Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Chained World: The Fall of the House of Kuno ❯ Reunion ( Chapter 41 )

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, or anyone else's published work.

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“So not a single otokodate thug tried to escape,” Nabiki mused as she reflected on Hiroshi's report.

“If any did, they used tunnels of some sort,” Hiroshi replied. “We had all the alleys around the warehouse covered, and so did the cops; nobody came out that way.”

“No, there weren't any tunnels,” Nabiki replied absentmindedly. “The cops have torn the transshipment point apart, if there were any, they'd have found them. Damn — I'd heard that some otokodate consider themselves to be bushido, but I was hoping the rumors were overstated.”

“It matters?” Hiroshi asked, and she shrugged.

“Right now, no — Kuno's people seem to have done a thorough job cleaning them out of Nerima. But if we have to face them later, they've just proven themselves that much more dangerous.”

Putting aside the problem for consideration later, the pageboy-haired girl turned to her bedroom's other occupant, a purple-haired girl wearing Nabiki's bathrobe. Hiroshi hadn't had any trouble smuggling Shampoo into the dojo when he'd come in for his early morning pre-school martial arts lesson — her cat form had fit into his book bag with some room to spare. However, there hadn't been room for another set of clothing. Not that the Amazon had been particularly bothered by her nudity, but Hiroshi had found it just a wee bit distracting.

“So, Shampoo, have you found a route through all the booby traps on the Kuno grounds?” Nabiki asked.

Shampoo nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, Shampoo explore Kuno grounds four nights, know where booby traps are. But not know inside, how to get in, find Ranma.”

“Hopefully, that won't be a problem,” Nabiki assured her. “Kodachi crashed the party yesterday, and had an idea.” She quickly told the two of the raid and its surprise participants.

“Do you trust her?” Shampoo asked doubtfully when she finished. “It hard to believe Ribbon Girl really want to help.”

Nabiki shrugged. “What does trust have to do with it? It isn't like I'm planning to tell her all our plans, or even ask her for help — Ukyo passed on her suggestion to Ranma when they met. It'll be up to him to follow through with Kuno. So, Hiroshi, Genma says your team is coming along nicely with the staves, but that's only part of it — how many do you think will actually be with us when the time comes?”

Hiroshi opened his mouth to voice his indignation at the aspersion cast on his people, then paused. After a moment he shrugged. “I don't know,” he admitted reluctantly. “I don't think we're going to know until the call goes out.”

Nabiki made a face but nodded rueful agreement. “So, how about the catapults for the next strike on the auction viewscreen?”

Hiroshi grinned. “We've collected all the parts we need, mostly from the landfill, and we've practiced putting them together and firing them a couple times. We should be ready for the next auction.”

“Great. Do you think you were followed?” Nabiki asked.

“Yes, I do,” Hiroshi assured her. “Mind, I can't say for certain, these are ninja we're talking about, but I think I saw one or two vans a few too many times.”

Nabiki sighed with relief. “Good.” She sat in thought for a time, her subordinate and ally patiently waiting, then nodded. “I think things are going as well as —” She broke off at a knock on the door.

“Nabiki,” came Kasumi's quiet voice, “Ranma and a girl have arrived.”

Instantly, Nabiki was out of her seat and yanking the door open. “Great, at last!” she enthused. “Did you follow my instructions?”

“Yes, I did,” Kasumi replied, looking doubtful. “Ranma and his friend are in the furo, and their clothes are in the box you provided. Ranma was most disappointed that his mother isn't here, but —”

“Good!” Nabiki grabbed her bathing supplies. “That'll take care of any bugs there might be in their clothes. I'll be right down, let Akane know. I'm sure Uncle Genma will let her take a break for this, even from learning our family school — or more like, be happy for something that'll convince her to take a break for a little while, especially this.” Turning to the other two teenagers as her older sister hurried away, she added, “Meeting's adjourned until I have a chance to debrief Ranma. Why don't you two join Uncle Genma?”

Shampoo and Hiroshi nodded and preceded Nabiki when she waved them through the door.

/\

Kasumi had moved quickly, and Akane even quicker — Nabiki arrived at the furo to find both the door to the outer bath and the door between the outer bath and inner bath thrown open, and a soaking wet, naked redhead and a gi-clad, sweat-streaked raven-haired girl standing beside the furo, the two desperately clutching at each other. From Ranma's expression, Nabiki thought she was struggling not to cry; Akane wasn't even trying to maintain face, shoulders shaking as she sobbed into her love's shoulder. A younger blonde teenager was still in the furo watching the pair, the expression on her face an odd mix of embarrassed wistful happiness. The blonde glanced over at Nabiki, blushed, and turned her head to stare at the wall.

