Jedi Kasumi
(A Ranma/Star Wars Crossover)
by Jim Robert Bader
(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi & George Lucas,
with ideas and inspiration provided by friends like Brandon Kelley and others.)
Episode Twenty-Six:
Wrath of the Conned
Having given Akane a stern lecture about her conduct from her Mother and her Sensei, the youngest Tendo sister has been offered advanced training in the Jedi arts, provided she can prove to Trieste that she is not moving towards the Dark side...
Akane, chastened by this warning, is nonetheless attempting to initiate a steady relationship with the former Sith apprentice,
Ukyo Kuonji. Unfortunately for her,
Ukyo is leery about deepening her ties to Akane, whom she regards as a hopeless rake incapable of long-term commitments...
Meanwhile,
Nabiki, Kasumi & Ranma have made a new friend in the person of one Hikaru Gosunkugi, a boy with hidden talents that may prove useful to the Jedi, provided he can recover from a recent bout with a Kasumi-deranged Tofu Sensei...
"Man, does it hurt?" Ranma asked as they walked back from the clinic.
"A little," Gosunkugi admitted, "Takes a bit of getting used to seeing the world at this angle..."
"I am so very sorry, Hikaru-kun," Kasumi apologized for the tenth time in as many minutes, "I had no idea that you were visiting Tofu-Sensei and would be present when he heard my voice. My only concern was in seeking out my sister and Ranma-kun..."
"It's all right...kind of," Gosunkugi replied, his head tilted sideways at an acute angle, "I don't blame you, Tendo-san...but...what is the deal with that doctor anyway? How can just hearing your voice make him lose all control like that and...well..."
"Start behaving like a loon?" Nabiki finished for the afflicted boy, "The Force only knows, but for many years now he's had this strange fascination for my sister."
"Yes," Kasumi sighed, "I really don't understand it myself, but ever since I turned fourteen...well...Tofu-Sensei has tended to...notice me in a very odd manner..."
"You mean he's in love with you?" Gosunkugi asked, then remembered his manners enough to say, "Ah, not that it's any of my business..."
"Huh, I'd say he made it your business," Ranma noted, feeling the need to say something as he winced every time that he glanced at Gosunkugi, "Remind me never to visit the doc when you're around, Kasumi."
"Yes," Kasumi sighed again, "I'm not sure that I would call it love...but Tofu-
Sensei...um...well...he has this..."
"Crush?" Nabiki offered helpfully.
"Yes, but I would have preferred to say infatuation," Kasumi responded, "Sometimes a young man will feel something towards a woman that he...admires from a distance, but it is not always reciprocated by the other party in question."
"You mean he loves you...but you don't feel the same way about him?" Gosunkugi gently probed.
"Yessss," Kasumi's sigh was even more heartfelt, "And I am very sorry about that. He really is a very nice man, and I used to think he was so funny the way he acted when I was around...but over time...I just haven't felt the same feelings grow towards him that I'm sure he was expecting. I have never done anything to encourage him or give him the false impression that my...respect for him was genuine affection, and...in truth...he disturbs me a little the way he sometimes loses all control and can actually hurt people without thinking. Tofu-Sensei is a very gentle man who would never dream of harming a fly, but the moment that I am around I can sense the way the pattern of his thoughts goes all awry, and...I feel guilty for causing this. I don't know how to change his attitude towards me, but I thought being away for two years might have tempered his behavior slightly."
"Yeah, well, no offense, Sis," Nabiki said, "But it's been a lot quieter around Tofu-Sensei those two years you weren't around to give his patients nightmare. Not that it's your fault he's like that, and I'd love to find a way to calm him down, but only Sensei Trieste knows how to influence him that way. I even tried talking to his mom when she showed up a few months back looking to marry the doc off to this lady bodybuilder and...um...well..." she glanced sidelong at Ranma.
"You mean he might have found someone else?" Kasumi felt bad about the note of hopefulness that she detected in her own voice.
"So what happened?" Ranma wondered.
"Ah..." it was Nabiki's turn to heave a sigh, "Well...if you must know, Tofu-
Sensei wasn't too thrilled about his mom's choice of a potential wife, so he asked me to help him out and...well...I sort of pretended to be his fianc e...just for a while, mind you..."
"HIS FIANCEE?" Ranma blurted out, surprised at the heat and wave of jealousy this caused him.
"Take it easy," Nabiki urged, "It was just pretend, and only for a few days, but it didn't quite work out. His mom eliminated me from the running by declaring that my hips weren't big enough to suit her ideal for a woman," she sniffed at that and frowned for a moment, "But she thought Akane was just right, go figure. Too bad Tofu-Sensei didn't take the hint and turn to little Sis to solve his problems, it might have put a stop to Akane's rampaging ways and made mom and dad happy since they'd be getting a doctor in the family. Unfortunately Tofu's hooked on you and not Akane..."
"Akane," Gosunkugi paused a moment to ask, "She's one of our classmates, right? The one who sat by you and that other guy in class, right?"
"Guy?" Ranma blinked, "Oh, you mean Ucchan? Uh...she's not a guy, Gos, she just dresses like that."
"You're kidding?" Gosunkugi exclaimed, "Kuonji Ukyo's a woman? Now why didn't I see that?"
"Hey, it's a long story," Ranma shrugged, "Anyway, Akane's real close to Ucchan these days...maybe even a little too close, if you take my meaning."
"Close?" Gosunkugi asked, "How?"
"Like more than buddies," Nabiki said a bit sourly, "I'm still not sure if I approve or disapprove of the association. Kuonji's still an apprenticed Sith in my eyes, but Akane really seems hung up on her for some reason. I'm not sure how Kuonji feels about it, though, even if she's been used lately as Shampoo and Akane's little fuck-toy."
"Nabiki," Kasumi gently chided.
"Sorry about my language, Oneechan, but facts are facts," Nabiki replied, "Kuonji used to be the toughest and most dangerous of Darth Purge's little Sith posse, and I still haven't forgotten that mini-spat that she planted in my shoulder. Up until recently she was after Ranma-kun with the intent to either kill or marry him, and yet when she tossed that away during the race I had the impression she was giving herself a sense of closure on that issue."
