Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma OneHalf: First steps ❯ Book Three, Chapter Seven-A ( Chapter 26 )

Ranma Onehalf: First steps. Book 3.

Chapter 7.

A dog barking was the only sound as Ranma and Akane walked down the street. The night was warm and lit by streetlights.

Akane sighed and leaned against Ranma as they walked.

"That was nice." she said. "Just the two of us, good food, adult conversation..."

Ranma nodded. "Quiet atmosphere..."

"Not having all the food on the table inhaled black holes with legs..." Akane continued.

"Hey, what can I say, Lia and Christian are Saotomes." Ranma said.

"What about Matoko? She eats as much as they do and she doesn't practice martial arts." Akane asked.

"Well, she is a hundred and eighty-three centimeters* tall Akane." Ranma pointed out. "A body like that takes a lot of energy to run."

"There is that." Akane conceded.

"And there's that imagination of hers too. That requires a lot of brain power to fuel." Ranma added.

"True." Akane said. "Though I hope she's stopped growing though. I can barely keep up with Christians growth spurts, much less hers. She gets any taller and I'm going to have to make her new uniforms."

"Tell me about it." Ranma said. "Though look at it this way: she's not as big a klutz as she once was."

"That's true. She's not tearing her clothes every other week. Christians doing that to make up for her and Lia." Akane said. "That reminds me. I noticed something with Christian the other day."

"What?" Ranma asked.

"He walks different when he's in cursed form." Akane said.

"How so?" Ranma asked.

Akane looked up at Ranma. "He walks like he's been a girl all his life when he's in cursed form." she said. "And when he's in his regular form he walks like a boy."

"Huh." Ranma said. "Do you think he knows he's doing it?"

Akane shook her head. "No, I don't think he does. I saw him and Mamimi walking and he happened to get hit with a sprinkler." she said. "He switched mid -stride without so much as a stumble."

"Hmm." Ranma said with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Do you think we should talk to Ono about it?" Akane asked.

Ranma shook his head. "No, I don't think it's anything to worry about."

"You don't?" Akane asked.

"No." Ranma answered. "You walk like a guy when your in cursed form, and your perfectly all right."

Akane gave Ranma a deadpan look. "Ranma, I have three reasons why I have to walk like guy when in cursed form." she said.

"Exactly."answered Ranma. "It's him adjusting to the curse, just like you and I did. Don't worry about it."

"You're probably right." Akane said. " Though I hope the curse doesn't affect his development."

"It shouldn't." Ranma answered as they turned onto their street.

"I hope so." Akane said. "Nabiki called me the other day, and she was pretty worked up."

"She did? About what?" Ranma asked.

"She found out about the fund-raising play being a stage adaptation of Neko!" Akane said. "Apparently no called her to ask their permission, and she was worked up about the copyright violations."

"I hope Tatewaki brought her back down to earth." Ranma said.

Akane nodded. "He did. She called me back a couple of hours later and told me that they were going to ignore it." she said. "Tatewaki reminded her that a single play would not hurt them, and it was only for the one time, so..."

"Well, that's nice." Ranma said.

Reaching the gate Ranma held up his hand and they stopped.

"What?" Akane asked. "Is something the wrong?"

"No. Just want do things a little differently." Ranma answered.

"What are you talking about?" Akane asked.

"This." Ranma said.

Scooping up Akane Ranma turned and faced the wall. Jumping up he landed lightly on the top of the wall and paused for a moment.

"When was the last time I did this?" Ranma asked.

"A while." Akane answered. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Stepping off the wall Ranma landed in a crouch with a soft thump. Standing up he then carried Akane to the door.

"How are you going to get the door open?" Akane asked.

"Like this." answered Ranma.

Standing on his right leg Ranma reached up with his left leg and opened the door. Stepping inside he turned and repeated he process.

"Impressive." Akane said.

"I'm good, ain't I?." Ranma said.

Ranma slipped off his slippers while Akane kicked hers off, neatly putting them into a upper cubbyhole. Walking up to the interior door Ranma slid it open using his foot and stepped inside. Closing the door behind him Ranma began to walk down the hall.

"Carrying me up to our room?" Akane asked.

"Why not?" Ranma answered.

Akane giggled as they reached the main room and Ranma stopped.

