Ranma shrugged. “It seems simple enough,” she said nonchalantly. “There’s plenty of boys at school that’ll be happy ta help out — certainly enough that I won’t hafta drain one very much or very often. If all else fails, Kuno’ll be happy ta help out,” she finished with a grimace, unable to suppress a wince.
Akane froze. “No!” she shouted. “There is no way you’re sleeping with that ... that ...”
“Akane’s right,” Nabiki broke in, “at least in general. Do you remember why you decided not to go public with your lesbian relationship — your plans to reopen the dojo? Well, Ranma getting a reputation for being a complete slut would be just as bad if not worse. No, using the boys at school isn’t the answer, even though they’d be more than happy to help out. You’re going to need a different answer.”
Akane slowly relaxed, as Ranma ran a gentle hand along her back. Taking some deep breaths, the youngest Tendo asked as calmly as she could, “All right, Nabiki, stop playing around, what’s your idea for ... for feeding Ranma?”
It was Nabiki’s turn to shrug. “I should think it’s obvious — Ranma needs to go professional.” The room went silent, and Nabiki looked around at the confused expressions. “You know, get paid for it?” she added.
“Are you saying that Ranma should become a prostitute, walk the streets waiting for men to pick her up?” Akane asked, and Nabiki stiffened at the quiet tone of the question, all emotion leached out of her younger sister’s voice.
“Easy, Akane, easy,” Ranma whispered in her lover’s ear, then said more loudly, “That’s a good question, is that what yer suggesting?”
“Yes and no, not all prostitutes are made equal,” Nabiki asserted, then sighed. “Listen, Ranma, you’re going to need to have sex with someone once a day just to survive, and when you start practicing your new powers it’ll have to be more than one to avoid being noticed and with men to avoid creating new succubae. If you want to preserve your reputation in Nerima, it’ll have to be strangers outside of the district. And if you’re going to be sleeping with stranger after stranger, anyway, you might as well be paid for it — especially since you have a kid on the way, babies are expensive.”
The blood drained from Akane’s face and she swayed slightly in place, hand rising to rest against her abdomen, and Ranma glared at her unofficial sister-in-law as she pulled Akane’s head down to rest on her shoulder and her lover’s arms circled her. “That was low, Nabiki,” she growled, Xian Pu adding her own glare and even Kasumi frowning slightly in disapproval.
“True, though,” Nabiki replied with a shrug, apparently unconcerned with the others’ disapproval. “But I said ‘yes and no’ — that not all prostitutes are made equal. I’m not suggesting that you become a streetwalker. What would you say to playing a role for clients that want to sleep with a rough-edged tomboy, in rooms set up to look like a typical girl’s bedroom, or schoolroom, or some other setting?”
“Ya know such a place?” Ranma asked.
“Yes, I do, a cosplay and fantasy house, for clients that dream of sleeping with both general types — loligoths, tomboys, the sweet and innocent type, schoolgirls — as well as specific characters from various manga and anime. I’m told Sailor Moon is especially popular, but you could probably find yourself dressed up as any number of redheaded warriors from manga. The woman that owns the place makes a good living, but puts enough back into the place to cover her girls’ medical needs. She’ll insist you keep up your schoolwork, though, she has an arrangement with the local school district to make sure her girls can get apparently legal high school degrees and help them move on to college when they leave her house.”
Ranma fell silent for a few moments, then nodded slowly. “That could work,” she said thoughtfully.
Suddenly Kasumi spoke up. “Just how do you know this woman?” she asked, a slight edge to her voice, and Nabiki’s face instantly lost all expression.
Gazing calmly at her older sister, she replied, “I found her when I went looking for the safest and most pleasurable way to sell my virginity.” The room went silent, and Nabiki glanced around at what this time were stunned expressions, then actually smiled impishly.
“Y-Y-You ... s-sell ...” Akane finally stuttered out.
