- Location
- Australia
It's every couple months this gets updated. Grounders has a few stories they rotate through in some arcane order. But when they get updates the chapters are chonky.
With Grace and Elegance Ranma 1/2 / Girls und Panzer
- Thread starter Grounders10
- Start date
- Crossover
KlinkerKing
Man bites dog?
- Location
- The Lion's Den
It's a very nice feel-good story so far. Pretty much exactly what I wanted out of a GuP fic - it captures the absolute insanity of what is technically a sports anime but also a slice of life anime, in its casual and flippant handling of things that really shouldn't be treated that way, like million ton carrier cities. Much like GuP, this story also relies heavily on character interactions, and I feel like that's one of the key elements a lot of people miss when they try to make GuP derivative media - you can't just toss tank statistics around and call it GuP, you have to make it feel GuP.
Grounders10
Nine-Tailed Kitsune
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada, Mars
Yeah, GuP has this thing of just 'Oh yeah, we go to school on giant carrier. Please ignore the floating archologies'
Gekkou_Yoko
Three-Tailed Kitsune
- Location
- In my dreams, outside my mind.
Chapter inbound!~ Come and get chur Chapter!~
Chapter Six Parents, Ninjas, and Nosy Neighbour, Oh Hi!~
Grounders10
Nine-Tailed Kitsune
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada, Mars
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With Grace and Elegance
A Girls Und Panzer/Ranma ½ Crossover
Chapter six
Parents, Ninjas, and Nosy Neighbour, Oh Hi!~
By: Grounders10
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With Grace and Elegance
A Girls Und Panzer/Ranma ½ Crossover
Chapter six
Parents, Ninjas, and Nosy Neighbour, Oh Hi!~
By: Grounders10
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Ranma's post atop the decorative spindle came to a swift end as Mr. Tendo gathered his wits and launched an attack against her. Flipping up from the precarious ledge he had been perched upon his flying kick swept through the space where she had been standing a moment before. He landed upon the tiled roof and spun to block her counterattack.
"I expected Pops to try something," she said as they circled one another, "I don't think Kasumi will be too happy about you helping him."
"Now Ranma, we're just trying to do what's best for the school," Soun said with his usual calm tone. His eyes flickered down. She ducked the high kick that followed, then stepped around and past the follow-up punch. Her own return strike hammered the older man in the ribs. He stumbled across the rooftop before turning to face her.
Her fist connected just about his left temple as she caught him mid-motion. He bounced off the tile, cracking the roof in multiple spots before she flipped him up into the air and planted a spinning kick into his stomach that sent him down into the yard where he very nearly crashed down on her father.
He groaned something as she looked down at the pair of them. Genma had already pulled himself out of the hole he had made and was looking up at her. "Come down here boy! We're here to rescue you!"
"... You mean kidnap, right?" she called back, scowling at him. "You realise you lost custody a few weeks ago, right? I don't have to do a single thing you say." He turned purple and stamped a foot hard enough to crack the concrete.
"Who cares about that! I raised you as a man among men!" He pointed up at her, "Get out of those girly clothes. We are leaving!"
The back door of the building banged open and Tsuya stepped out, a trio of servants in various uniforms following her. "I see you haven't gotten any less boorish, Genma Saotome," she said flatly, "Young Miss, please get down from the roof. I'd rather avoid a scene if possible."
"He is not a girl," Genma snarled.
Ranma hopped down, landing lightly on the railing beside the back steps. "I think they've already started a scene," she said as she ignored the staring from the younger two of the trio of servants.
"So he has," Tsuya said with a sigh, "Genma Saotome, for once in your life, walk away. This will not end well if you make this worse. You're already one step away from being wanted by the state."
Genma took another step forward. "Now listen you hag, I am not-"
A window on the second floor flew open. "FATHER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Kasumi shouted, leaning half out the window. She looked like she had been halfway through getting ready for bed with a robe hastily thrown over her and her hair only halfway combed.
Her father perked up. "I- Kasumi, we're here to-"
"If the next words out of your mouth are 'rescue me', I'll write Akane and Nabiki about this," Kasumi said. She looked more irritated than Ranma had ever seen her. She raised the cellphone in her left hand and it flashed as it took a picture. "And I promise you neither of them will be happy." The chill in her voice sent a shiver down Ranma's spine. Oh yes, Kasumi was angry.
Soun swallowed loudly and patted Genma on his shoulder. "W-well, we were just coming to visit, um… Quietly. Very quietly. Right, Saotome?" he said, his cheek twitching erratically.
Genma shrugged off his friend's arm. "Soun, get yourself together, this is about the school," he said, "We are not leaving without my boy."
"Hello, is this the police?" Everyone paused again and looked up at Kasumi who was holding her phone to her ear. "Yes, I'd like to report an attempted break-in."
"Kasumi…" Soun groaned, before grabbing Genma on the shoulder, "We need to leave." Genma ground his teeth together.
"Come with us Ranma!" He demanded.
Ranma stared at him before shaking her head and turning away. "Go back to Mom, Pops," she said as she walked up to the back door.
"You- DO YOU WANT TO BE SOMETHING GREAT OR NOT!" Genma snarled, his fist came down on a potted plant beside him. Bits of shrubbery, dirt, and clay fragments rained down across the garden.
"Saotome, we need to go," Soun repeated, tugging Genma along.
"This isn't over! I won't just stand by and watch this- This- Boy!" With that shout of anger lingering in the air he turned and stormed out of the yard, disappearing into the trees of the park beyond. Mr. Tendo followed after him at a run.
"... Must he always do that?" Tsuya sighed, waving a servant forward, "Tell Mr. Yoshiro, that we will need him to clean up the backyard later." The servant nodded and disappeared inside, passing Ranma where she was standing beside the doorway looking out at where her father had disappeared. Tsuya looked up to Kasumi. The brunette had lowered her phone with a smile. "Go finish getting ready for bed, Ms. Tendo," she said.
"Okay, see you in the morning Ranma," Kasumi said as she retreated into her room, closing the window behind her.
"Now, shall we head in?" Tsuya asked, "I believe you need to get ready for bed yourself."
"Yeah…" Ranma turned away from the park and headed back inside, nodding politely to the maid who held the door open for her.
Once they were back inside Tsuya sighed heavily. "That man. I swear I will never understand… Pardon me, Young Miss. This is perhaps not the place to air my complaints about your father," she said. Ranma snorted and waved her off.
"Complain away. Everyone with sense does," she said, leaning against the nearest open spot of the wall, her arms crossed behind her back as she watched the back door. "I can't believe he just did that."
Tsuya's expression was unreadable as the old woman watched the door as well. "I am not surprised. We were expecting something, truth be told. Especially after your mother," she said.
"My mother?" Ranma asked as she turned away from the door.
"Mhmm. Your mother was living here when Genma started his efforts to romance her. I was… Insufficiently observant, I'm sad to say. To this day I ask myself how much of what has happened since was because of him…" she sighed, "But that is not something you should worry about. I have the feeling that you are far more familiar with his games than I am."
"... that's one way to put it," Ranma said quietly. She played with her necklace as she thought. There had been a small part of her that had been tempted to leave with her pops. To just run away from everything, but… But it was a small part. She would be running away from the opportunity that St. Gloriana's represented and away from the family she had just started to get to know. Besides, she already knew where following Genma Saotome would land her. She'd spent the last couple of years living the consequences of that life choice.
"Time for bed now, Young Miss," Tsuya said, breaking her concentration, "I'll raise the issue of more security with your grandmother."
"Unless they're a good martial artist they won't be enough," Ranma said, "I can handle my pops."
"Be that as it may, Young Miss, you should not have to. This is our responsibility," her butler replied, "Either way this will be for your Grandmother to decide." Ranma nodded and dropped the issue. She let the older woman guide her up the stairs and back to her room.
