Reiko stood nude in front of her closest, debating whether or not, she should go train some more, or go out and see her friends. She knew that her Kami trained a lot, almost to the exclusion of all else, and she also knew Him valued Honor and His Word very much. She did give her word that she would meet with her friends, who rarely had a chance to get together these days, and her word meant a lot to her, but she would break it to obey her Kami.
She prayed a bit to her Kami for guidance, and the next thing she knew, she was walking down the street wearing a red Chinese silk dress, with black piping, and a pair of high-heel shoes. The only thing was she could not recall ever buying any high-heel shoes.
She shrugged and continued on her way. She was dressed to party, and she got several lusty looks as she walked passed.
The club where her friends were meeting was uptown, and very exclusive and huge hotspot of Tokyo Night-life. As she walked passed the line to get in, she heard several girlfriends hitting their staring dates, as well as, a few suggestions on what she could do with her night, some doable but not without her Kami's permission, and some biological impossible. The later suggestions were, of course, from envious, or jealous, girls.
The bouncer at the door flirted with her a bit, in a friendly manner, and let her in without any trouble. When he was not working at the various clubs, she hired him to work on several of her films, so they knew each other.
She took a moment to adjust to the club lightning, spotted her friends in a corner, and headed over to them.
She spotted Akira Imamura, the solo male of the group. In his thirties, he was a dashing man of action, or so he portrayed in the movies. He was a mega super-star throughout the entire world. In truth, he was a quiet man, who had gotten into acting for the money and fame. Got interested in martial arts after doing a few such films and meeting Reiko. From there, he trained with some Shaolin priests for several years, from then on, his nick name went from Flash, for his reckless actions, to Iceman, for his calm and cool under pressure. In many ways, he was Shaolin, and always one to inject spiritualism into the conversation.
On Akira's right was Nene Durbe, Russian-born super-model turn actress. Few people knew her name, but everyone knew her body and face. Of course, Nene claimed that she was original a K.G.B operative, trained in their infamous Red Room, but was let go when she got too old at the age of twenty-tow. None one believed that, simply because the K.G.B. was not one to let anyone go, for any reason. Still, they humor her, and called her the Black Widow. They claim its because of her background's similarity with the fictional character of that name, but actually, it was because she went through so many dates that she just seemed to just eat them all up and spit them out.
On Nene's right was Chikuma Hagiwara, an Euro-Asian beauty super-model, who was also a martial artist that Reiko had meet at a few tournaments. Chikuma was a slightly better then average martial artist, who usually was in the fifth or sixth place in any tournament that Reiko was in, while Reiko would place first or second in the same tournament.
The last, and most surprising, was Ayano Yunokawa, on Chikuma's right. It was very surprising to see her with the group, especially waiting for her. Ayano was a well-known actress throughout Asia and Europe. She and Ayano did not get along well, they could be compared to Fire and Ice, which was which depended on the situation. In the beginning, Ayano would try anything to get her thrown off the set, but the producers would see through Ayano's attempts. Since Ayano could not beat her, she took up martial arts, to beat her at her own game. But Ayano got tired of traditional martial arts that was taught, and sought out her own Sensei's. Soon after, Ayano became a bully, using her martial arts aggressively for selfish reasons. Fortunately, that phase did not last long. Unfortunately, Ayano became a thrill-seeker, fighting in underground bloodsports, where, many times, winner took all, literally. Several times, Ayano came to the set all bruised and battered, as well as a new scar or two, which would have to be covered up with make-up. Of course, the scars gave her character, and typecasted her in the villain role. Of course, since there were more villainess roles then heroine, Ayano got more work then she did.
It was Nene who spotted her first, and gave her a mock wolf-whistle, bring the others attention to her. Chikuma smirked at her, while Ayano frowned, and Akira just looked calmly on.
As she sat down, Nene demanded, "Whose the new man? Does he have a brother? He is in the biz? He must be great in bed." Nene grinned at her last comment.
"It's not like that," Reiko defended herself. She added happily, "I got a Master." She groaned, she had meant to say she had gotten a new sensei in the Arts.
