Disclaimer: Jell-O is a food substance produced by Kraft Foods. Also, no gerbils were harmed in the writing of this fanfic. Their trade union, however, is negotiating more screen time and a contract may be hammered out at any time.
ASHES - A Cinderella Story
Chapter Six - Reassurances (Not)
What a tangled web we weave
When we practice to deceive
Let us waltz and let us trip
Chapter Six is gonna rip.
TEMPLE OF THE GOOD DEED:
"Basho." A voice.
In the great void, existence sundered and became two: dark and light, black and white, good and evil, substance and naught. The extremities twained yet again, and again, until there were objects, color, sound, and sensation. Ages fled as life formed in pools and pushed their way onto land, evolving in microseconds into multicellular creatures that plunged through the ocean, roamed the earth, and climbed the trees. One such multi-celled creature blinked and became a gray monk within a single stone cell.
"Basho.o.o.o..."
Not again -
"Basho!"
I am so close. I can feel the ultimate truth lying within my grasp, like...like...like holding Jell-O in my hands while wading in the ocean. If I answer, Sensei will distract me from my goal. If I do not answer, Sensei will distract me from my goal. -sigh- Decisions, decisions.
"Basho! Wake up, you lazy snot!"
Wait. That does not sound like Sensei. Would Sensei call me a lazy snot? Yep.
-whap!-
Would Sensei slap me about and cause me pain? Yep.
"Oh, Basho, Sweetie! Please wake up!"
That is not Sensei. "Who are you?"
"Good! You are awake. It's about time!"
"I repeat my question. Who are you?" Basho opened his eyes and immediately closed them, tightly. I don't need this. Another woman. Why must I face these temptations when my goal is so near?
"My name is Mara, fat lot of good it will do you. Why aren't you out granting wishes?"
Basho opened one eye a crack. Enough to see that the woman was attractive in a devilish sort of way. Demoness. Good. Made it easier to ignore her.
-whap!-
Or maybe not...
"What do you want?" he complained, "I am busy!"
"I can see that! But you can't grant wishes in this cell!"
"I had no such intention. I have called for a substitute to handle those duties."
"Someone else has the power?"
"Of course!" snorted Basho, "A lovely person. As sweet and gentle as a summer breeze. Very qualified." He managed to restrain a self-satisfied chuckle.
"Drat! She brought in a real fairy god-mother! No wonder I could not find her!"
"And now, if you do not mind, I have thirty-nine modulations to go. After that, I will be happy to talk to you."
"Never mind, fat boy. You have answered my question. A substitute, huh? How did she get that clever?"
HIROSHI:
"What did you say?"
"Primrose?"
"But she's..."
It happened so suddenly that I dropped the slice of octopus okonomyaki I had been wolfing down. I was planning on heading for the exit in less than a minute, since my time was about to run out, when suddenly, I found I could not leave.
On the other side of the okonomyaki shop, a cluster of people had stopped talking and turned toward Kidori and me. I heard Kodachi shout, "That is the villainess! I would recognize that drab hairdo anywhere!" Five people stood up and started toward us.
A freaky thing happened to me. Everything slowed down, and my mind went into overdrive. To my heightened senses, each of the five was bathed in a blazing color. Akane's flames were pale blue. Somehow the yellow-white fires surrounding both Ranma and Ukyo seemed less threatening, so I concentrated my attention on Kodachi and Shampoo, who were both glowing a dangerous red.
They attacked simultaneously. Shampoo charged directly at Kidori while Kodachi sprang to the side and loosed a barrage of gymnast clubs, followed by a snaking streamer of razor ribbon, none of which Kidori was attempting to dodge. The sinuous coils of the razor ribbon flowed toward her like a monstrous snake, snipping through hanging lamps, banners, and a hapless potted plant.
I stood from my stool, fascinated by the violence about to occur. As the half dozen gymnast clubs tumbled toward us, something clicked inside of me. There was no uncertainty, no doubt in my mind. I was moving before I knew, yanking loose a section of the counter top and tossing it into the path of the clubs. The clubs, deflected, clattered to the floor. I then spun a couple of the stools into the air to tangle the ribbon.
I am not sure how I did what I did to Shampoo - I stepped between her and Kidori, and when she tried to get past me, I shoved her. She flew backward against the wall and slid down to the floor, blinking until her eyes uncrossed.
Kodachi sent more clubs, this time directed at me, and I swatted them away reflexively. She finally got the message - that I was knocking away anything she threw - stared at me in surprise, and backed off.
All five of them backed off, as shocked as if a serpent had appeared in their midst. I was shocked, myself, but determined to stand between them and Kidori.
"What manner of insolent creature are you, protecting this wretched villain?" Kodachi demanded.
"Cinderella!" cried Akane, "You are going to get hurt!"
