Chapter Four: Wash that man right out of my hair
____________________
The day of the rhythmic gymnastics competition arrived. Akane and Ranko were the only two from Furinkan able to compete but they trounced the girls from St. Hebreke seeing that Kodachi was unable to compete do to a training injury. At least that was the official story.
Ranko and Akane were walking home from the competition. Ranko was shaking the cold water out of her hair that an old lady had been tossing on the sidewalk to keep down the dust. Ranko had just sighed sadly but smiled when Akane held her hand.
They were walking in silence just enjoying each other's company when they heard a squeal. They both turned to see a little black pig running towards them dragging a heavy back pack behind it.
"P-chan! Come here you little guy! Where's your master?" Ranko bent down to pick up the little pig. Akane was barely able to pick up the backpack.
"What does he have in here? Lead bricks? Where do you think Ryouga is? He wouldn't just leave his pig and backpack behind somewhere would he?" Akane was puzzled. Something wasn't quite right and an idea was tickling the back of her brain but refused to come forth.
"I'm sure he's around somewhere. Let's get home just in case he's already there." Ranko said crushing the piglet into her now his chest. Ryouga was silently thankful that Ranko was male at the moment. He would like to stay conscious for a while.
There was a sudden purple blur of movement and Ranko was gripped in a bear hug. She looked down to see a purple haired Chinese woman in skintight clothes holding him immobile. "S-S-Shampoo?" Ranko said hesitantly.
"Ranko? Who is this girl and why do you want to wash your hair?" Akane glared at Ranko.
"Her name is Shampoo. She's an Amazon warrior from China and wants to marry me." Ranko answered timidly.
"Ranko you idiot!" Akane instantly regretted saying it as Ranko winced. "You can tell me all about it once we get her off you." Akane grabbed Shampoo and tried to pull her off Ranko.
The girl let go and turned to face Akane. She said some things in Chinese that Akane didn't understand.
Ranko translated her face going white, "She says you're an obstacle, and obstacles are for killing."
Akane assumed the Anything Goes stance, in other words, standing casually waiting for Shampoo to make the first move.
Shampoo charged Akane with a pair of Bonbori. Akane again wondered where the hell these women were pulling these weapons from. She's have to ask one someday. Akane leapt to the side, kicking one of the bonbori away disarming the girl's right hand. As Shampoo struck at Akane with her other mace, Akane moved to the side and punched out, snapping the handle in two.
Seeing herself disarmed completely, Shampoo pulled out a large Chinese sword and swung it at Akane. Akane ducked under the attack and punched into Shampoo's gut, knocking the wind out of her. Losing her grip on her sword Shampoo backed away, trying to get some distance from the powerful woman. Akane leapt into the air with a spinning kick she'd learned from Ranko and kicked Shampoo in the side of the head. The Chinese girl fell to the ground with a dull thud and she looked around dazed.
"We need to get out of here now!" Ranko shouted. And grabbed Akane by the hand.
"Why? What's the matter? I just beat her, she's no threat." Akane was confused.
Ranko pulled on her arm and they ran down the street quickly. Ranko tried various alleys and side streets to get back to the dojo. Panting heavily they opened the door to the house. "I'll explain. as. soon as I. catch.my breath." Ranko said.
They walked into the house. Kimiko's voice rang out, "Ranko, Akane? Is that you? You have a visitor."
The two girls entered the dining room to see Shampoo sitting at the table with a cup of tea. She looked up and smiled. Both girls were shocked. Shampoo stood up and walked over to Akane. Holding the stunned girl's chin, Shampoo leaned over and kissed Akane on the cheek.
"Damn it, Damn it, Damn it." Ranko swore. Kimiko frowned at Ranko. Girls shouldn't use such language.
"What just happened here?" Akane demanded, shaking off her stupor.
"I'm sorry Akane. She just gave you the kiss of death. Now she'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth to kill you for defeating her." Ranko hung her head.
"What!?" Kimiko was outraged. She started arguing with the girl in Chinese. Ranko attempted to keep up but her grasp of the language was marginal at best.
"What are they saying?" Akane whispered.
