Shun dispelled the Valkyrie transformation as she neared Greenwood. No sense in risking letting the dorm know that not only are you a girl now, but a magical girl, Shun-chan, she thought, returning to civilian form. She coughed, as her breasts were now strapped down once more, bringing her measurements to proportions such that she could pass as a boy.
"Bletch!" Shun spat, making a disgusted face. "So much for hoping that I get a free clean-up with my transformation..." Indeed, she was still covered with wolf-gore and feeling quite icky about it. "I'm going to need a bath..." she said, growing a bit pale. "This is going to be interesting..."
As it turned out, with everyone doing their new years' cleaning early under Shinobu's direction, all the residents of Greenwood wanted a turn in the bath. Shun waited, stewing in her grime. This was partially because she didn't want to give the other residents a freeshow, but mostly from the bet hanging over their heads — if it were revealed that she was now a girl, the lives of the three of them would be forfeit.
During this time, Hermod gave her his critique of her fighting the wolves. "Well, you didn't do well when it was the two wolves," he began. "Fortunately, you have some smart (if weird) friends, though I can't imagine what they fed the wolves to give it an upset stomach."
"It was the Three Stooges' cooking. That barrel full of gunk was supposed to be our lunch," Shun said.
Hermod put on the best scowl a marmoset could. "You've got to be putting me on!" he said skeptically. "Those wolves could eat toxic waste without even a hiccup. How could some high-school student's bad cooking be worse?"
"If you've ever had some of the Three Stooges' cooking, you wouldn't be saying that," Shun replied matter-of-factly, adding, "Never underestimate a student's digestive tract. Or the Three Stooges' incompetence."
Hermod shuddered. "Well, anyway... the one wolf wasn't much better, but at least you came up with a creative solution to it. I certainly wouldn't have thought of purposefully jumping down the wolf's throat and deliver a Valkyrie Smash from the inside." He glanced at Shun. "Rather messy, but effective."
"Tell me about it," Shun sighed, feeling the gunk covering her crust up and get all nasty even as she sat there. "Who'd ever heard of a magical girl show with this much blood and gore?"
"Like I said, I never said it would be," Hermod replied.
Shun pursed her lips. "That reminds me..." She produced the DVD that Hermod came out of. (Yuuki didn't want it, seeing how close a call he had of getting drafted into magical-girldom.) "What's the deal with this DVD? You guys figuring out a new distribution system for pretty soldier powers or somethin'?"
Hermod looked nervous. "I really needed a replacement Valkyrie, quick!"
Shun felt a chill run down her spine. "Why? What happened to the previous one."
"She up and quit," Hermod said, leaping onto the bed.
Relief and hope spread through Shun. "Quit?! Can I quit?!" she asked, glowing with hope.
"Of course not!" Hermod said brusquely. "You can't quit until you complete your mission, like the previous one."
"Isn't there another way out?"
"There's always death," growled Hermod.
Shun blinked at the marmoset for a few seconds, then laid a finger on her cheek speculatively. "Hmmm... Death is pretty bad... but..." she murmured.
It was Hermod's turn to have a chill run down his spine. "Y-You're not seriously considering it, are you?!"
A sad look settled upon Shun's features. "No, of course not," she sighed.
A while later, Shinobu came by to tell Shun that all of the dorm residents had taken their baths. Shun eagerly grabbed up her bath things and all but raced to the bathroom. All the wolf guts were getting pretty ripe and making her downright nauseous.
Hermod was hiding under the covers of the bed. He had no doubt that if he was found, he would be thrown out and Shun would be in trouble for keeping pets in the dorm.
Shinobu watched Shun go and smiled his little clever smile. He moved to the bed and threw off the covers. Hermod froze as his protection was stripped away. He looked up at Shinobu guiltily.
"You're Shun-chan's magical girl mascot, I presume," said Shinobu in that 'not a question, not a question at all' tone.
"How did you know tha—" Hermod blurted, then clamped his hands about his mouth, trying in vain to stop words that had already left his mouth. Hermod deflated. "Dammit."
