Chapter 2: The Hostess Club
The bus pulled up to the clinic at 5:30PM. Tofu was there to greet it as soon as it rolled to a stop. Inside a harried looking driver peered out at him and asked: "Are you Doctor Ono?"
Before Tofu could answer, someone bellowed out: "Of course he is! Everyone out! Let's see what the Fox's den looks like!"
About twenty men strode off the bus roaring and clamoring. One by one, they shook Ono's hand and many of them gave him a hearty backslap. Ono didn't flinch or budge no matter how hard they struck him – he just greeted them all with a smile.
Inside the clinic, on the upper floor, Akane looked out unimpressed. Nabiki was besides her looking contemptuous. "Big, burly, and stupid describes half of them," the middle sister said. "Cannon fodder."
"There's a few that stand out," Akane noted. "Olaf is obviously a cut above them, and there's a handful that greeted Tofu without trying to prove anything. Then there are the prissy looking ones – I bet they are the Kitsunes."
"I see the five you're talking about," Nabiki said. "They're sort of looking down their noses at the others, but they greeted Tofu honestly."
"I think the Kitsunes will be asking for trouble before the night is over," Akane said. "The mercenaries will be looking for any reason to fight. Where are Daran and Mausu?"
"They and the inspector are meeting the bus at the first club," Nabiki answered. "I think Tofu wants to spring Ojima on them and keep them off balance."
Down below, one of the men yelled: "So where are the boys you're bringing along?"
"Them's fighting words," Nabiki grinned.
"Round one has started," Akane agreed.
"They're not boys," Tofu said in passing. Then he yelled: "Brothers!"
Mousse, Ranma, and Ryoga appeared in front of the men as if from thin air, causing many to utter oaths. Even the Kitsunes were taken aback. All three were dressed sharply causing Nabiki to whistle softly. Mousse was in his white Chinese robes pressed to within an inch of their life. Ranma was in a deep dark blue shirt with matching pants. Ryoga was dressed similarly to Ranma, but his clothes were deep green instead of blue. Both Ranma and Ryoga wore black belts that somehow conveyed they were not ornamental (Mousse's belt was not visible). All three sets of clothes were adorned with a red dragon flowing from one shoulder and across the chest – the same red dragon that was on Tofu's shirt. All three young men wore identical sharp black shoes and each carried a black leather jacket or coat in one hand as appropriate. Each also emitted a battle aura that even Nabiki could feel. Akane was struck by how much each of the young men had grown and filled out over the last two years – she wouldn't have bet the armies of the world against the trio right now.
The three young men bowed politely to the crowd as one. There was nothing challenging in the gesture, but nothing submissive either. The other men nodded back without even thinking about it. "These are my brothers," Tofu introduced. "This is Mousse, Ranma, and Ryoga," he added, indicating each in turn.
Olaf led the way. "It's good to see you three again," he said firmly as he went forward to shake their hands. The rest of the crowd followed his example. As Akane watched, she could tell some of the mercenaries tried to test the trio by crushing their hands, but the three just returned as good as they got (with a little interest) without flinching.
A few men were discretely shaking their red hands as they left Ryoga. "Ryoga has trouble controlling his strength as is," Nabiki noted. "And these bozos are trying to outdo him?"
"They know nothing of Ranma and company," Akane answered. Her eyes were locked on Ranma, drinking in his form. "Mousse is the so-called weakest of the three and he can bend steel and shatter stone. The Kitsunes look worried. I'd say battle plans are changing sharply right now. This round goes to our team." Nabiki just smirked.
As the two women watched, Shizuka dropped Hideo off and then she left to go to the dojo. Hideo was dressed in a good business suit. Tofu introduced him as "a very good friend." Once the introductions were done, Tofu waved at the bus and all the men boarded.
"I'd love to be a fly on the wall this evening," Nabiki commented.
"Me too," Akane admitted. "But Kasumi would be disappointed. I'll have to settle for getting the story out of Ranma later."
"He'll embellish it…" Nabiki warned laughing.