"I think your mom is telling Shampoo that her laws don't apply in Japan. Shampoo just said that the laws apply wherever there are amazons. Umm, I believe Auntie just said that if that's the case then soon there won't be any amazons around here." Ranko tried to keep a running dialogue.
The arguing went on for a few more minutes until Kimiko nodded and looked at Ranko, "It appears that Xian Pu cannot return to her tribe without her husband or proof of his death. I have convinced her to retract the kiss of death on Akane on the basis that Shampoo must obey the laws of Japan just like we would obey her laws in her village. The matter at hand is that she believes that Ranko is a male, and because she was defeated by him in a tournament at her village, they are now married by their law."
Kimiko sighed and pressed her fingers on the bridge of her nose, "I will try to convince her that her hold over Ranko is nullified because Ranko is really a girl she cannot marry her. Also to keep her from killing you Ranko, I will try and use the same argument I did with Akane. She never gave your female side the kiss of death and cannot while the two of you are in Japan."
Kimiko began talking Shampoo again. Shampoo's voice rose and she shook her head defiantly. At a point in the conversation, Kimiko grabbed the still warm tea kettle and poured it over Ranko's head.
Shampoo gasped and finally said a word Akane could understand, "Jusenkyou."
Kimiko nodded and spoke rapidly again. Finally Shampoo hung her head then looked at Ranko sadly. Turning, she bolted out the back door and over the wall.
Ranko sighed in relief, "That was another of my father's wonderful ideas. He was caught eating a banquet reserved for the winner of this tournament in the Amazon village. He told me to fight their champion therefore making the prize ours so we wouldn't get in trouble. The problem was I defeated Shampoo while in my male form. She immediately came over and kissed me. Then the whole tribe began to prepare a celebration. The Jusenkyou guide apparently told my father what was going on so we immediately snuck out the village and hightailed it to Japan."
"You poor girl. Well it's over now. Why don't you two go clean up and I'll prepare dinner."
* * * * * * * * * *
Akane scrubbed Ranko's back as they talked, "Do you think she's really gone?" Akane asked.
"I hope so. From what I've overheard about the Amazons in China makes me never want to go back there again."
"Even if there's a cure? If there's a spring of drowned girl then maybe it could reverse your curse." Akane said.
"Then how would we ever be able to have children?" Ranko grinned teasingly.
"I hate it when you do that! I never know if you're serious or not." Akane crossed her arms in front of her naked breasts and glared at the woman she was quickly coming to love.
Ranko became thoughtful, "I've been thinking about it the last couple of weeks since I arrived here. I could learn to live with this curse. I just wish there was a way to control it. It would be nice to wear a dress once in a while. Or a bikini. You know, I can't go swimming without some sort of top on? Even without breasts it feels weird to expose my chest in public."
Akane was washing Ranko again as she thought about the implications of Ranko's words. Did Ranko's curse work in a way that she could father children? The variations in their sex life would be like a Kama Sutra in practice. She began to daydream about her and Ranko raising children and carrying on the dojo. Would they be able to attract students with a relationship like theirs? How long could they keep it private? So far only one person knew about it. Akane snapped out of her fantasizing and realized she was soaping up Ranko's breasts.
"Hmmm, don't stop." Ranko purred when Akane had become aware of where her hands were.
"Pervert." Akane said, half smiling.
"What does that make you then?" Ranko turned around and embraced Akane, French kissing her. Their tongues explored each others mouths for a few minutes before breaking off.
Things quickly escalated from there as the two girls explored these new areas of their relationship.
Finally it was over. They held each other close, basking in the afterglow of each other. Akane was still trying to catch her breath when they heard the bathroom door slide open.
"Akane? Is everything all right? I thought I heard. Oh, my!"
* * * * * * * * * *
"Just what did you think you were doing?" Kimiko exclaimed.
Akane and Ranko sat side by side on the edge of Akane's bed. They had their heads hung low. Kimiko had caught them with their hands in the cookie jar so to speak and was trying desperately not to lose control. She needed answers before making accusations and for that she needed to stay calm.
"Ok, I know what just happened. What I want to know is how did this start and how long has it been going on?"
Ranko opened her mouth to speak but Akane preempted her, "It just sort of happened. Ranko and I have become close over the last few weeks and well."
