Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Two Wallets ❯ Soft Reflections ( Chapter 35 )

A Tale of Two Wallets

(An Altered Destiny)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

Nabiki's Journal Resumes:

All right, so I admit it, I'm not the most virtuous person in the world (that title is clearly held by Kasumi, and she's more than welcome to it!), but I'm hardly a prude either. Compared to some people I may be a bit loose on the morals side, but there are limits to how far I will go, especially in my own house under the same roof as my father and both of my two sisters!

Okay, take a minute, calm down and relax. Time to explain this rationally, calmly and logically so that it makes sense down on paper…electronic paper, that is. I mean, I'm Tendo Nabiki, I never lose my cool, I don't phase easy and I sure as hell don't let myself get backed into any corners, not even when something really strange and unusual happens, like I run headlong into something that's totally unbelievable and…

Oboy, I'm rambling, aren't I? Well, I guess it's just a slight case of my nerves. After all, it's not exactly like I grew up expecting to wind up in this whole crazy situation. And now my pulse is racing and my head is spinning and…sheesh! Gotta get a grip on myself here! Take a deep breath and compose this sucker from where I left off last time…

So anyway, after me and Ranma brought Shampoo inside we sought out the downstairs furo, where of course Mister Macho turned things over to me, seeing as I'm a girl and therefore supposed to know how to handle someone like Shampoo, all right? So anyway I drop her into the water and-bingo! From cat to human in one easy step, and I'm standing there marveling at the change, like you'd think I've never seen another girl naked before. I mean, you'd think that I'd be used to it by now, only Shampoo is looking up at me with this big smile on her face, and before you know it she's jumped out of the tub and wrapped her arms around me in a big hug, naked as a jay and bubbling with enthusiasm.

"Oh, Nabiki!" she coos into my ear while I'm struggling for breath, "Shampoo so glad you is you! Shampoo have dream that we no can be married, and Ranma…"

"Okay, okay, I get the point!" I plead while trying to pry her arms loose from around my neck. That girl's got some serious strength! Solid steel biceps wrapped in some pretty interesting packaging…I doubt a grizzly bear could have hugged me any tighter!

Shampoo eased up a little but didn't let me go as she looked up at me with shining eyes and said, "Airen, you is very special to Shampoo. Shampoo want you know that. Is no just law that make Shampoo want spend time with you and Ranma. Shampoo glad she choose you both to be her Airen."

"Hey," I asked, "What brought this on? Did we say anything to upset you?"

"No," Shampoo heaved a sigh and moved away from me a little more, "But Shampoo think maybe she no be fated to have happy marriage. Shampoo mother say thing that make Shampoo worry. She say Saotome male no be reliable mates, have too much manhood, attract other women like bees to flowers…"

"Animal Magnetism," I supplied, "Yeah, I guess that does pretty much sum up Ranma…but his father?"

"Aiyaa!" Shampoo exclaimed in total agreement, "Shampoo mother say she know Ranma's father when they very young, and Loremaster Silk say Shampoo-mother no tell everything about what happen between them. She say Shampoo-mother and Ranma-father…"

"Yeah, I know," I replied, "The idea freaks me too, and just imagine how Ranma feels about it. If I understand things right, Comb and Uncle Genma were almost one step away from being married."

"Aiyaa," Shampoo turned away and started to pace, oblivious to her sopping-wet, naked condition, "What become of Shampoo if they marry? Would Shampoo even be Shampoo? Would Ranma be Ranma? Is very confusing!"

"Think how I feel," I sympathize, reluctantly adding, "Your Loremaster Silk could have wound up being my mother."

"Aiyaa," Shampoo turned back to me and said, "Then what become of Kasumi? Would she take place of Kachu? Would Nabiki-Airen and angry-girl Akane be Amazon sisters?"

"All right," I sighed, "You've got a very good point, but the thing to keep in mind here is that it didn't happen like that, Sham-chan. Ranma isn't your brother and Silk is not my mother."

Shampoo heaved a very heavy sigh (which, naturally, did something rather eye-catching with her chest) and said, "Yes, Shampoo very glad to hear this. No can marry Ranma if he brother, and Shampoo claim to Nabiki-Airen…" she suddenly brightened with a smile and looked at me with her crimson eyes full of warm emotions that I think bordered on real idolization, "You very smart girl, always know what to say to please Shampoo. Shampoo very proud of her Airen, very good fortune to have such good Airen…"

"Um, yeah," I stammer like an idiot, finding myself being backed up against the sink without even realizing that had been moving away from the amorous Amazon before me. Shampoo was stalking towards me with a hungry, predatory look in those eyes that promised something a little more aggressive than a handshake, and the next thing I know those arms are curving around me again as Shampoo tilts her face up and moves in for a kiss that takes me completely by surprise, even though I should have naturally seen it coming! I mean, all the signs were there but I still find myself wholly unprepared for the moment when our mouths are pressed together and she's kissing me like there's no tomorrow! I think I only gave a little token resistance at this point before I started kissing her back, overcome by this other girl's passionate ardor. I'm a little confused at this point but I think I remember being surprised about the tongue thing.

