Complete Control
Part 3
by Sean Gaffney
All characters are (C) 1998 Rumiko Takahashi, Kitty, Viz, etc., though I
doubt that their creators would have them doing _this_.
This fanfic is rated NC-17. Proceed with caution, it ain't consensual.
If this were alt.sex.stories, it would be rated: mf, mc, nc, with a bit
of m/m, but not enough to really count.
Kasumi paused outside of the Kunou mansion's impressive front
entrance. She didn't want to be here. She knew _why_ she was here.
Ranma has asked her to check in on Tatewaki Kunou, and make sure he was
all right. He had asked her because she was the most mature. Because
he needed a nurse, a mother. And despite all that Ranma had done for
her, everyone still saw her as a mother.
Ranma had said that she needed to put up the facade of her old
self, in order to avoid outside suspicion. Intellectually, she
understood this. Getting caught would be disastrous, and Ranma would
almost certainly go to jail, if he wasn't lynched first.
But emotionally, she was a wreck. Ranma had freed her, allowed her
to express all her desires, allowed her to be a real woman with wants
and needs instead of the airheaded housewife. But now she had to play
that part, and knowing it was a facade made it so much harder.
She wondered why she was rebelling so much. After all, this was
what Ranma wanted. Perhaps his control really was fading. She still
loved him, but at the same time...she could see who he really loved.
It was Akane. The way he looked at her when her back was turned. The
way he talked to her, as if they were already old friends.
Nabiki knew it too. She was taking it harder than Kasumi, though,
as she didn't want to go out and seek other sexual partners. Despite
Ranma's attempts to help, Nabiki still wasn't comfortable with her new
life. Kasumi wanted to help, but wouldn't that just involve being a
mother again?
Why wasn't Nabiki doing this anyway? She knew Tatewaki better than
any of them. Perhaps that was why, of course...they weren't sure how
he would react around someone who knew him.
She remembered, as a child, a young Tatewaki Kunou. He used to be
very good friends with Nabiki, and they would usually be playing
together somewhere in the neighbourhood. Then, after his mother died...
Nabiki tried to talk to him, but apparently he wouldn't even speak to
her. One day, at school, Kasumi saw Tatewaki dressed up like a samurai,
waving around a wooden bokken and quoting poetry. He seemed very
different from the young boy she'd known. That evening, Nabiki had gone
into her room and locked the door. When she emerged an hour later,
everything in the room had been destroyed. No one mentioned Tatewaki
around the house after that.
So now Kasumi was here instead, trying to find out if Ranma had
done any good with his manipulation of Kunou's mind, or if the young man
would still be just as...odd.
She pressed a buzzer by the gate, and almost screamed when a
servant appeared out of nowhere. "I'm sorry, Miss, but I'm afraid the
young master is indisposed, and the mistress is still not returned.
Perhaps if you could come back at another time..."
For a moment she was running on automatic, and stood ready to give
an "Oh my!" and a polite withdrawal. But then she realised that she
didn't have to do that anymore, she could stand up for herself.
Besides, she had a reason to see him.
"I was sent by the young man who dropped your master off to make
sure that he was all right. Are you sure I couldn't just...?"
The mention of Ranma seemed to startle the servant, who shrunk away
from her. Apparently Ranma had made quite an impression when he
dropped Kunou off. He looked her up and down again, then stepped aside
to allow her inside.
"The young master is within the mansion, in the bedroom at the end
of the hall." The servant seemed to have regained his composure, and
was now being rather condescending. "Please do try to be as quick as
possible, as the young master is not well."
Kasumi began to feel a little irritated. "I know that, that's why
I was asked to see him!" She moved quickly towards the mansion, not
glancing back. She could get used to her new attitude...that had felt
very good.
The mansion was rather large. She had always seen it as an
abstract thing, something that she would spy in the distance as she
walked to the market. Up close it was more tangible; far bigger than
their own home, it had a presence to it that gave her the creeps.
Perhaps it was the fact that everything was so static; there were no
gardeners or other people outside. In fact, the place had an air of
being deserted about it, despite the presence of the Kunou family and
the other servants.
She noted with interest that no one seemed to be halting her
presence anymore; as soon as she arrived at the front door it was opened
for her by another anonymous servant. She drifted down the hall, still
feeling as if she was in some vague dream world. The contents of the
mansion did nothing to dissuade her from this; the decor seemed to be
more eclectic than she would expect from such an old Japanese family.
There were a few oddities, such as the balance beam that took up most of
one room, or the postcards that were taped above the fireplace.
A sound had been audible as Kasumi walked through the hall. Now as
she neared the room she'd been directed to she was able to recognise it.
It was the sound of paper being torn.
She paused outside the door. Ranma had said that Kunou might not
be in the healthiest frame of mind. He had done what he thought was
right, but it still might have been too much for the young man to take.
If she went in there and Kunou was unstable, she might become the focus
for his anger.
Kasumi steeled herself. She wasn't a helpless young woman. If
Kunou tried to attack her, she'd beat him to a pulp. Repeating that to
herself, she opened the door.
Or rather, she tried to open the door. There seemed to be an
obstruction behind it that prevented her from doing so. She shoved at
it though, and finally managed to force it open enough for her to
squeeze through.
The floor of Kunou's bedroom was a sea of paper. It was impossible
to even see the floor underneath it all. An area in the corner seemed
to house book spines, their pages ripped out. And in the centre of the
room stood Kunou. He was methodically tearing out page after page of a
book, throwing each piece of paper to the side to add to the mess. A
stack of volumes next to him indicated he was nowhere near finished.
Kasumi simply stared at the mess, aghast. She suddenly felt an
impulse within her to begin clearing the mess up, but she clamped down
on it. Instead, she turned towards Kunou.
He was a handsome man. In fact, Kasumi felt herself getting a
little bit aroused seeing him there. Part of that was her own fault.
Ever since Ranma had taken her that first night she'd been in a constant
state of almost overwhelming desire. Ranma had been able, at first, to
take the edge off of it, but seeing him around Akane made the whole
thing rather unsatisfying. Looking at Kunou, she saw a young man who
might be able to take care of her problems. Suddenly this little trip
was becoming a lot more important.
She straightened up, trying to make herself look sexy.
Unfortunately, she'd worn her old blue dress so as not to attract
attention. It was, in her opinion, nearly impossible to look sexy in
that dress. Nevertheless, she stuck out the...more pleasant bits of
herself as far as she could and spoke up. "Hello! My name's Kasumi!
Um..."
Her resolve began to desert her as she saw that he wasn't even
looking at her. Indeed, he hadn't even acknowledged her presence since
she'd entered, continuing to methodically rip the pages out of his book.
He finished the current one, threw the spine into the corner, and
grabbed another.
"I was...I came by to see if you were all right. After all, you've
been through a rather trying experience, and you have friends that
care -- well, you have people who care about you and want to know you're
all right. Do you even know I'm here?
She waded over to the spines located in the corner, and grabbed one
at random. It was a copy of 'As You Like It' by William Shakespeare.
Looking through the pile, she noted that all of the other books seemed
to be Shakespeare plays as well.
The constant tearing was getting to be disturbing. She considered
looking in the book she had brought and looking up obsessive-compulsive
disorders. This certainly looked like it might be a case of it.
However, before she could do anything, he looked up, acknowledging her
for the first time.
It was all she could do not to gasp. His eyes were red-rimmed,
showing that he'd been crying. His face seemed years older than it
should, and he stared at her with a pain that horrified her. For once,
both parts of her psyche agreed: she wanted to go to Kunou and throw her
arms around him, telling him everything would be all right. But she
didn't. Something in his eyes still kept her at a distance.
Instead, she just smiled. "Do you want to talk?"
For a long time, he didn't speak, just staring at her. Then he
dropped the book and fell back onto his bed, paper crackling under him
as he hit the sheets. After a minute or two of him staring up at the
ceiling he began to talk to her.
"For a moment, when I arrived back at this house, I thought of
finding that girl and killing her. It only lasted a moment...for some
reason I cannot imagine harming her now. But there, for one moment, I
wanted to kill her for what she'd done to me. Ripping away this..." he
gestured vaguely at the paper all around him, "this _veil_ I lived under
for so long and expecting me to be perfectly all right. How could she
possibly do that?"
Kasumi realised he was waiting for her to answer. It startled her
to realise that she didn't know. Ranma had done what he did because he
saw Kunou's madness, and wanted to fix it. It had been the same as with
her and her sisters - he'd done something on the spur of the moment, and
didn't think about the consequences until afterwards. She considered
her response carefully.
"Do you want to go back? To become the young man you were before
Ranma..." She considered what Ranma had done. "Helped you?" she
finished weakly.
He almost snarled his response. "Of course I don't! I cannot look
back on the horrid cretin I was without wincing!"
Kasumi sat down on the bed beside him. "Then you're going to have
to find a way to deal with this. I know it's only been a few hours
since it happened and that you're hurting now...But I can help you if
you like." She was sitting right next to his body now, noticing the way
his muscles moved. It was almost as if she was of two minds. Part of
her was sympathising with Kunou and trying to find a way to help him
with his pain, and part of her was just drooling over his body. Nabiki
and Akane had talked about how skilled he was with his bokken. He must
work out a lot to achieve that.
He seemed to be ignoring her, staring at his feet and at the half-
torn volume before him. Despite her own inner conflicts, she tried to
continue. "Well then, you're just going to have to learn to deal with
it," she repeated. "Think of it as opening up to a new aspect of
yourself. Try and embrace it. That's what I've done." That wasn't
entirely true, but after all this wasn't about her.
Kunou sat up suddenly. His body was almost touching her now.
"Embrace it? Embrace the fact that the once proud Kunou family is now a
laughingstock? That my father, who once was one of the top businessmen
in Japan, sends us cards every month rambling about coconuts and palm
trees? That my sister has slid completely into insanity, so much so
that she is almost psychotic? That I coped with this by shutting myself
off from the world and spouting poetry? God, to think of the things
I've done to your sister..." He stopped, breathing heavily.
"That is perhaps the worst of it. When I shut myself off from the
world, I removed all possible consequences. I did not let myself worry
about right or wrong, because only _I_ was right. No one, nothing else.
