A small crowd had gathered outside the door to the bathing area. Naru, Kitsune, Su, Sarah, and Shinobu all furtively spied through the cracked door at the spectacle inside. Keitaro was unavailable for comment after receiving a Naru Punch ™ when he unknowingly headed the same direction as the others when they decided to spy on Motoko in the bath.
Motoko led Ranma into the bathing area which was fortunately large enough for several bathers at once given the size of his smilodon form.
"Wait here," she instructed. "I'm going to get undressed and get my bathing supplies."
Ranma rumbled his acknowledgement and stood there wondering if she really intended to wash him like a dog or something. Evidently she did because she returned a minute later with a towel wrapped around her carrying a bucket of supplies. Motoko pulled out a bottle of shampoo and frowned after eyeing him speculatively.
"This isn't going to work," she sighed. "I'd need a gallon of shampoo to wash all that fur. Well, there's no help for it. I'll just have to rinse you off as best I can and hope a dip in the hot spring takes care of the rest."
Ranma snorted and turned to look at the door where those people were trying to be sneaky and spy on them. He let out a warning growl and a muffled 'eep' was heard.
"Don't worry about them," Motoko smirked. "They're just curious. It's not everyday someone you live with stays out in the woods all night and returns in the morning riding a giant SABER-TOOTH TIGER." The last part was said loudly so the spies could hear it. Motoko picked up the hand sprayer and turned on the water. "Now then, let's get you rinsed off."
However, as soon as Motoko turned the stream of cold water on Ranma something peculiar happened; suddenly, instead of a massive beast, there was now a redheaded girl standing on her hands and knees on the floor.
"What just..." Motoko gasped.
Ranma, realizing something was up, looked down at herself and saw she was once again female.
"Aw, man," she groaned. "Can't catch a break no how."
"R-Ranma? W-what's going on?" Motoko stammered in confusion.
"Yeah, I'm Ranma," the redhead confirmed morosely, standing up. Surprisingly, she actually topped Motoko's height by a couple inches and she was built like a fitness model now—well-muscled, but softer and less bulky than a female bodybuilder. "This is a curse I had before the smilodon thing. Got it at a cursed training ground in China. Basically, cold water turns me into this, although I was a lot smaller before. Hot water changes me back..." Ranma looked pensive for a moment and then changed back into her full smilodon form. Looking back and lifting a hind leg, she examined her, now his, genitals and let out a window rattling roar of triumph. Shifting into human form—and causing another muffled 'eep' from the spying girls—a fully male Ranma grinned broadly and snatched Motoko up into a hug before spinning her around in celebration. "Yes! It may not be gone, but at least I have a way to control it now!"
"Um...Ranma?" Motoko spoke up dizzily.
"Yeah?" Ranma asked, stopping to notice Motoko's cutely blushing face.
Motoko pointed behind him. Ranma looked over his shoulder to see a pissed-off long-haired brunette glaring at him from the door.
The spies were stunned when the huge cat suddenly turned into a rather stacked redhead, but that had in no way prepared them for said girl to turn back into the huge cat and then shift once again into an absolutely paramount example of the naked male form. Shinobu issued an 'eep' as one of Kitsune's hands clapped over her eyes. Kitsune had her other hand clamped over Su's eyes while Su had both her hands covering Sarah's eyes. Both Su, muttering something about bananas, and an incandescently blushing Shinobu were peeking around Kitsune's hands unnoticed by the platinum-haired fox. Naru herself was drinking in the sight of the most perfect buns she'd ever imagined like someone who had just crossed the burning desert looks at a tall glass of pure ice water.
"He certainly is a healthy boy," Kitsune commented, swallowing the drool that was threatening to escape her mouth.
Beside her, Naru shook herself like a dog shedding water. Her thought process was in many ways similar to Akane Tendo's in regards to the bounds of propriety and thoughts on suitable punishments for breaches of those bounds. She was, in fact, significantly more zealous when it came to delivering such punishment. Unimaginably hot guy or not, he was still naked and holding her nearly naked friend in a close embrace and she wasn't about to let this pervert take advantage of poor, innocent Motoko.
The door to the changing area nearly came off the tracks as Naru tore it open and stomped in to the room. The guy stopped spinning Motoko around and looked back over his shoulder at her. Naru felt her anger well up inside her and clenched her fist as he set Motoko aside.
