"No sweat," Minami her friend and business associate replied, "as long as I can spent my time eating some of these delicious cookies your sister made, I will gladly wait as long as you want. They were made by your older sister, weren't they?"
She looked at the plate that Nabiki had provided with a vague mixture of anticipation and caution.
"Have as many as you want. And you can rest easy. Akane is no longer allowed into the kitchen. It is in the list of rules Ranma made for her." Nabiki assured her friend with a smirk.
Thus reassure Minami started on the cookies. Between nibbles she asked, "Master's rules for his slave, eh? Is that list going to be included in your brochure?"
"Yes, it will be," Nabiki confirmed. "It should help our sales — very interesting reading."
Her curiosity raised, Minami tried to get a look over Nabiki's shoulder at the document that she was editing on her computer, but she couldn't make anything out. It was all just a bunch of unreadable code in an archaic looking text-editor.
"Honestly, Nabiki can't you use a normal word-processor like everyone else? I can't make anything out," she complained.
"This is proven technology. It works and allows me to do whatever I want without any interference form annoying paperclips and it doesn't hide from me what it actually does with my document. This way I can tell the computer exactly how I want it to look and don't have to deal with any stupid program that thinks it knows better than I do what I want. I like it," Nabiki defended her choice of typesetting software.
"That is because you are a control-freak," Her friend told her cheerfully.
Nabiki harumphed, but did not deny it.
"If you want something to read while you wait you can take a look at the stuff I already typed in and the mockups I did while I was waiting for the rest of my material. Tell me what you think," Nabiki offered.
Minami set down with her cookie plate and begun browsing through the papers Nabiki had pointed out. After a moment of silent reading she interrupted Nabiki at her work by asking, "Do you plan on using the picture with the kneeling Akane for a cover?"
"Yes, In her skimpy slave-dress and looking all demure and submissive it is sure to go over well with our male customers. I think we can sell a batch of brochures on this picture alone," Nabiki said.
"Well I think you should use the other picture with Ranma in it. Your sister looks very submissive in it, too, with her being dressed so skimpily and him holding her on a leash. I think it better captures the whole master/slave idea that this booklet is all about. And Ranma looking all sweaty and manly isn't going to hurt the sales to our female customers either," Minami suggested. "You could always put the picture of Akane kneeling on the back."
Nabiki grunted in what could be taken as acceptance and continued her work. Mianami came to a couple of handwritten pages in her browsing.
"Ah, here is the list of slave-rules written in her own hand," Minami declared, "Pretty kinky, especially the last few rules. She has to keep herself shaved and is allowed no more masturbation without permission? Who would have thought that the two had it in them to come up with something like that."
"You almost sound as if you approve of that nonsense," Nabiki accused. "At least it should bring us a lot of money, because sex sells."
Minami was by now reading the short essays Ranma and Akane had written and compared then to the edited version that Nabiki planned to include in her booklet.
"You know, the two come at this from two totally different directions. Ranma is all about being possessive and protecting and taking care of his slave and Akane is focusing on being owned, controlled and punished. The way you edited her writing and took her quotes out of context she even comes over as really sex-obsessed.," Minami observed. "I know, that you think the steamy version will bring more money because sex sells, but I really feel that you should just print the two essays as they are. You don't have to sex them up to make them interesting. A lot of students are really interested in the motivations of their relationship. And Ranma's writing might not have much about sex in it, but people are going to care about what he thinks. I can tell you that a lot of girls were fascinated with the idea when they heard and will want to read this as it is."
"Oh come on," Nabiki groaned. "There might be a few closeted fetishists at our school but they can't be a worthwhile target audience compared to those who long for good old porn aimed at the lowest common denominator."
"Don't knock it. There might be more people who are at least curious about this than you think. Many girls find the idea very romantic. In fact, I must admit that I am even somewhat intrigued myself," Minami revealed.
"Oh no! Not you, too," Nabiki bemoaned, "Do you know how many girls have already approached me today trying to find out how somebody — hypothetically speaking of course — could go about getting themselves enslaved?"
"Exactly! They are your target audience. You should add something more about the paperwork you did for your sister into the brochure for them," Minami argued.
"It is not that simple," Nabiki tried to explain. "Legal enslavement is so rare because it is hard to achieve. My sister was a special case. You can't normally get it done this easily. For example the government normally requires the couple to go through a trial period before granting the girl full and permanent slave status. I was able to make them accept the year that Ranma and Akane have already spent living under a roof as an engaged couple as a trial period, but this wouldn't work for anyone else at school."
"Well if you can't go to full slave status immediately then you could help them with the requirements for the trial period. The option of becoming a slave only temporary and under conditions at first might even appeal some of the fence sitters who don't want to jump right in, but might be interested in getting a taste," Minami contended.
"There are many other barriers. A girl has to undergo a counseling session with a licensed counselor first before they let her just give herself away. And they don't let just everyone own slaves either. There are many restrictions on that. A master has to be tested and certified to become a slave owner. It really is not something that you can do easily," Nabiki explained.
Before Minami could answer to that, Mrs. Saotome walked into the room.
"Nabiki is right," she agreed, "it really isn't as easy as you might think. Akane was lucky that she had chosen somebody as manly as my son as her master. Not many boys his age would have qualified for slave-owner status this fast and with so little preparation. Only being brought up as a man among men and gaining a unique and intimate perspective of the female gender has allowed him to pass his test so easily. And of course Akane was also lucky that she had a licensed counselor here in the house who was willing to listen to her and issue her the necessary paperwork. Most of my colleagues are far to reluctant to help a girl fulfill her dreams."
"You are licensed to counsel prospective slaves, Mrs. Saotome?" Minami asked. "That is so cool! Nabiki, you should really add that information to the booklet. There will be several girls who might be interested in it."
Nabiki moaned.
"Oh yes, my door is always open to young girls who are contemplating taking such a big step," Nodoka said, smiling warmly at Nabiki and Minami. "And I am sure my manly son would be willing to coach prospective masters into becoming proper slave-owners."
"That is good," Minami exclaimed enthusiastically before turning to her friend." You might make a lot of money with this. You could advertise lessons with Ranma for the boys in your booklet. And maybe Akane could give girls who are interested some lessons in what it means to be a proper slave girl. You could even offer a complete package deal that includes classes, counseling and certification out of one hand where you handling all the paperwork and bureaucratic obstacles. You have all you need right here at home. You really could make a fortune out of this."
Nabiki looked from Minami to Nodoka. Both smiled at her encouragingly. Finally she gave up.
"Sure I will put in an add for slave/master-classes into this thing. Why not? Who knows who might still become a slave girl. I might even end up merchandise myself, if I start this. Maybe I should even start up a slave auction house while I am at it?" She agreed with what might have been a touch of manic hysteria in her voice.
"That's the spirit," Minami told her earnestly.
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(Posted Tue, 01 Mar 2005 00:13)
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