Selling the Fantasy [R 0.5]

[Sunshine Temple]

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2

Summary: Nabiki finds a magical item that allows Ranma to control his curse. However it comes at a high cost. Literally. More than Ranma can afford. Nabiki has to come up with a plan for how Ranma can earn enough money to pay for the artifact, and a handsome profit on Nabiki's part.

But how far is Ranma willing to go to get out from under his curse?

Author's Notes: Inspired by Shareon's"Identity Search", but this story takes things from the "opposite side" as it were. And a bit of a warning. Right now this is something of an "early release", so it may be a bit rougher spelling and grammar wise.

Chapter List.

Chapter 1: Simulated Sincerity
Chapter 2: Magical Opportunities
Chapter 3: Building Confidence
Chapter 4: Relocation Perpetrations
Chapter 5: Expansions and Acquisitions

 

[Sunshine Temple]

Selling the Fantasy
A Ranma, fic thingy.
By Sunshine Temple

Naturally, I do not Ranma So here's the disclaimer:

Ranma 1/2 and its characters and settings belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Kitty, and Viz Video


Previous chapters and other works can be found at my fanfiction website.
http://jtemple.florestica.com/

Temporary Backup Site.
http://www.fukufics.com/fic/

Other website Temple of Ranma's Senshi Seifuku
http://fukufics.com

C&C as always is wanted.


Chapter 1: Simulated Sincerity


Nabiki explored the antique shop looking for false hope she could sell. As she worked down the brightly-lit aisles, she was conflicted but not by any ethical concerns. Her point of contention was more aesthetic.

She picked up a small brass-topped bottle full of sand. Fingers tingling, she looked at the markings. With a sigh she put the bottle back down. Magic was too much trouble. She didn't even bother looking at the tag with the price on it.

A man in a grey suit slipped up to her side. Older, he had slicked back grey hair and stern steel-colored eyes. He looked down at the contents of the plastic basket Nabiki carried with a tiny frown of disapproval. "Monthly restocking, Miss Tendo?"

"Indeed, Mr. Tanaka."

"I do have more... exotic wares," Tanaka offered with a wave around his brightly-lit shop.

"Yes, you do." Nabiki went to the next polished, dust-free display case. "But I fear my clients may destroy such wares due to bickering and fighting."

"Before paying you," Tanaka noted with a little frown.

"It has happened before," Nabiki leaned over to inspect the little stone carvings that filled the case. "This way is safer."

"Safer yes, but consider the potential a more... potent product could offer. Maybe something you could auction off."

Nabiki laughed. "A proper auction for a Jysenkou cure? Yeah that'd be wonderful. Two problems. First, this gaggle of cursed martial artists is poor. Second, collecting them in one spot and auctioning off a cure would, inevitably, degenerate into fighting."

She shook her head. While she did not have experience with auctioning off a cure per say, Nabiki had sold off info on the ill-fated, and failed, wedding ceremony between her sister and Ranma.

Tanaka gave a warm smile. "I'm sure you can make it work. They sound like inventive, motivated folk. Doubtless, they could raise the needed funds."

Nabiki laughed. "Please, don't try to run this scam on me. I give them real hope? They won't band together. They'll fight. Then there would be desperate, violent people fighting. The cure would be destroyed. And worse... the person selling the cure, me, won't get paid. I have no problem offering false hope. It's far less dangerous than the real stuff. Besides, my customers know what they buy, almost certainly, won't cure them."

"But a more likely cure could be sold for more money," Tanaka offered gesturing to a display case.

Nabiki eyed the small lacquered puzzle box sitting alone in the display case. Skin prickling, she walked past without a second glance. "I sell something with the promise that it might work. I sell something expensive? Then I'm on the hook if it doesn't work."

Silently, Tanaka followed. "You sell the fantasy?" he asked after Nabiki resumed her browsing.

Nabik picked up a little wooden statue of a smiling monk. She read the tag on it, purporting the statue's healing properties. Nodding, she slipped the trinket into the plastic basket she carried.

"A real cure, even a likely cure, gives complications. But an, almost certainly, fake cure? I could sell those on the cheap. And if it didn't work, well it's not like they could blame me."

Tanaka smiled. "Yes, nobody should expect any real magic for under fifty thousand yen."

Nabiki nodded. "It's like a lottery. No one actually buys lottery tickets with the expectation to win; they buy them for the momentary fantasy of imagining what it would be like to win." She smiled, selling fantasies was something she turned out to be fairly skilled at. Something she made, if not an entire career, then at least another profitable side business out of.

"Of course the only way to really win a lottery is to run your own," Tanaka observed.

Nabiki shrugged as she went down the next spacious aisle. It had taken her a bit of time before she swallowed her pride and changed her product line. If selling real cure, at a handsome markup, proved impossible....

"I'm just amazed they keep coming back to you. This is your fourth month stocking up. Not that I mind your patronage," he added with an oily smile.

"People keep entering lotteries and raffles don't they? Gaming parlors are full of suckers that keep coming back. Besides, we're talking about stubborn, prideful people here." Nabiki picked up a small silvery ampule. The label said it was blessed oil. And the old characters on the bottom seemed to support that. "Dedicated martial artists. And best of all greedy and selfish martial artists."

"Oh?"

"They'll snap at any cure. No matter how far-fetched. And if Ranma wouldn't spend a couple thousand yen on a trinket, well one of his rivals would," Nabiki gave a predatory grin. She had seen Ryoga and Moose express glee at the idea of being cured via something Ranma was too cheap to buy. They fantasized about rubbing Ranma's face in it.

The older man nodded.

"Besides, if I had to branch out I could start offering other magical trinkets. I know plenty of people who have tried love potions, strength enhancements and the like."

"Still, why not do it with more expensive products?"

"Because it's easy. My overhead is low, and I have a ready supply of desperate customers eager to buy the into the dream I'm offering. As long as it's something they can buy without much worry they won't care that it doesn't work. They'll come back for the next one, or if not them then one of the other cursed rubes."

"Ah, so for a brief moment you give them the illusion of being cured. Bravo." Tanaka clapped his hands, but the older man still looked thoughtful.

Nabiki eyed the old man. No, she didn't have any ethical qualms about what she was doing. However, aesthetically, she found the bright, clean shop to be all wrong. An antique store selling trinkets and baubles was supposed to be dark, dusty, and vaguely foreboding. Or at least it should give the sense of old wood, faint spices, and secrets. This place was like going through a pharmacy: sterile and white.

Tanaka looked at her, expectant.

"Well?" Nabiki tapped her foot. On the one hand this did make for an easier shopping experience. As the products were easier to inspect. On the other, as her other job had taught her, aesthetic impressions were very important.

"I was pondering. How satisfied are you at moving trinkets?"

"It's just a side business," Nabiki said primly. For the time she put into it, the false cures made a tidy profit. But that wasn't saying much given how little time was required. She had far more profitable ways to make money, but those were less... flexible.

Tanaka nodded. "Of course, of course."

Nabiki narrowed her eyes. "What are you trying to sell me?"

"Something that might give you complications," Tanaka said as he led her to the furthest aisle and then into the storeroom in back.

Nabiki frowned as Tanaka fished a key out of his vest and unlocked a metal case. It held two items, a little slim leather-bound book and an inscribed brass medallion embossed with a claw in the center.

Reaching out, Nabiki's fingers tingled. She withdrew her hand. Leaning in she inspected the medallion, the markings... she had seen them before in a reference book. "May I?" she asked pointing to the booklet.

Tanaka nodded.

She picked up the slim volume. It was little more than a pamphlet, really. Nabiki flipped through the pages. She had learned a bit of the dialect and it seemed... "Is this genuine?" she asked keeping her hand from shaking.

"Do you mean is that really a book of spells?" Tanaka asked, amused.

Nabiki scoffed. From what she'd seen it was less a spell-book and more an instruction manual. But that wasn't what she was asking. "No, I mean is this really from the Musk Empire?"

"Such a grandiose name for such a little tribe," Tanaka shook his head. "But yes, I believe there is providence for this piece." He pointed to the rather large tag that dangled from the little medallion's chain.

Nabiki read the information. It had been procured from an estate sale of a man that specialized in antiquities from that region. There was lots of information about where he had gotten it. But there was no price.

Tanaka clasped his hands behind him. "Now, Miss Tendo. You can fill your basket with trinkets and make a few yen easily, safely. Or... " he grinned. "You can figure out a way around those complications you mentioned and make some real money."

"Then why don't you sell it to them yourself?" Nabiki demanded.

"And let those lunatics into my shop?" Tanaka scoffed. "As you so eloquently put it, they get the scent of a real cure and they'll make the most unsightly mess."

"I also said they couldn't afford something like this."

Tanaka nodded. "Quite the complication, no?"

Nabiki eyed the medallion. There was potential here. But she would have to be careful. Worse, she didn't even know it if would work. Even if the book was correct, the medallion wasn't exactly a cure. "Just out of curiosity, how much do you want for it?"

Tanaka smiled.

************************************************************

Nabiki had been looking for Ranma. She found him in a park, sitting on a giant rock looking mournfully out into a pond.

"What do you want?" he asked, giving her a bare glance before returning to his sulk.

"Rough day?" Nabiki asked putting her bag down at her feet and leaning on the protruding stone.

The martial artist gave a bitter laugh. "No worse than normal."

"From what I heard it was pretty bad. Akane should have listened to you," she added after a moment.

"Should have but didn't," Ranma shrugged. It was an almost defeatist gesture. "You know how it goes. Shampoo comes to bring lunch. Then Ukyou gets it into her head that her meal is better."

Nabiki nodded. "And Akane, utterly unwilling to accept her limitations..."

Ranma eyed the Tendo girl. "Yeah well, maybe I shouldn't have accepted Shampoo's food, but… it was a small thing."

"Until Moose showed up?"

The martial artist snorted. "Oh, I could handle him."

"He did distract you though," Nabiki, softly said. "He held your attention, splashed you real good. You didn't notice that Akane had been drawn into Shampoo and Ukyou's fight."

Ranma sighed. "She still blamed me, as if it were my fault they're better than her. As if it's my fault the idiots fight like this. As if it's my fault I'm cursed." He looked back out at the water.

Nabiki waited.

Ranma eventually spoke. "Its' not so much the lack of control that annoys me, it's that I can't get blamed for the lack of control." He tapped his foot on the rock and once more looked down at Nabiki.

"Yes?"
"What da ya want anyway?" he demanded. "I don't need your dodgy, long-shot cures."

"I just saw you over here looking troubled and wanted to see if you needed to talk to someone," Nabiki said in a sympathetic voice.

Ranma snorted. "You're pretty good. If I didn't know you, I'd believe you."

"Thanks, I've been practicing," Nabiki enthusiastically said with a smile that seemed genuine. " But seriously, I think I have something that can help."

"Right. What'll it cost me?" he asked, his voice flat.

"Demonstration first, then we'll talk finances," Nabiki assured.

Ranma shook his head.

Nabiki looked around, this part of the park was relatively secluded. They were on the opposite side for the pond from most of the recreational amenities. "There's no need to be embarrassed; you chose a private enough spot."

"I didn't want to be bothered," Ranma pointedly said to her.

"I'm offering a free trial."

"Nothing's free with you.

Nabiki smiled as she opened her pack. "True, but this is different." She withdrew a sterile pin in a sealed plastic container, a canteen, and a small case. She left the vacuum thermos in place.

"And you think a song and dance will me to buy more cheap cures from you?"

"Oh, this is hardly a cheap cure," Nabiki tossed the pin up to Ranma. "I'll need a drop of blood."

The martial artist eyed the packet. "Really?"

"Yes, really. The magic needs to be linked to you to work."

Ranma put the packet down and stared at her.

Nabiki's expression hardened. "Look Saotome. I put in a lot of time and money figuring out how to make this work. I'm even willing to give you a free demonstration, but if you won't give me that much then I'll offer it to someone else."

Ranma looked down at the silvery pin in the plastic packet.

Nabiki held her aloof expression. Truth be told, she did have a backup client if Ranma said no. It was riskier, and gave her les control over things, but it had a similar long term profit potential.

He sighed and ripped open the packet. "Fine. But this better not be some instant curse powder or water-proof soap scam." The martial artist then pricked the back of his forearm. He knew most people would prick a finger, but fingers were more sensitive and harder to heal. Really they were one of the worst spots to draw blood from.

Holding the plastic case, Nabiki stretched up and took the offered pin a bead of blood glistened off the end.. The case snapped open and she withdrew the brass medallion.

Ranma eyed the artifact, recognition hit his eyes. "Is that-"

"Hush, I have to get the incantation right," Nabiki said as she let the blood drop onto the claw carved in the medallion's center. It fell, spread and filled glistening like a wet ruby. Nabiki closed her eyes and spoke the words.

Her tongue felt heavy. Much of the "time and money" she had put into this plan was translating the spell pamphlet and figuring out how it worked. Fortunately, the incantation was simple and she only needed one of the medallion's functions.

With the last word completed, the air fell silent. The blood on the medallion glistened; it also stayed in place as Nabiki slipped it over her neck.

"Oh-kay. Now what?"

Putting on a confident smirk, Nabiki opened the canteen and threw the contents at Ranma.

"Come on!" Ranma yelled. He then blinked. He was still dry; he was still a he. Water had splashed all around him on the rock but it had missed him. "Huh?"

Feeling hidden tension wane, Nabiki smiled. Until this moment she couldn't be certain that this would work, but the proof was before her. 'It's very simple," she explained as she refilled the canteen in the pond.

"Put out your arm," Nabiki requested as she lifted the canteen.

Curious, Ranma extended his arm.

"You're right; this is as Musk artifact. A minor one, thankfully. But convenient enough," Nabiki explained as she slowly poured the water over Ranma's hand.

The martial artist stared as the water fell and then split around his skin. It was like watching two magnets repel each other. For a brief moment a clear glove seemed to cascade around his fingers.

"I've still got the curse," Ranma noted.

Nabiki gave a sad nod, though really she hoped that this wouldn't actually cure Ranma. Her plans would be ruined if that had happened.

"I didn't say it was a cure. From what I've read, a Musk Lord had an heir who got cursed. Kinda like Herb, but instead of mucking around with the pail and ladle, said Lord found a different way to help his son," she explained, pointedly not mentioning the other function of the medallion. Not that she thought it was applicable. As far as she could see, there was no profit in it.

"Help?" Ranma took the canteen and poured nearly all that remained over his head. He blinked, watching the water repel from contacting his body and bend away as the droplets fell to the ground. "Ah, so if the curse can't activate..."

"Exactly, I said this could help. It could give you control."

"Until I die from dehydration," Ranma grumbled.

"Take a sip."
Not even caring that it was pond water, Ranma put the canteen to his lips. There was a slight tingle of resistance but the water poured into his mouth and he swallowed.

Ranma's mood brightened. "Okay, Nabiki that's pretty clever." He then eyed the pond with a manic grin.

"Uh," Nabiki tried to caution but it was too late. The martial artist had bounded off the rock and into the water.

There was a splash and a sputtering redhead bobbed up. "You tricked me!" the girl cried as she clambered up the beach.

Keeping her composure, Nabiki put on a sigh. "It repels water. What did you think would happen if you fully immersed yourself in it?" she asked, secretly delighted that the redhead was still... available. She refilled the canteen once more.

Ranma crossed her arms. "So, what good is it?"

Nabiki pulled out the thermos. "You mean giving you control over your curse for everything short of swimming? I'd say that's pretty impressive."

Ranma's ire died down. "Yeah but..."

Nabiki looked at the thermos. "But isn't the unpredictability the worst part? You don't know when you'll get accidently splashed? You'll be doing something and then someone spills water and boom, you're a girl. And now you have to either explain the curse, bull-through, or run? Wouldn't it be simpler if you could control it?"

"I'm still not convinced this is even legit." Ranma kept her arms crossed, but her expression was thoughtful. "And you haven't said what this will cost me," she said, clothes dripping. Oddly enough, she felt rather dry, and her clothes weren't sticking to her skin.

"Hence the free trial," Nabiki smiled. She opened the thermos and poured some of the hot water over Ranma.

The redhead didn't change. The water simply bent away. To Nabiki's surprise, Ranma simply raised an eyebrow.

"The medallion doesn't know what form you're in," Nabiki explained. At least for the first spell, she mentally added. "But I can turn it off," she pulled of the brass artifact and with a whispered word the blood stopped shimmering.

She then poured the remainder of the hot water over Ranma. The martial artist shifted back into his male form. Nabiki then gave another whispered word and tossed the contents of the canteen towards Ranma.

Ranma reflexively pulled back, for a change that didn't happen. He blinked. "It's no cure," he patted his shirt. It was almost dry. The water-repellant powers of the medallion seemed to dry out even his clothes.

Nabiki nodded. "But it's the best I've found."

"It's a better show than the normal crap you sell me." He leaned against the rock. "How much?
"Well, you'll have to pay it off."

Ranma snorted. "Why me?" he asked suspiciously.

Nabiki allowed her smile to become a bit predatory. "Because your curse means you can pay it off," she explained. This was the delicate part of the negotiations, but she could see Ranma was intrigued. And Nabiki felt that Ranma would be more... reasonable than Shampoo.

"What's this free trial?"

"Try it out for a week," Nabiki said as she started packing up. The pin went in a little plastic tube. "If you want to keep it, we'll work out the details of how you can pay me back."

Ranma tapped his fist against the rock. "What do I tell the others? They'll notice I'm cured. They'll sniff around. You know how they get when there's a rumor of a cure."

Nabiki smiled. Of course she knew; that's one of the ways she made money off of them. "Tell them that one of my cures might have worked," Nabiki reached into her backpack and pulled out a wooden carving of a monk.

Ranma caught the offered item. "They'll get jealous."

Nabiki smirked. "Then jump into a pool. They won't be keen on an 'imperfect' cure."

"They'll think I got ripped off..." Ranma nodded with a chuckle. "Instead of figuring out how I got cured they'll just laugh at me."

"Meanwhile, you've got the upper hand on 'em."

"And after a week?"

"You decide how valuable this is," Nabiki said as she slipped the medallion necklace under her shirt.

"You haven't even told me how you expect me to pay it off," Ranma warily said.

"If it's too much, say no. Things go back to the way they were," Nabiki shrugged, putting on an air of indifference. This was where things got dicey. What if she underestimated how desperate Ranma was for a cure?

"And when people ask why I'm no longer half cured?"

Nabiki laughed. "Tell them the cure wore out. You've had temporary cures before."

Ranma studied her. "How are you gonna make me pay for this?"

"We'll talk payment in a week," Nabiki assured.

"No."

"Really, no need to worry right now."

"No, I know you," Ranma said, suspicious. "You want me to grow dependent on this; so that after a week I'll be willing to do anything to keep my cure."

Nabiki allowed a tiny frown to appear. "I assure you, I intended-"

"You tell me now, or I walk," Ranma stated, but his eyes darted out to the pond.

Nodding, Nabiki squared her shoulders. This was the delicate part. "Fine. I wanted you to pay it off by getting a job at the Golden Oak Club."

Ranma's azure eyes bored into hers. "Doing what?"

Nabiki shrugged. "Nothing you haven't already been doing. You have plenty of experience getting guys to buy stuff for you."

"It's a hostess club?"

Nabiki nodded.

Ranma blinked then snorted. "Yeah, right."

Nabiki grinned. "Like I said, nothing you haven't done before."

"I'm a guy, I'm not interested in other guys."

The Tendo girl laughed. "So? You think any of the hostess are interested in the customers? It's a job Saotome. You sucker guys into buying you expensive stuff. You've done it before; you're pretty good at it already. This is the same, only now with a more expensive sucker."

"No way." Ranma shook his head. "Why are you even offering this? You know I'd say no."

"You have any idea how expensive this was for me?" Nabiki lifted the medallion.

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Before or after your markup."

"Before," Nabiki tersely said.

"You've gotta be kidding," Ranma leaned back on the stone and watched Nabiki. " How do you know this place is legit? How'd you even find out about it?"

Nabiki exhaled. "Because I work there."

"You?" Ranma laughed.

"I try to put in some time at least once a week. So, I know it's safe. You wouldn't be doing anything I wouldn't do, that I haven't done."

"That don't exactly reassure me." Ranma's amusement grew. "So the mercenary queen pretends to be a charming hostess for lonely guys. How do you not get recognized?

Nabiki kept her cool. Ranma being amused by the idea was a step up from him being horrified by it. "It's a big city, and I'm not as notorious as you."

Ranma gave her a skeptical look.

"And I wear a wig," Nabiki admitted.

Ranma laughed. "But why do it?"

Nabiki shrugged. " It's good money. Easy money. I can make 25 thousand yen a night, easy."

He gave her a critical look. "And what do you do to get that much?"

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Not like that. Gold Oak is a no touching club. You talk, get them to buy drinks and food, maybe sing, and pretend to listen. As I said, easy money."

"Then why don't you work there more? Why do all these other scams."

"Because I'd get noticed if I spent all my time there. Because diversifying is smart business. Because I have other responsibilities. But if you're there..."

Ranma shook his head. Nabiki sounded reasonable; she sounded sincere. She had to be playing him. He paused. "Why me, why this job?"

Nabiki looked out on the water, suppressing a grin. Humor had shifted to hypotheticals. Another step. "Because I know how much I can earn."

"So?"

"To be blunt Saotome, you could make a lot more than me. Twice as much no problem. More if you put your mind to it. I hate to admit it, but you make a much prettier girl than me."

Ranma scratched his neck. "Yeah, but you're actually a girl. Doesn't that give you a leg up on acting the part?"

"Do I strike you as someone naturally inclined to be sympathetic and comforting?"

"No, you strike me as cynical and manipulative," Ranma blurted.

Nabiki chuckled. "Right, I had to learn how to butter guys up, and I say this with all due respect Saotome, you're a natural at it."

Frowning, Ranma looked back out over the water. "That's a lot of money."

Nabiki gave a little laugh. "Only if you put in the hours and effort for it."

"How expensive was that medallion?"

Nabiki shrugged. "Do you really want to know?"

"If I'm gonna be buying it offa you, I'd better," Ranma glared.

"I propose a 50-50 split. I take half; you work off the medallion."

"Awfully generous of you," Ranma dryly noted. "And that didn't answer my question.

"If you work a couple nights a week, I'd say you could pay it off, oh, after a year." Nabiki mentally noted that one way to take her 50-50 split comment was that she'd take half off the bat, and then the remaining half would go towards paying for the medallion.


Ranma blinked. His fingers tapped against the stone as he did the math. The martial artist's eyes widened. "That's gotta be over two million yen! You're kidding me."

"If anything you're low balling it." Nabiki looked cross. "Remember, I said you could make more than twice as much as me."

"What, five million then?" Ranma guessed. He then whistled. "You could have gotten a car, Nabiki. You really spent that much? You know I'll have to see your receipt."

"I'll show you when we get home." Nabiki nodded, hiding her smile. The next step in getting someone to make a purchase was to get them to debate the price.

"It's that expensive?"

"It's a magical Musk artifact that controls Jusenkyo curses; worse the guy I bought it from knew it did that. "

"You weren't kidding when you said you sunk a lot into this project," Ranma looked back out at the water. "You seriously think I'll say yes?"

Nabiki exhaled. "Look Saotome, you many not believe it but I care about my sister, and if making your life easier helps things with her-"

"You'll get me a job at a hostess club," Ranma flatly stated.

"You have a better idea on how you can make enough money, under the radar?" Nabiki asked. "Believe it or not I've put thought into how to get you to pay me back."

"I have other skills," Ranma crossed his arms.

"I did look into underground fights, and well... while I'm sure you can handle the unsavory elements.... you know how your fights can go."

"Yeah, people find out, dumb things happen, and plans get ruined." Ranma looked to the ground. "You know that'd just happen if I take your stupid job right?"

Nabiki exhaled. She could hear the slight fear in Ranma's voice. Fear of embarrassment, fear of being found out. "That is something we'll have to prevent..."

"Oh? And here I worried you'd sell me out to Kuno," Ranma groused.

Nabiki laughed. "And have him wreck the place? No. You'll get fired if you attract too much trouble. We'd get fired." She paced a bit. "No Saotome, we have to keep this secret from Nerima. We need time for you to make money, time free from their meddling. You want to be free of them? Free with your curse controlled, free with money?"

"Free? I'm listening." Ranma chewed a lip. "Not that I want this girly job," he added.

"Of course," Nabiki assured as she leaned on the stone next to him. "But If you did take it, we'll have to be careful."

"Red hair kinda stands out."

"I use a wig for a reason Saotome," Nabiki reminded. " And some girls wear colored contacts. Look, I'll help you with clothes and makeup and such. I mean you wouldn't be buying that stuff anyway."

Ranma exhaled. "I've had disguises fail on me before."

"Yeah, we'll need to be careful," Nabiki shrugged. "Most of the girls take on a persona at work."

"What's yours?" Ranma smirked.

"An understanding, intellectual girl that wants to listen," Nabiki smoothly replied with a toothy grin.

"So, what I should be more girly? Yeah, you're not making this job sound appealing."

"Nah, they've seen you act girly." Nabiki scoffed. "Wait... what about the opposite?"

"Opposite? You mean still act like a guy? Then I'd totally be found out. And I wouldn't make nearly as much of your precious money."

Nabiki noted Ranma's last sentence, he was already considering what the job would entail. "No... I mean instead of acting like a cute little girl... what if you acted smoother, more mature? What if instead of a girl you were a woman?"

Ranma snorted. "I'd never... Ohhh," he added with realization.

"Exactly."

Ranma frowned.

Nabiki patted him on the arm. "Don't make a decision now. Take a week to think it over. Worse case you'll get some time without the curse breathing down your neck."

Ranma looked at her.

Nabiki could tell he wanted to ask about what she'd do with all the money she'd lost on the deal. She patted his arm again. "Don't worry about it, Saotome."

"It's still a crazy idea, using my cursed form to pay off a cure for my curse."

Nabiki smiled. "Think of it as your curse earning its keep."

************************************************************

After they exited the train, Nabiki pulled out a silver and white phone. She wore a windbreaker and carried a backpack. She took a few steps and made a point of leaning on a wall in the corridor that linked the platform to the stairs.

A shorter young woman slipped up next to her. She wore a long, dark read pullover sweater over stretchy grey pants.. The bottom hem almost reached mid-thigh and looked sort of like a skirt. She had a black ball cap on and wore a pair of sunglasses that were almost out of place as sunset approached.

She quickly, efficiently, and discreetly scanned the people coming if the train, those already on the platform, and the people going up and down the stairs.

"Any tails?" Nabiki asked paging through messages on her work phone.

"I think we're clean," the shorter girl admitted. She bit her lip, as if she could will sinister trench coat-wearing pursuers into existence.

"Good," Nabiki closed the phone. "Come on, the van's waiting for us and Anya,"

The shorter girl followed her up the stairs and out the subway station "You know we could walk."

"But the shuttle's already here," Nabiki scanned the street, but her companion had already found the plain grey van with its subtly tinted windows.

A trim young man got out of the driver's seat. In his mid-twenties, he also wore dark sunglasses. However his seemed in place with this grey suit, short hair and sober expression.

"Ladies," he said opening a side door.

A young woman with short black hair was already sitting in the rearmost row of the van. She looked up from her phone, waved at the two girls and then went back down to the display.

Nabiki entered first, followed by her companion. The driver closed the door, went back to the front and put the van in gear.

The smaller woman gave an embarrassed, nervous smile. Taking the club's shuttle, being chauffeured, seemed wrong to her.

Nabiki patted her companion's hand. "You okay, Ranma?" she quietly asked

"Names." Ranma hissed pulling her hand away from Nabiki's. To pay off the debt, to get her cure, she would do the job, but she didn't have to like it, or Nabiki's false flattery and assurances.

Nabiki bowed her head. She had deliberately made the mistake, the better to gauge Ranma's reaction.

"But yeah I'm fine, I'm still just shocked at..." Ranma nodded to the man driving the shuttle.

But it wasn't just him. It was what the man in the suit represented. The trip didn't take long, and soon enough they were at the Golden Oak Club. The business had a subdued but enticing front entrance in glass and polished steel. The building itself had a slick concrete facade.

The driver took the van to the rear entrance, by the kitchen and the loading dock. The alley was clean, and brightly lit. There were also a couple more men in matching suits.

Ranma eyed the security guards. Sure she could easily take them, but that wasn't their point. They were fit, alert, and didn't leer at the hostesses. Ranma really appreciated that last bit.

