THE SHIKIMA INTERFACE 04:

SCHOOL DAZE

by

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PART B

Ukyou drifted in a blank white world. There seemed to be no up, no down, no reference points existed to focus her mind on. She could feel nothing under her feet, and when she tried to walk her legs moved but there was no sensation of motion.

"Ukyou?" a faint voice cried, causing her to whirl around looking for the source.

"Here, I'm here," she shouted.

"Ukyou?" it came again, this time a little stronger. Ukyou spied a small speck of color in the distance, and watched as it very slowly expanded to reveal...herself! A naked herself she noted, looking down she confirmed that this herself was fully clothed, so the one coming toward her could not be a reflection. When the figure that looked like her was about fifty yards away it stopped. "Well, it's about time," it said, "I thought I'd never find you."

"Who are you?" Ukyou asked. "Why don't you come closer?"

The other Ukyou looked surprised, then a smile flashed across her face, and she sprang forward, a second later Ukyou felt a light impact on her chest, and looking down she stared at the minuscule version of herself that was cuddling between her breasts. "Close enough?" it asked, a hint of laughter in its voice.

Ukyou was stunned, the figure had not been far off, merely small, with no other object to use for a reference she has assumed the duplicate was as big as herself. Ukyou's stunned reaction ended when her brain clicked into the fact that the little being was making itself at home in her cleavage. She fought down the urge to treat it like she would have Happosai. Other then gripping her bosom, it had made no other hentai move. So rather then trying to reduce its thickness to that of a crepe with her spatula, she reached down and plucked it from its perch with her thumb and forefinger. Gripping it firmly around the waist, she lifted it to eye level, and examined it closely. The little mirror image made no objection, and Ukyou examined her closely, discovering that the little creature between her fingers was an exact duplicate of herself, right down to the small mole on the inside of her thigh. The only difference between her and Ukyou was about five feet in height, the small Ukyou being only about eight inches tall.

"Who are you?" Ukyou asked once again. "What are you?"

"Well, I don't really have a name. We spirits don't really need one unless we're dealing with mortals, and you're my first one, so I haven't got one yet. As to what I am, I'm a Pooka, a spirit companion. Your spirit companion as a matter of fact. I'm here to start your training in being a devil hunter."

"Nani?" Ukyou exclaimed, "you're my spirit companion? And what do you mean, devil hunter?"

"Just what the name says. You're to be a devil hunter, you hunt devils. I would think that would be pretty clear."

"I know that. But why me? Are you sure you're not suppose to be talking to Ranchan."

"Who"

"Sorry, Saotome Ranma, he's the one that usually ends up with this sort of business. I usually only tag along after him when I'm involved."

"Just a second." The spirit took on distracted air, and she seemed to be staring at nothing, "accessing" she murmured to herself. "Saotome Genma, Saotome Nodoka, Ah here we are, Saotome Ranma." She was silent for a second, her lips moving as she read something Ukyou could not see. Then a small moue of distaste crossed her face. "That's it then, she's not eligible, no longer a virgin. A spirit can't bind with a non-virgin. No spirit companion, no devil hunter."

Ukyou felt as if a knife had stabbed her in the stomach. No longer a virgin echoed in her mind, causing her to disregard the gender reference. She supposed that she'd always known in an abstract way that Ranma and Akane would do it someday. They'd have to wouldn't they, but to be confronted with the actual fact that Ranma had experienced that with someone other then herself... well, she found that she had not put Ranma as far behind her as she had thought.

"Hey, you alright", the spirit asked in its high pitched version of Ukyou's voice.

"Ah...just...just fine." Ukyou said, trying to control the pain in her chest. In an effort to drive certain images from her mind she tried to focus on what had prompted this revelation. "Devil hunter, why me?"

The spirit shrugged. "You have the latent ability, good background in your martial arts training, a source of magic for me to tap to make the binding we need, and to supply you with your weapons, and, oh yes, there's a demon downstairs in your restaurant."

"Nani? A demon? In my restaurant? The bastard! How the hell do I get out of here!? I'll kill it! Has it hurt anything yet?" Ukyou snapped out at the spirit who was rather overwhelmed at the barrage of questions and remarks.

"Easy, take it easy, this is limbo, no time passes here. We have all the time in the world."

Ukyou was paying no attention, the news that a demon was in her precious restaurant had driven any ability to think rationally right out of her. Holding the little spirit up to her face she snarled at it. "Get me back there NOW!!" The spirit big sweated.

"I...err...that is...I can't."

"What _ do _ you _ mean _ you _ can't!?" Ukyou bit out the words, and looking very much like she was ready to start biting something else.

Turning pale the spirit lifted a placating hand. "Until you wake in the mortal realm, I can't send you back. Please, give me a chance. How about if I show you your restaurant, would that satisfy you?"

"DO IT!"

"Just lift me close enough to touch your eyelids." Her face wet with sweat, the little demon reached forward towards Ukyou's eyes, which closed instinctively when her hands got close. Her hands touched Ukyou's eyelids, and suddenly she could see the interior of her restaurant. She frantically took in the signs of destruction, her anger growing, then with a start she realized that with the exception of one broken chair, the only thing wrong was some disarranged furniture that a large figure was already placing back in their proper places. Focusing in on the figure that was standing frozen in place, she blinked, ending the spell. Looking into the face that so closely resembled her own once again, she said. "I don't understand, there's no demon there. The only person I saw was Akira Tendo."

The little spirit frowned, "Akira Tendo?" she said in a questioning voice. Once again she went into what ever trance she had gone into when Ukyou had mentioned Ranma. In a second she came out of it. "Nope, only Akira Tendos I can find are all far away. The only person currently in your restaurant is the baby demon Akane Tendo, who you need to kill."

"Nani? You're crazy. Either that or you showed me the wrong thing. The only person I saw was Akane's cousin Akira, and I can certainly tell the difference between a five foot girl and a six foot plus guy."

The spirit gave a long suffering sigh and once again went into her unfocused act. When she came out of it this time she looked a little red. "You're right, I'm sorry, that is Akira Tendo, but he's only existed for two days, he's really the cursed form of Akane Tendo."

"NANI?" Ukyou practically screamed.

"That's right, seems she was doused with some spring of drowned demon water, and that's why you have to kill her, or him as the case may be."

Ukyou was in a state of shock, brought on by the sudden realization that the boy she had spent the day lusting after was really a girl, and one of her best friends to boot, but that last statement brought her out of it.

"Kill Akane! Are you out of your mind? She's my friend. I can't kill her."

"It's because she is your friend that you have to kill her. Do you want her to live to experience the demon taking over her body, slowly devouring her soul, watching in horror, unable to do anything to prevent it, while it does horrible things to the ones she loves? Believe me, the kindest thing you can do for her is to kill her before she suffers through that. It will be easy, the demon is still asleep. She trusts you, nothing would be simpler."

"Forget it! There is no way in hell I'm going to kill Akane. If I've learned one thing in the last year it's that you never give up, there is always another way. Ranma will help, he may not be a virgin, and not eligible by your standards, but he won't let anything happen to Akane, and I'd never bet against him in any sort of a battle." Ukyou directed a fierce gaze at her duplicate. "Talk, there is never just one option. What else can we do to save Akane?"

"There is nothing, killing her is the only way." The tiny girl said, but she could not meet Ukyou gaze.

Ukyou narrowed her eyes, "You're lying! There is some way. Talk damn you!" Ukyou squeezed her hand, making breathing difficult for the spirit.

"No! It's too disgusting. No one would do it. Look, I know it's hard for you but face it, the only way you can save your friends soul is by ki...Urk" Ukyou griped the little one tightly driving the air from her lungs and stopping her speech.

"I told you, that is not an option. Now spit it out, what is this disgusting thing I have to do to save Akane?"

A look of absolute revulsion crossed the little spirits face. Spitting the words out as if they were poison she said, "Youhavetohaveintercoursewithhim."

For a minute Ukyou looked blank, as she ran the fast spoken sentence through her brain, then she blushed furiously. "You're joking, right?" she asked the spirit, who would not meet her eyes.

With a great deal of reluctance the Pooka explained. "The particular demon that is involved here is from the Shikima realm. They are lust demons, as long as Akane has frequent sex, she or he, is safe, the demon will remain quiet, happy to savor the sensation through their shared link. If Akane does not indulge, the demon will grow restless, take over her/his body, and devour her/his soul, then it will go on a rampage raping every female it can get its hands on. You see now why you have to kill him. You're just a beginner. You won't be ready for a full-fledged demon for a long time, but right now you can stop this particular demon before if fully wakes up."

Ukyou shook her hand, rattling the little spirit until her eyes were pinwheels. "I keep telling you that killing Akane is not an option. What about Ranma? You said he was no longer a virgin. So it's obvious that he and Akane are having sex." Ukyou felt a fresh stab of pain at her words, but she shoved it aside while she waited for the spirit to answer.

"No good, the demon is connected to her through her male side. That means Akane has to have sex as a male with a girl. Girl to girl won't provide the stimulation the demon requires to stay quiet. Ranma is not willing to have sex with the male Akane, and does not know about what will happen if she does not. We don't have time for her to come around, the demon is getting frustrated."

Ukyou turned pale, it was starting to look like she would have no option, Ranma might have accesses to a female body, but he was too manly to easily give that body to a male Akane, and by the time he did, it would more then likely be to late. "All right," she said. "If that's what it takes, that's what it takes. How do I get out of here?"

"You are almost awake in the other realm. In a few seconds I can send us there. Please reconsider, you don't know what you're getting yourself into. The demon has already affected your friend to a certain degree. He won't be gentle with you, and I'll be no help to you at all for awhile."

"I've been hurt before. I've faced death before. Akane has laid it on the line for me and others on more then one occasion. I can take what ever it takes to help her this time. Now Get Us Out Of here!" The little spirit quailed in front of Ukyou wraith. Lifting her hands she gestured, and the white disappeared. Ukyou blinked her eyes, and for the first time in what seemed a very long time saw something besides unrelieved white. She was back in her room laying on her bed staring at the ceiling. A small weight on her chest made her look down. She started in surprise when she saw the small body of the spirit. Obviously she was no longer fully a spirit, as she was clearly in the mortal world, and equally clearly had physical substance. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was labored. She barely twitched when Ukyou lifted her off her chest and cradled her in her hands.

Opening her eyes she stared at Ukyou, and whispered in a voice almost too faint to be heard. "So tired, have to rest. It's up to you now. I hope you won't regret this." Then with a small sigh her eyes closed and she went limp. For a second, Ukyou was afraid she was dead, but then her chest rose slightly as she inhaled. Gently Ukyou stood up, opening her top dresser drawer, she lay the little creature down among her socks and panties.

"You should be safe here, I'll try not to let you down." Ukyou murmured, before gently sliding the dresser drawer shut.

Ukyou ran a hand over her chest, instinctively checking the placement of her shurikens. Her battle spatula was leaning in a corner, and she slung it over her shoulder. Pausing for a second in thought, she decided she would need more then this. Walking over to her closet she extracted a few, small, tightly wrapped paper bags. Then ready for the battle, she left.

****

Akane had barely finished straightening the last chair when he heard a hesitant voice behind him.

"Akane?"

Turning, Akane looked at the figure standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Ukyou," he said, "Are you all right?" Then the fact that the cook had address him by his real name registered. "You know? About me?" he stammered out.

"Yes," Ukyou said simply, looking him straight in the eyes trying to find some trace of her friend in this muscular, and very attractive, man.

"I'm sorry Ukyou. Ranma and I never meant to hurt you. We just hoped my curse would wear off in a few days, and no one would ever know what had happened to me."

"Ranma?" Ukyou looked surprised for a moment, but then her face cleared. "Ah, I see, Ranma is Ranko. I should have seen that I guess, once I knew who you really were. Must have been a real bitch to get him to stay a girl, not to mention dressing like one."

Akane started to explain, then stopped, there was no need to tell Ukyou the truth about Ranma, not yet. There was still a chance she might return to normal. "Ukyou, are you all right? You took a nasty blast from Miss Hinako..." he was interrupted when Ukyou broke in on his question.

"We don't have time to worry about me Akane, I'm feeling a lot better now. It's you that we need to worry about."

"Me."

Ukyou ran a hand through her hair, trying to come up with some way to explain. "Look, this is going to be hard to believe, but I've found out that the curse you have is not the Nanniichuan curse. It's spring of drowned Shikima demon, and unless you can keep the demon spirit happy, it'll take over your body and eat your soul."

Akane stared at her in shock, but the explanation struck a chord. He had never really been happy with Nabiki's explanation of why the curse seemed to be permanent, maybe this was the real reason. Nabiki certainly would not have wanted to mention she had screwed up that big. Looking at Ukyou, Akane said, "that would explain a few things. I don't suppose you learned how to get rid of it at the same time you learned what it really is?"

"Sorry. No. My source could only tell me how to keep the demon quiet and content. Damn, I should have asked about exorcism, I never thought of it." Ukyou said in chagrin, then she shook her head, "No that can't be an option. I have to think the spirit would have told me if that was a possibility. The only solution she seemed to think was doable, was to kill you."

"Nani?" Akane said is shock.

Ukyou hastily reassured him, "whoa, don't worry. I told her that was not an option, around here we don't give up that easy."

"I'm glad to hear that, but who is this spirit you're talking about?"

"I don't really know. She says she has no name because she has never dealt with humans before. She says she's a Pooka, which is apparently some sort of spirit guide, and that she was here to turn me into a devil hunter."

Akane blinked at that. "Devil hunter, cool." Then his expression grew grim, "I suppose I was supposed to be the first demon you dealt with. I don't really feel like I've been possessed. It's been weird the last few days, but that might just be because I've been a guy for awhile. Did she ever give you an alternative for killing me?"

Ukyou blushed, then in a rather hesitant voice she said, "she said the demon was from the Shikima realm, and that it was a lust demon."

Now Akane blushed, as he suddenly remembered all the instances over the last few days when he had seemed to be able to do nothing but think about sex.

