Disclaimer: This parody is a work of fan-fiction, and is distributed
purely for it's subtle political effect.  A-ko and all related
characters are copyrighted by Soeishinsha/Final-Nishijima and Central
Park Media and are not used with permission.  All original material is
copyright 1996 by Henry J. Cobb.  Permission is granted to browse and
redistribute this material, but not to modify it.

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Project A-ko: "Promise" Chapter V: "Friday, Confession"
  By Henry J. Cobb

B-ko was seized at her room in the castle and brought before her father
in chains.

"You've been a very naughty daughter, B-ko"  The head of clan Daitokuji
thundered "I won't let you interfere with this alliance!"

The Daimyo then turned to his men and ordered "Now take her to the
Shogun!"

She was lifted into her kaga and her chains locked to it.

Dozens of her father's men rode in formation around her through the
forest, as she left a trail of tears.

B-ko was interrupted from her private misery when the party suddenly
stopped, there was a lone rider blocking the path.

"I cannot let this injustice continue" The Samurai in Red rode on a
yellow horse with luminous green eyes.  The Samurai drew a magic sword
and charged the group, scattering the lot.

The sword was brought down on B-ko's chains, shattering them, then she
was lifted up onto the horse.

As they departed, her father's men regrouped and galloped after them.

The Rider turned the horse and they stood their ground.

"What are you doing?" B-ko cried, "They'll catch us!"

"No." her rescuer calmly answered, "watch."

As the warriors approached, the eyes of the yellow horse blazed forth in
twin green beacons that no man could withstand.

The threat dealt with, they continued on a more leisurely pace through
the forest.

"Who are you?"  B-ko asked her saviour "How did you come to rescue me?"

"I am as I do, miss" began the Red Samurai, "I fight injustice and seek
to right wrongs.  I ask only that I might serve righteous causes."

Sounds hokey to me, B-ko thought, but it will do for now, leaning back
against her protector.

The horse startled as they were suddenly surrounded by demons.

"What deviltry is this?" The Samurai brainished the magic sword at the
monsters, but they did not fall back.

"We don't think you should be seen with this girl" one of the demons
began.  "She's foolish" a second continued.  "Lazy" others chimed in
"spiteful", "cruel", "scheming", "repulsive", "ill-bred", "treacherous",
"vindictive", "idiot", "ugly", "fat".

All of the voices were very familiar to B-ko, she had heard them all, a
thousand times before, echoing inside her mind.

"Is this true?" The red garbed one asked B-ko.

"Yes" B-ko admitted. "All of it, but please don't leave me to these
demons!"

"I'm sorry miss" The rider replied, "but I have things to do, quests to
fulfil, dragons to slay and beautiful, innocent maidens to rescue".

As B-ko was bumped from the horse, the demons began to claw at her and
she screamed herself awake.

Regaining her composure, B-ko chided herself for attempting to grab a
full night's sleep.  At least the special insulation she had installed
in her rooms three years ago insured that nobody else at the estate was
bothered.  So she had some time alone to reflect on the dream.

The rider and the horse are new, she pondered and quickly deduced their
identities.

Is that the answer?  Do I dare?  If I speak and am laughed at, how could
I bear to live?  And how long will I survive if I do nothing?  These
questions and a thousand more ran through her mind.

It was still very early that Friday morning and so B-ko had time to
check details and plan her rescue, even though she doubted she had the
guts to attempt it.

In class on Friday, B-ko was frightened.  She wasn't afraid of her
father, she knew she could handle him.  She was afraid of herself, she
feared for her very survival.

None of the other students had ever seen fear from B-ko.  Given her vast
powers and knowledge they knew that some sort of global cataclysm must
be in the works.  Even C-ko respected the gloom that hung over the
classroom.

At lunch A-ko and C-ko joined B-ko and her henchgirls again, but B-ko
seemed to have no interest in defusing C-ko's lunch or consuming her
own.

Mari had seen this food problem of B-ko's before and spotted the
danger.  Mari reached out her hand for A-ko's and gestured at the
troubled teen.

A-ko took the hint and gently teased B-ko with various pieces, hand
feeding her choice selections.

During the afternoon classes, B-ko remained distracted and fumbled at a
direct question from Miss Ayumi.  A-ko jumped in with a partial answer
and the gang switched back to tag-teaming their teacher, but B-ko's
heart was clearly not in it.

As the students poured out after school that afternoon, B-ko was torn.
She knew she had to act then or forever regret it.  Hesitantly she
reached out to place her hand on A-ko's arm.  "A-ko, we have to talk."

"Yes" A-ko acknowledged, "something's been bothering you all day, what
is it?"

"Alone." B-ko continued, gesturing towards C-ko.

"I see." A-ko replied and then to her immature friend "C-ko, I think we
really can work this out, this time.  Please go on home now and I'll
call you later."

The look C-ko gave A-ko was heartbreaking.  Does she suspect?  B-ko
wondered.  But C-ko said nothing before turning to leave.

A-ko walked silently alongside B-ko to a secluded, shady spot at the
park near the school, they sat on the roots of an old tree and A-ko let
B-ko stare out at threatening skies over the bay for several minutes
before beginning  "If this is about that kiss Monday, B-ko, I'm sorry,
but that was an accident."

"It has nothing to do with that."  B-ko half lied "It's my father, he
plans to marry me off to a barbarian."

"What?" A-ko shouted "You can't be serious.  He can't do that to you."

"How can I stop him?"  B-ko sobbed, "He's got such power and influence.
I can't possibly stand against him alone."

"B-ko, you are not alone"  A-ko answered, placing her arm around her
troubled companion "Your friends will stand beside you."

So far, so good, thought B-ko, gently leaning against A-ko, but I must
handle this carefully.  "But A-ko, what can I do?, he holds the reigns
of industry and society and I'm still the weak, foolish, ugly little
girl in the bowl haircut." The self-hateful words came very easily, B-ko
had only to tap into the constant internal litany.

"No B-ko", A-ko put her other arm around B-ko, holding her almost face
to face "You're strong, smart and beautiful, you just need to believe in
yourself."

"Do you really think so?" B-ko sniffed.

"Yes, you are the most beautiful girl in the entire school."  A-ko's
simple answer meant more to B-ko than she could ever know.

B-ko's reply was to put her arm around B-ko's neck and draw herself up
for a kiss.  Too soon, B-ko cursed herself, I've blown it, but A-ko only
stiffened for a moment.

Is this what I truly want?, B-ko wondered for the thousandth time that
day, is A-ko the hero for my emotional rescue?

Minutes later B-ko listened for the internal chorus of self-deprecation
and for once did not find it.  Yes, she answered herself, this will do.

As A-ko finally broke off the kiss, B-ko felt drops on her face and
reopened her eyes in alarm.  Is A-ko crying, have I hurt her?, B-ko
wondered.

"It's raining", A-ko observed.

"Oh" was B-ko's eloquent reply.

"We can go by my house, my parents are away this weekend, so we can, uh"
A-ko seemed at a loss for further words.

"Lead on" B-ko said as the two friends helped each other to their feet
and headed down the hill to the residence in question.

B-ko knew that A-ko's parents were in New York and would not return
until Sunday, in fact she had planed on it.

That night B-ko's inner demons were kept very far away.

$Id: promise_chp5.txt,v 1.5 1996/06/30 16:51:35 hcobb Exp $