The All-Americans
By
Joshua Trujillo

Part 20 - Family Secrets

Ranma looked around him. He had to admit, this was a pretty sharp 
car. He looked across the compartment of the car to Ryouga, who 
was staring out to the cornfields beyond. He seemed to have 
something troubling him. Probably dating Akane. Ranma smirked. 
That would trouble anyone. Kuno sat next to Ryouga, his arms 
folded, a stoic look on his face. Like he wasn't excited about doing 
this. With the exception of Ryouga, only Ranma knew what the 
insides of one of these places looked like.

Ranma's smile disappeared. He didn't really want to think about 
that. That was a part of his life that he thought about every month. 
Every time he changed, he thought about it. He wished he hadn't 
done it, but they were so badly in need of money at the time. His 
father was constantly drunk; having gone through his paycheck 
before all the bills arrived. No one was there to pay them. Ranma 
had to answer when they called, that was, until the phone was cut 
off.

Ranma sighed and shook his head. Those days were gone. He 
wouldn't have to revisit them unless he wanted to. Ranma thought 
about it for a second He had made some very good friends when he 
was 'on the inside'. Saying it that way made it sound like prison. 
When he let the club owner find out about his changing, it seemed 
like a prison. At least Ranma was able to fend for himself and the 
friends he made there he wouldn't have given up for anything. 
They were strong, proud women. Some were in Ranma's position, 
having to do what they did for the money, but there were a couple 
who did it for the love of showing off, and those two Ranma held 
as the strongest. So Ranma emulated them when he was there and 
it seemed to pay off. For the first time since he lost Choco, he felt 
like HE, Ranma, was in control of his life. He hadn't looked back 
since.

Ranma looked over to Hiroshi and Daisuke, who had been 
babbling nonstop since Kuno's limo had picked them up at the 
school. Ranma wondered for half a second where Kuno's money 
came from. His father was the principal at the High School and 
Kuno didn't work, so...? Ranma left it for the moment as the limo 
pulled into the parking lot of Jackson's Hole.

***

Kuno looked up to the neon sign of the establishment. Jackson's 
Hole. He recognized the pun. It was rather crude. A part of Kuno's 
brain asked him if Jackson was male or female. He ignored it and 
followed Ranma inside. Ryouga was speaking with the rather large 
man at the door, probably securing entrance for the rest of them. It 
wasn't like Kuno needed someone to secure his entrance, but for 
the others, he would let it occur...This one night, anyway.

There were several types wandering in from the countryside. Kuno 
wondered for a minute how far some of these people came to go to 
a place like this? There were several motorcycles parked along the 
front, as well as the dirt parking lot with an odd shallow groove 
running down the middle.

Kuno had never been to someplace like this and was very 
interested in what the big deal was. So there were a bunch of 
women, running around in scanty clothing. Big deal. His sister did 
that all the time. Kuno let his thoughts drift as the four of them 
chose a table near one side of the raised runway platform that 
dominated the room. The lights were not only colored in various 
shades of blue and red and purple, but they had been placed in such 
a way that a permanent drunken stare glared out from the shadowy 
patrons. Cheap chairs cornered cheap tables on a cheaply tiled 
floor. Kuno sneered at it as the group took their seats.

A young woman came around and took their drink orders. The two 
morons Hiroshi and Daisuke ordered interesting fruit drinks, and 
while that appealed to Kuno, he ordered simply water. Ranma, 
being the heathen that he was, ordered a Coke. Didn't he know 
what that did to the body? Simply barbaric.

Now, if Ranma's sister were a part of this, then that would be 
something. Not the young tomboy Akane, or the saleswoman in 
Nabiki, but the red-haired beauty. The one that had favored him 
with her gentle touch. Kuno touched his nose and snuffled 
reflexively. Yes, a gentle touch. Nabiki had some interest in Kuno, 
this he knew, but there was always a predatory look in her eyes 
that unnerved him. Kuno sipped at his water and looked around the 
room. More uncouth, seedy individuals lined the walls and tables. 
Smoke had begun to waft around the ceiling fans that whapped 
slowly along. Young women of differing ripeness wandered 
among them, setting down drinks, getting orders and other things. 
Kuno wondered briefly at the other things, but didn't dwell.

***

So tonight was a night for surprises. Kuno got a couple of snaps in 
the game and Ryouga took all of them out for a night on the town. 
Such as it was. Ranma sipped his Coke again. He wondered why 
Kuno wasn't wearing his mask. Ranma knew he hadn't completely 
healed yet. Perhaps it was pride. That wouldn't surprise him. 
Hiroshi was basically catatonic with joy. It was amusing to watch. 
Daisuke seemed okay with it, even if he was a little overeager 
when the waitress took their order.