"I, too, have worried about the way Akane-chan has changed from the little girl that I remember," Kasumi noted, "When Sensei and I left two years ago she was bright, inquisitive and still open to the ways of the Force, but when I saw her a little over a month ago she had altered so much that I almost did not recognize her. There was anger there, and other emotions, and I could tell that she was no longer as innocent as she was when she used to cling to my knee for comfort. All that fighting with her fellow students in the morning did something to change her...and then I noticed how she tended to stray in her attention towards other female students..."
"Hey, even I never figured out just how far gone Akane's gotten until recently," Nabiki frowned, "With my resources and perceptions you would think that I would have noticed when she became...sexually active, and I've even felt her sometimes checking me out when she thought I wasn't looking, and then when the old pervert showed up I thought maybe that he and Akane spent a little too much time together..."
"Um, excuse me?" Gosunkugi asked, now thoroughly bewildered.
"Hey, I'm with you on that, guy," Ranma sniffed while swatting the other boy squarely between the shoulder blades, "Try figuring out that Tomboy and she'll drive you nuts, believe me."
Gosunkugi gave a rush of air that sounded like a whoop at the unintended force of that backslap and went down flat against the sidewalk. Ranma gave a start and looked down at the sprawled boy and was immediately contrite, "Hey! I'm sorry, Man, I didn't realize..."
"Ah...don't mention it," Gosunkugi wheezed, wondering if his spine had been dislocated by that slap. But then, as he tried to push himself back up into a sitting position, he discovered to his amazement that his head was now angled in the right manner, "Hey, I'm cured!"
"Whoah," Nabiki blinked as she stared down at the pale, slight boy, "Instant recovery, huh? That was some backslap, Ranma-kun."
"Hey, I didn't mean to hit him so hard," Ranma insisted as he reached down to help the other boy to his feet, "Man, don't you have any muscle tone? A little swat like that shouldn't have hurt you this bad..."
"Um...well..." Gosunkugi was conflicted in his feelings on the manner, accepting the other boy's hand while feeling a surge of resentment and envy at the natural strength and robust health that he felt from that brief moment of contact, "No harm done, really..."
"That's good," Nabiki smiled, "Be a shame if a talented resource like you got damaged this easy. Still, Ranma-kun has a point. Have you ever considered studying the martial arts? No offense, but you look like you could use a little development."
"Me?" Gosunkugi blinked, "Study martial arts? But..."
"Sure," Nabiki winked, "Ranma-kun here could teach you a few basics. He's been training in the art since he was old enough to walk, right?"
"Um...kind of," Ranma replied, "I dunno, Nabiki...I've never really taught anyone before. I'm still learning all I can about this Force stuff you and Kasumi have been teaching me..."
Gosunkugi felt even more bewildered than ever, looking from the two Tendo sisters to the rugged boy before him. By their auras he could tell that they were being entirely sincere and were fully intending to help him, including Ranma. Far from acting the part of the bully and lording it over Gosunkugi, as he could quite easily do if he had a mind to, Saotome was actually treating Gosunkugi like an old friend, not a recent acquaintance. There was no dissembly on any of their parts, not even from the clever Nabiki, and yet he could feel the potency in their auras and knew that they were strong in ways he barely comprehended, which meant that they had no reason to lie to him or offer him false expectations.
(They're nice), Gosunkugi thought in mild wonder, (I can't remember the time that I've ever hung around with such basically **nice** people...).
All at once the older Tendo sister, who was looking away from them, said, "Nabiki?"
"Well, what about it, Sis?" Nabiki replied, "You think Ranma-kun has what it takes to be a teacher?"
"We are not alone," Kasumi replied, indicating with a nod the three hard-looking men who had just stepped into their path at the far end of the sidewalk.
Nabiki turned but did not look at those men before noting, "Yeah...I can feel them too. Rats crawling up from the sewer..."
"Huh?" Ranma said, feeling a twinge of danger-senses as he glanced over h is shoulder and saw four more men cutting off their potential path of retreat, "Who are these guys?"
Gosunkugi knew and immediately quailed, "They found me!"
"Found you?" Nabiki asked, then glanced over her other shoulder and said, "Oh."
"Yakuza," Gosunkugi's voice shook as he murmured the word, "I recognize them...they work for the boss, the one my boss worked for, the Obuyun."
"That's right, Little Man," a designated group spokesman said, stepping forward from the rest, "We heard about what happened to poor Hijime-san, and we're here to collect on a debt. You hurt him, made a mess of his little outfit, and now we're going to make a mess of you as an example to anyone who disrespects the Yakuza."
Nabiki ignored the spokesman and continued sensing their periphery, murmuring softly "I make out twenty of them in all, Oneechan, including the two guys holding crossbows in the upper floor window."
"You forgot the man behind the water tower," Kasumi just as casually noted.
"Hey, I was including him, but he's just a lookout, not a fighter," Nabiki shrugged, "I suppose we could take him out last to make sure he doesn't call in reinforcements."
"Just leave the guys on the right side to me," Ranma smiled while smacking fist-
to-palm, "They won't be a problem."
"Fine," Nabiki said, "Then the guys on the left belong to me. Keep an eye out for that rear and let Kasumi handle the main body."
Gosunkugi blinked and looked from one calm speaker to the other, "Uh...you're not...thinking of fighting them do you? These aren't like those punks you met earlier, these are REAL Yakuza!"
"Man, you sure don't have a lot of confidence in us, do you?" Ranma sniffed before thumping a fist against his other palm, "Jut leave it to us and sit this one out, Egghead. You're more valuable to your folks alive than all beat up by these goons."
"Hey!" the lead spokesman got over his own shock and dismay as he declared, "I'm still talking here! How dare you disrespect me!"
"Could you keep it down for a bit, would you, guys? Said, "We're trying to decide something important, but we'll get to you in another minute."
The leader was clearly not a patient sort and so he cried, "Get them!" just to illustrate his point on who he thought should be commanding the most attention.