Akane turned and walked away from the window. "Yes, but I can tell when he's lying. I'll get the truth out of him with a little persuasion."
Nabiki raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I thought you stopped beating him up?" she teased.
Akane let her hips swing a little as she walked out the door. "I have other ways of getting the truth out of him these days…" she said as she left the room with a small smile.
"You're a liar yourself, little sister," Nabiki chuckled silently. "You don't seduce him – I'm not sure you know how, faker. You just have to give him that little smile and he caves…"
On the bus, it was pretty much one set of seats to a man. Olaf watched from the back of the bus as the four brothers took seats near one another and listened as the others tried to extract information from the lads as the bus traveled. The giant was delighted to see the Kitsunes confused as they tried to make heads or tails of the young men. Obviously, the Kitsune Elders had kept Ranma's and Mousse's adoptions secret.
About five minutes away from their destination, Wales, one of Tofu's Ryugenzawa crew came back and sat next to Olaf. "That's the biggest bunch of crap I've ever heard," Wales quietly said without preamble. Wales was shorter than Olaf, but most people were – Wales was still considered a big man. He was also fairly bright.
"What is?" Olaf prompted just as quietly.
"A high school senior, a restaurant waiter, and a farmer? I'd have to be head-blind not to feel the power in those three," Wales scoffed.
"Actually, that's all true. Ranma's due to graduate in April, Ryoga's engaged to a lovely young farm mistress that he works for right now, and Mousse works at a restaurant called the Cat Café," Olaf grinned.
"And…" Wales prodded.
"And Ranma and Mousse were adopted by Ono's mother, so they really are his brothers. Ryoga is a foster brother to Ranma. All four simplify things by saying they are brothers, although Tofu is more of an uncle to the three," Olaf admitted.
"Which means they are really his apprentices," Wales finished.
"Among other things…I don't recommend challenging any of them," Olaf agreed. "And for god's sake, don't challenge all three at once."
"Hey, you know me, man. I'm the most peaceable fellow there is," Wales protested. Actually, Olaf had to agree silently that Wales was not a troublemaker. The mercenary was known for outwardly minding his own business; but he was a very inquisitive fellow.
"Should be fun to watch though," Wales commented settling back in his seat. Olaf just kept smiling.
Olaf went to the front of the bus and gave the driver the last of the directions to Maya's. He watched as the club came into view and saw Ojima, Daran, and Mausu were waiting outside. "Stay put for a minute," he bellowed at the crowd in the bus.
Daran turned to nod a greeting to Olaf as the giant got off. Then Daran said: "Maybe we should move on to a new place. This place lost our reservation."
"Odd," Olaf said. "I made the reservation with the club owner."
"Well they said they would seat us," Mausu answered. "It might be a good idea to get everyone inside and catch our breath anyways. Then we can take a vote on our next destination."
"Maybe," Olaf agreed. "But something's not right," he grumbled.
"Admittedly, I smell a trap," Mausu said. "But I think we should trip it. It could be amusing."
Daran just shook his head. "See what I'm dealing with, Inspector? My teammates will walk into a known ambush because they are bored."
"Just use 'Ojima' or 'Shoichi', please. Or I'll call you Mr. Hawk the entire evening," Ojima told him. "And don't look to me for sympathy – I rule over an insane asylum full of cops."
"You're the Best Man, Olaf," Daran said to the giant. "What do you think?"
Olaf thought for a moment and said: "We go in. The food is better here than in most places on the strip. Let's grab something and work this out."
Olaf ordered everyone off the bus and then he introduced the inspector to the group. Some of the men look resigned as they sized up the police officer, others just looked determined. "That's about right," Olaf thought. "Some of the more outlandish plans just got cancelled, but only some. Don't worry lads – I guarantee we will still have some fun."
Olaf then introduced the KItsunes (all very much in mortal form) to Daran, Mausa, and Ojima. "Lads," he started as he pointed at the Kitsune leader. "This is Shiran, who is a good friend of Ono's mother." The Kitsune nodded at the newcomers as he sized them up. He looked longest at Ojima, who returned his gaze steadily, and a knowing smile crossed the Kitsune's lips as he noted that the inspector obviously saw though Shiran's illusion.
