129Conjunction
01
Commissioned by anonymous.
Same shit, different day. Nothing ever changes.
… Until it does.
For Ranma, that change was supposed to be graduating and going to university in Tokyo. Getting away from Nerima and all the insanity that came with it. Just him and Akane, finally getting some time to themselves to explore this whole relationship thing before they finally got married, without some fiancee or challenger interrupting and causing problems every five minutes.
And for once, just once, things had seemed to be going their way. He was doing well, outside the madhouse that was Furinkan.
He went to class, did his work, made a few normal (non-martial artist) friends who helped him out a lot with reviewing things he hadn't known or had missed in high school, worked a part time construction job making money hand over fist (it was easy work for him and he could do work that would take a full crew a week in a single night) to pay for the apartment he shared with Akane (who had a 'social life' now and couldn't find time to work between hanging out with her new friends and studying), and he even found time to keep up the art. Sleep was a rare luxury, but he had had it worse on the road.
Even the curse seemed to have settled down. It could still be inconvenient, but Ranma was a lot more free about using his skills to hide it these days. For instance, any time he got splashed in public, he used the umi-sen ken to slip away and change back. He had recovered the remains of the kettle and carefully, painstakingly hammered it back into shape, and he kept it with the rest of his things up his sleeves using the hidden weapons technique, so now he always had hot water on demand. A few of his friends had found out about the curse, but aside from the initial freakout over magic being real and the inevitable embarrassing questions, they were surprisingly cool about it and not at all like his show us your tits 'friends' in Furinkan.
But the entire time, through all the good fortune, Ranma kept an eye out. Not on edge per se, but he was cautious. Expectant. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. And the longer it went, the worse he knew in his gut that it was going to be.
So it was that when the inevitable finally happened, it was almost a relief.
Ranma went in to work one night to find his boss waiting for him. He led the martial artist into his office and bade him to sit.
"Listen, Saotome. I don't want to do this. I mean, I really don't. You're the best worker I've ever had. And apparently, that's the problem. Someone leaned on the city council and the union and now I've got both breathing down my neck. Apparently, you're not good for the union—you're costing people jobs, they say. And if I don't fire you, all of my other workers, union and non, are going to strike. As for the council, well, they're saying that because you're still 'in training', even though it's on the job training and more of an apprenticeship, you shouldn't be doing as much of the jobs as you are and they're threatening to revoke my permits and get the inspectors breathing down my neck. That would kill my business. You understand, don't you?"
Ranma nodded, scratching at his pigtail. "Yeah, I get it. Not your fault, boss. I'll figure something out."
Leaning forward over his desk, the older man offered an envelope. When Ranma took it, he saw it was stuffed absolutely full of yen. Easily two months' salary and then some. "It's coming up on Christmas, so I figure it's close enough to give you a Christmas bonus on top of your severance pay. Now, I want you to listen to me, and listen good. I like you, son. You're a good kid, hardworking, honest… But a bit naive. So please excuse me for nosing into your business, but I honestly want to help you."
"Sure. I'm listening."
"You're going to school to become a teacher, am I remembering that correctly?"
"So I can run a dojo. Have to have a degree in education to get the licenses."
The other man nodded. "Let's do some math real quick. How much do you figure you'll pull in per student, per month?"
"Maybe about ten thousand yen? I've been around to these other dojos and that's about what they're charging."
"And how many students do you think you'll have?"
"Forty, maybe fifty? I'm thinking two classes of ten a day. I might be able to double that after a while."
"So, let's say we take the high end. That's a million yen a month. Twelve million a year. That's not a bad salary. Not bad at all. Now you take out taxes, call it forty percent, you're looking at seven point two million a year. You live in Tokyo?"
"Nerima."
"You've got your business expenses—upkeep and maintenance, power, water, licenses, taxes, equipment, insurance, and on. Assume your business is going to eat at least half of that, just in overhead. You're down to three point six million. Still not terrible, but you're not looking great. Then you've got your household income. You planning to get married?"
"Yes sir."
"She's in school with you, isn't she?"
"Yeah," Ranma confirmed. "She's studying drama. Wants to be an actor."
The man hummed. "Be honest, son. Is she any good?"
Ranma sighed. "Not really, no. But ain't that what school's for?"
"It is. But you have to have some sort of talent to start with, or the sort of dogged determination to stick with it that will see you through. Does she have either of those?"
Thinking back on their high school days, Ranma had to admit that Akane had the determination… Some days. She lacked the talent entirely, however. "She's stubborn. She'll stick with it."
"That isn't necessarily good, if you're sticking with something you're bad at and not getting any better. So, either we discount her salary entirely and assume she becomes a housewife, or we figure it at similar to your own. Minus taxes and so on."
The boss started writing on a piece of paper before sliding it over. There was some math there, leading to the bottom with two numbers circled. "Right is what you would make teaching, with her theoretical acting career making about the same. Left is what my business pulls in per job, per month, and per year on average. As you see, my number's a bit bigger."
"A lot bigger," Ranma muttered.
"The difference between us is that you're a single man who can do the work of my entire crew. Do it fast, accurately, and consistently. You would only have overhead and insurance for one person, plus business insurance. You wouldn't have to pay out a dozen salaries. Even just with those differences, doing the same number of jobs, you'd come out better than me in the end. But I know you could do more.
"Now, I don't really want the competition… But I want to stick it to the union more, and I want to see you succeed. Do me a favor and succeed somewhere else, but succeed nonetheless. So Saotome, my advice to you is simple. If you want to do the dojo thing, go ahead. But keep it as a hobby. Don't rely on it to make money. Finish out an apprenticeship, or go to trade school. Get all the education you need to do everything yourself, cheaper than going to college. You're looking at getting certified as a carpenter, electrician, and plumber minimum—unless you want to throw away money hiring contractors—but it'll be worth it. Open your own construction business for your money maker and keep the teaching on the side. Do that for a few years, maybe ten, sit on the money or invest it, and you'll be able to retire by the time you're forty and then commit to your martial arts full time with a big nest egg making more money for you. You're a martial artist—I'm sure you've heard the phrase 'fight smarter, not harder?' Same thing with everything else in life, especially business. Make your money work for you."
Ranma hummed as he considered it, before eventually nodding. "I'll think about it."
"That's all I ask." Standing, the man bowed and Ranma quickly did the same, returning the gesture. "Good luck, son. If you ever need a reference, feel free to use me."
"Thanks, old man," Ranma nodded and left, tucking his money away into weapon space as he headed for home now that he had no reason to be out at the moment.
Now what? The money will take care of the apartment for a while, but I'm going to need another job. … Don't want to, but I can always go to my fallback of waitressing. Ranma-chan made crazy good tips. Not as good as construction, but more than enough to get by. Especially if we cut back on some things here and there.
As he thought it over, the sky above split with a light drizzle, and Ranma became Ranma-chan as though summoned. "Ah damnit."
Of course, the one time it was pointless to bother trying to change back was when it was raining. So, she complained silently as her silks stuck to her body as she made her way back to the apartment. As she neared, Ranma frowned as something brushed up against her ki senses. A presence she hadn't felt in a while, but a familiar one nonetheless.
What's Kuno doing here? Looking down at herself, Ranma winced. Nope. No 'fiery haired tigress' today, stick boy.
