
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/2519591.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      F/M
  Fandom:
      Ranma_1/2
  Relationship:
      Saotome_Ranma/Tendou_Nabiki, Hibiki_Ryouga/Shampoo/Perfume_(Ranma_OC)
  Character:
      Saotome_Ranma, Saotome_Nodoka, Tendou_Nabiki, Cologne_(Ranma_1/2), Kunou
      Tatewaki, Kunou_Kodachi
  Additional Tags:
      Supernatural_Elements, Alternate_Universe_-_Canon
  Series:
      Part 5 of Ranma,_the_Naïve_Succubus
  Stats:
      Published: 2014-10-27 Updated: 2018-03-25 Chapters: 10/? Words: 27229
****** Maneuvering for Position ******
by Narsil
Summary
     It's been almost two weeks since Akane beat Kodachi, and for the
     moment things are quiet. But their list of problems hasn't grown
     shorter, and as Nabiki worries about Ranma's adjustment to his/her
     new nature as a succubus and Nodoka tries to solve a murder over a
     decade old, a Gosunkugi Hikaru with problems of his own maneuvers for
     advantage. And meanwhile Mara waits, watching for for her own
     opportunities....
***** Curses, foiled again! *****
Tatsuno (since the official name change) Ranma glanced around the dojo from
where the new/young succubus floated in one corner. The open room looked very
different from its usual airy openness. The sun had set, so the light was the
soft glow of the candles and braziers bordering various circles that combined
with the outside night to form walls to replace those the succubus could barely
see.
Those multi-colored sand and chalk circles faintly glowing with residual magic
took up most of the floor space, two large circles in the middle with three
smaller circles bordered by braziers for the three Amazon elders on one side
and two more bordered by candles for Nabiki and Nodoka on the other, leaving
the larger circles in the middle to an ordered outline of flowers and crystals.
The smaller circles and one of the larger ones were pasted onto large paper
mats, leaving only one on the bare polished wooden floor. (The Amazon elders
had been impressed with the concept of the circle mats when asked to help
create theirs, and Ku Lon and Dao Paz had promptly started discussing the
possibility of woven circle mats before Lo Shun had dryly suggested they focus
on preparations for the ceremony first.)
Ranma’s lover and mother were both dressed in the robes that Nodoka called her
working uniform. Like the dojo's walls those robes were translucent, but the
kanji embroidered along the edges and the katanas both wore shone with power
(though Nabiki looked less than comfortable with the extra weight, unnecessary
this time but Nodoka insisted for the sake of building good habits). To Ranma’s
succubus vision both women seemed to radiate magic (they had spent most of the
day in meditation and ritual cleansing preparing for the night’s ritual, and
Ranma was still slightly grumpy about not being able to skip the half-Saturday
of school like Nabiki), so much so that she had trouble making out their faces
— and in the case of her mother she was careful to look only at her face; she
was getting accustomed to her attraction to the apparently bare bodies
constantly on display while she was a nature spirit (which was most of the
time), but she didn't want to get used to feeling that attraction to her
mother's exercise-shaped nakedness.
The Amazon elders, too, had spent the day performing their own cleansing
rituals. But for the three of them, it had involved a series of group dances
performed on the grass of the Tendo yard between house and dojo to the double-
beat of drums hammered out by one of their warriors and her husband (softly, to
avoid disturbing Nabiki and Nodoka inside the house), interspersed with chants
while kneeling and bathing in pungent smoke from braziers kept fed by other
warriors and their husbands.
In fact, the only Amazons not involved were Shan Pu and Pa Fum, and the only
reason the Champion and her wife weren’t was because they were guarding the
camp was in case their wandering husband returned. (Akane wasn’t involved,
either. But however unhappy she was about not being involved, her still-healing
ankle precluded it.)
Now those five smaller circles were all occupied by their intended recipients,
all radiating an oddly peaceful tension except Nabiki, who was just tense.
Ranma spared her lover a soft smile where the middle Tendo stood in her circle
beside her sensei, her sprite familiar sitting on her shoulder and katana on
loan from Nodoka at her waist. Seeing Nabiki’s and Nodoka’s nods, Ranma
refocused on the large circle toward the middle of the dojo, the one that
wasn’t pasted on paper. There in the center lay Genma on his back, his massive
bear arms and legs circling Dr. Tofu lying on top of him. The kanpo was
blindfolded with a gag locking a mouth guard in place, his body bound by
leather and cloth cords and even wrapped with some chains they’d managed to
locate. It was the best they could to, and they’d just have to hope it was
enough.
Everyone looked as ready as they could be. Ranma called out, “We’re ready.”
Instantly, Kasumi rushed through the dojo’s open door, her simple white robe
billowing about her legs and brown hair still damp-dark from her own purifying
bath sticking to her neck and back, radiating equal parts fear and hope. She
paused at the edge of the empty large circle pasted on paper, hiked up her
robe, and stepped to the middle to carefully lie down. She took several deep
breaths for steadying calm and nodded, a nod perhaps only Ranma saw thanks to
her ability to see the life energy of all living things — but in this case,
that light actually seemed to be dimming as the same dark, ugly, slimy aura
seemed to ooze from her, reaching for and intermingling with the same terrible
aura from a suddenly thrashing Dr. Tofu, fighting against the Panda’s arms and
legs pinning him in place. Damn, so much fer the blindfold keepin’ him from
knowing she’s there, Ranma thought as she softly called out, “Go, we’re good!”
The Amazon men lining the back wall behind their Elders instantly started
beating a low, complex rhythm on small drums as their wives chanted in a
language Ranma had never heard before, or anything like it — whatever it was,
it had no relation to the Japanese she knew or the Chinese she’d heard on the
last stages of the training trip. The Elders started their own chant, their
voices merging with those of their warriors. And ... it was working! Those
horrible auras linking Kasumi and Dr. Tofu wasn’t growing any less, but they
were ... pulling apart? Tofu’s fit seemed to be easing off a little — and
Nodoka and Nabiki joined in.
Nodoka and the Elders had had several long discussions over the past almost two
weeks since Akane’s victory over Kodachi, but in the end they couldn’t see any
way for them to join together in a single ceremony — the worldviews underlying
their respective rituals were simply too different to be merged, at least not
in the time they had. So instead, they had divided the night’s work into two
spheres of responsibility and as the Elders fought to mitigate the impact of
the curse on Tofu, Nodoka and Nabiki’s voices rose in a chant that Nodoka had
worked out and then Nabiki had translated into Esperanto to attack the curse
itself — and ... it was working!
Ranma’s hands brushed her floating fiery-red hair back out of her face, away
from her eyes, holding the breath she didn’t actually need as she stared. The
curse’s black aura was fading, becoming more translucent, the slimy feeling
that made her want to take a bath fading! And more important, the Doc’s
writhing was easing off. Her fists clenched and a manic grin spread across her
face as a wave of joyful triumph from the others washed over her.
But the curse seemed to realize it was under assault, almost as if it was
alive, and it began to cast off additional streamers from both Kasumi and Dr.
Tofu, fighting to connect, to strengthen the link. The triumphalism faded,
turned desperate as the volume of the Elders’ voices raised to fight against
the curses’ attempt to rejoin, and began to drown out the chanting of their
Japanese counterparts. Nabiki’s voice faltered for a heartbeat as the Amazons’
rhythm interfered with her own and the fading curses darkened for a moment
before she recovered, then her and Nodoka’s voices grew louder as they fought
to avoid being drowned out. The two chants mingled and clashed, one thread of
the multitude streaming from Kasumi snapped through to connect with Tofu and
with a burst of mania that made Ranma wince he began to convulse — and with a
wet crack both bones in his right forearm snapped.
Instantly, Nodoka broke off her chant to shout, “Kasumi, out, now!” The paper
foundation for the ritual circle tore as the eldest Tendo daughter sprang to
her feet and rushed from the room into the night-darkened yard, and Nodoka
sighed as the chanting and drumbeats from the rest broke off. She turned to her
currently-daughter to find Ranma shaking from the whipsawing backlash of
emotions she’d just been through. Nabiki walked over to pull her fiancé into a
hug as Peach Fuzz flew a circle around the pair before settling on her fellow
nature spirit’s shoulder to rub her head against Ranma’s cheek. Nodoka joined
them, wrapping her own arms around them in a group hug, but waited until Ranma
fought her shivering under control before stepping back and asking, “What did
you see?”
Ranma reported in a tight, over-controlled voice, shivering in Nabiki’s arms as
she remembered that disgusting, slimy feeling of the curse brushing across her,
and felt her fiancée’s arms tighten around her. She wiggled for a moment,
luxuriating in the feeling of soft skin on skin through the robes and trying to
ignore the bitter disappointment Nabiki was radiating.
“We were so close!” the middle Tendo burst out when Ranma finished.
“No, child, we were not.”
Ranma looked down at the shrunken, ancient woman balancing on her staff. The
succubus had been so caught up in her lover’s embrace and attempting to push
away the memory of the disgusting touch of the curse her retelling had invoked
that she hadn’t sensed the approach of the blazing torch of Ku Lon’s ki. “What
d’ya mean?” she asked.
“Just what I said,” Ku Lon snarled, then sucked in a deep breath as she fought
her own disappointment under control. “The curse’s resistance rose to match our
own strength,” she finally continued, “and I did not sense any diminution in
its increase as it did so. I suspect it would have been able to continue to do
so however strong our own attempt was — whatever demon was responsible for this
curse, we cannot match its raw power.”
“So that’s it?” Ranma asked. “There’s nothin’ we can do fer Kasumi an’ the
Doc?”
Nodoka glanced over at the other large multi-colored circle and smiled
approvingly when she found the Amazon men were already dealing with unbinding a
once again sane Tofu, one of them supporting him on his feet and another
keeping his broken arm steady as a third unwrapped him while around them their
warrior wives snuffed out the candles. The circle was hopelessly smeared, but
it wasn’t like they’d be trying again anytime soon if at all ... not this way.
“No, that’s not ‘it’,” she replied, returning her attention to her disappointed
child, running her fingers through Ranma’s shiny-soft hair. “It just means we
won’t be able to defeat the curse by overpowering it. Every curse has a weak
point, a loose-hanging thread one can pull on to unravel it, we simply have to
find it.”
Nabiki sighed. “So much for the easy way.” She twisted her head to get Ranma’s
hair out of her face, then looked down at Ku Lon over her armful’s shoulder.
“But you did your part, I’ll have the rest of your payment to you tomorrow when
Ranma and I pass the park on the way to the train station.”
“Oh?” Nodoka queried, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, Ranma and I still need to return those scrolls Genma stole from the
Buddhist temple in Nekomi. I thought we’d make a day of it.” Nabiki’s eyes met
Nodoka’s over Ranma’s head, and Nodoka nodded. However serene a front Kasumi
might put up, she had to be mourning over the night’s failure. Returning the
scrolls was the perfect excuse for getting the two empaths out of the dojo for
the day while hiding the fact that they were avoiding their grieving sister/
future sister-in-law.
“Very well, no training tomorrow. But you leave after you help clean up the
dojo,” Nodoka added. “But that’s for the morning, tonight Kasumi is going to
need us.”
***** A Second First Meeting *****
Ranma sighed with relief as he and Nabiki exited the train at Nekomi. It had
been a long ride, and Ranma had felt himself winding more and more tightly with
every passing minute. He and Nabiki had been surrounded by strangers pressed
close by the crowd, and he had been unable to stop trying to see in every
direction at once for any possible incoming threats — with only civilians
around and everyone so crammed together he couldn’t differentiate one ki source
from another. Only Nabiki’s hasty grab had kept him from sucker-punching one
boy not much older than the pair that had stumbled and bumped into him. But now
they were off the train and the crowd had spread out, and he wasn’t trapped in
a steel box with no sight lines. He could feel his tension draining away along
with Nabiki’s loosening grip on his arm.
Hefting the backpack slung over his shoulder with the stolen scrolls they were
returning to the Buddhist temple, he forced a smile that he knew wouldn’t fool
her in the slightest — she still had her empathy even if he didn’t — and asked,
“Which way?”
The earth-haired girl in shorts and a T-shirt glanced around as they left the
station to orient the street with her memory of the map she’d pulled up online
before they’d left the dojo, then tugged him toward their left. “This way.”
He relaxed still more as they walked along, and he scanned the neighborhood
around them. It was a peaceful place, quiet, shade trees along the sidewalks,
individual homes with the occasional store and apartment building, a park with
children playing. And they’d left all the insanity behind them in Nerima. As
the minutes passed Nabiki’s hand relaxed even more, until she let go of his arm
and reached down to take hold of his hand. He had to admit that, while it
wasn’t as good as being in succubus form and basking in the love that Nabiki
radiated whenever they were together, the outing was turning out to be rather
nice.
Then he recognized the street they were on from the online map’s street view,
looked around — yes, those were the steps leading up to the temple, and they
did seem vaguely familiar so it was probably the right place — it looked like
Nabiki would be able to forgive Morimasa’s debt. He wasn’t looking forward to
the explaining how he had the scrolls, even if he could lay the blame at his
father’s feet, but he was eager to get it over with. And apparently Nabiki had
picked up on his eagerness, her hand slipping free of his as he bound up the
steps.
As he reached the top of the steps he felt something sweep through him and
paused, frowning. That had felt tantalizingly familiar, but not —
“Who are you and what are you doing here?”
At the childish-sounding if peremptory demand, Ranma glanced around. The first
thing he saw was some sort of robot that looked like someone had tried to make
a painted steel statue out of balls and tubing, with a Samurai jingasa perched
on the ball serving as its head and circles for eyes and a straight line for a
mouth drawn with a marker. But as bizarre as that mannequin was, what really
drew Ranma’s attention was the young raven-haired child standing beside the
robot. Presumably she was the one that had made the demand, and she was glaring
up with him with her hands on her hips with what was clearly supposed to be a
stern frown. She failed miserably. For one, she didn’t even come up to what
passed for the robot’s shoulder, much less Ranma’s. Second, she was dressed in
a fairly conservative school uniform, with a blue knee-length dress and white
under-blouse with puffy sleeves. Combined with her unblemished, fresh-faced
beauty, she looked incredibly cute — like a kitten trying to face down its
mama. But what really had Ranma staring at her wide-eyed was that she had no
more ki than the robot beside her.
“Well?” she demanded when Ranma failed to respond.
Ranma shook himself free of his shock — since getting cursed he’d been
introduced to a whole new world, so he supposed even an obviously living child
without any life force was somehow possible — and swung his backpack down off
his shoulder. “Hi, I’m Sao — uh, Tatsuno Ranma,” he said with a smile. “Do you
know where the head priest is? I have some scrolls for him.”
“There are no priests here, haven’t been for years,” the child replied.
“Oh.” Ranma frowned thoughtfully, then shrugged. “Well, I’ll just talk to your
parents, see if they know how I can contact the priests that used ta live
here.” He strode around the girl and continued along the walkway toward a
building that he definitely recognized. Yep, this was the right place.
“Wait, it’s not — stop!”
A hand trailing fire flashed into view from behind Ranma. It was attached to a
flexible metal cord of some sort, and quickly circled around him several times,
managing to bind one of his arms to his side before going taut to stop him in
his tracks.
Ranma turned around to find the metal cord attached to the girl by a now-
handless wrist. “Another robot,” he said, smirking, “that explains the lack a’
ki. One problem with usin’ a cord that’s tied ta you, though, it’s also tied ta
me.” Even as her eyes widened he grabbed the metal cord and yanked. She
shrieked as she flew through the air toward him, but he was already falling
onto his back. His feet slammed into her stomach and catapulted her over him
until the cord snapping tight brought her to an abrupt halt in mid-air. She
dropped straight down onto the stone walkway with a resounding thud.
Ranma rose to his feet and unwound the cord around him by the hand at its end
as the girl-bot pushed herself up on shaking arms. “That’ll teach ya —” he
started to say just before catching the faint sound behind him of metal on
rock. Dodging to one side, he barely got out of the way as a massive hammer
wielded by the ball-bot slammed down where he had been standing. Its straight
line for a mouth had been rubbed off and replaced with a frown.
Ranma backed up as the ball-bot approached, slipping his backpack with the
scrolls off his shoulders. He glanced toward the entrance to the grounds to
find a wide-eyed Nabiki standing there staring at them, and grinned. “Hey Nabs,
catch!” he threw her the backpack and charged toward the ball-bot, just as a
high-pitched shriek rose from the building.
“Sigel!”
                                      /\
Nabiki stood staring up the stairs leading to the temple she and Ranma had come
to visit as her fiancé bound up the steps.
This wasn’t the first temple Nabiki had visited since her Awakening, she had
wanted to find out if there was any overlap between the sacred and the
supernatural and so had visited both Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. The
results had been ... inconclusive. She had felt something, welcoming and with a
shining purity like nothing she had believed could possibly exist. By that time
she had already begun summoning imps to dig up the dirt she needed to protect
herself and punish her enemies, though, and had felt distinctly uncomfortable.
Still, though she wouldn’t have wanted to risk the possible backlash from
failing a curse against someone on holy ground, she hadn’t sensed anything
specifically protective in nature.
That was definitely not the case here — to both sight and Sight, the wards on
this temple (and they were true wards) were a dazzling tower, and their
overwhelming power and purity had been enough to freeze her in place.
And she hadn’t sensed a thing until she’d turned to look up those steps.
Ranma disappeared out of sight at the top by the time Nabiki shook herself free
from her shock, and she hesitated before forcing herself to start up the steps.
