasumi entered the room.
Obviously, she'd been using her time well. She was
beautiful. And untouchable. With a special emphasis on
that second point...
He felt mildly ashamed just for polluting her presence.
Then he remembered. He had a point to make with a certain
doctor.
He stood up. Compared to Kasumi's flawlessness, there was a
certain worn and rumpled look to him. He was casual,
confident, and oozing charm. With an appreciative look in
his eyes and a slow grin on his face, he held out his arm.
"Shall we go?"
Kasumi couldn't quite place why the date was going so
poorly.
Both of them were filling their roles well. She was the
perfect lady, and he was surprisingly being a perfect
gentleman. He made sure that they kept up a polite and
friendly conversation on their walk to the restaurant. He
even stopped to wave at Dr. Tofu as they passed the clinic.
He was intelligent, he was charming, he was acting
interested in her and her life.
He was acting.
She had nothing but a vague feeling to go on, but something
in her couldn't quite drop the feeling that he was being
dishonest. And she didn't know why.
She tried a few times to break the formal facade of their
date, but he wouldn't have it. Questions were deflected,
glances ignored, and anything that might have given life to
their conversation was stomped on ruthlessly. If this was
what a date was supposed to be, she hadn't been missing
much.
Finally, halfway through dinner, she arrived at an
explanation. Tarou obviously thought that this was
appropriate behavior for a date. He'd spent his entire life
wandering through the wilderness, and now that he was stuck
in a formal situation, he was overcompensating. Maybe she'd
gone a bit too far with the dress.
She sighed gently and took another small sip of her wine.
It was hard to believe that someone who had presumably lived
a life of travel and adventure could be so mind-numbingly
boring.
By the time they got to the theater, neither of their smiles
looked very convincing.
Tarou pulled the tickets from his pocket, and for the first
time looked at the movie title.
He flinched.
A quick glance to the posters lining the wall confirmed his
suspicions.
"Umm... Kasumi?"
"Yes?"
"Why don't we try something other than a movie?"
He tried to hide the tickets, but his protests only drew her
attention. Before he could get them out of sight, she saw
the title.
Saber Stars, the movie.
She didn't know why he'd be that upset about going to see an
anime based on real-live superheroes. Until she saw it.
The poster.
There they were on the poster, in their ridiculous trademark
poses, facing off against a giant demonic monster. A giant
demonic monster that looked an awful lot like her date had
last night.
Kasumi's smile wasn't evil. It came close, but it wasn't
quite evil.
She took the tickets from his now-nerveless fingers, and
then grabbed his hand and nearly dragged him into the
theater.
"I think a movie would be perfect right now."
{][},?
The movie was silly. It was childish. It was completely
absurd. And with its frequent use of real news headlines
and actual people, it had a faint air of credibility.
Before long, Kasumi was completely enthralled.
Tarou began looking for sharp objects to aid him in his
suicide attempt less than five minutes after it started.
The story, essentially, was as follows:
A few years ago, there was an awkward young boy in junior
high school. He was a complete geek, and was the target of
much abuse from his classmates. One day, while getting
beaten to a bloody pulp, he noticed a shining metallic
object out of the corner of his eye.
After he recovered enough to investigate, he discovered that
it was a sword. More specifically, it was a western cavalry
saber with an ornate hilt in a simple but elegant leather
scabbard. When he drew the sword, he underwent a startling
transformation.
He gained at least ten years in apparent age, a hundred
pounds of assorted bone and muscle, and a disturbingly
bishonen (X) appearance. For some bizarre reason, he began
calling himself 'Orion' and set out to do battle against the
forces of evil.
(X) - bishonen, a term that generally refers to a male who
is very effeminate. For some bizarre reason this is
considered to be a good thing in many cases. Personally I
find that to be almost but not quite as disturbing as the
trend towards youth worship that seems to consider no one to
be quite so attractive as a pre-pubescent boy. Regardless
of gender preference. Shudder (X)
Eventually he found both allies and enemies. His allies
were universally female, and went by the names Canis, Ursa,
Leo, Draco, Scorpius, and Taurus despite the masculine
quality to several of the names. All of his allies were, of
course, in their early teens and unbearably cute.