"Problem." Ranma said.

"What?" Akane asked.

"Take a look." Ranma said as he put Akane down.

"What the-?" Akane asked as she looked at the main room and saw what the problem was.

There was a samurai sitting in the middle of it.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Akane asked.

"And why are you here?" Ranma added.

Getting no answer Ranma and Akane glanced at each other. Ranma shrugged and they looked back to the samurai. Very cautiously Ranma and Akane began to edge away from each other to get a better attack position should the need arise.

They had only taken a few steps when the samurai gripped his sword. They froze and waited for his next move. Shifting his weight the samurai slowly got to his feet. Ranma watched the samurai rise and narrowed his eyes as he saw there was something different in the way he rose.

"Something's not right here..." Ranma thought.

Once he was standing the samurai reached up to the ties that held his mask on and began to untie them. Ranma and Akanes eyes never left the samurai as he undid the ties. Bowing his head the samurai removed his mask but still kept his face hidden.

They both tensed as the samurai lowered the hand holding the mask and looked up at them, revealing...

The smiling face of Matoko.

"Do you like my costume?" Matoko asked as Ranma and Akane staggered backwards in surprise.

"Matoko- how?" Ranma asked. "Why are you wearing samurai armor?"

"It's what I'm going to be wearing for the play." Matoko answered. "Lia got it for me."

"Lia!" Ranma called.

"Yeah Dad?" Lias voice asked from the porch.

"Drop the Umi -Sen -Ken and tell us where you got the armor." Ranma answered.

"Well, I got it from-" Lia began as she appeared on the porch.

"From me."

Ranma glanced over as Tatewaki stepped out of the hall followed by Nabiki.

"Nabiki said that Furinkan was doing a adaptation of Neko! for it's fund-raising play, so I decided to help out." Tatewaki said. "So I called Lia and offered her my services as a consultant."

"And give Matoko an early birthday present." Nabiki chimed.

Akane and Ranmas jaws dropped and they stared at Nabiki.

"You gave an antique suit of armor as a gift?" Ranma asked.

"Why?" added Akane.

"Why not?" Tatewaki asked. "The Kuno family has always handed down such things. All I'm doing is entrusting a piece of the family legacy to another branch."

"That, and we need the space." Nabiki chimed in. "Besides, being in this family she needs a suit of armor."

"Well, that's true." Ranma agreed. "What's your costume Lia?"

"Kimono." Lia answered. "I'm borrowing one from Grandma."

"She's bringing it over tomorrow." Matoko added as she removed her helmet.

Reaching behind her Matoko pulled out a couple of bobby pins and shook out her hair.

"And as wonderful as this armor is it's also very uncomfortable." she said. "I'm going to go upstairs to change. You mind giving me a hand Lia?"

"Sure." Lia answered.

Lia followed her sister upstairs as Ranma glanced outside and saw Kenji sitting under a porch light drawing in a notebook.

"Kenji, what are you doing out there? Come on inside." he said.

"Oh, okay." Kenji said as he snapped the notebook shut.

"What were you drawing?" Ranma asked.

"Nothing much." Kenji answered with a shrug. "Just listening to my muse."

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A week later Lia and Matoko were coming downstairs for Sunday breakfast. When they got down there Mamimi and Christian were already there scarfing up their food while Akane was sitting and having a cup of tea.

"Morning." Lia said as she and Matoko sat down.

"Good morning Lia, Matoko." Akane answered. "Did you sleep well?"

"Like a log." Lia answered.

"Ditto." Matoko added with a smile.

Lia glanced up at Christian as she poured herself a cup of tea. "Hey Christian, whats with your hair?" she asked. "Why is it in a high ponytail?"

"It's Mamimis idea." Christian answered.

"Why did you do it?" Lia asked.

Mamimi shrugged. "I thought it would look good on Chris -chan."

Akane looked at Christian and studied his ponytail for a few moments.

"It does look good on you." Akane said with a nod.

"Okay." Christian said with a nod before he resumed eating.

"So what time is Tatewaki coming over for your kendo lesson?" Akane asked Matoko as she dished up some rice.

"He said he was going to pick up Nodoka on his way in, so he should be here at about eight." Matoko answered as she took the rice.