Once back inside her room she found a seat at her vanity and started the slow process of undoing her braid. She watched the girl in the mirror as she carefully worked the knots from her hair. "What am I going to do about this?" she asked herself as she paused her brushing. She turned the ivory backed brush over in her hands.
Her father had already managed to find her, how much longer until the rest of Nerima followed? The Amazon's were perfectly fine stirring the pot even when they had no legal standing. Ukyo would… Well, actually Ukyo had gotten caught in the net, hadn't she? Barring some sort of intervention, Ukyo was probably out of the picture for now. Still, the rest…
She twirled the brush, balancing it on one finger. The rest would follow her at some point. She flipped it up and caught it in her palm. Ironically she could have avoided it by going with her pops, but…
Ranma looked around the room. To say that it was much nicer than sleeping on the cold hard ground or in a poorly heated tent was an understatement. Which was what going with her pops would have entailed. Cold evenings, empty stomachs, and probably the police after her pops which would have been worse than before. More importantly, she could only picture how disappointed her Mother and Grandmother would have been. The thought of their reactions sent a shiver rolling down her back.
"I'll just have to deal with it as it comes," she said as she returned to brushing her hair, "Unlike pops, I'm not going to run away." Not again.
-0-0-0-0-0-
"Yaaaaaaaahhhhh," Kasumi loudly yawned, covering her mouth with her hand as Ranma leaned away from her. She rubbed the ear that the other girl had yawned into. It was ringing faintly from the volume.
"Really?" She sighed. Sure, neither of them had really gotten a good night's sleep, especially since Ranma had been keeping one ear peeled for her father coming back, but was that any reason to yawn straight into her ear right as they were getting out of the car
"Sorry," her brunette friend blushed, looking fairly mortified.
Ranma grumbled but let it go as she adjusted her bag and walked towards the class building after waving goodbye to their driver. Kasumi kept pace with her, periodically covering up a yawn as she did so.
"I can't believe daddy did that," Kasumi said as they weaved their way through the maze of hedgerows.
"I can. I was expecting something eventually," she replied, stopping in a small square with a fountain topped with a statue of a European knight. "I didn't think they'd find us so quickly though." For both of their fathers to make a move on their second night onboard meant that they had to have been there beforehand or come on board at about the same time.
Kasumi sighed. "Your father is such a… a…" She scowled, seemingly at a loss for words.
"Irredeemable jackass?" Ranma suggested.
"That," her friend agreed, "Daddy wouldn't do half of the silly things he's done since you arrived if your father wasn't egging him on."
Ranma couldn't do much more than shrug helplessly. Kasumi wasn't wrong. At least three-quarters of the pair's bad ideas came from her father. "I know," she said. They stood there awkwardly for a moment as other students hurried past them.
Kasumi yawned abruptly. "Ugh," she grumbled and uttered something particularly unpleasant under her breath.
"Really?" Ranma asked, amused at the abrupt turn.
"Your father sucks," Kasumi replied with a sniff before yawning again. "Doesn't he have a clue how much sleep a student needs?"
"Now you know how I felt for years," the redhead replied. She ignored the uncharitable look sent her way and turned to keep heading to class when a voice called out to both of them.
"Ranma! Kasumi!" Ranma paused and glanced over her shoulder to find Rin jogging over to them.
"Rin, good morning," Kasumi greeted her as she stopped by them before yawning again.
"Good morning," the twin-tailed girl replied before pointing a finger at Ranma, "What the hell was that last night?"
Ranma facepalmed and groaned. "You saw that?" she asked.
"Saw which part? The bit where you were posing on the roof like a magical girl, or do you mean the bit where you did something that sounded like a bomb going off?" Rin asked. She was glaring at Ranma with both hands on her hips.
"I'm related to an idiot," Ranma replied after a moment before turning and walking towards the class building.
"That is not an explanation," Rin said as she kept pace.
"Trust me it is," Kasumi sighed. She yawned again and shot an annoyed glance in the direction of the distant house.
Rin huffed. "I know my parents said it used to get noisy living next to you Hayashida's, but setting off tank shells in your backyard isn't exactly a smart idea, especially on a ship," she said.
"I didn't set off a bomb," Ranma replied.
"Then what did you do?"
"I kicked my pops off the roof and into the ground," she replied flatly.
"Oh god, that's what the argument was about. Please tell me you didn't hide a body?" Ranma stumbled and turned to the horrified girl.
"He's been through worse. It barely scratched him," she replied. It had honestly done more damage to the yard. Tsuya had implied it would take a few days to fix everything back up.
"She's not lying," Kasumi said as Rin stared at the redhead with undisguised disbelief.
Rin placed a hand to her forehead and groaned. "This is… This is one of those Nerima things, isn't it?" She asked, looking visibly pained.
"I'd like to say that, but he's been this bad since before we went to Nerima," Ranma replied with a shrug. Rin muttered something unflattering that made Ranma snicker.
"This isn't funny. Please tell me this isn't going to be normal? I don't want to keep getting woken up in the middle of the night," Rin whined. Ranma laughed and spun on her heel so she was walking backwards. She grinned at the other girl.
"Oh really? Should I ask him to schedule his kidnapping attempts for the middle of the day instead? Should make classes interesting at least," she mused, "What do you say, Kasumi?" The brunette snorted at her.
"I will hit Daddy if he even thinks of crashing my classes," she replied with a scowl of her own.
"Don't even think of it. Oh god, this better not become normal," Rin grumbled.
"It better not," Ranma muttered under her breath as they ascended the steps into the school building.
The only person waiting for them when they arrived was Mari who was, once again, sitting by the window reading that same book with the fuzzy question mark on the front. "Good morning Mari," Kasumi said, waving to her as she walked to her seat.
"Mornin'," Mari mumbled from behind her book. She peered at them as they sat down before returning to her book. There was a scribbling noise as she made a note behind the book.
"Chatty one isn't she?" Kasumi murmured to Ranma. She shrugged. The quiet ones were rarely an issue, unlike what most people liked to joke. If she wanted to be quiet, Ranma wasn't going to complain. Not that she was quiet when Takara was around. The day before had made that very clear.
Over the next few minutes, Setsuna and Yume both arrived and found their seats. Yume started up a conversation about flower arranging with Rin, who appeared quite happy for the distraction. Ranma cracked open one of their textbooks, an act she was sure would have made anyone she knew in Nerima try and check her for mind control or possession, and continued reading ahead for their history class. Unlike maths she didn't need to practise, just remember.
A victory tune played from Kasumi's phone.
It was three minutes to class time when a commotion came through the door. There wasn't a better way to describe Shiori dragging Takara, still wearing her cape, through the door by her ear with a furious expression on her face.
"Oooow, Shiori, let go!" The overly dramatic girl whined.
"Sure," Shiori let go of her ear, grabbed her by both shoulders and pushed her forward like a sacrifice, "Now tell them what you've committed us to."
Ranma exchanged a look with Kasumi who simply stared intensely at her. Ranma shook her head. Kasumi nodded. Ranma shook her head. Kasumi nodded again. Ranma shook her head emphatically, this was not her fault!
Mari groaned loudly. "Oh gods, what has she done this time?" she asked.
Takara chuckled nervously, and fiddled with her cape's collar. "Well…"
"Tell them," Shiori said.
"Right, so.." Takara stepped forward, pulling herself out of Shiori's grasp so she could put one foot on her chair and point her hand to the sky. "Ladies of class 3A-1! We have been challenged to prove our superiority through the most difficult and challenging of high school rites! A task worthy of legend that will put our names onto the lips of every student of St. Gloriana's!" She swept her hand across the room dramatically and opened her mouth-
"Please tell me she hasn't challenged someone to badminton again," Marie deadpanned.
