Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma and the Evil Within Continues ❯ Storry II Part II ( Chapter 3 )

Ranma and the Evil Within Continues - Part III

 

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“Okay. This is tricky. You want these to be tight enough for support, but if they're too tight it will stunt your growth. Finding exactly the right size is vital.”

 

“But Nabiki, do you really think they'll grow much bigger.”

 

“Well make sure they have room to grow just in case. They are kinda small.”

 

“Small,” Ranma whined.

 

“Well yes, they are petite, but their form and shape is absolutely perfect.

 

“But that is not true,” Onna Ranma replied. “One is bigger than the other.”

 

“Oh that's not even noticeable.”

 

“More likely the naives of this store measured incorrectly. Why they are proportioned every bit as magnificently as the rest of your body my goddess,” complimented Kuno.

 

“Yours are so lovely. I'm envious Nabiki.”

 

“What, Ranma, don't be ridiculous. Mine are way too big.”

 

“No they're perfect.”

 

Finally after several minutes of arguing over whom has the better pair Ranma picked the high heeled shoes she liked best. Kuno told the salesman he had recently insulted to gift-wrap them and they moved on to the lingerie department.

 

Onna Ranma looked at and fingered several bras. She compared prices and materials, read the sizes, looked carefully at the different patterns and strap arrangements then admitted that she doesn't know the first thing about women's underwear. Nabiki blushed. She did not know what to tell her. Kasumi always helped her when she bought underwear. It was so embarrassing. Both of them were well endowed, yet neither of them knew what to pick. They had just about agreed to save lingerie shopping for another time when Kuno demanded a sales lady to service them immediately.

 

Used to pushy clients the lady came over with a smile.

 

“This lady requires undergarments.” Kuno proclaimed in a higher voice than he would have liked.

 

“Alright,” said the sales lady. Then she looked over to Onna Ranma. Ranma starred back at her, and a shiver crept up the woman's spine. To put the woman at ease Ranma smiled. The demonic smile spoke of awful things she would do to her, and frightened the woman even more.

 

“Can you tell me your size?” she cautiously asked.

 

“I am not certain,” said Ranma.

 

“She is a 34 C cup with a 32 waist,” Kuno added.

 

Ranma and Nabiki stared at Kuno in surprise. How the heck does he know that, they thought. The tension was made worse when the sales lady commented: “My, it must be nice to have a friend of his type to help you ladies when you shop.”

 

“What do you mean of his type,” Kuno quizzically asked.

 

“I mean a man who tries to see things from a female perspective.”

 

“Are you implying that the great Tatawaki Kuno is …?”

 

“Please I meant no offence sir.” The woman interrupted. “Why my own brother is like that. In fact perhaps I can introduce you to him.”

 

Nabiki watched this argument intently. She worried that perhaps Kuno would get angry or make a scene. Yet she needed to know how he would react. Perhaps this will tell her what to expect when others find out how she feels towards Onna Ranma. To her surprise Kuno laughed. It was a jolly and hearty laugh that showed no unease in the slightest. “Maam,” said he “though I am sure your brother is a fine fellow, I have all the company a man could want from these ladies here. Besides,” he joked, “me seeing your brother would probably make them jealous.”

 

The sales clerk looked over to Ranma and Nabiki, thinking she had made a mistake. Nabiki was still watching the altercation between the two of them, but Ranma was taking that moment of distraction to sniff Nabiki's hair. The woman, who thought she was so PC shuddered at this. Still she helped Ranma pick some nice undergarments and they moved on.

 

Soon after they where trying on make-up at the cosmetics counter. Onna Ranma found several shades of eye shadow she liked, but they all clashed with her bright red hair.

 

Ranma looked at her reflection and thought. She is essentially a new person. Perhaps she needs a look to better suit her personality. What is her personality? She wondered. She no longer remembered how to be the macho Ranma, that part of her was literally ripped away. The few times she purposely posed as a female she had either been ultra cute or sensual. She couldn't act like that all the time it would get annoying. Still she needed to be more expressive, if for no other reason then just to stop scaring people with her ghostly mannerisms. She looked to Nabiki, her confidence, her feminine grace. She couldn't just copy everything about her but maybe…“Maybe I should darken my hair.” She asked Nabiki. “And perhaps I could style it more like yours only slightly longer. That would be cute.”

