[Episode 225419] [Episode 225419]
Near Shiroku JR Station, Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture…
"This is bad."
"Agreed."
"Potentially quite disastrous."
"It could upset everything."
"Why are you all complaining?"
Hearing their leader's statement, all four women currently seated around the table at the Yoshinoya restaurant closest to Seito High School — enjoying bowls of gyûdon and bottles of spring water — all stared wide-eyed at Gentoku Ryûbi. "Gentoku, this is a major problem!" Unchô Kan'u warned. "Set aside the fact that Sonsaku is far more than what people have said she was, that she's in an intimate relationship with Ranma Saotome of all people is a major threat to us all."
Gentoku blinked. "How?"
"How what?!" Ekitoku Chôhi snapped.
"How is a relationship between Hakufu-san and Ranma-san supposedly a problem for us?" Gentoku said before nibbling on the shirataki noodles served with her beef bowl. "After hearing all the awful stories of how Ranma-san's so-called 'fiancées' treated him all the time, that he's found real love with someone else is a very good thing."
"That's not the point, Gentoku!" Unchô insisted.
"What is the point, then?!"
"People will see Nan'yô as being too powerful!" the raven-haired tôshi stated. "It's bad enough that the Shôhaô goes to that school with skill that is perhaps equal to Saotome's. Very few tôshi could possibly equal someone like that! But to have Saotome himself…"
"Herself," Shiryû Chôun corrected.
Unchô flashed the other tôshi an annoyed look. "It means that as of the start of next term, Nan'yô has two super-A rank tôshi to call on whenever they need it!" Ekitoku finished before she gobbled down the rest of her gyûdon without stopping for even a breath of air.
"And that is a problem?" Gentoku asked. "Are we going to make war on Nan'yô?"
The others jolted. "Of course not! Unless you order it, of course!" Unchô said.
"And I certainly will not do such a thing!" Gentoku stated before she sat back in her chair. "Ridiculous as it sounds to me!" she added in an annoyed mutter.
Ekitoku and Unchô sent her pained looks. Shiryû remained as calm and as unflappable as ever. The other girl at the table, the young, green-haired, purple-eyed Kômei Shokatsuryô, also seemed unbothered by Gentoku's statement, though she was giving the older woman a curious look. Seeing that, the brown-haired tôshi/book lover took a deep breath. "Look, I've never liked all this moronic talk of waging battles against people from the other schools, much less doing things to extend our influence over them. What for? Where does this get us?" She stared at Unchô. "Kan-san, your final year of high school's coming up, soon. Aren't you worried about entrance exams and all that?" To Ekitoku and Shiryû. "What about you two? Don't you have futures of your own that you dream about?" She waved to Kômei. "And how can you heap all this over someone as young as Kômei-chan, here? Doesn't that bother you one bit?!"
"Others don't care about that, Gentoku," Unchô warned.
"And why not?" Gentoku demanded, and then she answered her own question, "Because too many of us keep thinking of the here-and-now, not the future! And because of that, this whole madness keeps feeding on itself. How many people get hurt? How many people get permanently crippled or far worse?" She pointed to herself. "I can't understand why you consider this so important!" Shaking her head, she stood up to pick up her tray. "I swear! Adrenaline junkies, the lot of you!"
With that, she headed off to the nearest waste dispenser to dispose of her garbage, and then head out of the restaurant for home. The others watched her go, and then Unchô and Ekitoku breathed out in annoyance. "She just doesn't get it!" the former snarled. "How many attacks on her over the last year have we stopped?! Five? Ten? She watched them all happen! And even after all that, she still doesn't get it?! That idiot!" she spat out before rising to leave. "I'm going for a walk."
"I'll watch over Gentoku," Unchô stated.
Ekitoku nodded as she stormed off. Unchô left a minute later, leaving Shiryû and Kômei alone with their meals. After a minute, the younger girl hummed as she stared at the door. Noting that, the silver-haired tôshi "gazed" at her. "What is it?"
"Perhaps Gentoku-sama realises something we blind ourselves to," Kômei noted.
Shiryû's eyebrow arched.
Idiot! Idiot! IDIOT! Doesn't she realise we're in a fuckin' WAR here?!