Ranma was already up there, and while he ought to be all right on his own for a
minute or so — they were returning stolen property, after all — he was far from
the most diplomatic person she knew. She really wished she hadn’t asked Peach
Fuzz to stay behind and watch over Akane, not that she had any idea what her
sprite familiar could do to help here.
Sshe reached the top of the stairs just in time to see her fiancé dodge out of
the way of a descending hammer wielded by the oddest-looking robot she’d even
seen!
“Hey, Nabs, catch!”
She caught the backpack with the scrolls out of pure reflex then dropped her
arm to dangle it from one hand as she watched a laughing Ranma effortlessly
dodge another swing of the hammer even as a young raven-haired girl with oval
blue hollow tattoos on her cheeks and forehead ran out of the temple. The
newcomer knelt by another robot pushing itself up from the stone path (at
least, Nabiki assumed it was a robot — not many girls could have a hand lying
yards away, attached to her wrist by a cable), then rose to her feet and
shouted something Nabiki didn’t catch before summoning a round object seemingly
out of nowhere to hurl at Ranma.
Ranma had just sprung back from another clumsy swing of the hammer, and now he
leaped toward the flying ball, catching it and twisting to hurl it at the robot
made out of balls and pipes. The resulting explosion sent both Ranma and the
robot bouncing across the lawn in opposite directions.
Nabiki started to giggle helplessly. What was it with Ranma and random fights?
Not fair, there was nothing random about Ryoga or Kodachi showing up. But
life’s sure been more exciting since RAnna first showed up. Though this one
might be more random than most —
“Skuld, what is going on out here!? This is no time to — you!”
Nabiki turned at the exclamation to find a skimpily-clad, breathtakingly
beautiful woman — tall, tanned, platinum blonde — that had just stepped out of
the temple now staring at her with eyes gone wide ... and this woman had an
upside down triangle tattoo on her forehead and one just below each eye — blue
tattoos. Nabiki felt herself go light-headed as she connected them with the
elongated red diamond tattoos Mara had sported on her forehead and cheeks, and
the incredible wards protecting this temple. And like Mara, she couldn’t sense
her presence at all. Oh god....
Or rather, goddess. Nabiki was abruptly remembering in sharp detail every
schoolmate she had threatened, the money she had extorted, the false friends
she had ruined. She began to tremble. She hadn’t brought her best defense
against surprise encounters with the supernatural on their outing — Nodoka had
come up with a version of the obscurity glamour Gosunkugi had cast on his shed
at Furinkan High for the scabbards of their enchanted katanas, but while Nabiki
had tested it during the past week she couldn’t be sure if everyone’s apparent
obliviousness to her walking around with a katana across her back had been the
glamour at work or their ‘that’s Nerima’ attitude and she hadn’t wanted to test
it on an all-day trip across Tokyo. Though if the wards were anything to go by
the enchantments on her katana might only anger the goddess in front of her. Or
amuse her —
Then another young woman stepped out of the temple, not quite as tall as the
other with long, earth-colored hair, a beauty less lush but more ... inviting?
And with her own blue tattoos, a stretched diamond like Mara’s between her eyes
and triangles under each eye like the goddess she’d followed. And also
psychically invisible. “Urd, who are you speaking to?” Then her gaze fell on
Nabiki, and she winced. “Oh, dear.”
Nabiki’s legs gave out, and she yelped as she fell backward and her butt
smacked down onto the path’s stony surface.
The latest goddess immediately hurried over, offering a hand to help Nabiki up,
Urd sauntering along behind her. The brunette said, “I’m Belldandy. I am so
sorry, we didn’t mean to frighten you.”
Nabiki held up the backpack. “Uh ... we brought the scrolls back?”
Urd and Belldandy exchanged confused looks, but Belldandy accepted the
backpack. Slinging it over one shoulder, she again offered a hand up. “Why
don’t you come inside for some tea? You can explain just what scrolls you are
returning. Urd — ?”
“Sure, I’ll watch the children, keep the damage down.” She winced as the ball-
robot slammed into a large tree bordering the temple grounds. “ ... somehow.”
                                      /\
Nabiki stared down at the tea cup in her hand, a tear trickling down one cheek.
She whispered, “That is the best tea I’ve ever tasted in my entire life.”
“Thank you,” Belldandy replied from where she knelt at the other side of the
low table. She took another sip of her own tea before setting the cup down in
its saucer. “You spoke of scrolls you are returning?”
“Yes.” Nabiki set down her own tea cup. “Ranma and I recently found the scrolls
his father stole, from here and other places, and are trying to return them.”
“I see,” Belldandy replied thoughtfully. “That may explain why there was only
one priest here when I and my fiancé arrived — with the theft of the scrolls,
this temple went into decline. You can leave them with us, and I’ll try to
locate one of the monks that used to live here.”
“Don’t you know?” Nabiki asked. “I mean ... you recognized me and, and so did
the other one, the wards on this place are incredible, and ...” She hesitantly
motioned at her face.
“Ah.” With a gentle smile, Belldandy reached up to touch a blue triangle under
one eye. “Yes, we’re color-coded. So Mara has made her offer, then? And you
haven’t accepted yet, or the wards would have registered your affiliation when
you passed through them. But no, we aren’t all-knowing, and I and my sisters
are a little out of touch here.”
“But if you’re out of touch, how did you know me?” Nabiki protested, then
winced as the house shook when something or someone crashed through the outer
wall somewhere beyond their room. She held her breath, then sighed with relief
at the sound of Ranma’s laughter from outside. At leastoneof us is having a
good time, she thought, smiling softly. It had been less than a week since the
Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts competition, but all she could remember
hearing from Ranma even from days before that had been the high, clear laughter
of her succubus form — also delightful, admittedly, but not the deep (well ...
deeper, anyway) rumble of the hunk that was his original form. Nabiki missed
it. Enough! Get your head back in the game. She refocused on her hostess, and
on seeing nothing more than a wry smile at the ongoing property damage (and
noting to herself that leaning on her empathic sense was making her visually
lazy) asked again, “Why do you know about me? I can’t be that important!”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” Belldandy replied, before lifting her tea cup for
another sip of her cooling tea.
Nabiki followed suit, and closed her eyes for a blissful, relaxing moment,
before refocusing on the goddess. She cocked an inquiring eyebrow.
Belldandy fidgeted, then put her tea cup down again with a sigh and reluctantly
said, “Still, I wouldn’t have known about you if I hadn’t been temporarily
assigned to your case.”
“ ‘Temporarily assigned’?” Nabiki carefully set down the tea cup, mind racing.
“You were the reason Ranma kept showing up. You messed with my summoning
circles, didn’t you? Why?”
“To give you a choice of futures.”
Nabiki had felt herself growing tighter and tighter as she’d thought back over
the past weeks, she could see the strings, her and Ranma dancing like puppets,
but the goddess’s last statement yanked her up short. Everything she’d
experienced since before her Awakening screamed at her that she was being
played, but she wanted to believe ... and she remembered the wards over the
temple — not just their power, but their purity — and relaxed. Even if I am
being played, I amnotgoing to complain about the results. “So you set me up for
Mara’s offer?”
Belldandy blinked, then shook her head. “No, I set you up with Ranma, I was
unaware that Mara had visited you.” She frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then
slowly nodded as the gentle smile from earlier reappeared. “But upon reflection
I cannot say why I am surprised. Before you met Ranma Mara could simply wait
until the untimely death that was your probable fate, then make you her offer
when your soul descended to Niflheim. Now she must no longer be certain of your
final destination, and so has to move while you are still alive. I expected her
to attempt to manipulate your circumstances to undo my own tweaking, but it
seems she was wiser than that.”
“Huh.” Nabiki stared down at her own by-now-cool tea, a broad grin spreading
across her face as she processed what Belldandy had said. Mara had been certain
of her damnation before, and wasn’t any longer — and that meant she was
salvageable! That alone was worth the long train ride to reach the temple and
the equally long ride home, however disappointingly ... uncomfortable Ranma had
been. She had been hoping for a chance for a long, relaxing snuggle with her
fiancé ... mandated by the close press on the train ... but Ranma’s lack of
empathy in his human form had —
Nabiki froze, grin vanishing. Did she dare? Even if the goddess sitting across
the table had brought her and Ranma together, however pure and kind she seemed,
she was a stranger. But when am I going to get the chance to speak to a spirit
this powerful again? Finally, she looked up at her hostess. “Belldandy, Ranma
has been having an increasingly serious problem with spending time in his human
form ... it’s the lack of his — her, I guess — empathic sense, he feels
vulnerable without it.” She hesitated for a moment then forced herself to
continue, blushing furiously. “Also, he can’t ... perform ... in bed ... in
human form. When Mara made her offer, she said she could fix that. Ranma turned
her down, of course,” — nonchalantly ignoring the part Cherry Blossom had
played in that rejection — “but that doesn’t mean he’s happy about it. I’ve
been thinking that his missing empathic sense is to blame for that, as well.
Can you ... give him that empathy, or tell me how to do it?”
But Belldandy had begun shaking her head even before Nabiki finished. “I am
very sorry. You are right about what Ranma needs to again become comfortable in
human form, but outside of an assignment I am forbidden to interfere.”
Nabiki’s face fell and she sighed. “Well, thank you for that much. At least now
I know what I need to do to get Ranma back to normal.” She frowned when
Belldandy winced. “Don’t I?”
Belldandy visibly struggled with herself for a moment, then her expression
firmed. She asked, “Are you aware of how long Ranma is likely to live?”
“As long as she can manage,” Nabiki replied, wondering what the goddess’s point
was. “Oh, his human form will grow old and die, but once her succubus form
reaches full maturity that’s it.”
“Yes,” Belldandy agreed, “unless something truly unfortunate happens, Ranma
will have a very long life as mortals see it — as a succubus. It will not
matter how hard he fights against the ... the nature of his new species,
eventually he will be forced to accept it.”
“And the longer he fights against it, the harder it will be to accept in the
end? Is that what you’re saying?”
“That, and he will have an easier time adjusting when he is younger, with fewer
regrets. I believe the sooner Ranma accepts what will eventually be her only
‘normal’ the happier she will be.”
Nabiki grimaced as she stared at the wall — that wasn’t what she wanted to
hear, but considering the source ... “I’ll ... think about it,” she finally
replied. Then, smiling slyly as she glanced at her hostess out of the corner of
her eye, she asked, “You aren’t going to get in trouble, are you? For
‘intervening’ outside of your assignment?”
“No,” Belldandy assured her, “I didn’t tell you anything you didn’t already
know, simply offer advice.”
“But you had to ask me if I knew that Ranma’s immortal, what were you going to
do if I didn’t?” When Belldandy didn’t respond except to take another sip of
her tea as her cheeks took on a faint tinge of pink, Nabiki found herself
fighting back a giggling fit. So even divine beings sometimes work around the
rules. For some inexplicable reason she suddenly felt much better about taking
the goddess’s advice.
Then there was another crash of shattering planks mixed with splashing water —
inside the house this time — following by a shouted “Hey!” in the high soprano
of Ranma’s succubus form.
Nabiki smiled ruefully. “I think this is the most fun Ranma’s had since we met
— at least, out of bed.” Belldandy’s faint blush blossomed, and Nabiki lost
control of her giggles for a brief moment before she fought them back down. In
a tightly controlled, breathless voice, she said, “It looks like Ranma will be
taking the train home in succubus form. That’ll make her happy.” (And truth be
told Nabiki as well, since she wouldn’t have to keep on her toes to protect
their fellow passengers from Ranma — and if Ranma merged with her, they could
even ‘talk’.) She bowed to Belldandy from where she sat and formally said, “My
thanks for helping us return the scrolls, and the advice you’ve given.”
Belldandy returned the bow. “I am honored — and happy — to have been able to
assist you. Won’t you stay to dine with us?”
“No, we have a long train ride home, and tomorrow’s a school day. Besides,” she
added as she cocked her head, listening as a new, childishly high voice began
berating her fiancé, “I suspect at least one of you will be happier to see our
backs.”
Belldandy sighed. “Perhaps, Skuld is young and cares greatly for her children,
even if she will undoubtedly take advantage of the opportunity repairing them
gives her to upgrade them. But I won’t insist. My Father’s blessing on you and
Ranma, as you choose your future.”
Nabiki shivered. “Thank you,” she responded as she rose to her feet to go
collect Ranma. She was not going to ask just who Belldandy’s father was, she
suspected she wouldn’t like the answer.
                                     /oOo\
Ryoga felt his spirits lifting as he looked around — he thought the city park
he found himself walking through looked familiar, and if he was right ... He
walked through a ring of trees and smiled at the sight of scattered tents. He
was home!
“Husband!”
His purple-tressed Second Wife darted out of one of the tents and bounded
toward him, his ocean blue-tressed First Wife right behind her. He barely
noticed Pa Fum, though, his eyes fixed on Xian Pu’s rapidly approaching
abundant, jiggling breasts in the same tight silks she’d worn when he’d first
seen her. Then they slammed into his chest as she leaped up to throw her arms
around his neck, her lips pressed down on his ... and he was out like a light.
                                      /\
Xian Pu rolled off of her husband, now lying on his backpack flat on the
ground, and growled at her First Wife.
Pa Fum was all but doubled over with laughter, and at Xian Pu’s snarl she
dropped to her knees. “I think you’ve ... invented a ... new technique!” she
managed to gasp out in the Japanese they were now using almost exclusively, so
that Xian Pu could better talk with their husband. “Might ... have trouble ...
picking out who’s vulnerable ... though.”
Xian Pu pasted on a put-upon expression as she rose to her feet and strode over
to offer her wife a hand, though she was hard pressed to keep her lips from
curving into a pleased smile instead of a frown. While they were now sharing a
combined bedroll (though so far for no more than sleeping, to Xian Pu’s growing
frustration), Pa Fum’s natural shyness and low self-esteem had made her almost
invisible except when she forced herself or Xian Pu made an effort to include
her. The Amazon Champion was happy to see her nominal immediate superior in
their village’s family hierarchy slowly relaxing, coming out of her shell.
“Xian Pu think ... I think ... there nobody vulnerable like Husband,” she said
as she pulled Pa Fum to her feet. Turning, she stared down at the Lost Boy. And
this time, she had no trouble frowning. “I think he getting worse, not better,”
she finally said.
Pa Fum joined her, snuggling against her wife a little when Xian Pu’s hand
settled on her hip. But she was frowning as well. “You ... may be right,” she
finally said, “you didn’t even need to flash your breasts at him to knock him
out this time. This could be a good thing, you know, a sign that he’s more
accepting of us as his wives?”
“If this keep up, he ‘accepting us’ mean not able to be in same room without
knock out,” Xian Pu rebutted. “Besides, how we get him used to us if he gone
week at a time? We need speak to Great-Grandmother again.”
***** Not a Crossroads Deal *****
Gosunkugi was getting desperate. Better said, he was getting more desperate.
It had been almost a week since the botched summoning ritual had brought him to
the attention of Gautrek, and it had been all he could do to talk the demon out
of eventually tearing him limb from limb on the spot and depositing the pieces
outside of his father’s wards around the Gosunkugi home. He didn’t know how his
father had earned the demon’s hatred, but it was intense.
In fact, the only thing that had prevented that grisly end had been a name,
tossed into his frantic babbling as he tried to come up with something —
anything — that he could trade for his life: Ranma.
That name had caught Gautrek’s attention, and it had demanded everything
Gosunkugi knew about the boy with the Jusenkyo-succubus curse. It had found
Gosunkugi’s story of his humiliation at the hands of that baseborn nobody
amusing, and had promptly given Gosunkugi a way to avoid that grisly death, to
which Gosunkugi had just as promptly agreed. — acquire Ranma in his succubus
form, but instead of taking his own revenge turn him over to Gautrek. From the
fire in the demon’s eyes, he thought it hated Ranma even more than it hated
Gosunkugi’s father.
The problem was that in the few days since he hadn’t been able to come up with
a way to do that, and he was certain that sooner or later Gautrek was going to
tire of waiting and simply take the revenge available to him as a consolation
prize. Think, think, think! he thought as he glared daggers across the Furinkan
High grounds to where that slut Nabiki and her sex toy (currently human) were
enjoying their lunch under their usual tree. Okay, two problems. First, for
some reason I haven’t been able to summon Ranma even after Father broke
Nabiki’s Journeyman Curse. (Once he had finally guessed what Nabiki had done to
him, he had swallowed his pride and asked his father for help. The amount of
effort it took for the elder Gosunkugi to break the curse had been dismaying.
Oh, his father hadn’t found it unusual, had even commented on the sloppy effort
for someone that powerful when he learned who had cursed him — but his father
didn’t know that she had cast the curse with no preparation or ceremony.)
Second, even if Idomanage to summon him, I’ll have to break him to my will —
alone. And I don’t think I can. Even in the privacy of his thoughts, the
admission was wrenching. But he was finally coming to understand his father’s
mantra of ‘know your enemy’ — and learning that a competent enemy could make
the prospect of final victory even sweeter.
That was assuming that you actually achieved that victory, of course, and the
ice at his core grew as he remembered yet again what Gautrek had threatened to
do to him before tearing him limb from limb — it had made his own plans for
Ranma’s succubus form seem like a schoolboy’s idle daydreams.
Nabiki’s laughter drifted over to him, and his teeth ground together ...
accompanied by a growl from nearby. Gosunkugi turned to find Kuno Tatewaki
sitting on the grass a few yards away, also glaring at the couple, and his own
snarl shifted to a grin as inspiration hit. Here was someone with resources he
didn’t have, who could perhaps provide answers where those incompetent imps
couldn’t.... “Don’t care much for the ‘happy couple’?” he asked, making sure to
add an ironic twist.
