Ranma and his friends belong to Rumiko Takahashi. They're used
here without permission.
This story contains some adult material. Reader discretion is
advised.
------------------------------
newRanma 17: Deceiving
by Chris Jones
------------------------------
Ranma was a pervert. That was the only explanation for
what was happening.
He thought that his body would quit trying to make his
decisions for him when he was finally able to change back from
being a girl. He couldn't have been more wrong. Like before, it
was the little things that really got him, like sitting too close
to one of the girls.
The day after he changed back, he found himself sitting
behind Akane in class as usual. Like before, his eyes tried to
linger on the curve of her neck. Also of interest was the way her
school skirt rode up her calves when she kicked the floor under
her chair.
What was new were the not-so-subtle stirrings that now
happened in response. Ranma had felt the sensation before, usually
early in the mornings, or if something was rubbing against him for
some reason. Never before had it just... happened... just because
he looked at a girl.
It was a normal reaction, at least according to the copy
of 'Bodywatching' Makuna-sensei had given Ranma. When he thought
about it, he even remembered seeing the tale-tell bulges it caused
on other guys. It never seemed to want to go away, however.
Thinking about martial arts helped somewhat. Once Ranma's
concentration was torn away from female flesh, the almost painful
stiffness eased and even disappeared after a while. If Akane,
Ukyou, or any of the other attractive girls in his class managed
to catch his attention again, nothing Ranma could do would stop
his erection from rising once more.
It was embarrassing! Did other guys have to deal with
this?
A few hours of surreptitious observation of his classmates
confirmed Ranma's suspicions. Other guys *did* seem to have to
deal with it. Ranma felt a little odd trying to look at other
guy's crotches without being noticed, but one or two of them did
seem to bulge more than normal during the times they stood up in
class. Hiroshi, he noticed, carried a book with him if he left to
use the restroom during the between-class breaks once or twice
during the day. He shifted the book seemingly without thinking
about it, keeping it between his waist and the rest of the room.
Ranma could tell by the tightness around his eyes and tenseness of
his shoulders that Hiroshi was very much aware of what he was
doing, and probably more than a little sensitive about it.
Other guys seemed not to care. Some guys seemed to care
too much. Hikaru Gosunkuji, who was always sat in the back of the
class, always carried his school bag or a book defensively over
his waist almost every time he got up.
So it's not just me, Ranma thought, feeling some relief.
What did seem odd were the other changes in his
perception. For one thing, he felt unusually protective of the
girls around him. He had always felt protective of the girls. It
was mostly because he felt it was his duty to protect those who
couldn't protect themselves as well as he could. Then it was
because he felt like he probably got them all in more trouble than
they deserved or could conveniently handle.
Now, he was just waiting for someone to attack Akane,
Ukyou, or any of the other girls in his class for that matter. He
thought briefly about how he would get up to the next floor if
someone mouthed off to Nabiki. He wanted someone to attack one of
them, because then Ranma could defend them and... and... then
what?
When he was supposed to be concentrating on an economics
lesson, Ranma thought about the situation. In his mind, an evil,
rapacious warrior had come to Furinkan to enslave all the pretty
girls. He decided to start with Akane, Ukyou, and Nabiki. Ranma
leapt to their aid, struggling a little bit in the fight because
he had been out of action for so long, but then coming through at
the end of the battle, just when it really mattered.
The girls were all very thankful for Ranma's help, and
showed their thanks by warmly embracing him. Of course, they had
not yet been able to replace the clothes that the evil warrior had
torn off their bodies, so they did this in only tatters of
lingerie.
Then, Ranma grabbed Nabiki by the wrists and started doing
the kinds of things to her that the evil warrior had been about
to.
"Mister Saotome, are you listening?!"
"Wha...?" Ranma mumbled, jostled out of his reverie by the
teacher's yell.
"I asked you to come up here and draw the appropriate
graph. Have you been listening at all?"
"Of course I have," he lied. He glanced over at Ukyou's
textbook. "We were talking about laws of Supply and Demand."
"If you know so much," the teacher said, seeing through
Ranma's ruse, "then come up here and draw the graph."
Ranma suddenly realized that would be very uncomfortable
and possibly quite embarrassing since his previous line of thought
had indeed caused the same physical reaction he had been so
worried about earlier. "Do I gotta?" he asked, quickly trying to
figure out how much of a dork he'd look like if he took a book up
to the chalk-board with him.
There were a few titters of laughter around the classroom.
Akane looked back over her shoulder at Ranma, curiosity warring
with irritation on her face.
"What on earth is keeping you from doing what I ask,
Saotome?" the teacher asked in irritation.
"My leg went to sleep," Ranma improvised. "And if I get
up, then I'm gonna fall right back down again. Everyone will laugh
at me."
"And that's not already the case?" the teacher asked. "See
me after school, Saotome. Get up here and draw the graph, Kuonji."
* * *
After school, Ranma started sparring with Soun. There were
people he'd rather be sparring with, but Genma still wasn't back
from his trip yet and Kunou had been actively avoiding Ranma. He
was rather hoping that Ryouga would show up soon. That would be a
good, hard challenge.
Still, Soun was pressing him. Ranma thought that it would
be like fighting Akane, except that Ranma wouldn't have to feel
bad about fighting back. Soun surprised him. The man would dodge
in, lightly testing Ranma's defenses. When Ranma tried to take
advantage of Soun's advances, the man retreated and became utterly
defensive. Ranma couldn't help but think that the man's strategy
was effective for prolonging a fight but that it wouldn't win many
battles.
Afterwards, much to Ranma's surprise, Soun gave him a list
of things he had let slip or needed improvement on. Ranma had to
admit that Akane's father was a very good martial arts sensei.
Ranma considered trying to get Akane to spar with him, but
the girl had been looking at him a little oddly the last few days.
He mentioned it to Kasumi in passing that night after dinner.
"You've grown quite a bit during the last three months,"
the young woman noted. "You've also done some filling out across
the shoulders. Akane is probably just being shy because you look a
little different. That's all."
Could that be it? Was Akane afraid of him perhaps? Maybe
it was something else. Perhaps she was attracted to him. That
couldn't be. Could it?
Ranma's train of thought was neatly derailed as he strode
past the guest room door on his way to his own room. He heard his
mother's voice inside. Almost without thinking, he ran to open the
door. He paused just before jerking it open when she started to
shout.
"What if Soun or the girls saw my hair like this? It would
be horrible!"
"You're being silly, No-chan. They've been around Ranma
for almost a year now," Genma's voice replied. "I'm fairly certain
that everyone knows your real hair color by now."
Real hair color?
"You didn't marry a red-head."
"No, but I've been sleeping with one for the last several
weeks."
It was true then. Ranma had indeed seen a red curl
protruding from his mother's scarf a few days ago. He wondered why
she sought to change her hair color?
"Mom?" he called out.
"Ranma? Oh dear..."
"Can I come in?" he asked.
"This is so embarrassing," she mumbled. "Please go
downstairs, Ranma," Nodoka asked after a few seconds. "Your father
and I will be down in just a second."
Grinning, but still a little confused, Ranma went down
stairs and informed the Tendous that his parents had returned.
After a few minutes, Genma and Nodoka both walked gravely down the
stairway and bowed to the Tendous.
Genma looked healthier than Ranma had even seen him. He
had lost a significant amount of weight in the last few weeks, and
appeared sharp and alert. A few strands of black hair were
protruding out from underneath his bandanna.
"Aunty, your hair!" Akane exclaimed after everyone had
welcomed the pair back.
Nodoka glared at the girl, but didn't say anything.
Indeed, Nodoka was dressed nicely, wearing a fairly
attractive dress, but her normal hairstyle had altered. It had
apparently been cut, and instead of a large, single bun in back,
Nodoka now wore two small odango-style buns on either side of her
head.
Most significant was the fact that Nodoka's hair color was
now bright red, a match for Ranma's girl-side.
"Don't let her intimidate you, Akane," Genma told her.
"It's her natural color, but she's been dying it for years."
"But why, Aunty?" Kasumi asked. "It's so beautiful."
"It's embarrassing!" Nodoka exclaimed, her cheeks almost
as red as her hair. "It makes me stand out!"
"Oh, like that would be a change for the Saotomes," Nabiki
joked.
"And how did you grow it out so fast?" Akane wondered.
"And where did you go?" Soun asked. "You both look like
you've spent months at a health spa."
"Hard exercise does have certain effects," Nodoka
answered.
"But most of it probably came out of that magical onsen in
Hawaii," Genma said. "It was horrible, Tendou," Genma said. "We
were taken prisoner and dumped into a magical bath. At first I
thought it was another curse, but then I found it was infinitely
worse than that."
"You didn't think it was very bad when those three
priestesses started swarming all over you," Nodoka noted with a
raised eyebrow.
"I thought we weren't going to discuss that," Genma
replied in embarrassment.
"Priestesses?" Ranma wondered out loud.
"Of some pacific island fertility goddess. There were
priests too," Genma noted in an off-hand manner. "At least I think
they were priests. Did you ever find out dear? I was rather
occupied at the time."
Nodoka blushed and grimaced. "It wasn't my fault!" she
announced a little too loudly. "It was because of that magical
necklace. Besides, I thought you had forgiven me for that."
"I had. I was just wondering," Genma told her. "After the
priestesses poured cold water on me, they weren't nearly so
interested any more, and tried to chase me away, so I never got
the chance to see what they finally did to you."
"It doesn't matter after what they made us do together on
the goddess's altar, does it?" Nodoka asked in a quiet tone.
Genma cleared his throat. "I guess not. That's an
experience I'm not going to forget in a hurry."
"Oh my!" Kasumi said, blushing to her collar. She turned
and fled from the room.
"Well, well..." Nabiki said, eyeing the couple in
surprise.
Ranma's eyes widened in shock. Apparently, his parents
little vacation had been quite an... interesting... adventure.
Both his parents sported very guilty expressions. He noted that
they were holding hands, though. Whatever had happened seemed to
have patched the difficulties they'd been having.
Akane gasped, and glared at Ranma as Soun and Genma
started to discuss the more mundane aspects of the sabbatical.
"What?!" Ranma challenged her
"Your whole family is perverted, Ranma!"
"Shut up, Akane!"
* * *
When Ranma got back up to his room later that evening,
Nabiki was waiting for him, sitting on his bed. She was fidgeting
idly. For a second, he wondered if she had come to try something
naughty again, but the expression said that something was wrong.
Ranma did his best to keep his eyes from lingering on the hem of
her shorts or her long legs. "What's up?" he asked defensively. He
tried to keep a middle ground in the room, neither approaching nor
retreating from the girl.
"How would you feel about paying some of your debt off?"
Nabiki asked. Her tone was almost pleading.
"Huh?"
Nabiki was actually trembling a little bit. "A friend of
mine has a problem," she said evasively, "and if you help us
out... her out... I can make it worth your while."
"Come on, Nabiki. I really don't feel like getting
involved in one of your scams right now," Ranma groaned. "I've got
more than enough to worry about." He rolled his eyes. Privately,
he was more than a little disappointed that Nabiki didn't seem to
be interested in... other things.
Nabiki was silent, but Ranma could see the muscles in her
face contracting as her jaw clenched.
"It's not a scam, Ranma," she said after a few seconds.
"We really need your help. This isn't something I can do by myself
and I thought that you'd jump--"
"No." Ranma cut her off. "It's not like I'll ever be able
to pay you off anyway, so why don't you just leave me alone and
stop trying to confuse me."
Nabiki's eyes flashed dangerously. For a second, Ranma saw
the family resemblance between her and Akane very clearly. Then
her shoulders slumped slightly.
"Please?" she asked in a defeated tone.
Ranma honesty couldn't remember the last time she had said
that.
"Please hear me out, Ranma," Nabiki said. Her trembling
had increased. Ranma could see that the girl was actually quite
upset. Tears were standing in the corners of her eyes.
"So what's this problem," he offered after several
seconds. "I'm not sayin' I'll help, but if you'll tell me what's
goin' on, maybe I'll think about it."
"It's Taiyoko," Nabiki explained. "She's in a lot of
trouble."
"With her parents?" Ranma guessed.
Nabiki nodded. "Her father caught her... in a awkward
situation... with... another girl." Nabiki blushed at the
statement.
Ranma winced. "Oh geez."
"It probably looked a lot worse than it really was," she
said, "but her parents aren't exactly the most understanding
people in the world. Both of them said some things to her that
they really shouldn't have. Her mother threatened to send her to
an asylum and her father told her that he's going to send her to a
boarding school in Europe. I don't know whether either one is
serious or not, but Taiyoko seems to think they both are."