Grumbling to herself, Ekitoku stormed her way down the small main street of the village close to both Seito High School and Tôgen-ji, the Buddhist temple where Kômei had resided before she moved into town to reside full time with Gentoku, Unchô, Ekitoku and Shiryû at an apartment block close to Seito. Passing by the small shops that catered to the nearly thousand students that attended Seito (plus the staff and those families who had moved to this part of Chichibu to be with their daughters going to school), she didn't sense the cloaked figure that stepped out of an alley Ekitoku had passed seconds before. Falling in behind the brown-haired, chestnut-eyed tôshi from Seito, the other woman tried not to grin too much on hearing the unintelligible grumblings escaping the woman before her.
She had been close to the Yoshinoya restaurant when Ekitoku had lunch.
A minute later, Ekitoku turned down a side street that would lead up to the apartment block she shared with her friends. The pursuer maintained her pace as she moved to follow, and then, after turning the corner, stopped in shock on seeing no one there. "What on Earth…?" she gasped before clamping down on her shock, cursing herself for uttering anything when she lost track of the woman she was pursuing.
"Over here."
Hearing that voice, the woman grinned as she walked over to an alley that went behind the building to her left. Looking in, she spotted the top of Ekitoku's head behind a large garbage dumpster. Without hesitation, she walked around it to find her target leaning against the wall behind the dumpster, a knowing look on her face and her seifuku skirt hiked up to reveal that she didn't have on underwear today.
"You sensed me," Enjô Koshaji said as she moved closer to her beloved, shifting aside her cloak to reveal her very short skirt, and then she pulled that up to also reveal nothing underneath. "You're getting much better at this, Asumi."
"You make it too much fun, Kyoko," Ekitoku said as she reached down to pull her lover's hips close so they could enjoy some mutual contact between their womanhood.
"Always for you," Enjô mewed as she caressed her lover's lips with her own.
As the two started to thrust away, their kisses rained over each other's faces as their breathing collapsed into a storm of moans, pants and grunts. As she felt the welcome rush in her body that was heralding one very nice orgasm coming, Ekitoku felt part of her mind drift off as she recalled the first time she encountered the top assassin of the Yoshû Academy of Utsunomiya, capital of Tochigi Prefecture north of Tôkyô…
Six months before, when she had been helping clean up things around Tôgen Abbey, Ekitoku heard several shouts, a shriek of fear and screams of pain from the nearby forest. Recognising the shriek as coming from Gentoku, she raced into the forest to rescue her friend and leader. On reaching a clearing near the tree line, she had been shocked to see Gentoku being swarmed by a dozen attackers from Yoshû.
And she was being defended by a silver-haired typhoon of destruction…
…fighting her own SCHOOLMATES!
Ekitoku plunged in right away to help even the odds, knocking out most of the attackers with her strength. Just as she was about to clean out the last bunch, one of the Yoshû tôshi raised a crossbow of all things to shoot Gentoku down between the eyes. Before Ekitoku could fling her body to intercept the oncoming missile, the silver-haired tôshi that had been defending the leader of Seito got in the way first, using her throwing knives to hit the archer in both eyes. Her weapon went off, sending a bolt slamming into the defender's shoulder and knocking her down and out. By then, Unchô and Shiryû were on the scene and quickly moved to incapacitate the remaining attackers from Yoshû.
Getting the wounded woman to the Abbey for first aid, all three Seito warriors learned that Enjô Koshaji was an emissary from Môki Bachô, one of the A-ranked fighters from Yoshû and a childhood friend of Unchô's. Though Môki was not the leader of the tôshi attending that school — Yoshû was under the control, even now, of one of Chûei Tôtaku's lackeys, Honsho Enshô — she was one of the most respected tôshi alive today, on equal stature to Unchô or Yôshû High School's Shigi Taishiji. She was the leader of the "peace faction" of Yoshû, who had come to see in the rise of Tôtaku's influence over most of the others of the Seven Schools as a dark foreshadowing of something that would lead to death, disfigurement and disaster for all involved.