She disappeared from the face of the Earth, a shadow beneath notice as she slipped into the apartment, spotted the unfamiliar set of shoes in the entryway, and froze at the familiar and unfamiliar sounds that met her ears. Focusing, she stilled herself and listened.
Akane moaning and panting as she got fucked silly? The little whine she made when she came? Those were familiar.
The man's voice grunting and groaning? Not so much, no. At least, not in this context. She'd heard Kuno grunt plenty of times when they fought, but that wasn't the same.
Ranma's teeth ground in her mouth as she hurried towards the source of the sounds, her stomach feeling like a pit had opened up in it. For a moment, she didn't want to believe what she was hearing. Wanted to pretend she was mistaken and it was just a movie or something.
The bedroom door slid open silently and Ranma's heart dropped into the pit her stomach had become as she found Kuno in her bed, having sex with her fiancee. Ranma saw red. Countless techniques came to mind that would get the job done. But her damned honor wouldn't allow her to kill him where he lay. Especially not when whatever she threw Kuno's way right now was guaranteed to over-penetrate and catch Akane.
And then everything bled away as she dove into the Soul of Ice. The apartment grew cold as she reached into weapons space.
Should really thank Nabiki.
It took a while. Entirely too long. Embarrassingly long. But Ranma had finally realized that her greatest enemy wasn't one of her rivals, or even one of the other fiancees. It wasn't the old ghoul or the old letch. It wasn't even his father.
It was Nabiki. And she had been since day one. Though, in his defense, Ranma would argue that he hadn't actually recognized what Nabiki was doing as a form of combat until after the last failed wedding. Hadn't even known what 'extortion' or 'blackmail' were when she first moved in.
And it was from Nabiki that Ranma learned the most powerful indirect martial art she knew. The ability to hurt someone without ever laying a finger on them. And all she had to do to learn was what she always did—reverse engineer the techniques that had been used on her. Nabiki's greatest strengths were her ability to sell her own sisters for a yen and the ability to see everything as a potential way to profit.
That was why Ranma had invested in a relatively cheap camera and video camera. It was why, instead of dragging Kuno out of her bed and out of her former fiancee to beat the shit out of him until he pissed blood, Ranma set up the tripod for the video camera and started it recording. Why she took out the film camera and began taking pictures from multiple angles, making absolutely sure she got their faces in every shot.
It hurt. Oh, it hurt a lot. Worse than anything she had ever felt. She blamed the girl form on the fact that it was crying… but it cut her deep. After everything they had been through together, for Akane to just cheat on her with Kuno of all people. It galled.
Ryoga, she could have understood. She would still beat the shit out of him, but she'd get it. There had always been something weird between those two. But Kuno Tatewaki? The guy who made Akane's high school life hell and almost made her swear off men entirely (and who was probably the reason Akane also liked girls (so long as those girls didn't look better than her))? It didn't make sense. It was like the world had finally stopped pretending it was only crazy with her.
So she took pictures until Kuno finished and rolled off Akane, panting on the bed, her soon to be former fiancee flushed and sweaty in their bed leaving Ranma feeling sick to her stomach.
"That was fun. God, I'm glad it doesn't turn into a whole hours long ordeal with you. Sometimes, I just want to get off and be done, you know?" Akane sighed, putting one arm over her eyes as she lay there recovering.
"When do you intend to tell that knave Saotome of our love?"
Frowning, Akane shook her head. "No time soon. Our parents will get mad. Like I said, it's an arranged marriage. The only way I can get out of it is to convince them you're the better choice."
"Naturally, I am, so that should pose no problem. Especially when Saotome will soon be an unemployed bum."
Akane pulled her arm off of her eyes to glare at Kuno. "What did you do?"
"Nothing that will come back to us."
"What. Did. You. Do."
Ranma knew that warning growl. It usually preceded 'Ranma no baka!' followed by a flight across Nerima. Good to see someone else getting it for a change.
Kuno flinched, apparently having enough self-preservation instinct to recognize it as well. "I merely had Sasuke look into the cur's place of employment. Then I had him put a few words in the ears of various officials, implying that the Kuno household would be appreciative if they were to see to it that Saotome were terminated from his position."
"Are you stupid?! Ranma pays for the apartment!"
"That's not a problem," Kuno waved her off. "Merely go to your father and report Saotome's unemployment in a month or so. Say you've lost faith in his ability to provide. Then set up a meeting between myself and your father. We shall be engaged immediately."
"… You did this on purpose to force my hand."
"No. Merely to hurry things along."
"Get out!"
Ranma collected her cameras and left the apartment. She briefly considered staying behind and kicking Kuno's ass, but… The next step in the Tendo Nabiki Social Martial Arts combo was to use the evidence to her advantage. And after this, I don't want anything to do with them. Kasumi is the only one I like. And mom. Screw sticking around for that. That betrayal should be enough to break the promise between the families. And if it ain't, I'll beat it into pop's head until it is. There's no way to come back from this. I'll never be able to trust her and I don't want to spend the rest of my days seeing Kuno fucking her every time I look at her.
But first, she needed to leave. Leave town. Go somewhere and lie low for a while, while she copied the tape and pictures and mailed them off to the interested parties. Somewhere she could… Be alone for a while.
Why not Juuban? I've got enough money to last a while and I can get a job waitressing for now. Transfer schools, because there's no way I'm going back when she's there. It'd be way too easy for them to track me down, too.
Of course, even if her family could be dealt with, there was still the problem of the Amazons and all the other suitors. This is gonna suuuuck…
Hotaru had a secret.
Well… She had several, but this secret she kept even from the other senshi and even her best friend, Usa.
She had a crush.
Okay, so it wasn't an Earth shattering secret, but it was hers! Something she had just to herself.
"He's really hot," Usa sighed beside her on the bleachers, watching their P.E. teacher walk the boys through a series of exercises. The way Usa sighed like that kind of annoyed Hotaru. Her friend obviously shared her opinion on their sensei, but Hotaru really didn't want to share in her crush. At least, not yet. Sure, she had considered the possibility of having both her best friend and her crush at the same time but… That was in some theoretical future much later, when Hotaru felt more confident about herself.
The dark haired young man blew a whistle and called, "Boys, start doing laps! Girls! It's your turn! Get down here."
Usa grinned, hopping down the bleachers as Hotaru followed. Really, she was happy that her friend was sticking around and not going back to the future any time soon, and even more happy that Usa was in the same class as her (first year of high school) thanks to Setsuna and some time shenanigans to get Usa physically aged up to Hotaru's age, but…
Usa was outgoing. Hotaru was not.
Usa was starting to take after Usagi, her future mother, and was filling out nicely with her curves. Hotaru was kind of flat. At best, she could be described as a 'classical Japanese beauty.'
Usa loved getting attention from boys (and girls). Hotaru didn't even get attention most of the time, and when she did, it made her uncomfortable.
She listened intently as Saotome-sensei directed them. He moved through their group, adjusting postures here and there. Seemingly oblivious to the way the girls all tittered or blushed any time he gently but firmly adjusted one of them when they (intentionally) did something wrong. Usa, beside her, did the same. Turning her foot inwards a little more than it should be as he approached.
Saotome-sensei stepped in beside her pink haired friend, his foot carefully adjusting Usa's. "A bit too far, Usa," he advised.