His men, only mildly shaken at the casual way in which their alleged victims were behaving, at once complied, only to have the front line of their numbers come within range of their opponents and thus received a savage counter-attack that was as effective as it was wholly unexpected.
The two men who attempted to approach Kasumi clearly expected her to be the easiest one to handle, seeing only a very pretty girl in an odd form of archaic dress over a century out of place for the times, and little suspecting that this dress allowed her a full range of movement, such as when her foot rose up in fifty-two degree angled kick that connected a wooden sandal with the chin of her first opponent, followed by a rapid spinning kick that sent the other hood soaring backward for a good ten meters. The power, control and ease with which she moved took everyone by surprise since she performed this maneuver with an entirely calm expression.
Nabiki just smiled that lopsided smile of hers and raised an arm when her assailants tried to rush her, only to be met by an invisible wall that picked them up and sent them soaring backwards. Ranma's opponents were even less lucky to discover that this whipcord-thin boy could punch and kick with the power of a hammer, and the men he decked landed a good distance away and did not get up again from where they fell, quite clearly driven unconscious.
That abruptly removed eight of the twenty-odd attackers, causing the remaining baker's dozen to react with more alarm and greater caution. Some of these produced weapons from concealment, but at the sight of the first gun Nabiki reached into her sleeve and pulled out a metal rod of her own. Triggering the stud at the side it telescoped out into a pole with one end weighted against the other, and with this in hand she immediately leaped high over the heads of the men wielding weapons, astonishing them as she seemed to defy the pull of gravity before landing in their midst and dispatching them down with quick and economical moves that were little more than an eyeblink and left her standing in control of her corner of the battle.
Ranma saw a weapon being leveled towards him and reacted like a machine, easily side-stepping the thrust of a katana before attacking the arm that held it and causing the man connected to that arm to scream in pain from a fractured wrist and a dislocated shoulder. A palm strike put that man out of his misery and sent him off to dreamland even as Ranma turned to his next opponent and struck with blinding speed and precision, lashing out with a back-kick to finish off the last assailant to come within reach.
Kasumi's hands became a blur as she stepped towards the man pointing a machine pistol in her direction and a flash of light shot from her to slice the weapon in half. A wave of her hand sent two more men tumbling backwards for a good fifteen meters, and then she spun around and brought the tip of her light saber to hover close under the chin of the leader of these thugs, who alone had remained standing and not attacking, overconfidently trusting in his men to render him the victory in this battle..
Kasumi did not even show a flicker of emotion as she calmly said, "I would suggest that you surrender and leave now. We have no quarrel with you, nor you with us, but if you continue to press the matter then we cannot be held accountable for the outcome."
The man just gawked in dismay as he felt the heat from the tip of that saber and realized that he was only still breathing from the good graces of the Kami, to say nothing of this SCARY woman who fought without anger or hate as though fearing nothing and considering such things to be totally beneath her. Her gentle demeanor belied a tigress who could take larger men down without so much as breaking a sweat, and he knew instinctively that crossing her was NOT a good career option.
The crack of a rifle shot could be heard all the way down the street, but Nabiki's staff flashed a magnetically curved blade of concentrated laser energy and her Naginata moved to intercept the bullet before it could find its target. The hiss of metal evaporating against the magnetically contained shell of the Naginata blade gave the leader of these hoodlums a strong taste of what it would be like to feel its touch against bare skin. Realizing that he was just that close to becoming skewered on the point of such a weapon, he did the only thing that seemed reasonable under the circumstances and abruptly fainted.
Nabiki, meanwhile, had located the shooter and reached out with her hand, guided by the Force to his location, and though he was over a hundred and twenty meters away he suddenly felt as though an invisible grasp closed around his body, and before he knew it he was being yanked off his purchase to fall a couple of stories onto an air conditioning generator, hard enough to knock him out without shattering every bone in his body. His rifle clattered to the ground some distance away, the stock cracking on impact while the weapon itself became functionally useless.
Satisfied with her own handiwork, Nabiki deactivated her naginata and collapsed the ends back into the shaft handle. She turned to give Ranma a smug look then nodded to her sister, who calmly put away her own lightsaber.
"Showoff," Ranma said to one of his two iinazuke, "Well, that was short. I thought these guys would be more of a challenge."
"I would call it anticlimactic," Nabiki sniffed, "Not one A-list fighter in the bunch, just the usual riff-raff of hoodlums and posers."
"Nonetheless, Nabiki, it would be best if we exercise caution in the near future," Kasumi said mildly, "The Yakuza are not known to give up easily when they feel it is a matter of honor at stake, and we will have to inform Mistress Trieste of this encounter the next time that we see her."
"I hear you, Oneechan," Nabiki sighed, "Guess that means we ought to get a workout the next time they show up since they're likely to send their heavies. Oh well, just as long as none of them are Force-trained..."
"Hey, you okay, guy?" Ranma asked the silent Gosunkugi, "You look kind of pale...well, uh...I mean...paler for you. You gonna be all right?"
Gosunkugi was asking himself the same question. He just stared in disbelief at the fallen bodies of the Yakuza, then at the three who had dispatched them and asked, "Who...who are you people?"
"We're the Anything Goes School of Jedi Arts, Gosunkugi-kun," Nabiki winked, "Stick with us and you might even see something really special, not just a minor row like this one."
"A minor row?" Gosunkugi repeated blandly.
"These were not very competent fighters, Hikaru-kun," Kasumi gently informed him, "I'm sure that they could seem formidable from the perspective of one of their regular victims, but we are not quite so easily dispatched, and the Jedi arts are powerful because the Force is our ally and we walk within its comforting embrace always."
"The Force?" Gosunkugi repeated.
"Yeah," Ranma clapped the boy on the shoulder (this time being sure not to use too much strength in the gesture), "Said the same thing myself when I first got here, even after learning some tricks from hanging around with Shampoo. Tell you what, why don't you stop over at the Tendo dojo and we'll give you a brief intro."
"Besides which," Nabiki winked, "I suspect you already are very strong with the Force yourself, Gosunkugi-kun. You just lack formal training, but if you hang around with us long enough you're bound to pick something up by osmosis."
