Author's notes: I have not had this much fun making a chapter in a very long time. I had a hard time stopping myself from laughing. Anyway, as always, weebee and James Axelrad really helped knock a lot of errors out for me. This wouldn't have looked nearly as good without them.

Disclaimer: I own neither Noir nor Ranma ½

The Fourth Sapling

By: brindani

Chapter 16: Bunny Hop part1

Raising the harpoon gun, Ranma pulled the trigger. The anchor launched, firmly striking above a window across the small alley. Ranma tied the other end around a nearby large cooling system. She gave a test tug on the line before nodding her head. Strapping her backpack on, Ranma pulled out two thick pieces of rope from her pocket, tossing one to Chloe.

"Kowabunga!" Ranma shouted, running off the roof, Chloe watched as the other girl appeared to hang in midair. At the last second, she wrapped the hand held rope around the main line, zipping across the small alleyway before easily shattering the window.

"Kowabunga?" Chloe asked the air around her. "What was that about?" Shrugging her shoulders, Chloe dashed forward, making sure that her rope was around the support line well before jumping off. Launching through the window was easy as Ranma had already shattered it.

Chloe took a look around the newly revealed hallway. It held a myriad of doors, each labeled with a little rusted number. The cracked maroon paint coating the walls revealed multicolor array of previous attempts at painting. In all, it looked like a run down apartment building.

"You sure this is the place?" Chloe asked critically.

"Looks can be deceiving. Some time ago this really was an apartment building. When the gangs started to appear, they lost all of their business and were forced to close. The Yakuza snapped it up dirt cheap. They left the main section untouched to throw off suspicion. Most of the changes are in the basement." Ranma answered, silently cleaning up the glass their abrupt entry left on the floor, throwing it out the window. Strategically she placed the worn drab blinds to hide the broken window. Taking a deep forlorn breath, Ranma started to shuffle through the small backpack. "Now, if you would please change into this, we can proceed." Ranma said, handing Chloe a bundle of cloth. Confused, Chloe peaked into the bundle before flinching.

"You've got to be kidding me." She said, eyes narrowing.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I certainly would prefer a different way too, but this is the only way to infiltrate without risking harm to innocent lives. Besides, do you really think I'm going to enjoy wearing one?" Ranma asked as she pulled out a similar bundle from the backpack. With a distasteful expression, the pigtailed girl ducked into one of the abandoned apartments. 'If I were alone I could use the invisibility technique. On second thought, I probably wouldn't even be able to do that. I can only hold it for five minutes. The damn thing sucks ki like Picolette at an all you can drink wine competition.'

Chloe simply sighed, Ranma had a point. The pigtailed assassin had to have thought of every possible alternative. The security must be tight. The Yakuza really were taking notice of their recent hijinks.

Walking into a separate room, Chloe leaned against the closed door, looking down at her bundle with a dirty look before sighing. 'I swear I'll pay Ranma back a thousand fold for this humiliation,' Lowering her head in resignation, Chloe started getting dressed, consigned to her fate.

"Come on Chloe, you know you can't look any more ridiculous than I do," Ranma said exasperatedly, smoothing small creases from her own form fitting black bunny suit. She sighed as she traced the jagged lavender marks that covered her chest.

"Damn, how do girls deal with these things?" Ranma mumbled as she shifted her attention to the long pantyhose riding up her legs for the tenth time since she put on the outfit five minutes ago. Turning back to the door she felt Chloe in, Ranma started to get annoyed by her companion's reluctance. "Our window of opportunity is shrinking by the second here." Ranma said, rolling her eyes. "I will never look at a bunny girl the same way again." She swore under her breath. 'A month and a half ago I was raising hell over wearing stupid stuff like this and now I don't have any other choice. Life sucks.' She thought absently as she paid close attention to arranging the loose fitting bright red sash around her waist which artistically concealed both her knives and gun.

"This is undignified. I will not do it dressed like this." Chloe's muffled voice echoed through the door.

