“Mom?” He asked, trying to keep weary eyes open and alert. “What time is it?”
“Eight o’clock, dear.” Nodoka responded with a warm smile. “I’ll have breakfast ready in twenty minutes, so please wake everyone up, okay?”
“Sure, mom. See ya in a bit.” He nodded in reply, softly closing the door. Turning around, he couldn’t help but smile at the two women still asleep in his bed. Both and scooted closer when he left and were now cuddling each other.
Walking over to the bed, he debated on the merits of letting them sleep before deciding to just wake them up. A gentle shake brought Kasumi out of her slumber, but Nabiki was proving harder to wake up. Snorting in amusement, he pulled the covers down to expose her nude body. Rolling her over onto her stomach, he brought his hand back and waited until the girl had taken a deep breath before launching his attack.
*** SMACK ***
“YOW!” Nabiki screamed, launching her body across the bed. Jumping to her feet, she spun around while using one hand to gently massage her stinging buttock. “Master?” She asked, confused and slightly afraid.
“Time to get up.” Ranma grinned at the girl. “Mom’s got breakfast almost ready.”
“Oh, no. I was going to do that.” Kasumi muttered quietly, wringing her hands together while eyeing the other two occupants of the room.
“Don’t worry about it.” The pigtailed martial artist smiled at her. “Just being married to me means that you can’t do anything wrong in her book.”
The older woman smiled softly before ducking her head down and blushing when she noticed that he had still not dressed. “What are we going to wear?” She asked.
“Robes for now.” Nabiki responded, handing the extra garments out that she had found draped over the chair by the desk. “It seems that mother came into the room last night and dropped some off.” She said with a twitch of her brow. She tried to hide the blush but failed.
“Oh, my.” Kasumi muttered, turning around and putting the robe on. “Feeling slightly more presentable, she glanced over her shoulder to see her husbands firm body disappear behind his own robe. Letting her eyes drop, she couldn’t help but wonder exactly how the short robe managed to hide his manhood since the robes they were wearing ended mid-thigh on all of them.
Nabiki slipped her robe on and walked out the door on the way to the bathroom. She didn’t really respond to the other two who followed her. Finding a western style bathroom, she opened the medicine cabinet and withdrew three new toothbrushes. Handing the other two out, she quickly applied the paste and started her morning routine.
Finished, she combed her hair with her fingers to remove any obvious signs of the night of passion they had shared before helping her sister with her own hair. Checking on her master and deciding that he would do for now, the three left and went downstairs only to be greeted by a table laden with food.
The women took their places on each side the young man, Kasumi to the left as tradition required. Nodoka couldn’t help but smile as the girl blushed heavily when their eyes met. It was always a good sign in her opinion.
As they ate, Ranma actually going at a more polite pace, conversation was rather stilted. Keeping away from any bedroom topics, the women launched into an in depth discussion of the future. When his mother was told of the plans to launch a tournament, the gleam in her eye was enough to make her son start to sweat.
When breakfast was completed, his mother presented her son with a small, brightly wrapped package. Opening it, he found another collar with his mark on it. Instead of the black one he had given Nabiki, this one was made of bright, white silk. The cameo was of black porcelain but still had the red horse, rearing and striking with its forelegs.
Turning to his wife, he didn’t even have to tell her to prepare. She gathered her hair in one hand to lift it clear of her neck while bowing forward to make the placement easier on him. Within seconds, his mark was placed around her neck.
Kasumi didn’t have to wonder about what it meant. She knew going into this marriage that she would wind up being owned by the young man before her. She was under no illusion that love had blossomed between the two… at least not yet. She was hoping that at some point in the future that he would come to love her like she had always dreamed of being loved, but she wasn’t holding her breath. Instead, she would be content to serve him as head of the family.
The morning proceeded at a normal pace until Nodoka asked what the plans were for the day. Thinking hard, Ranma quickly made up and discarded several options. Turning to his wife, he asked “Do you think Akane’ll want to join in the fighting?”
While Kasumi thought about her response, Nabiki didn’t need to. She laughed for a second and then answered the question. “There’s no way that she’ll miss it. Even though she’s way out of her league, she’ll insist on joining in.”
“So we need to get her trained up.” Ranma replied flatly.
“Perhaps father could be persuaded?” Kasumi responded, not looking up at the other two.
“Yeah, we can get the old men to take her on a training trip or something.” Ranma smiled eagerly. “Give her two months of sparring with the old man and she’ll be a lot better.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard to arrange.” Nabiki mused. “Just give them enough saki money and we’re set.”
“How much do we have left from the classes I’ve been teaching?” Ranma asked.
“About two hundred thousand yen.” Nabiki replied without having to think about it. If there was one thing that she knew well, it was the family finances.
“So give the old men fifty grand and tell them not to show up for two months.” Ranma replied. “We just tell oyaji that you’ll baby-sit me while Akane’s gone. He’ll jump at the free money even if he does have to train a girl.”
“Yeah, that’ll keep Akane off your back.” The Ice Queen said thoughtfully. Rubbing the back of her neck, she glanced over at her frowning sister. “We can’t let word of this get out until all the plans are set in stone. We know that Shampoo wouldn’t hesitate in attacking you, sis. We have to take care of her before we go public with the wedding.”
“I understand.” Kasumi replied, bowing her head once again. “I simply dislike lying to my family.”
Ranma shrugged his shoulders in response. “Can’t be helped. Mom ain’t gonna sit on the paperwork. We just have to hope that no one’s watching the family register too closely.” He paused for a second and pulled his women into a hug. “Don’t worry too much about it, though. It all has to be done anyway.”
“I know.” Kasumi replied, laying her head on his shoulder. “I just can’t keep from thinking how hurt my baby sister’s going to be.”
“How hurt would she be if I divorced her later on?” The young man snorted disdainfully. “She wants to keep pounding on me and I ain’t gonna let her do it anymore.”
“So… now what?” Nabiki asked casually. “We going to spend the day together or do you have other plans?”
Ranma pursed his lips thoughtfully for a second. “Well, I say that we…
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