 

Nabiki tried to imagine Ranma with shorter purplish hair and dark eye shadow. In the short time since her rebirth Ranma had developed fairer skin, a thinner body, and had just sprouted tiny fangs. Then it hit her. Grinning mischievously she walked over to a magazine stand in the impulse isle, and grabbed a copy of Chibi Vampire by Yuna Kagesaki, then brought it over to Ranma. “You mean you want to look like this,” she teased pointing to a vampire girl named Karin.

 

Ranma flipped through the magazine and inspected the art carefully. She looked at how the character posed, how she dressed, and how she reacted. “Yes, that is nice,” Ranma commented, oddly oblivious to the fact that she was being teased. Ranma grinned. This was the first time Nabiki had seen demon Onna Ranma look cheerful, so she humoured her. Soon they were at a salon, reading that very comic while the stylist made Ranma look like her new idol. She even went so far as to look for similar styles of clothes as those the character wore. Nabiki was kicking herself. There were tons of manga with scanty clad women yet she had to pick the one with an overly modest heroine.

 

Somewhere during her makeover Ranma looked at the comic and tried to pose and smile like the character she was emulating. This smile was cuter than her last, albeit somewhat scary. “What do you think?” She asked Nabiki in a purposely high pitched voice. Nabiki wondered why she was trying to mimic the comic character, still she looked adorable and that's what Nabiki told her. Kuno said the same.

 

As time went on Ranma watched all girls they past just as she might observe a martial arts move before testing it. She looked specifically for gestures and habits that suited her new image. Whenever she tried a new mannerism she turned to Nabiki, for approval. Soon Nabiki realized being totally female was new to Ranma. Her earlier lack of expression wasn't a tough girl act; she just didn't know how she was supposed to behave. She was looking for a role model, and without thinking Nabiki had suggested a character from a horror slash love story. This is fine as long as she doesn't try to bite anyone. Still Nabiki wondered just how impressionable Ranma is right now, and more importantly, what she should teach her.

 

Later Kuno took them both to a nice bistro for dinner. Once again, at a glance Onna Ranma's manners appeared proper, yet she actually ate huge amounts of food at an incredible speed. Nabiki wondered how she had gotten so thin, and if she would remain that way. Ranma's back faced the window, and she focused so intently on her food that it surprised her when she realized the sun had gone down.

 

“What time is it?” Ranma asked.

 

“It is 8:30.”

 

“Nabiki, we had better get a move on.”

 

“Surely you can stay a little longer. This establishment has the finest deserts,” Kuno tempted.

 

“I don't remember you even having a curfew,” said Nabiki.”

 

“Actually I just want time to dismantle the bombs,” said Ranma.

 

Nabiki's eyes bulged out of their sockets.

 

They waited awhile but Ranma didn't add anything to her statement. Finally Nabiki asked “What bombs?”

 

“Male Ranma stole some bomb making supplies from Happosai and set up bombs all over our school. I want to dismantle them, but I have to go late so no one will know who set them.”

 

“He set bombs.”

 

“Yes, he was planning to kill everyone at the dance next Friday. He even convinced our Fathers to chaperone and told Happosai there would be lots of girls there.”

 

There was no more question in Nabiki's mind which Ranma had been the evil one. She was suddenly reminded of a discussion about how people see Ranma as something outside there view of reality, after all this was just too real for her. She hyperventilated slightly at the thought of it. He was actually planning to kill her. Heck, he was planning to kill everyone. For a month her room had been two doors down from someone who planned to commit mass murder. Was this why he had pretended everything was normal? Was he just trying to catch everyone off guard?

 

“Should we be talking about this in front of Kuno?”

 

“Why not, he did defeat the foul sorcerer Saotome, so there's no harm revealing his evil plans.” said Onna Ranma giving Nabiki a mischievous wink. “Besides there are a lot of bombs to remove, I'm going to need help. Of course I can dismantle them tomorrow. I do want to try the cheesecake.”

 

Kuno just smiled as though all was normal. “Well it's a good thing I destroyed the foul sorcerer Saotome,” he said for the millionth time.

 

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Ryoga had the oddest sensation that he was being followed, but that feeling diminished as he came closer to a streetlight. Then as he walked past the light he began to feel the ominous presence once again. Only now it was in front of him. He looked at the oddly pigtailed shadow. He looked at the many streetlights ahead and he moved on. Each time he approached a light the shadow would move behind him. As he reached a light the presence would disappear only to reappear again in front of him as he passed the light. Ryoga could feel it. Ranma was mocking him. He had found some new way to torment him from anywhere. He would let the depression build then attack the shadow from time to time, but it never seemed to react. He merely destroyed the area around the cursed shadow, so Ryoga walked on to the next light, vowing that he would find Saotome and punish him for this.