"Yikes!"
"She's grounded to the house right now," Nabiki continued,
"until her parents can make whatever arrangements they're planning
on."
"So what can I do to help?" Ranma asked a little more
seriously. He thought that Nabiki should have come right out and
said that Taiyoko was in trouble. He was a lot less hesitant to
help once he knew someone he cared about genuinely needed it.
"That's the hard part," Nabiki admitted. "Taiyoko's an 'A'
student, and never gets in trouble. Besides her... preference...
she's done nothing to be in trouble. If we can somehow convince
her parents that she's not very serious about it, or that she's
changed her mind, I think they'll be a lot less likely to try pack
her away."
Warning bells started to go off in Ranma's head. "Wait a
second--"
"That's why you're going to ask her out on a date," Nabiki
cut him off. "If it's convincing enough, they'll relent."
"Man, Nabiki," Ranma said seriously. "You know as well as
I do how much can go wrong with a plan like that."
"I don't know what else to do. Can you think of anything
else?" she pleaded.
"Not really," he admitted.
Nabiki covered her eyes with one hand, still trembling.
She seemed to deflate, completely out of hope.
"I'll do it," Ranma said after several seconds of thought.
"I'll probably regret it, but..."
"Thank you," Nabiki said, her voice full of relief.
"I'm just glad Taiyoko has a friend like you," Ranma said.
Nabiki coughed once, but then nodded.
After he and Nabiki sketched out a quick itinerary for the
proposed date, Ranma sought out Akane to explain things to her.
"She's gay?!" Akane shouted in obvious distaste after
Ranma explained his plan. "Why, that no-good, lying--"
"You don't have to throw a fit about it," Ranma cut his
fiancee off. "Why're you so upset about it anyway?"
"That's just not... not... just not right! She shouldn't
be that way. It's perverted!"
"Anyway, you understand why I'm gonna go on a date with
her?" Ranma asked, a little leery of the dark-haired girl's
reaction.
Akane was visibly upset, but nodded in agreement. "It's
her own fault her parents are so mad at her, but I guess we should
do what we can do to help her."
Ranma frowned, wondering why Akane had been set off so
badly. She usually looked at such things at distaste, but the ugly
look of loathing on her face was more intense than he had ever
seen on her before.
Ranma wasn't sure how Ukyou would react, but was confident
that he could avoid her for the duration of the date. Shampoo
wasn't likely to be a problem because she was back in China.
Besides Akane's troubling outburst, Ranma couldn't think of
anything that could thwart his plans.
* * *
On the roof of the Tendou home, Kodachi laid a finger on
her chin in thought. The gymnast wasn't certain, but she thought
that the girl that Akane Tendou and her Ranma-sama were discussing
had been one of the guests at the impromptu party a few weeks ago.
She had been distracted the entire time, waiting for Ranma-sama to
arrive, but now that she thought about it, something *did* seem a
little off about the girl.
Of course, many things seemed odd... since the strange day
when Ranma and the pigtailed girl seemed to... change places.
Kodachi's mind shied away from the things she had seen and
heard. It was all too much to deal with.
Still, this latest development could prove problematic. It
sounded all rather too thin to her. It was possible that this was
nothing more than a shallowly-disguised plot to take Ranma away
from her. Kodachi decided that she would follow along... just in
case.
* * *
*ring* *ring*
"Moshi-moshi?" It was Taiyoko's mother.
Ranma cleared his throat and spoke as clearly as he could,
"Is Taiyoko home?"
"And this is..." the woman prompted in suspicion.
"This is Ranma Saotome," he said. "I'm a friend of
Taiyoko's. You mind if I talk to her?"
"Uh... no," the woman said curiously. "I'll go get her.
Please hold on just a second."
Ranma nodded. Nabiki exhaled in relief.
"Ranma?!" Taiyoko's voice asked over the phone line.
"Hey, Taiyoko-chan," Ranma said. "I heard you were
grounded."
"Nabiki told you?."
"Yeah--" Ranma paused, hearing a click on the phone line.
He looked up at Nabiki, and mimed picking up a second receiver and
holding it to his ear.
Nabiki nodded in understanding. She rolled one hand,
gesturing for Ranma to continue despite the fact that one or both
of Taiyoko's parents were eavesdropping on their conversation.
"So, at any rate, if you can get out of the house," Ranma
improvised, "I thought maybe we could go on a date." Taiyoko was a
sharp girl. Hopefully she would understand what they were trying
to do without having it spelled out for her.
"T-that's..." she paused for a second. "T-that would be
wonderful," she replied. "Let me ask my parents."
There were several minutes of silence over the phone line.
Ranma did his best, but other than a few clicks, couldn't hear
anything but a quiet, static hiss through the receiver.
After a while, Taiyoko's voice returned. "My parents said
t-that I can go out tomorrow night if it's with you," she said.
"That's really you, right, Ranma?"
"Yeah." Ranma smiled, knowing the girl was more used to
the sound of his female voice. "I'll come get you at seven, okay?"
"Hai!"
After he hung up the phone, he nodded to Nabiki.
"Well?"
"Her parents are going to let her go out," he said in a
conspiratorial tone.
"That's a good sign," Nabiki said thankfully.
"Hey, don't worry!" Ranma said. "We'll make it work out."
* * *
The next day, Ranma strolled up the walk to Taiyoko's
house. He had to take a train to get there, but Nabiki had
provided him with a fairly detailed idea of how to get to the
house, along with a basic idea of what kinds of shops and
restaurants were nearby. As a matter of fact, Nabiki had helped
Ranma plan most of the date in advance.
The house itself was fairly large. It must have been
hideously expensive, especially for the high-class neighborhood it
was located in. Ranma remembered vaguely that Taiyoko's father was
a business of some kind and that her mother ran a catering
service. They probably could afford it. He wondered briefly how
such well-off people could be so harsh on their only daughter.
Still, his first priority was getting Taiyoko out of
trouble. He had some vague ideas about helping her out once she
was no longer in danger of being sent away, but keeping her from
suffering her parents' immediate wrath took precedence.
He but on his best, most charming smile, and rang the
doorbell.
Taiyoko's mother greeted him warmly, and ushered him
inside the huge house. She led him down an conservatively
decorated hallway, and into a western-style sitting room, where
Taiyoko's father was reading a newspaper.
"Hey," Ranma greeted the man.
Taiyoko's father shook his hand warmly, and started
cracking jokes.
Ranma may have been smiling, but inside, he couldn't help
but remember how these same people had glared at him when he was a
girl. It was an odd contrast, and the disparity in behavior made
him feel almost sick to his stomach. He laughed along with the
off-color jokes Taiyoko's father was telling even though he wanted
to scream.
Ranma turned when he heard Taiyoko's footsteps in the
hallway behind him.
She nodded and waved weakly. The girl was wearing a cute
mini-dress and heeled shoes. Her immaculate hair and make-up
showed evidence of quite a bit of work. Her smile was forced,
however. She kept glancing at both her parents, her eyes seeking
approval.
"You ready to go?" Ranma prompted, thankful for the
opportunity to leave.
Taiyoko nodded without speaking.
Ranma glanced once more at the girl's parents before
leading her from the house. Both had exultant expressions on their
face. Ranma thought that they probably misread the thankful look
on his face as adoration. Let them, he decided. It was better for
Taiyoko that way. As he led her down the street, his heart went
out to the girl, wondering how she could bear to stay with people
who hated her so much.
"Nabiki t-told you what happened," Taiyoko guessed as they
made their way across the neighborhood.
Ranma nodded. "It must have been pretty embarrassing,
huh?"
Taiyoko nodded, brightly blushing. "It.... I hope... T-
t--"
"Hey, it's okay! I know all about it!" Ranma assured her.
"You have more or less a general idea of what we're trying to
accomplish?"
"Nabiki told me that she might try something like this if
something ever happened. I never realized it would be you,
though," Taiyoko admitted. "Wow..."
"Hmm?"
Taiyoko blinked, looking away from Ranma, even though
their arms were intertwined. "I still can't get over how different
you look as a man. It's just like the pictures you showed me."
"Yeah," Ranma agreed, unsure of how to react to Taiyoko's
statement. "I'm still the same guy inside," he assured her.
Realizing what he had just said, he hastily amended, "Or... I
guess that probably wasn't the best thing to say."
"No!" Taiyoko assured him. "It's just fine. You're a
wonderful friend, regardless."
"Just less appealing this way," Ranma guessed.
"I don't like this," Taiyoko agreed, admitting her
discomfort. "But I know it's necessary."
"Maybe more than you think," Ranma said suspiciously as
they passed in front of the first shop near Taiyoko's home.
"What?"
Ranma paused near the glass window of a dress shop and
pointed at a sequined purse. When Taiyoko was staring at it,
wondering what was going on in her friend's head, Ranma raised his
finger to point at a reflection in the glass.
"Don't look behind you," Ranma whispered.
Taiyoko's eyes widened in horror as she realized she could
see both her parents in the reflection as they darted inside a
shop across the street.
"What will we do?" she asked in terror.
"We'll have a wonderful date," Ranma told her, a smile on
his face. "And we'll play it to the hilt for our audience.
Actually, this might make our evening a little easier. If your
parents see how devoted your new 'boyfriend' is, maybe they'll lay
off you a little bit."
"Maybe," Taiyoko said dubiously. "It couldn't hurt."
* * *
On the roof of a shop on the other side of the square,
Kodachi Kunou waited patiently, wondering how long Ranma and the
insipid girl hanging all over him would be about browsing the
endless little shops that lined both sides of the street.
She shifted positions uncomfortably, gravel from the roof
digging into her mostly-uncovered bottom through the fabric of her
leotard.
The only mitigating factor to her ordeal was the idiotic
little comedy proceeding below. Her Ranma-sama was being trailed
by two poorly disguised idiots, no doubt the parents of the girl
he was helping. Ranma obviously knew they were there, because he
kept his movements wide and open, overacting each affectionate
gesture or comment, hamming it up as if he were on stage. He and
his friend would move along from shop to shop, only to be followed
a few seconds later by their obtrusive tails.
As of fact, Kodachi felt no compunction to try to stay
well hidden as she was capable of because she knew that the pair
below were so distracting that Ranma and his friend would never
notice her.
As she drifted from rooftop to rooftop keeping up with
Ranma-sama and his 'date', Kodachi decided wasn't sure about the
girl yet, but that it was obvious to her that at least Ranma
believed that he was helping her in the manner Kodachi overheard.
* * *
"Here," Ranma said, handing a pretty scarf he just bought
to Taiyoko. "A gift."
Taiyoko looked warmly at the scarf and her friend. "Thank
you, Ranma!" she said, embracing him warmly.
Ranma shrugged, a little embarrassed by the girl's
gratitude. "I'm glad you like it, but it's for show, mostly.
Nabiki gave me the money to buy it."
Taiyoko went misty-eyed for a second. "Oh..." she
breathed.
"Yeah," Ranma agreed. "She's being a really good friend."
"She really is," Taiyoko said. "A truly wonderful person."
"I wouldn't go that far," Ranma noted dryly.
"She always takes such good care of me."
After walking through the shopping district, Ranma
suggested they go to a nearby park. Taiyoko had calmed
considerably after she managed to make the mental leap from 'date'
to a fun outing with one of her good friends. She even seemed to
get into the deception of her parents, who were doing their best
to stay hidden a few dozen paces behind the pair.
Once inside, Taiyoko pointed at the couples riding swan-
shaped pedal boats on the large pond in the middle of the park.
"Do you know how bad an idea that is?" Ranma asked
incredulously.
"Why?" Taiyoko was genuinely curious.
"Well, I change with hot and cold water, right?"
"Yes..."
"Well... that's a whole lot of cold water. I bet sex-
changing martial artists would upset your parents even more than
other girls."
Taiyoko blushed at Ranma's statement, but nodded in
agreement.
"How about that?" the martial artist suggested, gesturing
at a booth where an old man was sketching couples.
"I think that would work," Taiyoko said. "It seems very
romantic, doesn't it?"
After the two got their picture drawn, Ranma led Taiyoko
away from the park and back into the shopping district. They
stopped at an outdoor cafe and made a very obvious show of
ordering one milkshake with two straws. Even the waiter gagged on
that one.
After the sun went down, the pair strolled around, looking
at the lights and gazing at the distant Tokyo skyline.
"Are they still following us?" Taiyoko asked after several
minutes of silence between the two.
Ranma nodded, not even bothering to look for the pair. He
could hear them rustling around in the shrubbery about fifty
meters behind.