"You pervert!" Naru shrieked as she charged. "Stop molesting Motoko!"
She drew back her fist as she got in range to deliver the trademark punch that Keitaro was intimately familiar with.
'Never again,' was the thought that went though Ranma mind as the angry girl swung at him. His arm flashed up and easily caught the punch that had been headed for his chin and before anyone had even registered that fact, Ranma executed a move he'd learned from the Martial Arts Ballroom Dancing competition he had been in. The spectators were stunned to see Naru suddenly spinning at a very high speed and drifting across the room like a top before colliding with a wall in the bathing area. The impact wasn't particularly hard, but the effects of the spin had Naru staggering drunkenly a few steps before falling to her hands and knees and emptying the contents of her stomach on the floor. She wobbled precariously on all fours and then keeled over to the side. The swirly-eyed girl rolled on to her back with her arms and legs spread eagle trying desperately to stabilize herself against the madly spinning world.
"Who's the pervert?" Ranma growled angrily. "Would that be the mated couple trying to take a simple bath or the people trying to peep on them while they bathe?"
"Ranma! That was a little extreme," Motoko chastised, while at the same time, blushing at being called a 'mated couple'.
"She ain't hurt," Ranma said in an unrepentant tone. "I've had a bellyful of people attacking me for some insane reason they concocted in their own head. No more. From now on anyone that plans on attacking me better be prepared for me to defend myself."
"At least wrap a towel around yourself. There are children present," Motoko suggested, to which Ranma complied.
Two hours later the residents of the Hinata Dorms plus one guest sat around the dinning table for explanations. Ranma was wearing a gi top that Haruka had in her closet—although there was a question of why Haruka had something that while a bit tight, still fit Ranma's sizable form—and a pair of Motoko's hakama, although again they were too small for him, but covered enough for decency. Motoko was handling the introductions.
"This is the Dorm Manager, Keitaro Urashima. Next to him is Haruka Urashima, his aunt. Then we have Mitsune Konno, Naru Narusegawa, Shinobu Maehara, Koalla Su, and Sarah MacDougal. Everyone, I'd like you to meet—"
"Ranma Saotome, of the Shadow Fang Clan," Ranma interjected. He had given this some thought while bathing and decided that his new clan needed a name.
"And my chosen mate," Motoko added, hugging Ranma's arm possessively in an effort to ward off the hungry looks he was getting from the other women.
"Where you really that huge cat from before?" Keitaro asked. Ranma blinked as he experienced a sensation of déjà vu.
"I am," Ranma confirmed.
"Wait a minute," Naru spoke up. "He's your chosen mate? But you hate guys. How did this happen?"
"He defeated me in battle," Motoko shrugged. Everyone looked at Motoko like she had lost her mind. However, Motoko wasn't about to tell them the whole story.
"So how do you change forms?" Su chimed in a disturbingly cheerful voice.
"I'm a Lycanthrope," Ranma replied. "Were-Smilodon, to be specific. I'm the first of a brand new race of were-cats and Motoko will be the Matriarch of my new Clan."
"A new race, you mean there are others?" Keitaro asked.
"Of course," Ranma nodded. "Almost all the big hunting cats are represented. There are also were-wolves and were-rats as well, although the were-rats are bad news. My breed was created to be superior to all the others."
"You were created, as in not born?" Naru asked suspiciously, still a little woozy from her spin around the bathing area.
"Yes, I was created, but it's not like you're thinking. Until yesterday, I was as human as any of you. I found a box that contained the magical artifact to create the first were-smilodon. I didn't know what it was so I took it to someone that might know. Of course then the idiots I was living with got involved and the spell ended up getting activated with yours truly at ground zero. Pretty typical, actually," Ranma said glumly. "Anyway, thanks to a really stupid training technique my pop used on me when I was six years old, I had an intense, irrational fear of cats. When the fear got too much, I'd snap and think I was a cat. Needless to say, actually being turned into a cat, coupled with the fact that the spell contained...directives...caused my mind to become a fractured mess so I wasn't in control of myself for a while." Ranma looked around the gathered faces and smirked before adding, "But I'm feeling much better now."
After picking themselves up from the ensuing face-fault, Naru got the discussion back on track.
"So how did Motoko get involved with this?" she demanded.