“A truly vile witch, to sport so lasciviously with that foul defiler of the
pure and innocent, Tatsuno,” Tatewaki replied, not taking his eyes of the
couple.
Gosunkugi blinked, then looked around. He still couldn’t see anyone else close
to Nabiki and Ranma, and she was seemingly focused on her fiancé to the
exclusion of everyone else. He looked back over at the lunatic beside him.
“Who’s Tatsuno?”
Tatewaki tore his gaze from the pair, and looked over at Gosunkugi. “So you
haven’t heard? I am surprised. The news has not yet come to the attention of
the common herd, of course, but I would have thought that with your own ancient
lineage and righteous fury toward those unworthy peasants you would know all
that happens around them.”
Gosunkugi stomped on his own rising anger at the jumped-up sword-swinger’s
condescending tone. “You have mistaken me for me for my father,” he replied,
fighting to keep his tone even. “I don’t have access to his resources when I
fight my own battles. So what’s this about ‘Tatsuno’?”
Tatewaki returned to glaring at his original targets. “Ranma’s mother has
demonstrated the depths of her depravity by divorcing her husband and taking
his son, leaving him without an heir of his blood to carry on his name.”
It was really that simple? Gosunkugi wondered in sudden enlightenment.Just a
name change and suddenly he can’t be summoned while a succubus? No, it can’t be
that easy, he must have rejected his father as well as the name, accepted his
mother in his father’s place wholeheartedly. He briefly considered just what it
would take for someone to so completely reject his own father, before shrugging
it off as pointless. He had his own concerns.So I now know how to summon Ranma,
but that will do me no good if I cannot dominate him. So I need to learn his
weaknesses, his fears. And the imps have proven practically worthless, it isn’t
worth it to add to my debt to them.
Gosunkugi continued to stare blindly at the oblivious Tatewaki as he wracked
his brain for some alternative way to spy on Ranma without success, until
sudden revelation hit — Tatewaki had known about Ranma’s change of family, when
no one else had. Tatewaki had resources Gosunkugi didn’t. All he needed was to
talk him into putting them to proper use.
“You know, it truly is a shame that Ranma should keep such a fair spirit
enslaved,” he mused. “I could possibly free her of the chains binding her to
him, but Ranma’s will is too strong.”
Tatewaki’s gaze snapped of him. “You know how to free her?”
Gosunkugi opened his mouth to boast of his skill in the Mystic Arts, and paused
— he did not like the venom in Tatewaki’s voice when he labelled Nabiki a ‘vile
witch’. Instead, he cautiously said, “I-I-I have some small skill in the
Mysteries. But as I said, I can’t beat Ranma until he’s weakened. I need to
know his fears, his vulnerabilities.”
Tatewaki stared at him for a long moment, eyes hard, before giving him a curt
nod. “Very well, I will learn that which you need, and you will free that fair
spirit from her enslavement. But be warned, if you betray or harm her, there
shall be no escaping my righteous fury.”
Gosunkugi gulped, but nodded. “Of course, it is our duty to protect the
innocent, after all.” Tatewaki stared at him for another long moment, then
without a word refocused on the happy couple and Gosunkugi scrambled away. He
would have been offended at the curt dismissal, but was too happy to get away
from the possibly violent upperclassman — Ranma and Nabiki had already given
him one beating, he had no desire for another. He would have to study up on the
Eye of Death Curse, then after Ranma was dealt with cast as powerful a one as
he could. Tatewaki couldn’t threaten him if he was dead, after all.
                                     /oOo\
“We’re home!” Nabiki called out as she, Ranma and Akane shucked off their
street shoes for house slippers, a broad smile on her face — she had had a very
good day. Ranma and Akane added their own announcements as Ranma headed for the
stairs and Akane for the guest room she was currently occupying, both eager to
change and head for the dojo for Akane’s training (what she could do with her
ankle still bound up, anyway).
As Nabiki started to follow Ranma, Kasumi hurried from the family room to
intercept her, saying in a low voice, “Nabiki, Elder Cologne wishes to speak
with you alone.”
Cocking an eyebrow at her sister, Nabiki asked, “What about?” Whatever it was
seemed to have perked up her big sis, the miasma of depression that had made it
so uncomfortable for Nabiki and succubus Ranma of be around her had faded
substantially.
“She didn’t say.” Kasumi replied as she led Nabiki back to the family room. The
Amazon elder was sitting at the low table sipping tea. The elder sister bowed
to Ku Lon. “Thank you for sharing your insights into your people’s cuisine. I
look forward to tomorrow’s demonstration.”
Ku Lon returned the bow from where she sat. “I too look forward to tomorrow,
child, it is always a delight to teach one that truly seeks mastery of her
Art.”
As Kasumi left the room, Nabiki knelt across the table from Ku Lon and offered
the elder more tea before pouring a cup for herself. After taking a sip, she
set the cup down on its saucer. “As much as I would enjoy making small talk,
Kasumi said you wanted to talk to me alone so we need to hurry. But first,
thank you for taking Kasumi under your wing, it’s helped her deal with last
Saturday’s fiasco.”
“It is my pleasure,” the diminutive elder replied. “If she continues as she is
for a few more decades, she will be a true mistress of the Culinary Arts.”
“True, she seems to have all the potential there and left none for Akane,”
Nabiki agreed with a slight smirk. “So, Elder Cologne, what can I do for you?”
“It is not so much your help I need as Ranma’s,” Ku Lon replied. “But from some
comments you made over the past week as we prepared for Saturday’s attempt at
relieving your sister of her curse, I feel there may be ... issues with the
form that help would take.” She paused, but Nabiki simply motioned her to go
on. “Our Wanderer returned yesterday, but ... you remember his issues with
physical intimacy?”
“Oh, yes!” Nabiki replied with a broad grin. “Funniest thing I’d seen in
months.”
“Yes, well, the situation is quickly losing its humorous aspect — he’s getting
worse. Pa Fum believes that as the reality of his marriage has set in and his
attachment to his wives grown stronger, the possibility of the sexual benefits
have become more real to him.”
Nabiki stiffened where she sat. “Wait, you aren’t asking that Ranma sleep with
him?” she demanded.
“Oh, no, not at all,” Ku Lon hastened to assure her with a grin, “his wives
would do their best to kill me if I did — and attempting to assault an Elder is
a serious crime.” Not that I didn’t consider suggesting it, just for the
entertainment value. “No,” she continued as a relieved Nabiki lifted her tea
cup for another sip, “what I wish is for Ranma to make use of her ability to
manipulate dreams while granddaughter has her way with him.”
Nabiki choked on her tea, and Ku Lon hastily hopped over the table to pound on
her back as she hacked and coughed. When she could breathe again and a
chuckling Ku Lon had returned to her own place, she said, “Well, that was
unexpected. I assume you want Ranma to have Ryoga experience in his dream
what’s happening to him in reality?”
“Essentially correct,” Ku Lon agreed.
“I see.” Nabiki frowned thoughtfully. “This is going to be full intercourse?
For Shampoo’s first time?”
“Yes, though it’s hardly her first time.” Ku Lon shrugged. “Young warriors are
a lusty lot, and Granddaughter has taken full advantage of the attentions she
received for her acknowledged skill. She was most disappointed that only
married warriors and their husbands came on this Hunt.”
“Poor, deprived baby,” Nabiki snarked.
Ku Lon chuckled. “It’s good for her, not to have a man in her bed whenever she
wishes — it’ll prepare her for marriage to a Wanderer.”
Nabiki smiled in bemusement at how different the Amazons were from the
Japanese, then turned her attention to Ku Lon’s request. “There’s a problem,”
she said after a moment. “Ranma has gotten quite skilled in dream manipulation
— she often spends her nights in mine — but other than the first two times when
we didn’t really understand what was happening, none of them have involved
sex.” Her cheeks heated, but she pretended she wasn’t blushing as she
continued. “You know about his performance issues when male, and neither of us
were experienced before so we don’t know what it’s actually like ... how much
it differs from girl-girl.”
“I see,” Ku Lon mused. She considered the problem for a moment, then asked,
“Has Ranma manipulated anyone else’s dreams?”
“Yes, Akane’s, when we were helping her understand Ranma’s succubus nature.”
“And does Ranma’s ability to merge with others work in dreams?”
“Yes, it does,” Nabiki replied, blushing again as she remembered the dream
where they had tested out that possibility. It hadn’t involved sex, exactly,
but fondling her own dream body while Ranma possessed her certainly pushed the
line they’d set. Fun, though, since Ranma had felt every touch, every shiver of
pleasure — a brand-new way to punish her fiancé at need. And it’ll work just as
well awake, she thought, daydreaming of that cute redhead merging with her,
filling her naked body, the spirit’s moans sounding in her mind as she stroked
herself, almost brought herself to orgasm....
She yanked her attention back to the Elder as Ku Lon spoke.
“Then I don’t see the problem. Simply let her travel the dreams of those that
do know how it differs.” She frowned thoughtfully. “Actually, the truest
experience would require merging with lovers in the act.”
Nabiki instantly shook her head. “Not happening. We’re at least trying to keep
just what kind of nature spirit Ranma turns into a secret, and the only one of
those who know that could ... provide the needed experience is her mother.
Neither of them would be willing to go along with that. And before you ask, no,
Ranma won’t simply find some couple in the neighborhood that can’t see her that
she can merge with. That’s the kind of thing his father would do.”
“Really?” Ku Lon cocked an eyebrow. “That’s going to change eventually, you
know.”
“I know,” Nabiki quietly agreed, “but not yet.”
Ku Lon shrugged. “It still isn’t a problem. Ranma’s nature is common knowledge
among the Amazons here, and all the warriors except Xian Pu are married. As I
said, warriors are a lusty lot — when I announce what we need we’ll have
volunteers.”
Nabiki opened her mouth to hotly reject the suggestion, but paused as she
remembered a gentle face of ageless beauty, and the advice that goddess had
given. She really wanted to reject the Elder’s suggestion, but ... You’re going
to have to share Ranma sooner or later, given her nature. Better with people
that won’t be sticking around. And since her discussion with Belldandy she had
been haunted by the image of a Ranma grown old, dying to become permanently
what he had fought against all his life. Finally, she nodded. “That would work.
I’m sure I can convince Ranma to go along,” she slowly said, then went on more
briskly, “So that leaves the matter of payment.”
Ku Lon took a sip of her tea, then asked, “And what would you suggest?”
“Ranma’s easy,” Nabiki replied. “She’s been adapting —” She broke off when she
remembered that Ranma was no longer a Saotome, and so could conceivably be
denied the use of what was after all a Family style. Genma didn’t seem to be
planning to do that any time soon, but why take chances? “Ah ... she’s been
developing a new martial arts style for her succubus form, but she’s been
hindered by the lack of a decent sparring partner that can actually see her.
Akane’s willing to help, but still healing from her injury in last week’s
competition with Kodachi. Besides, she ... lacks experience.”
“Whereas I have an abundance of experience,” Ku Lon finished. “I can not only
act as a sparring partner but critique the techniques and offer suggestions.
Yes, developing a style for someone of Ranma’s unique nature will be a
fascinating exercise, I would be happy to help.”
Not to mention that you’ll already be familiar with the style if you ever have
to actually fight her. But that unlikely possibility was far outweighed by the
advantages. “That leaves my payment.”
“Yours?” Ku Lon repeated, eyebrow lifting again.
“Mine,” Nabiki agreed. “You’re asking me to share my fiancé, even convince her
to go along with this. That will not be easy for me, in either case, and
requires compensation.”
“I see. So what payment would you require?”
Nabiki paused. What would she require? She couldn’t imagine what the Amazons
had that she’d want: all the cash they had she’d paid them, she was trying to
get rid of her ill-gotten gains, and accepting cash felt too much like pimping
out her fiancé; she had no desire to become a martial artist, and she had Ranma
for a sensei if she changed her mind and Nodoka already training her in
kenjutsu; she certainly had no desire to become a cook, and again, had Kasumi
if she changed her mind. And why am I asking for payment, anyway? It’s not like
this isn’t inevitable, anyway.
She was just about to say as much, when another thought occurred to her —
Ranma’s adjustment to his succubus form wasn’t the only long-term issue in
their relationship. Instead she said, “With your village’s proximity to
Jusenkyo I imagine you have some experience with the springs there. How much
water is needed for someone to be cursed?”
“Why do you wish to know?” the Elder asked, eyes narrowing.
Nabiki hesitated, but Ku Lon simply waited patiently and the middle Tendo
finally said, “Because I may at some point in the future wish to become a
succubus, myself.”
Ku Lon’s eyes widened in shock at the statement, then she began to chuckle.
“Even if this journey does not accomplish its ultimate purpose, I am glad to
have come,” she said with a smile. “I have not met so many delightful,
unpredictable people in decades! Do you truly love him so much that you wish to
share his fate?”
“In a manner of speaking.” Nabiki hesitated again, then shrugged. “As a
succubus Ranma is immortal, and I am not. I have no particular desire to become
a succubus, but if I cannot find another means of achieving immortality it will
have to do.”
“I see.” For a brief moment the Elder’s thin smile turned wistful, then the
moment was gone. “It only takes a barrel of water to inflict a curse, and the
water only needs to be dumped over the victim — bathing in it is not required.”
“Then that is my price — a barrel of water from the Spring of Drowned Succubus.
Do we have a deal?”
Ku Lon considered the offer for a long moment, then nodded. “We have a deal.”
***** Shoring Up the Base *****
Akane groaned in pure pleasure as Ranma’s hands moved along her back. The
afternoon’s training had been brutal, and she was well content to be lying
naked on several towels spread on the tiles next to the furo with Ranma
straddling her hips as his hands worked their magic.
She had been worried that her broken ankle meant that she wouldn’t be able to
train, but Ranma had pointed out that there might be fights where she wouldn’t
be able to maneuver: perhaps she’d been chained to one spot, or had someone
behind her that she had to protect. And then he’d noticed that she had a hole
in her situational awareness — a huge hole. Thanks to the daily mass assaults
by the Hentai Horde her situational awareness was excellent, so long as the
potential attackers were within melee distance. But since none of the Horde had
used ranged attacks, she automatically classified anyone she wasn’t focusing on
that was more than a quick dash away as harmless.
The result of that revelation was a transforming splash of cool water, followed
by the now floating naked redhead her sensei had become recruiting Peach Fuzz
and as many more of the sprites currently enjoying Kasumi’s gardening that
wanted to ‘play’. Akane had spent the afternoon rotating on her brace keeping
one eye on the succubus as the redhead flew around the dojo, looking for an
opportunity for a sudden ‘sprint’ at her for a touch. Her other eye Akane had
tried to keep on the sprites flying around, carrying stones they would
periodically throw at her when they thought they could catch her by surprise.
The only rule Ranma had laid down was that the sprites couldn’t aim for her
head, and the they proved to be surprisingly strong — those stones had hurt. By
the end of training her situational awareness had noticeably improved, and she
ached all over. Ranma’s offer of a massage was accepted after only a brief
hesitation.
Her hesitation before stripping naked in front of her once again male sensei
didn’t last much longer than when she accepted the massage; after all, when
Ranma was a boy he might as well be a eunuch, and when she was a succubus Akane
might as well not be wearing any clothes at all.
Akane was finding that there was something she hadn’t considered, though —
Ranma might be a functional eunuch but she wasn’t, and even staying away from
her ‘naughty’ parts his hand were as wonderful as Nabiki had boasted. As a
result, the damp spot on the towel underneath her hips wasn’t just from her
quick wash to get rid of the sweat, and the spot was growing.
“Should I be jealous?”
Akane tried to bolt upright, only for Ranma to grab her shoulders and gently
push her back down. He complained, “Blast it Nabs, ya just ruined half my
work!”
Nabiki smirked as she pushed herself upright from where she was leaning against
the door frame and stepped into the room, sliding the door closed behind her.
“I’m sure Akane is so disappointed that you’ll have to spend more time using
those magic hands on her. Are you giving her the full treatment?”
Akane twisted and lifted herself up on one elbow. It only took her a moment of
a furiously blushing Ranma’s almost incoherent denials to realize what her
sister meant, and Nabiki laughed when her now also blushing younger sister
added her furious denunciation to the bedlam.
“Joke! Joke!” the middle Tendo asserted, holding up her hands, then sobered.
“Though in a way, it’s what I’m here about. While you were training I had a
really interesting discussion with Elder Cologne.”
When she finished explaining the deal she’d agreed to pass on (leaving out any
mention of Jusenkyo water), Akane just stared at her, shocked silent. Akane
could not believe that her older sister was actually ... actually ... pimping
out her fiancé!
Just as she was opening her mouth for an epic rant, Nabiki continued, “You
know, Ranma, beyond getting a sensei of your own to help design your new style,
this might actually help with the problems with your human form. One of them
anyway.” Glancing at Akane, she added, “Though that would mean little sis would
have to give up her bare naked massages.” She grinned when Akane blushed as red
as Ranma’s hair.
“Ya really think so? That it could help?” Ranma asked. “You’re really okay with
this?”
Nabiki shrugged. “It’s not like you won’t be doing this sort of thing sooner or
later — with someone besides me, I mean. So sure, it’s what you are.”
“Yeah, I guess....”
“Great! Then I’ll leave you to finish your massage, my sensei should be home
any moment. And you just know your mother is going to want to knock me around
the dojo some more.”