"That would be a wonderful idea," Kasumi nodded, "There are many things which we could teach you about yourself if you have a mind to, Hikaru-kun. I believe that you might even go far with a little training, if our Sensei approves of having you for a student."
Something in Gosunkugi leaped up in his chest and he lifted his head for the first time, eyes shining with a long-forgotten emotion called hope, and without any hesitation on his part he replied, "I'd like to learn...whatever you could teach me. I...I want to know...everything...!"
"Could take a while," Ranma sniffed before turning a smile to his two ladies and adding, "What do you say, girls? Think he's got what it take to be a Jedi?"
"Maybe not a Jedi," Kasumi noted, "But I'm sure Hikaru-kun could learn a great deal at our dojo.
"And who knows?" Nabiki nudged the slighter boy with a playful hip-bump, "Gos-
kun here might even be useful to us. So, what do you say, Hikaru-kun? Want to take a tour of our humble little dojo."
"Please," Gosunkugi smiled back, feeling more than a little shy and awkward at having a pretty girl show him this small degree of affection. Ranma was certainly lucky to have two women both interested in him who not only looked like these two but who were genuinely beautiful on the inside. If only he could find a woman like that then he'd die a happy man...but-for the moment-he had every intention of living to see the next sunrise, if only to fill the emptiness within him with the knowledge that they had to teach. A beautiful new horizon beckoned towards him, and he knew that he would do anything to achieve it, even sell his own soul if he felt it was worth a trifle, though something in the smiles these three offered to him made him think that the cost would be not so great a burden...
Kodachi had just dismissed her fellow gymnasts and was cleaning up behind them when she chanced to hear the approach of a pair of footsteps. Ordinarily she would have her minions do the actual labor of putting the equipment away, but as she was feeling restless and in need of something to do she had sent the other girls to the showers in order to provide herself with some privacy as she attempted to sort out the array of her own emotions.
She knew implicitly that her girls were too well trained to defy her command, and the footsteps sounded much too heavy to be caused by a gymnast. If one of her pet slaves had dared to intrude upon her private musings it could only have been for the purpose of provoking Kodachi into **punishing** them for their naughty intransigence. Kodachi smiled at the thought of what she might do to such a disobedient pet, even as she slipped her ribbon into one hand and prepared to use it, gauging the location of the other party by the sounds made by approaching her from behind.
At the last second she whirled around and unleashed her ribbon, only to have the razor-sharp end of it be snatched out of the air by a hand that moved quicker than a cobra. Kodachi was startled to find the one gripping her ribbon was none other than a handsome young boy wearing a very odd outfit that seemed to combine armor and Chinese vestments with what looked like wound up pantyhose, all of which gave the boy an effete-if-rugged charm that momentarily took her breath away, especially since he was smiling upon her with a cocky, knowing smirk that fairly radiated self-confidence bordering on arrogance.
In dismay at her own surprised reactions Kodachi gasped, "Who...?"
"Call me Taro," the boy said in a voice that rumbled with raw sensualism, "But what's in a name, Beautiful? A rose like you would smell just as sweet when she's bedded."
Kodachi felt her cheeks flush crimson at the unexpected compliment, but she fought the impulse down sternly and frowned, "Who are you, impertinent fellow, and how did you get in here? Boys are not permitted in Saint Hebereke's during regular school hours..."
"What's the matter, Beautiful?" Taro asked with that condescending smirk of his, "Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? You afraid I'm gonna eat you, little girl? You do look tasty enough to make a nice snack, that I'll grant you."
Kodachi felt anger tinge her emotions even as she perversely felt aroused by the young man's odd appraisal, and with her usual imperious tones she declared, "How dare you speak that way to your betters, you...peasant! I'll have you know that I am the daughter of the noble house of Kuno..."
"Big whoop-de-doo," Taro said as he slowly started to approach the slender gymnast, making no secret of the way in which his eyes took in her long bare legs and fulsome figure, "Think that makes any difference to me? You're a prize and a jewel, that I'll grant you, but it ain't your family title that I'm interested in...it's you, Girlie, and so far I'm liking what I see of the merchandise..."
Kodachi stiffened but refused to give in to the impulse of a terrified child wanting to run away and call out for her momma. The predatory look in the other boy was making her feel uncomfortably like a deer being stalked by a hunter, but she resolutely looked the boy in the eyes and said, "I can see that you are no gentleman, but if you persist in this, then I shall call for a school administrator and have you arrested for trespass."
"Go ahead and scream," Taro leered as he continued to approach her, "I ain't like one of your domesticated little fawns who you like to get your rocks off with. I'm used to getting what I want, and what I want here is right in front of me. Tell me, Beautiful, is it true what they say about you gymnasts busting your cherry from all those leg-lifts you do in practice? Because I always wanted to find out first hand if that was true or not..."
Kodachi's hand lashed out like a shot, only to have her wrist be grabbed before she could slap his arrogant face. She tried to knee him but he easily blocked her, not even seeming to move as he next blocked her high-kick to the side of her head. Instead he grasped her ankle and used her own momentum to tumble her down onto the mattress, and then he landed on top of her, pinning her there with his greater mass and the skill of his own body.
"Let me go!" Kodachi raged, "How dare you!" but inwardly she felt a fear go through her that she had not felt since waking up to find herself tied down in the bed of Tendo Akane. That same helpless sense of dread was welling up inside her, but tempered now with the fear of actual rape impending. She knew without a single doubt that the boy was in position now to force himself on her without her ability to offer more than a token show of resistance. It was a fear that made her fight back all the more furiously, wanting to scratch his face and claw her way to freedom.
Instead of going on to ravage her, however, the Boy just held her down and kept a firm grip on her wrists before hissing, "Calm down. I ain't gonna hurt you."
"Liar!" she spat, intending to bite his lips if he tried to force a kiss on her. No way would she go down this time passively, not even to the superior force of another.
"Why would I lie?" Taro asked reasonably, easily resisting her best efforts to work herself free, "I could do anything I like to you while you're helpless like this, but I ain't never forced myself on anybody, and I ain't gonna start now, not even for a tempting little cupcake like you, Precious."
