Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ Sushi in the Raw... ( Chapter 58 )

Nabiki 1/2

(A Very Scary Thought)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

Based Upon the Altered Destinies Storyline

Inspired by the works of such fans as

Wade Tritshler

Richard Lawson

James Jones

And Many Others

Standard Disclaimer: This is inspired by the work of Takahashi Rumiko and is not my original creation. All characters belong to her. This is only a fanfictional work, and is not intended to compromise the rights of the original owners, distributors and publishers of the Ranma series. I have no money to spare and would very much appreciate if no one tries to sue me.

"Tendo Akane! Pigtailed One! It is I, your devoted Kuno Tatawaki come to rescue you from the vile clutches of that Tendo Kaneda…AWP!!!"

Kuno halted in mid stride upon the path to the back porch of the home of his two beloveds. As usual for him he had raced through the front gates with the ardor of his devotion fresh in his mind, heedless of the normal social rules of conduct that was supposed to apply to guests not normally of his stature.

This time, however, the path of his true love was blocked unexpectedly by what looked--on the very close inspection he was being offered--to be a large-sized rub beater, the kind normally employed to knock the dust off large throw rugs and tapestries. This one was being held up like a polearm warding his path, and by slowly following its line he discovered a slender hand that gripped it, connected to an equally slender arm that--wonder of wonders--had an even more comely young woman attached to it.

Said woman was presently eyeing him with a cross expression as she demanded in a level tone, "Who are you and what is your business with the Tendos?"

Kuno took a half-step back, not because he was afraid of the authoritative challenge in this woman's voice (he would most adamantly have insisted) but out of surprise and respect for someone who could have moved so swiftly to block his path that he--the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High--could not have seen her coming.

"One side, woman," Kuno instructed her as though it were his lordly right, "My business with the Tendos is of a personal nature, and for that matter, what cause have you to ask in such an impertinent manner?"

"My name is Tendo Natsume," she replied, "This home belongs to my family. Do you have permission to be here?"

"I, permission?" Kuno straightened out, "I am Kuno Tatawaki, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High! I do not need permission to come upon these premises as this is the home of my good friend Saotome Ranma and my two beloveds, Tendo Akane and Arigami Keiko!"

"You're their boyfriend?" Natsume eyed him skeptically. From appearances this fellow had trouble written all over him, and while his claim was certainly plausible he did not seem the type for someone as independently minded as Akane was reputed to be. She chose to err on the side of caution as she replied, "They are not here at the present. They went on a field trip with one of the teachers from their school. If you wish, then I will inform them of your visit upon their arrival."

"Not here?" something shifted in the slow gears of Kuno's mind as he took greater stock of the slender woman before him, then he murmured, "Tendo Natsume. I do not recognize the name. Are you, by chance, Akane-chan's cousin?"

"No," Natsume replied, "Her sister. It's somewhat of a long story."

"Sister?" Kuno did some mental arithmetic, adding up all the known Tendos in his mind then carrying the five and subtracting the zero. It took a very long moment, and the effect nearly overheated his brain, but at last he concluded, "I was informed that Akane had but two sisters, Kasumi and Nabiki. You are one more than I thought were in existence."

"My, aren't you the clever one," Natsume sounded amused, but to Kuno's ear he heard a tone of mocking challenge.

"Is that a challenge I hear?" Kuno smiled as he stepped back and drew his bokken, "Very well, I accept! Prepare to defend yourself and prove to me that you are worthy of the name Tendo."

Something glinted in the other woman's eyes and she smiled, "Very well, I accept."

She took a step back and held her rug-beater at an angle as though it were a Naginata. In spite of himself, Kuno found that he was intrigued and voiced his curiosity aloud, "You would face Kuno Tatawaki with a common implement of household labor?"

Natsume smiled, "We make the most of what we have on hand. Whenever you're ready, Blowhard."

"That's Blue Thunder!" Kuno cried as he raised his bokken, prepared to teach a lesson to this impertinent woman for mocking him with such brazen manner.