“Start over my massage, ya mean,” Ranma grumbled as he gently pushed Akane back
down onto the towels then shifted back up along her body. “Ya ruined what I’d
gotten done.”
Nabiki just laughed as she slid the door open and strode out.
As Ranma’s hands started over again on Akane’s neck and shoulders, she tried to
force herself to relax and actually think about the conversation she’d just
listened to. Something just didn’t seem right....
                                     /oOo\
“What are you up to?”
Nabiki, sitting on her bed, continued staring out her window as she tried to
ignore the sound of her younger sister’s voice. She’d known Akane was there, of
course, the girl’s emotions were spiking all over the place — determination,
anger, disgust, confusion, worry, fear, love ... Akane was a mess. But Nabiki
had been hoping that she’d take the hint and go away when Nabiki didn’t
acknowledge her presence.
Really, all Nabiki wanted to do was go on staring out the window, like she’d
been doing since Ranma had left almost fifteen minutes earlier. She liked to
think of herself as a hardheaded girl (except whenever that smile and its
accompanying love-blast from a cute redhaired succubus threatened to melt her
down into a puddle of happy goo), but apparently she’d been lying to herself.
It didn’t matter that Ranma didn’t leave by the window, or that the window was
facing the wrong way, or that the early night meant there wasn’t much to see
but streetlights even if it had been facing the right way. It was a window into
night, and apparently that was symbolic enough. It seemed the study of all the
symbology behind mystic rituals that her sensei had her doing (when she wasn’t
doing schoolwork or getting beaten black-and-blue practicing kenjutsu) was
bleeding over into her everyday perceptions. I’m going to have to be careful
about that.
When it finally became clear that Akane wasn’t going to leave, Nabiki turned on
her bed to face her sister with a sigh. She asked, “What makes you think I’m up
to something?”
Akane stepped into the room and walked over to sit on the chair in front of
Nabiki’s desk. “Because you actually involved me in that little discussion in
the furo,” she replied, her cheeks turning pink. “You’ve been pushing for me to
... become more accepting of Ranma’s nature as a ... as a spirit, and you drop
that bombshell on me? You could have just waited until we were doing schoolwork
and pulled him aside.”
“Actually, I couldn’t,” Nabiki disagreed. “I wanted to catch Ranma in human
form and while he tries — and he really has been getting better — him and
schoolwork are an uneasy fit. Best to leave him to it.”
Akane giggled her agreement with her sister’s assessment, then asked, “And why
did you want to talk to him in human form?” Then she laughed when Nabiki
facepalmed. “Didn’t mean to admit that? You’re really off your center, aren’t
you? So why didn’t you want to?”
Nabiki hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. “Because I was lying,” she
admitted. “Oh, not about the deal or anything like that,” she hastily added at
the blast of sudden anger from her sister, “just about it probably helping
Ranma’s sex drive when human. If Ranma had been in succubus form, she’d have
read me like a book and never have bought it.”
“Explain,” Akane ground out through gritted teeth. “What do you really want?”
“Ranma’s happiness. Maybe, her sanity.”
Akane’s blazing anger vanished, swamped by shock. “What!? How? Why? He’s seems
fine, what’s wrong?”
“Yes, I would like to know as well.” Both girls looked toward the open door
just as Nodoka stepped into view. She walked into the room and closed the door
behind her. “You have been somewhat distracted — thoughtful — since your trip
to Nekomi last Sunday. What is wrong with my son?”
Nabiki gulped at the stern expression on her sensei’s face. Suck it up, girl,
she’ll have to hear about this sooner or later. “Right. Akane, remember how I
said I wanted to keep Ranma sane and half-way human?”
Akane looked blank for a moment, then nodded.
“Well, I’ve pretty much given up on ‘human’ — now I’ll just settle for sane.”
Nabiki quickly laid out the advice she’d received from Belldandy, though
hinting that it was something she’d come up with herself — with mixed results.
Yeah, Akane’s buying it, she thought with carefully hidden satisfaction as she
‘tasted’ her interrogators’ emotions, she’s still too willing to take things at
face value. I wonder if Ranma has any stories from his years on the road that
might help cure her of that?
Nodoka though, from the suspicion still mixing with her concern, wasn’t buying
it for a minute. Ah, well, she already knows there’s at least one demon
watching us, why not add some goddesses? Though wondering just why she and
Ranma were so important in the larger scheme of things was enough to make her
nauseous.
But the Tatsuno matriarch was apparently willing to put off further discussion
for a more private moment. She simply said, “So you believe my son should
adjust more rapidly to his secondary form?”
“That’s just it, it isn’t his secondary form,” Nabiki replied. “In fact, you
don’t really have a son, not anymore. Right now, that succubus form is the one
he ... she ... is most comfortable with. You were the one that told me about
the asexual nature of succubae, but I don’t know if you really thought through
what that means — I know I didn’t.”
“Ah. Yes.” Nodoka considered that for a few minutes. “So to sum this up, Ranma
is more comfortable in succubus form, and you believe that should be encouraged
— that Ranma should essentially become a succubus able to become human in
preparation for the day that the human form is lost. Even if that means doing
things that any human would be ostracized for, even arrested.”
“Yeah, I do,” Nabiki agreed. “And Akane, that’s where you come in.”
“Me?” her sister squeaked. She had been going pale and beet red by turns as
concern and embarrassment had warred with each other throughout Nabiki’s
explanation, and now she paled again as a bolt of fear shot through her.
“Yes, you,” Nabiki replied, unable to keep from grinning salaciously at her.
She instantly sobered, though, when Akane began trembling with fearful disgust.
“Sorry, sorry, just teasing, I’m not going to ask you to do anything perverted,
or even sexual. Though it would do you good to loosen up a little.”
“So what are you asking?” Akane growled, flushing with embarrassment and trying
to ignore her sister’s advice.
Nabiki carefully considered her words, then said, “Akane, you’ve been ...
confused. About Ranma and what she’s going through. You’ve been better since
your fight with that lunatic Kodachi, but still ...” She paused and waited for
Akane’s reluctant nod of agreement, then continued, “Just ... try to be
accepting, at least of Ranma herself even if you can’t be accepting of what
she’s doing, at least not all the time. Ranma hasn’t gotten a lot of support in
his life, and the fathers ...” She left that statement unfinished, but her
audience both nodded as they filled in the rest for themselves. Genma’s
emotions had been even more confused and scattershot than Akane’s and it came
out in how he treated his child, avoiding him one day and trying to pretend
they were still on the road with each other and no one else the next, and her
father had his head firmly stuck in the sand and was fighting hard to keep it
there. “Anyway, for some reason that completely escapes me after the way you’ve
treated him, he really likes you — maybe it’s because you’re his first student.
If you turn on her again, she ... won’t take it well.”
Akane stared at her for a few moments, then muttered under her breath, “A lion
is a lion.”
Nabiki grinned — she was going to have to buy something really nice for Kasumi
for coining that phrase to comfort Akane after that nature show, it was proving
so useful. “Only this lion still thinks she’s a lamb, and learning otherwise is
just a wee bit rough. So, Princess, can you do it?”
Akane blushed at hearing again the mocking epithet Nabiki had used, that day —
was it really only a few weeks? — when she had ripped on Ranma for being a
pervert, and Nabiki had returned the favor ... with interest. She took a deep
breath and said firmly, “Yes. I can do it.”
Nabiki’s grin softened into a smile. “Thanks, little sis, it means a lot to
me.” Then she raised a hand to cover a prodigious yawn, then waved toward the
door. “Now, git!” she ordered. “It’s been a long day and will be longer before
Ranma gets home. Besides, I think Nodoka wants to talk to me. Or is it Sensei?”
“ ‘Nodoka’, in this case,” the older woman replied. She watched Akane hurry
from the room after making her ‘good nights’, and the pair listened to her
footsteps down the hall to her room. Then Nodoka turned back to Nabiki, and
without preamble asked, “Like Akane, I was under the impression that you were
looking for ways to help Ranma stay more human. What happened in Nekomi to so
radically change your mind?”
***** Pushing the Limits *****
Tatewaki strode through his bedroom suite on the way to his large bathing room,
already shedding the kote covering his hands and then his breastplate, followed
by tare, hakama and keigoki as he went. Normally he would have been more caring
of his kenjutsu training uniform rather than scattering them about for the
servants to clean up, but with the meeting of the Kendo Club after school and
his own practice after that it had been a long day and all he wanted to do was
soak in his private hot tub.
Well, almost all.
He hissed in pained relief as he sank into the steaming water, turned on the
jets, and leaned his head back against the headrest. “Sasuke!”
Several minutes later the tiny family ninja, dressed in the loose black garb of
the ninja that myth called for, bustled into the bathing room. “Master Tatewaki
called his humble servant?”
“Yes, I have a new assignment for you. You are to spy on Tatsuno Ranma and the
fiery maiden that he has so brutally bound to him, and learn what terrors fill
his heart, that we might weaken his will and free his slave.”
“But master, when he has ... exchanged places with ... the fiery maiden, she
cannot be seen. How am I to follow her and avoid her gaze?”
“I care not of the difficulties of your task, only that it be done. You have
your orders!”
Sasuke dropped to his knees and touched his forehead to the tiled floor. “It
will be done!”
“Of course.” Tatewaki waved him away, and as Sasuke left the room turned his
thoughts to the servants — more specifically, the more comely female servants.
In the short time since her hiring Maruyama Mitsu had been making her
willingness apparent in her flirtatious walk and come-hither smiles, a romp
would be just the thing to prepare him for the night’s slumber.
                                      /\
Sasuke turned the corner to the servants’ entrance, and stopped at the sight of
his mistress waiting for him, dressed in a translucent robe over her lingerie,
an embroidered velvet bag in one hand. “You have been instructed by my boorish
brother to spy on the Tendo residence.”
“Yes, Mistress,” he instantly replied, wonder how she’d hacked his surveillance
system this time.
“I approve. We have a score to settle with the peasant that publicly humiliated
me, and there will be a day of reckoning! But you face the challenge of
infiltrating a residence inhabited by beings invisible to the mortal eye.”
Opening the bag’s ties, she reached in and pulled out a choker and held it out.
“You may make use of this, for so long as your mission lasts. It will allow you
to see those of the Other World, and so avoid their notice.”
Sasuke’s jaw dropped (thankfully hidden by the veil across his lower face). The
glow of the dark stone in its silver setting wasn’t just a trick of the light,
the power it radiated was greater than any item he’d ever seen — so great that
even Sleepers such as his master and mistress must be able to sense it. If his
young mistress was still a Sleeper, he couldn’t tell thanks to the choker’s
radiance. Perhaps avoiding Mistress Kodachi since her defeat was not the best
decision.
Accepting the choker in shaking hands, he dropped to his knees and fixed his
eyes on the floor. “My mistress honors me far more than I deserve.”
Kodachi waved off his statement. “I know, but the honor is incidental, the
success of your mission is what matters. Do not fail us.” With that, she strode
past him toward her suite.
Sasuke waited until the sound of her footsteps faded into silence, then rose to
his feet and slipped the choker into the pouch at his waist. It was good to
have an excuse to hide his ability to see the supernatural, but he would have
to be very careful that the choker wasn’t damaged — Kodachi wasn’t as ...
forgiving ... as her brother.
Pulling his black veil up from around his neck to cover his lower face, Sasuke
slipped out the entrance and vanished into the night.
                                     /oOo\
Ranma soared down toward the horizontal life-glows circled around a red-glowing
fire pit that had to be the Amazons in the tents she couldn’t see even hints of
at that distance. One last barrel roll stretched the smile on her face as she
felt the air pull at her red-skinned wings. She really should have gone
straight to the encampment when she left the Tendos, but the night and her own
nervousness had conspired to tempt her into a quick bout of aerobatics first.
Peach Fuzz whooped in Ranma’s ear, the sprite’s arms tightening around her
neck, and the succubus’s smile broadened even more. It seemed her first
impression when she and Peach Fuzz made their short dives into the Voice while
guarding Akane from Kodachi hadn’t been flukes, the sprite really was a speed
junkie. And by themselves, sprites weren’t all that much faster than Ranma’s
succubus form without the wings.
Then she saw a gnomish-shaped life-glow hovering above the faint shine of the
grass, that had to be one of the Amazon elders balanced on her staff, and her
nervousness mixed with shame washed over her again — this was something her
father would do, not her! She muttered, “Why am I doing this?”
“Because Nabiki asked you to, and you can’t say no to her any more than I can —
and without a familiar bond as an excuse.”
Ranma smiled at Nabiki’s name. “Yeah, I guess so.” But as distracting as happy
thoughts of her lover were, it was brief — because from the resigned
determination Nabiki had been feeling when they separated, Ranma doubted she
had much faith this would work as she’d suggested ... and Ranma had no idea why
she still wanted her lover to go through with this. And yer chances a’ figuring
it out suck. Because while Ranma might be the best martial artist in the world
(his age, at least — or was, not that she’d say that out loud, and would be
again once she figured out a new style to go with her succubus form), it hadn’t
taken him long to realize that in any other situation Nabiki so badly
outclassed him it wasn’t even a competition. And Nabiki didn’t care all that
much about martial arts. Thanks to their shared empathy she didn’t doubt
Nabiki’s love for her, but sometimes she couldn’t help but wonder why.
Then she stiffened as a thought struck her, and as she slowed to hover in front
of Ku Lon and absorbed her wings, she whispered, “Peach Fuzz, is Nabs watching
through your eyes?”
“No,” Peach Fuzz murmured in her ear, and she relaxed again — this was going to
be difficult enough without an audience — and refocused on Ku Lon shining with
life in front of her. At three centuries of age the gnomish elder on display
through her faintly green translucent robe wasn’t exactly a delight to the
eyes, but by now Ranma’s eyes tended to slide right past such sights. More
interesting was the way the staff she was balanced on glowed in the dark — like
the wards over the Tendo household and the occasional building, apartment, even
rooms Ranma had noticed scattered throughout the city, or the katanas that her
mother and now Nabiki bore; only much more faint.
Ranma made a note to ask her mother about it later, and bowed shallowly where
she floated. “Greetings, Elder.”
The ancient gnome raised an eyebrow. “Being rather formal, are we?”
Ranma shrugged. “Ya hired me, I figured ya deserved some respect. Some.”
Ku Lon chuckled as she twisted on her staff and began to pogo along, away from
the camp. “You do know you will have to give me the true respect when I train
you?”
“Yeah, I always do when I’m trainin’,” Ranma replied as she caught up and
floated along beside her. “Except for Pops, a’ course. So how we gonna do
this?”
“It isn’t obvious? You possess a man while his wife is as amorous with him as
you could possibly need.”
“Uh, yeah ...” Ranma reached up, disturbing Peach Fuzz as she rubbed at her
neck. “These guys do know I’ll be there, right? Wouldn’t wanna be perving on
‘em.”
Now Ku Lon outright laughed. “You, my young friend, now ‘perv’ on people every
day of your life. But you have no need to worry here, they not only
volunteered, they are eager.”
“They are? But why?”
“Sexual fetishes come in many varieties, my young friend, and I imagine you’ll
eventually learn them all — Ru Kai and Heng Chu enjoy an audience, back in the
village they’ve actually been punished several times for public indecency. And
for the Joketsuzoku, that takes some doing.”
“Got it.” Ranma was glad it was night, the dark hiding her furious blush. Her
blushing wasn’t helped by Peach Fuzz’s equally furious giggling.
Then the three approached another small grove, this one softly lit up by
several lanterns scattered throughout. Inside the grove, a young Chinese couple
seated on a spread out blanket looked up at their approach — or rather at Ku
Lon’s approach, obviously unable to see the succubus and sprite. As they rose
to their feet to bow, Ranma looked them over approvingly — while the blue-
haired man was obviously no fighter he had kept himself in shape, and the sea-
green-haired woman had both the weapons (two swords, in her case, across her
back with a hilt over each shoulder, the dense steel barely translucent at
all), the musculature, and the silky-smooth movements of a trained warrior.
“Greetings, Elder,” the female of the two said respectfully, though with a
saucy grin. She ran a hand along the long braid lying along her neck and down
between her breasts, as if petting one of the furry demons that sometimes
haunted Ranma’s sleep. “Have you brought our audience?”
Ranma fought back a shiver at the eagerness suffusing the pair’s emotions. “Uh
... yeah, she did. Um ... she did tell ya how this’s gonna work?”
The pair turned to bow in Ranma’s general direction. “Yes,” the woman replied,
“you will possess my husband, and he will lie still while I have my way with
him. And then Ryoga will be a very lucky man—no less than three lovely ladies
lusting after his body! You are lovely, aren’t you?” She frowned and squinted
exaggeratedly at the spot of to her empty air where Ranma’s voice had come
from, then giggled at Ranma’s panicky, (lying) babbled denial at lusting after
Ryoga’s anything.
Ku Lon chuckled for a moment before saying, “Ranma, these are Ru Kai and Heng
Chu,” indicating the wife and husband, “your eager volunteers for tonight’s
training.”
“Oh, yes,” Ru Kai agreed. “We’ve never had an audience that could actually
share in the sensations and emotions of the act, we could not ask for a more
intimate voyeur.”
“Yes, I’m sure you all will have a wonderful time. I’ll just let you all get to
it.” Ku Lon waved her farewells to the three and pogoed off into the dark (for
the humans), chuckling to herself.