Ukyou continued, she had not been looking Akane in the face, and had not seen the look that had crossed it at the mention of the lust demon. "The spirit said that the demon would be happy to just lay there and be quiet as long as you gave it what it wanted."

"What does it want?"

Here Ukyou looked around the room while tapping her forefingers together, a blush turning her face cherry red. "She said... Ah that is...seeing as how it's a...lust demon...you see...if you...you know if...you have sex it will...be happy and...won't try to get free."

"But I have been having sex." Akane blurted out before he could stop himself. Then realizing what he has said, he blushed as hard as Ukyou, and also found himself unable to meet her eye.

Ukyou looked like she was about ready to suffer a stroke, and the pain in her chest brought on by Akane's words made her feel like she was about to have one as well. Shoving aside her feelings she explained further. "The spirit said that it wasn't any good, you having sex with...Ranma." Ukyou let out a small moan at saying those words, but kept going. "She says the demon is male, and that you need to have sex with a girl, while you're a guy I mean." Ukyou finished off in a rush. "So that's why I'm here. Akane have sex with me, it's the only way to save your soul."

Akane looked bug eyed at the brown haired Okonomiyaki chef. "Have sex with you?" Suddenly a suspicion crossed Akane's mind, "Ukyou, are you sure you're not feeling a little strange. That energy Miss Hinako blasted you with, I've seen it before, and it can have some strange effects. Why don't you lay down for a little while, and we can talk about this when you've had a chance to fully recover."

"No! We have to do this now. The spirit said the demon's soul was getting restless, and if you didn't do it soon, it would start to eat your soul. Look, come up stairs, I'll show you the spirit."

"The spirit is upstairs?"

"Yes! Well no, it's not a spirit anymore, it came into the real world. It has a solid body now. I have it in my panty drawer, come up and take a look."

"You want me to go up to your bedroom,?" Akane asked. Ukyou nodded her head, "and then you want me to look into your panty drawer." Again Ukyou nodded, a little hesitantly this time, "at a spirit who told you that you had to have sex with me to save me from a demon." This time Ukyou's nod was very slight, and her face was again very red.

Akane sighed, "Ukyou, trust me please, I'm not possessed by a demon. You are under the effect of some sort of weird energy that Hinako absorbed from Ranma. You and I do not have to have sex. If you will just go up to your room and rest, I'm sure everything will be much clearer... Ukyou, what are you doing?" The last bit was in relation to the small bag Ukyou had extracted from somewhere inside her shirt.

"I'm sorry Akane, I had hoped it wouldn't come to this." Ukyou said, then she threw the small bag hard at Akane, while shouting, "Flour Bomb revised, Sleepy time flour bomb." The bag struck Akane and burst, enveloping him in a vast cloud of white, sleeping powder laced, flour. In front of him, Ukyou pressed a damp cloth over her mouth and nose, behind him the door opened, and Ranma walked in, her vision obscured by the large box she was carrying.

Ukyou heard a heavy thump, and winced, then her expression grew puzzled as she heard a double thump. Peering into the dissipating cloud of powder, she soon made out as expected, the comatose body of Akane, but unexpectedly, the slight figure of Ranma was also laying on the floor, and besides her, a large cardboard box. Ukyou frowned, this was a complication. Then her expression firmed. She was now a devil hunter, at least for the short time remaining while she was a virgin, and she would do her duty. She would save Akane. "Friends don't let friends become possessed." She said in a determined voice. She started towards the two figures lying on the floor, a resolute expression on her face.

****

Nabiki exited the Uptown Downtown Tattoo parlor with an angry grimace on her face. Shampoo, who had been waiting outside, looked at her inquiringly. "Crap!" Nabiki said, "utter crap." Pulling out a pad and pen she scratched out the name of the parlor she had just exited, then she frowned at the list in her hand. She had listed five reputable places to check, and one disreputable place, the five quality ones had all had state of the art equipment, clean sterile rooms, and very competitive prices. Their staff had also had about as much artistic talent as a bunch of robots, they might as well have been using stencils for all the life their work showed. It was true that all she wanted placed on Shampoo were her initials, but she wanted it to be something special, and special didn't just happen, it took talent and skill.

She looked at the last remaining address on her list, tapping the pen she still held against her teeth. This was not a place for two unescorted girls to go, even if one of them was a Chinese Amazon. Shampoo could certainly protect them, but Nabiki had no interest in ending up in the middle of a brawl, and that's what would happen if they went to that section of town unescorted. The mentality of the men in that area practically guaranteed that they would be hit upon. Which created a problem. Shampoo had a rather abrupt way with mashers, and the men in that area would not react well to that. No matter how dangerous she proved herself to be, Shampoo would have to take out every would-be tough guy between here and the Tattoo parlor, and that would take too damn long.

Of course Nabiki could order Shampoo to ignore the comments and touching, she could also take her to the vet and have her de-clawed. Either one was as likely as the other. In other words, not a chance in hell. Shampoo was hers, and any man who trespassed on her property deserved every thing he got. Even if it did cause Nabiki a momentary inconvenience.

She looked at the address again. The route they would have to take to the final destination on her list would pass by the house. Let's see, she thought to herself, five minutes to change, then ten minutes to get dressed. She nodded, they should have time, provided there was not a wait at the parlor, they would be home well before Aunty would start worrying.

Nabiki frowned, it had been a lot simpler when it had just been daddy looking out for them, if you could call it that, especially after uncle Saotome had arrived and distracted him with their endless games of Shogi. Nabiki had gotten used to doing as she wished without having to worry about adult reactions. Aunty Nodoka was a dear, a potentially homicidal dear mind you, but a dear all the same. However she was cramping Nabiki's style. "Oh well," she sighed to herself, "it's only for a few more months, then it's off to university for me." Nabiki turned and started to walk towards the Dojo, not even looking to see if Shampoo was bothering to follow.

Shampoo, who had been standing silently nearby while Nabiki had gone over her plans, followed along a step behind, a small smile turning up the corners of her mouth.

****

Ukyou, held her breath, and slowly tipped the kettle over the comatose form of the boy lying on her restaurant's floor. Her breath hissed out as she watched the large masculine form twist and shrink away, and for a brief moment there was a double image before her, making it hard to make out details. When the blurry image cleared, there was a cute female brunette lying in place of the boy who had been there moments before. Ukyou stared, heart pounding. Up until this moment she had not really believed the spirit's story in her heart of hearts, but now the proof was lying there. Akane and Akira were the same person.

"Great, just great," she muttered to herself, her shoulders slumping in dejection. "I must have the rarest sexual perversion in the world. I'm irresistible attracted to aqua transsexuals. "Akane! Who could have imagined it?"

Ukyou turned away from the sleeping girl, and contemplated the other figure lying on her floor. Now that she knew the truth, and could get a good look at her, she had to wonder how she had failed to recognize Ranma. "It was easy, I was so busy drooling over Akane, Ranchan could have danced naked in front of me and I wouldn't have noticed. Akane!" She exclaimed once more in disbelief. She held the kettle in her hand up over Ranma, but then stopped. There's no point in changing Ranma back, she thought, he's not going to like what I have to do, and it'll be easier to keep him out of it, if I leave him like this. Besides, I don't think he would be happy to wake up as a guy dressed like that. I'll just tie him up and stick him in the storage room.

While Ukyou had been considering her options, the figure behind her had opened an eye a crack and carefully taken in the situation. When Ukyou had shouted out her Sleepy powder flour bomb attack, she had given Akane enough warning to hold her breath before he took in an incapacitating amount of sleeping powder laced flour. Akane had taken in enough however, to be rendered a little woozy, so he had decided to play possum while regaining his strength.

Now, as Ukyou turned toward her, she hastily shut her eye, and lay there looking as unconscious as she could, she opened her mouth slightly, and let a little streamer of drool run out the corner, feeling quite proud of her acting skill. Of course, if it had been Ranma or Ryouga she was trying to fool, her deception would not have lasted a second. The last thing Akane was, was a relaxed sleeper. Ranma had witnessed first hand just how much Akane thrashed. She had once pounded Happosai to a pulp when he had managed to sleep with her despite Ranma and Ryouga's best effort to prevent it. As for Ryouga, he could lay at least a little of his toughness at her feet. The pounding he took every night he slept with her as P-chan had been every bit as effective as training for the breaking point in building his endurance. Akane had to fool neither of them however. So, her deception passed with no reaction from Ukyou other then a slight shudder.

Ukyou turned her gaze away from the slightly disgusting image Akane presented, and toward the box Ranma had been carrying when he had been overcome. It had fallen on its side and opened slightly, and she noticed there was something sticking out of it. Curious, she focused on it, and promptly turned white as a sheet.

"Oh Kami-sama protect us. The spirit was wrong, the demon already has Akane, and Ranma too." Projecting slightly from the open flap of the box was a human penis, and the box was far to small to contain its owner.

With her heart in her mouth, and bile rising up her throat, Ukyou moved closer to the box, and the horrible thing sticking out of it. Much as she wanted to, she could not tear her eyes away, any more then she could stop herself from gingerly leaning down and with one of her throwing spatulas opening the box.

A flood of objects fell out, and among them more of the severed penises. Ukyou clapped a hand to her mouth in an effort to keep from vomiting. Oh god, oh god, I'm too late. Akane's gone. The demon has her. Ukyou thought as tears streamed down her face, Akane's dead, and I have to kill her body. She took one last look at the contents of the box in order to supply herself with motivation, then readying the throwing spatula in her hand she advanced on Akane.

Akane had been resisting the urge to peak at what Ukyou was doing, she could not be sure the cook would be facing away, and she did not want to lose the element of surprise. Therefore she missed seeing Ukyou approaching her, cold murder in her eyes. Instead she smiled internally, imagining the shock she would hand Ukyou in a little while. Above her, Ukyou drew back her arm, and prepared to thrust the razor sharp blade of her spatula into Akane's unprotected chest. Then she halted, a puzzled look crossing her face.

Ukyou had paused on the verge of striking as a thought occurred to her. Wait a minute, since when are penises fluorescent red? Turning back, she made her way to the box, and this time examined the contents a little more carefully. What she saw caused a wave of relief to rush over her. While the first penis had been flesh colored and very human like, the rest were of a wide assortment of colors and textures. The box was not a gruesome receptacle of severed body parts after all, but rather was full of sex toys, with some metal and leather handcuffs thrown in for good measure. There were also several things Ukyou did not recognize, and she was not really in the mood to investigate more closely.

For a minute she was too relieved to consider the implications of the box's contents, but then she realized that she had little time to waste. The demon was already exerting influence on Akane. There was no way the prudish Akane would ever have anything to do with something like these sex toys if there was not some sort of influence being exerted on her.

The contents of the box came in handy as Ukyou spent the next several minutes preparing. She used the handle of her battle spatula to fish the metal handcuffs out of the box, not wanting to touch the contents, there was no telling where they might have been, and had fastened Ranma's hands behind her back with them. She had also used a pair to fasten Ranma's ankles together. Ranma was currently sleeping soundly, and more or less comfortably, on several bags of flour in the storage room. Finished with Ranma, Ukyou had returned to the dining room, gathered Akane into her arms, and carried her up the stairs to her bedroom.

Ukyou looked down at the firm bodied, small-breasted form of Akane. She had easily stripped the oversized clothing off of the sleeping girl before placing her on her bed. Akane lay there, legs slightly akimbo, the small lips of her sex peeking out from between her thighs, breath coming in slow steady movements of her chest. The small crimson nibs of her nibbles hard and erect. A dead giveaway, if Ukyou had been paying closer attention. Ukyou had other things on her mind however. At the moment she held a glass of cold water in a trembling hand contemplating what she was about to do. This was not the way she had imagined losing her virginity. Her dreams had always been a bit indistinct on the actual act, but they had always featured Ranma, at least they had after she had tracked him down to Furikan.

Ukyou firmed her jaw. Might have been, and should have been, did not matter. This was real life, not a dream, and she had to save her friend from a demon. She turned the glass in her hand over, and dumped the contents over Akane.

It was all Akane could do to keep from gasping in shock. Ukyou had used chilled water, and the shock from having that dumped on her belly was almost enough to make her give herself away. She controlled herself, but barely. As she felt the now familiar wrenching, felt the bed covers rub against his body as it grew and stretched. He suddenly sympathized with Ranma's frequent cry of, what you do that for. He stilled himself with difficulty, and waited for Ukyou's next move. His imagination was already supplying certain images, and they were reflected by a certain part of his anatomy.

Ukyou had witnessed Ranma's change on numerous occasions, but he had always been more or less clothed. During Akane's change she could not help but stare at the area where the change was most profound. Akane's sex seemed for an instant to be turning itself inside out, then the transformation was complete, and where before had been a delicate little slit framed by small puffy lips, was now a large, male appendage, that even as Ukyou watched wide eyed, twitched, rolled from one side to another and started to swell into full erection. Ukyou swallowed a sudden excess of saliva as she stared at the large pole that she was going to have to take into her body. Once again Ukyou controlled her uncertainty by recalling the purpose for all this. Turning her back on the comatose Akane, she began to disrobe.

Akane could not resist the temptation to peek, except for a rather flattering gasp, he had heard nothing from Ukyou since the cook had dumped the cold water on him. His strength was almost completely back, and he should have the advantage of surprise. Cracking his eye he cautiously took in the current situation. The first thing he saw was the twin cheeks of Ukyou's ass as the brown-haired girl bent over to pull off her tights. Framed between the well muscled backside, her sparsely furred pussy seemed to wink at Akane, who turned slightly red and began to breath quicker. Maybe I should wait a few more minutes, he said to himself, as his erection went from solid to steel hard.

One of the reasons that Akane had always been so jealous of Ukyou, as compared to Shampoo who merely aggravated her, was that she found the brown hair girl attractive. If he had never met Ranma he could easily have fallen for Ukyou. There in lay the irony. If he found Ukyou attractive and desirable, how could Ranma fail to, and so his jealousy when they spent any time together without him.