Okay, take a moment to reflect here. I've pretty much admitted in the past that I'm Bi, that I have tendencies towards both genders, something I've been aware of for some time, although I've never actually kissed another girl before Sham-chan. Growing up with two sisters and an unwed father has pretty much given me a chance to discover which way my feelings run in that sense, and all through middle and high school I've found myself developing a tendency to "check" other girls out discretely. I've never let on to anybody how my feelings run both way because I don't want anyone to know that I actually have feelings. I've known some guys who could turn my head (before Ranma that is) but on the whole where my feelings are concerned I've discovered that gender issues really don't matter.

Hey, I'm comfortable with who I am and all that, and like most everyone else I've grown up with the basic assumption that I would eventually find some guy that I could marry and have kids with, so I never really saw any harm in looking at other girls. After all, looking isn't touching, right? There's no harm in admitting that I find some of my fellow classmates quite attractive, and this doesn't mean I'm gay or anything. Besides, it's perfectly natural for a girl to have these feelings while I'm young enough to experiment, and I've read plenty of books on the subject that have helped me to understand that there is nothing abnormal at all about having feelings for other women.

I don't even need to go into the fact that the first time I saw Ranma I was attracted to his girl form, of course I thought he was a cute guy who just looked a little effeminate. The same holds true for Kuonji, only in her case she really is a woman who can pose as a boy. Discovering that she's a cross-gender hentai doesn't really phase me all that much, and I could even see myself falling for her if it weren't for the fact that she's technically my rival.

But I'm most attracted to Ranma, the first boy who's ever taken me seriously and treated me like I was actually a person. I want Ranma, and I don't care which body he's in. If anything his ability to switch genders is a plus for me as it gives me the chance to indulge in both of my preferences. I don't think Ranma would be too comfortable with me coming onto him as a girl, though, but it's enough for me that I don't feel any disgust about his female side. If anything I'm really kind of curious about this aspect to his nature, and I wonder on some level what it would be like if I, too, could switch genders.

But given all that, I'm not about to go flaunting myself around other girls to let them know that my feelings can run that way. I'd feel too awkward, too exposed and-in a real sense-too vulnerable to the sorts of labels that often get put upon a girl who confesses to having a liking of her own gender. I haven't built my cast-iron bitch reputation from scrap just to toss it away like that and risk being labeled a hentai, so the whole thing about letting my guard down with Shampoo is more than a little disconcerting. In point of fact, I think it was my loss of self-control about this point that caused me to react the way I did a few moments later.

After all I've never encountered anyone before who can let down her guard as freely and enthusiastically as Shampoo was doing. That girl just totally amazes me how she opens up to you and draws you into this intense feeling of intimacy and self-abandonment without the least hesitation and an almost total lack of self-conscious reflection. Even Kasumi isn't this free with her emotions, and Shampoo wasn't even taking into account that the two of us are both girls, as if kissing me was the most natural thing in the world for her! She did it so naturally and with so much passion and intensity that it frightened me on a deep psychological level. My head was spinning and my heart was pounding within seconds of that kiss, and as it went on and on I felt Shampoo press her body up against mine while one hand caressed my left buttox and began to squeeze me there while another hand slid around to my front and began to glide under the top half of my halter. My eyes flew open and got very wide when I felt that hand go around my right breast, gently fondling me there as if I were a grapefruit being checked out for possible bruises!

I don't really know what happened next except that I was being pressed up on top of the sink and that I automatically moved a hand out to steady myself, which is where I must have knocked over Daddy's shaving cream and aftershave bottles, which must have made quite a noise because the next thing I know the door to the furo flew open and Ranma came charging in with some kind of exclamation that must have been a demand to know what was going on with us and if we were both all right, or something of that nature. All I know is that his interruption caused us to break off our kiss and turn with startled looks in his direction. I don't know why but I began to feel pretty bad about myself when I caught his blank "deer-caught-in-the-headlight" expression, and I can't even begin to imagine what he was thinking about me at that precise moment.

Shampoo-true to character-never even batted an eyelash as she smiled broadly at him and said, "Airen…you come join Shampoo and Nabiki?"

No response, just the same shocked expression. Ranma kept looking at us both before turning a helpless glance towards me, which is why I found myself sputtering out some lame excuse like, "It's not what it looks like!" or something of that nature.

Then Ranma seemed to finally register the fact that Shampoo was completely naked, and when she turned towards him to expose more of his body his eyes went down to the level of her breasts and just locked on them for a moment, then he put a hand up to cover his nose and turned around to make a fast exit.

