Another chance - Ranna and Kappei

[Nan-Yo]

What was Mana? Ever since learning about it as a small child, Kara wanted to know. So, being only three years old, she had asked her father. Mana was the source of magic and what decided the rules of physics. Without magic, there would be no fire, no flowing water, and no blowing wind. Mana was what allowed life to exist. But instead of being happy with the answer, Kara had just repeated her question. What is Mana? So her father had explained again. Mana is an energy that you could neither see, measure, or even describe. This should have sufficed, yet the little girl had persisted. What is Mana? What energy? What is that? and her father had patted her head and sent her off to bother her mother instead. What was Mana? Having researched it and studied everything and anything she could find out about it, she still had no answer. Mana was everything her father had told her and more. It was the source of magic itself and what made the world what it was today. But that was also where her father had failed to even understand the question. What was Mana? It might allow for everything her father had told her, but that didn't explain what it was. Some nebulous energy that you could not even measure? Something with no origin and no cause? No reason for existing? Kara simply could not understand such a thing.

"It is here." Kara told Ranna as they arrived in front of one of the more lavishly decorated buildings in the Recreation Zone. All the buildings were beautiful, but the large gilded red door and the red drapes in the windows seemed very invested in making sure that everyone visiting the place should think it was something special. Gold carpets covering the floors and ruby-red wallpaper decorating the walls, every piece of clothing in the large boutique seemed to be of satin, silk, or some other shiny fabric. Among all the clothing stores in the Recreation Zone, this one in particular focused on making clothes for the large Baals and other celebrations that were held yearly at the academy.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Ranna briefly paused, staring at the building.  This was what Kara chose?  This was a little much for a club welcoming party, wasn’t it?  This felt more like a place to dragged for a wedding dress.  She was more uneasy, that Kara picked something very complicated.  The sort of thing that would make her feel weird and that she had little if any experience wearing.  This was slightly surprising from the first person she met here who seemed to understand she was really a boy.  The girl understood how strange this would be, didn’t she.  But, with some reluctance, she followed Kara inside before she said anything.  She kind of did and did not want to see at the same time, the sort of outfit that was picked.

[Nan-Yo]

Kara entered the store, making sure that Ranna followed her as they walked further inside. Gilded mannequins wearing gaudy dresses beconed customers to stay as they posed in various displays all over the boutique. The way the shop was vying for its customers attention was almost suffocating.

"I have chosen clothes for the best result." Kara explained as she walked up to one of the store clerks, signaling for the woman to fetch what they had prepared for Ranna beforehand. The woman gave a curt nod, then scurried off to get the clothes for them.

"It should satisfy your sister and everyone else." She elaborated as she led Ranna toward the changing rooms. Having changing rooms at the academy might surprise Ranna, but that was just how it was. A short while later, the saleswoman showed up again, carrying clothes on multiple racks.

"Here. I especially had these custom made for you." Kara accepted the clothes the woman had brought with her and handed them all to Ranna. The costume consisted of an extremely frilly, bare-shoulder, white silk dress that had to be buttoned up in the back. Ending just above the knees, it resembled a ballerina tutu. Along with the dress were some creamy white elbow gloves as well as some white thighhighs. Aside from these items, the saleswoman had also brought with her a very simple white silk choker and some white chunky-heeled shoes of the Mary Jane design. Not quite platform shoes, but not far from it, they would give anyone wearing them almost seven centimeters extra in height.

Edited February 18 by Nan-Yo

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Ranna looked over the clothes.  That was a bit much.  She was not sure how to feel about it.  But they had been picked just for her.  Sized just for her.  It was not for something life changing, like a wedding either.  Though she wondered how strange she would feel dressed like this, around the other club members?  It would only help some that they would be similarly dressed.

With some reluctance.  She stepped into the changing room. If Kara did all that, she could at least try it on.  See how it looked and felt.  She began taking everything off, almost everything.  She could tell she was not wearing a bra with this.  Everything else considered, it was still a little strange not to wear one with this body.  She had gotten used to it as the body developed.  She associated it with her breasts, as a girl, by this point.

She just hoped this would not be too complicated to put on.  She had such little experience wearing things like that.

[Nan-Yo]

Kara remained outside, taking note of how long it took the younger girl to change into the outfit. She had some hopes that she would be able to hold something akin to an actual conversation with the other girl, if only because of all the bragging that Reiko had done about how supposedly intelligent she was. But Kara's main interest in Ranna was the curse itself, or rather the actual schematics of it. 