Only me. My baser lusts ruled me. I...I imagined doing terrible
things to you and your sisters. To my _own_ sister. And...I am not
entirely sure that the woman was able to remove those feelings."
Now Kasumi was breathing heavily. "But how can you be sure that
those feelings aren't your normal teenage sexual impulses?"
Kunou looked up, and seemed to take in the fact that she was very
close to him for the first time. He turned slightly red. "Um...what?"
She moved in for the kill. "I mean that all young men are highly
interested in sex. Driven by their hormones. And after what Ranma did
to you, I can imagine it must be even worse." Her hand was on his leg
now, slowly drifting up his body. "I mean, after Ranma went into my
mind, I felt so needy...I needed to have a man kissing me, feeling my
body, driving himself deep into me..." Her voice was almost hypnotic
now, drawing Kunou to her. "I can imagine you must feel the same way.
Are you as aroused as I am?" Her hand finally moved up to his groin,
and she ran it slowly over the stiffness under his hakama. He twitched,
but didn't try to stop her. "Yes, I can see that you are. You can't
possibly think clearly when you're like this...neither can I...it's so
difficult when there's only one thing on your mind."
She continued to slowly stroke him, and moved her face so that her
lips were right next to his. "Please let me help you. Let me help you
to get rid of this need. For both of us." She stared into his eyes.
*Please,* she thought.
Kunou stared at her for a few more moments, and his eyes briefly
glazed over. Then he nodded, just once.
Kasumi pressed her lips against his hungrily, finally allowing her
pent-up sexual tension to release itself. Her mouth couldn't stay in
one place for too long; she was kissing him, then running her lips along
his neck. Her hand continued its caressing of his length, but not for
long. She couldn't draw this out. She needed him now. Quickly she
wrapped her other hand around his shoulders, quickly ripping the gi from
his upper body, leaving it hanging by its shirttails. It actually came
off rather easily, revealing his well-formed chest.
She spent a few seconds breathing in his musky scent before moving
down to his hakama. Once she untied the belt and loosened it, his gi
fell off completely, and she was able to pull the front of the hakama
down to reveal his white cotton briefs. They struggled briefly to
remove the loose hakama and underwear until Kasumi finally got a look at
his erect penis.
She'd only ever experienced Ranma's before, so she wasn't sure how
to compare them. It was longer than Ranma's, but didn't seem to be as
thick. She giggled to herself as she wondered what it would taste like.
*Well, no time like the present to find out.* She moved up towards it
like a cat and gently took the end into her mouth. Her tongue ran its
way around it, taking in its dimensions and textures. She wasn't as
good at this sort of thing as Nabiki had proven to be, but it didn't
seem to matter, as she heard Kunou's voice emit a small gasp.
She started to alternate between stroking his member and sucking
gently, but soon realised that she didn't want to have Kunou this way.
She needed him _inside_ her.
Detaching herself momentarily from his body, she stripped off her
dress, trying not to show too much eagerness. She wanted to have Kunou
picture her as experienced and sexy rather than just young and horny.
>From the look in his eyes as her dress fell to the ground, she seemed to
be succeeding. She forced herself to slow down as she removed her bra
and panties, doing a slow strip tease in order to further get Kunou into
the mood. As she let her breasts be revealed, she smiled inwardly at
Kunou's growing tension. Likewise, when she lowered her panties, he
flexed his hands against the side of the bed, looking more and more
lustful.
Kunou seemed just about ready to jump up, but she stopped him. She
wanted to be the one in control here, the one to take him. She pressed
her body up against his, this time giving him a deep kiss. Her tongue
reached out for his, and for a moment that was all there was. Her own
sex, however, was letting her know what needed to be done, and she
gradually drew her attention back to the main event.
She pushed Kunou down on to the bed, amused at the paper that lay
under them. If the books weren't ruined before, they were certainly
going to be ruined now. She straddled herself over him, and looked
down. Kunou's eyes now seemed to be inflamed with lust. They had said
very little during all of this, letting little gasps and grunts make
their feelings known. So she just smiled at him briefly before lowering
himself onto his manhood.
The feeling of being filled up by a man was something she didn't
think she'd ever get tired of. She took a moment just to revel in the
feeling of Kunou's hardness pressing into her, and then began to move up
and down, trying to establish a rhythm.
It would be almost impossible to make this last long. Already she
was beginning to move faster, letting her emotions get the better of
her. Kunou was starting to groan in unison with her own cries, and the
bed started to shake from their efforts.
Suddenly she felt the feelings within her reach a peak. She threw
her head back, letting the orgasm wash over her, her inner muscles
clenched and coaxed Kunou to release. Kunou seemed to appreciate this,
for he too was crying out, his seed jetting inside her in a rush. This
seemed to make her feel even greater pleasure, and she had another minor
orgasm as she felt him spend. Then suddenly she collapsed on top of
him, panting, clutching at his chest.
She could feel the frantic pounding of his heart, and his lungs
desperately heaving for air. After a moment, she managed to get the
energy to look up into his face once more. What she saw there surprised
her.
She had told him that giving in to his repressed desires would help
him in the long run, but admitted to herself that that had mostly been
out of a selfish desire to have him, to douse her own sexual fires. But
now...now there was a peace in his expression that had not been there
before. He almost seemed to be a different person, and Kasumi was
startled to realise that she found him even more handsome like this.
He seemed to be half-asleep and utterly adorable. Now was the time
to lie there, giving in to the warm glow of post-coital passion. She
sighed, and snuggled up closer to him.
After a few moments, she could hear his breathing turn regular, and
realised he was falling asleep. Suddenly she remembered the fact that
they were in his room at the mansion, and there were servants all over.
Kasumi doubted that they would take kindly to her own special method of
therapy.
She moved up close to Kunou's ear.
"Tatewaki? Can you hear me?"
He mumbled, and drew her closer to his body. One of her breasts
hit his face, and he began to suck gently on it.
Kasumi giggled. "I appreciate the thought, Tatewaki, but now is
not the time."
He mumbled again, and detached himself. His next word, though,
was clear as a bell.
"...mother..."
For a few moments, Kasumi couldn't even think. She could hear the
blood rushing through her head, making everything seem so very far away.
Then she heard his voice, over and over, repeating the word, driving it
into her consciousness. *Mothermothermothermother...*
And he'd been sucking her breast...no, nursing.
*Mothermothermothermother...*
She got up, being careful not to wake Kunou. She carefully
gathered her clothing together and got dressed as quickly as possible.
She walked out of the room and down the hall, the servants not even
appearing to notice her.
She managed to make it out of the mansion and halfway down the next
street before she finally fell to her knees and began to sob.
***
Ranma walked along the fence on the way to school, using it as a
balancing exercise. He'd been getting lax in his martial arts training
since falling into the spring, working on developing his new found
mental powers instead. Feeling a bit guilty about that, he'd started
doing more intense workouts in hopes of refining his abilities once
more. *After all,* he had thought, *I don't have the old man to teach
me anymore.*
Currently Ranma's thoughts were all over the place. Kasumi had
returned from Kunou's place a wreck, and refused to speak to Ranma about
what had happened, running off to her room. Akane had fared no better.
Seeing Kasumi hurt bothered Ranma in some fundamental way, and it
bothered him even more that he didn't seem to be able to do anything
about it.
Also occurring to him was the fact that her refusal to speak to him
meant that his mental controls were indeed weakening, that she was
starting to get her own mind back once again. Ranma was very much of
two minds about this. On the one hand, he despised himself for what
he'd done to the girls and to Kunou, and was relieved that they seemed
to be overcoming it.
However...he'd been on his own now for the past ten years, with
only his father for company. He'd met a few friends along the way, like
Ucchan, but never for more than a few months. Here, he had a family.
He had people to talk to and relate to. His creaking social skills were
finally being used. He could almost be happy, if it weren't for the way
he'd gotten it.
And now Kasumi's rebellion signified the beginning of that family's
dissolution. The thought frightened him. Surely it would only be a
matter of time before she got her mental controls back completely and
told the police what Ranma had done.
Nabiki, too, seemed to be shaking off his control. She'd taken to
sitting in her room for most of the time when they weren't at school.
When Ranma would enquire after her, she just would say that she was
fine. He knew that wasn't true, but didn't want to push it. She was
fragile enough around him without his trying to make things right yet
again.
That left Akane. He wasn't sure what to make of her. She seemed
friendly enough, and listened to his problems, sometimes offering her
own opinion on what he could do. Last night they had gone to her room
and made love alone, without her two sisters. If anything, she seemed
to be even more excited, and drove Ranma to heights he didn't believe
possible.
Was it because of his controls that she was so friendly? Or was
there something else? He hoped it was something else. The way he felt
around her...he could relax, let down his guard and just talk. It was
refreshing. And sometimes, when she smiled at him, his heart leapt, and
he felt as if they might be able to make a life together...
He squashed that thought. *Remember, Ranma, you've only got a few
weeks. Until the control wears off, or until you can gain enough power
to remove it. Then you're dead. Never forget that.*
He hadn't noticed the fence ending up ahead, and almost took a
header when he fell off of it. Akane was at his side instantly, helping
him regain his balance. He sighed.
*It must be my controls. What else could she possibly see in me?*
And then he shoved all thoughts out of his head for the moment and
concentrated on the problems they were going to face at school. They
had spent a few minutes cooking up a story to tell the administration
about Kunou's absence. Nabiki was going to explain that Kunou had
apparently caught some sort of bug, and had shut himself up in his
mansion. If pressed for details, she'd say he wasn't seeing anyone.
Nabiki raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing.
They were rather surprised, coming up to the entrance, to find that
Akane was not being attacked by her usual horde of young boys. In fact,
the entire group seemed to be gathered in a semicircle, staring at Ranma
jealously, but not doing anything.
One of them came forward. "Akane-san, we heard about Kunou's
defeat yesterday."
Ranma's head snapped up, and he almost panicked. Nabiki grabbed
his shoulder, though, so he got control of himself and waited.
The boy continued. "Since Ranma was able to defeat him so easily,
we have decided to accept this unhappy situation." There was a
muttering behind him, but he glared, and it died down. "Akane-san,
we...we accept Ranma Saotome as your fiance!"
There was a brief pause.
"WHAT?!" Ranma and Akane both stared at the students, their mouths
hanging open. Behind then, Nabiki was nodding her head and chuckling to
herself.
