NOTICE: None of these characters belong to me and I haven't made a single cent by writing this story! I have no money, don't sue me!

NOTICE II: If you're offended by sex, bondage, sadism, masochism, dominance, or submission, then you don't know what you're missing! You also shouldn't be reading this story!

Ranma, despite his better judgment, continued the training regiment that Nabiki and Kasumi had set out for him. As the days passed by he learned progressively more about what women talked about among themselves. He also learned, mostly through trial and error, what not to say in the presence of the fairer gender. Working at the 'novelty shop' Kasumi recommended did a great job of curing the poor boy of his incredible prudishness as well. That's not to say that our hero didn't stammer and blush every time someone bought a vibrator or a set of edible panties from him, but at least now he knew such things existed, and, thanks to some of the more talkative customers, how they were used. By the end of the week Ranma was even capable of coming home without a scratch on him, barring the ones he received from his regular rivals of course.

He imagined that he might even be enjoying the work he was doing if Nabiki hadn't been holding onto all the money he was supposedly making. Nabiki said he'd get it back when Kasumi thought he was ready though, so he didn't mind too much. It was only money after all, and Ranma rarely needed it for anything more than paying off Nabiki anyway.

By the second week, Ranma had a comfortable pattern down. Sell underwear from the time school let out to the time dinner was served, sell makeup from the time dinner was finished to the time the sun went down, and then sell sex toys from the time the sun went down until it was time for bed. That pattern, however, was about to change. By Thursday evening Kasumi had decided Ranma was ready to move on to the next stage of his training. Friday night would be an evening long remembered by our hero as the night his life finally came into focus.

"THE SECRETS OF CONTROL – AN EVENING OUT"

A Ranma ½ Fanfiction by GundamAce

Part I-C of the Lemon/Lime continuity

(Insert Theme Music of Choice Here)

On Friday afternoon a young and very unaware Ranma-chan walked into the Victoria's Secret in the Nermia mall for another hard day at work. She was just putting her jacket up behind the counter when her manager walked in and gave her a puzzled look.

"Hay Ranma. I didn't think you were coming in today?" the older woman greeted in confusion.

"Huh?" Ranma responded intelligently. "Why wouldn't I? I do work here, don't I?"

"Yeah, but you weren't scheduled for a shift today," Ranma's employer answered.

"That's strange," a perplexed Ranma mused aloud. "I could have sworn Nabiki said…"

"I did." The voice of the woman in question piped in from behind. Ranma quickly turned to see the two oldest Tendo sisters standing in the doorway of her little shop. Nabiki was smiling the devil's grin and Kasumi had a kettle in her hands. "We needed to get you out of the house," Nabiki continued.

"Hello Ranma. How's the training coming along?" Kasumi offered in polite greeting.

"…fine, I guess," Ranma-chan mumbled as she took the offered kettle. A quick splash later and she was a he again. "Now, what's all this about getting out of the house?"

"It's time for some advanced training!" Nabiki exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Why do feel I'm not going to like this?" Ranma questioned as he wearily eyed the madly grinning Nabiki.

"I couldn't imagine," Kasumi replied innocently enough. Somehow that only served to further trigger Ranma's keen danger sense.

"Anyway, before the special training begins, we need to do something about your wardrobe." Nabiki stated, once again drawing the attention of the now highly suspicious martial artist.

"What's wrong with the one I got?" he asked carefully, hoping for some hint to his fate.

"Oh, nothing's wrong with it." Kasumi responded in a somewhat disarming manner. "We just thought it might help you stay in character a bit to have a costume."

"In character?"

At Ranma's question Nabiki held up the all too familiar book and gestured to it with a nod of her head. "Yeah. You know? In character," she said with a broadening smile.

"Ah…" Ranma apparently didn't know how to take this turn of events, so he chose to do what his recent training had taught him to do in such situations. He shut up so that he could listen better.

"Oh this is going to be so fun!" Kasumi proclaimed as she grabbed hold of Ranma's arm and began dragging him out into the mall. "Let's go Ranma!"

