The motions were mostly smooth and sure, but they wouldn't have fooled most of the high level martial artists in the area. Kodachi was hiding some injuries. Nothing serious, and if asked about it she would probably pass it off as a result of fervant training, which she certainly would appear to have been doing of late if her daughter's reports were correct. Perhaps everybody would have been fooled.
Cologne, of course, already knew the truth of the matter.
"Good afternoon, Elder," Kodachi said. "Is your grand-daughter about?"
"I believe she is in her room," Cologne said. "Why do you seek her?"
"I did not wish to listen to my brother's most recent rant," Kodachi said honestly. "And so I thought I might come here and help her on her Japanese. She is quite a bit more pleasant company."
"Really," Cologne said. "I would assume from Shampoo's comments about school that she snaps at you with every other statement."
"She is quite a bit more pleasant company," Kodachi repeated, smiling. Cologne cackled and slapped her knee. "I'll call her down, child. Just be a little patient."
Kodachi frowned momentarily.
"She is allright to come down alone?" she asked.
"She has lived in this building for some years," Cologne reminded Kodachi. The samurai girl nodded at that.
"Oh yes," Kodachi said. "I do forget."
Cologne nodded as Kodachi took a seat and momentarily left the room to shout up the stairs for Shampoo to come down. The girl no doubt had already heard the conversation, but the spoken order would tell her without a doubt that she should come down.
As Shampoo grumbled about having to deal with Kodachi Kuno, Cologne turned to the samurai inquisitively.
"You have made some interesting changes in the past few weeks," Cologne said.
"I have begun to see the world in a light much clearer than before," Kodachi said.
The memory of the coffee was almost gone now, but the remembered shock of her revelations remained. As it was, the coffee had cleared her mind, but putting on the costume, or (as she believed it to be now) after the spider bit her, certain parts of her DNA were rewritten to provide her powers. Among those was a "minor" glitch in the Kuno DNA that accounted for their delusions.
As a result, Kodachi's mind remained clear even past the influence of the coffee. Her schizophrenia was a thing far in her past. She was, for once in her life, normal as far as her mind went.
"I am seeking to make amends for past actions, Elder," Kodachi said. "The more I see of them, the more I am convinced that they were not the actions of a rational being. I know little of what has blessed me with my new clarity, but I thank it whole-heartedly."
"Indeed," Cologne said. "And you have started to train harder as well, I see."
"Yes," Kodachi said. "Well, perhaps I can qualify for the Olympics in the coming years."
"You don't bruise like that from striking the ground, child," Cologne said indicated a slight bruise under Kodachi's jaw line. "If you wish to study unarmed combat techinques perhaps I can help you...as recompense for the help you've given my daughter."
"Why.." Kodachi fumbled for a moment. "I do not know what to say...but I'm afraid I must decline. This..." she pointed to the small and faded bruise. "Was from an uneven bar, I have no interest in actual combat. My form is a sport form."
"As you wish," Cologne said, shrugging.
"Shampoo here," Shampoo muttered irritably as she entered the room, wearing the sunglasses she'd been given and using a thin baton ahead of her like she'd seen blind people do before losing her sight.
"Shampoo-san," Kodachi called out cheerfully. "Let us practice proper Japanese, now. 'I am here,' do you understand? 'I am here.'"
"Yes, Shampoo here," Shampoo said, sighing.
"No, Shampoo-san," Kodachi said, sighing. "Repeat after me..."
"Yes, yes," Shampoo said as they walked to a table in the back room, the employees' private room, Cologne noticed.
"I..."
"I..."
"...am..."
"...am..."
"...here."
"...here."
"I am here."
"I am here."
"EXCELLENT!" Kodachi snapped. "Very good Shampoo-san. And this is why you say it like that..."
Cologne smiled as Kodachi tried to explain the sentence Shampoo. The girl was making a definite effort, but she herself spoke too much of theory and much of the explanation went over Shampoo's head.
"Oh, one of your country women has begun to take a hand in local crime-fighting," Shampoo said. Shampoo and Cologne froze. "At least I suspect with a name like 'Cheng-Huang' she is Chinese. She is supposed to be quite impressive."
"You have seen her, child?" Cologne asked. Kodachi cocked her head in reaction to the unexpected entrance by the old woman into the conversation.
"Not me personally," Kodachi said. "But I've been reading the papers. From what I can tell she lives somewhere in our district."
"Really?" Shampoo said. "How Ribbon-girl tell?"
"'How can you tell,'" Kodachi corrected.
"Shampoo ask first," Shampoo said. Kodachi sighed and shook her head.
"I can tell, Elder," Kodachi said. "By the pattern of her appearances, they are centered around us."
"Much like this 'Kumobara' woman we have been hearing about," Cologne said. Kodachi blinked and froze.
"Oh yes," Kodachi said finally, rolling her eyes. "Her...she at least seems to understand formality, but the reports indicate that she is a deal less assertive than is proper for a samurai."
"Indeed?" Cologne said. "Then she smiled. Perhaps you should lay all your cards on the table, child? You have already, by now, ascertained that Shampoo is the only female Chinese martial artist of her caliber and age in the Nerima area. Playing these games does not help the matter."
"I do not know what you are talking about," Kodachi said.
Quicker than Kodachi could react, even with the buzzing in her head, Cologne's hand reached out and turned over Kodachi's wrist. Tracing a finger around the edge of the spinnerette there, Cologne cackled quietly.
"I suspected as much," Cologne said. "We would be very interested to know how you acquired such adjustments, Kumobara."
Kodachi swallowed nervously and looked about for an exit as she took her hand back away from the Elder. Then she firmed her jaw.
"And how is it that Shampoo-san, can operate as she does?" Kodachi asked. "Cheng-Huang did not seem to be blind to me."
"None of ribbon-girl's business," Shampoo said.
"Now, now girl," Cologne said. "If we expect her to lay out her cards, then we must do the same."
See other episodes by Thrythlind
(Posted Mon, 09 Dec 2002 23:13)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.