Maybe it’s the way it reads like a nature documentary, she thought. It’s like the writer is studying some rare species of wolf, or lion, or something — all instinct and behavior patterns and nothing about culture, ways of thinking. And there’s something missing ... She carefully reviewed what she’d read and compared it to what she’d observed herself, and finally nodded. It’s Ranma’s ability to influence dreams — the book only talks about it in the context of arousing dreamers, feeding off of them, nothing about the adventures we had after the first few nights when Ranma steered us away from bedrooms — darn it — or even of a succubus just spending some quality time with the dreamer. Surely feeding isn’t the only way succubae have used that ability, it’s too handy. It’s like the writer based this on pure observation, and didn’t bother to talk to any succubae at all. Which means it’s all about outward actions and has nothing about inward motivations. Sloppy. I just hope that means he got it wrong about their mating instincts.
Idly, she glanced at the clock on her desk next to her computer, then shot bolt-upright. It’s after two in the morning! And there’s school tomorrow — today — and Ranma and Akane are going to be taking on the Horde together. I have got to get some sleep. Better get Ranma up here.
Turning, she looked out the window by her bed and down into the strip of yard between the house and the wall, and smiled — there was Ranma, of course, the naked nature spirit floating a little above the grass, once again running through katas as she continued adapting her old forms to her new capabilities. All that drive, Nabiki thought. Now, if I could just get her — him, really — to apply it to schoolwork and learn to think ahead a little, he’d take the world by storm. Then her smile broadened, and turn slightly lascivious. And she’s cute as a button in the moonlight, good enough to eat, and sooner or later she’s going to let me do that!
Ranma broke off the kata and looked up at the wave of love/lust to smile and wave at the brown-haired girl looking down at her. Floating up to her level, she asked, “Finally ready to call it a night?”
“Yes, I am,” Nabiki said with a mock-frown, “and why didn’t you say something hours ago?”
Ranma just shrugged and passed through the wall into the room. “I did, ya just grunted and waved me off, so I figured it must be somethin’ important.”
Nabiki sighed and stood up to strip off her clothes and slip into a nightgown. “Ranma, I was just brushing off a distraction, it had nothing to do with how important whatever I’m studying was. When I’m like that, you have to get my attention. Now, no feeding tonight — as late as it is, I’ll need all the sleep I can get.”
The cute redhead nodded, tensing slightly and glancing away. “Yeah, I’ll leave ya alone tonight.”
Nabiki looked up at the sensation of shame-tinged uncertainty coming from her sort-of lover, then reached out and grabbed Ranma by the shoulders and pulled her into a searing kiss that quickly had Ranma squirming. “That’s regret I was feeling, not relief, you are not imposing on me,” she said firmly when she finally broke it off. “You know I can’t get enough of you.”
Ranma nodded again, but more relaxed (if somewhat breathless) and smiling. “Yeah, I know, but I like ta hear ya say it. I’ll just practice some more till time ta get ready for school.” With that, she floated through the window to the outside and sank down out of sight, and Nabiki shook her head with a smile and turned out the light.
Slipping into bed, she thought, It’s going to be an interesting morning, if I can see anything through the yawns. Then sleep rolled over her like a blanket and she was out.
* * * * *
“I swear, she’s lying in wait, she’s doin’ it on purpose,” the busty redhead grumbled as she floated along beside Nabiki and Akane, Nabiki yet again carrying Ranma soaked clothes. Then, Ranma caught the little smile on Nabiki’s face. “She is doing it purpose, isn’t she?” she demanded, and Nabiki nodded.
“Probably,” she said offhandedly. At least, if the little flash of satisfaction I got from her when you got splashed is any indication. Then the middle Tendo nodded at an alley between two stores. “That’s what we need, come on.”
“Need for what?” Akane asked as the three turned into the empty dead-end ally.
“To get Ranma back into manly shape,” Nabiki replied, setting down her schoolbag and pulling out a thermos. “I thought this might happen and came prepared.”
“What? Right out in the open?” Akane half-shrieked, and Nabiki shrugged.
“So don’t look if you don’t want to. It isn’t like you haven’t seen it all before — briefly,” she said. “You can keep an eye on the sidewalk, make sure nobody notices us.”
“But what about you?”
“Someone has to pour the water,” Nabiki said, then added with a leer, “Besides, I’m going to do a lot more than ogle in a few weeks.”
Akane turned beet-red and whirled away to face the alley entrance. “Perverts,” she muttered as Nabiki and Ranma chuckled.