Usa feigned losing her balance and fell back into him, forcing the taller boy to catch her. "Oops. Sorry, sensei."
"You're fine. Just be more mindful of your balance," he instructed as he set her friend back on her feet, to jealous looks from the other first years that they hadn't thought to do that themselves and now if they did, he would be on to them.
Their dark haired instructor passed by Hotaru, observed her form, and beamed a happy smile at her. Reaching out, he patted her head, and Hotaru wanted to melt. "That's perfect. Good job, Hotaru. Keep up the good work."
"Y-yes sensei!" she chirped, and he squeezed her shoulder before moving on to the next student. I… I never knew headpats could be so, so nice.I want more! Praise me more, sensei!
"Oh ho," Usa murmured, eyeing her speculatively.
"What?" Hotaru hissed.
Usa grinned, before whispering, "Don't worry, Hotaru-chan! I'll use my feminine wiles and seduce sensei for the both of us."
No! Hotaru's mind rebelled at the thought of Usa beating her here. She… she couldn't let that happen. She couldn't compete against Usa, there was no way! She didn't want to, but even if she did, she just wasn't physically equipped to do so. It was a contest she couldn't win.
She had to think, look at this differently—stop thinking about it like a crush and approach it like… Like a battle. Usa and she were after the same target. Usa had a huge advantage over her in the looks department. So, what did Hotaru have?
Nothing. And that was the sad part. All she had was her earnest feelings and that was it.
I… I have to confess first, she decided, as her mind shifted to thinking about the situation tactically. She's just looking at him like Minako looks at any cute guy. But my feelings are genuine! If I can just get through to him… But first, I need to study my target more. Learn more about him. Where he lives, the things he likes, what makes him happy and what makes him sad.
She already had some of those answers, when she thought about it. After all, she had been -spying on- observing their new sensei all year. He was a university student who taught here part time for hours towards his education degree. He wanted to teach martial arts, and was obsessed with them. He had some kind of curse on him, but Hotaru had never felt anything quite like it before—it didn't seem harmful of the 'life threatening' variety she was used to and she had never seen its effects. He loved food of almost any kind and his speed eating technique put even their fearless leader to shame. He was nice, kind even, but had a habit of putting his foot in his mouth—but was apparently working towards overcoming that by taking the time to pause and think about his words before he spoke them.
It wasn't really enough to go on. So, she decided that afternoon to follow him home in costume and poke around when he was out.
This doesn't make me a stalker! I'm nothing like Minako!
Hotaru said her goodbyes to Usa at the end of the day, citing things she needed to take care of at home. Usa sent her a funny look before going on her way. Amused and like she knew something Hotaru didn't. She seemed to recall Setsuna wearing those looks a lot, especially recently…
Hotaru shook her suspicions off. If her time traveling friend knew something, she would… absolutely not say but definitely laugh about it after the fact and act all smug. She definitely knows something.
But that could wait. For now, Hotaru had a boy to track down. Ducking behind some vending machines, she changed into Sailor Saturn and leapt for the nearest roof. … Only to see Saotome-sensei do the same ahead and start roof hopping for downtown.
Saturn blinked. I thought he was just a normal guy with a curse?
An uncomfortable sensation rose up in her gut. They had definitely seen things like this happen before, back when the Dark Kingdom was trying to make their comeback. Or during the whole Pharaoh 90/Mistress 9 thing. Before they had eradicated all the major threats and only had the occasional youma left to deal with. More than once, one of their schools had been infiltrated. Or a youma got close, posing as friends, family, and even trying the romance angle.
But they were stronger now. Wiser. More skilled. If Saotome-sensei were a youma, or somehow under the control of one magically, Saturn would know it. Would have sensed it. And if he meant them harm, he would have done something by now, in the time since he started acting as their sensei.
Saturn hesitated… And decided that this warranted further investigation. Either he was a human with some unique skills, or he was something else entirely. Either way, she couldn't back out now.
Saturn stared.
Below and across from her, through the windows of a noodle shop, she watched as a redhead spun and weaved through the crowd of patrons, delivering orders with style and finesse, and deftly avoiding the occasional groping hand.
Saturn had heard of Starlights, but never actually seen one. They weren't supposed to be a thing any more. Not since the Fall, according to her Swiss cheese memories of that time.
Except her sensei couldn't actually be one. So it was most likely the effects of the curse Saturn had felt. And other than changing her sensei into girl, it didn't seem to have any other effects.
So if it wasn't actively harmful in some way, was it a bad thing? I think that's a question for him. Her. Sensei.
Did it bother her? Not really, as it turned out. In fact… That could be interesting? It would kind of be like dating two people at the same time.
Hotaru definitely preferred boys, but… Two of her adoptive 'moms' were a lesbian couple. All of the Inners fooled around with each other while still chasing after boys and it had been an open secret for a while now—and according to her memories, it was even worse back before the Fall. Setsuna… She didn't actually know the oldest senshi's preference. Usa… she wasn't sure, but Hotaru thought her best friend might actually want to be more than friends, but also want to share a boyfriend, if her remark today and previous conversations were to be believed.
Saturn blinked, looking up as the redhead finished up and left the shop, pocketing a huge wad of yen. Putting her hands behind her head, the shorter redhead swayed her hips as she walked, drawing Saturn's gaze to her shapely figure.
Well, an amused smile pulled at her lips, at least I know sensei looks good in either form.
The redhead made her way slowly through the late night crowd, stopping by the occasional food stall and using her feminine wiles to scam free food—something several of the senshi were guilty of, from time to time. The longer Saturn watched, the more sure she was that her sensei was just a human. An exceptional human with a curse, but just a fairly normal guy-or-girl at the end of the day.
Then, her sensei stepped casually into an alley. Following from above, Saturn briefly lost sight of her. Moving over to the next building and looking down, Saturn frowned when she saw her sensei had vanished.
"Lookin' for me?"
Saturn jumped, a squeak escaping her lips as she spun around to find her sensei there on the roof behind her, hands loose at her sides, looking amused. "For a stalker, you're not exactly discrete. You've been following me since the school. Most people who aren't in the know lose me when the curse triggers, but not you. So. What do you want?"
Saturn's mouth opened and closed twice, before she sighed and closed her eyes as she realized how this looked. She fell into a bow at the waist. "I'm sorry! I know how this must look, but I didn't mean any harm. I could tell it was you because I can sense your curse. I followed you because, well, I was curious," she fibbed. She was curious, so it was only a half truth and not a lie, but she couldn't exactly blow her secret identity here.
Ranma clicked her tongue. "Figures. So, who're you?"
Saturn blinked as she came out of her bow. "You… Don't recognize me?"
"Wouldn't ask if I did."
"But we've been on television. I'm one of the Sailor Senshi. Sailor Saturn."
"Never heard of you."
Saturn felt that this would be the point where the Inners fell flat on their faces. "We saved the world! Multiple times!"
Ranma shrugged. "Thanks for that, then. Good job. But I still never heard of you. So you followed me because of the curse?"
Saturn hesitated, before making a so-so gesture. "That's part of it. I could feel you were cursed but couldn't tell what it did until the noodle shop. How long have you been cursed?"
"Couple of years, now. Since I was about sixteen. Picked it up in China. Considering the alternatives, I got off lucky with just turning into a girl." She hesitated, before asking, "It doesn't bother you?"
