Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Chained World: The Fall of the House of Kuno ❯ Enter the Black Rose ( Chapter 22 )

This was originally published by me under the name Anduril at Anime Addventures, with the only changes being a few corrections in spelling, punctuation and the occasional word choice. If you like the beginning of my story but think I've gone off the rails, or have your own ideas for a great branch-off, or think I'm taking too long to update and want to continue the story yourself, come to Anime Addventures and join in the fun!

I claim no ownership rights to any of the works of Rumiko Takahashi.

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Lying on her back in the dark, Ranma listened to Kuno-dono breath in his sleep, staring at a ceiling invisible in the dark. The sex had seemed to go on forever, but eventually even a man as fit as Lord Kuno tired out, and now he was out like a light, lying on his side with one arm draped across Ranma's abdomen, hand resting casually atop a breast. But as enervating as the almost nonstop pleasure had been sleep wouldn't come for the redhead.

Finally, she gently shifted the hand from its resting place to lie alongside her, then carefully slid from out of the bed and made her silent way to the bathroom. Closing the door, she turned on the lights, then stepped in front of the huge wall mirror and stared at herself — hair stringy and body covered with dried sweat, her thighs and lower abdomen smeared with her juices and her master's seed — Ranma gasped as again she somehow felt the feelings of revulsion, disgust, rejection, again batter against the barrier the Adjustment had placed between them and the rest of her mind.

Even as she threw herself into strengthening that barrier, the redhead whirled from the mirror to grab the rinse bucket and scrubbing brush. She quickly soaped and scrubbed herself clean, then again, then again, once more....

Finally, skin raw from the scrubbing, Ranma forced herself to set aside the brush and poured one last rinse bucket over her head. Standing up, she briefly considered the steaming furo, but turned away to towel dry then take down and shrug into a shimmering blue robe hanging on the wall beside another — it only came down to mid-thigh but covered everything important and the other robe was obviously for a much larger person — and braided her hair into its usual pigtail. That done, Ranma turned off the light and opened the door back to the bedroom. Quietly slipping across the room, she had her hand on the knob of the door leading to the sitting room when she paused. Damn, almost forgot my ... my collar. Now, where is it ... ? After thinking back over the afternoon's meandering, the redhead made her way back to the bathroom, and the makeup table. A few minutes later, chain once again tight around her neck, she slipped out of the suite.

It took awhile and a few wrong turns, but eventually Ranma made her way through corridors dark except for the occasional dim light to a door leading to a small flower garden that she remembered from the tour Usagi had given her that afternoon, lit now only by the full moon. Sitting on a small bench, she took a deep breath, smiling slightly at the relaxing scent of flowers chosen as much for their fragrance as their beauty.

Suddenly, she stiffened slightly at a half-sensed presence at her back. Okay, so they aren't allas good as Pyo, she thought with a grin. “Ya can relax,” she said to the patrolling ninja she knew had to be behind her. “I'm just takin' a stroll, not tryin' ta escape.”

For a moment there was silence, than a young female voice softly said, “Very well, Ranma, but do not go further from the mansion than this garden — there are traps and defenses on the grounds. It would be a shame if you were to stumble on one in the dark and die the very day you joined our household.”

Ranma's eyebrows rose at the use of her true name. So, they know who I am, even if Kuno doesn't, she thought. “Got it,” she responded. “This's as far as I was plannin' on goin', anyway.”

There was no response, but shortly the sense of presence faded. Ranma was once again alone with her thoughts, and she felt a hollow sensation in her gut, impacts against the Barrier again sending shivers through her mind, as despite her best attempts to focus on something, anything, else her memories again played over the evening's events, the feel of Kuno's strong but oddly gentle hands stroking her, bringing her to orgasm again and again even as the couple switched from missionary position to doggie style to cowgirl and back, variation after variation ... variations Ranma and Akane had tried themselves during their two nights.

Ranma had to chuckle even as she relaxed and smiled to herself, memories of those nights drifting through her mind. She had to admit, when it came to skill Kuno had her beat hands down, his skilled attentions dwarfing Ranma's half-guessed fumblings. Still, the gasps, half-shrieks, smiles and occasional laughter Akane had shared with him those nights told the redhead now that the youngest Tendo had truly enjoyed the time together, the bittersweet happiness of shared lovemaking, however inexperienced her lover might have been, and when this whole mess was over, the curse was unlocked, and they were together again, he was going to make those nights seem like the fumblings they'd been, show Akane how it was done, with the spice of the love they'd felt that had been missing tonight added to the mix....

That's it! Ranma thought, sitting up straight. It's trainin', teachin' me how ta make Akane happy when the time comes! Again, Ranma's mind played across the sex she'd just experienced, but now she focused on the way Kuno had pleasured her rather than the pleasure itself — and the shivering of the Barrier died away as she fell into the familiar pattern of review and analysis, seeking to learn the secrets of her competitors' Art.

