"Another nikuman, Ayumi?" Ayumi reached for his bag of nikuman, curling the top closed - but not before taking one nikuman out to snack on. "No, thanks," he told the shop-owner while handing him some change. "I gotta keep in shape and all that. You know, martial-arts training." The shop-owner smiled. "Sure, sure, I understand. Well, good luck." "Thanks!" Ah, there was nothing like a good snack after school, in Ayumi's opinion. Yet another thing he'd missed since Ranma's abrupt arrival. Accompany her everywhere, make sure the girl got to where she wanted to go... it wasn't like the tomboy needed to be defended, anyway. Now that she was more or less familiar with everything and had friends of her own to walk with - that unusual pair, Yuka and Sayuri - they didn't have to walk together to and from school or everywhere else. Ranma had opted to walk home today with her friends, which suited Ayumi just fine. He felt a little guilty about all the weirdness involving Ryomi a few days back. Ryomi had revealed to him that she, too, suffered from a Jhusenkyou curse. Ranma had found a little black pig in her bedroom, asked Ayumi to take it into the hot bath with him... at which point the hot water turned the pig back into Ryomi. Not knowing any better, Ranma treated the pig as a pet. To think that while Ranma slept there was a person disguised in the body of an animal who could very well want to kill her! Well, at least Ryomi had gone out walking. That gave him about a week to prepare for her inevitable return. So far he hadn't told Ranma. Not because he was waiting for the right moment - she would most likely misunderstand some of his explanation and leave him with the dire need to go see Tofu-sensei about a few dozen broken bones or so. And that was just for starters. She'd accuse him of having feelings for her rival, and Dad... Dad would simply beat the you-know-what out of him. To put it lightly, he had no idea why he hadn't told Ranma yet. "We're not going to let you get away with this!" A girl's voice, coming from somewhere in the area. "Get away with what?" "Stop playing innocent! You know what you've done!" Ayumi leapt to the top of the nearest wall and found what he was looking for. There, in a vacant lot, three girls in Fuurinkan High uniforms surrounded a taller girl, whose hair was tied up in a ponytail and who was wearing a uniform Ayumi didn't recognize. The Fuurinkan High girls, Ayumi did recognize. They were from his homeroom. If he remembered correctly, they were also members of that gymnastics group... what was it? Oh, right, the Shintaisou Club. Each of the girls looked like they had already been in a fight... their faces, hands, legs bandaged... one of them even had an arm in a sling. Now why hadn't he noticed that in class today? "My, you're impatient. If you're the esteemed Fuurinkan team, our match will be fought next week. You have nothing to gain and everything to lose by trying to disable me ahead of time," the taller girl spoke. "Shut up!" growled the leader of the trio of Fuurinkan High girls. "You have the nerve to say something like that, when that's what you did to try to keep us out of the fight?" The taller girl smiled. "Tried? I beg to differ." She laughed, a hollow, grating laugh. "You may have taken us out of the running..." another of the Fuurinkan team stepped forward, brandishing what Ayumi assumed to be batons, "...but now, there's nothing keeping us from doing the same to you!" All three girls charged. "Attack!" "I can see that words alone are not enough!" The taller girl, unconcerned, drew out a ribbon with her fingers. To Ayumi's surprise, she pinwheeled it in front of her, using it as a shield to block her attackers and their weaponry. Guess Ryomi wasn't the only one who could turn simple things into dangerous weapons. The girls screamed in pain. "Since you resist the facts, let me restate them for you!" All of a sudden the ribbon became a whip. The mystery girl was *enjoying* whipping at her opponents' backs in a frenzy... This was too much. He couldn't allow this to continue! After setting his bag of nikuman down on the lid of a dumpster, Ayumi hopped down off the wall and ran to place himself in between the fighters. He grabbed the end of the ribbon whip for good measure. "No more," he ordered. "This fight is over." Ayumi's classmates recognized him at once. "Ayumi!" "So." The tall girl was still unconcerned. "You're skilled enough to catch this ribbon as though it were a harmless toy. You mustn't be an ordinary boy." "If you say so," shrugged Ayumi modestly. "Skilled or not," the tall girl slid the tip of her shoe underneath the handle of a baton that one of her attackers had dropped. She kicked it up into her hands and released the ribbon in one practiced