Ranko continued on, "I love Akane, and she has said she loves me as well."
Akane felt more confident with Ranko's proclamation, "It kind of started that first day. We were told that one of us would marry Ranko. Kasumi and Nabiki kind of pushed her off onto me. She was a guy at the time, a pretty good looking one too, so I was actually thinking about the whole thing seriously. I'd been having problems with the boys at school and suddenly here's this guy that seems to like me for me and not my body. I was attracted to him even if I didn't want to admit it. Then I find out that this guy is really a woman. The funny thing is that it made everything seem even better. Here was a guy who knew everything about a woman's needs. Rationally I knew better but I just couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities."
Kimiko rubbed the bridge of her nose, "So you're saying you took advantage of Ranko's trust in your friendship?"
"No! It's not like that at all! In fact I kissed her first." Ranko defended Akane.
"Ranko? Are you sure about yourself? Are you, Akane? You're both teenagers. Your hormones are running wild. This could just be a phase brought on by the fact both of you have had bad luck with men." Kimiko continued with less force than she had started.
Akane shook her head slowly, "We weren't sure ourselves at first. We both talked about it and decided to try and go slowly just in case it was a phase like you said. But things kept progressing anyway. We didn't plan for what just happened. To tell the truth, except for Ranko, I find the thought of doing anything like that with another woman disgusting."
Ranko nodded her head in agreement, "I feel the same about Akane. Maybe it's because I can turn into a male. Maybe I am a freak." She suddenly felt depression overwhelming her again.
"You're not a freak Ranko. You have a unique condition true but it doesn't make you a freak." Kimiko said feeling she was losing control of the conversation.
"How will I ever find a man who will accept me if I also turn into a man? I'm glad Akane accepts me for who I am. It's only one of the reasons I love her."
Kimiko sighed heavily, "I can't live your lives for you but I can offer advice. I want you to think heavily about this. I would hate to see either of you hurt because you rushed into things."
Both girls agreed. Too quickly in Kimiko's opinion.
"And for Kami's sake behave yourselves. I don't think your father would be as understanding if he had walked in on you." Both girls reddened in embarrassment.
* * * * * * * * * *
Nabiki came into Akane's room not too long after Kimiko left to finish dinner.
"Well at least I don't have to worry about how I'm going to break things to mom." She smirked.
Akane blushed and looked away.
"Well it could have gone worse. Uncle Soun could have walked in on us." Ranko laughed.
"I told you guys to hold off until I thought of something. Too late now I guess. So tell me, how was it?" Nabiki asked coyly.
"What?" Akane exclaimed.
"You know, how was your first time? It was girl-girl right?"
Ranko suddenly found something on her robe that was very interesting and Akane was struck speechless. Nabiki swore the temperature of the room went up ten degrees and she'd suffer sunburn from the blushing.
"All right, fine. I am curious though." Nabiki admitted. She got up and left.
Akane and Ranko looked at each other for a moment.
"Do you think she's." Ranko said.
"Nah. Couldn't be." Akane answered.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Ranko agreed.
* * * * * * * * * *
Nabiki went back to her room and shut the door behind her. Turning the knob with a click she locked it. She went over to her desk and sat down. She punched up a few things on her computer and saved a file. She didn't know what possessed her to hide a micro camera in the bathroom. She had absolutely no rationalization for it like she usually did when she did something her mother would consider wrong.
She brought the latest file up and put it in the movie player. She put a pair of headphones on so no one but her could hear.
It was amazingly short barely five minutes but Nabiki realized she was going to have to change her panties. Feeling a little guilty she wondered what she should do with the movie file. It would be nice to have in her personal collection, especially if it could get her that hot that fast. However there was the possibility, slim but there, that someone else would find it and thereby ruin her sister's reputation.
Reluctantly she sent it to the recycle bin then emptied it. She was about to shut down her system when it beeped at her letting her know she had incoming e-mail.
Nabiki sat down and clicked the file open to read it. It was from one of her contacts who was a private detective. They would often exchange information or do research for each other. It was an arrangement that benefited both parties. He was currently looking for any information on Ranko's mother.
Nabiki read down through the message her eyes getting wider as she went through it.
"Oh, no." She finally said.
