Suggested changes: {before : after}
On Tue, 4 Feb 2003 05:53:39 EST Starrngr@aol.com wrote:
Here's the {lates : latest} chapter of book 3: Nerima Wandering, titled
semiappropriately "Sakura Season". Thankfully, I didn't hit as many dead
ends as I did working on 2.
Books 1 and 2 can be found at:
Rangerhq.50megs.com
Sofaspud.Org, and
Fanfiction.net
It's good to see this continuing and thanks for the URLs.
Of Tatewaki Kuno, many things could be said; some of them
were even complimentary. Most of the rest were variants of
the theme that he was a few floors short of an elevator.
Prior to the arrival of that wretch Saotome, however, the
fierce reputation of the Blue Thunder's prowess had {keep : kept} the
unwashed masses in their place. Now, however, many of those
who should rightly fear his wrath all but openly mocked him!
With his noble {heritage : heritage, he} should have been able to call upon the
most able bodied of the male assemblage of Furinkan High;
instead he was reduced to conscripting... FRESHMEN. That fact
left a bitter taste in his mouth, for were not freshmen the
lowest form of life known to man? Nevertheless, if they were
the only tools he could still bind to his bidding, they were
the {: only} tools he would use! Even the greatest of samurai took the
field with retainers, after all... including peasants who's
primary purpose were to die gloriously in the service of their
liege. Even the weather seemed his ally this day, with a dark
scuttling overcast that promised rain later.
Thus was Kuno's grand plan as he rallied his troops at
the gates; for soon the beauteous Akane would arrive. And
with her would be that accursed Saotome, always near lest
Akane's magnificent will cast off his foul geas. Said geas
would no doubt force her to throw herself against the forces
arrayed against her; but in that it would be its own undoing.
Surely the energy {require : required} to force said fair maiden into an
action so far removed from her demure nature would weaken
it... allowing her love for him to shatter it completely.
Yes, there were many things that could truthfully be said
about Kuno. That he was sane was defiantly not one of them,
the sheer force of his delusions by now considered a perfect
example of the metaphorical unmovable object. Said object was
about to find itself in the path of the equally metaphorical
unstoppable force, however; and only in that collision would
the truth of which one was and which was not would be proven.
That this collision was inevitable could be ascribed to a
simple fact... 'Muck' {Thunders, : Thunders was} a man who could not abide
bullies of any shape or form even before embarking upon his
career as the Star Ranger! The upside of that was that he'd
not need his Star Ranger abilities to deal with this, and he
gave his partner in crime an evil grin.
Inside the gates, Kuno noticed the sudden panicked
shifting of his conscripted army and drew his {boken : bokken} as he
prepared to rally his troops.
"FREEZE, KUNO!" bellowed a voice from behind him, causing
him to whirl in surprise to see who could possibly have sheer
affront. Behind him, unnoticed, the freshmen began to inch
away en masse; having heard the rumors about 'Typhoon {Gajin : Gaijin}'
along with the rest of the school. Muck himself was
struggling to remain in character rather than grinning like a
fool as he stormed across the front of the school campus.
Only the thought of what well could happen to said freshmen if
he didn't pull this off kept the mask of righteous indignation
in place.
"This matter does not concern you, {GAJIN : GAIJIN}," Kuno replied,
furious at having his plan disrupted. "We are not inside the
classroom; a barbarian like yourself could not possibly
understand!"
"What I understand, STUDENT, is that we are ON school
grounds and YOU'RE putting fellow students in danger! And
since *I'M* a duly designated yard monitor, that MAKES it my
business, got it?" Muck countered, his anger no longer an act
as a visible flaming aura appeared around the teacher. "So,
you've got THREE, count 'em, THREE seconds to start talking
before you get to explain this to the {Principal : principal}..."
Hearing his cue, Godai also stepped from around the
corner of the building. "Aloha, Kekei's," he called, trying
desperately to impersonate the {Principal's : principal's} booming basso and
failing miserably. It really didn't matter as this was too
much for even the most timid of the freshmen, the one's who's
fear of Kuno was enough that even Muck's flaming aura was not
enough to send them into outright flight, now fled the once
force that was feared above all others by the student body;
desperately seeking the safe haven of their classrooms. That
this route took them squarely over they're feared leader was
of no importance, such was their terror, though they did give
the still flaming instructor a respectable berth.
"Y-yes, {sensei : Sensei}," stammered a rather dazed Kuno before
collapsing into the dirt once more as the first bell rang.
Muck turned to Godai, with the intention of re-assuring his
nervous landlord when the two of them heard clapping behind
them.