"You're preaching to the choir here. If there was absolutely any other way to get this done, I would have thought of it. Trust me I've been trying for two days now." Ranma drawled as she started to tap her foot impatiently.

"No."

"If you don't come out right now, I'll have to come in." There was a slight stir on the other side of the door. "Don't think I can't. You know me better then that." Ranma heard a heavy sigh before the doorknob twisted.

Stepping back, Ranma waited as the door slowly opened to reveal Chloe glaring daggers at her.

Ranma let off a long low whistle as Chloe walked out in high heals. She looked gorgeous, her curve hugging velvet suit shifting to a tight black lace across her midriff, adding a hint of mystique. Both her bowtie and ears were violet setting off her hair well. The cotton ball on her bottom attracted Ranma's eyes to her firm posterior. All in all, Chloe made a good bunny.

Chloe's glare kicked up a notch when she noticed the extra attention.

Ranma looked away, but not before noticing the slightest touch of blush on her cheeks as she examined Ranma in return. Ranma hid a small grin, 'Chloe really is pretty.'

"If you ever tell Altena…" Ranma stopped cold in her tracks. 'God, I hadn't thought of that.' She turned around, ignoring the threatening eyes directed at her.

"How about we make a deal right now? Everything that happens today dies with us. I don't know if you noticed, but I'm wearing the exact same thing and I'm a guy damn it! How do you think I feel about all this? I certainly don't want the Tendos knowing or, heaven forbid, my Mother." Ranma finished with a shudder at what Nodoka would do if she ever found out.

"Agreed, none of this ever leaves this place." Chloe said, nodding her head. "Now let's get this over with." Chloe finished, walking past Ranma.

"Good, hurry up, your stage fright has made us late." Ranma said as she ran down the corridor to a door marked stairs. Whipping the door open, she started to hop down each flight, miraculously not wrinkling her suit as she went. Chloe was only steps behind her as she too leapt down the stairs. Ranma had a hell of a time keeping her mind on task as each landing caused interesting things to shake on Chloe's body.

"If there are stairs leading down, why couldn't we have just used them and avoided the embarrassment?" Chloe demanded, oblivious to what she was inadvertently doing to Ranma as she matched the pigtailed girl stride for stride.

"Trust me, I would have if they continued, but these stairs end on the ground level. Past that, they're cemented in. There is only one elevator that goes to the basement and the person manning it has to radio ahead to have it brought down. If they ever caught wind that the elevator had been compromised they would hightail it out of here through a backdoor setting off some rather powerful charges."

"Then why don't we use this backdoor to get in?"

"Couldn't do that either. You can't get in through the backdoor, only out. If we tried, we would just get a large explosion to the face. Like I said, they really thought of just about everything this time."

"Why are they bringing so many girls in? That is an obvious security breach." Chloe mentioned as they got closer to the ground floor.

"Because the person that organized this shindig is a big pervert. Besides, the whole idea is to enjoy themselves and for some reason having hordes of scantily clad girls hanging on their arms seems to do it for the bad guys."

Checking Ranma's face, Chloe noticed that the redhead was starting to go crimson and refused to look at Chloe. For a moment, Chloe frowned. 'Is Ranma thinking of all those girls hanging off her in guy form?' They hit the next floor and Chloe noticed Ranma distinctly look away. 'The idiot, you can't let your attention drag when you leap down stairs in high heals…' Chloe blinked as she finally noticed another result of bounding down stairs. She blushed before taking a quick glance at Ranma. 'Apparently Ranma finds me attractive. I've never seen Ranma react so strongly to any other girl in all of our adventures. Maybe…'

Ranma abruptly halted at the ground floor, derailing Chloe's thoughts as she placed a finger to her lips. Ranma set her hand next to the door her eyes creasing as she concentrated deeply. They stood there for several minutes before Ranma's eyes snapped open.

"Now." The pigtailed girl whispered as she silently opened the door just wide enough for her and Chloe to exit. Chloe noticed two guards barely rounded the corner as they came into view. 'Ranma knew. I've got to learn how she does that.'

