The argument between Tomoyo and Sakura was short lived as a knock at the bath door was followed by a gentle voice. "May I come in Ranma-sama?"
Before the red-head could formulate a reply, the door was opened by Tomoyo to reveal two composed women in expensive looking kimono. Looking at the woman with the blue hair in shock, Tomoyo expressed her confusion. "Princess Aoi-sama? Is something the matter?"
Smiling gently, Aoi was gentle but firm in her insistence. "We will attend to Ranma-sama's bath."
More than a bit surprised, the younger girl couldn't help but to ask, "...but, why?"
Still smiling gently, the blue haired woman turned a quietly bemused look to the mostly naked red-head still perched on the lip of the bathtub. "Well Ranma-sama, have you explained to them that hot water will return you to male form?" Getting an embarrassed look from the red-head, Aoi swiftly fixed Tomoyo with her gaze. "...and has anyone informed Ranma-sama that the waters of this kingdom are magical waters that turn all into girls, hence the distinct abundance of magical girls?"
With all three girls stunned into silence, Aoi quietly held out her hand so her companion could place a golden metal sphere the size of a baseball there. "Knowing these things, I arranged for Kumiko-chan to remove the impeller from the bathroom so there would not be any hot water. The Jusenkyou spring girl curse should protect against the effects of Avalon's water, but it would not do to give him such a scare, nor to put him at such risk recklessly."
Moving to the far side of the tub near the window, Aoi began running the water to fill the tub. Seeing the looks of trepidation on the girls despite her assurances, the kimono clad princess withdrew an amulet from her kimono before offering it to Ranma. "Here, this is Blazing Courage. As your magical device she can protect you." Once Ranma took the offered necklace, Aoi continued. "Just think of it becoming a bracelet and say, 'Blazing Courage, set-up'."
For a long moment it looked like the red-head wanted to say something, but eventually she just gave up on it and turned her attention to the gem. "Uhm, Blazing Courage... uh, do the bracelet thing." With her hesitant words there was little action. The gem simply flashed a dull red and vibrated briefly. Then it glowed blue and displayed holographic text in the air before the red-head, helpfully reading the text out loud in a clear confident voice that was clearly her own. "Blazing Courage, Set-up."
Unease visibly increasing, the petite red-head held the gem further away from her as if it were about to explode. The only reason she had yet to drop it was because she didn't want a magical girl henshin item pissed off at her.
Smiling softly Aoi gently grasped Ranma's hands and eased her back from freaking out. "The linker core is just trying to be helpful. It will not activate without your permission except in an emergency to protect you from danger." Seeing the red-head was still unconvinced, Aoi paused as she pondered the best way to assure the red-head. Grinning pleasantly the kimono clad princess decided on an amusing course of action considering the likely reason for the distrust. Reaching over she picked up the gem and held it up before Ranma's face. "Blazing Courage will just have to demonstrate and prove herself."
So saying the purple gem floated up and formed into a golden choker around the red-head's slender neck with the magical gem clearly visible at the front. This was despite Ranma attempting to dodge only to fall backwards into the tub. She was saved from cracking the back of her head on the other side of the tub as gravity lost hold of her and she floated inches from impact. This however left the shocked part-time girl floating helplessly in the air like a flipped turtle as the magic was actively preventing her from making contact with the tub.
Pleasantly amused, Aoi pulled the floating red-head to her, taking the opportunity to strip the boxers from her floating rear as Ranma grasped her for support. That done Aoi gently pushed down on her legs, allowing the red-head to firmly stand on her own. Once that was accomplished gravity returned to her as evidenced by the hang of her hair and breasts. "What the hell was that?"
- Gravity Control: Auto-Feather :: Mana Usage [\.........] -
Seeing the display of information calmed the red-head despite her lack of understanding for what it meant. "...and that means what?"
- Auto Feather: Automatic Protective Magic combining the effects of Float, Barrier and Kinetic Dampening to protect against impacts.
