Your name is Nodoka Saotome, and you've spent fifteen years in the shadow of a deadly oath. Your name is lost, same as pieces past, and your modern sensibilities struggle to fit into the mould of honor and obedience, that your family have instilled upon you. You might have been two once, but now you are one and only.
Your child hasn't yet returned to you. And yet, you know so much about them already. All of his struggles, all of her victories, all of the chaos and pain in your life. Except... it can't all have happened.
You need to figure out what's true and what's an illusion, and save your child. Even if you have to save them from yourself.
- The House in Suginami
- Lonely and Cruel Reality
- Self Defence
- Income
Next Legacy crisis at Severity 1, Next Regrets Crisis at severity 4
Next Caretaker crisis at severity 2, Next Know-It-All-Not Crisis at severity 1
Next Honorbound crisis at severity 4, Next Precarity Crisis at severity 2
- The House in Suginami
- Lonely and Cruel Reality
- Self Defence
- Income
Next Honorbound crisis at severity 4, Next Precarity crisis at severity 2
Full descriptions of the crisis vector and mechanics concerning them and crisis scenes caused by stress overflow can be found below.
Connections
Connection
Type - Strength (1-5)
Notes
Genma
Duty - 1
Dislike - 2
(Husband)
Sometimes you forget about him. Sometimes you wish you could forget about him.
Ranma
Obsessive Love - 4
Acceptance - 1
(Son? Daughter? Child)
You would do almost anything to get your child back.
Taiga Hibiki
Crush - 2
Friend - 3
Half-forgotten moment of weakness years ago.
Your first new friend.
The Honorable Grandfather Shimizu
Fear - 4
Defiance - 1
The decrepit old man terrifies you even if you haven't seen or heard of him in years.
Kurara Konjo
Employer - 1
She's the vice principal of Seisyun High.
Hiromichi
Coworker - 1
He's the kendo instructor at Seisyun High. Knew your father.
Haru Yamada
Friend - 1
She's working in the local Seven Eleven, and is quite excited about swordplay and martial arts.
Uknown Kitsune
Distant relative ?
You've seen her visiting your father's grave
Orchid (蘭) and Chaos (乱)
Care - 2
Two cats that sometimes get into your house
Neighbours
0
You have them.
Market sellers
0
You buy rice often.
Known Characters
Ranma - Your child. Your memories are conflicted. When exactly did Genma take Ranma away? Did Ranma love cats? Are there memories of Ranma wanting to wear dresses or did your mind make them up? You have no idea how Ranma looks. You remember hundreds of different paintings of Ranma. Girl. Boy. Neither. Both.
Genma - Your husband. Your memories are a mess. Arranged marriage, you think. He's definitely older. A liar? Probably. A thief? Definitely. You remember debt collectors and old jaded opponents and victims, who sometimes still show up at your doorstep looking for him. You remember his handwriting. You wish you didn't remember your wedding.
Taiga Hibiki - Your friend. Once, all you had was a card with his pager's number. It's been years since you last saw him. You like his voice even if you hardly remember exactly what he looked like. Tall. Well built. Maybe? Dark hair. Something about him being lost? He's a trainer of Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics, and very soon, your colleague. You had a couple of pleasant conversations with him, and you think he's shaping up to be a good friend and an ally.
The Honorable Grandfather Shimizu - You're afraid. You don't remember him at all. He… is the reason your father is dead? He arranged the marriage to Genma?
Kurara Konjo - the vice principal of Seisyun High. Light brown hair. Cheerful attitude. Catholic.
Hiromichi - the main kendo instructor at Seisyun High. Old man. White hair. Knew and fought your father.
Haru Yamada - the clerk in the Seven Eleven. She's cute, has got long dark hair, and is in her early twenties. Lives on the same street.
Orchid (蘭) and Chaos (乱) - Two cats that live in the neighbourhood. Sometimes they sleep in your room. Chaos is the dark black, manlier one. You think… she might be a girl. Orchid is a tabby orange cat. A boy.
Others - There have to be other people in your life, right? You get your groceries at a farmer's market, right? There's faces… but nothing to them.
Half-forgotten friends of the past
盟也 (Meiya) - Dark blue hair cut short. Piercings - both ears, one on lips. Mild alternative fashion leanings. Likes heavy music. Bad kisser. Non-binary. Roommate and a friend.