The group was intrigued, Chikuma and Akira assumed she meant a master as an instructor, while Nene and Ayano seemed to understand exactly what the situation was. Nene, she could understand, but was a bit worried... curious... puzzled that Ayano also knew. Nene would know, simply because she would never wear high-heels under any circumstance, even if the script called for it. So the fact that she was was a big indicator that her life was under another's control.
Curious, Chikuma asked, "So whose this master that you're studying under? Must be something if Miss There-Is-Nothing-Else-For-Me-To-Learn is taking lessons..."
"Or he's a major hunk," Nene piped in. She giggled and added, "And he's really worth working under..."
Reiko blushed thinking of her Kami. Out-loud, she calmly stated, "You won't know him... But he's a true Master of the Art."
One of Akira's eyebrow rose in curiosity. Yes, he was a fan of Star Trek, and copied Mister Spock's mannerisms at times, it had helped him relate to some of the Shaolin philosophies. In a curious voice, "And where is this Master of Masters located? In China? India? Some small island in the Pacific?"
"Japan isn't a small island," Reiko replied before she could stop herself. While she was not assumed of her Kami or her service to Him, she did not wish for her friends to get involved and make things difficult for Him. Together, her friends had major connections to all the media outlets in Asia and Europe, as well as some in the Americas.
"Close to home," Nene smirked. "Maybe, in our own home ward of Nerima, by chance. After all, you've taken that teaching job at that High School you went to. So it's not like you have that much time... Although, I suppose teaching Physical Education isn't that demanding, you did make that pic several months ago."
The group thought over that bit of tid-bit. Chikuma thought out-loud, "What old masters are in the Nerima Ward?"
Akira answered, "Several... There's Yasui-sensei, Ueshima-sensei, Tsuda-sensei, Taku-sensei, Sanda-sensei, and Ogyu-sensei... And that's just at the Temple. Nerima Ward of Tokyo has to be the capital of Japanese Martial Arts, easily." Each of those mentioned by Akira were old men, white hair, and the youngest was in his early eighties.
"Saotome-sama is not old like that," Reiko objected. She groaned, not meaning to say anything to the bait.
"Saotome-sama?" Nene echoed.
"Please, tell me, it's not the Temple Thief, Genma Saotome," Akira asked with a pained expression.
"Temple Thief?" Chikuma asked in curiosity. Akira went on to explain that Genma Saotome was a known thief of scrolls with martial arts and other things upon them. None have ever been able to stop him, nor catch him with the scrolls to prove that he had done it.
Ayano seem to know the name as well, much to the surprise of the group. When asked, or rather demanded, to tell, she added, "Genma Saotome was an undefeated fighter in the Underground, called the Shadow Fighter, since you couldn't see him coming and stuck to you like a shadow. Of course, he hasn't been seen in over a decade or so."
Reiko could only listen in amazement, she did not know that about her Master's father, but then, she realized, she did not know anything save that her students did not think much of him and that he was her Master's father. She could honestly deny that Genma Saotome was not her Master.
The group knew her long enough and well enough to know she was not lying, but also that while Genma was not her Master; her Master was related to him. They thought about it.
Ayano mentioned, off-handedly, "There was a rumor that Genma had a son..."
"Someone had sex with this guy?" Chikuma asked in wonderment. From the description of Genma she received, she could not imagine any female that would be willing to touch him, in any way. Nodoka sneezed as she watched teevee.
"Hey, wait a minute," Nene exclaimed. "That would make this kid, what.... ten years old..."
"Really stealing from the cradle, aren't you, girl," Ayano smirked.
Angry, Reiko replied, "My Master is the best there is..."
The group just laughed at her.
Reiko then told her friends a few of the exploits of her Kami, most of which they did not believe, so she challenged them to join her at the club meeting and they could then see for themselves. Only Ayano, with a gleam in her eyes, agreed to meet her Kami.
Usagi Tsukino was touched that her friends came to see her before they headed off to school, especially Rei since she went to a different school then her other friends. Along the way, they had asked her questions about how she felt and tried to come to conclusions as to what happened. To the former, she was fine and did not feel any different, and to the latter, she and they had no clue.