Saturn sent her sensei a confused look. "No? Why would it? I mean, you didn't choose to be cursed, and even if you did, it's not like turning into a girl is something awful or weird."
"Huh. Most girls who find out think I'm some kinda pervert," she muttered.
"Eh?! Why would they say that?!"
Ranma chuckled. "Usually cause of some misunderstanding or other. First girl who found out walked in on me in the bath. She was expecting this form and instead got the guy form. She was… a violent maniac and held it against me for years. The others all just assume I'm doing weird stuff as a girl."
Saturn shook her head, thinking of exactly what every senshi, Michiru and Haru included, would think about a hunky guy with a curse that changed him into a cute girl: 'Jackpot!' They wouldn't accuse him of being a pervert (except maybe Rei, and even then she'd still be thinking it).
"Well, I don't think you're a pervert, sensei."
Chucking, Ranma looked away and scratched at her pigtail. "Thanks, I guess."
The plan to follow her sensei home and snoop was out the window, but this could be an opportunity of a different sort. Saturn wasn't a shy, under developed first year high school girl. She was a confident, strong, sexy (the fuku was really flattering even with what little she had to work with), experienced veteran of a shadow war with the forces of darkness.
Taking a breath, she made up her mind and asked, "Do you want to be friends?"
Ranma blinked, before an amused look crossed her face. "You know, generally you're supposed to introduce yourself first."
Saturn blushed and bowed again, not nearly as far this time. "Please excuse my rudeness. In costume, please call me Saturn."
Ranma waved her apology off. "It's fine. You ain't gotta apologize for every little thing. I was just teasing. Name's Saotome Ranma. Just Ranma is fine."
Turning away, she waved for Saturn to follow. "Come on. No point standing around here waiting to get rained on or something, knowin' my luck. It's not a school night, so why don't we go back to my place? We can sit and talk."
Saturn gulped nervously, but followed. I'm going to a boy's… girls… Whatever. Going to sensei's home. Okay. It's, it's okay Hotaru! There's nothing to be nervous about! Remember, we're Sailor Saturn right now, not Hotaru. This is okay. It's fine. Now, what did the others say about this kind of thing? When a boy invites you to his home, you're supposed to make the first move to show him you're interested. Right.
Thoughts ran through her head for the whole short trip, leaving her an emotional mess—excited, nervous, scared of screwing up and blowing her shot, aroused at the thought of being alone with sensei, worried that she wasn't sensei's type…
Sensei is so confident and cool. Nothing like me, she mused, seeing her sensei looked as she, or he, always did. Like everything was going to plan and nothing bothered her.
Internally, however… Ranma was a mess and it was only the Soul of Ice allowing her some measure of masking her emotions. Okay, Saotome. It's no big deal. Just the first person ever who hasn't been bothered by the curse in some way. Obviously a fighter. Seems nice enough so far. Reminds me a bit of Hotaru from the first year P.E. class, same attitude. Cute, and that fuku looks good on her. Nice legs. Don't put your foot in your mouth and you'll be fine.
Ranma made it exactly two jumps before admitting, I'm screwed.
"So, this is it." Ranma led her guest inside, flipping on the lights as she made her way through the apartment. "Tea?" she asked, to be polite.
"Yes, please," Saturn agreed.
Ranma nodded, heading into the kitchen. "Have a seat," she gestured at the low table.
Saturn did as instructed and watched as her sensei went about gathering leaves, cups, and then pulled a magical teapot out of thin air. Saturn thought that might be a little weird, but she knew her sense of normalcy was all messed up anyway so didn't comment. Ranma poured two cups of hot water, dropped in bags of leaves, poured a third cup with no leaves, and disappeared the pot before carrying the cups to the table. She went back a moment later for sugar, honey, milk, and a sleeve of cookies.
When the tea had steeped long enough Ranma took out the leaves and passed Saturn her cup, then offered extras. Saturn took some milk with hers, along with a few cookies. "So. Explain this to me. Just what is a Senshi?"
"A guardian of humanity, and a specific planet, against the forces of darkness. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, humans lived on every planet in the solar system, along with Earth's moon. There was a terrible war and life was wiped out everywhere but Earth. Almost all traces of that civilization were wiped out. We, my friends and I, were reincarnated into the future by our queen to safeguard humanity when those threats came back. Which we've spent the last few years doing. We think we've eradicated all the big threats and the only things left are small fry. That doesn't mean they aren't dangerous, just not planetary scale threats."
Ranma spent a few moments silently digesting that as she nibbled on a chocolate filled cookie and sipped her tea. "Sounds like your life is crazier than mine," she finally admitted. "I'm sure you probably don't hear it often, so thanks again for saving our butts. Now, what were you doing at the school in the first place?"
"That's… I'd really rather not say yet. It could be dangerous for you to know." And the sad thing was, she wasn't lying. If she wanted to pursue something romantic with someone beyond a simple fling or a few dates (and she really did, Hotaru was a romantic at heart), then she would have to come clean about her identity, and that would put anyone who knew it at risk. But… Sensei isn't exactly normal. Maybe she's strong enough to know and not be a liability.
She hated thinking like that, but it was true. Anyone who couldn't fend for themselves was a potential weak point for youma to attack, kidnap, and use against them.
Ranma waved her off. "Eh, it's fine. We've all got secrets and things we don't want to talk about. Besides, if I were in your shoes, I'd be worried about some yahoo making a kidnapping attempt."
Saturn looked up in a bit of confusion as her sensei practically read her mind. At her confused look, the redhead chuckled. "I've dealt with way more than my fair share of assholes kidnapping the people in my life who couldn't fight them off. For a while there, it was almost a monthly thing." Her smile fell off and she muttered, "Kinda sucks when they stop thanking you for saving them and start blaming you for being the reason they were taken in the first place."
Saturn winced. "That's… part of what I'm afraid of. We all are. Even having friends is a risk."
"Eh, well, don't worry about me. I can take care of myself." Reaching out, Ranma dipped her fingers in the cup of warm water she had poured, now that it was no longer streaming. Short, curvy redhead became tall, beefy, black haired boy. Saturn caught herself staring and forced herself to look away as Ranma adjusted his clothes. "That's better."
"Is it?" she asked, curious. "We've seen all sorts of magic before, but never a curse like this. Well… Not for a long time, and that wasn't a curse."
Ranma hummed, considering it for a few moments as he thought back over the time since he had cut ties with Nerima. Finally, he came to a decision. "Not really?"
Saturn raised an eyebrow and the boy sighed. "I've pretty much accepted that there's no cure and I'm gonna be stuck like this forever. I'm a guy. I was born a guy. It's a curse and inconvenient at times—a lot of the time, really. Especially certain times of the month if I'm stuck as a girl for a while. But… There are times when I get splashed in public and I just don't notice, until I reach for something and find I'm a little shorter or something else makes me realize I've changed. I just don't notice the change sometimes. It's like, 'Oh, I'm a chick again. Gotta fix my pants to keep them from falling off,' but beyond that I just don't care. Like, I've gotten so used to it that it's normal when I'm not in school. And I'm more bothered by that than the change itself."
Saturn considered her sensei for a moment, and what she knew of magic and curses. Finally, she said, "If you want, I can ask Sailor Moon to help. She might be able to break the curse—"
"No."