"Airen?" I could hear the surprise, confusion and general disappointment in Shampoo's tone as she stared at the space where Ranma had been a moment before, then back to me with a puzzled, "Why Ranma nose bleed like that? Is he injured?"

I'm going to have to have a serious, long talk with that girl sometime to explain for her benefit that things are done a little differently here in Japan from whatever the hell she's used to in China. I don't mind the fact that she doesn't seem to have any modesty (and with her assets why should she be modest?), but coming on like that around the both of us is a little too…well…brash might be a gross understatement. I have to remember to tell her the next time I see her that she shouldn't come on so strong and should take things slow and gentle. Neither Ranma nor me are used to dealing with these sorts of emotions, and as much as I hate to confess it, such forward behavior is a lot more affection than I know how to deal with.

As I say that's what I should tell Shampoo at greater length when there's time, after I've had more time to get a grip on my own feelings. I would have told her that on the spot, except that I got chicken hearted and made some lame excuse before fleeing myself from the furo. I left poor Sham-chan there probably feeling all confused and rejected, but what else was I going to do? If I'd stayed with her another moment then I definitely know that I would not have remained a virgin!

I wonder…is that such a bad thing? Would it have killed me to let Shampoo have her way with me back there? It wasn't like I found the whole thing all that unpleasant…far to the contrary! If anything that encounter confirmed in my mind that I really am attracted to Shampoo. I am starting to return a little of the feeling that she's been demonstrating towards me, and that's much to be preferred to when before she might have resented me as a rival for Ranma's affections.

But what exactly do I feel towards her? Simple lust or animal attraction? She does something to me that totally short-circuits my usual powers of reason, and the only other person who's ever done that is Ranma. I think she is unquestionably more beautiful than me with exotic looks that fascinate me, as much as it hints to some unusual quirk in her genetics. Just seeing how her mother turned out gives me a pretty strong idea on what Shampoo will look like in another twenty years, and I certainly could get used to having someone like her around, even if she is pretty intimidating. There doesn't seem to be any real conflict between us on the issue of Ranma (in spite of my slight twinges of jealousy now and again) so what is there really to impede us including her in our relationship? I can't think if a single damned thing about her that disqualifies Shampoo from future consideration.

Still I am pretty much blown away by the emotions she torched off with that kiss of hers, and until I can get a grip on myself I'm not sure that I can trust myself around her. This whole relationship thing has gotten so confusing that I don't know up from down anymore, and with the added unresolved element of our parents…

Actually, now that I really take a moment to think on it, I guess the thing that most confuses me is really the response we got from Ranma. That look he was giving us confuses me, like he really had no idea at all what the two of us were doing, and not any sense that he was repelled or disgusted. He obviously was intimidated by Shampoo's state of underdress, but what made him run away like that? He was looking on what is alleged to be "every man's secret fantasy" and all he could do was turn around to hide his nosebleed.

I really don't understand him at all, but then again I'm no expert on men either. I was put off and scared by Shampoo's aggressive seduction techniques, but if I had to do it all again I don't think I would have turned away from the offer she was making. I'm pretty confident that Shampoo would have given me a great deal of pleasure and that it could have been mutually exchanged if things had been allowed to progress without interruption. Instead I staggered up here and locked the door to my room so that I could get back onto the computer to write out this long essay about the state of my feelings. I'm feeling calmer now that I've gotten it all out where I can read it, but I'm still left to ponder the question of what Ranma must be feeling at the moment. For that matter what must Shampoo be thinking about the two of us, and how am I going to make it up to them both the next time that I see them…?

Shampoo's Diary Resumes:

I am never going to understand these Japanese! Why did they both behave in such a confusing way? I was trying to show Nabiki how much I care about her when Ranma happened upon us, but instead of welcoming my advances the two of them behaved as if I had broken one of their stupid barbarian social customs. Bad enough that Ranma ran off as if I were threatening him with violence instead of sex, but to see Nabiki reject my affections is more than I can tolerate! After all, I needed their assurance that everything was still all right with us in spite of the revelations about our parents.

And here I thought that I was truly connecting with my wife. Nabiki gave every indication that she was enjoying my technique, and I hardly even had time enough to begin to stroke the proper nerve endings! A few moments more and I know that I would have secured our first night of true passion and taught to her the true depths of my love, but instead I find myself locked out in the cold, and this is more than I can stomach!

How could she be so selfish to deny me the right to act as a proper wife should? I did not think Nabiki could be so cruel and thoughtless, and on top of being rejected by my husband…

No, perhaps I am not being fair, but this is my life I am talking about here! I want to be with them so much that it hurts to experience this separation. There is so much that I want to give to them both, and so much of the language of love that I wish to share…I do not know what I will do with myself if I cannot convince them both to let me into their hearts as a proper wife to my Airen.