Several of the girls immediately swamped Akane, congratulating her
on landing such a hunky guy as her fianc�. Akane was dragged away,
hemming and hawing and occasionally uttering a "we're not..."
Ranma looked after her, but once again felt a hand on his shoulder.
"She should be OK," Nabiki said. "I think you helped her a lot last
night, and besides, with you not actually being there, she doesn't have
to worry as much about accidentally hurting you."
Ranma looked over at Nabiki. "You knew this would happen?"
"I didn't know, but I suspected," Nabiki said. Ranma was annoyed
to see that she was still flushing when she explained things to him.
"That's why I didn't say anything about that really lame flu
explanation. It will be a lot better for us if people believe you just
beat the snot out of Kunou and he's recuperating at his house. I know
you wanted to leave him his dignity, but he doesn't have any. He and
his sister have been acting insane for years now. You can't expect
people to just forget that."
"And what are we going to do about this? Everyone thinks Akane and
I are engaged now!"
Nabiki shrugged. "Which would you prefer? That or the truth?"
Ranma flinched a bit at her words. "Good point."
At that point they both noticed that a number of the students were
staring at them curiously. In particular, Nabiki's lieutenants, Reika
and Saeko, were whispering to each other and glaring at Ranma.
"Great, more rumour control," Nabiki sighed. "Look, see you later,
Ranma. I get the feeling this is gonna be a long day." And with that
she trudged towards the school building, looking rather forlorn.
Ranma stared after her. He knew Nabiki was his biggest problem at
the moment, but could think of nothing to do about it. She didn't seem
to want to sleep with him anymore, and any attempt to talk was met with
a polite refusal. He was at a loss for what to do next. He finally
decided to wait for the day to finish, and headed off to school himself.
He didn't get very far, though. A hand reached out and tapped him
on the shoulder. Turning around, he saw a tallish girl smiling at him.
He hadn't seen her around before, and was rather surprised he hadn't
noticed her. She was damn cute. She had brown hair cut sloppily and
tied in a ponytail that reached her waist, and a smile that revealed
pointed canines, looking rather vampiric. Most interesting, however,
were her eyes. They were filled with more hate than Ranma had ever seen
in his life. He actually stepped back a pace or two in shock.
"Um...ca-can I help you?"
The girl smiled, and reached around behind her back, grabbing a
large bamboo umbrella she had strapped there. "Certainly. You can
stand there while I end your life." And with that she lashed out with
the umbrella in a downward stroke, aiming for the back of Ranma's neck.
Ranma, without thinking, leapt to the side. The umbrella continued
downward, and slammed into the ground with such force that a large
crater opened up. Before Ranma could take this in, the girl leaped
upward, once again trying to slam into Ranma with the umbrella. This
time Ranma also leapt, and grabbed the weapon in an attempt to disarm
her. He managed to grab it, and tucked into a roll on his descent,
tucking the umbrella to his chest.
*This thing is heavier than it looks! How is she able to lift it,
let alone use it like she does?* He quickly rolled to his feet, just in
time to see the girl remove her bandanna from the top of her head. She
swung it around like a slingshot and sent it flying towards him.
Normally Ranma would have tried to catch it one-handed, but the
umbrella had already made him wary, so he decided instead to dodge it.
The whirling bandanna zipped past him and _through_ a nearby tree,
causing it to crash to the ground. Ranma quickly jumped again, trying
to avoid the girl while looking for a safe place to continue the fight.
The girl was clearly dangerous, and he didn't want any bystanders
getting hurt.
Landing on top of the fountain, he groaned. The entire school now
seemed to be watching the fight. It wasn't going to be easy to end this
quickly and quietly. The girl was charging after him, and seemed if
anything to be even more enraged.
*Who the hell is she? What did I ever do to her?* For a moment
Ranma wondered if she was a friend of the Tendous, and had somehow found
out about what he'd done to them. He considered trying to get a peek
inside her mind, to see what he'd done, but decided to use that only as
a last resort. Instead, he waited until she was almost upon him and
then leapt in the air again, landing in a nearby tree. She seemed to be
putting a huge amount of power behind those charges and throws, and if
he could dodge her attacks for a few minutes, he might be able to wear
her out.
She certainly wasn't as quick as he was, smashing into the middle
of the fountain when she couldn't stop in time, turning it into so much
debris. Turning, she snarled and got ready to make another run...and
then stopped, noticing the ground starting to shake.
*Of course,* Ranma thought before the earth exploded, sending water
flying high into the air. It was far too late to dodge now, and in any
case everyone at the school knew about his curse. So he merely sighed,
feeling the water drench him and his body change.
The girl's reaction to seeing Ranma change was somewhat odd. She
was definitely surprised, yes, but not at the change. Almost
immediately, she backed off of her attack and stood to consider Ranma,
who was still standing on top of the tree. Ranma took this momentary
breather to consider her next moves.
She didn't want to fight the girl. She thought she'd gotten over
her boyish conceit about not fighting girls after the old ghoul pounded
her a few hundred times, but this was different. She didn't want to
fight her blind. She needed to know why this girl wanted to kill her,
why she seemed to be driven by hatred. She needed to talk to the girl.
She was moving towards Ranma again, but slowly and thoughtfully.
She noticed her eyes seemed to be more wary now than enraged, though the
hate was still at the back of them. She came to the bottom of the tree,
and Ranma got ready to jump again, but she merely held up a hand.
"Wanna arm wrestle for it?" the girl called up to her.
Ranma considered her new tactics. On the one hand, this was almost
certainly a trick, and she didn't want to risk letting her guard down
around this girl, especially with that brute strength she seemed to
have. On the other hand, if she could manage to touch her she might be
able to get a quick look at her thoughts without her hormones getting
out of control.
She leapt out of the tree, landing a few feet from the girl. "All
right," Ranma said with a tight smile. "After all, we wouldn't want
anyone to get hurt. Would we?"
The girl smiled right back, her canines flashing. "Of course not.
This is just between the two of us."
Ranma relaxed a bit, since it seemed that whatever grudge this girl
had, it wasn't related to the Tendous. The two of them began moving
slowly towards a nearby lunch table, never taking their eyes off of each
other.
The girl sat down on one of the benches and extended an arm. The
crowd immediately backed off to a safe distance. "Best of three?" the
girl asked.
"Sounds good to me." Ranma had a feeling she might end up getting
creamed in this battle. Not only was her male form stronger than her
female form, but this girl seemed to be an absolute gorilla in that
respect. In any case, Ranma decided to let the girl win the first round
and use it to get some information from her head as to the basic
problem.
Smiling at each other once more, they locked their arms in a ready
position, hands almost touching. With a nod, each of them grasped the
other's hand, and Ranma quickly sent her own mind into that of the other
girl.
However, this proved to be a far more different environment than
what Ranma had been used to. Kunou's head had almost been a different
environment, set up to look like different rooms. It had proved to be
very convenient for Ranma to search through. The girl's mind, however,
seemed to be almost a cloud, and Ranma found herself struggling just to
maintain a sense of identity, let alone find out what this was all
about.
*Anger...intense anger, almost his entire life..._his_?...yes, he
was a man...memories of wandering the streets of Tokyo as a child,
crying out for his parents...attending school in junior high, with the
embarrassment of having to be led to and from each class...*
Suddenly the memories became even more indistinct, and Ranma felt
his control begin to slip...something about bread...a duel that someone
missed...that _he_ missed. Ranma heard her own name in the thoughts,
and the hatred that surrounded it.
Then suddenly Ranma was fading, almost falling out of the mind of
the girl and into her own. And that was when she realised.
While she had been scanning the girl's thoughts, the girl had been
doing the same to Ranma.
The girl had mental powers.
And suddenly thoughts were being forced into Ranma's head.
Thoughts from somewhere else.
*Finding himself at the edge of a row of pools...looking around in
confusion...turning to see a young girl clutching at her head and
screaming...trying to help her but being thrown off balance, into one of
the pools...the confusion and voices in his own mind as he tried to
comprehend what had happened...*
And then Ranma was ripping her hand from the girl's, clutching at
her own temples. She didn't feel any pain, but to think of someone
violating her _mind_ like...like...
Like she had done to others.
Looking up at the young girl, Ranma saw that she was smirking at
her, and at that moment she knew exactly what had happened. And what
the fight was all about. The memories she had stolen from the girl's
mind came together with her own young memories.
"Ryouga," she said.
The girl gave a short, sharp laugh. She then moved close to him,
speaking in a whisper so that they couldn't be overheard. "I challenge
you, Ranma. Not to a martial arts battle, but to a mental challenge.
Whoever can overcome the other's defences completely wins. And if you
don't accept I'll tell _everyone_ here about those girls you raped...and
that boy as well."
Ranma's mouth went dry. For a moment, all she could do was stare
at Ryouga in shock. Finally she found her voice.
"I accept."
"Good," said Ryouga, getting up from the bench. "In four days
time. You choose the place. And don't worry, I will find my way there
this time." And with that she walked away, ignoring the stares from the
rest of the student body.
Akane and Nabiki were already running toward the bench. "Ranma,
are you all right? I mean, the two of you barely moved..." She trailed
off as she saw the fire that sprung up in Ranma's eyes.
"Just worry about getting through the rest of this day. After
school we'll have another conference."
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Trouble?"
Ranma nodded, staring after the girl's silhouette in the distance.
"Disaster."
***
"Kasumi? What do you think of these tomatoes, do they look
overripe to you?"
Kasumi wandered through the open market, smiling politely at
everyone. She was trying to let her body run on autopilot while she
sorted out her feelings. It wasn't easy.
"Oh, Kasumi! I've been meaning to tell you about that lamp you
were asking after..."
After she had embarrassed herself last night, she had wanted to run
straight to Ranma for help. She managed to stop herself, though. Ranma
had his own problems. Indeed, her liaison with Kunou would only be
adding to them. Besides, it was becoming clear to her that Akane was
the Tendou he was closest to. He loved all of them, in his own way, but
Akane was his friend, in a way she or Nabiki could never be.
"Kasumi, look what I've got for you today! I managed to save you
some ground beef! Maybe you can cook hamburgers for your family, just
like the Americans!"
