Ranma of St. Bacchus, Chapter 05
by Chaos Orchid
[] [] []
"The secret of martial arts is the energy needed to perform the feats!"
[] [] []
Ran's Power Source
"Enter; enter, Yamada-san Ran-chan," said a girl only a little taller than (she) was. 'Ran' took an immediate disliking to her annoying voice. It reminded (her) of who…. Kodachi? It wasn't as shrill, but it was pretentious.
In a school leotard, she wasn't nude like Ran. But the tall girl in the large bathtub holding holding a bottle of water in one hand and a shower wand in the other was nude. No, make that naked, as aroused. "At last, I will demonstrate other uses for my double-handed kendō techniques!"
"Not yet, Tsuyoe – Stupid, here, has left the lens cap on!" And a girl in a headband and muscles that were impressive for a girl (she even had abs) bopped the head of the girl with very long hair and glasses holding a camera.
"How typically unorganized, we are," said the girl in slacks, standing by the door on the other side of their bathroom door. "I am wasted as their strategist."
Hands reached down from over the door Ran stood in and tried to grabbed (her). Boobs fell on (her) head before (she) could jujitsu throw ninja-girl against pretentious, muscles and stupid!
'Ran' slammed the door shut! Then had to hold onto the handle to keep them on the other side. "Why are they there !? "
"They're from the dorm room next to ours! We share the same bathroom," a mad Junko told her, twisting the latch closed. She then pounded on the door, yelling, "Tantō! Leave there! Ran needs a shower!"
"Let her come in," Pretentious said. "We have no problem sharing our bathroom time with her."
Junko almost slammed a fist against the door. Instead, she took a deep breath, before speaking to the redhead only wearing a bandanna over her French braid and stray hairs on her body. Lots and lots of stray hairs. "She's right. This is their time." Then she muttered, "I didn't think I would regret winning the time slots we wanted."
With nothing else to distract (her) from the hairs, 'Ran' began scratching her annoyingly firm but still soft body. "This hair on me, is making me itch!" And the worst places seemed to be crotch, butt and boobs! All the places (she) liked least .
Noa tried to think of something. "Uh…There bottles of water in vending machines." Only she didn't have any coins for them. Because she was wearing only her lingerie.
She now turned a bright red, thinking of how she had been out in the main hall, the most public place of the school, in just her bra and panties!
She might have collapsed down into covering squat if Mao hadn't given her a hand vac on her way out to the machines, telling her, "I'll get the water!"
"What I supposed to do with…." Then she knew what she was supposed to do with the hand vac.
[] [] []
'Ran' still thought (she) itched too much. After the vigorous rubbing of (her) too voluptuous body dry, most of the hairs were left in towels from the linen closet. Most but hardly all.
"I, I do your back," Noa told her. The now yakata-wearing girl glanced over at Mao. The grinning girl had the nozzle of a floor vacuum. If Noa didn't suck, the mischief-maker would!
"Aw, geez," 'Ran' griped. "I'm even soft back there, too. I hate soft!"
"You have a great body," somebody said as she came into the dorm room.
"It's a curse, I tell you!" Then (she) realized who said that: "You! Gimme back my dragon whisker!"
"I will." Yuko said.
"NOW!" the small redhead was on her small feet, ready to cause big trouble!
"It's safe."
In a bound (then with boob bounces), (she) she had the girl still in the school uniform by her red neckerchief. "You want I should hurt you?"
"Do you want to know what makes a Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnast top-ranked?"
"That don't got nothing to do whether I beat you up or not!"
"It does," Junko said, behind her. "You still have no idea the kind of tools we use in our sport."
Noa shuddered thinking of them. "They hurt."
Mao was happy to tell the smaller girl who was such a novice she was naive: "We all get hurt!"
"Except Kodachi," Junko said very quietly. As one of the boss-lady's lieutenants, she knew of her 'extra-special technique' for guaranteed winning.
"A top-ranked doesn't cede to her opponent just because she's damaged," Yuko calmly told the steaming redhead.
"If your immediate healing techniques aren't enough, then you have to perform hurt until you can apply the more time-consuming ones," Junko finished the new recruit's first lesson in what her scholarship was for.
"I can still get the satisfaction of beatin' you up! I, want, my, whisker, back!"
Yuko winced. And Mao asked, "Does she know the healing technique for deafness?"
"As I said, it's safe. It's in the Miko Club."
"That still don't do me no good! Where's the club!?"
"It might do you good. We're studying it. We might be able to cure you."
"Cure me?" (her) hand went to (her) hair. Only to be reminded of the bandanna over her, ugh!, too fancy-smancy braid.
"There's good chance! …Maybe(?)" Yuko was sincere, but not certain.
The small girl released one of the bigger girls in school. "You have a couple of days. Only! "
Needing to cool down – emotionally; the cold, bottled water had given her a chill – (she) looked around at the room that still didn't impress (her). "Where am I sleepin'?"
Junko looked around, saying, "We made the mistake of putting you too close to the door. Now we know you have to be in a corner bed. That way you can be guarded from intruders by all of us.
"Mao, move to the end; Ran's taking your bed."
Mao was happy about that. "Now there'll be less guarding against me getting out and having my fun!" she laughed.
Ran glared at her, and frowned at the others as she went to the fourth bed. "Of course, I'd get Four. Four is the most unlucky number" (in East Asia). She still plopped down on top of the mattress, put her legs in an ankle-lotus position and crossed her arms over, not under, (her) boobs.
"Want some pajama?" Noa asked, going to her own bed. It was a shirt and pants set.