Ranma watched the Elder’s life-glow move away, then jerked when the warrior
spoke. “Let’s get started.” The pair turned away from the departing Elder they
probably couldn’t see anymore, and Heng Chun lay down on his back while Ru Kai
started unbuckling the faintly visible harness for her swords. Her reddish
nipples were already crinkling tight from her eager anticipation, the first
shine of dampening folds between her legs (her sea-green hair was natural) were
a counterpoint to the small tent Heng Chun’s cock was building in his tight
leather breeches — the visible signs of the growing lust they were feeling.
Ranma felt her own hunger beginning to rise in response. “Y-y-yeah, l-let me
get in p-place.” She blushed at the quiver in her voice, but the warrior simply
smiled and waved toward her husband. Ranma took a deep breath (that she didn’t
really need) and turned, gently pushed Peach Fuzz off her shoulder, and drifted
down toward the reclining Heng Chun — by now she was somewhat used to what
passed for possession for her (she still couldn’t actually take control, but
trying would let whoever she was ... ‘occupying’ was a better term ... know
what she wanted done) but had only occupied a few people, all female. Now she
reached down to lay a hand on a well-muscled chest so different from the normal
soft mounds, reached, and with the usual twisting feeling found herself looking
at the world through Heng Chun’s eyes.
“Weird,” she thought absently as her host’s lusty/loving gaze followed his
wife’s hands working at the ties and buckles of her harness and skimpy-cut,
blue, thigh-length cheongsam. As always, Ranma felt oddly blind with her
eyesight reverted to the ... solidity ... of his mortal body while still in her
succubus form — the dark closing in with the life-glow’s vanishing, clothes
more sensed than seen before suddenly appearing....
Heng Chun twitched. “Ranma, was that you?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry ‘bout that.” Ranma instinctively tried to rub her neck under
her shoulder-length hair, and Heng Chun twitched again when he felt the ...
pressure ... to move his hand. “Oops, sorry again.”
“Don’t be, this is fascinating!”
Ru Kai had laid aside her weapon harness, and now her hands paused for a moment
on the cheongsam’s fastenings at her throat. “Ranma?”
“Yes, she’s speaking in my mind.”
“Interesting, but not what we’re here for.” Heng Chun’s breath hitched as she
wriggled out of the dress, leaving her naked except for her slippers, and Ranma
felt her own hunger growing stronger with the sensation of his stiffening cock
pressing against his tight pants. Ru Kai smiled saucily, striking a pose that
froze her husband where he lay. “I’d say you still like what you see.”
“Yesssss.”
“Yesssss.”
Heng Chun laughed, and at Ru Kai’s inquiring look said, “Ranma is equally
impressed.”
“What, just this?” Ru Kai reached up to cup her breasts, flicking her thumbs
across the hardened tips. “So let’s give her something to really be impressed
with. Remember, keep your hands to yourself, this is all me.”
She dropped to her knees, her fingers busy with the ties to her husband’s
breeches ... and Ranma realized she had a problem as a fresh wave of lust
accompanied Heng Chun’s groan at the sensation of Ru Kai’s fingers slipping
along his engorged cock. Crap, that feels good, but Ryoga’s not gonna feel any
a’ that! How’m I supposed to separate the emotions from the physical stuff?
Heng Chun’s eyes squeezed shut with another groan as his wife’s tongue joined
her fingers, sweeping the length of his cock and twirling around the mushroom
tip to lick off beading pre-cum, and that just made things even worse. “Open
yer eyes!”
Heng Chun’s eyes snapped open. “Sorry about that.”
“Ya don’t need ta be sorry, just don’t do it.” Then at Ru Kai’s inquiring look
at her husband’s apparently one-sided conversation, added, “And ya don’t need
ta speak ta answer, just ... think hard.”
“Think hard, riiiiight.”
Ru Kai had slipped her mouth down over as much of his cock as she could take
in, her teeth gently scraping along his skin. As she began to bob her head,
Ranma did her best to focus on every physical sensation as she watched: the
warm, wet swirl of Ru Kai’s tongue; the pressure as the occasional suck briefly
hollowed her cheeks; her hand pumping his cock below her mouth; the way Heng
Chun’s hips twitched as he forced himself to not thrust his hips up to meet her
descending mouth — the rising pressure that was almost but not exactly the same
as Ranma’s own rising hunger. When this was over and Ranma returned to her
lover they weren’t going to be making love, Nabiki was going to get fucked!
Then Ru Kai, lifted her head, Heng Chun’s cock pulling free from her mouth with
a pop, and slowly swept her tongue across her lips as she shifted to crouch
with her knees on each side of her husband’s hips. “Enough of the pre-game
show, time to play!”
“Wha’ ... ?”
Heng Chun chuckled. “We aren’tcompletebarbarians, there’s actually a couple old
televisions and video players in Nyucheizu. Each new tape of Japanese football
is popular.”
“Oooooh.”
Ranma barely managed to respond to her host’s explanation, absently wondering
how he could be so ... so rational as the sensations of Ru Kai running the tip
of his cock back and forth through the Amazon’s wet folds and across the nub
protruding from its hood washed through her.
Then in one swift move Ru Kai positioned Heng Chun’s cock at the opening of her
sheath and dropped, burying that iron rod hilt deep inside her. Ranma lost all
coherent thought as the combined force of the physical sensations of the wet-
hot vice gripping that rod and the pure need from both Amazons hammered into
her, simply riding the ever-mounting waves of pleasure and lust as Heng Chun’s
own need grew every time his wife dropped to grind their groins together until
his unbearable pressure exploded.
Ranma found herself floating next to the couple, her floating red tresses
waving as she shook from overload. She watched almost uncomprehendingly as Ru
Kai stiffened, head thrown back, mouth open in a soundless shriek, before
falling forward to lie limply across her husband’s body. Her own body gently
rose and fell as Heng Chung hyperventilated.
Finally his breathing eased. “Ranma? Are you still here?”
“I ... yeah ... I ... wow! That ... incredible ...”
Ru Kai rolled off her husband to flop onto the blanket next to him, both bodies
slick with sweat. She took his hand and gently squeezed while her other hand
slid through her folds, coating itself in the milky fluid oozing from her
sheath. Ranma felt her own shaking ease as she basked in the couple’s love for
each other.
Ru Kai smiled up towards the succubus’s voice. “The best you’ve ever had?” she
asked slyly, bubbling with good humor.
“Ah ... no, not really.” Ranma found herself rubbing the back of her neck
again. “Once me an’ Nabs, uhhh ... knocked me out.”
“Hard to beat that,” Heng Chung said as he began to laugh, and his wife slapped
his chest.
“Jerk. Of course that’s better, she was with the girl she loves.” Looking in
Ranma’s direction again, she continued, “So did we give you what you need?
Because if you need more, Heng Chung ought to be up to a repeat performance.”
“N-n-no, I’m ... I’m good ... thanks, see ya later!” Ranma bolted straight up
through the trees. Bursting out of the leafy cover like a breaching whale, she
spun and twisted to fly along the tree tops, her red bat-wings snapping out.
“Hey, wait for me!” Ranma paused, twisting around and hovering as Peach Fuzz’s
life-glow popped out of the tree behind her. The sprite flew over and settled
on her shoulder. “That was quick. That good, huh?”
“Uh, yeah....” Ranma’s cheeks heated and she reached for her neck before
snatching her hand down.
“Ooooh, you can still blush!” Peach Fuzz giggled. “That’s still so weird, a
blushing succubus ... so did you get what you needed?”
“Well ... not really.” Ranma sighed, embarrassment forgotten. “It was all so
overwhelming I couldn’t focus on the physical side a’ things.”
“Oh. So what’re you going to do?” Grinning, she leaned over and whispered in
Ranma’s ear, “You could do it again ... and again ... and again, until you
aren’t ... hungry, anymore.”
“No!” Ranma could feel her cheeks heating again. “No, it, uh ... it doesn’t
help even if I’m ... ah, ‘full’. After I got knocked out me an’ Nabs tried.
Being ‘full’ doesn’t keep me from ... ‘tasting’ my ... ‘meals’. No point in
askin’ for more.” Why am I blushing an’ stammering so much? I was
gettingbetterabout this, I was! ‘Course, till now the only person I’ve ‘fed’
from is Nabiki....
“So that’s a bust, then. So what are you going to do? You’re going to want
Elder Ku Lon’s help with your style.”
“I dunno.” Hovering in the night air above the trees, Ranma started to slowly
spin in place — she’d been told that fully grown succubus had few natural
enemies, that most died shortly after being born (spawned?) and she’d skipped
that stage, but that was no reason to become careless. “What I need is some way
ta get the sex without the ... the ...”
After a few moments Peach Fuzz tugged on one of the tresses bleached of their
fire by the moonlight. “ ‘The’ what? What crazy idea popped into your head this
time?”
Ranma winced as the tug yanked her out of her reverie. “Oh, right! ... You
sprites feed off a’ something plants radiate, right?”
“Yes, their excess life essences, especially flowering plants and trees, same
as you do with sexual energy. So?”
“So ... can ya feed off a’ that ‘life essence’ when you’re diving in the
Voice?”
“Of course not, the Voice is a ... a memory ... of course, why didn’t I think
of that?!”
Ranma grinned. “Hey, you’re not slow, I’m just a genius! Ow!” She rubbed her
head where Peach Fuzz had yanked on her hair again. “Why does that even hurt?
It’s not like this’s a real body.”
“Oh, it’s real enough, it just isn’t physical ... sort of.... Whatever.” Ranma
felt her hair around her ear shift when Peach Fuzz shrugged. “Come on, let’s
get back to the house, we’re going for a Dive!”
                                      /\
Ranma lay on the Tendo lawn — floating, really, her natural state as a nature
spirit, but at least her back was touching the grass even if her hair was
floating about her head and drifting with the breeze. (She really needed to
learn how to style or at least cut her hair as a succubus.) She was staring up,
through wall and floor at her lover stretched out on their bed. At that
distance the succubus couldn’t see the translucent image of whatever clothes
Nabiki might be wearing, so she didn’t know if the middle Tendo was still
wearing the shorts and T-shirt she preferred outside of school or dressed for
bed, but either way Nabiki was still awake.
For a moment she again considered letting Nabiki know she was back, before
rejecting it — she wasn’t done, after all. She glanced around at the sprites
that had been browsing through Kasumi’s flowers that Peach Fuzz had called over
and were now circling the pair, then lifted her head slightly, so she could
focus on her chest. Peach Fuzz lounged between her breasts, an arm on each
mound like easy chair arms, bumble bee wings tickling the soft skin of the
trough between. Ranma asked, “So how we doin’ this?”
The tiny brunette shrugged. “The usual way. How much experience with the Voice
do you have?”
“You mean besides not getting carried away by its music? Beyond the vision when
I first met Cherry Blossom and our flights when we were bodyguarding Akane,
just once when Gosunkugi summoned me.” She quickly told of how she’d found
herself back when she’d first met Nabiki, and how the vision had given her the
hint she needed to deal with the would-be slaver and rapist. (She left out how
she’d lost herself in the Voice just after, to get away from the memory of what
Gosunkugi had wanted to do to her — not her proudest moment, and Peach Fuzz
already knew about it anyway.)
“Wow,” Peach Fuzz said when she finished, “the Voice really likes you — having
it step in by itself like that is rare.” She frowned for a moment, then
shrugged again. “Something to tell Nabiki and your mom about later. Right now,
we’ll be doing the same thing only deliberately. Close your eyes and
concentrate on the moment you want to go to, then let yourself ... ‘fall into’
the Voice.”
“Just like that?” Ranma asked doubtfully — that seemed a little too easy.
“Just like that, though you have to make sure you don’t get swept away by the
Song.”
“ ‘The Song’, right.” Ranma gazed at her lover’s familiar for a long moment,
then closed her eyes with a sigh, and tried to follow her rather sketchy
instructions. Focus onwhenand whereyou want ta go, and let yerself fall inta
the Music. So just when do I want ta begin? She could feel her cheeks heating
yet again as she thought about it. She didn’t really need to experience the
blow job again, he’d already had that when Nabiki had tried to sleep with him —
it hadn’t worked out, but at least Ranma knew what it felt like. So, just
after. She concentrated on that moment, just before Ru Kai’s mouth had popped
free of her husband’s cock and she’d shifted to crouch over him. There. Ranma
tried to fix the moment in her mind and relaxed to let the symphony of the
Voice rise. Even with her eyes closed, her vision exploded in kaleidoscopic
colors, she seemed to whirl about in the musical tide, then in a crescendo of
Song slammed to a stop hard enough to take away the breath she didn’t have.
“Wow, I’m impressed. I didn’t expect you to get it on the first try.”
Ranma opened her eyes to find herself floating above Heng Chun lying flat on
the blanket, Ru Kai kneeling by him with her head bobbing and one hand between
spread knees.
“Get in there, quick, before you lose the moment!”
Ranma turned her head to find Peach Blossom hovering by her shoulder. But she
was between ... how ... later, she’s right, you gotta move. The succubus
twisted and dove down into Heng Chun.
The experience was decidedly odd — she could ‘hear’ the thoughts she’d
exchanged with Heng Chun about the popularity of Japanese football, even sense
herself, as stunned by the sensations and sex-hunger as she’d been.
And she could feel the wet heat of Ru Kai’s folds as she crouched over her
husband’s groin, ran the tip of his iron-hard cock between her sopping folds,
the Amazon’s eager lust — and this time the sensations, both emotional and
physical, were crystal clear, without Ranma’s own lust-hunger clouding her
mind. It worked! Oh, there was still the tide of the Voice singing in her mind,
trying to sweep her away. But while it was louder, stronger than when she’d
gone flying with Peach Fuzz, it was still easily resisted and alien enough that
she could divorce it from what was happening.
Then Ru Kai positioned her husband’s cock at the entrance to her sheath and
dropped, and Ranma ignored everything else to focus on every sensation as the
Amazon bounced — the tight, wet heat encompassing that iron rod, the way Ru
Kai’s muscles clenched and milked it as she rose and fell, the growing pressure
as Heng Chun neared his own release, his balls tightening, then the explosion
as he fired his seed up into his wife, causing her to stiffen as her own orgasm
exploded through her before falling forward onto his chest.
Pulling herself up out of her host, Ranma’s eyes widened at the sight of
herself, floating there shaking from the overload of what she’d just
experienced. Oh, right, a’ course I’m here. She ignored her shadow’s
embarrassed stammering as it thanked the pair for their help before fleeing up
through the trees, instead looking around — and Peach Fuzz landed on her
shoulder again.
“So, did you get what you needed?”
“Yeah, I did. It’s not enough ta get creative with, but for a one-time shot for
Ryoga’s dreams it’ll do just fine. So let’s get — wait.” Ranma stared down at
the pair below her, now laughing softly as they talked over what had just
happened. (She assumed since they’d switched to their native tongue, but she
couldn’t think of anything else they’d be laughing about at that moment.) Her
cheeks heated at their amusement at how embarrassed she’d been, but she
couldn’t really fault them — she had been a stuttering, blushing, practically
incoherent mess. But it wasn’t the incomprehensible conversation that held her
in place, it was ... “Nabs.”
“Nabiki?” Peach Fuzz repeated. “What about Nabiki?”
“Nabiki’s dreams.”
“What’s wrong with Nabiki’s dreams?”
Ranma ignored the confused sprite, watching as things heated up again below,
the pair apparently ready for round two even without an audience (that they
knew of). Ru Kai was sliding down her husband’s body, to lick his cock clean
before lowering her mouth over the hardening rod, again bobbing, bobbing ...
“Whoa! She didn’t do that before!” Peach Fuzz exclaimed as Ru Kai’s lips slid
down the full length of the hardened cock until her nose was pressed into the
sparse pubic hair at its base. The sprite glanced sideways at Ranma’s flaming
face, smiling slyly. “She must not have wanted to overwhelm you on your first
time ... so to speak.”
Ranma felt her cheeks burn even hotter but continued to ignore the sprite,
waiting ... and then Heng Chun grabbed his wife by the shoulders, pulling her
up his body — and Ranma abandoned her hesitation and dove, slipping into Ru
Kai’s body even as Heng Chun rolled them both over. As the succubus settled
into her new host, Ru Kai eagerly spread her knees wide to make room for her
equally eager husband and a single thrust completely buried that iron rod in
her seed-lubricated sheath.
Ranma silently shrieked at the sensation of Ru Kai’s inner walls stretching to
accommodate their welcome intruder. She could not believe how full she felt, as
if the thrusting, pounding cock was trying to push through Ru Kai’s womb into
her stomach on the way to her throat, every vein seeming to imprint itself on
the hot, wet walls for an instant at the bottom of each thrust — Nabiki’s
fingers had never felt like that, and Ranma wondered distantly is this was what
Nabiki’s big dildo felt like.
Ranma pushed through the tide of new sensations to again become aware of the
larger world to find that Ru Kai had wrapped her legs around Heng Chun’s hips,
her fingernails digging into his shoulders as she babbled in Mandarin. Then the
muscles of her sheath started to rhythmically squeeze as if she was trying to
milk the cock plundering her depths, he grunted, thrust hard, again, again ...
and Ru Kai shrieked as the sensation of a fresh wave of her husband’s seed
pumping into her depths took her over the edge and she exploded.