"I t-thought t-they would be gone by now," the blonde girl
noted in a worried tone. "Do you t-t-think they suspect."
"I wouldn't worry about it," Ranma told her. "They're
probably convinced, and are just being nosy now."
"But what if t-they're not?" Taiyoko worried out loud.
"What if t-t-they know already? My father's going t-t-t-to st-t-
tart hitting me again--"
"Hitting you?!" Ranma demanded incredulously.
"--and my mother's going t-t-t-to send me a way and I'll
never get t-t-t-t-- I'll never get t-t-to see--"
Ranma considered his options for several seconds before
making what he considered to be a tactical battle decision.
Taiyoko was rapidly becoming incoherent with her stuttering and
stammering. If she got much worse, she risked giving them away and
ruining the deception they spent all afternoon building.
He silenced her stammers with a kiss.
Their lips met. Taiyoko was shocked at first, her eyes
open wide in horror and disgust, until she realized that Ranma's
eyes were open as well.
Ranma did his best to convey his apology and intentions
with his expression, darting his eyes back towards the distant
shrubbery once.
Taiyoko seemed to understand what he was doing. After a
few seconds of stunned silence, she started woodenly returning the
kiss. After a few more seconds, she closed her eyes.
* * *
The little slut was kissing her Ranma-sama! Kodachi was
outraged. She leapt down from her perch, preparing to strangle the
tramp with her ribbon.
She was almost ten paces away before she saw the look of
horror and self-loathing on the blonde girl's features.
Kodachi stopped, and leapt up into a nearby tree just
before she struck, examining the two a little more carefully.
Neither looked very comfortable. Ranma's expression was
stony and resolute. The blonde girl, Kodachi thought her name was
Taiyoko, actually had tears standing in the corners of her eyes.
It was hard to tell, but Kodachi thought that neither her Ranma-
sama nor the girl he was helping liked what they were doing very
much.
There was none of the excitement that Kodachi always
thought would surround such an illicit kiss. The atmosphere
between the two was tense, but it was strained and showed no
arousal.
Kodachi suddenly realized that everything she had
overheard was true.
Her anger shifted from the blonde girl to the pair she
could see smirking at the spectacle in the bushes behind her
Ranma-sama. She began to grow frustrated with the sheer amount of
time she had spent spying on this hapless duo.
In irritation and disgust, Kodachi leapt from treetop to
treetop, away from the gruesome spectacle. It was just too much to
bear!
* * *
"Do you t-think they saw?" Taiyoko asked after their lips
parted.
"I think everyone on this side of town saw," Ranma noted.
"They're certainly paying very close attention right now. I'm
sorry."
"Don't be," Taiyoko pleaded. "I understand why you did it.
We can do it again if you think it will help."
"Let's not get too carried away just yet," Ranma said,
carefully judging the distance between them and the spies. "If I'm
right, that sort of thing usually happens around the end of a
date, so why don't I walk you home? They'll have to run on ahead
if they want to be there when you show up."
Taiyoko nodded nervously. "Still... it wouldn't hurt if
you were..." she gulped, "you were a little more... touchy."
"I will," Ranma offered. "If you really think it would
help."
"Boy or girl, you're one of my best friends," she
rationalized. "I won't be upset if you put your hands on me...
just a little bit."
Ranma nodded. With a warm smile, he wrapped his arm around
the girl's waist and pulled her close to him as they walked along.
"Are they gone yet?" she asked after a few minutes.
Ranma shook his head.
By the time they reached Taiyoko's house, Ranma's left arm
was around her slender waist and his right hand rested familiarly
on her hip. Taiyoko grew more and more upset when it became
apparent that her parents intended to follow them all the way
back.
Indeed, it appeared that the two had no intention of
trying to end their feeble deception.
"Please, please don't leave me alone," Taiyoko pleaded as
she unlocked her front door. "If you leave me, t-they'll send me
off t-tomorrow."
Ranma doubted the veracity of the girl's fears, but
decided to do his best to comfort her. He smiled and followed her
inside.
She seemed to calm a bit once they were inside the dimly-
lit front room.
"I bet that your dates are usually a lot more normal than
this," she said, sitting down on a sofa facing the front picture
window.
"You'd be surprised," Ranma said. "Went on a date with
Akane once, but she was dressed up as a guy. Went on a date with
Nabiki, but ended up on a date with Akane. I'm still not sure how
that happened. Went on a date with Kodachi, but I got trampled by
cows."
Taiyoko giggled out loud. "You're kidding!"
"I wish! I even went on a date with Kunou, but that was
because I was trying to cure my curse with some magic sword he
found. I've been on lots of dates with Ryouga, but it's always
because of a fight. You haven't been hugged until you've been
squeezed by a guy strong enough to break rocks with his bare
hands."
"That's horrible," Taiyoko laughed.
"But true. This is the most normal date I've ever had,"
Ranma admitted, sitting next to her. "If things were a little
different, maybe--" He froze, hearing muffled swearing just
outside the window.
"Maybe what? Ranma?"
"Dammit. They're in the bushes now."
Taiyoko froze, going stiff against Ranma.
"Do you really think your dad is going to hit you?" Ranma
asked in a serious, whispered tone.
Taiyoko was silent, but started shaking.
"I can stop him," Ranma offered, "easily. I'll do anything
you want me to."
"Kiss me again," Taiyoko said, her voice tremulous with
fear.
"If they aren't gonna come in--"
"Please," she begged. "Don't let them send me away!"
Ranma nodded, and took the girl in his arms. He kissed her
gently, and held her close. He could feel her shivering against
him.
In truth, Ranma felt a little like shivering himself. What
they were doing was getting more and more dangerous, but more and
more stimulating at the same time. Ranma thought that the best way
to handle the situation was probably something other than what
they were doing, but for the life of him, he was having a hard
time thinking of anything else that could be done.
"Like this?" he asked, gently caressing Taiyoko's neck.
The blonde girl nodded, leaning into his embrace. He was
quite surprised when she began to lightly place kisses along the
side of his neck. It was all part of the deception, he understood,
but it still made every hair on his body want to stand up. He
tightened his embrace, and began to return Taiyoko's light kisses.
Ranma noted that the simulation they were creating had
caused the rustling in the bushes outside to stop. He hadn't seen
or heard anything to make him think that the girl's parents had
quit spying on them, but it was a good sign. Perhaps they were
deciding that Taiyoko was not so 'abnormal' as they thought.
Ranma suddenly realized that if that were the case, it
would probably mean that he would have to maintain the fiction
that he was dating Taiyoko in order to protect her. It was both a
repugnant notion and an interesting proposition at the same time.
It almost seemed as if what he was doing was justified. He
wondered about this as he kissed Taiyoko again, sucking on her
lips briefly.
Her eyes widened for a second in surprise, but she started
to return Ranma's ministrations after just a couple seconds. "Do
you think they'll believe this?" she asked warily.
"Maybe."
If he did have an excuse to continue, would Taiyoko want
him to? He wondered about this. In his mind, Ranma thought he knew
what Taiyoko's preference meant. After all, hadn't he been through
almost the same thing?
As a girl, Ranma's body didn't seem to care. She reacted
the same way to a touch whether or not it belonged to Kunou,
Hiroshi, Nabiki, or Shampoo. Her mind, on the other hand, knew
what was really going on. She was repulsed by the affections of
her male suitors, no matter how much her body wanted her to let
them have their way.
Did Taiyoko feel the same way right now? Was her body
telling her that what was happening was enjoyable and exciting?
"Why aren't t-they going away?" she whispered, her
shivering increasing. Ranma could see that her eyes were full of
fear and defeat.
"I don't know," he admitted.
"We haven't done enough yet," she said, grabbing Ranma's
hands and placing them at the top of her dress. "Here."
Ranma suddenly realized what she wanted him to do.
Gently, carefully, he began to unbutton Taiyoko's dress.
"Please leave..." he heard her whisper under her breath.
The buttons were close together and were a little hard to
unfasten. Ranma's shaking hands only complicated the problem.
Soon, however, he had exposed her torso as far down as her navel.
Trying to quell the shaking, he let his fingers run across her
smooth, pale flesh.
He kissed her again, and let his fingers close around the
strap of her lace brassiere.
Did at least some part of Taiyoko want this? Was some part
of her singing out, even as Ranma had done when she dreamed about
making love to Ryouga, or when Kunou kissed her? Was some small
fraction of his frightened friend waiting for him to make the next
move?
Ranma pulled the strap off Taiyoko's shoulder, allowing it
to hang loosely against her arm. Still kissing her, his fingertips
slid across the textured fabric until they rested on the soft
swell of the girl's breast.
With an almost indeliberate motion, he began to squeeze,
cupping her slightly. He could suddenly feel her nipple stiffening
against his touch, even through the lace. Ranma became bolder,
squeezing more firmly, and even kneading a little bit.
Carefully, deliberately, he shifted his grip until it was
resting on the length of lace stretched in between the two cups.
The brassier was fastened there by a small metallic clasp.
A few of the bras Ranma had worn as a girl in the past had
worked the same way. Ranma had no trouble working the tiny catch.
Taiyoko inhaled sharply as her assets were exposed but
made no other noise.
Ranma stared. Taiyoko's breasts were small... smaller even
than Akane's. They were perfectly shaped, however, each about the
size of a large plum or a small peach. Her nipples were tiny and
red. Each one was stiffened, protruding a centimeter or so. They
seemed to drive all the way into Ranma's brain.
At the same time, he realized that they had twisted on the
sofa until one of her legs had wrapped behind him. He could feel
her knee at his side and her heel in the small of his back.
Breathing hard, Ranma leaned in and began to suck gently
at the base of her neck, his lips and tongue seeking out her
flesh. He held her close with one arm and began to cup her breast
again with the other hand. His fingertips sought out her erect
nipples, and began to tweak them ever-so-gently.
His kisses began to move downward, until his lips were
actually on her other breast. From there, it was only a few more
centimeters until they brushed her nipple. Ranma closed his mouth
on her, and began to lightly suck, occasionally lapping at the
taut flesh of her areola.
Taiyoko gasped at the sensation and made a quiet squeak.
Her trembling had increased until Ranma felt the need to hold her
as tightly as he could.
His hand began to roam down her back, and onto her hip. He
caressed the length of her thigh, and began to slide his hands up
under her dress. Her legs were spread apart in order to
accommodate Ranma, so his fingers didn't have any trouble sliding
his fingers down the front of her panties. He could feel the soft
tuft of hair on her mound.
"Why aren't t-they going away?" Taiyoko cried. "I've done
so much and t-t-they're still watching. Why?!"
Ranma's body froze, just as his fingers ran across the
very top of Taiyoko's cleft, about to spread her nether lips
apart. He realized that he wanted to touch her there... to slide
his fingers across the sensitive nub of flesh he knew all girls
had. He wanted to touch her in the most private and personal way
possible, regardless of how she felt about that touch.
He was startled by how quickly things had progressed.
Uncertain, he looked up into her eyes for guidance.
Tears were rolling down her cheeks. Taiyoko's expression
was utterly defeated and humiliated. There was no trace of the
arousal or need that Ranma knew decorated his own features. There
was just fear...
Fear of him, and what he was about to do.
"Taiyoko..."
"Please don't stop now," she begged. "Maybe if t-they see
it, t-they'll leave me alone. Please, Ranma."
"But..." Ranma realized that his skin felt like it was on
fire. He was suddenly very aware of how hard he was, and that his
member was poking into Taiyoko's hip, even though the fabric of
her pants.
"It... It has t-t-to happen sometime, right?" Taiyoko
cried. "I mean, sooner or later, it will have to happen. At least
t-this way, it's... it's... a friend... someone who cares about
me..."
A strained sob caught in the girl's throat, but she
clapped her mouth shut and clenched her teeth. She turned her face
upwards to the ceiling.
Ranma was shaking. He was so close! It seemed like
everything in the world that really mattered at that moment was
under his hands.
"I'm sorry, he said. Gently, Ranma pulled his hand out of
Taiyoko's panties and tried to get up. He kneeled on the couch at
first, surprised at how weak his knees were. Then he stood. "I
can't do this," he told her.
It was a lie, and Ranma knew it. He *could* do it. He
wanted to do it. In fact, quite a large portion of his mind and
body was demanding that he do so. He had to struggle to keep from
kneeling back down and falling upon Taiyoko's body like a ravening
wolf.
"No," Taiyoko begged, scrambling across the sofa to Ranma.
She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Please don't let them send me
away. I'll stop crying, I promise!"