Still...

Nabiki caught her glances and laughed. "Us girls are valuable. It wouldn't do to allow some creep to sneak up and abduct one of us."

"Is that really a risk?" Ranma asked.

"Not anymore," Anya said from the rear seat. "Really, the Mistress has them just in case a new client gets a bit... frisky. This isn't the club for any funny business."

"Oh," Ranma frowned as she got out of the van.

"And that hardly happens either," Nabiki reassured. "Their presence is enough, isn't that
right, Ken?" she asked the driver.

"As you say Ma'am," the driver nodded.

Ranma gave a slight smile. While she wasn't worried about being assaulted, she did
have fears of being discovered. Which was why she hadn't objected to using the shuttle service on some of their previous visits.

"It's her big day?" Anya asked as she got out after the two.

Nabiki smiled. "Well, she'll be helping me, but yes."

Ranma gave a slow nod, but her azure eyes were set.

"Glad to have some fresh blood," Anya said. "I'm sure you'll like it just fine. I know I'll look forward to working with you," she added with a smooth purr.

"Anya!" Nabiki admonished as they walked towards the door. "Don't use your wiles on her."

Ranma gave a nervous chuckle. She hoped she hadn't attracted another suitor, especially when she was a girl at the moment. It did help that Anya was cute but... Shaking her head, she looked at the heavy steel door. One of the guards nodded and pulled the handle.

Her pace slowed. This wasn't her first night at the club. She had been here before. But those were training days where she was tending bar, answering phones, and dong some light waitressing.

Tonight... tonight she's doing the "real thing".

Sensing her companion's apprehension, Nabiki slowed. She put a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. "If it's too much, you don't have to do this," she said in a gentle, understanding voice "If you back out, I'd understand."

"Don't you start." Ranma bristled, her pride flaring. "I'll get out of that debt."

Nabiki suppressed a smile. "If you say so."

"No, no games." Ranma squared her shoulders and stepped through the door. The trio entered the low-lit corridor. The "back end" of the club wasn't as spotless as the customer areas, but it was still clean and done with an intimate almost trendy decor.

Anya quickly peeled off to the break room a few doors down.

"You gave me a free week. Then another week while I was 'training' and you know what happened that whole time?" Ranma quietly asked.

"What?" Nabiki stopped in front of the door to the dressing rooms.

"Nothing. Nothing happened."

Nabiki allowed an eyebrow to raise. She recalled at least two fights with Ryoga and a competition between Ukyou and Kodachi. "Are you sure?" she ventured.

Ranma waved that off. "Yeah, sure there was a mess, but I was still in control. Or at least I could get away."

"Akane did seem to be happier..." Nabiki allowed.

Ranma gave a smile. "She was. Until she pushed me into the pool." Giving a little sigh she opened the door to the dressing room.

The small room bustled as a handful of girls bathed, dressed, primped, brushed and did other bits of preparation. Unlike the rest of the club, the lighting was bright in this room. It was especially high near the bank of mirrors that served as vanities for doing hair and makeup.

"Get us a dressing station," Nabiki said as she unsoldered her pack and went to a locker to get supplies and to a rack to get clothing.

Ranma awkwardly waited for a station to open up, but a woman in a dark blue kimono with brown hair soon left.

"How about this?" Nabiki said as she held up a dark skirt and top.

"Uh.... it looks fine." Ranma absently said.

Nabiki gave her a look. "And you can handle these heels?" She dropped a pair of shiny black pumps on the counter.

"I handled them fine when we bought them last weekend." Ranma rolled her eyes. "And I handled them fine wearing them last time we were here."

"Okay," Nabiki put the clothes on a hanger to one side of the mirror and started putting on her own outfit.

Despite previous experience, Ranma still blushed a bit as Nabiki summarily stripped in front of her. At least seeing Nabiki disrobe was somehow less... difficult than seeing strangers do the same. She pushed any concerns away as she took of her own hat and long sweater.

Soon she was in a shoulderless black top with lacy sleeves and matching pleather miniskirt. She had already put on her foundation garments, including smoky hose. As she slipped on the shiny black heels she looked over to see Nabiki adjusting a deep burgundy dress that covered slightly more leg and chest than Ranma's getup.

After popping on her own set of heels, Nabiki went back to the locker to get two wigs off their stands.. First she put a long glossy black one over her own head and adjusted it. Next she took out a brush and sat Ranma down before the mirror.

After punning up the pigtail she tucked the rest of the red tresses under a blonde pageboy wig. Then using the cosmetics she had pulled out, Nabiki went to work.

Ranma felt oddly passive, being ordered to close her eyes, look up, turn her head to one side then the other, purse her lips, bite on this paper, and so on. Nabiki then resumed brushing.

"Okay, get up so I can do me," Nabiki stated.

Ranma opened her eyes. A blonde with light azure blue eyes looked back at her. He lips glistened and her foundation made her skin a hair less pale. Nabiki had used a light touch but the result was still one that made her look slightly more mature and underscored the unique shade of her hair and eyes.

The blonde found her crimson lips forming a smile. She still had a very exotic look, while being very un-redhead. Plus, the male part of her found the blonde she saw in the mirror... appealing.

"Admire yourself later, Hun," Nabiki said as she hauled the girl out of the seat.

Ranma frowned but watched as Nabiki did her hair and makeup. She then glanced about the dressing room and realized that the two of them were.... normal. They looked like another pair of pretty hostesses.

"Okay," Nabiki stood up. She gracefully turned on a heel. "You ready?" she asked with a beatific smile.

Ranma nodded. Her blonde pageboy swayed.

Nabiki led her out of the dressing room, down the hall and towards another unassuming door.

This one entered into a little room with a kitchenette, table with chairs, and a couch. There was an older woman smoking a cigarette as she flipped through a magazine.

"That the new girl?" she asked looking up at Ranma. She wore a white dress with gold trim and her hair was up in a loose bun. She looked vaguely like she was playing a Greek goddess.

"Yup, just seeing what we're on for tonight," Nabiki said as she went to a whiteboard hanging on one wall opposite a large TV.

The smoker blinked. "A ride along? A lovely girl like her needs your help?"

Ranma waved away some of the smoke in irritation before striding over to Nabiki.

The whiteboard was divided into a grid of names and times. Nabiki was looking under the row for "Naoko", the alias that she used for the club.

Ranma smirked at that. Given the Kanji used, that name rendered as "Honest Child." Her smirk went down a bit when she saw the name under Naoko. It was Raiko; which was written out to mean "Child of Truth."

The woman in the blonde wig sighed. No wonder Nabiki had picked that for Ranma's alias.

"Raiko's pretty shy," Nabiki explained.

The smoker eyed the way Ranma's figure filled her top and skirt. "If you say so."

Nabiki shrugged then turned to Ranma. "Good, we've still got a 7:30 with, Mrs. Akamatsu."

"Mrs.?" Ranma blinked.

The smoker chuckled before taking a drag on her cigarette. "My, she is new."

"I thought Akamatsu would help ease you in," Nabiki said as she pulled Ranma to the couch. "A regular of mine, she's a widower, and manages her late husband's wood store. She supplies exotic woods to all those artsy types."
Blinking, Ranma sat down, and after a sharp look from Nabiki, crossed her legs. "Huh?"

"We've got some time before we arrive, and I'm briefing you on her. Now she likes dry white wines, but if she's feeling stressed she'll order something stronger. Fortunately, she likes expensive whiskies. Expensive by our standards."

"Why are you telling me this? She's your regular. Ain't I just helping you?"

Nabiki sighed. "I'm there to make sure you don't screw up. If you freeze, I'll smooth things over, and help." She squeezed the faux blonde's hand. "And watch your words. It's a bad habit to slip into your street voice when you're on break."

"Yes," Ranma bowed her head then set about listening as Nabiki explained Akamatsu's history, hobbies, and taste in food, drinks, and music. She tried nodding along but Nabiki periodically quizzed her as she explained. Nabiki then shifted to asking questions about "Naoko" and "Raiko". Ranma had an easier time with those, as she'd gone over their aliases' back-stories before.

Glancing up at the clock, Nabiki stood up. "Okay, time to setup." She turned off the ringer to her phone and helped Ranma to her feet.

"Are you ready?" Nabiki softly asked.

Ranma looked up at the taller dark-haired girl. Long black hair framed a face that looked... softer. Nabiki has used her makeup to deemphasize the sharpness of her cheekbones and chin and to make her eyes look a bit bigger. The effect was subtle but when combined with Nabiki's tone made the young woman seem more open with an expression that dripped sympathy.

Ranma was about to snort but held herself back. "Yeah, I'm fine."

A soft smile touched Nabiki's pastel lips. She had seen Ranma catch herself. "Good, come then." The taller girl then escorted Ranma out of the break room and down a corridor.

At the end of the hall, Nabiki opened a set of double doors and they entered the club proper. Holding the door open, a suited security guard nodded to Ranma and Nabiki.

Following Nabiki's lead, Ranma offered him a small smile. She then turned and studied the club.

There was a gleaming bar on the far side of the room, a small cluster of tables in the middle and branching alcoves on either side. Near the double doors was another corridor that connected to a group of private rooms.

The club was decorated with a lot of glass, brushed steel, and lacquered wood. Low lights and soft music helped give the club an intimate feel.

Ranma could see several hostess chatting with customers. There was a cluster by the bar, a couple tables in use, and about half of the alcoves were occupied. It was still earl so the club was still mostly empty. Ranma felt a bit of awkwardness at seeing a group of well-dressed, attractive young women.

It was made worse when some of the hostesses returned Ranma's appraising gaze.

"Come on, you can chat with the girls later," Nabiki said taking Ranma's wrist. She pulled the ersatz blonde towards the alcoves.

Entering in one near the edge, Nabiki adjusted the lighting. The overhanging chandelier dimmed while the glass wall sconces brightened. "You have to keep in mind what the client likes," she explained as she inspected the booth and the table.

"You know what to order?" Nabiki asked.

Ranma nodded then at her partner's prodding recited the type of wine and candies that Akamatsu liked.

"Good," Nabiki smiled. "You get that ready, I'll wait for her arrival."

Ranma then went to the bar while Nabiki went the opposite direction to the club's lobby.

Meeting the woman tending bar, Ranma placed the order. She rolled her shoulders and pulled back the short blonde bob of hair at her shoulder.

"Nervous?" the woman asked as she added glasses to the platter she was filling up.

"It shows?" Ranma quietly asked. She was not sure if she could do the "mature" persona she and Nabiki had planned on.

"Not much, Dear," the bartender assured as she filled a glass bowl with candies. "You'll do great," she added taking out the wine bottle.

Ranma picked up the platter. "Yeah... I'm kinda worried about that." Holding it stable, she swayed back to the alcove and began setting up.

Working from a mental checklist Nabiki had drilled into her Ranma went over the refreshments, the condition of the alcove, and her own personal appearance. Finishing with taking out a compact to discretely check her hair and makeup. She felt a flush of embarrassment at doing such a girly thing. Worse, she got a similar flush of excitement from looking at the sensual azure-eyed blonde in the mirror.

The compact snapped closed and she had a couple minutes to focus before Nabiki returned.

The taller young woman escorted their client for the night. Mrs. Akamatsu was in her late 30's. The statuesque woman had dark, slightly curled hair, russet colored eyes and wore a forest green suit coat and skirt.

"Mrs. Akamatsu, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Naoko has told me so much about you." Ranma stood up and bowed.

The older woman looked to Nabiki and chuckled. "Yes, and she's told me so much about you Raiko-chan."

Ranma allowed herself to blush. "Please sit, is there anything we can do for you?" she asked taking the older woman's hand and guiding her into the booth.

From behind Akamatsu, Nabiki gave a tiny nod of approval.

Sitting down, Akamatsu glanced at the wine. She smiled.

Ranma held back, from what Nabiki had told her, Akamatsu preferred a bit of small talk before drinks. Which suited her fine. That bottle sold for about twenty thousand yen, which was actually reasonable by the standards of this club, even accounting for the insane markup, but if that's what the customer wanted.

"I do hope everything Naoko-chan said was good," Ranma said with a soft smile. She let her hands fidget a bit. It seemed natural for a "new girl" to the club.

"Oh, don't be worried," Akamatsu reached out, but her hand stopped short. She glanced over to Nabiki who had smoothly sat down on the opposite side of the business woman.

Pausing on removing the foil covering the top of the bottle, Nabiki gave an elegant nod.

The older woman resumed her outreach and patted Ranma on the hand.

The pseudo-blonde allowed herself to blush. It seemed that the club's "no touching" rule could be bent. "Pardon my nervousness," Ranma said trying to keep her voice smooth.

Akamatsu laughed. "Oh, she's a treat. Naoko, where did you find her?" she asked Nabiki.

The black-haired woman in burgundy bowed her head. "Looking wistfully at the waves, worried about her future," she coyly said.

"Naoko!" Ranma sputtered as she let her blush grow. She didn't have to like the back-story Nabiki came up for "Raiko" but she knew to play along.

"Your secret's safe with me," Nabiki smoothly assured. "Don't mind Raiko, she just needs some support right now. Her life's going through some... changes," Nabiki delicately said.

Ranma allowed a little sniff and a nod. She was starting to really dislike Nabiki's "sympathetic" voice with its smooth, dulcet tones. "Would you care for a drink Akamatsu-san?" she asked allowing confidence to flow back into her words as she straightened her shoulders.

A pleased smile crossed the older woman's lips as she looked down at the blonde. "Oh yes, very much."

Bowing her head, Ranma went to work on the cork. Once it was out she set the glasses and began to pour. "And how was your week, Akamatsu-san?" she asked not pausing in filling the three glasses. She was starting to understand why the new girls started out doing a few shifts behind the bar.

"It could have been better," the older woman admitted, taking the glass. Sipping, she leaned back and appraised the two younger women.

Nabiki was about to open her mouth when Ranma jumped in.

"Please tell me that order of trim for the Imperial Gardens' greenhouse wasn't delayed," Ranma said her innocent voice aghast.

"Naoko told you about that?" Akamatsu asked.

"Oh yes, gardens are so very lovely. Personally I find dahlias to be the most beautiful," Ranma happily prattled, recalling the info Nabiki had coached her on. She took a sip. "However, hearing that you were helping to renovate the greenhouses for the Imperial Gardens was just breathtaking."

Taking her glass Nabiki gave the blonde a tiny salute.

Akamatsu's smile grew, she took a long sip. "It is something. However the import hassles almost make it not worth the prestige." She took another drink.

"Do tell," Ranma said leaning forward to refill her glass.


************************************************************


An hour later, the pair had returned to the break room. Sitting on the couch, Ranma had pulled off one of her heels and was idly massaging a foot through her smoky hose.

Nabiki eyed her partner but as long as the ersatz blonde kept her legs crossed and didn't slouch she'd allow that indulgence. It did take a bit of time to get used to working in high heels.

The young woman in the long black hair went back to her phone. She was using its calculator to rough out some sums. "Not bad, not bad at all," she admitted.

Putting her shoe back on Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Well, given it's your first night and we're going to have to split this, you've done pretty good," Nabiki allowed. Internally she was gleeful. All her planning was about to pay off. As long as Ranma didn't quit, it was looking like Nabiki was going to be able to make a lot off of "Raiko".

Ranma grumbled and fidgeted with her wig

"And good work channeling your nervousness into a shy persona."

"I wasn't nervous," Ranma said, with a pout as she tugged on a golden bang.

Nabiki sighed. "Stop messing with that. You'll get it loose and it could come off."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Ranma grumbled.

"Still, it's easy work no?" Nabiki asked.

Leaning back the blonde crossed her legs. She gave a little sigh. "I guess. It's still a pain to be 'on' all the time," she held her head and winced a bit.

"You didn't drink too much did you?" Nabiki asked. She knew Ranma had a terrible tolerance for alcohol.

"No, I just one half-glasses of wine and a bare sip of another," the faux blonde said.

"Good." Nabiki nodded. How to nurse a drink was one of the first things a hostess had to be taught. Mixed drinks and drinks with ice were easy to order diluted. But if one were drinking from the same bottle as the client then options were a bit more limited Basically it came down to drinking slowly and getting a fresh glass before your current one was finished. Ordering a new beverage was also a handy, and enriching trick, for mixed drinks as well.

"And the whiskey?"

Ranma was about to roll her eyes and snort, but instead gave a girlish huff. "Mine was colored water with a splash of booze."

"Good, good." Nabiki was relieved that Ranma had contained herself. The blonde seemed a bit too nervous to pull of "polished and mature" but "shy" would do for a start.

The blonde adjusted her skirt. "Is this how it works? A constant act as we humiliate ourselves and scam some lonely older woman?"

"Mrs. Akamatsu can easily afford us," Nabiki noted. "Besides didn't you like earning a eight thousand yen?"

"Yeah, before you and the club take your cuts."

"That's after," Nabiki sweetly said.

The blonde straightened herself up a bit more. "Really? For a couple hours?"

"And you'd make twice that if you were working alone."

Ranma's eyes fluttered.

"Mrs. Akamatsu is a bit of a big fish, but yes."

The younger woman licked a lip. "You weren't kidding when you said you can make 25 thousand yen a night."

Nabiki leaned in. "And I wasn't kidding when I said you could make more than me. You saw how the other customers in the club were looking at you. You're.... interesting to them. You can make yourself more interesting, if you want. You get in more practice, you start acting the way we discussed, less shy blossom more confident woman, you'll really bring it in."

Despite it, Ranma found herself blushing. Seeing them look at her.... well it as humiliating, to be seen almost like a piece of meat, but she did wonder how easy they'd be as clients. Would they be easy to work? How much money could she extract from them?

Nabiki put a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "Now, do you want me to tell the boss that you're ready to go back out?"

"It's looking like a busy night," Ranma admitted.

"And I'll be there every step of the way," Nabiki promised.



End ch1

I'd like to thank the prereaders for their help in this project: Milanda Anza, Mahou Sensou, J St C Patrick, DCG, Kevin Hammel, and Ellf
A bit of a caution. I decided to release some chapters of this story early.
So it has not gone through the full checking process and may be a bit rougher than normal.

 

[Sunshine Temple]

Selling the Fantasy
A Ranma, fic thingy.
By Sunshine Temple

Naturally, I do not Ranma So here's the disclaimer:

Ranma 1/2 and its characters and settings belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Kitty, and Viz Video


Previous chapters and other works can be found at my fanfiction website.
http://jtemple.florestica.com/

Temporary Backup Site.
http://www.fukufics.com/fic/

Other website Temple of Ranma's Senshi Seifuku
http://fukufics.com

C&C as always is wanted.


Chapter 2: Magical Opportunities



"What is Ukyou's problem?" Akane asked as she and Ranma walked down the street. It was early evening and the sun was inching towards the horizon.

Ranma paused. "Are you asking me as her childhood friend or her fiance?"

Akane took his hand. "I'm asking as your fiancee."

"Ah," The martial artist chuckled. "At least you waited until after our date to start fighting."

Akane glowered.

"Sorry!" Ranma waved his hands before going back to holding Akane's hand. "That was... that was rude of me."

The Tendo girl blinked. "You admit it?"

Ranma laughed. "I'm a Saotome man, being rude is something we do. The least I could do is admit it."

"I'm surprised you didn't cheat out of our bill," Akane lightly said as they resumed walking.

"Nah," He shook his head. "I'd never do that to someone in the business."

Akane eyed him. His light blue eyes were teasing, but at least he had dressed up somewhat. His slacks were neat and he was even wearing a good shirt, and not that horrible yellow thing with the red bow tie. "You mean like Shampoo. Or Ukyou?" she pointedly asked.

"I mean that Pops has scammed a lot of restaurants and skipped out of a lot of bills. I ain't gonna be like that."

"Ah."

Ranma bowed his head. "Okay, what'da ya want to know?" he assented with a smile.

Akane eyed him. It was odd for Ranma to be... agreeable. If he hadn't still been thoughtless and clueless she'd be suspicious. Getting cured, or half cured, seemed to do him some good. "She's just weird."

"Weird? Do tell?" he asked with a smirk.

Akane grumbled. There was a bit of that Ranma-ness, though it was less biting.

"I had thought bombing a wedding was normal behavior. My mistake."

Sighing Akane tried to hold her ire. The mess of a wedding ceremony still stung. Not just because of the actions of their parents but from the actions of Ranma's other fiancess.

"Well, I mean sometimes she acts like my friend. You know just one of the girls?" Akane asked. "Other times..."

Ranma nodded. "Flour bombs."

"Yeah, other times she's a bitter rival. And it's so sudden."

"Ah..." Ranma looked out into the canal they were passing. He squeezed her hand. "That's... Ukyou."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when she came here? What she was after?"

"Yeah she wanted revenge on Mr. Saotome, because he stole her family's cart and ditched her."

"She also wanted revenge on me," Ranma reminded.

"Yeah... but that fight ended with her wanting to marry you," Akane eyed him.

"Exactly. And remember what it took to get her to change from kill to wed?"

Akane frowned.

"I called her cute."

"You called her cute," Akane repeated.

Ranma spread his free hand. "That's all. One little sentence. Not even that I loved her. Not even that she was beautiful. Just that she was cute. And like that-" he snapped a finger. "She flipped."

"Oh." Akane was silent for a while as they continued walking. "She still calls herself the 'cute fiancee'."

"Yes, she does," Ranma readily agreed.

"Oh," Akane repeated. Glancing over she saw concern on his face. Not for her, but for someone else, some who might not be so stable.

Ranma patted her shoulder. "Yeah, she's my friend but..."

"She's nuts?"

"It's a sliding scale ain't it?' Ranma quirked an eyebrow as they passed a storefront.

Akane laughed. That was a very Nabiki expression Ranma had just given. Well, Ranma had been spending time with Nabiki trying to work the bugs out of that cure.

"Oh so, she's saner than Kodachi and Shampoo then?"

"Puts her in the upper half but not the top spot," Ranma drew Akane a bit closer.

She looked up at him. "Calling me your sanest fiancee isn't as flattering as you might think," she teased with mock anger.

Ranma gave a nervous smile. "Indirectly, calling you the sanest."

"That's much better-" Akane started before there was a shriek.

Ranma spun the both of them and an arc of water splashed over his back.

"Sorry!" A shopkeeper awkwardly said, holding a large pail.

"It's fine," Ranma sighed as he shook the back of his dark shirt.

Akane blinked up at him. "You okay?"

"I'm still a guy, right?" Ranma asked with a smile as they resumed walking. "I may have to change my shirt," he shrugged.

"Yes, you are," Akane smiled as she took his hand again. Ranma did seem better with the curse lifted... more at ease

"Glad you appreciate it too," Ranma laughed.

"Oh no, it's not like that."

"You don't mind my girlform then?" Ranma teased.

"Not like that." Akane hit him on the chest. "What I mean is that you seem more mellow. As if...."

"As if I'm not at risk of suddenly turning into someone else?" Ranma lightly asked.

Akane nodded, but she could almost see something deeper in his eyes.

Then a shrill ringing came from Ranma's pants.

"Sorry about that," Ranma pulled out the phone and frowned at the display. "Oh, it's Nabiki."

"You can answer it, I don't mind."

"But do I have to?" Ranma asked. "You know she just wants me for some scheme."

"That's the price you pay for taking her cure."

Chuckling, Ranma answered. "Yeah?"

"There you are Saotome." Nabiki stated. "It rang for a while. Are you alone?"

"No, I'm still out with Akane. What do ya want?"

Akane laughed as Ranma rolled his eyes.

"Am I on speaker?"

"Nope. No... what's this about Ryoga?" Ranma asked.

"Ryoga?" Nabiki paused. "Ah I see. No it's about the club."

"Ah," Ranma nodded. "Well I haven't seen Ryoga. What's the big deal?"

"Turns out Mrs. Akamatsu is coming in tonight. And she expressed interest in you. I know you're off tonight but..." A bit of jealousy crept into Nabiki's voice. "Obviously, I can do it, but..."

Ranma looked to Akane. "No, he's not going to ruin our date. Why? Well for one I haven't seen him. And two I'm walking Akane home right now."

"So, are you free?"

Ranma laughed. "You want me to clean up your mess? You think I can even find him in time?"

Reading between the lines, Nabiki exhaled. "Yeah, if you hurry you can make it up here before she arrives."

The martial artist looked thoughtful. "Really?"

"What's going on?" Akane asked.

Ranma put his hand over the phone. "Nabiki was demonstrating one of her 'fake cures' and Ryoga wandered off. Now she can't find him."

"And she wants you to go look for him?"

"Yeah," Ranma nodded.

"Sounds like it's her problem."

"Well... it sounds like he's.... confused," Ranma went back to the phone. "Are there side effects? What did you even do?"
"Stop spinning up the cover story," Nabiki admonished. "Keep it simple."

"Oh... you mean it's not an emergency?" Ranma then sighed to Akane.

"My sister's exaggerating?" Akane asked with a scoff.

"She really wants me to help find him."

"This is the price you pay for getting roped into her cure scams."

As they resumed walking, Ranma eyed the phone. "Yeah, but it worked for me."

"Which she's using to fleece the others." Akane leaned on him. "You need to be careful with her."

"What? I'm not going," Ranma laughed.

"We're almost home, you can go out and play with Ryoga if you want."

"Or I can go out and train," Ranma mused.

"It's not like you haven't been helping Nabiki with her schemes," Akane sighed.

"Cure." Ranma stated. One nice thing about graduating to "solo" work after two weeks was that "Naoko" and "Raiko" didn't have to be working the same nights. That allowed a bit more flexibility for their cover stories. It did require more work to coordinate with the medallion, as Ranma has to be in girl-form to work, but that could be setup ahead of time.

"I know," Akane sighed. "Take me home and then you can go try to fix the damage of Nabiki's latest scheme."

"As you wish." Smiling, Ranma returned to the phone. "Yeah Nabiki, I'll drop Akane off at home and meet up with you. Let me know if you find Ryoga before then."

"Understood Saotome," Nabiki said picking up on the code. If Akamatsu canceled or arrived early she'd call Ranma back.


************************************************************



A smiling woman with a golden pageboy, led a suited man across the lobby. She wore a green dress with gold trim. Knee-length, it reached her knees but a slit up the side exposed the plenty of her stockings.

Emerald manicured nails beckoned the man forward as she nimbly sashayed on dark green heels. Wide black bracelets with jade accents and a matching jade necklace added more splashes of color. Blue-green eyeshadow tied the jewelry and dress with the blonde's bright azure eyes.

"I am soo sorry that you have to leave, Chino-san," the blonde said in a breathy pout as she slipped to the gangly man's side.

"Well, maybe next time we can rent the smoking lounge. Then we could have some fun," the man said with a greasy smile that matched his slicked back hair.

The blonde's glossy lips quirked. "That's a lovely idea, but alas," she sighed and gave a warm smile. "Alas it's time to go," she looked over and saw the woman behind the counter and one of the guards by the door stiffen slightly.

Chino gave a goofy grin and his hand snaked out. Blonde tresses brushed past his fingers as she playfully stepped aside and let him lurch towards the counter.

One of the guards at the door raised an eyebrow to her while the other shifted his stance as a hand disappeared in a coat pocket.

Her face turning serious, the faux blonde shook her head. Thankful for the help, she plastered on a big smile and waved to Chino as Mistress Yamato settled his account. Sure, the blonde didn't need any help dealing with potential riff-raff, but not everyone was up to her caliber.

Once the man slipped outside and the door closed, the blonde stopped waving and let her grin fade. She still had a slight smile, but that was her default expression. Nabiki and the other girls had taught her that it was more natural looking to go from a little smile to a big smile than it was to go from a flat expression to a big smile. Getting into the habit of smiling also ensured that one's eyes also "smiled".

The blonde checked to make sure there were no clients talking with Mistress Yamato before she walked over. Concentrating on her poise and walk, she wanted to give the boss a good impression.

Yamato looked up. In her late 40's the woman wore an elegant white dress with blue trim. Wavy chestnut hair tumbled down her shoulders and she had a warm, friendly smile. Despite knowing exactly how deceiving appearances could be, the blonde still felt that her boss reminded her a bit of Kasumi.

"Yes, Raiko-chan?" Yamato paused. "Oh, is something wrong, Dearie?" she asked in a quieter, more intimate, voice.