I must speak with my mother on this. She is wise and experienced and perhaps can tell me why I am having so much difficulty bringing my two loves around to understanding that my feelings are genuine. I very much want to know the kind of fulfillment that mother feels around my father when the two of them are alone and not aware that I am watching in secret.

I cannot help but feel a strange sense of rightness when I am with Nabiki. In some odd way she does remind me of my lost love, Lo-Xion. Even now I can remember those nights we spent only two seasons back when we'd lay naked together under the stars, her blue hair as dark as the sky above us and nothing else in the world but we two. Not warriors, not merely friends, but two parts of a greater whole…I want to know that feeling again, and I will do anything in my power to ensure that my Ranma and Nabiki accept me as a part of their existence.

Lo-Xion…I swore to myself that I would not think of her again, and even now the thought brings pain. I know Great Grandmother never approved of my feelings for the "weak girl" whom my cousin and I trained with, but Lo-Xion was special to me. She was my world during those tumultuous months that we were together. Even now I cannot regret what we did, no matter how much pain I have felt since she left me.

I think she would be very pleased with Ranma and Nabiki. I hope and pray that her spirit will not feel angry and restless that I have broken my vow never to risk feeling that pain again. In a way I think I was all too glad about losing to Ranma as the law gave me a perfect reason to break my vow to the past. Perhaps it is true that some rules were meant to be broken, just as Lo-Xion broke it with me when she introduced me to the pleasures of the body. I feel that I am a better person for having known her, and I certainly feel more than equipped to service the needs of my Airen should they ever accept the benefits of my teaching.

Lo-Xion, my friend, pray for me as I do for you. I feel a happiness that I thought I had lost when you died, and it is a happiness that I would do anything to preserve. I must somehow find a way to win my airen over, to impress on them that I am a fit wife, that a life with me can be wonderful and fulfilling. Mother must know of some way that I can make my airen love me, after all she is our tribal healer.

And if she does not, well, there is always Great Grandmother's recipe book to consider…surely somewhere in the pages of our lore I can find whatever is needed to convince my wife and husband that I am worthy of their affections…

Ranma stood atop the highest point over the Tendo home looking out into the night again with an urgent need to flee still foremost on his agenda. His nose had ceased bleeding but the feelings remained of his inexplicable moment of absolute terror, and he wondered at what could have caused him to feel this way as the mere sight of Shampoo pressing her body up against Nabiki.

"Damn," he swore aloud, "What's wrong with me? Why did I run like that? She wasn't even in cat form!"

Still the image continued to press into his mind of the inexplicable sight he had witnessed without truly understanding. Shampoo leaning up against Nabiki as the two of them kissed, her left hand gripping Nabiki's right breast in a way that Ranma thought looked pretty uncomfortable…and for a few brief seconds he had thought that maybe the Amazon was attacking his iinazuke. At the least Shampoo's hand seemed to have been probing some sensitive nerve-endings around Nabiki's exposed bosom, but when Ranma had tried to discern which nerve this was his eyes had instead been magnetized to the tip of the nipple at the center of that breast, giving it the appearance of an eye that was gawking right at him.

Ranma swallowed thickly on a dry throat and tried to banish the image from his mind, but time and again it would come back to haunt him. It was like having that Oni in his mind all over again, hearing the insinuating thoughts pervade his consciousness and bring him into contact with feelings and emotions that had been so deeply buried down beneath his consciousness. It was like that other occasion that had taken place a couple weeks back, right before their training mission in the mountains, right about the time Ranma had started to notice that there was, in fact, a difference between the sexes quite beyond his feeble notions of what separated him from his female half, not to mention Shampoo and Nabiki.

The old man had eyed Ranma in a very odd way, then surprised Ranma by confessing that he had been sadly negligent in preparing Ranma for his coming engagement. His father had never been all that keen to explain the mysteries of sex with Ranma, but until then the deficiency had never seemed all that important. Of course his father had been all pompous and self-important as he looked Ranma in the eyes and told him to come with him, saying that he knew of a special technique by which he could explain the facts of life to Ranma.

Several hours later Ranma came staggering out of the theater, trailing after his father, who turned to Ranma and said, "Now do you understand, boy? Now you know as much about women as I did when I was your age."

Ranma had glanced up over his shoulder to see the double marquee of the twin Anime releases that his father had insisted they both sit through. The titles read, "Revenge of the Demon Beast Invasion-Part XXVII" and "Urotsukidoji IX: The Overfiend Triumphant!" two of the most twisted, evil titles that he had ever had the misfortune of encountering. Try as he might he could not get those two titles out of his head, and so he had fled into relative seclusion of the rooftops to try and clear his mind for a few hours. He had only come back in time for a late dinner, and to assume his usual nocturnal post outside Nabiki's window.

