It is interesting to note that the Kuno siblings were rather excellent examples of beauty only running skin deep. While Tatewaki was rather handsome, fit and wealthy, he had an attitude so abrasive that even those that might count as “friends” (sort of) still only referred to him by his family name. Meanwhile, Kodachi was pretty, slender, flexible and had a tendency to run around in a leotard yet had far too terrifying a personality for anyone sane to consider dating. You could say her laugh doubled as a warning siren. It certainly sounded like one when heard from a distance.
At that particular moment in time Kodachi was a little bit floored by how popular her foolish older brother was becoming. A personal visit from that vile pigtailed menace over breakfast? Their flirtatious attitude? Training a pretty middle-aged woman in the art of the blade? She scoffed at the very idea of it. That buffoon was being exploited in some manner. They wanted something from him. That was the only time the pigtailed pest ever willingly remained in his company. He had something she wanted. The idea that the “something” could be “his body” was absurd on the face of it. The clothes they would purchase later on? No, that felt wrong…
Bah! Did it matter what japes her <i>dear</i> brother injected himself into? No, beyond her own personal amusement. Far better to concentrate on her own business instead of musing on events she could not witness until a later time…
The common pattern for netorare is quite simple. We’re introduced to a happy couple, then the woman gets seduced (often playing extremely loose with the definition of that word) by another man. Audience gets jealous. Original protagonist gets humiliated. However. Kodachi didn’t exactly have herself a man for the NTR equation to balance itself out. She “loved” Ranma Saotome, but he sure as hell didn’t have the necessary returning emotions!
So… How exactly was the ring supposed to influence her? Pft! Such a lack of imagination! Take the formula and multiply it by minus one. Ah, but there exists another problem. Kodachi only has eyes for Ranma. At the very least, it’s not hard to see her brother hitting on every pretty face he encounters, giving the ring plenty of grappling space to play around with. So? What about her? How was Kodachi supposed to trigger a “gender-flipped” NTR event when she only had eyes for one person, and that person was already caught up in another NTR event altogether?
It began to snow in the streets of Furinkan, or at least that was the reasonable first impression one might have. On closer inspection? It was quite clear this wasn’t the case at all. For one thing the “snowflakes” weren’t remotely cold. For another, snowflakes don’t tend to have yellow stigma protruding from the centre. For the last -
“Ohohohohoho!”
The sound of shrill, irksome laughter filled the air, foretelling the arrival of Kodachi’s greatest rival. Asuka Saginomiya, the White Lilly! Kodachi whirled around with her ribbon ready to be lashed out as a surprisingly effective whip, and quickly hopped out of the covered area lest any of them be primed to explode. To her surprise, they did not actually explode. To her expectation, she saw her hated rival - the one and only person she truly despised more than a certain not-to-be-named girl with an annoying pigtail - standing in the street in the middle of a giant flowery frame, cackling into the back of her hand.
“Oh, Kodachi dear!” Asuka cackled. “You seem rather lonely on your journey to school this morning!”
Before Kodachi could retort, she saw something else that surprised her. There was a man on Asuka’s arm. A rather stern youth wearing a black tank top that showed off rather incredible muscles, a utility belt around his waist, and camo coloured jeans that gave his attire a distinctly military flair. Astonishing!
“As it happens, St Hebereke’s is an all-girl school,” Kodachi sniffed. She pointed her ribbon at Asuka’s unfortunate victim. “And who is this fresh face? Be careful, Asuka! His eyes aren’t clouded over, so the chloroform must be wearing off.”
“Hmph!” Asuka sniffed. “Ignore her, Ryu darling! Kodachi and I have a somewhat difficult past. It’s challenging for her to be happy for me.”
“Tch! I understand that feeling,” ‘Ryu’ replied. “Still, never thought I’d come by this area again. C’mon, this bad mood is making me feel like shouting.”
Off they went, with Asuka leaning on his arm and laughing, leaving Kodachi feeling… Ooh! Frustrated! Furious! She’d done that deliberately, showing up to show off her hunky new boyfriend, show that they were a happy couple and leave her feeling alone and empty! She lashed out her ribbon at the wall nearby to let out a little frustration, then made to put it away again when all of a sudden -
“Rosie!”
A new annoyance arrived out of nowhere! A nimble-footed menace in a school uniform Kodachi didn’t recognise had lunged for her ribbon, pouncing like some ephemeral predator and with enough determination to warn of starvation! Kodachi was caught rather off guard by how easily the girl kept up with her. Fast! Very fast, very agile, yet the movements did not indicate any form of martial arts gymnastics training -
“Please do forgive my partner,” a smoother than silk voice said. It belonged to a handsome boy who was tweaking the girl’s ear. “Azusa is rather… Excitable.”
“Mikey!” the girl whined. “She has my Rosie! Let me get my -”
Suddenly the boy released her ear, grabbed her by the arm and dipped her into the single biggest kiss Kodachi could ever remember seeing in her entire life. She could feel her jaw going utterly slack at the intensity coming off the two of them.
“I suggest retreating while she’s preoccupied,” the boy said while the girl swooned in his arms. “She’ll start coming after your ribbon again if I leave her too long. It’s been like this since we started dating…”
The idea of a Kuno retreating from battle struck her like a wound deep within her soul. This girl had challenged her. Tried to steal from her for no good reason, and here she was being rewarded for his misbehaviour by being enthusiastically kissed by her handsome boyfriend! It galled her. It stuck in her throat, especially off the back of Asuka mocking her like that -
But Kodachi didn’t have the time to finish this properly and teach her the correct lessons. She had to hurry off to school, where she could do nothing but sit and stew over both of these encounters, with her thoughts turning towards revenge against the pair of them. Asuka and Azusa! And their handsome boyfriends! Oh, but as she sat there in class, not exactly listening to the teacher but not quite ignoring them either, the wheels were turning in her head. Wheels of revenge.
Wheels of gender-flipped netorare.
Oh yes, it shouldn’t be too difficult for someone as brilliant, beautiful and resourceful as herself. How humiliating it would be for them, to see their boyfriends snatched away. Turned into little amusements for herself, forced to mock and belittle them… Especially that infuriating, insufferable White Lily! Yes. Kodachi would show them all what she was really capable of!
“Ohohohohohoho!”
“… Miss Kuno, your enthusiasm is appreciated but I fail to see what’s so amusing about imaginary numbers.”
- Kodachi plans her attack.
- Kuno requests that “Ranko” meet him at lunchtime.
- “Ranko” and Kuno encounter someone they know on the way to school.
- How did these two couples meet up in the first place?
- Something else
I'd vote for 2 or 3.
ReplyDeleteGood chapter on Kodachi.
ReplyDeleteI also vote for 2 or 3.
Honestly, adding kodachi just feels like procrastination, like the author doesnt really want to get to the ntr stuff with kuno, ranma, and akane. Id prefer for it to be spun off on to its own thread line rather than clutter up this branch.
ReplyDeleteCounterpoint: Other readers might be disappointed if Kodachi didn’t have a role to play in the thread.
DeleteI'd like her to play a role, but with characters we care more about than Asuka.
DeleteThough Kodachi would make an interesting viewpoint character once Kuno starts picking up the girls: first Akari, then Nodoka, then Ranma, Akane, Shampoo, Ukyo, Kasumi... How would she react upon witnessing her halfwit brother's (growing) harem?
ReplyDelete