Takara froze.
"She did," Shiori confirmed. Beside Ranma, Rin let her head fall to rest on the desk.
"Badminton?" Yume asked, "Seriously?"
Takara deflated as everyone else added their own two-cents to the idea. Setsuna asking what badminton even was sent her sulking into her chair. "You all suck, you know that?" she complained.
"No, we just have more important things to worry about, like learning," Marie ground out as she closed her book.
"Well too bad. We're committed, which means we're having a badminton tournament this afternoon against class 3B-2," Takara huffed, "The honour of our class depends on it."
"Seriously?" Rin asked with a tone that could peel paint, "What did you promise them if we lost?"
Takara stared at her for a moment. "Just a little tutoring…?" she said.
"Is that a question or an answer? It better not be the answer," Rin growled, standing up.
"But it is the answer!" Takara insisted.
"You think that's bad?" Shiori asked with a frown, "The student council treasurer overheard and thought it was a great idea. I heard her talking about getting the entire first-year grade to participate as some kind of ad hoc tournament throughout the rest of the week. Everyone is going to have heard about this by the time the bell rings."
Ranma groaned while Kasumi stared up at the ceiling. The only thing she could be happy about was that at least she wasn't the only one suffering.
-0-0-0-0-0-
"Cape off Miss Seto," Ms. Jasmine said as she walked through the door. The exuberant girl pouted and pulled it off to stick into her bag as the teacher took a seat at her desk. There was still a minute to go until the bell. "Good morning girls," she said with a smile to them all.
"Good Morning Miss Jasmine," Kasumi and Yume chorused. Everyone tossed their hellos and good mornings in as they could.
"Since we're all here I'll just get started now," Ms. Jasmine said as she sipped her tea. "Now today will be much like yesterday with-" The Ding Dong Ding of the PA system cut her off and she fell silent as they all glanced up at the single PA speaker in the classroom's ceiling.
"Good morning everyone~" A familiar sounding voice said. Ranma couldn't quite place it. She had heard it before but- "This is Ginseng with a morning announcement for our wonderful first-year classes from the Student Council," Hadn't that been the name of the Student Council President? "At the suggestion of one of your own we are going to be holding a badminton tournament for the entire grade starting today at one this afternoon and running for the rest of the week. Anyone who wants to participate can come down before noon to sign up at the court on Gym street."
There was a pause. "We'll be serving tea and sandwiches for anyone who wishes to come down and watch. Details can be found down at the court! Have a good day everyone, and behaaaaaave~" The PA system clicked off.
Every eye not belonging to the teacher turned to Takara. "Look what you've started," Shiori said accusingly.
"I didn't start that!" Takara replied.
"Yes, you did! You challenged 3B-2 to a badminton tournament in front of the student council treasurer!" Mari snapped, "Now you've dragged the entire grade into your idea!"
"Girls, please, behave," Miss Jasmine said. Scowling Mari dropped back into her seat. Shiori merely fell silent as she hadn't left her seat and continued to stare daggers into the side of Takara's head. "Now, is this true?"
Takara huffed and crossed her arms. "They started it," she grumbled.
"Hmmm, well seeing as no one appears to be more than disgruntled I think we can let this go," Miss Jasmine said with a cheerful smile, "Besides, this sounds like it will be a wonderful chance for you to get to know the other classes. A friendly competition."
Ranma exchanged looks with Kasumi at the words 'Friendly Competition'. "Wanna bet someone's going to hold a grudge over how this is going to go?" she asked Kasumi.
Kasumi simply beamed back at her. "I'm afraid that unlike Akane I know better than to get into a sucker's bet," she said with a shrug, "You are overdue for another sworn enemy."
"I'm not doing it, so please don't joke about that, Kasumi," Ranma grumbled and the two of them pointedly ignored the looks the rest of the class were sending their way. She already had her cousin to worry about. She didn't need to start collecting more weirdos. Visions of bandana-wearing, half-blind badminton-playing girls attempting to challenge her to more and more absurd matches to avenge their honour danced in the back of her mind.
That was not going to happen, because she wasn't going to join the tournament if she could help it.
"Now, now," their teacher chided, "I'm sure it will be just fine." She said while glancing about the classroom, "While I'm not going to tell you that you have to participate, I think going would be a good exercise for the class nonetheless."
"I agree, Ms. Jasmine," Rin said, standing up, "We still don't know many of our classmates."
"Then I will leave you all to it," Ms. Jasmine said with a smile and clap of her hands, "Remember to behave, and Takara, no cape."
Takara sighed while Mari grinned smugly at her. Ranma leaned back in her seat and just appreciated the fact that for once, she was on the periphery of the chaos.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Once their teacher was gone the class gathered their things and set out to answer Takara's little challenge. The badminton court, technically a tennis court, was located on the same side path as the Gym behind a screen of hedges alongside a large field of grass and a few trees. To Ranma's surprise there were several large tents set up. Colourful like they were meant for a carnival. Groups of girls were rapidly setting up tables and, judging by the cooking equipment, food stands within them.
"When did they set these up?" Takara asked incredulously.
"They're setting up more as well," Yume said as she pointed to more colourful tents going up around the perimeter of the grassy area.
"We've been working since before the announcement," a voice tinged with what Ranma recognized as amusement said from behind them. Turning they found the Student Council President smiling with a cup of tea and its saucer in her hand. Beside her was standing a taller girl with a gently steaming teapot under one arm.
"Ms.Ginseng!" Shiori blurted out before promptly going nearly as red as Ranma's hair.
"No way, you'd have to be going almost from the moment I made the challenge," Takara said incredulously.
Ginseng nodded politely. "Oh yes, you see we do something different every year and this year we just hadn't been able to decide on something to do. Treasurer Pu'er thought it was a lovely idea and I agreed. From there it was just simply getting everyone moving in the same direction," she sipped from her tea, "Quite simple really."
Ranma mouthed the words 'moving in the same direction' to herself. Simple was not what she'd call that. Even getting more than two people moving in the same direction or for the same reason in Nerima had been like trying to make the rain stop falling, or catching a thunderbolt with your bare hands. Impossible, but sometimes weird coincidences happened.
"If you say so," Yume said.
"Ms. Ginseng, you wouldn't happen to know where we're supposed to go from here?" Rin asked.
"Registration is over there," the president pointed to a table under a pair of large red rice paper umbrellas. A sign beside her listed the rules of the tournament in a dry erase marker. The girl sitting there was attempting to look regal as she sipped a cup of tea, but Ranma could make out the poorly hidden slump of her shoulders. She was bored.
"Thank you, President Ginseng," Rin said, bowing to her. The rest of them echoed her. As they parted ways the student council president called after them.
"Oh Takara," Ginseng said, "I'm required to remind you that betting on school events by students is not officially permitted under the code of conduct, mkay?" She smiled widely, her eyes closed and a tilt to her head.
"Ah, yes Student Council President!" Takara replied quickly, "Wouldn't dream of it!"
"And no capes," was called after them as Takara hurried away. Ranma stifled a snicker and tried to school her face to one of neutrality as Kasumi glanced her way. Her lip twitched and the other girl shook her head.
Rin quietly stepped in front of Takara just before they reached the table. "We're here to sign up 3A-1 for the tournament," she said before Takara could say anything.
The girl blinked at her and set down her cup of tea before picking up the clipboard. "Class 3A-1… Ah, here you are," she muttered before looking up at them, "So which of you are you picking for your representatives?"
Ranma took two steps back and slipped in behind Kasumi. "Not up for a challenge?" Kasumi whispered with a grin.
"It's just badminton, not even martial arts badminton," she replied flatly to her friend's giggles.
"Um…" Rin looked back at the group. Everyone shrugged one at a time, "So how does this work exactly?" she asked the girl.