motion. "I will show you no mercy!" She pushed the baton into Ayumi's face, but the boy wasn't there. He wouldn't be caught by such a simple, slow move. His training to counter Ryomi's attacks gave him an edge in speed. Ayumi crouched to avoid the baton and immediately followed up with a low foot-sweep, kicking the girl's legs out from under her. The girl cartwheeled over him, landing gracefully a slight distance away; Ayumi spun to face her. "Ah, you are more skilled than you appear. For your information, I am Kodachi, the Black Rose of the St. Hebereke Girl's Academy." With a flick of her fingers she tossed a black rose to Ayumi. "Never forget what I have said." Kodachi departed, bouncing up and over a fence. All the while laughing that hollow laugh of hers. Why did she seem so familiar? Behind him, the three girls drew themselves to their feet. "Ayumi-kun," their leader approached him. "Thanks... for the help," she mumbled. It was clear that she was grateful for Ayumi's intervention, but at the same time she would have preferred that he not interfere. Ayumi studied them. "Why're you crying? You're comin' out of this fight okay, right? So why'd you attack that girl?" "We're *not* okay," the leader - Mizuki - said. "I've got a sprained ankle, Keiko has a broken arm and Yuriko had a dislocated shoulder. Among other things." "So?" "*So*, we were the last hope for our team! We're scheduled to have a match against Kodachi's school next week, but they always win by default because she disables all her opponents ahead of time!" thought Ayumi. "So you thought you'd even the odds by taking her out? "Yeah!" It would have been a small consolation, however. "But now all of the Shintaisou team's disqualified 'cause of injuries, unless..." A gleam came to Mizuki's eyes. "...Unless we can find someone else to fight in our place." Ayumi looked at her oddly. What did she have in mind? Destiny's Wish Part Nine: To Prune a Black Rose written by Mike Koos -------------------------------- Ranma was stretched out across her bed when Ayumi found her. She'd had a tiring day at school today and all she wanted to do was see the inside of her eyelids for a few hours. Ayumi knocked on the door frame. "Ranma? You've got company." She didn't move. "Come in," she sighed. Ranma had put on a simple blouse and skirt once home to replace her uniform, and a well-worn pair of black leggings to round out the outfit. Her father believed in buying her only the bare minimum of clothes to live as a girl - Nodoka had been right in that regard; shopping for clothes for Ranma made him feel very uncomfortable and besides, he wanted Ranma to always remember to keep her priorities in order. She could be a girl only as long as it didn't interfere with her training. Now, she had to be a girl as well, so he grudgingly allowed it. Little Ranma should be happy in her marriage... Ranma propped herself up on her elbows as Ayumi showed their three classmates into the room. The trio were crying. "Mizuki! Yuriko! Keiko!" exclaimed Ranma. "What's wrong?" "Ranma... it's terrible!" Mizuki sobbed. "Everyone on the Shintaisou Club team has been ambushed and beaten!" "Beaten?" That would explain why they had come to school earlier in the day bruised and battered. Ranma had politely minded her own business. She sat up at the edge of the bed, resting her hands on her knees. Mizuki nodded. "The captain of the St. Hebereke team likes to disable her team's opponents before the matches so that they'll have to drop out and forfeit. We thought we'd be able to avoid it, but we all got hurt anyway." "And you're telling me this because..." Actually, Ranma knew why they would bring this problem to her. They either wanted her to avenge them by calling out the coward captain of the opposing team who apparently wasn't skilled enough to face her opponents in a fair match, or... "We want you to be the school's representative in the match!" Mizuki finished Ranma's sentence. "You're the only girl we know of at Fuurinkan High who's skilled enough to take our place." Ranma was familiar with some of the procedures of shintaisou from experiences in schools past, and she said as much. "I don't think I'm really what you're looking for, though. I mean, I'm a martial artist, not a gymnast, and I'm... well, I'm not that... er, graceful." Standing in the doorway, Ayumi felt his eyes widen. Either that was Ranma's modesty kicking in or she was insulting herself so that he wouldn't have an opportunity to do the same. Mizuki was undaunted. "You're exactly who we need! This match isn't just going to be regular gymnastics. It's going to be 'Combat Gymnastics!'" This, too, was of interest to Ayumi. "Combat Gymnastics!?" "Un. In Combat Gymnastics, the chosen representatives of