The denial was immediate and forceful. No hesitation on Ranma's part. No doubt. It was so certain that Saturn had to question it. "Why not? If you don't mind me asking?"
Ranma opened his mouth, only to pause. He closed it with a click of teeth and actually thought about how he wanted to word what he wanted to say, to keep his foot out of his mouth for once. Finally, he said, "Look. I've got nothing against you and yours. I'm sure you're good at what you do. But thing is, me and magic don't get along. I've been burned by it a lot. And I've been jerked around chasing every 'cure' under the sun for years. Enough times that if I hear the word 'cure' I automatically assume whoever said it is either lying to get something out of me, doesn't know what they're talking about, or is trying to screw me over. This… it's probably the one time I think someone's said it and not fallen into one of those three categories. I think you genuinely mean it and want to help. But the problem is, I've learned not to screw with Jusenkyo. Say your friend tries to cure me. Well, that 'cure' may just lock me as a girl forever. Or it could come back. Or any one of a dozen other things. So until I know more, it's gonna have to be a hard no."
Saturn nodded. "Okay. Can I at least let her and Mercury look at it? See if it's even possible?"
Ranma considered for a moment before nodding. "Sure. I suppose."
"On a lighter note!" Saturn chirped, beaming a smile, "Do you enjoy teaching?"
"Well, it has its ups and downs. I'm actually just in it for the course hours…"
Once they moved away from the subject of the curse, Ranma found himself falling into an easy, light conversion with a woman who hung off his every word. Saturn was attentive, asking questions that showed that not only was she paying attention, but she genuinely wanted to hear what he had to say.
It was a depressingly different take on his usual conversations with women. There was no treating him like some kind of pervert for something he couldn't control, no jealousy, no argument, no fighting, no pressure or obligations. Just an eager, friendly girl who was clearly interested but not being pushy or overbearing about it.
It didn't take long for Ranma to figure out that he was older than Saturn, but by how much he couldn't tell. Something about the fuku and the magic around and in her made her seem more mature, but her personality and the way she acted lent itself to that a lot. At most, he figured she couldn't be less than her late teens.
Not that the age gap really bothered him that much. It was only really noticable when they talked about certain subjects, like work or school. Ranma had spent his formative years on the road with his pops, so it wasn't like he knew all the pop culture references he was likely missing. And as far as he was concerned, as long as she could carry on a conversation—and she could—and wasn't trying to marry him, then that was good enough.
It was late into the night and they had long since moved from the kitchen to Ranma's couch, when Ranma yawned and realized just how late it really was. "Wow. Guess we kinda lost track of time. Sorry for keeping you out this late."
"I don't mind!" Saturn quickly shook her head. "Really, I've been having fun."
"Yeah. Me too," Ranma smiled, actually meaning it. "Want to do it again some time?"
"Mm! Definitely!"
They fell silent for a moment and it became clear to both of them that neither really wanted this to end. But as the older, and thus more responsible of the two, Ranma supposed it fell on his shoulders to send her off.
"Well—"
Hotaru saw her chance quickly evaporating. Sure, there would be other chances, but… Something her friends had told her stuck with her. Be bold.
"Wait—"
The pair of them both paused, before Ranma chuckled and gestured for Saturn to go first. Taking a deep breath, she shifted closer on the couch, laying her hand on her sensei's arm. Ranma stiffened up a little but didn't go anywhere. Sending him a hesitant smile, she confessed, "I fibbed, just a little. I'm sorry. I was at the school because that's where you were. I followed you because I wanted to learn more about you."
Ranma sent her a skeptical look, but so far she had been the nicest conversation with a female he had ever had, so for the moment he gave her the benefit of the doubt. That didn't mean he wouldn't point out the problem. "Done a lot of stalking in the past?"
"Yes." Saturn blinked, then winced as she realized what he actually meant. "No! Not like that! We used to do stakeouts and things to spy on enemies and gather information so it's… kind of become second nature, that if I want to know something, the best way to find out is to study the target… And that sounds bad—"
"Heh. Nah, it's fine. I get it. I spent a lot of time watching and learning people too. But you coulda just said something."
Saturn cringed. "I realize that now, and I'm sorry." When Ranma waved her off, she continued. "I like you. You're handsome, funny, smart, and I just… I don't want to miss this opportunity because I was afraid to act, or I wasn't clear in my feelings or intentions."
"Kinda hard to misinterpret that, even for a dense idiot like me. But look, my life is… complicated and I'm still sorting things out. I'm engaged about a dozen times over and some of those are persistent. And violent. Or tricky. Like, willing to beat someone up or use techniques to brainwash someone into forgetting me. You really don't want to step into that mess—"
"I don't care!" Saturn raised her voice just a little, cutting him off. "I don't. I'm… A walking magical WMD. The second strongest person in the world. No one is going to be able to just beat me up and we figured out immunity to brainwashing after a few attempts succeeded just to keep it from happening again. I can take care of myself. All I'm asking is that you give me a chance. Please!"
Ranma considered the girl beside him for a few moments. She sounded absolutely serious. She wanted this and she felt confident that she really was as powerful as she said. He could sense some of that power and while it was big, he didn't actually think it was strong enough to beat him—definitely not the old ghoul or the pervert. But she had said she'd fought cosmic level threats before, so at a guess, he wasn't feeling her full power.
And power doesn't always trump skill. … But you can learn skill. And I've been doing the college thing specifically so I could teach the art. Wouldn't hurt to take on a student ahead of getting my licenses…
The question was, was he willing to take the chance. The last time he had been serious about someone, someone he had fought for and beside, who had practically become family, she had betrayed him and slept with that idiot, Kuno. It had been over a year since then, but he didn't know if he was ready—
Ranma was pulled from his thoughts by Saturn darting forward, closing the distance between them. He almost reacted reflexively, ingrained responses from his time in Nerima telling him to move because what was coming was trouble… But Saturn seemed like a good girl. He hesitated.
Saturn's soft lips found his own and Ranma wasn't disappointed. They kissed—a chaste thing, just a brushing of lips against each other. The dark haired girl pulled back an inch, a small smile tugging at her lips. "You were taking too long."
"Oh yeah?" Ranma murmured. "What if I don't make a decision right now?"
Saturn hummed, pretending to think about it for a moment. Then, she committed. She threw her leg over Ranma's lap and straddled her sensei, shifting her fuku skirt so that her pantie-clad crotch rubbed his pants directly. "Then I'll just have to convince you with actions instead of words."
"Isn't that moving a little fast?"
Saturn shook her head. "Not when you could die tomorrow. It's one of the perks of the job, according to my senpai."
And then she leaned down and kissed him again. Ranma couldn't fault her logic. He had been in more than one life or death fight himself. It kind of made things easier. Cut through a lot of the bullshit by making you realize what you wanted and taught you to stop hesitating and go after what you wanted.
His eyes went a bit wide when Saturn's lips parted and her tongue slipped into his mouth. But Ranma was competitive by nature, so he answered in kind, his tongue dancing with hers—but more than that, he used ki to stimulate several minor pressure points in her mouth. Saturn gasped into his mouth, a moan escaping her as she pressed herself against him, her nipples hard under her top, standing out sharply under the thin fabric.
When he committed himself to learning something, Ranma learned everything he could and then took it a step further and figured out how best to use whatever knowledge he had picked up. So when things between himself and Akane became official and they moved into their own place together, he had set himself to learning everything he could about how to please a woman. And when it came time to learn about women, there was one person in Ranma's circle who stood out above the rest.