She pointed to the sign. "We're running two categories. Doubles, and singles. You'll need to pick three people if your class wants to run both and if we don't have enough for one of the tournaments the council might tap one or two of you at random to fill in. I'd suggest just picking three people and getting it over with," she said. She sipped her tea before continuing, "No substitutions, if you're disqualified or get injured and have to sit it out too bad. The tournament is a round-robin with tie breakers at the end to determine the victor. The winning class gets vouchers for the Colonial Cafe for a week."
Takara took two steps forward and slapped her hands down on the table. "I'll do the singles," She declared.
The girl glanced at the rest of the group but when no one objected she looked down at her clipboard. "Name?" she asked blandly.
"Takara Seto," she replied.
"Ta-ka-ra… Se-to…" The girl muttered as she wrote in the name, "Anyone else?"
"I'll take part in the doubles if anyone wants to join me," Shiori said, "I used to play a bit in my old school."
Ranma nudged Kasumi. "What an adventure?" she whispered to her. Kasumi blinked at her before looking at the board. The girls were all looking at each other with frowns. Yume looked particularly nervous and Setsuna just looked bored.
"Why not you? You'd crush it?" Kasumi asked quietly.
"No way in hell. It's badminton. Not my thing," she replied with a shrug. Not to mention she would indeed crush it and whoever she was facing.Kasumi nodded slowly.
"It has been a while," she muttered before stepping forward. "I'll do it."
"You've played before?" Shiori asked. Kasumi nodded.
"In my old school," she replied, "For gym class mostly."
"Names?" The girl at the desk asked.
"Shiori Jin."
"Kasumi Tendo."
The girl marked their names down on the clipboard. "We'll post the matches here at twelve-thirty," she said before sipping her tea.
"Thank you," Rin said, "Now what?" she asked the group.
"Wander about and find a cafe maybe?" Yume suggested, "I saw a few nice ones by the theatre." That sounded good enough to everyone else and they started the meandering path towards the theatre plaza.
-0-0-0-0-0-
It was approaching one o'clock when they came back to the field. The area was crowded with even more tents and what had to be every girl in the first year and a bunch of the next two years. Uniformed girls swarmed about concession stands and sat on blankets or at tables with large pots of tea surrounding the tennis courts.
"I was not expecting this many people to turn up," Rin said.
"Less than I expected actually," Ranma said, "Back in Nerima things like this would have attracted everyone in the school." She had to stand on her tiptoes to see over the crowd. Her lack of height as a girl was always irritating.
"Somehow I doubt the entire school would have fit into here," Rin replied dryly. Ranma nodded her agreement. They might have managed it, but this wasn't an auditorium.
Takara was bouncing up and down to see over the sea of heads. "Over there!" she cried and pointed across the field to what Ranma vaguely recalled as the direction of the registration stand. Being waved above the crowd was a sign with bright red letters that said 'participants here'.
Takara grabbed Kasumi and Shiori by the arms. "Let's go!" She shouted and dragged the two of them into the crowd before anyone could protest.
"Aaaand, they're gone," Mari said dryly before shaking her head. "I am so happy that isn't me this time."
"Does she do this a lot?" Yume asked nervously.
"A lot is an understatement," the bookish girl said, adjusting her glasses, "Impulsive decision-making is her standard."
"You sound like someone who has been dragged into a lot of these sorts of situations," Setsuna said.
"Twice a week for six years, sometimes three times a week," Mari confirmed, "Not badminton per se, at least not all the time, but there was always something going on."
"Didn't she call you her rival?" Rin asked with a raised eyebrow. Mari scowled.
"Which in her logic means grab me first," she replied with a huff, "I'm going to go find a table with a view and enough seats for us. Come find me when you want to sit down." With that she disappeared into the crowd.
"And then there were four," Setsuna said. The green-haired girl brushed a lock of hair behind one ear. "I wish this had been a tennis tournament."
"Not fond of badminton?" Ranma asked as their group started moving slowly through the crowd, pausing to let Yume buy a strawberry-filled crepe from a vendor.
"Hmm, not particularly, no. I much prefer tennis. I find that the shuttlecock is a little bit too floaty for my tastes," she replied, "I prefer something more solid to hit."
The conversation continued on much the same as they circled the field looking for Mari's table. Ranma stopped to pick up some ice cream. She was halfway done with her ice cream cone when they found Mari. The other girl was once again buried in her book, though she had managed to find a table with a view that was only obstructed by a sea of girls sitting on blankets. The umbrella over the table rattled in the breeze as the ship minutely adjusted its course. Ranma brushed her hair back and made a note to retie her braid when she got the chance.
"What is in that book you're always reading?" Rin asked as they claimed seats at the table. Mari glanced up.
"Magic," she said.
Ranma eyed Mari over her cone of strawberry ice cream. "What kind?" she asked cautiously.
Mari pursed her lips. "Kanto-school of exorcism," she said after a minute before going back to it.
"As in the shinto or buddhist?" She asked in return. Of course there was the possibility of both.
"Shinto."
"Are you both seriously talking about magic?" Rin asked as she nibbled on a macaroon.
Ranma shrugged as she eyed Mari like one would a coiled and threatened rattlesnake. "I've seen a lot of stuff that can only be magic," she said, "We'd be here for hours if I tried to explain it all." Not to mention she really didn't want to share some things and some stories probably wouldn't make sense without explaining her little… issue.
"Riiight," Rin drawled before nibbling politely on the scone some more.
"Excuse me," Ranma glanced up as a blonde girl in the school uniform with a white apron with the school's logo on the breast appeared with a notepad, "Hello. Welcome to Saint Gloriana's Student Cafe. You can call me Golden Tips, can I get you anything? We have over five hundred types of tea available along with a selection of pastries and sweets." She looked at them hopefully.
"Tea sounds nice," Rin said, "I'll have Jasmine please."
"Assam, if you don't mind," Setsuna said.
"Something cool," Yume said, "It's a bit warm today."
The girl wrote their requests down. "And you miss?" she asked Ranma who was thinking it over.
"You… wouldn't happen to have any Ruby Red, would you?" she asked after a moment recalling the tea from the night before.
The girl pulled a small tablet from the pocket of her apron. "Ruby Red… Yes, we do," she said.
"I'd like some of that," Ranma said.
"Excellent. Your tea will be out shortly," Golden Tips said before disappearing into the crowd in the direction of a tent with a very nice wooden sign reading 'St. Gloriana's Student Council Cafe' above the door.
"Taking a liking to that one?" Rin asked.
"A bit," Ranma replied with a shrug. A sudden note of a horn blared out over the crowd and everyone turned to the source. Dressed in the school's gym clothes a column of girls walked out from the largest of the tents. In groups of three with one holding a crossed flagpole from which hung a light blue flag with the number of their class on it they marched through the crowd, which scurried out of the way. At the front, Takara was barely-recognizable without her cloak. Thankfully, both Kasumi and Shiori were much more recognizable and Ranma easily spotted their flag.
Behind the group trailed a red and black uniformed marching band that kept pace behind them tapping out a rhythm as the group circled the court twice before coming to a stop in front of a table where the student council president was already standing with a cup of tea in one hand and a microphone in the other.
As the band's last few notes trailed off the student council president stepped up onto a footstool. "Hello everyone!" she said gently, her voice amplified by the dozen or so hidden speakers around the field, "Welcome to the first event of the new school year!" A few cheers broke out, which quickly died.
"Today we will be opening the first of what will be many events throughout the year," Ginseng continued, "Some will be announced days, weeks, or even months ahead of time, others will be much like this one, spontaneous and sudden. Keep your ears out everyone, who knows what you might learn about." A few whistles rang out.