Ukyou finished removing her clothing, and turning, made her way towards the daunting figure laying on her futon. Uncertain of just were to go from here, she lay down alongside the boy, and was once again reminded of how big he was, she felt small and frail stretched out alongside his heavily muscled body. She reached out a hand that visibly trembled, and lay it on his chest. Moving in closer she pressed herself against his side so that her breasts flattened against his ribs. She threw her long shapely leg over his, and slowly, hesitantly began to stroke her hand down toward the object of this whole exercise. She looked down his body, past her hand, to the erection that was bobbing in the air, several inches above Akane's rock hard belly. As she took in the sight of Akane's erection from this close distance, she once again swallowed nervously.

Several times Ukyou reached for the heavy stalk that lay hard and rigid and just above Akane's belly, but each time, at the last second she lost her nerve and pulled her hand away. Then at last she steeled herself and wrapped her hand around the pulsing column of flesh. For a minute she did nothing else, just lay there pressed against Akane, while the cock in her hand throbbed gently and the sweat on her hand turned her grip wet and humid and the flesh under her grip slippery to the touch.

She began to feel her own body reacting to the situation. Up till now she had been carrying this out as a job that had to done, trying to divorce herself from the implications, but now, with this very masculine body pressing along the length of her body, and the thick masculine tool griped tightly in her hand, she began to feel aroused. Her breath quickened, a faint flush began to suffuse her face and upper chest, and she felt a wetness growing between her legs.

The realization of her own reactions was enough to snap her out of the state of mind she had slipped into. No!! She thought to herself, I have to focus, have to save Akane. Ruthlessly suppressing the urge to continue cuddling against Akane, she slid her body on top of the large boy, and reaching between her legs, she grasped the heavy pole that was jutting up from Akane's groin. Placing the soft round head against the lips of her sex she drew in her breath and thrust down with all her strength. To be brought up short before the head did more then part her lower lips. Shocked, Ukyou looked down to find two massive hands gripping her hips, and holding her poised just above the jutting spike she had just tried to impale herself on.

Akane had trembled when Ukyou had pressed herself against his body, and that had been nothing compared to what he had felt when she had taken his member in her hand. So when she had straddled his body and prepared to engulf him, he was no longer in any frame of mind to resist. Then he saw her face through his slitted eyelids. It was not the face of someone consummating a love. It was the steely grimace of someone doing something distasteful, but necessary. That was when he moved, without even thinking about it, his hands reached out and stopped Ukyou just before she could carry out the final act.

"Akane, no, you have to let me!" Ukyou cried out, as she looked down into Akane's now wide-open eyes. "I have to do this. It's the only way to keep the demon from claiming your soul. We have to have sex."

"But I don't want to have sex with you." Akane said bluntly, lifting Ukyou free of his cock. He moved her body slightly forward then pulled her down and flat against his chest. He wrapped an arm around her body and held her firmly in place. "However, I might be interested in making love to you, if you don't mind that."

"Nani?" Ukyou said in surprise, looking down at Akane's smiling face that was only inches from her own. Then she felt Akane hand on the back of her head pressing down, and at the same time his face lifted toward hers. Before she could react, Akane gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, and then moved his hand from her head. Ukyou lay there, pressed against Akane's masculine body, the smell of him filling her nose, while his erection poked between her legs, just below her sex. For a second she held the kiss, her lips shocked and unresponsive, then they softened and Ukyou returned Akane's kiss, her body trembling with conflicting drives.

Akane broke the kiss, and lifting a hand he brushed the hair from Ukyou face. "There, isn't that nicer then wamm bamm thank you Sam?"

"I don't understand, why...?"

Akane stilled Ukyou question with another gentle kiss. Then he said, "because you're a friend, and I like you, and for what ever reason you seem to need to do this. Then there's the fact that you make me hot as hell. Funny thing, a week ago I'd never have been able to say that, but now, it just seems right." Akane looked off in the distance for a minute, his face speculative, but then if firmed. "But I'm not going to fuck you. If we do this, then we're going to make love." A slight motion outside the open door caught Akane's eye. "Beside's wouldn't you like to do this with Ranma?"

"Ranma doesn't have a demon in him, you're the one that needs to have sex with a woman, and I can't see Ranma going along with that."

Akane gave a chuckle, "You might be surprised."

"Hey, no way, I'm a guy." A voice said from the doorway. Ukyou turned beat red at the familiar voice, and if not for Akane's arm holding her in place she would have fled, but Akane's arm did hold her in place. So she could only watch in mortification as Ranma walked into the room, twirling a pair of handcuffs on her finger. "You ought to take some lesson, Ucchan. You're not very good at tying people up."

"How?" Ukyou asked, her mind grasping at immaterial matters in an effort to avoid terminal embarrassment. Ranma always the show off, was glad to oblige. Holding up one of the cuffs, she revealed it was still locked, then folding her hand flat, she effortlessly slipped it through the opening. "The feet were a little harder, I lost a little skin, but it was the same thing with them." Ranma explained.

"Ranma!" Akane growled, "Who cares how you got out of those stupid cuffs. The big question is what do we do about Ukyou."

"Hey!" Ukyou protested, "you don't have to do anything about Ukyou, Ukyou is not the one with the demon in her."

"Demon?" Ranma said in surprise.

"Ukyou thinks there's a demon sleeping in me, and if I don't have sex with a girl, then it will get frustrated, wake up, and possess my body."

"The magic from the potion?" Ranma asked, looking at Ukyou with sympathy.

"That's what I figure, so what are we going to do about it. You have the handcuffs, and there are other bindings in Nabiki's box, we could tie her up and wait for it to wear off."

"Wait a minute you Jackasses! I don't know what this magic is your talking about, but I do know that a magic sprite told me about the demon, and it's real. It's sleeping in my top drawer."

"The top drawer?" Ranma asked, going over to stand by her dresser. When Ukyou nodded, Ranma slid it open, she stared inside for a minute, blushing slightly. Then she tore her eyes away from the delicate undergarments and slid the drawer open. "Nothing." She said.

"Nothing?" Ukyou said in surprise, "That's not possible, I put her there myself." She started struggling with Akane. "Let me up, I have to look for myself, she has to be there."

Her efforts to free herself from Akane were futile, he just tightened his grip, flattening her large breasts against his broad chest. Ignoring the struggling girl in his arms, he turned to Ranma, and said, "You see how it is. What are we going to do?"

"Looks like you already have some ideas pervert." Ranma snickered, glancing at the tip of Akane's erection that was poking out from between the back of Ukyou's thighs, and putting the lie to his pose of indifference to the girl in his arms.

"I am not a pervert!" Akane yelled, "It's just this perverted boy's body."

"Oh, and what was your excuse yesterday in the tub?"

"Guys, do you mind?" Ukyou said in a slightly strangled voice, the sheer embarrassment of her situation was getting to her, and the last thing she needed to hear were details of Ranma and Akane's love-making. Especially with Akane's erection rubbing against her inner thighs, and adding a vivid exclamation point to the topic.

Both Ranma and Akane blushed slightly. "Sorry," they said as one.

Ukyou blinked, staring from one to the other. "Sorry? You said you're sorry?" Sheer amazement temporarily drove her current situation out of her mind.

Akane mock growled at her. "Hey, don't act so surprised." Then he turned to Ranma. "So what do you want to do about this?"

"Me, why me? You're the one with the equipment for the job," Ranma said, a trace of bitterness in her voice.

"Because if I do it, I'm not going to do it without you. I already told Ukyou that I'd only make love to her, and I can't make love if you're not here with me."

Both Ranma and Ukyou stared at her in shock. Ukyou was the first to recover. "Well, if you really mean that, there's a kettle on the griddle downstairs. I always keep hot water on hand. Ranma, you can change, and then come back." Ukyou mind was whirling. Maybe she would have a chance at making love to Ranma, even if just this once. Then she noticed that Ranma had not moved, and that both he and Akane looked sad. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Ranma and Akane looked at each other, and something seemed to pass between them, Ranma started to unbutton her top.

"Ranma can't change back Ukyou. She might never be able to change back again." Akane said. While Ranma stripped down completely, Akane gave Ukyou an abbreviate version of what had happened to Ranma. As with their parents, he left out the details concerning Ranma being raped, but he did mention that he had to have sex with Ranma in order to cure her of the convulsions brought on by the potion, and that they were afraid that the potion was what was causing this desire of hers to have sex with Akane.

Ukyou was stunned, she had a hard time taking it all in, but one thing caught. She looked in horror between Akane and Ranma. "The spirit said that Ranma could not bind with her because she was not a virgin, I thought that she meant that you and Akane had... I mean you did, but I thought she meant that you were a girl, and Ranma... Gods Akane, you mean you and Ranma have had sex while you're...and while he...?"

Akane had been alternating his gaze between Ukyou and Ranma, and he noticed Ranma flinching every time Ukyou used 'he' to describe her. Once she would have insisted on that address, but now it was a knife poking at an open wound. Especially while discussing what had happened that night.

"She!" Akane said softly to Ukyou, "Ranma is a she now. You need to call her a she until we find a cure." Ranma winced, but did not make her customary objection. "And yes, we have made love while I was a guy, but only the one time. The other time we were both girls. So, still want to go through with this? Still want to make love to us? Knowing what sort of perverts we are."

Ukyou looked from Akane to Ranma, who was now completely disrobed and standing there waiting for her answer, a part of Ukyou's mind noted that they had not been completely thorough with the die job, and wondered how they had intended to pass her off in PE. Ukyou's eyes roved over Ranma's body, noting the firm musculature, the high proud breasts. If she had been any other girl, Ukyou might have considered backing off, would have concluded that for Akane to make this offer the demon must have taken her over completely, but this was Ranma, and whatever body she wore, Ukyou loved Ranma.

"I guess you'll have to add one more pervert to the roll call," Ukyou said finally, smiling at Ranma, then glancing at Akane, "I'm not going to miss a chance at Ranma, providing you can keep from squashing us like bugs."

"Don't worry Ucchan, now that Akane is the one with balls, he's the one that has to watch out for falling mallets. By the way, nice move in the back yard earlier." Ranma said, while inside she was greatly heartened by the knowledge Ukyou still found her desirable.

Ukyou blushed, "I didn't know...mmmppp" Ukyou's apology was cut off as Akane pulled her down and as he had earlier, captured her mouth. Ukyou stiffened, but then she relaxed, and returned the kiss, and when after a few seconds she felt the tip of Akane's tongue against her lips, she parted them and let it press forward to tangle with her own.

Ukyou felt Akane's arm tighten around her, and he rolled to the side, laying her down on the futon, his lips never left hers, but he untangled their legs from each other and swivelled his body slightly, so that her lower body was free of him. She missed the heat of his body, and would have protested, but before she could, a small form slipped between her legs.

Ranma took her cue from Akane, their new closeness making words unnecessary. When Akane lay Ukyou down and moved his body out of the way, Ranma wasted no time in moving in to replace his presence between Ukyou's legs. She felt Ukyou stiffen in surprise as she brushed against her thighs, but Akane was keeping her too occupied to react quickly, and long before she could have freed herself, providing she had even tried, Ranma reached her destination. With the eagerness of the recently converted, she eyed Ukyou's pussy with delight. To her surprise there were marked differences between Ukyou and Akane that extended past the different hair color. Ukyou was more sparsely covered then Akane, the hair finer and not so concealing. The lips of her sex were not nearly as red or as puffy as Akane's had been the night before, and when Ranma tenderly parted the folds of her pussy, she did not leak moisture down her thighs as Akane had.

Eager to find if the differences extended to taste, Ranma lowered her head and licked Ukyou's pink flesh with a her small tongue. She smiled as the taste exploded in her mouth. It was different. There were similarities, but Ukyou's was subtly different then Akane. Not better, just different. Ranma eagerly dived in, and forgot everything else in her quest for the flavorful fluid that started to flow in increasing quantities from Ukyou's rapidly reddening vessel. Ranma soon realized that some of the differences between Ukyou and Akane were due to the fact that Ukyou had not been as highly aroused as Akane had been. Ranma's tongue was doing a very good job of changing that, aided and abetted by Akane's efforts at Ukyou's other end.

As Ranma savored the banquet in front of her, she thought back over her relationship with Ukyou. Ukyou had been her best friend, and the fact that she turned out to be a girl had not changed that, at least not at first, but she was so kind and so cute. Ranma had over time found her feeling changing. Not that she had admitted it to herself, no more then she had ever admitted her love for Akane. But the truth was, that if Akane had not been a part of her heart by the time Ukyou found her, she could have easily fallen in love with her.

Unlike Shampoo who aroused and terrified Ranma depending on her current form, Ukyou was an anchor she could always rely on. Someone who she could go to in times of trouble, and be sure of a kind and undemanding welcome. Which was ironic, because the one thing Ukyou lacked, was the inclination to go ballistic on Ranma.

Her fiancés had always wondered how Ranma could fall in love with someone who was so mean and nasty to her. They never stopped to consider that Ranma's whole life from the age of six had been one of constant conflict. She had no idea how to deal with anyone on any other basis. Now something new had entered the equation. Somehow, Akane and her no longer had any doubts concerning the others feeling, or their own. Ranma knew she loved Akane, and knew just as strongly, that Akane loved her. A week ago if Ranma had dared to show any affection toward Ukyou, Akane would have reduced her, or him, to a pulp. Now that had all changed. Ranma could feel Akane's love for her, and his concern for Ukyou, more then concern actually. To her surprise, Ranma realized that Akane was as fond of Ukyou as she was. Rather then arousing her own highly developed sense of jealousy, it merely made her love for Akane swell all the more.

Akane had held tight to Ukyou when she had started at Ranma's intrusion between her legs. He had pressed his mouth firmly against Ukyou's and redoubled the efforts of his tongue. It was not long before Ukyou got over her surprise and began to respond to the pleasure flowing from her loins. Her tongue was soon wrestling with vigor equal to Akane's. A small moan emerged from her throat, and when Akane slipped a hand over and cupped one of her full breasts, the nipple was like a little rock. Akane rolled it between her fingers for a few minutes, then pulling her mouth away from Ukyou's, he transferred his attention to the little bud between his fingers. The tip of his tongue flicked out and just barely brushed the end of Ukyou's breast.