"I was wonder'n when I'd find a coupla cool {Kahuna's : kahuna's}
who'd be stand'n up to my son," Principal Kuno boomed as the
two teachers turned nervously to face him. "Looks like you
two will be doin' jus fine. Although," and with this, his
gaze fixed on Godai, "I tink you be needin some more lessons
on how to act like myself, eh? In fact, why don't you step
into my office so I can be givin you some pointers..."
* * * * * * * *
By the time lunch rolled around, the rain had set in,
turning the large window of the {teachers : teachers'} lounge into a
somewhat impressionistic painting, forcing everyone indoors,
including the teachers like Muck and Godai, who was less than
happy. "Some friend you are. You could have at least TRIED
to rescue me..."
"Spoilsport. What can I do to make it up to you, then?"
"Babysit for us sometime."
Godai's braver than I thought or possibly more reckless with his
offspring. Kyoko might not be amused to come back to the likely
situation.
Ranma looked into those large brown eyes and felt his
resolve crumble. For all his {assertations : assertions} otherwise, she
could be darn cute when she wanted too... usually when she
wanted Ranma to do something, like now. Ever since the trip
to Mt. Phoenix, when he'd had to face up to how he really felt
about her, it was getting harder and harder to drop back into
the old rhythms of petty sniping and fighting... He put down
the bento and rose to his feet with a sigh. "All right.
Since you asked... you un-cute tomboy you."
Nabiki leaned back in her chair and tried to make sense
of the {days : day's} events. Typhoon {Gajin : Gaijin} certainly was continuing to
live up to his nickname; but something about all this
intrigued her. On the surface of it, it seemed clear enough;
between what he'd said to Kuno, and an apparently similar
message repeated to her sister and Ranma that afternoon, the
man was on some sort of one man crusade to keep the fights, at
least, off of school property. But why? Never mind that; she
was coming at this problem from the wrong angle. No one knew
anything about this human cipher; it was like he'd appeared
full blown at the start of the new school year. That was the
tack to take here. Learn about the what, and the why would
become apparent. And who knew, maybe she could even find some
way to profit off of it as well...
"Which doesn't happen until Ranma {solve : solves} this whole
fiancee mess?"
"First, I'd suggest grabbing the club, cause {Yostuya's : Yotsuya's}
about to try coming through the wall again..."
Nice to see Yotsuya handled properly.
From such innocent acorns the great oaks of disaster
grow. On the surface it would seem innocent enough... take
the class to view the cherry blossoms and just observe the
interactions that resulted. That was what FRED thought,
anyway. The way that the wild horse of Nerima attracted
suitors, challengers, and other weirdness however... Even the
initial planning spiraled out of control. Once the principal
heard about the idea, he got behind it and pushed. Instead of
taking just class 2-F, now the entire school was involved!
Any student who didn't {show :} attend was threatened with a
haircut. Add in the fact that by its very nature the viewing
would occur in a public place meant that even {non school : non-school}
attendees could, and probably would, show {up? : up.}
Muck slowly scanned the park once more. Next to him,
Godai fidgeted nervously as usual. After the gate incident,
the two of them had found themselves seconded to the
diminutive Ms. Hinako as sort of a roving patrol to handle the
'difficult cases', as the principal put it. Which meant that
poor Godai found himself far nearer to trouble than he wanted
to be. Usually, though, the mere sight of 'Typhoon {Gajin : Gaijin}'
approaching was enough to stop something before it got out of
hand, however. His reputation, however, had not yet spread
beyond the Furinkan grounds...
I wonder if he's still considering a safer job in bomb disposal.
Kodachi had heard about today's field trip from her
brother. From her perch in a concealing tree, she'd sighted
Ranma sitting with that Tendo hussy... clearly needing to be
rescued. The two teachers standing nearby were of no import,
no instructor her father hired would dare stand between her
and her true love! So thinking, she leapt down from her
perch, only to find her way blocked by a large, red-haired
{gajin : gaijin}. And to add upon said insult, he had the effrontery to
demand she {leave? : leave.} She paused in confusion, trying to decide
how best to punish this impertinence.
Ranma's head had snapped up as soon as he heard Kodachi's
signature cackle, as had the rest of class 2-F. Being
classmates with three of the Nerima wrecking crew had given
them all ringside seats for far {to : too} much of the insanity that
was part and parcel of living here; and they all knew what
that particular sound meant. What no one had expected was to
see Typhoon {Gajin : Gaijin} actually CONFRONTING the dreaded Black Rose
of St. Hebreke's! Ranma's heart sank; he was {to : too} far away to
help, and could only hope that somehow Kodachi would shy away
from assaulting a teacher. No good, she was presenting him
with one of her booby trapped bouquets!