Azusa sat in the middle of the room staring blankly ahead, taking in deep, deep breaths of hypnotic incense. Nodoka was sitting a good deal further back. While she was also breathing in the same substance, she had rather a higher tolerance than anyone else. To put it in more straightforward terms, right now Azusa was ninety percent more suggestible than the average person would be. In comparison Nodoka was at most five percent more suggestible.
Ukyo was sitting off to the side, eyes glazed over in a similar state to Azusa. They were both such pretty girls. It was a shame only one of them would be made into her daughter-in-law. Alas, Nodoka had been quite serious in what she had told Ukyo. Only those who were genuinely interested in her son would become his brides. The training Miss Shiratori had to go through was of a rather different nature.
"Now, Azusa," Nodoka slowly said, maintaining close eye contact with the girl in her most suggestible state of mind. "Repeat back to me your instructions."
"I will not steal cute things," Azusa droned back. "I will not give cute things European names. I will not treat them as though they are mine. I will not attack people who try to take cute things from me."
Good. It seemed as though the instructions had been understood completely. Nodoka nodded towards Ukyo, who rose to her feet in a suitably feminine manner. Much better than her normal posture. She got into the prepared position.
"Azusa, awaken," Nodoka instructed, snapping her fingers and patiently watching.
The effect was immediate. Azusa blinked. Life returned to her eyes. She cutely stretched out and yawned, patting her mouth. Adorable. Simply adorable. "Hi, hi, Mrs Saotome!" Azusa said giving her a cutesy wave. "Hi, hi, Ukyo! Gosh, did li'l Azusa take a trip to Sleepytime Junction? Teehee, that was rather rude of me! Sorry!"
Nodoka merely smiled politely at the cutesy act. Perhaps a little further than she would take the prospective daughters. Oh well, never mind that. Nodoka lifted her hand to gesture towards Ukyo. That was the sign to pull off the cloth to reveal -
"Awwww!" Ukyo cooed. "Look at the cute little teddy bear!" The bear was then lifted up over Ukyo's head and cuddled. Nodoka could tell quite easily even though she wasn't looking at Miss Kuonji in the slightest. How? Because she was watching Azusa's face. Her eyes followed the bear with a longing gaze. "Look at that nose! Aww! Yes, you're so precious! Yes, you are! So soft and cuddly and eeee!"
Azusa rose to her feet quite slowly under Nodoka's watchful gaze. She staggered over towards Ukyo like a girl possessed, eyes fixed hard onto the stuffed bear. This was it. This was the test. If Azusa could resist her kleptomaniac tendencies, then they could begin properly programming her to distract Ranma so that the other brides could be effectively trained. Perhaps she could also be used for other purposes, like bringing those girls in without suspicion? Yes, there were countless possibilities for -
"Ucchan is cute," Azusa suddenly said, reaching out to tilt Ukyo's head up. "Azusa must have Ucchan!"
And then Azusa tackled Ukyo to the ground in a great big, well, the only word for it was "glomp", much though Nodoka disdained use of such phrases. An overly enthusiastic hug. Which became an equally enthusiastic kiss, which became...
"Oh, dear," Nodoka sighed. "It did seem a little practical at the time to train Ukyo to learn the attractive nature of the feminine form." She stopped to sigh. There was something peculiarly adorable about it. The way Azusa had grabbed hold of Ukyo's head, the little stuffed bear being hugged between the two of them. The way Ukyo's eyes were rolling up inside her head, the way her hips were squirming about. And, of course, the extremely passionate kiss that Azusa was stealing. "Perhaps I should have limited it to her fellow brides?"
"So cute!" Azusa cooed. Ah. Now her hands were trailing down Ukyo's back. "Sooo cute! Can't steal cute things, so must steal cute people!"
"That is quite enough of that," Nodoka clapped. "Azusa. Ukyo. Switch off. Separate. Sit." A beat later. "Azusa, sit on the floor. Not Ukyo's lap."
Alright. So this was a learning process. Apparently Azusa was so desperate to be close to cuteness and "own" cute things that she went for a rather, ah, different approach. Which left Nodoka in a little bit of an awkward situation.