A few minutes later, the two girls and pigtailed boy resumed their walk to the school.
“Remember,” Ranma said, “don’t charge straight in, wait for them to mostly come to you and then charge.”
“Yeah, I know, you’ve only told me half a dozen times,” Akane grumbled, and Ranma frowned.
“That’s because you’ve been doing this the same way every morning, it’s become a habit,” he warned, then exchanged a glance with Nabiki when Akane just shrugged while her face twisted into a snarl.
Then the trio was walking through the school gates and Nabiki peeled off to the side as a cry of “Akane!” went up and the Horde rumbled toward them. Akane’s world went red at the sight and she started to lunge forward, only to jolt to a stop as Ranma’s hand landed on her shoulder.
“Remember, wait for it — like I told you,” he said, and Akane blushed again as she nodded. He held them in place for a few more seconds, then shouted “Now!” and the two charged forward to meet the mass of boys.
The front ranks of the Horde paused for a moment, surprised at Ranma’s inclusion in the charge, then were bowled over as the boys behind them ran into them. Then Ranma and Akane smashed into them, and hockey sticks, bats, rackets, clubs and boys exploded in all directions. In seconds, there wasn’t a conscious boy on the field except Ranma.
At the front entrance to the school, Kuno stared in shock, then bellowed his outrage as he whipped his bokken from off his back and raised it above his head in what he imagined to be a noble pose. “Ranma, you enslaver of fair flowers of maidenhood! How dare you —” And Ranma and Akane came roaring in with the kind of flying kicks that should only be used against the blind and lame, and Kuno bounced off the wall at his back and landed face down on the sidewalk, out cold.
Back by the gates, Nabiki looked at the crater Kuno had left in the school’s wall, shook her head with a smirk, then looked over at Sayuri and Yuka, standing to the side and gaping at the carnage. “Do you think even jocks stupid as these guys will finally get a clue?” she asked, and Akane’s two friends looked at her.
“You mean, Ranma’s going to be joining in all the time now?” Sayuri asked, and Nabiki nodded.
“Yeah, every day. After all, he’s her new sensei,” she replied. “Pass the word, will you?”
The two girls stared at Nabiki for a moment, then Yuka grinned broadly and Nabiki’s own smile broadened at the satisfaction mixed with anger and loathing radiating from the girl. “Of course, we’ll be glad to.”
Gosunkugi watched the pre-school entertainment from the classroom window with some other boys, ignoring the burst of conversation following Ranma’s participation in the fight — massacre, really — and ground his teeth, then yawned and turned away to his desk. Who would have believed there were so many cursed springs in China? he thought. Springs for bad luck, springs for bad health, spring that make you a magnet for supernatural menaces, even springs that make you change into something else with a splash of water! Pulling out the textbook for the first class, Gosunkugi sat down and waited for class to begin.
The school day passed in a haze as thoughts of China’s cursed springs continued to churn in the back of Gosunkugi’s mind, going over the list over and over. Most likely a partial list, he thought with a snarl as he sat down in his usual out of the way place for lunch. The most promising would be Jusenkyo, but that actually transforms the victim rather than having him change places with someone else, and how would you drown a succubus?
Then he stiffened, as he thought over Ranma’s behavior — the way he seemed to size up every guy he met, the slight swagger — Okay, what if he and Nabiki lied — what if he really does transform into a succubus — the way he acts he certainly isn’t going to want to let anyone know, but after hitting the pool a couple days ago in front of everyone.... That must be it, Ranma’s the succubus, and that means I know his true name! And that means that tonight, there’s going to have to be a summoning.
* * * * *
That night, Nabiki dreamed again of her mother, lying in the hospital bed, skin falling around her bones thanks to the wasting disease that killed her, tubes seeming to stick into her everywhere Nabiki could see. Her father knelt by the bed, clutching one of her mother’s hands with tears pouring down his cheeks while Nabiki held the other and Kasumi sat in a nearby chair holding a terrified Akane in her lap and providing what comfort she could.
The old pain welled up, but this time it was answered by an answering wave of love and sympathy from an unseen Ranma.
“Your mother?” asked Ranma’s voice inside her mind, and Nabiki nodded.
“The day I lost both parents, my mother to disease and my father to grief,” she answered silently.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, it’s old news.”
The hospital room faded away, replaced by a meadow where the two had lounged about and talked other nights, the larger, dark-haired boy sitting on a rock beside a brook. “Not so old if you’re still dreamin’ about it,” he said, and Nabiki fought back tears.