Ranma gave a slight glance to make sure there were no clients within earshot. "Yes Mistress Yamato... I was..." she paused and shifted her head. Her wig was a bit loose. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble could Chino-san be..." she swallowed. "Removed from my list?" she asked affecting a meek, respectful tone.

"I see." Yamato raised an eyebrow. Her face turned stern. "Did he do anything to you?" she asked with genuine concern.

Ranma blinked.

"There's no need to be ashamed. If he tried... well I'd prefer it if you told me before he got out but I understand getting away from him." the older woman gave a little sigh and looked to one of the guards. "I can have my boys take care of him."

"No, no," Ranma said, barely remembering to keep her voice low. "No, other than a bit grabby when he got a bit sloshed, he didn't do anything," she calmly almost demurely explained. Even if none of the clients could hear what she was saying appearances were important.

"But?" Yamato's tone was light, but Ranma could feel there was a barb behind it.

"It was a feeling, you know? Sure he was behaved, barely, but... next time," Ranma shook her head.

Yamato looked into the blonde's light blue eyes. "Do you want him blacklisted from the club?"

Ranma stared, unused to unquestioned support. "Just like that?"

"You girls are the most valuable resource here. And the most exposed. We have a reputation to build. Besides, there's plenty of men with more money than sense."

"And?" Over a month working here had made Ranma just a bit more cynical.

"You're not the only girl to pick up bad vibes from him. Also this club is strictly no touching," Yamato assured as she patted Ranma on the wrist. "It's a bad sign when a client can't obey the rules."

"Yes, Mistress." Ranma bowed her head slightly.

"I mean it's not like there aren't other clubs or even love hotels," the older woman shook her head. "Anyway, you did good Raiko," she made a note in her ledger. "Was that the end of your shift?"

Ranma shook her head. "I've still got a couple hours, but no appointments."

Yamato nodded. "I'll see about sending someone with a bit more... decorum for you." She looked at the ledger. "At least you managed to get a good profit margin out of Chino."

The blonde smiled. "He had a weakness for fatty tuna and bourbon."

Yamato gave a little ladylike laugh. "That's my girl. Good work"

Smiling, Ranma bowed again and strode across the club and towards the double doors that led to the employees only area. She nodded to the guard on duty and he opened the door for her.

Chino was a creep, but she did manage to make a few thousand yen off of him. Besides compared to Nerima, a half-dunk salaryman was peace and quiet.

Entering the break-room, Ranma found it mostly empty. With a mischievous smile, she backed her hip and tried to bump the door closed. Smacking the edge, the door shuddered and slammed shut with a heavy thud.

"Trying something fancy, new girl?" Anya asked from the couch. "Just a month and you're putting on moves? What, you don't think you're pretty enough?"

For a second Ranma blushed. Then she regained her composure and slinked closer to the other woman. She added a bit more swish to her hips and slowly sat down. One leg sensually crossed over the other. "Oh? You think I'm pretty?" she asked in a breathy voice and fluttered her eyelashes.

Anya smirked. "Too much, new girl. This club isn't that overt."

"I'm just practicing," Ranma teased as she fluffed a golden bang.

"You are a natural," Anya shifted and adjusted her long dress.

"How long have you been working here?" Ranma asked. Anya was older than her, but how much was an open question. She would guess late 20's but Anya also would act younger for some clients. Or was she acting older for other clients. It didn't help that Ranma's "Raiko" persona was also older.

Anya crossed her legs. She took out blue packet of cigarettes and offered one to Ranma. The ersatz blonde politely declined. "Going on five years," she said lighting up.

"Do you like it?"

Anya gave a sultry smile. "Well, we do meet such interesting people," she purred.

Ranma bit down any irritation. "Awww, and I was so hoping for a straight answer," she said with a pout. "Please?" the blonde softly asked bending forward clasping her hands before her.

Puffing, Anya gave an appreciable nod at the display. "You have the talent and the talents new girl. Or at least a good start at both." She then moved her cigarette to keep any ash from spilling on her long dress.

"Jealous?" Ranma teased.

Anya laughed. "If I were jealous I'd see one of Yamato's doc's and get that fixed up."

Ranma blinked but didn't want to come off as confused. "I'll tell you a secret," she offered.

The older hostess nodded.

"I'm... I'm a bit jealous that I'm not wearing the more 'elegant' clothes," she said gesturing to Anya's lacy eveningwear. "Or maybe ones that aren't quite as revealing."

"Oh? What's stopping you. Buy a gown and get to work. You'll get clients," Anya took a contemplative drag.

Ranma gave an effeminate shrug. "Yes, but then I'd be wearing those dresses."

"They are a bit restrictive," Anya laughed.

The blonde nodded.

"Or are you carving out the blue-eyed blonde fresh from the beach look? Though then you should have a bit of a tan. And some deeper eyes would really draw them in."

Ranma frowned. "Dunno about the tan," she then caught herself. "But my dear friend Naoko did mention colored contacts."

"I know a supplier," Anya offered.

"Oh?" Ranma pondered. Her eyes were very recognizable.

The door opened and Mistress Yamato glided in.

"Boss," Anya nodded, while Ranma bowed her head.

"Girls," Yamato smiled. She inspected the pair. The dark haired Anya in her evening wear elegantly smoking a cigarette, the blonde buxom "Raiko" with a sultry smile sitting straight up with her legs crossed.

"My you're fitting in nicely, Dearie. And it's good that you have someone with plenty of experience to learn from," she nodded to Anya. "You can do worse than learn from her."

Anya affected a blush but Ranma suspected that it was at least partially sincere.

"Is this about Chino-san?" Ranma asked.

"No, no, Miss Kuga," Yamato said, using the surname to Ranma's "Raiko" alias. "We've closed the book on that former client."

Anya arched an eyebrow but held her tongue.

Yamato took another chair and demurely sat down in a swishing of silk skirts. She inspected the blonde for a moment.

"Can I offer Mistress any refreshments?" Ranma asked with a shy smile.

"Lovely girl," Yamato laughed. "You are a natural."

"That's what I was telling her," Anya added.

Ranma blushed, mostly out of embarrassment but she decided to make use of it. "Naoko-chan thinks so too," she added in a shy voice.

"Such a delightful little liar," Yamato said.

"Isn't she?" Anya asked before offering a cigarette, which Yamato graciously took.

Ranma blinked.

"Remember girl, I've been doing this since before you were born," Yamato said as she lit up her cigarette.

She gave a little sigh and watched the smoke plume up. "Most new girls can't separate their work self from their real self. They get too emotionally invested in how the customer is acting. They think it's about them. Not you."

The older brunette appraised Ranma. "You were clinical. You analyzed the threat he posed, and took steps to deal with him. But it's more than that you act like it's not even your real body they're looking at."

Ranma looked down and at a loss for what to do decided to go with a shy smile and a little blush.

Yamato exhaled a little bit of smoke. "Very good, but that tiny pause is your tell. It's like the gap between when a jukebox picks a record and when the song starts to play."

Ranma blinked.

"Before your time," Yamato waved off. "What I mean is you have great potential. A bit more polish and you'll be shifting roles automatically."

"Which will help make more money," Ranma stated, deciding to abandon pretense.

"For both of us." Yamato smiled at the faux-blonde's light blue eyes. 'I'm not sure exactly what hold your 'dear friend' 'Naoko-chan' has on you, but.... I look forward to watching your future development and will keep an eye out for... future opportunities."

"Such as?" Ranma asked, taking a confident almost cocky tone.

"We can do things to help with your finances," Yamato offered.

"That's a lovely offered, but I must respectfully decline," Ranma bowed her head. "Accept my apologies but my loan needs are more than sufficiently met at the moment."

Yamato gave an approving nod. "Understood. Perhaps we can help in other ways. And if you wish to... refinance your loan perhaps you could consider us."

"I will keep your generosity in mind," Ranma smoothly said.

"She was thinking about some more expensive dresses," Anya nodded.

Yamato brightened. "That we can help with. There are several clothing stores, salons, and other shops that offer good discounts to club employees."

"Yeah, Naoko took me to one."

"Only one?" Yamato shook her head. "That poor girl. Perhaps I'll give you the complete list of our... affiliate stores."

"Does that include a place that supplies contact lenses?" Ranma asked.

"Whatever would you?" Yamato then looked over the blonde's face. "Ah, thinking of a new shade?"

"Maybe a bit darker," the faux blonde offered. Her eyes were very striking. For good and ill, but if they weren't quite so "Ranma", then that would make her look different but retain the exotic aspect..

Yamato nodded approvingly. "Darker is easier for colored lenses, and a deeper blue would suit you."

"Thank you, Mistress Yamato," Ranma bowed.

"Will you include the docs on that list?" Anya asked.

Ranma frowned. "Pardon? You mentioned a doctor before, Anya-chan."

Yamato gave a warm laugh. "I hardly think our Raiko-chan needs the good doctor Gensai's help."
"Sure, but what about doctor Hotta?" Anya asked.

"Pardon?" Ranma interjected.

"Oh, sometimes a girl need a bit of help; the good doctors can offer that help," Yamato gave a warm Kasumi-like smile and patted Ranma on the knee. "But I'm not sure you need to worry about that, Dearie."

Ranma blinked. The girls at the club were rather... pert. She hadn't put too much thought into it. This seemed to be a job that would attract beautiful woman, and besides she knew at least three of her co-workers stuffed their bras.

Still, it was a bit disconcerting to realize that not only did the club approve of such measures, but they had contacts that could setup such procedures. She glanced over at Anya. "You seem rather informed about this?"

"I do?" Anya glanced down at her torso and gave a playful smirk. "Whatever do you mean, Raiko?" she innocently asked.

Mistress Yamato gave a soft laugh. "Well, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to as me," she put out her cigarette and left the room in a swishing of blue silk skirts.

Before the door could close, Nabiki stepped into the break room. She had a violet lacy hair band nestled into her black wig and she wore a poofy purple dress with black accents.

"What was the boss doing in here?" Nabiki asked closing the door behind her.

"Just blowing smoke up Goldie's skirt," Anya said with a little smile as she lit another cigarette. "She thinks your new girl is a real natural."

Nabiki gave a little giggle as she took the seat Yamato had vacated. "Well, good."

"How was your night?" Ranma asked as she waved a bit of Anya's smoke away from her face.

"A regular then two new clients. One only had a couple drinks, but the other shows promise," Naibki shrugged.

"Don't discount the lightweights," Anya said. "Especially on a first night. Sometimes they hold back to see how a hostess will treat them."

"Really?" Ranma nodded. "Tricky."

Anya leaned back. "Well can you blame the poor gentlemen?"

"They know what they're getting when they come here," Nabiki said.

Ranma gave a tiny frown. The subject was.... a bit uncomfortable to her. However...

"Sure they do, which is why we need every edge we can get," Anya explained.

However, Ranma did want to get out from under Nabiki's debt as quick as possible, and if making more money as a hostess was what was required...

With some gentle prodding Ranma got Anya to reveal a few more tricks. The one about encouraging a client to try new drinks in a "flight" of samples was particularly crafty. Selling five tiny glasses of very expensive whiskeys seemed cheaper than one larger mid-range drink, but it had a far higher profit margin.

After a few more minutes of advice, Anya's phone buzzed. She read the message. A bit of irritation flashed across her face. "Sorry girls looks like my 9 o'clock is early," She scrolled down. "And looks like Goldie has a new client too."

"Oh?" Ranma let her grin grow as she and Anya used a mirror by the door to check on their hair and makeup before exiting the break-room. The blonde took a moment to admire the older hostess's figure. Which was easy given her evening gown was quite form-fitting especially in the back.

Despite her better judgment, Ranma asked Anya where she bought the dress as they went down the hallway. Shortly after that, they put their game faces on and stepped through the double doors.

Anya went to an alcove where her regular was waiting while Ranma sauntered to the lobby and met a distinguished older attorney who smoothly introduced himself. Yamato looked up from her ledger and gave the blond a smile and a nod.

Meeting the Mistress's eye, Ranma took the man's arm and led him towards the bar. After chatting with him and learning about his office politics she managed to get him to try Anya's "flight idea". She was starting to find law firms to be dreadfully dull, second only to investment and insurance companies, so the distraction of going over the pros and cons of the sake offerings provided a nice distraction.

He was also nice enough to buy her a cocktail, which the bartender secretly made how the blonde liked it: plenty of ice and plenty of club soda. However, after the blonde's companion ordered his third sampling of sakes, she did allow herself a glass of white wine.

This time when she escorted her client to the lobby her smile was far more genuine, as was the warm wave she gave as she left. Humming she slipped back to the break room and once others returned resumed talking with Nabiki and Anya as if nothing happened.

"Boss-lady does like you," Anya noted.

"She is sweet on the new girls," Nabiki noted with a hit of jealousy.

Ranma waved them off. "She was just making up for an uncomfortable client. I mean I did get some guy blacklisted here." The blonde glanced at the clock.

Anya followed her gaze. "Yeah, last call..."

As the trio conversed a few more hostesses trickled in. And then as the timing got closer to the end of their shift they started to drift out of the break-room and towards the dressing room.

Ranma waited with Nabiki. She had gotten used to her coworkers though wasn't close to too many of them. Other than Anya and Nabiki.

"I guess we should get going too," Nabiki stood up and rolled her shoulders. "How you make out?"

"Before or after your cut?" Ranma lightly asked as they went to the dressing-room. As one rookie and one relatively new girl, they were pretty low when it came to space in the vanities and showers.

Both waited for the rush to pass. It also gave better odds that the shuttle would be available for them. This also gave them some privacy. Until the late shift girls arrived.

"Though I will be spending some extra," Ranma said.

"Oh?" Nabiki asked.

"Boss gave me a colored contact supplier, gonna see what they have to offer," Ranma said as she sat down in front of the mirror.

Nodding, Nabiki pulled off her wig. "Good plan, that'll make you that much harder to recognize. Green?"

"Nah, I was thinking a darker blue," the blonde looked into her azure eyes. "Can you turn off the medallion?"

"Oh?" Nabiki was next to her stripping out of her dress. "You gonna change back on the way home?"

"It'd be easier, no?"

Nabiki shrugged and tapped the Musk medallion that hung around her neck and said an incantation.

As she felt the tingle of the magic retreating, Ranma pulled off her wig. Seeing herself change back never lost its novelty. One second there was a playful blonde with mature makeup, the next.... a bashful redhead with....

She blinked. The redhead fluttered her eyes. Then she put her lips into a pout.

'Huh," she frowned. "Hey look at this."

"What?" Taking off her wig, Nabiki peered into the reflection. "I don't see anything."

"Yeah, note my makeup."

"You're not wearing any makeup," Nabiki frowned. "Getting pretty quick at removing that."

"No..." Ranma shook her head. "Turn the medallion back on."

Nabiki redid the incantation.

Eyeshadow, foundation, and lipstick popped back into existence.

"Huh, I didn't think the second spell would do that," Nabiki frowned.

Ranma arched a newly styled eyebrow. "Do what?"

"I shouldn't matter."

"I'm seeing some magic makeup stuff here," Ranma said. "You said this thing was just a water repellant."

"I said that's the only feature I was using," Nabiki repeated the incantation.

Ranma watched the makeup vanish. She then crossed her arms and looked around the empty dressing room in irritation. "Well? I'm sitting here because you gave me a cure, and now we're getting side effects."

Sighing, Nabiki went to her locker and pulled out her pack. She then dug in and pulled out a slim leather book. "Look, the medallion has a second mode but I never used it. There's be no point." She paged though the little book until she found the right incantation.

"Do tell?" Ranma sweetly asked. The effect a bit marred by her lack of cosmetics and tomboyish hair.

"It's not like you're gonna be pregnant no?"

The redhead stared. "What?"

"It's a Musk artifact," Nabiki explained. "Designed to keep the curse from triggering."

"And the musk turn powerful animals into...."

"Brides," Nabiki shrugged. "I told you this was a backup for their locking ladle."

"What does that have to do with my magic makeup?"

"Well... it's not a prefect lock is it Saotome?"

"Oh.... it's a backup?" Ranma asked. "You know in case a pregnant lady gets splashed?"

Nabiki was flipping through the brittle pages of the pamphlet. She then pulled up some printed translations she had made. "Yeah, the medallion would retain the previous form. They intended it as a way to save the baby in case a cursed mother changed."

"But I'm not being hit with water," Ranma patiently said.

"Yeah well you're not pregnant either."

Ranma studied her face. "Huh," She looked down at her blonde wig then back at her face.

"What are you thinking?" Nabiki closed the book and peered over Ranma's shoulder.

"Well... what if it's not just makeup?" Ranma asked looking up.

"I think we should be careful."

"Oh, I am," Ranma assured. She started routing around the vanity looking for some water soluble dye.

"Raiko...."

"This is the fourth time I almost lost that thing," Ranma eyed her wig as she pulled out a little tube of dye. "What if I didn't have to worry about my wig coming off? What if my disguise was that much better?"

************************************************************

Ranma walked down the street, grumbling.

The martial artist wore a nice set of black slacks, dark silk skirt, and had matching slippers. It would have been a complementary outfit, if it had fit. As it was Ranma was in girl-form, and the redhead practically swam in clothes sized for her guy-form

As she walked she sighed. One downside to her "cure" was that if he got wet enough to trigger the curse.... Well, she would be forced to go hunt down Nabiki to turn off the medallion.

That was because, the same water repelling magic worked equally well on hot water as it did on cold. And Ranma did not want to boil herself just to become a guy

A slight upside was that after getting soaked, the water-repelling magic did dry her clothes out nice and quick.

However, it still left her with ill-fitting clothes. Something she had found more annoying as of late.

Her musings were interrupted when she spotted a young man in traveling clothes with building backpack. Spotting the black and yellow bandana she smiled and ran down the street.

"Hey Ryoga!" Ranma waved, once she caught up to him.

"Ranma how dare you!" Ryoga bellowed.

"What did I do now?" she innocently asked looking up. She suppressed a sigh. It was easy to forget just how short her girl-form was... given that most of her girl time was now spent at the club, wearing high heels. In three inch high heels she was suddenly average height.

"You betrayed Akane!"

"Did I?" she playfully asked.

"I've heard your nefarious schemes, the harem you're building. First you ensnare Akane then you grab the others you've been stringing along!" Ryoga declared as he stalked towards the redhead.

"Funny, I thought things were going well," Ranma stated as she nimbly stepped back.

"All part of you plan."

"You been talkin' to Kuno pork loin?" The redhead kept her bemused smile, but part of her did wonder how much of her improved relationship with Akane was due to the skills "Raiko" had learned at work.

"No. I've just been seeing you taking advantage of the gentle Akane!"

The redhead smile grew. "Jealousy again?" she asked, azure eyes sparkling.

Ryoga threw a punch. Ranma dodged to the side. "You wanna know my secret? I started listening to her."

"That's not all you've been doing!" Ryoga assured.

Keeping her expression light and amused, Ranma watched him. "Oh, what sinister plot am I up to now?"

"The one with Nabiki!"

The redhead's blood chilled, but she kept her cocky smile. "Ryoga... Nabiki's the one scamming me," she said, feigning irritation. If Ryoga knew about the Club then that was that, she'd have to come up with some other way to pay Nabiki back.

"Don't give me that!" Ryoga snorted. "You've been helping her sell her faulty cures. All in exchange for your own cure."

Ranma chuckled. She wished that was the deal Nabiki had forced on her. Instead she looked down at her chest. "Cure? I'm not seeing much of a cure."

Ryoga glared. "You don't even realize how lucky you are. You have all the girls. You have the better curse. And you've got it basically cured.

Ranma tilted her head. "Lucky? I've had this cure for over two months and look at me. I'm still a girl."

Ryoga clenched his fists.

Ranma slipped into a stance. "Posturing over? We gonna fight now?" she asked, adding a smirk. Part of her relished the idea of fighting him. Another part wanted to just go back to the dojo

Another, smaller, part was simply frustrated as her new "tools" for managing men weren't applicable with Ryoga. Though, the first part of her thought that was really for the best.

The redhead's introspection was cut away when Ryoga dropped his pack and flung himself at her.

Grinning, Ranma dodged the larger teens' blows and flipped the charging martial artist. Doubts about her job, concerns for her curse, worries about her debt to Nabiki, fears about her relationship with Akane all faded as Ranma concentrated on the fight.

Though a lingering part of her did tingle at bit when Ryoga first brushed her. She pushed that aside and focused on the fight. Ryoga was larger and stronger, especially when she was in girl-form. Her natural instinct was to play to her increased speed and superior aerial maneuvering.

And much of the opening of the fight consisted of Ranma dodging Ryoga while giving him blows when the Lost-Boy overextended himself. After the first few exchanges, she shifted gears and started to use the match as training.

She pushed herself against him, focusing on blocking and redirecting his blows. It was more challenging, and risky, but without challenge she wouldn't hone her skills.

Ryoga's frustration grew as his inability to land a solid blow compounded. However, his concentration didn't slip, which meant his skills didn't decay. For her part, Ranma decided to keep her cocky little smile as she worked to use Ryoga's own strength against him.

The Lost-Boy was too skilled to let her grapples and apply a joint lock or other bit of nasty move, but it did keep him frustrated.

As Ranma slipped past Ryoga and knocked his footing out from under him she noticed the time on a bank clock. The redhead gave a little sigh. Flipping away from Ryoga she landed atop a fence pole.

"Sorry Ryoga, but I've gotta cut our date short." Smirking, she blew him a kiss.

"Damn it Ranma! Come back and fight me like a man!" Ryoga charged after her, but Ranma had flipped off the post.

Ranma landed on the side of a canal and bounded across the waterway. there she jumped dup onto another sidewalk and slipped into a convenience store. Buying a hat and sunglasses, she exited another entrance of the store and ran to another street.

After taking a few twists and turns she checked to see if she was being followed and put on her makeshift disguise and slipped onto a crowded sidewalk.

Sighing, she meandered roughly in the direction of a subway station. She had indulged herself too much, too much time had passed, and now she was unable to stop by the dojo before going to work.

As she neared the station she took out her phone. Relieved both in that she had kept it in an inside pocket and once again realizing that, despite the expense, a waterproof model was a necessity.

She boarded the train and began the now-familiar route to get to the Club. One upside of the job was that she was getting plenty of practice on her pursuit and evasion skills. Deciding time was too short, she skipped calling the shuttle and simply ran from the station to the club.

Though she did slow down and watch for tails and for anyone lurking when she got near the Golden Oak. It would be horrifically ironic if Ryoga had managed to track her down, today of all days.

But things seemed clear, shaking her head, she approached the building and with a nod to the guard slipped through the employee entrance.

Once the door closed, she felt a bit of tension lift. Outside she had to lie, she had to keep this job secret. But inside.... well, she still had to lie, but the lies were hers.

Still bearing her little smirk, Ranma strode into the dressing room. There was the usual bustle of women turning into hostesses.

"Cutting it pretty close, Raiko," Nabiki said from her locker where she was digging out a pair of low heels. "I was worried I'd have to call you," she explained.

Ranma nodded. Normally Nabiki would use the medallion to make sure Ranma was the proper gender before either got to the club, but with the impromptu sparing match...

"Ran into Ryoga," Ranma said as she undid her pigtail. "He kept me from gettin' back to the dojo."

Nabiki gave the redhead a look.

"I ditched him back in Nerima. I made sure I wasn't followed. Several times."

Nabiki exhaled. She then nodded. "Good. We're getting into the groove here; we can't have those idiots wreck things."

"Of course," Ranma smiled. "I'm gonna hop in the shower can you..." the redhead gestured to where Nabiki had the medallion hidden under the front of her white dress.

"Sure," Nabiki pulled out the slim book. She hadn't quite memorized the second incantation and it could be bad if she screwed it up.

Ranma nodded and pulled off her ill-fitting top and shorts right in front of Nabiki and the other girls. A few of the hostesses clapped when it was revealed that the redhead was wearing boxers and no bra.

Grabbing a set of black panties and a matching bra out of her locker, Ranma gave a bow, took a towel and pointedly pulled a bottle of blonde hair dye from a counter. She then ran to the open of the two showers in the room. The bottle was a prop, but one that might answer any hair color questions.

Making sure the water was on cold, she removed her boxers and stepped in under the stream. Waiter bounced all over the shower stall as the magic pushed it away. However, some of it still managed to get on the redhead. There was a tingle as the medallion's magic flipped off. The redhead shivered and began cleaning herself.

Loose damp red tresses fell around Ranma's head. After a couple minutes there was another shiver as the medallion activated anew, this time it was... different.

The incantation was different, the cured body was... different. The marital artist blinked and her hair went from red to blonde.

Turning off the water, she wrapped herself in a towel and began patting herself dry. Fortunately, the Musk magic helped in that task. Soon, she'd slipped on her underwear, picked up her dress for the night and taken the vanity spot Nabiki had been using.

Taking a brush, Ranma began fluffing up her gold-blonde tresses. She parted her hair down the center and use some hairspray to add a bit more volume. She then opened a little contact lens case and, tilting her head back, slipped the pair of lenses on her eyes.

"I still say you should have cut it down to a pageboy," Nabiki said as she put the finishing touches on her glossy black wig.

As she began putting on her makeup, Ranma studied the blonde in the mirror. Her eyes were a deep ultramarine shade of blue that threatened to draw her in.

Truth be told, she had considered cutting her hair to match her old wig, but her "dye magic" was risky enough, she didn't want to be stuck with a Nabiki-haircut for real.

"I can always cut it later," the blonde explained as she continued to work to work on her face. Every time she switched cosmetics, she could glance at her dress to make sure she had the right complementary shade. It didn't help that she was still getting used to dealing with darker eyes.

Nabiki shrugged "What about a tan?"

"What about one?" Ranma asked transited but the sensual blonde young woman maturing before her very eyes.

"It would go with the blonde look," she reminded, leaning closer to Ranma's fluffed up hair.

The blonde swallowed. "Anya-chan did suggest much the same," she admitted.

"And more exotic women get more tips," Nabiki added.

"Oh? Is that a hint of jealousy I hear?" Ranma coyly asked as she started to roll on her stockings.

Nabiki gave a haughty sniff. "Hardly."

Ranma put a delicate-seeming hand to her made-up cheek. "Dear Naoko-chan, remember you've repeatedly admitted that I have more luck with our gentleman callers."

Nabiki's smile became a bit strained.

"Though you have been coming in more frequently," the blonde turned wistful as she started pulling on her red dress. "Why I remember when you only worked once a week. Zip me up please?"

"Very funny," Nabiki said as she zipped up the back to Ranma's eveningwear.

"Thank you," Ranma bowed her head before going to the mirror. Ruby lips smiled as she studied the scarlet dress. It was long but tight around her hips and cut low in the front with just enough ruffles to make her cleavage look wanton.

"That's a good shade," Nabiki noted.

"Thanks," Ranma allowed a shy blush to form. In the past she had been worried about wearing red, having it not contrast with her hair, but "Raiko" wasn't a redhead anymore.

"Tight around the tights," the blonde noted as she began snapping on some thin golden bracelets and clipping on some matching earrings.

"Gives you more practice for your walk," Nabiki said as she gave her companion's hip a gentle whap.

"Do tell?" Ranma teased as she pulled out a pair of glossy red three and a half inch stilettos. After slipping them on she, minced towards Nabiki.

The older hostess found the blonde was almost seeing her eye to eye, and if one included hair, then "Raiko's" fluffy blonde locks made her look taller than "Naoko" with her glossy slicked back ebony tresses.

"Practicing your walk?" Nabiki asked.

"Always practicing, Hun," Ranma teased as she took the other girls' arm.

Eying the blonde, Nabiki chuckled. "I still say a tan could help the bottom line."

Ranma squeezed Nabiki's arm. "We can talk about that after work."

"It'd improve your disguise."

That made the blonde pause. "Oh, I suppose that's true."

"Ask the boss; I'm sure she'd approve. I mean if you'd make the club more money..."

The blonde made a point of looking thoughtful. "Is Mistress Yamato in tonight?"

"Well... no.... she's out at the other hostess club she owns. But she'll be back on Thursday."

"My you'll wait for my next shift?" Ranma practically swooned. "How generous of you."

"Very funny."

"I'm so honored to have a friend so dedicated to my well-being," Ranma purred, laying it on thick.

Nabiki took the blonde in her arms. She leaned in. "But the more you earn the more I earn."
Meeting Tendo's gaze the blonde's dark blue eyes sparkled. "Until I get enough to quit," she said smiling sweetly.

"But that's so far away."