She had been incredibly foolish to try and seduce the Kunou boy.
She had let her hormones run away with her, and now was paying the
price. Oh, the sex was wonderful in and of itself...but it was clear
Kunou wanted something else from her. A mother. He wanted someone to
take care of him and nurture him. And she was damned if she was going
to do that. It was already...
"Miss, would you like to sample this ramen? It's a new mix, never
before tasted!"
It was already becoming too easy to fall back into her old
patterns. She thought Ranma had erased every aspect of her old
personality. But it was still there. The airheaded housewife, eager to
please, to help others, to serve them all her days. She could feel it
gnawing at her. After all, everyone here thought of her that way. She
should think about the others before she thought of herself. They
needed a mother figure. They needed her to be what she was. What _she_
wanted didn't enter into it.
What she wanted.
"Kasumi! Just the woman I'm looking for! We've got three people
for a mah jongg club we're starting, and were wondering if you would
like to be the fourth?"
The bag she had been carrying smashed against the ground, spilling
groceries. Kasumi turned and looked at the crowd. Familiar faces,
almost all of them. Looking at her in bewilderment and confusion.
Wondering where _she_ was. The other Kasumi.
Snap.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS _WRONG_ WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!?! Do you really
think of me as some dried-up old maid? I'm nineteen! I haven't even
been out of high school for more than a year and you're treating me like
I've seen the best years of my life!"
The people surrounding her seemed stunned to see Kasumi screaming
at them. That only served to enrage her further. Tears were coursing
down her cheeks now, as she started shouting more and more questions.
"Have I become my sisters' mother, my father's wife? When did that
happen? When did this happen to me? When did I become some airheaded
housewife with no life? When did I lose Kasumi Tendou? Am I my mother
now?"
She was beginning to shake now, her arms moving around her body,
and she slowly slumped to the ground, gazing out at the crowd.
"That's it. I'm my mother. She wouldn't die, she had to become
me. I lost my life to my OWN MOTHER!!! DAMN YOU!!!"
And finally her ranting ceased, and the only sound was her sobbing,
seeming to course through her entire body. She felt dizzy, and her
vision started to cloud. She could faintly hear voices, but they
somehow didn't seem that important to her.
"...should have seen it com...oor thing..."
"...never did grieve for her mo...ays wondered..."
"...bottled up all this ti...ctor Tofu?"
"He's away on a sabb...bly should just take her home..."
And then there was just quiet...peace.
***
Upon seeing the small group outside the Tendou's home, Ranma almost
ran. He was positive that they had found out what he had done, that the
secret had gotten out. After all, Ryouga had discovered it, and could
easily have decided not to wait for the challenge.
But they didn't seem to be angry, just sombre. Ranma controlled
his impulses and tried to look as normal as possible. Luckily, the
women seemed to ignore him entirely, turning instead to Akane and
Nabiki.
Ranma considered what his options were now. Obviously, he would
have to fight Ryouga. And it seemed it would be more than just a
martial-arts battle, too. He'd have to combat Ryouga's mental powers
with his own.
The problem with that, of course, was that up to this point, using
his powers too much had always meant sending Ranma into hormonal
overdrive. That night where he got out of control and took the Tendous,
and later on with Kunou in her girl form. She still had not learned the
trick of using her full powers without making it a sexual event. And
though doing it with Kunou in her girl form introduced her to the
pleasures she could have in her female body, she was not in any way
looking forward to fighting with Ryouga as a boy. In fact, the thought
of what might happen disgusted him a little.
Still, it might not happen. He hadn't managed to be aroused when
he gave a cursory examination to Ryouga's mind this morning, and Ryouga
had even been in her girl body at the time. If Ranma could keep up this
level of control, he might get closer to using his powers to put
everyone back to normal.
Who knows, maybe he could get Ryouga to make this a martial-arts
only contest, and not have to worry about his powers at all. *First
thing I need to do is find out where Ryouga is and how he's
training...maybe I can get Nabiki to help with that.*
Ranma's reverie was interrupted by the departure of the small crowd
that had been gathered outside the Tendou's. Akane walked over to him,
a serious look on her face.
"Ranma, Kasumi apparently had a nervous breakdown at the market.
She just started screaming at people, and then apparently passed out.
Nabiki is talking with her."
Ranma began to get worried. "Um...did they mention if she said
anything about -- " He broke off, realising how selfish he sounded.
Akane must have realised it as well, as her forehead creased for a
moment before she went on. "She didn't mention you at all, Ranma." Now
Akane was looking a little embarrassed. "She mostly talked about our
mother, apparently."
At this point there came the sound of screaming from within, and a
very angry Nabiki emerged from the house. She marched up to Ranma and
Akane.
"It would appear that our sister doesn't want to talk to us about
what has just happen to her. She says she'll only deal with Ranma."
She tried to glare at Ranma, but couldn't quite manage it, returning to
staring at the floor.
Ranma ran his fingers through his hair, trying to keep some sort of
control of the situation. "Right, here's what we'll do. I'm going to
go in there and talk to Kasumi. Akane, I want you to stay here, because
when I'm done, I'm hoping she'll want to talk to one of you. Nabiki, I
need you to go find Ryouga. You're good at tracking down rumours. See
if you can find where he's staying and talk to him."
"About what?"
"About why he originally wanted to fight me. About how he's
managed to deal with his powers. Anything that might help us to either
stop the fight...or give us an edge."
Nabiki scowled. "It's not fair. I mean, I used to be able to talk
to Kasumi. She was always willing to tell me if she was having any
problems. Why doesn't she want to speak to me anymore?"
Ranma shrugged. "I dunno. I think this new persona of hers is
still embarrassing to her, regardless of how she feels about it. Who
knows? Maybe it's still something to do with my controls." He reached
out to hug Nabiki. She accepted it somewhat reluctantly. "C'mon,
Nabiki. I need you to do what you do best. I'm relying on you. We all
are."
He was rather startled when Nabiki started to giggle in his arms.
She drew back, still laughing. "OK, Ranma, I'll go out there and win
one for the Gipper. You just make sure my sister is OK. I mean, I
don't think it's dawned on you yet how much all three of us depend on
you."
This time it was Ranma who had to look away. "It's beginning to."
"Get used to it, Ranma. We still love you. We may not be acting
like your devoted sex slaves anymore, but we do still love you. And
that means when we hurt, we want to be there to talk to you. Take care
of her. She's hurting." And with that she walked back down the
street.
Ranma stared after her. This was the first time any of them had
admitted that their behaviour _was_ slowly returning to normal from what
he'd done to them that night. He didn't know what to think about it.
"Ranma?" Akane was trying to bring him back to the situation at
hand.
"Right," he said, and headed for the house. He didn't want to do
this. Ever since he'd created this situation, it had forced him to
think things through more. He wasn't a thinker, though. For years,
Ranma had dealt with his problems the way his father had; he either hit
them or ran away from them. Now that he had a problem where he could do
neither, he was being forced to think through his problems. It made him
uncomfortable. He didn't want to go in there and give Kasumi yet
another pep talk. He'd been doing nothing but that for days now.
Unfortunately, it looked as if he'd be doing it again. Cheer up,
Kasumi. You are a wonderful person. Worse things happen at sea, you
know.
The sound of sniffling from the dojo broke Ranma out of his
reverie. He put all of his worries on the back burner and concentrated
once more on trying to piece together another shattered psyche.
*I wish there was a martial-arts move for this...*
***
Despite what she'd told Nabiki, Kasumi didn't really want to talk
to Ranma at the moment. She didn't want to talk to _anyone_. But Ranma
was preferable to her sisters in this case. What was she supposed to
say to them? I broke down because I realised that my mother had left
behind a legacy of selflessly working for others that was gradually
destroying my life? Kasumi wouldn't do that to them. Nabiki and Akane
had nothing but happy memories of their mother; she wouldn't tarnish
them.
But as Ranma came into the dojo, she felt herself moving to the
other side of the room. She felt as if she'd failed him. He had asked
her to pretend in public, to be the old Kasumi, so that people wouldn't
be curious. So she went out shopping for the first time since then, and
what happened? She ended up screaming at people, swearing at them. She
shivered.
She forced herself to look at Ranma. He didn't look particularly
happy to be here either. She couldn't blame him. Ever since he'd
gotten here, all he'd done was listen to their problems. Nevertheless,
he walked over and sat down against the wall, motioning for her to do
the same.
"What happened?"
And she told him. She started out hesitantly, but then she heard
herself telling him everything. All that she'd been feeling, the anger
at those treating her like a retiree, the violent fury she'd felt
towards her late mother, and the shame she felt because of that. She
told him of the satisfaction and joy she'd felt when seducing Kunou, and
the fear when he'd called her mother. Fear. Yes, more than any of the
other emotions. Fear that she'd never be able to escape, never be able
to do anything.
Ranma listened to her as she spoke, not seeming to react. What did
he think? Was she overreacting? Was she disappointing him?
After she finished, the two of them just sat there in silence.
Finally Ranma moved, getting up from the floor and moving to the centre
of the dojo. He started to move in a distinctive pattern, and Kasumi
realised with startlement that he was doing a kata. She hadn't seen him
work out yet, and was startled to realise just how good he was. He
moved with complete silence, in ever-increasing patterns of complexity.
All she could do was sit and stare.
In fact, she was so intent on watching him move that she didn't
hear him when he first spoke.
"What was your mother like?"
The question was posed so seriously that Kasumi thought for a few
moments before speaking. "She was the perfect Japanese woman. She kept
the house immaculate, she never argued with Father, she always made sure
that we followed the proper manners and custom. She was proper in every
sense of the word."
Ranma continued to do his katas, not even giving the impression of
having heard her. Nevertheless, he spoke again. "Gee, that sounds like
a really harsh childhood. It must have been awful for you."
Kasumi blinked. "I wouldn't say it was awful..."
Ranma interrupted her. "Oh, come on. Being forced to always know
the right thing to say, or the proper way to act. You could never have
been allowed to act like kids. Your childhood taken from you by your
own mother."
"That's not true!" Kasumi couldn't believe what Ranma was saying.
"We had a lot of fun as children! We played and had fights and all of
that! She didn't do that to us!"
"Ah, but now you feel confined by your mother's legacy. She's
trapped you into carrying on her work, and there's no way out of it. My
God, what an awful woman."
