[Episode 225373] [Episode 225373]The Sengoku neighbourhood of Bunkyô Ward, Tôkyô…
She hated this.
Gods help her, she HATED this.
But there was no choice in the matter.
Not if all those who attended Rakuyô Senior High School were to survive any potential attempt at conquest by any tôshi from the other schools, she had to do this.
It sickened her.
It made her want to scream.
Doing it hurt her as much as it hurt the one she did it to.
It made her feel so unclean.
But she would do it.
No choice now.
The most powerful of them all was dying of Lou Gehrig's disease.
Her most passionate supporter would gladly end her life to join her beloved in Heaven when it happened.
She herself was only a C-class tôshi, nowhere close to her beloved in strength or skill. All she had was a good tactical mind and 1800 years of experience putting that mind to use in service to those she was fated to serve.
Her beloved…
Rikaku, now a senior student at Rakuyô, nothing more than a bully…
Chôshû, currently a junior student at Kyoshô, a yes-girl…
And then…
HER.
Môtoku Sôsô, the empress of Kyoshô.
If destiny would direct her as it had her previous incarnations…
NO!
Destiny would be defeated this time!
But…
How…?
Taking a deep breath, Bunwa Kaku moved to adjust the dominatrix's uniform she had slipped on. It was a scandalously revealing affair, a mixture of a strapless, cupless bra and crotchless thong panties with thigh-high leather boots and bicep-high gloves, all connected together by buckle straps that weighted double the amount of the leather that went into the rest of the outfit. Once all was in place, the bespectacled brown-eyed, raven-haired tôshi reached over for the wound up cat o' nine tails hanging from a rack on one wall of the small supply room leading into the student council chambers located on the top floor of the main school building. Taking a deep breath, she reached down to gently rub her womanhood, tensing immediately on sensing the growing wetness soaking her labia and threatening to seep down the insides of her legs.
Cursing her body for its damned betrayal, Bunwa took a deep breath, and then her eyes hardened as she spun around on her high heels and walked to the door, opening it smartly to step inside the main room. She didn't stop to take in the damned scene that had been burned constantly in her memory since she was forced into doing this to save her beloved's soul and protect her schoolmates and the tôshi of the other schools from the dark monster that threatened to consume her beloved once and for all. The blacked-out windows. The multiple locks on the main doors. The total lack of furniture save for the X-shaped rack in the middle of the room, now bearing one person on it, strapped down with chains and leather bonds, all of which were darkened with dry blood.
"Free me…!"
Hearing that growling voice, Bunwa shuddered before a terrible sneer crossed her face. The cat o' nine tails uncoiled as she marched over and brought down the barbed ends right over the mid-section of the tomboyish woman strapped to the rack.
"SILENCE, WORM!" Bunwa roared.
A scream of pain and shocked, helpless outrage escaped Chûei Tôtaku's lips as the barbs left parallel tracks of angry red welts from her well-formed breasts to just above her trimmed patch of brown pubic hair over her womanhood. Save for the healed and semi-healed scars over her body and even her face, Chûei was a very beautiful woman to look at. Shaggy, short-cut brown hair framed an artistically-lined face pierced with golden-brown eyes, touched off with a well-shaped nose and lips that begged for kisses. Her body was taunt and very muscular; one didn't become one of the most powerful A-rank tôshi in all of the Seven Schools by letting one's body get out of shape even for an instant. Bunwa worshipped that body and the beautiful soul it bore within it with every fibre of her being, with as much passion as Kôdai Chinkyû felt for Hôsen Ryofu. Many a time over the last four years did she dream of the chance of travelling to Canada with Chûei, going to Niagara Falls and finding a justice of the peace there so they could marry, finally be free of the damned demons of the past and live out the rest of their lives not as two tôshi cursed by the ghosts of the Three Kingdoms of old China, but as Takumi Tadasu and her beloved wife, Hokona Uru.
A howl of wounded rage escaped Chûei's lips as her eyes locked on Bunwa's. "HOW DARE YOU…?!"
CRACK!
"BE QUIET, TRAITOR! SPEAK WHEN SPOKEN TO!"
Another scream, this one even more indignant. "YOU DARE…?!"
CRACK!
"I SAID 'SHUT UP,' DOG! YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME!"
As the howling continued, the cat o' nine tails continued to lash out again.
CRACK!
And again.
CRACK!
And again…
"Gods! It's worse than ever!"
"It is that, isn't it?"
Hearing her lover's calm statement, Kôdai tried not stare wide-eyed at Hôsen. The aqua-haired tôshi was leaning against the wall right beside the locked door of the student council chamber, arms crossed and a calm look on her face. Seeing that, the younger girl tried not to wince too much. Much that she understood WHY her dying lover was trying to emotionally distance herself from all around her, the blank masks and seemingly uncaring comments that Hôsen often made about situations like this one even more surreal than it really was. And that scared her. If it came to the point where Hôsen herself decided to cut away even Kôdai from her heart…!