Wriggling in the other woman's arms Ranma demurely smiled. "Is it?" She leaned in. "Give me a couple more weeks and I'll have made you a million yen," the blonde whispered in Nabiki's ear.

Nabiki blushed. "You're keeping track."

"Like you're not," Ranma coyly teased. "I know you're having fun with all that money."

Glancing at her companion's jewelry, Nabiki returned the sweet smile. "So, are you."

The blonde blushed. "Should we get into character before we go to work?" she softly asked.

Nabiki squeezed her arms around the slighter young woman. "You mean we're not?" She sighed and broke the embrace.

"Pity no?" Ranma gave a giggle as she took Nabiki's hand and tugged her towards the door.


************************************************************

Nabiki leaned back in her bed nibbling on a chocolate truffle. The imported box was an expensive indulgence, but one she could easily afford. It was also one her dear friend "Raiko" also seemed to enjoy. She knew Saotome had a sweet tooth, especially in girl-form, and Nabiki found it oddly gratifying to see Ranma indulge herself. It was something she planed to encourage in the younger Saotome.

The middle Tendo closed her ledger and took a moment to revel in her success. It had been a risky plan, but "Raiko's" performance at the Club was exceeding Nabiki's projections. Ranma was motivated, and thus "Raiko" was earning.

Still, Nabiki worried about how fragile this all was. Discovery could bring attention. And attention could bring conflict. And conflict would get them fired. And without a revenue stream for Ranma, Nabiki wouldn't get her money back, let alone profit off of this venture.

She put the box down locked away her ledger and got up. The entries were encoded, but that was no reason to leave it out and about. The Tendo household had plenty of unscrupulous visitors, not to mention houseguests like Ranma's father. As Nabiki left the room, she pondered the awkwardness of the logistics.

Both herself and Ranma had limited space at the club, and while Nabiki had no problem keeping their clothes in her room There was still the risk of the pair of them constantly going out with extra sets of clothes. The risk of being discovered with a closet full of Ranma-sized dresses was far lower.

Nabiki had done photo-shoots of the redhead before. Going down the hallway, Nabiki made a mental note. She hadn't done one of those since Ranma had started her new job. Maybe a new batch of photos was due.

As she entered the kitchen she was distracted by weighing the pros and cons of having a fresh set of racy photos of Ranma floating around. On the one hand, with the right clothing, makeup, and irritated or cocksure expression the redheaded Ranma would look distinct from the blonde "Raiko". On the other hand, both still had the same face.

"Lunch will be ready in ten minutes," Kasumi said.

"Sounds great, Nabiki nodded to her older sister and returned back to pondering another photo-shoot.

Her musings were interrupted again. "They're at it again," Kasumi sighed looking out the back windows.

Turning, Nabiki saw Akane and Ranma fighting. Her little sister's face was not as red, but the young woman's emotions were clearly up. Ranma for his part looked detached and a bit amused. Nabiki frowned, she had planned on spending the afternoon with Ranma, hopefully this wouldn't wreck things.

Nabiki added in her own sigh. And the two had been doing better lately. Which not only increased household harmony, lessening stress, but Ranma taking Akane out on dates gave him another set of expenses to wrangle.

Grumbling, Nabiki marched out of the house and across the backyard.

"Stop being so slippery!" Akane yelled as she lunged at her fiance. Ranma, for his part, bounded off with an almost approving grin.

"What's wrong with you two?" Nabiki demanded. "did you decide that you're only happy when you're at each other's throats?"

"Oh, nothing, the tomboy's just being her normal self," Ranma said as he dodged a blow.

"Very funny," Akane growled, but there was amusement on her face. "I managed to tag you last time!'

Nabiki blinked.

Spotting her confusion, Ranma laughed. "Relax, we're just sparing."

Akane halted her attack. Yeah, the jerk finally admitted he'd actually train me seriously. Well, I had to knock some sense into him first," she said with a bit of pride.
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. She wondered if Akane had really beaten Ranma or if the pig-tailed martial artist had swallowed his pride and...

"As long as you're a serious student," Ranma said, interrupting the middle-sister's thoughts.

"Which I am," Akane said, bristling slightly. She looked to Nabiki. "No need for you to be worried, Sis." Akane gave a little frown. "Why are you worried?"

"I can't care about my sister's well-being?" Nabiki asked.

Ranma gave a little smirk at that.

"Right," Akane suspiciously said. She then went back to Ranma.

Ranma crossed his arms. "Eh? I thought you were over that jealousy thing. I mean I'm not stringing along the other fiances."

Akane huffed. "No, you're helping my sister string along Ryoga, Moose, Shampoo, even your father with her little scams."

Nabiki tried to look innocent. She would rather have Akane focus her attention on the little trinket business she was running than the far more profitable hostess club. This also would make today's events a bit more complicated.

"I'm trying to cure my curse. It ain't my fault Naibki's the one that finally found the thing that's come closest to working."

"It's been a couple months," Akane eyed her sister.

"Yeah, and I was cursed for nearly two years," Ranma countered. "I don't like owing Nabiki, but it's better than owing the Old Ghoul and the Amazons or Kuno or the Old Letch."

Akane frowned but had to agree with that.

"I didn't know you cared, Saotome," Nabiki teased.

Ranma rolled his eyes.

Akane looked between the two. There was something… well-trod about their banter. It was as if they'd had this argument many times before and were going through familiar motions. Which she supposed was true enough.

Ranma shrugged that off and turned from Nabiki to put all his attention on Aakne. "Anyway, now that you're being serious, I would like to discuss a training regimen for you."

"Really now?" Akane asked

Nabiki used the opportunity to slip away, back towards the house.

He stepped closer to Akane with a smile. "Oh yes, your strength and endurance training is good. But your flexibility could use some work."

"My, that almost sounds perverted," Akane teased.

Ranma held his tongue but allowed his grin to expand.

Further comment on Akane's part was interrupted by Kasumi calling out that lunch was ready.

Ranma made a disappointed little noise. "Maybe after lunch we can change and go to the dojo for some formal lessons?" he asked. He knew Nabiki had plans for the afternoon, but he should still have time and if he didn't, well Nabiki could wait.

Akane ran a hand over Ranma's smooth slate-grey shirt. "Oh? So you didn't want to mess up your fancy clothes?" She laughed and started walking towards the house.

"Hey, it's a new shirt!" Ranma said as he followed her inside.

************************************************************

Nabiki waited at an upscale cafe. As she sipped her tea she felt a bit underdressed. The thought amused her slightly as she was more than capable of dressing elegantly enough to fit in. However, her relatively casual shorts and blue top were the only faux pas on her part.

She was perfectly polite with proper decorum, and most importantly she could easily afford such an establishment. Thus she didn't worry too much as she waited and watched the people pass on the street. It was a lovely early afternoon.

Her smile grew when she spotted her companion. Internally, she was a bit frustrated at having to wait for him, but on the upside this did keep her and Ranma from leaving the house at the same time.

"I was worried you'd be late," Nabiki said as she offered him a seat.

"Nah, I knew you had plans. Besides we have to pad our appointments to account for all this secret sneaking around," Ranma said as he placed two bulging backpacks in front of Nabiki and took a seat.

"Is everything there?" Nabiki asked before taking a sip.

Ranma discretely looked around as he overtly studied the menu. "Yeah, I stashed them on a roof where no one else would get 'em. Not like they're worth stealing."

Nabiki had to use her training to keep from choking on her drink. "Designer shoes and dresses and jewelry aren't worth stealing?"

Ranma shrugged "Still, there's gotta be a better way than going through all these hidden caches and secret spy stuff."

Nabiki sighed. It was a legitimate worry; their very efforts to keep their secret were, on their own, suspicious. Not to mention fancy dresses had to be packed and folded with care. Otherwise they would look wrinkled and bedraggled. Though some materials, like leather and faux leather did store a bit easier.

"I am looking into a better solution. Maybe renting some storage space near the club. I'd use the train station lockers more, but they get too expensive long-term."

Ranma nodded. "Could get a health club or gym membership," he said after chatting with the waitress and ordering a water.

Nabiki raised an eyebrow.

"Lotta people going in and out or a health club," Ranma explained. "Storage space, showers, place to change. Raiko comes in, Ranma comes out."

Nabiki took a sip, considering it. "But not much storage space."

"True," Ranma admitted. He then smiled and thanked the waitress who returned with his water.

"You're being awfully nice," Nabiki noted.

"With our job, how could I not be?" Ranma drank from his glass.

Nabiki shrugged. He had a point. When you stripped the pretense away, the girls at the Golden Oak were glorified waitresses. They were well-compensated waitress that sold food and drink at a laughable markup but they were still waitresses.

"How's Akane coming along?" Nabiki asked.

Ranma took another drink. "Better, but she needs to watch her footwork more. And she needs to get more limber. But at least she's starting to challenge herself." He then glanced at his phone. "It's 2 PM."

Nodding, Nabiki flagged down the waitress and settled the bill.

Ranma gave the young woman a friendly smile, azure eyes warm as he helped Nabiki up. "So, where are we going?" he asked as they walked towards a nearby train station.

After a brief wait Ranma and Nabiki boarded one train. Then after some traveling, changing trains, pausing to see if they were being followed and a quick-change routine that used another station's bathrooms the pair rented a couple lockers and boarded their final train. After traveling only a couple of stops, and invoking the correct incantations, "Raiko" and "Naoko" disembarked and exited the station to go shopping.

The slightly taller woman wore a prim grey dress, silver heels and matching band that pulled back her long glossy black hair. The other wore a short black leather skit with gold trim, yellow blouse, and light black leather coat.

Her center-parted blonde hair was fluffed up and bounced with every flitting step. Gold bracelets, earrings, and pendants adorned her light skin. Light makeup accented her deep ultramarine-colored eyes and smiling lips. However, her blusher was a bit more forceful almost darkening her cheeks.

Drumming her clear, shiny nails against a little gold purse, she strolled next to Nabiki; a smile on her glossy lips.

"You're cheerful," Nabiki observed.

"You're smiling too," Ranma laughed.

"Yeah, but that's my standard 'happy hostess resting face', yours looks more natural."

"Oh, why thank you," the blonde bashfully replied.

"Knock, it off, you're sincerely happy."

"Well, Akane's finally showing some progress."

"In martial arts?"

"Among other things," Ranma purred, her dark ultramarine eyes sparkling

Halting, Nabiki sputtered.

"Too easy!" the blonde laughed as she continued her rolling stride. She looked back over her shoulder. "A slipup like that would kill you at work."

"Well, we're not at work," Nabiki said as she caught up to her waiting companion.

"And that's another reason why I'm happy," the blonde looked around the busy street. "No martial arts duties. No clients to please. No school to pretend to care about. No family aggravations."

"You're dressed up as a fancy fashion-plate," Nabiki pointed.

"As are you," the blonde laughed. "I'm not the only one having an escape this afternoon."

Nabiki allowed herself to grin. If Ranma was this happy now, she would probably be receptive to the surprise Nabiki had arranged for later on.

"True, but hits is still for work," Nabiki said as they approached a storefront

"Shopping for clothes and cosmetics, such as chore," Ranma took Nabiki's arm and pulled her towards the shoe store.

Nabiki watched the blonde's expression. There was no girlish glee on her face, but there was also no bored indifference. Ranma swished through the store with a contemplative, appraising expression. The store was large and had a wide selection, which was why it employees of the club patronized it.

"Can I help you two, ladies?" a salesman said walking up to them. He wore a crisp lavender suit and had long ash-colored hair in a loose ponytail.

"Oh yes, I believe you can," Ranma gave a glowing smile. She flipped open her purse and pulled out a piece of paper. "I was thinking of heels in the following colors. What do you have in a green ankle-strap?"

She turned to Nabiki "Or should I get a sling-back?"

The salesman glanced over the list. "Perhaps we can start with your size?" he asked poorly concealing his interest.

"Lovely idea," Ranma put her hand on his as they went deeper into the store. "I'm 20 cm. But I'm sure you have plenty of imports yes?"

"Naturally," the man said, looking vaguely affronted. He made a show of looking at the shoes she was currently wearing, and then gave an approving nod.

Ranma gave a reassuring smile. "Well if I recall, I'm a size 33 and a half European and a size 4 American."

"A difficult find Madam, but you're not our only dainty customer. Let's get you measured just to be sure," the salesman said as the blonde took his hand and slowly sat down at the bench.

Bemused, Nabiki watched as she slowly removed her heels, and let the clerk measure her feet. Nabiki had to keep from rolling her eyes; of course Ranma knew her measurements. Still, she understood the dance.

She watched the two discuss styles and soon enough the clerk started collecting boxes. He had to dig into the back to get ones that would fit her, but the shop prided itself on vast selection. Giving the blonde a playful smirk, Nabiki stared steering them towards more leather and suede designer shoes. Upping both the heel and the price.

"Are you sure?" Ranma said as she inspected pair of shinny peep toe platform heels. A mirror-gloss deep violet leather the pair fit her feet perfectly and cost nearly fifty thousand yen.

"It's a good investment, you'll make the cost of those heels back in one night." Nabiki soothingly said.

"Before your cut," the blonde retorted.

"Given their nearly bespoke nature, and that they are Italian the price is most reasonable, especially given your requirements," the salesman reminded, tactfully avoiding mentioning exactly what their jobs were.

The blonde sighed and bit her lip.

Nabiki leaned in, "Come on, you can splurge. You know you'll enjoy them. Besides, you can get a good matching dress."

Ranma looked up at her and laughed. "I know what you're doing, Naoko-chan."

"Well, when we go dress shopping you can turn the tables," Nabiki promised.

"We are running a special for... discriminating customers, if Madam were to get five different pairs, an arrangement could be made."

The blonde laughed and decided to take the plunge. "Well sir, I'm at one pair. What next? And keep in mind I have to work with these shoes."

Nabiki allowed herself to smile as the lavender-suited salesman consulted Ranma's list.

The Tendo girl's promise turned out to be true. At the clothing stores she had tried to get Ranma to be more spendthrift and had mostly succeeded, especially with a purple-trimmed black silk dress that nicely hugged her body.

However, Ranma had gotten her revenge with the stocking and garter set that did exquisitely compliment her body. And then the blonde found a lace-trimmed teal evening gown with white accents that was just "Naoko's" style.

Nabiki shook her head at the costs. The main expenses of their job were the "costumes". And she had been doing a fair job avoiding splurging, until today. Still, she found herself enjoying shopping with Ranma.

When you looked past her honeyed comments, the blonde could be a cynical little thing. Not to mention greedy in trying to cut deals with salesmen, even at the cost of a bit of sweet-girl flirting.

As they went towards the salon, Nabiki chuckled. Maybe it was narcissism but she found the blonde more than a bit like herself. However, Nabiki did wonder how much of that was Ranma following her training and treating Nabiki like a client.

Ranma shifted her collection of shopping bags. "Makeup's the last stop right?" she asked gazing at the gleaming glass building. As beauty salons went it was rather large, with a dozen stations and a full perfume counter, cosmetics boutique, and attached spa. It was also where Ranma went to get her hair dyed.

Nabiki gave a little smile. "Yes, this is our last stop."

"Good, because we're got more than enough stuff already." She lifted an arm. "I think I'm gonna to back to the club and stash most of this stuff in my locker."

Nabiki gave a little nod. Their storage problem was only going to get worse. "You can rent more space at the club."

The blonde let her eyes roll. "Yeah for a high cost."

"Might be worth it. Even a good disguise is weakest when you're changing into it."

"Then it's better that we change before going to the club. Why I suggested the health club idea, or a storage unit, something," Ranma said as they entered the salon.

Nabiki had to agree with that. "Fine, but that's no reason your disguise can't be improved?"

The blonde arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Under the bouncy hairdo and deep eyes you still look like a certain redhead."

Before Ranma could reply a beautician flounced up to them, her long chocolate curls bouncing with every step. "Naoko! Raiko! How wonderful to see you two!" she said in a chirpy, bubbling voice.

"Hi Umeko! How are you doing?" Ranma asked with a big, plastered smile.

"Great! Are you ready for your deluxe tanning package?" Umeko cheerfully asked.

Ranma gave a slow blink. "I'm sorry? I was just here for some lipstick and maybe some eyeliner. I didn't ask for a tan."

"And perhaps some eyeshadow and blush," Nabiki completed while shooting a glare at the bubbly beautician.

"I have plenty of blush," Ranma primly stated. "But I didn't know I was going for a tan."

Umeko ran her manicured hands over her pink uniform. "Oh? Did I spoil a surprise?"

Nabiki put on a smile. "It's okay, I was going to tell her now."

"Ah, you went behind my back to get me a present. How lovely, Naoko-chan," Ranma said in a voice dripping with sugary sweetness.

"My yes, whatever made me think you might want a tan?" Nabiki put a hand to her cheek. "I mean there was you asking Mistress Yamato if she'd be okay with you getting a tan."

Ranma exhaled. "I that was just hypothetical! I wanted to know if she would let me."

Nabiki gave a little shake of her head. "No Raiko, part of you wanted it, but you were scared. And you hoping she'd tell you no to settle the issue. The choice wouldn't be on your shoulders, it wouldn't be tempting you if the boss wouldn't allow it."

Ranma frowned.

Umeko's eyes darted between the two. "So, is everything okay? Should I start setting up the booth?

Nabiki leaned in, her voice soothing. "I know you've been talking with Anya about it, I also know your foundation has been getting more... dusky."

Ranma blushed.

"Anya makes a good point. It would help you look more exotic."

"And I'd look less like..." the blonde's eyes darted to the ground. "You know."

"More money, more security," Nabiki smiled. "What's not to like?

"Well... how would my regulars would take it, would I have to get new clientele?" Ranma quietly asked.

"I think you'd look fabulous with a tan!" Umeko happily added.

"See, that's a professional endorsement," Nabiki said. "Now I had planned the rest of the afternoon for this…"

The blonde blinked. "It takes that long?"

"Oh yes, the deluxe is quite involved," Umeko said, her mood brightening as she got on comfortable ground. "With someone as delicately toned as you, we'd have to go with a three step process. First we give you a base tan in the booth on low. Next we go for a primer coloring. A second time in the booth sets the color."

"A second time?" Ranma asked. She didn't know enough about tanning booths to know if this was legitimate, but it sounded involved.

"Naturally." Nodding, Umeko continued her perky lecture.. "Then we apply a finishing bronzer and touchup any areas on your skin that we missed, and finally set the whole thing with one last session in the booth on medium. And of course afterwards we have a special herbal bath for you to luxuriate in to lock it all in."

"Hun, that sounds very... involved," Ranma said.

"Oh yes, but look at the results," Umeko said as she pulled out a photo album full of before and after pictures.

The blonde paused. The tans were natural hues and if there was any fault it was that they were too evenly colored to come about naturally. "Oh. They actually look pretty good," she admitted

"For seventy thousand yen it should be," Nabiki said.

Before Ranma could spend much time processing the expense, Nabiki patted her on the shoulder.

"But don't worry, it's my surprise and my gift to you."

"A gift?" Ranma looked at her skeptically.

Nabiki chuckled. "Fine, call it an investment."

The blonde shook her head.

"You did spend more than that on shoes today."

"Oh really?" Umeko asked with a little gasp.

Ranma blushed. "Yeah... well... " she glanced at the open photo album. "Yeah... let's do it."

"Excellent!" Umeko bounced up and down on her heels. "You'll love it"


************************************************************


In the middle of browsing at cameras, Nabiki's work phone beeped. She looked at the message and smiled. "Raiko" was done "cooking". Giving the wall of cameras a shrug, Nabiki made her way out of the electronics store.

She had enough skill with photography to actually be able to use a camera more complicated than the ones on her phones, but a new one seemed to be a... needless expense.

Nabiki looked down at the bags she carried and laughed. Well maybe "needless" was the wrong word. The truth of it was that she made far more money via the Golden Oak Club than she ever did selling photos.

She made her way down the sidewalk and looked for an opening where she could cross. It did seem that without the blonde to egg her on, Nabiki's window-shopping resulted in far fewer purchases.

Stepping into the salon, the Tendo girl gave a little gasp.

Waiting for her was an enchanting young woman tight black silk dress that seemed to be poured over shapely caramel-colored legs. Cleavage the same tanned hue peeked out of violet lace trim.

Sculpted, tanned arms were tipped in vivid violet nails. Fluffy golden tresses contrasted with her caramel colored face and complemented deep ultramarine blue eyes. Expertly applied makeup enhanced her glistening lips and drew attention to those deep eyes.

Swishing on those Italian purple heels, the tanned woman came forward with utter poise and effortless sensuality.

She may have had the same figure, the same measurements as the cute, tomboyish redheaded Ranma Saotome, but the blonde Raiko Kuga moved her body in a completely different way.

Right next to Nabiki, the tanned woman put a hand to Nabiki's chest. "My, you were right to suggest this." The blonde leaned back and gave a happy sigh as her shoulders relaxed. "I feel like a new woman."

Nabiki looked into those playful dark blue eyes. "Laying it on a bit thick are we?"

"Oh no," Umeko assured. "We made sure to keep the color from clumping."

"That's not what she meant, Hun," the blonde assured the beautician.

Nabiki chuckled.

Cocking her hip, relishing the way her dress restricted her, Ranma looked down at herself and smiled. "I can see the advantage here. But..."

"Yes?" Nabiki asked.

"But I'll have to buy all new makeup to match this new complexion."

"We can help you with that!" Umeko added with a big smile.

"Yes you can," Ranma bowed her head then turned to Nabiki. "You know Naoko. Since we're going back to the club anyway.... maybe I should can see if the boss will let me take an extra shift tonight?"

"Sounds fun!" Umeko gleefully said. "Now Miss Kuga would you like to submit to some pictures for our album?" the bubbly brunette frowned. "But we didn't get any before photos.

"Oh, I couldn't be that vain," Ranma assured.

Nabiki had to keep a straight face. "It also may dampen the illusion our boss likes us to present. It's be like having a picture of Raiko-chan with her natural hair color"

"Or like you without your wig," Umeko helpfully added.

Nabiki strained to kept her smile. "Yes, like that,"

"You did do a wonderful job," Ranma assured the beautician before giving her a hug. "I'll definitely be back."

The tanned blonde picked up her bags and sashayed out of the salon.

Nabiki skipped to catch up to her.

"Now, I'll need the medallion tonight," Ranma said "Since I'll be working alone."

"I could change you back when you get home..." Nabiki trialed off.

The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, bad idea," Nabiki looked bashful. "We don't want the beach blonde Raiko-chan anywhere near the dojo."

"Indeed," Ranma airily said. "There's also..." she looked a bit embarrassed. "We're not certain this tan will go away, when you flip the medallion."

"It's been swapping your hair color for weeks," Nabiki said.

The tanned woman shrugged. "It's still a magical artifact. Sure it works, but you can't say it hasn't done unexpected things."

Nabiki allowed a little nod. "Fine." She had loaned the medallion to the blonde before, but it made her nervous, and more than in an avaricious manner.

"I suppose there's another solution." Dark blue eyes met Nabiki's gaze. "You can work a shift too.

"Well, I could use a bit more money," Nabiki gave a casual shrug. "But I'll have to come up with an excuse why I missed dinner."

"See, I told Akane I'd be off training all afternoon and evening." The blonde gave a throaty chuckle. "That way if our errands ended early I could surprise her."

"I'll think of something." Nabiki waved the concern off. "Sure, I'll work tonight."

"Excellent!" Ranma flashed a brilliant smile. "We've got some time before shift. How about some dinner?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"One of my clients mentioned a little sushi place," the blonde looked at a nearby subway station and nodded. "And it should be between here and the club."

"Sounds fine," Nabiki shrugged and followed. She had expected a little hole-in-the wall place. Somewhere that served basic nigiri and had the bar almost out on the street. A place to get a quick nosh.

Instead... Nabiki would have gawked at the interior of the restaurant, but she had been working her job far too long to make that kind of mistake. It was a small restaurant, but intimate was a better description towards it. It was expensive but in that understated way where the opulence was restrained.

Nabiki would have wondered how Ranma had expected to get seated here as a walk-in, but the recognized a couple of "Raiko's" clients, and then one of her own.

"What a lovely surprise," Ranma smiled as she drew Nabiki towards the bar.

Glancing at a price list, Nabiki made a tiny surprised noise. The markup wasn't at the level of their club, but the prices were still breathtaking. Glancing into the glass cooling cases in the bar did show the quality of fish at least justified the prices.

Ranma leaned towards Nabiki. "Oh don't worry, I'll take care of the bill," the blonde whispered.

"If you insist," Nabiki said as a waitress led them towards a pair of open seat to one side of the bar. As she sat down, Nabiki gave a shy smile to her client, and saw Ranma do the same.

Amused, Nabiki watched Ranma flirt and explain away her tan to the silver-haired man sitting next to her. The Tendo girl couldn't recall his name, but knew he owned a chain of bakeries, noodle shops, or something like that and that "Raiko" had entertained him a few times.

Making a note to engage her client in small talk, Nabiki perused the list of available fish and settled in to enjoy a fancy meal with the blonde like the well-appointed young ladies they were.

After the meal, both hostesses collected their bags and made their way to the door. Ranma had to politely deflect offers to have someone else carry them.

Outside, Nabiki glanced at her phone. "You know, when you said you'd take care of the bill...."
The blonde ran a hand through her golden tresses. "I'm certainly not going to pay, not when Araki-san is there."

"I see you're learning," Nabiki chuckled as they got to the subway platform

"I did have a good teacher," Ranma coyly replied. "You calling the shuttle?"

Nabiki looked at the bags that they both were carrying. "Yeah, good idea," she said as they boarded the train.

When the pair exited the station, a silver van was waiting for them. After the muscular guard helped them load their packages in the back, they then waited for two more hostesses to arrive.

One of whom was Anya. Upon seeing Ranma the older, short-haired, hostess' green eyes lit up. "Oh my, very impressive Goldie," she purred climbing into the van.

Ranma gave a demure smile. "Naoko-chan had a surprise."

"Some surprise," Anya smiled.

"Isn't she thoughtful?" Ranma cooed before giving Nabiki a sly smile.

"Well, Anya-san suggested it first," Nabiki offered.

"Flatterer," Anya laughed.

That was when the fourth hostess arrived. She was a few years older than Nabiki but wore her brown hair in twin ponytails and had a black dress with maroon bows that looked a bit like a school uniform. She gave Ranma an appraising look. "Bold move on the new girl."

"Why thank you Kaori-chan," Ranma bowed her head.

"Good to see you're making an investment." Kaori sat down.

"It was Anya's idea and Naoko set it up," the blonde said as the guard put the van in gear

"Ah." Kaori's cynical appraising expression was at odds with her youthful seeming appearance. "Still it should help your bottom line." She gave Nabiki a frosty smile. "If only some of your friends were willing to go so far."

"Jealousy doesn't suit you Kaori," Nabiki said, her tone sweet.

"Jealous?" The innocent-looking girl giggled. "You wish you could compete with me." She gave a languid smile. "Fortunately, there's plenty of cliental into sugar and spice

"Yes, it would be demeaning to fight over your leftovers," Nabiki said, her tone perky.

"It would help if you did something about that nose," Kaori said. "Doctor Hotta has very reasonable rates."

"I do fine as I am," Nabiki said.
Kaori gave a patronizing smile. "Yes, 'fine' describes you." Her attention turned to the blonde. "Now you, dear, dear Raiko-chan. You seem more willing."

"It's just a tan," Ranma lightly said.

"Oh," Kaori made a show of looking disappointed. "Then you're not going to do something about those lips?" she asked as the van stopped.

The guard opened the door and waving over one of the other black-suited men, started to unload Ranma and Nabiki's clothing.

Ranma frowned. It was bad practice to have security with their arms full. She took some reassurance in that there was still one guard by the employee entrance to the club on alert.

Still, she made a show of smiling and thanking the men for helping move the boxes of clothes, shoes, and cosmetics.

"Wait? What's wrong with my lips?" Ranma asked.

Anya and Kaori had been watching the offloading with well-concealed interest. Kaori turned to the blonde. "Oh nothing. They're fine. But they could be fuller."

"I suppose they could," Ranma politely allowed as the four girls entered the dressing room.

There were just a couple of hostesses getting ready, but upon seeing "Raiko's" new look both gave appreciative nods. Since Ranma and Nabiki were already dressed to the nines their attention was focused on finding a way to pack all of all their purchases into their lockers.