進慈 (Shinji) - Dark hair in a ponytail. Younger than you or Meiya. Likes board games. Works remote. Dating Meiya ever since you met. He's a roommate and a friend.
夢心 (Yumeko) - Bleached blonde, messy medium length hair. You studied something together before you dropped out. The girl still likes to go to clubs. An old friend. She was your temporary roommate a way back.
雨夜 (Amaya) - Dark, long hair. Glasses. Work friend at one of your temporary retail positions. Taught you about makeup. Sometimes visits on board game nights. She's a little sweet on Shinji.
作楽 (Sakura) - Dark coal color hair. Usually wears large earrings. Soft green-grey eyes. A loverly, disarming smile. You might have been a little sweet on her. Sadly, she's just a straight friend.
健 (Ken) - Black hair, with hints of white. Older man. He had a crush on you… way, way back. It didn't work out for obvious reasons. He's not really anything to you, but he's related to Sakura. He's also very gay.
亘生 (Nobuki) - Your brother. Has health issues. Can't find a stable job.
History
This is intended as a super laconic summary of the updates up to date.
Arrival - You are an intertwined mess of two souls, and it's unclear where one begins and other ends. You are Nodoka Saotome.
Introspection I - While you're still Nodoka, your values are skewed towards the modern perspective, and you wish to return to your friends, or failing that, make some new ones. For now, your past is a little more important to you than your present or future.
Taiga - You've reconnected with an old friend. He still remembers you, after fifteen years. He told you Ranma's staying at the Tendo Dojo.
Taiga II - You've spent some time with Taiga, and he's turning into your trusted friend. Maybe something more, if you're up for it. He's not gonna make a first step, so it's entirely up to you. You don't think he likes Genma, but he hasn't said so openly.
Offer - You've got a job offer. Assistant kendo instructor… and a supervisor for the martial arts blacksmithing club in Seisyun High. You've accepted.
Martial Arts - there's multiple flavors of martial arts out there, a lot of them written about and with competitions that draw in crowds - and your local clerk at Seven Eleven is quite an avid fan.
Pager - Taiga has gotten you a little pager, a device to get wind of you should he (or anyone else you give the number to) need you. It's prepaid, and requires an occasional battery change.
Grave - There was a strange woman close to your father's grave when you went for a visit. You're not sure if she's important or not, but she didn't seem to want to speak to you. You've left an offering and found a bit of inner fire to hold on to in the memories of your father.
Dojo - On a restless night, you ran to catch a glimpse of Ranma. You scared potential burglar out from under the house and have seen a small girl that might or might not be Ranma before running away.
Fever - You were haunted by uneasy dreams of the past and fears, and had to miss the planned first day at the new job due to an unexpected fever.
Rules and Info
Crisis Vectors - Full Description
Legacy
Next crisis scene at level 1 severity.
Your family's legacy wasn't something you gave much thought to everyday. Except now, it's the one thing that's clearly different from what you expected. You might have forgotten much, but your arrival has helped shake loose some memories. Your extensive knowledge of Ranma… has not prepared you for this. An uncharted ground. A potential danger.
Known aspects:
- The Grave - There's a grave you should pay a visit to.
- The Honorable Grandfather - There's a man you wish to never see again.
- Old Lesson - You do not wish to remember.
- Family Blade - Shimizu family blade, forged by your ancestors.
Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You devote your life to Grandfather's wishes, rejecting free will. Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You face the Grandfather in a duel and, most probably, lose.
Regrets
Next crisis scene at level 4 severity.
Your old life. You do not remember much. It all could have been a dream. It doesn't mean that it will stop hurting anytime soon. Who even are you? Nodoka? Or someone else?
Known aspects:
- Acceptance - You need to accept what happened to you.
- Road Not Taken - Both your old and new life is full of regrets and what-ifs.
- Friends and Family - You hardly remember your closest friends, but you were living with two of them before. You miss having close friends in your life.
- New sense of Self - Who are you?
Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You take drastic methods to try and return home, whatever the cost, however small the chance.
Caretaker
Next crisis scene at level 2 severity.
Your whole life you ache for someone to take care of. You had locked your maternal instincts with the tightest lock, but it's been too long. Ranma should be around sixteen now. You need to find him and protect him. In a pinch, adopting a stray boy or cat might do.
Known aspects:
- Stray Cats - You take care of Chaos and Orchid, who all but live in your house.