"Today we have the girls of classes 3A-1 and 3B-2 to thank for this. What a wonderful idea for such a beautiful day," she said, clapping politely. Most of the field clapped politely with her. "And I'm told the rest of the week will be much the same, so everyone remembers to come out and cheer for our competitors. Now, the rules of our little tournament are simple. Everyone will face every class twice and the one with the highest score will win a month's worth of meals at the Colonial Cafe for their entire class. The class in second will earn a week while third will receive a month's supply of tea from St. Gloriana's Tea Shop. Remember you can find them across from the theatre if you need more."
She looked around, "Now, let's begin! Our first matches will be class 3C-1 against class 3B-2 and 3B-3 versus 3A-2. Everyone else, find your class and stick with them until you're called upon! St. Gloriana's let us wish our competitors well and may they perform with Grace and Elegance!" She raised her tea cup in salute and everyone around the field did the same before taking a sip from theirs.
Even Ranma and she had to admit, the Ruby Red Tea was really starting to grow on her.
-0-0-0-0-0-
The first day of competition ended with a pair of victories for class 3A-1 as Takara won both her matches. Unfortunately Shiori and Kasumi found themselves up against what had turned out to be the two most favoured doubles teams in the tournament. 3B-2's identical twins Nao and Ai Yokota had shown perfect teamwork and 3A-3's diametrically different in appearance Aika Arata, who was nearly tall and busty enough to be mistaken for a college student; and Chika Oishi, who was smaller than even Ranma; were, as far as Ranma could tell, halfway mad in their movements.
To Ranma, they had all been a bit on the slow side, but neither Kasumi nor Shiori had that sort of speed. Which was why Ranma was grinning that afternoon as she watched Kasumi slowly eat her way through a giant bowl of ice cream with a pout on her face and a medical pad on her cheek where a shuttlecock had hit her.
She had her own bowl as she relaxed on the lounge chair with a textbook open in her lap. "You could have ducked," she said as Kasumi accidentally poked her cheek and winced with a hiss.
"I was watching the other one," the brunette grumbled as she ate her bowl of ice cream and sulked.
Ranma grinned. "Which is why you jumped into it?" she asked with amusement. The impolite gesture Kasumi sent her way brought renewed giggles.
She stretched in the chair with a sigh and returned to her maths textbook. It was easier than she remembered, but she would have been embarrassed if it wasn't. She might not have had the best education while travelling around, but she had caught up a lot thanks to Ms. Ninomiya and a couple of the other teachers.
The cram sessions before the entrance exam had worked wonders as well.
Birds chirped and the permanent breeze shifted slightly. The latter was probably just the ship changing course minutely, but the former had her eyes glancing up from her book in the direction of the communal park. Nerima had taught her a lot about the strange and weird. The habits of ghosts, the rules of obscure martial arts, and the proclivities and methods of ninja. Of which Nerima had more than it sensibly required. Most belonged to the clans that served the Kuno family who spent most of their time spying for the clan.
Back in Nerima she had paid them little mind and made no efforts to try and keep track of them. There wasn't a point, really, since there were so many and she had enough going on without starting a feud with clans of actual ninjas. It was one of those things that she had to wonder if she should have done. How much of what the Kuno's had pulled had been done through their agents? It was a nagging question that had returned to her after her father and Mr. Tendo had made their attempt on her the night before.
If they had managed to track her down, had anyone else? Admittedly her father at least had the advantage of knowing where her mother had stayed when at school, but the Kunos would be amongst those who would recognize the name of Hayashida the moment it came up. Which was why when she heard the same bird call, down to the pattern and tone, in the last hour she didn't tune it out as part of the background ambience of her lazy afternoon.
She watched the trees and listened to the birds for the rest of the afternoon as she leisurely studied for class.
That night she sat with her hair down in the chair of her vanity running a brush through her hair slowly brushing out the knots that inevitably accumulated from an entire day of having her hair in a braid.
Fifteen.
Ranma paused her brushing and set it down. She tapped her fingers against the countertop of her vanity in thought. She had counted fifteen ninjas over the course of two hours before they'd been called in for dinner. There had to be more. It wasn't like she could see more than the ones visible from her backyard. There was nothing saying that she had found all of them there either, but the numbers certainly suggested she had. There were more than she expected. There shouldn't have been more than five and they should have been spread out around Matilda House's perimeter. Five, not fifteen.
Either there were a lot of fakes she wasn't recognizing as such, or there were a lot more than just Kuno ninja's keeping an eye on her.
She scowled and picked up her hair brush to continue. The question was who the others belonged to then. As far as she was aware the Hayashida's didn't have a ninja clan on retainer, but there was a lot she wasn't aware about her family. It was possible that some of them were simply keeping an eye on her for her Grandmother.
She paused. "Or working for my Aunt," she muttered. That was the other possibility. It was possible any ninjas that worked for her family were on the other side of the family divide. Her hands resumed her brushing and she tried to think of who else they could belong to.
While there had been a lot of people who didn't like her from Nerima, not many of them beyond the Kuno's had ninja on retainer. In fact, only the Daimonji and the Miyakoji had any, on the technicality that they were in fact ninja themselves. Neither would have had a reason to spy on her.
Just the Kunos and the other Hayashidas then.
Ranma rested the brush against her forehead. Even divided in two the numbers were too high. The usual number was four or less in her experience, not fifteen. Someone was planning something then. The who and what though…
She glanced towards the windows of her room. "Are they going to act tonight, or are they waiting?" she mused as she watched them. She set her brush back down on the vanity and sighed. "Two days in and all I'd like is a full night's sleep," she complained as she grabbed her house coat and whipped it on with a flourish.
As the bright red house coat spun around on the spot it disappeared into thin air, seemingly taking with it the room's sole occupant.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Night on board the top deck of a school carrier was surprisingly chilly. Hundreds of feet above sea level a constant breeze would have already been inevitable but the movement of the vessel sent something much stronger whipping across the surface as the temperature fell. It was, Ranma conceded, closer to late winter temperatures for the area rather than late spring. A fact that it appeared her observers had failed to account for as the one she was watching shivered in his full-body covering black suit as he watched Matilda House with a pair of binoculars.
He wasn't the only one. The last twenty had been various levels of cold, except for one who looked like he'd prepared for the arctic and was instead sweating like a sumo wrestler in the middle of a marathon.
Really it was their own fault she figured as she finished tying the shoelaces of this one together before slipping her hands into his pockets and pulling out anything she could find. A wallet, a brace of throwing knives, two very traditional kunai, at least a dozen (probably poisoned) shuriken, and a switchblade tucked away in the hem of his clothes joined her other purloined goods up the sleeves of her housecoat (or were simply secreted into the many boughs of the tree, it couldn't hurt to have tools within easy reach of the house). Of note was a simple black lacquered stick with the kamon of house kuno on it. Not the first and unsurprisingly not the only house kamon she had acquired that night.
She didn't recognize either of the two others she had found.
Then she left him with his shoelaces tied together. She was sure it would take him by surprise whenever he decided to leave. It wasn't like his boots had had shoelaces five minutes before after all.
She moved onto the next, who had been marginally more observant and thus was left unconscious and tied to the tree branch with six feet of duct tape she found in the basement.
It was to her surprise that neither home on either side of her own had any hiding on their roofs or amongst their yards. No, the ninja she was able to spot were all out front. They were hidden amongst the bushes of the front yards across the street, under cars, and even disguised as a chimney.
It was a pity that that had made the chimney twice as thick as the other homes in the area.
The last Ninja proved to be no more aware and was left with his shoelaces, which he hadn't had before she visited, tied to the branch he was laying across in the front yard of another yard. He had yet another kamon, bringing the total up to four as she wandered back into Matilda house.
