[Episode 248266] [Episode 248266]Kasumi finally rose from her restless sleep, sitting up in her bed and rubbing at puffy eyes. Ranma hadn’t come home — or at least if she had, she hadn’t made enough noise to disturb the eldest Tendo sister’s sleep, such as it had been. And after the way the succubus had bolted in the middle of the spar with Ryoga and hadn’t returned before she was due to leave for her ‘final exam’ —
Rising to her feet, the matronly Tendo pulled on a house robe and quietly slipped out of her bedroom and down the hallway to Ranma’s and Akane’s room. Gently pushing open the door, she peeked in, then sighed with relief at the sight of Akane snuggled up against her smaller redheaded lover, Ranma’s tail wrapped around the wrist of the hand loosely cupping her bare breast.
Pulling the door closed, Kasumi tiptoed down the hall toward the stairs. Whatever the problem had been Ranma was safe and with Akane, and that was enough for now. It was time to turn on the furo, start the laundry, and start breakfast.
The eldest Tendo sister frowned unhappily as she sorted laundry for the first washer load, thinking back over the past week. The first time with Ranma had been wonderful, everything she’d ever dreamed of. The second time — no. Very much ‘no’, in fact. She understood that Ranma was trying to stay as faithful to Akane as her new nature allowed — had understood it at the time — but she suspected that the businesslike, if apologetic, way the succubus had approached their second ‘feeding’ was how it must be for prostitutes. She was fairly certain she didn’t care for it.
You know, it wasn’t the fact that Ranma was a girl the second time that bothered you, was it? It was the lack of an emotional connection — that’s what Ranma was holding back, after all.
Kasumi paused at the thought. It was true — while Ranma’s girl form didn’t give her the same thrill that the raven-haired hunk of a man form did, it was cute. She could have really enjoyed ... ah, ‘connecting’ with that tiny redhead. But that wasn’t going to happen. Even if Ranma’s job wasn’t going to supply all the ‘food’ she needed, any shared bedtime would be like the second round, not the first, all physical pleasure and no emotional connection.
But Ranma isn’t the only girl in the house, is she?
No, she wasn’t. For a brief moment, Kasumi thought of Nabiki. No. Even if she wasn’t my sister, there’s something wrong with her — I don’t think she’d be any more able to connect emotionally than Ranma, and for all the wrong reasons. I’m so very sorry, little sis. I tried so hard, but I just couldn’t be the mother you needed.
But that left Xian Pu.... And a startlingly beautiful girl she is, too, and an accomplished warrior. But how do I get her attention? Scenes from the romances she read flashed through her mind, leaving her blushing faintly even as she winced before renewing her sorting. No, however much her taste in novels had helped with her first time with Ranma, she didn’t think they’d be much use with this situation — not considering how much chaos there was in the typical romance. Besides, she doubted that Xian Pu read the same books she did.
You’re overthinking this, Kasumi. Not only is Shampoo from a different culture, but she’s as direct as Ranma is — even if you could come up with some subtle way to hint at your interest, she’s almost certain to miss it.
The brown-haired young woman paused as another thought struck her. Even as her faint blush deepened into a fiery red, she straightened and stepped away from the laundry. Slowly, she reached behind her to untie her apron and lift it off over her head, then equally slowly popped open one button after another down the front of her house dress. Shrugging it off her shoulders, she slid the dress down her body and stepped out of it. For a moment she hesitated, then reached behind her to unfasten her bra, shrugged it off, hooked her fingers into the waistband of her panties to slide them down her legs and off, then stepped over to stand in front of the mirror.
Staring at her reflection of her nude body, she reached up to heft her breasts — perhaps not as large as Ranma’s, much less Xian Pu’s, they were larger than Nabiki’s and certainly Akane’s, and still firm enough that she could get away with not wearing a bra, so long as she was careful not to move too vigorously. And Ranma certainly enjoyed them.... Her muscles weren’t as toned as the martial artists’, of course, or even Nabiki’s, but they weren’t flabby. And what had really caught Ranma’s attention ... one hand released a breast to reach down and slide over the soft, smooth, shaven clean skin of her mound. No, she had nothing to be ashamed of.