Olaf continued: "This is Yul, he and Tofu grew up together." Yul was a little less stoic than Shiran and offered to shake hands with the men. All three accepted.
"Tofu and I also went through college together," Yul supplied. One of the other Kitsunes snorted at that.
Olaf indicated the third Kitsune. While all the Kitsunes were dressed in proper business suits, the cut of the suit on the third Kitsune was much sharper. "This is Jak, one of Tofu's teachers." Jak also shook hands with the men. Shiran and Yul each raised an eyebrow, but Olaf couldn't tell if it was due to the introduction or Jak's offered hand. The last two Kitsunes looked very confused though.
Olaf gestured at the last two. "Akio and Ayumu are brothers. Akio is also one of Tofu's teachers," Olaf said while indicating the Kitsune who had snorted a few moments ago. Akio just nodded with a somewhat disdainful look on his face. "Ayumu was also a classmate of Tofu's in college," Olaf finished. Ayuma still looked confused as he nodded at the three men.
Now that introductions were out of the way, Olaf led the way into the club. The most immediate problem was the maitre d' refused to sit them together. "I'm afraid that there are simply no tables together," the fussy man said.
"May I speak to the owner, please?" Olaf asked. "This is unacceptable," the giant rumbled.
"I'm sorry, sir, but he is indisposed. Things are the way they are," the man said in a high tone.
Olaf turned and grinned at Tofu, "One second, Boss." Olaf then drew himself up to his full height, causing the maitre d' to step back worriedly. "Plan 87!" Olaf bellowed to the assembled warriors.
"Victory or Death," the mercenaries (Daran and Mausu among them) yelled out. The men then streamed to the four corners of the restaurant and checked all the rooms, causing a quite a stir.
"Now see here…" the maitre d' started angrily.
Olaf casually picked up the man with one hand and said: "There's two ways this can play out…one way involves a club full of happy patrons. The other involves the police who will be more than happy to snoop around here and several ambulances. Your call." The hanging man swallowed hard. Olaf noted that he seemed to be looking at someone just behind him, but the giant's sixth sense wasn't tingling.
Finally, the man said shakily: "But we have no room…"
The maitre d' was cut off by a mercenary bellowing: "Commander! There's a big room with only a handful of tables full."
"Move them carefully!" Olaf ordered.
With another battle cry, the mercenaries gathered into the room indicated and carried out ten gentlemen still sitting in their chairs and the three tables the patrons had been sitting in. With a flourish, the warriors promptly made room in the main dining area by destroying three empty tables, kicking the wreckage out of the way, and placing the three tables neatly in the vacated space. Nothing on the carried tables had been disturbed. The ten surprised gentleman were then placed carefully about their perspective tables.
Olaf strode over to the three re-located tables and addressed the ten men. "My good sirs," the giant began while still holding the maitre d' in one hand. "I must apologize for disturbing your dinner." The rest of the dining area seemed to be doing their best to ignore the situation. "Please allow us to cover the cost of your meals."
One of the middle-age men, a little braver (or more foolhardy) than his fellows, said: "But you haven't really done any damage to us. It's not necessary."
Olaf looked at the man sternly. "Then you must at least allow us to buy you a round of drinks. I insist!"
The brave man was about to refuse again when one of his fellows covered his mouth and said: "Of course, we accept!"
"Thank you, good sir," Olaf told the man in gentler tones. He then looked at the maitre d' held in his grip. "You will see to it, won't you?" Olaf asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course, sir!" the hapless man answered. His snooty tone had vanished.
"Very good!" Olaf cried in mock-joyous tones. "Let us see to this empty room."
"Yea!" the mercenaries called boisterously. Tofu just looked amused while his brothers smirked.
When they entered the room, judging by the decorations, it had obviously been setup for a Bachelor Party. Olaf growled at the man held up by his fist: "What the hell is going on?"