- Ranma - You haven't seen Ranma in, can it be, 15 years.
- Tendo Sisters - Soun might be a shining beacon of a father compared to Genma, but the girls need a mother figure in their life!
Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You devote your life to the exclusive care of an unhealthy amount of cats. Cats don't go on training trips. Especially if you don't let them out of your house.
Know-It-All-Not
Next crisis scene at level 1 severity.
In your free time, in the half-forgotten life, you have seen and read it all. You know exactly how the plot of Ranma goes, to the minute detail of what conversation Ranma had with Ryoga before their first kiss. Except you're sure Ranma actually loves Nabiki and has never kissed Ryoga. Wait. You can't be in the canon timeline. What even is the canon timeline? You've read too many stories to be able to tell.
Known aspects:
- Ranma's Abuse - You know Ranma has to have been heavily abused! You need to take action!
- Multiple Genma's Sins - You're sure Genma is an irredeemable monster.
- Amazons - You're weary of the connections and artifacts the Amazons have access to
- Nabiki's Yakuza - Nabiki is a mercenary mastermind, with Yakuza connections, she could be a good, but expensive ally.
Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You ally yourself with someone who you really shouldn't have trusted in the first place. It breaks your family apart, and puts you in mortal danger. There's no coming back from the mistake.
Honorbound
Next crisis scene at level 4 severity.
Your childhood was all about making sure you remember that family honor is sacrosanct. Your understanding of honor and manliness might not be conventional, but you understand what is important.
Known aspects:
- Seppuku Contract - Genma made an oath, staking the family honor. Ranma must become man amongst men if any of you wish to live.
- Marriage to Genma - You are honor bound to keep your marriage to the man.
- Manliness of Ranma - Ranma must be manly. What does it mean to be manly?
Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You enforce the Oath. Failing that, you remove yourself from the picture, as it's the only way for the family honor to stay intact.
Precarity
Next crisis at level 2 severity.
Your new life is dangerous. Your financial stability is laughable. Your legal rights and your ability to defend yourself are suspect. You need to feel safer. Your life needs new meaning. Now.
Known aspects:
- The House in Suginami - it's a familiar, safe place. Do you own it or does it belong to Genma?
- Lonely and Cruel Reality - You have been alive but you haven't been living in any meaningful way. For years. You need to get out of the cycle of loneliness and cruelty.
- Self Defence - You… don't know how safe you are in the world with martial artists on every corner.
- Income - How do you even make your ends meet?
Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You break all ties and run away. Start a different life.
Voting and Choices
With a few rare exceptions (e.g. the very first update and first vote) that will say so, you should vote only for one option.
The first most popular vote will always happen in full. Votes on major actions will also have the second most popular option happen with reduced positive and negative effects.
Most of the mechanical effects of choices will be signposted. You should not include them in your vote.
3 people have voted: [X][Action] Attempt to teach Akane proper behaviour
2 people have voted: [X][Action] Attempt to Comfort Ranma
1 people have voted: [X][Action] Threaten Genma with the sword
Full Akane scene; Incorporates bits from what would have been a full Ranma scene; Genma goes unthreatened and possibly unmentioned. If Know-It-All-Not stress cannot fit, additional crisis scene after.
Crisis Vectors - Mechanics
Each crisis vector has a permanent rating and a variable amount of stress points towards the next level. Choices will always reduce and increase stress in multiple vectors or keep stress levels the same, but never can push a stress below 0 or more than 5. Most of the stress changes a choice causes will be listed before the choice is picked.
Occasional choices will offer introspection scenes, which can move a point of permanent rating to another crisis vector with no changes in stress values. These are rare, and represent inner turmoil as the native and alien natures of the main character try to find new equilibrium.
Whenever stress in a vector is gained while 5 stress is accumulated, the permanent rating increases by one and then a crisis scene is triggered. High crisis vector values "unlock" more choices with neutral stress change. Crisis scenes clear the stress of the vector to 0, but can cause extra stress in other areas depending on the crisis scene.
Crisis scenes at level 1-4 should increase in severity as the level rises, but the severity will also heavily depend on the situation and the choice that takes stress over the threshold. Compelling Narration triumphs over exact severity levels. Sometimes that might end up in inconsistent scaling.
Crisis scenes occurring at severity 5 have the potential to end the quest early. This will depend on circumstances. If it fits the story arc better, the story will continue. Otherwise, it will be the final scene of the quest.
