Chapter 2

Akane woke the next morning feeling as if her head and stomach were fighting over which one would be allowed to explode first. Groggily, she managed to slide out of bed and somehow make her way down to the bathroom without puking in the hallway. Having witnessed her father and future father-in-law hung over many a time, Akane knew that she had to drink lots of water in order to feel better. She wondered if Kasumi had any other kinds of remedies, but figured it would be a bad idea to admit to her older sister that she had gone out last night and gotten drunk with her old friend.

Turning on the tap full blast, Akane put her mouth under the running water and drank in long draughts. She tried to think back to how she had gotten home last night, and if anyone had seen her, but she couldn't remember anything after the third Cosmo. How did Michiko convince her to drink the first one again? Oh yeah, she just told her to. After that she started talking about Ranma… No, she couldn't remember what happened next.

Full of water, Akane turned off the tap and let out a rather unladylike belch. It made her feel better though, so she excused herself. She decided that the next thing she needed was a bath. Maybe the steam would help to clear her head a bit.

Shuffling out of the upstairs bathroom and down to the furo, Akane couldn't help but notice that she felt kind of sore between her legs, almost as if she had been doing high kicks all night. Had she been in a fight? A flash of purple shot through her memory. Shampoo was there? Maybe she had been fighting. But then why didn't she seem to have any other injuries?

She got to the change room and stripped out of the clothes she had been wearing last night. She grabbed a towel and entered the bath, thanking whatever deity was listening for her big sister who always kept the bath hot and ready.

Sitting on a stool, Akane started to go through the motions of scrubbing off the grime accumulated in the last day with a loofah. She was still disturbed that she couldn't seem to remember much of what had happened last night, but she figured it would all work itself out eventually. As she rubbed the loofah along her waist, it caught on something, which pulled on a much more sensitive part of her anatomy. Akane looked down, puzzled at what it might be, and saw something silver, with what looked like a diamond stuck in her sponge. "Oh no," Akane muttered as a feeling of dread washed over her. Gently, she reached between her legs and untangled her loofah from the gem. The gem that was attached to her in a rather intimate place via a silver "c" and another diamond on the other end.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Akane screamed, her hangover long forgotten.

Seconds after her scream died down, the door burst open and in rushed Ranma, looking for his fiancée's attacker. This of course caused Akane to scream once again.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Akane held her hands up at Ranma as if trying to push him away, and to her amazement, it worked. One second Ranma was scanning the furo for an attacker, the next his clothes were blown off his body by an incredible wind, and he was flying back through the door he came in and crashing into the wall on the far side of the change room. He fell naked and unconscious to the floor. What just happened?

The rest of the family, having heard the scream, came rushing in behind Ranma. They paused for a moment, staring at Ranma, then noticed Akane trying to cover herself with a washcloth that was way too small. Seeing that his daughter was fine, and extrapolating from the state of her fiancé that she had caught him peeking, Soun quickly turned away lest Akane turn her wrath on him. "Are you all right Akane?" he asked.

His daughter looked up from where her fiancé was lying, as if realizing that he were there for the first time. Quickly she covered her crotch with the washcloth. "Yes Daddy… I just… thought I saw a rat," she lied. "Ranma surprised me when he came in and I hit him."

Soun sighed with relief. "Ok, I'll call an exterminator tomorrow to check the house." With that, he left as quickly as possible.

Nabiki also sighed when she realized it was a false alarm, mumbling something about how early it was on a Sunday and went back to bed. Though, not before pulling a camera out of somewhere and taking a picture of the naked Ranma out cold on the floor. Kasumi checked over the entire room once more, nervously. "Rats?" she asked.

"I'm sure it was nothing," reassured Akane.

Kasumi let out a deeper sigh of relief, her head tilting back and her whole body going limp as the sudden terror left her. "Honestly Akane, don't scare me like that!" she admonished. Then she looked up at the ceiling again. "Where did that black mark come from?"

Akane looked up. Right above her was what looked like a scorch mark, as if there had been a fire lit directly where she was sitting on the stool. Had she done that? Did the piercing actually work? "I dunno," she replied, half honestly.