The maitre d' glanced at the assembled men and paled. "I do not know!" the man pleaded. "There must have been some mistake."
"I'm sure there will be no others?" Olaf prompted.
"Oh, absolutely sir!" the shaking man promised.
"Very good," Olaf said as he set the man down. "Please see to it. I want to see wait staff in here immediately."
"Yes, sir!" the man replied. "Please be seated!"
"Push the tables together," Olaf ordered. "I want a head table with two flanks!" His men proceeded to do just that.
Just as the maitre d' turned to leave, Akio stopped him. "Could you please show me where the restrooms are?" the disguised Kitsune asked.
"Ah," the man hesitated. "Why yes, sir. This way please." He then led Akio out of the room.
Olaf scanned the room until he found Mausu. When the little man looked at him, Olaf just held Mausu's gaze until the spy nodded ever so slightly. Olaf also noted Mousse and Ranma exchanging looks. Then the blond man turned to Tofu. "Come along, Boss! You're the Guest of Honor! It's the head table for you and the lads!" he said boisterously.
Waiters soon attended to the men and took their drink and appetizer orders. Dinner soon followed after that in an orderly fashion. Olaf watched the proceedings unroll smoothly – too smoothly. It was Ranma who first commented on what the real problem was. "Olaf?" the young man questioned. "Isn't this a Hostess club?"
"Yes, lad it is," Olaf answered. Ranma was sitting on one side of the giant; Tofu was on the other. The doctor looked at Ranma with amusement.
"So where are the women?" the martial artist asked.
Olaf paused for a second and said under his breath: "So, that's it. We're going to have bored mercenaries picking fights very soon."
Mousse sat on the other side of Ranma. The Chinese man looked thoughtful for a minute and said: "You know, Ranma. I think we need more drinks."
Ranma looked at Mousse and then said: "No bloody…"
Mousse cut him off. "You're missing the point. Haven't you ever heard of the Pied Piper? Just move fast." Mousse pulled a package out of thin air and handed it to Ranma. The square package was about 30 cm on a side and about 8 cm deep. It was marked "Plan E."
The pig-tailed martial artist looked at Mousse confusedly. Suddenly, his eyes cleared. He turned to Olaf and said: "I need some money." Olaf grinned and handed him 40000 yen. "Back soon!" he said standing up and walking out of the room.
About five minutes later, the doors of the room were thrown open and a red-headed girl burst in yelling "Hiya! I heard they were ignoring you boys, so I came to see if you need refills on your drinks!"
Ryoga turned quickly to Mousse and pleaded: "Please tell me you brought a camera!"
Ranko was dressed (if that was the word), in a mostly backless (and side-less) dress. The garment consisted of a skirt widely slit on both sides and a top that was two wide ribbons of fabric that passed over the breasts and fastened behind the neck like a halter top. She wore a high-set pony-tail instead of her usual pig-tail.
"NO," scolded Olaf. "The number one rule of a good Bachelor Party is 'no cameras'."
"Besides," Tofu added. "Let's not give Nabiki any ammo."
"But that is Nabiki's dress! That's the one she wore at Prince Toma's island!" Ryoga said in a hushed voice.
"We had to modify it for Ranko," Mousse commented quietly. "Nabiki's taller, but Ranko's a little fuller in the chest. It's important a dress like that fit properly."
"I can see that…" Ryoga said shaking his head.
Ranko's effect on the assembled men was obvious from their stunned looks. Even the Kitsunes were caught off-guard by her looks and movements – all except Akio who looked like he was going to explode in anger. Akio stood up, but Ranko immediately appeared by his side. "Naughty boy! You can look, but don't touch!" the red-head scolded. She promptly elbowed the Kitsune in the stomach and he dropped into his seat like a sack of potatoes. "I see your drinking scotch," Ranko noted. "I'll assume the same unless you'd like something different?" Akio was still trying to catch his breath, so Ranko moved on to Wales, "And what would you like, handsome?"