Lia and Christian froze at the mention of Nodokas name. Mamimi looked at Christian and then his sister in confusion.

"What's wrong Chris -chan?" she asked. "You don't like it when your grandmother visits?"

"Mamimi, we don't mind her visiting..." Lia began.

"It's just that when she visits she usually tries to make us act 'proper'." Christian finished.

"What's wrong with that?' Mamimi asked.

"She tries to make me wear a dress." Lia answered. "It's bad enough that I have to wear one for school. I am not going to wear one at home."

"And she tries to play dress -up with me." Christian groused. "I hate kimonos."

"Your grandmother tries to dress you up when you're a girl?" Mamimi asked.

Christian shook his head. "No, when I'm boy or girl." he said.

"Oh." Mamimi said.

"And you had better finish breakfast quick, because it's about twenty minutes til eight." Lia added as she glanced at the clock.

Christian promptly resumed inhaling his breakfast at that point. While he waited for Mamimi to finish hers he had another two helpings. When they were finished Christian and Mamimi put their bowls down and set their chopsticks on them.

"Finished." they chorused.

"Okay then. Have fun you two." Akane said.

Mamimi leaped to her feet while Christian tucked his legs in rolled backwards onto his feet. Standing up he grabbed Mamimis hand and guided her as they charged off to the mud room. Lia watched them go and chuckled to herself.

"Christian and Mamimi sure get along well, don't they?" she asked.

Akane nodded. "That they do." she said. "It's nice that he has a friend on his level."

"Physically or mentally?" Lia asked.

"Both." Akane answered. "And I think that Mamimi being a girl helps too, helps him adapt to it. Like your father helped me with mine."

"What's so hard with being a guy?" Lia asked. "They don't get periods or have to wear a bra."

Akane smiled at Lias comment. "Being male has it's own set of problems Lia." Akane said. "Believe me, I know."

"Somehow I doubt it, but I'll take your word on it." Lia said. "Though I wish you could tell me what makes it so interesting to them when the wind blows my skirt up."

"Testosterone." Akane said. "That's all I'm going to say."

"Mmmh." Lia said.

"Anyone want seconds? Or sixths?" Ranma asked as he poked his head into the room. "Hey, where'd they go?"

"They left." Akane said. "Christian heard that your mother was coming over and decided to split before she used him as a mannequin"

"Ah." Ranma said. "And he forgot to bring in his dishes when he was done I see."

"I'll bring them in when I'm done." Matoko said.

"Thank you Matoko." Ranma said before ducking back into the kitchen.

Sipping her tea Lias left ear twitched. Turning her head slightly she swivelled her ear and listened.

"Grandma and Uncle Tatewaki are here." she said. "And Grandpa too."

"How do you know that?" Akane asked.

Lia pointed to her ear. "Easy. I heard Grandma reading Grandpa the riot act." she said.

"Of course." Akane said as she stood up. "I'm going to go let them in."

Putting down her chopsticks Lia smiled as she had an idea. Standing up she glanced at Matoko.

"I'll be right back." she said.

"What are you going to do?" Matoko asked, recognizing the smirk on Lias face.

"Pounce a panda." Lia said as she stepped over to the screen.

Standing before the screen Lia invoked the Umi -Sen -Ken and slipped outside. Matoko returned to her breakfast as she heard the door open and her mother and grandmother exchange pleasantries.

When there was a thump and a crash Matoko smiled and shook her head.

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Naota rang the doorbell and waited for an answer. As he and Kenji waited Naotas ears picked up the sound of wooden swords clashing.

"When did they start practicing kendo here?" Naota asked aloud.

"Huh?" Kenji asked.

"Nothing." Naota answered. "Just thinking."

"Oh." Kenji said.

They both looked up when the bolt to the door was thrown open. When the door opened they stepped backwards in surprise at the panda that was there.

Naota and Kenji stared at the panda, who stared back at them. Very carefully Kenji leaned over to Naota.

"What do we do Naota?" Kenji whispered.

"Well, don't make any sudden moves for starters." Naota whispered back.

Narrowing it's eyes the panda reached behind its back. Kenji tensed to run while Naota tried to figure out how fight a panda with little more than his bare hands.

Can I help you? said the sign the panda pulled from behind it's back.