"I don't mind bein' nude. I'd like it better if my skin weren't squishy. Or smooth. And I weren't so damn short! I hate bein' short! "
Noa got out one of her jinbei anyway. "I told they like American long johns. You can wear in public. Uh, when public not mind you too very casual. They jinbei , not samue! See? Short sleeves, short legs! Drawstring! They sure to fit you! When you boy, too! Man, woman, children, baby, they all can wear jinbei!"
"When I hafta go outside, maybe. But why bother? Only girls're gonna see me nude."
"We do have male teachers," Yuko told her.
"And visitors !" Mao grinned, imagining their reaction to seeing the shortstack nakid!
"Well, there's only you girls here, now. If we're gonna live together, we're gonna see us nude. Like I said, why bother?"
Noa pleaded for Ran to accept the jinbei. "Ran, Matsushida-sensei be here too soon! She not like–"
The hall door opened: In came Yuna. She was carrying tote bags. "I brought you dinner."
"FOOD!" 'Ran' went from sitting (in a way no girl should sit in polite society) to leaping across the room. (She) ignored what the impact did to (her) softness, (she) was only thinking of her stomach. (She) took the first bag (she) could reach and grab. (She) then went and plopped down (again ignoring the jiggles) at the coffee-now-tea table.
"Save us some!" Yuna said, only half-frowning.
"Didn't realize it was so late!" (she) said, taking out a take-out box. "It's already suppertime!"
"It is not. It is a bribe."
"Bribe…?" 'Ran' didn't like the sound of that. She peeked inside the box.
"It is from the girls assigned to cafeteria duty this week."
Stir fried with fried chicken! With sweet peas, too! Tempting!
"What do they want?" (she) dared to ask.
"You know what they want. But they will settle for you eating supper in the cafeteria tonight."
"Is that all?! Sold!" And (she) instantly broke the chopsticks and dug in.
"But you be surrounded by all girls!" Noa tried to talk some sense to her.
But Mao asked, "Are you a glutton?"
"A glutton?" (she) asked with (her) mouth full. "I don't remember. Gonna find out!"
Noa was frustrated! It seemed when it came to food, Ran had no sense!
"It's understandable why she's hungry," Junko said. "She has been expending a lot of energy."
"And made us expend much, too!" And Yuna took away the tote bag before–No! Too late; the nude girl snatched away another take-out box.
"I wish I could read auras better," Yuko said, tugging at one of the white locks in her black hair. "But I think if we don't feed her, she'll be taking energy directly from us."
"Not directly. I'm not a vampire."
"What?!" Noa asked and cried, spooked.
"What?" (she) had been so intent on eating, it didn't register with (her) what (she) had said.
"Do you get your energy from the Reservoir?" Yuko asked.
"Reservoir?" This tried to tickle up a memory. "Reservoir…" (she) pondered. Though eating was more important to (her).
"The Reservoir is an advanced technique." Junko reviewed out loud. "Emotions block or open our chi energy channels. The more intense the emotion, the more the chi becomes attached to the emotion. Concentrated enough, they become the ki outside of the channels that power special techniques."
"Ki that aren't used are released and remain in the 'air' until they dissipate," Yuna continued. "They become the reservoir for those who know how to tap into the energy supply that lingers around all of us."
"The danger is that the emotions are still attached," Yuko told them. "Unless they are thoroughly trained on how to manage the raw emotions of others, they…. Kami-sama help us."
Mao was no longer smiling. Even she understood the implication.
Noa didn't. "What? What!? Tell me!"
"Because Ran is surrounded by the emotions most prevalent at the school as of late, Ran could become…" Yuna told her.
"–A hormone monster!" Mao cried, now anxious.
"I can?" (she) looked up from her meal. While grabbing the second take-out box.
"Keep your guard up at all times, Ran!" Junko ordered.
"Uh, sure. I think I'm always doin' it. Something about pop and…." (she) paused as a memory wanted to come to (her), "...a panda?" Stupid imagination! That couldn't have been a real memory. (She) went back to eating, "At least I don't gotta guard my food now," (she) grinned in satisfaction.
"We must make sure Ran always gets enough to eat!" Yuko said.
"I like that idea!" 'Ran' grinned. "If you're gonna feed me, I have less reason to leave."
"What you, a pet?" Noa asked.
Mao was going to make a joke about the redhead being small enough to be a lap dog. But she was too intimidated by the thought of a hormone monster to think that was funny.
[] [] []
Noa had done gofer duty, getting more food out of the vending machines to feed Ran and joined the others while they ate. She sat the furthest from Ran. She had thought she had found a friend, but now she was concerned that there might be a pervert under that cute face and built body.
But it was her that was assigned to managing the girl who could draw on the energy of, maybe, probably, scarily, the whole school! It sounded like a superpower, not a martial arts technique. But maybe she was a Batman, not a Superman. Though she didn't think Batman could become superstrong. The small girl had tossed her into the air *shudder* as if she were a toy. Just remembering that, had her drawn up into a ball again.
"...so Matsushida thinks the girls were chasing Ran just because they were hazing the new girl," Junko processed this new info. "Good. That's a cover we'll keep and exploit when we have to."
"Mao's back with the makeup case!" the cat-like girl announced, entering. "Did I miss anything?"
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
NOTES:
The girls of Dormroom 13 are meant to be parodies of regular troublemakers in Ranma's canon life. And, yes, when the story allows it, not only Kodachi, but Tatewaki, Ryōga, Mousse, Sasuke, Nabiki, etc. will appear.
The idea of the Reservoir is, as far as I know, original with me, Chaos Orchid. I used it in my "Son Turned Daughter" series.