"Well, I'll have to clean it later then I suppose," said Kasumi. "I'll let you finish your bath first Akane. Breakfast is ready whenever you feel like coming down."

Akane nodded at her sister, and waited for her to disappear down the hallway before she got up off the stool and walked over to replace the door. The last thing she needed was for Kasumi to discover her new accessory. Not before she had a chance to test it out a bit.

Putting the door back on the track, Akane was about to slide it shut when she took a peek at her prone fiancé. He was still out cold, his arms and legs splayed out, his thumbs and pink and index fingers all pointing out in a warding gesture. But the thing that caught her attention was between his spread legs. Her mind took her back to the day they first met, and she realized that she'd never actually seen… it… before. She couldn't help but stare. A warm sensation began to pool in her belly…

Akane slammed the door shut, nearly knocking it off it's track again. She wasn't a pervert! He was! She went back to the stool and turned the shower head back on full blast. Cold water.

---***---

Mostly calmed down, but still buzzing a little on the inside, Akane entered her family dojo. She was dressed in her gi, as she was hoping to get some serious training in. Now that she knew that her piercing worked, she had to learn how to make it work for her, rather than only when she had an emotional outburst. She set up a number of training dummies in the room with the intention to see from how far away she could blast them.

Standing in the center of the dojo, Akane closed her eyes and concentrated. She already knew what it felt like to touch her ki, she'd done it many times before when booting Kuno or Ranma over the horizon, and all the ring was supposed to do was make it easier for her to access it. If she could just search herself for that feeling…

There! That was it! It felt like cold fire burning at her core. She took a deep breath, and concentrated on that feeling, trying to feed the flames and increase the power. She was able to make the flames burn hotter, but not without losing some of her control. Well she'd get better at that with practice, and maybe Michiko could help her to learn control.

Instead, Akane settled for reducing the power to something she could handle, and tried to move it. She found that she could concentrate it anywhere in her body she wanted, and figured that was probably what she'd done when she was angry. She opened her eyes to find that her right hand was glowing a deep blue. Shocked, she lost her concentration, and the glow faded.

Akane smiled toothily. The power gave her a little thrill up her spine. Concentrating on the same feeling brought the power to her hand once more, this time much easier than before. She pointed it at one of the dummies and tried to push it out. Nothing happened. Frowning, Akane decided to try something different and walked up to the dummy, punching it hard in the middle.

The dummy exploded in a burst of wood and straw as Akane's ki infused fist hit it. Her smile grew wider as the debris rained down all around her. She quickly forced her ki into her hands again, and danced around the dojo, causing all the dummies to explode in rapid succession.

Breathing hard, Akane came up to the last dummy, the one she had dressed as Ranma so long ago. A smirk appeared on her face, one usually found on her fiancé's face when he was in the middle of a fight. Concentrating, she forced ki into her hand once more, enjoying the fantasy that it really was Ranma standing in front of her as she brought her fist around in a powerful arc.

Again there was an explosion of material, but this time the straw dummy survived, and only its clothes were destroyed. Akane's body experienced a different sort of thrill as her fantasy of a real Ranma caused her to imagine him standing before her, all of his clothes blown off by her attack. The feeling was so strong, and came on so quickly, that it drove her to her knees. Akane panted as she tried to catch her breath. Where did that come from?

Eventually, she caught her breath, but the humming sensation stayed with her. It was the same sort of feeling she had felt that morning when she saw Ranma naked, but this time it wasn't going away. Taking a deep breath, Akane tried to get a grip on her hormones. Maybe if she laid off the training for today it would go away. She'd try it again tomorrow.

---***---

Akane's day was alternately amusing and frustrating. Amusing in that all day at school Ranma couldn't keep his eyes off of her, obviously studying her to try to figure out how exactly she blasted him back in the bath. He'd been reprimanded by their teachers multiple times for staring at her instead of paying attention, but he didn't seem to care. The fact that all the attention he was giving her was making Ukyo green with envy only made her grin more.