Kasumi almost slapped him. "You take that back!" she cried. "My
mother was a wonderful woman! I love her! We all do! I..."
Kasumi suddenly stood very still.
"You bastard!" she shouted. "You did that on purpose!"
Ranma grinned and sat back down. "Sorry about that. I wanted you
to see what you were sounding like. There was no way that your mother
could have been what you described."
He hadn't even broken a sweat, Kasumi noted. "But I - "
"Kasumi, you're still not completely recovered from what I...what I
did to your mind. You're overcompensating. Taking yourself too far in
the other direction from your old personality."
"But I'm not like that anymore," Kasumi said quietly. "I can't
even imagine going back to that now. I just..."
Ranma stopped her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I'm not
saying you need to go back to that. I'm just saying that you shouldn't
deny everything you once were. You seem to think that you need to be
the opposite of the old Kasumi. Why? She was a nice, loveable, kind
person."
"But she was an airhead!" Kasumi said. "She didn't ever think of
herself, only of others. She let everything roll over her, just sat
there in her own little world -- "
"So don't do that!" Ranma looked a little upset, and Kasumi shied
back. He calmed down, then continued. "Kasumi, just because you used
to have some bad habits doesn't mean everything about you was awful.
When I hear people talk about you, they never have anything bad to say.
They praise you for your generosity and courage. You had to raise your
family almost by yourself from the time your mother died. Kasumi, that
takes strength. I don't think I could have done that."
Kasumi considered this for a moment. Strong. She'd never thought
of herself as strong, not even before Ranma arrived. It made her feel
good.
After a few minutes, she spoke again. "So what should I do?"
Ranma shrugged. "Try to find a way to balance them out. I'm sure
your mother wasn't the perfect Japanese woman all the time. She must
have had fights with your father at times. Don't deny everything you
learned from her just because it's 'traditional'. Heck, Kunou sounds
like he'd really like traditional."
That brought Kasumi back down to Earth. "He doesn't want me. He
wants a mother. Someone to take care of him, not to make love to him."
"Kasumi, you're making an awfully big deal about one word half-
mumbled in his sleep. Maybe he was dreaming about something else. I
mean, you gotta remember with Kunou, what I did to him was a lot worse
than what I did to you in a way. He's actually a lot like you. He was
cruising through life with a veil over his true feelings, and now that's
gone. And he's probably not sure what to do now. You could help with
that. In fact, that's why I sent you over in the first place, rather
than Akane or Nabiki."
Kasumi looked doubtful. "Because I was going through the same
thing? Or because I'd be more inclined to be helpful and nurturing?"
Ranma smiled. "A little of each."
"So what should I do?"
Ranma thought for a bit. "Why not go over there and explain your
feelings to him? Say that you wouldn't mind taking him as a lover, but
want an adult relationship, not a mother/child one. Be firm, I think
the Kunou family has an odd idea about familial relationships..."
Kasumi smirked. "What, you mean like us?"
Ranma did not smile back. "Kasumi, before I arrived, did you ever
consider making love to your sisters?"
She paused. "No," she admitted.
"Then no, not like us."
Kasumi reddened, suddenly feeling a little ashamed. "So you do
think I should try to get him back."
"I don't know. Is it what you want?"
That brought her up short. She thought back to what had made her
seduce Kunou. More than her own feelings of lust, it had been Kunou
himself. The young man coming to terms with himself. A kindred spirit.
Someone who could understand what it was like living a life that wasn't
what you wanted. Someone...who eventually she might want to make a life
with. "Yes. It is what I want."
"Then go. And don't worry about how you aren't supposed to act.
Just let it come naturally."
Kasumi considered how she felt now. Relieved. Hopeful. And more
than a little aroused. Definitely back to normal. She moved over to
Ranma and positioned herself in his lap. "Ranma...thank you for helping
me." She began to stroke him into hardness, watching with amusement as
his eyes bugged out. "I know you feel guilty about what you did to us,
but I still feel as if I've come alive." She paused to give him a long,
deep kiss, her hands busy working him further into a frenzy. "You know
what I feel like doing now?"
Ranma's voice was almost a whisper. "Wh-what?"
"I'm going to go and see Kunou, and talk to him properly this
time." And then she bounded up and headed quickly for the door. "Thank
you again, Ranma!"
"Guh?"
She grinned, and then headed out. In the hallway, she passed
Akane, and briefly hugged her. "Akane, thank you. I'm all right now."
Akane sighed in relief. "Thank God. I was really getting
worried."
"I'm going to go over and talk with Kunou again. I don't know if
I'll be back tonight...if you know what I mean. By the way, I think
Ranma wanted to see you. He's still in the dojo."
"OK. Thanks, Kasumi!" Akane waved to her once again as she walked
into the dojo.
Kasumi giggled to herself, and listened for a moment longer.
"Ranma, what did you -- Ranma?" A pause. "What the?" A longer
pause. "Ooooohhh, Ranma..."
Kasumi headed out, leaving behind the growing sounds of lust coming
from the dojo.
***
Nabiki frowned. This wasn't going as well as she had hoped. She'd
checked out all of the hotels and YMCAs where a young man could
conceivably be staying. She'd also checked out a few places that only a
young woman could stay at, but to no avail. Either Ryouga was very good
at hiding, or she was missing something important.
She considered what she would do if she were in his position. He'd
want to train for the fight, either physically or mentally, most likely
both. It would have to be someplace out of the way, where not too many
questions would be asked. However, she didn't think he would leave
town. She wondered if Ryouga might have an accomplice. After all, if
he'd fallen in the same pool as Ranma, he must be prey to the
same...problems. He might have some young man or woman working with
him.
With all of this going through her head, she almost missed the
tent. It was set up in a corner of the park she now walked through,
with a small fire beside it. And sitting by the fire was a man who fit
Ranma's vague description of what Ryouga might look like now.
*Great, I use all of my resources and get nowhere, and then I end
up stumbling across him. Some detective I am,* she thought.
Nevertheless, she trotted over towards the tent, trying to keep calm.
She suspected that any attempts to sneak up on him would be doomed to
failure, so she simply walked up and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hibiki-san?"
Then again, she might have been able to sneak up on him. He
certainly jumped high enough when she touched him. He recovered
quickly, though, and had the sense not to pretend he wasn't surprised.
He stared at him for a moment. "You're Nabiki Tendou, aren't you? One
of Ranma's women."
That earned him a glare. "I'm Nabiki Tendou, and I'm not anybody's
woman."
He smiled, showing a set of fangs that Nabiki found unnerving. "Oh
really? Then you've put Ranma up on charges for raping you?"
Nabiki scowled. He was making her confront things she didn't want
to confront yet. She could feel the beginning of a headache. Deciding
to try and regain control of the conversation, she sat down beside the
fire and examined the young man.
He was actually quite handsome, in a roguish sort of way. With
that tattered clothing and his bandanna, he kind of looked like an
intrepid explorer. The backpack sitting next to him only added to the
impression.
She gazed around at the campsite, trying to sound laconic. "So,
why are you sitting here in the middle of the park? Wouldn't a hotel or
gym be a better choice?"
He smirked. "Looked for me there, did you?" She scowled again.
"I don't know," he continued. "Habit, I guess. Until recently, I
had a poor sense of direction, so I had to get used to sleeping wherever
I was at the time. I guess I'm just used to it."
Nabiki continued to act uninterested, but pounced on the lead he'd
thrown to her. "You mean you used your mental powers to fix your sense
of direction? Interesting..."
This time Ryouga laughed out loud. "Say, Nabiki, would you like to
hear my complete life history and exactly how I use my powers so you can
report back to Ranma and give him an edge in our fight?"
Nabiki got up and strolled over to him. She was really getting mad
now. She hated not being in control. Ranma was bad enough, but she
could deal with that. But being manipulated by a virtual stranger was
almost too much to take.
"Yes. Please. I'd love to hear it."
Ryouga gestured for her to sit next to him, which he did
grudgingly, and then began telling her about his life. He'd grown up
mostly on his own, since his parents had just as horrible a sense of
direction as he did. He'd managed, at the age of 11, to find a family
who was sympathetic and vigilant enough to let him stay with them, and
got a few months of normal schooling. That was apparently where he'd
met Ranma, and the two had developed an almost instant rivalry. Over
time, it had gotten worse, and finally, Ryouga had challenged Ranma to
one last battle.
Unfortunately, he'd gotten lost, and was four days late to his own
challenge. By the time he made it, Ranma's father had taken him on
another training trip. Ryouga, naturally, had sworn vengeance and
followed him, leaving behind his old life.
Nabiki listened to this story with a sense of awe. She'd never
before realised how truly pathetic someone could be.
Ryouga continued to ramble on. "Eventually, as you've probably
figured out, I ended up at the pools of Jusenkyou."
Holding up a hand, Nabiki grinned. "Wait, don't tell me, let me
guess. You ended up being shoved into the pools accidentally by Ranma
and his father as they ran past, thus furthering your need for
vengeance."
Ryouga blinked. "Um...no, I just fell in."
Ignoring Nabiki's giggling, he continued. "After I got out of the
pool, I was almost lost. I...there was so much in my head, I couldn't
hear my own thoughts. It was terrifying."
He paused for a few moments. Nabiki fell silent now, watching him
as he tried to work out how to describe what had happened.
"I was found by the old guide who watched over the pools. He
didn't speak much Japanese, and I didn't speak much Chinese, but I
managed to figure out what had happened. Ranma and I had been
unfortunate enough to fall into a cursed spring. Even worse, it was one
that was blocked off because it was 'forbidden'. The springs in that
area have strange powers...as I'm sure you're aware of."
Nabiki remained silent.
"I was told about what I might be capable of. It scared me. The
thought that I could manipulate and use people like that...I didn't want
to become that kind of person." His face darkened. "To become the kind
of person Ranma is now.
"So I wanted to see if I could use the powers without the lust. To
see if I could maybe help others. But of course, I first tried it on
myself, so that I wouldn't hurt anyone. That's when I was able to cure
my sense of direction. It was my first real victory."
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "In that case, why didn't you ask about
some sort of cure? I mean, if the pools were there, there must be some
way to counteract them."