She closed the door gently behind her and allowed the Umisenken to drop for the first time in twenty minutes as she wandered into the kitchen for a glass of water before heading up towards her bed with a yawn. She examined the four kamon sticks. The Kuno Kamon was instantly recognizable… But the other three?
Ranma scowled. "Who the hell are you three?" she muttered.
"Who are whom, Young Miss?" She started as she found the old butler Tsuya waiting for her at the top of the stairs with a raised eyebrow of her own.
"These," she said, holding the kamons up. Tsuya stared before taking the four sticks from her with shaking hands.
"Where did you get these?" she asked.
"Ninja were surrounding the house," Ranma replied blandly, "I dealt with them." Mostly.
"That was reckless," Tsuya said sharply as she examined the four kamon.
She rolled her eyes. "They weren't very good," she replied with a shrug, "I got the drop on all but one, and I tied him up with duct tape." She produced a stack of wallets and placed them, sans cash, in Tsuya's hands.
The old matron pinched her nose. "I will… see to it that they are taken care of," she said, "And inform your grandmother of this. In the future, please inform me of anything similar in the future rather than handling it yourself."
Ranma blinked. She wanted to deal with it? "Sure, I'll do that?" she said after a moment. She wasn't sure what the older woman could even do about it, but she'd tell her if she really wanted to be told.
"Thank you. I cannot help you with things if you don't keep me informed," the matronly woman said.
"I'll let you know," Ranma assured her before asking, "Do you know who those belong to? I recognize the Kuno one, but other than that…" She shrugged.
"I do, but I'd like to speak with your grandmother before I speak of this," Tsuya said. Ranma nodded.
"Right, then I'm gonna head to bed," she said with a shrug and started up the second flight of stairs.
"Sleep well Young Miss," Tsuya called after her.
"I will."
Sleep came easily after that, barring the moment when a loud shriek followed by a lot of shouting woke up half the neighbourhood. Given the direction Ranma just smirked and rolled over, pulling her blanket back up over her head. They should have known to pay attention to their shoelaces.
-0-0-0-0-0-
The week rolled onward and between the days chatting with and learning about her classmates, including Yume's fear of fire hydrants that never was explained, and the ongoing tournament both the incident with her father and the ninja faded into the background. Not that she stopped checking for Ninja, but after that night there seemed to only be a handful that showed up rather than the swarm that had been there.
As a result, things passed quickly until the last day of the tournament, and the week, came about. The final match of the tournament was a tie-breaker between the representatives of classes 3B-3 and 3A-2 for first place. Takara had, much to her own annoyance, managed to make it into an uncontested third.
Ranma had cheered with the rest of her class when the medals were handed out at the awards ceremony at the end. As a group they met Takara by the podium. The girl was looking annoyed with her bronze medal as she sat pouting with her cloak over her shoulders. She hadn't worn it on the podium, but Ranma suspected that hadn't been her choice.
"You go through all of that just for third, huh?" Mari said with amusement in her tone. Takara scowled.
"I'll get first next time," she grumped while leaning her chin on her palm. "Stupid…" further words were too quiet for Ranma to pick out.
"Well this has been an interesting week," Kasumi said with a smile. She had her gym bag over the same shoulder as her school bag. "But I am rather tired from bouncing around the court."
"Why don't we go find a cafe to celebrate Takara's finish while we wait for class to finish today?" Yume suggested.
The only one to disagree was the grumbling Takara who asked, "What's there to celebrate?"
Takara received quite a few congratulations as their class wandered off down the paths to one of the many cafes throughout the school. Eventually, they settled on the 'Candle Cafe', a small place with a view of the lake and the Tea Garden's building on the island in the centre.
"So I'm going to be looking into the HEMA club this weekend," Shiori said between sips of a lovely red coloured tea Ranma had missed the name of. "I'm hoping there are tournaments on the ship."
"That was the Historical… European Martial Arts, right?" Ranma asked.
"That's right," Shiori said, "I've been practising for ages now and I'd love a chance to test myself."
"Let us know if you find one," Rin said, "It would be interesting to watch I'm sure." Ranma rolled her eyes and promptly found Kasumi nudging her in the side with an elbow and a look that clearly communicated her disapproval.
"I will. So, what's everyone else planning this weekend?" Shiori asked.
"I've got Piano practice all day tomorrow," Yume said. She sipped an Earl Grey with a sigh. "It's going to be great."
"Studying personally. Outside preferably," Rin said.
"The same but inside for me," Mari said.
"Ugh, be boring, why don't you?" Takara complained.
"So what are you doing, Miss Third Place?" Ranma asked with a grin as the other girl shot her an annoyed look.
She was silent for a minute before wilting with a sigh. "Studying," she admitted. As everyone giggled she grumped before laughing herself. "Yeah, I'm kinda boring this weekend myself. The tournament took up way too much time this week."
"Sadly true. If we hadn't been eliminated early today it would have been far worse," Shiori sighed. Kasumi nodded in agreement.
"And you Ranma? Have anything planned this weekend? Preferably something that won't wake everyone in the neighbourhood up, again," Rina asked with a sideways look at her.
The redhead huffed and sipped her tea. "I was thinking about exploring the ship," she said. She'd been there a week and still didn't know her way around.
"What's this about waking up the entire neighbourhood?" Takara asked, leaning forward.
Ranma rolled her eyes. "Just a few uninvited guests who didn't want to leave," she said.
"Very uninvited by the looks of them," Rin muttered.
"I'd offer to show you around Ranma, but I've got classes," Yume said.
"And she's on a different deck entirely most of the time," Rin added, "I was planning on going looking into the Sensha-do Club, but I can show you around a bit tomorrow if you'd like. I've lived here for years and know the entire ship at this point," Rin replied before taking a sip of her tea, "Mhmm, good tea."
Ranma considered. It would be nice to have a guide. "Sounds good to me," she agreed. Even better, for once in years there wasn't anyone around who could possibly mistake this as a date.
"I'll come by and grab you around eleven then," Rin said. She nodded her understanding and sipped her tea. It was a different one from the last several times with a vaguely french sounding name. It was… odd.
"If I'm not mistaken, aren't we supposed to wait until the club festival to investigate the clubs?" Setsuna mused as she stirred her cup of coffee.
"To make a final decision. Nothing says we can't look into the clubs of our own volition," Rin replied, "And what about you?"
Setsuna shrugged with a small smile and said nothing.
They spent the next several minutes trying to make her tell them, but the green-haired girl just shrugged and smiled. They eventually gave up as she simply nibbled on a sandwich that she'd ordered with her tea.
"What about you Kasumi?" Yume asked.
"Hmm, oh," Kasumi said before shaking her head. She looked completely exhausted to Ranma. "Studying, of course. Like Shiori, I really didn't get nearly as much done as I would have liked this week."
"We should put together a studying group," Takara suggested, "You, me and… Want to meet up Mari?"
"Do I look desperate?" Mari replied with a raised eyebrow.
"So mean my rival, so mean," the cape-wearing girl sighed.
Ranma shook her head as the topic of conversation shifted to more inane topics before sipping her tea and grimacing. No, this tea was definitely not for her. She set it down and waved for a server.
"Can I get a cup of Ruby Red?" she asked.
-0-0-0-0-0-
The next day she came down the stairs dressed to explore in a pair of pants and a sweater under a new burgundy jacket.
"There you are," Tsuya said as she stepped off the stairs. Beside her was Rin. The black-haired girl waved a hand.
"Ready to go?" she asked.
"Assuming there isn't some reason I have to stay," Ranma replied, looking to Tsuya.
The older woman shook her head. "Not at all. Do you have your phone?" She asked.
Ranma produced it from her jacket. "Got it right here," she replied.
"Good. Keep in touch every hour," Tsuya said, "Any idea where you'll be headed?"