The old letch had never been happier to teach him, usually her as a live test dummy, all about how best to manipulate the female form. It was embarrassing most of the time, humiliating and mortifying at others when the old pervert had demonstrated something on Ranma-chan or taken him to a brothel to demonstrate things on a woman that Ranma would've killed him for using on his girl form… But Ranma committed himself to the study of the 'marital arts' in an effort to be the best husband he could be when it came time to take care of 'husbandly duties' as his mom called it.
Ranma broke out a few of those techniques now, partly to see just how committed to this Saturn was and partly for fun. Because this had become a part of his art. And now he understood the letch a bit better, because it may just be his favorite part of the art. You could 'defeat' someone or be 'beaten' yourself and no one complained about it… Unless they were Akane.
One of Ranma's hands ghosted up Saturn's back, gently tapping pressure points as he explored her body. The other hand moved over her front, settling on her belly and rubbing ki into one of the key areas there. Some charts called it the lower dantian, others referenced it as one of the lower chakras. Physically, it was just a bit below the belly button normally… But the old letch had modified the technique over years of experimentation. Ranma settled his fingers directly over Saturn's womb and rubbed gently, sending a trickle of his ki into her and up from there to her core.
The girl on his lap broke their kiss with a moan as her back arched, her hands clutching his shirt and her legs squeezing his thighs as she held on for dear life and rode out the intense orgasm he had forced on her. Ranma's cock grew hard in his pants as Saturn ground her crotch against him, the heat coming off her pussy intense enough to feel through their clothes.
Saturn sighed as she went limp, collapsing in Ranma's lap. "Wow," she breathed. Opening her eyes, she started into Ranma's blue eyes with frightening intensify as she fisted his shirt in her hands. "You can't leave me with just that. I won't be able to think of anything else for days. You, you have to take responsibility!"
"'Take responsibility,' huh? I'm not the only one who got someone worked up, here," Ranma pointed out, flexing his dick in his pants and causing it to press harder into Saturn's crotch.
The purple haired girl nodded. "Of course. I wouldn't ask you to take responsibility if I went willing to do so myself."
So saying, she scooted back a bit on Ranma's lap, reached down to his pants with both hands, and quickly undid the tie holding them up. Because they didn't have a fly, she had to work them down Ranma's hips a bit, which he helped with, before she exposed his cock to open air. It stood hard and proud, looking absolutely enormous in Saturn's eyes. Mentally, she sized it up and estimated its length versus her body and came up over.
There's no way that thing is going to fit. Not the whole thing. And it's huge, like a canned drink. It's going to be really tight.
The sight didn't scare her. She had faced down scarier things and gotten hurt enough times that the prospect of a little discomfort didn't bother her. No, she was worried that her small body wouldn't be able to please her sensei properly. I'll just have to try!
Moving off her sensei, Saturn laid out on the couch, resting her head in his lap. Her gloved hands stroked and teased the large dick pointed at her face, until finally, she moved forward she gave the tip an experimental lick. Hearing Ranma draw in a quiet breath and feeling him tense under her, Saturn smiled. Feeling emboldened, she kissed and licked at the head of his cock while stroking one hand up and down his length.
How did Minako say to do it again? Put it in my mouth and roll my tongue around it while sucking? And something about bobbing my head up and down…
Nodding to herself, Saturn opened her mouth wide, nearly having to dislocate her jaw to fit it, and took in the cock in front of her. It wasn't comfortable holding her jaw like this, but if it was for her sensei, she would do it all night.
Ranma watched as his dick disappeared into Saturn's mouth, her pretty, young face beginning to slowly bob up and down on his member as her lips were stretched wide around his shaft. He bit the inside of his cheek and dug into the Soul of Ice to keep from coming on the spot.
Akane had never sucked his dick, ever. It was one of her many hangups. She said it was degrading and humiliating, and tasted awful. He should have wondered how she was so certain about the taste when she was supposedly as much of a virgin as he had been at the time, but he was naive and willing to let it go.
Regardless of his ex, watching his dick swallowed down, disappearing inch by inch past those pretty lips as Saturn's violet eyes stared up at him with such intensity and devotion to 'taking responsibility' and making him feel good… It was heavenly. The most intense, most pleasant thing he had ever felt. Even the brothel girls didn't compare. To them, it was only ever a job—and to him, they were sparring partners, people to help him learn techniques. This was far more intimate, more personal.
But Ranma would never just be a passive participant. That wasn't him. He reached out and slipped a hand down the back of Saturn's fuku skirt and under her panties. Saturn stiffened as his fingers brushed down the crack of her ass, moaning as he paused at her tail bone and ass itself to apply little dabs of ki to start lighting up nerve clusters and prime her, before the digits found their way to her slit. Saturn was absolutely soaked. Her pussy drooled on his fingers as he ran them up and down between her lips, the girl shuddering when they circled but didn't touch her clit.
Ranma slid one of his fingers into her tight, hot cunt and Saturn mewled around his cock. His thumb found her clit and began rubbing gentle circles around it. Saturn's beautiful eyes rolled in her head briefly before she visibly forced herself to focus and began sucking and licking at his cock much more attentively. Almost like it was a race to see who could make the other come first. That was a game Ranma was happy to play (and win).
Ranma's fingers and thumb danced inside and over Saturn, drawing breathy little moans, gasps, and whimpers from her as he played with her pussy. Saturn did her best to suck, lick, and stroke Ranma's cock in her mouth and with her gloved hand while trying not to collapse into a writhing heap from the pleasure. It was clear to her that he was much more experienced than she was, but she still tried her best to make him feel as good as he made her feel.
'Oh right, can't forget about the balls! Most guys like it when you play with theirs. Squeeze them a bit, roll them around, if you can stand it then licking them or putting one or both into your mouth will definitely set a guy off!'
Remembering Minako's advice, Saturn's free hand came down and began to gently caress and squeeze Ranma's balls as she picked up the pace and force of her bobbing and suction. She felt him start to twitch in her mouth and knew from girl talk with the other senshi that he was getting close.
'One more thing! Hum. It drives them nuts.'
Saturn began to hum a tune around Ranma's cock. Beneath her, the boy stiffened and the hand not trying to blow her mind came to the back of her head, his fingers in her shoulder-length hair, and she couldn't tell if he was trying to pull her off of him, hold her in place, or just wanted to touch her.
"Saturn, gonna come," he warned.
It was nice of him to tell her. The girls complained a lot about guys who didn't have the common courtesy to give them fair warning and the occasional near drowning or choking. Or just plain bad taste. But Saturn had no intention of getting off of him. Looking up into his blue eyes, she smiled around his dick, nodding slightly and making a loud, "Mhmm!"
Then she went down as far as she could and stayed there, sucking even harder as she rolled her tongue over the head of his cock. Her gloved fingers gently squeezed Ranma's balls as she hummed around his shaft.
Ranma's hand clenched in Saturn's hair, his hand in her panties still moving but not nearly with as much attention as it had before. Saturn felt a little thrill at that—that she had managed to render her typically cool and collected sensei insensate. And then he throbbed in her mouth and, following the advice of her fellow senshi, she started swallowing.