"No." Ranma said more firmly. He felt sick to his stomach.
It was almost physically painful. "No, because even if we do, it
would just cause more problems. It wouldn't be just this once...
It couldn't be. It would be every time your parents got upset. I
don't want that."
He did want that. He wanted it so badly that he could
smell her. He knew that would ruin any chance that either of them
would ever have.
"Pleasepleaseplease..." Taiyoko bawled.
Forcefully, Ranma pushed her away and pulled the front of
her dress back together.
Angrily, he turned away from her and strode to the front
door.
Taiyoko's parents were kneeling in front of the bushes,
starting obscenely into the darkness, trying to see what was going
on. With a sick feeling, Ranma realized that they probably
couldn't see very much of what had went on through the dark
window.
Very briefly, Ranma wondered about the upperclassmen girl
he had spied on several weeks ago. He wondered what she would have
felt if she had known she was being spied upon.
They both heard the front door open when Ranma stepped out
and started in surprised. They and were about to scramble away to
hide again, but panicked when they realized Ranma had seen them.
They froze, even though Ranma leapt directly at them. After only a
second, Taiyoko's mother turned and tried to bolt. She was brought
up short when Ranma roughly grabbed her by the collar of her
ridiculous-looking overcoat.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Taiyoko's father demanded
angrily. "Unhand my wife right now!"
"You can just shut the hell up, asshole," Ranma swore,
grabbing Taiyoko's father in the same manner.
"I'll call the police!" the man threatened.
"You do that," Ranma agreed, "and I'll tell them all about
how you've been beating your daughter and threatening to throw her
out."
"No, Ranma!" Taiyoko pleaded, rushing out the front door.
Holding her dress closed with one hand, she dropped to her knees
in front of Ranma, and grasped him around the waist in
supplication. "Things are bad enough already. Please don't make it
any worse."
"You hit Taiyoko?" her mother asked, incredulously.
"Like you're any better," Ranma accused. "So your
daughter's a little different. There ain't nothin' wrong with her
at all, yet you still threatened to send her to a loony bin."
"That's none of your business!" the woman screeched. "I
had hoped that Taiyoko had finally found acceptable friends, but
now I see how badly I was mistaken."
It was with will alone that Ranma resisted the urge the
violently shake the woman. Instead, he let both of them drop to
the ground, and stood over them. Angrily, Taiyoko's father leapt
to his feet, and took a swing at Ranma.
The martial artist didn't even bother to dodge the weak,
ineffective punch. He let his head rock slightly with the mild
blow to his cheek.
"Ranma! Father, no!" Taiyoko screamed.
While the man's punch had almost no effect on Ranma, the
backhand slap he directed thoughtlessly at his daughter's face
knocked the girl down.
"Stay out of this!" he growled. He turned back to Ranma
and threw another punch at the martial artist. Again, Ranma let
the man's fist connect, and rocked with the blow. It didn't even
really hurt. Before the man could make a third punch, Ranma caught
the man's fist in his own hand and began to squeeze.
Taiyoko's father tried to pull his fist back away, but
couldn't break free of Ranma's crushing grip. For the first time,
a flicker of fear crossed his face.
"I could squish you like a bug," Ranma noted derisively,
throwing the man's hand down. "But I'm not even going to bother.
You're not worth it."
"Get out of here." the man commanded.
"Do you even have any idea what just went on?" Ranma
asked, ignoring him. "Do you have any clue at all?" he demanded,
turning to address Taiyoko's mother, who was watching the whole
scene in growing horror. "Do you have any notion of what your
daughter was willing to give up just so that the two of you would
quit hounding her?"
"What we do with our daughter is our own business,"
Taiyoko's father said coldly. "And the only thing that's going to
stop our 'hounding', as you put it, is for her to grow up and get
over her sick perversion. You're obviously not helping, so get out
now, before I call the police!"
"Okay," Ranma said. "I'll go. You'll never see me again.
Get up, Taiyoko. We're going."
"What?" she sobbed, still lying on the ground.
"You just heard 'em, Taiyoko-chan. They ain't never gonna
let up. No amount of play-acting is gonna make 'em happy. You
could screw a thousand guys, and the second you show any affection
at all to another woman, they'll send you away or hit you again."
"It's not like that," Taiyoko protested, scrabbling to her
knees.
"Ain't it?" Ranma asked, his voice rising in anger. "Tell
me you really don't think that's gonna be the case. Tell me that
some day, you don't think they're gonna push you into marrying
some guy you could care less about, and that on your wedding day,
you'll be laying there just like you were tonight, hoping it
doesn't hurt too much when he fucks you! Tell me!"
Taiyoko broke down into voiceless sobs again.
"Are you gonna be happy with that, Taiyoko?" Ranma asked
seriously. "Is your entire life worth making your mom and dad
happy?"
He knelt down next to her, and took her hand.
"You've caused enough damage already!" the older man
accused. He backed off when Ranma glared over at him over his
shoulder.
"It's not going to get any better, Taiyoko," Ranma said.
"Do you even need me to tell you that?"
The girl shook her head, unable to look up in her grief
and pain.
Ranma helped her to her feet. "Go get some stuff," he
said. "And I'll take you back to the dojo. I'm certain the Tendous
won't mind helping you out. Nabiki will probably have some great
ideas."
"You really t-think so?" Taiyoko asked, her eyes lighting
up at the mention of Nabiki's name.
Ranma nodded, smiling warmly.
The girl ran back into the house. Ranma kept her parents
from running after her by the simple expedient of standing between
them and the doorway and glaring menacingly the entire time.
Taiyoko came out just a few seconds later, carrying a few
dresses, an overnight bag, and a stuffed doll. She ran past her
parents, unable to meet their eyes.
Taiyoko's mother turned to try to catch up with her, but
Ranma leapt in front of her.
"No," he commanded. "I ain't gonna let either of you hurt
her any more. Taiyoko's a big girl, and she made the right
decision. I'll die before I let you unmake it for her."
"What right do you have to take our daughter away,
faggot?!" Her father asked in rage and sorrow.
Ranma paused, suddenly seeing the face of the man who
attacked Makuna-sensei. Did he really think that Ranma was...
Ranma shook his head. It didn't even really matter.
"No right at all. I ain't the one taking her away, though.
She's the one who's leaving. Remember that," he told them.
"Remember that you drove her away. Nobody else could do that. It
was the two of you!"
"Fine," Taiyoko's father screamed after his daughter in
impotent rage. "Run away, you crazy little whore. If you leave
now, you'll never set foot in my house again!"
"Nuhuh!" Ranma said, holding his fist up. "You can stop
that right now. And if you ever do try to come after her or hit
her again, I'll hurt you. I'll make you understand exactly what it
is you've done to her. You understand me?"
Without waiting for an answer from either one of them,
Ranma turned and took off after his friend.
* * *
The trek home was fairly long, but Ranma did his best to
comfort Taiyoko on the train ride. She cried endlessly, staining
his shirt.
It was difficult, however, having her so close to him. He
was still very much attracted to the girl. He still wanted her,
but knew that it would never... could never... happen.
By the time he got her back to the Tendou's house, it was
after midnight.
Nabiki was waiting, her eyes wide with worry. Both Akane
and Kasumi were also up, so Ranma explained that Taiyoko's father
had hit her. Kasumi assured the girl that she could stay as long
as she needed to.
Finally, Nabiki got both Ranma and Taiyoko alone in her
room to ask what really happened.
After Ranma gave a brief description of the evening,
glossing over the details of the simulated makeout session that
had almost become too real, Nabiki glared darkly at him.
"If you had just walked her home, it would have been
okay!" she accused.
"Maybe it would have been," Ranma said. "But maybe her dad
woulda beat the shit out of her again. Maybe I don't wanna see my
friends hurt for no reason."
Nabiki deflated somewhat, but still glared darkly at
Ranma. She took a deep breath, and glanced at Taiyoko, who looked
pretty sheepish about the whole ordeal. "Well, it can't be helped.
This complicates things, but it's not completely unsalvageable."
"That's good," Ranma agreed. "Do you mind letting Taiyoko
stay in your room?"
"Of course I don't mind."
After he left the two of them alone, Ranma went back to
his own room, noting in passing that his parents seemed to be gone
again on the way down the hallway. He was tired, and emotionally
exhausted. More than anything else, he wanted to lie down.
After tossing and turning for about a half hour, he
realized how aroused he still was. Even the fight with Taiyoko's
parents hadn't made his erection go away. Worse, the whole time
they sat together on the train, Ranma held the girl's body close
to his own as a gesture of comfort.
Ranma started to wonder what it would have been like if he
had taken her somewhere private after they got off the train. What
would it have felt like if he had taken her body, there on her
parents' sofa?
Of course the fact he knew intellectually about Taiyoko's
preferences didn't mean that his body didn't still long for her.
After a short while thinking about Taiyoko's slender body
and the way it felt under his hands, Ranma was more aroused than
he was tired. He realized that there was no help for his situation
but another 'long bath'.
Sighing in resignment, but secretly looking forward to
what was about to happen, he went looking for a towel.
* * *
The bathroom was steamy. The gas burners that heated the
furo were turned almost all the way up, sending streams of vapor
coiling through the room. It condensed on the cold tile walls and
made them slick and wet. The two people in the furo, however, were
warm and comfortable.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Nabiki asked.
"Of course I'm okay, Nabiki. I have you and Ranma to take
care of me, after all!"
"You're acting a lot more cheerful than you look."
"I'm trying not to think about it."
"That bad, huh? Are you okay, Taiyoko-chan?"
The blonde girl nodded, sighing deeply.
"Did he hurt you?" Nabiki asked seriously.
"It hurt a little when he slapped me, but I was more
afraid than anything else."
"I meant Ranma."
Taiyoko was silent for several seconds. The only sound
either girl could hear was the slow, but steady dripping of water
from the shower nozzle.
"Ranma... Ranma did what I asked him to."
"You didn't actually--"
"No!" Taiyoko cut her off. "But... he could have. I could
tell that he wanted to. I think I would have let him if it meant
that my parents wouldn't try to keep us apart anymore."
Nabiki sighed. "Ranma was correct about one thing. Your
parents probably wouldn't have let up on you any more just because
they saw you playing around with a boy. If anything, it would have
made matters worse. I guess what he finally did was the right
thing. It's going to complicate things, but..."
"Are you mad at me?"
"Of course I'm not mad at you. You'll have to make it up
to me, though."
"Oh?" Taiyoko asked, a tone of interest entering her
voice.
There was a splash of water as Nabiki moved around behind
Taiyoko. Two pale knees poked up on either side of the blonde
girl, and Nabiki's hands surfaced briefly around Taiyoko's waist.
"Oh..." Taiyoko noted in a breathy tone. She leaned her
head back against Nabiki's shoulder.
The dark-haired girl dropped her head slightly, allowing
her lips to brush Taiyoko's cheek.
There was another splash.
"Oh... ohhh..."
"So... what was it like?" Nabiki demanded in a mischievous
tone. "Having Ranma paw all over you, I mean."
"Frightening. I didn't like the way it made me feel at
all. Ranma's one of the nicest people I know... besides you of
course... so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. It still
makes me shudder when I think about where he put his mouth on me."
"I'm so sorry. I never intended for this to hurt you."
"It's okay. You just wanted to keep them from sending me
away, and Ranma was doing his best too. All I want now is to
forget that it happened."
"I may be able to help with that," Nabiki said.
"Oh? Oh!" Taiyoko squeaked.
Nabiki chuckled evilly. The water began to slosh around in
the furo again.
"Oh! Stop it!" Taiyoko giggled. "No... don't stop..."
"Mmmmm..."
Nabiki leaned a little further over and placed her lips
against Taiyoko's. As the two began to kiss, Nabiki's hand came up
out of the water, slowly sliding up Taiyoko's wet abdomen. Her
other hand slid down even further under the water.
Taiyoko's knees rose up out of the water, spread far apart
as she could get them.
"You like that?" Nabiki asked, breaking the kiss for just
a second.
"It feels... Oh... Ohhhhh... Please, Nabiki..."
"Please what?"
"Please... please don't stop..."
"Never," Nabiki assured her.
"Ohhhh.... Ohhhhhh!"
Then the door slid open. Stirred by the cool air from
outside the room, the misty fog dissipated.
Ranma was standing in the doorway, a towel hanging around
his waist. His mouth worked up and down soundlessly as he stared
at the two girls.
Taiyoko's entire body blushed. Nabiki started to glare.
"Do you mind?" the dark-haired girl finally said. "Or are
you going to stare at us all night?
Ranma turned and fled.