Once that exercise in careful packing was done, Ranma slipped in front of an open vanity to freshen her hair and makeup. Rapt by her new look, the blonde spent a bit longer than expected, and it took Nabiki clearing her throat to get her to stand up.

Giving a little blush, Ranma stood and made her way out of the dressing room. She then cut across the club and went to the lobby. If her memory served the boss would be working at the Gold Oak tonight.

Waiting at the edge of the lobby, she waited until her boss had a moment alone.

Looking up from her ledger, Mistress Yamato gave a warm smile. "Why Miss Kuga don't you look simply lovely tonight."

Ranma bowed her head and allowed herself to blush. "Thank you Mistress," she shyly said. Despite herself, she felt a bit of pride bloom within her at her boss' approval.

"How nice of you to come in and show off." Yamato made a show of looking at her ledger. "I don't see you scheduled for tonight."

The blonde clasped her hands before her. "I was wondering if I could work extra, tonight."

"Were you?" Yamato playfully asked, her eyes looking warm.

"Well, myself and Naoko too. She did arrange for my... improvements," a tanned hand gestured over the blonde's form.

"You two are thick as thieves." Yamato's laugh was musical. "Okay, Raiko-chan, I'll let you and your friend work tonight."

"Thank you, Mistress!" Ranma said adding just the right level of glee before bowing.

"Now you, realize that since this isn't one of your scheduled nights none of your regulars know you're here."

Ranma gave a little blush.

Yamato laughed again. "Perhaps that's your intention: get used to your new look before showing off to your normal clients."

The blonde blushed. "That was my intent, but if I'm being totally honest, at least one of my clients is aware that I might be available tonight."

For an instant Yamato's well-maintained warm matronly façade slipped. "Oh?" she asked, a dangerous edge slipping into the word.

"When having dinner, Naoko and myself happened to run into Araki-san. I may have informed him of my possible availability."

The older woman's expression turned calculating before she shifted into a more open, friendly expression. "My, you are a devious little thing," she said in a conspiratorial whisper.

The blonde gave a tiny bow with her head.

"I'll let it slide this time, Miss Kuga. But I should warn you, the girls of this club are not expected to meet their clients outside the premises, and if they do accidently run into a client they are to express the upmost discretion. Do you understand?"

Ranma nodded. "In such a situation I would be seen as a member of the Golden Oak Club and thus my actions reflect upon the club."

"Good, I'm glad we're in agreement," Yamato then playfully waved the blonde away. "Go on, I'll let you know if someone picks you out of the order book, and if Mr. Araki shows up."

Ranma bowed again and made to leave.

"Wait," Yamato shook her head. "Silly me. You'll need to update your photo in the order book."

The blonde nodded. "I'll ask Naoko to take my picture."

"I'd be surprised if she hasn't already," Yamato eyed the blonde. "Now, you can go."

Ranma went to the break-room where she found Anya and Nabiki. Smoothing her tight dress, the blonde explained the photo requirement to Nabiki, and the Tendo girl ran to her locker to get a camera.

A brief photo-session later, Nabiki had taken some pictures on a fresh memory card which she handed to one of the guards so he could run off to a nearby copy shop and print out a set of glossy pictures.

Lilting up a cigarette, Anya watched the proceedings with some amusement. She also chuckled when Nabiki covetously kept some of the pictures for herself before bringing a selection to Yamato.

"Keeping the new look then?" Anya asked once Nabiki had left.

"It's not like I can magically turn off a tan," the blonde smiled while internally she sincerely hoped she could. She shrugged. "I'll see how my clients react to it. If it doesn't help I'll let if fade."

Anya took a puff. "I'm certain it will; you look like a million yen."

"Only a million? I was hoping for five, plus interest," Ranma pouted.

The older hostess gave a little laugh. "Oh, you don't quite have the figure for that much. Almost but not quite."

The blonde made a show of increasing her pout.

Still, it didn't take her long to find out that Anya's prediction was correct. Not long after Nabiki had handed over the new photos, "Raiko" was called up to serve a walk-in client.

Putting on her coy smile, she sauntered to the lobby. Relishing the way her new constricting new dress felt and the click of her new heels. Her new client's reaction on seeing her tanned form, bouncing blonde tresses, and deep ultramarine eyes was also priceless.

Leading him to an alcove she listened to the young man explain himself. A slightly nervous second son to a foundry owner with a taste for bourbon. She reminded him of a girl he saw when he was at spring-break at university in California.

Increasing her smile, Ranma internally bemoaned her poor English skills. After having a few rounds with the slightly stout twenty-something, she knew that if she could take on the right accent she could have milked him even further.

As it was she had to be satisfied with making enough to pay for the pair of shoes she had bought. At least if she ignored Nabiki's cut for the night. Either way, that left several more pairs of heels to pay off.

However, Araki-san's arrival did much to balance the books. As the silver-haired man was as enthused to see her as the blonde pretended to be enthused at seeing him.

After him came a few more new clients. One of which required some deft handling to keep him from being too fresh. Still, a side step, a bit of leverage, and the man flipped back off the barstool.

And while the slick-haired punk was still dazed, Ranma discretely flagged down security with the right hand signal. Striding over, the muscular buzz-cut suited guard helped the "tipsy" man to his feet and escorted him towards the lobby. All the while, Ranma flitted in their wake profusely apologizing and wishing the grabby man all the best.

Mistress Yamato settled his account and nodded to the blonde. Ranma quietly thanked the guard and that bit of perfidy concluded, she made it to the break room.

After about ten minutes, Nabiki entered. Ranma noticed the Tendo girl idly straighten her long glossy black wig. The blonde was glad she had been able to switch to dying her hair. There had been too many close calls with her old wig.

"Good night?" Nabiki sat down. She looked at the bills her companion was counting out.

Ranma noticed only the barest hint of greed in the eyes of the ebony-haired hostess. Nabiki was getting better with practice. "Phenomenal," she admitted.

"I told you it'd help," Nabiki smugly said.

"Yes, yes," Ranma chuckled. "I know Araki-san prefers this look, but I'll have to see how the other regulars react." She held up an arm. "This tone isn't very traditional."

"You're already a blue-eyed blonde," Nabiki countered as she got up and removed a bottle of water out of the fridge. "Your clientele don't want traditional." She took a drink.

"True," Ranma looked up at the clock on the wall. "You clocked out?"

Nabiki nodded. "Just told the boss before coming over here. You?"

"I've still got five minutes, on Last Call," the blonde frowned at the clock. On the one hand Last Call prices were a bit higher. On the other she did want to get home, or at least out of these heels.

The time passed without event and Ranma and Nabiki slipped into the dressing-room. There was a bit less of the expected post-shift rush.

Still, they had worked out a system. Each stripped off their jewelry and most of their makeup and then changed into plainer clothing. Nabiki wore sleek pants, a shiny pink blouse, and matching sneakers. Removing her nail extensions, Ranma changed into a ruffled back dress with low heels. They waited for a shuttle to whisk them to the subway station.

In between changing trains they retrieved their bags from the lockers they had rented earlier in the afternoon and slipped into a station bathroom. In one stall, Nabiki pulled off her wig and swapped shoes and blouse. She then withdrew the Musk medallion and said the magic incantation.

In her stall, Ranma intently watched as hair shimmered and deepened in color. Much to her relief her skin went the opposite direction. Creamy caramel skin faded to a pale, nearly alabaster, tone.

Shrugging, she redid her pigtail, removed her contacts, wiped off the remaining makeup, and stripped out of the dress. She had picked it for how easy it was to remove.

After changing her underwear she put on black pants and red shirt to complete the change. The redhead stepped out of the stall and looked at her reflection. She was back to normal.

Azure eyes blinked. Somehow, Ranma felt almost... disappointed with being normal. Her disquiet continued as she and Nabiki left the bathroom. She also didn't let it interfere with her vigilance in making sure they weren't followed.

At the final train station, Nabiki once again used the medallion and this time the redhead went off alone to change. A minute later the black-haired martial artist took both bags and he escorted Nabiki to the Tendo dojo.

Too busy with making sure she could slip into the house undetected, and thinking about the increased profitability of "Raiko" Nabiki didn't really notice her partner's disquiet. "You coming in?" she asked in a whisper.

"And have us be spotted together?" Ranma shook his head. "Nah, I'll go off and train and come back later," he assured with a bright smile.

Nabiki frowned as the martial artist bounded off.

End ch2

I'd like to thank the prereaders for their help in this project: Milanda Anza, Mahou Sensou, J St C Patrick, DCG, Kevin Hammel, and Ellf
A bit of a caution. I decided to release some chapters of this story early.
So it has not gone through the full checking process and may be a bit rougher than normal.

 

[Sunshine Temple]

Selling the Fantasy
A Ranma, fic thingy.
By Sunshine Temple

Naturally, I do not Ranma So here's the disclaimer:

Ranma 1/2 and its characters and settings belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Kitty, and Viz Video


Previous chapters and other works can be found at my fanfiction website.
http://jtemple.florestica.com/

Temporary Backup Site.
http://www.fukufics.com/fic/

Other website Temple of Ranma's Senshi Seifuku
http://fukufics.com

C&C as always is wanted.


Chapter 3: Building Confidence



A pair of well-dressed young women relaxed in a cafe's outdoor patio. One had long black hair wore a lacy cream dress with red accents. The other had a bouncy blonde hairdo with dark blue eyes wore a black knee length dress. The leather garment had a slit up the side and low cut top which exposed far more tanned skin than her companion's more demure dress.

The darker-skinned blonde wore polished black leather Slingback pumps with gold heels and toe accents and the other woman wore no less expensive-looking, if lower in heel, scarlet stilettos. Both wore a fair amount of artfully applied makeup. However, while the black-haired woman wore little garnet earrings and matching pendant, the blond has multiple pairs of dangling gold earrings, gold bracelets, and a heavy necklace.

The blonde looked at the glossy brochures scattered before her and sighed. "I knew housing was expensive but this..." she shook her head and took a sip of her tea.

The black-haired woman gave a little smile. "We work in Ginza, it is a rather trendy location."

"Yeah, which is why we're not looking too close," the blonde grumbled.

"Careful Raiko, mind your tone" Nabiki gently corrected using Ranma's working name.
Ranma let her expression shift as her glossy lips formed a gentle smile. "Thank you." She picked up a brochure. It was covered in her looping handwritten notes. "I suppose it's good that we're not looking for a place to actually live in."

"Yes, even a tiny studio apartment will eat into our earnings," Nabiki frowned.

The blonde nodded. "Is it worth it?" she asked.

Nabiki looked into her drink and pondered. "Well, it would save a time on us getting ready. You can change your hair and tan in peace."

"That is when I'm most vulnerable of being discovered." She looked down at her caramel colored hands tipped in polished nails dusted with a hint of golden glitter.

"But we'll have to deal with Raiko and Ranma coming and going from the same building."

"Nabiki and Naoko too." Ranma nodded. "But it gives more storage for us." The blonde was amazed at how much junk she could accumulate in only a few months.

"There's also it'll give us privacy."
"Oh my. I didn't know you felt that way Naoko-chan," the blonde fluttered her eyelashes. "Is that why you're a favorite of Mrs. Akamaratsu?"

Nabiki allowed a blush. "I didn't mean it that way, but tell me you don't yearn for a little place of your own? Some place you can be... yourself."

Ranma glanced down at her tanned and coiffed form. "That would be a novelty," she dryly noted.

Nabiki tracked where the blonde's eyes had fallen. "You can also test your new bras."

That caused Ranma to blush.

"And how are they fitting?" the black-haired girl asked, giving her companion's torso a critical glance.

"Fine," Ranna smoothly assured, regaining her composure. "I think they'll be far more comfortable."

"Yes comfortable," Nabiki noted, smirking at the blonde's vanity.

"But do you really think we should spend this much money? Rent will eat into your bottom line."

"You don't want to work any longer at this job?" Nabiki asked.

Crossing her legs, the blonde leaned back, and elegantly gestured a manicured hand to encompass her form. "Do I look like I want to work any longer than I have to?
Nabiki held her tongue.

The blonde sipped her tea. "I'm not sure. We've managed this scheme for over three months. But not without close calls, and not without running ragged."

"Akane is wondering why you don't take her for your evening training sessions," Nabiki nodded.

"Part of me regrets agreeing to start training her," Ranma sighed. "If I hadn't done that she wouldn't care about my training regimen. At least she thinks you're just up to your old tricks."

Nabiki shrugged. "Perhaps."

The blonde shook her head. "I still have three-quarters to go before I'm free. I don't want to make it longer but..."

Again Nabiki held her tongue but gave her companion a sympathetic pat of the hand. She knew how much the blonde spent on "costumes" and accessories for their job. It was an amount that had spiked in the two weeks since the bottle-blonde had gotten her tan. Frankly, Nabiki was amazed Ranma was still on track to paying off her debt in a year, but that spoke more towards the blonde's increased earnings than any savings plan.

The blonde nibbled her lip. "But perhaps a spending a bit more on a secure place is worth it."

"It would be a home base, we'd be more organized," Nabiki rolled her shoulders. "No more hiding backpacks of clothes on roofs or quick changes in train station bathrooms. "

"That is a plus," Ranma admitted.

"And there'd be less incriminating stuff of yours in my closet."

Ranma blushed. She couldn't store very many dresses and the like in her own room at the Tendo dojo. That would raise too many questions. "Yes, but a home-base like that can be discovered."

"It's a risk." Nabiki nodded. "How much time do we have before our shift?

"We should be getting ready to go," the blonde said after glancing at her watch.

Nabiki kept herself from rolling her eyes at the delicate silver faced time-piece with its slim black leather band. It was also a gift from a client, the black-haired woman noted with a bit of jealousy.

"I guess we could have had dinner later," Ranma sipped her tea. "Not that I mind enjoying a nice evening in a cafe," the blonde added with a bright smile.

Nabiki gave a gentle laugh. "We were hungry after apartment hunting. If you'll pardon me," she said standing up.

As the black-haired woman took a step away from the table, the blonde's eyes widened.
A young man with brown hair and a yellow spotted bandana lumbered down the sidewalk with an unfolded map.

"Oh," the tanned-woman quietly said as the young man's green eyes lifted from the map and he scanned his surroundings. "Fancy seeing you here," she added in a breathy voice.

Hearing the signal, Nabiki glanced back. She gave a sharp exhale.

"Yes, he might have spotted us," Ranma hissed. Despite her outward placidity her heart began to race. She swallowed and put her hands around her tea cup. "Keep going Naoko. You just standing there, or worse sitting back down, will add more suspicious," she quietly said after brining the cup up to cover her lips.

Without a nod, the black haired woman walked off towards the bathrooms.

Ranma put down her cup. She didn't want to risk talking to him but... she squared her shoulders. Letting him go off and not knowing if he saw through her disguise would work.

Putting on her most glowing smile she waited until the lost man scanned the street again. Her gaze went up and for a brief moment ultramarine blue eyes met forest green. Once she knew she had his attention, she blushed, the nervousness helped, and shyly turned her head.

Drawn in, the muscular young man walked down the sidewalk towards the cafe patio.
"Hi, you seem lost. Need some directions?" Ranma nearly purred, her honeyed words dripping with concern.


************************************************************

Ryoga shuffled down the street. He looked at his map. He took a few steps. He looked around, then with a familiar sense of dread looked back down at his map. It was all wrong.

He sighed. Well, it wasn't all wrong. The signs around him were still in Japanese. which did narrow things down.

Stopping his walk, he scanned around, looking for restaurants. They were a bit easier to remember. He noted a cafe with a wide patio. Then he saw her.

A striking blonde woman sat at a table delicately sipping her tea. Her companion, a willowy woman with black hair and a beige dress had sauntered off.

Deep, dark blue eyes met his and the tanned woman gave a coy smile before demurely turning away.

As he stepped closer more details became apparent. Her dusky features were starkly beautiful with sharp cheekbones and a narrow chin. He put her at mid twenties in age, especially going by her eyes which had a playful but almost weary confidence to them.

Dripping in golden jewelry, she primly sat in a tight black leather dress that revealed plenty of cleavage and limply waived with a hand adorned with has sparkling gold nails

"Hi, you seem lost. Need some directions?" the woman asked in a throaty almost smoky voice. Her glossy lips were put into a concerned pout

"Uh... yeah?" Ryoga said walking up to her table. The map crinkling in his hands.

"Maybe I can help, I live around here," the blonde said as she nimbly sorted some brochures and slipped them into a little golden purse. Smoothly, she looked back up towards him and gave a bright smile. "Please?"

"Su- sure..." Ryoga said.

"But how forward of me." Holding a hand to her lips the blonde gave a light giggle. "I didn't introduce myself. You may call me Kuga Raiko," she said bowing her head and torso.

In addition to the blonde leaning forward, Ryoga was standing, which gave him an excellent view of the older woman's chest. Sputtering, he put a spare bandanna to his nose.

Quirking a lip, the blonde studied his face. "Dear me, are you okay?" In a gracefully elegant motion she swept up to her feet and put a little hand on his arm. "My, my, please sit, you."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he assured eying her. The blonde lady was a little bit taller than he expected.

"Oh good, but please do sit," she invited a bit of worry still on her face.

Shrugging of his pack, he took the offered seat. The blonde had flagged down a waitress and got him to agree to a cup of tea and a bottle of barely water.

He studied the blonde's tanned form. She was short, and well... buxom. He knew of only one "woman" with a similar height and bustling. However the woman before him was at least a few centimeters taller than Ranma, and was obviously more endowed.

Blushing he realized he was staring at her. He then noticed that the woman's dark blue eyes were studying him with a... hungry intent and his blush grew.

"I told you my name," she playfully said before gingerly sipping her tea.

"Hibiki, Ryoga," he stammered.

There was an almost triumphant flash in those deep eyes. "Such a strong name for such a strong young man," she purred.

"Uh, thank you Kuga-san."

A thin eyebrow arched. "Such a polite young man." She took a sip. "But I'm not that old."

"Of course," Ryoga said, blush continuing.

"Perhaps Miss Kuga?" She leaned forward and trailed her fingers over his arm. "I would consider it a personal favor."

"Of course, Miss Kuga," Ryoga repeated, putting his bandana to his nose.

The waitress returned and placed the two drinks before Ryoga while the blonde waited with her hands primly folded before her.

"Now drink the barely water first. It'll help restore your spiritual balance," she promised, figuring that a bit of "spiritualism" would help make "Raiko" distinct from "Ranma" in Ryoga's eye.

Ryoga nodded and sipped a bit of the thick drink.

Meanwhile the blonde had taken his map and smoothed it out on the table. "Now, Hibiki-kun, where were you going?"

"Nerima, to the Tendo Dojo."

The blonde nodded her fluffed hair bouncing. "I know the ward," she explained folding the map. "But where is this dojo?"

Ryoga gave a street address.

The blonde's glossy lips formed a pout as a long nail traced over the map. "Aha! Here it is." She frowned. "Well, that's not so far. I do recommend taking the subway."

Ryoga nodded. "Uh which lines?"

The blonde gave a patient smile. "You poor dear. Do you have notepaper?" she asked taking a gleaming pen out of her purse.

Keeping his embarrassment down, Ryoga let her explain the route for the second time. The blonde was polite the whole time and seemed to get only the slightest bit... disappointed in his forgetfulness.

"It's these two transfers then two more stops. Then take this street and this one," she said, using her pen to point. The tanned woman had moved her seat so that she sat next to him, to better explain the directions.

Finishing his tea, Ryoga nodded and inspected the notes and the marks on his map. "I'll be sure to find her now! Thank you so much!"

The blonde blushed. "Oh it was nothing, now are there any other refreshments you'd care for? This cafe makes some delightful sweet buns."

"No, no, I can't be too late."

That tiny disappointed look returned to her face and somehow guilt filled Ryoga. "And what can you not bear to be late for?" she innocently asked.

"True love!" Ryoga declared.

"Oh how romantic," the blonde smiled. "Who, may I ask, is the lucky girl?"

"Tendo Akane!" Ryoga said just as surely.

"Lovely name," she said holding the smile. Part of her wondered what had happened to break Ryoga and Akari apart. Though she couldn't ask about that right now.

"Well, don't let me detain you," she graciously said, once more leaning forward to put her hand on his arm.

"Yes, I have get to her warn her and break her free of the cad's sinister clutches!" Ryoga declared dramatically.

"Oh? Sounds scandalous!" The blonde cooed allowing her lip to quirk. She wanted him to leave but... while Ryoga might not recognize her, that didn't mean he hadn't figured out some part of her and Nabiki's scheme.

"It is! The fair Akane is engaged to a jerk and lout." Ryoga pounded the table.

The tanned woman made a point of pulling back from him with surprised shock. Given this and the behavior the last time she'd seen Ryoga she was seriously wondering if he was spending time with Kuno.

"A jerk, lout, and cad?" she declared putting a hand to her powdered cheek.

"Oh yes Miss Kuga, the fiend is engaged to multiple woman, and toys with them all."

"And he's ensnared your Tendo-chan as well?" she asked dark blue eyes wide.

Ryoga grimly nodded. "Saotome has many advantages, but I will defeat him."

"She's lucky to have someone like you looking out for her" the blonde gave a swooning sigh.

Ryoga's face clouded and he stared down at his tea.

For a moment Ranma worried if she was laying it on a bit thick. This wasn't the first time she had girled herself up and scammed Ryoga. It wasn't even the second.

Instead Ryoga gave a resigned sigh. "It's just not fair. Ranma lives with Akane, and I can't even find her house."

The blonde leaned forward and flashed a smile. "Then it's been my delight to help you in some small way," she promised trailing her fingers over his arm.

The muscular young man's gloom persisted. "And even if I can get there... Saotome can somehow take her on dates to fancy restaurants, meanwhile I'd have to ration my money, if I can even get to the restaurant in time."

"Don't lose hope," she sweetly reassured him sliding a hand up his leg. The blonde's lips parted slightly as she felt a warm flash race over her body.

"I... I wo- won't," he stammered.

Relishing his embarrassment and the firmness of his muscles, the blonde looked up

Their eyes met.

Exhaling slowly, a tiny tremor shivered through her body. The tanned woman licked her lips, and staring into his green eyes her imagination, briefly, went wild. The fantasy slammed shut when she remembered that she'd already tried pretending to be his fiancee...

Blushing Ryoga looked down. His bashful face almost ashamed. "Miss Kuga..." he said holding his bandana to his nose.

"Oh hush," the blonde assured, removing her hand. "Now you go find your love," she ordered before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Blush deepening, a drop of blood spilled onto the map, despite the bandana's presence. Avoiding her dark blue eyes, he folded up the map, took her notes, dropped some money on the table, shouldered his pack, and shuffled off. "Thanks for your help, Miss Kuga," he said, not quite able to meet her gaze.

Standing to see him off, the blonde gave a happy wave as he wandered away. In the wrong direction, Ranma idly noted.

Despite the warm expression she was affecting, Internally, she had to keep herself from shaking. The whole experience was... disconcerting. On the knife edge of discovery, having to delve into her work persona...

And then the feelings... For a part of her it almost didn't feel like an act.

Once Ryoga had disappeared from view, Nabiki returned from the table she had snagged.

"Good acting. I think he bought it," Nabiki complimented her.

"He better," Ranma glanced at her watch. "He took up enough time." The blonde flagging down the waitress.

"Oh, is that why you're anxious?" the black-haired woman teased.

"I've pretended to be his sister and his fiancee in the past, I had to try something different this time," Ranma said after examining the bill she had been handed..

"It worked," Nabiki noted.

"Thanks goodness. That was close," Ranma said as she counted the bills Ryoga had left. "Oh, and looks like he paid enough for our drinks as well, with a bit extra."

Nabiki laughed as the blonde slipped the extra yen into her purse. "I guess that makes him a client of yours."

"Not that much out of it," the tanned blonde smirked as she stood. "Hardly worth my time."

Nabiki put a mock sympathetic hand on her companion's shoulder as they sauntered down the sidewalk. "He did complain about not having enough money."

"I'm just glad he didn't recognize my face. Stupid makeup worked."

Nabiki laughed. "He hardly looked, most of his attention was on your chest."

"Gee I maybe should disguise that then," Ranma flatly noted as they waited at a crosswalk.

Nabiki made a point to look over the top of the blonde's dress. "Aren't you already doing that? Or are you not stuffing your bra?"

"I am not!" Ranma stamped a foot as the light changed.

Nabiki just grinned. "Oh, it that due to the bra itself then?"

"No it's just helping... lift a bit," the blonde said as they approached the train station.

"Do you really need help?" the black-haired girl asked.

The blonde gave a sultry smile. "Nao-chan, I'll take whatever edge I can get."


************************************************************


Akane shifted a bit in her seat. Looking around the well-appointed restaurant, she took a moment to discreetly adjust the hem of her crimson dress.

"That is a good color on you," Ranma said as he sipped his glass of wine.

"Because it matches your suit?"

Ranma glanced down "Sport coat and slacks," he mildly corrected. "And this is a more dark maroon color."

"You do look good," Akane gave a smirk as she looked around the room. There was a fair bit of polished wood, and a set of doors were open to a patio which overlooked a part. "Who dressed you?" she playfully asked.

Flushing a bit, Ranma mumbled something into his glass.

"Pardon?"

"Your sisters."

Akane blinked at the sport coat and silver button down shirt Ranma wore. They suited him well, or at least they were less stifling than she expected. "Really?"

"Well..." Ranma put his glass down and started cutting his appetizer. "Kasumi insisted I wear a tie." He sighed and popped the dumpling into his mouth.

"And Nabiki?" Akane asked with a bit more edge than she expected.

"Nabiki cared more about my shoes." He chuckled. "I do not understand the fascination."

"Tell me about it," Akane laughed. "Do you know how long Nabiki spent trying to get the right shoes for this dress?"

"Longer than you did getting the dress?" Ranma slyly asked.

"I know!" Akane agreed.

"Women," Ranma sighed.

Akane gave him an arch look.

"What?" Ranma flushed and spurted. "I er.... I didn't mean to say you..."

Akane put her hand on his. "Oh, calm down." She then leaned back and took a sip of her own drink. "I suppose I should accept that even on a nice date you'll still be... you."

Ranma blinked. "Uh, thanks?"

Akane laughed. "And here I was worried that you'd wanted to go out with no reason other than 'a fancy date would be nice'."

"Worried?" Ranma frowned.

"Given my sisters put you up to this..." Akane started cutting into what was on her own plate.

"I think they're happy for us," Ranma said, taking Akane's hand.

"I guess that's some good to come out of you helping Nabiki." Despite the ire in Akane's voice she did squeeze Ranma's hand back.

"It's nothing like that, we're working on a getting the cure better and well... it's not perfect but..."

Akane eyed him. "It just seems like it's taking a long time. You've been working for half a year."
Ranma shook his head. "Only 5 months," he firmly stated. "And it took her longer to even find the cure in the first place."

"And what's her interest?" Akane said savoring the scent of the pork dumplings.

Ranma stated counting off with his fingers "Pops, Ryoga, Moose, Shampoo."

"She wants to cure all of you?"
"It's what she's been trying," Ranma shrugged. "I dunno how she thinks she'll make money off of 'em, but that's not really my thing."

"It's more than that," Akane stated.

"Do tell?" Ranma asked before sipping more of his wine.

"It's not just you she's dragging around. There's all those nights she's going out a with these new friends. Hitting clubs I bet. She's doing some other new scam. I worry about her."

"Me too," Ranma admitted. "I'm getting sick of being her guinea pig," he said smoothly refilling his glass. Internally he was pretty thankful he and Nabiki had bitten the bullet and gotten that apartment.

He then looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, would you like some too?" he asked.

Akane shook her head. "No thanks. It's good though." She frowned a bit. Ranma wasn't drinking much, this was barely his second glass, but still his tolerance was really low. Or at least it had been.

"Yes, nice to indulge a bit, but we can't lose sight of training," he laughed gently placing the bottle back down. "And I must say you have been impressive with your work."

"Maybe it's because some pig-headed jerk finally admitted I was worthy of teaching," Akane teased.

Ranma looked guilty. "I'll admit it. You were right. But it did take you some time to get serious, and there's still more you can do."

"Like those late night meditation sessions?" Akane scoffed.

"Focus is important," Ranma mildly said.

"Sitting on a rooftop staring into the night for a few hours?" Akane glanced at the front door and sighed. She knew there was a lot of tedium to marital arts, but sometimes Ranma went a bit too far.