* * * * * * * * * *
End Chapter Four
The day of the rhythmic gymnastics competition arrived. Akane and Ranko were the only two from Furinkan able to compete but they trounced the girls from St. Hebreke seeing that Kodachi was unable to compete do to a training injury. At least that was the official story.
Ranko and Akane were walking home from the competition. Ranko was shaking the cold water out of her hair that an old lady had been tossing on the sidewalk to keep down the dust. Ranko had just sighed sadly but smiled when Akane held her hand.
They were walking in silence just enjoying each other's company when they heard a squeal. They both turned to see a little black pig running towards them dragging a heavy back pack behind it.
"P-chan! Come here you little guy! Where's your master?" Ranko bent down to pick up the little pig. Akane was barely able to pick up the backpack.
"What does he have in here? Lead bricks? Where do you think Ryouga is? He wouldn't just leave his pig and backpack behind somewhere would he?" Akane was puzzled. Something wasn't quite right and an idea was tickling the back of her brain but refused to come forth.
"I'm sure he's around somewhere. Let's get home just in case he's already there." Ranko said crushing the piglet into her now his chest. Ryouga was silently thankful that Ranko was male at the moment. He would like to stay conscious for a while.
There was a sudden purple blur of movement and Ranko was gripped in a bear hug. She looked down to see a purple haired Chinese woman in skintight clothes holding him immobile. "S-S-Shampoo?" Ranko said hesitantly.
"Ranko? Who is this girl and why do you want to wash your hair?" Akane glared at Ranko.
"Her name is Shampoo. She's an Amazon warrior from China and wants to marry me." Ranko answered timidly.
"Ranko you idiot!" Akane instantly regretted saying it as Ranko winced. "You can tell me all about it once we get her off you." Akane grabbed Shampoo and tried to pull her off Ranko.
The girl let go and turned to face Akane. She said some things in Chinese that Akane didn't understand.
Ranko translated her face going white, "She says you're an obstacle, and obstacles are for killing."
Akane assumed the Anything Goes stance, in other words, standing casually waiting for Shampoo to make the first move.
Shampoo charged Akane with a pair of Bonbori. Akane again wondered where the hell these women were pulling these weapons from. She's have to ask one someday. Akane leapt to the side, kicking one of the bonbori away disarming the girl's right hand. As Shampoo struck at Akane with her other mace, Akane moved to the side and punched out, snapping the handle in two.
Seeing herself disarmed completely, Shampoo pulled out a large Chinese sword and swung it at Akane. Akane ducked under the attack and punched into Shampoo's gut, knocking the wind out of her. Losing her grip on her sword Shampoo backed away, trying to get some distance from the powerful woman. Akane leapt into the air with a spinning kick she'd learned from Ranko and kicked Shampoo in the side of the head. The Chinese girl fell to the ground with a dull thud and she looked around dazed.
"We need to get out of here now!" Ranko shouted. And grabbed Akane by the hand.
"Why? What's the matter? I just beat her, she's no threat." Akane was confused.
Ranko pulled on her arm and they ran down the street quickly. Ranko tried various alleys and side streets to get back to the dojo. Panting heavily they opened the door to the house. "I'll explain. as. soon as I. catch.my breath." Ranko said.
They walked into the house. Kimiko's voice rang out, "Ranko, Akane? Is that you? You have a visitor."
The two girls entered the dining room to see Shampoo sitting at the table with a cup of tea. She looked up and smiled. Both girls were shocked. Shampoo stood up and walked over to Akane. Holding the stunned girl's chin, Shampoo leaned over and kissed Akane on the cheek.
"Damn it, Damn it, Damn it." Ranko swore. Kimiko frowned at Ranko. Girls shouldn't use such language.
"What just happened here?" Akane demanded, shaking off her stupor.
"I'm sorry Akane. She just gave you the kiss of death. Now she'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth to kill you for defeating her." Ranko hung her head.
"What!?" Kimiko was outraged. She started arguing with the girl in Chinese. Ranko attempted to keep up but her grasp of the language was marginal at best.
"What are they saying?" Akane whispered.
"I think your mom is telling Shampoo that her laws don't apply in Japan. Shampoo just said that the laws apply wherever there are amazons. Umm, I believe Auntie just said that if that's the case then soon there won't be any amazons around here." Ranko tried to keep a running dialogue.