Kodachi ceased struggling but looked up at him with rounded, fearful eyes, her dread causing her to lose all pretense of haughtiness as she asked, "What do you want with me?"
"You need an explanation?" Taro asked, then he surprised her entirely by letting her go and sitting back up, rolling off of Kodachi so that the gymnast could quickly move herself out from under his body.
Kodachi fluidly assumed a cat-like crouch and stared at the dangerous boy with wary eyes, now quite aware of his strength, skill and abilities and intending not to let her guard down so that she might be taken once again with such ridiculous ease. Taro only leaned on one arm and studied her back with a confident smirk, and while Kodachi wanted to slap him once again she nonetheless held her ground, now fully cautious about lowering her guard within his presence.
"The deal is this, Cute-stuff," Taro began, "I've been watching you and I got a pretty good handle on where you come from and what you're all about. I got tempted by the packaging, but I wanted a chance to get to know you in person, so I waited until you were alone so we could maybe get to know one another. You got a problem with that?"
"No," Kodachi said reluctantly, "But when a strange boy shows up mysteriously in the gymnasium of an all-girls school claiming to have observed me from afar...well...you have to concede that it does sound more than a bit suspicious."
"Fair enough," Taro replied, "Then why don't I just get right down to the chase and say that I want to spend some time with you. Is that a problem for you, or are you only interested in girl-chasing?"
"No!" Kodachi replied just with just a bit more haste than necessary, "I like men...I mean...I'm not a lesbian, if that is what you are thinking..."
"Cool," Taro replied, "Frankly, I ain't got a problem with you rug-munching the sheep, and I wouldn't mind watching you administer some of your special kind of discipline, but I'm a he-man sort of guy and you won't catch me wearing leather and calling you Mistress. You deal with me you either deal as an equal or my bitch, that's the bottom line, Beautiful, and you can take it or leave it."
"Tempting," Kodachi mused, "But I think that I shall pass."
"So soon?" Taro gave her another patented leer, "You ain't even seen what I got to offer."
"Not interested," Kodachi at once assumed an aloof air and turned he nose up, staring off over one shoulder, "In case you haven't noticed, I am not exactly in the market for a Master..."
"Now who's being a liar here?" Taro chuckled.
Kodachi flashed an angry glare at him, "You are a cheeky fellow..."
"All part of my charm," he replied back, "Truth is...I think you want somebody to dominate you, and you'd rather it was a guy and not some frail from a lower social class. I can tell just by looking at you that you've never had a boyfriend..."
"What?" Kodachi flinched, "How...?"
"The way you blushed right now," Taro indicated, "A more experienced girl wouldn't react like that. My guess is, excluding your list of girlfriends, you've never even been touched by a man before, not unless he was either your doctor or a kinsman."
Kodachi's eyes narrowed sharply as she studied the roguish fellow with new appraisal. Obviously his intelligence was a lot higher than she had taken him for, but his brutish charms and coarse manners spoke of very low breeding, and so she sneered and said, "Do you think yourself my better, Churl? I have met common janitors who evidence superior breeding to what you have so far demonstrated..."
"I just tell it like it is, Girlfriend," Taro chuckled, not rising to the bait of her hurled insults, "You ask me, being lesser nobility ain't what it was cracked up to be in the pre-Meiji era...too much serious in-breeding between your noble houses does that to you after a few generations. You need a fresh infusion of young blood every now and then to shake out the recessives. Besides, this ain't about titles and pedigrees and now long back you can trace your ancestral line, it's just between you and me, Doll-face, and I'm betting that Porcelain you pretend to be made of's got a lot more resilience behind you than either brass or marble. In fact, I'm looking to take you for a test-ride just to see if you really are a match for my expectations."
Now Kodachi felt livid with a wealth of conflicting emotions, alternately hot and bothered by the boy's cunning nature and the way in which he seemed to see right through her to the very core of her being. The sheer arrogance and presumptuousness with which he addressed her was a sure sign of low breeding, yet she could not entirely set aside the fact that a large portion of her was very much intrigued with the prospect of being "ridden."
Aloud what she said was, "And what makes you think that I would possibly ever denigrate myself by deigning to share space with such a lowly peasant? You presume too much from me..."
"Do I?" Taro smiled like the lazy predator that he so obviously was, "Think you can dismiss me like that just because I'm Chinese and not Japanese? You Nips are so stuck-up about mixing your gene pool, but even a sheltered flower like you must wonder what it's like taking a trip on the wild side, away from all those stuffy social conventions that choke the life out of your fun."
Very cautiously Kodachi asked, "Fun? And what is your idea of having fun, pray tell?"
Taro just leered at her as though it were a ridiculously obvious question.
"Hmph," Kodachi scowled, "As I said, you presume too much."
"Why deny it, Beautiful?" Taro asked reasonably, "You know you want it just as much as I do. I can feel it all the way over here, the excitement, your pulse racing, the curiosity to know what it's like to be with a real man, to have something hard and stiff between your legs that don't feel nothing like a dildo, and me sliding it up into you like a sheath to your namesake, over and over again until you feel your whole world rocking. Admit it, you're just dying to know what it's all about, and it's only your pride that's making you act so haughty."
"Not just my pride," Kodachi said in a voice that surprised her as it quavered with emotion, "My family and heritage demand that I do not lower myself to consorting with one who could only bring shame and dishonor to my lineage."
"Suit yourself," Taro said as he started to get up off the floor padding.
"Wait!" Kodachi heard someone who sounded a lot like her say, "Where are you going?"
"You don't want to play with me right now, I can always come back later," Taro replied, glancing at her from over one shoulder, "But sooner or later you're gonna be mine, Doll-face, and the sooner you get used to the idea of that, the better you'll feel about it. Just remember, you deal with me you either deal as an equal or my frail. I don't mind using a girl that way if she wants to be used, but I ain't no rapist. I'm gonna give you time to think it over just to prove to you that I can be a gentleman when it suits me, but we both know I'm only leaving 'cause it's my choice to make. You got a choice yourself...if you have the nerve to commit to calling me Taro-sama."