Naota and Kenji stared at the panda for several moments in stunned silence. Huffing in irritation the panda flipped the sign around.

Are you two lost? the sign read.

"Ah..." Naota began.

"Pops, what are you doing?" Ranma asked from behind the panda.

Answering the door flip what does it look like? the panda signed.

"Scarin' whoever is at the door is more like it." Ranma answered.

"Mr. Saotome?" Kenji asked.

Squeezing past Genma Ranma stuck his head out the door.

"Hi Kenji." Ranma said. "I see you met my father Genma."

"That's father?" Kenji asked, pointing at Genma.

Ranma nodded. "Yeah. This is his cursed form." he said. "And the better looking of the two I might add."

Respect your father, boy! Genmas sign read as he swiped at Ranma.

Ranma ducked under the swipe and then kicked his father out into the yard.

"Blow it out your ass Pops." Ranma said to his father. "You two can come inside. Everyone's in the dojo."

"Thank you Mr. Saotome." Kenji said.

"Call me Ranma. My pops is Mr. Saotome." Ranma said as Kenji entered. "Whats in the suitcase?"

"Huh?" Kenji said. "Oh, my portfolio. I have the 1/8th scale drawings for the back drops in here."

"Eighth scale? I'm no artist but those must be some pretty big drawings." Ranma said, pointing to the portfolio which was an easy meter and a half on the short side**.

"Well, full size they're six by twelve meters." Kenji answered. "I'm going over them with Matoko now because they're easier to correct than the full size versions."

"I see." Ranma said. Glancing outside Ranma saw Naota staring at Genma and pondering. "Hey, Naota, you comin'?"

"Sorry." Naota said as he came inside. "Just thinking about my father."

Ranma chuckled as Naota shut the door behind him. "Want to pummel your baka father too, huh?" he asked.

"You heard about the revival of the Hentai Horde, huh?" Naota asked as they started down the hall.

"Only for about two days nonstop." Ranma said. "Why did your father do that anyways?"

Naota shrugged. "I think a neuron fired in his brain."

"Ah." Ranma said with a nod.

Reaching the dojo door Ranma slid it open and they stepped inside. In the middle of the dojo were Tatewaki in his kendo gear and Matoko was in her gym clothes. To the edge of the dojo kneeled Lia in a kimono with her hands tucked into her sleeves with her eyes closed.

Next to her on her right was Nodoka, similarly attired in a kimono and Akane was on Lias left in her gi.

"Who was it Ranma?" she asked.

"Naota and Kenji." Ranma answered as the two boys entered the dojo. "I had to rescue them from Pops."

"Where is Genma, by the way?" Nodoka asked.

Ranma shrugged. "I kicked him out in the yard."

"Oh." Nodoka answered. "And who are these two fine young men?"

"Oh. They are Naota Sano..." Ranma said, pointing to Naota "And Kenji Mashida."

"Oh, you must be the man Lia is engaged to!" Nodoka said with a smile. "And such a handsome devil too."

Naota opened his mouth to reply but found himself rendered speechless. Blushing slightly Naota nodded and sat down next to Ranma. Kenji remained standing, his attention fully occupied by Matokos long, bare, legs.

Glancing over at Kenji Nodoka cocked her head. "And your friend is certainly interested in Matoko." she said.

"Huh- AAAAH!" Matoko said as she tried to look backwards but tripped and fell.

"Pay attention Matoko." Tatewaki said as he tapped Matoko on the head with his sword.

"Okay." Matoko said as she rubbed her head.

Kenjis eyes bugged out as Matoko got to her knees and stood up. Naota tracked Kenjis line of sight and figured out what he was looking at.

"Five, four, three, two, one..." Naota began to count down "Nosebleed."

Kenji twitched and fell over, his nose gushing blood as he passed out. Everyone looked at Kenji lying on the floor with a large nosebleed, the occasional twitch letting them know he was still alive.

"I think it's time we take a break Matoko." Tatewaki said, resting his sword on his shoulder. "Don't you?"

Finding herself suddenly very hot Matoko nodded wordlessly and excused herself. Nodoka watched her exit and sighed.

"Ah, youth." she said.

Akane rolled her eyes and looked at Lia, who had been strangely quiet through the whole affair. Reaching out she poked Lia on the shoulder and Lia promptly fell over sideways onto Nodokas lap.

