"We can't be," Ryou said. "We have millions of yen worth of stocks in the mutual fund."
Shario-chan held up a letter. "And we owe the government two-and-a-half million yen."
I think you need to recheck your numbers. Two-and-a-half million yen were at MOST twenty-five thousand US Dollars, more likely twenty thousand.
It's way too low an amount for a group with their resources to consider being bankrupt over. Ami's mom could probably get a loan for that amount in any bank no questions asked given her profession. Not to mention the wealth that the Outers have casually displayed, it's peanuts for the Kaiou family.
04-29-2025, 08:20 PM (This post was last modified: 04-29-2025, 08:23 PM by robkelk.)
They aren't bankrupt - the passage mentions that it's ready cash that Shario-chan's worried about, not net wealth.
And if they take out a loan, somebody's going to ask why they need the money... They're trying to keep their IDs secret, despite them being known to the police already.
EDIT: And I did check my numbers. $25k is the maximum summary fine for ignoring ATC in Canada. (A court fine is much higher.) So the Americans are insisting on punishment even if they aren't throwing the book at Haruka in order to find out who she is behind the seifuku.
-- Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones, But words can break your heart. - unknown
Quote:We finally get to see
That you and me were always meant to be
In another dimension
'Cause I still believe in a fantasy
That somewhere out there you're with me
Yeah, that works. EDIT: Except that the desk that they're hovering in front of has a somewhat funky leading edge. Oh, well... crop the image and nobody else will know.
-- Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones, But words can break your heart. - unknown
07-07-2025, 09:17 AM (This post was last modified: 07-07-2025, 09:34 AM by robkelk.)
It's Robu-san's birthday (not my birthday, though), but you get the present! Have a sidestory to chapter 5. EDIT: Now also available on AO3.
Isekai by Moonlight Sidestory
Naita Aka Oni, as performed on stage by the Kuritsu Juban Chuugakkou Conversational English Club
DEBUT PERFORMANCE CAST:
Donaldson Rob as the Red Oni
Kino Makoto as the Blue Oni
Mizuno Ami and Urawa Ryou as the Local Children
Aino Minako as the Narrator
DEBUT PERFORMANCE CREDITS:
Makeup and hair colour of the Red Oni by "Ichiro".
Makeup and hair colour of the Blue Oni by "Sakura".
Makeup of the Narrator and the Local Children by Aino Minako.
Costuming of the Red Oni, Blue Oni, and Narrator by Atelier Lucent, Center Gai, Shibuya.
Adapted by the Kuritsu Juban Chuugakkou Conversational English Club from Hamada Hirosuke's story "Naita Aka Oni". Adaptation and casting inspired by a comment by Aoyama Ichigo.
CURTAIN OPENS TO A LOT THAT HOLDS A SMALL JAPANESE HOUSE WITH ONE WORKING DOOR. THERE IS A SIGN IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE, SLIGHTLY TO STAGE LEFT. IT IS OBVIOUSLY HAND-LETTERED, AND READS IN ENGLISH:
Home of a Gentle Oni
Everyone is Welcome
Tea and Sweets Are Available
THE NARRATOR IS SITTING ON A STOOL PLACED TO STAGE RIGHT. SHE IS WEARING THE CUTE-DWARF COSTUME THAT SHE WORE DURING THE PERFORMANCE OF SNOW WHITE DURING THE DOOM TREE INCIDENT, AND HOLDING A SCROLL TIED WITH A BLUE RIBBON.
NARRATOR
The Red Oni Who Cried, as performed in English by the Kuritsu Juban Chuugakkou Conversational English Club.
Once upon a time, there were two Oni. One was a Red Oni.
RED ONI IS WEARING TIGER-STRIPED BICYCLE SHORTS AND MATCHING SHOES. HE IS NOT CARRYING A CLUB.
RED ONI OPENS THE HOUSE DOOR, LEAVES THE HOUSE, AND WALKS TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SIGN
NARRATOR
And the other was a Blue Oni.
BLUE ONI IS WEARING A TIGER-STRIPED BIKINI IN THE STYLE OF LUM FROM URUSEI YATSURA, WITH MATCHING SHOES. SHE IS CARRYING A CLUB.
BLUE ONI ENTERS STAGE LEFT, WALKS TO THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SIGN, FROWNS, GETS OUT A HANDKERCHIEF, WIPES THE DUST FROM THE TOP OF THE SIGN, AND PUTS THE HANDKERCHIEF BACK IN HER BRA
BLUE ONI
That's a really nice sign, Red.
RED ONI
Why, thank you!
BLUE ONI
Has anybody taken you up on the offer yet?
RED ONI
No, and I don't know why. I'm a nice Oni, aren't I, Blue?
BLUE ONI
The nicest that I know.
RED ONI
So why won't human people be my friends?
RED ONI MOVES TO TAKE DOWN THE SIGN. BLUE ONI STOPS HIM.
BLUE ONI
Red, don't give up. I have a plan. I'll terrorize the local children –
RED ONI, AGHAST
You can't do THAT!
BLUE ONI
No, I won't really hurt them. You come to their rescue and drive me off, and that way they have proof that you're a nice Oni.
RED ONI
You know, that just might work.
NARRATOR
And so the Blue Oni set off to look for children to frighten, and the Red Oni made himself ready to fight the Blue Oni.