What Môki had vowed (in a coded letter she had Enjô secretly carry to Unchô that very night) was that if Honsho eventually went true to form and attacked Môtoku Sôsô (in following events 1800 years ago), Môki would depose her (to spare the rest of Yoshû from potentially facing the wrath of Môtoku's dragon-self), and then offer a peace alliance with both Seito and Kyoshô. Supporting Môki in this plan were two of the other respected A-ranks from Yoshû, Bun'yaku Kansui and Reimei Hôtoku. Enjô herself, after recovering from the crossbow wound to her shoulder, told Unchô that Môki had almost a third of the whole student body of Yoshû behind her, with another third firmly behind Honsho and the last third remaining undecided for the time being.
Of course, for Unchô, Ekitoku and Shiryû, renewing an alliance with Môki harkened back to the days of Shû Hàn, when their past-selves were four of the "Five Tiger Generals" who had served under Gentoku's past-self, Bèi Liú. All three were quick to accept Môki's offer on Gentoku's behalf. Enjô was then assigned as the secret courier between Môki and her friends from Seito. And as those weekly meetings progressed, the silver-haired ninja found herself growing closer and closer to the passionate Ekitoku.
They had shared a bed for the first time two months ago.
"Oh, Asumi-chan, it's coming…" Enjô moaned as her hands quickly darted down to push Ekitoku's hips closer to her as their thrusting increased. "I'm coming…!"
"Y-yeah…! Oh, SHIT, Kyoko! I'm…I'm…I'm…!
The tidal wave crashed home as both tôshi froze, their voices shooting to the heavens as they both wailed out each other's names. As the shockwaves of their passions began to abate, the strength in their legs disappeared, allowing them to collapse to their knees as they held each other close, using what energy was left in their bodies from making them fall to their sides and giving any potential passer-by a cheap thrill. Panting heavily to draw back in some needed oxygen, Enjô and Ekitoku kept each other close, and then, as new strength appeared in their legs, they shared a warm kiss.
"Suki da yo," Ekitoku whispered.
"Daisuki desu, Anata," Enjô whispered back.
They remained still for a moment, gazing warmly into each other's eyes, and then they moved to stand, their hands immediately shifting down to make themselves more presentable before Enjô drew back her cloak. Ekitoku then nodded towards the street, offering her hand. Enjô took it and they headed off towards the former's apartment.
"So what hauls you over here? Môki sending a message?"
Enjô chuckled as she shook her head. "Iie. Nothing's changed at Yoshû for the time being. I just desired to come down and spend a weekend with the woman I love."
Ekitoku stared in concern at her lover. "Will you be missed?"
"Iie. Honsho-san's busy trying to prepare the undecided tôshi at Yoshû for a war against Kyoshô. I overheard her bragging to Ganryô, Bunshû and Denpô, vowing to help Tôtaku avert her fate by doing a pre-emptive strike on Kyoshô and eliminate Sôsô before she could fill the vacuum that could be left behind if Tôtaku dies."
"Stupid," Ekitoku muttered under her breath. "If everything goes true to form, the only one who could knock Tôtaku off is Ryofu."
"Or possibly the Godslayer."
Ekitoku froze on hearing her lover's words, and then she moaned. "Fuck…!"
"Even if he was faking his feelings for Tendô-san when he killed the phoenix king Saffron, Saotome-sama has proven himself to be easily super A-class as we look at things," Enjô warned. "I don't think even the strongest of us all, acting in union, could take him down if he was on guard. And with Sonsaku at his side…"
"AND in control of her dragon…!"
A nod. "A suicide attack."
"Yeah. Does Môki know?"
"She does. She actually sees Saotome-sama's coming as a good thing."
A shake of the head. "Can't see it myself, Kyo-chan."
"Think of him as a doomsday weapon."
Ekitoku frowned. "A nuke?"
"Exactly, Asu-chan. We leave Saotome-sama and Sonsaku-san alone, they leave us alone. For those stupid enough not to see the danger in time, they will destroy themselves. But, at least, Saotome-sama — and hopefully Sonsaku-san as well — will keep the retaliation limited to those who truly deserve their wrath."
"And not everyone else."
Enjô nodded. "Exactly…eh?!"
Ekitoku tensed. "What?!"