Turning from the mirror, she picked up her apron and slipped the strap over her head before firmly tying the apron strings behind her. She had been remiss in her duties — if Ranma was more comfortable walking around in the nude, it was impolite to force her to do so alone. Besides, with the apron on it wasn’t like anyone could actually see anything — so long as she was careful how and when she bent over, at least.
She was chopping the green onions for the miso soup, when she heard the knock at the front door. Startled, Kasumi’s eyes flew to the wall clock—as she thought, it was still early enough that no one else would be up yet, who could be visiting this early?
Putting down the knife, she hurried toward the front door, only to slam to a stop with an “Oh, my!” when she remembered how she was dress — or rather, wasn’t dressed. Turning, she ran for the furo even as whoever was waiting knocked again. Grabbing her robe from its hook, she threw it on and hastily tied it shut as she raced back to open the door.
Standing in the doorway was Saotome Nodoka — but not the immaculate, if old-fashioned, woman that had temporarily lived at the dojo weeks before. This woman was ... not dirty, but ... unkempt, as if she had rushed through her morning preparations. Strands of hair had escaped from her usual bun, if they’d ever been a part of it at all, and her kimono was not quite as impeccably in place as it had always been in the past. Her skin was pale, her eyes shadowed and baggy, and the hands that gripped the usual bundled Saotome Honor blade were white from pressure. She seemed to have aged years within weeks.
Oh, my, Auntie Nodoka!” Kasumi gasped, staring at the older woman in shock.
“Am I still — Auntie Nodoka, I mean?”
Kasumi shook herself free of her shock and stepped back to make room. “Of course you are, Auntie. Ranma will be happy to have you back — you know she would never admit to being anxious about anything, but usually the first thing she asks when she sees me in the morning is if I’ve heard from you. Please, come in, I was just in the middle of preparing breakfast.”
Nodoka’s shoulders slumped in relief, and she stepped forward to change into house slippers before following Kasumi toward the kitchen. Once there, she set the bundled katana to the side out of the way, and without a word took an apron off its hook and put it on before starting in to help Kasumi with finishing up the breakfast preparations.
For a time, neither spoke except to coordinate their breakfast preparations. Finally, as Kasumi was washing off the utensils they’d used, Nodoka broke the silence.
“Kasumi-kun, how is Ranma ... adjusting?”
“Please, call me Kasumi as you did before, there is no need for new formality.” Kasumi considered the question as she handed a knife to Nodoka to dry. “She told you about the mental adjustment that makes it so that she finds men attractive?” Nodoka nodded. “I think without that help she might well have committed suicide. With it, she is handling the change as well as she has always handled the chaos that permeates her life. I think it helps that she’s starting her new job tonight, so she’ll be able to explore her new capabilities without risk of losing control of her hunger and killing someone or creating a new succubus.”
Nodoka winced, but slowly nodded. “And Akane-kun?”
It was Kasumi’s turn to wince. “Little sister is ... less than pleased. She is having difficulty accepting that she must share Ranma, and frustrated that her pregnancy is interfering with her training. I’m hoping that her return to school next week will ... give her something to focus on beyond Ranma and martial arts.”
“I see,” Nodoka mused. “But won’t that create scheduling conflicts? School will occupy Akane-kun’s mornings and early afternoons and many of her evenings, and I would think Ranma’s ... profession ... will use up her evenings, especially on the weekend.”
“Yes, you are right,” Kasumi admitted unhappily. “But right now little sister is basically sitting at home and stewing, she has to get something like her normal life back.”
“Yes, a difficult balancing act, you are probably correct,” Nodoka agreed. “And at least Ranma and Akane-kun will see more of each other than I saw of my husband and son during the training trip.”
A thoughtful silence fell for a time. Then as Nodoka was drying the last bowl, she asked, “Kasumi ... why are you wearing your apron underneath your robe?”
Kasumi’s blush was so fiery that she felt faint.
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(Posted Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:15)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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