Crisis vectors do not increase past 5. In the case of narrowly evaded game over, the maxed crisis vector can still gather stress and cause another level 5 crisis on stress overflow.
Severity 5 crisis examples
Legacy
Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You devote your life to Grandfather's wishes, rejecting the terrifying prospect of keeping free will. Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You face the Grandfather in a duel and, most probably, lose.
Regrets
Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You take drastic methods to try and return home, whatever the cost, however small the chance.
Caretaker
Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You devote your life to the exclusive care of an unhealthy amount of cats. Cats don't go on training trips. Especially if you don't let them out of your house.
Know-It-All-Not
Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You ally yourself with someone who you really shouldn't have trusted in the first place. It breaks your family apart, and puts you in mortal danger. There's no coming back from the mistake.
Honorbound
Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You enforce the Oath. Failing that, you remove yourself from the picture, as it's the only way for the family honor to stay intact.
Precarity
Final Severity 5 Crisis (example): You break all ties and run away.
Connections - Mechanics
Connections simply signify an emotional connection to a particular person. Multiple connections can exist for the same person. Some choices will increase or reduce the connection strength.
High connection levels might influence available choices.
Dice and Combat - Mechanics
This is purely a narrative quest about resource management. Dice will not be rolled, and there's no separate combat mechanic, even if you decide to get into a fight.
This quest is a little unfair and unbalanced by design. Yes. Sorry about that.
If you want, the exact same information in the google doc I coped from.
This is an informal informational post. Not calling any votes yet.
(some are very close, and still on track for the planned call of the vote on sometime around 2025-02-27)
that said... these are my thoughts, having watched over the vote, and having sat down to think more about the future. Some minor information here and there and some comments that might be relevant to the future of the quest and my approach.
💙💙💙
Current Vote Pattern
I am seeing the pattern emerging from the vote already, so I can start slowly prepping for the next update. Still not calling the vote early, since I know at least one person who told me on discord that they plan to take a look and vote (unless their nickname is wildly different here and I miscounted). That, and some votes are super close.
I tested the vote counting with NetTally program a little, and also read up the guides on the built in vote tally too, and it seems that the labels I gave for tasks are working exactly as I hoped. I could have done a few tiny things different, had I known for sure, but that doesn't matter.
This is not final:
With 10 voters as of now...
The current top introspection option 6 votes are to transfer Honorbound -> Regrets, reaching Regrets 3 (not causing a crisis) (second option is at 4 votes, transferring Honorbound to Precarity)
The current top otherworld option is 5 votes for a group of close knit friends. (second highest option is at 4 votes for a wife and daughter)
The current top action option is to call Taiga Hibiki (4 votes). (Second place at 2 votes is to investigate the past)
Minor info - Min-maxing and Vote
There's no rules against or for min-maxing the vote.
The intent is for people to be able to choose an option both ignoring the stress impact (and rules altogether), and at the same time to allow people who want to pay attention to it to calculate things before hand. Either approach will interact with mechanics (hopefully) as intended. Story-only choices will obviously move the story along, and min-maxing choices will hit side-content that's there specifically for the purpose of allowing to move stress from one area to another. And the scenes I want or coud write! Which can lead to more choices and more scenes in the future.
On average, a major action should still increase overall stress by +2, that's by design.
I hope there's no transcribing mistakes here. If there are, I'll trust the options printed in the forum thread over my table.
Sheets says that the average of all major action votes is actually 1.481, and not +2. That's fine.
6 choices leave the total stress unchanged.
The overall intent is that most choices that require Crisis vector to be 3+ rating *should* be cheaper, but there can and will be exceptions. Also, some choices are at 0 purely to enable reshuffling stress values around. And they usually have story impact ^^
If there's demand for it... I'll consider making that balancing table more accessible.
Minor info - Charactersheet tweaks
I have changed the character sheet Crisis Vector table. The data didn't change, just the way I arranged it. As far as I've tested, it should look better on smaller screens. I've left the old table in, just spoilered. Feel free to compare and give feedback. Or... not 💙.
I've also added a link to the original google doc, if you prefer to read it that way. The information is the same, maybe ordered a little differently. I will try to keep the two matching.
And, to reiterate a sentiment I should have included and highlighted in the original post, feel free to participate and vote without even paying attention to the stress increases ar even looking at any of the stats. They're for me to resolve things, and to know when an extra (crisis) scene should be written.