both teams fight each other using only the tools and techniques of the shintaisou!" Ranma thought about it. "Well... I dunno, but... oh, why not? If it's a fight, then nobody can beat me! I'll do it!" *Now* what was Ranma getting herself into? The three girls rushed to thank her. ** ** ** "I still can't believe you told them you'd do it without much thought." Ayumi idly twirled one of the batons Mizuki had loaned to Ranma for practice, along with a hoop, ribbon and ball. All the basic necessities for shintaisou... "I'll bet you don't have any idea what to do!" "Just you wait and see," muttered Ranma under her breath. Then she heard a familiar squeal coming from the direction of the doorway. It was around eight o'clock now; Ranma had decided to wait until after her homework was done to brush up on her shintaisou skills. Tomorrow, she'd ask Mizuki for a little more help accordingly. Dad would not like her participation in a gymnastics match at all. The last time she'd gone out for gymnastics, Genma forcefully withdrew her from the squad once he discovered what Ranma was doing. Being graceful was excruciatingly pointless unless one could be graceful *and* defeat their opponents at the same time, he argued. In the Saotome class of martial arts gracefulness counted for less than one percent of everything. But he'd have no choice now; this was a real fight! Of course, he would still try to intimidate her by telling her just how much of the good old Saotome honor was riding on her. Unless she took Naka up on that offer to keep the old man preoccupied for a day, like, say, the day of the match. She didn't know how - with Naka's schemes, it was often better not to know. Nah, the price was too expensive. Ayumi looked for the source of the squeal. He saw Ranma kneel down before the little pig, who was walking toward them. Was Ryomi's sense of direction getting better? Ryomi spent less and less time wandering around before reappearing. Why in the world couldn't she pick one spot and *stay* there? "*There* you are! I wondered where you went, P-chan!" Ranma said brightly, hugging P-chan to her. "'*P-chan*'!?" Ayumi went rigid. She'd given the stupid thing a *name*? That meant she planned on keeping the pig around as a pet after all... Ranma misunderstood the emotion behind Ayumi's voice. "You know, P-chan, the pig," she said with a smile on her face. Ayumi turned away in indifference. "Hmph." "Stay here and be a good little pig," she set P-chan down next to Ayumi. "Ayumi, you'd better not be mean to her!" When Ranma walked away, Ayumi leaned close to Ryomi, who narrowed her eyes as Ayumi edged closer. "Ryomi! Whatsamatter? You starting to like being a pig?" Ryomi - or rather, P-chan - bit the closest thing she could reach... which turned out to be Ayumi's wrist. Angrily, Ayumi pounded P-chan's head to try to get her to release his wrist. Ranma brought the business end of a baton down on Ayumi's head. "I *said*, don't be mean to her!" Sheesh, leave Ayumi alone with P-chan for a few minutes and he starts trying to kill her! Why couldn't he just leave her alone? The guy was so pigheaded at times... She laughed at her little joke and went back to the center of the dojo, extending her batons out to each side and placing her feet together on the hardwood floor. Breathe in, out. "Ikuwayo!" Okay. Glide into the air, send the batons spinning... and land on her toes, except without the batons. *Those* landed several feet away. This move earned a dubious round of applause from Ayumi. "Wow, that sure was graceful! Do it again!" She glared at him, face turning red. "Did I *ask* you?" Okay, time to see how good she was with the ribbon. Ranma started twirling it out in front of her, as Kodachi had. Not bad; could use a little work. On to the sides. No problem there. Moving on to twirling it over her head... fine. In the meantime she glanced over at Ayumi to check on the boy's reaction. And here he thought she didn't have any skill! This would show him! The ribbon lost momentum and settled around her like a lasso, binding her other arm to her and wrapping around her ankles... Unable to move any longer she fell over onto her face. Ayumi applauded again. "That--" "Not a WORD!" Next, the hoop. No way to screw this up, right? Ranma told herself in someone else's voice. Her mind reverted back to its proper voice. She urged the hoop upward with a flick of the wrist. Pretty simple stuff... The hoop reached the ceiling - and caught neatly on the end of an air-conditioning duct. Ranma's expression fell. "Not bad," commented Ayumi. "But you'll have to work harder on that one... I'll bet the ceilings are gonna be a lot higher where you'll be fighting." Ranma glowered at him. "Shut UP!" Of all the stupid things to do! Promising