Meanwhile, Kurumi looked up from where she had been practicing her punches and kicks against a cloth-wrapped post. She had seen Natsume move off to confront somebody in a Kendo-styled outfit, but now her sister seemed to be challenging the fellow to a duel and they were squaring off in the yard together. Kurumi turned her full attention their way and watched the boy facing her sister, noticing his movements and posture, the expert way he held his weapon. There was something about this that she did not like and she wondered if her sister had any idea of how skilled this guy was, and why she was even bothering to fight with him in the first place.

Meanwhile, the fathers looked up from their Shogi board to see the brewing altercation. Genma adjusted his glasses and sighed aloud, "Looks like the inevitable has finally happened, Tendo-kun."

"Hai, Saotome-kun," Soun sounded so depressed that he actually failed to see Genma's hand steal towards the board until almost the last instant. He sighed as his own hand intercepted Genma's, blocking the attempted illegal maneuver.

"Oh dear," said Nodoka as she came in holding a tea tray, "Is that boy picking yet another fight with a woman he has only just met? I really must have a talk with Tatawaki on his methods of dating."

"What wrong with method?" Shampoo asked as she looked up from her knitting, "Boy who test self against girl only do what is natural. Too bad he only Kuno, Natsume make into chopped pork."

"Oh my," Kasumi looked up from where she had been perched on a chair adjusting some pictures that she had been dusting around, "I do hope they won't make too much of a mess this time. Poor Kuno-san does tend to forget himself when he is up against a real challenge."

"Think we should put a stop to this, Tendo?" Genma wondered idly.

"No," Soun said as he watched his alleged daughter square off against the local bully with a mixture of sadness, weariness and a bit of admiration. He was finding the whole matter of the two girls who claimed him for their father to be deeply troubling, not least for the fact that it cast him in a bad light and slighted the memory of his beloved late wife. He was certain that he had never cheated on Kimiko, not even when severely tempted (and he had to admit that there had been a lot of temptations in those days). There was no way that he could conceive of these two as being his daughters, but…he had to admit that they were very fine girls, the sort any father could be proud of. Not his, just very admirable daughters of somebody, and until he could prove this to everyone's satisfaction he would have to put them up as he would any pair of orphans in need of a stable home environment.

He just wished Nodoka would stop eyeing him with daggers everytime she looked from the girls to him as though leveling the silent accusation of cheating on her best friend from childhood. It was making him very nervous, and even Kasumi seemed to be regarding him differently these last two days…

Natsume, meanwhile, was finding this Kuno to be more formidable than she had at first estimated. Not in her class as a fighter, of course, but he did know a fair amount of Kendo, and he used his sword as though it were a perfect extension of his arms. She decided to play with him a bit rather than to finish him off swiftly, drawing him out into the yard where they both had greater freedom to maneuver and noticing that his pattern of attack shifted with his change of surroundings. It was obvious that someone had taught him a little of the Anything Goes style, quite understandable if he were a friend of the boy named Ranma.

"You are quite formidable," Kuno said during a brief pause in their sparring, "If you lose perhaps I shall grant you the honor of dating me."

Natsume found herself reacting with irritation to this comment. Date with him? Who did this fool think he was? Or perhaps it was just a clever ploy to get her upset so that she might drop her guard and give him an opening. Well, he would see that she knew how to keep her cool under that sort of a challenge.

"An intriguing offer," she smiled, "But why would you wish to date the likes of me when you already have my sister Akane and her friend to date you?"

"Alas," Kuno sighed, "Their shyness is so great that they cannot confess their love for me, so they must needs deny it with a passion, woe betide that pride should interfere in such a noble endeavor as romance."

Natsume looked at him as if the boy were trying to pull her leg with that line. What sort of romantic interludes did her newfound sister have with this fellow, who seemed to think he had stepped out of a Kurusawa movie? She circled around holding her weapon at a defecting angle as he moved his bokkem in steady counterpoint, then he came rushing at her with a sudden, swift movement.

Natsume was, of course, no longer where Kuno had struck, but the force of his blow was translated into a wave that traveled far beyond the reach of his wooden blade to cause a mild shockwave that split the water of the koi pond and went all the way to the recently repaired wall, shattered an entire section of the brickwork. Natsume turned to look at him and his handiwork in shock, then faintly recognized the Ki attack as a modified version of Nampo.