They did conclude that it was unlikely that the Dark Kingdom was behind it, since if they could depower them, they would have done so all ready, and not wait this long into the game. They also decided that, whatever it was, it was temporary and, probably, a fluke of some kind. They had been working very hard to defeat the Dark Kingdom, after all, so it was probably just exhaustion. Usagi promised she would rest more. And the matter was dropped. Rei headed off to her own school and Usagi and her friends headed to theirs.
As they walked through the gates of Juuban Junior High School, the Sailor Senshi in their civilian disguises noted that their seem to be an excitement in the air, almost like a Fair was coming. But none were due any time that month.
Curious, they began to ask questions of their school friends and fellow students.
What they find was puzzling to them. Apparently, several students, whom they had never meet, were returning to school after a long bout of sickness. Most of these returning students were older sisters and brothers of those that attended their school. Also, several shrines had been cleansed of evil influences, with a demon or two being destroyed.
"And the best thing?" one girl stated to Usagi. "The best thing is... We don't have to worry about those pesky youmas anymore."
Usagi nodded and added, "Of course, the Sailor Senshi deal with those youmas that show up once in a while..."
The girl looked at Usagi strangely, and echoed, "Once in a while?"
"Okay," Usagi conceded. "Almost once every two weeks."
"Once every two weeks," the girl echoed again. She looked at Usagi strangely as if she was crazy and walked away from her.
Usagi was hurt, and went to join her friends. She noted Ami had a very troubled look on her face. But the bell rang to start the school day, and they had to get to their homeroom before being later then they were.
Classes were, of course, boring and meaningless to Usagi. They serve no purpose save to help her catch up with her sleep. She had no interest in learning what some dead people did hundreds of years ago. The clerk at the ice cream shop made the change for her. Some of the stories they read were fun to listen to, but they did not help her fight youmas.
Finally, it was Usagi's favorite part of the school day, lunchtime.
Usagi and her friends went to their spot under a tree to eat their lunch. They ate their bento lunches in silence, and just enjoyed each other's presence. The silence, of course, was finally broke by Usagi asking Makoto if she could share anything with her as her mother had not packed her bento lunch with enough food. That Mrs Tsukino had made a bento lunch that could have feed two people was irrelevant, Usagi was hungry, and she wanted more.
Knowing it was coming, Makoto had, purposely, made extra to share with Usagi. She enjoyed that Usagi enjoyed her cooking so much.
After the lunches were finished, they began to share their information from that morning with each other. Each of them had found that much of the happiness was the enjoying of younger siblings at their older siblings return to health and school.
Usagi noted that throughout the discussion, Ami had a trouble look on her face. Finally, Usagi, wanting to help, asked, "What's wrong, Ami-chan?"
Swallowing a bit, Ami asked in a soft voice, "How often do you think the Dark Kingdom attacks?"
The others blinked in confusion; they would not have expected such a simple and silly question from someone like Ami. But they answered as they could.
Usagi, of course, answered as she answered before, "Oh, maybe, once every two weeks or so..."
Makoto answered, "About once every ten days..."
Ami swallowed again, and stated in a shocked voice, "Ahmmmm, guys... The Dark Kingdom attacks about daily... even twice a day... some times..."
The exclamation of the other Senshis' surprise could be heard all over the school.
"But, Ami-chan," Usagi began.
Ami shook her head and stated, "We only deal with Jedite and his pet youmas..."
"But," Usagi tried to interrupt.
Ami swallowed again, blushed a bit, and continued over Usagi's attempt to interrupt, this was too important, and continued, "Using my computer, I checked it out. It's true. Every day, some minor youma or even a major demon attacks somewhere in Juuban... And we do nothing about it! We only deal with Jedite..."
Makoto was a bit upset, and interjected, "But, Ami-chan, if they're so many attacks, why don't we know about it until now? Better yet, if we're not there to deal with all these attacks, why aren't we overwhelmed by their sheer numbers?"
Embarrassed, Ami blushed, shook her head, and answered, "I don't know, Makoto-chan. The reports are vague. They aren't just confined to this area. There are reports from Nerima, Edogawa, Adachi and the other Wards. Those youma out there are dealt with by devil hunters, a group of warrior-priests, who claim to have a tradition dating back hundreds of years."