Bonus - Ina's overthinking
As a sidenote, I have been low-key overthinking adding or not adding reactions to the people voting, as to not influence the vote, but I appreciate each and every vote, especially the people that come from the cosy corners of the ranma/writing discords I frequent to vote on this quest. But like... the hug is a blue heart... I should probably give everyone hearts. 💙💙💙
I have written the rules and the character sheet intending for them to be clear, which might have led to accidental wordyness. I am a chatterbox, if people let me. Sorry.
Oh, and I know that the action vote (especially for this first update) has no attached immediacy, so you're current vote is more... deciding the order of things to choose rather than making a vital choice that decides the fate of everyone. There will be more vital choices in the future, I just wanted to start on a slow jog.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask, here or on discord, or any of the other social media I'm in. I'm InaNewmoon on tumblr and blue sky, for example.
Ina's writing speed and other stories (update frequency)
The updates shouldn't be massive (there might be exceptions), and I will try to limit my editing and overthinking. When writing stories these days I try to finish a whole arc before starting to post them chapter by chapter. This will not be the case here. My intent is to keep to the rough schedule giving roughly a week for a vote and then after calling it, giving myself another week to write/finalize the next update. (and the voting week is for working on my other stories (see the AO3 or SV links in my signature))
I hope to keep to it to the best of my ability, but if an unexpected bout of depression/dysphoria/physical health issue strikes, this can vary. Know that I am forcing myself not to rush too quickly, because I wanna evade potencial burnout. And give more time for votes. Time will tell if this decision is the right one, but I hope it is.
Thanks
Just wanted to again echo a thanks for everyone who voted, gave me advice and are in general looking forward for the quest's future (and/or the story I wanna tell here). I hope we all get surprised in good ways and have fun! 💙💙💙
💙 All art is commissioned from Beedok. She's amazing. 💙
Oh, and an extra bit of thanks to ClericalError87, an expert of ttrpgs and all things Exalted, for looking over the mechanics document for clarity and for letting me bounce some mechanical ideas off her. 💙
The plot bunny behind the story was raised in Storytellers' Speakeasy community discord by Noswald95, even if I tweaked it a bunch and turned it into a quest. 💙
I guess I should also shill the Storytellers' Speakeasy discord. Let me find the... free trial meme, er, the suggested advertisement for the server:
You're Invited to the Storytellers' Speakeasy!
Hey, everybody! I've joined the Storytellers' Speakeasy, a rapidly-growing community of writers and their fans on Discord. In the Speakeasy, my readers can interact with me and our community, see previews, beta read, or just hang out and discuss my work. Authors can find support with writing, researching, editing and promoting their content.
The Speakeasy is a safe and supportive environment for all people, including and especially LGBTQIA+ folks of all stripes, and a sex-positive space. All NSFW content is separately moderated and hidden behind an opt-in role. We have active fandom discussions for Ranma 1/2, My Little Pony, Star Trek, Pokemon, Sailor Moon and several others, plus channels for gaming, writer support, trans/gender/LGBTQIA+ stuff, and more.
Whether you're a Storyteller in your own right, want to participate in shaping my future content, or just want to hang with us in a supportive and welcoming community, you're welcome to join us!
--- Back to Ina:
p.s. No, I can't correctly write the word Speakeasy without looking it up. Every time I mess up. Every time.
p.p.s. No, I don't know why the section to post the drafts asking for assistance is called #rokyos-laboratory, and at this point I am not even gonna ask.
I hope this first quest succeeds, and after it ends... I might see you again in an entirely different one. 💙💙💙
I didn't really plan on making an info post this time, but I saw an insightful comment on discord... and I wanna highlight it for absolutely no reason, and since I was doing that, I figured someone might want a peek at the min-max table (although you're also very much free to ignore it).
A smart friend in a Discord far far away said:
So much story! yay
Also...
It feels like someone might be screening Nodoka's mail.
I can't confirm nor deny completely, but there's a reason why going to a post office increases Legacy stress.
I've found a couple tiny mistakes from last time and made some tiny deliberate adjustments in vote stress costs, including adding the new options for votes. I've tried to double check this table with the options listed, and I think they match. Again, if there are mismatches, the options in the vote post are the source of truth over this table.