Why the heck had his father insisted on dragging him to those things if he really didn't know all that much about women? Try as he might Ranma could not get the image totally banished from his mind, but after a week he had managed to keep a lid on the flow of images so he could once more talk to Nabiki in a calm and rational manner. It had almost escaped his notice-until it was pointed out to him-that around this time he started to behave with more rational calm in the presence of Shampoo's neko body.

Unfortunately the Oni had managed to awaken his memories of those two hentai films, and that was causing him to feel enormously flustered with his own lack of self control around Nabiki. Until this night he had never actually imagined doing the kind of things that he had seen those demons doing to women in those movies (for one thing he lacked the right number of flexible appendages and wasn't built like an octopus!), and the last thing he wanted to hear from Nabiki were screams of pain and outrage. That was not the kind of relationship that he wanted with her, and it was much easier to put himself into the role of the hero making gentler moves upon the heroine of his preference.

Or the heroine who was being molested!

Of course it would probably have done him more good if he had actually watched the whole thing through and not spent half of the movie with his hands over his eyes, or passed out mid-way through the first hour of the first movie (he told himself later that he was just catching up on some sleep, having exhausted himself the night before staring up at the moon outside Nabiki's window, and not-DEFINITELY NOT-because he had fainted! He was a guy, and guys didn't faint because of stuff like that…he sincerely hoped.).

But as much as he might protest that he wanted to protect Nabiki and not hurt her, the Oni had shown him a side of his own subconscious that was much more coarse and animal like, a side he would rather not know about and would much rather not have discovered. It had been far easier to ignore those impulses while he was training to fight Ryoga. Having the challenge of a fight to focus his concentration brought him back into the familiar mode of training, where all else got tuned out but the need to pound somebody's face in…!

"Young man."

Ranma blinked. That voice had come from directly behind him, but he hadn't even heard anyone approach. He turned around and stared at a shadowy figure positioned only ten paces away, tall and feminine looking when framed in the dull light of a distant clash of lightning.

"Young master," she self-corrected, "Or should I refer to you as 'Son-in-law,' like my Grandmother?"

A second flash lit up a portion of her face and highlighted her lavender hair to full view. For a fraction of an instant Ranma thought it was Shampoo who had followed him out into the night, but the sound of this woman's voice was deeper and more mature, and her form of address left only one possibility as to her identity and nature.

"Comb-san?" he asked hesitantly, seeing her approach with slow, supple movements.

She came to within three paces of his position and halted, then with a slight incline of her head she murmured softly, "We need to talk, young master, just you and I, Mother-in-law to Son, if you have no objections."

Ranma tried to keep his voice level and not betray his uneasiness as he replied, "Uh…sure, what about?"

"I think you already know," she replied with a hint of wry amusement, "After all, you are Genma's son, and my daughter is engaged to you. That makes it my business to see to it that you are properly trained to be her husband."

"Training?" Ranma could not avert the slight shift in his tone, which had nothing to do with when the sky opened up a few moments later and started to rain, causing the inevitable shift in his gender…

Kachu glanced resentfully up at the sky as she felt the first drops of rain began to pelt her. She huddled much closer in to herself and sulked at the empty space before her. The roof she was sitting upon offered very little in the way of shelter, but considering her mood she did not much care about a little drenching.

What had come over her only a short while ago? Why had she said those things to her prospective husband or rejected his offer of his own room for a bedchamber? Surely that was what a wife was required to do by the law that had entrapped her to him…but somehow she could not bring herself to trust this strange man that far. There was something about his behavior that troubled her deeply, some element in the way he spoke and acted that puzzled her so, even if she could not identify its actual nature.

After all, a man was supposed to be thoughtful and deferential to a woman, not sullen and coarse like some outsiders that she had the misfortune of encountering in her travels. This man…this Doctor Tofu Ono, had been soft spoken and polite, but how was she to know that this wasn't some sort of ruse on his part to lure her into lowering her guard? For all that she knew he could turn into a raving sex-fiend at any moment!

Men were not to be trusted, that was the foundation of her beliefs concerning the male gender. All men were good for was procreation. They were weak, selfish and vain, hardly worthy of any regard beyond the simple recognition of their existence. The men in the village back home had been trained to behave according to the standards of their mothers, and this Tofu certainly seemed well behaved by that yardstick. If anything his mother had been a very impressive figure indeed, worthy of the title of Elder, if maybe overqualified in the eccentric department.

Kachu glowered into the night and tried not to think about the surprise she had felt when finding the Elder Tofu patting her hips from behind, then explaining that this was her standard by which she would measure the worth of her daughter-in-law. Big hips meant easy childbirth, she had stated, which did make a kind of sense to Kachu, but then provoked the unconscious realization that she was being rated for her own childbearing potential.