- Mana Usage [\.........]: The magic uses less than 10% mana processing ability. Usage less than 100% can be maintained indefinitely.
As more explanations made themselves known to her, the red-head briefly lost focus as she processed the internal data. Float was floating in place. Barrier was a force field type thing. Kinetic Control meant making things move with dampening meaning to make things stop. It didn't take Ranma a great leap of logic to get the thing to confirm that putting them together in a different order allowed flight. It was also a little scary at first to learn the mana usage meant she could have floated forever there, but with the idea of controlled flight a possibility it was a different thing altogether.
- Excess Mana Detected: Entering Mana Condenser Mode. Upgrade in 4:53 minutes.
Two blank round slots opened in the golden choker, gathering a mote of light in the center of each. There was an explanation that went with it, but at that point Ranma was mollified enough to leave the thing alone. There was such a thing as too much information plus she had a bathroom full of girls waiting for her while she stood there completely naked. "Uhm, okay I guess. So, uh, is the bath safe?"
Aoi smiled as the girls shared a brief giggle at the question. Kneeling by the bath Aoi shut off the water and set the impeller in the water, allowing the golden clockwork sphere to swirl the water as it created a jet of heated water. "Would you like to try a scented bubble bath? It's something that suits this type of bath as opposed to a furo."
Ranma was unperturbed in her worries. "Hey, it is safe now, right?"
Aoi just cocked her head to the side and smiled mysteriously. "Well, if you're still a girl when you get in, you're safe. If you turn male simply get out, the waters of Avalon don't work instantly like Jusenkyou, so a short dip is fine. Just wait for the water to get completely hot first."
Blinking in surprise, the red-head pondered the idea of her taking a hot bath in female form as being a good sign.
Aoi on the other hand considered her companion intently for a moment before turning to Ranma. "Kumiko-chan, go ahead and get in."
Looking just a bit surprised, the woman with her long dark brown hair up in a high ponytail paused and turned to the red-head. "Is it alright Ranma-sama?"
The red-head in turn just looked confused at why she was getting in the tub. "...sure, but when do I get to have a bath then?"
Kumiko in turn looked confused but Aoi laughed and waved her onwards. "Kumiko-chan will sit behind you. This tub is too over-sized for you, so she'll take care of you."
As the brown haired woman slipped out of her kimono to reveal tight black kunoichi chainmail beneath, Ranma raised her hands in self defense. "Ah, that's okay, I can take a bath by myself."
Aoi merely smiled as her stripping kunoichi companion caused the red-head to blush and look away as her breasts came into view at head height to the petite girl. "Where's the fun in that? Our dear princess must be pampered. What sort of barbarians do you take us for?"
Realizing the blue haired woman was teasing her, Ranma sighed in defeat after seeing the black haired girl giggle at her situation, clearly illustrating that she was outnumbered and outvoted. Crossing her arms, the petite red-head pouted cutely as they finished the bath preparations, the water giving a brief wisp of steam before Aoi withdrew the impeller. Then it was Tomoyo tossing a pinch of salt crystals into the bath as the kunoichi put her ponytail up into a bun and moved to sit in the tub, still wearing an armored black glove on her left arm.
Sighing one last time as she traded her pout for a blush, Ranma slipped into the tub after briefly glimpsing the mature figure of the taller woman now sitting behind her. A bit uncomfortable at the feeling of being in hot water while in girl form, the red-head's blush deepened as Kumiko pulled her into a hug that had her head resting on a pair of full breasts. As the delicately scented water reached her nose, Ranma felt the woman behind her undo her braid as she started humming pleasantly.
While Ranma was getting her hair washed and massaged, Aoi turned a knowing grin towards Tomoyo. "Why don't you girls run along and prepare for the slumber party. Make sure we have plenty of party favors."
