Ranma stared at Mara for a long minute before taking another drag from his cigarette. "Why do you want to know?"
"Call it curiosity," Mara said before smirking. "I wanna know who got your cherry before I did."
The pigtailed demon coughed a couple of times to try and cover the blush that appeared on his face thanks to Mara's bluntness. He succeeded somewhat and turned to regard the trails of smoke produced by his cigarette. "Who do you think did it?"
"Let's see..." Mara mumbled as she sat back on the bench. "Obviously has to be a girl head-over-heels for you. I mean, who else could put up with your shit?" Tapping her fingers on the table, she said, "I'd say that bath-product-named girl with the purple hair, if she wasn't trying to enslave you."
Ranma glared at Mara for the shit comment before taking a deep breath. He didn't need a fight right now, concerned as he was about his 'lover.' The fight could come later. "No, it wasn't Shampoo. There's no fucking way I'm living as second best to anyone." And the Amazons certainly knew how to break males. There was no way he was risking it.
Nodding her head, Mara smirked. "So that means what's her name's out as well... The 'first' girl you got engaged to." After all, if she read the file right, then that... What's her name? Ayane? Akama? Something like that, was out of the running.
Ranma snorted. "Things didn't work out. That and Akane was always angry at me."
Mara nodded her head. "Then... Hmm..." Mara scratched her chin. DAMN! She wished she had read his file more carefully when Hild gave her the chance, rather than just taking a quick glance over it. "Maybe that girl? You know, uses the rug-beater to create killer winds. Natsu, I think."
Ranma stared at Mara flatly. When he answered his voice was really dry. "No. It wasn't her."
"Hmm, of likely choices, that leaves..."
The Demoness' eyes widened. "No way!"
Ranma smirked as he continued to stare at Mara.
Gawking at Ranma, Mara asked. "You didn't..."
The pigtailed demon raised an eyebrow.
Pointing an accusing finger, Mara shrieked. "YOU SLEPT WITH THE THREE-HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD HAG!?"
Ranma stared at Mara perfectly still, as if the 'accusation' didn't affect him at all. The effect was broken when he tilted back and the demon fell flat on his back. He got up and sat down again, giving Mara a hurt look. "Do you really think I would do that? She's worse than Shampoo in the male-domination thing, not to mention she's just... ugly."
Patting her chest, Mara let out a sigh of relief. "Oh. Thank Hild!" Calming herself, she looked Ranma over. "But then the only one left would have to be some girl who would feed your ego. Some girl who could live with the chaos. A girl with no sense of the real world. Some girl who could..."
Mara froze.
Looking at Ranma, the demoness tentatively asked, "the Kuno girl!?"
Ranma didn't answer with words, but his smile was more than enough for Mara to realize the truth.
In truth she was the best choice for Ranma. Apart from her laugh, which he had to get used to, all the other stuff was great for the pigtailed martial artist. She literally worshiped the floor he stood on, a must for someone with as big an ego as the demon.
"Unholy shit..." Mara mumbled as she looked at Ranma. "You slept with a Kuno? An act considered Class 3 Chaos all on its own?"
"Huh?"
Nodding her head, Mara said, "In Nifelheim, there's a file on the Kuno family at least 3,000 years long."
"They've been a fucked up group since back when Japan was held together by primitive groups of tribes," Mara continued.
Ranma stared at Mara thoughtfully. "You saying the Kunos got something special?"
"They're a pretty much damned-sort of people," Mara mumbled. "Pretty much perfect for ya."
Ranma didn't answer to that, but inwardly he smirked. Trust his luck to throw him another curve ball. Yet this one wasn't a bad one. "So Kodachi is the perfect wife for a demon, huh?"
"I didn't say it in that text," Mara told him seriously. "She's a perfect candidate to end up in hell, making her pretty much fair game to you or any demon!"
The pigtailed demon raised an eyebrow. He wasn't very observant, huge understatement, but even he noticed the slight nervousness of Mara's quick answer. "Doesn't matter. Revenge can wait a day more. I'm going to find her."
Mara grit her teeth. "Shit, shit, shit, SHIT!" She thought nervously.
Ranma stood up and turned down to regard Mara. "You coming?"
Smirking, Mara got to her feet once more. She had to get his mind off of that damn girl, and fast! "I will when you do," she told him.
The demon stared at Mara in confusion. "Huh?"
Mara smirked and started walking up to Ranma once more. She wrapped an arm around his waist and smiled. Leaning her head on his shoulder, she whispered, "we still have some unfinished business," before she started nibbling on his ear.
Ranma snorted in annoyance and elbowed Mara away from him. Now that he remembered Kodachi he wouldn't put up with Mara's advances. "Watch it. You're starting to really piss me off."
Mara held her stomach and frowned. "Damn it! This isn't just about you, you know!"
"What the heaven are you talking about?"
Her eye twitching, Mara knew she had two choices. One, keep it a secret and force him to have sex while running the risk of running out of time. Or telling the truth and A, getting him to concede, or B, having him purposely avoid her and fuck her over by having her demoted.