RED ONI RETURNS TO INSIDE HIS HOUSE
BLUE ONI EXITS, STAGE LEFT
LIGHTS DIM
TIGHT SPOTLIGHT ON NARRATOR
NARRATOR
The next day,
LIGHTS BRIGHTEN
TIGHT SPOTLIGHT ON NARRATOR TURNS OFF
Two children from the nearby village came to look at the Red Oni's house.
TWO CHILDREN WEARING KURITSU JUBAN CHUUGAKKOU SCHOOL UNIFORMS ENTER STAGE RIGHT
FIRST CHILD POINTS AT THE SIGN
FIRST CHILD
See? I told you that the Oni wants to be friendly!
SECOND CHILD
It could be a trap. Everybody knows what Oni are like. And it's rude to point.
BLUE ONI, OFFSTAGE RIGHT
(inarticulate roar)
SECOND CHILD
See!
BLUE ONI ENTERS STAGE RIGHT
BLUE ONI
Now you are at my mercy!
TWO CHILDREN
Somebody save us!
BLUE ONI
There's nobody here to help you!
RED ONI'S HOUSE DOOR SLAMS OPENS
RED ONI
That's where you're wrong, Blue Oni! I'll save you, children!
RED ONI RUSHES AT BLUE ONI
BLUE ONI SWINGS AT RED ONI, BUT RED ONI GRABS BLUE ONI'S CLUB AND THROWS IT AWAY
RED ONI
You aren't so tough without your club, are you?
BLUE ONI BACKHANDS RED ONI
BLUE ONI
I'm tough enough!
RED ONI AND BLUE ONI GRAPPLE -- ADJUST THE COMBAT TO THE COMFORT LEVEL OF THE ACTORS
RED ONI FINALLY GETS IN A PUNCH
BLUE ONI RUNS OFF, EXIT STAGE LEFT
RED ONI
And don't go near these children again!
RED ONI TURNS TO THE CHILDREN
RED ONI
Did the Blue Oni scare you? Are you all right? I'm sorry that you were attacked.
SECOND CHILD
We're okay.
RED ONI
Would you like some tea?
FIRST CHILD
Yes, please!
RED ONI SERVES TEA AND PLAYS TAG WITH THE CHILDREN
NARRATOR
And the Red Oni got what he wanted: to be friends with the children of the village.
LIGHTS DIM
TIGHT SPOTLIGHT ON NARRATOR
NARRATOR STANDS UP, WALKS TO THE SIGN
But the Red Oni didn't know what that would cost him.
NARRATOR LEAVES THE SCROLL ON TOP OF THE SIGN
NARRAOR WALKS BACK TO HER STOOL, SITS DOWN
NARRATOR
After a few days,
LIGHTS BRIGHTEN
TIGHT SPOTLIGHT ON NARRATOR TURNS OFF
NARRATOR
The Red Oni wondered why he hadn't seen the Blue Oni for a while.
RED ONI WALKS OUT OF HIS HOUSE, SEES THE SCROLL SITTING ON THE SIGN, PICKS IT UP
RED ONI
Why, this is from the Blue Oni!
RED ONI UNROLLS THE SCROLL AND READS IT ALOUD
"To my friend the Red Oni, if anybody was to find out that you are friends with the nasty Blue Oni, everyone else would stop being your friends. I have to go away now so that this doesn't happen. Please don't look for me. Be happy with the children's friendship. From your friend, the Blue Oni."
RED ONI DROPS THE SCROLL IN SHOCK
RED ONI STARTS TO CRY
RED ONI
I'm in despair! My friend going away has left me in despair!
NARRATOR
And so the Red Oni got what he hoped for, but at the price of losing his friend, the Blue Oni. They never met again.
<deep sigh> The perils of writing scenes out of order: sometimes you have to trim a good bit of writing, and can't save it for later because it won't make sense anywhere else.
In this case, I wrote the scene where Our Heroes defeat Fish Eye once and for all before writing the scenes that lead up to it, and only realized when I got to it that Sailor Venus could not be in the scene after all. So... what could have been:
"What do we need to do now so he doesn't die in our custody?"
"Give it a kiss," Venus suggested. "It's so romantic that you Canadians kiss your love in public."
I don't know whether she said that on purpose, but it defused my growing anger with the Amazon Trio.
"That's the wrong kind of koi, Venus," Mercury said.
"And it's only in Newfoundland where people kiss fish, and even there they only kiss cod," I added.
-- Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones, But words can break your heart. - unknown
Don't let anybody tell you that you aren't cute, Mako-chan.
I believe the correct response to this is "May I eat your cooking for the rest of my life?" At least, it is for Robu-san in Isekai by Moonlight. (It might not be for Doug in Drunkard's Walk S, on account of the implied proposal of marriage...)
-- Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones, But words can break your heart. - unknown
-- Bob
I have been Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, Gilgamesh, Clark Kent, Mary Sue, DJ Croft, Skysaber. I have been
called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before the sun grows dim and cold....
I've finally finalized the outline of the remainder of Chapter SuperS... so writing should go faster than it has been for the last few months. (OTOH, work on KanriKyara is taking a noticeable amount of my time.)
Have a teaser:
Quote:I turned to my dearest and smiled. "Which would you rather do on Friday, study, attend the Conversational English club, or spend time with a guy who's taller than you are?"
"Oh, tough decision." Without stopping to breathe, Makoto added "Spend time with you."
Minako sighed deeply. "Looks like it's you and me grinding the books, Usagi."
-- Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones, But words can break your heart. - unknown