Suggested changes: {before : after}
On Mon, 05 Jan 2004 22:37:53 -0800 Steve Thesken
<sthesken@earthlink.net> wrote:
While casually leaning back in the comfortable chair in his office,
Soun stretched. He set down the newspaper he had been perusing, one he
had picked up during an early lunch he had taken when Kasumi had shown
up at his office unexpectedly. Seeing her, dressed in the
{paramilitary :} uniform of this Japan's Security Directorate had
awakened a feeling of intense pride within him, and there was a part of
him that was pleased to see her back in uniform. She had saluted him
with a professional smile, and they had gone out and enjoyed a pleasant
lunch together. He did not choose to question her decision to return
to active duty, since he knew Kasumi was not one to do impulsive
things, but he did wonder how her husband felt about her decision.
That should be interesting to discover since I don't think Ono knows yet.
He sighted down the barrel at some of the pictures on the wall for
several moments before quickly reholstering it. Right up until that
final mission, those had been good days, days of service to the Empire
to be proud of. He sighed rather wistfully, remembering past escapades
and victories, but he shied away from any thoughts of the occasional
beautiful woman his counterpart had been involved with on missions, not
wanting to betray Kimiko's memory.
He was braver than I thought if he even looked at another woman while
Kimiko was alive. Maybe he told her it was part of his cover: "Tendo,
Soun Tendo".
Ranma Saotome would pay for his crimes, for daring to sully the virtue
of that precious, innocent jewel of womanhood, Kodachi Kuno. Mikado's
hand clenched into a fist, one he yearned to use to totally shatter
every last bone within Ranma's body.
Yes, how dare he sully her innocence before Mikado gets a chance!
I shall defeat you, Ranma Saotome, Mikado mused darkly, even as Kuno
continued to vent his hatred for the pigtailed boy. I will prove that
your victory over me was merely bad luck on my part. Kodachi Kuno's
pure heart shall never be yours, for I am Mikado Sanzenin, and you are
mere trash, a lowly peasant who dares to rise from the gutters and look
his betters in the face {as an equal :}. But soon I shall be the one
to send you back to where you belong, ground beneath my feet. I swear
it!
The idea of Ranma doing anything as his equal is unthinkable.
Kinnosuke went back to kissing with Panther as the conversation in the
next booth continued {on :}, hearing her purr softly with pleasure into
the kiss, but his thoughts were more on what he had just heard. So
Ranma had feelings for the Kuno girl and had acted on them, he mused.
That could be potentially useful, and it seemed the two imbeciles in
the next booth did not care for what Ranma had done. Perhaps his
search for allies to crush the pigtailed boy would be much easier than
he had imagined.
"Heh, yeah," Ranma replied casually, glancing briefly at Ukyo to see
that she was nodding in sympathetic understanding like any boy would
have at the comment. He grinned at the sight and turned his gaze back
to Kyosuke. "We're just going to hang around together tonight. I'm
going over to Ucchan's aunt's place for dinner, and then we're going to
do some sparring." Ukyo seemed to prefer her gender be thought of as
male around campus, so Ranma tried to avoid pronouns when speaking
about her.
Calling her Ucchan instead of Ukyo is a partial indicator that he may
want to avoid.
The day could not get any worse now, as far as she was concerned.
My hair is standing on end.
A short ways ahead of the pack of soldiers chasing her, Ranko glanced
at the timer as the firepower from behind her slackened for a few
moments, and the soldiers hustled to catch up to her and round the same
corner she had. When it reached zero, she activated {it : the portal
generator} and pointed it in front of her, still racing headlong away
from the group of men. A portal immediately yawned open in front of
her, and she began sprinting even harder towards it, pushing herself
for all she was worth.
When she was finally dressed in Minami's gray uniform, Ranko began
putting her old clothes on the other girl, dressing the Ghost Sweeper
in the light blue Chinese-style shirt and black gi pants she had been
wearing on her arrival. She was pleased to find that her initial
assessment was right, that they were about the same clothing size,
except Ranko's legs were a little shorter, and her body more compactly
muscular.
If she is going to leave Minami tied up anyway, she might better have
kept her own clothes for later.
Ami and Yohko walked by, and Ranko wondered where the pair was going.
Yohko looked just as she remembered her, and Ami had been a friend, a
pretty good one, actually. Curious, she {stealthed : snuck :
sneaked} after them.
Ami swallowed nervously as Nabiki settled herself into a chair and
leaned forward, folding her hands together and resting her chin on the
tips of her fingers. There was a second chair in front of her that
Yuka promptly righted, and Yohko escorted Ami to sit in {: it}. She
felt even more nervous to see the calm look on Nabiki's face. After
Ami sat, Yuka left the room to stand watch in the hallway. It was
quiet for about a minute.