-----
~to be continued...
here without permission.
This story contains some adult material. Reader discretion is
advised.
------------------------------
newRanma 17: Deceiving
by Chris Jones
------------------------------
Ranma was a pervert. That was the only explanation for
what was happening.
He thought that his body would quit trying to make his
decisions for him when he was finally able to change back from
being a girl. He couldn't have been more wrong. Like before, it
was the little things that really got him, like sitting too close
to one of the girls.
The day after he changed back, he found himself sitting
behind Akane in class as usual. Like before, his eyes tried to
linger on the curve of her neck. Also of interest was the way her
school skirt rode up her calves when she kicked the floor under
her chair.
What was new were the not-so-subtle stirrings that now
happened in response. Ranma had felt the sensation before, usually
early in the mornings, or if something was rubbing against him for
some reason. Never before had it just... happened... just because
he looked at a girl.
It was a normal reaction, at least according to the copy
of 'Bodywatching' Makuna-sensei had given Ranma. When he thought
about it, he even remembered seeing the tale-tell bulges it caused
on other guys. It never seemed to want to go away, however.
Thinking about martial arts helped somewhat. Once Ranma's
concentration was torn away from female flesh, the almost painful
stiffness eased and even disappeared after a while. If Akane,
Ukyou, or any of the other attractive girls in his class managed
to catch his attention again, nothing Ranma could do would stop
his erection from rising once more.
It was embarrassing! Did other guys have to deal with
this?
A few hours of surreptitious observation of his classmates
confirmed Ranma's suspicions. Other guys *did* seem to have to
deal with it. Ranma felt a little odd trying to look at other
guy's crotches without being noticed, but one or two of them did
seem to bulge more than normal during the times they stood up in
class. Hiroshi, he noticed, carried a book with him if he left to
use the restroom during the between-class breaks once or twice
during the day. He shifted the book seemingly without thinking
about it, keeping it between his waist and the rest of the room.
Ranma could tell by the tightness around his eyes and tenseness of
his shoulders that Hiroshi was very much aware of what he was
doing, and probably more than a little sensitive about it.
Other guys seemed not to care. Some guys seemed to care
too much. Hikaru Gosunkuji, who was always sat in the back of the
class, always carried his school bag or a book defensively over
his waist almost every time he got up.
So it's not just me, Ranma thought, feeling some relief.
What did seem odd were the other changes in his
perception. For one thing, he felt unusually protective of the
girls around him. He had always felt protective of the girls. It
was mostly because he felt it was his duty to protect those who
couldn't protect themselves as well as he could. Then it was
because he felt like he probably got them all in more trouble than
they deserved or could conveniently handle.
Now, he was just waiting for someone to attack Akane,
Ukyou, or any of the other girls in his class for that matter. He
thought briefly about how he would get up to the next floor if
someone mouthed off to Nabiki. He wanted someone to attack one of
them, because then Ranma could defend them and... and... then
what?
When he was supposed to be concentrating on an economics
lesson, Ranma thought about the situation. In his mind, an evil,
rapacious warrior had come to Furinkan to enslave all the pretty
girls. He decided to start with Akane, Ukyou, and Nabiki. Ranma
leapt to their aid, struggling a little bit in the fight because
he had been out of action for so long, but then coming through at
the end of the battle, just when it really mattered.
The girls were all very thankful for Ranma's help, and
showed their thanks by warmly embracing him. Of course, they had
not yet been able to replace the clothes that the evil warrior had
torn off their bodies, so they did this in only tatters of
lingerie.
Then, Ranma grabbed Nabiki by the wrists and started doing
the kinds of things to her that the evil warrior had been about
to.
"Mister Saotome, are you listening?!"
"Wha...?" Ranma mumbled, jostled out of his reverie by the
teacher's yell.
"I asked you to come up here and draw the appropriate
graph. Have you been listening at all?"
"Of course I have," he lied. He glanced over at Ukyou's
textbook. "We were talking about laws of Supply and Demand."
"If you know so much," the teacher said, seeing through
Ranma's ruse, "then come up here and draw the graph."
Ranma suddenly realized that would be very uncomfortable
and possibly quite embarrassing since his previous line of thought
had indeed caused the same physical reaction he had been so
worried about earlier. "Do I gotta?" he asked, quickly trying to
figure out how much of a dork he'd look like if he took a book up
to the chalk-board with him.
There were a few titters of laughter around the classroom.
Akane looked back over her shoulder at Ranma, curiosity warring
with irritation on her face.
"What on earth is keeping you from doing what I ask,
Saotome?" the teacher asked in irritation.
"My leg went to sleep," Ranma improvised. "And if I get
up, then I'm gonna fall right back down again. Everyone will laugh
at me."
"And that's not already the case?" the teacher asked. "See
me after school, Saotome. Get up here and draw the graph, Kuonji."
* * *
After school, Ranma started sparring with Soun. There were
people he'd rather be sparring with, but Genma still wasn't back
from his trip yet and Kunou had been actively avoiding Ranma. He
was rather hoping that Ryouga would show up soon. That would be a
good, hard challenge.
Still, Soun was pressing him. Ranma thought that it would
be like fighting Akane, except that Ranma wouldn't have to feel
bad about fighting back. Soun surprised him. The man would dodge
in, lightly testing Ranma's defenses. When Ranma tried to take
advantage of Soun's advances, the man retreated and became utterly
defensive. Ranma couldn't help but think that the man's strategy
was effective for prolonging a fight but that it wouldn't win many
battles.
Afterwards, much to Ranma's surprise, Soun gave him a list
of things he had let slip or needed improvement on. Ranma had to
admit that Akane's father was a very good martial arts sensei.
Ranma considered trying to get Akane to spar with him, but
the girl had been looking at him a little oddly the last few days.
He mentioned it to Kasumi in passing that night after dinner.
"You've grown quite a bit during the last three months,"
the young woman noted. "You've also done some filling out across
the shoulders. Akane is probably just being shy because you look a
little different. That's all."
Could that be it? Was Akane afraid of him perhaps? Maybe
it was something else. Perhaps she was attracted to him. That
couldn't be. Could it?
Ranma's train of thought was neatly derailed as he strode
past the guest room door on his way to his own room. He heard his
mother's voice inside. Almost without thinking, he ran to open the
door. He paused just before jerking it open when she started to
shout.
"What if Soun or the girls saw my hair like this? It would
be horrible!"
"You're being silly, No-chan. They've been around Ranma
for almost a year now," Genma's voice replied. "I'm fairly certain
that everyone knows your real hair color by now."
Real hair color?
"You didn't marry a red-head."
"No, but I've been sleeping with one for the last several
weeks."
It was true then. Ranma had indeed seen a red curl
protruding from his mother's scarf a few days ago. He wondered why
she sought to change her hair color?
"Mom?" he called out.
"Ranma? Oh dear..."
"Can I come in?" he asked.
"This is so embarrassing," she mumbled. "Please go
downstairs, Ranma," Nodoka asked after a few seconds. "Your father
and I will be down in just a second."
Grinning, but still a little confused, Ranma went down
stairs and informed the Tendous that his parents had returned.
After a few minutes, Genma and Nodoka both walked gravely down the
stairway and bowed to the Tendous.
Genma looked healthier than Ranma had even seen him. He
had lost a significant amount of weight in the last few weeks, and
appeared sharp and alert. A few strands of black hair were
protruding out from underneath his bandanna.
"Aunty, your hair!" Akane exclaimed after everyone had
welcomed the pair back.
Nodoka glared at the girl, but didn't say anything.
Indeed, Nodoka was dressed nicely, wearing a fairly
attractive dress, but her normal hairstyle had altered. It had
apparently been cut, and instead of a large, single bun in back,
Nodoka now wore two small odango-style buns on either side of her
head.
Most significant was the fact that Nodoka's hair color was
now bright red, a match for Ranma's girl-side.
"Don't let her intimidate you, Akane," Genma told her.
"It's her natural color, but she's been dying it for years."
"But why, Aunty?" Kasumi asked. "It's so beautiful."
"It's embarrassing!" Nodoka exclaimed, her cheeks almost
as red as her hair. "It makes me stand out!"
"Oh, like that would be a change for the Saotomes," Nabiki
joked.
"And how did you grow it out so fast?" Akane wondered.
"And where did you go?" Soun asked. "You both look like
you've spent months at a health spa."
"Hard exercise does have certain effects," Nodoka
answered.
"But most of it probably came out of that magical onsen in
Hawaii," Genma said. "It was horrible, Tendou," Genma said. "We
were taken prisoner and dumped into a magical bath. At first I
thought it was another curse, but then I found it was infinitely
worse than that."
"You didn't think it was very bad when those three
priestesses started swarming all over you," Nodoka noted with a
raised eyebrow.
"I thought we weren't going to discuss that," Genma
replied in embarrassment.
"Priestesses?" Ranma wondered out loud.
"Of some pacific island fertility goddess. There were
priests too," Genma noted in an off-hand manner. "At least I think
they were priests. Did you ever find out dear? I was rather
occupied at the time."
Nodoka blushed and grimaced. "It wasn't my fault!" she
announced a little too loudly. "It was because of that magical
necklace. Besides, I thought you had forgiven me for that."
"I had. I was just wondering," Genma told her. "After the
priestesses poured cold water on me, they weren't nearly so
interested any more, and tried to chase me away, so I never got
the chance to see what they finally did to you."
"It doesn't matter after what they made us do together on
the goddess's altar, does it?" Nodoka asked in a quiet tone.
Genma cleared his throat. "I guess not. That's an
experience I'm not going to forget in a hurry."
"Oh my!" Kasumi said, blushing to her collar. She turned
and fled from the room.
"Well, well..." Nabiki said, eyeing the couple in
surprise.
Ranma's eyes widened in shock. Apparently, his parents
little vacation had been quite an... interesting... adventure.
Both his parents sported very guilty expressions. He noted that
they were holding hands, though. Whatever had happened seemed to
have patched the difficulties they'd been having.
Akane gasped, and glared at Ranma as Soun and Genma
started to discuss the more mundane aspects of the sabbatical.
"What?!" Ranma challenged her
"Your whole family is perverted, Ranma!"
"Shut up, Akane!"
* * *
When Ranma got back up to his room later that evening,
Nabiki was waiting for him, sitting on his bed. She was fidgeting
idly. For a second, he wondered if she had come to try something
naughty again, but the expression said that something was wrong.
Ranma did his best to keep his eyes from lingering on the hem of
her shorts or her long legs. "What's up?" he asked defensively. He
tried to keep a middle ground in the room, neither approaching nor
retreating from the girl.
"How would you feel about paying some of your debt off?"
Nabiki asked. Her tone was almost pleading.
"Huh?"
Nabiki was actually trembling a little bit. "A friend of
mine has a problem," she said evasively, "and if you help us
out... her out... I can make it worth your while."
"Come on, Nabiki. I really don't feel like getting
involved in one of your scams right now," Ranma groaned. "I've got
more than enough to worry about." He rolled his eyes. Privately,
he was more than a little disappointed that Nabiki didn't seem to
be interested in... other things.
Nabiki was silent, but Ranma could see the muscles in her
face contracting as her jaw clenched.
"It's not a scam, Ranma," she said after a few seconds.
"We really need your help. This isn't something I can do by myself
and I thought that you'd jump--"
"No." Ranma cut her off. "It's not like I'll ever be able
to pay you off anyway, so why don't you just leave me alone and
stop trying to confuse me."
Nabiki's eyes flashed dangerously. For a second, Ranma saw
the family resemblance between her and Akane very clearly. Then
her shoulders slumped slightly.
"Please?" she asked in a defeated tone.
Ranma honesty couldn't remember the last time she had said
that.
"Please hear me out, Ranma," Nabiki said. Her trembling
had increased. Ranma could see that the girl was actually quite
upset. Tears were standing in the corners of her eyes.
"So what's this problem," he offered after several
seconds. "I'm not sayin' I'll help, but if you'll tell me what's
goin' on, maybe I'll think about it."
"It's Taiyoko," Nabiki explained. "She's in a lot of
trouble."
"With her parents?" Ranma guessed.
Nabiki nodded. "Her father caught her... in a awkward
situation... with... another girl." Nabiki blushed at the
statement.
Ranma winced. "Oh geez."
"It probably looked a lot worse than it really was," she
said, "but her parents aren't exactly the most understanding
people in the world. Both of them said some things to her that
they really shouldn't have. Her mother threatened to send her to
an asylum and her father told her that he's going to send her to a
boarding school in Europe. I don't know whether either one is
serious or not, but Taiyoko seems to think they both are."