Ami's voice conveyed her doubts of such a group actually existed, let alone that long or were that popular.
Makoto voiced that the others where thinking, "If this so-called devil hunters existed, then why haven't we seen anything?"
Ami shrugged, swallowed, and replied, "I don't know. But I will try to find out."
Makoto muttered, "These so-called devil hunters better not get in our way, though."
Usagi nodded her head in agreement. She knew that any of these so-called devil hunters could not deal with the problem, only the Sailor Senshi, reborn to battle the Dark Kingdom, once again, could stop them. It would be very bad if anyone got hurt involving themselves when they could handle the Dark Kingdom by themselves, just let Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom once did.
Zeroids El-Oh-Two through El-Oh-Five were busy. They had found and secured a junkyard with all the raw materials they needed. It was a simple matter to obtain the funds they needed to buy the junkyard. The Creator had made up a game, whereas, He would create an account with one of the many online stock trading companies that gave people free money to start an account with them, and using only that money make it grow and multiple until He reached a specific, randomly chosen prime number by a series of buying, selling, and holding various stocks throughout the world. It was relatively easy for them, they worked constantly, never truly needing any sleep, able to work in any world market as language/culture was no true barrier since all computers, basically, spoke the same language, and losses and risks were equated into their game for the purpose of greater gains.
Unlike their Creator, the lady Zeroids allowed their stock game to continue, at a slower pace, so they could have funds available should there be need. They had little intentions of returning to their Home-Dimension after their mission was over. Their Creator and the Terrahawks had everything in hand, and there was not any real need for them there. The Android Zelda's attempt on Commander Saotome's life was just a sign of her desperation and annoyance of the Saotome couples to her, as well as, an attempt for the Terrahawks to waste resources on stopping her. She was not aware of the extra project of Doctor Ninestein, so there was no actual drain on Terrahawks resources, their Creator had already foreseen the possibility and took steps to be prepared for it.
The news out of Europe puzzled many law-enforcement agencies and troubled them.
For the last several days, several known serial-killers, whom they had been trying for the past months and more to convict, had been turning up dead. Which was not a bad thing, in itself. It was the fact that these serial-killers were drained of blood, necks sliced, and lack of clothing that was troubling. The first had caused the press to dub these the "Vampire Justice." The second had many worried, if there was a killer of serial-killers out there, of which there was, fortunately, a very limited supply of, then it stood to reason that whoever this was would turn to other victims very soon. And the third just caused many to throw up, serial-killers, as a rule, were not a handsome group.
At what point in the night, Ranma had picked her up and bought her to his bed, Nabiki was not sure. Nor did it matter; what did matter was that her Master was with her, his strong arms around her, and they were together. She enjoyed the soft, smooth skin of her Master, with His hard muscles underneath. That was why they had used the magic mushrooms, yes, her Master could appear, virtually as any age, but His healing factor would not duplicate all the scaring that He received from the Neko-ken "incident" (calling it training was just so wrong, on so many levels) and the martial arts training he had undergone. Of course, her Master's skin was a lot tougher then any normal person's, yet looked and felt as smooth and undamaged as a newborn's.
And then the sun rose, shedding light into his room, and upon his bed. She was half tempted to blast the Sun out of the sky, but knew her Master would not like that. So she settled for an inverted shielding charm over the window, to block out the light, and went back to bed.
Until she was dumped onto the floor when her Master's got up. She mentioned a few choice curse words in several languages she knew. Her Master laughed at her, and playfully messed up her hair. He entered the P2M2 by himself, and returned looking as he had before, light scratches and faded scars over his body. Only an experience eye or the proper light would show them, but their absence would alert Cologne and Happosai, for one, that they had changed more then they wish to share at this time. Surprise and underestimation was their allies.