The arguing went on for a few more minutes until Kimiko nodded and looked at Ranko, "It appears that Xian Pu cannot return to her tribe without her husband or proof of his death. I have convinced her to retract the kiss of death on Akane on the basis that Shampoo must obey the laws of Japan just like we would obey her laws in her village. The matter at hand is that she believes that Ranko is a male, and because she was defeated by him in a tournament at her village, they are now married by their law."
Kimiko sighed and pressed her fingers on the bridge of her nose, "I will try to convince her that her hold over Ranko is nullified because Ranko is really a girl she cannot marry her. Also to keep her from killing you Ranko, I will try and use the same argument I did with Akane. She never gave your female side the kiss of death and cannot while the two of you are in Japan."
Kimiko began talking Shampoo again. Shampoo's voice rose and she shook her head defiantly. At a point in the conversation, Kimiko grabbed the still warm tea kettle and poured it over Ranko's head.
Shampoo gasped and finally said a word Akane could understand, "Jusenkyou."
Kimiko nodded and spoke rapidly again. Finally Shampoo hung her head then looked at Ranko sadly. Turning, she bolted out the back door and over the wall.
Ranko sighed in relief, "That was another of my father's wonderful ideas. He was caught eating a banquet reserved for the winner of this tournament in the Amazon village. He told me to fight their champion therefore making the prize ours so we wouldn't get in trouble. The problem was I defeated Shampoo while in my male form. She immediately came over and kissed me. Then the whole tribe began to prepare a celebration. The Jusenkyou guide apparently told my father what was going on so we immediately snuck out the village and hightailed it to Japan."
"You poor girl. Well it's over now. Why don't you two go clean up and I'll prepare dinner."
* * * * * * * * * *
Akane scrubbed Ranko's back as they talked, "Do you think she's really gone?" Akane asked.
"I hope so. From what I've overheard about the Amazons in China makes me never want to go back there again."
"Even if there's a cure? If there's a spring of drowned girl then maybe it could reverse your curse." Akane said.
"Then how would we ever be able to have children?" Ranko grinned teasingly.
"I hate it when you do that! I never know if you're serious or not." Akane crossed her arms in front of her naked breasts and glared at the woman she was quickly coming to love.
Ranko became thoughtful, "I've been thinking about it the last couple of weeks since I arrived here. I could learn to live with this curse. I just wish there was a way to control it. It would be nice to wear a dress once in a while. Or a bikini. You know, I can't go swimming without some sort of top on? Even without breasts it feels weird to expose my chest in public."
Akane was washing Ranko again as she thought about the implications of Ranko's words. Did Ranko's curse work in a way that she could father children? The variations in their sex life would be like a Kama Sutra in practice. She began to daydream about her and Ranko raising children and carrying on the dojo. Would they be able to attract students with a relationship like theirs? How long could they keep it private? So far only one person knew about it. Akane snapped out of her fantasizing and realized she was soaping up Ranko's breasts.
"Hmmm, don't stop." Ranko purred when Akane had become aware of where her hands were.
"Pervert." Akane said, half smiling.
"What does that make you then?" Ranko turned around and embraced Akane, French kissing her. Their tongues explored each others mouths for a few minutes before breaking off.
Things quickly escalated from there as the two girls explored these new areas of their relationship.
Finally it was over. They held each other close, basking in the afterglow of each other. Akane was still trying to catch her breath when they heard the bathroom door slide open.
"Akane? Is everything all right? I thought I heard. Oh, my!"
* * * * * * * * * *
"Just what did you think you were doing?" Kimiko exclaimed.
Akane and Ranko sat side by side on the edge of Akane's bed. They had their heads hung low. Kimiko had caught them with their hands in the cookie jar so to speak and was trying desperately not to lose control. She needed answers before making accusations and for that she needed to stay calm.
"Ok, I know what just happened. What I want to know is how did this start and how long has it been going on?"
Ranko opened her mouth to speak but Akane preempted her, "It just sort of happened. Ranko and I have become close over the last few weeks and well."
Ranko continued on, "I love Akane, and she has said she loves me as well."