"If you'd rather train than sleep. Besides you were good at it a week ago when you came with."

Akane blinked at him. "I fell asleep, and almost fell out of a tree

"Ah bit you didn't fall, much better than the time before that. Think what you can do with more practice."

Akane shook her head. "This is weirder than fence-walking."

"Nonsense, balance and focus are both important."

"At least I got you away from it tonight," Akane smiled.

Ranma coughed. "Well there are more important things, than balance and focus."
"Aww," Akane smirked. "You're trying to flatter me."

"Is it working?"

"Clumsily," Akane admitted

"I aim to please," Ranma laughed.

After laughing with him, Akane looked pensive for a moment.

"Something wrong?"

"Oh, just thinking about the future,"

Ranma put down his glass.

"What'll we do after graduation? I mean you don't seem to care much about the exams."

Ranma ran his finger over the rim of the glass. "To be honest... I kinda feel my future's pretty set ya know?"

"What teach marital arts? Bum around like your father?"

"Well there is a certain dojo I might be marrying into," Ranma leaned forward. "What about you? What do you think I should do? What do you want? What are your plans?"

Akane flushed a bit. "Well... I've got the same questions about my future. Though I do think university is important."

Ranma allowed a nod

"I'm a bit surprised you're interested," Akane noted.

Ranma smiled. "As you said, we do have graduation coming next year. We can see what it's doing to Nabiki now. But we've got a future,"

Akane's lips quirked. She was about to follow up when she saw Ranma glancing over towards the door. The martial artist gave a tiny frown

He sighed.

"What's wrong?" Akane asked.

"By the hostess station, careful look out of the corner of your eye. They'll notice you if you stare."

Akane did as instructed. She saw Ukyou and Ryoga trying to chat with the hostess. Ukyou seemed to be more forceful and strangely enough Ryoga was the one trying to keep her calm. "Oh... think they mean trouble?"

"You tell me," Ranma reached for his glass and decided not to. "Consider it a training exercise."

"Well... they're looking suspicious but that doesn't mean much. They're arguing with the hostess." Akane frowned. "Hrm... neither is up to the dress code here. Ryoga's understandable, but Ukyou should know better."

"Yes, she should."

Akane could detect a bit of disappointment in Ranma's tone. "They're after us?"

Taking a slim notepad out of his sport coat, Ranma nodded. "I know Ukyou's been jealous."

"And Ryoga's acting weird. Weirder than normal. What now?"
Pulling out a pen, Ranma leaned in. "You tell me, though I'd like to avoid a fight in the restaurant if at all possible," he said writing out a brief note.

"Oh?"

"No need to make the wait staff's life more difficult."

"Right," Akane discreetly suited the room "Then we need to get out of here, without them seeing us, or at least not until we can get some distance. "

"Where are the exits?" Ranma asked slipping a few bills under the note he had just finished writing.

"Front by the hostess station. Fire exit behind you, probably alarmed. Kitchen door behind me. And patio down to the side." Akane glanced down. "What are you writing?"

"A note to our waiter that we had to suddenly leave, family emergency, much apologies, no slight on the service," Ranma placed a salt cellar atop the note to hold it in.


"Uh right," Akane glanced around the restaurant. "Looks like Ukyou's getting sick of the run-around."

Nodding Ranma took one last sip of his wine. "What's next?"

"Next?"

He smiled. "Today's lesson: how to evade a two-man search."

Akane sighed. "But we're dressed up!"

The martial artist's face was impassive for a second, but then a smirk reappeared.

"Insufferable," she hissed. "Fine the patio. Let's go."

Ranma stood and took her by the arm. "Walk confidently, but not briskly. You don't want to look like you're fleeing. Oh and smile," he added before giving a mirthful laugh.

"Uh yes..." Akane said as they slipped onto the patio. She looked over the stone railing. There was a garden fifteen feet below the patio. At least it wouldn't be a hard jump.

Akane looked back and saw Ukyou and Ryoga were now prowling through the dining area.

"Get out of sight before you jump," Ranma quietly stated as he led her down the far side of the patio as it wrapped around the building.

"And if they find us?" Akane asked.

Happily nodding to people at the outside tables, Ranma glanced over the edge of the patio. "If you have to fight in high heels, remember to put more weight on your toes."

Akane frowned. Of course Ranma knew how to fight in heels, Akane had seen the redhead do it before. Ranma also knew how to fight in a bunny-outfit. Akane stopped and grumbled; this side of the patio dead ended in a leafy trellis. "I suppose we should jump," she sighed, looking at her dress.

"Allow me," Ranma said as he hopped the railing and deftly landed.

Some of the diners had noticed the young man's leap. Akane gave a bashful smile. "Jealous ex-girlfirend," she mumbled before glancing over the side. Ranma was already in position to catch her.

Sighing, Akane jumped. As dates went, this was still in the upper half..


************************************************************


A poised blonde in a strapless white PVC dress sashayed up to the Golden Oak Club's bar. Contended glossy lips complimented her deep blue eyes. Rich mocha colored skin practically glowed as she stopped before the bar.

Her thick golden tresses shone in the club's lighting and reached the middle of her back in a fluffed wave. Tight and low cut, the dress exposed plenty of cleavage and the blonde found she had to sit with extra care given how it constricted around her thighs.

Smiling at the woman behind the bar, the blonde gently placed a blue pack of cigarettes onto the polished surface. Her bracelet made a metallic noise as it brushed against the edge of the bar.

Anya looked up at the blonde woman she was dripping in golden jewelry. Her white dress had matching gold trim and even her spike heels had golden accents. Anya herself was in a backless black cocktail dress with silver accents and a long skirt that was even tighter than the blonde's.

"Looking lovely, Goldie," Anya smiled. "That dress is totally you."

"I know!" The blonde increased her grin to incandescent. "Well, if you insist on giving me such a nickname," she purred.

"I'm sure your clients love it," Anya teased.

"Oh some, but many prefer plain-old Raiko Kuga," the blonde demurely said.

Anya laughed. "And how is Fuwa-san?"

"Intrigued by new cigars. Why he's dying to try one of our Monte Cristos," the blonde said letting her tone become a bit triumphant.

"Good work Raiko-chan." Anya said while the blonde blushed.

However the blush was easy to miss given all the cosmetics she wore to accent her appearance.

"I'll get the sampler humidor," Anya bent down to take out a dark cedar box with a glass panel inset in the top. "I guess the new... dress paid off," the brunette said with a meaningful pause, her gaze t the blonde's chest.

Ranma allowed her grin to slip a tiny big. "Oh? Maybe it did," she allowed picking the humidor up with her ivory-tipped nails.

"You left your cigarettes," Anya said.

"Oh I don't smoke," the blonde gave a warm smile.

Anya raised an eyebrow and looked at the pack. "Those are Blue Dahlias."

"Yes, most generous of Fuwa-san to purchase them."

"Well, if you insist," Anaya said as she smoothly slipped the pack off the top of the bar. She noticed there was a thick little envelope banded to the side of the packet. "Are you sure?"

"Of course, they would be wasted on me. Better to give them to someone that can appreciate them."

Anya bowed slightly.

"However," the blonde's eyes flashed. "I would appreciate a small favor."

"Of course."

"As you know I'm splitting rent with my good friend Naoko."

Anya nodded. She knew those two shared an apartment. She also surmised that Naoko had Raiko in a fair bit of debt. Given Raiko had been working at the club for a bit over six months and was still in debt it had to be some serious money.

"I'm saving up for a surprise for her, and would appreciate a place to store the gift fund, away from prying eyes," the blonde said in an utterly sincere voice.

"Oh yes, I can make arrangements," Anya assured. She could understand the debt being a sore spot for the blonde. She didn't know how much Naoko was siphoning off, but it had to be hurting the blonde's bottom line.

"You are a dear friend." Ranma's smile seemed a bit more genuine to Anya's eye

"I'll keep your help in mind. Whenever I can return some small favor. For a start I'll be sure to get another pack from Fuwa-san"

Anya bowed her head. "And how are you handling the smoking lounge?"

The barest flicker of distaste crossed Ranma's elegantly, if a bit overly, made up face. "I'm very thankful for your lessons."

"It's my pleasure," Anya assured. Learning how to "smoke without smoking" was an important skill, much like learning how to "drink without drinking".

As such both techniques shared many of the same tricks. There was letting the cigarette hang on ones finger, puffing on it only to keep it burning, avoiding inhaling, letting smoke drift out of the mouth. And, of course, lighting a new cigarette before the old one finished.

There was also simply leaving it on the ashtray and doing something else that required one's hands: faking a drink was a classic way to double up. Of course, Anya took the simple approach of actually being a smoker.

"You're right it is easy," Ranma gave a light laugh. "Though I found I didn't even need to do that stuff, as long as I focused on of Fuwa-san's cigar he hardly knew what I was doing."

Anya's lips quirked. "Oh?"

The blonde looked smug and tapped the humidor. " The way I leaned over to light his cigar, I could be smoking a bubble pipe and he wouldn't have noticed."

"That's how you do it, Goldie," Anya cheered.

Smug, Ranma went back to the smokers lounge, letting her heels click and her hips sway. "Pardon my delay," she breathily said as she slipped into the room.

A stout-bearish looking man Fuwa-san looked up from his paperwork. His grey eyes brightened. "No apologies necessary, what did you bring me, my dear?"

Mindful of the restrictions of her dress, the blonde carefully sat down. "A selection that I'm sure you'll find something... enticing," she said with a soft slightly downcast gaze as she shifted her legs to press her knees together.


************************************************************



With the softest of creaks from her white dress, Ranma slipped into the dressing room chair. Pulling off her spike heels, she gave a long sigh and let her face relax. Her lips were still in a slight smile, but it was no longer the radiant, dazzling expression she normally wore.

Sitting next to her was a young-looking woman in a lavender elegant gothic lolita dress. All wide hazel eyes, sparkling bows and ruffles, and curled chocolaty brown hair Kaori looked like a sweet, innocent princess. "How was your night, Raiko-chan?" she asked in a chipper, saccharine voice.

"Well, enough," Ranma said as she started pulling of her bracelets and necklaces. "Mr. Araki is solid and Mrs. Akamaratsu is always a pleasure to talk with."

Kaori gave a light giggle as she stared removing her makeup. "Don't forget Mr. Fuwa in the smoking lounge."

"What about him?" Ranma haughtily asked, cutting through the other girl's innocent act.

"He is handsome, no?" Kaori teased.

The blonde paused and looked into her reflection. The tanned woman in the mirror gave a sultry, almost hungry smile. "If you like a big bulky brutes of a man," she breathily said.

"And to you?" the curly-haired woman asked.

"Why? Do you?" Ranma forced a dismissive shrug. "I could see our more... muscular clients liking what you have to offer. Oh, my mistake, this is a no-touching club. Shame no one can punish you."

Kaori gave a rich laugh that almost seemed genuine. "My Goldie, it took you long enough."

The blonde simply arched her eyebrow and gave a smug smile. She went back to her reflection and started brushing down her hair.

"It's just nice to see you... adapting," Kaori noted as she inspected her face.

"Oh?"

"Well when you started you didn't want to go into the smoker's lounge."

"I was worried about the smell getting into my hair," the blonde said.

"Of course," Kaori sweetly agreed. "What changed?"

"I've been here six months."

"Yes, you're no longer the new girl."

"Oh, it's not that."

"Ah," Kaori nodded as she stood up. "You thought this was a temporary job. Something to make ends meet and yet..." Hazel eyes scanned the jewelry and shoes and makeup that had collected in front of the blonde.

"Would you mind unzipping?" Kaori asked.

"Of course." Ranma stood and helped undo the back of the brunette's frilly dress.

"And how is your new apartment doing?" Kaori asked, oh so innocently, as she stepped out of the garment and hung it from a padded hanger. "You share it with Naoko right?"

The blonde returned the smile. "Well, you know how expenses can get ahead of you. Can you do me?" she asked turning around.

"Certainly," Kaori unzipped the blonde's skimpy white dress.

"I'm guessing you had a goal at six months, and you... have difficulties?" Kaori asked as she put on a pleated black skirt.

"I shouldn't say," Ranma said as she hung her own dress. As it was strapless and sleeveless that proved to be a bit complicated. She ran a manicured hand over it. Finding the dress had been... fun. It reminded her of the bunny-suit she wore to compete against Ukyou, but this was shinier, tighter, and came with a miniskirt.

Still happy, she then unclipped the lacy white bra she wore and put it onto the counter and replaced it with a plainer, and smaller, grey one.

"And that's why you're now willing to wok in the smoking lounge, and why you're.." Kaori glanced down at the 'helpers' nestled in the bra the blonde had just removed.

Ranma put on a grateful expression. "Well yes this is a lovely job with wonderful coworkers, but I do have dreams that lay beyond here," she said, clasping her hands before her.

Kaori giggled. "Putting it on a bit thick, Goldie?"

The blonde chuckled. "Please, I play the beach blonde and you play the sweet schoolgirl. We both do it a bit thick." She pulled on a pair of black tights and a long silvery sweater dress.

"I don't know what you mean," Kaori faux protested as she finished putting on her street clothes.

Ranma sat back down before the mirror and started removing her eye makeup. She then pouted and frowned as she wiped of the lipstick. "Maybe you're right," the blonde admitted.

"Oh?" Kaori asked as she adjusted and straightened her fancy dress and got it ready for bagging.

"Maybe my lips could use some work."

Kaori raised an eyebrow. "It would tie in the rest of your face, Goldie."

The blonde's pout grew. "Yeah, it would, but it'd be another expense. I suppose I'd make it back but..."

"Well, there is another option," Kaori shrugged as she zipped the vinyl bag around her hanging dress.

"The other club Mistress Yamato runs?"

The brunette shrugged. "Depends on what you really want. At that club you'd make more money, but the work is harder and more.... well the hours are more demanding."

"More shifts?"

"It's a smaller more exclusive club. There's a membership fee. Now that's split with the girls, but it means a client can reserve a time for you and the Boss will expect you to show up. Even if it's not your night."

"Oh?" The blonde glanced back at Karoi "But it pays more?" she asked applying a bit of light eyeliner and lipstick.


"Very much, there's more expensive refreshments." Kaori leaned in. "Even a little gift shop so the clients can buy perfume and order shoes and jewelry."

"And the catch?" Ranma asked.

"Well, know how we have a firm 'no touching' rule here?"

"Ah," the blonde then shook her head. "I thought Yamato-san didn't like love hotels."

"Hardly," Kaori giggled. "there's nothing like that going on. Just if the client needs some hand holding... the girl can offer it.

"Oh, I see," the blonde nodded, playing alone.

"But without the 'no touching' rule you may have to handle a client yourself," Kaori teased

Ranma had to keep from rolling her eyes. "I can handle that."

Kaori shrugged. "Sure, but you don't quite have the build. Well... maybe if you got some work on your lips, cheeks, and chin."

The blonde gave a light laugh. "Well your face is perfect. So why don't you work there?"
Kaori leaned a bit closer. "Because I've already worked at the Silver Oak," she whispered into the blonde's ear. "I just stepped down because I didn't like the restrictive hours."

"Oh?" Ranma bowed her head. "Well thank you for the advice Kaori-chan."

"My pleasure," Kaori said as she shouldered her bagged dress. After boxing up the rest of her gear and cleaning the dressing room station, she gave a dimpled grin. "If do want to transfer and need someone to vouch for you to the boss I'll be happy to recommend you."

"How gracious."

"That is.... if you do something about those lips!' Kaori teased and blew a kiss before flouncing out of the dressing room.

Nabiki entered just after the curly-haired woman left. She wore a dark evening gown with a blue silk sash and blue ornaments in her long glossy black wig.

"What was that about?" she asked taking the dressing room seat Kaori had vacated.

"Recruiting," Ranma shrugged as she looked into her reflection. The deep blue eyed blonde hungrily grinned back at her. Frowning, The blonde put down the lipstick tube and slipped it into her purse.

"How much did you make?" Nabiki asked as she took off her makeup.

"Oh enough," Ranma shrugged as she cleaned up her clothes, makeup and accessories to free up a vanity station for another girl.

"Cagy, I like that," Nabiki smiled as she finished clearing her face.

"I do learn, slowly but surely," Ranma said as she returned to help Nabiki out of her dress.

"After that double date a couple weeks back, I'd bet." Nabiki said as she finished changing.

"It wasn't a double date two loons crashed it," the blonde sighed. It was funny, Ryoga was easier for her to manage as Raiko than as Ranma. Her hungry little smile returned.

"Still, they're getting antsy," Nabiki said as she slipped on a pair of shorts and a green blouse. She then adjusted her wig and removed the ornaments.

"They've been quiet since then," Ranma said before slipping to her locker to put away a few items. She slipped a grey purse over a shoulder and checked its contents.

"What about Kuno?" Nabiki said after she caught up to the blonde.

"Kuno doesn't count," Ranma said as she looked at her face with a makeup compact.

Nabiki laughed. "Feeling extra vain Raiko-chan?" she asked, noting the blonde's inspection. "Or did a contact slip."

"No everything's fine. I'm just... never-mind." With a pout she closed the compact.

"What was Kaori recruiting for?" Nabiki asked as they exited the dressing room.

"Oh just another club, but really she was..."

"She was criticizing your lips again?" Nabiki laughed.

The blonde pouted. "She may be right."

"You're being silly," Nabiki laughed as they walked to the rear exit.

"Tell me hers aren't better"

"Well yeah, they are. But so what?" Nabiki shook her head and started chatting with the security guards on station. She turned back to the blonde. "Hey, Raiko-chan, Ken says he'd be able to drive us back home in ten minutes."

"That'd be lovely," Ranma said giving a bright smile.

Soon they were joined by Hitomi, a tall woman with bright green eyes and silvery dyed hair and Noriko, a brunette with a pixie cut and dark slate-grey eyes. Both were in street clothes similar to Ranma and Nabiki's

The four lightly chatted before one of the gauds came and helped them into the waiting silver van.

"Noriko what do you use for foundation?" Ranma asked as the van pulled away from the club.

The somewhat pale young woman laughed. "I'm not sure my color suits your complexion."

The blonde shook her head. "It's not that exactly that. I'm looking for, let's call it, inspiration."

Noriko blinked. "You want makeup tips?"

Nabiki allowed herself to smirk at that.

"Goldie wants to make herself look older," Hitomi said, her green eyes flashing with mirth.

"Don't be so crass," the blonde huffed. "Is there anything wrong with looking more mature?"

Noriko made a study of the blonde's face. "Given how cute and innocent you look like without any makeup, you do need the all help you can get."

The blonde put on a smile. "Kaori-chan's style is not for everyone."

Hitomi gave a little laugh. "Subtly put Raiko-chan. I suppose you were wise enough to not ask for her advice?" Twisting in her seat, she returned to studying the blonde's face. "I'll have to think about it, but given what I've seen you do at the club I think you're doing everything I would."

Ranma pouted a bit.

"Be happy, Goldie," Nabiki grinned. "You just got complimented on your cosmetological skills."

Ranma bowed her head. "I have learned from the best."

As the van slowed, Hitomi laughed.

"We're here," the guard said as he pulled in front of a hotel lobby.

Noriko raised an eyebrow as the two other girls got up.

"We live just around the block, and this road's on the way to the train station," Nabiki smoothly explained.

Noriko nodded. She understood that some of her coworkers preferred... discretion going to and from work

The blonde and the ebony haired woman hopped out of the van and after pausing to causally check to see if they were followed strode right into the hotel lobby.

"Hitomi's right. Taking Kaori's advice is a bad idea," Nabiki said as they crossed a long corridor and went down a perpendicular hallway.

"Oh yes, Kaori is poison," Ranma readily agreed as she nodded to the doorman as they exited a secondary, smaller hotel lobby. This one opened to a different street.

The pair did another sweep and went down the street. Ranma casually looked a bit down the road, the concrete and glass of their apartment building was just a bit further down and across the street. "I'm a bit surprised she tried to appeal to money."

"Oh?"

Ranma nodded. "She'd have better time dangling that lure in front of you, Nao-chan."

Nabiki almost snorted as they crossed the road. "Don't think she hasn't"

"My, my," the blonde shook her head as she entered the polished tile and steel lobby of the apartment building. The room was cold and bare. Little more than an antechamber it had mail slots and a place to get out of the rain. There was also a buzzer system on the far wall and a security keypad between the two pairs of elevator doors.

Glancing up at the camera in the ceiling, Ranma entered in their apartment number and her pin code.

"What are you thinking?" Nabiki asked.

"That maybe your idea of sweet-talking building security isn't a bad idea," the blonde said as the keypad gave a happy chime and turned green.

"That's how you got the back door codes. Maybe we could put in our own cameras to watch our door but..."

"Yeah, yeah that costs more. So many expenses," Ranma sighed as the elevator chimed and opened.

"It wouldn't be that expensive," Nabiki assured.

The blonde was silent as they rode up to near the top of the building. Getting off at the twentieth floor they went down a corridor dense with doors. The carpeting and paint was well-maintained but the sterile feeling continued. The building was less a place for living and more a place for storage and sleeping.

Nabiki took out a key and opened the door to a tiny studio apartment. Giving one final check of the corridor, Ranma closed it behind them and finally let her little smile slip away.

Across from the door was kitchenette against one wall with a tiny balcony next to that. The door to said balcony provided only one of two windows in the apartment. The other was over the little kitchen sink. An opposite corner was taken up by a compact bathroom. Storage shelves lined the walls and clothing hung from racks.

There was a television hung on one wall and on either side of that were two plain mirrors with little plastic rolling dressers full of cosmetics. It looked like the apartment two young women in the hospitality, service, or theater industry would split.

Ranma chuckled as she went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. It was an honest assessment. That is what she and Nabiki were...

Taking a sip she looked out the window.

"What's wrong?" Nabiki asked as she pulled off her wig.

Ranma waved towards her blonde hair and tanned skin.

Nabiki gave her a look. "You want to change back?"

"In a bit."

"And that's not what has you pensive is it?"

The blonde sighed. "I was just thinking. We've done so much... these expenses are pushing back our timetable. I mean look at this place."

"This is as cheap as we could go, while..."
"Yes, while still being secure," Ranma put her glass down. "I do like having a place to put everything, but... how long as we going to do this?"

Nabiki hung her wig on its stand. "That is a risk. The longer we do this the more the odds are we'll be found out."

The blonde snorted. "Well, I'll be found out. Not to be cold Nabiki, but no one would be that shocked if you were found out to be a hostess girl."

"I recall you were surprised," Nabiki smirked as she brushed her brown hair out. It was a bit longer and could only generously be called a pageboy.

"I also laughed at you." Ranma shook her head. "No, I'm thinking I need to make more money."

"You're not taking Kaori's suggestion are you?"

"Hardly," Ranma said as she rummaged in the cupboard for some biscuits to munch on. "That second club sounds too good to be true, but what if I could make more money and improve my disguise..."

Nabiki made a show of biting her lip. Depending on what her... partner wanted, this could actually be used to draw Ranma in deeper, and thus give Nabiki more time to make money off of the blonde. "But You've already got new eyes, hair and skin color. And...

Nabiki glanced at Ranma's chest.

Ranma blushed. "Yes, yes I've started taking some help down there. What of it? I'm surprised more of us girls don't do it at the club."

"Not every client is into larger breasts," Nabiki shrugged. "But... well, I'm not sure what more you can do."

Ranma ate a couple biscuits. "Well..."

"And don't tell me Kaori suggested something."

Ranma pouted. "Well, Anya suggested it too."

"Oh well, Anya's not a terrible influence a all." Nabiki laughed. "I mean she taught you how to smoke."

"Fake smoke." Leaning on the counter Ranma crossed her arms. "And didn't she teach you too?"

Nabiki nodded. "Fair enough."

Ranma glanced her watch.

"Now do you want to go back?" Nabiki asked.

"If you can."

Nabiki pulled out the little medallion and said the incantation.

The blonde's form shimmered and her skin paled as her hair deepened and turned bright red. Going to her mirror, the newly minted redhead removed the last of her makeup and the contact lenses that darkened her azure eyes. She pulled off the last of her jewelry and cleared off her nails.

"You're not staying the night?"

"I was thinking of getting some training in," Ranma said as she stripped out of her tights and sweater dress. Both were hung up and she took out a loose fitting Chinese top and matching black pants.

"You're actually doing that late night meditation stuff?"

"Hey it's good practice," the redhead stated.

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "You want the medallion on or off?"

"Leave it off for now," Ranma said as she pulled her hair back in a rough ponytail and slipped on a black ball cap. "I'm gonna leave here in girl form and I wanna be able to change back."

Nabiki nodded.

"You want me to tell Akane or Kasumi anything, in case they ask where you went?" Ranma asked.

Nabiki pulled out a futon. "Nah, I told them I was spending the night with a friend."

Standing by the door, the redhead laughed. "You sure Umeko will lie for you?"

"With the amount you spend on your hair and tan?"

"True, that shade of gold doesn't come cheap. Night," she said before slipping out of the apartment. Knowing the codes to the maintenance corridors and service entrances, it was easy for the redhead to slip out of the building.

She wasn't lying when she told Nabiki she was going to do some training before heading home. Ranma simply avoided mentioning that she was going to concentrate on meditating on a solution to this situation. She had a few ideas; she was just... unsure of the risk.

************************************************************

Ranma nodded slightly as the teacher droned on. He occasionally made a note on a piece of paper and flipped to a new page in the study book as required.

It was another "mixed blessing" that came from working at the Golden Oak. After over half a year Ranma was quite capable at pretending to be engaged. Feigning interest came with the job. And a teacher was easier to fool than a client willing to spent plenty of yen.

On the upside, it meant that Ranma could easily look like he was paying attention in class, but it meant he couldn't do that and take a quick nap.

He exhaled and scanned the board. It was a shame as he found most schoolwork horrifically tedious. Getting out from Nabiki's debt was not the only thing he was counting the days until it was over.

Sure, English had some utility, or might add another skill to use at work.
But that was slow going as Hinako Ninomiya was crazy, even by Furinkan High standards. Not that she had even been in for the last week.

Though Ranma felt a bit of sympathy for her missing teacher. Hinako had a chi imbalance that caused her to shift between two forms. One was a tall, shapely somewhat vain woman. The other... was a little girl, and a bit of a brat at that.

Ranma did wonder which was the "real" Hinako, especially since the teacher was more than willing to use her sensuality to manipulate males. It helped her keep delinquent students in line.

All in all, it was something Ranma was now... familiar with.

Running almost on auto-pilot, Ranma let the class run out. It was time he could have been spend training or even out with Akane. Not that she was terribly inclined to skip school.

The bell rang and the teacher laboriously dismissed the class.

After collecting his things, Ranma stood up.

Clasping her briefcase closed, Akane walked over from her desk. "I'm not even going to ask if you're worried about tomorrow."

"Our date's day after tomorrow," Ranma rubbed his chin. "What's to worry about that?" he asked catching Ukyou getting up from her seat.

"The test!" Akane cried.

"Ah that," Ranma playfully bowed his head.

"You should be worried about your grades."

Ranma shrugged. "I'm doing better."

Akane sighed. "Only compared to how horrible you were last year. It's still a big deal"

He shifted his footing slightly. "I suppose." Truth be told, feigned interest did produce
better results than disinterest.

"I just worry," Akane said. "You need to take it seriously."

"Fair point," Ranma nodded. "I mean you're taking school and your training seriously.
Maybe I should put equal effort into both too."

Akane shook her head. "Please, I know you wouldn't do that."

"Just be glad Ranma comes into school every day," Ukyou said as she walked over.

"Hey Ucchan," Ranma smiled.

"You are pretty obsessive Ranchan," Ukyou said.

Ranma kept a straight face. "Well, it is important."

Akane did not. "What? You're one to talk."

Ukyou flashed the Tendo girl a glare.

Ranma put up his hands and flashed Ukyou a grin. "I dunno, you do seem pretty focused on okonomiyaki."

Ukyou's expression softened.

"You might even say it's your life's work."

"Well, I am the best at cooking... better than some can say," Ukyou sniffed at Akane before walking off. "And some of us have jobs to get too," she added looking over her shoulder.

Akane shook her head. "What was that about?"

"I was trying to keep her from starting a fight."

Akane chewed her lip. "Well... okay."

"Besides, she really is obsessed with the stuff."

"It is her job," Akane allowed.

"I'm guessing you don't want to go there for our date?" Ranma teased

Akane playfully hit him on the shoulder.