After teasing Ukyou's left nipple for a few minutes, Akane transferred his attention to her right, meanwhile he kept twiddling her left between his fingers. Eager to taste more of Ukyou, he inhaled, and drew a surprising amount of her breast into his mouth. He savored the firm flesh, and gently bit her while lavishing non stop attention to her nipples with his tongue and fingers.

For several minutes Akane and Ranma used their respective tongues to drive Ukyou to the edge and over. But even then they were not satisfied. Despite the fact that they were both burning with desire, they were committed to making this the best experience of Ukyou's life. So they brought Ukyou to several more orgasms, before Ukyou finally said, "Enough, no more." She managed to get out between gasps, "I can't take anymore. Akane, you have to do it now. You need to satisfy the demon, keep him asleep. You have to feel pleasure."

"Who's says I'm not?" Akane said with a smile. He leaned down and gently kissed Ukyou. "Don't you think I get any enjoyment out of your pleasure."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it. You have to do it to me."

"It? What's it?" Akane kissed and licked her way down Ukyou's throat to her breasts, spent a few minutes lavishing attention on them before continuing. "You'll have to speak more clearly, being a boy has shrunken my brain. What is it you want me to do?"

Ukyou flushed red, only partially because of her arousal. "You know, it!"

Ranma, who had been too occupied to pay much attention to unimportant matters such as conversation suddenly became aware of Akane's teasing. She lifted her face, juice dripping from her chin and frowned at Akane, who was oblivious to her, all her attention being on Ukyou's flushed face. Ranma well remembered Ryouga's effort to get her to beg him to fuck her. How he had teased and tormented her. That had been all right then. It had been part of the fight, but this was not a fight. They were not trying to beat or shame Ukyou. The frown on her face grew more severe, and she reached out a hand.

Akane was enjoying the way Ukyou's face was turning cherry red in embarrassment. The way she was trembling showed that all her talk about Akane needing to pleasure himself was all a hoax, just as he had imagined. She wanted him to finish it, because she wanted it, not because of any imaginary demon that needed placating. He leaned forward to once again tease her sensitive breasts. His mouth never reached its destination. His whole body shuddered and he froze, as something wrapped itself around a very sensitive part of his new body. He looked between his legs to see a small, but powerful hand cradling his balls in its grip. Twisting his head he looked down Ukyou's body to where Ranma was frowning at him.

Ranma released her grip, and moved herself out from between Ukyou's legs. The look she directed at Akane was equal part censor and command. For a second anger flushed Akane face, but rather then backing down, Ranma look only firmed. That was shocking enough to make Akane think, and he flushed in shame this time, as she considered how she had been tormenting Ukyou. It looked like he still had a few unresolved conflicts with Ukyou, but this was neither the place nor time to resolve those.

Akane looked down at Ukyou, who was looking in puzzlement between Ranma and Akane, feeling that there was something going on here that she could not follow. "Ukyou, I'm sorry, I was being cruel and mean, please forgive me."

Ukyou, who had been looking at Ranma when Akane spoke, snapped her head around and stared in disbelief. Unlike Ranma, it was not unheard of for Akane to say he was sorry, but not normally to one of his rivals for Ranma. For a second she stared in surprise, until Akane finally said angrily, "hey, you don't have to look so surprised. Can't a person say they're sorry."

Ukyou laughed. "Now that's more like the Akane I know. I was afraid for a second there that the demon had taken you over."

For a second Akane kept her angry glare, but in the face of Ukyou's smile, it soon faded, and he leaned forward, and kissed her. Ukyou wrapped her arms around Akane and pulled him down against her. Akane shifted his body till he was between her legs, then breaking the kiss, he pulled his head back and gave Ukyou a serious look. "Ukyou, are you sure, you don't seem to be suffering from any symptoms any longer."

"Akane!" Ranma said in a warning tone.

"Be quiet Ranma, this is Ukyou's decision. I won't tease her anymore, at least not tonight, but this is important, she has to be sure. Ukyou?"

Ukyou started to say that they had to do it because of the demon, but then she stopped. That was not what Akane wanted to hear. He did not believe in the demon. He wanted to hear that Ukyou wanted to do this willingly. Ukyou suddenly realized that she did want to do this. She had been attracted to Akira at school, she had always liked Akane, and with Ranma thrown in for good measure, she was as close as she was ever going to get to her dream.

"Yes! Yes I want to do this. Just...Ranma...would you mind holding me while...you know."

Ranma was not good at emotional stuff, but she understood what Ukyou wanted. She moved closer and lay down beside Ukyou. Leaning forward she gently kissed the cook. In seconds the two girls were passionately engaged in each other. Akane should have felt left out, but instead, he was surprised at the amount of affection he felt for both girls, not just for Ranma. The jealousy he had always felt toward Ukyou was gone, he felt the love between the two, and rather then feeling excluded, knew he was part of it. Reaching between his legs he felt for and found Ukyou's slick entrance. It was well lubricated as a result of Ranma's attention, and his finger slipped inside easily, but stopped as it came up against the barrier of Ukyou's hymen. Ukyou gave a small gasp, and flinched as Akane's thick finger penetrated her.

Akane knew he had to take his time, so while Ranma kissed Ukyou and fondled her breasts, he added another finger to the one already inside Ukyou. For several minutes he worked his fingers back and forth between Ukyou's legs, widening her entrance, and getting it ready for the much larger intrusion to come. Ukyou orgasmed, her hips bucked against Akane's hand, impaling herself on Akane's fingers. Her hands came down and wrapped around Akane's wrist, pulling his hand tight against her sex. Akane waited for the girl's shuddering body to relax, then freeing his hand from Ukyou now slack grip, he brought his penis forward and pressed it against Ukyou's opening. Looking down past Ranma's head, Akane looked Ukyou in the face. "Fast or slow?" He asked.

Ukyou swallowed, this was the big moment. She had removed enough bandages in her life to have no doubt as to how she wanted this. "Fast," she whispered.

Akane nodded, and thrust his hips down, groaning as Ukyou tight hot flesh enclosed his member. Ukyou gasped in shock in time with his groan. He felt her barrier halt his forward motion, and drawing back again he shoved forward, and this time burst through Ukyou's cherry, and on into her depths. Ukyou body shuddered, and a tiny cry of distress escaped her lips as she felt Akane's shaft ripping her maidenhood to shreds. Akane made several more in and out motions, and then he was completely sheathed in her body, his pubic hair mingled with hers, his balls resting in against the bottom of her slit.

Akane paused, panting as if he had just run a marathon, he wanted desperately to withdraw his penis from Ukyou's hot flesh and thrust it forward again and again until he released his passion deep in her body. The tears that were slowly trickling down Ukyou's cheeks stilled that impulse. He relaxed, letting his heavy shaft soak, allowing Ukyou to adjust to his presence in her body. He leaned forward to kiss her, but before he could, Ranma leaned in and licked the tears from her cheeks. Instead of kissing Ukyou as he had intended, he bussed Ranma on the back of the neck, Ranma twisted her head around and captured his mouth with hers, and he tasted the salty tears that Ranma had just licked from Ukyou's cheek. Akane broke the kiss, and looked down at Ukyou, who looked back with glistening eyes.

"Better?" Akane asked.

"Marvelous. Why did you stop?"

Akane laughed. "I don't know." He rocked his hips and Ukyou gave a gasp as she felt him shift inside of her. Akane set up a gentle rhythm, not doing much more then shuttling his cock an inch at a time back and forth. Soon Ukyou's hips were rising to meet him as she matched his motion with her own. For her part, Ranma kept kissing Ukyou's breasts, while her fingers reached down between her own legs and started stroking herself in time with her two partners' motion. Ukyou was the first, she gave a shudder, and then wrapping her legs and arms around Akane, gripping him desperately as waves of pleasure coursed through her body.

Akane felt Ukyou's body shudder, and her vessel flexed and caressed his manhood. The gentle thrusting he had been maintaining suddenly was not enough, he started to withdraw more and more of himself from her body with every outward thrust, shoving himself to the hilt on each inward thrust. Soon the head of his penis was exiting Ukyou's pussy on each outward pull, before plunging back in. After that it was only a matter of seconds before he gave a shudder and fired jets of sperm deep into Ukyou's clenching vessel. With a sigh Akane collapsed on top of Ukyou who ran her hands lazily up and down his back. Ukyou reached up and kissed Akane, a dreamy look on her face.

"That...that...was...that." Akane interrupted her with a kiss.

"I agree. That was..." Akane was interrupted by muffled cursing. Startled he pulled away from Ukyou, allowing a red faced Ranma to pull her head out from between their bodies. She gasped for breath for a minute or two before turning a dirty look on the two of them.

"Thanks a lot. I was almost there, and then you had to try and smother me."

Ukyou looked embarrassed, but Akane only grinned, reaching out a arm he hooked it around Ranma's waist and pulled her in tight against him and Ukyou. He kissed her soundly, and said, "Poor baby, how mean of us to leave you hanging, I guess you get to be the filling in the sandwich next. What do you think Ukyou, feel up to helping Ranma out until I'm ready for another go around?"

Ukyou was about to reply, when her face paled slightly. She held out a hand to steady herself, and Akane and Ranma both took hold of her at the same time laying her back gently on the futon.

"Ukyou, are you alright?" They said as one. Then Akane reeled backward, barely avoiding taking one of Ukyou's small spatulas broadside across the face. Ranma and Akane both stared in shock at the small figure that was standing on Ukyou's chest.

"You leave her alone you monsters. Don't you dare lay a hand on her again, you, you, you, PERVERTS!!" The small duplicate of Ukyou screamed at them. Both Ranma and Akane went into the classic Takahashi pose of extreme shock, hair standing on end, fingers held out in a warding gesture.

****

Nabiki grimaced as he walked into the last address on his list. Furniture that had not been new when his father was a baby, tattered drawings pinned to the walls in no discernable order, the walls themselves not having been painted in who knows how long. Finally last, but not least, the proprietor. Fifty years old, and three hundred pounds of greasy flesh. He flowed around the stool he was sitting on. The owner? Artist? was ensconced behind the counter with his feet up on a tattered chair reading an adult magazine that Nabiki recognized as specializing in young girls. Nothing could be further away from the last five places they had visited.

He looked up from his magazine, and glanced at Nabiki, his eyes trailed up from the leather shoes. The finely- made suit, and the last touch, the snap brimmed fedora that Nabiki had felt gave him a dangerous look. The man behind the counter obviously did not share Nabiki's opinion, he snorted in derision, and started to go back to his magazine. His motion was arrested when Shampoo walked in the door. Like he had with Nabiki, he ran his eyes over her body, but the light in his eyes clearly indicated that he was far more impressed with her then he had been with Nabiki.

Nabiki narrowed his eyes, and marching forward he slammed a drawing of the initials he wanted placed on Shampoo onto the counter top. "How much?" He snarled out, running his eyes up and down the man behind the counter. He let his distaste show in his face.

If the man was concerned at Nabiki's opinion, he gave no reaction, he looked at the drawing for a second, then turned his gaze back toward Shampoo. "One hundred thousand," he drawled out. Nabiki stiffened, but gave no other sign that the price bothered him. Shampoo was not so controlled. She started in surprise, the price quoted was ten times more then any of the other parlor's had quoted. She turned to leave, but quickly turned back when she heard Nabiki snap out, "draw," and slap down a blank piece of paper on the counter top.

The man sneered at her, and then without taking his eyes off of Shampoo, he duplicated Nabiki's drawing in about five seconds. This time Nabiki had a harder time controlling his reaction. He had spent his entire lunch hour, and about twenty pieces of paper to end up with a drawing he was happy with. This man had not just duplicated it, he had produced a far superior version, and without exerting himself in the slightest.

"I want to see your work area!" He snapped out.

"I want to see some money." The man drawled.

Nabiki flushed in anger, but he reached into his pocket a produced a roll of ten thousand yen notes. Slowly, meticulously, he counted ten bills out on to the counter. He only had three bills left in his hand when he finished, a fact that Shampoo did not miss. The sight of the money finally caused the man to draw his eyes away from Shampoo. He heaved himself up with a grunt and reached for it. Nabiki slapped a hand down on top of it and glared at him, "when I'm convinced you're worth it. The work room, now!"

"Sure mister, whatever you say." He turned and headed towards a curtained door. Nabiki was simmering in anger. The tone he had used when he said 'mister' had been extremely derogatory. Fighting down the urge to walk out, he followed the fat man into his work area. As he entered the room he stared around him, taking in the decor. Once again he had to fight to hide his surprise. While the fixtures were no younger then the ones out front, they were meticulously maintained, and gleamed with cleanliness. Unlike the other parlors they had visited, this artist seemed to use the old methods. There were a wide assortment of bamboo rakes neatly arranged on various surfaces and drawers. They would be dipped in the ink, and then the sharp prongs would be shoved under the skin of the customer to generate the artwork.

Just how good the artwork could be was demonstrated by the few pictures hanging on the wall. They were life sized copies of full body tattoos. The detail and artistry were breathtaking. This was not what had shocked Nabiki, he had already drawn certain conclusions from the display in the front. What had shocked him was that the drawings on the wall were clearly Yakuza, and high level at that. No street soldier would ever be able to afford the work Nabiki was looking at. How had he missed this place? He had always been surprised at the low level of organized crime in the area, and had spent a great deal of effort in finding the little that there was. You would think that a place like this would stand out, but he had never guessed.

Nabiki nodded, "Shampoo, take off your dress, get on the table." He pulled out the roll of money and counted off the ten bills once again as Shampoo obeyed, Nabiki held out the thin sheaf of bills to the fat man, then snatched them away as he reached for them. "Just one word of warning. Shampoo is your canvas for the next little while, that is all. Do your job, and we all go away happy. Get too free with your hands and you'll get hurt." Nabiki handed the money to the fat man, who sneered at him.