the Shintaisou Club she'd be their fighter when she obviously wasn't skilled with all the tools or moves! Letting her pride make the decision for her instead of common sense, again! And now she was stuck with around a week's worth of time to turn into Fuurinkan High's most powerful... and *graceful* fighter. Well, Mizuki's injuries weren't as bad as what she saw of the rest of the team. Maybe Mizuki could recover in time for the fight... *no*! "Boy, you weren't lying when you told them you weren't a gymnast," Ayumi half-smiled. "You sure you wanna be the school's representative? I saw the girl Mizuki was talking about. She's real good at this sort of thing." Upstairs, in the Tendo bathroom, Soun stood with his hand poised on the handle of the door leading to the bathtub. Out of courtesy to the cursed Saotome pair, who might require hot water at any time, he had moved his slot in the bath schedule to the late-evening hours. Besides, a hot bath just before bed was more relaxing. The door slid open and to his surprise, a girl Ranma's age, towel wrapped tightly around her, walked out. "Sorry," Ryomi apologized sheepishly before leaving. "All I need is practice," Ranma insisted with determination backing her words. "I can do this! You'll see!" A new voice entered into the conversation. "And I can help." Both Ranma and Ayumi turned to see Ryomi, once again clad in her familiar outfit, leaning against the door frame. "Ryomi?" asked Ranma, more concerned with Ryomi's offer to help than the Lost Girl's sudden appearance. "What's up, P-chan?" Ayumi was well-known for his sarcasm, but things like his sarcasm and Ryomi's short-fuse temper did not mix. She grabbed him by the collar, trying her best to look calm. "Why did you just call me 'P-chan?'" Ayumi watched her face redden for a second. "Why, indeed?" "This is uncharacteristically *nice* of you, Ryomi." Ryomi noted the suspicion in Ranma's voice. "I just couldn't stand to watch you screw this one up." "I suppose you can do better?" Ryomi snatched the ribbon up from the floor and straightened it out between her index and middle fingers. "Watch." So saying, she spiraled the ribbon into a rough cone-like shape - with Ayumi at the midpoint. The boy cried out as the ribbon struck him several times. "Not bad," Ranma said, impressed, as Ryomi retracted the ribbon. "I spent a few years or so in Gymnastics." "When you actually found your way to the gym?" In response Ryomi brought the ribbon twirling back toward Ayumi. Outside the gates to the residence a figure stood cloaked in more than darkness alone. Kodachi threw off her cloak to reveal the large wooden mallet she carried. "Saotome Ranma, you shall be the next to learn not to oppose the Black Rose!" ** ** ** A brisk wind pushed the dry leaves away from the walkway in front of the Tendo home. Inside the dojo, meanwhile, Ranma was attempting to catch her breath after a fair workout. "I suppose you've practiced enough for tonight, Ranma. Get some sleep and we'll pick up where you left off with the ribbon later." Ranma warily offered Ryomi a word of thanks. "You know, you're actually doing well with everything, especially the ribbon. If you keep practicing, you should become a skilled Shintaisou fighter in no time." "Really?" Ranma took the ribbon from Ryomi and began twirling it around her. In another second she'd managed to tie herself up yet another time. Ayumi pushed himself away from the wall he'd propped himself against. "You're kidding, right?" So long as the tomboy kept screwing everything up, Fuurinkan High's reputation - not to mention Ranma's - was in big trouble. "Didn't I tell you to SHUT UP!?" Ryomi turned her back on them both, scratching her head in bewilderment. These two were hopeless... Ranma let herself soak in the hot water of the bath for a while. Nothing like a hot bath to help you try to forget your troubles... The operative word here was *try*. With the match but a week away, could she *truly* improve her shintaisou skills in that short period of time? She'd gathered from Mizuki's group and Ayumi that the captain of the opposing school's team was not only treacherous but a skilled gymnast as well. Whether or not that meant the rest of the team was anything like their team captain, Ranma didn't feel up to guessing. Was it too late to change her mind? "You've GOT to be kidding, Ryomi! You can't make me believe you're *helping* her out of the kindness of your heart!" Ayumi sat atop one of the granite statues bordering the pond in the Tendo yard, twirling the ball Mizuki had given Ranma to practice with on a fingertip for effect. "There are a lot of things you have to learn about girls, Ayumi. Like how to--" She blushed, and stopped abruptly, averting her face. She wasn't sure how it