With a sigh, the middle Tendo stripped out of her clothes and washed herself clean, then slipped into the furo with the slouching blonde. Nodding at Akane and Ranma when the blonde looked over at her, she commented, “Not something you see every day, is it? I'm Tendo Nabiki.”

“Usagi,” the blonde replied, “body slave of Kuno-sama's, assigned to see to Ranko's needs.”

“Ah, that explains it — fell for her, did you? So you're a lesbian?”

“What! No!” Usagi shouted, bolting upright in her seat and staring at Nabiki in shock.

The shout got the attention of Akane and Ranma, and they reluctantly broke apart. “ `No', what?” Ranma asked.

“Nothing important,” Nabiki replied before Usagi could respond. “I have to say I'm a little surprised you brought someone with you for your visit home.” And just what is Usagi doing here? she didn't say, but Ranma heard it anyway.

“Uh, yeah, about that ...” She reached up and scratched the back of her neck, then sighed. “I brought her along `cause she's become a real friend, the past couple'a weeks, an' I'm tired of lyin' an' hidin' things from her — she deserves ta know the truth.”

Nabiki stared at the redhead for a moment. Damn, looks like I should have explained the concept of `need to know' to Ranma before he left. But she couldn't really fault herself for that failure, how was she supposed to know Ranma would get that close to anyone in that nuthouse? Of course, Kodachi had shown it wasn't as much of a nuthouse as she'd thought....

Suddenly, Nabiki was very happy about the security precautions she'd taken almost instinctually, even when she'd been laughing at herself for `playing spy'. She wasn't laughing now — maybe it wasn't just that the Kunos had the best accountants and lawyers in the world, after all.

“All right,” she said with a sigh, “Ranma, Akane, get cleaned up and in here, and we'll bring her up to speed.”

/\

“ ... an' that's when Kodachi suggested I ask for permission ta come here,” Ranma finished with an attempt at a nonchalant shrug from where she sat across from her body servant and friend. “Ya know the rest.”

Usagi stared in shock at the redhead, at Akane next to her, then turned her head to look at Nabiki off to the side. “I ... are you serious?” she demanded. “I mean, sure, mind-altering magic, no problem, but a curse that turned you into a girl?”

“Yeah, I know it's hard ta believe,” Ranma said. “I had a hard time believing it myself when it first happened, and that was with a new pair a' tits and somethin' rather important to me missin'. But remember how I said ya had ta wait until we came here so I could prove it? I'm not the only one around with a Jusenkyo curse — wait `til we introduce ya to my pop.”

“Actually, Uncle Genma is busy teaching a class right now, with another class to follow,” Nabiki said, forcing her slight frown into her usual smirk. There had been something ... off, while Ranma had been telling her story, something that had kept her from even glancing at Akane.... “However, Shampoo's here, she'll do just as well.”

Ranma blanched, and Nabiki chuckled as she glanced at the redhead. “No, Ranma, you can't be there, not with the Neko-ken,” she asserted. “Akane, why don't you take Usagi and find Shampoo, have her demonstrate the curse? Ranma and I will be in my room when you're done.” The middle Tendo looked searchingly at a confused Usagi, then sighed to herself. I guess `need to know' doesn't really apply to her, anymore — she already knows enough to sink us if she mentions it to the wrong person. “Usagi, you do understand that you can't repeat this to anyone at the Kuno mansion — anyone at all — right?” The blonde's confusion vanished as she nodded vigorously enough to bounce her breasts in the steaming water, spreading ripples out across the surface. “Good,” Nabiki said, and turned back to Akane. “Bring Shampoo with you afterward, grab Ukyo while you're at it, and we'll knock the endgame around a bit.”

“Actually, we don't really need Shampoo, anymore,” Ranma said quickly, glancing nervously toward Usagi. “At least, not ta beat the Adjustment — it failed.”

“What!” Akane and Nabiki whirled toward Ranma, sloshing more ripples across the water. “How, when?” Nabiki demanded.

“Yesterday, during the raid,” Ranma replied, eyes dropping as the memory of a gunshot echoed through her head yet again. “I-I f-f-f-failed ta save a girl, I c-c-crip-pled her murderer, watched while h-he screamed when h-h-he was executed....” She hugged her arms around her midsection and started to shake, and Akane slipped an arm around her, pulling her head against her shoulder.

Unable to help herself, Usagi rose to step across the furo and sit by the side of Ranma across from Akane and put her own arm around her mistress's shoulder. Akane's head shot up at the added touch, glaring at the younger girl. She opened her mouth to shout at the intruder, only to freeze at the concern she saw on Usagi's face, the other girl oblivious to Akane's anger as she focused on the girl between them. Finally, the youngest Tendo closed her mouth and turned her own focus back on Ranma, her own arm tightening comfortingly. Then she stiffened as a thought struck her. “Ranma,” she asked hesitantly, “what about the rest of the Adjustment — the part covering sex? Did that hold?”