More faint snapping sounds echoed through the thick door and nearly-soundproofed walls of the student council room, echoed with Chûei's pained and angry screams and Bunwa's howling shouts. Each time it happened, Kôdai winced, trying not to hug herself or express any open emotion that anyone passing by could see. While the exact nature of what the leader of Rakuyô allowed her lover to do while within those rooms was a closely-guarded secret, the rumour mill at the school was just like any other high school in Japan. The students here pretty much knew that something was very wrong with Chûei Tôtaku, something that was slowly but surely eating at their leader's very sanity as time marched on. And while there had been ominous whispers among certain classes about leading a coup against Chûei, they hadn't gone farther than talk; Bunwa was just too good a strategist and knew too many people's dirtiest and darkest secrets to allow the "armchair rebels" in Rakuyô to get anywhere with their warped dreams.
After a while, the cracks of the cat o' nine tails and the shouts died out. Sensing that, Kôdai seemed to relax as she braced herself. Hôsen remained silent, not moving from her current position. Finally, the ten latch-locks that secured the door were undone and the door opened. "Get in here," Bunwa's hoarse voice called out.
Kôdai immediately marched in, trying not to stare in wide-eyed horror at the shivering mass of humanity still strapped on the rack in the middle of the room. Hôsen followed her at a more leisurely pace, earning her an annoyed look from Bunwa as she closed and locked the door behind her. Stopping at the foot of the rack holding Chûei in place, Hôsen quickly inspected the damage, and then she tsked. "The things you have to do to keep a monster down," she mused, a twitch of a smile on her lips.
"Oh, be quiet!" Bunwa snarled as she walked past her, tossing the cat o' nine tails to the side before she moved to loosen the straps holding her beloved in place. "Kôdai?"
"Getting the salve now, Bunwa-sempai!" Kôdai called back.
"Dômo," the raven-haired tôshi said as she paused to stare at her lover's scarred face. She had only had to use the whips on that lovely face once this time.
Seeing the peaceful look now there, the tender smile on Chûei's lips, Bunwa fought the surge of anguish that was exploding from her soul, the yearning to rip away all the straps and gently cradle the other woman in her arms as she screamed out her helpless outrage to the cruel Fates that forced this on her the day she was given the magatama bearing the soul of the warlord Zhuö Dông. The man often seen as the true instigator of the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the start of a period of 360 years of nearly-continuous infighting between a host of rival regimes that cost untold numbers of lives. The man denounced in history and legend as a cruel tyrant that deserved to face death at the hands of his adopted son, Bù Lyû, who lived today as Hôsen Ryofu.
Bunwa didn't care for that side of her beloved. The blood-thirsty, back-stabbing tyrant had come out in Zhuö Dông only when he was thrust into the insane infighting between the various factions in control at the imperial court in Luòyáng, where eunuchs were fighting with empress dowagers for supreme control of China. And in the modern context, had begun to allow Chûei to gain considerable influence over the leadership of most of the Seven Schools save for Seito and Gogun (due to their remoteness). That was a path that was leading to disaster, Bunwa knew. Already her spies in other places were hearing ominous rumours about a potential "coalition" being formed between various school leaders to overthrow Chûei's "lackeys" — all of whom actually tried to lean on her to boost their own standing with their schoolmates, Bunwa knew — and fully "break away" from Rakuyô to form their own little "empires."
Madness. Utter madness.
What Bunwa truly cared for about her beloved was the youthful version of Zhuö Dông that Chûei had been not more than two years ago, when both were freshmen students at Rakuyô. The gallant lady knight who seemed the epitome of the modern samurai warrior. The one who always treated peers and superiors with respect and courtesy. The one who would always help someone in need even when not asked. The sweet and tender woman who had made Bunwa fall head-over-heels in love with her with just a few words and a smoking gaze that made her knees turn to jelly and her heart turn to mush every time she saw it. The smart girl that loved smart girls (which Bunwa was) and didn't care too much about what others might have thought about their relationship both inside Rakuyô and beyond.
The woman she feared she was losing bit by bit to the darkness as time marched on.
The woman she vowed would never die as long as she could help it.
"Sempai?"
Bunwa jolted, and then she nodded thanks as she took the large bowl of healing salve created by Genka Kada-sensei for these occasions. With that, she whipped off her gloves, then picked up a soft cloth to dip into the salve and then moved to wipe it over the dozing Chûei's face. "It's alright, Anata," she said with a tender smile as she worked the herbal mixture into those angry cuts. "It's over. Sleep and dream good dreams, my love. We'll be finally out of this soon."