"And who's going to hurt me? You? I'll do whatever I damn well please..." The fat man broke of and started to sweat profusely. Little embers had lit in Nabiki's eyes as he had been talking. He swallowed nervously. "Look... I'm a pro. You think your girl is the first good looking chick I've had laid out on my bench. I've seen better."

"I seriously doubt that. Just do your job. I'll be sitting over here. Shampoo!"

Shampoo, who had undressed and was stretched out on the bench looked over at Nabiki, an inquiring look in her eye.

"<Don't hurt, unless Nabiki say so.> You understand?"

Shampoo was surprised when Nabiki addressed her in broken Mandarin, but she recovered quickly, looking over at the fat man, then back to Nabiki she nodded, "Shampoo understand."

After selected several small rakes and a bottle of black ink, the fat man approached Shampoo, his eyes now with the look of an artist examining a canvas for flaws, rather then those of a dirty old man staring at a lovely young girl.

****

Akane cursed vilely, and swatted at the small creature that was leaping towards him. All he got for his trouble was another small cut to join the several that were already welling blood on his hands, while the little duplicate of Ukyou twisted in the air and used his hand as a springboard to leap away toward one of the bedroom walls free and clear. The cuts were not serious. By this time tomorrow they would be invisible, but they did sting, and the frustration of having this little monster cutting her at will was making it very difficulty to control his temper. Ranma was no help. She was sitting on the futon with Ukyou's head held in her lap. While Akane tried to fight off the little buzzsaw, she sat there stroking Ukyou's head and occasionally yelling out stupid advice. It was very clear that she considered the little thing no threat at all.

When the little creature had first appeared, Akane had tried to reason with it, to no avail. It had attacked him, and had been attacking him ever since. The fight was made ridiculous by the fact that Akane outweighed his opponent one hundred and fifty times over. Because the little creature was an almost exact duplicate of the girl Akane had just made love to, and because he knew it was only trying to help, he was seriously constrained in just how much effort he could put into the fight. The last thing he wanted to do was to squash the little thing like a bug. "Damn it all to hell!!" Akane cursed as the Ukyou clone got in yet another blow, this time to his bare backside. Much to the delight of Ranma who laughed out loud.

"Ranma! A little help please, if you don't mind." Akane snapped out.

"I don't know Akane, I wouldn't want you to think that I think you can't handle a little thing like Ukyou-chan. Are you sure you want my help?" Akane sent a dirty look her way that spoke volumes. "Ok, ok, whatever you want."

Ranma reached over and picked up one of Akane discarded socks. Folding it inside itself, she formed it into a solid cloth ball, then waiting for just the right moment, she pegged it across the room. It flew straight to its target, Akane's head. Then it bounced right into the path of Ukyou-chan. She swatted it away with the small throwing spatula in her hands. This left her out of position, and when Akane reached out for her this time, she was not able to get her weapon around in time to cut his hand, he grabbed her out the air, more then two thirds of her body disappearing as Akane's hand closed firmly but gently around the little creature.

"There, got you." Akane cried out in triumph as he plucked the small throwing spatula from Ukyou-chan's grip.

"Don't bet on it monster." The little creature snarled. Opening her mouth impossible wide, she revealed for the first time a major difference between her and Ukyou. She had a formidable set of fangs. She proceeded to use those to good effect. She chomped down on Akane's thumb with all her might. With a yell of pain, Akane opened his hand and shook it vigorously, flinging Ukyou-chan across the room. She landed rolling, and came to her feet just short of the wall. She spat out several drops of blood, and wiped some more from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand.

"You little monster, you bit me." Akane yelled, just before sticking his thumb in his mouth to suck on the injured digit. "Youfff, miffth haffe Phosiend mf." he mumbled.

"Who you calling a monster demon!" Ukyou-chan yelled back. "As for poisoning you, I'm the one who's probably going to curl up and die from drinking your foul..." She broke off suddenly, and smacked her lips several times, with a puzzled look on her face. She lifted a blood-smeared hand to her mouth and licked it. "This is wrong, this isn't possible." She licked her hand again, and then looked at Akane incredulously. "You taste good."

"Oh thank you very much I'm sure. It's a great relief to know that monsters find me a taste treat." Akane snarled at her.

"You don't understand, you're a demon, but you taste good. That's not right. Something is wrong here."

"For the last time, I am not a demon."

"Then why the fangs and markings?"

"What fangs? What markings?"

"Akane," Ranma suddenly said, the worried tone of her voice made Akane look over at her. "I think maybe you had better take a look in a mirror."

"Puzzled, Akane complied, keeping an eye on Ukyou-chan, he moved over to Ukyou's dresser and looked in the mirror. His eyes widened, and he lifted a tentative hand to the corner of his mouth. Lifting a corner of his upper lip, he stared at the heavy and very pronounced canines he now possessed. Then he lifted his hand higher and scrubbed at several faint marks that adorned his forehead and cheeks.

"I don't understand, what's happening to me?" Akane said, then, eyes narrowed in suspicion, he turned toward Ukyou-chan, "What did you do to me?" he said in an accusing voice.

"Me? Not a damn thing. I wish I had, then maybe I could fix it." The little being said dispiritedly.

"What do you mean?" Akane demanded, and as Ukyou tried weakly to stand up, only to be gently pushed back by Ranma, "and what's wrong with Ukyou?"

"It all the same thing. The Powers That Be have screwed the pooch, Ukyou and I are dead meat." Ukyou-chan said, shoulders slumping in dejection.

"Nani?" Ranma and Akane said is shock. "How...? What can we do?"

"Nothing, not a damn thing."

Akane was about to demand a more detailed answer when Ukyou interrupted him, and said in a weak voice. "If I'm going to die, I'd sort of like to know why. A little while ago, you said Akane had a demon sleeping in him, and that the only way to save him was to have sex with him. Now you say Akane is a demon anyway, and that I'm going to die, along with you. What the hell is going on?"

"It's sort of like this." Ukyou-chan sighed, when the Powers That Be sensed Akane, they assumed he had been possessed, and given the recent happenings, that it was something to do with a Jusenkyo curse. From the Kami plane their vision was clouded, they were wrong. Akane is not possessed, he is a demon, a half-breed I'd say, and an uncorrupted one from the taste of him."

Ranma looked puzzled. "You mentioned Akane tasting good before, what has that got to do with anything?"

Ukyou-chan, shrugged. "It's the nature of demons, the nastier they are, the worse they taste. Conversely human innocents, like for instance most virgins, taste delicious, which is why they are so sought after by demons. Akane tastes good, and is most definitely not a virgin, therefore he's not evil."

"So, that's a good thing. Why does it mean you and I are going to die?" Ukyou asked.

"It's part of the same screw up. Why do you think you were selected as a demon hunter?"

"I have no idea, because I'm a good martial artist, and I'm, or I was a virgin."

"Partially, but those would have meant nothing without the magic in you."

"Magic in me? I don't have any magic."

"You're telling me." Ukyou-chan said.

Akane broke in. "It's the magic Miss Hinako took from Ranma, and blasted into you. That's right isn't it?"

"Bingo." Ukyou-chan said, "but I just realized that. You see, to be selected as a demon hunter, you have to be one of the few humans who naturally produce magic. It usually means that there is a little Divine blood in you. It's a delicate thing, you can't have the ability to use the magic yourself. That's so when a spirit binds with you, the spirit becomes the magic user. He, or she, supplies the magic the demon hunter needs to do his, or her, job. The magic also supplies the life energy for the spirit. It's a sort of symbiotic relationship. The spirit needs the magic to live, and the demon hunter needs the skills and protection the spirit can provide using that magic."

Ranma piped in. "So, what's the big deal? Ukyou doesn't have any magic, so she can't be a demon hunter. Akane you say, is a good demon, and I still ain't buying that." she hastily added seeing Akane's frown. "So anyway, that means Ukyou don't got to be a demon hunter, so why don't you just go back to where you came from."

"I wish." Ukyou-chan said bitterly. "When I bonded with her it was a permanent deal, only her death can free me..." Ukyou-chan broke off suddenly and big sweated as Ranma and Akane placed themselves between her and Ukyou.

"You don't lay a finger on her while we're here." Akane snarled.

"Are you crazy, I could no more hurt my bond partner then I could myself."

"So why did you say Ukyou was going to die."

"I also, if you were paying attention, said that I was going to die as well. I need that magic, the magic that Ukyou does not produce. Without it, the bond draws on her life force, and it's not an efficient usage. I'll drain her dry, and then we'll both die, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it."

"Well, there's something I can do about it." Ranma snarled, she leaped across the room to where Ukyou's battle spatula was. Snatching it up, she raced towards Ukyou-chan, the oversized weapon held high, ready to splatter the little girl. Before she could get there Ukyou threw herself in between Ranma and Ukyou-chan.

"Ranma stop this." Ukyou said, her face white with the effort of keeping on her feet.

"Get out of my way Ukyou, I'm going to squash that damn vampire."

"No, that's what she wants, and I'm not going to let her get away with it. I already told her earlier, we don't kill our friends, there's always another way."

"What do you mean, she wants Ranma to kill her?" Akane asked.

"Look at her" Ukyou said, gesturing toward Ukyou-chan who was just standing there, making no effort to put distance between herself and Ranma. "Think how she explained it, remember how she dodged Akane. She could have gotten out of Ranma's way easily. Why didn't she? She went out of her way to make you think killing her was the answer, and then when you were going to do it, she didn't make a single move to save herself."

Ranma looked at Ukyou-chan, who glared back at her. "You're right," Ranma said after a minute. She let the battle spatula fall to the floor. "So, what do we do now."

"We could let Hinako zap you, and then blast Ukyou." Akane suggested.

"No good," Ukyou-chan said, "taken in that way, the magic is not compatible with humans. She would experience overwhelming lust until I drained it out of her. But even so, the little that was still in her could have kept us both going for quite some time. That's why I was so mad earlier. You sucked all the remaining magic right out of her while you were...you know...with her, obviously your own reserves were low. Then when Ukyou was...you know...with you, that exhausted some of her own reserves. I didn't help any when I attacked you. I drained off even more when I tried to fire off some magic attacks out of reflex. The good news is that now that both Ukyou and I are more or less calm, she should regain some of her strength, but only for a few hours, eventually having to supply energy to both of us will drain her. "

"Taken in that way," Ukyou whispered to herself.

"What do you mean Ukyou?" Akane asked, catching the tone in Ukyou's voice. Ranma had not heard Ukyou, she was deep in thought, and her concentration was such that she was cut off from the outside world as she tried to think of anything she had experienced on her travels, or while living in Nerima that might help in this situation. Nothing short of a physical attack was going to get her attention for a while.

"I've had a little experience with my double here," Ukyou answered Akane. "Sometimes she's decides on her own that certain options are not acceptable. Just like when she said I had to kill you, and then later I managed to find out that having sex would solve the problem." Ukyou turned to look at Ukyou-chan. "So, what did you mean when you said, taken in that way? Is there another way of taking the magic that would work?"

Ukyou-chan looked nervous. "It was just a slip of the tongue, there's no option, you have to kill me to save yourself. You have to do it. I can't do it. I'm not wired for suicide."

"I'd say you're doing a pretty good job. You almost got Ranma to do it for you."

"There's no rule that says I can't lay the options out to you." Ukyou-chan said defensively.

"The problem is, you don't lay out 'all' the options." Ukyou said. "It's sex again isn't it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ukyou-chan mumbled, looking down her feet, not able to look Ukyou in the face.

"You see," Ukyou said to Akane, "she's a lousy liar. Well, this is what I'm going to do Yousee..."

"Yousee?" Akane asked questioningly.

"Short for Ukyou-chan, U,C, Yousee, you see?" Akane nodded hesitantly, moving his lips as he tried to figure out Ukyou's last statement. "So, Yousee, this is what I'm going to do, nothing, absolutely nothing."

"But you can't, you'll die."

"Not if you give me the other option. I'm not going to try and beat it out of you this time, and I'm sure as hell not going to kill you, no matter how much of a jackass you are."

Yousee turned her back on Ukyou, "You know I can't let you die, but..."

"No buts!!" Ukyou snapped her anger restoring some of her strength and vitality.

"All right, it's the demon, he's the key. He can take energy from Ranma and convert it into a form that we can live on. But it's not a one time deal, you'll need a transfusion on a regular basis."

"So how do I go about doing this?" Akane asked eagerly.

"Just be yourself." Yousee sneered.

"Yousee, you apologize right now. Akane is trying to help us, he does not need lip from you." Ukyou snapped out.

Yousee quailed before Ukyou's anger. Turning to Akane, she bowed, "I'm sorry, old habits. It's just so disgusting, I think I'd rather die, but I can't let Ukyou die because of me. You're basically a Shikima. That means that you can manipulate Shikima magic, which is what Ranma is loaded with."

"How?"

"Simple, for you. You have sex with her, when you do that you'll absorb a small amount of magic as it flows from the high energy vessel, Ranma, to the lower energy vessel, you. You can do this because you are bonded to her in a way that is similar to way Ukyou and I are. If any other Shikima were to try and tap into that much energy, they'd end up fried. Now before the energy can be absorbed by your body, you have to have sex with Ukyou. The magic will now flow from the high energy area that you are, to the low energy area that Ukyou is. Just like between Ranma and you. As it passes through your body, it will be converted to a form that I can live off of and use, but that will not cause Ukyou harm."

Akane and Ukyou were slightly stunned, together they said, "Oh my."

Ranma was coming out of her deep thinking and was starting to take notice of her surroundings. "It's no good, I can't think of a single thing that might help, I'm sorry..." She broke off and stared at Akane and Ukyou, who were in turn staring at her. "Ah, what is it. Guys. Why are you looking at me that way guys? Guys!?"