His regular enemies chose to name themselves after the
planets. Some were male, and some female. The females were
universally trashy, and the males almost but not quite as
bishonen as Orion.
At first, the heroes were hopelessly outmatched by even the
weakest of their opponents. Eventually, however, they
learned to use the true magic of their blades. His allies
could, by crossing their swords and speaking a truly
disturbing magical phrase, combine to become obscenely
powerful legendary heroes. Canis and Ursa became Perseus.
Leo and Draco became Herakles. Scorpius and Taurus became
Gemini, the twins Castor and Pollux. And yes, all of these
legendary heroes were male. As the transformations were
only temporary and the heroes distinctly lacking in
personality, there wasn't much conflict with their original
forms.
Orion himself was nearly as strong as and of the legendary
heroes to begin with. When he performed his own
transformation and became the huntress Artemis, he surpassed
them in strength by a very wide margin.
Artemis had a completely independent personality and set of
memories. This occasionally leads to serious negative
issues.
The above was all backstory and was glossed over during the
first ten minutes or so.
The main story of the movie itself began when, during one of
the weekly major fights with the lesser villains, Tarou got
involved simply by being wet and in the wrong place at the
right time.
After being attacked by both sides, he lost his temper. He
started laying into the Saber Stars first. They hadn't used
their transformations yet, and he swatted them around with
little difficulty. Orion was the only one still conscious,
barely, when Tarou turned his attention on the 'bad guys'.
Not realizing that Tarou was going to attack the villains as
well, Orion reluctantly triggered his transformation.
Artemis was just rising to her feet when she saw him begin
his assault. She watched quietly, hiding herself and
waiting for a trap that never came. After he was done, he
looked around without seeing her before darting into a
nearby alley.
She followed, and saw him transform back into his human form
without seeing him use any hot water. In the movie he was
shown as being around 15, very attractive, and having a kind
face.
She stared, stunned, while he ran away.
The scene faded away with her whispering, "Icarus...".
[Kasumi was by now riveted to the movie. Tarou groaned
loudly, but shut up when she whispered at him to not be
rude.]
From that point on, the movie was a tragic romance starring
Artemis and Tarou, told from her perspective. She believed
that he was Icarus, her long lost lover from several
millennia ago, and that he had been cursed to turn into the
minotaur that had enslaved his people.
They ran into each other several times, but only when he was
in his human form. She tried repeatedly to talk to him, but
he always edged away.
He denied her claim that he was really Icarus, and told her
to leave him alone. He also told her that she was crazy if
she thought he'd be interested in someone who spent half her
time as a guy.
From those conversations, she reached several...
interesting... conclusions. One, because of his rudeness,
she was certain that he was in fact Icarus (this is
emphasized by flashbacks). Two, that his memory was somehow
being blocked. Three, he had at least temporarily fought
off his curse (completely unfounded, and her view of what
the curse is was rather amorphous). And four, that if she
was going to win his love again, she'd better find a way to
ditch Orion.
To accomplish her goal in point number four, she decided to
do the logical thing. She made a pact with Uranus, the
ruler of her enemies, in order to gain an independent form.
Needless to say, there were unintended consequences that
weren't exactly pleasant.
The movie showed her romance with Tarou (who doesn't realize
that it's her in her new body) progressing well, if slowly.
It made it obvious that despite his protests, he really
loved her deep down and that they were destined to be
together.
Unfortunately, her former friends and allies were now
getting their collective asses kicked. She saw several of
the fights, but did nothing. If she ever used her powers,
she'd lose her temporary body and be stuck with Orion again.
In the climax of the movie, she was walking with Tarou when
they stumbled onto a battlefield.
By this time, Tarou knew who the bad guys are, and he
ditched Artemis (who he assumed didn't know about his
transformation) in order to transform and head into battle.
He was getting killed.
Believing that he permanently abandoned his own humanity in
an attempt to rescue her and her friends, she abandoned her
newfound freedom in order to save him and her allies.