 

Kodachi silently drifted through the grounds of the Kuno Family mansion, returning from the party to end all parties. She'd been on benders and sex-binges from time to time, but never before to match this one, and she felt it down to her bones — however much fun it had been, all good things must end eventually, and it was definitely time to bring this one to a close and face the new head of the family, her stuck-up, honor-obsessed, delusional brother. With him in charge she wasn't likely to get away with this again — though perhaps that would be better than her father's absolute indifference to anything of importance in her life. At least her brother would care how she spent her time, if only because of the way it reflected on the Family Honor. Still, it could wait till daylight — the afternoon, more likely....

Then, approaching the door closest to the family living quarters, the gymnast froze at the sight of someone that had to be Ranma sitting on a bench in the garden just outside the door. The night precluded color vision, but the size and shape were right for Ranma's girl form, even if she wasn't dressed in her customary Chinese shirt and pants, and Kodachi smiled to herself. Okay, perhaps the fun wasn't quite over.

Falling back out of sight, Kodachi slipped out of her wrinkled and stained clothing, pulled a purple leotard out of her purse and slipped it on, pulled out a gymnastic ribbon, and smiled broadly. Show Time!

“OH HO HO HO HO!”

The seated figure whipped upright and fell into her usual deceptively casual defensive stance with gratifying speed, and Kodachi smiled to herself as she flipped and cartwheeled toward the smaller girl, ribbon whirling protectively around her — however much Ranma might outclass her, the sometimes petite redhead at least took her that seriously. Now, how should I play this ... ? Then Kodachi saw the moonlight glinting off a familiar accessory about the other girl's neck, and her gyrating approach abruptly went from graceful to catastrophically out of control. Only a quick intercept by Ranma kept her from cracking her head painfully on the stone bench the redhead had been sitting on.

“R-R-Ranma — what do you have around your neck?!” she gasped out, staring at Ranma's accessory even as the redhead levered her up to sit on the bench.

“Yer family's slave collar, what d'ya think?” Ranma responded curtly.

“I ... yes, I can see that, but ... why?” the bewildered Kuno asked.

Ranma snorted. “The auction was today. Who else was gonna win it?”

“Auction? What auction? What's going on?” Kodachi asked plaintively.

“Yer, kidding, right? How can ya not know what's goin' on? Where have ya been the past month?” a suspicious Ranma asked, stepping back.

Kodachi casually shrugged. “I've been out celebrating ever since I learned of my father's death,” she responded. “So what has been going on?”

Ranma simply stared for a long moment, then shrugged in turn and told her.

When her story ran down, Kodachi sat in stunned silence for a time, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I knew my brother was delusional, but this ... oh Ranma, I'm so sorry!”

“Not yer fault ...” the smaller girl started, only to break off in mid-phrase. “Wait a minute, ya called me Ranma!”

Kodachi sighed. Yes, all good things come to an end ... “That is your name, is it not?” she asked archly even as she wiped at her tears-dampened face.

“Well, yes, but ya always ... how long have ya known?” Ranma demanded.

“That you and `my Ranma-sama' are the same person? Almost from the beginning,” the gymnast replied with a chuckle.

“But, if ya knew, why'd ya do all that crazy stuff?” Ranma asked.

Kodachi shrugged. “It was fun,” she said simply. “Besides, mix my Family's wealth with a reputation for being mad, and you'd be surprised what you can get away with — truly liberating. Not that that'll work any longer, with my brother in charge,” she finished resignedly.

“But I'm not the one in real trouble. Ranma, I know we aren't friends, I've been having too much fun playing with you for that, but if there's anything I can do for you, please ask.”

Ranma stared at her suspiciously for a moment, then shrugged. “I'll think about it,” she said curtly.

Kodachi stiffened in outrage at the apparent rejection, then slumped. “I suppose I deserved that,” she murmured, and wearily rose to her feet as the adrenaline rush from first seeing Ranma subsided. Walking back out into the night to retrieve her soiled clothes and purse, she then headed for the door that had been her original destination. “Well, I hear a bed calling for me, very loudly — and just for sleep, finally. I will see you later.”

Ranma yawned, looking surprised. Standing, she followed the girl with the off-center ponytail toward the door. “Ya know, I think I can sleep now, myself.”

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I think I forgot to respond to the review by ANON1: For where I'm going, you'll have to wait and see. However, there was a spin-off by Greyman and Tman where a consortium of buyers, including Setsuna, win the auction. However, the break-off point is before the Adjustment and their version of the Adjustment and its effects is more brutal than mine.