She followed after Ranma as she quickly made her way to the lobby. Peaking around the corner revealed a group of ravishing girls looking rather bored while several uncouth guards searched each for weapons. They, of course, were taking their sweet time. 'Damn, they're taking too long. If they don't hurry the next patrol will find us.' Ranma thought nervously, watching the far corner as one of the guards continued a thorough search of a particularly busty blond.

"Redge, would you cut it out? If you don't send this lot through soon, the big boss is going to get suspicious." One of the guards said anxiously. The boss didn't like to be kept from his entertainment, and he had gone all out tonight to secure some choice girls from the street without drawing attention.

"Fine," Redge said with a parting squeeze before gesturing with his head. "Get going you lot." Turning to the front of the building, a small bit of drool escaped as he got an eyeful of the next two groups waiting for entry. "Bring in the next set." Redge called out, hands twitching.

'Damn pervert. Gives all us guys a bad reputation.' Ranma thought fingering a knife, barely holding back. Acting now would blow everything.

Some of the dismissed bunny girls sighed with relief as the man fondling them was not particularly attractive. Several of the others winked suggestively, business was business no matter the looks. Their profession had taught them that hard fact of life from a very young age.

As the last girl entered the main hall, another group followed in their wake, completely distracting the lecherous men as they started to search them. Ranma and Chloe had no problem attaching themselves to the back of the crowd as the bunny girls made their way to a large ornate elevator. As they stepped up to the elevator, a voluptuous brunet with one pink bunny ear hanging down, pressed the button. The elevator doors opened revealing a large bald black man wearing a black tux with shades. He bowed to the girls, gesturing them to enter without any sign of leering.

Most of the girls nodded in appreciation. Finding a true gentleman was an experience few of them had ever encountered. Ranma and Chloe entered the elevator with the group, without raising suspicion.

Moving to the back of the large elevator, they watched the man press a sequence of numbers from the floor panel before tapping his mike. The very peculiar pattern seemed to mean something as the doors closed, the elevator shuddered as it slowly started to descend.

They moved alongside the attractive blond that Redge found interesting. She looked at them with a large sincere smile as she absently moved her hips back and forth. Ranma had one hell of a time not watching the action as the blond's bunny suit was particularly shear.

"Hello there, my name is Samantha, actually its Akiko, but my regulars love the feel of foreign and I'm all about accommodation." She said bubbly, dissolving into giggles. "Like you two don't know how it is. I haven't seen you two around. You must be from a distant district because I'm something of a veteran myself. Been doing this all my life. Really an art I think. What section did you say you worked again?" She asked cheerily as she continued to shift about.

'Oh shoot, I didn't expect questions from the girls. The guard is starting to give us a suspicious look, I had better think of something quick. Just calm down, she said she was a veteran, that must mean she has worked a lot of different places. Come on, where have I never seen a prostitute before!? Oh, wait a minute, I know.'

"We work Nerima." Ranma said trying to exude the natural sex appeal these girls did unconsciously.

"Oh you must be really something to work there. I've always wanted to give it a try myself. Heard some fantastic stories about the buff martial artists hanging out there. I bet their endurance must be through the roof." Ranma's eyes kept dipping as Samantha started to slowly gyrate her hips. Ranma nearly jumped when Chloe accidentally jabbed her in the ribs. The sudden movement distracted Samantha from… whatever she was thinking about. "So much better then the minute men I service all night. So, are the rumors true?"

Samantha looked down at Ranma expectantly. Ranma had a bad feeling she knew exactly what rumors the girl was referring to.

"Um…" 'How the hell do I answer that one? I know! I'll describe it like one of my fights.' "…yeah, they're way stronger than a bull. They last hours against me without tiring out." Ranma answered discreetly before her eyes opened a little wider, a sick feeling twisted her stomach as the other girl squealed in delight. 'I think that was totally misinterpreted.' Ranma thought, barely repressing the urge to pound her head against the side of the elevator.

Ranma heard snickering behind her. She had a feeling she knew where that was coming from.