****

Hironishi Kenji lay on his back staring at the ceiling. The bed he was laying on was slightly moist, and was growing clammy, but this minor discomfort was of no concern to him. His mind was on far more important things. "Seven times," he muttered to himself in a disbelieving tone. "Christ I'm fifty eight years old, I haven't done it seven times in one night in... Christ, I don't think I ever did it seven times in a single night."

A slight noise from the bedroom door made him look up, he stared in appreciation. There she was, the miracle worker. She was dressed in a lovely formal morning Kimono, and her hair fell in waves around her face, framing the gentle planes of it that he had studied closely and intimately last night as they made love, seven freaking times, he repeated to himself. The hair almost, but not quite, hid the unfamiliar tattoos on her face. She had also at some time in the past had dental surgery to give her a set of fangs that rather then appearing strange or bizarre looked strangely right in her mouth. She was holding a man's robe in her hands, and she held this out to him.

"Would you like to have breakfast before I have to leave? I have it prepared."

A few minutes later Hironishi was tucking into one of the best meals he had ever eaten. Like the lovely lady who had prepared it, it was nothing extraordinary to look at. It looked attractive, and was well presented, but nothing he had not seen before. When you actually sampled it however... Seven times, seven goddamn times.

Hironishi finished the last bit of food, and leaned back replete. The lady who had sat across from him as he had savored every mouth full now started to clear the plates. He caught her wrist in his. "Please my dear, the staff can do that. I need to talk to you."

"Oh my no, I would not feel right about leaving such a mess. Here, you can give me a hand. We can talk as I work." With that she handed several dirty dishes to one of the most dangerous and feared men in Japan. Standing up, she carried the remaining dishes into the small kitchen that was part of the suite they were currently occupying.

Hironishi stared in bemusement at the dishes in his hands, trying to remember if he had ever in his whole life cleaned up after himself. Never he decided, not even when he had just started out at the age of fourteen as nothing but street muscle. Back then he would have beaten any woman who was presumptuous enough to ask him to do women's work. Then a smile spread across his face as he heard a happy voice humming in the kitchen. If she can do it, being what she is, then by damned if I can't lend a hand. Standing up he carried the dirty dishes into the kitchen.

*

Hironishi dried the last plate and put it away in the cupboard, a feeling of comfort and pleasure at a job well done. He hadn't felt this good since the time he personally broke that piano playing welsher's fingers. And that had been nearly thirty years ago. Since then he had been insulated from doing anything with his own hands.

"I don't have to leave for a few minutes, would you like to talk now?" His female companion asked, sitting herself down on a stool beside the counter. Hironishi pulled up a stool of his own and sat close to her, their legs touching. Reaching out he took her hand in his own.

"Sakura, I want you to stay. No, don't say anything." He said, when she would have commented, "let me continue. Last night was wonderful, but more than that, all of yesterday, when we just talked and ate, and even this morning. It's all been wonderful. I have a penthouse that I hardly ever use. It's yours, whatever spending money you wish, It's yours, all I ask is that you stay with me, be exclusive to me."

Sakura, looked down, her long hair falling forward to veil her face from view. "I'm sorry, I can't. You are very nice, and I have enjoyed the day we had, but it is impossible." This time it was her turn to stop him from talking, she lifted one delicate hand and placed a finger across his lips when he would have spoken. "I'm very, very sorry, but this is the way it must be."

Hironishi would have said something, but suddenly he felt weak, he slumped in his chair, and would have fallen if she had not caught him in time. Helping him to his feet she guided him to a bedroom, different from the one they had spent the night in. She undressed him the way a mother might a child and in the same way, tucked him into bed. He tried to say something then, but she kissed him on the forehead, and he felt a drowsiness come over him, and the next thing he knew he was blinking his eyes and staring into the face of his right hand man. A most unattractive way of waking up, when compared to the way he had gone to sleep.

"Boss, you alright boss?"

"Sakura?"

"She left over a half an hour ago with some big fat broad, we've been trying to get a hold of you ever since."

"A half an hour, you let her get a half an hour ahead of me. What sort of fuck up are you?" Hironishi snarled, but Wolf Erickson was used to his boss' morning attitude. He had been protecting Hironishi's back for the last twenty years, and was well used to his boss' manners. It was a standard joke that Hironishi Kenji was not fit company in the morning until he had heard about the first victim of the day.

"It was your orders. If you hadn't given explicit commands to be left alone for the night when you and her came back from dinner, we would have been up here the instant she walked out the door."

"Why didn't you stop her? I gave no orders to let her leave without me."

This time Wolf looked embarrassed, rather an extraordinary sight as he was nearly seven feet tall, and was currently shuffling his feet for all the world like a tardy school boy. "Well, she asked us not to."

"She asked you not to?" Hironishi said incredulously, then he waved aside Wolf's explanation. "Forget it. I'd probably have let her go to if she'd asked me. I don't know what it is about her, but I do know that Sakura is the most extraordinary woman I have ever met." He looked at Wolf with eyes that had gone steely grey. "I want you to find her. That is the number one priority on your calendar, farm out your other duties. From now on your job is to find Miss Sakura."

Wolf nodded his assent, turned and left his boss, giving not a sign that he felt anything over being reduced to the position of procuring girls for his boss.

**

Hong Kong airport, an hour and a half later

Miss Sakura, her hair bound back in a ponytail, was hugging, or trying to hug an extraordinary woman. She was two inches taller then Wolf Erickson, and must have weighed nearly twice as much. Tears were running down her face, as she hugged Miss Sakura with much more success then the smaller woman had been having with her. Miss Sakura very nearly disappeared in the folds of the bigger woman's flesh. "I'll miss you, please come back soon." She said in a quivery little girl voice, all out of proportion to her size.

"And I you Bakah Sin. Please give my love to Fu Ching Lan, and Thai Yeung. I'm sorry I missed them, but I must get back to my family. I've been away far too long." She pulled herself away from the larger woman and picking up her bag, headed for the gate leading to her flight.

"Goodbye, Kasumi oneechan" Bakah Sin whispered to herself, then sadly she made her way back to the limousine that would take her back to her Big Brother and Sister. A tear trickled down her cheek.

****

Ranma lifted her face and let the water from Ukyou's shower cascade over her. Akane had practically ordered her from the bedroom. He had suggested, while wrinkling his nose, that she might want to take a shower. As he had escorted her to the bedroom door, he had whispered to her that he needed to discuss some things with Ukyou, and that the cook would not be comfortable discussing them while she was in the room. Because Ukyou had recovered some of her strength by that time, she had not objected, well not much. There were certain forms to be observed of course.

The truth was, she had been glad of a reason to be off by herself. She had been feeling the need for a little privacy. Akane and Ukyou had left her right on the edge of her own orgasm when they had reached their own. Nearly being smothered had proven as effective as a cold shower in dampening passion. Added on top of that, the fact that she had been more or less aroused all day, the potion still working its insidious magic on her, and she was in great need of a little release of her own.

As the warm water cascaded over her body Ranma stroked her hands over her slick wet form, enjoying the feeling her hands elicited. Her hand reached her breasts and she squeezed and bounced them in her hands, enjoying the sensation on several levels. Her new female feelings savored the touching, loved the feeling she got when she twiddled her nibbles between her fingers. Her male memories on the other hand enjoyed the sensation of handling a pair of breasts. Always before, cupping her own breasts had been like holding a sack of flour in each hand, there was hardly any sensation at all. Now nerves she had never known girls possessed were constantly sending signals to her brain. The feedback she experienced was almost as good as the ones she used to experience while masturbating as a boy.

Leaving one of her hands busy with her breasts, she slid the other one down her belly and between her legs. She was wet and ready and her questing finger easily slid between the petals that guarded the portal to her inner sex. Rubbing her fingers up and down that slick wet channel she experienced another plateau of sensation. When she extended the motion so it reached the little hood under which what was left of her penis hid. The pleasure went way beyond anything she had ever felt as a boy. It was if all the nerves that had been spread across the head of her lost member were all concentrated in that tiny bud of flesh. Packed into such a tiny area, they concentrated even the slightest touch to an almost painful level of sensation. She had already learned that it was just as well to not directly stimulate that little bud, but to simply work her fingers around the general area.

With a faint moan of pleasure, she leaned backward till her shoulders were against the wall of the shower stall. As her hand stroked up and down her wet sex, she slid slowly downward, her feet sliding across the floor, until she was sitting on the bottom of the shower with her legs spread wide and her hand moving like a blur between them. Panting, she lifted one on her breasts and bent her head down until she could lick her own nipple.

Closing her eyes she started to thrust her fingers in and out of her opening. This was a different sensation, not as intense, but powerful in its strangeness. The feeling of something sliding into her body, even something as small as her fingers was a sensation she would never be able to explain to someone who did not have the equipment. She could say that rubbing her clit was just like jerking off, but there was no analog for what she was feeling now.

She started to breath harder, and while her fingers and tongue stimulated her body, her mind started to cast up images and memories. She remembered the look on Ukyou's face when Akane had thrust into her, a brief moment of startled surprise and pain. That changed as Akane started working his manhood in and out of her sex. The tears of pain dried, and were replaced by tears of joy, as an expression of wonder and pleasure filled her face.

Ranma fingers slowed their stroking at that remembrance, and for the first time in her life, she truly hated Ryouga, hated him with an intensity that was just not like her. Because of him, she would never experience what Ukyou had. Would never experience the sensation of the one she loved entering her for the very first time. Even worse, he had stolen that moment from Akane. Akane would never see her eyes fill with that amazed wonder that had filled Ukyou's as for the very first time, she felt him moving inside her, and knew they were, for that moment, one. Instead her first time would always be just one more stupid fight with Ryouga, with no more meaning then any of the other stupid fights they'd had. Ryouga had not even been looking her in the face when he had taken her the first two times. What had crossed her face then would never be known, not to Ranma and not to anyone else. What a waste.

Ranma banished the bitter thoughts. What was done was done. At least she could remember how it had been with Akane, even if it had not been her first time. She pressed her breast hard as she remembered how they had been squashed against Akane's muscular chest, the nipples rubbing back and forth against his sweat slick torso. Her breath started to come in quick gasps as she recalled the feeling of her legs wrapping around Akane's, as his hips lifted and fell, filling and emptying her again and again. The sensation of his thighs pressing her down into the bed, and then her hips following after him on the up stroke, until finally they reached harmony, and she was thrusting up as he was thrusting down, that was when...when...when...

Finallllyyyy. Her face flushed and with a final loud groan, she found her relief. Waves of pleasure ran through her body and she threw her head back and opened her mouth wide, gasping with pleasure and letting the warm water from the shower carry away the sweat and juices created by her pleasure.

Panting for breath, Ranma sat in the bottom of the shower, her fingers idly stroking the area around her clitoris, savoring the small little trembles of pleasure that like the aftershock of an earthquake, echoed the smashing orgasm she had just experienced.

"Ranma! You little pervert!" A voice suddenly yelled in outrage, as the shower door slammed open.

Ranma fell over sideways in shock, and cowered back in the farthest corner of the shower as a furious and very naked Akane-kun loomed just outside it. "Akk...Akane, It's not like it looks, I mean it is, but I... Hey, what the hell is this? You just finished screwing Ukyou, with me as filling, and you're calling me a pervert?"

Akane didn't answer, he was too busy leaning against the door jam, laughing himself sick.

"Bwhaaa, Your face, He he he, Oh god, the expression, Hahahahaha."

While Ranma had been experiencing her conditioned reflex she had scrambled to her feet in preparation for dodging any mallets or kitchen sinks that might have been headed her way. Now she glared at Akane who was laughing like a hyena. She lifted a hand till it was inches from the showerhead. "AKANE NO BAKA!" She yelled, moving her hand sideways just enough to direct a stream of warm water towards Akane.

Akane sputtered as the spray of water filled his mouth and caused her to choke as it went down the wrong tube. Before she could regain her breath, she was tackled to the ground by a steaming mad Ranma. She quickly found her belly pressed into the floor, and her legs pulled back till her heels touched the back of her thighs.

Ukyou kept a bathrobe hanging by the shower, and while Akane was flailing her arms trying to knock Ranma off of her back, Ranma pulled that down and freed the cloth belt from the loops in the robe. In seconds she had tied Akane's legs together, and had caught her arms one after another and tied her wrist to her ankles.

Having hog-tied Akane, Ranma relinquished her position on top of her.

Akane continued to struggle for a few minutes her face red with fury, but then her expression softened, and she looked up at Ranma who was just returning from a visit to Ukyou's laundry hamper. As Ranma knelt down if front of Akane, she asked in a husky voice, "Oh dear, how awful, I'm your helpless prisoner, what awful things are you going to do to me?"

"Who me? I'd never do anything awful to you Akane. I just thought I'd go and see if maybe Ucchan wanted to play for a little, just while you take your shower."

Akane looked at Ranma incredulously, then she opened her mouth wide and yelled, "Don't yo glumph..."

That was as far as she got. Ranma had extracted a pair of Ukyou's panties from the hamper, along with one other item, and had balled them up in her hand. When Akane opened her mouth to yell, she popped them inside, and then used the leg of one of Ukyou's tights to fasten it in place. Standing up she dusted off her hands and said in satisfaction, "there, now you just relax. Ukyou and I'll be fine by ourselves, no need to get up. I hope you like my selection. Ukyou tasted really good, and I wouldn't want you to miss out." Bending over she gave Akane's ass a good hard swat, and walked out of the room, laughing all the way.

As Ranma left the bathroom, and made her way toward Ukyou's room, she fairly quivered in anticipation. She had long ago resigned herself to the fact that there was no way she was ever going to honorably be able to make love to Ukyou. Now all that had changed, and she was looking forward to the coming event. She'd have to hurry however. Those flimsy bonds would not hold Akane for very long.

*

Ukyou had just finished putting little Yousee back in her drawer bed when Ranma walked in the door. Yousee had told Ukyou and Akane that she would sleep until they managed the transference, and therefore draw less energy from Ukyou. Ukyou had her doubts, she was of the opinion that the little prude just wanted to avoid having to watch her enjoy herself. She shook her head. Why did she have to get saddled with such a sour puss? Still, she did have her moments, and she was awfully cute.

