Kasumi decided not to point out that she had been against Nabiki's plan from the beginning. Taking advantage of Ranma and Akane being knocked out and lying to them about having amnesia and telling them things that were supposed to have happened during the time they could not remember, had really not been a nice thing to do. Even if Nabiki claimed that she was doing it for their own good. If Nabiki had really wanted to help their relationship forward she could have pretended that the couple had declared their love for each other or something like that, but no, Nabiki had to go too far again and tell them that Akane given herself to Ranma as a slave.
It was preposterous to believe that there might be such a thing as legalized slavery in Japan in this day and age, but Nabiki had made up some legal looking documents that had convinced the two teenagers that Akane was now Ranma's property. Worse yet, the fantastic claim that it had been Akane's idea had apparently hit close to some secret sex-slave fantasy that Akane had had unbeknownst to everyone else and their little sister had believed it.
Kasumi really should have stopped her sister right there, but she hadn't and Ranma and Akane had embraced the lie. Everyone seemed to have embraced it and Ranma and Akane were now giving classes to others on how to have a master/slave relationship. The only person besides the two Tendou girls who knew the truth was Ranma's mother and she enjoyed, approved and encouraged the chaos and mayhem that followed. She liked the idea of her manly son having a harem full of willing slave-girls and she was actively pressuring Nabiki and Kasumi into becoming Ranma's slaves themselves.
So far Kasumi had managed to ignore her and deflect most of her attention on Nabiki who was loudly proclaiming that being a slave, pretend or otherwise, was not something for her. Nabiki's recent participation in Ranma's slave-owner class as a teaching aid could potentially undermine that argument.
"I think it is a bit too late to stop your little joke now, Nabiki," Kasumi told her diplomatically, "Things have already progressed far beyond our control. There are too many people involved now. You can't tell them that it was all just a lie. They would be very angry at you."
"Like hell!" Nabiki cursed. "Sure, Ranma and Akane will be angry when we tell them that they are not legally owner and property, but it can't possibly be worse than ending up slave-girls ourselves."
Kasumi had her doubts about that and she also had to wonder where the 'We' suddenly had come from. If anybody looked for guilty older sisters to take revenge on Kasumi would be the most helpful but ignorant and oblivious innocent bystander that anybody could possibly wish for. She decided not to point out these plans to Nabiki, the poor girl had already so much on her mind without having to take into account her older sisters plans for self-preservation.
"And what about all those people who have paid to become masters and slaves," Kasumi inquired instead.
"They only paid to for private training classes," Nabiki told her. "I figure that we simply let the masters complete their course, have them take the promised test and fail them. No slave-owner license, nobody for the girls to enslave themselves to. Problem solved. If Ranma and Akane play along nobody will ever have to know the truth."
"Do you really expect them to help you cover your tracks?" Kasumi wondered. "They have invested quite a lot into this relationship. How do you think Akane will feel when she finds out that she walked around in those ridiculous outfits and allowed Ranma to spank and switch her for no good reason?"
"She likes that!" Nabiki exclaimed. "She should be grateful that thanks to me they got a chance to explore those aspects of their relationship. They will probably continue doing half of that crazy stuff after they learn the truth. It is not like any permanent harm was done."
Kasumi remained silent.
"I mean it would be different if they had done anything like getting piercings or went ahead with that stupid branding idea," Nabiki went on.
It was true that Ranma and Akane had decided not to do any brandings....
"Kasumi what aren't you telling me?" Nabiki asked seeing the look on her older sisters face.
"They are not going to do any brandings. Ranma thinks it would look too ugly and he was afraid it might become infected or anything. And he really didn't want some stranger at body-modification shop to touch his Akane." Kasumi hedged.
"Kasumi!" Nabiki said in a tone of menace mixed with denial.
"I might have mentioned that Dr. Toufuu also is qualified in doing traditional tattoo arts. You know, with bamboo needles instead of the electric tools they use in those modern...." Kasumi trailed off.
"And Akane is getting a tattoo," Nabiki concluded.
Kasumi just nodded.
"One that says something about her being Ranma's slave," Nabiki guessed in slowly dawning horror.
Kasumi nodded again. She really had just wanted to be helpful. And Ranma and Akane had been very grateful for her suggestion. She just wanted everyone to be happy. It was Nabiki's fault that this was all based on a lie not hers.
"We have to stop that!" Nabiki exclaimed in panic. "Can you imagine how angry Akane will be once she figures everything out? She will blame us for that and a tattoo can't be laughed of like getting your ass spanked in public. It stays with you for the rest of her life! She will probably try to make me pay to get it removed. Do you have any idea how expensive laser removal surgery can be?"
"You can't stop it now," Kasumi told her, "They have already decided on a pattern and gotten all the materials, special ink and everything. You can't just talk them out of it without revealing everything."
"I will just go to Dr. Toufuu and threaten to call the police on him if he tries to tattoo my little sister, who is a minor, without daddy's consent," Nabiki declared ruthlessly.
Before Kasumi could object Nabiki was already hurrying out of the house and in the direction of the clinic. Kasumi watched her sister leave indecisively.
It was not a very nice thing to do, but it was probably for the best. The only way to stop Akane from doing something she would later regret without telling anyone the truth. Akane, Ranma and Dr. Toufuu could all go on believing that Akane was really Ranma's slaves.
Wait a moment!
If Dr. Toufuu believed the lie about Akane being Ranma's slave than he would think that he did not need the consent of their father. Ranma was supposed to be Akane's legal owner and guardian in such matters.
Kasumi had to tell Nabiki of the hole in her plan. Hopefully she could catch up to her sister before she reached the clinic.
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(Posted Sat, 09 Apr 2005 13:48)
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