"Oh, that's wonderful! I think I might come down sometime myself! I've avoided it so far because of all the destruction, but for the chance to have a romp that lasts for hours? I am so there." Ranma gulped as Samantha placed a finger to her chin in thought. Ranma started to edge away thinking herself safe when the veteran prostitute pinned her with large intense blue eyes. "I've also heard of this one martial artiest named Ranma. He is suppose to be the crème de la crème. If the standard martial artist lasts hours I can only image what he is like." Ranma's mouth slowly dropped as she watched the bunny start to hold herself. "Oh god, how I'd make him scream my name.

Ranma desperately suppressed her blush as the taller, very attractive girl started to gyrate with more vigor. She could hear the giggles start to increase in frequency behind her. To her horror, she noticed many of the other girls around the elevator paying very close attention to their conversation. Some with more than friendly interest.

'Oh god! What the hell have I started?' Ranma thought, suppressing the desire to slap herself. 'If I just started prostitution in Nerima, I'm never going to live it down. How will I look Mom in the face after this? Then again she always did find attracting hordes of girls manly. If she ever found out…' Ranma went pale before shuddering as she envisioned her Mother happily setting up a rotating schedule for the prostitutes.

"Gees, how slow does this elevator go? I mean seriously its taken five minutes just to get this far and we still aren't there?" Samantha asked with a cute pout. The person in charge of the elevator shook himself from listening into the conversation with a light blush. He keyed in another pattern before the door opened.

Ranma had wondered why they weren't moving for so long. Maybe this Samantha was more than the bubble-headed blond that she let show.

The girls visibly put on their game faces. Each cheerful pranced off the elevator, acting like little girls on a sugar high from hell, moving so that all the right places bounced enticingly. Ranma was starting to have second thoughts about the plan. It might be the only way in, but how the hell was she suppose to imitate these girls? Especially when they were so distracting! Her only consolation was that Chloe seemed equally as lost.

She was about to try acting like the others when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around she found Samantha's smiling down at her. "Why don't you hang with me for a little while? I'm sure that twenty girls can handle the big bosses for awhile. That way we'll be leaving the best for last. I've found it gives the best tips. Trade secret don't you know." Samantha said with a smile and a wink.

Ranma reluctantly nodded her head and followed after Samantha, Chloe just behind them.

Ranma was surprised by the large interior of the basement. It was domed with rich fire red carpet, large crystalline chandeliers dangling overhead providing a dim light. Ranma's heart sunk as she noticed dozens of tables around the room occupied by guards, a few letting loose as a bunny or two sat on their lap cheering them on as they drank glass after glass of booze. In the corner, furthest away from them, sat three men looking very happy as four bunnies attached to every inch of them. Ranma didn't look very closely as the guys looked way too happy.

Ranma suppressed a frown. It looked like a few of the guards were slaking off. The other seventeen were very sober hard-eyed guards only occasionally glancing at the train of shapely flesh passing them. These guys were good, they were spaced out all around the room. There was no way that even Chloe and Ranma could get to all of them before they drew the machineguns hidden below the tables. With all the bunnies literally hopping around, avoiding innocent, so to speak, casualties would be impossible.

Ranma noticed that Chloe was thinking along the same lines. Ranma gave Chloe a small shake of her head. Chloe nodded in return. Until they came up with a good plan, they would continue to follow Samantha. The older girl led them straight to a large glass punch bowl that reeked of alcohol. Next to the punch bowl was a large cooler full of ice and bottles of imported beer

"Grab a beverage and make sure not to drink any. Men think it a great turn-on if the woman is flat on her ass drunk, but you have to keep your wits. This job entails just as much acting as anything else." Samantha said just loud enough for the nearest guard not to hear. She grabbed three bottles of beer, handing one to both Ranma and Chloe. Taking off the top, Samantha appeared to take a long swig.

Shrugging their shoulders, both Chloe and Ranma opened their bottle. Neither had figured out how to hit the three marks without the guards going postal on every play-bunny in the room. For now, they would just have to play along. It did feel odd to Ranma, pretending to drink, the nasty flavor held back by her tongue.