happened, when, or where. Ryomi had started out by fighting Ayumi in order to bring about the end of Ranma's happiness once and for all, only to find Ayumi was a better fighter than she'd thought. Now, she had developed something of a crush on him. The boy who knew about her embarrassing Jhusenkyou curse. But as P-chan... having Ranma treat her as a pet with kindness made up for a fraction of the pain Ryomi had endured. Being a pet pig was certainly better than being a practically defenseless little pig out in the wild. Hopefully, Ayumi wouldn't reveal her secret to Ranma - not that Ranma would be quick to believe him. There was a certain irony in having her 'enemy' take care of her. Ayumi believed she still wanted to kill Ranma. That had never been completely true; Ryomi had wanted to make Ranma pay for all the suffering she had inadvertently led Ryomi through. No matter how angry she became, however, she could not bring herself to murder... no matter what Ayumi thought. How to tell someone who saw her as a murderer that she had fallen in love with him? Now was definitely not the time. So, a cover-up, then. "Let's just say you have a lot to learn." She walked into the pond. Ayumi heard the splash and turned around in time to see Ryomi pulling herself out of the pond as P-chan, her clothes dragging loosely behind her. He blinked. Ryomi seemed to be enjoying playing a cute little pet pig for Ranma. Why? Was she staying close to Ranma, waiting for the perfect moment to kill Ranma? "How dare you!" he growled, winding up and attempting to bean Ryomi with the ball. "You think I'm gonna let you trick Ranma into thinking you're a *pet*!?" Ranma leaned wearily against the door to her bedroom as she pushed it open, exhaling. She closed the door behind her and ultimately collapsed onto her bed. "Boy, am I tired," she sighed, too tired to say it in her thoughts. And meant it, too. Taking a hot bath only made the effect worse. She rolled over onto her back; she didn't feel like falling asleep with her arms and legs draped over the side of the bed. When you have a bed, you're expected to use it... There was something different about her ceiling. A girl, dressed in a black leotard, clenching a black rose between her teeth and sporting a ponytail of black hair falling straight away from her head - what, was there a *theme* here? - had become a part of the ceiling by holding tightly on to the wooden slats in the ceiling. At her back... a large wooden mallet. Who did she think she was... Ranma? Ranma's exhaustion immediately vanished. The girl reached for her mallet and pushed away from the ceiling - threatening to bring the mallet down onto Ranma's head. "Saotome Ranma! You will *die*!" Ranma sprang out of her bed as Kodachi's mallet landed where she had been a second earlier. She made her stand by her barely-stocked bookshelf. "Who the heck are you!?" Black rose petals drifted down around Kodachi. "I am the Black Rose of the St. Hebereke Girls' Academy Shintaisou Club, Kodachi!" Kodachi swung the mallet at Ranma but missed. "Within one week we shall meet in the ring! I assume you, too, will be fighting fair and square?" "'Fair and square?' *Fair and square*!?" Ranma shouted incredulously, dodging another pounding. "You attack me in my own room a week before the fight and you talk about fighting FAIR AND SQUARE!?" She executed a roundhouse kick; Kodachi ducked under it. "You're the one responsible for all those sneak attacks on the Shintaisou Club, aren't you?" Kodachi shook her head, coming to a stop behind the door. "Such misdirected anger. I only wish to guarantee a victory before our fight, no matter how fair I must be to my opponents!" "You have *got* to be--" She got no further. The door burst open, pinning Kodachi to the wall, and P-chan stampeded in... chased by Ayumi. "Come back here!" Boy and pig bounced off the walls, ceiling and floor after each other - much to Ranma's consternation - knocking down everything they could find... chairs, trashcan, her school uniform, past issues of _Nakayoshi_ and _Ribbon_... then running out the door again. Heedless of the threat from Kodachi Ranma stuck her head out the door. "Ayumi! Are you bothering P-chan again!?" A shift in the air currents behind her head told her Kodachi was attacking her while her back was turned. Ranma swept her foot back around and kicked the mallet out of Kodachi's hands. The mallet fell to the carpet out of Kodachi's range. "So. I see what they say about your skill is true. Very well!" Kodachi produced her ribbon. She spiraled it before her in an almost hypnotic manner. Before Ranma knew it there was what seemed to be a hollow wind blowing through the room, bringing with it a flurry of countless black rose petals from out of