"Your phone number?" the mercenary pleaded.
Ranko batted her eyes at him. "My dance card is awful full, but maybe we can talk later. Business before pleasure, though." Wales requested a Japanese beer and Ranko moved on to the next man if 'moved' was the right word – more like 'teleported'.
Ranko complimented and flirted with the men outrageously while taking orders from the flank table:
"Well hello there gorgeous!..."
"Oooo…I like that look - muscles on top of muscles works for you!..."
"Wow…I've never seen someone with three legs before – How do you walk?..."
"You look like you know how to handle your weapon…"
"Ah, ah, ah… I'm much faster than that, but it some areas a girl likes to take it slow…"
"Now, you look like you have stamina…that's even more impressive than size…"
If a man tried to touch her, Ranko quickly hit a pressure point, painlessly numbing the offending limb for a minute or so. Between that and the fact that Akio was still trying to catch his breath, the mercenaries quickly learned respect for their hostess – but that only intrigued them more.
Ranko moved onto the head table, and every eye followed her. "You're married I bet," she told Hideo. He held up his wedding ring in answer. "Too bad," Ranko said with an artfully sad face. "Another vodka and mineral?" At his nod, she moved on. "I know what you want, sugar! But you'll have to settle for a drink!" she said to Ryoga while ruffling his hair. He was the first man she made physical contact with. (1)
Once upon a time, Ryoga would have exploded in anger – now he just tried not to explode in laughter. He did make use of the link between himself and Ranma to mind-send: **I'd stop doing that unless you have a hand to spare, Red-head!** There was a growl accompanying the thought, but it wasn't serious.
The red-head's eyes flashed mischievously as Ranma's thoughts sounded in Ryoga's mind: **Yeah, yeah, yeah… promises, promises, Pig-brain!** Ranko gave his hair a final tussle and wrote the word "cola" on Ryoga's order. "You're cute!" she told Mousse as she squeezed his shoulder. "You'll have the same as well?"
"And so will my friend," Mousse added indicating Ranma's empty chair.
"No problem," Ranko gushed. Then she teleported to Olaf's other side. "My! You're a big one, aren't you?" she said as she reached out to pinch Olaf's biceps.
Olaf stopped her from doing that by placing his hand firmly over hers. "Just a glass of wine again," Olaf cut her off. He was honored that she trusted him enough to tease him like that, but he wasn't sure he could keep a straight face and he really needed to keep this short.
Ranko turned to Tofu. "And you must be the Guest-of-Honor," she coo'ed at the Doctor while stroking his cheek. "What will you have, gorgeous?"
"I think it's definitely time for Bourbon," Ono answered with a long suffering face.
"Not too much now!" Ranko admonished with a wave of her finger; then she teleported between Daran and Mausu. She continued to take the head table's order with more hair tussling and shoulder squeezing, although she took it lighter on the inspector – Ranko was not as close to the inspector as the others. The mocking glint in her eyes amused the inspector, though.
She proceeded to work her way down the second flank table, but no longer touched the patrons. One of the men half-way down the table took exception to that and reached out to grab her buttocks. This attempt was ruder than the previous attempts by other men (who had been aiming at her waist or shoulders) and Ranko took stronger action. She intercepted the hand and then twisted the arm up and behind the mercenary. Then she launched him out of his chair and pinned him across the remains of his dinner. She coo'ed at the man: "You're new to Japan obviously. Let me give you a word of advice: The Hostess calls the shots. You have to get on her good side. If you don't, she can call twenty bouncers in here and they don't care how tough you are. It's the same deal in any Hostess Club. As for me – I don't need the bouncers." She dropped her voice to whisper in his ear: "The bouncers are here just to bury the bodies." The pressure on the man's popping joints and the crushing grip on his hand convinced her she was deadly serious despite the playful tone. "My Game, my Rules," she told him a little louder so the whole room heard her. Ranko could tell from the small smiles here and there that she had managed to make an impression. Her captive began nodding his head in response to the increased pressure on his hand. When she finally let him go (after hitting a couple of pressure points), he sat there chastised and didn't protest when she skipped his drink order.