After discreetly watering the plants nearest her, Ranma was on her third before the guard took his eyes off them.

"Looks like we have a little privacy for now. So what are the two of you doing in a place like this?" Samantha asked in a whisper between sips.

"What do you mean, isn't it obvious? We are wearing the bunny suits aren't we?" Ranma asked just as quietly while Chloe unsheathed a knife, ready to silence the girl if need be. It would be very bad if she started screaming about an intruder.

Samantha laughed lightly behind her hand.

"You have the other girls fooled with those cute getups. You certainly look good enough to pull it off too, but the way you were blushing over a simple question about sex? I think it more likely that you both are virgins." Ranma and Chloe tried to hide blushes. The reaction only made Samantha's grin broaden. "You weren't with the group when we entered. You must have come from somewhere else, likely from above. That means you either stowed away before this party started, which is unlikely as they had guards buzzing all over the place. Or you broke in above, cleaned up whatever mess you made and then walked down, avoiding the guards' patrols. That certainly is a lot to risk for some tips don't you think?"

Halfway through her explanation, both Chloe and Ranma tensed. They had been found out. Ranma's suspicions that the blond really was not dumb were confirmed. Not only that, but she was observant too.

"Oh loosen up would you? If I was going to turn you in, I would have done it in the elevator before you had the chance to make trouble for all of us. And please put that knife away, if any of the guards caught sight of it, none of us would survive the night."

Chloe hesitantly placed the knife out of sight. She would see how this latest twist turned out.

"Good, as I see it, you two are the ones causing the Yakuza all the trouble recently. It's about the only reason I can see you going through all this effort to get in here armed with knives and a gun." Both gave her a sharp look. "Oh, please, don't give me those looks. I told you I'm a professional and a veteran. You have to have sharp eyes in this trade. Some customers would just as soon cut or shoot you as take the goods. If you accommodate the wrong customer, your life ends. Even a bruise in the wrong place can spell a girl's doom in this business."

Ranma forced herself to calm down. Apparently Samantha wasn't going to call them on it.

"Now as I see it you've been doing us girls a favor. The Yakuza controls the pimps and with all the hits on them recently, some of the pimps have left for extended vacations. With them gone we can take the whole fee for our services instead of being handed a couple of hundred yen. So I think I'll help you out this once." Both Chloe and Ranma nodded.

Samantha pouted, it would have been cute given other circumstances, as it was in her well filled out bunny suit, she was drop dead gorgeous. "What we need is a distraction, something to keep the guards eyes elsewhere while you do your work." She said indicating Chloe and Ranma. She tapped her finger on her chin before a wicked grin spread across her face. Ranma did not like that look. She had been the recipient of it far too often.

"The grandson of the boss should be here tonight. If you could catch his attention you might be able to cause a distraction without the guards going postal. I'll have to warn you though, the kid is a big pervert. Usually that would work to your advantage, but tonight you'll have your hands full trying to get his attention. A lot of the girls go after him because he's a big tipper and doesn't really do anything with them. I doubt he even knows what to do aside from spouting nonsense."

'Spouting nonsense? You don't think… no it couldn't be.' Ranma shook her head. 'There was no possible way that…'

"Ha, ha, the heavens shower me with their grace this night. For I, the Blue Thunder have been blessed by the gods themselves with these beauteous damsels."

Sweat poured over her brow as Ranma slowly turned around. 'Nooooo!'

Author's end note: None of this was actually planed before writing. I was only intending the bunnies to make the job a bit more difficult. As soon as I got them into the building I started wondering just how they were going to infiltrate. The wickedest idea pop up. The rest is as you see here.

Please do not think that this fic will degenerate into busty girls hanging all over Ranma. The next chapter will finish this sequence with only a few mentions later on. Anything more would only appear if an idea comes to me or a reviewer suggests a tasteful idea of how to further use this.

Pretty much everything about the prostitutes in this chapter is based off assumptions about their occupation and movies I've seen. Any further… research… would have been… fun, but impractical.

brindani