On the other hand it was a little frustrating because her new ornament was bothering her. It didn't hurt, but she could feel it all the time. She couldn't ignore it as it pressed against her sensitive flesh and pulled on her folds when she shifted in her seat. She tried to sit with her legs crossed to keep the sensations down, but it only marginally worked.

After school she told Ranma she had something to do before going home. In order to keep him from following her, she swallowed her pride and told him that she needed to go buy tampons. She almost laughed out loud at how quickly that excuse got him to back off. She'd have to remember that one for later.

Instead of heading to the drug store, Akane veered off in the direction of Michiko's parlor, hoping to be able to talk with her about her piercing, and how to control her newfound power more effectively.

She shivered uncontrollably mid-stride. Again her piercing had shifted unexpectedly and sent a jolt of electricity through her nervous system. That was going to have to be the first thing she asked Michiko: how to sit and walk without turning herself on.

Reaching the tattoo parlor without any further incidents, Akane pulled on the door, only to find that it was locked. Puzzled, Akane looked for a "closed" sign, but didn't see anything. Not even a handwritten sign to indicate that Michiko would be back soon. Strange, the parlor should be open this time of day.

Shrugging her shoulders, Akane turned and leaned against the storefront, settling in to wait until her new friend and sensei returned from wherever it was she had disappeared to. She was humming a tune to herself when she heard someone cry out.

Instantly, Akane came to attention, focusing her senses, listening for the next time the victim screamed. It didn't take long before she heard another moan, obviously torn from the throat of someone who was being tortured, or worse…

Zeroing in on the sound, Akane quickly determined that it was coming from inside the parlor itself. She looked through a window to assess the situation, but couldn't see anyone. Obviously they were in a back room. Akane sprinted around the side of the building and into an alley that would take her to the rear. There was an emergency exit and a small window around back from where she could mount her rescue. Nimbly she climbed up on top of some conveniently placed trash cans and peered into the window to count the number of muggers and rapists she'd have to mangle.

The room Akane was looking into must have been where Michiko did all of her work. There was a chair that reminded Akane too much of a dentist's chair, along with a side table holding the tools of the trade, including a dismantled tattoo gun. On one wall there were hundreds of small pictures, a catalogue of what the artist was able to draw. Against the opposite wall was a counter and sink, and a naked and tattooed man was standing in front of the counter, thrusting at an unknown victim who let out another scream. "Yakuza!" Akane breathed as she watched the man continue to assault the woman.

She was about to jump down off of her trash can and bust down the door when the woman slapped the man on the ass and squeezed. "Come on baby, harder!" she cried.

Akane gaped like a fish. She knew that voice, it was Michiko. And it seemed like she didn't need any help after all. Akane was about to jump down and go back around front where she could die of embarrassment, when the "Yakuza" man picked up his lover and carried her over to the chair. Sitting down, he left Michiko on top, and she immediately picked up the rhythm once more, riding him hard, her black and pink hair flailing all around her.

Unable to tear her eyes away from the carnal show, Akane watched as the pair made love. No, this wasn't making love like she read about in Kasumi's trashy novels or fantasized about, this was hardcore fucking. Michiko leaned back in her "saddle" and Akane was able to see her entire front. More tattoos covered her torso, one snaked around her middle like a belt, while another looked like a man putting a golf ball into her navel. Akane couldn't help but wonder if that one lowered her handicap.

While the tattoos were interesting, it was the jewelry that caught Akane's attention the most. Michiko had both of her nipples pierced with straight barbells, her belly button pierced with a dangling jewel that shimmered and shined in the light as she moved, and true to her word, a hood piercing and one in her labia. She was also shaved, which only served to show off a piercing that came out just over her pubic bone, but where the other end of that piercing came out she couldn't see. Even Michiko's lover had piercings all over his face and both nipples.

Akane couldn't tear her eyes away from the metal studded couple as the moved together. She was suddenly very much aware of her own piercing down between her legs, and reached down to touch it over her clothing. The fire that she used in her new attacks was burning very hotly as she watched the two, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to control it much longer.