There was a look in Ranma's eye that I never thought I would have directed at me - he was trying to evaluate my weaknesses and my strengths. As a martial artist. He was not attacking, but if he did he would be very dangerous. Dangerous? He could kill me! I did not have the faintest idea what I was doing, or how I did it!
The little voice in my head was murmuring something about Kidori. Why were they trying to hurt her? What had she done to them? And at the same time, I knew what they were accusing her of doing. They thought she was beating them up. But to do that, she would have to be a better martial artist than they were.
The little voice said, When I made my wish, I asked to look better and have more talent than the greatest rock singer. Modesty aside, she is cute, and she says I look better. She sings wonderfully, and the band members claim I sing a little better. She dances divinely and I held my own with her.
I just waxed Shampoo and bested Kodachi without even trying. How good a martial artist was Kidori? And could she have actually attacked them?
I wanted to believe that she was innocent. One look at her, cringing away from the hostile glares of her accusers, and I wanted very much to hear her say that they were wrong.
"Tell them!" I cried to her. "Tell them you didn't do it!"
She would not say anything, just hung her head and tried to withdraw behind me.
Another thought was nagging me. My two hours were up. In a few seconds I was going to revert to plain old Hiroshi and two things were going to happen: My shameful secret was going to be exposed, and Kodachi and Shampoo were going to make sushi out of me. Then they would turn on Kidori.
"Hold it right there!" I cried, "Ah! I...I have to...I'm going to..."
I did not know what I was going to do. So I did what always worked before. I ran. I ran, lean lithe legs pumping, not for the front door, but for the back of the building, where I had seen a storeroom door. There was a shadowy blur in my way, another kid holding out a paper for an autograph. The little kid seemed familiar, but I was in a panic - autographs could wait. I bolted into the tiny room and slammed the door before I 'poofed' back into myself. I barely made it. My school shirt and pants rematerialized over my 'disguise', uncomfortably tight until I could hurriedly remove the extra clothes.
HAINOKO:
Cinderella brushed past, in a terrible hurry to get to the restroom or some other place, so Hainoko decided that it was not a good time to give her the letter from the twin's mother. Celebrities were terribly busy people, and when they went to the restroom they didn't want to be pestered. And everyone shoves little kids aside when they get in the way. Hainoko sorrowfully zipped the messages back into her bookbag and prepared to leave Ucchan's.
A sound called her back, a voice from within the restroom. "I want to be a rock star! I want to be a rock star! Why isn't it working? How long must I wait? I can't wait!"
Hainoko returned to the door and listened, saying to herself, "Hiroshi?"
The door flew open and Hiroshi rushed past her, going back into the dining room. Examining the vacated room, Hainoko found it empty except for a shirt and a pair of school trousers. She identified them as Hiroshi's, picked them up and started again to go home, her steps slow and thoughtful.
HIROSHI:
Kidori remained at the counter, still seated and, as far as I could tell, terrified by the martial artists menacing her.
They were surrounding her by the time I got back; Ranma was looking nervous, as though things were not going according to plan and he was not sure about how to handle it; Ukyo was holding back, also uncertain; Akane was glancing about as if looking for someone; Kodachi and Shampoo had reorganized and were closing in for the kill, while all the time Kidori sat there with a woeful expression and tears in her eyes.
Okay, so I did something stupid. I pushed in front of Kidori, using my body as a shield, all the time yelling at them to stop.
Baka. Bakbakabakabakabaka.
After a few moments where I had not been reduced to a bloody pulp, I opened my eyes. Shampoo glared over my shoulder at Kidori; Kodachi stood back, still dangerous, evaluating me as if I were a side of beef about to be quartered and she was contemplating the first cut.
"Stop! Please!" I cried. "You don't know what you're doing!" Relief flooded over me. No one was jibing me for being a cross-dresser, and so far I still had all my body parts.
"Hold it, fellas," Ranma said, to Shampoo and Kodachi. "This ain't no place for vendettas. No matter how much she deserves it."
"Shampoo show you vendetta! Shampoo give Amazon kiss of Death to masked monster girl!" I tried to stop her advance, but this time she was too strong.
"Do not defend this creature!" Kodachi commanded, "She is the essence of evil! She strikes unmercifully, with tremendous force and precision!"
"Wait!" I cried, having finally remembered a discrepancy which had been bugging me, "If she is so strong and hits so hard, why would she stoop to throwing darts? She wouldn't need that kind of weapon!"
"Darts?" Ranma remained angry, but at least he stopped to think. "I don't remember any darts!"
"It was last night. You probably dodged them automatically and forgot it when you saw...er...something to distract you." Credit me with some sense. If I had said 'cat', Ranma would have reacted badly. I needed him rational, at the moment.