To say that you could have knocked her over with a feather at that point would have been a poor understatement of the degree to which Kachu had been both flabbergasted and flattered. She had never seriously thought of herself as the motherly type, and the realization that she was now obligated to give her new husband healthy offspring was something else that nearly sent her to reside in the dreamland of her ancestors…

Kachu shook herself to rid her mind of these bothersome notions. How could she even think of taking that stupid rule regarding losing to Outsiders seriously? It should not even apply to her in the first place! She was not a warrior by training but a Hunter of the Dark, dedicated to fighting the forces of evil wherever they were encountered! She could not burden herself with the twin onus of having a husband and children chasing wildly about her feet! This situation was against the whole of her training, and yet Elder Cologne…and even her own mother…had stated categorically that Kachu was now effectively married!

"Stupid male," Kachu huffed sullenly, lifting the hood of her traveling cloak to keep the rain out of her eyes. She shifted uncomfortably, realizing that a puddle was forming near to the spot where she was sitting. She reached out with a hand to grasp at the hilt of her C'hi Chi but her mind was obviously not in focus with her actions for she only brushed her fingers against the weapon and clumsily knocked it over with a loud clatter.

Kachu turned startled eyes towards where her weapon now lay, mentally chiding herself for being so inexplicably clumsy. She was still glancing that way when of a sudden a voice called out to her in the night, "Kachu?"

She froze instinctively, feeling oddly like a cornered animal as Doctor Tofu Ono climbed up onto the roof from the opened skylighting, and Kachu belatedly chided herself for not having a better place to spend the night brooding than the roof of his clinic. Tofu searched for and found her in the dim light then asked, "What are you doing out here? You'll catch your death of pneumonia."

"I am not bothered by a little rain," Kachu snorted, but there was a slight shiver in her voice that belied her attempted protest.

Tofu approached her with an umbrella in one hand and asked, "Are you sure about that? This doesn't look like a very comfortable place for you to stay. If you want I can help you find a hotel room…"

"I said I am well!" Kachu growled at the annoying male, but then a twitch in her nose caused her to sneeze, spoiling the effect of her defiance.

"I won't try to tell you what to do," Tofu assured her, then to her surprise he extended the umbrella and said, "Here, you might as well have this. You need it more than I do."

Kachu stared at the hand that was clutching the umbrella, then at the arm that the hand was attached to, and by extension she saw the kindly face looking down at her through rain-streamed glasses. Silence hung in the air for a long moment then she asked a single question, "Why?"

That made him look somewhat uncomfortable, and he glanced away before answering, "Because I feel responsible to you, because it's my fault you're in this mess with your Elders, and because I think you do want to get out of the rain. Please, I'm not going to try anything, and I'm not going to tell you that it's for your own good or that I'm a doctor and you should pay attention to my advice. I just don't want us to be enemies…can you understand that? It doesn't have to be that way between us. Please?"

It was the please that got to her in the end. Kachu might have stubbornly refused any assistance, but there was something about the way this man said please that caused her to question her own resolve in the matter. He was not trying to make her angry, she realized, in fact he seemed to-if anything-be making the gesture out of a sincere concern for her welfare. The only other person who had ever done that for her was her mother. For a man to make such a gesture…

Kachu tried to remind herself that men were not to be trusted, and that this one might simply be a very good actor pretending false concerns before luring her into his power. She had seen many men do that to unsuspecting women and had long ago vowed never to be taken in by such duplicity. After all, had she not had the example of her own mother that men could use and abandon a woman with very little thought to their welfare…?

No wait, that wasn't right. Her mother had confessed to her that the man who was her father had truly been ignorant and blameless of her conception. He had not even known of her existence before today, and when he had discovered the truth his first thought was to embrace her as a daughter…

And her first response to that was to strike at her own father.

Kachu looked down, suddenly feeling very small and unworthy of anyone's kindness. Her angry resentment began to drain away, replaced by a different feeling that she could not understand, let alone identify as it was wholly unfamiliar and outside of her experience. Without further protest she reached out her hand, but instead of taking the umbrella she closed it on the man's hand, gripping it tightly.

With effort she drew herself to her feet as he went from surprise to a shift in his posture that would better allow him to accommodate her efforts. Once Kachu was standing beside him she became aware of the fact that they were very near in height to one another. He might have a few centimeters over her, she reckoned, but because of his lithe frame he actually had seemed to her to be a lot taller.

"I'm sleeping in your guest room," she said simply, only willing to give in by that that small token amount.

"All right," he agreed, holding the umbrella over her head, "If that's the way you want it, but I'm staying with the couch. I've already made myself comfortable there."

"And what is wrong with your normal bed?" she asked him in an awkward moment of confusion that caused her face to flush unusually warm, as if she were running a slight fever.

"Nothing," he replied, "It just doesn't seem right sleeping in there for some reason."

She decided not to further explore the issue, instead worrying about the sneeze that escaped from her lips as she huddled over slightly. She could not-she told herself sternly-be coming down with anything. She had never been sick a day in her life! So why was she trembling so much inside? Had she encountered a Japanese virus that was tough enough to tame even an Amazon?