"I was thinking about the Sussex Mall. See if there's anything interesting going on today," Rin said.
"How far is that, anyway?" Ranma asked.
"Not too far," Tsuya said, "Most of the distance is vertical if I recall. Going to take the eighty-third?"
Rin nodded. "It's only a couple of blocks from here," she replied.
"Eighty-third?" Ranma asked.
"The Ark Royal has numerous staircases, elevators, escalators, and ramps dedicated to foot traffic throughout its," Tsuya said, "The eighty-third is one of the central points for foot traffic across the vessel."
Rin checked her phone. "We should get going," she said.
"Right. I'll be back later, Tsuya," Ranma said.
"Try to make it back for dinner, or at least call if you've made other plans, Young Miss," Tsuya said.
"I will."
With that Ranma and Rin walked out of the house and down the street. Ranma cast her eyes around. She wasn't seeing any ninja this time. Whether that meant they'd sent better ones, or if they'd all pulled out she had no way to tell.
As they walked, Rin pointed out places of interest. Parks, places where a food cart occasionally set up, or which of several cafes were actually worth visiting (nearly all of them as it turned out).
It was easy to forget that they were on a ship as they crossed the street. Cars rolled down the streets, people waited at bus stops, and the eighty-third foot path terminal looked like the entrance to any other subway that Ranma had been to before. Admittedly, with a distinctly European styling, but the entire ship looked like it had been transplanted from England so that was a minor thing.
The eighty-third did, in fact, have a train station within it, but Rin led the way past the turnstiles at the entrance of it to a bank of elevators. "We'll be taking a local elevator," she said as they approached what proved to be one of eight banks of ten elevators.
"Local?" Ranma asked.
Rin nodded. "The elevators are divided into transit and local categories," she said, "Transit elevators are express high capacity elevators and only stop every ten decks. If you need something in between two stops you need to get out and use one of the local ones. Since the Sussex district is only four decks down we need a local one."
Ranma looked around as they entered the elevator with a small crowd of people. Despite numbering over ten people the elevator still had room. Door was glass and the walls of the elevator had windows, though at the moment the only thing they showed was the back steel plated wall of the elevator. Rin tapped the correct deck and a few others added their own selections, then the elevator doors closed and it smoothly accelerated downwards. Braces flashed past the window as it descended.
Then the view changed to that of a city street. With fronts inspired by the Georgian style, the five-story buildings stood on either side of a four-lane boulevard that ended in a park around which the elevators were descending. A park with actual trees and grass that was brightly lit by sun lamps mounted on the elevator shaft and poles that rose above the trees.
"They have a park inside the ship," Ranma blurted out.
"Mhmm," Rin hummed with a grin, "You've never actually been on a ship like this before, have you?"
Ranma shook her head as the elevator decelerated to let people off and on. "Nope. We travelled to China, Korea, India, even as far as Europe for a little while," which had been the only time that they had used a plane in the entire trip and hadn't been for very long at all, "But I can't say we ever got on a ship like this. Not even once."
"I prefer the top deck, honestly," Rin said, "There's more air flow and the weather's usually pretty good. Still, most places can't afford to be on the top deck, even museums and theatres. You want to see a movie? It'll be down here in the ship."
The elevator started moving again and Ranma watched as the grass climbed above the glass. There was a few moments of steel bracings then the elevator once again came out into the light, this time in the middle of a bus exchange. Surprisingly, they didn't stop and instead continued right on.
"I guess most people live down here then," Ranma said.
"Mhmm. Most of our classmates live on the top deck," Rin said, "but Yume lives inside the ship. If it wasn't for elevators like these, she'd have to take a really long trip to get to the school every day."
The next deck appeared to be a residential area surrounding a park and exchange again. They slowed to a stop and more people got out even as others got on. They were actually more full than they had been when they started going down. Both girls moved into the corner to make space while Ranma kept staring out of the window.
"Where did you meet Yume anyways?" Ranma asked. They didn't seem to live in the same social bracket at all and on a ship like this that meant a lot more than it did in Nerima.
"At Sussex Mall actually," Rin said. The elevator accelerated again. "Ah, here we are."
The bracings gave way to lights. Lots of lights. Ranma stared. Sussex Mall stretched out before her in four directions. Bright billboards shone on the sides of buildings overlooking the multi-level concourse that criss-crossed back and forth above roads on which she could see buses moving towards and away from the elevators. Two tram lines ran through the chaos, one down the middle of the widest section upper concourse while the other ran down the middle of the roads below. A single tram was slowing to a stop at a station on the upper tram line. Arcades, boutiques, a movie theatre and restaurants all brightly advertised from brick storefronts like she was descending into the English version of Akihabara.
The elevator smoothly came to a stop on a platform above the roads and the doors slid open to admit a cacophony of sounds. Honking horns and thousands of people talking intermingled with jingling bells from stores and advertisements that blared from billboards that hung from walkways above them.
Ranma looked up. There had to be at least four levels of walkways and stores above them, then she looked down over the edge of the railing. There were another three before they hit the roadway which terminated in yet another bus exchange surrounding a park full of cherry trees.
"Welcome to Sussex Mall," Rin declared before throwing an arm over Ranma's shoulder, "The largest mall on the entire ship and home to both the best and largest stores."
"This is one mall? It's like the size of Akihabara," Ranma said.
"Technically it's four," Rin admitted, "Sussex Bow, Starboard, Stern, and Port. Each one has its own movie theatre, arcades, and specialty boutiques plus food courts. Come on, let's find lunch!" With that Rin hooked an arm around Ranma's and dragged her off into the crowds.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ello~ Its been a while… Again. <.< >.> *Awkward Kitsune Noises*
Gekkou here, <.<; It took two years of a chapter that was meant for my birthday two years ago, happening again this year, to get this written.
Grounders: ;-; DX did you have to tell them???
Gekkou: *snickers* It's your doc, if you really are upset you can redact it.
Grounders10: [REDACTED]
Grounders10: *Huffs* my thoughts ^
Gekkou: *bemused kitsune editor*
Grounders10: Yes exactly. Anyways~! I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter~ This is a difficult story to write at times (mostly because of the detail).
Gekkou: There should be a second one coming in time. Also, I seem to of kidnaped Grounder's period. *smug floof*
Grounders10: Not that one, the grammar one. *pointed look at fourth wall* *promptly kidnaps Gekkou's Editor tools and flees for the next chapter!*
Gekkou: Nooo! Not my fingers!
Grounders10: *Muffled noises from the next chapter, it sounds oddly like construction*
Gekkou: Meh, I am sure Grounders will use them wisely, they are very dexterous you know.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
Oh dear. Getting snuck up on by the target? Bad. Not noticing you were snuck up on? Worse. Getting your shoelaces tied together and not noticing? His Jounin will have words. Not noticing as someone spent multiple minutes sewing eyelets into his boots to add shoelaces? They're gonna take away that poor guy's ninja card!
YOU'RE BACK!!!!!
This is the happiest day of my life T^T
Thank you so much.
This is the happiest day of my life T^T
Thank you so much.
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Once again it is time for Girls and Tanks (that they will eventually be driving)! Start up the opening.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNpHvduBDm8
Soun must be rusty to have that noticeable a tell. That and/or Ranma is just that good to notice a tell.
Either Soun is getting flashbacks to when his dearly departed wife was annoyed or his sweet lovely daughters were always forces to be reckoned with.
Unfortunatly Ranma, all the various Chekhov's Guns floating around suggest that you will be part of a team in an Archer tank destroyer. And those things don't do striaght up fights. They fire from cover and then GTFO to find another ambush spot.
Calling it now, this is going to be Ranma's tea name.
Sufficient quantities of highly visable ninja. Now we know we're in anime-land.
