After a moment, the three were visited by a forth girl, but not whom they were awaiting. Asami entered the shed, closing the door behind her. Looking about, she too was surprise. “Nabiki’s not here yet?”
“No,” Ryonami answered. “She told us to be here early. I wonder why she isn’t here.”
“Maybe she’s testing out loyalty to see how long we’ll wait?” Kikuko suggested.
“Sorry, ladies. Testing loyalty like that is a waste of time and money.” Nabiki entered the room, closing the door behind her. “For loyalty I prefer to other methods.” Of the girls only Hiroko had been tested before, and she shivered at the memory.
“Lady Nabiki!” All four ladies spoke out at once, before bowing politely to their ‘boss’ figure.
The middle Tendo sister nodded in return. “Let’s get down to business. What do you have for me today?”
“Well, Nabiki,” Hiroko began, “Atsui from St. Hebereke’s was seen sneaking around the campus around 3:30 pm. She was seen hanging around the teacher’s lounge.” She looked at Nabiki. “We’re looking into the possibility of an affair between her and one of the male staff here at Furinkan, since this IS the fifth time she’s been spotted at Furinkan around the same time.”
“Speaking of which,” Asami spoke up. “From where the past sightings of her were, and times available, we’ve narrowed it down to three teachers.”
Nabiki nodded her head to that. “Just be subtle. Even if you don’t go out of your way to see who it is they’re bound to make a mistake sooner or later.”
“Yes, Nabiki,” Kikuko spoke up, “We’ll keep an eye about for Mr. Fozuho, the Physical Education Instructor, Mr. Tamimaya, the Physics Prof, and Mr. Horonchuko, the janitor then.”
“Good. Now...” Nabiki smirked in a way all three girls recognized instantly. Her smile meant an opportunity to get some big earnings. “...I want you, Ryonami, to do another piece of ‘infiltration’ work for me.”
“What is it you need, Mistress Nabiki?” Ryonami answered without hesitation.
Nabiki took a dossier out of her backpack and handed it to the girl. “This is Kassiopeia Feeple, an exchange student staying at my house right now. I’ve confirmed the fact that she’s loaded.” She couldn’t hide a smirk of anticipation at the comment.
Ryonami nodded her head. “Is there anything in particular you want me to find out for you, Boss-lady? Or is this simple spy and detection; waiting for anything to pop up which you could blackmail her with?”
“Oh no. Nothing that simple, my dear good actress,” Nabiki said with honey dripping from her words. “What is going to happen is that you, Ryonami, are going to become her new best friend when she arrives to Furinkan. You’ll share meals with her, talk about boys, that kind of thing. Earn her trust.”
Catching onto what Nabiki was telling her, Ryonami nodded her head slowly. “So that way, I can find out her standing financially, socially, and anything else of interest, right boss-lady?” Ryonami asked with a smirk.
Nabiki’s returning smirk was all Ryonami needed as an answer. “Also, there is another thing. I want you to act nervous whenever Ranma or any of his ‘friends’ are around, as if you were expecting the world to come to an end. Convince her that she needs to know all there is to Nerima. But AWAYS say you don’t have enough indepth information.” Nabiki emphasized. That way Kassy would have to come to HER for information.
Nodding her head, Ryonami answered, “Can do.” She didn’t know why Nabiki wanted this Kassiopeia to fear Nerima, but if she did... So be it.
“Good. The dossier on the girl has all the information I’ve gathered so far,” Nabiki told her subordinate. “Read it well.”
“Yes, Nabiki!” Ryonami said before opening the plastic binder and began reading.
The Tendo girl then turned to the others. “Anything else?”
“In other events,” Asami started once Nabiki had asked, “Ms. Daikoku has been seen in Nerima again.:” She then flustered as she answered, “However, her reason for being in Nerima escapes our grasp at this moment. Further study of the subject is required.”
Hiroko spoke up as well, “And of course, we found out something concerning Akane that you might like to hear.”
At hearing that, Nabiki raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”
Looking at Nabiki, Hiroko told her, “It seems she had people pushing for her to be sent as part of the foreign exchange trip.”
Kikuko nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, it seems like the whole thing with Akane going was rigged, what with a certain Amazon being seen at the principal’s office. And can’t forget about how the True Blunder was ranting about his ‘fierce tigress’ being freed from Ranma thanks to his ingenuity.”