The number on the left is the number of the update the particular choice was introduced or last changed in.
since not picking any of the taxi choices gives an extra +1 regret, the average stress of this choice is +2.4
except it's very unlikely none of the taxi choices don't make it into the top to... which gives us the average of +1.54
Also, since I'm back here, I can share some overthinking, this time on why I decided to have a vote as it is now:
When I was finished with the write-up of the update, I realized I had a few options for the vote.
One was to just have all of the take the taxi votes, with an extra option of "don't take the taxi" that gives +1 regrets and nothing else as the single vote for this update, moving the major action things to another update. I decided against it, since I the "don't do this" vote would have left us with an... empty update, essentially.
Second thought and option was to have two tasks - one for Taxi, and another for Action, but... that would have meant writing two full scenes. I want to contain myself to a scene and a half for most updates.
Third option is what we have here, a standard Major Action vote. It's not perfect, I know, but the idea behind the mechanic is that gives a chance to a runner-up vote to have an impact - and its much harder to plan for when voting, since it's very different from just having a plan with two options.
Maybe there is a fancier, ranked voting option that would give more control for the voters, but I'm not sure if it portays the internal chaos of Nodoka as well as the current option - since especially in a vote like this one, where main contenders are the temporary options, voting for some regular action to still get a half-scene (at a lower stress cost, too), is a valid voting strategy.
(Remember that you aren't locked in with your first post... you can just post again and change your vote if you so desire, as long as there's time)
Oh, and the surprisingly quick write up of the update (even for myself) was what caused me to not have time or funds left this month for any new art, but maybe next time?
Can't confirm nor deny extra stress consequences further down the line, but currently Regrets is the main motivating force for Nodoka, and you picked the most romantically unattached option from the Otherworld, which... makes Nodoka notice people more. It doesn't mean it necessarily can or will lead to something... suggestive, but it might. If anything does... I will try to tastefully fade to black. Maybe when you meet Genma, he might actually sweep you off your feet? Who knows?
Thanks again for reading and voting 💙
Last edited:
Informal Info - Companion to 04½ - What does "defiance" choice mean, going forwardNew
If you feel that way why not vote for Maybe? Unless I'm misreading it is seems as though waiting to later re-examine whether we're going to go full defiance is what this option is for.
Awright, let me weigh in on how I see the [defiance] choice. It's a choice between fear and defiance based legacy pull.
If you choose fear (the "no" option), you soft-lock the narrative pull into fear, as it was before, causing stress when choosing choices for defying grandfather and reducing stress when choosing to bow down to fear (or, well, generally resting) options. If you choose defiance (the "yes" option) - you also soft-lock narrative, but in an opposite direction - the crisis vector would pull Nodoka towards choices of defiance, and taking fear and cowering down options would start to give stress instead, and the training and preparation options would start reducing it.
If you go for the "maybe" option, it should, in theory, lead to more stress gain overall when it comes to legacy, since more options would cause it and there would be less chances to reduce it (both defying and fear are opposites, so if you follow one not choosing the other would cause some stress), but the stress gain for both would be smaller than in a committed option.
The "no" and "yes" options are intended to be long-term, so there shouldn't be many opportunities to change again, but if you keep picking expensive stress gain choice in the opposite direction and cause another crisis scene or two in Legacy, I might have another vote for the direction anyway.
The "maybe" option implies that the choice is delayed (or you are forever torn between the two extremes), and there should be more opportunities to pivot to one or the other (or stay undecided).
As for the Narrative impact, I try to include the pull more the more Crisis Vector trait has ranked up, so if Legacy stays at 1 or after introspection, a 0, it won't have as big of an impact in narration flavor anyway. (You're still in "Ina tries to emphasize regrets in all things" mode due to Regrets being the only one trait at 3)
I think it's pretty likely the little girl we ran into was Hinako Ninomiya, who is actually not a little girl at all but a young women who's magically stuck at 10 unless she absorbs the "battle aura" of a martial artist.
For the record, Nodoka's Know-It-All-Not-ness would know who Hinako is, but it doesn't mean that it would be the first guess - especially in a different flavor crisis mode - which was why I didn't bring her up in the narrative. ^^
Let me post a couple of totally completely unrelated manga panels that I've shared over at discord when receiving a question about the girls identity. Maybe it will help. 💙
![Nodoka Quest - Balancing On The Chaos Edge [Ranma ½]](/data/threadmark-index-icons/l/81/81221.jpg?1740348571){kind=icon}