“Well, maybe not,” she admitted, sitting down next to him. “But I have to act as if —”
The meadow shivered as Nabiki’s head rang like a bell, then vanished as she shot up to a sitting position in her bed, looking around wildly. My wards! she thought with a gasp, looking out the window and starting to focus to bring them more strongly into view, then freezing — the effort wasn’t necessary, the wards covering the dojo grounds were fluorescing bright enough to blind if it had been actual light.
Then, slowly, the light steadied and faded and Nabiki slumped in relief. They held, she thought, then looked around the room and realized something was missing, or rather someone. “Ranma?” she said softly, then again more loudly as she looked out the window, scanning the grounds, “Ranma!”
Ranma had been sitting on a rock in the meadow of his favorite memory, when suddenly his head rang like a bell, and she found herself back in Nabiki’s bedroom, her one-way lover’s arms around her. Even as she felt Nabiki jerk awake, she felt something odd, like a slight tugging on her center, trying to pull her away ... somewhere else. Instinctively, she pulled back, and suddenly felt an odd, twisting sensation wash away the tugging feeling as she seemed to sink back into the older girl.
Then the body she was suddenly sharing with Nabiki snapped upright, and she gasped at the sight of the wards lighting up the night, before they steadied and faded back to normal. Nabiki slumped in relief, then looked around. “Ranma?” she asked, and Ranma found their shared eyes searching the grounds out the window as Nabiki called out her name again.
“Right here,” Ranma thought, then felt a touch of vertigo as Nabiki looked around again.
“Where?” she asked.
“Uh, I think I’m inside you,” Ranma responded, and Nabiki froze, then to Ranma’s relief closed her eyes.
“You mean you’ve possessed me?” Nabiki thought inwardly, and felt an arm try to lift her hand to her neck.
“If ya mean I somehow mixed in with you, yeah, I guess so. Sorry ‘bout that.”
“Don’t be sorry, this is great!” Nabiki enthused. “It means you’re growing more into your powers. Now, do you think you can get out of me?”
“Sure,” Ranma thought, then thought back over how it had felt to merge, remembered the twisting feeling, somehow pulled out — and found herself floating next to Nabiki, half-sunk into the bed.
Nabiki jerked, startled to suddenly find Ranma beside her, then grinned, only to have the grin fade to a thoughtful frown and Ranma stiffened at the feeling of concern she was suddenly radiating. “What’s wrong?” she asked, and Nabiki shrugged.
“Not much,” she replied, “only that my book didn’t mention that succubae could possess people. Makes me wonder what else it left out or didn’t get quite right. Can you do that again?”
“I dunno, let’s find out,” Ranma said, reached out to hold Nabiki’s hand, somehow reached, and again found herself looking through Nabiki’s widened eyes as her lover’s shock reverberated through her.
Nabiki took a deep breath, then thought, “That looked weird, like you were just sucked into me! Felt strange, too. Now come on out, you may as well go guy and spend the night with your father or practice katas. I’m not going to be getting to sleep for awhile.” At the feel of Ranma’s unspoken question she smiled wryly. “I’m going to be trying to find out who tried to break through my wards, and why.”
In a shed on the grounds of Furinkan High, Gosunkugi writhed, screaming, candles knocked in all directions, brazier kicked over, chalked lines and symbols smeared and broken. Finally, the pain receded to a massive pounding in his head and the hollow-eyed boy drew a deep shuddering breath and pulled himself to his knees and carefully looked around. How?! he thought. Yes, she’s powerful, but I spend hours priming the summoning. Surely not even her wards should have been able to prevent it! And I could have sworn I felt the ritual latch onto something for a moment....
Slowly, he pulled himself to his feet and stared around at the mess, then snarled on looking down at his charred, wax-spattered, chalk-smeared clothing. That was one of my favorite outfits, one more thing Nabiki owes me for. I’ll just have to figure out how she was able to stop the summoning — once I change and get everything cleaned up.
In a rosebush in the yard of the house across the street from the dojo entrance, Gorash rubbed its eyes, its sight slowly coming back as the afterimages of the wards’ flair faded away. Finally, the imp turned to its companion. Grimly, it said, “I think this warrants an immediate report to Mara, see to it.” The other imp nodded and slipped down the street to the space between houses, into shadows between the two buildings, and vanished from sight.
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(Posted Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:05)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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