Ranma let the familiar wave of pleasure wash over her, carry her along for a
moment before a fresh wave hammered her, and another, until Ru Kai slumped
bonelessly, gasping for breath. Ranma waited as her host’s breathing slowly
eased, wanting to experience the full range of sensations. Though ... she
frowned at the wet feeling of something oozing down along the crack of Ru Kai’s
ass. What could —
She flashed out of her host, hovering over the pair, shaking, so shocked she
barely noticed their exhausted contentment. With a soft laugh Heng Chun rolled
off his wife, and try as she might Ranma couldn’t keep herself from looking —
yes, that oozing wet had been the overflow of Heng Chun’s seed spilling out
around his cock rolling white down between Ru Kai’s cheeks.
Ranma twisted and flew after her earlier self up through the trees into the
night sky above, aimed at the moon.
She didn’t climb far before she stopped, and Peach Fuzz quickly caught up with
her, circling around the redhead curled into a ball, slowly wafting on the
breeze. “Uh ... Ranma? What was that about? Why ... ?”
“ ‘Cause a’ Nabs,” Ranma replied, her voice muffled. “The first couple a’ times
we shared dreams we didn’t know what was going on, and ... we were in bedrooms,
and I was a guy. But neither of us really know what it’s like, with me as a
guy. So we’ve been avoiding more a’ them, but she wants me as a guy an’ I can’t
... perform, when human....”
“And you decided to find out what it’s like for both of you, so you could at
least be the guy in her dreams,” Peach Fuzz finished when Ranma’s voice trailed
off. She sighed. “Moved a little too fast, did you? Got more than you were
ready for?”
“ ... Yeah.”
“Well, what’s done is done.” Peach Fuzz abruptly darted in, and Ranma yelped,
exploding out of her ball. The sprite giggled as Ranma glared at her, rubbing
one ass cheek. “Come on, let’s get home. You may have moved too fast, but now
you can make my mistress a very happy woman.”
Ranma forced a grin. “Ya got that right! And you’ll be enjoying every moment
through your link with her, won’t you?”
“You bet I will, Hot Stuff, and this time I’m not gonna let it knock me out!”
Ranma laughed, then closed her eyes. Letting the tide of the Voice rise up to
wash away the World, she focused on Home: the cool night breeze, the grass
beneath her back, Nabiki’s naked backside above her lying on their bed....
The World snapped back into focus and her eyes snapped open at the sensation of
unexpected weight on her stomach. There staring down at her over Peach Fuzz’s
stirring body resting between her breasts were two glowing slit eyes framed by
white fur.
Ranma’s scream of pure terror woke up everyone in the Tendo household, and
startled a sleepy imp so much it fell off of its perch in a tree across the
street from the Tendo compound.
***** Open Secrets *****
Chapter Notes
     And it's back! Now that I've finished The Unexpected Hobbit and
     Coming Home and have reread this series up to now, I can again pick
     up this story! The current plan is to alternate between this story
     (and its sequel, once it's finished) and another of my current
     stories (currently, The Yuxia Bond). I've also returned to smaller
     chapters, since I actually seem to get a higher weekly word count
     that way.
Nabiki lay on her back on her bed, wondering where Ranma was. She had given up
on staring out the window as boredom combined with the long day caught up with
her, but she was too worried about her lover to sleep. So she’d simply laid
there, still dressed, staring at the ceiling, and waited.
And waited. Surely it shouldn’t be taking this long? I don’t care if those
Amazons could take the Olympic gold in sex, there’s no wayRanmawould stick
around once she had the bare minimum she needs. But while succubae are tough
they aren’t invulnerable, and Ranma’s mental state was likely to be shaky after
... that.
Stop it! If anything had happened you would have heard from Peach Fuzz. You
haven’t, so it hasn’t. You’ll just have to be patient until Ranma gets home.
And that was another thing worrying her — Ranma getting home. She might have
been able to hide her little lie by setting everything up with Ranma while he
was in his male form and so lacking his empathic abilities, but she hadn’t been
able to come up with an excuse not to see the succubus off when she left ...
not that she’d tried very hard. But while she was certain it was the best
course to take she was far from happy about it, and there was no way Ranma
hadn’t picked up on her feelings.
So whereisshe? That’s it, I’m done waiting. Just asking Peach Fuzz what’s going
on isn’t spying, no need to borrow her senses —
The scream of pure terror from outside her window combined with a wave of panic
slamming into her through her familiar link with Peach Fuzz practically
levitated Nabiki from off her bed. That was Ranma! She dove for her window,
getting there just in time to see a cat streak up the compound wall like a
mountain goat up a cliff side and vanish into the night. Looking down, she
found her fiancée floating a few feet off the lawn, curled into a ball.
She whirled and rushed for her door, meeting her sisters and Nodoka in the
hallway, her sensei holding her unsheathed katana in one hand. All Nabiki said
as she pushed past Kasumi and Nodoka on her way to the stairs was, “It was a
cat.”
The small parade reached the backyard to find the fathers looking around in
confusion while Peach Fuzz hovered in mid-air as she verbally tore a strip off
another sprite that Nabiki didn’t recognize. Her familiar ending her tirade
with, “Cherry Blossom will hear about this!” As Peach Fuzz’s victim fled, she
turned toward Ranma then bobbled in the air for a moment when she noticed the
newcomers, then flew over to settle on Nabiki’s shoulder.
“What happened?” Nabiki demanded as she reached down to pull a Ranma she could
now see was literally shaking up into her embrace.
Peach fuzz sighed. “We didn’t quite get what we needed at the Amazons’ camp, so
we were making an info-dive into the Voice. We came here where we’d be safe
behind wards, and Rose Hip was supposed to be keeping watch while we were gone.
But instead she decided to enjoy Kasumi’s flower garden, and Ranma woke up to a
cat sitting on her stomach. I don’t know why she’s so freaked out, Iwas the one
that almost ended up a nighttime snack.”
Nabiki twitched as a wave of shame and regret washed over her and the women,
except for a confused Akane, all turned to glare at Genma. In a voice that
could have frosted a hot iron, Nodoka said, “I suggest you make yourself scarce
for awhile.” As Genma jerked a nod and followed the cat over the wall to vanish
into the night, she turned to Nabiki and a Ranma curled even tighter under the
wave of anger they were emoting. With a sigh she closed her eyes and took a
deep breath.
Nabiki shivered as the anger she was picking up, stoking her own rage, dropped
to a level that allowed her to bring herself under control. Without a word, she
walked past her father back into the house. I’m going to have to watch that
feedback effect, apparently it doesn’t just apply to orgasms.
When they reached the top of the stairs, Nabiki glanced at her older sister.
“Kasumi, can you explain what’s going on to Akane? Mother and I will be
cuddling with Ranma for awhile.” And your own anger isn’t helping. For once,
Nabiki had no hesitation applying ‘Mother’ to the now-Tatsuno matriarch, not
with the clear sympathetic concern she was picking up now that her sensei had
her anger under control.
“Of course.” The outwardly calm Kasumi guided Akane toward her room.
“Can I join them?”
Nabiki twitched at Peach Fuzz’s telepathic request — she still wasn’t used to
voices in her head when Ranma wasn’t merged with her, and her familiar’s
‘voice’ lacked its usual bubbly happy edge. “Sure, it’s no secret ... at least
within family. But don’t tell anyone else.”
“My lips are sealed.” The sprite buzzed up from Nabiki’s shoulder and followed
the other two Tendos.
Nabiki walked into her own room and sat on the bed, Nodoka following her, and
as the two cuddled Ranma the middle Tendo fought to push her anger away, to
focus on her love and concern for the curled-up succubus in her arms. Slowly,
Ranma’s shivering eased as her fading terror was replaced by embarrassed shame.
Finally uncurling, Ranma looked up and Nabiki almost squeed at how cute she
looked with the furious blush on her face. That blush deepened (undoubtedly
from picking up Nabiki’s delight), and she opened her mouth, only for her
mother to beat her to the punch.
“No, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Your father should be ashamed of what
he did to you.”
“And he is,” Nabiki added, “he was practically wallowing in it when he left.”
Ranma stared up at the two, and quietly asked, “He ran away?”
The pair hesitated, but fair is fair. Nabiki reluctantly said, “Actually,
Mother ordered him to leave. Considering how angry she was —”
“And still am,” Nodoka added.
“— that was the smartest thing he’s done in ages.”
Ranma surprised them — and herself — by weakly giggling. “That’s not sayin’
much.”
The other pair’s laughter joined hers, and Nabiki felt muscles she hadn’t
realized were still tight relax as she felt something in them all ease.
Then Nodoka rose to her feet. “I’m happy you’re all right, Ranma. And now, it’s
been a long day, and you have much to discuss. Pleasant dreams.” She glanced at
Nabiki, and Nabiki nodded back. She hadn’t forgotten Nodoka’s advice after her
sensei had learned the more ... interesting (better than ‘terrifying’, if
perhaps not as truthful) details of her and Ranma’s Nekomi trip.
Now Ranma was looking quizzically up at her fiancée. “What d’we have ta talk
about?”
Nabiki sighed and reluctantly released Ranma, gently shoving the succubus away
so she could rise to her feet and begin stripping for bed. “Private, we’ll talk
about it after I’m asleep. Can you not merge with me tonight? I feel like
cuddling.”
Ranma smiled, radiating gratitude. “Sure, Nabs, me too.”
                                      /\
Watching the yard from where he’d hidden underneath the porch outside the
living room, Sasuke decided that the sprites that infested the compound had
finally grown distracted enough for him to make his exit, so long as he moved
carefully. Just as his own Art allowed him to see them it protected him from
their notice, but only if he didn’t make too large an impact on the world as he
moved through it. And having a sprite that didn’t know he was there collide
with him on his or her way from one patch of flowers to another wouldn’t help.
It took him over an hour to get across the lawn, up over the wall, and away
from the Tendo compound. Once up on the roof of a house across the street and
out of line of sight of anyone at the Tendo home’s upper windows, he raced
across the rooftops toward the Kuno estate, very happy with the results of the
night’s work.
He had been expecting to have to haunt Ranma’s every step (or flight) for long,
boring days if not weeks. And even better, the weakness he had discovered would
be useless to the two Kuno siblings, Sleepers that they were. Oh, they would
come up with separate, ludicrous plans that were as likely to clash as anything
else, but as ignorant of the world behind the mask of normality as they were
those plans would be no threat to a succubus.
So now he could report to Tatewaki (he was really hoping that his master would
be finished with whichever of the servant girls he had chosen to take to bed,
but the delusional would-be samurai would be angry if he waited until morning),
return the broach to Kodachi (who might also have a servant girl in her bed,
but usually satisfied most of those urges at school), then sit back and enjoy
the show. It was really all he could do, given their mental states.
In his haste, he failed to notice the pair of imps flying high in the night sky
... high enough to keep him in sight.
***** Foul Ball *****
Chapter Notes
     Warning, High Citrus Content!
     I know, almost two weeks since my last chapter and a month since the
     last chapter for this story. Part of that was because last month was
     miserable, what with doctor's appointments, catching the flu, and an
     early onset of allergies, but the other part is because much of this
     chapter is Not_Safe_For_Work so I couldn't work on it during my work
     breaks. On the plus side, a third to a half of the next chapter for
     this story is already written.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Nabiki was sure that Ranma was frowning thoughtfully. She couldn’t see his
face, the way she was leaning against his chest with his arms around her, both
leaning against a tree shaped perfectly for the purpose — as it should be, in
her dream. But the ... thoughtful focus? ... intent? ... that Ranma was
radiating said that he wasn’t just enjoying the view of the meadow with a brook
running through it — the same place they’d been visiting the night Gosunkugi
had first tried to summon Ranma.
“So the kami that got us together thinks it’s a good idea for me ta go native,”
he repeated.
“Yes.”
“And that’s really why ya pushed for me ta help out the Amazons.”
“Yes”
“And Mom agrees.”
“Yes.”
Nabiki had been tightening with every ‘yes’, and now she almost leaped out of
her skin when he lightly kissed the back of her neck and murmured, “Okay.”
She squeaked, “Okay?”
“Yeah. When I got splashed during the fight at the temple, the magic there ...
I don’t think I’ll ever feel anything more powerful. I hope not. But it felt
... clean, I guess.”
“Pure. It felt pure,” Nabiki suggested, relaxing as she remembered that visit
to Nekomi. She had no real reason to go back, but some day she’d come up with
an excuse....
“Yeah, pure. So, if the kami that lives in a place like that think it’s a good
idea, an’ you an’ Mom agree, it’s probably a good idea.”
It wasn’t going to be that easy, Nabiki knew, nowhere near. But ... It’s a
start. When Ranma puts his ... putshermind to something, shedoesit. And as part
of that, she was going to have to start thinking of Ranma as female all the
time, not just when her fiancé was a succubus. Ranma’s male ‘incubus’ form was
coming sooner or later, but even when it did he’d ... she’d probably use the
female form as the default — everyone in the household that could see her were
female, after all, including her mother.
The thought brought a hint of disappointment with it ... Ranma was a handsome
hunk of man flesh ... but she felt herself relaxing thanks to the apparent ease
of his ... of her acceptance. And as she relaxed she sensed Ranma’s own tension
easing. Still, there was one more issue....
Twisting so she could look up at Ranma’s face, she asked, “And you aren’t angry
that I manipulated you?”
He smiled down at her. “Nah, not really. It’s who ya are, and you were just
lookin’ out for me.” Then his smile turned into a grin, echoed by the amusement
in his emotions. “Besides, Mom told ya to quit it, didn’t she?”
Nabiki blushed, remembering the dressing-down she’d received from her Sensei
... or under these circumstances, Mother. “Yes, Mother did. She pointed out
that tactics appropriate against enemies, opponents, or even allies in some
cases aren’t appropriate in intimate relationships. She was ... rather forceful
about it.”
His grin broadened, the amusement intensifying. “Thought so.”
Nabiki tried to pout, but the relief sweeping through her at Ranma’s easy
forgiveness was too intense for anything but a broad smile of her own. Besides,
with Ranma in her succubus form, however he looked in Nabiki’s dream, there was
no hiding that relief from Ranma’s own empathy. As wonderful as it is to know
how each other feels, itdoescut down on opportunities to tease. A bit, at
least.
Relieved at having the difficult part of the night out of the way, Nabiki
contentedly snuggled back down in her fiancée’s arms and let her gaze wander
over the beauty of the meadow stretching before them, the brook softly
burbling. She was going to have to make sure she woke up early enough for the
two to enjoy a round before breakfast — that would be the ultimate cap on
getting Ranma over her Cat Fist-induced panic attack — but for now she was
content to simply enjoy the scenery and luxuriate in the sense of Ranma’s
presence. “So, why were you so late?” she idly asked. “Peach Fuzz told me you
needed to dive into the Voice for some reason, but it still shouldn’t have
taken so long. How many rounds did you need to ... ah, observe until you had it
all set?”
She stiffened when she simultaneously felt the body she was pressed against
tense up, and was flooded by the oddest mix of uncertainty, accomplishment,
embarrassment and ... was that disgust? Not exactly, but something close....
She twisted again to look up at Ranma, to find his face so beet red she should
have been able to feel the radiant heat.
“Uh, yeah, ‘bout that ...” Ranma reached up to rub his neck beneath his pony-
tail. “Well, y’see, when I actually merged with Heng Chu during the sex, his
emotions were too much, I couldn’t focus on the physical side. So me an’ Peach
Fuzz went into the Voice ta see if it’d be different there, and it worked. But
then ...” he hesitated, his blush actually deepening, then shrugged. “I did it
again with Ru Kai, ta get how it feels for a girl.”
Nabiki’s jaw dropped, that was the last thing she had expected. “You did what!?
Why?”
“ ‘cause ...” He hesitated, then gently cupped her cheeks with both hands and
leaned down and kissed her.
What — oh! Oh, Ranma ... She eagerly responded, and a kiss that had started as
gentle as his hands quickly turned ardent. When they finally broke from an
imagined lack of air, they were both panting. Nabiki was luxuriating in the
wave of loving lust washing over her from her lover, and knew he was sensing
the same; there was no doubt where this was heading. But first, with a voice
that shook she asked, “You did this for me?”
“Hey, ya deserve the best I can give.”
Nabiki responded by pulling Ranma’s head down into another kiss with one hand
while the other started working at his trousers’ fastenings.
Suddenly, there were no trousers to unfasten ... or shirt to pull over his
head. For that matter, her own T-shirt and tight shorts — and underwear — had
vanished as well, leaving her open to the cool breeze.
Ranma chuckled against her lips, then pulled back to grin at her. “Sorry if I
spoiled yer fun, but ya seem ta be in a hurry.”
“You got that right!” She pulled his head back down to resume the kiss, the
hand formerly occupied with Ranma’s trousers now caressing his chest. The hard
muscles of his martial arts-toughened physique was excitingly different from
the soft, utterly gropable breasts of her succubus form.
And that’s not all that’s hard, she thought as she felt the stiff length of
Ranma’s cock pressed against her thigh. Remembering the first time they had
tried and failed, the night Ranma had been propositioned by Mara, she broke the
kiss to slide down his body. This time was going to be different.
Ranma groaned as Nabiki slid down his foreskin and ran her tongue around the
tip revealed. His groan deepened as she replaced her tongue with her lips even
as her hand squeezed and pumped along his lower length. She grinned around her
mouthful, pleased at his response — the response she’d failed to elicit during
that first fiasco. If he’s enjoying that, this shouldreallyget his engine
revving! She sucked in a deep breath through her nose, then slid her mouth down
the full length of his cock, and frowned in confusion around her mouthful. From
her research (and now that she thought of it, she really should have practiced
with her dildos), she’d been expecting to have to suppress her gag reflex when
the tip of the length stretching her lips hit the back of her throat, but ...
nothing. And while she could feel the tickle of his pubic hairs against her
nose it felt ... washed out, faded?