"Oh my, Lia are you all....right?" she said as Lia, sensing a warm lap curled up.

Ranma glanced over at Lia and chuckled. "She's fine Mom." he said. "She's just going to be taking a nap."

"Oh." Nodoka said as she looked at her granddaughter. "Is this normal?"

"Yeah. Side effect of the Neko -ken Improved." Ranma said. "In fact, I'm due for a nap myself." he added with a yawn.

"What do I do?" Nodoka asked.

"Let her sleep." Akane said. "Just think of her as an oversized house cat."

"She's purring." Nodoka said as Lia shifted position.

"She does that." Akane said. "Christian and Ranma too."

Tatewaki stepped up to Naota, who was poking his friend in an attempt to wake him.

"I have a question." Tatewaki said.

"Shoot." Naota said.

"Just how good are you?" Tatewaki asked.

"How good are you?" Naota asked back.

"You want to find out?" Tatewaki asked, pointing to the center of the dojo.

"Sure." Naota said as he stood up.

After grabbing a practice sword for himself Naota removed his socks for better traction on the bare hardwood floor of the dojo. Getting into a ready stance he faced off against Tatewaki.

From the sidelines Akane and Ranma watched, ready to get a sense on how good their daughters fiance was. Nodoka watched intently, ready for some manly sword fighting. Both parties were Disappointed by the outcome.

The fight started with Naota initiating an attack with apparent youthful overconfidence. Tatewaki parried the attack to the side easily and began to turn in anticipation of Naotas counterattack at his exposed back.

Instead turning and slashing with his sword Naota had spun, dropped, and kicked out at the back of Tatewakis left knee.

Tatewaki , having stepped forward with his right leg when he parried Naotas left his left leg extended behind him. Naotas foot connecting with the back of his knee caused it to collapse under him and knocked him backwards.

Naota finished his sweeper kick and slashed with his sword, stopping a bare centimeter from Tatewakis neck. He held it there for a long moment before pulling it away from Tatewakis neck.

"So, how's that?" Naota asked as Tatewaki stood up.

"You're good. Better than I am." Tatewaki said as he rubbed his back. "You obviously train for the real thing."

Naota nodded. "True. Though I normally wouldn't use a blade this long." he said, hefting the training sword.

"What would you use?" Tatewaki asked.

"This size." Naota said, drawing a knife from seemingly out of nowhere.

Ranma and Akane stiffened as Naota showed the blade to Tatewaki. As knives went it was nothing special, just a single edge and a blade about sixteen and a half centimeters long*** and no hilt.

The only remarkable thing about it was it's construction, it was made with the same folded steel and extreme care as the best samurai blades.

"Heh. An assassins weapon." Tatewaki said as he examined it.

"That's what I am." Naota said. "Though the only reason why I carry it is for protection."

"From what?" Tatewaki asked.

"From who, actually." Naota corrected. "You'd be surprised how many people out there can carry a grudge."

"I do, actually." Tatewaki answered as Naota went back to check on his friend.

As Naota nudged his friend with his foot Lias ear twitched and she opened her eyes. Sitting up she shook her head and looked around as Matoko reentered the dojo.

"What'd I miss?" Lia asked.

"Well, you're friends showed up and Naota showed Tatewaki how good he is." Ranma said.

"Oh, is that all." Lia said. "I could've stayed asleep for that."

Standing up Lia began to walk to the door. "I'm gonna go change into something more comfortable." she said as she walked past Matoko. "You okay Matoko? You're looking a little flushed."

"I'm fine." Matoko said with a nod. "It's from all the practice."

"I told you not to overdo it." Lia said as she slid the door open. Stepping into the hall Lia shook her head again as she closed the door. " I knew I shouldn't have had that fish..." she muttered.

Naota stared at the door as Lia walked down the hall. "What happened?" he asked.

"Lia woke up." Ranma said. "She's always that way after a nap."

"Oh." Naota said.

"Well, that will come in handy on the honeymoon." Nodoka said.

"Urk!" was Naotas reply as he turned beet red.

Ranma struggled to keep from laughing at Naotas expression as a thump came from down the hall.

"That's it! I'm ditching this bloody thing!" came Lias voice from down the hall.