Kasumi Tendo had gotten up early, and had headed straight for the kitchen. She did not truly wish to defy Ranma-kun's wishes. But her curiosity had gotten the better of her, and she justified herself with the belief that she was just ensuring that whatever staff Ranma had hired was on par on what her family needed. And she knew it was a justification since the food had been even better then her own cooking, larger portions she did not have the time or resources to handle, and the house was literally spotless. So she had foregone her early morning bath to find out what had happened to her beloved kitchen.
"Kasumi-chan," a soft, yet firm voice called out to her.
Kasumi froze in mid-stride, blushed, and wished she could disappear. For a fleeting moment, she had thought the voice was her Mother's, but her body told her it was very masculine.
The voice repeated a bit more sternly, "Kasumi-chan."
She did not wish to turn around, but she knew that was what the voice wished. And reluctantly she did, and saw Ranma watching her. She swallowed as some part of her realized that Ranma's facial expression matched her Mother's would be under a similar situation, which occurred when she was six.
She felt like she was six again, especially as Ranma echoed her mothers exact words and tone as he said, "March up to your room, young lady."
She did as instructed, nervous what was to come, and, surprisedly, to herself, a bit excited as well. She was not sure why that was, but she could not deny that she was a bit excited, and that she was actually looking forward to being punished for her disobedience.
Puzzling, although it did give her a bit on insight to her excitement, she did not truly hear Ranma's voice, but her Mother's. At least, until she laid across Ranma's knees, and received her expected spanking. Then the differences become apparent. For one thing, Ranma was spanking her covered ass; her Mother would never allow that. Secondly, Ranma was very obviously male, and her body reacted accordingly, another surprise for her. She knew it was a biological fact that Ranma was male, but she had classified him as safe and "non-sexual," for a lack of a better term.
As Ranma-sama comforted her, he explained why it was important for her to let go of her old life, which she was coming to realize was, in fact, not really a life at all. That she and her family were merely going through the motions. She realized why she was excited, since her mother's death, she and her family lacked a true parental figure. Even before, Soun was never a parental figure, so it was not surprising that he was not up to the task afterwards. Even with the Saotomes, Genma was not much of a parental figure either, more of a sensei, and even then, one that did not consider the whole picture. Nodoka was not around either, nor felt it her place, especially, with the lack of experience she had. Now, this mature Ranma could be the parental figure in the household, and he would take care of everything, she did not have to anymore. A huge weight was lifted from her shoulders. She knew she had not done a good job, one need only look to Akane to see that... but now, it was someone else's Duty.
She giggled to herself as she surprised both herself and Ranma-sama by giving him a full-body kiss. She knew it was wrong, since he was married to her imooto-chan, but she could not help herself. Fires were burning within her, and her hormones, finally released, were out of control.
Fortunately, or not, depending on whose viewpoint you use, Ranma knew what was going on with Kasumi, and used his sexcraft to calm her down without doing anything that Kasumi would regret later. After making sure that Kasumi was comfortable back in her bed, he left.
A bit later, Kasumi got again... and for a moment, thought it all a dream. But her sore ass, and lack of clothing convinced her that it was not. The blush on her face from that fact would not leave her for some time. Nor could she go and face her family after what she did. So she just sat on her bed, wondering what she was going to do.
Which is how Nabiki found her Oneechan.
Kasumi flinched from Nabiki's attempt to hug her. But Nabiki's strong arms around her prevented her from fleeing as she wished to do.
"I know," Nabiki whispered softly to her Oneechan.
Kasumi steeled herself for her sister's anger when she heard that.
Caressing her sister softly, Nabiki added, "It's okay, Oneechan. It's perfectly natural."
Kasumi was surprised that Nabiki was taking her attempted rape of her husband so well. But to call it natural... she shook her head in denial.
Mentally sighing, Nabiki tried to explain her Master's affect upon any female, as well as the natural submissiveness of the Tendo sisters.
It took awhile, but Nabiki got through to her oneechan, but realized that her Master was correct that changing Kasumi would have to be done with firmness and prodding, at least in the beginning, to get her over the inertia that claimed her since their mother died.
Seeing that Kasumi was taken care of, to a degree, Nabiki apparitioned to an empty closest, magically dressed herself in her school uniform, and walked out to her homeroom, just as the tardy bell rung.