Sighing, Mara threw her hands up in the air. "Fine, you want to know, dick-cheese? I'll tell you why!"
Ranma sat back down, staring at Mara seriously.
Pointing a finger at Ranma, Mara frowned. "Listen you. Our boss has decided that you will become Demon First Class, Category 1, Unlimited! The Highest ranking us demons can achieve, same as me. Only Hild is higher than us."
Mara then pointed to her 'watch.' "And you see this time?"
"What about it?" Ranma was a little surprised over the information, but wanted to know what Mara was getting at.
Mara frowned. "When this timer hits zero, you will become a full-powered Class 1 Demon."
Ranma nodded. "That still doesn't explain why you want to get into my pants."
Mara's features hardened. "There comes a very difficult decision. The boss doesn't think I can handle teaching you if you get too powerful. So I have a choice. I either show her I have SOME form of restraint over you so that I can still be your partner up here..."
"Or?"
"Or..." Mara winced. "I fail and get demoted to Demon 7th Class, SEVERELY limited."
Ranma blinked. "You'd get demoted because of me?"
"YES!" Mara shouted.
"And the way to remain first class is to have your way with me?"
"More or less," Mara admitted. "I can't think of any other way to show I have some great connection to you, that you'd listen to me."
Ranma looked Mara up and down, clearly checking her out, and then he focused his gaze in her eyes. "Tough luck." He said flatly and stood up again. "Now let's go find Kodachi."
Mara growled. She grabbed the back of Ranma's shirt and turned him to face her. "All right, fine! We'll check out for this Kodachi! But you and I *ARE* fucking!" She said in a heated voice bordering on anger that left no room for error.
Ranma glared right back. "Let. Me. Go."
Mara was breathing heavily, practically boring holes into Ranma's head. "I am NOT going to lose my job because of some fuck-face, shit-headed newbie demon that can't let go of the past wants to act all high and mighty!"
The ground under her was starting to break as her aura was starting to go out of control due to her anger. Light-bulbs along the street lamps began exploding one by one as the neighborhood around the park lost power.
"DO YOU HEAR ME!?" Mara asked in a 'come hell or high water' demand. "We will look for Kodachi, BUT! WE! WILL! FUCK!!!"
And all the while, Mara was glowing like a black light at some hot-spot night-club. Indeed. The miasma Mara was starting to generate from her own fears was quite the spectacle.
Ranma saw something in Mara's eyes that stopped him from snapping back at Mara hotly; quite possibly starting a fight he couldn't hope to win today. It was something he recognized. It was a feeling he'd felt when being killed. The feeling of having everything he'd worked for taken away from him. The hate Mara was starting to direct his way was the exact same one he felt for his murderers. He couldn't do this to Mara. Regardless of how he felt about Kodachi or himself, there was no way he could do to Mara what was done to him. The demoness, even if annoying, was fun to hand around.
The pigtailed demon took a hold of Mara's wrist and forced her hand away from his collar. "Fine."
That small word totally threw Mara off. "Eh? Really? Just like that?" She asked. No way. No way could it be that easy.
Ranma shot her an annoyed gaze. "Just like that. Unless you want me to put up a fight."
"Oh, oh no, I don't mind!" Mara said with a smile.
Ranma sighed and let go of Mara's wrist.
Mara began to giggle uncontrollably. At last! Now she could lay the little fucker and have her job security! "Come to mama!" The demoness shouted as she threw her arms open wide and lunged at Ranma...
Only to slam right into Ranma's extended palm, which was being held in front of his body.
Stumbling back a few steps, Mara held onto her bloody nose. "WHAD DA FUK WAS DAT FOAH!?" She screamed as she held onto her bleeding sinus.
Ranma smirked. "You didn't think if would be that easy, did you?"
Her eye twitching, Mara glared at Ranma. "Oh...kay..." She mumbled, wiping her still bleeding nose. "What's the catch?"
"You help me find Kodachi and promise not to get between us and I'll give you what you want." After all the Black Rose had, on numerous occasions, told Ranma she didn't mind him having other women as long as she always got his attention.
Incredible what could be accomplished by bedding someone that was already head-over-heels for him.
The only condition was that it couldn't be Ukyo, Shampoo or Akane. An understandable limitation, considering the rivalry between the girls.
Mara looked at Ranma seriously. "I'll agree to it if you'll let me add one thing to those terms."
"And that is?"
"If we're still looking for her, and we reach the half-hour-to-go mark, we're taking a break to fuck," she said seriously. "I can't chance this. And I promise I will continue to help you search after the deed."
Ranma thought it over for a moment and nodded. "Deal."
"Deal!" Mara shouted and held out her hand to shake his.
The pigtailed demon shook Mara's hand. "Let's get going. It'll take a while to get there."
"We can just fly there," Mara told him.
"... What the hell? By now I'd be surprised if we weren't in every news headline anyway." Ranma shrugged and walked out of the bar, not realizing the effect those words would have on Mara.
Mara blinked her eyes. "News headlines?" And then the realization dawned upon her. "Hild is gonna kill me..."
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(Posted Tue, 29 Jun 2004 03:35)
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