Kuno struck again, giving her little time to recover and forcing Natsume to fight back in earnest as she kept away from his sword, now more fully aware that his attacks could be deadly. Until now she had been holding back in this fight, but it was looking as if she would have to resort to her own Ki attack in order to end it quickly before someone was either hurt or there was worse property damage to her new family's estate.

She was just summoning up her power when a fast-moving blur came between the two of them, then a fist rocketed up and knocked Tatawaki head over heals into near-orbit.

"Kurumi?" Natsume gasped.

"Hai," Kurumi turned an innocent smile and adopted a Kawaii pose as the sound of Kuno hitting the koi pond resounded some ten paces behind her.

Natsume looked from her sister to the semi-conscious form bobbing in the water then said, "Kurumi-chan…you really shouldn't have interfered. This was my fight and I was never in any real danger."

"I know that," Kurumi said brightly, "But he really wasn't giving you that much of a workout."

"But…still…" Natsume hesitated, looking over Kurumi's head as she saw Kuno climb out of the pond as though his brain were too slow to realize that he ought to be unconscious. He raised his sword high and said, "I'm not…beaten…yet…"

Kurumi's bare foot against his jaw argued differently, and this time Kuno was not so fortunate as to land on something as soft as the koi pond. The short brown-haired girl spun around as if there were nothing unusual in what she had just done and said, "Yes you are. Come on, Oneechan, let's go make Poppa some lunch, I'll bet he's really hungry."

Natsume was shocked at how casual her sister was being over the beating she had just given to the boy named Kuno. She was about to upbraid her sister for being rude when she heard Shampoo say from close nearby, "No worry about Kuno, his head harder than stone. You come in now, he be all right."

Natsume turned to see the cool look in the red-brown eyes of the purple-haired girl, who was wearing one of Kasumi's dresses, and thought she caught a look in Shampoo's features that was sternly disapproving. Not wanting to alienate herself against a member of her new family, Natsume nonetheless sighed and said, "You don't like him very much, do you?"

"Him nothing but trouble," Shampoo's expression clouded, "Try always court Airen and Airen's sister, pick fights with Husband, never learn when he told they no want to date him. Also remind Shampoo of other boy who always pick on Cousin. I no like boys who no take hint, I pound him if he try that with Shampoo Airen."

Natsume was not exactly certain what this strange Chinese girl was talking about. Shampoo had been very friendly and outgoing the first day of their arrival, but she seemed wary about Natsume and Kurumi for some reason. Natsume was uncertain exactly who this girl was and what her relationship to the Tendo family was, outside of the fact that she was an Amazon and claimed to be married to the mysterious Tendo Kaneda they had heard much about their first day but had yet to actually encounter. The fact that Kaneda's wife was over four months pregnant seemed the only subject they had been able to obtain on the matter. Neither Natsume nor Kurumi had been able to ask questions about him from their father without provoking him to wail something about gaining a son and losing a daughter. It was quite puzzling on the whole and Natsume wondered if they would ever gain enough trust to be allowed to know all of the family secrets that seemed to presently be kept from their knowing.

She gave a last glance towards the unconscious Kuno then turned and followed Kurumi and Shampoo back into their house. She would have to talk with him again when the boy regained consciousness. Perhaps there were things that she could learn from the fool, and it was not as if he was that bad to look at. If only he came across as being just a little less obnoxious she might even venture to say that he was the most intriguing thing she had seen since coming to Nerima…

"Sorry if I have inconvenienced you," Madam Lao was saying as she handled her chopsticks and took her time deciding what to sample, "I know that we have some serious business to discuss and all of that, but I find it so much more relaxing to deal with people such as you this way. Besides, one of the problems you usually have with prisoners is that they actually expect this sort of thing, as if they would be offended if you were not being tortured."

"I'd take a pass if it's just the same," Nabiki replied from her hapless horizontal position, "Can't we just say that you did and leave it at that?"

Lao's chuckle was brazen, "Now what would be the fun in that? You're not actually suffering very much in the moment, so you can hardly complain about rude treatment. I haven't even bothered to gag you so that we can have this discussion both ways. Isn't this preferable to what conditions might be like if I decided to get nasty?"