Once finish with the school day, which went by faster now that he participated, almost taking over several classes with his stories that imparted more information then the teachers gave out, he headed towards the room where the Martial Arts Club met. The room was empty, as his senses had told him, and he took a spot off to the side, where he awaited the club's arrival.
He was a bit surprised to see that his wait was not long, and that all the club members where wearing the same outfit. It seemed to be modeled after his own outfit, black Kung Fu slippers and pants and red Chinese silk shirt. Only, theirs was more form-fitting, yet would allow easy of movement, as well as a few panels, showing off cleavage and thighs. In the two boys' case, the chest panel showed off their chest, which needed some muscle toning.
He also noted that there was an additional adult, with the club. His sense told him that she was a martial artist of some skill, between Ukyou and Shampoo's level, and she lacked any ki-skill beyond simply ki-boosting herself. Even in that, it was very limited.
No one in the club noticed him for several moments, sighing, he called out, "Line up."
Most of the club, including the two adults, jumped, but complied.
He ran the class, for that is what it was, as he did the previous time, having everyone go through the first beginner's kata, either to learn it or to perfect it if they already knew it.
The visitor bulked at first, until he showed her how sloppy her form was. After which she was silent, but fuming a bit.
A little later, he started to talk of ki and chi, to which the visitor exclaimed that he was making it up and telling fairy-tales.
While expected, it was still annoying. So he called her up to the first of the class and told her, "Fine... I will give you a demonstration then... Attack me."
The visitor looked surprised, especially, as he had folded his arms over his chest.
Before she could blink, she was on her butt, naked and her throat, shoulders, elbows, wrists, thighs, groin, chest, knees, and ankles were sore and bruised. As a female, she was a bit surprised to feel soreness from her groin, having forgotten that a female had just as many nerve ending there, just only slightly better protected.
Whispers of awe filled the room; there were also a few giggles to be heard as well.
Ayano looked up at Ranma, shock clearly on her face. Both at what had just happened, and the fact that only disappointment at her behavior was in his eyes. She was a very beautiful woman, naked and at his mercy at his feet, and yet, the guy only had the look of a teacher who was disappointed that his student would rather make fun then apply themselves. His eyes held a wisdom, she had only glimpsed at in white-haired Masters, and a strength that she had nothing to compare to. She realized that Reiko was correct about her Master, even understating him.
Ayano, without thinking, took Ranma's hand that he held out to help he up. She felt a tingling sensation past through her body as their hands made contact. All of her soreness was gone. Even the soreness from an old injury she got in one of her earlier underground fights was gone.
"That was a merely series of simple ki technique used together," Ranma explained. "I don't expect any of you to learn even one of them for a while... And while ki techniques seem powerful, they are no different then physical techniques. They, too, have their advantages and flaws."
"Ki is your personal life-force," he continued. "While Chi is the life-force of the planet. One's own ki is the easiest to use... For in truth, ki is the energy one uses to move, to breath, or any activity. With practice and disciple, one can refine and focus one's ki to expand one's ki to do... just about anything with it."
Ranma taught a bit more, and then dismissed the class.
Ayano wished to talk to Ranma, or rather, beg him to train her as he was Reiko, but she was unsure of how to ask as well as his rejecting her. She did not think she could live with his rejection. So she followed Reiko into the showers with the others.
Ayano dimly noticed that the two boys in the club where showering with the girls, she also noticed that no other locker room was open, so dismissed it as one of the legendary 'budgetary reasons.' She was tempted to go 'pluck' their cherries, but she realized that their first times should be special, not just another conquest of hers.
She did not reclaim what clothes Reiko handled to her, no did she care, but whatever they were, when they got to Reiko's house, they both stripped completely naked, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.
For the rest of the night, they talked about their lives, Ranma, and what purpose they had in Life. Before too long, Reiko was able to convince Ayano that she could have a purpose in Life that she had been missing, by servicing Ranma no Kami as one of his priestess, as she and the others did.
Very soon there after, Ayano shaved herself, offered up her body hair to her new Kami, and dedicated her life as Reiko had.
For the first time, in a very long time, Ayano's sleep was peaceful and restful.
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