* * *

The next few hours were spent hopping from store to store playing dress up with Ranma. The poor boy was dressed in everything from silk to leather in an effort to find a look that was, to quote Nabiki, "bad ass". Skull caps, chain belts, chaps, vests, gloves, and even a pair of speedos went into the dressing room with our hero as his two lady friends tried to agree on the perfect look.

Eventually Ranma walked out of the dressing room in a black lace up poet's shirt and his black slacks. Kasumi looked him over and finally decided to do away with the laces on the shirt, exposing Ranma's chest to the navel. Ranma wasn't certain, but he thought perhaps the older girl's hands lingered a bit longer than they needed to on the soft fabric of the thin shirt. Kasumi stepped away with the slight trace of a blush on her cheeks and a large grin on her face.

Nabiki stepped in next to do her own work on the piece. She tried several accessories that she seemed completely unsatisfied with before she stumbled on a red silk sash that she tied around his waste. That addition seemed to satisfy her.

Once they were happy with their adjustments, both women stepped back to admire their handy work. "It's perfect!" Kasumi declared.

"I don't know," Nabiki remarked idly. "It looks a little too… dark." She stepped back a bit more to take a better look at the whole outfit.

"Ridiculous!" Kasumi gushed. "It's just flawless!" Nabiki took note of the fact that her sister was spending a little bit more time gazing at the boy's rather muscular chest than she was at his stylin' threads. She shrugged it off quickly though. After all, it was a rather nice chest, and there was no harm in looking, right?

Ranma turned to face the dressing room mirror. He spent a few minutes adjusting and smoothing the fabric with a doubtful look on his face. "I feel like Zorro," he finally declared.

"Yeah, that's a pretty accurate description," Nabiki was forced to agree. Kasumi wouldn't let their distaste for the color ruin her good mood though.

"It'll be just perfect for tonight!" she beamed.

Ranma made a few final efforts to pick over the outfit, but could find no argument against it that warranted robbing Kasumi of her blissful smile. "Tonight?" he finally asked, wondering what other horrors he'd be forced to endure that day. Trying on that speedo had rattled him enough already.

"Kasumi and I are taking you out for a 'test run'," Nabiki answered with a sly grin.

A little bit of apprehension found its way to Ranma's face as he glanced at the two sisters. "Out? Out where?"

"A little night spot Kasumi knows," Nabiki supplied conspiratorially.

"I just know you'll love it, Ranma!" the still giddy Kasumi added as she allowed her eyes to pass over her future brother-in-law one last time. Suddenly her smile left her, and she found she had to look away from the boy. "Maybe you and Akane can go together sometime…"

Ranma noted Kasumi's cheer lessen as the last sentence left her lips. For some reason the older girl's sudden wistfulness seemed to softly brush at the edge of his danger senses. "Uh, sure," he supplied, for some unknown reason momentarily embarrassed. "So, ah, what is this place?" He asked, trying to gently shift the topic of conversation.

"It's called 'The Inferno'," Nabiki supplied. She too had caught the sudden shift in the atmosphere, but she felt it best not to comment on it at the moment. "It's sort of like an exotic nightclub," she explained.

The sudden reminder of their destination seemed to snap Kasumi out of her reverie, and she was quickly smiling once again. Everyone could tell it was a little more forced than the one she previously wore, but they all let it slide. The party made their way to the cashier, talking amiably amongst themselves all the way. By the time they left the mall the strange incident was largely forgotten.

* * *

It was dark... sort of. There were occasional bursts of colored light that would sweep overhead from hanging disco balls and strobes, but that light wasn't really useful so much as it was distracting. And the music was too loud. Of course, that was hard to tell over the noise of the crowd, but the powerful bass that swept its way through the room served to remind all present that the band was still playing. Yes, it was dark and loud… and it smelled funny too, Ranma noticed. There was tobacco smoke in the room that was mixing with something else… Some sort of a sweet, thick kind of sent that touched on some primitive instinct.

Slowly our hero's senses grew acclimated to this strange new environment. When our Dom in training finally did get a good look at the room, he found the sensory input had somewhat the same effect as Akane's mallet. In other words, he was stunned into a complete and utter stupor.

There were dozens, perhaps even hundreds of people crammed into the dark, pulsating chamber. Most of them were in various stages of undress that broke all rules of social decency. Some were dancing, others were sitting and enjoying the shows around them, and a few were engaged in processes so extreme that some married couples wouldn't try them the privacy of their own bedrooms.