"Never," Kodachi declared breathily, but even as she made that statement she felt her whole body trembling from within, aching with a need that she had never felt before, so strong it made her want to call out to the arrogant boy in order to urge him to come back.
She turned and walked over for a bit, then sagged against a nearby post and allowed her legs to lose all tension as she sank to the floor, feeling her breath begin go quicken as her loins began to tremble and she became essentially nerveless, the tension flowing from her body. She would not stir again from that spot for the next forty minutes, and even then she only roused herself in order to seek out a cold shower, knowing that her nights would be even more sleepless than they were already until the next time she saw Taro, and even then she would not be satisfied until she had that arrogant boy crawling on his knees and begging her for her favors...
Not that she would ever give in to such a vile impulse, of course, but the thought of seeing Taro again filled her with a sense of odd potential...
Outside the ground of Saint Hebereke, Taro heard a familiar voice hiss, "Nicely played. You carried that off to perfection."
"What did I tell you, Boss?" Taro smirked, "My charm gets 'em every time. Give it a few days and I'll have that frail come crawling on all fours begging to kiss my feet. I know the type, stuck-up and sheltered, just waiting for a real man to come along and teach 'em the basics."
Purge eyed his apprentice with renewed appreciation and said, "You like this female, don't you? I can sense that you were as taken in by her charms as she was with your mammalian pheromones."
"Well hey," Taro smirked, "You got a good look at her, she's a real knockout. And there's such fire in her eyes...I tell you, she's got real potential, not to mention a really cute butt, and I kind of like that odd tick she makes under one eye when she gets flustered about something..."
"Not my thing," Purge sniffed, "I look for very different qualities in a female."
"Your loss," Taro shrugged, "But there ain't nothing green or scaly about that rich bitch's behind, and I'd love to tan her with a few swats to get her to start singing my praises."
"All in good time," Purge remarked, "The important thing is that you have established contact with yet another promising candidate, and-like her brother-I intend to shape the destiny of this Kodachi like the well-tended flowering bush to which she compares herself. You may do the honors of breaking her to the harness, but I shall be her ultimate Master."
"Anything you say, Boss," Taro grinned confidently, all the while knowing that it was his brand that he intended to apply to the sensitive flesh of the lovely Kuno Kodachi, a woman every inch worthy of the name, and one he found himself both eager and intrigued to meet again under different circumstances, and not just with the intent of converting her to the ways of the Dark side...
Ukyo was feeling a distinctive sense of unease as she walked along with her two companions, wondering (and not for the first or last time either) just what she was doing hanging around with a pair like this Shampoo and Akane, knowing what they were like and yet somehow finding herself magnetically drawn to their presence.
Akane was still in shock after having concluded that stunning interrogation with Trieste and her mother, her mind still reeling from the ultimatum that she had been given by her teacher to either "shape up or ship out," and with the results from failure being spelled out in drastic terms that even to Ukyo's ears sounded pretty drastic.
"Aiyaa," Shampoo remarked aloud, her expression indicating the extent to which even she had been cowed by Trieste's declaration.
That often-expressed interjection by the Amazon was all it took to break the dam for Akane, who all but literally exploded with the words, "I can't believe she said that! I can't believe my own mother would go along with something like that! I can't believe that they would threaten me that way! What have I ever done to deserve being stripped and blinded of my Jedi powers? What?"
Ukyo politely coughed and said, "You want a list, Sugar?"
"What?" Akane turned around and looked at Ukyo with an expression that mingled the hurt and betrayal that she was feeling.
"You come on to girls like it was nothing," Ukyo ticked off with her fingers, "You love 'em and dump 'em on the sidelines like you haven't a care for all the hearts you may have broken, and you probably hurt their boyfriends even more by making them look bad by contrast. On top of that, you've all but admitted that you raped that Kuno girl, and that's not even saying what you and Shampoo here did with me under the banner of therapy...that and you tend to blow up in rage whenever Ranchan's around. Is it any wonder that your folks think you may be headed for the Dark side? Even at my worst I was never such a promising Sith candidate."
"Aiyaa?" Shampoo asked with a non-plussed expression.
To Ukyo's surprise Akane's expression softened, but the hurt still remained, "You really think I'm that bad to be around, Ucchan?"
Ukyo squirmed under the full impact of that gaze and rather reluctantly conceded, "Well...no...I wouldn't call what you guys did to me actual rape. I don't mean I think it was the best thing to do under the circumstances, but it did help me to calm down and get over the shock of nearly getting gang-banged by Kuno's henchmen. But still...you have to admit you do seem to be pretty out of control when it comes to controlling your baser impulses. Take that Kodachi for example...she comes across like this haughty S&M queen, but she takes one look at you and starts running for the timbers."
"I told you, that's just because she's a bit shy about what happened," Akane turned and looked straight ahead once again, "All right, I'll admit that I get pretty amused at feeling the way that she reacts when she gets sight of me, but I really don't think I was all that bad with her, considering that she came into my room intending to club me. I could have been a lot worse with her...or...I could have let her off with a stiff warning..."
"Exactly," Ukyo replied, "But you didn't, did you? And did you really intend to let her go without taking a few liberties once you had her tied down to her bed, hmm?"
Akane flinched a bit and seemed to chew her lower lip before responding, "I've heard...stories about Kodachi...both before and after what happened. Before all I got were complaints about what a horrible cheater she was, ambushing fellow students and rendering them in no fit shape to compete, which is kind of why my classmates turned to me to help represent Furinkan. I trained pretty hard to make a good showing at the match, but when Kodachi showed up intending to do the same thing that she did to my friends...and let me tell you, they looked pretty banged up when I saw them that day...I guess I...kind of meant to teach her a lesson..."
"Got a feeling you did more than that, Sugar," Ukyo replied, "The girl looked and felt traumatized when I saw her at the race the other day. You said she stopped ambushing other girls from other schools, right?"