"I am not taking you shopping for underwear. If you want new ones to go with the costume, you will have to ask somebody else." She told Ranna through the door as she waited for her to finish up. She'd need Kara's help to button it up in the back, but other than that she should be able to handle everything on her own. The design was meant to showcase how pure Ranna was, highlighting that you were meant to protect her. She was Reiko's little angel, so this was how things had to be.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Ranna would have been happy to talk as well.  But she was still cautious and uneasy after their previous talk.  She had an idea of the things Reiko said to others, that probably did not help.  Reiko was Reiko.  Blind with love and pride for her little ‘sister’.  Maybe it helped.  But it probably gave a wrong impression too.

“I haven’t exactly worn much if anything like this before.”  She explained why this might have been taking longer than it would for someone else.  She left the subject of underwear undiscussed.  Whether or not she even cared to do it.  She could easily see other girls being eager to buy underwear together, in a place like this.  But she could not blame Kara for not being interested.  It was not a surprise to her.

After fumbling with it a little longer, she finally got it on.  Mostly.  “I assume someone is supposed to deal with the back anytime it is put on.”  She half asked, half invited Kara in for help.  The girl being how she was, she did not expect to feel the awkwardness or excitement she might have, if it was another girl.

[Nan-Yo]

"Yes, that is correct. If you are unable to button up the back yourself, you will need help putting it on." Kara confirmed, explaining the obvious. Unlike somebody like Kappei, she immediately understood that Ranna was asking her for help, so without asking first, she pushed open the swing-door and stepped inside the dressing booth with her. She didn't have any sexual intentions, of course, but her actions were a good reminder of how little other students at the school were considerate of other people's personal space.

"Ask your sister or somebody else to help you put it on for the party." Kara clarified, having no intention to be Ranna's babysitter or anything close to it. Grabbing the shorter girl by her slim shoulders, she roughly turned her around and then buttoned up the dress quickly.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

This was that attitude that was diminishing Ranna's desire to say more than she had to, preventing any real conversation.  She only asked for help because the idea was for her to put it on, and she assumed Kara wanted to see it completely on, or to have her feel it, or something.  To completely change into it anyway.  She did not have the mental energy to try to figure it out and did not intend to navigate the landmine of trying to talk to her.  It was better than dealing with all that wedding garbage, but it was still not that pleasant.  She just silently let Kara finish and waited to see if there was more.

[Nan-Yo]

Finished with the dress, Kara turned Ranna around again and pursed her lips, a somewhat vexed frown creasing her brows. She wanted to tell Ranna that she should put on some make-up, or at least some lipstick or lipgloss, to finish off the look they were going for, but she didn't intend to spend any more time on this project than she absolutely had to. Instead, she'd tell Reiko about it later and have her handle it instead.

"I wanted to add some wings, but it does not seem to be necessary." She told Ranna, bringing up a white tiara that was decorated with some tiny sparkling diamonds and a big white rose. When equipped, the tiara would make any other white clothes that were worn look like they had a bit of sparkle too. It was simple add-on magic that only affected white things. Yes, it was very simple, but like all magic, it was an expensive extravaganza that a normal person living in the town Ranna came from could not afford.

"Here, put this on as well." She instructed Ranna, handing her the magic item. Kara was going for an angelic otherworldly and pure look for the other girl here. Adding wings to the costume would have been optimal, but even this simple glittery sparkle was enough create that feeling when you looked at the cute little girl.

Edited April 29 by Nan-Yo

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Ranna silently looked at the tiara in her hands for a moment.  It seemed a little much.  This was getting into that whole level of femininity she was not used to.  The outfit already did that.  This just made it more intense.  She felt like she was dressing like some princess.  Could have been an angel, if she actually got the wings.  Maybe that was for the better, that it was missing.

After she finished looking, she carefully lifted it.  She did not know if it was fragile, but with something like this, she felt she needed to be careful, just in case.  She set in on her head, getting in place.  Silently looking at Kara, unsure what reaction the other other girl was going to give her.