"Real cuties, huh?" Ryouga asked as he sat down.

Ranma nodded in appreciation. They certainly were. He looked 
over to Kuno. The man seemed as catatonic as Hiroshi because he 
was just sitting there, trying not to stare out the back of his head as 
a waitress walked past. That was funny to watch too. Ranma 
turned back to Ryouga.

"I thought you were working tonight?" he asked as he sipped his 
Coke.

"I am."

Ranma nodded as the lights began to dim. He thought for a minute 
that this would have been impossible, as the room was already 
deep in shadow. A couple of bright spots, placed in two corners of 
the room, lit the far end of the raised stage where a curtain served 
as a glittering entrance.

A hand came out from behind the curtain. Ranma saw that it was 
certainly a female hand, polished nails, but also sporting one of 
those lollipop rings that you wear. Ranma sipped again at his 
Coke. The hand stayed half a count until the music began. Ranma 
smiled. He knew the tune. Johnny Lang's "Good Morning Little 
Schoolgirl". Ranma had danced to it a couple times himse-

She came through the curtain and pranced down the stage, 
swinging a small bookbag. Her brown hair was turned up in two 
ponytails that bounced lazily on either side of her head. Her outfit, 
which didn't stay on very long, consisted of a white, button-up shirt 
which she was undoing for a man on the other side of the stage 
from Ranma. She was also wearing a VERY short, green plaid 
skirt. Thigh-high stockings and black patent leather shoes made for 
a complete naughty schoolgirl look. She swung her blouse around 
her head and tossed in on Hiroshi, who didn't dare move. Daisuke 
began to laugh and even Kuno smiled up at the beautiful woman 
onstage. She began to dance for Kuno and Daisuke who couldn't 
stop jumping up and down in his chair.

She slid across the stage and licked at her lollipop ring to Kuno, 
who kept his stoic expression but shifted back and forth in his seat 
She smiled to him and wriggled out of her skirt in front of him, 
which actually made his face twitch. Ranma thought for a minute 
that his head would explode like that movie, Scanners. She writhed 
around the stage for a couple of minutes, making Kuno shift 
around some more, then her eyes met with Ranma. She missed a 
beat, but to her credit, picked it back up and finished the dance. 
The dance ended. She looked back to Ranma, who raised his Coke 
to her as she disappeared behind the curtain.

Ranma sipped his Coke again. He was right. Kasumi was a dancer. 
Good one, too.

***

The man with no neck pulled back the little curtain as Ranma 
approached. He gave Ranma a scowl and let the curtain fall behind 
him as Ranma passed. Ranma supposed that he was used to letting 
people backstage. Ranma wondered if Kasumi would want to talk 
to him, or if she would do it the next time she came home. He 
guessed correctly again. She probably wasn't all that comfortable 
with Ranma being able to keep secrets. He smirked at that.

A cute waitress with red hair had come to the table a little after 
Kasumi's dance had ended and asked Ranma to follow her 
backstage. She brought Ranma down a narrow hallway and opened 
a door at the end, standing aside as another woman passed the 
other way. Kasumi was on the other side of the door, sitting in 
front of a mirror. The mirror set on a table and was surrounded by 
strong round lights that made the room uncomfortably warm. She 
wiped her eyes quickly and indicated a chair near the table, but 
said nothing. Ranma sat down. She pulled at the large white terry 
robe that was wrapped around her, trying hard to crawl inside it.

"Kasumi, I think there's something-"

"Ranma please," she muttered as she reached out and put a hand on 
his arm, "Let me speak because this is hard enough and I know you 
probably don't understand why I'm doing this but I need to get this 
out before-"

She had broken down to tears again.

"Kasumi!" Ranma interrupted, taking both her hands in his, "It's 
okay. I understand more than you think. *I* used to do this for a 
living too."

It had been hard for him to say, but Ranma thought it would at 
least let him come at this on a more even level.

"...Huh...?" she muttered.

Ranma smiled and picked up another tissue, dabbing at the tears on 
her cheeks. Ranma sighed.

"You're smearing your make-up," he muttered, "You know about 
my changing problem. Well, the summer after it happened, father 
and I were trying to make ends meet. All he wanted to do was to 
drink and forget that his son turned into a daughter a few times a 
month. It was all up to me to make sure I ate and went to school. I 
don't even know how he was able to make the house payment 
every month, but he did."

Ranma stopped and wondered for a second. How DID he make the 
payment?

"But...You were only about what? Fourteen?" Kasumi asked softly, 
"How were you able to do this at that age?"