This matter with Kinnosuke Kashuoh had upset that calm, Yohko mused,
and Nabiki had been dealing with the aftermath all week. It was slow
going at first, but word was getting around that Nabiki Tendo, the Iron
Bitch, was intent on getting all of her affairs back to normal running
{mode : order}. Making an example of Hiroshi and a select few others
for their acts of betrayal, while rather distasteful to the young Devil
Hunter, was simply part of re-establishing Nabiki's authority. But her
friend was also now realizing she needed to be on the lookout for some
hotshot first-year cadet trying to do the same thing to her that she
had done to the upperclassmen. That Nabiki-wannabe, Nanami Jinnai, was
up to something, and Ami Mizuno seemed to be involved as well.
Something had happened in the past with her Aunt Yumi, something that
the rest of the clan would not speak of. A child born out of wedlock
made sense, and the girl seemed to be the right age. That would mean
that Ranko was her cousin. That was great, she mused with a grin. It
would be fun to have another girl around to talk with, and she was
looking forward to seeing the look on her aunt's face when she told her
that she'd figured out her secret.
Excellent logic. I'm sure Yumi will be, ah, intrigued. :}b
Out in the hallway, Ukyo heard the sounds of a major fight breaking out
in the room, and she peeked down from the ceiling to peer inside. A
fierce battle raged between her supposed cousin and Nabiki, and both
fighters were looking pretty intent on putting the other one down as
harshly as possible. She saw Ami watching the whole thing, an almost
rapturous look on the girl's face as she began recording things with
her small video camera, her attention apparently focused on Ranko.
Nice touch. Pulling out her camera is definitely in character.
Nabiki was caught {offguard : off guard} when Ranko seemed unaffected
by her attack, despite a couple of bruises now adorning the other
girl's face. Her body sagged, still unused to such a staggering demand
of energy made on her muscles so quickly. She realized a bit too late
that she had just {overcommitted : over committed} herself and tried
to brace herself to absorb the smaller girl's counter-attack.
Feeling her strength gradually returning with each moment as they
headed down the hallway, Ranko glanced at Ami. "Saotome-san? Ranma
Saotome?"
"Y-you know him?" Ami asked with sudden hesitance, fearing that the
redhead was another girl romantically interested in Ranma.
Considering how famous Ranma is in local circles, Ranko knowing his name
shouldn't be a shock, or indicate anything special.
That uniform, Ryoga realized, his eyes locking on to Hiroshi. His hand
swiftly lashed out and grabbed the boy by the collar. "Where is the
Imperial Academy!"
I'm getting another one of those vu-ja-de feelings.
Mikado grimaced as he sat up, and then he saw the girl who he had run
into. He immediately went over to help her up, Ranma forgotten for the
moment. Feeling a pleasant tingling as he took her hand, he studied
her for a moment, noting the delightful expanse of a {bustline : bust
line} she had, and her pleasingly athletic figure.
Somehow managing to get to his feet, he began staggering after Ranko,
determined to make her pay for what she had just done. Whichever one
he caught up to first, Ranma or Ranko, would feel his wrath.
Looks like a standard Ranma chase scene shaping up.
As she was getting to her feet, Mikado ran over her next, slamming her
face back into the concrete. He never even paused.
I half expected Ukyo to run her over too, but I guess Ukyo would be more
careful with her ninja skill.
There, that place would be perfect, Ranma thought. He burst through
the unlocked gates to what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse a few
blocks from the Academy. He could fight here with Ryoga without {doing
any property damage to : damaging} anything valuable, like his other
selves always seemed to {be doing : do so frequently}.
A recovered Mikado had just started out across the catwalk when it
suddenly pitched violently to one side, propelling him off it. "Wha-
Ahhh!" He tumbled headlong into one of the vats of water below and
vanished with a noisy splash.
And so it begins...
Ryoga regained his footing and glared at Ranma. "That was nothing!
You hit like a girl!"
Like Ryoko?
Ranko and Ranma slammed into each other full force, and they tumbled
together towards a vat of water below them. Half-conscious from the
impact, they instinctively clung together. Both of them vanished
beneath the surface with a large splash.
*** Heaven 0.000,0.000
The screen on Skuld's workstation abruptly cleared.
* MISSING PARAMATERS FOUND. IMPLEMENTING FILE MERGE.
Oh, oh.
A sudden impulse seized her, and she ripped open her shirt, staring in
apparent shock at a pair of breasts.
Deja-vu all over again.
"I have spent all day preparing a nutritious dinner for you, Airen,"
she said with a serious look. "You will come home and eat it now."
With that, she grabbed him in a hug and flew off.
And here I was, wondering which vat he'd fall into.
After a moment, Ranma-chan looked up, rain running through her hair and
down her face and neck in cold streams. The lights of the street shone
brightly behind the sudden apparition, and Ranma-chan tried to make out
who it was. Her eyes widened in recognition, and she started to run
away, not wanting anyone she knew to see her like this.
My guess is that the apparition is either Ukyo or Nabiki, leaning toward
the former. Ukyo still thinks that body is Ranko, probably a cousin, so
she'd take her home to Yumi-mama. :}o
Stay tuned for the next chapter, already underway: "Secret Identities"
Is it done yet? :}b