"Um...yes," Akane squirmed a bit before she continued, "Only now...the rumors I've heard say she sticks pretty much to her own classmates when it comes to...harassment. There's a rumor going around that Kodachi's gotten...pretty intense about training with the other girls in her gymnastics club, and that the things she does to them if they fail to please her...um...well..." she blushed, "...They sound...kind of...interesting...ah, not that I'd ever go in for S&M and stuff like that..."
"Of course," Ukyo replied, then she blinked, "Wait a minute...are you saying she really has turned into an S&M Bondage queen?"
"A Queen, maybe," Akane replied, "But, well...can you blame her? She attends an all-girls school, for Kami's sakes! Being around all that luscious pulchritude all day, and many girls looking up to her since she's so rich and poised and elegant and beautiful, I mean...if I were in her place, I'd have trouble controlling myself..."
"Ah...yeah...I kinda figured that...Sugar," Ukyo remarked with a disquieted expression.
Akane turned a guilty look back towards Ukyo then moved in closer to take the chef by one arm and Shampoo by another, "Oh, but that was the old me, before I met you guys, when I was still looking for love in all the best places. You don't have to be jealous of me going after girls that way anymore, Ucchan..."
"Jealous?" Ukyo said stiffly.
Shampoo turned a sly-amused look at Ukyo and said, "Is what you fear most, yes? Being loved and left behind, much as you blamed this one's little brother until recently? Is fact, Ucchan...you have issues about abandonment. You think this one and Akane just use you then toss away like rag at end of month. That why you always so nervous around Akane."
"But I'd never do that to you, Ucchan," Akane leaned closer, "You mean more to me than a douche rag, and you're certainly a lot more cuddly than a tampon..."
Ukyo winced slightly as she glanced down at the other girl, but she had to admit that it was not revulsion which she was feeling or any other sort of emotion that she would have understood, given how uncomfortable she felt at being held **that way** by anyone, let along another girl. Instead of shrugging Akane off she glanced away and said uneasily, "I don't even know what I'm doing here anymore. I feel...lost sometimes, rudderless...like my life no longer has any clearly defined purpose..."
"Huh?" Akane moved away slightly to better look up at Ukyo's somewhat conflicted expression.
"I mean..." Ukyo struggled to find the words, "Since Master Purge abandoned me...I've felt like yesterday's used linens. I thought I could pick up the pieces by myself, but then you two kept butting into my personal affairs, and before I knew it I was hanging around with you, getting used like a sex toy."
"Is no so bad, yes?" Shampoo asked with a puzzled expression.
Ukyo sighed again, "Look guys...I gotta tell you, being around you isn't all fun and games. I mean...sure the sex is great, and maybe I'm not as...disturbed about admitting that as I used to be...like, maybe I'm not the most feminine girl around..."
"Hah!" Akane scoffed, "You're as feminine as anyone I know, Ucchan. You just have more guts about being yourself instead of being what other people tell you to be..."
"That ain't true at all, Sugar," Ukyo shook her head negatively, "I think I've become more like what you and Purple-Locks here want me to be, and it was so gradual that I almost didn't realize it until now. That's the real reason why I've been on edge so much of late...I'm afraid I'm losing my identity, my sense of who and what I am since I no longer feel like a Sith lord. Working with the old woman in the restaurant is about the only place where I feel like I have any kind of place at all. Making okonomiyaki used to be such fun for me when I was little...I think I'm discovering that fun all over again, but until I really know who and what I am...I just can't be that comfortable. You understand what I'm saying, Sugar?"
Akane was silent for a moment, then she lowered her eyes and said, "You mean...you want me to back off a bit...not come on so strong, give you more room to breathe...is that it?"
"It might help," Ukyo responded, but then something in the hurt look that she saw in Akane's eyes compelled her to say, "Hey, I'm not pushing you guys away. Fact is...you two are about the only real friends I have, other than Ranchan...and...I really haven't been good friends with him for quite a while now. Truth is I don't really feel comfortable around him while he's making out with your two sisters. Kasumi just seems...kind of old for him, and that Nabiki..."
"Oh yeah," Akane said with a nervous laugh, "She does take some getting used to..."
"So you see what my problem is?" Ukyo asked, "I need to know who and what I am now that I don't define myself anymore by my need for vengeance. That rage took up so much of my life that without it...I feel kind of empty inside. I've mostly just been going along with the tide ever since I started hanging out with the both of you...and why are you giving me a look like that, Sugar?"
Shampoo smiled and said, "Is good to hear Ukyo express self in this manner. Is closest thing to truth that this one hear from you since our first meeting."
Ukyo blinked at that then saw the almost shy smile that Akane was wearing.
"Shampoo's right," Akane said, "You've been holding it in so long that I was starting to wonder if you even knew how to show your feelings. You've been hanging around with guys so long that you now think and behave like they do, always hiding from their own emotions. It really sounds...nice to hear you be this self-honest."
Ukyo blinked a bit at that then turned away and started forward again, "What am I gonna do with you two nymphos? Here I thought I had you both pegged as shallow and on the make, and you go and talk like you actually got half a brain between you..."
"This one is liking Ucchan the more she open up and reveal her heart," Shampoo said with easy affection, "But should not judge a scroll by its color. Many people think this one only party girl because she like have fun with other womans, but this one have many, many hidden talents, and if you spend enough time with her, then maybe she show you."
The coy way in which the Amazon said this caused Ukyo to blush and feel abruptly nervous. That always seemed to be the way that her two companions dealt with any issue that became too complex and emotional...they just reverted to sexual innuendo as though to change the subject. One of these days she was going to call them on the carpet for that, but for now she allowed the conversation to drift back to familiar territory, having felt more exposed by her own admissions than at any time in her life going back to early childhood.
"Sometimes I think I'm already a lost cause around you," Ukyo admitted, "Kami knows what I'm doing here leaving myself exposed to any perversions that come into your warped little minds. I must be a masochist, or maybe this is some way I'm using to punish myself for past misbehavior."
"Aw, now don't say that, Ucchan," Akane said, "You're not a lost cause around me. I really do care about you, you know, and not just because you're so much fun in the sack. I think you're a pretty terrific person, and you can cook a lot better than me..."
