Ranma of St. Bacchus, Chapter 35

By Chaos Orchid

3,486, Traffic Graph - lost an hour being distracted

Published:2023-12-12 Updated:2025-01-25 Words:71,044 Chapters:34/? Comments:7 Kudos:17 Bookmarks:4 Hits:3,181

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"As martial artists, we are for hire. Only! We are own bosses!"

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(she), (her), etc. are to indicate that while Ranma physically feels she is in a female body, psychologically (she) doesn't feel convinced she is female. Unparenthesized, it means her gender dysphoria has slipped down on her list of current concerns.

'She', 'her' means Ran's more accepting about being a girl.

She, her means she has fully embraced being a girl.

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'Ran' waited, crossing (her) arms over her chest before remembering put them under (her) bust.

"Yamada-sama, you remember me…from yesterday." She lost her trace smirk when she looked at those with her mark. "I'm Tendō Nabiki. I'm here to be Yamada-sama's personal assistant."

Koko frowned, "PAs are a touchy subject around here."

Ikko, "There is no room for our personal servants here at a boarding school."

Noa, "So kohai made servants." She sounded like it had happened to her. And 'Ran', her junior, had also imposed on her, though without realizing it.

"But surely you ladies – and I do not use the term loosely – also have professional PAs, hired to keep your life organized and running smoothly?"

Koko's frown deepened, "Paid by the PAs that run our families' lives."

Ikko, "Mine calls me regularly to remind me what I am supposed to be doing."

Koko's gaze drifted, "They've trained her. That's why she acts the way she does as a one-girl Moral's Committee."

Ikko's eyes swung to her, "There are other committee members! And how many are there in your Morale Association(?)! You started it just to annoy me!"

'Ran', "Enough quarrelin'. (Hard to believe you're childhood friends.)

"Noa, what about your PA? Do you have one?"

The girl bit her lip before answering, "Step-dad say learn discipline at bujutsu school first. No think of outside. But real dad and mom no trust personal assistants and have nervous breakdown, maybe. Abandoning me."

'Ran', "The idea is, Learn discipline and you'll not have a breakdown(?)" Noa shrugged at this.

Nabiki, "The lesson is to trust your personal assistant!" And she took a photo of her, Noa and the redhead.

'Ran' got the picture, "You got more 'n that handbag." Her invisible camera bag.

Koko took hold of the stranger's wrist, strongly, and Ikko took the camera from Nabiki's hand (before it could 'disappear'), "Appropriated. Outsiders are not allowed to have cameras."

Noa, "Yes, I see! No papparoti. No news of daughter of news maker!"

'Ran' forgot and crossed (her) arms over her braless boobs, "But it's alright for the girls to be tryin' and takin' pics of me!(?)" As a boy! They could make him bald!

Koko, "It's mutual assured destruction."

"The Morals Committee has a file on everybody at the school. We'll track down the leaker and leak about them!" Ikko declared with a fist of determination!

("Interesting,") Nabiki said to herself.

Koko, "They share the files with the Morale Association. If a girl fails our test, they are in big shit."

With a cocky smile, Nabiki turned away from them, "So I am your personal assistant, right, Yamada-sama?"

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While Ikko and Koko took the camera to be developed, 'Ran' raged inside as Nao led (her) and Tendō to the school's telephone and fax room. The Reservoir! And maybe that magic(?) "Golden Testicle", Kin-tama, game, too! (Her) emotional defenses were down and (she) was attacked by the ki that saturated the greatest concentration of 'adult' entertainment in all of Japan! But nobody would buy that excuse. (She) thought (she) couldn't even bring (her)self to make the excuse.

The room wasn't far from the lobby. It was next to the administrations office. ("What(?) No Little Grass Hut?" Nabiki chuckled without explaining.)

Besides the cabinet and fax machine in the far corner, there were a row of actual phone booths with doors. The rest of the space was taken up by six classroom chairs. They could be rearranged around either of the two, small, low, round tables. "Sorry," Noa said. "No more private place." But she did point to the booths, "Some call other girl in them."

