Ranma of St. Bacchus, Chapter 29
By Chaos Orchid
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"Clothes does not make the man. A man makes his own manliness! Clothes are only important to females."
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Wardrobe Battles!
'Ran' was on the other side of the bench seat of the long car from Kodachi. In front of them were entertainment equipment, a drink bar and a mini refrigerator. None were being used. But despite (her) growing need to eat something, (her) eyes were on the sliding window that separated the limousin compartment from the driver. The 114cm, 3'9" ninja chauffeur could only see out the windshield because of a booser seat(!) 'Ran' was ready to use (her) body's martial arts agility in case – probably when – there was a crash.
The one who gave him the job had other things on her mind, "...I did task my servant with with determining your measurements. You are attending the most prestigious preparatory school in all of Greater Tokyo, if not Japan and beyond." Of course she had to boast…or was it to boost her self-confidence(?) "As you attend on the scholarship I provided, you are an extension of my reputation. Of course, I require you to acknowledge that by the way you dress as well as act.
"As such, it is a sound investment on my part to supply you with a fitting wardrobe for your time out of uniform." She followed that up with a severe disapproving look, "My sources inform me that means out of everything."
"Nude. I think I useda be a nudist. Still wanna be."
"A naturist. That is the more acceptable term," she sniffed. Then turned her gaze away as she lied, "That would explain why you have no clothes of your own."
"Oh. I did wake up in that green, see-through dress." Things had happened so quickly, the amnesiac had forgotten that was the only thing (she) had had on when (she) could begin to remember things.
"A negligee. A tacky, cheap piece of sleepwear. There will be no more of that."
The noble girl returned her uncompromising gaze at the girl without dark hair, "And there will be no more being without appropriate clothing! Your days as a naturist is over! The only time you are to be undressed is when you are keeping yourself clean!"
Again she looked away, "Rebel, 'Ran', and I shall see that you wear bathing dresses."
"Don't push it," 'Ran' warned. "Or I will be Ran = Rebel." Instead of just Wild.
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Despite being comfortable nude, a "naturist", 'Ran' did see (she) needed some things to wear besides the school uniform. The other* girls usually shed their dull tan-and-whites as soon as they could. (She) herself had not been pressured out of 'hers' – girls wanted to date him* or, second best, (her) – but (she) had noticed other* girls hadn't escaped it. Fitting-in seemed to be important, playing the role expected of them. Or bullying them into the roles. How Confucian.
It made name Ran seemed even more appropriate for (her). (She) rebelled at "conforming". It led to…. (Her) avoiding the hurt (she) did not remember and did not want to remember. …Still, disappointment seeped up from the depths..
Was (she) strong enough to continue being an outsider? The outsider.
"You gonna gimme stuff the others don't wear, right?" (She) had no hope. (She) was the outsider of the school. And maybe everywhere. Always the outsider.
"Items with taste, though," Kodachi told her, leading her away from the parking spot she had had to bribe two people to vacate. "I'm taking you to a shopping district that is just gaining notoriety with its "Urahara" fashion. Harajuku."
"Urahara, "Contrary"? Sounds right for a rebel."
"Urahara is spelled, "Hidden Hara(juku)!" Exasperating! "It's only about four blocks, I am told. Quite hidden in Greater Tokyo."
"Maybe it should stay hidden. Why do we gotta go there and not Shibuya? Because all the girls at school go there and I'm not supposed to look like them?"
"My sources inform me that Harajuku specializes in chūko clothing."
"Used clothes? Stuff in a thrift shop?"
"What makes the items fashionable is where they are from. The West. Those from America are especially prized.
"Though I wouldn't know. I, Kodachi of a magnificent kazoku lineage, favor more conservative, even traditional attire. All luxurious."
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'Ran' had no real memories of shopping streets, but this shōtengai felt familiar, so (she) figured it was typical. Expect for the shoppers themselves. (She) was later told they were refugees from Shibuya. In the 70s, those shops had catered to those college aged. In the 80s, to those high school aged. But, now in the 90s, those middle school aged were beginning to invade the shops.
Still, Harajuku had yet to become overly crowded. Just crowded. Cities!
They had entered a narrow, hole-in-the-wall restaurant because it offered a sit-down counter, a kaunta seki. 'Ran' was grateful! If it were a take-out, (she) wouldn't have been allowed to eat the ramen beef bowl Kodachi had treated her to, as nobody ate and walked. Or run. Except for toast.
But as far as the blackmailer knew, (her) own blackmailer wasn't aware yet of the problems (she) was having with the Reservoir. No, (her) "benefactress", was being a fashion critic to all the passersby. "Tacky" , "Polyester", "Risque" , "Trashy!" , "Unisex" , "Tie dyed!" , "Gaudy awful!"
The latter got 'Ran's attention because of the layers of ruffles and lacy trims it had! It looked stiff and uncomfortable. (She) was relieved the snooty Kodachi disapproved of it. (She) shuddered at the thought of being trapped in that.
"Pure cosplay!" It was a pink and fluffy haired girl in a matching pink dress. It was modest, with its long sleeves and to the knees and equally modest white slip and apron. "She no doubt has an indecent, pink bikini on beneath."
" "Cosplay"?" 'Ran' asked.
"Costume play. The girl is pretending to be–!" 1 and 1 clicked into 1 for the Black Rose. She turned to face her own 'Ran'. "(Urusei Yatsura)," she muttered with a wicked smile.