Ranma groaned as Saturn swallowed around him. He stopped fighting, conceding this round to her as he filled the girl's mouth with his thick load. She swallowed it all, humming happily around him the whole time, until eventually his orgasm tapered off and he sighed as he felt… relaxed. Like, for once, everything was going his way.
Saturn chuckled as she pulled herself off of his cock, cleaning him up with her lips and tongue. She moved back into Ranma's lap, draping her arms over his shoulders. "That was fun! I don't see what the other girls have to complain about. I kind of want to do it again, actually."
Ranma laughed quietly, shaking his head as he started stroking her thighs and ass. "That was great."
"Thank you, sensei! It was my first time, so I'm glad it went well," Saturn chirped happily, hugging him to her as she basked in satisfaction of a job well done and pleasing the person she liked, and the happy feeling of being appreciated by her crush.
"I should return the favor," Ranma began, and Saturn shook her head.
"You definitely can later, if you want to! But right now, I want… I want you inside me." Reaching under her fuku skirt, Saturn pulled her panties aside and took hold of Ranma's rapidly recovering cock. She gave him a few strokes to get him back to full mast, then raised herself up, got into position, and eased down onto his dick.
"Ah!" Saturn whined as Ranma's thick cock spread her bare, puffy lips wide. "You're splitting me open, sensei~" she mewled as she lowered herself down on him.
Ranma's hands moved over her fuku, pulling the top off over Saturn's head and leaving her small but perky breasts exposed to open air, her nipples standing painfully erect. Ranma ran his hands over Saturn's sides, along her tummy, and up to cup her modest breasts. Everywhere he touched, he brushed pressure points and left trails of ki behind. Saturn felt her already sensitive, until now virginal body growing even more sensitive to his touch.
When she bottomed out in his lap, they both panted as she simply sat there for a few moments, getting accustomed to his size filling her to the brim and a bit beyond. "It's so big," Saturn murmured in wonder. "You're pressing up against the entrance to my womb, sensei!"
"Yeah?" Ranma murmured, leaning down and kissing Saturn's neck as he squeezed and kneaded her breasts and teased her nipples. "Tell me what you think about this."
Focusing on his cock, Ranma channeled ki into it and out, into Saturn's entire channel clenching around him, but especially into her eager womb his cock was knocking on. Just like when he had done it externally with his hand on her belly earlier, except this time he was inside her and his ki was stimulating every nerve ending in the area around his cock—her clit, pussy lips, channel, cervix, womb, and so on were all getting a dose.
Saturn came around his cock, squealing his name as she held on dear life.
If that was all the technique entailed, Happosai would still be a master in Ranma's eyes. It was a truly amazing way to bring a woman pleasure (and in so doing, make it more pleasurable for him, with the way she was clenching around him).
But the technique didn't end there.
No, the old letch had had centuries to perfect it. And Ranma? Ranma was the best student of the art in the world. He had learned what the old man had to teach and practiced it until he could do it in his sleep.
It was another of Akane's hangups. She hated when Ranma used it on her. Said it made her feel weak and powerless, and that sex just shouldn't feel that good. Now, he thought he had figured it out. It wasn't that she didn't want sex to feel that good, it was that she didn't want sex with him to feel that good.
Saturn? As he was quickly coming to learn, she was exactly the opposite of his former fiancee in almost every way that mattered. And when Ranma started pulsing his ki within his cock, forcibly circulating it through her body and drawing another orgasm from her on the back of the first, she sure didn't complain.
Saturn locked up around her sensei as she was made to come again, and again, and all he had done was put his cock in her and use his own life force to simulate her body. Tears welled in her eyes from she sheer intensity of it as she shook and screamed wordlessly, her body losing control and her pussy gushing a stream of thin, hot grool around her sensei's cock.
He eased off the technique and she gasped, shuddering as she began to weep openly. "That," she tried, her voice coming out in a croak.
"Too much?" Ranma asked, wiping at her tears. He would stop if she couldn't take it—
Saturn shook her head, sending her dark hair flying. "More!" she managed to get out.
Ranma chuckled. Picking her light body up, Saturn's legs wrapping around his waist to hold herself in place, he carried her to his bedroom. Once there, he laid her out on his futon and they broke apart just long enough for him to get his pants off and for her to remove her panties, boots, and skirt. Saturn still wore her white gloves when Ranma eased himself back between her legs.
The young woman locked her legs behind Ranma's back along with her arms, as he carefully hilted himself inside of her again. She smiled up at him with adoration as he began to make slow love to her. His life force flowed through his member and into her body, increasing in force and volume as he plunged into her depths and receding as he withdrew.
Saturn came again within the first three strokes, clinging to her sensei as he grinned down on her shaking form. "I can stop using the technique, you know."
"Don't you dare!" she wailed, shaking her head from side to side. "I want, I want you to be able to… to fuck me like this without stopping. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine!"
"Alright."
The idea of someone who loved the techniques, who wanted him to use them, wanted him to go all out on her and who wouldn't break… it was deeply appealing. The letch had said that he had only ever found one woman who could come close to matching him in his youth and that was the ghoul, and only because the Joketsuzoku had their own pleasure and resistance techniques.
Maybe I could train her up for it…
With that thought in mind, Ranma settled into a steady pace and pounded away at Saturn's cunt mercilessly. She came frequently and easily using the techniques, but even when he gave her a break from them, she seemed so keyed up and ready to go that it didn't take much to make her come without them.
As they explored and enjoyed each other's bodies, Ranma quickly found that Saturn had much more in the way of stamina and durability than pretty much anyone he had come across before. Akane would have called it quits after the first half hour, just from the number of orgasms and physical exertion alone. He'd had fights against all comers in Nerima that hadn't lasted as long as Saturn could.
Eventually, Ranma worked himself up to a force that should have shattered her pelvis, the slapping of his flesh against hers coming like a thunder clap every time they met, but it only seemed to make the girl want more. And Saturn was not a passive partner like Akane had been when he was on top. She rolled her hips and thrust back in time to meet his own thrusts, matching and sometimes exceeding the force of his thrusts. Her hands wandered over his body and at some point, she used her teeth to pull her gloves off so she could feel him with her bare hands.
Their fucking dented the floor in places, leaving divots in the shape of knees, elbows, heels, and Saturn's round little ass. The futon slid across the floor with the force of their fucking until he finally just pinned the girl against his bedroom wall so they would stop sliding, but that just cracked and dented the drywall. There was no way he was getting his deposit back on the apartment. And Ranma didn't care. All that mattered was the two of them. The feel of Saturn's body against his own, the smell of her hair and sex filling the air, the taste of her sweat-soaked flesh, the sound of her moans, cries, begging, prayers, and more as she turned out to be extremely vocal about what she liked—which was everything.
Saturn was a dazed, sore, but happy mess of young woman as she stared out the bedroom window on her hands and knees, watching the sunrise turn the sky pink as her sensei fucked her from behind. He came inside her again, his thick cock still somehow producing enough semen to flood her channel once more. And again, his life force filled her and she came so hard her past life flashed before her eyes.
Saturn collapsed onto the futon with a quiet sigh and a wet squelch. Ranma pulled out of her and Saturn felt the loss intimately as he fell onto his ass with a groan. Reaching down, she smiled as she ran a hand over her lower belly.