"Lunch then?"

She hit him again.

"Okay, okay," Ranma laughed.

"Besides it's not like we can skip class to have a long lunch."

"Oh?"

"We've got a substitute teacher for English today. I guess the principal finally realized Hinako-san has been absent."

"No more free period after lunch? Dang" Ranma sighed. "But speaking of lunch..."

"Oh, I'll be eating with Yuka and Sayuri, but thanks for the invitation."

Ranma chuckled. "Well, I technically didn't ask you..."

"Just take the compliment," Akane said with faux exasperation.

"So, I'll have to eat alone! Oh the horrors,' Ranma sighed.

Akane rolled her eyes. "You're a bad actor."

"You should know, being the theater buff and all," he agreed.

"Later!" Akane said as she went off to find her friends.

Ranma waved until she was out of sight. Shrugging, he slipped out of the classroom and looked for a quiet spot where he wouldn't be disturbed. The back of the library might work.


************************************************************

"Class, I'll be your new teacher," a woman confidently said as she strode into the classroom, her heels clicking on the floor. She wore a charcoal skirt with bronze pinstripes, a bronze silk blouse and a dark jacket with matching accents.

She adjusted her gold-framed glasses giving a teasing smile. "Miss Ninomiya told me so much about you. I hope I can fill in her place," she purred striding to the desk.

Akane nearly gasped at the substitute teacher her skirt was even shorter than Hinako's and her blouse was scandalously tight. Worse the blonde hussy was wearing high heels: shoes inside the classroom.

Leaning on the front of the desk, the woman crossed her ankles, showing off long tanned legs. Glossy lips pulled into a bright smile as she leaned forward. "My name is Raiko Kuga, but you can call me Miss Kuga," she promised her dark, deep blue eyes sparkling behind her glasses.

"Yes, Miss Kuga," the class repeated.

Feigning disappointment, the blonde shook her head. "Your accents could be better. I see many of you will need some personal, tutoring. Starting with..." she lazily reached out and pointed a manicured finger at one of the students.

Looking down the glossy talon Akane froze, and stared into the blonde's deep eyes.

As the woman prowled forward the other students and desks faded until it was only the two of them.

Placing her hands on the desk, Miss Kuga leaned forward looming over Akane. "Now, Miss Ninomiya said I might have to give delinquent students... special attention," she said as she pulled off her glasses.

Looking into the blonde's ultramarine-blue eyes the Tendo girls' breath stopped.

Miss Kuga lowered her head and kissed the girl. Their lips met, parted and Kuga let her tongue slip out. After the embrace she twisted and sat down on the desk, crossing her tanned thighs in front of Akane's gaze.

"Well," Miss Kuga gave a breathy sigh. "I suppose that's a good first lesson."

Licking her lips, Akane gazed up at the tanned blonde. "One question sensei."

"Go on," Miss Kuga smiled indulgently.

"Why are you dressed up, Ranma?"

The blonde gave a soft laugh. "I'm not Ranma," she said with utter confidence.

Akane smirked. "Really? You think you can just put on a wig and some lipstick and no one would figure it out?"

The tanned woman huffed. "It's not a wig, and..."

"And what? It worked on Ryoga?" Akane laughed. "I'm not an idiot." She ran a hand up the blonde's thigh until she tugged at the end of hers skirt. "But I'm not dressed up as some kind of pervert."

The blonde's smile slipped.

Keeping her smirk, Akane leaned back and crossed her arms. "What happened to you Saotome?"

"I..." The woman blinked. Her lies and methods boiled away under Akane's glare.

Everything went black and Ranma jerked up with a start. He winced a bit and stretched at the library table. Catching his breath he paused, he was seated in the far end of the school library's stacks, in a somewhat private section.

As he listened to see if his awakening drew anyone's attention he frowned. It wasn't quite the most disturbing "girl dream" he'd ever had. The ones involving multiple Kunos swimming around his girl form when he first moved to Nerima still toped that list.

But having Akane find out about Raiko Kuga as a nightmare. Shaking his head, Ranma checked the time using his phone, sighed, and got up. It looked like his lunch break was over.

End ch3

I'd like to thank the prereaders for their help in this project: Milanda Anza, Mahou Sensou, J St C Patrick, DCG, Kevin Hammel, and Ellf
A bit of a caution. I decided to release some chapters of this story early.
So it has not gone through the full checking process and may be a bit rougher than normal.

 

[Sunshine Temple]

Here's a couple bits of art related to the story.
http://sunny-temple.deviantart.com/art/TF-Ranma-s-new-work-uniform-ch-1-2-and-3-645897777
and
http://sunny-temple.deviantart.com/art/STF-Ranma-and-Nabiki-practicing-651268166

Second one is a little bit risque

 

[dxdragon]

I love this so much! You can't believe how hard it is to find new Ranma fanfiction out there now of days. I saw this and knew I would love it Keep up the amazing work.

 

[Sunshine Temple]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

And thanks again for commenting!

 

[TheAkashicTraveller]

I'm also enjoying this, new Ranma stories are few and far apart these days.

I love this so much! You can't believe how hard it is to find new Ranma fanfiction out there now of days. I saw this and knew I would love it Keep up the amazing work.

Click to shrink...

Ozzallos posted a few new stories not long ago too if you're interested. Though it's Ozzallos so we'll probably be waiting until next christmas for updates.

 

[Starfox5]

Very nice. I started reading Fanfiction with the FFML, back in the 90s, and it was mostly Ranma 1/2. This story takes me back to those days.

 

[DieKatzchen]

I always enjoy your work. You always seem to find something new to make sexy.

 

[Sunshine Temple]

I'm also enjoying this, new Ranma stories are few and far apart these days.

Ozzallos posted a few new stories not long ago too if you're interested. Though it's Ozzallos so we'll probably be waiting until next christmas for updates.

Click to shrink...

[Excellent! Glad your liking a new story.
[And yeah it's nice to see Ozz back again.

Very nice. I started reading Fanfiction with the FFML, back in the 90s, and it was mostly Ranma 1/2. This story takes me back to those days.

Click to shrink...

[Heh. I remember those days, at least the tail end of them.
[Nice that you got a bit of a reminder of those days.

I always enjoy your work. You always seem to find something new to make sexy.

Click to shrink...

[Heh thanks!

[thanks again for commenting all of your!
[sorry for my delay in replying.

 

[Sunshine Temple]

Sooon.....

A new chapter will be soon.

In the meantime.

 

[Sunshine Temple]

It's been a while, and I apologize for the wait.

Chapter 4: Relocation Perpetrations


A woman with teased-up golden blonde hair, deeply tanned skin, smoky eyeshadow and complimenting lipstick languidly eased back in her seat; the leather of her expensive, but skimpy, black dress creaked as she shifted a limp hand to puff on a long cigarette.

Blue smoke came out in a ring as heavy gold bracelets rattled on her arms. Matching hoop earrings, necklaces and rings adorned her curvy body. Her nimble fingers glinted with a long glossy gold manicure, and deep ultramarine eyes gave her companion an interested, but calculating, look.

"Another drink, Araki-san?" the blonde asked, her voice giving a throaty purr as she slid closer to almost touch the gaunt man in the grey suit.

"Oh? What temptations do you have for me now, Mrs. Kuga?" Araki asked as he took up his cigar. It had gone out

The blonde leaned closer, her body across his as she struck a pair of matches and helped ignite the man's cigar. She had special lighter most of her clients were fond of but Araki insisted on matches, saying that the lighter fluid ruined the smell of the cigar.

"I had heard lovely things about a bourbon, aged in sherry casks."

Araki puffed thoughtfully. "You haven't steered me wrong, but how many drinks have we shared tonight?"

"Oh, I'm not sure; you hold your liquor so well." Behind Kuga's assuring smile she knew to the exact yen every thing on Araki's tab for the night; everything he had purchased for them to smoke, drink, and eat.

Even without the club's markup, it was impressive.

She put on a pout and held her place leaning over him before slowly pulling back.

A few more drinks would make tonight's haul sizable, even after the club and Nabiki took their cuts.

Mrs. Kuga continued to chat with her companion and soon got Mr. Araki to indulge in some twenty-five year old bourbon, another cigar, and some rich fatty tuna sashimi.

Sipping her own drink while letting the ice cubes melt a bit more, the blonde luxuriated. It had been eight months, off and on, more and more on it seemed, at the Golden Oak club. And she finally felt like she was getting comfortable, which raised questions she pushed aside.

Kuga slowly crossed her legs and smiled down at her towering dark leather stilettos with their gold accents. Those had been an indulgence on her part, but between the heel spike and the discreetly hidden, but tall, platform in the toe box, they allowed her to walk around with some actual height.

Nabiki, in her dark wig and glamorously-innocent Naoko guise, had delivered the rich dark chocolate dessert. In her ethereal, but taut in the right places, blue dress she gave elegant smiles all around and held the blonde's gaze.

Kuga dusted the top of her dress and gave the other woman a languid grin. Her motion may have gotten Araki's attention, as did the deep curtsy Nabiki gave. The blonde allowed a small wink and eased back into her role.

Later, she escorted Araki to the front lobby. She let him take one arm on his and she patted him with the other arm. The bit of physical contact got a gimlet look from Mistress Yamato who was manning the hostess station.

The older woman in her elegant cream dress with white decolletage made a tisking noise at the blonde. Kuga bowed her head giving a credible impression of bashfulness before slipping to a naughty grin.

"If you continue to skirt the rules, I may have to transfer you to the Silver Oak club." The dark haired and elegant owner of the hostess club noted.

"My, sent to the club with even higher markups? What a punishment," Kuga quietly mock gasped.

"Eight months little one, you're not nearly as hardened as you think you are."
Mistress Yamato smirked. The wavy, chestnut brunette then looked her employee up and down. "Though you are fitting in well,

"Mistress."

Yamato made a point of going over the receipt Araki had just paid. "Impressive, you might just get out of your obligation to your friend." She glanced at Kuga's new shoes. "Provided you manage your expenses. We'll talk later," she smiled.

"Thank you," Kuga nodded.

"This is your third day of double shifts?"

"I, um, had some open time in my schedule," the blonde allowed. It was true. With Ranma's... her fiancee on a beach trip with her school friends, a sort of end of high school vacation, the ersatz blonde had plenty of time to herself.

"And you'll be off for a few days?"

Kuga nodded. "And I'll be on break for the rest of the night, but..."

"Yes, if any of your regulars stop in, or if someone catches my eye, I'll call you in. I know your type," Yamato glanced to the row of photographs behind the lobby desk. They were a mix of high gloss glamour shots and carefully staged group photos.

Kuga looked at her own picture. The carefully staged and subtly retouched image of the confident, leggy blonde with her teased hair and severe evening dress had only slightly more artifice than... Kuga looked down at herself and shook her head.

She then sauntered through the club giving nods to the other hostesses and sly smiles to the customers. Weaving her way to the back, she nodded to the pair of men in their drab suits doing security, slipped into the employees only corridors, and entered the break room used for the hostesses.

After removing a bottle of juice from the fridge, Kuga took one of the worn, but comfortable leather couches in the break room. All the furniture in the cozy, intimate place were from the public areas of the club, but had either gotten stained, torn, worn, or damaged in some minor way.

Anya and Hitomi were already at the big table in the center of the room with a chess set between them. The latter wore a schoolgirl outfit that clashed with her stern, pensive expression while the former wore elegant lacy evening wear.

Both hostesses nodded. "Good night, Kuga-san?" Anya asked.

The blonde sipped and let her poise slip a bit. She was no longer quite so "on the prowl". Her legs crossed in a more relaxed manner and she allowed her expression to not be the alluringly-interested, slightly smug, look she used with most customers.

"Pretty good, how 'bout you?" Kuga glanced at Anya. When she had started working here she saw Anya as an old hand, who, despite appareling to be mid-twenties, seemed weary of the world.

Anya brushed some russet colored curls of her current wig back. "Fair enough, we can't all be stars like you."

"Oh, Honey, I learned from the best," Kuga put on a purr. She liked Anya. At least when it was just the other hostess girls, Anya was upfront about everything about her being an illusion: her hair, her interests, her persona, even her age. Kuga... or the woman Kuga was when working, could respect that.

Anya snorted while Hitomi shook her head.

The door opened and a dark-haired woman in clothing of a similar style to Ayna's entered.
"Naoko." Kuga patted the seat next to her on the couch.

Nabiki blinked and made her way over. "Good night?"

"I was just asking her," Anya said.

"Very good," the blonde preened.

Nabiki pouted

"Oh, don't worry," Mrs. Kuga as she leaned to press to her roommate. "It's still not enough to put your... investment at risk."

Nabiki glanced at the tanned bosom pressing her arm to her side. She snorted. "Some investment, Raiko."

The woman known as Raiko Kuga pulled back and pouted. "Shame I'm too established, or I might change that first name."

"Oh? I like the double meaning." Nabiki had picked the kanji to mean "Child of Truth." instead of the more common "Next Child."

"Oh! Keep Kuga but make it your first name, then pick a new family name!" Hitomi said.

"Something foreign maybe?" Anya offered.

"Maybe Spendlove!" Hitomi said using the English words. "That'd go great with your style."

Kuga put a gold nail to her lip in thought. Then she slowly pulled back from her companion. "Kuga Spendlove does have a ring to it. What do you think?" she asked "Naoko" with a little frown. Something did not sit right.

"I think you've spent too much on monogrammed purses and the like, not to mention those business cards and glossy headshots to change your name," Nabiki drawled.

"That would be a waste." Sighing, Kuga adjusted the front of her dress.

"Need to get something off your chest?" Anya smirked.

"Har, har," Kuga grumbled. "Least they didn't get loose until after I stopped working."

Anya nodded. "The helpers are a boon but a risk."

"Maybe, I'll get rid of them," Kuga grumbled.

"After you went a size up? You know Naito-san and others will notice. That'll break your illusion," Nabiki reminded.

The blonde sighed. "Yes, it's easier to sell the illusion when the change is something the mark wants to see," she said giving a demure, but hungry look while sneaking a shy smile.

Nabiki snorted, but inside was concerned. Over the months Ranma's flirting had become... far more skillful than the blunt girlish "I'm cute, buy me stuff" act the semi-natural redhead had done before starting this job.

It was all in the body language: little movements of eyes and legs, posture, just the right expression. Nabiki exhaled. She supposed she had no one to blame but herself. She set up the incentives.

If Ranma wanted to get out of the debt, and keep the Musk medallion that allowed her to control her curse, then maximizing the money she made working at the club was the way to do it.

"I guess I'll just have to be careful with my tops," Kuga admitted glancing down at her chest.

"If you showed less cleavage you'd be at less risk of popping something loose," Anya said.

Rolling her eyes, Kuga leaned forward. A manicured hand hovered over the cigarette pack on the coffee table.

Nabiki tilted her head.

"Not my brand." Kuga pulled back. That was true, they were not Blue Dahlias. Still, sometimes, she felt a bit less picky.

She gave her roommate a smile. That was hardly the biggest secret she was keeping from the woman who held her debt.

"It's only fair that my clients eye me. That's part of the package."

"But only eye," Anya said with a cynical lilt.

Kuga snorted. "Of course. And it's not like we don't give frank evaluations of our clients."

"True." Nabiki eyed the blonde. "Does that include Ryoga?"

"Technically! But that was just our drinks at a cafe."

Nabiki exhaled with relief, at least Ranma could still be rattled.

"I mean it's not like he could afford to be a regular," Kuga waved to encompass the whole club.

"Ryoga?" Hitomi asked.

"Oh, just an old friend," Kuga assured.

"So, not a violation of the club rules by you freelancing," Anya said, deliberately mild.

"Nothing like that," Nabiki added. "We were out in a cafe and he just stumbled into us." She did not add that he did not recognize either of them. They had gotten lucky.

She eyed her roommate. That was part of why Ranma had started "advancing" her Kuga disguise. To make it even harder for people to recognize her.

"Ah," Anya nodded sympathetically. "Running into people we know who aren't in 'the life' can be a challenge."

"Tell me about it. University's hard enough without wondering if someone recognizes me." Nabiki had thought the exams and application deadlines would be the hard part but once she was in the schoolwork kept coming.

At least the campus was not too far from the dojo or the apartment, but that meant she had a whole other crop of people to worry about discovering her secret life.

"Are there that many college students who come here?" Hitomi asked.

"There are a few rich boys living off daddy's money."

"Sounds like your type, Naoko," Kuga teased.

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Yeah.... I suppose." She was distracted, fretting over her schooling.

"What's wrong?" Kuga asked.

"Just thinking about my budget."

The blonde laughed. "Of course you are."

"I mean the hours spent here eat into study time, but the money makes the time I'm not working comfortable; if that apartment doesn't eat into my profits."

"If only you could have a roommate to shovel money to you," Kuga noted.

"Yeah, yeah, I've had worse roommates." Nabiki thought back to the dojo. It was further from campus than their apartment.

And Kuga, definitely Kuga in this case, was not a bad roommate. The blonde was very neat, but she was a clothes horse and had more boxes of shoes and makeup and jewelry than Nabiki did. Still, after close to half a year of sharing a tiny apartment, neither girl had tried to kill the other.

As if reading her mind, Kuga gave a smirk before sipping her drink.

"Laugh it up, Blondie."

"I'm just happy to be done with three nights in a row," Kuga idly considered kicking off her high heels. "I'd like to go home and relax with a facial and a nightcap."

Anya nodded.

Nabiki frowned. "But you're still on call?"

"Sure. I have a client who might be coming in tonight. No appointment but if he keeps with his habits he'll stop by here after a late night at the firm."

"Anything special?" Anya asked.

"I've been plying him to try some Glenlivet 40 year old Scotch. I've been slowly empting him with progressively older versions, and while that is a nice source of money..."

"The margins on the 40 year old stuff are breathtaking," Nabiki answered and despite herself joined the other three girls in giving sharp grins.
"Older is better," Kuga smirked.

"And so a ten thousand yen markup is keeping you from your dream of a quiet night back home?" Nabiki laughed at the idea of Ranma wearing a facial mask at the Tendo place with her blonde hair up in curlers.

Nabiki almost gave another outburst when she considered the idea of a woman who used makeup to look more mature would be so vain to spend so much on skin care products.

It seemed no matter the form, no matter the job, Ranma Saotome was ragingly vain. Nabiki's mirth died when she realized Kuga was thinking of their apartment as home.

"That and getting off these heels," Kuga recrossed her legs. "Three days on my feet is a bit trying."

Anya shook her head. "Sometimes it's easy to forget you're really new at this."

"That's the whole point, Hun," the blonde smirked, to Nabiki's disquiet.


************************************************************


The blonde adjusted her hair and looked down at her white blouse and metallic gold skirt. Further down, her tanned legs were arched up by chunky, and shiny-white, high heels. She clenched a glossy gold purse in her hands.

For the first time in a long while, she was not sure how to dress for a situation.

One upside of her job was that she had the experience and the funds to know how to dress for just about any social event. Male or female, formal or informal, sensual or demure, she had an idea of what to do. Or she could ask someone else at the club.

But meeting with her boss, outside of work... informally?

Kuga shook her head, letting her blonde tresses flail about.

She eased into a natural gait swishing her hips as she neared the cafe. It had taken her an hour to decide which form to dress in.

Part of her wondered if she should go with a plain, that is unfilled, bra; her natural red hair pulled in a ponytail, or a braid; minimal, or even no, makeup; and some comfortable slippers. She even debated pants.

But in the end, she figured a more casual version of her Mrs. Kuga persona would be... more fitting.

She spotted the confident, mature brunette sitting at a table just inside the cafe's wide open veranda. Her dress was a smoky grey and her long, chestnut hair tumbled down her shoulders in a wave.

Mistress Yamato looked up and gave the blonde an utterly disarming, warm smile.

Kuga made a point to smile in return. Despite months of seeing her boss being cool and calculating, there was something vaguely like Kasumi about her. Possibly, it was due to how, despite it all, Mistress Yamato made sure nothing bad happened to "her girls", especially when at work.

Rowdy, too handsy, or abusive customers would sour other clients and were bad for business. Then there was that the "girls" took a lot of training and could quit and work for another club. And finally there was the Golden Oak's reputation, which given the liquidity of the clients Yamato courted was dear to ensuring repeat business.

Stepping in out of the warm mid-afternoon sun, Kuga took the seat across from her Mistress.

Yamato's calculating eyes appraised the blonde. After a moment her glossy lips curled into a smile. "I'm so glad you could make it."

"I am very fond of this cafe," Kuga picked up a familiar menu.

The brunette's smile indicated that she was well aware.

As Kuga ordered her drink and some pastries she wondered how much the mistress knew. Every hostess under Yamato was living at least a double life. One of the major reasons for getting that apartment five months ago was to keep a certain redhead from showing up around the Golden Oak club.

Setting up the lease agreement such that it would be hard to trace back to either Tendo or Saotome was also a challenge, but again, there was a lot of experience at the club to tap into.

And a certain black-haired male martial artist had never been in the proximity of the club.

But even if Yamato was unaware, or uncaring, of the curse, she did know that "Raiko Kuga" was deeply in debt to "Naoko Tanaka".

Kuga let herself discuss pleasantries until the waitress had given them their orders and left.

"You really are starting to grow into your role, Kuga-chan." Yamato smiled as she sipped her tea.

The blonde shook her head. There were few women at the club who would use that suffix with her.

"I'd say you're past Naoko in terms of dedication, but if you wanted to do more..." The Mistress let the statement hang.

"Oh?" Kuga's tone was polite but wary. Being under Nabiki's thumb was a pain, but at least she was family, after a fashion.

Mistress Yamato chuckled. "I won't purchase your debt, I can see you've turned the tables and used that the relative pittance you owe to Naoko to keep her under control."

Kuga sipped her coffee. She would hardly call the remainder of her debt a "pittance".

Yamato raised an eyebrow.

The blonde sighed. "It's not a pittance; I still owe a couple million yen on the principal."

"But you could pay it off anytime you please? If not getting a loan from me, then another coworker or associate. You're a proven moneymaker, Dearie," Yamato gave her an appraising smirk. "Anyone would be eager to float you a loan to make the vig on your payments. You've been diligent on paying down your principal and interest. And Naoko knows that."

Kuga replicated the smirk.

Yamato continued. "She knows the only way for her to make her full investment on you is to keep you from simply paying out. Cashing out early deprives her of all that interest, and any garnishing of your salary."

"Maybe I prefer having someone I know and am close to holding that debt?" Kuga prompted.

The brunette nodded. "Very possible. You both get what you want. " She nibbled her own moon-cake. "For a time."

"Yeah."

"Eventually, you'll pay off the debt. What then? What does Kuga want?"

The blonde looked down at her manicured nails. She knew what Ranma wanted. Owning the medallion free and clear meant that she would never....

That all this could be put behind her.... him.

"If you want more money, there are a couple paths open to you but they all require... dedication."

The blonde licked her lips. "I'm not sure. I'm still mastering well... this," she gestured over her form.

"And that's why we're having this conversation," Yamato agreed. "I see potential in you. You can look beyond getting a few thousand yen in your purse. Or a pretty-boy to go on compensated-dating while you float through college until you get an arranged marriage."

The blonde tilted her head and scoffed.

"Right, I didn't think you were the type to be smitten by a sugar daddy. At least not unless the price was worth it," Yamato winked.

"Then what are you talking about?" Kuga politely asked.

"I do have the other club I run," Yamato suggested.

The blonde's face clouded. The Golden Oak was a strict "no touching" hostess club, the other club Mistress Yamato owned....

"There's also internal advancement at the Golden Oak: training, supervision, off-site public events. That last one is more for Silver Club. But you have options, Dearie."

Kuga exhaled. She had not given too much thought to her future beyond the debt. Yes, in her off time... she... or he had been working towards entrance exams.

And things had gotten much better with Akane. They were acting like a proper couple. But right now, with her chocolate colored skin, her blonde hair, platform shoes, manicure, and tight skirt, that felt like a different life.

Yamato looked over the woman. "I might have been wrong about you needing Dr. Gensai, but your concerns about your helpers are valid."

Kuga glanced at her chest and wondered if Anya had talked.

"The question is how concerned are you?" Yamato asked finishing her tea. "As for Dr. Hotta... well you're already reworking your face.... maybe you want something less at risk of smearing than makeup.

"Or maybe it's the money? Talk to Anya, she can point you to some of the other girls and how much their earnings went up after they got some assistance from the good doctors."

Kuga kept her composure. It was a close enough thing that the Musk medallion allowed her to functionally have two girl forms. One she could put under tanning booths, hair dyes, and other treatments, and one she could leave normal. The idea of doing something truly permanent....

"I'll leave you to think things over." Yamato smiled as she stood up. "If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask me. I'll take it into the utmost confidence," she promised and left two business cards on the table along with enough yen to pay for both of their orders.

The blonde stared at the cards and went to her coffee and finished her own pastry. A few minutes passed and she stood up and walked away, leaving them on the table.

The blonde exhaled and went down the sidewalk. But something gnawed at her.

Then with the sound of heels clacking on the pavement, she sashayed back, slipped the cards into her shiny gold purse and put more yen on the table. Then exhaling she went back down the sidewalk.

She had plenty of time before her salon appointment; maybe she could ask Umeko, her cosmetician, a few things.

************************************************************

Nabiki's heels clicked as she walked down the street. She wore a green dress that showed just enough of her cleavage and a bit more makeup than normal for off work. Part of her missed her wig.

Ranma walked next to her. He was dressed a bit nicer in a slate button-down shirt and dark slacks. A large satchel was carried over one shoulder. The martial artists had a cocky grin as his hand occasionally brushed up against Nabiki's

"I don't know what to do about Akane?" Ranma sighed. "When we go out things go well... and I guess we're having an easier relationship than before but... I'm worried the other shoe is gonna drop."

"There's always telling her the truth?"

Ranma smoothly laughed. "Oh? Gonna tell her about your job, too?" he asked eyeing her up and down.

Nabiki put on a coy expression and twisted a bit as she walked.

"Very nice," Ranma clapped. "You've been practicing."

"Damn straight." Nabiki gave a smug grin. "But you're side-stepping the issue."

The martial artist sighed.

Nabiki saw his composure slip.

"Yeah, I feel like we're in too far. At least I'm in too far."

"You didn't want anyone discovering you at work," Nabiki said. "You didn't want anyone to think Ranma Saotome was working at a hostess club. And if people found out that the Mercenary Ice-Queen Nabiki were working at such a place..."

"Boy, do I get that." Shaking his head, Ranma chuckled. "Still, Akane's getting suspicious."

Nabiki stopped. "We are spending a lot of time together. Well... at work at least"

"Maybe telling her the truth would make her less jealous." The martial artist's laugh continued. "I don't think she's buying me working for you to fix that cure."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "All that time I spent hawking magical trinkets and here you are legitimately working-"

Ranma put a finger to her lip. "I'm not sure I'd call it legitimate. Or... even 'me' exactly." He laughed. "I mean I can make a date work with Akane but..."

Nabiki nodded. "Faking a good date is what we do."

"I wouldn't go so far, but the skills..." Ranma stepped closer and with a wicked smile placed his hands on Nabiki's shoulders. "What about us?" he leaned in, his voice lowering. "We know each other's secrets, and you can't deny that we're... complimentary."

Nabiki cocked her hip, tilted her head back, and then slowly took one of Ranma's hands and pulled it down her torso. "Oh yes, Mr. Saotome, I say we could make a lovely couple," she said in her breathy "work" voice.

Ranma used is other arm to pull her in close. Nabiki let her head fall on his chest. He was strong, and he did know what a woman liked, or at least the fraction of female clients Kuga had, but... was it real?

"Maybe I should come to the club as Ranma. See what it's like on the other side? Maybe get you?" Ranma asked as an arm worked over Nabiki's shoulder.

"I think spending an evening with an honored guest would be lovely," Nabiki purred. The question of it being real flashed on her mind. Could a relationship between them ever be real? For both of them their jobs were giving the illusion of companionship, convincingly feigning physical interest, of providing a simulacrum of romance.

And that didn't even get into Akane. Could Nabiki do that to her sister? Could Nabiki even have a genuine relationship now?

Or was that what Ranma was afraid of?

If he couldn't be honest with Akane, would she become something like one of Mrs. Kuga's clients?

Nabiki then noticed that Ranma's embrace had stiffened. "Did... did someone see us?" she asked. If someone from Nerima had spotted them this could get awkward.