This brought Ranma back and he smiled.

"The manager of the club found out about my changing ability and 
offered me a deal," he said, "I didn't WANT to do it, but I didn't 
see a whole lot of choice. And, as I got into it and made some 
friends, they helped me see how I could get the marks to fund 
pretty much anything I wanted."

"M-marks, huh?" she asked, "That what they called the customers 
there? Seems pretty harsh to me."

Ranma smiled again.

"Yeah, marks. Johns, marks, whatever you wanna call'm. Some 
Janes too," Ranma said, looking around the room for the first time, 
"If I wanted a car, work the marks. If I wanted a new laptop, work 
the marks. I could only work a few nights a month, but it was 
kinda worth it."

"Ranma, I'm ashamed that anyone found out about me doing this."

Ranma shook his head.

"Don't be. Also, don't worry about me telling anyone," he said, 
"You're doing this to work your way through college, aren't you?"

Kasumi nodded as she snuffled into another tissue.

"I know how hard it is because I had to pay the bills for everything 
for over a year after the accident," Ranma said, "So I understand. 
And, if there's anything I can do to help, just ask, okay?"

Kasumi looked as if she wanted to ask something, but kept it to 
herself. She smiled and brought Ranma into a close hug.

"Just...Please don't tell Nodoka, okay? She worries enough about 
the family," Kasumi began, "And I know she'd make me quit doing 
this and would bring my debt to the family. I don't want that to 
happen and-"

"Kasumi," Ranma smiled, "I'll promise not to tell, if you promise 
to talk to me if it gets bad here. You let me know and we'll work 
something out, okay?"

Kasumi let out a sigh and hugged him again.

"Hey, Cassie, I thought Jim didn't want you to bring guys back 
here?" a voice said from the doorway.

Ranma turned and appraised the girl that stood in the doorway. Her 
long black hair streamed in a single ponytail down the left side of 
her body. She leaned against the frame of the door and idly twirled 
a fluffy blue boa in a little horizontal circle near her knees. She 
reached out a hand and idly flicked at the collar of Ranma's jacket 
with the boa. Ranma began to wonder if her outfit had been 
painted on, then he realized...It WAS painted on. The gold and 
black paint that covered her body left nothing to Ranma's 
imagination and was made to imitate a leotard. Ranma lifted his 
eyes to hers and smiled.

"Dachi, let me introduce you to my brother," Kasumi stood up and 
Ranma followed suit, "Kodachi, this is Ranma Saotome. Ranma, 
this is one of our finest new dancers, Kodachi Kuno."

Ranma raised an eyebrow.

"Kuno?" he asked.

"From that reaction, I suppose you know my brother, Tatewaki," 
Kodachi said as she extended her hand, "You know Kasumi, he IS 
MUCH cuter than MY brother. Can we switch?"

Ranma shook her hand and tried to act humble. Ranma stopped 
shaking her hand, but she didn't let it go. Instead, she moved closer 
to him and began stroking his arm near his right elbow. Ranma 
cleared his throat and hoped his excitement didn't show.

"Listen, Kodachi? Can you show Ranma back to his seat, I have to 
get back and dance again," Kasumi said as she sat back down.

She began to fix the make-up that her crying had ruined as 
Kodachi lead him out.

***

What was this? Her heart? Her face?!

She could feel the blood rushing to parts that were dormant before. 
They were suddenly gaining more life than she had ever known. 
This boy? Was this boy causing all these new feelings? All these 
things were so new...Why did they have to happen at work. 
Kodachi tried to calm her fluttering heart and calmly lead Ranma 
back toward the stage and seats. The way this boy moved, he was 
very well muscled and took care of himself. He was tall and quite 
handsome and tried to look coy whenever he caught Kodachi 
looking up at him.

His hands were firm and strong. God was he strong! He could 
probably hold her down and...

He looked down at her as she shivered slightly. She smiled and felt 
the blush rising through her. She was SO turned on by this boy and 
yet, he was so YOUNG! Normally, she was with Kasumi when she 
was talking about boys and how they're always so 'young'. But 
Ranma...He was another story all together.

Kodachi brought Ranma to the curtain. She heard the music begin 
and it gave her an idea. Ranma started through the curtain, but 
Kodachi pulled at his arm. He looked back questioningly; she 
wagged a finger at him and pulled him close to her.

"Why don't we go back to one of the booths and I can give you a 
special dance, sweetie?" she breathed in his ear.

He coughed slightly and cleared his throat and tried not to show 
just how much he wanted that. Oh yes, Kodachi could tell he 
wanted it. He shyly stammered something about getting back out 
to the group of guys he was with. Kodachi winked at him and 
nodded an understanding.