"It was really intense this time, wasn't it?" Hôsen mused.
The raven-haired tôshi nodded. "Yeah."
"I think I know why."
Bunwa stopped to look at her. "Why?"
"Chûei's ki is bound somewhat to that of Môtoku's, Gentoku's and Hakufu's."
A nod. "I know THAT part, Hôsen. What are you saying?"
A chuckle. "Fu-chan did the etchi with her lover today."
Silence.
Bunwa tried not to allow her jaw to hit the floor. "What?" she eeped.
"Sonsaku has a girlfriend," Kôdai provided.
"Or a boyfriend," Hôsen added. "Depending on water temperature, of course."
More silence.
"Wh-what?" Bunwa stammered.
Hôsen grinned the grimace of a magician about to pull two rabbits out of his magical hat. "Hakufu Sonsaku. Ranma Saotome. How's THAT for a couple?"
Still more silence.
"YOU'RE JOKING!" Bunwa shrieked.
A shake of the head. "Nope. Wait until you hear THIS, Bunwa-chan…!"
Thirty minutes later saw Bunwa seated on the bed in the side room leading to the student council chamber, now nude — as was Chûei under the covers behind her — with all the torture equipment stored out of sight. Her glasses were off and her tears flowed freely as she cradled her head in her hands, gentle sobs escaping her lips as her mind and heart roiled over the bombshell of information Hôsen had just dropped onto her head.
Bombshell…?
Hell, no! This gift from Heaven Itself!
The Shôhaô…
Her dragon awake…
And under her FULL control!
Thanks to the Godslayer himself.
Or herself, as she had now elected to become.
A gift from Heaven indeed…
"Sweetheart?"
Bunwa gasped, and then she spun around to see Chûei's eyes wide open and scanning around the room. "ANATA!" she screamed as she lunged into her arms.
"HEY!" the brown-haired tôshi yelped before a pained cry escaped her. "AAAH!"
Bunwa jumped back from her as Chûei curled in on herself, wrapping the blankets close to her as a moan escaped her. "I'm sorry!"
"Damn…!" the other woman groaned in pain as she tried to fight down the feeling of thousands of knives lancing through every nerve in her body, and then she took several deep breaths as she summoned her ki to flood through her muscles and skin to help in the repairs. "How long was it this time…?" she gasped.
Seeing that Chûei was in full control over herself, Bunwa relaxed. "About an hour."
"Are you okay?"
A sniff. "What do you expect, Takumi?"
Seeing the pained look on her face, Chûei tried not to grin too much as she reached over with a hand to grasp her hand. "I'm so sorry I put you through this, Hokona."
"Don't apologise," Bunwa said with a shake of her head. "We swore ourselves to each other, remember? Through sickness and in health…"
"In poor times and in better times," Chûei finished for her. "I know."
"I have news."
"Shikuko's been cured?"
A barked laugh. "Baka!"
Both women giggled, and then Chûei shifted the blankets aside to allow Bunwa to slip in beside her. As they took each other into their arms, they shared a warm kiss, and then Chûei shifted Bunwa's head onto her shoulder. "What's the news?"
"A miracle, my love," Bunwa whispered. "A miracle…"
Sometime later, Bunwa made her way into her homeroom class, heading over to her desk to pack up her schoolbag and get ready for the trip home. Before she could get far, a voice then called out from behind her, "Bunwa-chan?"
She stopped, looking over her shoulder as Shisui Kayû walked up to her. A slender yet shapely and well-exercised senior student with very nice silver hair cut at a shaggy taper to the neck and golden-brown eyes very much like Chûei's, Shisui was Bunwa's chief assistant and confidant. They had dated briefly two years before, but remained very good friends when Bunwa had fallen hard for Chûei. Shisui was the only one in the whole of Rakuyô outside Hôsen and Kôdai who knew the truth about Chûei's condition.
Waiving her friend with her, Bunwa walked out of the classroom with her bag, and then she made her way downstairs to the shoe locker room set aside for the senior students. Reaching her locker, she opened it before slipping off her uwabaki and putting on her outdoor shoes. "<<It was bad,>>" she whispered in English; Shisui would understand her. "<<And it's getting worse each time it happens.>>"
"<<You're holding out pretty good, Hokona,>>" Shisui noted.
Bunwa smiled. "<<I really appreciate that, Mio.>>" A sigh. "<<I've got a job for you.>>"
The other woman perked. "<<What?>>"
"<<I need you to contact someone in Nerima.>>"
Shisui blinked. "Nerima?"
Bunwa smirked. "Nabiki Tendô."
Now that the news has got out to the leaders of Rakuyô…
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(Posted Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:38)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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