"Let me think on that one," Nabiki bent her head to look down the length of her body to where leafy greens and cottage cheese had been spread over her naked torso with ground up raw fish spread about with garnishes, turning her into a living salad bar from which Lao was picking her food with the chopsticks.

Sometimes those chopsticks would find something other than a delicacy, and sometimes they pinched and prodded very sensitive areas. In spite of her attempts to ignore the treatment she could feel her breasts swell a bit as Lao played with and pinched her labia and nipples.

"I do so love sushi in the raw," Lao cooed as she ignored Nabiki's futile attempts to struggle against the chains that held her in pace, spread-eagle on the table in what passed for Lao's private office, "It's one of your country's nicest contributions to civilization, don't you agree?"

"Gee," Nabiki's tone dripped sarcasm, "I don't know, do you think so? I thought only dirty old men went in for this stuff…"

"I am neither dirty, old, nor a man," Lao reminded, "But let's not quibble over these things, shall we? I want you to know that I have only the highest respect for you, and while it may seem as if the purpose of having you this way is meant to compromise your integrity, let me assure you that this is simply my way of helping you to become more relaxed and at ease in my presence."

"That's a funny way of describing matters," Nabiki replied, glancing down at herself in a meaningful way, "And here I thought you were just lording it over the fact that you presently have me at a disadvantage."

Lao smiled without denying the point, and instead moved her chopsticks to pluck a bit of sushi, which she proceeded to rub across Nabiki's sensitive nerve endings, eliciting an involuntary reaction that in turn triggered an unrepressed shudder.

"My, how tense you are," Lao remarked, as she continued to stroke her unresisting victim, "And here I was of the impression that you were fairly uninhibited. Of course, I forget that you are not an Amazon by birth…you have those silly Japanese morals and social conventions that you like to pretend are not part and parcel to your nature."

Nabiki grit her teeth and tried to focus her mind on something other than what was happening to her body, "What do you want, Lao? My capitulation?"

"Heavenly Ancestors, no," Lao chuckled as she elicited the physical response she was after, in spite of Nabiki's silent protests, "That would be too easy, and I like a challenge as much as the next Hentai," she paused to bring the now-moistened sushi up to her lips and made a production out of sampling the aroma, then swallowed it for show, "Ah…how deliciously flavorful. I can certainly see what my cousin Shampoo finds so addictive about you. You are indeed a quite tasty morsel…"

"Thanks for the compliment," Nabiki growled, "I think."

"Now, don't be that way," Lao chuckled, "I could be conducting this interview under far less pleasurable conditions, but I want you to appreciate the troubles that I have gone to on your behalf. I am doing this because of the respect and admiration that I have come to have over your accomplishments…"

"Respect?" Nabiki fairly spat the word, "This is your idea of respect? Sexual exploitation isn't respect, Lao, it's a kind of mental and physical degradation…"

"Yes, yes, I know," Lao waved the point away, "I know all the current pop psychological terms currently in vogue. I may not have spent as much time in the outside world as you, but I do a lot of reading, and I am quite well educated, in spite of my early upbringing as a warrior. There is quite a lot of free time on long sea voyages for doing little else but study the things that the outside world has to offer, and I have had many long discussions with other 'guests' that have come before you, so believe me when I say that I have heard it all before, and then some. I hope you do not intend on boring me with a rehash of arguments that I have heard ad nauseum until I could recite them in my sleep. It would be so refreshing if someone had an original idea that they could use to imply that there is something morally wrong with how I conduct my affairs. You can't imagine what it's like being at the top of my profession yet always having to justify yourself for turning a dishonest profit while helping others to achieve their liberation."

"Liberation?" Nabiki asked dubiously.

"From their old tired ideals and preconceptions," Lao explained, "You mean to imply that what I do is in violation to the rules of civilized behavior and the egalitarian ideal that every man and woman is a free and sovereign individual with inalienable rights that must be universally respected. As someone of Chinese descent I can assure you that this concept is far from the norm for human existence."

"And that makes it all right to enslave people and use them for your own amusement?" Nabiki asked her tormentor.