Now she looked at Ranma's face anxiously, trying to see how she felt about the solution Yousee had proposed. To her surprise Ranma seemed completely happy, not a sign of doubt on her face. Akane had told her how the Jusenkyo curse had shielded Ranma from his female form, and that the protection was gone now, but still, she would have thought Ranma would have a least a few reservations.

"Ranma, are you alright with this?" she asked uncertainly.

Ranma paused for a second, and then moved closer, "I'm fine with this Ucchan. I love Akane, and nothing will ever change that, but I've got feelings for you too. I never felt free to confess them before. It wouldn't have been fair to you, or Akane, but I do love you. I'm glad we have this chance to share. You don't mind, do you? Not being number one?"

"No, I should, but, Akane was so...so...well it doesn't seem fair to be jealous of him, when he gave me so much pleasure, but I thought...well it's not important what I thought." Ukyou looked past Ranma to the bathroom door. "Where's Akane?" She asked. "Isn't he going to join us?"

"Uh well, Akane's sort of tied up at the moment, but I'm sure she'll be joining us soon. But there's no reason why we can't start without her, is there?"

"Huh, oh no, no reason at all," Ukyou said, hesitantly at first, but then with eagerness. Ranma joining in the last time had been an unexpected perk, to have him, no her, to herself for even a little while was not an opportunity to waste. "There's no reason at all why we can't start without him."

Ranma and Ukyou slowly drifted over to the futon, and touching each other gently they sank down on the covers, still mussed from their last session. Side by side they lay, their hands exploring each other's body, tentatively at first, and then with growing passion. They cupped each other's breasts, comparing sizes. Ukyou's were bigger, but on Ranma's smaller frame, hers were more pronounced. Moving closer, they pressed their breasts together, and wrapped their arms around each other. Gently, and then with more violence, they kissed. They devoured each other's mouth, with a passion and desire long suppressed.

Ranma felt Ukyou's strong hands stroking down her back, tracing the outlines of her muscles with her strong fingers. When they reached the twin cheeks of her ass, they paused there for a minute, kneading and pulling on Ranma's muscular backside, then one of her hands pulled away and slid up over her hip and burrowed between their bodies, heading for Ranma's honey pot. Ranma moaned, and pulled her hips back, allowing Ukyou access, her moan became a groan as Ukyou's searching fingers found her mossy dell, and slipped inside. She hunched her hips, driving herself onto those long, strong fingers, driving them as deeply into her own body as they would go. Ukyou's thumb found her pleasure bud and began to stroke that in time with Ranma's hunching hips.

Ranma dipped her head and blindly searching, found one of Ukyou's large breasts. She eagerly captured one of the hard brown nipples in her mouth and suckled voraciously as Ukyou's fingers continued to plunder her hot moist sex. Finally Ranma pulled her head up and let out a high keening from between her teeth as Ukyou finally drove her over the edge. Then she fell back against the larger girl, panting for breath. After a few moments, she lifted her head and nuzzled Ukyou, lightly kissing her, and settling comfortable into the arms that now encircled her.

"That was great Ucchan," Ranma sighed. They both lay there for a minute, Ukyou contentedly running a hand up and down Ranma's back, but then Ranma lifted her head and looked down at her. "But you didn't come did you?"

"That's alright Ranchan, I enjoyed it when you did."

"So, you think I wouldn't enjoy making you come too?" Ranma said in a chiding voice, pulling herself away from Ukyou. "Here, let's try this," Ranma slid her body on top of Ukyou's and pressed her groin against the other girl's. "Let's see if we can make a fire by rubbing two bushes together." She smirked at her bad joke. Ranma pressed herself firmly against Ukyou, and started to rotate her hips. Ukyou soon joined in, and raised her head as well, so she could reach the shorter girl and kiss her. They continued to writhe against each other for several minutes, but while they were stimulating each other, they did not seem able to get up and over that final plateau.

"Damn it." Ranma finally cursed in frustration. "If only I still had my dick."

"Maybe I could help," a familiar masculine voice said from behind the two girls. Ranma turned her head just in time to see Akane settling herself down over both of the girls. Ranma felt his large body settling against her back, pressing her down against Ukyou. The burden did not become too bad, he supported most of his weight on his hands so he didn't crush them as he settled into place. He did however, press down hard enough to hold Ranma firmly in place, not allowing her a chance to run. Lowering his head, he whispered in her ear. "I said it before, and I'll say it again, you're a jerk." Akane ran into problems from that point on however, the fact that he had to use both hands to support himself left him with nothing free to guide his erection to it's destination. He hunched his hips, and his cock slid between the two girls, rubbing against their sensitized flesh, making them both moan in unison, but missing the mark he was aiming at.

"Ukyou, I need your help, could you." Akane said, giving the brown haired girl a significant look.

"Are you sure Akane?" Ukyou asked hesitantly.

"I'm sure." Akane said."

"Ranma?"

"Yeah Ucchan." Ranma moaned, too focused on the sensation she was feeling to really pay attention.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I mean..."

"Hey, no problem. I mean it's not exactly the way I'd like it, but hey, there will be lots of times we can do it my way."

"If you say so," she said doubtfully, "I guess we don't really have any choice."

Ranma felt Ukyou's hand sliding between their bodies, and thought, Great, here I am, stuck in the middle again. Oh well, at least I got to come a couple of times. And maybe after this time, Akane and I can do it girl-girl. Ranma pleasant thoughts lasted two seconds, that was how long it took her to realize that Ukyou was not steering Akane toward her own sex, but toward Ranma's. She had time for just one inarticulate shout of, "Hey wrong..." when the head of Akane's cock shoved aside her love petals, and slid several inches into her body. Any other protests she wanted to make were impossible as Akane started a rapid in and out motion as soon as he was firmly seated, leaving her no breath to speak with.

Ranma once again was faced with the bizarre sensation of feeling a foreign object shoving itself deep into her body again and again, and causing no pain. She felt herself being alternatively stuffed and then emptied as Akane's cock shuttled back and forth. Her whole body was soon moving in time to Akane's vigorous thrusts, and each one caused her to slid up Ukyou's body a little more, until their breast where mashing together.

As soon as her face was in range, Ukyou grasped either side of it between her hands and whispered, "thank you Ranchan, I love you." Then she pulled Ranma face close to her own and kissed her deeply and passionately.

Ranma went into sensory overload. Akane's cock continued to stroke in and out, and his vigorous motions caused Ranma to rub up and down the length of Ukyou's lush body. Their breasts squashed together, their bellies slapped each other's, and Ukyou hungrily devoured Ranma's mouth with her own. Ranma had been on the verge of orgasm when Akane had made his appearance. The sudden shock of being impaled had moved her away from that, but now the sensations she was experiencing were rapidly moving her back to the edge.

In and out, in and out Akane moved his oversized weapon, not being able to fit all of it into Ranma's petite body, but managing to get a good part of it in. The large flesh spike filled every nook and cranny Ranma possessed, flattening all her internal ridges and bumps. Her oval shaped opening was turned into a round smooth tube that conformed to every ridge and knob on Akane's cock. Ranma was filled to the limit of her capacity, the mouth of her vagina pulled into a ring of tight muscle that griped Akane's member like a glove. On each out stroke it would pull outwards as if reluctant to let go, and on each in stroke it would almost turn inside out in an effort of accommodate Akane's size.

Ranma came, and came again, tearing her mouth free from Ukyou's, she shouted "Yesssssssss," from between teeth clenched hard together, the tendons on her neck standing out in sharp definition as every muscle in her body clenched in on itself. Then she collapsed on top of Ukyou as Akane pulled himself free of her body with a wet pop.

Akane gritted his teeth as he felt Ranma's already tight opening shrink several sizes. Wrenching his member from that silky smooth embrace was one of the hardest things he had ever done, but it was necessary. For a second he let part of his weight settle down on the two girls under him, as he one handedly grasped his member and directed it at a new target. There was no time to get Ranma out of the way, no time for preliminaries, he had to do this now. With a moan of relief he thrust himself deep into Ukyou, her larger body swallowing him to the hilt. His balls swung forward and slapped against her ass. Soon the room filled once again with the sound of moist flesh rubbing against each other.

Ukyou was not as tight as Ranma, but she was a close second, and Akane only managed several thrusts before spewing his seed deep into her body. For a second he let his weight relax on top of the two girls, and then remembering the last time, he rolled over and lay beside them. Ranma, still slightly stunned by events, continued to lay on top of Ukyou, breathing heavily from both mouth and nose. Ukyou was, despite the short time Akane had managed, equally breathless. The stimulation from Ranma's earlier attention had raised her high enough that it had not taken much to push her over the edge.

After a few minutes Ranma had recovered her breath enough to turn to Akane and demand, "what the hell was that all about?"

Akane mastered his own breathing enough to say, "well if you had let me get a word in at the shower," here he directed a glower at Ranma that promised that incident was not forgotten. "I would have told you that to take the energy from you, and to give it to Ukyou, I needed to have sex with both of you. You first, then Ukyou."

Ranma blinked at that, "Oh," Then she looked down at Ukyou, who was lying there with a dreamy expression on her face. "Did it work?"

Suddenly all three teenagers found themselves being lifted into the air. Fierce winds blew all around them, and they felt little tingles of energy, like static electric shocks, running over every inch of their skins. Streamers of energy filled the room, and wrapped around all three of them. The streamers solidified and they each felt cloth caressing their skins. Every inch of their bodies was effected, even their hair flared out in a corona around their heads.

As suddenly as it had started the phenomena ended, and all three of them looked at each other in amazement. They were all dressed in their everyday clothing. Nor did the changes end there. All three of them felt like they had just spent the last two hours washing. There was not a sign of their recent activity. Their bodies and hair were as clean as when they had set out for school that day. In Ranma's case, even cleaner. All signs of the black hair dye was gone from her hair, and it cascaded down her back in a vivid red waterfall.

"Does that answer your question?" A small voice said from the side lines.

"Yousee!" Ukyou exclaimed. "You're all right, does that mean...?"

"Like a charm. I don't think I've ever felt magic of this level before. Good thing it's in your body. It would burn me to the ground if I tried to hold that much inside."

"How long will it last?" Akane asked.

"About a month of just living, shorter then that if we have to fight on a regular basis, and only for a few demons if we have to face any."

All three of the teenagers looked at each other and said together, "shorter."

Yousee raised an eyebrow, "really, do you fight that much around here?" Then she looked offended when all three of them broke up. "Hey, it was a perfectly logical question."

****

Shampoo lay stoically as the proprietor of the Nifty Tattoo parlor, worked on her body. All the time he was driving his sharp bamboo rakes into her flesh, she was staring at Nabiki, who in his guise as a male wiseguy, was leaning nonchalantly in a corner of the work room, apparently oblivious to what was happening to Shampoo, a small toothpick hanging out of the corner of his mouth. His eyes told a different story. Shampoo had witnessed this style of tattooing back in the village. It was not neat and antiseptic like the modern methods used in the other five parlors they had visited this evening. She had known the first time blood had appeared by Nabiki's reaction. Ever since then Nabiki had been forcing himself to look.

Shampoo sighed happily, and lay her head down on her arms that were crossed on top of the bench. Closing her eyes, she imagined that it was Nabiki driving the prongs of the rake into her flesh, so close to her womanhood. If it were Nabiki she had no doubt that she would be experiencing more then the steady pricking of the rake. For one thing, she would almost certainly be bound. Her arms and legs tied securely to the tabletop. Nabiki would not forget her sex and other openings either. Maybe she would have a simulated cock shoved in all her entrances. A big fat one, straining her pussy to it's limit, a long narrow one in her backside, rubbing against the one in her sex. In her mouth, she might have one of the cock gags that Nabiki had shown her the other night, a short fat dildo, fastened into a harness that would hold it tight inside her mouth allowing her no chance to speak or to protest.

She shivered slightly at the image, but was careful not to move her thigh. She did not want to spoil the tattoo Nabiki was paying so much for. She was still amazed at the fact that Nabiki had not even quibbled over the price. One hundred thousand yen was a substantial sum, even for the artwork of the quality this man did. With nothing else to do, she had let her eyes roam over the various samples hung on the wall. They were all, without exception spectacular. Two pictures in particular had caught her eye while she had been laying here. One had been of a tiger/human cross. It was of a beautiful tiger woman, naked, save for golden bands circling her neck, ankles and wrists. Despite these signs of enslavement, there was no look of the slave in her eyes. She stared out of the picture with pride and dignity, and most of all, she seemed to project an aura of danger, which said quite clearly this was no tame pet. Shampoo had found her eyes returning to this one again and again, fascinated by the detail. The more she looked the more she saw.

Shampoo had sunk into a sort of passive waiting state as the tattoo was taking some time, and she was half dozing when the fat man finally finished. He took a damp cloth, and sponged the last of her blood from the pattern. Then, whether out of long habit, or as a show of contempt for Nabiki, he let his hand slip down between her thighs until his fingers reached, and stroked her sex. She was very damp from her dream about Nabiki, and his fingers easily parted her lips and gathered a quantity of her juices. Retracting his hand he held up a glistening finger.

"He, he, gets them every time. You're in for a wild ride to-night my boy." He chortled to Nabiki.

Shampoo had been so stupefied by the brazen effrontery, that she had frozen in shock. Before she could rise up and beat the shit out the pervert, Nabiki was there. He placed a hand on her back, and when she would have risen he pressed her back down, "<No hurt. For now,>" he snapped out at her. She allowed him to push her back down, but inside she was boiling.

Nabiki turned to the fat man, who sneered at him, and then deliberately turned his back to Nabiki and began to clean his tools. Nabiki tried to retain his cool, but he was angrier then he could ever remember being before in his life. His lips drew back from his teeth, and he snarled at the man. "That was a bad mistake, a very bad mistake. I believe I warned you about that."

"Go peddle it somewhere else kid. I don't got time for this. Take your chippy and go and screw her brains out. I got her nice and warm for you."