Nabiki in the meantime had been casually scanning for spy bugs. At least there were no obvious CCTV security cameras. "I don't think we'll need that much privacy.

"We have an understanding, don't we, Yamada-sama?"

"I like "Ran" better," (she) frowned.

"Ah, yes. We must protect the family name. Then you may call me Nabiki, Ran-sama."

"I said no "sama"."

"As your PA, I must show deference to you, my superior by employment," she smirked. "The social normalities must be observed."

"Just "Ran"!"

Nabiki used her acting skills, but not very well, "Th, that would imply a more…in~timate relationship. Is that what you're interested in?"

Noa, blushing, "Uh, I leave alone." And she did, to Nabiki's delight. Who turned the inside lock. Somebody would need a key now to enter.

"Now look what you did!"

But the girl in business-casual went and set her briefcase-like handbag on the first low table and sat. "I will expect no immediate payment. I think of you as an investment. Once I prove my value through you, others will show an interest in my talents and skills." She took out some hand-held thing 'Ran', of course, did not recognize. "I take it, the students at Hebereke have no other phones they are allowed to use. I, no doubt, have to set up an arrangement with admin to gain access to you. That shouldn't be a problem."

"Hmph!" 'Ran' said, blowing the air out of her nose. "Because of your "talent and skills"."

"Exactly. This is Sunday so I it will have to be tomorrow before I can make me your preferred contact. Officially." And she got that annoying smile of hers again. "I already have nearly unlimited access to Fūrinkan paperwork. I'm sure one Kunō school is unlikely to reject a request from another." She waved (her) close enough to see the screen of her hand-held. "I have all the relevant phone numbers and the schedule for when they'll allow me to contact you on my PDA, here.

"But more importantly, I have a personal digital assistant for you, too. With all the same relevant data, of course."

"I ain't usin' it! And I don't remember no girl here usin' one! Or nothin' like it!"

"Naturally. You have heard of how "Technology is for foreign markets, their house, but the old, reliable ways of habit are for my house". Even our house. That is the mindset that decides what those trapped in a boarding school have and have not."

Her demeanor became more serious, "Take it. Use it. It's a symbol of having!"

"Aw, geez!" 'Ran' knew she was trying to manipulate (her), verbally. And if (she) accepted the thing, she would be trying to manipulate (her) with words and numbers. And phone calls. But she was already being manipulated here at Hebereke, only in a much more blunt manner. At least that PDA(?) thing could maybe give (her) a sense of control. (She) was supposed to be the boss of…. "I stop usin' it when you stop actin' kohai."

Nabiki pulled out an organizer journal planner book. "Acting, yes, Ran'-sama'. But let's not forget who the real blackmailer is, here."

With a click, the door opened and in came Ikko and Koko (and Noa). "We brought your camera back. Don't come with it again."

Koko, "We developed the photos in it. There was nothing we can ban you for having."

"Of course not. I understood where I was going. There was nothing objectionable on that film roll. They were all photos of my little sister."

Ikko, "You take pictures like that of your sister!?"

Noa's imagination had her say, "Oh, Dear!"

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Minutes later, 'Ran' and the three backups were escorting Tendō back to the lobby, "I have the things you gave me." Still in the telephone room. "I'll let you know if I use them."

"Let me know if anybody else wants to use them," she smiled at [Ohara Noa] , [Ichibangase Ikko] and [Gogatsu Koko, already entered into the two PDAs while she was demonstrating how one operated.

"But you will want to make use of my services, Ran-sama. Hebereke gives its students access to a fax machine."

"So(?)!"

"Oh, don't tell me you don't know what a fax machine is? Well, I'm sure these ladies will inform you. Well, now's the time for a tour of the school nicknamed St. Bacchus."

"I'm not takin' you on no tour!" , "Neither are we!" , "Me, too."

"You don't need to. I'm not your visitor. I'm officially a representative of Fūrinkan. I did arrive a little earlier than the appointed time for meeting the representative of Hebereke."