Without missing a beat, she began flirting with the next man who was trying not to laugh at seeing his compatriot slammed back into place (the chair had cracked, not quite giving way). Once all the orders were taken, she turned with a flourish and said loudly, "Back soon!" as she closed the doors again.
"Gods!" One of the men burst out. "She's a little young, but I swear she could make me re-think my views on marriage!" Many of the men agreed.
"Well, it certainly wouldn't be boring!" another called out causing a round of laughter.
"Truly a force of nature," the Kitsune Jak murmured with amusement and even a slight bit of wonder.
"Think of the children she could bear," someone else said.
"Screw that!" someone next to the chastised man said. "You didn't see her in action up close – she missed her calling. I'd rather have her in my platoon!"
"No way!" another man answered. "The soldiers would be too busy fighting for her attention to fight anyone else!"
There was even more laughter at that comment, but most of the head table was quiet. They were afraid that if they started laughing, they'd never stop – especially at the reaction of the other two tables. "I've never seen her like that. Is she often that over-the-top?" Mausu whispered to Daran and the inspector with a little bit of awe in his voice.
"Oh yeah," the inspector answered under his breath. "Let's just say she always likes to be noticed in any form, no matter how much damage it causes."
Shortly thereafter, Olaf heard some outraged female voices coming from the main room. He couldn't quite make out the words through the closed door, but he did recognize one particularly smug voice. Five minutes after that, the doors burst open again and five steely eye women came into the room bearing the drinks. All five wore dresses that had been obviously altered quickly to be more revealing. They served the drinks and began to flatter the men almost as outrageously as Ranko had.
"Excuse me," one of the men asked. "But what happened to the red-head?"
"Oh, she had to leave due to a sudden illness in the family," one of the women answered. "But don't worry, honey. We will take good care of you."
Tomo was outside in the back of the club. He had Ranko's head resting on his lap. "Ranma! Speak to me!" he pleaded. The little Kitsune remembered something and conjured a bucket of hot water, splashing the red-head. Ranma's male form started to moan, so Tomo poured cold water on him next.
Ranko's moan was stronger this time: "Owww…O.K. you can stop that – there's only so much the shape-change will heal."
"Can you heal the rest?" Tomo asked.
"Yeah…give me a few moments to pull myself together," Ranko said. After a second, she added: "You know, Tomo. There are people in Nerima who say I enjoy being abused by women." Tomo nodded his head. "They lie big time," Ranko finished.
"What happened?" Tomo asked.
"Let just say I learned a very valuable lesson…" Ranko started.
A little later, Ranma walked back into the room. "What took so long?" Ryoga asked.
Tofu looked at his brother's face. "Ranma? What the hell happened?" One of Ranma's eyes was bruised and there were lots of faint scratches on his face.
"Damn," the shape-shifter said. "I should have waited a little longer. Let's just say I learned that hostesses are very possessive about their territory – and their money. I'd rather fight the Orochi again as a woman covered in steak sauce than take business away from a hostess. The manager is hiding in his office right now. There are steak knives stuck in his door." He handed the money back to Olaf. "I did manage to hold onto this though."
"Next time, let them have it," the giant advised.
"Next time?" Ranma replied in a strained voice which climbed an octave or two. Ranma pulled his voice down with obvious effort. "Next time, *you* can wear the dress," the shape-shifter said firmly. "That was a once in a lifetime experience and I will never cross a hostess again." The bruises and scratches continued to fade as he talked. "It's a good thing Tomo is about – I had to have him retrieve my gi for Ranko while I hid outside healing. You owe Nabiki a new dress, Best Man."
"It's not like Nabiki could wear that dress in Nerima anyway," Mousse chuckled.
"Our sister-in-law-to-be is a mercenary herself," Ranma stated sardonically. "Someone has to cough up the price of that dress."
"I got it covered," Olaf reassured him.