nowhere... "Never fear, we shall meet again!" Kodachi was gone. In her place, a single black rose, complete with thorns. Careful not to let the thorns prick her fingers, Ranma picked it up. She clenched a fist in anger. "Now who's going to clean up this mess!?" Ranma flung the rose aside. "So that's the way you want to fight? Well, 'Black Rose,' just you wait! We'll see if you fight fair in the ring, too!" Now then... wasn't Ayumi harassing P-chan? On the roof directly above Ranma's room, Kodachi recovered from her encounter. Footsteps... A little black pig, bounding toward her... A larger shape rose into the air in front of her. "Come BACK here, Ryomi!" A boy who seemed familiar, carrying a kettle - which she failed to see until it broadsided her. Ayumi almost didn't hear the sound of something colliding with the kettle in his hand. "What the--?" He looked around and saw nothing. In the yard below, Ranma was searching for P-chan. "P-chan... P-chan?" A pig's squeal, from one of the shrubs near the koi pond. "P-chan! There you are!" Ranma hesitated. "C'mon, we'd better get you out of here before that mean old Ayumi shows up." She held her arms open for P-chan to leap into... ...And Kodachi fell into her arms instead. Ranma lost her balance and toppled backward into the pond. Not too long after that, the male Ranma emerged from the pond with Kodachi still in his arms. The water revived the gymnast. She blinked her eyes. Water? Why was she all wet? Then she saw him... her rescuer! He was all wet, too! The most handsome boy she'd ever seen... and he'd rescued her, hadn't he? From certain death... Ranma froze. He knew this girl! The Black Rose. The same lunatic who had just attacked Ranma and made a mess out of her room! He dropped her. Intentionally. Kodachi landed in a crouched position, then stood, facing Ranma. "Oh... th-thank you! That was extremely terrifying!" She embraced Ranma, her face turning bright red. "Uh... hey! Cut that out!" Ranma protested. What was this *nutcase* doing? thought Kodachi. Kodachi envisioned Ranma as her Prince Charming, come to lead her away astride a white horse, carrying her off to the type of romantic encounters they dared not print in the fairy tale books... "Please... your name..." Ranma narrowed his eyes. "Saotome... Ranma..." Kodachi released him and hopped back. "Saotome Ranma!?" The same name as her sworn rival! "Interesting. That girl inside the house must take your name because she foolishly believes she has a claim to you. I shall persuade her otherwise!" The words caused Ranma to screw up his face. "You're *nuts*, Kodachi! Get away from me!" He grabbed P-chan and ran away, not giving Kodachi a chance to follow. "Ranma-sama...?" The boy knew her name. Her reputation must be greater than she thought! She turned to leave - and almost walked into Ayumi, who was also on the lookout for P-chan. "Oh! It's you!" The *other* man of her dreams! Anyone skilled enough to stand in the face of the attacks of the Black Rose must be someone special. Kodachi brought forth an elaborate bouquet of black roses and presented them to Ayumi. "These roses are for you and Ranma-sama. Please make sure he gets them." She blushed again. Kodachi took her leave, laughing that strange, grating laugh of hers... Ayumi wondered what she had meant by saying that the roses were for him and Ranma. All of a sudden he became aware of a strange-smelling mist in the air around him... The roses! Spraying out some sort of...... *gas*... A paralyzed Ayumi fell over with a loud splash into the koi pond. Once again under the covers in her room, transformed back to normal and her room hastily cleaned, Ranma gave P-chan a quick hug. (...to be continued...) ---------- Credits: Written by: Mike Koos Pre-readers: Richard Beaubien, Tom Williams, David Wills With apologies to Rumiko Takahashi... Notes: Sorry about the delay; part of the crew is 'on vacation.' ^_^ Plus, I'm starting up work on other projects again, which could possibly come to include a continuation of the events in SM: Digital Moon... so there might be a bit more of a delay in between installments of this series. Questions and comments are always welcome... I'd like to know I'm not just writing this to drive the prereaders up the wall. :) Even if you just want to vote for who you think would be the best voices for the new characters... ^_^ All parts of this series are available at the RAAC archives at ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works or from my WWW pages at http://www.fanfic.net/~makoto/ Comments and questions welcome. * Mike ('Kino Makoto') Koos: makoto@cal.net * http://www.fanfic.net/~makoto * * "I can do nothing to stop you. Your background music is too strong * for me." - Sam Johnson, Whose Line is it Anyway?