She hoped that it was not so, yet no alternative presented itself as she climbed down the ladder for the comforting shelter of the dimly lit clinic, Tofu following her and closing the skylighting in their passage…

"…And this is where the proud lineage of the Kuno family may be traced, back to distant Samurai times when we were minor nobility during the reign of the Ashikaga Shoguns."

"Oh my," Kasumi sounded much impressed, "Such a long and distinguished lineage. My own family can only trace our ancestor back about two centuries or so, certainly nothing this impressive."

"Ah, but you have had noble ancestors of your own," Kodachi reasoned, "Your grandfather served honorably with the Home Defense force, and before him your great-grandfather was a distinguished veteran in the Great War. In fact the Military history of the Tendo line should be a source of great pride for you. Of course I am given to understand that your great-grandmother on your grandmother's mother's line is said to have had an encounter with an Oni…"

"Probably just a harmless rumor," Kasumi said simply, "There's a similar legend in the Saotome family history, or so I've heard father say once while he and Uncle Genma were playing Shogi."

"Ah yes," Kodachi mused, "But legends and rumors often have a kernel of fact behind them, or so I have long believed. The world is a very strange and mysterious place, my friend, and full of all sorts of interesting surprises."

"Oh yes," Kasumi nodded, "I quite agree with you there. In fact just that encounter today with the Oni…"

Kodachi looked away with an uncomfortable expression, and Kasumi saw her flinch and at once became contrite, "Oh, I'm sorry I mentioned that. I know it must still be a very uncomfortable subject…"

"Indeed," Kodachi said tightly, then forcibly changed the subject, "I think a better example of strange and unfathomable might be the curious resemblance that you seem to bear with your half-sister."

"Oh yes," Kasumi nodded, "That is very peculiar. I wish I could explain why we look so much alike, but I guess it's due to a coincidental resemblance between both of our mothers."

"Um…" Kodachi felt awkward as she glanced at Kasumi sidelong, "You don't seem to be all that upset at discovering that your father had a child by a different woman..."

"Should I be?" Kasumi asked with a complete lack of guile in her eyes, "It was before he married my mother, so I don't think it's cheating. At least I don't think that's what you could call it. Still…Silk is very nice, and it's obvious that father likes her, so it may be that she'll be visiting us for a while, and father has so few friends to talk with him about the old days…it wouldn't be right to object to that, would it?"

Kodachi thought she detected something odd in Kasumi's tone, as if the older girl held a wistful hint of the sort of feelings that Kodachi would herself have embraced in her situation, but before she could pursue the matter her brother hailed them both, then came to an abrupt halt as he said, "We have a guest in our humble abode, dear sister?"

"Brother," Kodachi turned to acknowledge Tatawaki with a glance, "You know Tendo Kasumi, the older sister to Akane and Nabiki?"

"I have not had that honor," Tatawaki took a moment to study the older girl in a way that brought a slight frown of irritation to Kodachi, "Such wondrous beauty can only belong to one affiliated by blood to my beloved Akane. You grace us with your presence, dear lady."

Kasumi seemed much amused at watching the tall boy bow to her with manners that belonged to a different era, so she bowed back and said, "I thank you for your kind words. I know of you from hearing your name being mentioned around my house, Kuno-san. The honor is mutual…"

"Indeed?" Kuno said a bit abruptly, "You have heard my name on the sweet lips of your sister?"

Kasumi thought a moment before replying, "Well, she has said your name often enough, but…"

"Then it is as I have always believed that it must be!" Tatewaki cried in triumph, "I must go to my shrine and pray to my goddesses of love that they one day be delivered from the clutches of the foul Saotome! Good evening to you, my lady, my sister."

And with that the tall boy picked up his heals and all but jumped for joy as he rushed down the hallway with great enthusiasm.

"What a curious fellow," Kasumi remarked as she glanced down the corridor to where Tatewaki had vanished.

"You could say that," Kodachi agreed with heartfelt conviction, but then she turned around as she sensed another presence and her tone became more imperious, "What is it, Sasuke?"

Kasumi was surprised to see a small man detach himself from the shadows dressed in the classic attire that was traditional for ninja. He bowed from the waist to Kodachi then extended an envelope as if proffering an offering at a temple, "This letter came in the mail for you, Mistress. It has a foreign return address, which I think should give it some importance."

"You interrupt me for this?" Kodachi snorted, but nonetheless she accepted the envelope, slicing it open with a fingernail before reading it's contents to herself.

Kasumi heard a slight gasp escape from Kodachi's lips and asked, "Is it good news or bad?"

"That would depend on how you define it," Kodachi seemed unusually pale and her hand was trembling slightly, "It says here that my father is alive and he was found on an uncharted desert island somewhere out in the Pacific. He has been spending the past two years on the islands of Hawaii enjoying the native culture but is preparing to return and resume his responsibilities as principal of Furinkan High School."