One of the ladies passed out another round of drinks to the head table, evaluating the men as she went. She obviously noted that Ryoga, Mousse, and Ranma were underage – or at least too young to have much money. Her smiles to them were a bit motherly. She flattered Olaf outrageously, but went lighter on Tofu noting that he was the Guest-of-Honor and likely to be too attached to his wife-to-be to respond much to her. She also flirted with Mausu and Daran. However, when she reached Ojima, he whispered something to her that stopped her cold. The hostess looked at him with what could only be called sympathy, and then kissed the surprised Inspector thoroughly. "Even you get to relax here," she said while giving him his drink and moving on with a twinkle in her eyes.
"What did you say to her?" Mausu asked the surprised man.
"I just told her who I was and said not to bother, but not to worry about it either," Ojima answered slightly stunned. "I didn't expect that response."
"I guess she has a soft spot for cops," Daran hazarded. "Especially since you told her you were not here to cause problems."
The inspector just shrugged. "Actually, there are not a lot of problems I could cause. There's nothing illegal here. Everything is on the up-and-up from what I saw."
Mousse looked confused. "I thought prostitution was illegal in Japan. Isn't that true?" the Chinese man asked quietly, not wanting to offend the ladies.
"These are hostesses, not prostitutes," Ranma said. "Big difference."
"Strictly speaking, there's no sex for money here," the inspector explained. "These women are paid to flirt with the customers – that's it. They try and get the customer to spend money, and the more money the customer spends – either on alcohol or gifts – the more the flirting a customer gets. Salary men will come to one of these places to relax and see if they can attract the attention of a lady. A hostess will usually have many admirers and she will try to get them all to spend money – again the more money they spend, the more she pays attention to them. The more amorous of her fans will buy her gifts which she may return for cash – especially if she has a duplicate that she can trick the customer into believing is his gift. The smarter suitors will buy her flowers, but that may not get them the attention they desire."
"Are they really suitors – or marks?" Mousse prodded.
"It's not that unusual for a hostess to marry a customer," Tofu said. "Some are in it just for that – looking for a wealthy enough husband. But some are looking to be mistresses, some are in to string as many 'clients' along as possible, and some just do a job. It depends on the hostess. To be fair, some men just like the hunt too."
"So there's no sex here, just the potential for sex," Mousse concluded.
Suddenly, two soft hands appear on the sides of Mousse's neck and sensuously stroke his face. The hands slowly tilted his head back until he was staring up into the inverted face of one of the hostesses. This woman had incredibly soft green eyes, and her make-up was applied to emphasize those eyes. In a soft voice, she purred: "Don't knock it until you try it, young man." With that, she kissed Mousse softly on the lips. Despite himself, Mousse responded to the kiss. As the kiss went on, Mousse gave himself more and more to the kiss. What he didn't realize was that she was also tipping his chair back further and further. When she finally stopped the kiss, she looked into Mousse's eyes and let go of the chair, causing him to crash backwards to the ground. Everyone howled with laughter.
"Owww…" Mousse groaned from the floor. The hostess winked at him and blew him a kiss, then grabbed his glass to re-fill it. She walked away from him with a smile and a sway to her hips that challenged every man in the room. The mercenaries and Kitsunes loved it and pounded the floor with their feet while laughing and whooping.
"And that's not illegal either," Ojima grinned.
"All right," Mousse conceded from where he lay. "I can see how this might appeal to some men – minus being dropped on the floor."
"As I said before," Ranma added. "Don't cross a hostess."
Olaf watched the room until it became obvious it was time to move on – most of the men had either struck out or convinced the hostess to give the man either her phone number (as was the case with one of the Kitsunes, Jak – the quietest of the five) or at least her work schedule for the coming week. "All right then, men! It's time to decide – Fight Club or Drinking?"
"DRINKING!" was the resounding yell.
A/N: Footnotes:
(1) We learned in the "Destruction of Ranma Saotome: Ignition" that Ranma and Ryoga can mind-speak when they are standing next to each other. You'd have to read "Brothers" to find out why though.
A/N: Next up - The Bar