Giggling at a sudden thought, Tomoyo just had to ask, "Candies?" Seeing the knowing grin widen as a mischievous giggle escaped the princess, Tomoyo had her answer and hauled Sakura out of the bathroom in an excited rush.
Ranma used a hand to keep the soap out of her eyes and glance around, curious what the commotion was about. Not caring enough to continue the struggle against her soapy bangs, the red-head closed her eyes and resumed allowing Kumiko wash her hair, content that the two girls had left at least.
- Mana Condensation Complete: Installing Materia
Curious at the sound of two little splashes in front of her, Ranma felt the newly formed bracelets on her wrist as Blazing Courage displayed a diagram explaining the new bracelets. A number of the concepts escaped her, but the simple version seemed to be that the thing was running off her excess mana and she was making more than it could absorb. There was also an expanding list of future upgrade choices that sounded more like computer stuff than magical girl stuff to her, particularly the sensor and network categories.
Finally getting her hair rinsed free of suds, the curvy martial artist pushed her bangs back from her eyes to check out the simple thick bands of gold that formed bracelets with a small round gem set on the underside of each wrist. With her limited experience with video games, the core gave her an explanation for the upgrade she could handle. The linker core was basically filling up empty equipment slots with basic equipment. The bracelets were more warrior oriented while something like earrings would be more mage oriented. Since it was the mage type stuff that was protecting her from bad magics, she wasn't quite as turned off by the idea of earrings and hair ornaments as she might have been. It was all while she was here in girl form after all.
Her breasts being cupped and hefted by soapy hands brought her back to the world of bath time fun, as with her hair washed the woman was now washing her front. Instead of impulsive outrage, Ranma blushed as the woman's touch was clearly friendly as she continued to hum happily and caress her shoulders as her hands trailed upwards. Her blush only deepened as Aoi crouched down and giggled at her shy reaction.
Shifting around the tub to a hose near the faucet, Aoi attached the clockwork impeller to the open end of the hose. Then it was a simple matter of putting a dab of soap gel on the open intake end of the impeller and lowering the device into the water. That set the magical sphere to sucking in water and heating it as it expelled the water into the hose. The hose then curved around to a hand shower attached to the edge of the tub, filling the surface of the water with suds as the dab of soap mixed with the water in the impeller and turned into bubbles as the shower head aerated the water.
For the petite red-head this was of some concern as the over-sized tub was deep enough that she was already neck deep in hot water. The growing layer of bubbles on top of that threatened to tickle her nose as she tried to find purchase on the smooth enamel finish of the tub to escape the rising suds. Her brief struggle was rendered moot as Kumiko enveloped her in a hug that pulled her into the curvy woman's lap, giving her the extra height required for her head to safely clear the rising bubbles. "My apologies Ranma-sama. Am I making you uncomfortable?"
Before the suddenly more embarrassed red-head could fumble a response to her expression of concern, Aoi giggled at her companion. "Kumiko-chan, I'm surprised you're giving up so easily. Do you not desire to please Ranma-sama?" Still laughing pleasantly the blue haired young woman leaned in and swept away the red bangs before kissing Ranma on the forehead. "You two have fun. Our cute princess doesn't leave the bath until she's nice and relaxed."
Pouting in the face of such blatant teasing, the curvy little red-head squirmed as the affectionate woman pulled her in tighter in response. Unfortunately for her peace of mind in the situation, she just didn't have a defense against Kasumi-type gentle affection and concern.
Stepping out into the prepared bedroom where the four magic girls were discussing their interesting new guest, Aoi gently interrupted. "Ah, Tomoyo-chan. Could you perhaps make sure everyone is suitably dressed for when Ranma-sama exits the bath? Pretty lingerie would be nice."
Giggling at the thought of the fun tonight, Tomoyo turned her grin towards Sakura, causing the taller girl to blush and try to hide behind Fuu. "Oh yes, just leave it to me."
See other episodes by Valor Phoenix
(Posted Wed, 13 Apr 2011 07:43)
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