"So full," she sighed happily, even as her gaping pussy leaked a flood of semen like one of those hentai Rei liked to pretend she didn't watch with the rest of them.
Ranma grabbed Saturn about the waist and pulled her away from the window and the mess that was the futon. Standing up, he left the room for a few minutes before returning with a glass of water, a towel, and a clean futon since the other one was thoroughly ruined. "Here," he offered her the water and towel, which she took gratefully.
Saturn greedily drank down the water and tucked the towel between her legs as Ranma set out the fresh futon, blankets, and pillows. When he was finished, and saw she was too, he got into the futon and held the blanket up for her. Taking the invitation, Saturn hurriedly climbed in and snuggled up to her crush, the towel clenched between her thighs to keep from leaking everywhere and ruining another futon.
Leaning up, she pecked him on the lips, beaming a smile at the boy. "Good night, sensei."
Ranma wrapped his arms around Saturn's slender waist and pulled her lithe, muscular form tight against him as she buried her face in his chest. "Night," he murmured sleepily. For the first time in over a year he felt close to someone, and it was impossible to keep his eyes open any more.
Saturn couldn't help but feel like she was forgetting something as she drifted off to sleep in her sensei's arms, but at the moment she was too tired and too well-fucked to care. It could wait until noon.
Hotaru woke to the smell of breakfast cooking. Sitting up, she looked around in brief confusion before realizing where she was. A huge smile spread over her face at the memories of the night before. Hopping out of bed and tossing the towel aside, she hurried towards the kitchen (feeling a bit of her sensei still sloshing around inside her), eager to greet her sensei in the lovey-dovey way she liked seeing in doujins.
Ranma looked up from where she worked at the stove, wearing only a tee-shirt and a set of men's boxers. Hotaru didn't care that Ranma was in girl form at the moment. She pressed herself flush against the redhead's back, her hands slipping under Ranma's shirt to press against her warm, muscular stomach as she stood on tiptoes and kissed the older girl's neck.
"Good morning, sensei!" She chirped. "Last night was amazing! Can we try it with you like this later?"
"… Really?"
"Mm!"
Ranma considered it for a few moments before hesitantly nodding. "Sure. And good morning, Hotaru."
Something about that made her freeze. It was… wrong. It didn't take long for Hotaru to figure out what was wrong about it and, more importantly, what she had forgotten when they finally went to bed this morning.
She had fallen asleep and her transformation had worn off not long after, without her to keep it going. Ranma would have woken up and seen her without the magic protecting her identity. He definitely recognized her as one of his students.
"I, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, sensei—"
"Secret identity, I get it," Ranma cut her off. Turning off the burner, she plated the food and made her way to the table. Hotaru, still nude and suddenly embarrassed about it (but not enough to cover up, because she noticed the way her sensei's eyes traced her form hungrily occasionally), sat down across from the redhead.
Ranma studied the fourteen, maybe fifteen year old girl across from her. It wasn't a huge age gap and she didn't feel like she had taken advantage of Hotaru, but the school wouldn't care and her university especially wouldn't care about the circumstances. If they found out, she would be out of the program. Blackballed across the country for having an affair with a student. Even if Hotaru was legal, the 'abuse of power/position' wouldn't stand and would be a huge breach of ethics, various codes of conduct, and so on. I have to get ahead of this and run damage control. Can't have another Nabiki getting ahold of it.
Hotaru ate quietly, waiting for the redhead's verdict. Finally, Ranma broke the silence. "The school can't know."
Hotaru nodded. "Of course, sensei. Your reputation would be in danger. They could fire you. I don't want that at all. Everyone at school likes you, but… it's personal for me and I really don't want you to have to leave."
"You can't act different towards me. I can't treat you any differently from any other student. You can't tell your friends or your parents. You can't put it in your journal or on a computer."
Another nod. "I only have one friend at school and she's another senshi. …I think she knows anyway. Time travel stuff."
Ranma snorted. "I hate time travel bullshit." Sighing, she nodded. "If she already knows, it's fine. Just don't talk about it at school or where anyone can hear."
"I won't! I won't break you trust, sensei. I promise!"
"Thanks, Sa—Hotaru," Ranma sighed, correcting herself.
"So when can I come over again? Is after school okay?"
Ranma looked at her like she had grown a second head. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Well, that is, we've already come this far. I like you. I think you like me. Or at least, we get along very well and enjoy each other's company. We had a lot of fun together last night, even without the s-sex. I want to keep seeing you. I meant what I said—I want to be your friend and more! If we're both careful, there's no reason not to. And okay, maybe you don't feel as strongly about me as I do about you yet, but if you give me a chance I'll prove that I'm worth it, sensei! I'll be whatever you want me to be! If that's just friends who have fun like last night together, that's fine—at least for now. If you want to be more, I'm happy with that too. Even if it's just to talk, I want to spend time with you. But I—"
Ranma reached across the table and pressed a finger to Hotaru's lips. Blushing, the dark haired girl kissed the finger and smiled, but took the hint a went quiet.
"It's too soon and way too fast for you to be my girlfriend." When Hotaru simply nodded, accepting what she said, Ranma continued. "But… I ain't exactly against the idea of seeing where this goes. And yeah, last night was great. All of it. So… Here's how we're going to do this. Same thing as with what happened. We both keep it secret. If you come over, it's at night and transformed, and you leave that way. We can fool around, but don't try to pressure me into anything.
"And I'm gonna train you in the art. You don't got a choice on that one, cause if my rivals and old fiancees start showing up again, you're gonna need to be able to handle 'em without going nuclear and leveling part of the city. Also, I'm gonna train you up in another part of the art, the lewd part my old grandmaster created. It's meant to be done with a partner, but he could never find someone who could keep up. If you can keep up, the benefits are… pretty big."
Keep an old man alive for centuries big. Save a sick young girl and let her change between an adult and a child, big. It was essentially a trading of ki. The old man was a ki vampire—he leeched the stuff from groping women, or fondling their panties. But with a partner? A man could take in feminine ki and a woman could take in masculine ki, and if they could balance them within themselves…
Hotaru bowed at the waist. "I'm in your care, sensei. Thank you!"
"Uh huh." Ranma sipped at her tea. Considering the naked young girl before her, she decided on one final test. A make or break test that would determine if Hotaru got to stick around, and would let Ranma tell whether or not she could walk the walk as easily as she talked the talk. Reaching down, she shimmied out of her boxers and set them aside.
Steely blue eyes met Hotaru's purple and Hotaru realized what her sensei expected of her without the redhead having to ask. Hotaru had said that the girl form didn't bother her, but Ranma had been hurt over it before. Hotaru could tell that her sensei wanted to believe her, but needed to see proof with her own eyes.
Hotaru smiled and slipped under the table, wiggling her way between them until she reached her sensei's toned legs. Her hands settled on Ranma's thick, muscular thighs and she gently spread them open, finding a dark red bush on the older girl's mound and puffy, wet lips waiting for her. Hotaru closed the distance and kissed her sensei's lips.
I should ask Michiru and Haruka for tips on how to do this…
Sending that thought to the back of her mind, Hotaru set about proving to her sensei that she would be the best, kindest, most loyal girlfriend ever. Even if she had to wait until she graduated to actually be his/her girlfriend.
Usa is going to tease me when I get home… She definitely knows. Probably Setsuna too.
…Totally worth it.