"In a sense," Lao replied, "What I do may not be sanctified by your ideals but it is justified by the circumstances of my current existence. Piracy is not as easy a trade as it once was in the days of the filibusters and those who flew the Jolly Roger. Even the great Madam Ching, in whose likeness I have fashioned myself, never had to operate under the limitations imposed by organized navies and the advanced naval powers that rule the seas in these days. You just can't pick and choose your targets at random, or do anything that might attract an undue amount of attention to my activities so that my enemies can unite against me. It is necessary to operate under a lowered profile so that the authorities might pretend that they can ignore me."

"And kidnapping is low profile?" Nabiki snorted.

"Perhaps not low profile," Lao smiled, "But people disappear every day who are never missed or looked for in these waters, people like Keiko-chan and her mother…or like you, for that matter. They vanish literally without a trace and are soon forgotten. The lost files of police records contain tens of thousands of names every year, some of whom wind up in my hands while the rest are simply a statistic. Some may guess what becomes of their loved ones, but without proof or something to trace they have no means for waging a methodical investigation. It also helps that the suspicions and rivalries between the various sovereign nations of this region of the world work to defeat their ever pooling their resources and coordinating a search to find and put an end to piracy throughout this entire region. Most pirates are small-time bandits loosely affiliated with one another, others--such as the Sang Brotherhood--have a long history of covering their tracks so that politics and the general incompetence of corrupt bureaucrats allows an operation such as mine to elude even the most persistent of investigators."

"You think you're above the law because of that?" Nabiki asked.

"Not above," Lao corrected, "Outside of the conventions under which civilized people prefer to live. I am perhaps the most liberated of souls because I acknowledge the existence of social inhibitions. I recognize how we are all victims to our own upbringing. We are products of the cultures that have molded our attitudes and philosophies into an obedient slave-mode in which we never ask the right questions or challenge the authority of self-proclaimed experts and authority figures who tell us how to behave, what to believe and just how far we may be permitted to function."

"So we're just victims of society, huh?" Nabiki lobbed back.

"In one sense," Lao said matter-of-factly, "We also make choices that can have a profound effect on both ourselves and others. It is fear of censure by our peers within a social group that can act just as firmly as any rule of law to regulate our conduct and make us slaves to our upbringing. Not all of us take responsibility for our own lives, Tendo-san. It's quite easy to sit back and let others decide how you are to live and operate, which is the passive-aggressive mindset adopted by most civilized people. Theologians and politicians make use of this mindset all of the time. So long as we are afraid of doing something that can bring us censure or condemnation we are compelled to behave in conformity to whatever standards are upheld to be normality. The majority sets the criteria for membership, and woe betide the unlucky individual who does not fit in. In that sense, society as a whole can be far more cruel than anything that I practice."

"That's the price of civilization," Nabiki countered, "Some freedoms must be sacrificed in the name of mutual co-existence…"

"Which is the justification of any and all tyrannies," Lao responded, "The balance between the polar extremes of control and freedom requires more than just vigilance, Tendo-san, they require the occasional upstart like me in order to rationalize their continued existence. Why else pass laws that forbid social practices for which there is no clearly definable or compelling need to regulate? Take the marriage issue for a prime example…the romantic ideal of two people bonding together in a blissful state of eternal matrimony has been used to sanctify such horrible practices as the Hindu custom of Sati. Or what of our own Amazon traditions that hold that we should want to marry a strong fighter, which simply translates as the first man who can beat us up without compunction?"

"You…have a point there," Nabiki conceded with extreme reluctance.

"To put a finer point on the matter," Lao continued, "You have chosen to enter into a state of five-way marriage with one boy and three other women to whom you feel a deep mutual attraction. By law you could only marry the boy, yet what is the harm in recognizing by law what you five would willingly abide to join yourselves into? I challenge anyone to justify a law forbidding two women to marry, such a law as you have willingly violated by using your Male aspect as a pretext for marrying my cousin."

"I won't argue that there aren't some pretty irrational laws on the books," Nabiki replied, "And not all marriages are a picnic, but I don't see how you can use that argument to justify what you're doing."