[Nan-Yo]

Kara nodded, satisfied with the result. The younger girl really did look like some sort of ethereal, magical being. She might not have cared for such things and held no interest in them, but she was not blind. Ranna was a remarkable beauty and would no doubt have been scouted and brought to the academy even if Reiko's claims of her intelligence had not been true. It was her vaunted intellect that had first gotten Kara's attention, and then, when she looked into it, her curse. Ranna had indeed been scouted by the academy because of tests that had been sent out to all schools across the UNA. Her scores had not just been high, but her solutions to some of the problems found in those tests had been interesting and alone enough to catch the interest of many highly held scholars. The girl was simply too precious to ignore. Apparently, there had even been people interested in adopting her. Her going to the academy allowed all those interested parties to get an equal shot at getting her for themselves. It wasn't just the elite families that had long scholarly or magical roots, but also the ones that held other reigns of power. No matter how unremarkable and unimportant a person was to your own interests, if other powerful forces wanted that person, then getting that person yourself, or at least getting in the way, held its own rewards.

"What are your thoughts here? Will you be able to use this to your advantage?" She asked, turning Ranna around again so that the girl could watch herself in the large mirror wall in the dressing booth. Kara's question showed, in her own way, that while she had not enjoyed or even wanted to help pick out a costume, even though it had been aimed to appease and make Reiko and the others happy, it was actually meant to help Ranna.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

To her advantage?  Ranna was not sure what Kara meant by that.  It felt weird to look at herself dressed like this.  She supposed she could wear it to the party.  Though she was unsure how the other girls might react to it.  Staring back at her was an image that certainly hurt her insistence she was a boy.  That was all girl she was looking at.  Probably more feminine than anything Reiko pressured her into wearing.

She did not want to seem ungrateful.  Kara had seemed to put thought into this, as far as she could tell.  At least she did not pick something casually or carelessly.  But did the girl expect her to keep wearing it, at least infrequently?  “…Maybe…I don’t know.  Depends on what sort of advantage you mean.”  She was reluctant to say anything that made her sound stupid, what she did not know if Kara considered an obvious question.  There was some uncertainty if it meant doing things she was still not used to.  Ranna got used to living as a sometimes girl in many ways, but there certain lines she had not crossed and was not eager to.

[Nan-Yo]

"Well, what advantage do you think?" Kara shot back, letting go of the other girl's slim shoulders. The question did not bother Kara all that much. She didn't have any interest in clothes and dressing up either, so she didn't hold it against Ranna that the other girl didn't immediately realize what benefits she could gain depending on how she dressed, when, and for whom. Her older sister and all the other members of the club would provide the girl with a somewhat safe haven. Getting them to not only help her but also desire to do so was something she should try to achieve here.

"Here is my advice." Kara muttered, bending a bit closer so that her mouth was next to Ranna's ear. The girl's costume was sparking beautifully, looking as magical in the mirror as it was. Yes, going for those sparkles had definitely been the right choice.

"You should use what you have to make up for what you lack." She was talking about Ranna's beauty here, of course. Being beautiful and fragile was a weakness, but it could also be turned into a strength. If Kara's intel was correct, and she had no doubt it were, then there were a lot of other parties interested in this girl. Her protection period would be over tomorrow, and if she wasn't ready for it, what she had been trying to avoid would happen to her.

Edited February 24 by Nan-Yo

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

It was hard to tell what the girl was suggesting.  Getting that sort of attention seemed like opposite of what she wanted.  She was not stupid.  As much as she hated Kappei's idea, she understood the attention this body would draw.  Drawing even more attention would have the opposite effect from what she desired.  Was she suggesting to give into it?  It did not seem like it, but it was hard to see how being even more attractive as a girl was going to help her.  "What, you want me to become so famous everybody is too busy fighting over me to screw me?  I don't know how you get out of all this, if you do, but while I would welcome alternatives, it feels like this would just make things harder."  She figured Kara, a very attractive girl herself, with her personality and being in that club, was not especially interested in sex.  But Ranna had no idea if she just tolerated it, or found some way to get it out of it.  Maybe she was good enough to fight off anyone who would want that, it was hard to say.

[Nan-Yo]

"There is actually a rather big interest in a person whose name is Ranna Rangorn." Kara explained, her hands now back on Ranna's shoulders. Only a year older, she wasn't tall, but she still made the pink-haired girl look petite in comparison. If not for the special shoes Ranna was wearing, the difference between them would have been even more noticeable. Seeing herself in the mirror like this, it should be more obvious than ever to Ranna not only how beautiful she was but also how weak and fragile.

"Your protection period will be over tomorrow, and everyone who happened to have that interest will start acting on it." She continued, getting to the point. Ranna seemed to think being pretty was her only problem here. Was it because she didn't have a proper understanding of what this academy was? It seemed to be the case. All the debauchery made it easy to gloss over anything else that was happening. The place was annoying.