Ryouga shook his head. "I did ask. Apparently there _are_ cures
for the more normal curses...if I'd fallen in the plain old Spring of
Drowned Girl, Spring of Drowned Boy would have cured me. But because of
the mental powers, the curses are somewhat more different. There is an
equivalent pool for girls in the restricted area, but the Guide seemed
to think that would be a very bad idea."
Nabiki nodded. "Let's wrap this up. You spent about three weeks
using your powers on yourself, getting rid of your terrible sense of
direction and apparently some other stuff that I don't know about. Are
you able to use your powers without the lust that comes with them?"
After a few moments, Ryouga answered. "No. But I haven't hurt
anyone with my powers yet."
"Yet," Nabiki emphasised. "Geez, you must be masturbating
constantly."
She was amused to see Ryouga blush. She'd finally managed to
embarrass him.
"So: despite the acquisition of these powers, you decided the best
thing to do was to continue hunting Ranma, despite the fact that you'd
been at it for _FIVE YEARS_. I'm assuming, by the way, that Ranma's
powers were as much a surprise to you as yours were to him."
Ryouga nodded.
Nabiki continued. "So there's no way I can talk you out of this?"
That made Ryouga laugh. "Talk me out of it? This has gone beyond
some petty little quest for vengeance, Nabiki. This is about justice.
Ranma used his powers to rape and control four people so far, and he
plans on using them more if he isn't stopped. How can you try to stop
me?"
"He's not planning on using his powers more!" Nabiki felt the need
to rise to Ranma's defence.
Ryouga raised an eyebrow. "Oh, come on. Are you trying to tell me
that he's simply going to stop now? He can't. He may try, but he
can't."
"Why not?"
Ryouga looked away. "I haven't been able to. It started with the
directional ability, but lately I've been making more and more
modifications to my own head. Hell, listen to me talking to you. It
used to be that I couldn't even get near a girl without suffering a
nosebleed. Now it's no problem."
He looked back at Nabiki, staring deeply into her eyes. For some
reason, she couldn't look away.
"Sometimes, I worry about whether there's any of Ryouga Hibiki left
in me."
There didn't seem to be anything she could say to that, so she just
stayed quiet. After another moment, Ryouga got up and poured some water
on the fire.
"I think you've gotten enough information out of me. Tell Ranma I
will be there in four days to fight him. Not a martial-arts battle, but
one using our powers. There is no other option."
Nabiki got up, nodded, and started heading back for the dojo. Then
she turned. "Oh, one more thing, Ryouga."
He looked up. "Yes?"
"If Ranma dies...the three of us have pledged to kill ourselves."
She took a little satisfaction in his face going pale. She hoped
she'd scared the hell out of him.
She'd certainly scared herself.
***
Tatewaki Kunou stood very quietly, staring at the wooden bokken
before him. Like the Shakespeare, it was an example of the folly that
had consumed his life since...well, since he'd lost himself. Unlike the
Shakespeare, however, he wasn't sure he wanted to go as far as
destroying it. Certainly he was not a world-class martial artist, but
his single-minded devotion to the art had made him quite a proficient
swordsman.
Now that he had recovered his senses, perhaps it was time to apply
some of the honour of that art as well.
He didn't even know if it would be possible to recover any of his
family's shredded honour. He had briefly thought that he might last
night. When Kasumi had been here, talking to him. Everything she said
seemed to make so much sense, be absolutely obvious. He'd felt as if he
really could start over, make something of himself once again.
Then when he'd awoken, after they'd made love, she had been gone.
When he enquired after her, his servants informed him that she'd left
abruptly, and seemed quite upset.
He must have offended her in some way. The trouble was, he had no
idea what he'd done. She hadn't seemed upset with his technique while
they were making love (though he felt rather embarrassed that he hadn't
done much to reciprocate). Did she expect him to say something? A
declaration of love? They'd only talked for half an hour, and he hadn't
really known her that well before. Did she want some sort of
commitment?
His reverie was interrupted by one of the servants. "Young Master,
the Tendou girl is here again. Do you wish to speak with her?"
Tatewaki tried, with difficulty, to contain his excitement. She'd
come back! Maybe he could finally find out what he had done to offend
her so much. "Please, show her in. I'll be in the study."
He walked down the hall trying to think about the best way to
handle this. He realised he had no idea. He was still trying to deal
with what that red-haired girl had done to him, and how to best deal
with the consequences. Any more complications at this point would be
even more taxing.
Nevertheless, he felt a real need to talk to her. Perhaps she
would be the one to take the lead. She'd done so the last time.
Coming in, she seemed exactly the same as when he'd last seen her.
Determined, smiling, sexy. He began to feel flustered again, recalling
what had happened last time.
She looked at him closely, and suddenly she looked less sure of
herself. He wondered once more what he had done to remove her
confidence and what he could do to get it back.
For a long time neither of them spoke, just content to drink in the
other's eyes. Finally Kasumi began.
"There are some things that I should have told you last night and
never got around to. I'm sorry about that. I was selfish."
Tatewaki blinked. He hadn't expected _her_ to be apologising.
"It's all right. What did you want to tell me?"
"First of all, some of this is going to be hard to understand. You
might not even believe me, it sounds so farfetched. But I can prove it
to you later, I suppose..." She twisted her dress in her hands, looking
down instead of at him. He stopped her.
"Kasumi. Tell me."
And tell him she did, in a low, hesitant voice. About exactly who
had done this to him, and what their true nature really was. About her
sisters, and the relationship they now shared. About exactly what had
been attempted at the beach, and why it had 'backfired' in a sense.
Tatewaki simply sat there, looking at her, and tried to take it all in.
After a short time Kasumi finally ground to a halt. She looked as
if she was waiting for him to say something, but he still had no idea
what to tell her. He needed to say something, though; she was getting
uncomfortable.
"Do you hate him then? For what he did to you?" he asked.
Kasumi's immediate response startled him. "No!" She calmed, then
continued. "He keeps saying that we will. That once he's removed the
controls he implanted in us, we'll wish him dead. Perhaps he's right, I
don't know. I can't even conceive of it now. I love Ranma. So do my
sisters." A thought struck her, and she looked up at him, a timid
expression on her face. "Do...do you hate him? Will you try to get
revenge?"
Tatewaki thought for a moment about her words. Did he hate Ranma?
He certainly didn't care for his actions...but there was a lack of
centre to that dislike. He hated the actions, but not the person.
Perhaps that was one of Ranma's controls that Kasumi had spoke about.
In any case, the point was moot. Since he couldn't do anything about it
at the moment, he wouldn't let it worry him; he had more important
things to worry about.
"No...no, I'm not going to do anything to him. I'm not going to
move in though, if that's what you want. I won't become part of a
harem."
Kasumi waved a hand. "No, no, that's not what I meant at all! I
perfectly understand your reasons! I was just..."
"You were concerned for him."
She looked down. "Yes. And for you."
"Me?"
"Ranma is having a tremendous amount of difficulty controlling
himself at the moment. Already he's made love to you, even when that
wasn't his intention. His powers aren't totally understood...at least
not by him. If you were to attack or threaten him, I think that might
send him over the edge." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't want
to think about what might happen then."
He could sense her growing unease, and decided to move on to a
topic more immediate in his concerns. "Kasumi, why did you leave
yesterday? Did I say something, do something? Not do something?"
Kasumi blushed. "It was more my fault than yours, even if you did
say something."
Tatewaki was genuinely puzzled now. "What?"
She took a deep breath. "In your sleep...you said 'mother'."
He was startled. Had he? No wonder she'd left. "I'm sorry...I
didn't mean to offend -- "
She waved him off. "Kunou, my mother died when I was nine years
old. Ever since then, I essentially became her. I did the laundry, the
cooking. I was head of household, since Father wasn't able to do it
anymore. And little by little, the young girl I once was began to
disappear.
"When Ranma arrived and took control of me, he was able to release
a side of me that hadn't seen the light of day for ten years. It was
almost overwhelming. When he tried to put me back to what I once was, I
wouldn't let him do it. I couldn't go back to the ordinary housewife
I'd been.
"Unfortunately, I overcompensated. You'd think with all the
psychology books Tofu-sensei loaned me, I'd have realised it for what it
was. I started acting like a brazen, oversexed hussy...the complete
opposite, I thought, to what I'd once been. That was probably why I
seduced you...Tatewaki, and for that, I apologise."
She waited to see if he was going to speak, but Tatewaki wanted to
let her finish. She eventually continued.
"This afternoon, Ranma helped me to realise that I didn't have to
turn my life completely in the other direction to be fulfilled. That I
could be 'myself' and still manage to have a life of my own. That's why
I came back.
"Tatewaki, making love to you was wonderful. It was different than
anything I'd ever felt before, even with Ranma. I'd like to do it
again. I'd like to be able to make love to you every day. But I won't
force you."
Tatewaki finally decided to speak. "What are you telling me,
Kasumi?"
She smiled and blushed slightly. "If you like, I'd like for us to
be lovers. I don't want anything more than that though. At least not
now. Maybe later, when we've both managed to find ourselves, or if
Ranma is able to free us from his controls...who knows? But for
now, Tatewaki, would you be willing to enter into a purely physical
relationship with me?"
After a few moments of staring at her in disbelief, he realised she
was serious. She _didn't_ want a commitment from him...at least not
yet. He found that thought rather soothing. He had only just regained
his senses after years of madness. He wasn't ready for any other major
upheavals.
He now considered her question in more detail. There were reasons
why he hadn't allowed himself to get close to anyone when his mother had
died. They were the reasons that drove him to madness, but his new-
found sanity did not eliminate them. The reasons why he was alone. Two
very big reasons.
"Kasumi...I appreciate the offer. Believe me, there is nothing I
would like more than to take it...and you." He expected her to blush,
but she grinned instead, which took him aback. He pressed on though.
"My life is not entirely my own. My father is not a major concern. He
is in Hawaii at the moment, living out his own madness, and liable to
stay there for some time.
"My sister, however...she is due back in four days from her school
trip. Kasumi, my madness is nothing compared to my sister's. I do not
think Ranma would be able to help her simply by entering her mind. In
fact, I think that the shock might kill him. My sister is paranoid and
antisocial at the very least. She has assaulted people before, for
reasons that she invents in her own mind. I do not know what your
presence here might do to her. That is why I am wary."