 

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“I've never tasted cheesecake like this before”

 

“Yes it is quite exquisite,” Kuno agreed.”

 

“It's so yummy.” Ranma forgot her newly acquired table manners and greedily gobbled it up. “Nabiki you have to try this. Giggle, giggle, hiccup. It's so tasty. Hiccup.”

 

“Ranma are you okay. You're sweating and your face is turning red.”

 

“Oh I'm great. Hiccup. Never better. Hiccup. Boo hoo.”

 

Suddenly Ranma was crying.

 

“Kuno,” Nabiki scolded, “What is in that cake?”

 

“Right,” Ranma suddenly chirped. “You have got to tell us the recipe.” She then started to cry again.

 

Kuno panicked. “There is a little bit of liquor, but not enough to get drunk.”

 

Suddenly Ranma put her feet up and leaped out of her chair. She began to fall but to everyone's astonishment missed the ground. She then hovered up. Realizing she had gone to high she hovered back down, wobbling left and right in the process. Suddenly she puffed her cheeks and held her mouth prepared to vomit but when nothing came she moved on and hovered unsteadily toward a waiter. “Hiccup, Hey, Mister Waiter guy. Giggle. You got any more cheesy cake, Hiccup.”

 

The waiter and restaurant patrons where horrified. Though one man who totally misunderstood the situation exposed the nape of his neck and offered to give Onna Ranma his cheese cake in return for eternal life.

 

Nabiki was proud of herself. She had remained cynical and unaffected in a situation that should have brought up all kinds of pesky emotions. She just calmly took Onna Ranma's hand, told her “You've had enough cheesecake.” Then Nabiki led her out of the restaurant, leaving the flabbergasted Kuno to pay the bill. He would have paid anyway, but this way it doesn't look like they're ducking on the bill.

 

Soon Ranma was sitting on a bench outside, sweating, and trying to regain her composure.

 

Nabiki held Ranma's hand and tried to think of a lie to explain whatever just happened. Fortunately, being delusional, Kuno had already come up with a lie of his own. He explained to Nabiki how the formerly pigtailed girl was the last princess of and ancient line of magic users and how as he had long suspected the foul sorcerer Saotome kept her prisoner in order to exploit her magic powers. He then explained how all the members of her family lose control of there powers and inhibitions when they come in contact with spirituous beverages or possibly whipped cream. Nabiki just nodded and gave Kuno some mock compliments. He then told Nabiki how she needn't worry because he had erased the memories of everyone in the restaurant before leaving. Curiosity getting the better of her Nabiki looked back into the restaurant. Everyone was unconscious having been conked on the head with Kuno's bokken.

 

“Did you pay the bill before leaving” she asked.

 

“Why, they won't remember us having been there.”

 

Before leaving Onna Ranma noted that everyone had been conked on the same point of their skulls. Could this be a pressure point technique? Does Kuno really have the power to erase short term memory? Even hammered her martial arts trained mind noted the positions and the level of bruising of the average wound figuring she might have use for this later. Nabiki just thought that Kuno better have one darn good lawyer.

 

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Later

 

“Ranma, I really think we should disarm those explosives.”

 

Snore.

 

“Ranma, wake-up,” Nabiki demanded. “You have to dismantle the bombs. The school is set to explode in four days.”

 

“Huh? Yeah I'll get to it.”

 

Ranma drifted back to sleep.

 

Nabiki was making no progress. Ranma had fallen asleep on the ride home.

 

Nabiki wanted to dismantle the bombs right away but she had a 10:00 curfew. Kuno was supposed to drop her off at the dojo then Ranma and Kuno would dismantle the bombs together, but Ranma had to fall asleep on the ride home. She wasn't just asleep, she was totally passed out. She couldn't leave Ranma alone with Kuno in this state. She had no choice; they would have to do it tomorrow.

 

Let's just hope Ranma doesn't procrastinate for too long she thought.

 

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That's chapter 3. I was going to something longer and more poignant to the storyline but figured if I didn't post something soon people would think the story was abandoned.

 

I hope you enjoyed, and please review.