Though Kuno was now fairly certain that his sister’s personality would gel with Ranma (albeit with a little prodding to get things started), there was still a looming unknown: whether or not Ranma would be forced to compete for Kodachi’s affections with another suitor. This was not to say that Kuno doubted that Ranma’s ability to win such a competition, nor did he truly expect another competitor to exist, but making sure that nobody else had gotten a head start couldn’t hurt. Unfortunately, Sasuke’s expedition into Kodachi’s wing of the Kuno mansion had failed to turn up any conclusive evidence of her romantic status, which left Kuno with little recourse but to engage in what was quite possibly the most irksome task his mind could conjure up: actually talking to his sister.
Of course, to do this, he would first have to find her, which was generally not an easy task, given the massive size of the Kuno mansion—but fortunately, Kodachi’s schedule for this particular afternoon placed her somewhere far more accessible: the campus of St. Hebereke Girls’ School, where the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics team (of which Kodachi was the captain) was engaging in one of its tri-weekly practices.
St. Hebereke’s was located on a picturesque plot of land in a relatively sedate section of Nerima. The school had been founded by a distant relative of the Kuno clan, which, in addition to providing a fairly reasonable explanation for a Catholic school named after a saint the Church had never heard of, also explained why Kodachi had been hand-waved through the usual entry process at an otherwise extremely selective institution. Tatewaki, however, didn’t really care about this, nor did he pay much attention to most of the brick-and-concrete structures, for he was too focused on one building in particular: the gymnasium.
Upon entering this building, he quickly garnered the attention of several girls in black leotards, teammates of his sister who were no doubt attracted to his good looks (and just as doubtless unaware of his personality quirks). On some other occasion, he might have paused to allow these specimens of femininity to bask in his glow, but today, he was only concerned with the Black Rose, which was the rather silly nickname that his sister had bestowed upon herself in order to reinforce her own self-importance (besides, in Kuno’s opinion, it wasn’t anywhere near as good as “Blue Thunder”). Thus, he strode confidently up to the wrestling ring where his sister was in the midst of an intense “floor exercise” with what appeared to be a regulation rhythmic gymnastics ball and loudly cleared his throat. “Kodachi, I need to speak with you.”
Whether Kodachi recognized that it was her brother who had interrupted her activity or had simply been startled was rather difficult to ascertain, but in any case, her immediate response was to chuck the ball at her brother’s feet, causing it to release a vapor which almost immediately knocked out everyone else in the building—everyone except her brother, that is.
Damn it! He’s already built up a resistance to this one! Once again, it appeared that Kodachi would have to go back to the botanical drawing board.
However, as Kuno looked around at his sister’s unconscious teammates, came to a rather different conclusion. “I must apologize... it appears that my raw, unbridled masculine presence has overwhelmed your fellow athletes.”
Kodachi, however, was in no mood to deal with her brother’s idiocy. “What do you want? I’m rather busy at the moment.”
For his part, Kuno was more than willing to respect his sister’s wishes for a speedy conversation, if only because he didn’t particularly like spending time around her either. “As a result of recent and heretofore unexpected events which I shall not detail at the present time, it has become apparent to me that I, as your sibling, need to take stock in the romantic aspects of your personal life.”
It took Kodachi a few seconds to figure out that her brother was asking if she’d been seeing anyone recently, but once that mental hurdle had been cleared, her response formed very quickly: “Tatewaki, have you been breaking into my ‘special’ greenhouse? You know perfectly well that there are consequences to depleting my stock without my approval, and I can guarantee you that I will do all that I can to ensure that those consequences are extremely painful.”
“I am quite serious. It is important that I know of any potential suitors so that they may be scrutinized—it is quite simply my duty as a member of your family.” It made sense; after all, if this process was good enough for Ranma and his family, why shouldn’t it be good enough for Kodachi?
Kodachi, however, wasn’t having any of it. “My dear brother, I attend an all-female educational institution, and nearly all of my spare time is spent either practicing for my next match or working with my plants. I rarely have the opportunity for extended conversations with any men other than you and father; of course I haven’t been dating anyone! In fact, I have a much, much more pertinent question: What on earth convinced you that this was an issue that even needed to be brought up in the first place?!”
“Merely the realization that I may have been absent in some of my brotherly duties, and nothing more.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you would care about this. You’ve never liked me.”
“And you do an adequate job of returning the favor. But the existence of our mutually intense dislike for each other doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. You’re still family, after all, and there is nothing particularly noteworthy about expressing loyalty to one’s family.”
“It is when you speak about our family. Seriously, brother, you need to come down out of the clouds and admit that you’re only loyal to our father’s bank account, much as I am.”
“It saddens me to see that you have become so cynical.” It simply would not do for a woman to have so dour an outlook on life, particularly one who represented the Kuno clan to the world at large. Fortunately, it seemed that Ranma was quite a bit more upbeat; perhaps he could raise Kodachi’s self-respect simply by being around her. Yes, that shall almost certainly work, the gymnast’s brother thought to himself. It was now more important than ever to ensure that Ranma was inserted into her life as soon as it was feasibly possible. Still, now was not exactly the best time to get much further into specifics, given Kodachi’s current petulant attitude—plus, there were more practical matters at hand. “You are scheduled to compete in the upcoming Rhythmic Gymnastics match with Furinkan, correct?”
Technically speaking, this was absolutely true: Kodachi was officially scheduled to participate in a match with the captain of Furinkan’s team. “Yes... why do you ask?”
“I am seriously considering attending the event.”
“No.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You are not coming to the match. I’ll not have you acting like a common lout and creating a disruption.”
“And what would lead you to believe I would act in so base a manner?”
“How about the fact that you constantly deride this activity as a legitimate martial discipline?”
“Only in comparison to kendo—compared to that, few fighting styles can truly be called an Art.”
“An interesting defense, but still, my answer is no.”
“Your answer matters little. Sasuke has already secured several tickets for me.”
“Several? What on earth would you need more than one for?”
“I intend on bringing someone with me. I believe this match of your will prove interesting and entertaining, and I wish to have my associate share in the experience.”
“Whatever,” Kodachi replied dismissively. She had already tired of her brother’s attempts at conversation (as usual) and now simply wanted him to leave her alone.
For his part, her brother seemed willing to accept that the conversation had ended. “Very well. I shall be returning home, then.”
“Don’t let me keep you,” Kodachi answered in mock politeness. As her brother left the gymnasium, she hopped out of the ring and moved towards her duffel bag for some smelling salts. After all, the team needed to finish practicing, which was rather difficult when everyone was unconscious.
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(Posted Sat, 23 May 2009 14:25)
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