Ranma of St. Bacchus, Chapter 24
by Chaos Orchid
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"Be a man among men! That is the only way to survive! Don't look at seppuku as mercy!
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Ran's First Date
Despite (her) most basic, mental dislike of (her) body, 'Ran' was coming to rely on its feelings (her) as a substitute for memories (she) no longer had. And its apparently deep training told (her) nothing (she) could rely on in (her) reading of (her) next opponent. They had an emotional-ki (her) body had apparently never been called on to interpret before. Confused, it was the 'others' who took the initiative.
Though others at St. Hebereke had more irritating laughs, 162cm, 5'3½" Mami rivaled them by her smugness. Then, "If you wish a date with male Ran, you must demonstrate the femininity that all males desire. That is, of course, the specialty of Kurīmī Mami."
"Ah, but you must first navigate through the female Ran. That is what I offer her, …you, Darling Ran: Recognition of your own femininity. Consideration of whichever gender!" 155cm, 5'5" Nōryoku Itsuyoe bowed like one who had taken Charm class before.
"Wha, what? My own femininity?" Until now, it had been about how unfeminine (she) felt. Until, that was, a couple of hours ago, when (she) had gone deep-dive female-desire for a naked boy named Ryōga. (She) had nearly drowned in being a she. She had even volunteered to….
"Ichi!" the kendōist in the school uniform snapped her fingers.
The door of Room 12 was no longer ajar, but opened to the 137, 4'6" ninja girl in purple bringing out a table cloth and a picnic basket. Quickly passing them, she placed the table cloth at the very end of the dormitory hall, at the place only those going to or from the faculty hall would have to pass. The place with the least traffic.
She reminded 'Ran' of Sasuke, but cuter. …and taller. But still 13cm, 5" shorter than 'Ran' herself.
"You planned this?!" 'Ran' wanted to yell.
"This is one of several options I could and can select for," the–15cm, 6"–taller girl told her. "All thanks to the dedicated work of the kunoichi of Dorm room 12." This compliment seemed to be all the girl needed to hug herself and shiver in pleasure.
With another snap of her fingers, Ichi was next to 'Ran' with a notebook and pen. But it was Itsuyoe who asked, "You have merely to inform me of your, my date's, wish for an appetizer and it shall be provided."
"Are you offerin' me free food?" 'Ran' smiled for the first time in hours.
"Did I not tell you I am treating you to the role of the girl on this date?" said the tall girl beautiful enough to be almost handsome. A woman whose hair was mostly on top of that head.
"Treat me as a girl?" And 'Ran' was delighted! Food was just what (she) needed to keep away from the feelings of the girls around her!
(She) would soon discover the downside. That occurred as soon as two cans of lemon tea, two hot cups of ramen, two boxes of hot eel on rice with sauce, and two packaged desert sandwiches went from vending machines to the table cloth. (She) was ready and eager to dig in, but the 14cm, 6" taller woman took (her) hand and bow toward her hand. Her breath caressed it as she asked, "Shall I escort you to our picnic tryst?"
Mami was immediately jealous at not being the one treated as her idea of how a girl on a romantic and (out-of-)date should be treated.
'Ran' was pulling (her) hand away, when (she) simply couldn't. Not without challenging the ninja, 13cm, 5" shorter, Ichi. She was pushing (her) arm to keep it in the hand of her mistress, uh, master(?), Itsuyoe. "Social obligation," the servant justified her treating 'Ran' like (she) were a stop-motion puppet. She even corrected every little flaw of (her) movement as (she) was promenaded to the picnic.
(She) wasn't even allowed to simply sit down into an easy pose, agura, with (her) legs crossed on the floor, or even yokozuwari, with (her) legs to one side. No, (she) was expected to correctly(sei) sit(za), seiza, like (she) had been required to do as punishment in Matsushida's class yesterday: only knees and the balls of (her) foot on the floor, thighs together.
Itsuyoe, though, was playing the role of the male on this date and was allowed to sit agura-style. The masculine style. And, ironically, her loose maxi skirt allowed her to.
Well, 'Yamada Ran' could endure pain. And pain was sure to come.
But at least (she) getting a free meal!
No eyes were on Mami as she struggled to drop a coin into one of the vendors. It went against her principles to play the role of the male and treat somebody to a meal. She soon turned her back on the date and walked away, vowing, "I shall tell the whole school about this date! You have not won."
Again, 'Ran' was treated as a puppet by the kunoichi as proper, European etiquette rules were imposed on her even as (she) ate. (She) even had to use a fork(!) as well as a spoon and dull knife. The only eating utensils (her) body was conditioned to use were chopsticks. It was all very awkward for (her) and (she) very grudgingly had to admit (she) couldn't have eaten with any (feminine) grace without the directing.
There were, apparently, fewer rules the male role had to perform. "I heard that you have taken an interest in the Arts of Charm. I, of course, have become proficient already. And because of my unusual height, I was often called upon in the all-girls classes to portray the complementary male lead."
'Ran' swallowed. Would Ryōga be trying to force (her) to act this way if (she) had forced (her)self on him? The thought of what had nearly happened made (her) want food even more! No femininity!