The source of the smell became disgustingly apparent as Ranma's eyes focused. Sweat. It was everywhere. It covered everything… the people… the furniture… the floor. It mixed with alcohol, and blood, and… other natural fluids… The air itself tasted of forbidden things.

Our hero summoned all the power he could find remaining within himself to regain control of his mouth for a moment, just so he could try and put to words the shear force and scope of the spectacle before him. In a single breath he managed to utter fourth the only fitting description he could fathom. "Oh my…"

"This is quite the hang out you have, sis," Nabiki said. Obviously she didn't find the view nearly as overpowering as her future brother-in-law did.

"Isn't it great!" Kasumi gushed with pride as she inhaled deeply the rich aroma of the room and let the atmosphere consume her for a short moment.

"…Oh my…" Ranma stuttered again, still gazing off into the sea of flesh. Nabiki turned to him and waved her hand before his unblinking face a few times to see if she could break him from the crowd's hypnotic spell.

"I told you he'd snap before we got a table," she smiled as she turned back to Kasumi. "That's 5,000 yen, Sis!"

"…Oh my…" Ranma chimed again as if to prove Nabiki's point.

Kasumi fretted a bit as she pulled a sum of bills from her purse. "Oh dear. I had really hoped he'd be better prepared for this."

"Kasumi, this is Ranma we're talking about, here."

"But he's been doing so well!"

"I know," the younger Tendo answered with a broad grin. "But old inhibitions die hard."

It was at that moment that one of the lovely young waitresses that were so popular at this club walked up to the unusual party.

"Master, Mistresses, It's my distinct honor to welcome you to the Inferno. I hope I can serve you well," she announced as she bowed her head to the group.

"Why hello Yuri! How have you been?" Kasumi beamed as she affectionately patted the shorter girl on the top of her bowed head.

"Very well, Mistress Kasumi, thank you for asking."

"Good! I'd like to introduce you to my sister Nabiki…"

To Nabiki's credit, she did muster up a "Hi," as she stared dumbly at the busty little waitress to whom her Sister had begun to cling. It was better than most of the people who thought they knew Kasumi could have done.

"…And Master Ranma," the elder Sister continued, seemingly uncaring of her younger sibling's gawking.

Realizing that someone had approached, Ranma managed to divert his attention from the crowd, only to have it refocus on the girl whose backside Kasumi was now gently caressing in what was apparently a subconscious way.

The waitress was just barely above five feet in height, with short, dark hair that seemed to explode in every direction. She was wearing an un-functionally tiny little black apron and a thin strap of leather around her neck, and that was about it as far as Ranma could tell. The boy also noticed, in a sort of detached way, that the girl was clearly having difficulty remaining in her submissive position with Kasumi running her hands all over the girl's bottom like that.

"…Oh my…" he choked out yet again.

"It's an honor to serve you both," Yuri pressed on as best she could with what was obviously a prepared greeting. "May I show you to your table now?" she gasped as Kasumi's wandering hand dipped into someplace nobody else in the party really expected it would go.

"That would be lovely, Yuri, thank you," The elder Tendo answered as she absently licked the tips of her now free fingers clean.

The party made its way up a set of stairs against the inside wall and towards a table near the back of a quieter loft area. Nabiki kept her disbelieving stare locked on her elder sister the whole way there. Ranma's gaze only served to confirm his suspicion that the apron was indeed the only thing their waitress was wearing.

* * *

"Your usual table, Mistress Kasumi," Yuri said as she gestured to the little corner booth.

The three guests took their seats and began to settle in as Yuri kneeled next to Kasumi with her head once again falling to a submissive position. It was apparent that her actions were unnerving the two youngest members of the group, but Mistress Kasumi seemed content enough with the situation, and that was all that was important… at least as far as Yuri was concerned. "How may I serve you tonight?" she asked softly.

"I think drinks will be sufficient for now, dear." Kasumi replied as she gently ran her fingers through the pretty waitress's hair. "How about a kettle of tea?"

"Yes Mistress. Will that be all?"