"Yikes!"
"She's grounded to the house right now," Nabiki continued,
"until her parents can make whatever arrangements they're planning
on."
"So what can I do to help?" Ranma asked a little more
seriously. He thought that Nabiki should have come right out and
said that Taiyoko was in trouble. He was a lot less hesitant to
help once he knew someone he cared about genuinely needed it.
"That's the hard part," Nabiki admitted. "Taiyoko's an 'A'
student, and never gets in trouble. Besides her... preference...
she's done nothing to be in trouble. If we can somehow convince
her parents that she's not very serious about it, or that she's
changed her mind, I think they'll be a lot less likely to try pack
her away."
Warning bells started to go off in Ranma's head. "Wait a
second--"
"That's why you're going to ask her out on a date," Nabiki
cut him off. "If it's convincing enough, they'll relent."
"Man, Nabiki," Ranma said seriously. "You know as well as
I do how much can go wrong with a plan like that."
"I don't know what else to do. Can you think of anything
else?" she pleaded.
"Not really," he admitted.
Nabiki covered her eyes with one hand, still trembling.
She seemed to deflate, completely out of hope.
"I'll do it," Ranma said after several seconds of thought.
"I'll probably regret it, but..."
"Thank you," Nabiki said, her voice full of relief.
"I'm just glad Taiyoko has a friend like you," Ranma said.
Nabiki coughed once, but then nodded.
After he and Nabiki sketched out a quick itinerary for the
proposed date, Ranma sought out Akane to explain things to her.
"She's gay?!" Akane shouted in obvious distaste after
Ranma explained his plan. "Why, that no-good, lying--"
"You don't have to throw a fit about it," Ranma cut his
fiancee off. "Why're you so upset about it anyway?"
"That's just not... not... just not right! She shouldn't
be that way. It's perverted!"
"Anyway, you understand why I'm gonna go on a date with
her?" Ranma asked, a little leery of the dark-haired girl's
reaction.
Akane was visibly upset, but nodded in agreement. "It's
her own fault her parents are so mad at her, but I guess we should
do what we can do to help her."
Ranma frowned, wondering why Akane had been set off so
badly. She usually looked at such things at distaste, but the ugly
look of loathing on her face was more intense than he had ever
seen on her before.
Ranma wasn't sure how Ukyou would react, but was confident
that he could avoid her for the duration of the date. Shampoo
wasn't likely to be a problem because she was back in China.
Besides Akane's troubling outburst, Ranma couldn't think of
anything that could thwart his plans.
* * *
On the roof of the Tendou home, Kodachi laid a finger on
her chin in thought. The gymnast wasn't certain, but she thought
that the girl that Akane Tendou and her Ranma-sama were discussing
had been one of the guests at the impromptu party a few weeks ago.
She had been distracted the entire time, waiting for Ranma-sama to
arrive, but now that she thought about it, something *did* seem a
little off about the girl.
Of course, many things seemed odd... since the strange day
when Ranma and the pigtailed girl seemed to... change places.
Kodachi's mind shied away from the things she had seen and
heard. It was all too much to deal with.
Still, this latest development could prove problematic. It
sounded all rather too thin to her. It was possible that this was
nothing more than a shallowly-disguised plot to take Ranma away
from her. Kodachi decided that she would follow along... just in
case.
* * *
*ring* *ring*
"Moshi-moshi?" It was Taiyoko's mother.
Ranma cleared his throat and spoke as clearly as he could,
"Is Taiyoko home?"
"And this is..." the woman prompted in suspicion.
"This is Ranma Saotome," he said. "I'm a friend of
Taiyoko's. You mind if I talk to her?"
"Uh... no," the woman said curiously. "I'll go get her.
Please hold on just a second."
Ranma nodded. Nabiki exhaled in relief.
"Ranma?!" Taiyoko's voice asked over the phone line.
"Hey, Taiyoko-chan," Ranma said. "I heard you were
grounded."
"Nabiki told you?."
"Yeah--" Ranma paused, hearing a click on the phone line.
He looked up at Nabiki, and mimed picking up a second receiver and
holding it to his ear.
Nabiki nodded in understanding. She rolled one hand,
gesturing for Ranma to continue despite the fact that one or both
of Taiyoko's parents were eavesdropping on their conversation.
"So, at any rate, if you can get out of the house," Ranma
improvised, "I thought maybe we could go on a date." Taiyoko was a
sharp girl. Hopefully she would understand what they were trying
to do without having it spelled out for her.
"T-that's..." she paused for a second. "T-that would be
wonderful," she replied. "Let me ask my parents."
There were several minutes of silence over the phone line.
Ranma did his best, but other than a few clicks, couldn't hear
anything but a quiet, static hiss through the receiver.
After a while, Taiyoko's voice returned. "My parents said
t-that I can go out tomorrow night if it's with you," she said.
"That's really you, right, Ranma?"
"Yeah." Ranma smiled, knowing the girl was more used to
the sound of his female voice. "I'll come get you at seven, okay?"
"Hai!"
After he hung up the phone, he nodded to Nabiki.
"Well?"
"Her parents are going to let her go out," he said in a
conspiratorial tone.
"That's a good sign," Nabiki said thankfully.
"Hey, don't worry!" Ranma said. "We'll make it work out."
* * *
The next day, Ranma strolled up the walk to Taiyoko's
house. He had to take a train to get there, but Nabiki had
provided him with a fairly detailed idea of how to get to the
house, along with a basic idea of what kinds of shops and
restaurants were nearby. As a matter of fact, Nabiki had helped
Ranma plan most of the date in advance.
The house itself was fairly large. It must have been
hideously expensive, especially for the high-class neighborhood it
was located in. Ranma remembered vaguely that Taiyoko's father was
a business of some kind and that her mother ran a catering
service. They probably could afford it. He wondered briefly how
such well-off people could be so harsh on their only daughter.
Still, his first priority was getting Taiyoko out of
trouble. He had some vague ideas about helping her out once she
was no longer in danger of being sent away, but keeping her from
suffering her parents' immediate wrath took precedence.
He but on his best, most charming smile, and rang the
doorbell.
Taiyoko's mother greeted him warmly, and ushered him
inside the huge house. She led him down an conservatively
decorated hallway, and into a western-style sitting room, where
Taiyoko's father was reading a newspaper.
"Hey," Ranma greeted the man.
Taiyoko's father shook his hand warmly, and started
cracking jokes.
Ranma may have been smiling, but inside, he couldn't help
but remember how these same people had glared at him when he was a
girl. It was an odd contrast, and the disparity in behavior made
him feel almost sick to his stomach. He laughed along with the
off-color jokes Taiyoko's father was telling even though he wanted
to scream.
Ranma turned when he heard Taiyoko's footsteps in the
hallway behind him.
She nodded and waved weakly. The girl was wearing a cute
mini-dress and heeled shoes. Her immaculate hair and make-up
showed evidence of quite a bit of work. Her smile was forced,
however. She kept glancing at both her parents, her eyes seeking
approval.
"You ready to go?" Ranma prompted, thankful for the
opportunity to leave.
Taiyoko nodded without speaking.
Ranma glanced once more at the girl's parents before
leading her from the house. Both had exultant expressions on their
face. Ranma thought that they probably misread the thankful look
on his face as adoration. Let them, he decided. It was better for
Taiyoko that way. As he led her down the street, his heart went
out to the girl, wondering how she could bear to stay with people
who hated her so much.
"Nabiki t-told you what happened," Taiyoko guessed as they
made their way across the neighborhood.
Ranma nodded. "It must have been pretty embarrassing,
huh?"
Taiyoko nodded, brightly blushing. "It.... I hope... T-
t--"
"Hey, it's okay! I know all about it!" Ranma assured her.
"You have more or less a general idea of what we're trying to
accomplish?"
"Nabiki told me that she might try something like this if
something ever happened. I never realized it would be you,
though," Taiyoko admitted. "Wow..."
"Hmm?"
Taiyoko blinked, looking away from Ranma, even though
their arms were intertwined. "I still can't get over how different
you look as a man. It's just like the pictures you showed me."
"Yeah," Ranma agreed, unsure of how to react to Taiyoko's
statement. "I'm still the same guy inside," he assured her.
Realizing what he had just said, he hastily amended, "Or... I
guess that probably wasn't the best thing to say."
"No!" Taiyoko assured him. "It's just fine. You're a
wonderful friend, regardless."
"Just less appealing this way," Ranma guessed.
"I don't like this," Taiyoko agreed, admitting her
discomfort. "But I know it's necessary."
"Maybe more than you think," Ranma said suspiciously as
they passed in front of the first shop near Taiyoko's home.
"What?"
Ranma paused near the glass window of a dress shop and
pointed at a sequined purse. When Taiyoko was staring at it,
wondering what was going on in her friend's head, Ranma raised his
finger to point at a reflection in the glass.
"Don't look behind you," Ranma whispered.
Taiyoko's eyes widened in horror as she realized she could
see both her parents in the reflection as they darted inside a
shop across the street.
"What will we do?" she asked in terror.
"We'll have a wonderful date," Ranma told her, a smile on
his face. "And we'll play it to the hilt for our audience.
Actually, this might make our evening a little easier. If your
parents see how devoted your new 'boyfriend' is, maybe they'll lay
off you a little bit."
"Maybe," Taiyoko said dubiously. "It couldn't hurt."
* * *
On the roof of a shop on the other side of the square,
Kodachi Kunou waited patiently, wondering how long Ranma and the
insipid girl hanging all over him would be about browsing the
endless little shops that lined both sides of the street.
She shifted positions uncomfortably, gravel from the roof
digging into her mostly-uncovered bottom through the fabric of her
leotard.
The only mitigating factor to her ordeal was the idiotic
little comedy proceeding below. Her Ranma-sama was being trailed
by two poorly disguised idiots, no doubt the parents of the girl
he was helping. Ranma obviously knew they were there, because he
kept his movements wide and open, overacting each affectionate
gesture or comment, hamming it up as if he were on stage. He and
his friend would move along from shop to shop, only to be followed
a few seconds later by their obtrusive tails.
As of fact, Kodachi felt no compunction to try to stay
well hidden as she was capable of because she knew that the pair
below were so distracting that Ranma and his friend would never
notice her.
As she drifted from rooftop to rooftop keeping up with
Ranma-sama and his 'date', Kodachi decided wasn't sure about the
girl yet, but that it was obvious to her that at least Ranma
believed that he was helping her in the manner Kodachi overheard.
* * *
"Here," Ranma said, handing a pretty scarf he just bought
to Taiyoko. "A gift."
Taiyoko looked warmly at the scarf and her friend. "Thank
you, Ranma!" she said, embracing him warmly.
Ranma shrugged, a little embarrassed by the girl's
gratitude. "I'm glad you like it, but it's for show, mostly.
Nabiki gave me the money to buy it."
Taiyoko went misty-eyed for a second. "Oh..." she
breathed.
"Yeah," Ranma agreed. "She's being a really good friend."
"She really is," Taiyoko said. "A truly wonderful person."
"I wouldn't go that far," Ranma noted dryly.
"She always takes such good care of me."
After walking through the shopping district, Ranma
suggested they go to a nearby park. Taiyoko had calmed
considerably after she managed to make the mental leap from 'date'
to a fun outing with one of her good friends. She even seemed to
get into the deception of her parents, who were doing their best
to stay hidden a few dozen paces behind the pair.
Once inside, Taiyoko pointed at the couples riding swan-
shaped pedal boats on the large pond in the middle of the park.
"Do you know how bad an idea that is?" Ranma asked
incredulously.
"Why?" Taiyoko was genuinely curious.
"Well, I change with hot and cold water, right?"
"Yes..."
"Well... that's a whole lot of cold water. I bet sex-
changing martial artists would upset your parents even more than
other girls."
Taiyoko blushed at Ranma's statement, but nodded in
agreement.
"How about that?" the martial artist suggested, gesturing
at a booth where an old man was sketching couples.
"I think that would work," Taiyoko said. "It seems very
romantic, doesn't it?"
After the two got their picture drawn, Ranma led Taiyoko
away from the park and back into the shopping district. They
stopped at an outdoor cafe and made a very obvious show of
ordering one milkshake with two straws. Even the waiter gagged on
that one.
After the sun went down, the pair strolled around, looking
at the lights and gazing at the distant Tokyo skyline.
"Are they still following us?" Taiyoko asked after several
minutes of silence between the two.
Ranma nodded, not even bothering to look for the pair. He
could hear them rustling around in the shrubbery about fifty
meters behind.