But the kunoichi kept her arm from moving. It took a few seconds before 'Ran' thought (she) understood why. It was (her) turn to speak the lines. But (she) had no lines! (She) had no idea what a girl or even a guy were supposed to do on a date! "Uh, you were made to take the stu–" Ichi lifted (her) jaw before (she) could finish the word.
Itsuyoe politely did not acknowledge the 'lady's attempted lapse into vulgarity. "When my parents saw how tall I was to become, they enrolled me in all manner of courses in order that I may present myself as quite feminine when occasion demands." She lifted her can of lemon tea high. Ichi saw that (her) hand lifted (her) own can. (Meanwhile, 'Ran' ate with (her) left.)
"On our next date, you, My Dear Ran, will pretend to be the boyfriend, while I will demonstrate how feminine your girlfriend can be, girl friend."
"That won't happen!" It was Koko, and Ikko was with her, along with a dozen other girls. All glaring daggers at Itsuyoe! And they all had tools! Weapons to use against the first girl to claim a date with their Ran! Only the fact that (she) was female at the time would save the double-sworded kendōist from going into critical care.
And thinking of double swords, two kendō, bamboo shinai appeared in Itsuyoe's hands. She and the other girls were startled. 'Ran' was too busy finishing whatever food was left as the kunoichi servant had gone to stand with her mistress in the coming battle.
And there was a battle! And 'Ran' watched. The martial artist buried with (her) memories was interested in learning the techniques everybody was using. But the ones that interested (her) the most were the kendōist's. Again, Itsuyoe didn't play by the rules of kendō competition: They didn't allow shields, and here she was using either bamboo sword to block an indian club or another shinai, while thrusting the other sword inside a razor hoop and pulling it away from her attacker! And twirling it dangerously around her bamboo shinai. She was even able to finesse a gymnastics ball and flip it back to where it came from. The explosion took out most of girls behind the frontline combatants. Itsuyoe had impressive ambidexterity.
But 'Ran' was soon losing interest. An accomplished musician is able to consciously understand what another musician was doing with their instrument; it would allow them to learn and imitate the other's performance. But the amateur only heard the music, not the instrument. Likewise, 'Ran's conscious was blocked from truly understanding the body movements of what (she) was seeing; it was just a brawl to (her).
A brawl over who would be 'dating' (her) next.
When the warning bell came that announced everybody had ten minutes to get to their classrooms, 'Ran' went to the nearest window and jumped, again, from the third floor. Nobody noticed as they were too busy fighting with one another. Yes, what was once a group united against the date-stealer and her servant were now girls fighting over who was going to date Ran next. 'Ran' had to make up (her) mind about how to decide that or the whole school would devolve into chaos.
"I hate bein' popular!" (She) probably never had been before (she) came Kodaira City. (She) wondered if (she) would find peace somewhere else, say the next town, Nerima. (She) had never been there. (She) had escaped the panda before (she) had been introduced to…. Another memory faded away.
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'Ran' groaned before going into (her) homeroom. (She) had just been forced to sit seiza on the 'date', and (she) would have to do it 50 minutes more if what happened in Matsushiba's cram class yesterday was going to happen again as punishment for hot trotting after Ryōga.
Well, at least (she) wasn't going to be punished for being late. Koko, Ikko and several others of the homeroom hadn't returned from battle.
(She) didn't have to sit seiza, after all! (She) didn't get to sit at all! None of (her) classmates were allowed to. They all had to stand. And wait.
Koko and the other missing classmates came back from action. Ikko remained in the infirmary.
They, too, had to stand.
But nobody had to wait any longer. The Mistress of Psychological Warfare, Matsushida-sensei, spoke, "Other classes have been punished for chasing after a naked boy…now it is your turn."
She gave them time to anticipate and dread what their punishment was going to be. She walked slowly before each girl, only removing her gaze from them after she was satisfied they were thoroughly anticipating their impending punishment.
She stopped when she came to 'Ran'. She was not satisfied with the French braided girl's reaction. "We begin with you , Yamada!
"Come with me to the teacher's platform!" Her desk and chair was on it and behind it was the chalkboard. But the writing 'Yamada Ran' was given to read was a piece of paper. "Read. Out loud. Facing the class."
"Uh,...During the Meiji period many–"
WHACK! Matsushida's pointing came down on the desk, very close to where (she) was standing. "I told you to raise your Adam's apple and sound like a proper, young woman. Keep your voice high!"
"Hai!" And 'Ran' began again, pushing her voice up until it sounded even less familiar than it already did. Feeling (she) sounded like a stranger to (her)self, ('she') said, "During the Meiji period many foreign gairaigo words came into our language. To be nationalized, many were given single character gairaigo. Included are such words as pēji (頁, page), botan (釦／鈕, button), zero (零, zero), and mētoru (米, meter). Kun'yomi is applied to them, meaning they don't have a Chinese pronunciation. They do not have a Japanese pronunciation, either. Those are borrowed. These kanji are used for their meanings. Exampled include kiromētoru (粁, kilometer, 米 "meter" + 千 "thousand")..."
It had been a real struggle to read the unfamiliar kanji. But (she) was able to finish the presentation. With real effort.
"Now, Yamada, recite it again. This time without reading the page!"
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NOTES:
As the next shows, this is meant to be a far worse punishment than it seems at first glance.
Ryōga has appeared. Another member of the Nerima Wrecking Crew appears in Kodaire in the next chapter.