Ranma shook his head. "No, I saw someone," he said letting go and absently adjusting the satchel slung over his shoulder.

Nabiki straightened herself, she then followed his gaze to a cafe across the street. She couldn't see anyone from Nerima there, thankfully. But a young man sitting alone at a table in a suit did seem familiar to her.

Ranma bit his lip and sighed.

"What's up?" Nabiki asked.

"Get the medallion ready, and look for a place for me to change," he said.

Nabiki raised an eyebrow

Ranma discreetly pointed to the man in the suit. "That's Naito-san. "

"Oh," Nabiki nodded. On second glance the young executive in the frameless glasses did look familiar. He was one of young-go-getters who had gotten his first big promotion and despite being handsome-enough was a bit too awkward and busy to date. Hence...

"One of your regulars?"

"A budding client of Mrs. Kuga," Ranma sighed.

Watching the businessman try to talk with a waitress, Nabiki noted the similarities with his "woman problems" to Ranma's. Or at least what Ranma used to have.

"And her making an appearance with him would be good for business," Ranma looked about and spotted an alleyway.

Nabiki arched an eyebrow but didn't disagree. It could help; she just found it bit odd for Ranma to think that. She eyed the bag he was carrying. On the other hand...

"You mind being a lookout?" Ranma asked as he unzipped the satchel and pulled out a small thermos.

"Course not," Nabiki said before they crossed the street. Ranma slipped into the alleyway, and, while Nabiki adjusted the medallion and stood watch, poured out a bit of water.

Then the redhead in ill-fitting clothes dried her face with a little towel. "Come on," Ranma said as she went to the cafe.

Nabiki noticed that Ranma seemed focused on seeing if anyone... familiar noticed her. As she stepped into the cafe, she looked out onto the patio. Seeing Naito, she gave a little sigh.

As Nabiki ordered a tea, Ranma slipped into the bathroom. A minute later, Nabiki quietly knocked on the door.

When she heard a knock in return, Nabiki took out the medallion, activated it, and then stepped away to claim a table where she could watch both the bathroom door and Naito.

A few minutes later a dark mocha-skinned blonde sashayed out of the bathroom. Done in various hues and tones of glossy gold, her hair was fluffed and tumbled into slightly wavy fall to between her shoulder blades.

She was ensconced in gold jewelry: multiple sets adorning her wrists, fingers, ankles and neck; including several pair of hoop earrings.

Heavy eyeshadow and curled lashes framed ultramarine-blue eyes, and plump red lips formed an amused grin. Bits of rouge accented confidently-mature features.

Strappy gold pumps with subtle platforms in the toe boxes arched her feet. The angle helped show off toned rich-colored legs. Said legs vanished up the bottom of a short silvery skirt.

The backside of which strained against the blonde's rounded, jutting backside. The bottom of the dress actually rode noticeably higher in the back than it did in the front. A tiny silver purse was clasped in one hand.

The shiny pvc material of the dress went up her narrow torso and over her shoulders with a pair of thin straps. The dress's top was scalloped to best show off the cleavage of her overly rounded chest .

Nabiki had to keep from whistling, her coworker was really getting the most out of her "helpers". It was risky with a dress that... unsporting. Though a darker part of her wondered how much help she was really getting.

Giving the waiting Tendo girl a long wink, Mrs. Kuga passed Nabiki's table. A manicured hand gracefully dropped the satchel off at Nabiki's feet without a pause in her generous stride.

Nabiki took a brief moment to look at the bag that now contained Ranma's male clothes and shoes, as well as the makeup and brushes and accoutrements needed to make Mrs. Kuga.

Sipping her tea, she watched her coworker in action.

"Oh, Naito-san, how lovely to see you," Mrs. Kuga purred as her sashay finished before the young executive's table. "Truly a pleasure." She bowed deeply.
"Raiko," Naito gasped, unable to keep from staring at her cleavage.

"If you want to be familiar, I'll keep it secret," Mrs. Kuga promised with a coy smile. She put her hands on her thighs so she could hold her bent forward position. "Enjoying a break? You must be sooo busy."

"The office is just down the block." Clearing his throat, Naito finally was able to meet her deep blue eyes.

Mrs. Kuga's smile grew. Then her voice lowered to a just above a whisper. "Could you do me a favor? Please," she begged

"Oh, anything."

The blonde laughed. "Would it be a bother if I sit with you? I promise I won't make you late for work. Well... unless you have something more important that holds your... attention," she added with a wink.

Naito made to stand.

"Oh no, I can handle it," the blonde put a hand adorned with silvery nails on his chest. "Though I appreciate your thoughtfulness," she said letting her fingers linger for a few moments.

She turn turned away from him and started to pull out a chair. Her fingers flittered and the silver purse tumbled to the floor.

"I've got it," Mrs. Kuga said as she bent over to retrieve the purse. Knees straight she bent at the waist. Hips rocking back and forth she made a show of trying to catch the little silver strap but it kept slipping out between her long nails.

Then giving a frustrated sigh, she got her knees involved. Already front and center in Naito's field of view, the bubbly derriere lowered and pushed closer. The skirt rode up a bit further as Mrs. Kuga's hips went from swaying to almost shaking.

There were a few gasps from others on the cafe patio, but Mrs. Kuga had snatched her purse and gotten up, but not before her backside pressed against the executive's thigh.

"I'm sooo sorry," Mrs. Kuga said as she pulled her chair so it was right next to Naito. "I can get a bit clumsy," she said, idly running a hand through her hair.

"I -uh- hadn't noticed," Naito said, his face flush.

The older-looking woman grinned. Leaning closer, she placed a hand on his thigh and took a menu. "Now, let's see what looks good," she playful said, slipping into her training.

Nabiki watched with a smile on her face. This wasn't their club. So, they wouldn't be getting a cut of the food and drinks sold, but that didn't mean Mrs. Kuga didn't have an obligation to be a good hostess.

Eventually, Naito had to go to work. Disappointment, filled Mrs. Kuga's face, but she still gave him a hug and a quick kiss.

Blushing and giving a goofy grin, Naito bowed, took his briefcase. Mrs. Kuga slipped up to him and pouted. He took out his wallet and started putting down bills. Taking his arm, she whispered in his ear. Nodding, Naito added a few more bills to the pile.

He then straightened himself and, waving, exited the cafe. She glanced down at the pile of yen. Tipping was not the custom in Japan. In many places it could be seen as rude. However, Mrs. Kuga did try to encourage it in her clients.

Warmly smiling, Mrs. Kuga returned his wave. Once he was out of sight she brushed past he table, hand low on her swaying hip. Nimble manicured fingers floated past and in a blink the pile of yen got a tiny bit shorter.

Continuing her swaying walk, she gave a contented little sigh. If not for her he would have ordered hardly anything. She knew she deserved a cut, and she still left enough of a tip, it was more than the nothing the waitress was expecting.

"Such a lovely young man," Mrs. Kuga purred as she took the seat next to Nabiki.

"He's ten years older than you," Nabiki stated as she watched he blonde flip through the bills and put them into her little purse.

The blonde gave a dismissive sniff, and then ordered some water.

"You think it worked?"

"Oh, Honey," Mrs. Kuga gave her coy smile. "I'll have to take on an extra shift but I ensured he'll be back."

Nabiki nodded.

Sipping her water, the blonde gave another elegant sigh. "We still have time, no? How about we relax and get a nice drink?"

"We do have to get back for dinner, and you have to change," Nabiki pointedly said.

Mrs. Kuga dismissively waved her hand. "I could use some wine and a smoke," she confessed pulling a lighter out of her purse and putting one of her Blue Dahlias between her lips.

With a small frown, Nabiki observed the blonde staring at the twin blue flames of the gold-accented device. It was another gift from one of Kuga's client and if anything burned a bit too hot.

Part of Nabiki understood: the whole thing was flashy enough, flames included, that Kuga just had to use it to light her cigarettes. But that was an artifice for work. Was the blonde Kuga right now? Who needed a smoke?

Giving a contented murmur, Kuga blew out a small smoke-ring. She had never purchased a pack herself, but they were yet another thing the club sold at a breathtaking markup. And her clients were such gentlemen, and the occasional gentlewoman, that she had already amassed three months supply. And that was at the rate that Kuga pretended to smoke. At the actual frequency of her addiction, it might last her a year.

"Maybe if we resume our talk about Akane and what to do with her," Nabiki suggested.

"Or we could talk about something I find more interesting," the blonde smoothly purred as she deliberately leaned forward giving Nabiki an eyeful of her chest.


************************************************************


"Back home already?" Akane eyed her sister.

"College keeps me busy," Nabiki said as she dropped a bag down and sat down next to her sister in the living room.

"Studying or running some new scams?" Akane teased.

Nabiki smoothed her grey skirt. "Just because I'm around thousands of people who have never met me before and thus aren't aware of my reputation doesn't mean I've started fleecing the student body. That would be wrong," she primly said.

The two sisters held their expressions for a moment.

Then they burst in to laughter.

"I'd say enjoy the last days of high school, but honestly not having entrance exams to cram for makes life a lot easier," Nabiki smirked. She looked around the house. "Where's Kasumi or Dad?"

"She's shopping and Dad and Uncle Saotome are out somewhere with Ranma."

"The three of them?" Nabiki shook her head. "Please tell me those two didn't decide to take him out drinking."

"Right, like Ranma'd want to go to some grubby bar with those two."

Nabiki smiled to herself. Her sister was right, in as much as the younger Saotome would object to the "grubby" part.

"What are they up to?"

"Checking out other dojos," Akane shook her head.

"Really? Did Ranma get roped into some stupid training trip?" Nabiki exhaled. Ranma was supposed to call her if "personal events" made Kuga unable to show up for work.

"No, nothing like that," Akane got up and asked if Nabiki wanted something from the kitchen.

Nabiki was careful to just ask for some snacks and a drink. Akane was getting... better, Ranma had shown disturbing patience with her, but she still had a long way to go with her culinary skills.

Nabiki sipped her soda. "Well?"

"Dad got some idea that now that we were 'serious' about joining the houses then they should look into how other dojos attracted students and ran things."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Father used to have more students. Right?"

Akane shook her head. "I'm thinking Uncle Saotome got it into his head that they could visit some old friends and bum a few meals and drinks."

"So... it is about going out drinking," Nabiki shook her head. "Why'd Ranma agree to that?"

"He said it was training." Akane took a sip.

Nabiki blinked. Sure, she could see Ranma going to social events as training, but that was because she knew what Ranma's secret job was. Then realization hit her. "Oh, he wants to learn how to run a dojo."

Akane nodded. "It's not like his dad or our dad is all that great of an example."

Nabiki's expression turned sly. "You know, you should have gone with. Aren't you two love birds going to run this place one day?"

Exhaling, Akane gave a brittle smile. "Father didn't invite me. By the time I found out, they had already left."

Nabiki felt the need to stick up for her roommate. "I'm sure Ranma would have insisted you come, but he probably got rushed out the door. You know how sneaky that panda is; he probably ambushed Ranma and started to drag him off."

Akane exhaled. "Yeah, it's just annoying how they go off on those stupid secret adventures."

The older sister scoffed. "You've been on plenty of Saotome's adventures with his dumb rivals. Do you really want to deal with wacky, egotistical martial artists for the rest of your life?"

Akane glowered at the brunette. "Low blow."

"Hey, I'm glad you can make the engagement work with the lug. I couldn't imagine living with Saotome." Nabiki knew having Kuga as a roommate was... complex enough as it was.

Shaking her head, Akane turned to her sister. "Yeah, well, it's not like he's above wandering off when we start to get on each other's nerves."

"See! That's good, knowing when to give distance is key in any relationship," Nabiki teased.

"Right, so long as he doesn't vanish for ten years," Akane grumbled.

"Oh no, I'd never be gone that long," Ranma said with an easy smile as he sauntered into the room.

Akane turned to her fiance. "When did you get here?"

"Just did; didn't want to interrupt," he gave an easy smile and brushed his slacks and charcoal vest before sitting down. Patting his vest, he tilted his head and then shrugged at the items within.

"You're back early, and I don't hear our fathers," Nabiki noted.

Ranma rolled his eyes.

"What, did you ditch them early?" Akane asked, offering him some puffed and fried octopus snacks.

He accepted. "Oh no, the visits were good. And talking with Master Okubo was very informative. But then Pops and Mr. Tendo decided to celebrate..."

"They went to a bar?"

"And didn't seem to notice when the whipcord ascetic old master politely left after one round of drinks." Ranma shook his head.

"And since there was nothing for you there anymore, you came back home?" Nabiki asked.

Ranma nodded.

"It's... only seven," Akane murmured.

"Yeah, Okubo seemed to think it was a bit early, too," Ranma frowned.

"I guess you could study," Nabiki smirked.

"That's not a bad idea," Akane allowed. "We could quiz each other."

Ranma leaned back and sighed. "Arrrrg. I so want this farce to be over with!"

Akane patted him on the shoulder.

The Saotome teen leaned on her slightly. "It's only a few more months. Then..."

"Then we'll have university to deal with."

"At least you're now fairly certain you'll both be going to university," Nabiki snidely said.

Ranma's face clouded.

"Hey!" Akane cried.

"Oh, come on, I'm complimenting you. In half a year you've done wonders in cleaning up this lunkhead."

Akane bristled at her sister.

"Take the left-handed compliment," Ranma put an arm around his fiancee.

Nabiki smirked. "You should be happy Akane, you won. Such is your prize."

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Really?"
Akane frowned. "Do you have to be so mean?" she pensively asked. There was a... familiarity between Nabiki's and Ranma's barbs. The mild ire between the two seemed sincere enough, but it was more like an old couple's bickering.

The youngest Tendo was not sure to be jealous or disquieted.

Ranma squeezed her shoulder again. "Come on Nabiki."

The middle sister sighed. "Fine. Why don't you two go out somewhere nice?"

"Your treat?" Ranma asked.

"You wish."

"It's not a bad idea" Ranma allowed.

Akane allowed herself to nod. Not counting the snacks, she had not had dinner yet. "Wait... did our father's not feed the Master they were taking out?"

Ranma nodded. "Nope, took him straight to a bar. And not even one that had a little grill."

Both Tendos muttered, decrying the stupidity.

"Yeah, sure. We can go out," Akane nodded.

"Great," Ranma stood up.
"Are you going to change?" Akane asked.

"This isn't fancy enough?" Ranma looked at his slacks, vest, and button-down shirt.

"I think she's politely asking if you can give her time to change," Nabiki teased.

"Ah," Ranma laughed. "Of course."

Akane nodded but still felt an odd... feeling of familiarity between her sister and her fiance.

************************************************************

Akane picked at her cherry cheesecake. The ambiance at the restaurant was nice. It was always nice. Ranma's tastes, and disposable income, had improved in the last year. Still...

" 'kane?" Ranma asked adjusting his dapper grey silk vest. He was still surprised at the pack of Blue Dahlias he had absently slipped in there. Only Kuga smoked those.

"Sorry, what were we talking about?" Akane glanced at her little black dress. It was flattering and looked good on her. It actually managed to compliment her curves, instead of drawing attention to how she was less endowed than most of the girls she knew But again....

It was Ranma who helped her pick it out. Akane wondered... ever since Ranma got his curse controlled there was less of the redhead around, but he was still giving fashion advice to Akane. It was not always the best. Ranma's idea of what was good eye makeup was hilariously overdone, but fit in with the disguises Ranma used back when trying to use that redheaded body in various schemes.

And Ranma was a guy, of course his views on femininity were overdone, and engineered towards what a man would expect and want in a woman.

Still...

Akane felt a bit of disquiet. Ranma was not quite as aloof as his father, but it seemed to be a Saotome man thing to just up and disappear for hours most days and blame it on training.

Her fiance smiled and patted her hand and cut his pastry. "Oh, tedious stuff," he glanced up, a bit pensive.

Akane followed his gaze. There were a few sprinkler heads high up on the ceiling. Of course he's still be worried about water, despite the... cure.

"Ranma?"

He shrugged. "It's not just the dojo stuff Pops and your dad are up to."

"Ah, university again?"

Ranma's eyes met hers. "Yeah, do you really want to deal with it?" he asked, smirking.

"It is a hassle, maybe it'd be easier for both of us to just run away."

"And abandon all our debts, all our obligations?" Ranma looked wistful. "But, whatever would our families think?"

Akane snorted. "They'd think we'd have eloped."

The Saotome man smirked. "Well. We are engaged."

Akane cut a piece of her cheesecake. "It would avoid another farce of a wedding."

Ranma sighed. "Yeah... I mean Ukyou's... better but that still leaves two more 'fiancees' who could cause trouble."

Chewing thoughtfully, Akane looked over. Ranma was maturing. He had the same hairstyle, but there was more care in his braid. His clothes were better and without having to worry about the curse he actually had clothes tailored to fit his form, instead of having enough give to allow for a bust and hips.

Ranma returned the look. "We still have time."

"Yeah, what college stuff were you talking about?"

"Oh, where we'd live: campus dorms, an apartment off-campus, or I guess we could stay at the dojo and commute."

"Stay?" Akane sighed. "That'd be a hassle."

"But it'd be cheaper," Ranma soberly said.

The Tendo girl snorted again. "Like you could stand cheap."

"Hey! I can only spend on nice things by keeping to a budget. You learn how to pinch pennies living on the road."

"Maybe." Akane shook her head. "But, given your dad, you would have learned how to stay one step ahead of debt collectors."

Ranma sighed. "Stupid Pops."

"You get into any new trouble due to him?"

He shook his head. "Nah, nothing new."

"A dorm wouldn't give us any privacy and...."

"Oh? You want to be roommates?" Ranma took another bite. "My how forward Miss Tendo."

"You jerk! We're supposed to be married."

"I suppose of all the Tendo girls you would be the best to have as a roommate," Ranma rubbed his chin and chuckled to himself

"Better than Kasumi?" Akane archly asked.

"There's more to life than cooking," Ranma assured. "And you know she has eyes for Dr. Tofu. The only reason she hasn't moved out..."

"Yeah, I know she's afraid of what will happen to Father when she's gone."

"Not just her. You know Nabiki's got one foot out the door already, and you don't have to stay and inherit, though it would be nice to have a dojo."

"Ah ha! That's why you want to marry me," Akane teased.

"You got me," Ranma gave a cocky smile.

"Still, Kasumi as a roommate... I mean I'll miss her cooking when she's gone."

"What about Nabiki?"

Akane snorted. "Please. You've lived in the same house with her. You know how messy she is with laundry. Just imagine how bad it would be to share a tiny studio apartment with her?"

Ranma laughed. "Maybe she'd keep it neat."

Akane rolled her eyes.

"Well there's another problem with the dorm idea."

"Even a coed dorm doesn't allow different genders in the same room." Akane gave a playful look. "Unless you want to go to college as Ranko."

Ranma whistled. "Oh no, I went through enough hassle getting my cure, I don't want to go through that double life nonsense, not again."

Akane eyed him. "It's not fully a cure. Remember the pool?"

"Yeah, I almost forgot what having boobs was like."

"Lair," Akane teased.

Ranma shrugged. "It's still better than how it was before," he added mostly to himself. "It's worth the cost. It's worth it." He looked down at his empty plate.

"Ranma?" Akane asked.

"It'll be expensive being on our own. And if we've got a lot of books and pencils and... student stuff to get," he finished lamely before taking a sip.

"Said the man who doesn't exactly sound like scholarship material," Akane teased.

"You wound me," Ranma put his hands over his chest then placed one on Akane's across the table. "But joke all we want, money will be very important for our future."

She smiled but saw a distant, calculating look in his eyes. "That's why you're marrying me. So, you don't have to pay for a dojo."

"That does save a fortune on my future," Ranma gave an easy smile. "It means I'll only have to concern myself with making one, if I have to."

"Don't worry so much," Akane squeezed his hand. "Obsessing, over money is something Nabiki does."

Ranma winced. "Well, I could go back to being an irresponsible lunkhead, that'd give me more time for martial arts."

Akane laughed along with Ranma. Then she noticed Ranma stiffen a bit as his gaze slid to one side.

She squeezed his hand

The worry on his face, the mostly-hidden agony of some sort of decision vanished. It was replaced by a different kind of worry, an alert, tense, immediate one. He pushed back a little bit on his chair as he moved forward, ready to bound out of his seat.

"Who is it?" Akane quietly asked. She slowly looked behind Ranma, trying to spot some reflective surface to give her some view.

"Shampoo," Ranma sighed.

The Tendo girl frowned. "I don't think she's after me."

Ranma's eyes narrowed.

He sighed and stood up.

"There husband is!" Shampoo chirped as she strutted forward in a purple cheongsam with gold trim.

Ranma took in her outfit, hair and makeup. After a year at the Gold Oak Club, he could appreciate all that Shampoo put into her look and how she moved. She was an experienced waitress and, conventional, hostess. Add in her ability to flirt...

The more calculating, the more vain, the more avaricious, the more Kuga, part of him eyed the Amazon's figure and quickly came up with the increased profitability such a bosom would yield.

Ranma kept down the jealousy and set his jaw. With those... assets she... he would escape Nabiki's grasp so much faster. "Shampoo why are you here?"

Giving Akane a dismissive sniff, Shampoo turned to leer at the Saotome heir. "Husband had dinner with boring girl, maybe Husband want dessert with Shampoo?"

Tilting his head, Ranma chuckled. "Not bad." The Amazon would have made an excellent hostess club girl. Her accent and exotic looks alone would immediately separate her from the pack.

He glanced at Akane and laughed to cover up his distraction. "Hear that 'kane? She's offering to be something like a mistress. You do the real relationship work and she's the occasional dessert."

Akane's eye twitched but she stood and gave Shampoo a glassy smirk. "Really?"

"Shampoo said husband. Flat-chest girl cannot cook," Shampoo stomped a foot.

"That can be fixed," Ranma crossed his arms.

"Hey! My cooking is getting better!" Akane bristled.

"True," Ranma's expression flickered. "Shampoo, are you really going to cause a scene here?"

"Why not?" The Amazon glared.

Ranma gestured around the restaurant. "Do you really want to make a mess for other staff to cleanup? Think of the customers the waitstaff'll lose. Their bosses won't be happy."

Shampoo tilted her head. "Why husband care?"

He smiled at her. "So, you care?"

"Yeah, kinda sucks when crazy martial artists wreck your work," Akane dryly said.

The Amazon gave her a dismissive sniff and pressed up to Ranma.

Stepping to the side, he allowed only part of the voluptuous form brush against him. "Fine, let me settle the bill and we can take this outside."

"All of us," Akane added.

Shampoo rolled her eyes, but waited.

Ranma shook his head as he flagged down their waitress and, while apologizing, settled his and Akane's bill.

A discreetly slipped gratuity got a few questions answered and Ranma returned. "Maybe we should go out the back."

"Husband want privacy?" Shampoo smirked.

"You live over a restaurant," Ranma scoffed while Shampoo looked a bit bashful. They both knew there was little glamour around delivery entrances.

He gave his fiancee a tiny nod and Akane hung back while they went thought the restaurant.

Ranma slipped the group past a wait-station and past the kitchen doors and down a small hallway. The key was to walk with utter indifference. Instead of nervousness, slyness or even confident bravado, he walked with bored routine. He did not try to act like he owned the place, Ranma simply walked as if this was just the necessary path required to go about the day's work.

He paused to hold open a door to a low-ceilinged utilitarian service hallway. Ranma glanced up at the tiles with their studded sprinkler heads. Out away from the customers. they were more obvious.

Ranma bowed his head a little bit as the two young woman passed him.

"What's this all about?" he asked the Amazon.

"Great Grandmother want Shampoo to give her grandbabies."

"Raised where? I've kind of got some commitments keeping me in Japan," he nodded to Akane as his eyes darted up.

Shampoo's eyes went to the Tendo girl and she snorted. "Shampoo make husband much better babies than flat-chested tomboy."

"You'd think an Amazon would have higher goals than a mere brood mare," Akane stated, looking out the glass-inset door at the far end of the hallway. She turned away from the alleyway full of crates.

"Great Grandmother is a matriarch, and Shampoo warrior with future."

"See, she's got nepotism going for her too," Ranma offhandedly said.

Shampoo's expression grew perturbed. "Husband?"

Ranma adjusted his grey vest, and held his right hand palm-out. "I'm being polite, you did try to ruin my date with Akane, but so far we're all being civilized."

The Amazon gave a predatory smile. "Husband wrong, Shampoo can show him. Can make him." Lifting an arm, she took a step forward.

The outside door creaked as Akane opened it.

Turning back, Shampoo gave her a glare. "Tomboy don't try anything clever."

"Oh meddlesome Amazon, she's not," Ranma stepped forward and lifted his left arm. Kuga's double-burner butane lighter flicked and a pair of bright blue flames arched up. Right onto one of the sprinkler heads sticking out of the low ceiling.

Acting on instinct Shampoo rushed towards him.

The heat burst the sprinkler bulb and water poured out. The spray hit both cursed marital artists. Shampoo immediately shrank to a pink and purple hissing cat. Ranma gave a few seconds of smirking as the Musk magic deflected the water.

The cat's eyes widened and she hissed and closed in on the still fairly dry Saotome.

That's when Akane stepped forward and dropped an upturned plastic crate over the cat. She started to get soaked as well, her dark dress turning clingy. "Heck of a date."

Ranma nodded and felt the Musk magic give way as the water became too much and he shrank into a soaked redhead in an ill-fitting suit.

She sighed. At least only one sprinkler had gone off. The disturbance should be... minimized. "Let's find a way to shut off the water."

************************************************************


Ranma stared at her reflection. She was glad her deep mocha skin tone made it hard to tell if her face was flushed with nervousness. Taking a step back on spiked heels, she looked over the rest of the atrium. It was all done in brushed steel and polished chrome. Beyond the doors, she could see a waiting room made of much the same materials, with the addition of black leather couches and chairs.

She was not the only... well put-together woman waiting. Already inside the room was an older woman with a preserved sharp-edged face and raven-black hair across from a pair of twenty something girls with chestnut brown hair who might be twins. Or at least could be with a little bit of adjustment to the bridge of their noses, cheekbones, and a few other little things.

Ranma gave a confident poised smile and idly fluffed her golden hair. These women were not competition. Well, perhaps they were. She did not recognize any of them from the Golden Oak club. The near-twins might work at a rival club, or maybe had an acting career of some kind.

Meanwhile the dark-haired woman, who judging by the rings she wore and the other jewelry that rivaled Ranma's own Kuga-style, but far more understated and expensive, was likely a trophy wife in the need of long term maintenance

The blonde made a point of pulling out a cigarette to justify her hesitating by the door. Taking a puff on her Blue Dahlias, she looked inside. At least her outfit matched the furniture.

It had been a week since that date which ended in disaster, and even a couple shifts working as Kuga did not do much to calm her down.

Her dark blue eyes went to the receptionist, a perfectly poised woman in white with perfect, almost doll like, features and proportions, absently smiled at the waiting women before going back to her typing.

The blonde crushed the cigarette between manicured nails. She glanced at her high heels. She had this dream before, this nightmare. But in the dreams the little details, like the mild ache in the arches of her feet, were not there.

Though sometimes she enters the lobby and then walked out in the mountains of northern China,

Sometimes near those cursed pools that started this whole mess.

Sometimes outside the Amazon village

Other times... home.

She shook her head. She had to do this. She needed more. She needed to get out of her debt. And she needed to get that faster.

A manicured hand adorned in rings pulled the door open.

The trophy wife and the near twins gave the blonde a competitive evaluation, she sniffed and ignored them

The blonde swallowed and walked up to the very well-endowed, and naturally-so seeming receptionist.

Taken with her perfect face, the woman behind the desk served as rather good advertisement for her boss's skills.

"Hello, I am Raiko Kuga and I have an appointment with Doctor Gensai."


End Chapter 4
I'd like to thank the prereaders for their help in this project: J St C Patrick, DCG, Kevin Hammel, and Ellf
The next chapter is about half written so there shouldn't be quite so... pronounced of a gap between chapters. Also my Deviant Art page (Yeah... Eclipse has been a pain, but username is sunny-temple) has some art for this story

Selling the Fantasy art

 

[Xaine123]

Loved it. Always happy to see a story start back up.

 

[Sunshine Temple]

Loved it. Always happy to see a story start back up.

Click to shrink...

Excellent! Glad you liked it and are enjoying where the story is going.

As a bonus here's a bit more art for the fic