Wooo, another chapter! And I thought it was abandoned or something...
-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Randall [mailto:brian@azurite.org]
Sent: Thursday, 27 May 2004 11:08 AM
To: Innocent Bystanders
Subject: [FFML] [Ranma/Love Hina/Goldenboy] Diamonds in the
Rough: Chapter 11
<snip>
Seta frowned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "When I was
younger, I was visiting an excavation site with my parents in
Bashtarl. My older sister was already married with two children. I
think her husband was named Oe.... Oe Oji. But while we were gone,
she and her husband had an accident, and her children -- my niece
and nephew, I suppose -- vanished. Management of the family was
passed to my niece, and she married very young, so we were never
able to find them again."
Ranma looked between Kintaro and Seta curiously, but Kintaro
merely shook his head. "How old were they?" the elder Oe asked.
"Well, she was sixteen, or so, and he wouldn't have been
more than five or six at the most," Seta answered after a pause. He
chuckled dryly, and shook his head. "It seems to be a tradition in
my family to have children unusually far apart in age. Ah, it's
probably only a coincidence. I wish I could remember their names,
but that was ... well ... just over twenty years ago." Everyone
looked at Seta attentively, and he laughed ruefully. "Sorry! Me
and my old story have distracted everyone. I think Keitaro-kun did
a very good job on the play."
Fairly fascinating back - story you got there for Kintaro. Is this from
some Goldenboy continuity or made up? It would explain a lot about the
elder Oe though...
<snip>
Naru and Keitaro choked on their drinks in tandem, then
stared at Kintaro fixedly. "Finally get around..." Keitaro began.
"... to picking up that law degree?" Naru completed.
"Why?" Keitaro and Naru asked together, the pair of them
seeming to think the idea a blasphemy.
"Well, something more important came up," Kintaro said
dismissively. "It was only a few months of classes anyway."
Heh. Kintaro's views should have given Naru and Keitaro some new
perspective to their goals. ;)
<snip>
"You learned from Happosai?" Ranma asked, stunned. "Why did
you say you learned somewhere else?"
Yeah, learning from the Master of Perversion would explain why Kintaro
sometimes act the way he is. Luckily, his heart is in the right place
though. ;)
***
The kendoka's eyes had widened in alarm at the crash, and
each word from Ranma caused her to flinch, shrinking a little more
into herself, until she looked like she was about to try crawling
underneath Mitsune's bed to hide. "Oe-sensei," she mumbled, her
head bowed. "I ... I'm sorry, but my affections belong to ...
another."
Ranma blinked at that, then scratched his head. "Um ...
okay," he mumbled. Clearing his throat, he spoke up, explaining,
"Motoko-chan, you're a student of mine, so--"
"It's improper!" Motoko snapped, straightening up somewhat,
and raising her head. "It's shameful, that's what it is! A grown
man lusting after a young student!"
Ranma blinked, not bowing his head at the rebuke. "Er ...
well, yeah, I can see why you would think that, but--"
"Probably even now you're planning some trip under the
pretenses of training, where you'll drag me off alone!" Motoko
leapt to her feet, one hand going to the sheathed blade at her side,
and advanced on Ranma, who took a nervous step backwards.
"Um, Motoko-chan...."
"But you won't stop there!" Motoko accused, taking another
step forward. "Then, when we're alone, under the guise of something
more innocent, you'll ravish me! You'll find some excuse to get us
into the same blanket, without clothes, and then you'll lay a hand
on me, first running a rough hand in a gentle caress across my
smooth--"
"Motoko-chan!" Ranma protested, his retreat halted by the
railing outside of the hallway. Realizing he was pinned, he waved
both hands before him defensively.
"And when you've had your way with me, and gotten me with
child, you'll bring me back here, and I, with child, will have no
choice but to marry you!" Motoko's hand tightened on her sword, and
Ranma raised his hands over his head, as Motoko had advanced nearly
right into them, then pressed closer, her face slightly flushed, and
her breathing irregular.
"I, um, that is--"
"Our daughter would be raised and educated in my family's
school, as is proper." Motoko's right hand hadn't budged from her
sword, though her left had come up to tap her lower lip
thoughtfully, while Ranma broke out in a nervous sweat.
"Hello? Motoko-chan, I--"
"Ah! Of course, you wouldn't stop with just one child, no!
You would continue to take advantage of me night after night, until
we had dozens of daughters...." Motoko trailed off, her eyes
seeming to look less at Ranma, and more through him, to some
distant, nearly invisible thing. She shook her head suddenly, her
face still flushed, and pursed her lips as though to kiss Ranma for
a moment, then spoke, "But I won't give in that easily! I can only
surrender myself to someone who can best me in combat!"
"Well, he already has," Haruka noted, taking a cigarette
from her pocket and placing it at her lips. "Repeatedly, as I
recall."
*Laughs hysterically*. Very Akamatsu. Fascinating parallel with
manga-Motoko's fantasies about Keitaro ^_^;;
Motoko, realizing what she had been rambling on about
suddenly blushed very darkly, and stepped away from Ranma, bowing
her head.
*heh*, very Motoko-like.
Some overall comments:
1) I liked the way you handled Mitsune's (or Kitsune, whatever. ^_^)
attempt to salvage what she has with Ranma. Very in-character, at least
from what the indications we have seen in the manga and anime. Too bad she
is ultimately relegated to the background by Akamatsu like Mutsumi. Ranma's
response was very considerate and mature - he must have been through a lot.
We keep getting hints to what happened - will you be revealing the truth of
what happened Nerima that caused him to leave?
2) I also like the way you constructed and portrayed the messy wrangle that
Keitaro and Naru is going through. Both of them are fairly in-character,
especially Naru - who isn't very brave when it comes to relationship
issues. Again, fascinating parallel with what happened in the manga. Except
this time, it is Ranma who is the catalyst for the changes in their
relationship and not Kanako.
3) I like Motoko! Will you be running her through the mill like Akamatsu
did? I personally think she got far more character development than any
female in Love Hina...
4) A question, will the Love Hina crew be meeting the Nerima one in this
fic? It would be fascinating to write the interactions, even though it
wouldn't make much sense in the context of the current storyline and
plot...
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