"And who would that be?" Ikko and Koko frowned.

Noa, "I have bad feel."

The moment became anitclimatic as the representative failed to come in on the perfect cue. There were only girls and adults, female and male, passing down the main hall or going in or out of the main door. One was so small, 'Ran' could have ignored her if she weren't juggling bean bags. "It's her! The girl from the Good-Old Days Martial–"

'Ran' forgot about going after Temari when (she) heard

"Tendō Nabiki?" Tantō asked.

"By the information I've gathered, you must be Mizunokōji-sama," Tendō bowed. "Or is it Mizunokōji-dono?"

Tantō was pleased by the deference Tendō suggested, but had to say, "Mizunokōji-sama. Unfortunately I am currently only third in the hierarchy of students here at St. Hebereke."

"Third?" Nabiki raised an eyebrow.

"But Kokonotsu-sama is currently in Hawaii!"

"Hawaii(!) No, I would rather make your acquaintance." "Kunō" could be written "Nine Abilities", so she doubted it was a mere coincidence that Kokonotsu, "Nine Things" was also there.

Pleased with the introduction, Tantō turned to Yamada-kohai, less pleased, "The letter of self-introduction warned me you could be with her."

"Actually, I said "would". I am now Yamada-sama's personal assistant. A concierge, as it were."

The haughty girl was offended! "Y, you're Not of the same social strata as me!?

"–Ran, this is another of your insults! Kohai, I demand dogeza from you! On your knees! Bow your head to the floor–"

"Mistress Tantō, you are mistaken about the jikoshoukai. It was addressed to me."

Koko, "Katai, I didn't notice you there."

"People seldom do notice." The girl with straight, shoulder-length hair was so plain and average that even crystalline glitter in her dye-makeup couldn't highlight any features. What is more, she wore the standard Hebereke uniform, mostly tan with the only pop of color the red neckerchief. "That is my tactical strength but strategic weakness."

Nabiki genuinely smiled, "Ah, you do know the difference between the two sides of the martial coin."

"I am the coach of Dorm 12."

Noa, "Actually 13! And we really 14! There no Dorm room with number 4!"

"The West thinks 13 is the unlucky number," Katai explained.

Nabiki matched her, "While those of the East think 4 and 9 are the unlucky numbers."

"Kunō can be written with a "nine"."

A large smile broke out on Nabiki's face, "I'm glad somebody else realizes that! Just their 'luck' to be that bad. Especially, Tatewaki-baby's. I'm beginning to like you, Katai-san, uh…."

"Suisha."

Ikko, "Now I've got a really bad feeling."

Koko, "Me, too."

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'Ran' didn't think to lock the door of the telephone room; but Noa did. "Me see, too. I in trouble when you trouble, Ran. Kodachi say that." And she sat next to the only girl more kohai than her.

'Ran' wasn't comfortable with using a gadget, so (she) picked up the book that was supposed to, (she) guessed, have the same things in it as the (PDA-)whatsit had. "Geez! I don't wanna look, but I guess I should. Know your opponent(!)"

"Why outside girl opponent? Say no."

But 'Ran' wasn't listening to her. (She) barely scanned the first pages, but stopped on a map of Hebereke and the following pages with the blueprints of its buildings and floors. "This is useful! I still don't know where everything is around here." Nabiki was thorough.

There was also a chart of her scheduled classes with a references to pages with study tips for each subject. Maybe having a PA wasn't such a bad idea.

(She) didn't study that information, but had slowed in (her) leafing through the pages.

Then (she) came to "Appointments". "I'm supposed to fight a Tendō Akane?"

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NOTES:

This story takes place in the time of the manga, 1987 to 1996. In this alternative world, what happened in our world in in 1996 could happen at the same time as what happened in 1987 or 1990, etc. A jumble.

But the technology is just about the same as that era. Mobile (Portable) phones and even personal computers were not in common use. PDA and pages were their predecessors.