"So how do you protect yourself against something like that?" Kara hummed, trying to smile, but it just looked odd on her face, so she immediately stopped. Getting married was probably the girl's best bet here, but it would put a crushing weight on the person she relied on. Did that guy even understand the type of danger he put himself in?

"So. Should we go with this costume then? Or do you want to spend more time shopping?" Kara finished letting go of Ranna's shoulders again and took a step back. As far as she was concerned, the conversation was over for now. If the other girl had some more questions, they could talk about it after they had gotten the costume and she was back in her school uniform again. Standing in this dressing booth and looking in the mirror any longer was just a waste of time.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Seriously?  She was going to ask that question without elaborating?  Ranna was not going to be too harsh.  They could not really be called friends by any stretch, but they were getting along better than last time and Ranna did not want to mess that up and she was not against them becoming friends eventually, though it seemed difficult with Kara's personality.  She was stuck looking at herself again in the mirror.  Someone who looked almost like a different person.

Kara had offered to shop more if this did not work.  But she remembered what the girl said earlier.  It was not something Kara wanted to do.  Ranna had mixed feelings about it herself.  Who knew what she might end up with, if it would make her feel even stranger.  She decided to leave it up to her.  "I'll go with this.  Just this, unless you think there is a reason to get more."  She was going to be cautious about, not wanting a repeat of last time.  But she hoped to stick with Kara at least a little longer.  Figure her out a little more.  Maybe get her to elaborate on what she already said.

[Nan-Yo]

Kara just gave Ranna a disgusted look before leaving the dressing booth. Of course, there was a need for her to get more clothes, but she had already told her that she only intended to help her get a costume for the party. She wanted Kara to help her with more shopping, she should try giving her an actual reason to do so.

"When you are done, bring the costume back out with you, and I'll have the store put it on my tab." She said, closing the door to the booth behind her as she stepped out of it. The quicker they got this over with, the sooner they would be able to run some tests on the girl and check up on her Mana and that magical ailment she suffered from.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Ranna sighed after Kara left, in reaction to that look.  The point being misunderstood and leading to the same problem as earlier.  She had tried to word it clear enough, no pressure at all, not asking her to do anything, only making the offer to do more if Kara thought they should and that still bothered her.  This was why she had been so reluctant to say anything, even trying to be careful, there was a possibility they were back to last time.  Maybe she should say nothing except answer the girl's questions after all.  Saying anything else was a minefield she did not have the energy to deal with.  Better just ignore whatever questions of her own she was thinking of. Kara would probably be happier if she just shut up.

She just wanted to get it over with now.  While it was still better than what was coming, it was hard to keep the optimism she had been clinging to earlier.  She quickly and quietly changed, then came out, standing there without a word, letting the other girl take the lead.

[Nan-Yo]

 

Accepting the clothes and accessories from Ranna, she handed them to the saleslady, who checked them again before nodding and putting them in a paper bag. Handing the bag back to Kara, she left, signaling that all the shopping was over.

"We are done here. Let's head to the lab." Kara told Ranna in a somewhat brusque tone. It seemed that the irony of it all might have been lost on the Rangorn sister, though. Here she was, taking note of how her intentions were either misunderstood or simply taken the wrong way. Yet this was, in a way, exactly how she acted with Kappei or with her older sister Reiko. Ranna was very difficult to deal with. Regardless of whether or not she was justified in acting the way she did, the end result was that it could be rather unpleasant to deal with her.

Making sure that Ranna followed her, Kara walked out of the store and headed towards the nearest trolley stop.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

There was a big difference, vast difference, as far as Ranna was concerned.  She was not forcing Kara to do anything, this was not her idea.  She had even tried to make it easier on her.  Worst she was doing was inconveniencing the girl for part of a day.  Kappei was dragging her into life changing events, that felt real no matter how much he insisted it was fake.  She might have snapped and gone on a long vicious rant, that did long term damage, if someone actually made that comparison to her.  She was still incredibly uneasy and stressed out about it.  She would have felt insulted by the comparison.  The similarity was only on the surface as far as she would have been concerned.

She simply followed, her expression and look blank, pushing her frustration down.  She could have given a 'disgusted look' about going to a lab.  Being studied.  But she was not that petty or hypocritical, whatever some observer might have thought.  She was not going to get into a fight without direct provocation.  She would just deal with it, get it over with, she would have preferred to run off, but there was no one here she wanted to be around right now.

[Nan-Yo]

The trolley soon arrived, allowing the two girls to climb aboard to continue their trek towards the lab.