“Interesting...” Nabiki didn’t discount the possibility of Akane being chosen as a scheme from another of Ranma’s fiancées, but now she had evidence, even if somewhat weak, towards that end. “Any plans on Kuno-chan’s end to get sent on an exchange too?”
“Not taking her eyes off of the binder, Ryonami smirked. “He’s trying, but not even he can get past the fact that now the only openings for exchange are towns far away from Quagmire.”
Kikuko nodded her head. “Yeah. His plan of ‘freeing’ Akane from the ‘vile sorcerer’ by putting some distance between them was half-baked at best.”
Nabiki smirked at yet another opportunity. “Ladies, I believe we should help our good old friend, don’t you agree?”
Blinking their eyes, the girls looked up at Nabiki. “You want to get rid of one of your biggest cash-cows?” Hiroko asked in astonishment.
Nabiki kept silent for a full minute, only for effect, before answering with a smirk. “How much do you think Kuno-chan would be willing to pay to be reunited with his ‘beloved tigress’?”
All four girls nodded their heads.
(------)
Standing before a mirror, Kassy looked at herself. The shirt was a little tight on her, as was the dress. “I think an American size ‘24’ is different from a Japanese size ‘24’,” She mumbled. The dress was so tight that, hell, the puffy shoulders of the shirt barely had any give.
Turning her head to Ranma, she asked him, “Do you see the sales rep here?” She blushed a little. “These clothes are too tight.”
Off to the side Ranma was doing his level-best to keep staring at ‘anything’ but the foreign girl. “Uh... I’ll go look her up.” Without turning to look at the girl Ranma walked off, sweating all the way.
Kassy blinked her eyes. Ranma was sweating? Why? It wasn’t that hot, was it?
A couple of minutes later Ranma returned, still not looking at her, with a woman by his side. “Is there a problem, Miss?” The saleswoman asked.
“Yes,” Kassy answered as she turned to face the woman, holding her arms out to show off the outfit. “This school uniform is a little too small for me. Do you have anything bigger?”
“I do believe we have some bigger sizes of the outfit. It’s unusual to have girls your age with your measurements,” The woman proceeded to go looking for something a couple of sizes bigger.
Meanwhile Ranma was sweating worse than before. The ‘bigger’ comment sent him into another furry fantasy entertaining the girl and he started to... ‘React’ to it. And all he could do was pray to any deities above that Kassy didn’t notice.
“Thank you,” Kassy said seriously. “I can’t wait to get out of this outfit. It’s so tight, it’s practically a second skin on me.”
Ranma swallowed hard and tried to block his hearing too. He wasn’t having much success, as evidenced by his ‘tent’. He looked around and sighed in relief when he caught sight of what he was looking for. Ranma walked over to a chair and sat down, crossing his right leg over his knee and properly hiding his reaction for the time being.
Hearing the creak of the chair, Kassy turned her head to see Ranma sitting. “I’m sorry this is taking so long,” She apologized to him. “You must be bored out of your skull waiting for me to finish up.”
“T-t-that’s okay! Really!” Ranma nervously answered and scratched the back of his head as he closed his eyes.
Kassy blinked her eyes once more. Wow. That poor guy seemed nervously. “Obviously trying to put up a front for me, to make it seem like I’m not boring him to tears,” She decided. Smirking a little she told him, “Hey, Ranma, how about after this, I take you out for lunch?”
“Uh... You sure? I mean... Uh...” Ranma sweated some more and came up with an excuse. “I have to be back at the dojo for training. Sorry.”
Of course, we all know just how convincing Ranma is when trying to tell a lie. And indeed, Kassy caught up on it.
The Salusian ears on the top of her head flattened back. “Oh, I see...” She said with a sigh. “You’re ashamed to be seen with a ‘gaijin’, is that it?” She asked. She had been warned by her grandmother about possibly receiving this sort of treatment, and it seemed grandma Anna was right. Damn. And she thought him much better than that, especially with how he’d been helping her and stood up for her against that damned family pet of theirs. Who the hell heard of attack pandas anyway?
“What?” Ranma asked with a blink and realized Kassy looked downcast. “No! No!! No!!! You got it all wrong!” The pigtailed martial artist shot to his feet babbling out excuses, as he always did when seeing a girl close to tears, and forgot the reason why he was sitting in the first place. “I just... It’s that I... Uh... It’s not what you think...” Ranma finished lamely.