“Uh, Nabs ...” Ranma’s hands gently gripped her head and pulled her up, cock
tip popping free of her lips. “Ru Kai didn’t do that, not that all-the-way-in
thing. I don’t know how it feels, and it looks like you don’t, either?”
Nabiki sighed, shaking her head. “No, I don’t. I guess that’ll have to wait
until later.” When you have an male body I can play with, even if it’s your
‘incubus’ form.
“Yeah. But fer now ...” Ranma’s voice had turned into a growl that Nabiki
returned as his eager lust mixed with and boosted her own, and he pulled her up
along his body and twisted, pushing them away from the tree and landing so that
he was on top. Normally Nabiki wouldn’t have been ready so quickly, but this
was her dream and if she decided she was ready then she was ready! She spread
her legs and reached between them to grasp his rock-hard rod, lining it up with
the wet folds of her cleft. With a single thrust Ranma buried himself to the
hilt.
Ranma’s cock wasn’t the largest object she’d had buried in her sheath — one of
her dildos made Ranma seem almost small — but other than the first two dreams
she’d shared with her fiancé everything she’d had inserted there had been under
her own control, and looking back those dreams had had a faint unreal edge to
them. There was nothing unreal now, the cock stretching the walls of her sheath
as it plundered her depths was as hard and veined as the most realistic of her
dildos but warm and attached to the man (being) she loved and definitely not
under her control. It only took a couple pounding thrusts for the gentle wave
of her first orgasm to wash through her (more, she would think looking back,
because of their success than any physical stimulation).
She ‘resurfaced’ from that first burst of pleasure to find that Ranma hadn’t
even slowed down, the thrusts pounding her ass against their grassy ‘bed’, and
thanks to the rising pleasure bursting with each thrust she didn’t want him to.
She wrapped her legs around his hips, trying to bury him deeper still as she
clawed at his back and shouted her demand: “Harder! Harder! Harder!” He did his
best to comply, and she distantly thought that it was a good thing they were
dreaming or she wouldn’t be able to move in the morning until the growing
pressure of the rising tide (both hers and his) washed all coherent thought
away and she lost all sense of anything but her and Ranma’s pleasure and the
hard cock they were centered around.
Finally that building pressure burst, and she shrieked as she felt her sheath
clench around that pistoning rod while her exploding pleasure slammed into
Ranma. She barely felt his hot seed bursting into her depths as that pleasure
mixed with Ranma’s own climax and hammered back into her. The grassy meadow
they were lying in rippled out around them as if they were a pair of rocks
dropped into a pool, the trees bordering the meadow exploded into a
kaleidoscope of colors ... and Nabiki jerked awake to find herself still lying
on her side in her bed, her arms around the limp body of the succubus she’d
been cuddling when she’d finally managed to fall sleep. “Great, we did it
again.”
Rolling onto her back with her unconscious lover resting weightless on her
chest, she stared up at the night-shrouded ceiling. Now that it was over, she
found herself shivering with more than just the echoes of their lovemaking as
she realized what could have happened. What if, during their dream, she had let
go of Ranmo? With Ranma’s own circling arms loosened when she was knocked
unconscious, she could have been falling through the house on her way to
bedrock right now! Sure, Nabiki or Mother could have just summoned her back if
she got too deep before she woke up and got lost underground, but they were
trying to find a way to prevent that.
Then she felt Ranma begin to stir, making her suck in her breath as soft skin
brushed across her nipples through her T-shirt. That pleasant sensation made it
easier for her to bury her worry as blue eyes blinked open. “Na-Nabiki?”
“Relax, Ranma, I’m fine. Everything’s fine. More than fine.”
Chapter End Notes
     Yes, the chapter title is a baseball metaphor. They managed to
     connect bat to ball, but it didn't quite go where they wanted.... ~_^
     I'm seriously considering adding a third story to my rotation, my A
     New Future series has been haunting me. Though before I do I'd have
     to do the same thing as I did with this series, read the stories to
     date again to refresh my memory.
***** Learning to Fly *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
Ranma blinked as the world came back into focus, to find herself lying on top
of Nabiki, her lover’s arms around her. “Na-Nabiki?”
“Relax, Ranma, I’m fine. Everything’s fine. More than fine.”
Ranma sighed and twisted in Nabiki’s arms so she could bury her face in the
crook of Nabiki’s neck. “No, everything is not fine,” she mumbled. “Not only
did we knock me out again, but I got so caught up in the pleasure that I
couldn’t really maintain the fantasy, it went all wrong.”
Nabiki giggled and ran her fingers up Ranma’s faux-backbone, making the
succubus wriggle and almost purr. “It certainly seemed okay to me, though maybe
I didn’t notice because of the way you were blowing my mind. And yes, we
knocked you out again, but you were only unconscious for a few minutes this
time. Maybe you’re getting used to it?”
Ranma sighed, then twisted so she could kiss her lover on the cheek. “Maybe.
But we’re still not doing that again till I know what we’re doing in my gut and
not just my head. An’ that means it’ll be awhile, I’m not gonna be haunting the
Amazon camp for couples getting it on ta spy on.”
She felt Nabiki’s disagreement, but the Tendo stayed silent and after a few
moments that disagreement morphed into reluctant acceptance. She sighed but
nodded, her hair brushing against Ranma’s cheek. “I understand, you can only
push so fast. Take as long as you need. But your own nature will catch up with
you eventually if you take too long.”
It took Ranma a moment to realize that Nabiki was talking about the way
succubae went into heat, and how they bred. She shuddered at the thought —
she’d been okay with it before, but now that she’d actually experienced the
female half once ... It’ll happen when it happens, don’t go borrowin’ trouble.
She nodded against Nabiki’s neck again then pushed away, gently breaking their
embrace to float in the air above her lover. “But that’s later, ya got a busy
day tomorrow, I’ll let ya get back ta sleep. I got some thinking ta — to — do
anyway.”
Nabiki attempt to protest was interrupted by a yawn, and she giggled and
snuggled down into her bed. “Tomorrow ...” she murmured even as Ranma could
sense the sleep stealing over her as she relaxed.
“Tomorrow.”
In less than a minute Nabiki was out like a light, and Ranma looked over at the
basket on the shelf that her lover’s familiar used for a bed now, and the tiny
sprite glowing with life she could see curled up on the silk scarf Nabiki had
given her for bedding. “Peach Fuzz, you awake?”
The sprite perked up at her name, and looked over the rim of the basket. “Sure,
what’s up?”
“Did we knock you out this time?”
The room sounded with Peach Blossom’s tinkling laughter. “No, this time I
managed to stay conscious, but it was close. You two may be ruining regular sex
for me.”
“We are? I’m sorry!”
“Don’t be. You’re ruining it because what I get from you two is so much better,
and as randy as you are it’s not like I’m being deprived. If I ever feel
personally deprived I’ll just find another sprite happy to give me a good
reaming while you two get it on, that shouldn’t be hard.”
Ranma felt her cheeks heating up, and hastily changed the subject. “Were you
giving Nabiki advice while we were talking?”
Peach Fuzz laughed again, and flew out of her basket and over to land on the
floating succubus’s shoulder. “Yes, I was. My mistress is kind — to us, anyway
— and cunning, even smart, but she isn’t as patient as she could be. Now, what
did you really want to talk about?”
Ranma reached up to rub her neck behind her loosely floating hair ... was it
her imagination, or was her hair getting longer? I’ll hafta see if getting my
hair cut when I’m human will change its length when I’m a succubus, having it
drifting around my face when I’m fighting could be a problem. It ought’a. But
what’ll happen when I’m just a succubus? But that was a problem for another
day, she had more pressing problems right now. “Ya got me. The vision I saw,
the night I ... Found out I’d never have sex as a guy. Almost fell for a
demon’s trap. “... the night I met Cherry Blossom. The one Cherry Blossom said
is the first thing all nature spirits see when they’re born, hatched, whatever.
Can I see it again, and not just remember it?”
Peach Fuzz’s eyes widened in surprise. “I don’t know, I don’t know of any
sprite that’s tried, a time when the Voice hasn’t been enough. It could be
dangerous, though. Did Cherry Blossom tell you some nature spirits get lost in
it?”
“Yeah, she did, but …” Ranma was tugging at her hair now, her cheeks burning.
“What I saw then ... what I felt ... it made everything better. Made everything
make sense.”
Peach Fuzz’s gaze softened. After a long moment she said, “It’s been that rough
a day, has it? Cherry Blossom’s on her way. Let’s head out to the backyard
where we won’t wake up Nabiki.”
The pair flew out of the room (Ranma just ghosted through the wall but for
Peach Fuzz Nabiki had started leaving her window open a crack so her familiar
could slip out, and added more blankets to her bed), and Ranma flew down to the
koi pond. Once there she hovered in place above the placid water, closed her
eyes, and let the music of the Voice swell and sweep her away.
“Ranma!”
Ranma jerked then rubbed the ear Cherry Blossom has shouted into, her cheeks
heating. “Sorry ‘bout that, maybe I should’a practiced my katas instead.”
The blonde sprite buzzed around to hover in front of Ranma’s face. “Or you
could have just enjoyed the eye candy enjoying Kasumi’s flowers.” She grinned,
cocking her hips to emphasize her tiny patch of pubic hair and reaching up to
heft her perky breasts. “We don’t mind, really, it’s not like you can do
anything but look.”
Ranma shook her head, averting her eyes. “I think I’ve had enough a’ that
today.”
Cherry Blossom settled on Ranma’s shoulder and snuggled up against her cheek,
an arm circled around her neck. A moment later Peach Blossom settled on her
other shoulder. The newcomer said, “I’m sorry, just trying to lighten the mood.
It’s just ... I’ve known succubae that could sit — well, hover — and watch us
for hours. Your day was really that bad?”
Ranma sighed, her shoulders slumping (causing both sprites to tighten their
grips around her neck to avoid slipping off). “Yeah, it was. Peach Fuzz told
you?”
“Peach Fuzz showed me. All right, let’s try this. Peach Fuzz already told you
how to explore the past, do that only focusing on the vision itself. If you get
stuck ...”
She hesitated, and Peach Fuzz spoke up. “We can have Akane use their Champion
Bond to pull her out of it.”
Ranma felt Cherry Blossom’s hair brush against her cheek as the sprite nodded.
“That’ll work ... probably. Do it.”
Taking a deep breath, Ranma closed her eyes and remembered — remembered how
she’d seen, in the midst of that magnificent, overpowering vision of the
spirits of life moving among all that lived, pushing it to thrive and grow.
And then she was there in the vision as before, but focused on humanity soaring
ever higher, with her own kind that flitted about among the ocean that was the
children of Europe settled throughout the world, haunting dreams and making
them wonderful, pushing people together, giving them courage to seek the
companionship they thirsted after, holding them together in ties of passion
through good times and bad, and occasionally through the borrowed seed of men,
infused with the succubae’s nature, giving humanity men and women of power and
sometimes wisdom to provide leadership and guidance: Myrddin of Britannia,
called the son of the Devil by the Christians that didn’t understand; Newton
and Washington hiding their heritage even as they strove to bring their very
different dreams to life; Joan of Arc ignorant of her inheritance but leading
her people to greatness nonetheless — all heirs of the succubae, always among
the most powerful of the Awakened. And those were only a few of the ever
growing number — kings and queens, advisors and lovers as the power behind the
thrones, merchant princes and modern businessmen, generals, inventors and
entrepreneurs, and one powerful Initiate after another unrecognized for what
they were by the societies they lived in and guided and loved....
And every last one of them gaijin.
The thought was like a splash of cold water, jerking her out of the vision. Her
eyes flew open to find herself still slowly spinning above the koi pond, a
stream of sprites spiraling around her while Cherry Blossom and Peach Fuzz kept
pace with her turning. Her two companions were wide-eyed, radiating shock.
Cherry Blossom asked, “What happened? You were doing so well, all red and
orange, when you suddenly went shot through with muddy blue and gray!”
“Uh, I dunno what that means, but I noticed somethin’ ... somethin’ I’m gonna
hafta talk ta Mom about —” She glanced up at the dark window of Nodoka’s room.
“— in the morning.”
                                     /oOo\
Mara’s head jerked up from the paperwork spread across the raised top of her
coffee table, alerted by the mystical touch of a request to enter her quarters
through the living room’s summoning circle.
In her own chair across the room, Calise looked up from her book. “Finally?”
Mara focused on the ‘feel’ of the request and nodded. “It’s Gorash.” She turned
to the summoning circle in one corner and snapped her fingers, and the imp
appeared in its center. Mara frowned at it. “You’re late.”
Gorash bowed, low enough to show its acceptance of the accusation but not quite
low enough to be groveling. “Yes, there was a development I waited to fully
work out before reporting. Ranma-as-succubus is up to something with the
Amazons. Whatever it is involves sex, but I’m not sure how — at least, none of
the cries I heard from as close as I dared approach were hers. But what’s
really interesting is what I learned when I followed Ranma back to the Tendo
compound. The imps keeping watch there reported that a tiny human dressed as a
ninja snuck over the wall into the compound. Shortly after Ranma arrived home
she screamed — as terrified a scream as I’ve ever heard — and a house cat came
over the wall and ran across the road to one of the nearby homes.”
Mara interrupted: “That would be the Cat Fist so-called training his father
inflicted on him as a child, it’s in their file. Now Ranma is terrified of
house cats.”
Gorash nodded his acknowledgement of the information (and the hint to do some
background research in its spare time), and continued, “Almost an hour later
the ninja slipped back over the wall. Once across the street he took to the
roof tops and headed to the Kuno mansion.”
Mara and Calise both straightened in their chairs. Mara murmured, “Did he ...”
Gorash nodded again. “The ninja was good, too, very good. As usual there were
sprites all around the Tendo compound, both entering and leaving, and not one
noticed him — not ignored him, didn’t even know he was there. He had Jenkin’s
Amulet with him, but wasn’t using it. They didn’t even notice that.”
“He is good,” Mara agreed, “and obviously knows something of the supernatural
world if not the spiritual one. Thank you for your report.” She snapped her
fingers again, and Gorash vanished before it could make its usual snarky
comment.
She settled back in her chair with a sigh, and considered the new information
for a few minutes before glancing over at Calise. “Remind me in the morning to
arrange for a mortal Initiate to get that obscuration spell cast on the broach.
I intended to do that, but got distracted by a surprising number of fires I
needed to start.”
“Why don’t you let me handle that? I’m the one that gave the broach to Kodachi,
after all. In fact, why don’t I become her handler? She’s already past time to
return it, so someone should drop in on her to lay down the law and it might as
well be me.”
Mara’s gaze sharpened. “Are you sure you want to get that involved? This is
looking to become almost as big a fiasco as one of my missions targeting the
Norns.”
Calise flinched, but her gaze stayed steady. “Yes, I do.”
Mara matched her gaze for a long moment, then closed her eyes with another
sigh. “Fine, welcome aboard the oncoming train wreck. Why don’t you move into
my guest room for the duration? That way you won’t have to make the trip back
to your apartment if there are any more late nights like this.”
At the absolute silence that followed her statement, she opened her eyes again
to find Calise staring at her, eyes wide in stunned amazement. Finally, in a
small voice Calise asked, “Really?”
Mara grinned. “Relax, you said it yourself, everyone knows how thoroughly
twitterpated I am about Urd so we’ll be safe enough.”
That wasn’t what Calise meant and Mara knew it, but it was a serious enough
issue that they could pretend it was. For demons hook-ups were normal and even
friends-with-benefits not uncommon, but true loving couples were incredibly
rare ... and a threat to everyone around them. Demons didn’t cease to be demons
because they fell in love, such pairs were still as aggressive and competitive
as ever only now with a partner they trusted to watch their back. That kind of
advantage in the Underworld’s status games could be overwhelming, and such
couples were inevitably ganged up on by pretty much everyone until they either
broke up or were driven into going rogue. But with Calise having hidden her
crush on Mara (mostly) and Mara’s crush on Urd common knowledge (apparently),
there would be no suspicions that the pair were becoming such a couple.
Probably.
Calise fought to keep her smile from turning into a grin, and mostly succeeded.
“I’ll miss my lawn floor, but I suppose I can make the sacrifice. Sure, I’ll
bring some clothes after my shift tomorrow. But for now ...” She rose to her
feet and yawned theatrically. “I’ll enjoy that grass on my bare feet one more
night.”
Chapter End Notes
     The chapter title comes from Pink Floyd's song. Not exactly a perfect
     fit, but not bad.
***** Passing the Word *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
Nodoka slowly came awake, and opened sleep-filled eyes to the surprising sight
of her son/daughter floating above her, her forehead furrowed in concentration
has she grabbed at nothing and spun in place. Ranma’s look of concentration
turned into a scowl, and she muttered, “No, that won’t work ... probably.”
Nodoka pushed herself up to a seated position and rubbed at her eyes. “Ranma,
dear, what are you doing?”
Ranma jerked in surprise and looked down. “Oh, you’re awake! Mornin’, Mom, I
was just workin’ on my new style.”
“Yes, that was obvious, and you were very intent on it.” Nodoka rose and pulled
her nightdress up over her head, hanging it up before slipping on her robe. “I
suppose what I should have asked is why you are doing that here.”
“I ... made a deep dive into the Voice last night.”
Ranma paused when Nodoka stiffened, a bolt of fear going through her. She had
questioned Cherry Blossom closely about the Voice, and any deep dive was
dangerous. But obviously Ranma had come through all right, and Nodoka forced
herself to relax. “Were you accompanied?”