"I t-thought t-they would be gone by now," the blonde girl
noted in a worried tone. "Do you t-t-think they suspect."
"I wouldn't worry about it," Ranma told her. "They're
probably convinced, and are just being nosy now."
"But what if t-they're not?" Taiyoko worried out loud.
"What if t-t-they know already? My father's going t-t-t-to st-t-
tart hitting me again--"
"Hitting you?!" Ranma demanded incredulously.
"--and my mother's going t-t-t-to send me a way and I'll
never get t-t-t-t-- I'll never get t-t-to see--"
Ranma considered his options for several seconds before
making what he considered to be a tactical battle decision.
Taiyoko was rapidly becoming incoherent with her stuttering and
stammering. If she got much worse, she risked giving them away and
ruining the deception they spent all afternoon building.
He silenced her stammers with a kiss.
Their lips met. Taiyoko was shocked at first, her eyes
open wide in horror and disgust, until she realized that Ranma's
eyes were open as well.
Ranma did his best to convey his apology and intentions
with his expression, darting his eyes back towards the distant
shrubbery once.
Taiyoko seemed to understand what he was doing. After a
few seconds of stunned silence, she started woodenly returning the
kiss. After a few more seconds, she closed her eyes.
* * *
The little slut was kissing her Ranma-sama! Kodachi was
outraged. She leapt down from her perch, preparing to strangle the
tramp with her ribbon.
She was almost ten paces away before she saw the look of
horror and self-loathing on the blonde girl's features.
Kodachi stopped, and leapt up into a nearby tree just
before she struck, examining the two a little more carefully.
Neither looked very comfortable. Ranma's expression was
stony and resolute. The blonde girl, Kodachi thought her name was
Taiyoko, actually had tears standing in the corners of her eyes.
It was hard to tell, but Kodachi thought that neither her Ranma-
sama nor the girl he was helping liked what they were doing very
much.
There was none of the excitement that Kodachi always
thought would surround such an illicit kiss. The atmosphere
between the two was tense, but it was strained and showed no
arousal.
Kodachi suddenly realized that everything she had
overheard was true.
Her anger shifted from the blonde girl to the pair she
could see smirking at the spectacle in the bushes behind her
Ranma-sama. She began to grow frustrated with the sheer amount of
time she had spent spying on this hapless duo.
In irritation and disgust, Kodachi leapt from treetop to
treetop, away from the gruesome spectacle. It was just too much to
bear!
* * *
"Do you t-think they saw?" Taiyoko asked after their lips
parted.
"I think everyone on this side of town saw," Ranma noted.
"They're certainly paying very close attention right now. I'm
sorry."
"Don't be," Taiyoko pleaded. "I understand why you did it.
We can do it again if you think it will help."
"Let's not get too carried away just yet," Ranma said,
carefully judging the distance between them and the spies. "If I'm
right, that sort of thing usually happens around the end of a
date, so why don't I walk you home? They'll have to run on ahead
if they want to be there when you show up."
Taiyoko nodded nervously. "Still... it wouldn't hurt if
you were..." she gulped, "you were a little more... touchy."
"I will," Ranma offered. "If you really think it would
help."
"Boy or girl, you're one of my best friends," she
rationalized. "I won't be upset if you put your hands on me...
just a little bit."
Ranma nodded. With a warm smile, he wrapped his arm around
the girl's waist and pulled her close to him as they walked along.
"Are they gone yet?" she asked after a few minutes.
Ranma shook his head.
By the time they reached Taiyoko's house, Ranma's left arm
was around her slender waist and his right hand rested familiarly
on her hip. Taiyoko grew more and more upset when it became
apparent that her parents intended to follow them all the way
back.
Indeed, it appeared that the two had no intention of
trying to end their feeble deception.
"Please, please don't leave me alone," Taiyoko pleaded as
she unlocked her front door. "If you leave me, t-they'll send me
off t-tomorrow."
Ranma doubted the veracity of the girl's fears, but
decided to do his best to comfort her. He smiled and followed her
inside.
She seemed to calm a bit once they were inside the dimly-
lit front room.
"I bet that your dates are usually a lot more normal than
this," she said, sitting down on a sofa facing the front picture
window.
"You'd be surprised," Ranma said. "Went on a date with
Akane once, but she was dressed up as a guy. Went on a date with
Nabiki, but ended up on a date with Akane. I'm still not sure how
that happened. Went on a date with Kodachi, but I got trampled by
cows."
Taiyoko giggled out loud. "You're kidding!"
"I wish! I even went on a date with Kunou, but that was
because I was trying to cure my curse with some magic sword he
found. I've been on lots of dates with Ryouga, but it's always
because of a fight. You haven't been hugged until you've been
squeezed by a guy strong enough to break rocks with his bare
hands."
"That's horrible," Taiyoko laughed.
"But true. This is the most normal date I've ever had,"
Ranma admitted, sitting next to her. "If things were a little
different, maybe--" He froze, hearing muffled swearing just
outside the window.
"Maybe what? Ranma?"
"Dammit. They're in the bushes now."
Taiyoko froze, going stiff against Ranma.
"Do you really think your dad is going to hit you?" Ranma
asked in a serious, whispered tone.
Taiyoko was silent, but started shaking.
"I can stop him," Ranma offered, "easily. I'll do anything
you want me to."
"Kiss me again," Taiyoko said, her voice tremulous with
fear.
"If they aren't gonna come in--"
"Please," she begged. "Don't let them send me away!"
Ranma nodded, and took the girl in his arms. He kissed her
gently, and held her close. He could feel her shivering against
him.
In truth, Ranma felt a little like shivering himself. What
they were doing was getting more and more dangerous, but more and
more stimulating at the same time. Ranma thought that the best way
to handle the situation was probably something other than what
they were doing, but for the life of him, he was having a hard
time thinking of anything else that could be done.
"Like this?" he asked, gently caressing Taiyoko's neck.
The blonde girl nodded, leaning into his embrace. He was
quite surprised when she began to lightly place kisses along the
side of his neck. It was all part of the deception, he understood,
but it still made every hair on his body want to stand up. He
tightened his embrace, and began to return Taiyoko's light kisses.
Ranma noted that the simulation they were creating had
caused the rustling in the bushes outside to stop. He hadn't seen
or heard anything to make him think that the girl's parents had
quit spying on them, but it was a good sign. Perhaps they were
deciding that Taiyoko was not so 'abnormal' as they thought.
Ranma suddenly realized that if that were the case, it
would probably mean that he would have to maintain the fiction
that he was dating Taiyoko in order to protect her. It was both a
repugnant notion and an interesting proposition at the same time.
It almost seemed as if what he was doing was justified. He
wondered about this as he kissed Taiyoko again, sucking on her
lips briefly.
Her eyes widened for a second in surprise, but she started
to return Ranma's ministrations after just a couple seconds. "Do
you think they'll believe this?" she asked warily.
"Maybe."
If he did have an excuse to continue, would Taiyoko want
him to? He wondered about this. In his mind, Ranma thought he knew
what Taiyoko's preference meant. After all, hadn't he been through
almost the same thing?
As a girl, Ranma's body didn't seem to care. She reacted
the same way to a touch whether or not it belonged to Kunou,
Hiroshi, Nabiki, or Shampoo. Her mind, on the other hand, knew
what was really going on. She was repulsed by the affections of
her male suitors, no matter how much her body wanted her to let
them have their way.
Did Taiyoko feel the same way right now? Was her body
telling her that what was happening was enjoyable and exciting?
"Why aren't t-they going away?" she whispered, her
shivering increasing. Ranma could see that her eyes were full of
fear and defeat.
"I don't know," he admitted.
"We haven't done enough yet," she said, grabbing Ranma's
hands and placing them at the top of her dress. "Here."
Ranma suddenly realized what she wanted him to do.
Gently, carefully, he began to unbutton Taiyoko's dress.
"Please leave..." he heard her whisper under her breath.
The buttons were close together and were a little hard to
unfasten. Ranma's shaking hands only complicated the problem.
Soon, however, he had exposed her torso as far down as her navel.
Trying to quell the shaking, he let his fingers run across her
smooth, pale flesh.
He kissed her again, and let his fingers close around the
strap of her lace brassiere.
Did at least some part of Taiyoko want this? Was some part
of her singing out, even as Ranma had done when she dreamed about
making love to Ryouga, or when Kunou kissed her? Was some small
fraction of his frightened friend waiting for him to make the next
move?
Ranma pulled the strap off Taiyoko's shoulder, allowing it
to hang loosely against her arm. Still kissing her, his fingertips
slid across the textured fabric until they rested on the soft
swell of the girl's breast.
With an almost indeliberate motion, he began to squeeze,
cupping her slightly. He could suddenly feel her nipple stiffening
against his touch, even through the lace. Ranma became bolder,
squeezing more firmly, and even kneading a little bit.
Carefully, deliberately, he shifted his grip until it was
resting on the length of lace stretched in between the two cups.
The brassier was fastened there by a small metallic clasp.
A few of the bras Ranma had worn as a girl in the past had
worked the same way. Ranma had no trouble working the tiny catch.
Taiyoko inhaled sharply as her assets were exposed but
made no other noise.
Ranma stared. Taiyoko's breasts were small... smaller even
than Akane's. They were perfectly shaped, however, each about the
size of a large plum or a small peach. Her nipples were tiny and
red. Each one was stiffened, protruding a centimeter or so. They
seemed to drive all the way into Ranma's brain.
At the same time, he realized that they had twisted on the
sofa until one of her legs had wrapped behind him. He could feel
her knee at his side and her heel in the small of his back.
Breathing hard, Ranma leaned in and began to suck gently
at the base of her neck, his lips and tongue seeking out her
flesh. He held her close with one arm and began to cup her breast
again with the other hand. His fingertips sought out her erect
nipples, and began to tweak them ever-so-gently.
His kisses began to move downward, until his lips were
actually on her other breast. From there, it was only a few more
centimeters until they brushed her nipple. Ranma closed his mouth
on her, and began to lightly suck, occasionally lapping at the
taut flesh of her areola.
Taiyoko gasped at the sensation and made a quiet squeak.
Her trembling had increased until Ranma felt the need to hold her
as tightly as he could.
His hand began to roam down her back, and onto her hip. He
caressed the length of her thigh, and began to slide his hands up
under her dress. Her legs were spread apart in order to
accommodate Ranma, so his fingers didn't have any trouble sliding
his fingers down the front of her panties. He could feel the soft
tuft of hair on her mound.
"Why aren't t-they going away?" Taiyoko cried. "I've done
so much and t-t-they're still watching. Why?!"
Ranma's body froze, just as his fingers ran across the
very top of Taiyoko's cleft, about to spread her nether lips
apart. He realized that he wanted to touch her there... to slide
his fingers across the sensitive nub of flesh he knew all girls
had. He wanted to touch her in the most private and personal way
possible, regardless of how she felt about that touch.
He was startled by how quickly things had progressed.
Uncertain, he looked up into her eyes for guidance.
Tears were rolling down her cheeks. Taiyoko's expression
was utterly defeated and humiliated. There was no trace of the
arousal or need that Ranma knew decorated his own features. There
was just fear...
Fear of him, and what he was about to do.
"Taiyoko..."
"Please don't stop now," she begged. "Maybe if t-they see
it, t-they'll leave me alone. Please, Ranma."
"But..." Ranma realized that his skin felt like it was on
fire. He was suddenly very aware of how hard he was, and that his
member was poking into Taiyoko's hip, even though the fabric of
her pants.
"It... It has t-t-to happen sometime, right?" Taiyoko
cried. "I mean, sooner or later, it will have to happen. At least
t-this way, it's... it's... a friend... someone who cares about
me..."
A strained sob caught in the girl's throat, but she
clapped her mouth shut and clenched her teeth. She turned her face
upwards to the ceiling.
Ranma was shaking. He was so close! It seemed like
everything in the world that really mattered at that moment was
under his hands.
"I'm sorry, he said. Gently, Ranma pulled his hand out of
Taiyoko's panties and tried to get up. He kneeled on the couch at
first, surprised at how weak his knees were. Then he stood. "I
can't do this," he told her.
It was a lie, and Ranma knew it. He *could* do it. He
wanted to do it. In fact, quite a large portion of his mind and
body was demanding that he do so. He had to struggle to keep from
kneeling back down and falling upon Taiyoko's body like a ravening
wolf.
"No," Taiyoko begged, scrambling across the sofa to Ranma.
She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Please don't let them send me
away. I'll stop crying, I promise!"
"No." Ranma said more firmly. He felt sick to his stomach.