Wait a minute; if none of the ninja had shoelaces, where was Ranma getting them?
Finders fee?
Because I'm willing to bet at least some of those ninja were the family's.
Or the poor guy needs some more time on 'pajama duty'.
Koga smiled at her as her eyes lit with understanding. "In fact, the clan I am descended from made quite the name for themselves actively playing up that reputation. Do you know why ninja in the modern day are associated with such easily recognizable outfits?"
"Huh, now that you mention it, spies having a well known uniform does seem weird…"
"It comes from traditional theater. For a time, it was commonplace for stagehands dressed head-to-toe in black to scurry around on stage in front of a black backdrop, moving props and scenery as needed. The audience could still see them, but they weren't part of the story, so they were ignored. Until one brilliant playwright needed a ninja to appear from nowhere and kill a character, then vanish again… so he had the actor playing the ninja dressed as a stagehand. When part of the faceless mass behind the actual actors leapt into the foreground, 'stabbed' the hero, and then stepped back and resumed being a stagehand, the audience was shocked… and dozens of less brilliant playwrights copied the idea. Thus, ninjas wear black pajamas and everyone knows it." *
"Oh wow! That explains a lot… but how did your family take advantage of that?"
"Imagine you're a guard working for a tyrannical lord, and you hear shouts and the sounds of fighting from the walls. You and your comrades hurry over to help, and you see the other guards in a running battle with a small group of ninja wearing the obvious black costumes. They're all over the place, scaling walls, running on rooftops, throwing over-elaborate shuriken, flourishing a variety of impractical weaponry, and otherwise accomplishing very little."
"You and the other guards scramble to fend them off, and manage to drive them into retreat with minimal casualties… only for the lord's servant to scream that the master is dead. And everyone is so fixated on figuring out how the ninja got to him when none of them ever got near his quarters that no one notices the lord's cook, who was hired months ago, calmly leaving the palace… with a vial of poison hidden away in his belt."
"Wait… you mean...?"
Koga's smile became a smug grin. "After an initiate survived a year of 'pajama duty', they were further trained until they could act as a real operative. Even our rival clans couldn't figure out how we were accomplishing missions with such ridiculous methods."
"Huh, now that you mention it, spies having a well known uniform does seem weird…"
"It comes from traditional theater. For a time, it was commonplace for stagehands dressed head-to-toe in black to scurry around on stage in front of a black backdrop, moving props and scenery as needed. The audience could still see them, but they weren't part of the story, so they were ignored. Until one brilliant playwright needed a ninja to appear from nowhere and kill a character, then vanish again… so he had the actor playing the ninja dressed as a stagehand. When part of the faceless mass behind the actual actors leapt into the foreground, 'stabbed' the hero, and then stepped back and resumed being a stagehand, the audience was shocked… and dozens of less brilliant playwrights copied the idea. Thus, ninjas wear black pajamas and everyone knows it." *
"Oh wow! That explains a lot… but how did your family take advantage of that?"
"Imagine you're a guard working for a tyrannical lord, and you hear shouts and the sounds of fighting from the walls. You and your comrades hurry over to help, and you see the other guards in a running battle with a small group of ninja wearing the obvious black costumes. They're all over the place, scaling walls, running on rooftops, throwing over-elaborate shuriken, flourishing a variety of impractical weaponry, and otherwise accomplishing very little."
"You and the other guards scramble to fend them off, and manage to drive them into retreat with minimal casualties… only for the lord's servant to scream that the master is dead. And everyone is so fixated on figuring out how the ninja got to him when none of them ever got near his quarters that no one notices the lord's cook, who was hired months ago, calmly leaving the palace… with a vial of poison hidden away in his belt."
"Wait… you mean...?"
Koga's smile became a smug grin. "After an initiate survived a year of 'pajama duty', they were further trained until they could act as a real operative. Even our rival clans couldn't figure out how we were accomplishing missions with such ridiculous methods."
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nice to see this updated it was an enjoyable read
it was an enjoyable read
It's back! Excellent!
Good to see that Genma was rebuffed quickly. I like the pacing of this story and to much Nermia nonsense would be a distraction.
Good to see that Genma was rebuffed quickly. I like the pacing of this story and to much Nermia nonsense would be a distraction.
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Yes, instead we can have lots of St. Gloriana nonsense.
same! but also the look Ranma's gonna have when they find out shensa-do is a 'girl enough' activity to get the japanese CPS off of her mothers and grandmothers backs XD
Grounders10
Nine-Tailed Kitsune
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada, Mars
And no one comments on how Ranma quietly deflects the bus labelled 'Badminton' so it runs over Kasumi instead.
I was half expecting someone would, in fact, show up with Martial Arts Badminton skills and Ranma would get dragged in purely for the mistake of having previously mentioned the possibility.And no one comments on how Ranma quietly deflects the bus labelled 'Badminton' so it runs over Kasumi instead.
Aranfan
Team Plasma Grunt
And no one comments on how Ranma quietly deflects the bus labelled 'Badminton' so it runs over Kasumi instead.
That was one of the best parts. Ranma knows not to get into a tournament if she doesn't want a new rival.
I'm mildly surprised that Kasumi didn't acquire a rival; I guess there's time yet, and it's not like there's a lack of people entirely ready, willing and able to maintain a one-sided rivalry, it's just that unlike Nerima, rivalries aren't limited to activities with Martial Arts as part of their name.
Perhaps there's someone that used to have all of the high scores in the various phone games that Kasumi has been idly playing. =)
Ooh, I wonder if there's any clubs for learning magic? Isn't Ranma's problem that all sorts of magic gets used on him, as opposed to any inherent difficulty he may or may not have with using magic itself? I'd imagine if there was someone teaching the equivalent of magical self defense he'd be all over it.
Perhaps there's someone that used to have all of the high scores in the various phone games that Kasumi has been idly playing. =)
Ooh, I wonder if there's any clubs for learning magic? Isn't Ranma's problem that all sorts of magic gets used on him, as opposed to any inherent difficulty he may or may not have with using magic itself? I'd imagine if there was someone teaching the equivalent of magical self defense he'd be all over it.
She is now genre savvy. I initially assumed she would be dragged in anyway and was surprised when it didn't happen.And no one comments on how Ranma quietly deflects the bus labelled 'Badminton' so it runs over Kasumi instead.
MagicalGeek
1st SGT MagicalGeek
Ranma the girl who can lift tanks?
- Location
- parker colorado
To be fair she did this to all but one ninja. It is more a collective humbling. That one ninja better get a promotion.Oh dear. Getting snuck up on by the target? Bad. Not noticing you were snuck up on? Worse. Getting your shoelaces tied together and not noticing? His Jounin will have words. Not noticing as someone spent multiple minutes sewing eyelets into his boots to add shoelaces? They're gonna take away that poor guy's ninja card!
The Ōarai Girls High School ship has it why would Glorinaia not?
- Location
- Neptune
Imagine coming to this thread to complain about things that originate with the source material.
You forget that this is anime land, where the general public has gotton a complementary lobotomy, considering that a sane public would have already raised hell at the very concept of Sensha-Do.
Which, as a friendly reminder, consists of teenage girls being given access to and allowed to drive (outdated) millitary grade armored mobile siege artillery (you know, what tanks are actually meant to be) and having them fire it on each other. In actual Cities with actual people that seem to hope a stray shell hits their homes for the "prestige" of it.
What of that sounds in any way sane to you? If it wasn't anime land, the government would already have put a stop to this, nevermind the millions of helicopter/soccer parents that would be going on the barricade.
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Don't worry, I'm sure the designers made sure they're unsinkable.
Heh, there's an idea. Have Kasumi be the one with all the rivals and harem shenanigans with Ranma the bemused onlooker.
"You know, it's really weird seeing all this nonsense from this side."