“Really?” Kassy asked, sniffling. Fortunately for Ranma she was looking him in the eyes and completely missing the fact he had a hard-on that lived up to the name ‘wild horse’.
“Yeah... You see...” Ranma scratched the back of his head again and fought to find something to say. He looked down in embarrassment when he was at a loss of words, and his eyes widened in panic. “...”
Getting the point, Kassy sighed. “Please. If you just don’t want to hang around me, just say so. You don’t have to lie about it.”
Ranma felt like ripping his hair off right now. Here he was, caught between a rock and a hard place, trying to make a girl feel better while hiding the fact that he had a hard-on for her at the same time! He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and looked up. He blushed hard when he caught sight of her ears and wondered how the hell he was blushing with all that blood down there.
Noticing that he had stared at her ears before averting them quickly, Kassy let out a depressed sigh, “It’s the ears, isn’t it?” She was holding back tears. Damn it! She wouldn’t feel hurt just because some Japanese prick didn’t feel like crossing cultural barriers and thought her a freak. She wouldn’t!
So sighing, Kassy turned and walked back into the dressing room to get out of the tight dress.
“Wait!!!” Ranma cried in PANIC now.
Kassy stopped in her tracks, her hand already having opened the curtain. Looking over her shoulder, she asked him, “What?”
The pigtailed martial artist felt he was setting himself up for an execution with this, but there was no way he could allow Kassy to keep remain down like that. “Uh... Yes, it’s the ears... But it’s not what you think!” With that Ranma gulped down, feeling his mouth incredibly dry with fear, and pointed to his crotch with a panicked look. Better to have Kassy thinking him a pervert and angry as hell than to have her depressed and in tears. Anger he could handle, tears he couldn’t.
Kassy blinked her eyes once, twice, thrice. “Um, do I REALLY have to see that?” She asked in surprise.
Shaking her head, Kassy told him, “Well, I can understand why you were afraid of being seen in public,” She then smiled at him. “But believe me, most people don’t look down there anyway.” Nope. She hadn’t gotten the fact that he was getting a hard on because of the ‘Furry’ aspect of her nature.
Ranma sighed and his shoulders dropped in defeat. “It’s the fur,” He said as if it explained everything. “I get turned on by fur.” He didn't quite get Kassy’s meaning, but this is Ranma we’re talking about. “Just don't cry, okay?”
Kassy blinked her eyes. Turned on by Fur? She didn’t get it, but she could see the honesty in his voice and features now. Smiling a little, she placed a hand on his shoulder. “Ranma...”
Ranma flinched, expecting to be hit with a heavy object now. “...Yeah?”
“Don’t be a dummy,” She told him as she stuck her tongue out at him cutely. Retracting her tongue back into her mouth, she had to suppress a giggle at the look on his face. “Don’t turn down an offer for free food when someone genuinely means it, all right?”
“Uh...” Ranma blushed heavily when Kassy giggled and nodded. “Sorry. Just didn’t want to make you angry.”
“You’re not,” Kassy told him honestly. She then smirked. Looking over and seeing no one in clear view, Kassy turned her back to Ranma, and shifted to her full Salusian form quickly, raising her bushy tail at him. “But next time, you’re getting such a spraying!” She teased. Of course, she couldn’t create a musk like real skunks could, but he didn’t know that.
So giggling, Kassy turned to her human form and walked back into the dressing room to change out of the dress from hell, unaware of what she had done to Ranma.
Ranma’s eyes glazed over at the sight, with his hard-on becoming even worse than before. It was all he could do not to get into the dressing room and taking Kassy's virtue. She was sexier than he remembered. And that TAIL! That beautiful, wonderful, FURRY tail!
Ranma shook his head, trying to fight off his daze and the image of the furry, beautiful, sexy, desirable... “ARGH! I need some fresh air!” Ranma screamed in frustration and walked out of the store.
Stepping out the doors, Ranma shook his head. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!” He chided himself. Damn it. Now Kassy knew! Now she just had to know that he was nothing more than a furvert!
And then Ranma heard it. The cry of, “SAOTOME!”
Turning his head up to face the course of the call, Ranma saw...
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(Posted Mon, 28 Jun 2004 21:40)
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