Suddenly Michiko cried out once more and stopped moving. Her lover grimaced, very possibly climaxing as well. Michiko collapsed, laying down on his chest as both tried to catch their breath. Akane had no idea that sex wore you out so much, though she had to admit she was feeling a little winded herself, and she was just watching. Just then, Michiko turned her head towards Akane's window, and gave the voyeur a smile and a wink. Akane fell off of the trash can in alarm, trying to get away from the window, but it was obvious that she had been seen.

Bruised, embarrassed, and more than a little turned on, Akane walked around to the front of the parlor again. She made it just in time to see Michiko kissing her lover goodbye as he left for parts unknown. Michiko smiled that sly smile again. "So! Did you enjoy the show?" she asked, then laughed when Akane turned beet red.

The embarrassed woman tried to stutter out an explanation as to what she was doing at the window, but couldn't seem to form two words in a row. "Thought… trouble…"

Michiko seemed to get the gist. "Yeah I can be a bit of a screamer, sorry I made you worry." She opened the door and motioned for Akane to enter. "But that's not why you came here today is it? You want to ask me about your little present." She made sure the door was locked and guided her beet red friend into the back room.

Akane was worried for a moment that the room she was being led into was the one where she had watched Michiko and her lover break all sorts of health codes, but it turned out to be an office instead. Michiko offered Akane a seat before sitting down behind the desk herself. "So? Did it work?"

Akane managed to marginally get over her embarrassment in order to respond. "Yes, I can touch my ki much more easily now thanks to you. I just need a little training on how to control it better." She was surprised at the fact that she wasn't screaming at the woman in front of her for piercing her in the first place, but didn't dwell to heavily on it. It really did work after all. "I'm still trying to get used to feeling it though, it can be… uncomfortable… at times."

Michiko opened a drawer in her desk and started rummaging around. "Is it a burning sensation or itching?" she asked as she pulled out various bottles of soap and ointment. "My school has ways of speeding up healing time and lessening the chance of infection, but you still need to wash and be careful with it for a while afterwards."

Akane's face, which had finally resumed it's natural shade of pink, darkened once more as the blood rushed back. "No, it's not… bad… just uncomfortable…"

Michiko stared at Akane for a while before she read between the lines. "Ahhhh, so little Akane-chan is much more virginal than I originally thought," she said with a smirk. "That's natural Akane. In fact you might want to explore those feelings a little more yourself next time you get some privacy." Her smirk became an amused smile as Akane nearly fell out of her chair.

"I… I don't… you know… it's perverted!" Akane protested.

Struggling to keep from laughing at the younger woman, Michiko shook her head at the naïveté of that statement. "Trust me Akane, it will help you blow off some of that steam that's been building for quite some time. Plus, it's a good way to get your heart pumping, your endorphins flowing, and when you're pierced the way you are, it can help you with your control issues as well." She leaned across the desk. "It's even better when you do it with someone special, but I can see you're not ready for that quite yet."

Happy that a means to change the subject had come up, Akane pounced on it. "So who was that guy you were… with… earlier?"

"Osamu-chan? He's my boyfriend," Michiko replied, then looked down at her hands and smiled. "Actually, he's my fiancé now. He asked me to marry him this afternoon and I said yes! You walked in on us celebrating." She held up her left hand to show off her new piece of jewelry, a silver ring with a tiny diamond mounted on top circling her ring finger on her left hand.

Akane smiled and offered her congratulations as Michiko bubbled with excitement about her upcoming nuptials. She tried to pay attention to what the older woman was saying, but the things she had said earlier about how to help her control her ki kept nagging at her. She couldn't actually… could she?

---***---

Looking up information about body piercings on Wikipedia is fun AND educational!

In case anyone has any fears that Michiko is going to turn into a Mary Sue character, I can assure you that is the last thing I want. She is only going to play a supporting role as Akane's new friend and mentor. She isn't going to try to get her to end up with Ranma or vice versa. Besides, she couldn't be more different than me. I don't have any piercings or tattoos, due to the fact that I hate needles.

Chapter 3 is started, but has a way to go yet before it's complete. I can tell you however that it contains a rather naughty scene where Akane gets to know herself a little better, and Ranma tries to figure out exactly what Akane's been up to this week. Hilarity ensues!