In the hall Lia pushed herself to a sitting position and reached behind her for the knot at the back of the sash. After accidently pulling her tail Lia managed to get the knot undone.

"Finally." she sighed as she pulled the sash off and the kimono came open.. "This thing is a bloody sauna."

Standing up Lia shrugged the robe off and folded it up along with the sash.

"Where am I?"

Jumping Lia turned around to find Mamimi standing behind her scratching her head.

"Mamimi! How did you get here?" Lia asked.

"I followed Chris -chan." answered Mamimi. "She left me in the main room to go change forms and I got lost after that."

"Oh." Lia said. "Well, your in the main hallway."

Mamimi brightened at Lias comment. "Oh, thank you! Now I know where I am!" she said. "Now I can find Chris -chan!"

"There you are." Christian said as he entered the hall. "I've been looking all over for you."

"Or he can find you." Lia said. "I thought you were hiding until grandma left."

Christian shrugged. "I got hungry." he said as he came up to them. "And why are you in your underwear? Tryin' to impress your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend." Lia said with a slight growl. "He's just a friend."

"So why are you wearing panties with little hearts- OW!" Christian said as Lia thwapped him with her tail.

"My underwear is none of your business, Chris -chan." Lia said. "And get your rear to the dojo. Dad want's to talk to you."

"Okay." Christian said as rubbed his head. "I can't believe she hit me with her butt." he muttered.

Mamimi stared at Lias tail. "You can use your tail..." she said in awe.

Lia shrugged. "Of course. It is attached to me after all." she said.

"Cool..." Mamimi said as she stared.

"It has it's uses." Lia said. "Now you might want to go after my brother. He's gonna need some help in a second." she added, pointing with her tail at the dojo.

Mamimi looked as Christian slid the door to the dojo open and stepped inside. Suddenly he froze and backpedaled in terror.

"Grandson!" Nodoka cried.

"AAAAH!" Christian screamed as he tried to run for the door, but got enveloped in a Saotome Parent Glomp. "HEELLLP!"

"I'm coming Chris -chan!" Mamimi cried as she charged forwards to the dojo.

Lia chuckled as Mamimi ran into the dojo. "Make comments about my underwear will you."

Lia turned and headed to the stairs as Nodoka went nuts over her grandson and his friend.

____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________

Lia fanned herself and Matoko sat calmly out of the way reading a manga as chaos reigned backstage. Next to them Naota sat with Kenji and helped him with his hyperventilating.

"Calm down Kenji." Naota said as he patted his friend on the back. "If they thought there was something wrong with the artwork they wouldn't have kept it under wraps."

"I know, but all those people..." Kenji wheezed.

"No talking Kenji, just focus on your breathing." Naota said. "Here. Draw."

Kenji took his sketch pad from Naota and began to sketch. Naota watched Kenji for a few moments before sitting back up and sipped his water bottle.

Naota looked up as Izu skidded to a stop in front of them.

"Naota, Lia, Matoko you're up." Izu wheezed. "Curtain in five."

"Okay." Lia said as she snapped her fan closed.

The three of them stood up and began to walk to the stage. Izu walked with them making last minute checks on the scenery.

"How is it?" Lia asked.

"We're at capacity." Izu said as Lia carefully began to climb up the ladder to her place in the shrine. "Hair."

"Sorry." Lia said as she pulled out the skrunchie holding her hair up.

Lia gently shook out her hair, which now free of the pigtail she normally kept it in fell to her waist in a auburn mane. Naota from his position offstage found himself distracted by how different Lia looked with her hair down.

"She has gorgeous hair, doesn't she?" Matoko whispered to Naota as she took her position.

"That she does." Naota agreed. "Her smile is just as good."

"Are you sure you won't be distracted?" Matoko asked.

Naota smiled as he pulled up his mask. "I'm a Hagakure ninja Matoko. We don't fail." he said as the stage hands vacated the stage.

Matoko smiled through her mask as the lights on the stage came on and the curtain raised.

"You and Lia aren't the only matchmakers around here."she thought as she strode forward onto the stage.

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To be continued....

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End Chapter Seven, Part One.

*Again, that's a hair over six feet tall.

**For those of you who don't work with metric a lot like I do, that's about three feet long.

***Six and a half inches