I continued, "I was outside that alley when you went after Shampoo's attacker. Somebody threw some darts or ninja throwing stars, and they tore hell out of a trashcan. Shampoo was there! She saw them!"
"The harridan had an accomplice?" suggested Kodachi.
"Look at her!" I cried, pointing to the cowering Kidori, "She's frightened! Does that look like some kind of monster?"
"Maybe need mask to make brave," said Shampoo, but she, too, was having doubts. Her lips, centimeters away from planting the Kiss of Death on Kidori's face, were beginning to droop in a disappointed pout.
"Okay, Hiroshi," Ukyo said. "You made your point. I didn't want to believe it, anyway."
I could not describe the look Kidori gave me - it was wide-eyed fear, disgust, horror at being attacked, I didn't know. When I tried to get a closer look at her face, she turned away from me. I kept thinking that maybe she had fathomed my secret and she was ashamed to be seen with me. Surely she had noticed that the clothes I was wearing were almost identical to the 'disguise' Cinderella wore.
What mattered was that the others had lost their battle glow. They weren't ready to hack and thrash Kidori into a bloody heap, and I was not going to lose her.
Ranma's arm landed on my shoulders. "Old buddy," he said, "I know ya like the gal and all, but that was either very brave or very stupid."
"Brave," I suggested, as I tried to sit down. My hands were shaking so badly I knocked the stool over.
"Yeah," Ranma said, as if he believed me. There was an edge to his voice and his eyes were filled with unease, as though he were thinking dark thoughts. I regretted not telling him my secret, for now things had gotten too complicated.
"Still - " he went on, forcing a pleasant face, "thanks to you and that gal, those two had a chance to cool down before they hurt somebody. Where'd she go, anyway?"
"I saw her head out the back way," Ukyo said. She patted Kidori on the arm and said, "Sorry, Sugar. I guess we jumped the gun. I'm tired and cranky with my hired help missing."
"Oh!" cried Kidori, rousing from her fearful apathy, "Let me help! I am good at cleaning!"
"Yeah, so was Konatsu, before he left," Ukyo muttered.
They straightened the mess and cleaned up. I knew it was time for me to leave when Kidori moved me aside like a piece of furniture in order to stack chairs. She wouldn't even look up at my face. I was Hiroshi, not Cinderella. I was nobody.
HAINOKO:
Mommy was taking a nap when Hainoko got home. After putting away her school books and papers, Hainoko fingered the message for Cinderella. Maybe she could try again, tomorrow. Maybe Cinderella would come back for a visit with...
Memories made her face contort in thought, of the room with one door, where one person went in and another person came out, and she thought, No. This is one of those imaginary things that teachers try to get you to forget. This is one of those daydreams, where something wonderful happens and you get to meet interesting people who know you and like you, but it isn't really true.
She sighed. Somehow, there was an explanation. Dumb, dull, big brother Hiroshi? Just how well did he know Cinderella? Were they really such good friends that they could both hide in the same room together? That had to be it. Yet, if he was such good friends with Cinderella, who was this girl he was protecting at Ucchan's? Hainoko knew the reputations of the martial artists at Furinkan High, and she had never before seen Hiroshi risk their anger.
She found her old hiding place, a dark corner of the hallway where the ancestral cabinet was ensconced, there being no space in the rest of the apartment to store it. It made a wonderful place to sit and brood, away from Mommy's constant cleaning and with a good view of the front room where the TV stood. She could watch shows she was not supposed to watch, and had fallen asleep there several times.
She was there an hour later when Hiroshi returned, slumped with resignation. That girl must have turned him down. The other girls at his school are always turning him down. They know a loser when they see one.
In addition to having an eye to the living room, Hainoko's spot had an ear to Hiroshi's room. She had never used it before. Well, maybe once or twice to be certain he was out before she went into his room for raids. But she had never used it to spy on him. Not intentionally. This time she held her ear to the thin wall and heard Hiroshi's muttering.
"Why doesn't it work? Any other time, it would have 'poofed' me when I didn't want to do it. Now, when I want to, it does not work!" He chanted a phrase, almost like a mantra, "I want to be a rock star. I want to be a rock star!"
Hainoko lost a few words when he went into the hallway, then his voice got louder and she realized that he was standing beside her hiding place. Holding her breath to keep from revealing herself, she leaned forward to watch and listen.
"It has been two hours since Ucchan's! How long do I have to wait? I want to be a rock star! I wannabearockstar! I wannabe..."
Hainoko clapped her hands over her mouth to cover her gasp. She was watching through the crack in the cabinet door, so there could be no doubt as to what she saw. There could be no doubt as to what she heard, for Hiroshi's voice suddenly climbed the scale into a soft soprano, even as he shrank into a more shapely size. His black and white school uniform became a brilliant blue minidress.