"?... – No! I ain't wearin' no pink! Our truce ends there!"
"It would assuredly deter Brother from having any interest in you."
"And my interest in me! I'd have to be in it even when he's not around!" And the tactic wouldn't help discourage some others'(!), since, to (her), "Girls like pink! And dresses!"
"Then it will be in a different color. Though it will be of a similar style. And a dress."
"Only when What's-your-brother's-name is around!" The fiery-haired girl crossed her arms over her boobs in a display of stubbornness. "I don't want nobody likin' me in dresses! Yeah. Like I like 'em!"
""Then how are you to become feminine?(!)" Kodachi was becoming frustrated.
"Look at all those girls out there! They look femininity to me! Pick one! Pick many! You said you're given' me a wardrobe! If you don't, screw your taste! I'll pick 'em myself!
"Or go naked!" (she) threatened.
"Please excuse my intrusion, Mistress Kodachi," Sasuke the ninja runt had come out from where he had been lurking. "And you, as well, Ran-san. I may be wrong, but does not a dress allow you to be more like a naturist than do pants?"
'Ran' struggled to hold onto her stubbornness as the thought touched (her). (She) glanced down at the skirt on (her). (She) could see (her) bare knees and shins. Remaining on the stool, (she) slid (her) thighs towards the sides. (She) remembered the times when the breeze reached for (her) panties. Then the times (she) had leaped stories long or high, the wind attacking them. Only unremembered techniques had kept the gusts from winning the battle. But what if (she) weren't wearing any panties?...
(She) was tempted to smirk at the too proper, noble woman in the maxi her own dress code had her wear.
(Her) stubbornness still clung on, though. "Okay. Dresses. But pants, too! And I want that kind!"
Kodachi saw what the girl without dark hair was pointing at – And ranted!.
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'Ran' was reaching the last shop of the second block, before (she) was beginning to think (she) would never find any kind of jeans (her) size. Harajuku specialized in secondhand things. There wasn't a complete range of sizes and (she) was short even by Japanese standards. (She) thought of jeans as American, and the only American (she) knew was Noa. The girl towered above (her) by 18cm, 7"!
"And she's got long legs, too," 'Ran' grumbled. It was unfair!
To add salt to the wound, the pair of faded denim (she) was holding up against (her) was the pair that had come closest to what (she) was looking for. The legs didn't end below the toes of (her) slippers, but it still almost did.
"It is time to relinquish this slovenly desire of yours," Kodachi told her.
The store's elderish owner saw a sale slipping away and stepped in. He said, "All you need to do is peg them."
"What?" 'Ran' asked. "What?!" Kodachi protested.
The man held up a leg another pair where the ends had been upturned into cuffs. "It's currently in fashion, too, I am told."
'Ran' had seen pairs like that in (her) search, but had assumed they were hemmed that way. Foolishly, (she) saw now.
But how foolish were they? (She) did a swift kick to the side; its blast caused loose things to move. "I can't have the cuffs comin' down and interferin'."
"I can sell you a case of oversized safety pins. And cheaply. Think of them as fashion statements! Like the brocaded flowers on those pockets."
Kodachi would have none of that, "Aren't the frayed, gaping holes enough to make them rags! The thigh on that side goes up to the pantie line!"
"We do not sell rags. Everything is carefully curated for quality. The pair the red-haired lovely is interested in are ripped, stoned-washed, designer jeans by Guess, the originator of the ground-breaking style. They can sell for hundreds of dollars chūko in some places!"
Whether that was just a sales pitch, 'Ran' did not know. (She) did know, "My Benefactress has hundreds of dollars to spend!" And (she) grinned, wickedly, at Kodachi, "Everybody's gonna see you're spendin' money on me, the girl "representin' " you."
"I won't have my reputation ruined by you displaying tramp taste! A homeless pauper dresses better!"
"So, that pink thing with the apron represents your taste? I'll let everybody know you haven't got no sense of fashion."
"I have high fashion, low girl!"
"Does that mean stuck in the past?"
Kodachi the Black Rose reached into her short sleeve and pulled out a gymnastics ribbon!
The French braided girl was holding the tool with the razor-sharp edges before even her school uniform could look as ripped as the jeans. "Do you really want me to look like you? You are from Japanese nobility, a kazoku. I'm not." Thankfully!
"It would be an insult," she was now able to see.
"Don't wanna do that. Yet. Not in front of the girls. Look, uh,..." 'Ran' looked around the shop, now. "How about me wearin' a shirt too big for me? If people got a problem with the holes, I can let the shirt fall over them. Like a dress." There were plenty shirts, mostly t-shirts, with pictures or 'romaji' words on them. But they made (her) realize (she) did have taste. They weren't (hers).
(She) did see what looked like a black shirt with wide, red paint-strokes on it. It was sort of silk, shiny like. It was a man's size. A closer look told (her) it had a zipper and padded shoulders. And the sleeves could be rolled up – pegged – past the elbows!
"This Dkny is made of Mercerized cotton," the salesman told her. "Cotton is good for those who exercise." Though Mercerized cotton isn't as great.
Kodachi, "Fine! I'm buying it for her! What else do you have? Some items much more feminine."
The old man nudged the short lovely with the foreign hair, "You're special to your girlfriend."
"She's not my kanojo. She is just a she to me." Kanojo can also mean simply "she".
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NOTE:
A reminder: Ranma ½ stories are obviously set in an AU. What may be an anachronism or misinformation in our world is not in his*.