Since she was not about to fight it, she felt fully comfortable with yanking on the rope that she was tying him up with as she stomped down onto his chest with one foot to keep him in place.
"Looks like Rei's happy with her idea," Makoto murmured.
The shrine priestess-turned-slavegirl glanced up and smirked. "Damned straight. Have to keep idiots like this one from doing something more stupid than they already have."
"Guess that works. Of course...."
"What?"
"Don't get carried away...." the green eyed girl reminded her fellow slave. "We have to be careful."
"With this guy?"
"If we want him to not get up again... yes. Remember, he might be able to slip out or break bonds that aren't quite right."
"Ahhh.... I see what you mean. I'll have to make sure that he's tied up as good as I can get him," Rei allowed.
Couching down next to the prone and still somewhat crispy form of Kuno, Usagi frowned slightly. "I just wish that I could do something different...."
"You don't want him punished?"
"Oh, no. He's done some bad things, and that means that he's got to pay for them. But...."
"What?"
"I kind of feel guilty for leaving all this to you guys...."
"She wants to punish someone like this? Kind of scary, considering how she is...." the raven haired slave whispered under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing...."
"Ah... Okay. I'm not sure.... Hey! I know!"
"What?" Ranma asked, blinking as the blonde slipped over to the packs. "What do you 'know'?"
"Something that we should do to him."
"You do?"
"Uh-huh!"
He blinked and turned to watch her move, but other than the sight of her bending over giving him a nice view of her behind, he got nothing out of it. "What is your plan?"
"This!" Usagi chirped, and held up a white cylinder with black on either end.
"And what are you going to do with that?" Makoto asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion.
"I'm going to write!"
"What? A note?"
"Sort of...."
Her answer got a frown of confusion from Rei. "And this helps us... how?"
"Simple. I'm not writing on paper."
"Then what are you going to use it on?"
"Him," the blonde slave told them, and got into her previous position next to the boy who'd been bothering her Master. Uncapping the marker, she slowly began to doodle on the boy's face, going to the length of actually drawing in a 'black eye' for the attacker.
"Then, what are we going to do with him next?"
Makoto gave a small shrug. "Getting him out of the area, and away from us seems like a good idea."
"But where can we send him?"
"I know. Let's send him to Botswana!" Usagi called out, holding momentarily as she wrote 'creepy' on the kendoist's face.
"And you know of this place, because...."
"They mentioned it in school once. It kind of stuck with me ever since then."
"Wow. I wouldn't have thought that you'd remember that...."
"HEY!"
"Relax. I'm not sure that I would have remembered that country's name," Rei admitted.
"There is just one problem though," the tallest of the slaves put in.
"Yeah. Money. Or the lack of it. Sending something like this lump would take some cash that we don't have."
"Let us assist you in that," commented a voice, making all the conscious people jump a bit.
Ranma's group turned to face a pair of individuals who looked like they were trying their damnedest to be twins. Both had short, dark hair, and lithe builds that clearly were not the result of relaxed lives. They were even dressed identically, with nearly the same suits and sunglasses on them.
Only the fact that one was actually an attractive woman shifted things, as even her suit could not hid the fact that she had a figure that Rei might have in five to ten years, with enough exercise.
"Who the heck are ya?" Ranma asked, flicking his gaze between the two darkly dressed individuals, looking for some sort of sign of danger from them.
The man regarded him levelly. "I am Shimoda."
"And what about you," Rei asked the suit wearing woman.
"My name is Shimoda," came the woman's answer in the same monotone that her partner had used.
That had Usagi's face scrunching up with confusion. "Isn't that... a problem?"
"Putting it mildly...." her black haired fellow slave agreed.
"There is no need for any bewilderment," the female Shimoda told them. "I am Agent Shimoda, and he is Special Agent Shimoda."
"You don't say...."
"We do," the male Shimoda confirmed.
The pigtailed boy growled with annoyance, but held his peace for the moment. "Mind tellin' us why you're here."
"Because of him."
"And he is...."
"Tatewaki Kuno, age seventeen."
"The self proclaimed 'Blue Thunder of Furinkan High'," the woman finished.
"This guy is why you've come," Rei asked, nudging the bound and limp form on the ground with her toe.
"That is the case."
"He has been known to harass individuals for no other reason than some delusion induced observation of a 'slight'," Shimoda, the male one, added.
"According to our information, he has even gone to the length of inciting a mob to attack a girl that he likes."
"One that he likes?" Makoto parroted, her eyes and jaw opened wide.
"Apparently he thinks that she will only be defeated by someone that she is 'destined for', meaning him."
"His code of conduct is based on what makes him look good in his own mind," Special Agent Shimoda commented.
"As a result, he could not allow anyone to do better in the upcoming tournament than him."
"So, he has been attacking competitors to prevent them from entering."
The look that Usagi gave them was full of concern for those nameless fighters. "Why didn't you stop him?"
"We had our hands full helping the ones that he'd already attacked."
"Oh."
Agent Shimoda's face didn't show a lick of emotion at the perceived failure or the correction of the assumption. "Fortunately, you were able to stop him before he could continue, and did so in a way that is legally acceptable."
"Then.... What happens to him now?" came Makoto's question.
"He has committed multiple acts of assault, and that is just from today. Normally, that would call for him to be turned into a slave. However, that can not be done now."
"Why not?"
"Marketability. Or, his lack of it," Special Agent Shimoda answered. "The usual 'treatment' aims to keep as much of the original personality as possible. As a result, he would be constantly acting up, even if it could be kept to him trying to show people why it was so 'great' to own him."
Scowling, Rei looked at the pair in suits. "How could you stop it then?"
"It would likely take a full mind wipe and rewrite, which, as you know, is a grave undertaking. And even then, it could not be certain that he would not show some past characteristics."
"And...."
"It is likely that the only ones who would want to buy him would either want to 'punish' him, or desire a slave that they can... dislike."
"Which is why you want to help us...."
"Send him away," Agent Shimoda confirmed.
Special Agent Shimoda nodded. "To Botswana. Or any other such destination."
"Why?" Usagi murmured, more out of surprise than distress. "Why would you want to do that?"
"Could you think of a simpler, and more fitting situation for him than to be exiled to a foreign country where no one would understand what he says?"
"I don't think that anyone understands him now," Ranma muttered.
"That may be the case, but there they would not need to know the words, never mind the meaning behind them."
"You don't have any difficulty with him being removed to a place where he would be kept from causing... trouble, do you?"
Each of the members of Ranma's group that were outside of the tent looked at each other. They knew what the others were considering, as the same question was in their own heads. If they were going to be doing what had been suggested, they were condemning the boy who'd intruded on their peace to be dragged off to some isolated spot, possibly for the rest of his life. Each one of them had to figure out if they would have any problem with having that on their consciences.
"No, not really," Ranma told the adults with a small shrug of disinterest.
"Go right ahead," Rei put in, waving her hand negligently at the prone boy in question.
"It'd keep him from causing problems, right?" Usagi asked, tilting her head as she gave it some relaxed thought. "And it isn't like he's going to die."
"So long as he's away from Master and us, I don't care," Makoto commented.
"Understood," Agent Shimoda responded, nodding slightly towards them.
"Your cooperation is appreciated," Special Agent Shimoda 'thanked' them, sounding as only an official could when saying such a thing.
Not that Ranma and company were particularly bothered by that fact, while:
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:10)
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.