It was almost physically painful. "No, because even if we do, it
would just cause more problems. It wouldn't be just this once...
It couldn't be. It would be every time your parents got upset. I
don't want that."
He did want that. He wanted it so badly that he could
smell her. He knew that would ruin any chance that either of them
would ever have.
"Pleasepleaseplease..." Taiyoko bawled.
Forcefully, Ranma pushed her away and pulled the front of
her dress back together.
Angrily, he turned away from her and strode to the front
door.
Taiyoko's parents were kneeling in front of the bushes,
starting obscenely into the darkness, trying to see what was going
on. With a sick feeling, Ranma realized that they probably
couldn't see very much of what had went on through the dark
window.
Very briefly, Ranma wondered about the upperclassmen girl
he had spied on several weeks ago. He wondered what she would have
felt if she had known she was being spied upon.
They both heard the front door open when Ranma stepped out
and started in surprised. They and were about to scramble away to
hide again, but panicked when they realized Ranma had seen them.
They froze, even though Ranma leapt directly at them. After only a
second, Taiyoko's mother turned and tried to bolt. She was brought
up short when Ranma roughly grabbed her by the collar of her
ridiculous-looking overcoat.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Taiyoko's father demanded
angrily. "Unhand my wife right now!"
"You can just shut the hell up, asshole," Ranma swore,
grabbing Taiyoko's father in the same manner.
"I'll call the police!" the man threatened.
"You do that," Ranma agreed, "and I'll tell them all about
how you've been beating your daughter and threatening to throw her
out."
"No, Ranma!" Taiyoko pleaded, rushing out the front door.
Holding her dress closed with one hand, she dropped to her knees
in front of Ranma, and grasped him around the waist in
supplication. "Things are bad enough already. Please don't make it
any worse."
"You hit Taiyoko?" her mother asked, incredulously.
"Like you're any better," Ranma accused. "So your
daughter's a little different. There ain't nothin' wrong with her
at all, yet you still threatened to send her to a loony bin."
"That's none of your business!" the woman screeched. "I
had hoped that Taiyoko had finally found acceptable friends, but
now I see how badly I was mistaken."
It was with will alone that Ranma resisted the urge the
violently shake the woman. Instead, he let both of them drop to
the ground, and stood over them. Angrily, Taiyoko's father leapt
to his feet, and took a swing at Ranma.
The martial artist didn't even bother to dodge the weak,
ineffective punch. He let his head rock slightly with the mild
blow to his cheek.
"Ranma! Father, no!" Taiyoko screamed.
While the man's punch had almost no effect on Ranma, the
backhand slap he directed thoughtlessly at his daughter's face
knocked the girl down.
"Stay out of this!" he growled. He turned back to Ranma
and threw another punch at the martial artist. Again, Ranma let
the man's fist connect, and rocked with the blow. It didn't even
really hurt. Before the man could make a third punch, Ranma caught
the man's fist in his own hand and began to squeeze.
Taiyoko's father tried to pull his fist back away, but
couldn't break free of Ranma's crushing grip. For the first time,
a flicker of fear crossed his face.
"I could squish you like a bug," Ranma noted derisively,
throwing the man's hand down. "But I'm not even going to bother.
You're not worth it."
"Get out of here." the man commanded.
"Do you even have any idea what just went on?" Ranma
asked, ignoring him. "Do you have any clue at all?" he demanded,
turning to address Taiyoko's mother, who was watching the whole
scene in growing horror. "Do you have any notion of what your
daughter was willing to give up just so that the two of you would
quit hounding her?"
"What we do with our daughter is our own business,"
Taiyoko's father said coldly. "And the only thing that's going to
stop our 'hounding', as you put it, is for her to grow up and get
over her sick perversion. You're obviously not helping, so get out
now, before I call the police!"
"Okay," Ranma said. "I'll go. You'll never see me again.
Get up, Taiyoko. We're going."
"What?" she sobbed, still lying on the ground.
"You just heard 'em, Taiyoko-chan. They ain't never gonna
let up. No amount of play-acting is gonna make 'em happy. You
could screw a thousand guys, and the second you show any affection
at all to another woman, they'll send you away or hit you again."
"It's not like that," Taiyoko protested, scrabbling to her
knees.
"Ain't it?" Ranma asked, his voice rising in anger. "Tell
me you really don't think that's gonna be the case. Tell me that
some day, you don't think they're gonna push you into marrying
some guy you could care less about, and that on your wedding day,
you'll be laying there just like you were tonight, hoping it
doesn't hurt too much when he fucks you! Tell me!"
Taiyoko broke down into voiceless sobs again.
"Are you gonna be happy with that, Taiyoko?" Ranma asked
seriously. "Is your entire life worth making your mom and dad
happy?"
He knelt down next to her, and took her hand.
"You've caused enough damage already!" the older man
accused. He backed off when Ranma glared over at him over his
shoulder.
"It's not going to get any better, Taiyoko," Ranma said.
"Do you even need me to tell you that?"
The girl shook her head, unable to look up in her grief
and pain.
Ranma helped her to her feet. "Go get some stuff," he
said. "And I'll take you back to the dojo. I'm certain the Tendous
won't mind helping you out. Nabiki will probably have some great
ideas."
"You really t-think so?" Taiyoko asked, her eyes lighting
up at the mention of Nabiki's name.
Ranma nodded, smiling warmly.
The girl ran back into the house. Ranma kept her parents
from running after her by the simple expedient of standing between
them and the doorway and glaring menacingly the entire time.
Taiyoko came out just a few seconds later, carrying a few
dresses, an overnight bag, and a stuffed doll. She ran past her
parents, unable to meet their eyes.
Taiyoko's mother turned to try to catch up with her, but
Ranma leapt in front of her.
"No," he commanded. "I ain't gonna let either of you hurt
her any more. Taiyoko's a big girl, and she made the right
decision. I'll die before I let you unmake it for her."
"What right do you have to take our daughter away,
faggot?!" Her father asked in rage and sorrow.
Ranma paused, suddenly seeing the face of the man who
attacked Makuna-sensei. Did he really think that Ranma was...
Ranma shook his head. It didn't even really matter.
"No right at all. I ain't the one taking her away, though.
She's the one who's leaving. Remember that," he told them.
"Remember that you drove her away. Nobody else could do that. It
was the two of you!"
"Fine," Taiyoko's father screamed after his daughter in
impotent rage. "Run away, you crazy little whore. If you leave
now, you'll never set foot in my house again!"
"Nuhuh!" Ranma said, holding his fist up. "You can stop
that right now. And if you ever do try to come after her or hit
her again, I'll hurt you. I'll make you understand exactly what it
is you've done to her. You understand me?"
Without waiting for an answer from either one of them,
Ranma turned and took off after his friend.
* * *
The trek home was fairly long, but Ranma did his best to
comfort Taiyoko on the train ride. She cried endlessly, staining
his shirt.
It was difficult, however, having her so close to him. He
was still very much attracted to the girl. He still wanted her,
but knew that it would never... could never... happen.
By the time he got her back to the Tendou's house, it was
after midnight.
Nabiki was waiting, her eyes wide with worry. Both Akane
and Kasumi were also up, so Ranma explained that Taiyoko's father
had hit her. Kasumi assured the girl that she could stay as long
as she needed to.
Finally, Nabiki got both Ranma and Taiyoko alone in her
room to ask what really happened.
After Ranma gave a brief description of the evening,
glossing over the details of the simulated makeout session that
had almost become too real, Nabiki glared darkly at him.
"If you had just walked her home, it would have been
okay!" she accused.
"Maybe it would have been," Ranma said. "But maybe her dad
woulda beat the shit out of her again. Maybe I don't wanna see my
friends hurt for no reason."
Nabiki deflated somewhat, but still glared darkly at
Ranma. She took a deep breath, and glanced at Taiyoko, who looked
pretty sheepish about the whole ordeal. "Well, it can't be helped.
This complicates things, but it's not completely unsalvageable."
"That's good," Ranma agreed. "Do you mind letting Taiyoko
stay in your room?"
"Of course I don't mind."
After he left the two of them alone, Ranma went back to
his own room, noting in passing that his parents seemed to be gone
again on the way down the hallway. He was tired, and emotionally
exhausted. More than anything else, he wanted to lie down.
After tossing and turning for about a half hour, he
realized how aroused he still was. Even the fight with Taiyoko's
parents hadn't made his erection go away. Worse, the whole time
they sat together on the train, Ranma held the girl's body close
to his own as a gesture of comfort.
Ranma started to wonder what it would have been like if he
had taken her somewhere private after they got off the train. What
would it have felt like if he had taken her body, there on her
parents' sofa?
Of course the fact he knew intellectually about Taiyoko's
preferences didn't mean that his body didn't still long for her.
After a short while thinking about Taiyoko's slender body
and the way it felt under his hands, Ranma was more aroused than
he was tired. He realized that there was no help for his situation
but another 'long bath'.
Sighing in resignment, but secretly looking forward to
what was about to happen, he went looking for a towel.
* * *
The bathroom was steamy. The gas burners that heated the
furo were turned almost all the way up, sending streams of vapor
coiling through the room. It condensed on the cold tile walls and
made them slick and wet. The two people in the furo, however, were
warm and comfortable.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Nabiki asked.
"Of course I'm okay, Nabiki. I have you and Ranma to take
care of me, after all!"
"You're acting a lot more cheerful than you look."
"I'm trying not to think about it."
"That bad, huh? Are you okay, Taiyoko-chan?"
The blonde girl nodded, sighing deeply.
"Did he hurt you?" Nabiki asked seriously.
"It hurt a little when he slapped me, but I was more
afraid than anything else."
"I meant Ranma."
Taiyoko was silent for several seconds. The only sound
either girl could hear was the slow, but steady dripping of water
from the shower nozzle.
"Ranma... Ranma did what I asked him to."
"You didn't actually--"
"No!" Taiyoko cut her off. "But... he could have. I could
tell that he wanted to. I think I would have let him if it meant
that my parents wouldn't try to keep us apart anymore."
Nabiki sighed. "Ranma was correct about one thing. Your
parents probably wouldn't have let up on you any more just because
they saw you playing around with a boy. If anything, it would have
made matters worse. I guess what he finally did was the right
thing. It's going to complicate things, but..."
"Are you mad at me?"
"Of course I'm not mad at you. You'll have to make it up
to me, though."
"Oh?" Taiyoko asked, a tone of interest entering her
voice.
There was a splash of water as Nabiki moved around behind
Taiyoko. Two pale knees poked up on either side of the blonde
girl, and Nabiki's hands surfaced briefly around Taiyoko's waist.
"Oh..." Taiyoko noted in a breathy tone. She leaned her
head back against Nabiki's shoulder.
The dark-haired girl dropped her head slightly, allowing
her lips to brush Taiyoko's cheek.
There was another splash.
"Oh... ohhh..."
"So... what was it like?" Nabiki demanded in a mischievous
tone. "Having Ranma paw all over you, I mean."
"Frightening. I didn't like the way it made me feel at
all. Ranma's one of the nicest people I know... besides you of
course... so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. It still
makes me shudder when I think about where he put his mouth on me."
"I'm so sorry. I never intended for this to hurt you."
"It's okay. You just wanted to keep them from sending me
away, and Ranma was doing his best too. All I want now is to
forget that it happened."
"I may be able to help with that," Nabiki said.
"Oh? Oh!" Taiyoko squeaked.
Nabiki chuckled evilly. The water began to slosh around in
the furo again.
"Oh! Stop it!" Taiyoko giggled. "No... don't stop..."
"Mmmmm..."
Nabiki leaned a little further over and placed her lips
against Taiyoko's. As the two began to kiss, Nabiki's hand came up
out of the water, slowly sliding up Taiyoko's wet abdomen. Her
other hand slid down even further under the water.
Taiyoko's knees rose up out of the water, spread far apart
as she could get them.
"You like that?" Nabiki asked, breaking the kiss for just
a second.
"It feels... Oh... Ohhhhh... Please, Nabiki..."
"Please what?"
"Please... please don't stop..."
"Never," Nabiki assured her.
"Ohhhh.... Ohhhhhh!"
Then the door slid open. Stirred by the cool air from
outside the room, the misty fog dissipated.
Ranma was standing in the doorway, a towel hanging around
his waist. His mouth worked up and down soundlessly as he stared
at the two girls.
Taiyoko's entire body blushed. Nabiki started to glare.
"Do you mind?" the dark-haired girl finally said. "Or are
you going to stare at us all night?
Ranma turned and fled.
-----
~to be continued...