“Uh ... yeah, Cherry Blossom and Peach Fuzz were watchin’ out fer me, they
figured that even if I got lost they you could use my link with Akane ta pull
me out.”
Nodoka hadn’t missed her child’s hesitation, but set it aside for later. She’d
want to talk to the sprites first. “I need to bathe before leaving for work,
come with me to the furo. So what were you looking for?” Nodoka left her room
for the stairs, and the older woman was amused at how the succubus had floated
through the wall without hesitation to stay beside her mother. If she stayed in
the same position relative to her mother she’d be bisected by the stairwell
wall, and Nodoka didn’t expect that to bother her either. In some ways at
least, Ranma was adjusting nicely to her new nature.
Rubbing at her neck as she floated along, Ranma replied, “Well ... I wanted ta
... see more a’ what succubae do. What they ... what we are all about. Anyway,”
she continued hurriedly, “I noticed somethin’ weird. Mom, how much are people
like you and Nabs — people that know magic, not just that can sense the
supernatural — how much of a part do ya play in history?”
Nodoka frowned thoughtfully as she set the ‘occupied’ sign and entered the
furo. She slipped out of her robe and got herself wetted down, ready for
soaping up. (She was amused at how Ranma tried to not look at her without being
obvious about it — while her child had been getting accustomed to seeing her
naked body through her clothes just like everyone else, apparently seeing her
unclothed body was a problem. And from the blush on Ranma’s cheeks, she’d
sensed her mother’s amusement.)
But she set aside her amusement as she soaped up and pondered her child’s
question. “I would think quite a bit,” she finally said. “Throughout our
history, Initiates served emperors, shoguns and daimyos — the storm that
prevented the Mongol invasion wasn’t an accident.
“After Admiral Perry forced us to open our ports to the West, there were
Initiates among those sent out to learn Western ways and they found it much the
same there, though the Western Initiates at the top of the heap for the last
century have devoted themselves to ideals rather than thrones or even nations —
the Enlightened Lodge, they call themselves. The Royalist Lodges lost power in
the United States thanks to its civil war, and the same thing happened in
Europe thanks to World War One.” She grimaced. “Though we did much the same, in
the rebellion of the more traditionalist samurai against the Meiji Restoration
— our Initiates likewise split into Traditionalist and Modernist camps,
supporting the armies of both sides and both claiming to be loyal to the
Emperor. The Modernists kept the upper hand for over a generation, but the
Traditionalists made themselves partners with the new military and rose to
power as it did. Both sides fought against the Americans and British once the
war turned against us, though — attempting to control the weather as we did
against the Mongols, hide our fleets, alter fate to our warriors’ benefit — for
all the good it did. The Western Initiates were as good or better than ours and
there were more of them. But the Modernists were able to leverage our defeat in
a war the Traditionalists helped start, along with their cooperation with the
Western Initiates that came with the occupation, to take power again. That was
when the Gosunkugi family found themselves again out of power that they still
haven’t recovered from. Why do you ask?”
Ranma was staring at her, wide-eyed at what she’d heard, but shook off her
shock at her mother’s answer. “Yeah, ya see, well ... ya know how every so
often the women succubae get pregnant have human children instead a’ baby
succubae mistaken for miscarriages? When I took another look at succubae I saw
how important those children have been. Almost all a’ them Awaken, they’re some
a’ the most powerful Initiates in history, an’ even the ones that never learn
ta be Initiates or even what they are can be important — have ya heard of Joan
of Arc? Heard voices and saved France from bein’ conquered by the English? She
was one. And I noticed that every last one a’ them is gaijin, even though by
now we ... succubae ... can be found all around the world. Can me an’ Nabiki
even have kids? And just how important have the children of succubae been in
the West’s domination of the world?”
Now it was Nodoka’s eyes that were wide as she stared at her child. Finally,
she shook her head, and started rinsing off the soap she’d lathered over
herself (amused again, this time that Ranma had gotten focused enough on their
discussion that she had stopped trying to avoid looking at her mother). “I have
no idea how significant the impact of succubae’s children has been, but if they
are as powerful as you say it must have been significant. As for whether you
and Nabiki can have children, I don’t know that either. What you observed would
indicate not, but don’t forget that you aren’t a normal succubus — or at least,
how you became a succubus wasn’t normal. Perhaps Elder Ku Lon will be able to
say. However, that will have to wait until this evening, after I return from
work and we finish training Nabiki and Akane. You need to get ready for
school.”
Ranma grimaced. “School, right.”
                                     /oOo\
Kuno Tatewaki, descendent of nobility, upholder of the ancient code of Bushido,
and rising kendo star, strode through the crowd of peasants scattered over the
school lawn enjoying their lunches as he searched for the one he sought —
there! The pale, hollow-eyed boy he was temporarily allied with was off to one
side, where he could keep an eye on the vile witch Nabiki and that foul
despoiler Ranma while being out of their line of sight.
Not that it would have mattered, the way the pair was so lasciviously all but
draped over each other (though the witch was once again trying to hide her
inherent nature as a slut with a more modest form of school uniform).
Making his way around the edge of the mob, Kuno gracefully folded down next to
the mage (though of course he did everything with grace, it was his nature),
and laid his bokken on the grass and opened his bento. Between bites, he
murmured, “I have news.”
Gosunkugi glanced toward him, then back at their common enemies (the only thing
they had in common, and Kuno couldn’t wait for their alliance of convenience to
be over). “Yes?”
“It seems that he is terrified of cats.”
Now, Gosunkugi’s attention shifted over to Kuno and stayed there. “ ‘Cats’?”
“Yes. That vainglorious boaster is absolutely terrified of the common house
cat!”
“Quiet!” Gosunkugi hissed, glancing around at the other students enjoying their
lunch. No one appeared to be listening, but some at least were close enough to
have overheard and with the rumor mill buzzing with the news that the school’s
champion blackmailer had started letting victims off the hook for services
rendered speculation was running rampant about just what form those services
needed to take. News of a plot aimed at her living (if not necessarily
breathing, half the time) sex toy would be just the kind of juicy tidbit some
fool hoping to get off the hook would take to the witch bitch.
Kuno’s expression turned murderous at the reprimand but he fell silent, and
Gosunkugi’s mind raced as he considered the samurai-in-his-own-mind’s
information. Finally, he slowly murmured, “We can work with this.”
“Really?” Kuno scoffed. “What are we going to do, throw cats at him?”
Gosunkugi glared at his co-conspirator. “The Mystic Arts aren’t just a matter
of tracings on the floor and chanted phrases,” he hissed, “strength of will
matters. And whatever we might think of Ranma’s galloping egotism his will is
strong — and so his resistance to the Mystic Arts — is strong. But if he found
himself surrounded by cats ...”
Kuno’s derision faded into thought, and he slowly nodded. “Yes, I have heard
that fear can be a crippling weakness. But how do we surround him with cats?”
“If you can collect the cats, I can create a summoning circle in their midst.
Then at a predetermined time, you can guarantee that Ranma is switched for the
spirit he has enslaved and I will summon her. Once she is present in the
circle, I can switch her again for her master and work my magic while he is
weakened by his fear.”
Kuno’s slow nods turn firm. “Yes, that will work! But it will take time to
gather so many cats. Where will we store them?”
Gosunkugi grinned viciously. “I was thinking we could use one of the storerooms
beneath the school....”
Chapter End Notes
     Slightly short, before I would have waited until I finished the next
     two scenes to post it. But on the plus side, it was published this
     week!
***** There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch *****
Ku Lon put aside her now empty bowl and bounded up onto her staff as Xian Pu
and her wife escorted their visitors up to her tent — Tendo Nabiki and Tatsuno
Nodoka, with Ranma in nature spirit form drifting along beside them (both human
women bearing katanas that didn’t want to be noticed, something that would be
pointless at home but Ku Lon could understand the need for in a modern city).
Normally courtesy would require the offer of a meal, but the visitors had timed
it so that that invitation could be withheld without giving offense ... if the
guest was feeling generous, as these would be. And that was a good thing
because the Amazons were once again reaching the end of their financial
resources, the income from the training they’d provided to Ranma and Akane
before the duel several weeks ago and their participation in the attempt to
break the curse on Kasumi and the doctor now spent. The bowl she had just
emptied hadn’t been anywhere near full enough.
The newcomers stopped in front of her and Nodoka bowed, quickly followed by the
other two as they greeted Ku Lon. (Well, Ranma kind of bobbed in the air, but
she at least tried.)
Ku Lon acknowledged the respectful greeting with a nod, then gestured for them
to sit as she said, “I must admit to some surprise, I only expected Ranma.”
“Yes, and I’m sure Ranma is eager to get on with developing her new style,”
Nodoka agreed, “But she learned something interesting last night that you might
be able to provide some insight into, and we have another task for which we
would ask your help.”
“And that I’d pay handsomely for,” Nabiki piped up to add.
“Indeed,” Ku Lon responded, showing none of her sudden eagerness at the
possibility of more income. Not that her control would keep two of the three
from sensing it, but even so appearances mattered. “So, Ranma, just what did
you learn?” She listened, frowning thoughtfully as the succubus explained what
she had seen in a vision and what her mother had told her after. “Nodoka is
correct about the part Initiates have played in history, it is the same in
China though we have different labels — not ones adopted from the West,” she
added with a very faint smirk in the Tatsuno matriarch’s direction. “And what
you observed about the effect succubae have on the number and power of Western
Initiates explains a great deal. As for your own fertility, it could well be
that you are only fertile with those of European descent. However, due to the
nature of the springs of Jusenkyo there is another possibility. You see, those
springs don’t just change you into another sex or creature, but into what you
would be if you were born that sex or creature. It may well be that you are not
just a succubus, but what you would be if you’d been born a Japanese succubus.
In which case, you may well be fertile with women of Japan, perhaps even China
and your other neighbors around the Middle Kingdom.”
Nodoka was nodding her agreement. “Yes, that makes sense. It would explain why
Ranma’s initial succubus form looks so much like me when I was her age.”
Ku Lon nodded her agreement with Nodoka’s confirmation of her point, then
turned her attention to Nabiki. “And what task do you wish to hire me for?”
“I think it’s time that Ranma and I have the same champion bond she has with
Akane. Unless you’ve come up with another way to break the curse on Kasumi and
Doctor Tofu?”
“No, we haven’t.”
“I didn’t think so. So we want to be bonded, but the ritual requires at least
two Initiates and I won’t be able to help. Can you take my place?”
Ku Lon slowly nodded, (pointlessly) hiding her excitement at acquiring such a
useful mystic tool. “I’ll have to learn the ritual, adapt it to the Amazon
traditions, of course, but I would be delighted. I would suggest that Dao Paz
or Lo Shun — or both — replace Nodoka as well, that way we can avoid the
complications we faced mixing traditions when we tried to free Kasumi and her
man.”
Nabiki and Nodoka nodded their agreement. (Ranma had lost the thread of the
discussion, drifting higher as she watched a pair of warriors sparring some
yards away.) Nabiki added, “And I think it’s time for those cooking lessons for
Kasumi — that victory dinner you cooked for us was some of the best ramen I’ve
ever tasted and I’d like to keep on having it even after you’ve left.”
Xian Pu finally came to the end of her patience. “What about Husband? Can Ranma
fix too too annoying problem when Husband come home?”
Her attention caught by her name, Ranma dropped back down. Ku Lon was amused at
the way she shifted to where Xian Pu would be looking at her if she could
actually see the succubus. “Yeah, sure, I’m ready.” Ranma snorted derisively.
“Not that one training session’s enough ta really go on, but it’s enough fer
one go.”
“So speaks a true artist, always striving to be the best,” Nabiki said, then
laughed at her fiancé’s furious blush. Ku Lon suspected there’d been an
emotional undertone to an otherwise unremarkable compliment that the non-
empaths had missed.
“Very well,” the elder said, “you may inform Kasumi that I will be there at
noon tomorrow to further her mastery of the Art of cooking, and expecting the
two of you” — glancing between Nabiki and Nodoka — “tomorrow evening with
Ranma.” When the two gave their assent, the elder looked up at the succubus
(again slowly rising to better view the sparring). “Now, Ranma, let’s get
started on your new style. What have you developed so far?”
                                     /oOo\
Kodachi was actually singing softly to herself as she strode into her suite. It
had been that good a day, and good days had been in short supply since that
peasant Akane had cheated her of her rightful victory. Her standing at school
had taken an enormous hit due to that defeat, and she had struggled to
reestablish her due place as the queen of the school. But some meager funds
spent, two girls abruptly transferring out and one especially strident nobody
sent to the hospital (all three from her team, which had unexpectedly stung),
and all was well. The news Sasuke had returned with the previous evening of the
most humiliating weakness of Akane’s guardian spirit had simply boosted her
good mood even higher — she didn’t know yet what use she could make of a fear
of common house cats, but she would think of something. “Oharu, attend me!”
“Oharu is asleep, and won’t be waking up while we have our ... discussion.”
Kodachi whirled around, to find a woman she didn’t recognize straightening from
where she’d been leaning against the wall — fiery-haired, crescent-shaped
tattoos on forehead and cheeks. The door to the suite closed.
“Who are you, and how did you get in here?” Turning slightly to hide one hand,
Kodachi palmed one of her ribbons from its hidden holster on her thigh
underneath her skirt.
The stranger smirked. “My name is Calise, but you will call me ‘Mistress’.”
Instantly, Kodachi’s ki-infused ribbon was whipping toward Calise, only for her
to lift a single hand. A spiraling ribbon of glowing script that Kodachi had
never seen before appeared around that hand before snaking out to intercept her
ribbon, twisting along its length and shredding it into a long cloud of threads
drifting to the floor.
Before Kodachi had a chance to react the line of glowing script wrapped itself
around her, pinning her arms to her sides and her legs together. She toppled
forward to slam face-down, only the thickness of her carpet’s pile keeping her
nose from breaking. The now panicking girl rolled onto her back, shouting,
“Sasuke!”
“That oh-so-competent ninja serving your family can’t hear you. Or rather, he’s
hearing the typical exchange between you and your servant as she prepares you
for bed.” The trespasser stepped around her victim and crouched beside her.
Kodachi shuddered at the sight of eyes now glowing red. “Now, we need to talk.”
She rose to her feet and strode toward the bedroom, Kodachi rising into the air
and tugged along in her wake by the ribbon of script. Once in the room Calise
dropped into the plush stuffed chair by the window not occupied by the
aristocrat’s sleeping servant, ignoring the outside view of a night-shrouded
garden as Kodachi settled down on her bed, propped up against the wall.
Once she was settled, Calise raise a hand and twisted it and the broach Kodachi
had worn during the match appeared. Calise’s grin sent shivers down her spine.
“You’ve been a bad girl, deciding not to return this to its rightful owner once
your match was finished.” Calise seemed to waver for a moment, and suddenly the
elderly store owner that had loaned it to her was sitting in her place. Voice
still that of the intruder, ‘he’ said, “That rightful owner happens to be me.”
Another watery distortion and the woman was back.
“I-I-I didn’t know.” Kodachi cursed the quaver in her voice and fought to
steady herself.
“So what? Honor means that what you knew was irrelevant, you should have
returned the broach. But then, you know nothing of honor. Well, now you are
dealing with someone that understands keeping your word — and the consequences
when you don’t — very well.” Her grin stretched, turning into something that
belonged on a creature from the Deeps. “And thanks to your little ... accident
... those consequences are going to last for a long, long time.”
“My-y ‘accid-d-d-d-dent’?” The quaver had gotten worse, but Kodachi no longer
cared.
“Oh, yes. This broach is much more than just a window into the depths beneath
the placid surface of the everyday world, and your ki was just similar enough
to the magic that normally powers it to allow it to bond with you. You are
fortunate that ki and magic aren’t more similar or the resulting explosion
would have killed you, and almost every other living being in that auditorium.
As it is that bond will last for the rest of your life, and since the broach is
mine you are mine as well ... for the rest of your life.”
The ribbon of glowing script binding Kodachi silently vanished away, and as she
slumped down onto her bed with a gasp her self-declared mistress rose to her
feet. “I’ll be borrowing the broach long enough for someone who understands it
much better than you to place a veil over it, to hide its true worth. Without
that veil your ownership of it, and your life, will be very short indeed.
“Your servant will awaken shortly and give you the babying you require before
bed. But you’re my slave now, just remember that when you consider how to treat
her.”
And in a heartbeat, the space where Calise had been standing was empty.
                                      /\
Floating just beneath the high ceiling, the invisible demon watched as her new
servant simply lay on her bed and shook until the servant girl lying curled up
in the chair by the window sleepily stirred, then shot bolt upright when her
eyes took in the night outside the window. She whirled in her seat, then thrust
herself up out of the chair with wide eyes and a face bleached of color at the
sight of Kodachi on the bed. “Mistress, forgive me! I ... I don’t ...”
Kodachi’s mouth opened, then she paused, took a deep, shuddering breath, and
waved a hand. “Think nothing of it. Now, prepare me for bed.”
“Y-yes, Mistress.”
With that, Calise silently drifted up through the ceiling, through the roof,
and into the night sky. Well,thatwas promising. Perhaps Kodachi is actually
sane enough to prove useful. She wasn’t foolish enough to think that Kodachi
had been broken of her arrogance, breaking her to the saddle would take some
work. But perhaps ... just perhaps ... the effort would be worth it. I may
actually enjoy this.
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