She was SO turned on by this guy!

***

This hot girl wanted him! Ranma couldn't believe it. Sure, he'd 
been the eye of many a cute girl, but nothing this overt. He wasn't 
exactly sure how to handle it, but it looked like they'd make it back 
to his seat before she jumped him. Ranma breathed a sigh as she 
pulled the curtain aside and led him back into the main area.

Watching her from this side, Ranma could tell that she was indeed 
wearing a thong, but aside from the cloth dance shoes, certainly 
not anything else. Ranma breathed out and tried to calm himself.

'She's a Kuno, she's a Kuno, she's a Kuno', had been his mantra 
ever since she lead him back into the hallway. She stopped in front 
of the table and just stood there, staring. Ranma moved around to 
his seat and saw that she had her mouth open, a confused look 
pealed across her face.

"Tatchi?!" she spat out, loudly.

Kuno turned his head and did the largest double take that Ranma 
had ever seen.

"Kodachi?" he replied.

She grabbed the chair nearest Ranma and leaned forward while 
Kuno half-stood. Both raised their right index fingers at each other.

"What are YOU doing here?" they both intoned.

Ranma picked up his Coke and grimaced slightly. Watery cola. 
There was a slight silence and Kuno dropped himself back down to 
his seat.

"I should tell father about this," Kuno said sharply.

"Go ahead," she said as she placed a hand on her hip, "He never 
listens to us, EITHER of us, anyway."

She turned back to Ranma and, with a predatory glance to her 
brother who seemed all too interested in his sister, wrapped a hand 
around his neck and pulled him close.

"Listen lover," she purred, loud enough for Kuno to hear, 
"Anytime you want that lapdance, you just give me a call, 'kay?"

She winked at Ranma and planted a kiss on his cheek. She stood 
and turned to go, but spun back around and whipped her fluffy boa 
around Ranma's neck. He was startled by the accuracy and 
tightness of the boa, but calmed as it relaxed against his chest. She 
laughed lightly and strutted back toward the backstage curtain.

Ranma paused and turned back to the rest of the group as he heard 
a grinding sound. It seemed to be coming from Kuno, but he didn't 
know. Maybe it was the gears in his head? Ranma smiled and 
settled back into his chair. Daisuke just smiled and shook his head. 
Hiroshi hadn't come out from under Kasumi's shirt.

"Saotome," Kuno said as he leaned across the table near Ranma, 
"Don't get any ideas about my sister."

"Oh?" Ranma asked as he examined the boa, "Like what? Fucking 
her?"

Ranma reached his hand over and tickled Kuno's nose with the end 
of the boa. Ranma saw the energy flare along Kuno's arm and 
threw himself backward as a shattering sound snapped through the 
club. The flip put Ranma on his feet on the table behind his former 
seat. Kuno stared up from the kindling, as a snarl rippled across his 
face. Ryouga rounded the table from behind Ranma.

"Enough!" he shouted as he pulled Kuno back, "House rules. No 
fighting! Got it?!"

Kuno regarded Ryouga and thought better of challenging his 
authority. Best not bite the hand that fed him and all that. Kuno 
calmed himself and sat back down again. Ranma climbed off the 
table and pulled up another chair while Ryouga complained about 
the broken one.

"Look Kuno," Ranma started, "I don't even want Kodachi, okay? 
I've got Shampoo and girl troubles once a year is enough."

Kuno regarded Ranma and seemed to mull it over. He had seen 
Shampoo and he did think she was more beautiful than his sister. 
And the girl Shampoo did indeed seem attached to Saotome. She 
certainly was everytime Kuno had seen the two together. Kuno 
calmed and nodded slightly to Ranma. No sense in squashing him 
like the bug he was here. He could do it later.

Kuno calmed more as the spotlight came on once more. A noisome 
heavy metal song began to rouse the beasts around the stage, 
including the ones in his party. Kuno straightened again as the 
woman made her entrance. It was the brown haired godde-

Kuno breathed out again. He only had one goddess. She had red 
hair. She-

But this one enticed him so...

She was wearing a leather outfit this time. Oh, how she enticed 
him! Never before had another woman drove him to think such 
barbaric thoughts! She wiggled at him and did things with her little 
black whip...Kuno fervently wished that she would do those things 
to him! He mopped at his brow, wondering why the management 
decided to turn up the temperature. She writhed around, enticing 
him some more as the song ended.

She skipped back to the pole near the back curtain. She stopped 
and turned-Yes! She would favor him with-

She blew a kiss to Saotome. Kuno settled back into his seat. Yes, 
Saotome would most definitely have to die.

***