"Well, the cat fragment of my mind was in control when I showed up in here in the woods," Ranma explained. "It was operating on basic animal instincts—you know, food, shelter, mating. It encountered Motoko, sensing her power and skill, and decided that she'd make a good mate to bear my offspring. So it approached her..."
"I was understandably alarmed at the sight of a giant cat I took for some sort of youma or demonic beast, so I attempted to drive it away," Motoko explained. "However, it soon became clear that I was in over my head and the beast was merely toying with me. I was soon defeated."
"The cat decided to take Motoko somewhere she could get some rest as she was unconscious," Ranma continued. "It took her to the abandoned building across that chasm over there and lay down with her. I guess while it slept the opposing fragments of my mind managed to merge back together because when I woke up I was mostly my old self again, although I have noticed changes. I don't fear cats anymore. I have a strong urge to gather more strong potential mates to ensure the survival of my new race. I've also noticed that I'm not quite as easy going as I was; the old me would have taken Naru's punch without retaliating. That seems to have changed."
Nobody noticed the cigarette fall from Haruka's lips as she paled—at least not until she cursed and started slapping her lap where the burning object had fallen.
"Wait a minute," Haruka interjected with an alarmed tone. "You spent the night with each other in the old Annex?"
"The old building with the clock tower across the bridge?" Ranma asked and received a nod from Haruka. "Yeah, we did. Why?"
"I was afraid of that," Haruka said, rubbing her temples. "The Annex is a magical place. It used to be known as 'The Match-Making Lodge'. If a couple should stay there over night, they would be fated to be together. From time immemorial thousands of couples had long and happy relationships because of the Annex. Even if two men stayed there the power works just the same. People feared it might be used for politically motivated marriages so two generations ago it was sealed, never to be used again." Haruka paused and looked meaningfully at Motoko who was still clinging to Ranma's arm. "As you can see, the legend appears to be true."
Everyone gasped as the implication became clear.
"Oh, Motoko," Naru breathed sympathetically.
"So what?" Motoko challenged. "Even if that's true, it's too late to do anything about it now. On the next full moon, I will too shall become a matriarch of Ranma's clan and take my place at his side as the second of his race. I have no regrets. Together we shall build a new warrior clan of legendary strength and skill that will protect the world as my family has already done for generations."
Ranma blinked in surprise at Motoko's conviction. Evidently she had been considering what sort of new clan she wanted to build as well. He smiled proudly at his mate and leaned over to kiss the top of her head where it rested on his shoulder.
"He...he bit you?" Naru asked fearfully.
"Not exactly," Motoko replied with an enigmatic smile.
"If he didn't bite you...then how...?" Naru murmured, puzzled.
Kitsune, however, quickly arrived at the answer as indicated by her leering grin.
"So, is he as good in bed as he looks?" she asked slyly.
The couple both blushed under the stunned looks they were receiving.
"Anyway," Motoko continued, turning toward Keitaro, "I would ask your permission for Ranma to be allowed to stay here with me until I can acquire clothing that will fit him. After which we will be going to Kyoto to inform my sister of these developments. Assuming she has no objections, I will most likely not be returning."
"You're leaving?" Naru squawked.
"Yeah, about that," Ranma spoke up, turning toward Motoko. "I've got all this information about weres in my head and I just recalled...Motoko, once you change into your hybrid form on the next full moon, you won't be able to return to your human form until...well, lets just say it'll be a few months."
"You mean...?" Motoko asked, unconsciously placing her hand over her womb.
"You're pregnant?!?" Naru shrieked. "How could you possibly know that?"
Ranma looked in askance at Motoko who nodded slightly.
"That's why she's going to change," Ranma explained. "She was in her most fertile time when we coupled and had it not taken then she wouldn't change. However, I can sense the magic building up inside her aura even now meaning the mating was successful. At any rate, since she'll have to be in her hybrid form for the duration of her pregnancy, it would be best if she was somewhere out of the public eye."
"So why won't she be able to change back?" Keitaro asked.
"Shifting to a smaller form will crush the child and possibly kill the mother," Ranma informed them.
"Oh, well, then I guess it'll be okay if you stay for a while until you're ready to go to Kyoto," Keitaro said. "Just don't bite anyone," he added with a nervous laugh.
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(Posted Mon, 11 Apr 2011 02:13)
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