"Please," Lao smiled as she lifted her wine-glass then tipped it over to spill wine upon one of Nabiki's nipples, which she then bent down and began to suckle. Nabiki grimaced in disgust but found it impossible to repress an involuntary shudder. She was trying not to give Lao any hint that she was responding favorably to this treatment, but she had no doubt Lao knew and took full advantage of her bodily responses. She was obviously rattling Nabiki's cage to keep her too distracted to think clearly, and unfortunately the tactic seemed to be working.

"Delicious," Lao almost purred as she looked up from the nipple she had licked clean with an unmistakable look of predatory hunger, "You see? You may try to deny it, but you are not finding your status all that horrible, are you? I am no casual rapist forcing myself on the unwilling, I am a professional at the pleasure trade. I deal in the exchange of goods like any other form of business. It is simply that the business that I deal in happens to be considered socially taboo that marks me as any different from the type of business woman you allegedly aspire to become."

"There is a difference," Nabiki tried to keep her voice level, "I don't force people to compromise their integrity or personal values…"

"Oh yes you do," Lao smiled as one hand snaked down to caress one of Nabiki's inner thighs, "When you took over the underworld of your campus you forced every student to tow your line in one sense or another. Granted you were engaging in a kind of reform, but how many students did you force into drug rehabilitation programs? How many parents did you contact to refer to counseling and/or the police in order to help families cope with their domestic crises, helping troubled students to concentrate better on their schoolwork? How many people have you strong-armed or blackmailed into doing your bidding? I believe it is a crime to gamble on a school campus, but that is one of your chief forms of outside income which you use to keep your family afloat while running a dojo in your spare time, which also is a compromise of school policy. You are quite the budding criminal, Tendo-san, even if there is nobility in your actions."

Nabiki grit her teeth and tried to think on her balance sheets on this months latest budget but found her ability to focus there severely compromised by an abnormal sense of guilt that Lao's words were provoking. She turned instead to the latest Tokyo Stock Exchange figures and tried to estimate the current value of her stock, all the while her body was tensing as she struggled with her manacles and wrist-cuffs.

"I, too, am a businesswoman of a sort," Lao continued as if ignoring Nabiki's silent entreaties that she desist in what she was doing, "I deal in a commodity that is highly valued by the wealthy and powerful, but these days I am extremely selective in choosing my clients. It used to be enough that I recruit fresh new talent to feed the appetites of men and women of power, but experience has taught me that there is more than merely turning a profit to getting ahead in my peculiar profession."

"Is that what you call selling Keiko to that bastard?" Nabiki snapped and was rewarded with a guilty flinch that caused Lao to pause for a moment before resuming her exploratory finger exercises.

"That…was regrettable," Lao sounded sincerely troubled, "I don't allow myself to feel much guilt these days, and it is hardly an asset to have a conscience about my actions in such matters…but…giving Keiko to Chu Wan Phat was perhaps the one most regrettable thing that I have ever done in my life, excluding only my failure to heed my great grandmother's warnings about the Musk. Believe me when I say that I have not had a moment's peace in well over two years since giving her up to that bastard. That is why I intend to rectify my mistake and make Phat regret crossing me on that day. I also owe him for what he did to my beloved Keiko-chan, and I will not suffer that he visit the same treatment on Keiko's mother. On that you have my solemn promise."

"I wish I could say that meant much to me at the moment," Nabiki said, then gasped as Lao resumed her finger-probing onslaught, bringing her body to a level of excitement that made conversation that much harder to focus upon without betraying her arousal.

"It is always a mistake to place too much trust in a man," Lao sounded as though she were speaking to herself as much as Nabiki at this point, "Men have only one thing on their minds when it comes to us, I'm afraid. It's not even really their fault, they just react that way out of biological imperative. We are designed to perpetuate the species through consensual activity, and the Gods have indeed had their jest at our expense in making the imperatives of men and women so similar, yet so different…"

"Such as?" Nabiki gasped, hoping to distract Madam Lao while she sought for a new level of focus.