Nabiki, noticing that it was time to order, shook herself out of her stunned state to try and take advantage of the situation. "Actually, I'd like…"

"Yes. That will be all. Thank you." Kasumi interrupted in a very stern and un-Kasumi-like way.

Bowing her head to the sticky floor, Yuri whispered a "Yes Mistress," and then scampered back towards what must have been the kitchen. In the mean time Nabiki tried to assess the change in her sister and Ranma started to blink himself back to reality.

"…Uh… Kasumi?" The boy finally managed.

"Looks like his brain just rebooted," Nabiki quipped with an amused grin.

Ignoring Nabiki, Kasumi assumed her most peaceful demeanor and addressed the struggling young man. "Yes Ranma?"

"Wha… what is this place?"

Kasumi thought over the most tactful way to answer the question. "It's a nightclub of sorts…"

"It's a BDSM club, Ranma," Nabiki supplied. Screw tact. It didn't seem very effective or very appropriate in this environment.

"Oh." Ranma thought for a minute, assessing the current situation. All in all it wasn't so bad once you got used to it. True, the bass from the music made his stomach do flip flops. True the smell of smoke and… um… other stuff took some getting used to. But all in all, it wasn't as bad as it could be. That's what really bugged Ranma. There had to be more. "Uh, why'd you bring me here?"

"Nabiki and I decided you needed to… um… 'toughen up' before your big day tomorrow." The resident Mistress responded with a smile.

"Kasumi thought this was the perfect place to teach you how to hit a girl," Nabiki helpfully filled in.

"HIT A GIRL!!? Are you nuts!?"

Okay, so maybe it wasn't so helpful really. "That's what all this has been about, isn't it?" Kasumi, the absolute picture of calm and poise, asked.

"Yeah, Ranma, lighten up." Nabiki interjected. "It's not like Akane hasn't been asking you to do it, ya know."

"Uh… Look, it's not that I don't appreciate the effort or nothing, but I don't think I can do this…" Ranma stammered.

"That's exactly the quality that makes you a good Master." The eldest Tendo daughter continued with great seriousness.

At this statement both her companions gave her a somewhat lost look.

Kasumi sighed at the ignorance of youth and went on to elaborate. "Your restraint and personal control makes you acceptable for this role. That's why I agreed to help."

"I don't get it?" Ranma answered after a moment of silent contemplation.

"Yeah…" Nabiki agreed. "Isn't a master supposed to get off on hitting his slave?"

"Sometimes hitting yes," Kasumi went on. "Hurting no. Never hurting."

Ranma shook his head. "I still don't get it."

"It's hard to explain," Kasumi continued. "Let Me try explaining it like this… You're a martial artist, right Ranma?"

"This isn't going to be another one of those allergy things again, is it?" The pigtailed youth pleaded.

"That's analogy you moron!" Nabiki seethed. This whole project was starting to make her head hurt. She hated not understanding anything.

Kasumi continued as though she hadn't even been interrupted. "Have you ever felt physical pain when practicing?"

"Sure, all the time. Goes with the territory."

"If it hurts, why do you do it?" Kasumi asked.

"Well, I guess it doesn't hurt that bad most of the time, besides, it's worth it."

"For the submissive, it's the same way," She went on. "Physical pain is part of a formula that leads to a greater pleasure. Eventually the sensations of pain are even anticipated and enjoyed, kind of like how I imagine you must feel when you come home from a good fight. You're covered from head to toe in scratches, cuts, and bruises, but you're always full of energy and grinning from ear to ear."

Ranma stopped and thought for a moment. "Oh… I think I get it."

"Right, well I'm glad you do at least," Nabiki blandly stated.

"That's why it's important for the dominant to have good control then. In order to keep the submissive from really getting hurt?" the boy questioned as various ideas and concepts finally started to fall into place.

"Exactly!" Kasumi exclaimed brightly. "That's why you're here instead of Akane. She has virtually no control of herself."

"Her temper you mean?"

"Yes. That's why you have to be the dominant one."

"I still don't see why we need to do this. Can't we both be equal or something?" Ranma pleaded.

Kasumi smiled gently at her new student. "Ranma, I don't know if you've noticed, but Akane lives to make you happy."

"How can you say that?!" Ranma all but exploded at the thought. "She's always hitting me and calling me names and trying to poison me and stuff!"