“Yes, I sold my virginity to the highest bidder,” Nabiki said, smiling sardonically. “Virginity’s a commodity, like any other, and I wanted to get top yen for it. But I’d listened to the stories from girls at school that were posting their phone numbers and photos in phone booths near stations for extra spending money, about how awful the first time could be. I wanted to enjoy it, as much as possible — to have a partner that cared about my needs as well as his own. It took some doing, but I found this place and convinced the madam to try a new sideline. Since then, I’ve quietly steered the occasional schoolmate her way — for a cut, of course. It’s a winning situation for everyone: some of the clients get to live out their fantasies with real virgins instead of pretend ones, the girls get more money than they would if they simply posted their name up, in a safe, romantic place and end up with memories that are at least not bad, perhaps even good; the madam gets more steady clients as they hope for a chance to live out their fantasies for real; and I make more money.”
Finally, Kasumi’s voice broke the shocked silence. “And was your first time as good as you’d hoped?” she asked quietly, looking oddly wistful.
Nabiki gazed at her for a moment, her smile going oddly gentle. “Yes,” she said softly, “it was. My client was kind, understanding and patient, all an inexperienced girl could ask for. I’ve actually slept with him a few more times over the years — for a fee, of course, though not much of one.” Then, smile turning impish again, she continued, “Would you like me to set you up with him? You’re a little old for his tastes, but I’m sure he’d be happy to do me a favor, and like I said he’s very good.”
Kasumi shook her head, blushing beet red, and Nabiki chuckled as she turned to face Ranma. “Well?” she asked.
Ranma stared at her, and suppressed a start as suddenly the strange swirling misty glows from the previous night reappeared, the colors faded somewhat in the light of day but still clear to her eyes. Shifting her gaze to the other girls then back to the middle Tendo, Ranma carefully kept her mental frown from her face. Weird, she thought, her eyes shifting again from the heavy black and grays with the occasional strip of white swirling about Nabiki to the almost exact opposite of Kasumi (at least in the quantities of each shade — if there were patterns to the colors, she couldn’t see them yet), and back.
Then the redhead shook herself and closed her eyes. Worry about it later, Ranma, ya got a decision ta make. Do ya trust Nabiki this time? She thought over what Nabiki had said, and tried to think of a better way to keep herself fed while remaining at the dojo. Her decision was made easier by the fact that she couldn’t. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes (relieved that the odd mists were gone), then nodded as Akane’s embrace tightened. “Yeah, it sounds like the best option available, I’ll do it. When do ya think I can start, tonight?”
“Oh, no, not that fast,” Nabiki instantly disagreed. “First, I’ll need to contact the madam and see if she’s agreeable. She’ll probably want to meet you first before she agrees, she’s a little picky about what girls work for her and this isn’t the normal way she finds them. Then you’ll have at least a week of nightly training, and you won’t want to feed off your sensei. So it’ll be over a week, at least, before you can start feeding regularly there.”
“But Ranma will need to ... to feed right away, she can’t wait until then!” Akane protested. “What do we do until then?”
“We take care of New Girl until she no need our help,” Xian Pu said firmly. “With you, me,” — glaring at Nabiki, who reluctantly nodded — “Mercenary Girl, we do okay until job start.”
“And me,” came Kasumi’s voice, a stern tone to it rarely heard by the others. “I am a member of this family as well, not some porcelain doll to display on a shelf — I will do my part,” she said firmly, and Akane’s and Ranma’s protests died unspoken. Glancing at each other, they reluctantly nodded without saying a word, and she smiled. “Thank you,” she added.
“Yer welcome,” the redhead responded, sighing. “Okay, Nabiki, why don’t ya get the ball rolling? Akane needs ta practice her new katas, an’ me an’ my new battle sister are gonna spar a bit, see about learnin’ ta fight together.” As she stood, she added, “Oh, an’ Nabiki, ya do know where Mom is stayin’, don’t ya?” Nabiki nodded. “Good, I need ta talk to her.” And before Nabiki could ask why, the newborn succubus rose and strode from the family room, her red spade-tipped tail swishing behind her, and Akane and Xian Pu in her wake.
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(Posted Mon, 10 May 2010 06:14)
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