"I don't think so. I don't think I'm feeling that generous right now. I think I want to make you hurt a little."

Something in Nabiki's voice caused the fat man to pause in his cleaning. Setting down the tool he had been working on, he reached down and picked up a sawed off baseball bat. Hefting this in his hand he turned. "Maybe I feel like doing a little hurting of my own...God damn!" The last expression was wrenched involuntarily from his lips as he got turned around enough to see Nabiki's face. His eyes were blazing infernos, not figuratively, literally. They made the little flickers he had noticed before pale. The fat man would later swear he had seen actual flames dancing in them. Nabiki's lips were drawn back in a snarl of rage, and a fearsome array of fangs were clearly visible. Worst of all were what anyone else would have dismissed as insignificant in comparison to the other phenomena, but which scared the man white. Where before had been bare skin, the young punk's cheeks and forehead now bore several distinctive tattoos.

The fat man had been taught by an old master, and he had handed down much ancient lore with the basic training. Lore the Fat man had treated with contempt, but which had now sprung to horrifying life. The fat man knew what was standing across the table from him, and he came as close to needing diapers as he had at anytime in the past forty-eight years.

"Lo...lo...look, I didn't mean nothing by it, I didn't know."

Nabiki was puzzled by the fat mans sudden cowing, but he was even less likely then Ranma to ignore an opening. Besides, if he did not vent a little, he was liable to do something stupid like carving this lard pot into pork chops.

Shampoo had been lying there quivering with rage, but the rage was buried under a load of ice when Nabiki began to talk, Shampoo had never heard so much menace express in mere words before. Not even her great grandmother could achieve that concentrated a level of venom. She was suddenly very glad it was not her on the receiving end of that anger.

Nabiki clearly and concisely ripped the man on the other side of Shampoo's body to shreds. He, with great relish, succinctly described the man's many faults, and went on from there to describe in exquisite detail just what he was going to do in order to make the fat man's few remaining days a hell on earth. Shampoo did not understand the majority of the threats, they had nothing to do with slicing his belly open, relieving him of his manhood, and making him eat his own intestines. Exit point first. Rather, she seemed to dwell with great pleasure on what she was going to his financial status. Which seemed a little weak to Shampoo. From his reaction however, it was clear that the Fat man understood exactly what Nabiki was threatening. By the time Nabiki was done, the artist was a quivering ball of lard, begging for mercy. He offered money, he offered drugs, he even, to Shampoo's disgust, offered his step-daughter, who it seemed was a virgin, as pure and innocent as the driven snow.

Nabiki cut him off short when he mentioned his stepdaughter, "God, you really are a piece of shit. If you weren't a half way competent artist, I think I'd let the authorities know about your little stash of drugs. Shampoo!"

"Yes."

"Do you see anything here that you'd like this piece of crap to give you, free of charge."

Expecting permission to hurt the fat man, Shampoo was a bit taken aback by Nabiki's request, but she changed gears quickly. She ran her eyes down the pictures on the wall, finally coming to rest on the Tiger lady she had noted before. "This one," she said, "Shampoo like this one."

Nabiki came over and examined the picture, "Very nice, very nice indeed," she murmured. "You! Lard bucket. How long to do this?"

The fat man, now thoroughly cowed, looked at the picture. "About three days, I'd have to do the outline, and then fill in the color. I'm sorry, but it would look like crap if I did it any quicker."

"How long to do the outline?"

"About two hours."

Nabiki nodded, "let's do it then."

Shampoo hesitantly said, "Nabiki?" and when the boy turned to look at her, she said, "Shampoo like this one too, only not for Shampoo." She indicated another picture, several spaces down from the first. This one was of a lady and a tiger. The tiger was lying on the floor, semi curled around the feet of a dangerous looking woman in black leather, who was looking out at the world with an expression of contempt, clearly stating that whoever was looking at her was so far beneath her, as to not deserve to live on the same planet. She held a flimsy leash in one hand that ran from her fist down to a collar around the neck of the tiger. Her other hand lay on the tiger's head, and it could be seen that it was lifting its head, pressing against that hand with every indication of pleasure. The two of them were a matched set. You could not imagine the one without the other.

Nabiki examined the picture intently. It was extraordinary, even by the standards of the other pictures. He swallowed nervously. There could be no mistaking Shampoo meaning, or the symbolism she obviously saw in it. "How long?" he asked, with not nearly as much firmness as before. If the fat man noticed, it made no difference in his behavior.

"That one takes about five days all told, and it's a full back piece, I need to take some measurements and draft it to fit the individual. Different muscle tone, different shapes, scars, moles, they all have to be allowed for, or incorporated into the final piece."

"If I...If my sister came in, how long would it take to do that? The measurement part."

"I can do that in one sitting." the fat man said. Nabiki mulled over the possibility, it was not something he had ever considered, but the symbolism was as apparent to him as it obviously was to Shampoo. The more he looked at the drawing the more arousing the idea was.

"Can you alter the face? Make it look like someone else?"

"Easy, that one is of the lady who originally commissioned it. She died, it seems the tiger she planned to conquer, was not as easy as she imagined. Her name was Kitche." The man was babbling, Nabiki had seen it before, in people who hoped to divert his wrath by distracting him with whatever they thought he wanted to hear, and more. It was no more successful now then it had been before.

"Shut up!" Nabiki ordered. Then turning he said, "Shampoo, on the bench."

Shampoo moved toward the bench, but then she hesitated, "Shampoo, need use girls' room."

Nabiki made a show of looking at his watch, "sorry, I wouldn't let you use the one in this pig sty, and we don't have time to leave and come back tonight. You're just going to have to hold it. Get on the bench."

Shampoo did so. Nabiki approached her and ran his fingers gently over her new and still very tender addition. Shampoo shivered under his touch. As always it caused a powerful reaction in her. Nabiki moved her hand over to the other cheek of Shampoo's bottom. She traced the faint tan lines, leftovers from Shampoo's last trip to the seaside Nekohatten. "Here I think," he said to the Fat man. "Keep it inside the tan lines." As the man move forward, Nabiki caught one of his wrists in his hand. "If your hand wanders again, you lose it. The same goes for my sister when she shows up for her free sample."

The fat man had begun to sweat as soon as Nabiki touched him. The fire was back in Nabiki's eyes, and under his tight-lipped expression, the fat man was sure he could see the faintest trace of a overly large canine. Not to mention those frightening tattoo's which if anything, were even more vivid then before. Maybe if they had been there when Nabiki had come into the store, the fat man might not have been so frightened, but the fact that they appeared, just like that. He was an expert on skin markings. These were no hastily applied decals. These were permanent, under the skin markings, or if his suspicions were correct, part of the skin.

"Don't worry, I'd sooner fondle Fu Ching Lan in front of Thai Yeung, then this young lady or your sister." The man seemed to think this an extreme example, and Nabiki took him at his word, even thought he had no idea who these people were.

"Just so you remember, I don't usually give second chances, don't make me forget it. It would make me lose face in front of one whose opinion I value. You do not want that to happen, believe this with all your heart and whatever pitiful excuse you have for a soul."

The Fat man quivered at the mention of his soul, but only ducked his head in subservient acquiesce. Nabiki eyed him suspiciously, but moved back out of the light so the fat man could get to work, but this time he did not retreat to the corner. He stood nearby, never taking his eyes off of the artist's hands.

*

Two hours later Nabiki and Shampoo exited the parlor.

Shampoo was flushed, and kept directing looks toward Nabiki. For his part, Nabiki was a little pale. This time his close attention had not allowed him to block out the sight of Shampoo's blood staining the artist's hands, and he was feeling a little queasy. Once in the fresh air however, he soon was feeling himself, and something else, with experience and knowing what to expect he had managed to shove the lust induced by the Jusenkyo instant curse into the back of his mind. But now it was making its presence felt in no uncertain terms.

Before he could do anything about it however, there was one last piece of business to take care of. Turning to the artist, who was hunched in the doorway, trying to look subservient, and not doing a very good job of it, he said. "The extra work will square your account with me. Shampoo and my sister will be back in a few weeks for you to finish the work on her, and to start hers. I would very much hate it if you were to cause either of them trouble."

"Yes sir, I understand sir. I would never dream of offending either lady. I will even free up my next few days so you can have the work done in quick time."

"I'm afraid you'll have to spend the next few weeks recovering," Nabiki said. He turned to Shampoo and said, "don't hurt the hands or the furnishings."

Shampoo grinned broadly, and advanced on the fat man, who looked between her and Nabiki, uncertain of what was going on. He made the mistake of assuming Nabiki was the real threat, so was facing him when Shampoo's foot took him in the chest, and catapulted him across the width of his store, and over the counter. He crashed into one of the walls, and slid down it like a wade of damp cloth. Shampoo followed him into the store, and for several minutes the sound of blows, and screams emerged from the store. After the second blow, Nabiki idly noted that the screams suddenly rose several octaves.

Nabiki stood outside, casually inspecting his fingernails, for several minutes. Finally when the mayhem from inside showed no sign of abating on its own, he shouted through the door. "Time to go, you can play with him some more the next time you visit. That is, if he behaves in other than a professional manner."

Shampoo emerged from the store, her hair very slightly out of place, and with a look of great satisfaction on her face. With that taken care of, Nabiki now had neither the need, nor the inclination, to suppress the feeling running through his body. He reached out and caught Shampoo by the hand. Pulling her behind him, he ducked into a near by alley.

Shampoo was feeling more then a little full, her bladder had been crying for relief for the last two hours, but trained in guard duty as she was, she had managed to ignore it. Now free of the parlor she had looked forward to relieving that pressure. The look in Nabiki's eyes however, told her she was going to have to wait a little while longer for her much desired relief. She found herself shoved up against one of the alley's walls, and Nabiki was right there, pressing his body against hers. Once again she felt a lump pressing into her lower regions, and this time there could be no mystery as to it's source. Nabiki's hands slipped under the hem of her short Chinese skirt, and lifted, sliding it up and over her ass, barring her newly tattooed bottom. Nabiki's hands slipped between Shampoo's cheeks and the rough brick, stroking her tender flesh, and pulling her hard against his erection.

Shampoo reached down fingers, clumsy with her need, and started to unfasten the front of Nabiki's pants. Her lips were captured by his, and they began to kiss with a deep hunger, a hunger that had been honed by the last few hours into a raging appetite. Nabiki made no protest as Shampoo finally freed his erection from his pants. Just as had happened before, the Instant Nanniichuan was on the verge of breaking down, and was releasing great quantities of lust inducing magic into Nabiki's body. He would not have objected if Shampoo and he were in front of the entire student body of Furiken.

Shampoo desperate with need, and not wanting to lose this chance, lifted herself slightly and directed Nabiki's erection toward her sex. This time, unlike with Ranma in the bath, Nabiki attained his goal. Shampoo's hands dropped to Nabiki's ass and pulled hard, even as Nabiki mirrored her action and yanked her towards him. With a groan from both of them, he sank to the hilt in Shampoo's swampy depths. For a minute they stood there, Shampoo's chin resting on his shoulder, then tentatively, they began to move. As they became more confident there movements became more frantic, more furious. Lost to all but the body pressed against them, they raced toward their mutual goal, and reached it together. Nabiki screamed into Shampoo's hair even as Shampoo sank her teeth into his shoulder.

They both shuddered with the force of their mutual release. Then with a shiver of a completely different type, Nabiki's body reverted to her natural form. There was an audible pop, as the plug of flesh that had been filling Shampoo, suddenly disappeared, leaving vacuum behind it.

Shampoo smiled her lazy cat grin at Nabiki, but then her face changed as she was suddenly reminded of personal business of a very pressing type. With a muffled apology, she shoved Nabiki aside, and practically raced toward the back of the alley, she disappeared behind some packing crates, and a second later the sound of water splashing on cement filled the air, accompanied by a long drawn out groan of relief from Shampoo.

Shampoo was just rearranging her clothing, when a commotion occurred at the front of the alley. A violent explosion rocked the lane way, and an object flew through the air to impact on several empty cardboard boxes. With a gasp of horror, Shampoo saw that the object was Nabiki, who was lying limp among the broken boxes. Shampoo saw with relief that Nabiki was still breathing, but then a very familiar voice crackled through the alley. She looked up in shock to see her great-grandmother advancing down the length of the alley, her battle aura picking up trash and garbage and whirling it around her like a miniature tornado. Shampoo had never seen her grandmother so mad. Not even when she had caught Happosai with the Magic mirror of the Amazons.

Cologne ignored her great-granddaughter. She had eyes only for the limp form behind Shampoo. Raising her staff high she shrieked in rage, "Nabiki Tendo, NOW YOU DIE!!!

END OF CHAPTER 04

~~~~~~

Well there is the end of Chapter Four, ain't I a stinker. I would like to thank all the people who took the time to write to me. It made all the work worthwhile. Remember, that's how the fan fiction author gets paid. If you enjoy a story. Let the Author know. Who knows, you may just be the one thing he needs to get off his duff and finish another chapter.

I would also like to thank Wade Tritschler. Without him this would not be nearly as readable as it is. His help with grammar has been a big aid in giving me the confidence to write. Wade has not done any lemons... Yet. But anyone who has written a story where Akane and Shampoo become lovers is not far from falling over the edge into Hentai-hood. You can find his stories at <http://www.mala.bc.ca/~tritscwa> Try his stories out. They're very good.

As well I would like to thank a certain, red head, her unfailing enthusiasm, and lets face it, rather uninhibited nature, makes writing this stuff a lot easier. Thanks Green Eyes.

Yaaa, I've got another Red head. Pre-reader that is. I'd like to thank Tzigane, for her help with this chapter. She has written the fic Father Figure, check it out. Caution though, it is a slash fic. That means gay. It has some nice Hetero parts however. I do love Ranma-Ryouga lemons. In case you might not have noticed.

You can find her stories here, she has her own page. Got to get me one of them there things one of these days. <http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/6451/fanfics.html>

Let me know what you thought.

The Hungry Tiger