"Such as, of course, our need to mate," Lao continued sadly, "To find companionship and even love with someone who is special, someone to whom we can open up and relate on a level that we never find with casual strangers. It is hard letting go of our defenses, of trusting someone to whom we can bare our souls and be the person we hide from the harshness of the outside world. It is very hard to find that level of intimacy and trust, even harder to bear the risk when trust such as this is betrayed. I know the crushing sensation that comes when discovering the lie when you learn that the man you thought loved you was never being honest…"

"Prince Julep of the Musk?" Nabiki asked as though exploring for an opening in Lao's mental defenses.

"Not quite a Prince," Lao replied, "But he called himself that often enough. He was not of the Royal Dragon Line, but he had been promoted by Prince Garnet to a position like that of a Minister of State. He was of the Tiger Branch of the Musk, but far more intelligent than was usual for that line. He had a hunger for life unlike any I have ever known, and I was completely swept up in his vision of a united China. I…loved him very much, only I was not quite the compliant wife he wanted me to be. He tried to teach me to be humble and I…failed to live up to his expectations."

"So you killed him," Nabiki said simply, sensing a slackening off in Lao's Hentai efforts.

Lao's smile was almost rueful, "I wasn't entirely myself at the time, so I suppose I did act rather excessively under duress. I do believe that he cared for me in his own twisted way, but not the way I cared for him, and the discovery of that made me feel, perhaps, that I had loved in error. I wonder now if, under different circumstances, I might not have handled things better. At the very least I would not have made my son an orphan."

"You did what you thought you had to," Nabiki found herself surprisingly sympathetic at this point, a sentiment that did not last as Lao resumed her intimate probing.

"I did what he compelled me to do when he gave me my curse," Lao spat the word with peculiar venom, then smiled again and said, "In a way he is the cause of his own destruction, every bit as much as me, but that's the Musk for you. Too arrogant and prideful to realize their limits. I understand that young Prince Herb is even more that way than his late, unlamented father."

Nabiki did not reply at this point as she was having trouble focusing at all as Lao expertly brought her to the edge and held her there, prolonging her state without allowing her to climax. She was waging an inner debate about whether to feel betrayal or self-loathing, then realized that such emotions were in themselves an admission of weakness and fought them off tenaciously. She would not give Lao the satisfaction of hearing her grovel, no matter if she now better appreciated the fact that the woman exciting her was certifiably crazy.

"Ah yes," Lao seemed to recover herself as new thoughts caused her tone to harden, "And of course there is the betrayal of my own people, who turned me away in my moment of greatest need. Even the one I trusted and believed in turned her back on me in the end, and not just because of what I had done in ending the life of my own husband. It was politics that undid me. My people turned me away because they feared going to war against the Musk in order to help me regain custody of my son. Only a handful of my people aided me in that endeavor, sharing my exile out of a mutual insight that the Amazon way had failed to serve our interests. Two of them still abide with me and are officers on this vessel. They are my right and left hands, trusted--to a point--with the operation of this enterprise, and I shall be happy to introduce you to the both of them when time is permitting. But I forget one very important detail…you have yet to ask me about the welfare of your female companions."

Nabiki could not help shooting a worried look at Lao as the Pirate said this. Her imagination could form ready images all too well of what sort of conditions her sister and friends were currently experiencing, judging by what she had seen of the treatment of Keiko.

Lao clapped her hands and said, "Bring forth the new Pledges."

Nabiki detected movement out of her peripheral vision and turned her head to see the door to the Captain's cabin slide open. Two of the semi-translucent women entered first, followed by a pair that Nabiki almost did not recognize at first glance but quickly discovered to be none other than Ukyo and Perfume, each moving in a somewhat mechanical manner.

At the behest of the pale women, Ukyo and Perfume were directed to come to a halt no more than one meter away from Nabiki's table. They were both completely naked save for some ornamented jewelry that adorned both women in a way that left them still exposed to view in every way important. They had golden manacles around their ankles connected by chains that clinked lightly when they moved, restricting their stride to half that of normal. Other chains were connected to the golden bracelets that they were wearing, and each had the trademark collars that seemed to be the only universal requirement for the slaves on board the vessel. Both were staring straight ahead in a way so relaxed that it was clear to Nabiki that both were effectively operating like sleepwalkers.