Nabiki sat bolt upright, uncaring that her breasts shot up into view above the waterline, as Ranma froze in Akane's and Usagi's arms. For a long moment the redhead simply sat in the other girls' embrace staring at the steaming water they sat in, but finally she whispered, “No. No, it didn't.”

“What? How?” Nabiki demanded. “That makes no sense at all, they're separate, why would being in a fight make both fail?”

“The ... the other didn't fail in the fight,” Ranma replied, still whispering. “I felt that one go. I felt the other in the beginning, but it just ... just faded away, I didn't even notice i-i-it w-was gone until last n-n-n-night —”

“Enough, Ranma, you don't need to talk about it,” Akane said softly her other arm circling the redhead (as well as Usagi's, but she ignored that for the moment), then glared at her sister when Nabiki opened her mouth to object. “But you're staying here — you can't go back, not to that.”

Ranma took a deep breath and straightened, letting go of her grip on two of the other girls' arms around her. “No, I have to go back, I promised,” she said firmly. “Besides, if I don't Kuno — an' his ninja — will just come here after me. D'ya really think endin' up on the auction block for helpin' a runaway slave will do me — or you — any good?”

“And you think that Kuno's ninjas aren't going to be storming the dojo sooner or later?” Akane demanded heatedly, letting go of Ranma and leaning back to glare at her love. “Just what do you think he'll do when he learns I'm pregnant?”

Ranma stared at Akane, then a broad grin broke across her face. “You're pregnant?”

“Akane's being optimistic — she's late so she could be, but that's not all that unusual,” Nabiki reluctantly said, suppressing a wince when Ranma's face fell. “But Akane, Ranma has a point. You know who would end up buying you — and it would be permanent, not just temporary debt slavery. And it wouldn't just be Kuno's ninjas that show up for the arrest, either — between Uncle Genma, Ukyo and Konatsu, we actually might have a chance to beat off ninjas. I'd actually prefer that, then we could lodge a protest with the Imperial Household and maybe take Kuno down — especially if he's delusional enough to decide any Emperor's Hands investigating are enspelled by Ranma and attacks them. But if Ranma runs away, it'll be Kuno's security people — you know, lots of people with guns, after our part in the raid they won't be taking any chances with us — and the law will be entirely on his side.”

“But Ranma can't —” Akane started, only to be interrupted by Ranma as the redhead turned to face her.

“Yes, Akane, I can. I think part a' the reason the Adjustment failed is `cause I was so focused on treating the ... the sex as training, thinking a' how I could use what I was learning after, when the lock is gone and we're back together. I'll just hafta keep on thinking of it that way, as learning ... training, katas.”

Akane stared into Ranma's eyes, searching ... “Ranma, are you sure? What if ... what if that's not it? What if you're ... changing?”

Ranma was shaking her head. “No, not happenin', Usagi proved that to me last night.”

“She did, did she?” Akane growled, glaring over Ranma's shoulder at the suddenly nervous blonde. “How?”

“Uh ... later, we got more important things ta talk about,” Ranma said hastily. “Like, why don't ya know if you're pregnant? Don't women have tests for that?”

“Yes, we do,” Nabiki replied just as hastily. “But we don't have any, and we don't dare buy one. I have to assume that we're under observation whenever any of us leave the house, and Akane had a point about Kuno's likely reaction if he thinks she is pregnant. Having him eventually decide that `the foul sorcerer's' influence isn't fading and moving to pick her up is one thing, but she won't be in any real danger — we can't say the same about her baby.”

Usagi, having slipped away from Ranma and Akane to a new seat across from Nabiki, hesitantly raised a hand. “I have an idea. One of my friends at the Kuno mansion is Ami, and her mother is a doctor. They haven't been able to talk to each other since they were sold, but Kuno-sama was kind enough to find out where Dr. Mizuno ended up — she's owned by a hospital in the Misako Lording. Maybe if I get a letter from Ami for her mom, Akane can deliver it and have Dr. Mizuno check to see if she's pregnant under the table?”

Akane had started to glare at their guest, but the glare faded into a thoughtful look as Usagi's words registered. “That ... might work,” she mused. “Nabiki?”

“Yes, it might,” Nabiki agreed, looking thoughtfully at the blonde. “So you believe us?”

“It ... it's hard not to,” Usagi, replied. “You're all so sure about it.”

“Well, let's prove it,” Akane said. She gave Ranma a last firm hug, then stood. “Come on, Usagi-san, let's go find Shampoo. Nabiki, Ranma, you'll be upstairs?”

At Nabiki's affirmative, Akane stepped out of the furo and grabbed a towel to dry off, reluctantly followed by Usagi.