"Ah...right," Ukyo conceded, giving the pair at her side a dubious side-glance, wondering as always why they seemed to flirt so casually without the least hint of jealousy between them. She could tell that there were deep emotional bonds already building between the Amazon and the young Force Master, and yet whenever one strayed to "check out" another girl the other one gleefully copied her example. Ukyo would at least have expected a flash of annoyance whenever one paid attention to anyone but each other, much as she felt when she caught the two of them ogling other women...
"Anyway," Akane resumed, causing Ukyo to break off that sudden and surprising train of thought, "If you need help finding yourself, then we'd be happy to help you. But...if you want more space...we could arrange that. I mean...it's not like we want to smother you with attention, Ucchan, even if Shampoo and me...well...we really do like having you around."
"Is true," Shampoo agreed, "This one already consider you like oath sister, and would defend Ucchan's back from harm if threatened. Akane not only one who think you pretty terrific cook, and this one learn how make delicious meal that too-too good from studying with father..."
"Huh?" Ukyo blinked, "Your father? Not your mother?"
To her surprise Shampoo winced slightly and said, "This one mother...she no great at cooking. Is very tragic story, but she better brew potion than thing you eat at table."
"I thought Amazons did most of the work in your society, Shampoo," Akane asked with clear interest.
"No," Shampoo replied, "Warriors mostly train for battle...is men's work taking care of house and children. Some men warriors, everyone in village know how to fight, but this one's father...he outsider male, come to village and defeat mother in game of chess..."
"What?" Ukyo blinked, "You're kidding."
"Is true," Shampoo replied, "No defeat mother in fight, though this one's father great expert at Shaolin style martial arts. Challenge mother to board game, win big every time. Mother get angry and make last game serious, then lose. Great-
grandmother then say mother marry to father, been married ever since. That how Shampoo know she have smartest father in whole village."
Both Ukyo and Akane blinked at this, then exchanged puzzled looks before the latter said, "Whatever..."
"Learn many things from father...where there time to talk with me," Shampoo sighed, "But since age of six, this one train with great-grandmother and live in her house, no spend much time with mother and father, though she learn many useful things like Amazon healing, and father very clever with mechanical devices..."
"What?" Ukyo said, "You'd dad's a mechanic?"
"Best one in village," Shampoo said proudly, "Always make and repair stuff for other villagers, most people in village very happy that Hairbrush marry Comb and become great fixer..."
"Hairbrush?" Akane repeated.
"Comb?" Ukyo blinked.
"Is name of this one's parents," Shampoo said with coy satisfaction, "What, you think Japanese name sound any stranger to Shampoo hearing?"
"Ah..." Akane glanced away, "Never mind. Anyway...somehow I've got to convince Trieste-Sensei that I'm not a Dark Jedi and I haven't gone over to the dark side of the Force yet..."
"The word is yet, Sugar," Ukyo cautioned.
Akane flashed annoyance at that and said, "Not ever. I may be a lot of things, Ucchan, but I am no Dark Jedi. I've never deliberately gone out of my way to hurt anyone...um...except for Ranma, but he usually deserves it..."
"This one is wondering how we convince Elder Trieste that we just have fun and no mean harm while train for big challenge match against pervert girl and stuck-
up boy. You think it long time have to train for this one and Ucchan to become good at skating?"
"Um...well...yes..." Akane conceded just as they arrived at their destination, the front entrance to Cologne's restaurant, "In fact...I was really looking forward to spending more time with you guys teaching you the basics..."
"A splendid idea," Cologne herself remarked, "We'll combine the two together."
"Huh?" Ukyo reacted with a start, finding the old woman standing on one of the restaurant tables just inside beyond the front entrance, resting her staff against one shoulder.
"Aiyaa..." Shampoo softly averred, "Great grandmother?"
"I'd heard from your mother and Trieste-san just now that they were expressing their concerns about your most recent behavior, Tendo-san," the old woman said as she addressed herself towards Akane, "Indeed, to some extent I have shared their concerns, which is why I have offered to assist your mentor in helping to define and redeem your character, and a martial arts training duel sounds like just the thing that the Goddess ordered."
"Um...excuse me, Baba?" Akane asked as respectfully as she was able.
"We begin at once after your classes tomorrow," Cologne replied, "Shampoo and Kuonji will train with you in the Amazon art of combat skating, and during that training I will give each of you an evaluation."
"Amazon art of combat skating?" Ukyo repeated.
"Aiyaa..." Shampoo murmured faintly, "How come this one no ever learn of such a thing?"
"An oversight on my part," Cologne replied, "I did not foresee that such a skill would be of use to you, Child, but now is the time to make up for opportunities. Miss Tendo, you will help conduct classes for Miss Kuonji and my great-
granddaughter, and your performance tomorrow will help me to ascertain whether Trieste's concerns are warranted or not. I am expecting good things from you on the morrow, but now, if you ladies don't mind, I have a business to run, and you are very late to work, Miss Kuonji, so...get into your chef's uniform or I will dock you a days pay as an example."
The old woman hopped away and began to stop at the tables of the various guests waiting at their tables, then back to the kitchen to resume her duties cooking.
"Train us?" Ukyo repeated softly.
"Akane teach us how to skate?" Shampoo murmured with the same surprised expression.
"I am soooo doomed..." Akane murmured faintly, to which her two companions could only nod their heads in tacit agreement, dreading the days that were to follow...
Continued.
Comments/Criticisms/Eschatological debates: shadowmane
As Akane and her cohorts take to the ice rink to begin their training, Gosunkugi gets a crash course in Martial Arts Force Manipulation, and Kodachi has yet another run-in with the seductive Taro. Will the Black Rose lose what is left of her flower of innocence to the crafty Sith Apprentice? Will Akane flub her big chance at setting everyone's fears to rest while going up against the likes of Senzenen Mikado? And will Ranma ever get laid in this fanfic? For these and other cosmic mysteries yet to be unraveled, stay tuned for, "Cold Heart, Hot Fist," or, "The Ice Queen Cummoth!" Be there!
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