"Yes!" cried Cinderella, and she pulled on blue pumps that were suddenly at the stoop and hurried out the door, leaving it standing open. If she had looked back, she would have seen a younger sister standing on the stairs, eyes wide open and jaw gaping.
HAINOKO:
There was a bird's nest in the tree outside the back window of the apartment, near Hainoko's room. In the nest were two blue mottled eggs, almost purple in the afternoon sun. Hainoko finally realized that she had been staring at them for many minutes, her jaw slack, while she tried to make the pieces of her world fit back together again.
Hiroshi, her older, arrogant, self-centered brother, protecting some girl dressed in boy's clothes? He was really worried about her, and she acted as if she did not know who he was. But... Hiroshi? Brave? But that was not the central point of her agitation.
"Hiroshi..." she said softly, "...Cinderella?"
Already, the memory of her ornery brother vanishing and Cinderella appearing was at war with her concept of reality, and she was wondering if it could have been something she simply wanted to happen.
She roused when she heard her mother call.
"Mommy?" she answered. The weakness in her mother's voice frightened her. "Mommy!"
TEMPLE OF THE GOOD DEED:
"Basho."
Again?
"Basho!"
Maybe if I say nothing she will go away.
"BASHO!"
-whimper-
"Oh, good! You are awake."
Basho grumped to himself. Another woman. Do I deserve this? Twenty-four modulations to go...
Awareness dawned and Basho ossified in great fear. Oh, no. The platinum-haired goddess. She has come to punish me for evading my duty. I am in deep trouble.
"No, you are not in trouble...yet," the platinum-haired goddess cooed at him. "I can be very forgiving. I have another job for you. And there will be no substitutions, this time."
I am being ordered about, like a common drudge. That is bad. By a beautiful goddess. That is normally good, but at the moment, it is very bad. I must maintain the gestalt presence which I have developed through months of intense discipline. I stand in the ebb of the ocean, holding a handful of Jell-O as the tide surges about me, holding the truth inconsistent while it neither attempts to remain or flee, it simply IS, and the water of which it is constructed flows unrestrained through my mind, held only by my concentration from disintegrating. I must maintain that focus. I will not look upon the beautiful woman who is ordering me around like a common drudge. I will not look...
Basho looked.
...ah, well. Even common drudges are entitled to a few pleasures, I suppose.
"I have a task for you. It will not be easy - it will be like finding a needle in a haystack." The goddess's smile was fixed, much like the predatory gleam of a wolf about to attack. It was not a kind smile.
Basho released his hold upon his focus. He sighed with disappointment as the image blurred into mundane reality.
"Looking for a needle in a heap of straw is simple," he said. "You do not find the needle. It finds you."
HIROSHI:
I had worked hard, changing to Cinderella, but the effort was wasted. Kidori was not at Ucchan's. Ukyo said that she had gone somewhere on an engagement, so I was left with an hour or so to kill before my spell wore off. I spent most of it listening to Ukyo.
The band members of the Primrose Path had found Ucchan's, and had landed in force. Despite their previous bento meal they were ravenous, and had consumed enough okonomyaki to make Ukyo richer and tireder. She poured me a tea, pulled up a chair, and proceeded to bend my ear about the gossip she had heard.
Once upon a time, as a group, the Primrose Path had been doing poorly. This was due to their former lackadaisical manager and the engagements he kept getting for them at ratty, run-down establishments.
Then Kidori's mother had taken over their management, dropped a couple of members and added a couple, and had brought them, along with Kidori, into the limelight. She was a maverick manager, shunning most agencies, and she was ruthless when it came to scheduling her group.
Oddly, whenever Primrose was booked to open for a particularly good group, the other band would encounter some kind of trouble and not be able to show up, which gave Primrose more exposure and led to more fame.
Kidori refused to talk about her mother, and the band members got a haunted look in their eyes whenever they discussed her. Her mother chose to remain out of sight, ruling the public appearances but not interfering with their normal lives.
"You're Kidori's friend, aren't you?" Ukyo asked.
"Well, yes. Sorta. I hope."
"You need to talk to her. That poor kid. She needs all the friends she can get."
"But why? She's a famous rock star! How could I help?"
"You're no small potatoes, yourself, Sugar. Although, I'll admit I haven't heard much of you, before. How do you get away with it?"
"Err...get away with what?"
"Being so humble and modest and shy. You should have groupies and bodyguards and fans howling around you all the time. Yet, here you are, chatting around my shop like an old chum."
"Oops! Speaking of the time, I gotta go!"
She laughed, "What's the matter, Sport? Are you goin' to turn into a pumpkin, or something?"
"You would not believe," I assured her. But then, on the other hand, this being Nerima, she might...
End: Chapter Six