Akane led Usagi, dressed in some cast-offs, through the house to the door leading to the dojo. As soon as they were out of the house, she grabbed the blonde by the arm and pulled her off the walkway and along the side of the house. Looking around to make sure there was no one else around, she turned to pin the increasingly nervous blonde against the wall a few feet from the door into the kitchen. “Okay, Usagi-san —”

“Just `Usagi', I'm a slave.”

“Okay, Usagi, just how did you help Ranma prove he isn't changing? Did you sleep with him?” Akane growled.

Usagi's eyes widened. “No! Sleep sleep, yes, but nothing happened!” she denied vehemently, hands waving in panic. “Ranma was ... was worried about nightmares, I thought she could use some company....”

Akane's glare faded at the blonde's obvious sincerity, as she thought over what had just happened in the furo, the way Usagi had acted.... “But you wanted to, didn't you? Did you try to seduce him?”

“No! Well, yes, sort of ... I don't really know how ... I thought that maybe if I gave her an opportunity, that she might ... might feel better with a girl, but she didn't ... I don't think she noticed ... I didn't know you two were lovers, I swear, she never said anything about that!”

Finally, the last of Akane's glare vanished as she chuckled. “Yeah, the idiot can be just a bit oblivious sometimes, can't he — she — he? Pig-headed, too, even more than Ryoga-kun and with less reason.” Turning away from the blushing blonde, the youngest Tendo stared at the window to the inner bath they'd just left, thinking over what had just happened in there, what was going to happen when Ranma returned to Kuno's bed, how her love was likely to take it, whatever she said. Finally, she turned back to Usagi. “So, just how did Ranma end up in your bed?” she asked. “Normally, he'd just about kill himself avoiding it.”

Usagi stared at Akane, her deer-in-the-headlight look back, but finally she took a deep breath, eyes dropping. “It started when I woke up around three in the morning....”

By the time she finished, Akane was shaking her head and laughing softly. “So you actually stripped naked and posed, and the idiot still didn't get it. Amazing ... I know Ranma can be completely oblivious sometimes, about ... some things, but that's taking it to extremes even for him!”

Usagi looked up, smiling tremulously. “Learned that the hard way?” she asked shakily, and Akane nodded, smiling back.

The two girls simply stood grinning at each other for a moment, then Akane took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders, her expression turning sober. “Listen, Usagi,” she murmured, “what Ranma's doing, going to do ... he's likely to have more ... more bad dreams, bad times. If you think it will help, and can actually get through his rock-hard head,” — a smile flashed across her face and was gone — “please, take him — her — to bed ... seduce her.”

Usagi gaped at her in shock. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, whatever it takes to get Ranma through this alive and sane, even if it means he falls in love with you, decides to stay a girl, and I never see him again. Whatever it takes.”

Usagi slowly nodded, convinced by the fierce determination in Akane's voice. “All right, if I think she's hurting that bad, if she'll go along. But I'll try not to get between you two.”

“Thank you,” Akane said softly, then in a louder voice, “Now, let's get Shampoo and Ukyo, Ranma and Nabiki are probably wondering if we got lost. Then after Uncle Genma's classes are over he and Ranma can show you what real sparring looks like.”

“Right. And actually, I'm really not a lesbian, it's just ... just something about Ranma ...”

“In that case maybe I'd better not pull out the photo album and show you what Ranma looks like as a guy, after all, you might change your mind about not keeping him....”

/\

Inside the kitchen, standing so that she was out of sight of the two girls walking past the window, Kasumi listened to the fading banter. “Good for you, little sister,” she whispered as she wiped at her tear-streaked cheeks. Deciding that her sister and their guest were far enough away that they wouldn't hear her when she resumed preparing breakfast and realize she'd inadvertently eavesdropped on their conversation, she turned back to the vegetables on the counter and picked up the knife, then paused reflectively. She was the invisible one, the one in the background, making sure that the washing got done, the house was clean and the meals arrived on time, and she had taken quiet pride in doing her job so well that it was hardly noticed. But even when her mother had died, she had never felt as useless as she had the past month.

Reluctantly, her mind returned to one of the shopkeepers she regularly frequented, and the package he had discreetly offered her. She had gently, politely refused it at the time, carefully hiding her horror at his offer, but now, with Akane's example to shame her.... Yes, once breakfast was over and cleaned up, she would have to make another shopping trip.

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I've been playing around with how this version of Japan views public nudity. Historically, when Europeans reopened trade with Japan at the point of a cannon, they found a society where public nudity didn't cause an eye-blink — people would walk naked from their homes to the public bathhouses. OTOH, public displays of affection were considered shocking, and Just Not Done. Here, I'm thinking that the large minority of Shinto Christians has had an influence, to the point at least the nudity in front of strangers is frowned upon, and PDoAs, while still frowned upon, are no longer shocking.