To start with... "Ukyo, tell me. Did you enjoy that as much as you seemed to?"
"Yes, Mother," Ukyo answered. Nodoka clutched her heart. Mother! Oh, she might never tire of hearing that from such a nice girl! "Even though Azusa will never be a fellow wife I felt as though it would be good practice for when I fool around with Ranma's other wives."
Alright. That seemed to be a perfectly suitable answer. However. "During your next training with Akane, I shall allow the two of you to practise with one another. Multiple wives must be able to get on with each other, and this will help you better learn how to release stress without relying entirely on Ranma." Yes, that would definitely have to go into the lesson plan.
"Azusa," Nodoka said next. "What would you have done if Ukyo had not enjoyed your attention?"
"Azusa doesn't understand the question."
Aha. That was a problem. Quite a toothy problem, come to it. This answer implied that if Nodoka let Azusa go out into the world she'd start trying to kiss, fondle, grope and play with anyone she found to be "cute". That would not help her make friends.
On second thought, yes, it would. Just... Not the kind of friends worth having.
"Then let us try this again," Nodoka said. She put the hypnotic incense directly in front of Azusa, letting the girl take several deep, deep breaths. Then she moved behind the girl, gently rubbing the back of her head. "You shall not touch people in that way in future," Nodoka gently whispered. "Unless they have given permission. Do you understand?"
"Yesss..." Azusa hissed, swaying slightly in place in her seated position. Going under fast now. Much faster than before. Good. That would make future sessions easier. "Azusa shall not hug or kiss people without permission. Azusa understands."
"Good!" Nodoka nodded. "Awaken!" she commanded, snapping her fingers to ensure they both woke up. Now to watch their reactions. To see what happened this time.
Azusa's reaction was largely the same as before. She looked over at Ukyo. Glimpsed down at the cute little toy nestled in the chef's arms. Ukyo protectively pulled it away from Azusa. Then Azusa leaned over.
"Um... Wanna make out?" she asked. Which Ukyo answered with both great enthusiasm and a touch of tongue.
Oh, dear. Somehow, Nodoka had a feeling it might be quite a long night.
<hr>
There was an odd rumour going about school. There were people saying that Nabiki had cameras planted all over campus, and all over her home. That was simply not true. That sort of thing would be prohibitively costly to set up and maintain. It was so much cheaper to simply keep a camera on her person at all times. That way she could get the pictures she needed in the easiest, most straightforward and, crucially, cheapest manner!
"What's the matter, Ranma? It's not smart to take your eyes off your opponent while sparring."
"Yeah, well! If the opponent was at least nice to look at!"
Oho! Sounds like a fight brewing up! Nabiki poked her head in through the door into the dojo... And caught sight of her sister in a slightly too small leotard lunging for Ranma with grabby hands. Meantime, the pigtailed martial artist was ducking speedily around those hands, where most boys in his position would probably encourage those hands to reach their intended destinations on schedule.
Actually, from even a glance you could see that Ranma was brutally stomping all over the part of himself that wanted to play along. Nabiki couldn't tell exactly what it was that gave that impression. Maybe the misses were a little closer than they should be. Maybe it was that Ranma was hanging around in the training hall instead of fleeing for the hills. Maybe it was that his eyeline kept on going back down to Akane's chest, her legs, and didn't really settle on her face all that often. Not that Nabiki could blame him. Li'l sis put in some work on leg day. And abdomen day. And arm day. And you pretty much get the idea.
Right. Well. That got her to duck out quickly before either of them noticed her. A smile crept onto Nabiki's face. Yen signs began to flash in her eyes. Potential! Money! She would have it soon, right in the palm of her hand! The only question was, which of the many approaches before her should she follow?
- Nabiki discreetly records the spar to sell to interested parties.
- Nabiki calls in Shampoo, Kodachi or both to have fun with them.
- Nabiki goes straight for the blackmail.
- Nabiki has another moneymaking scheme up her sleeve.
- Something else
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