"You father is the principal?" Kasumi remarked, "How wonderful, you must be very glad to hear this."

"It says here that he was found two years ago and he only now writes to me to inform us of this?" Kodachi exclaimed, "How am I to take pleasure in that? He would have written sooner…" she broke off as she realized that she was showing her temper. Mindful not to upset her guest too soon she said, "Forgive me, this is such a sudden shock…it has been years since Tachi and I set eyes upon our father…"

"I understand," Kasumi nodded, "Perhaps we should go sit down and you can talk about it, if you want to, that is."

Kodachi seemingly made a full recovery of her composure, smiling obliquely at her charming companion before replying, "An excellent idea. I suggest we should enjoy what it left of the evening while dining on a late fare of tea and ricecakes. Sasuke, see to it at once."

"Yes, Mistress," the little man bowed profusely, then retreated backwards. He stumbled over a chair that he did not see in the hallway and tumbled onto the floor, but managed to right himself before bowing several times and crawling back down the side passage.

"What an interesting fellow," Kasumi remarked in passing.

"He is a clumsy wretch at times, but he is loyal to my family, as his father was before him," Kodachi sighed, "Once the Kuno family commanded an army of retainers, now we can barely afford more than a handful. Times have been somewhat strained since Father left us, but we manage as best we are able…"

Sarugakure Sasuke had a long experience around his Mistress and was used to thinking of her little eccentricities as the quirks that came by second nature to rich people and nobles. It did trouble him that the latest object of her periodic obsessions was the eldest daughter to the house of Tendo, but it was far from his place to raise objections or to offer some kind of warning to the older girl. She would have to learn about the curious hobbies and fascinations of the Mistress through her own means, if ever.

Still he did feel a twinge of regret as he made his way back to the servants kitchen, intending to prepare the small feast that he knew his Mistress would have demanded had she spoken of it aloud. It was Kodachi's way to charm her infrequent guests into submission, after which she would delight herself in all manner of ways that Sasuke did not think it proper to dwell upon.

At least that was the gist of the thoughts that were passing through his mind when he came into the kitchen and abruptly halted in his tracks, finding a most unexpected and unwelcome sight greeting him in the form of a little man even smaller than he was, yet similarly dressed like a ninja!

If anything this diminutive fellow looked like a wrinkled old prune, or at least that was the general impression Sasuke formed since the man was wearing something over his head that closely resembled a halter from the personal stocks of the Mistress. Moreover, this stranger was eating like a pig from the larder of the Kuno family refrigerator, and Sasuke saw the bowls and plates scattered loose all around to testify that several meals had already been ingested.

"Hey!" Sasuke immediately replied, taking a step forward, "Who are you? You can't do that!"

"Never mind what I can and can't do, Sonny-boy," the stranger cackled between mouthfuls, "Get me some more sake to wash down this rice! You can't have an old man like me choking to death on your cooking."

Sasuke took another step forward, intending to put a stop to this pillaging of his hard efforts at preparing a meal for his two charges. He might not be the best and bravest son his father ever sired, but it was his duty to look after the Kuno family, as he had been doing for many years since the death of the Mistress and disappearance of the Master.

Of course the minute he got within range of the other little man was the moment when Sasuke discovered the power of temporary flight…temporary, that is, until his body made acquaintance with the wall on the opposite end of the kitchen.

"Pathetic," the old man chided, "Your father up in heaven must be rolling in his grave to have a son who telegraphs like that. Now stop lollygaging around and fetch me my sake!"

Sasuke slowly peeled himself off the wall and landed awkwardly on the one part of his body that wasn't hurting so much: his head. After landing in a heap and somehow managing to sit upright he looked at the curious old man and said, "You knew my father?"

"Indeed I did, my boy," the old man chuckled, "What's the matter? It's been so long that you've forgotten all about me? This is the house of Kuno Godai, is it not? You are the son of Sarugakure Harkon?"

Sasuke continued to stare at the old man in bewilderment until a connection was formed within the labyrinth of his childhood memories, then all at once he sat up with panic clear in his expression, "You! But I thought you were…!"

"So what?" the old man grinned broadly, "Lots of people've thought me dead over the years, and not a few have tried to help me out there. The good news is I'm back now, so I'm looking up my old haunts for the sake of past acquaintances. Now…about that sake…"

"But…" Sasuke swallowed thickly, "I have to give it to the Mistress! She will be most cross with me if I don't prepare the special batch of sleeping potion that she routinely gives to those few unfortunates who become her house guests."

"Oh, is that so?" the old man said with a crafty expression, "Now isn't that amusing? Looks like she turned out to be a chip off the old block after all. Well then, we won't keep Godai's child waiting, there's just one little detail that I'm going to have to insist on, however…"

"Oh?" Sasuke asked numbly, already past suspecting that he was not going to like this…

Continued

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