Following the instructions of the nice, although nearly-blind boy, Makoto soon reached the Tendo Dojo.
When she rang at the front door, a smiling young woman wearing an apron answered.
"Aye? I mean... yes?"
"My name is Makoto and I heard this would be the right place to become a great martial artist."
"Oh my, yes! You should talk to Father, Uncle Saotome and Grandfather Happosai... they're in the next room. They're pretty much the owners of the dojo and can tell you what you have to do."
"Yeah," another girl with a page-cut said while walking past her apparently older sister. "Although I'm the one who's taking care of the finances..."
"Oh, are you going out, Nabiki?" the older girl asked.
"Yes," her sister nodded. "I'm gonna ask Kuno-baby if he wants to change his mind regarding those photos..."
"Oh, good luck then... although I don't believe he wants to have them, after what happened with... well... you-know-who!"
"Can't hurt to try," Nabiki shrugged. "Later, Kasumi!" And she walked past Makoto and left.
"Um, what's wrong with her?"
"Oh, nothing!" Kasumi smiled. "She just wants to sell that nice Kuno boy some photos of Ranma... although he clearly stated that he isn't interested in going after his 'pig-tailed goddess' any more..."
Assuming that 'Ranma' must be the girl this Kuno guy had been dating, Makoto asked: "Why? What happened?"
"Well... this is a long story, won't you please come in?"
Makoto came in and Kasumi offered her some tea as they sat down.
"Okay..." Kasumi started. "Once, Tatewaki Kuno used to fall in love with almost every pretty girl he saw... Including Ranma and my youngest sister, Akane."
"So what happened to change that?" Makoto asked while taking a sip of her tea. "Hey, this is good!"
Kasumi beamed. "Why, thank you! Well, it all started after a formal dinner, to which Kuno had invited Akane... Hoping that would finally make him leave her alone, she accepted. The evening went nice... but then, after dinner, Kuno formally asked Akane to marry him. She asked him to drop dead and die. He said that he would never be able to forget her, even in death. So Akane said, and I quote: 'Well, perhaps I should die myself, then... if that's the only way to get some peace.' Well, he didn't stop, of course, so Akane had enough and left home... She bought a nice ship, and together with a few of her friends, she decided to live on a nice island, near the coast."
Then, Kasumi's ever-present smile vanished for a short while, as she seemed to shiver. "That's when things really turned ugly..."
"What happened to your sister?" Makoto asked, intrigued by that story.
"A mysterious storm came up and sank her ship, right before they were able to reach the island, leaving no survivors... Well, everyone of her rivals now thought that they would finally be rid of her. We also were afraid we would never see her again. But..." Another shiver. "We were wrong..."
Kasumi took another gulp herself before continuing: "Her ship continues to sail over the ocean... She and her friends had turned into undead pirates, cursed to never find peace, until she would marry Tatewaki Kuno... and then killing him!"
Suddenly, Kasumi smiled again. "And after hearing that, Kuno decided never to buy any more photos from Nabiki or anyone else again, to prevent something similar from happening."
Makoto had listened in awe. That had been quite a story...
"Uh-oh, look at the time..." Kasumi suddenly said. "I have to take care of my chores... If you want to talk to my father, he and his friends are still in the next room. Well, see you later!"
Kasumi stood up and walked out of the room.
Makoto shuddered. Hopefully, she wouldn't experience something similar after becoming a true martial artist... Perhaps she should talk to the other Senshi about those pirate ghosts...
Well, first she would talk to those three guys Kasumi had mentioned...
She stood up herself and was just going to enter the next room... when suddenly, a small black piglet appeared in front of her and almost made her fall.
"Oh, sorry, little guy... I didn't see you there! Are you all right?"
The pig, who was wearing a yellow, spotted bandana, looked at her with wide eyes. He (it was a male) somehow seemed sad.
"Bweeee..."
Makoto tried cheering him up. "Snort, snort?"
"SNORT? Grunt, grunt! Squee, squee, squeeaaallll... Snort, Nerima! ...Bweee: ...Akane! Grrrrrrr!"
That last statement confused Makoto. "Squeak, Akane?"
"Bwee, bwee, squeee... Snort snort? Grunt, grunt, snort, bweeee... Kuno! SQUEEEE! SQUEEE! (snort snort snort) Grunt, squeak, squeak - Akane! GRRRRRRRRR! Bweeee, squeee, Ranma Island! (Sniff, sniff)"
Having heard enough, Makoto nodded. That certainly had been some useful information...
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(Posted Mon, 20 Nov 2006 18:09)
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