Shinobu's smile never changed, but somehow became slightly menacing. "Would you like to tell me why you changed Shun-chan into a girl, and explain why she is now beset by monsters?" he asked in a tone that tolerated nothing but a direct answer. Hermod lay his ears down flat in anxiety. He was in for his own private hell.
Poking her face around the corners of the bathhouse making sure it was really empty, Shun moved cautiously through the changing room, quickly undressing as quietly as she was able, and slipped into the bathroom proper.
She sat herself upon one of the several stools set about the place, and began the long ritual of washing herself down. Although it was her first time as a woman, most of the theory was the same as a man: moisten, soap up, scrub, and rinse. The clinical mind with which she approached the task defused any of the erotic sensations and embarrassments that she would otherwise feel in touching her now-unfamiliar private areas.
All clean and feeling much better, Shun sighed and stepped into the hot water of the bathtub for a long soak. She was sore from all the running around. Even though her speed and endurance were magically enhanced, she still felt the fatigue when she transformed back. However, she merely felt like she had moved out of her room and then back in, instead of feeling as if she had run a marathon at sprinting speeds, then slammed down two anvils into the ground.
Shun sighed as she settled into the hot water. The hot water seeped into her skin and muscles, soothing the impending soreness away like a good masseur. She smiled in perfect bliss, forgetting that she was a girl in a boy's dorm. Slowly, her eyes shut almost by themselves, as Shun-chan settled into a peaceful snooze...
Hermod hardly believed what he had just experienced. He, the divine messenger of Valhalla, sent by Odin to assist the Valkyrie on her holy quest against Surt, lay defeated, totally exhausted, and not quite knowing what hit him on his Valkyrie's bed, defeated by this mere human.
Shinobu had a right to be arrogant from such an accomplishment, but his good breeding allowed only the slighted hint of smugness to show on his face. "Thank you, Hermod-sama. You have been most helpful in helping me understand the situation," Shinobu said pleasantly and politely, though the politeness in the face of his obvious decisive victory over the said god made it seem like a taunting insult instead.
Hermod had not the strength to fight back, and merely groaned.
Yes, Shinobu had all the information he needed, even information that the messenger god would've kept secret from his own charge. But now Shinobu knew it, and would use that knowledge to protect Shun.
Shinobu's sharp ears caught the roar of a motorcycle coming to a stop outside the door. It had the distinctive cadence of Furusawa's ride, no doubt coming home after picking up the beer that they as a dorm would drink tonight in celebration of driving off that wolf...
Wait. Furusawa-san headed out right after their victory. That means he didn't take his bath. But he had been working just as hard as the rest of them, which meant that he was as sweat-soaked as the rest of the dorm. That means he would want a shower as soon as possible.
Shinobu calmed himself. It would probably take Furusawa a while to gather himself together for a bath, including lugging that bike of his up three floors to his room.
"Hey, Housemother! Mind if I leave my bike here while I take a quick bath?" called Furusawa into the Housemother's special reception window. Even now, others in the dorm were spiriting the beer through various contraband channels. Not that they were really necessary, seeing how the Housemother was more interested in her 'durama' than keeping watch over the dorm. They could trot an elephant past the reception desk with little difficulty, but it was fun to play these little games.
The Housemother gave a grunt in reply.
"Great!" Furusawa set his bike down on the smooth wooden floor. He then started trotting down the hall, making a turn at a junction and taking him away from the stairs.
"Aren't you going upstairs to get your stuff?" asked a random dormmate.
"Don't need to," Furusawa called back. "I put my bath pail in there before I left, so I could take a bath right after I left. Clever, huh?" He disappeared down the hall.
"Oh."
"Ah!" came Furusawa's loud sigh—almost a roar—floating into the bathroom proper, jogging Shun out of her snooze. "Time for wash and a nice, hot bath!"
Nice, hot bath. Nice, hot bath.
"*gyeeep!*" a gasp escaped from Shun's mouth. Crap! That's Furusawa! He put a big bet on me for the second day, and he'll be pissed if he finds out he has no chance of collecting!
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(Posted Sat, 09 Oct 2004 07:05)
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