"Ah," Lao said, as she looked these two over, "The okonomiyaki chef extraordinaire, Kuonji Ukyo, and her true lady love, the very Amazon who assumed my place in both tribe and family, adopted cousin of my niece. Yes indeed, quite a pair, and presently mine to command in whatever manner I see fit."

"What have you done to them?" Nabiki could not keep from hissing.

"Nothing bad, I assure you," Lao said soothingly, "I have simply used an Amazon technique that I have modified with practice called the Xi Fang Xiao. You might have heard Cologne refer to it at some time during your training. It is a kind of Shiatsu touch-exercise employing a specially made herbal shampoo that can be used to manipulate memory or…as in this case…shut down certain rational faculties to create a state of mind in which one is highly sensitive to suggestion. You might say that these two are presently operating on automatic pilot."

Nabiki stared in dismay, seeing the unfocused gaze of both women as they stared listlessly at nothing. No trace of the animated intelligence was there that she had come to know and respect from her best friend and fellow iinazuke to Ranma, and the courageous Amazon who devoutly loved her.

"You need not fear," Lao assured her, "I do not intend to leave them permanently in this state, I just thought they would be much easier to control this way. I have followed the progress of my adoptive cousin and know full well of what she is capable, and with her inability to tolerate pain I can hardly apply my normal coercive methods to insure her cooperation. As for the chef, I respect anyone who can capture an Amazon's heart so completely. If anything, I intend to do them both a great favor with your cooperation."

"What do you have in mind?" Nabiki's tone was wary.

Lao just laughed before saying, "All in good time. It wouldn't do for me to tell you everything in advance, it would just spoil the surprise, but let's us say--for the sake of argument--that you may even approve of what I have in mind. You might even say that it is on account of your unique gifts that such a thing is even possible. I will leave you to dwell upon that while I tend to other pressing business."

She stood up from her chair then pointed to Nabiki and gave both Ukyo and Perfume a compelling look, "I want her cleaned off and ready by the time that I return. Leave her manacles in place and use only your tongues to do this task. You," she pointed to Perfume, "Take that end," she pointed to Nabiki's legs, "Work your way up to her middle. You," now she pointed to Ukyo, "Approach from the other end and meet your lady love half-way. Remember…use only your tongues, not your hands, except to steady her and your balance. I will return within the hour, make certain that she is ready."

Both Perfume and Ukyo complied with these instructions, showing no doubt or hesitation as they positioned themselves at opposite ends of Nabiki's prone body. Nabiki was looking at them both with alarm as Lao strode casually to the door and said, "It may interest you to know that you are a very popular item of discussion with these two. When I applied the Xi Fang Xiao to activate their truth centers they could not stop singing your praises. You have made quite an impression with both women, so try to think of this as their way of acting out a sincerely held impulse."

"It-It's not real," Nabiki shuddered as she saw Perfume bend down and begin to kiss and lick her bare feet while Ukyo leaned forward until her breasts covered Nabiki's entire field of vision, "This isn't really their choice…"

"Oh yes it is," Lao leered at the attempted denials, "You may be familiar with the old saying that you cannot make someone who is hypnotized do something against their nature? There is no real need to compel them to act this way, they both want to do you and will do so now that I have removed the doubt and self-restraint that has inhibited them until now. I have given them the permission to do the thing that mentally they were steadfastly denying. Kuonji-san there has a great deal of admiration for you as both a woman and a potential lover, while Perfume has even less restraint in expressing her desire for a closer union. Enjoy this for what it is, and try not to judge yourself too harshly. After all, this is fate, and what could be more natural than to give and receive pleasure with those who sincerely love you? Take your time and do not rush things. I will be back for you after I pay my respects to your sister."

Nabiki could not answer at this point, could barely even hear the words as her focus dissolved under a wave of unending pleasure that defied both comprehension and reason. Perfume was giving her feet and ankles a bath and slowly bringing her attentions upward while Ukyo had one hand on either of Nabiki's breasts and was kneading her like the dough of an okonomiyaki. Her loins were brushing against velvet lips, and at last Nabiki surrendered, unable to help but curse her weakness as she prayed that her friends would one day be able to forgive her…

Continued

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