Akane felt more confident with Ranko's proclamation, "It kind of started that first day. We were told that one of us would marry Ranko. Kasumi and Nabiki kind of pushed her off onto me. She was a guy at the time, a pretty good looking one too, so I was actually thinking about the whole thing seriously. I'd been having problems with the boys at school and suddenly here's this guy that seems to like me for me and not my body. I was attracted to him even if I didn't want to admit it. Then I find out that this guy is really a woman. The funny thing is that it made everything seem even better. Here was a guy who knew everything about a woman's needs. Rationally I knew better but I just couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities."
Kimiko rubbed the bridge of her nose, "So you're saying you took advantage of Ranko's trust in your friendship?"
"No! It's not like that at all! In fact I kissed her first." Ranko defended Akane.
"Ranko? Are you sure about yourself? Are you, Akane? You're both teenagers. Your hormones are running wild. This could just be a phase brought on by the fact both of you have had bad luck with men." Kimiko continued with less force than she had started.
Akane shook her head slowly, "We weren't sure ourselves at first. We both talked about it and decided to try and go slowly just in case it was a phase like you said. But things kept progressing anyway. We didn't plan for what just happened. To tell the truth, except for Ranko, I find the thought of doing anything like that with another woman disgusting."
Ranko nodded her head in agreement, "I feel the same about Akane. Maybe it's because I can turn into a male. Maybe I am a freak." She suddenly felt depression overwhelming her again.
"You're not a freak Ranko. You have a unique condition true but it doesn't make you a freak." Kimiko said feeling she was losing control of the conversation.
"How will I ever find a man who will accept me if I also turn into a man? I'm glad Akane accepts me for who I am. It's only one of the reasons I love her."
Kimiko sighed heavily, "I can't live your lives for you but I can offer advice. I want you to think heavily about this. I would hate to see either of you hurt because you rushed into things."
Both girls agreed. Too quickly in Kimiko's opinion.
"And for Kami's sake behave yourselves. I don't think your father would be as understanding if he had walked in on you." Both girls reddened in embarrassment.
* * * * * * * * * *
Nabiki came into Akane's room not too long after Kimiko left to finish dinner.
"Well at least I don't have to worry about how I'm going to break things to mom." She smirked.
Akane blushed and looked away.
"Well it could have gone worse. Uncle Soun could have walked in on us." Ranko laughed.
"I told you guys to hold off until I thought of something. Too late now I guess. So tell me, how was it?" Nabiki asked coyly.
"What?" Akane exclaimed.
"You know, how was your first time? It was girl-girl right?"
Ranko suddenly found something on her robe that was very interesting and Akane was struck speechless. Nabiki swore the temperature of the room went up ten degrees and she'd suffer sunburn from the blushing.
"All right, fine. I am curious though." Nabiki admitted. She got up and left.
Akane and Ranko looked at each other for a moment.
"Do you think she's." Ranko said.
"Nah. Couldn't be." Akane answered.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Ranko agreed.
* * * * * * * * * *
Nabiki went back to her room and shut the door behind her. Turning the knob with a click she locked it. She went over to her desk and sat down. She punched up a few things on her computer and saved a file. She didn't know what possessed her to hide a micro camera in the bathroom. She had absolutely no rationalization for it like she usually did when she did something her mother would consider wrong.
She brought the latest file up and put it in the movie player. She put a pair of headphones on so no one but her could hear.
It was amazingly short barely five minutes but Nabiki realized she was going to have to change her panties. Feeling a little guilty she wondered what she should do with the movie file. It would be nice to have in her personal collection, especially if it could get her that hot that fast. However there was the possibility, slim but there, that someone else would find it and thereby ruin her sister's reputation.
Reluctantly she sent it to the recycle bin then emptied it. She was about to shut down her system when it beeped at her letting her know she had incoming e-mail.
Nabiki sat down and clicked the file open to read it. It was from one of her contacts who was a private detective. They would often exchange information or do research for each other. It was an arrangement that benefited both parties. He was currently looking for any information on Ranko's mother.
Nabiki read down through the message her eyes getting wider as she went through it.
"Oh, no." She finally said.
* * * * * * * * * *
End Chapter Four