The impromptu teacher shook her had at the simple follies of her student's logic. Ranma had this amazing way of not seeing what was right in front of him when it came to Akane. Oh well, nothing to do but spell it out for the poor boy. "Akane works hard to cook for you, or become a great martial artist for you, because she wants you to be happy with her. That's why she's so upset when you insult her. She feels like she's failed you and it breaks her heart."

"You think?" Ranma seemed to be having a great deal of difficulty with that particular world view.

"It does make sense." Nibiki interjected.

"Ranma," Kasumi continued, "Akane needs ground rules. She needs you to spell out for her exactly what she needs to do to make you happy, otherwise she's going to keep getting hurt."

"So? I could just tell her she makes me happy the way she is, couldn't I?"

"That certainly would help." Kasumi looked hard at the young man, hoping he'd finally appreciate the significance of what he'd just admitted.

"Fine! So I don't need to hit nobody then! Let's get outta here!" Ranma pushed himself away from the table, stood, and turned to leave. He probably should have realized it wasn't going to be that easy, but then again, this is Ranma we're talking about.

"Ranma! Sit!" The weight of the command, given by the normally docile and friendly Kasumi, was staggering. Ranma's head whipped back around, bug eyed, to stare at the eldest Tendo. In fact, pretty much every head on the upper landing turned towards the secluded and usually very private corner booth.

It took a few moments for the weight of all those questioning stares to penetrate our hero's shock, but when it did he at least had the good grace to blush. "Uh… Heh heh…" Ranma laughed sickly as he slowly reclaimed his seat, doing his best to ignore the collective attention of the rest of the room.

Silence reigned at the table for a short time as Kasumi waited for privacy to return to the little booth. Finally, when she was satisfied that their conversation was once again private, she continued. "Ranma, why did you borrow the book?"

For a moment all the boy being questioned could do was stutter and scratch the base of his pigtail, but the hard stare of the older girl would not abate.

"Ranma, why?" she asked again, unperturbed by the martial artist's discomfort.

"I donno…"

"Yes you do. Tell me."

Again the boy began to stutter, his face flushing brilliant red as he tried to find a safe place to avert his eyes to. The club wasn't giving him many options on that front.

"Just say it Ranma." Kasumi's patience, inexhaustible as it may sometimes seem to be, was beginning to reach its limit. Her fingers were drumming the table and the stare she had been leveling at the boy had turned into an outright glare.

"Do I gotta?"

"Ranma, tell me NOW!" the erstwhile homebody snapped as her hands came crashing down on the table.

"Fine! I thought it was kinna exciting!" The boy shouted back. "There! I said it! You happy now?!"

Silence reigned for a few moments as the crowd nearby once again turned to the back table in curiosity. The pigtailed youth was practically radiating irritation and discontent. Kasumi, the unorthodox focus of said discontent, was desperately trying to reign in her own frustrations. Oddly enough, it seemed the middle Tendo sister was shocked into silence by the unexpected display. It was a taboo rarely witnessed in Nermia and thankfully most of the local patrons decided they would rather not be involved. Privacy returned quickly to the secluded booth.

Finishing her calming breath, Kasumi mustered up all the compassion and understanding she could pump into her voice. "Ranma, Akane needs this. She's already your slave. Her whole existence revolves around making you happy."

With the soothing balm of Kasumi's voice, Ranma found his own center. He sank back into his chair, the fight leaving him. "Yeah, but hitting her… Are you sure she wants that?"

"Like Nabiki said… She's been asking you to for quite some time now."

"In training!" The boy countered, "While we're sparing! While she can fight back!"

"She finds the prospect of you proving your dominance exciting. Now I'm not saying she wants you to rush into her room tomorrow night, tie her up, and start wailing on her backside with a riding crop, but I do think she might eventually come to really enjoy those sorts of things if you come to them in the proper time. I also think that you'd enjoy doing it if you knew she was happy that way."

"If you say so." There was a clear ring of doubt in the boy's voice, but he could find no fault with Kasumi's argument for the moment.

* * *

Author's Notes - This chapter isn't finished, but I figured I better release what I've got before it sits on my harddrive untouched for another five years.