The ninja-trained tôshi blinked as she focused her light brown eyes towards a nearby park. Taking a moment to concentrate on the new ki signature she had just sensed, she then relaxed before smiling. "Oh, my…"
"What?" Ekitoku asked again, feeling herself relax.
A giggle. "I think Shiryû-san won't be sleeping alone tonight."
Ekitoku blinked, and then she smirked. "Her?"
"Who else?"
"Wanna get a hotel room instead?"
"I got my camping gear!"
Ekitoku grinned. "Kyo-chan, I just love the way you think!"
They laughed, and then shared a kiss before they ran off to Ekitoku's apartment.
Seated at a bench in a park close to where she lived with her friends and schoolmates, Shiryû tried desperately not to grin too much as her ki senses picked up the intensive and passionate presence of Enjô Koshaji following Ekitoku until the latter was able to hide herself in an alley to properly greet her lover and reaffirm their passions for each other. They do make a very beautiful couple, the silver-haired tôshi mused to herself with a touch of envy as she allowed her body to relax itself and focus her ki into keeping the powerful creature now bonded to her soul from accidentally lashing out and hurting things she did not desire to be hurt.
Her eyebrow then arched before a smile crossed her face. "Konnichi wa, Mien-san."
The footfalls of high heels heralded the arrival of a raven-haired, blue-eyed woman Shiryû's height, dressed now in a sleeved silver cheongsam that was slit up the sides to below the hips, a pair of fingerless gloves covering her hands. Shiryû knew those gloves also contained a pair of wire spools that were hooked to her beloved's favourite jade shot weights, which she used both as a distance striking tool and as a way of restraining her opponents. They could also be used as garrottes, but Shiryû knew that Myôsai Kakôen had not been called on by Môtoku Sôsô to actually kill anyone. Yet.
"Konnichi wa, Kumomi-san," Myôsai said as she sat down beside Shiryû, gazing at her with a touch of fondness flashing in her eyes, which was a considerable contrast to the normally impassive face she projected to everyone. "You are alone today."
"I am never alone, beloved."
"Should I be jealous?"
Shiryû seemed to purr as she opened her golden, dragon-slit eyes to stare warmly at her lover. "You need not be jealous of me, treasure."
Hearing that, Myôsai felt dampness in her panties as she allowed Shiryû to take her into her arms. Staring into those haunting eyes, Myôsai sighed as she leaned up to tenderly kiss her lover. "Another of your sisters has her own treasure, my love."
Shiryû's eyes closed. "I know," she said in her normal voice as she reached up to gently threat her fingers through Myôsai's hair. "I am happy for her. But her choice of lover concerns me. To bring the Godslayer into our world risks much."
A shake of the head. "I disagree. As does Môtoku-sama."
An eyebrow arch. "And what is Môtoku-san's view of this, Mien-san?"
Myôsai closed her eyes. "If Hakufu-san can learn to control her dragon from Saotome-sama, so can Môtoku-sama. My cousin and I — all of us who form Môtoku-sama's inner circle — see this as a good thing. You can see the advantage, too."
"Gentoku-san, you mean?"
"Hai."
A hum. "I'll have to think about that."
"It is to all our advantage."
"Hai, true. But let's not talk about it now."
Myôsai blinked, and then she pulled back from Shiryû to gaze on her. "Why not?"
Shiryû grinned as she stood up, helping her lover to her feet. "Because, Mien-san, I want to temporarily forget what we're all caught up in. All I want to be now is Kumomi Koeru. Who is going to spend a wonderful weekend with my lover, Mien Natsukimi, in my apartment here in town. Where we're going to engage in deep sexual congress with each other and no doubt drive all my roommates mad with jealousy and envy."
Myôsai laughed. "Hai, I did sense Kyoko-san here." She nodded in the direction of where Enjô and Ekitoku were, and then she stared fondly at Shiryû. "Maybe we should get Kyoko-san and Asumi-san to join us in a little orgy." She winked. "Might finally give Haneko-san the urge to finally make her move on Sonami-sama."
"No, Kyoko-san came with her tent and camping gear, so it'll just be us."
"Pity."
More laughter escaped them, and then they turned to head hand-in-hand to Shiryû's apartment as we…
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(Posted Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:05)
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