After she won the battle, she gave him a tearful goodbye
speech. She will never truly be a whole woman, and he will
never be free of the Minotaur that curses him. The two will
live on forever, cruelly separated by fate.
The movie ends on a sad note with the two of them thousands
of miles apart, but looking back toward each other
longingly. Tarou is of course in his minotaur form.
{{{{{
Not long after they left the theater, Tarou turned to look
at Kasumi. When he spoke, his voice was filled with
disgust.
"I don't see why you're crying, you never had to talk to the
delusional twit."
She looked up at him through her tears.
"How can you be so heartless? She loved you. How can you
say you didn't feel anything in return."
He snorted.
"No, she loved some poor sap named Icarus. I was just a
convenient target. Sure I felt sorry for her, but that's
it."
"But still..."
"What, you mean you've never dealt with an unwanted crush?
That's hard to believe."
"Well, there was that Tatewaki boy, but he was just so
silly. I don't think he was ever serious."
"And what makes you think I ever took little miss 'love and
justice' seriously?"
Kasumi giggled.
"She is a little... odd."
"Feh. A little? How 'bout a lot."
Neither of them seemed to notice that they were holding each
other's hands as they headed back to the Dojo.
}}}}}
[outside the gate of the Tendo home]
Tarou's breath caught as he looked down into Kasumi's eyes.
They had been standing outside the gate for a couple minutes
now, hesitating awkwardly. Yesterday, she was an unwanted
burden. A few hours ago, she was a tool to get back at Tofu
a little more. Right now, with that soft look in her eyes
and that shy blush on her cheeks, she was making thought
impossible.
As he leaned forward, he wondered somewhere in the back of
his mind just what her lips would taste like.
The gate opened. He didn't jump out of his skin, but it was
a very close thing.
It wasn't too surprising that someone from inside the house
interrupted them.
The fact that they were being interrupted by a police
officer was a bit of a surprise.
"Saotome Tarou."
"Umm... yes?"
"I have a warrant for your arrest for the assault of Dr.
Tofu Ono..."
End Chapter
[][][][]
Author's Notes:
And the quote I censored in last week's Author's Notes was -
"No one has more potential to be dangerously stupid than a
man who knows he's right."
Tarou only has a lot of common sense if he's actually right.
He's generally angry, single minded, and arrogant. He also
has blind spots larger than most oceans. Never having to
deal with the name 'Pantyhose' has blunted his edges a
little in this story, but he's still the same somewhere deep
inside (in my opinion). I'd say his upcoming jail time
might be evidence that he does still, occasionally, make
mistakes. If nothing else, it shows that the world doesn't
always play by his rules.
Or did you think I'd just have Tofu kick his ass?
Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, the "Saber
Stars" is my thoroughly un-original annoying new parody. I
needed magical girls in mini-skirts to explain Tarou's
willingness to beat the daylights out of cute girls. The
whole Orion/Artemis deal was set up because it just wouldn't
be right to have a Ranma 1/2 story without the obligatory
gender-confusion.
I considered making this a Sailor Moon crossover for a
while. I was actually going to have Haruka play Ukyou's
role. To a degree anyway - I wasn't going to change her
preferences. She'd have been Tarou's fiance, his former
childhood friend, and also a rival for Kasumi's affections.
Not that Kasumi would have realized it. I decided after a
while that any Sailor Moon crossover was, inherently, a bad
idea. No matter how entertaining that particular love
triangle could have been.
Oh, and I realize that I'm telling more than I'm showing in
several places, but I don't think it would have helped the
story if I'd tossed a screenplay into the middle of it. The
movie was a way to have one of Tarou's ex-girlfriends
embarrass the hell out of him, and show Kasumi a side of him
she'd never have thought to look for.
After next week, it isn't guaranteed that I'll have internet
access in the immediate future. I just did the 'getting a
job' thing, and now I'm doing the 'finding an apartment'
thing because of the 'you can't housesit after the owners
come back' thing. If I literally can't post for a while,
I'll still write. I'll just release the intermediate
chapters in bulk when I get back.
Of course the 'getting a new job' thing is interfering with
my 'more or less infinite free time' thing, but so far it
just means I'm tired and I don't play as many video games.