There was one other thing he avoided telling her. He was lucky
enough to have had her come back to the mansion, he didn't want to scare
her away by mentioning the seedier side of the Kunou family.
Thus, he was incredibly surprised when she brought it up anyway.
"Do you think she would be jealous? That I'd stolen you away from her?"
Tatewaki stared at her in disbelief. "You...know?"
"Ranma told me," she said. "I don't know any details, but I know
that the relationship you have with Kodachi is more than that of mere
brother and sister." She looked deep into his eyes, seriously. "Do you
love her?"
He answered almost immediately. "Yes."
"In what way? As a brother? As a lover?"
That question took longer. Tatewaki had not really considered what
he and his sister had done since he had regained his senses. He chose
his words carefully.
"I'm not sure. I know I love her as a brother. I also know that
seeing her like this causes me great pain. Kodachi was once such a
wonderful child. Vibrant, outgoing...I felt proud to be her brother.
Her laughter always brought smiles. And then, a few weeks after our
mother died...there was a different laughter. The piercing cackle that
she has now. It was the sign that she had lost. She had lost the
battle that had taken Father already. And, about a year later...I lost
as well.
"But it was not constant. Occasionally, when the nights were
quiet, and we were alone...we regained a bit of what we once were. I
remember when Kodachi simply held me and sobbed for the entire night.
"I'm not sure when it became something more. Over the past year,
we have...taken comfort in each other. When we could."
"You've made love to her?" Kasumi's voice held curiosity rather
than condemnation.
"We...we haven't gone all of the way. But we've experimented."
Kasumi nodded once more. "And how do you feel about that now?"
Tatewaki thought for a moment. "Disturbed."
"That you've done those things with her?"
He shook his head. "No...that I don't find it horrifying."
For a few moments neither of them said anything. Tatewaki was too
caught up in his own thoughts. He had suspected that the foreplay with
his sister was another extension of his madness. It now appeared that
might not be the case.
After a while, Kasumi spoke. "Tatewaki, when Ranma...took us, a
few nights ago, I slept with all of my sisters. It didn't feel wrong at
the time. It still doesn't. I love my sisters now more than I ever
thought possible. I suppose Ranma caused part of that, though I don't
think he did it deliberately."
Tatewaki frowned. "But this happened before I met Ranma."
"I know. I'm just saying, that if she comes back...you might want
to think about what could happen. And if you decide to continue to...
comfort her, then I'll be here for you. For both of you."
He considered her offer. What exactly was she offering him? No
long-term plans, or pledges that would last forever. Just a respite,
and comfort in each other's arms. Someone to confide in, something he
had lacked for so long. Someone who might understand a bit about the
complex relationship he and Kodachi shared. It seemed like a dream come
true.
Eventually he realised he didn't need words to show how he felt.
They had the entire evening to talk. Right now was the time for
actions. And with that, he rose out of his chair, lifted Kasumi up, and
gave her a long, passionate kiss.
It felt even more incredible this time. Perhaps it was the fact
that he wasn't simply sitting there and letting her do all the work. He
moved closer to her, pushing his body against her own. She felt warm
next to him, and it drove him to even greater heights.
They ended up against a wall, gasping for breath as they kissed
each other. Tatewaki started to move his mouth down her neck, wanting
to feel her pulse against his lips. He could hear her moan, and felt
her hands roaming across his back.
He realised that he wasn't going to be able to make it to the
bedroom this time. Looking into her eyes, he saw that she was thinking
the same thing. They kissed once more, their tongues searching inside
the other's mouth, and then moved as one being towards the desk.
Tatewaki gave thanks for his family's money. The desk was a large,
sturdy, oak affair, worthy of the Kunou name and the finances their
father had once commanded. For now though, it was simply a convenient
flat surface. He ran his hand along it, knocking off the few papers
that were there, and sat Kasumi on the edge. He started to take off her
dress, but she grabbed him and kissed him again. Then she stood and
turned around to put her back to him.
He understood her meaning at once, and pulled down the zipper,
exposing her sleek back. He took a moment to run his mouth along the
back of her neck and down her shoulder, eliciting a shiver from her.
Then he helped her to get her arms free, all the while thinking that
this was taking an incredibly long time. Finally the dress pooled to
the ground, leaving Kasumi clad only in bra and panties.
Tatewaki was now almost at a fever pitch, and almost sprained
something getting his own clothes off. When he had removed his pants,
standing before her in his boxers, she grinned.
"Where were we?"
In response, Tatewaki laid her out on the desk, gazing at her
supple, trim body. He ran his hands along her thighs, making her move
her hips slightly in anticipation.
He slowly moved his hands along her back, working his way up to her
bra so that he could free her breasts. *I wish I'd thought of this
before I lay her on the desk,* he thought briefly. She seemed to
understand what he was driving at though, and raised herself up so that
he could get at the catch. After a few moments of fumbling, he released
it, and slowly revealed Kasumi's chest. He ran his hands over first
one breast, then the other, marvelling in their softness. Then he got
to her nipples, which were rock hard, showing how excited she was
already feeling. He moved his mouth down to one of them, giving the
nipple a quick lick, and was rewarded with a small cry.
She grasped his hand. "Tatewaki-chan, _please_..."
He understood right away, and moved further downwards. Later they
would be able to take it slowly, revelling in the feel of each other's
bodies. For now though, they both needed release. The pent-up
frustrations of the past two days, which their initial lovemaking had
only added to, were now at breaking point. However, when he came down
to her hips, he felt a need to remove her panties slowly, letting her
sex be revealed almost as if he were drawing a curtain. The room, which
had already been steeped in their combined scents, grew even more heady
with the smell of her. He drew them off her, leaving her lying on the
desk naked, her legs parted and a longing expression on her face.
Finally Tatewaki removed his own briefs, letting his member come
into view. It was already incredibly hard, and staring at Kasumi's
naked body made him wonder how much longer he would keep control.
Kasumi's eyes grew wide, and her hips lifted off the table, as if she
were already beginning without him.
With that in mind, he slowly got on the desk, hovering over her.
He stayed like that for a few moments, just taking in the scene, and
then lowered his hips till his penis came to rest at her cleft. Looking
into her eyes for a moment more, and being met with an equal desire to
his own, he thrust into her.
Kasumi groaned beneath him, and raised her hips to meet him
halfway. He gasped himself, and began to pull out, only to have her
reach behind and grab his body tightly, dragging her back inside her.
After that there was no more time for thought, for considering what
the individual feelings were. There was just pure sensation. Tatewaki
thrust himself in and out of Kasumi's body like a man possessed. She
moved in equal time with him, meeting every thrust with her own. He
began to feel a tight sensation in his groin, and tried to move even
faster, to give Kasumi as much pleasure as possible before he was spent.
Suddenly, Kasumi gripped his arms almost in shock, and made a high
keening sound. Her entire body trembled under his as her orgasm rushed
through her. The feeling within him, watching her face and body arch in
pleasure, proved to be too much for him. With a low grunt, he began to
come inside of her, feeling his member pulse as it drove into her as far
as it could. He held the position for a few more seconds, and then
finally collapsed on top of her.
He didn't stay there for long, though. Despite his lassitude after
their lovemaking, he didn't want to crush her. He turned so that they
were lying on their sides on top of the desk, and moved over to kiss
her, a short, sweet kiss this time. Now they truly were lovers, and he
felt better than he had in years.
For a few minutes the two of them simply lay there and caught their
breath, taking the time to drink in each other's bodies, at a more
leisurely pace this time.
Finally Tatewaki got up, beginning to gather together their
clothes. He turned to her, experiencing a different feeling within him
now...loneliness. He needed her to stay with him tonight. He didn't
want to be alone again.
She seemed to understand almost instinctively what he was about to
ask, and held up a hand. "Of course I'll stay. I already let my family
know I might not be back."
Tatewaki felt relief wash over him. Even after all they had done,
he still feared she might have rejected him, wanted to keep their
relationship at a distance. "Thank you."
She smiled. "Should we go to your bedroom?"
"That was exactly what I was thinking," he said.
After dressing, the two of them took a look at the room. Papers
and books were spread all over the floor, the desk was covered in their
juices, and the whole room smelled of their lovemaking. Kasumi looked
over at him, but he shook his head.
"The servants will take care of it. That's what they are there
for."
Kasumi was momentarily startled. "Won't they say anything?"
"Kasumi-chan, the Kunou servants have had to be discreet enough to
keep the darkest secrets of the Kunou clan from public knowledge. They
will not say anything about this matter."
"Oh." The idea of someone else cleaning up after a mess that _she_
had made gave her a warm glow. Then something else occurred to her. "I
hope they'll approve of me..."
He took her in his arms once more. "Kasumi-chan, for the past few
years, the servants of the Kunou clan have watched as our fortunes
cascaded down around us. Seeing the young scion involved in a normal
relationship, relatively speaking...I think you'll find you are welcomed
with open arms."
She smiled, this time with more of an edge to it. "Speaking of
welcoming with open arms..."
They kissed once more, a more relaxed, leisurely kiss, and then
adjourned to his bedroom.
***
"Ready?" Ryouga asked.
Ranma narrowed his eyes. "Yes."
They stood in the middle of the dojo, on opposite sides. The
three Tendou girls were against one of the walls, silent spectators to
the confrontation.
Nabiki had given him a lot of useful information, especially on
Ryouga's use of his powers to fix his _own_ mind, which had never
occurred to Ranma before. Ranma suspected that this meant Ryouga might
have very strong defences, probably stronger than his own. Plus it
meant that Ryouga was probably more skilled at keeping calm, since he
wasn't being as active about using his powers. Ryouga had admitted to
Nabiki that he too suffered the burning lust that came with use of the
power, but apparently had been strong enough to avoid abusing it.
Keeping calm was the key here. Ranma needed a way to defuse the
situation quickly without anyone getting permanently hurt. He didn't
want to mentally cripple Ryouga, he just wanted...that might be the
problem. He didn't know what he wanted. Ryouga did. Ranma needed a
goal, one that he could believe in.
The part of his mind that believed he deserved to be punished for
what he'd done was preventing him from really concentrating on the
matter. He had to make a decision, to decide either to let Ryouga, in
effect, kill him, or whether to stop Ryouga and accept the implications.
Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane had once again told Ranma that if he
died, they would, and he could not talk them out of it. That seemed to
make the decision for him. He was protecting them.
*This isn't for me, it's for them. For their eventual happiness.
I want to be able to free them, to atone for what I've done. Therefore
I have to do this.*
He began to move slowly towards Ryouga. Ryouga's eyes glinted with
hatred. Ranma remembered when they'd gone to school in junior high,
Ryouga had always seemed angry. But this wasn't that kind of anger.
This was almost a righteous hatred, a flame that burned within his eyes
and threatened to bust from his skin.
And, potentially, a big weakness.
Just before he reached Ryouga, Ranma decided on what he would do.
A full offensive attack. Barrage Ryouga's mind with thoughts and
images, and try to keep him off-balance enough to be able to get at his
mind. He'd have to leave himself fairly open, and rely on Ryouga's
inexperience with other minds.
He stopped in the centre of the dojo and bowed to Ryouga, who
stared for a few moments before returning it. Then he simply reached
out and grasped Ryouga's face. Ryouga did the same.
And suddenly he was flying, deep into the recesses of Ryouga's
mind.
When trying to describe what he was going to do to Akane the night
before, Ranma had likened it to the virtual reality craze. "You
basically take the random thought patterns around you and shape them
into an image you're comfortable with. It's mostly unconscious. When I
went into Kunou's mind, I saw his lusts as a harem of sorts, because
that's the way my own mind decided to interpret his thoughts."
Now the same thing was happening, only this time it seemed like
Ranma was going through a maze. Everywhere he tried to turn, a brick
wall sprung up before him, preventing further progress. He spun
upwards, but the walls moved with him. Ryouga's defences were even
better than he'd thought.
Ranma concentrated, and began to feel his body growing more
excited. He didn't have time to worry about it now, though, as he
shaped his power into an imaginary sledgehammer and just started
pounding on Ryouga's walls, reducing them to brickdust and rubble. Then
he was through, rushing inwards as fast as he could.
There. Here was Ryouga's subconscious, where Ranma could try to
insert some commands.
Suddenly Ranma cried out in agony, and felt his body spasm. He
could see himself now, raping Nabiki against an alleyway. Saw his face
as he pounded into her, ripping away her defences. He saw himself
taking Kasumi on the kitchen table, taking her body as if it was just
meat. He saw himself seducing Akane, taking her thoughts about how nice
Ranma was and twisting them, turning them into lust and devotion. Every
crime he'd committed was brought back to him, with no varnishing or
comfort.
He felt something start to slam against his body, bringing him back
to reality for a few moments. He took a moment to gear himself up, and
then implanted memories in Ryouga. Different memories. Memories of
trying to kill himself after he realised what he'd done to Akane and her
sisters. Of comforting Akane in the school basement, clutching and
reassuring her as she wept. Of experiencing love with her female form,
and giving Nabiki momentary respite. Of talking to Kasumi, and assuring
her that she didn't have to be what anyone else expected her to be.
He could feel doubt creeping into Ryouga's mind, and pounced on it,
going in even deeper. Now he used Ryouga's own memories against him,
showing every bit of rage and anger he could. Ryouga saw himself mad
and screaming at the world, destroying buildings and parks. Ryouga
attacking an opponent, a berserker glee in his eyes. Ryouga screaming
at friends, at family, until eventually there was no one but himself.
The doubt in Ryouga's mind became larger, and at that moment, Ranma
could feel something let go. For some reason, the attack on his own
mind had momentarily stopped. Wasting no time, Ranma ripped into
Ryouga's subconscious, setting controls to ensure the safety of himself
and the Tendous. He deliberately did as little as possible, trying to
merely make it impossible for Ryouga to kill or cripple Ranma and also
impossible to tell anyone about what he'd found.
And then suddenly his body spasmed again, and he felt a light
shining within him, as some sort of essence from Ryouga entered his own
mind. He felt himself grow a little bit stronger, a little more precise
in his controls.
And then he left, bringing himself slowly back into his own mind,
feeling his identity reassert itself. Unfortunately, that meant he also
felt the exhaustion from all that he had done. He tried to stay awake,
but couldn't quite manage it. With a small sigh, he collapsed to the
ground.
***
Akane watched as Ranma and Ryouga suddenly clutched at each other's
faces and froze. She wrapped her arms around herself, forcing her body
to calm down. She'd promised Ranma that she and her sisters wouldn't
try to help, wouldn't do anything to stop the fight, even if Ryouga
killed Ranma. If she tried to interrupt them while in the midst of a
mental battle, Ranma warned, he couldn't be sure that Ryouga wouldn't
just attack her as another threat.
And so she sat at the edge of the dojo, feeling helpless, and
watched as Ranma and Ryouga had their duel. For a few minutes, nothing
seemed to happen, as the two merely stood in place and stared at each
other.
But after a while, Akane could see both of them starting to breathe
heavier, and knew that no matter how much Ranma hated the idea, he was
beginning to get aroused. She could see that Ryouga was as well, as his
pants started to show a characteristic bulge.
Another minute passed and suddenly Ryouga moved, gripping Ranma's
head more tightly in one hand and dragging Ranma's body to his own with
the other. A look of manic glee seemed to appear on Ryouga's face, and
Akane heard Kasumi gasp.
Then they both fell to the floor, and Ryouga began to rub his body
against Ranma's own. Akane didn't know if Ryouga knew what he was doing
or not. Ryouga's eyes seemed to be glazing over, and he thrust himself
faster and faster against Ranma's leg, as if he were a dog. For Ranma's
own part, he merely lay there, a fierce expression still on his face.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nabiki get up and begin to
head towards the battle. She stopped her.
"No! We promised Ranma we wouldn't interfere!"
"Akane, he's losing!"
"We promised!"
They were both cut off by a thump from the floor, and turned to
look. Ranma had managed to flip their bodies over, so now he was the
one that lay on top of Ryouga. Ryouga's eyes now seemed to be totally
unseeing, and his face turned blank. For his own part Ranma now began
to thrust himself against Ryouga, jack-knifing his body faster and
faster. The two of them began to make small grunting noises, and
Ranma's eyes also momentarily glazed over.
Then Ryouga seemed to gasp, and fell away from Ranma, his hands
going limp by his side. The small stain on the front of his pants
showed Akane why he'd stopped. She grinned. *Ranma's won!* she
thought.
Now Ranma was trembling, and she recognised his own climax. He
slumped to the ground, his body going slack.
For a moment the three sisters merely stood there, stunned by the
sudden end to the battle. Kasumi was the one who broke the silence.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not cleaning that up."
Nabiki and Akane stared at their sister, stunned. Then Kasumi
slowly began to giggle. Soon the three of them were helpless with
laughter, the tension draining out of them.
Eventually they did struggle to manoeuvre Ranma and Ryouga to
opposite sides of the dojo, and lie them flat.
Ranma was the first to awaken. He stared at the ceiling for a
moment, then rose up on his elbows to look over at Ryouga. Then he
looked down at himself.
"Aw, man..." he said with a faint note of disgust.
Nabiki spoke up. "Ranma, I think you're going to have to accept
that using your powers is going to arouse you. It seems to be part and
parcel of the whole deal."
"Besides, at least Ryouga is handsome. Quite a catch, Ranma,"
Kasumi added mischievously.
Ranma glared at her for a moment before smiling and allowing
himself to be helped up. He still felt weak, but at least he could
stand now.
He realised that the light he had felt must have been a rush of
mental energies, the same sort he'd gotten after taking the others. He
felt a certain bit of guilty pleasure about that, knowing he was that
much closer to being able to free the girls.
He walked over to Ryouga, who was awake but still staring at the
ceiling.
When Ryouga spoke, it was very quiet, almost a whisper.
"I still hate you," he said.
Ranma nodded. "Why would I have changed that?"
For a moment he thought Ryouga might actually try to attack him,
but apparently his controls worked, as Ryouga trembled a bit and then
lay still once more.
He then spoke again. "I'm going to stay here, I think. I may not
be able to hurt you," and he twitched again a bit at those words, "but I
can watch you."
"All right."
Now Ryouga was struggling to his feet, waving off Kasumi's offers
of help. He looked balefully at Ranma for a moment, then turned towards
the door. After a few steps he turned back.
"When I was talking with Nabiki a few nights ago, I mentioned that
I didn't know if I was Ryouga Hibiki anymore. This fight reassured me.
I now know that Ryouga Hibiki still exists within me. And I'm going to
work even harder to fight to keep him. Because I've seen what happens.
I don't think there's any trace of Ranma Saotome left in you at all."
Then he turned and headed out the door, not looking back again.
Ranma stared after him.
*No,* Ranma thought. *He may think that's true, but I don't. I'm
still Ranma Saotome. I haven't lost myself.*
He kept repeating that thought to himself as he went back inside
the house.
***
Tatewaki Kunou stood inside the Kunou library, glancing through a
book of poems. These were by Dylan Thomas rather than his usual
Shakespeare sonnets. He still didn't feel ready to go back to the
Shakespeare just yet. For some reason Thomas spoke to his mood today,
and he sat back in an armchair, ready to immerse himself.
Then he froze.
There was a shadow over his shoulder and breath on the back of his
neck. Not the cool, erotic feel of Kasumi's breathing. This was a
tense, regimented breathing. It was also very familiar.
A voice whispered in his ear, sultry and smooth.
"Hello, brother dear."
End of Part 3
Notes: Well, sorry for the wait. And sorry for the wait for Part 4, as
I'm gonna finish WGFA 4 before I get back to this. A case of too many
fics, not enough time.
This fic keeps dragging me in odd directions. Kasumi was the star of
this part almost as much as Ranma, and will feature heavily in Part 4 as
well. In addition, it will continue to try to be a little daring, and
not just rest on its mind control laurels.
Part 4, of course, will feature Kodachi, who will present a new problem
for Ranma, and one that's not easily solved by just having sex with her.
Thanks to the prereaders, especially Lara for line-by-lining certain
scenes, and Dan for doing his excellent job of being overly harsh.
This fic, btw, is _not_ a BML Production. If anything, it's a co-
production between BLB and BDR Studios. ^_^
Until next time...
--Sean Gaffney