Now, of course, Kara would never be as brazen as to claim that she was being forced to do anything here. She had chosen to join the Rhythmic Gymnastics Club of her own free will because it was her best option. However, being a member of the club, she couldn't just ignore what was expected of her.

"Did you know that hundreds of years ago, before that Cataclysm happened, there were many diseases that spread through sexual contact?" Kara told Ranna, as the two of them had climbed onto the train and it started moving. There weren't as many passengers on as there had been yesterday with Kappei, but it wasn't exactly empty either. With the number of students at the academy, it never really was.

Of course, this was just Kara making small talk. By doing so, she just unknowingly demonstrated to Ranna just how odd she actually was. She really didn't see why bringing up something like that as if it were the most normal thing in the world could be construed by other people as just weird.

Then again, Ranna was plenty weird herself. Or maybe she was just normal? Had Kappei, or even her sister, ever actually forced her to do anything? Maybe Reiko had insisted, and maybe Kappei had complained about her behavior, but when had they ever actually made her do anything?

This was perhaps the real core of the problem, though. Ranna simply didn't have anyone to put the blame on other than herself, and she never really had. If she had refused to get engaged, the plan would have been scrapped, and if she had refused to join the club, Reiko would have left her alone. It really was that simple. Of course, what would she have done then? She was an intelligent girl, and she had no doubt realized a lot of the dangers at the academy. So what would she have done if Kappei hadn't suggested that plan?

Edited February 26 by Nan-Yo

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Yes, everything was Ranna’s fault.  She was just a stupid little girl, no one else could do anything wrong.  That was what everyone else thought. She certainly felt forced into it, her complaints dismissed, no one caring how uncomfortable she felt.  As it got closer and closer she just had to bottle up more and more.  To get through this.  Then to live her life locked up, isolated.  This was all to be bottled up.  There was no one to tell it to, she had figured that out.  Not this girl.  Not her ‘husband’ to be.  Even her relationship with Reiko was too complicated to go through it with her. There were no friends here, she was being isolated from most potential ones, and it was too soon to consider anyone else in the club.

That was the invisible storm in Ranna locked away, behind a blank expression.  She was not paying attention to her surroundings, not paying attention to much, except for hints from Kara that they were at their stop.  The words she heard just confused her.

Now she wanted to make small talk?  This was the subject she chose?  Even without her concerns about ‘Kara minefield’, she was not sure what to say here.  Where this conversation might go.  “…hmm…yeah, somewhat…”.  She had a little awareness of such things, but it was not like she seriously studied it.

[Nan-Yo]

Ranna might have been under the impression that everyone thought of her as a stupid little girl, but the only ones that had said or hinted at her behaving like a brat were Kappei. Feeling sorry for herself, it was probably easy to think of everyone else as an enemy. It certainly meant that she didn't have to take responsibility for anything if everyone else was at fault and nobody could understand her. Kara didn't think of Ranna as a stupid little girl, though. No, Kara thought of everyone as stupid.

"You have no interest in what I just said." Kara stated, giving Ranna a blank look. She kept her gaze on the other girl, then returned her blank stare to simply stare at everyone else in the trolley. Unlike Ranna, the way she was looking at people couldn't be confused with her having an interest in joining in on the so-called fun. How could you talk to somebody like Kara and have a normal conversation? The irony once again seemed to escape Ranna, though. How could you have a normal conversation with the younger Rangorn sister? Being forced and feeling like you were being forced were two entirely different things.

The trolley soon stopped, and Kara motioned for Ranna to disembark the train with her. Nobody had approached the two of them during the ride, but this had not been by luck. The way Kara had behaved and acted made it abundantly clear that she didn't have any intention of joining in on what everyone else was doing. This was what Kappei had been trying to make Ranna understand, yet the young girl had continued to give everyone around her mixed signals and practically been begging for attention.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Whatever.  Ranna did not have the energy to argue.  Did not want to.  Trying to figure this girl out was only likely to lead to another fight.  She had made her effort.  Just bottle herself up further.  She needed to close just about everything off to get through this day.  She just went deeper into her own head.  Better that then get sick or break down from the stress of what was coming.

She just stood up and followed.  Almost like a doll, or puppet.  Practice for later.  She would need that to get through what Kappei wanted.  Maybe for what was about to happen too.  But she would see about that.

[Nan-Yo]

Less than a minute walk from the trolley station, Ranna and Kara found themselves in front of the tall glass entrance to the magical bio-lab. With a round dome in the middle, it looked quite a bit different than any of the other buildings at the academy. A weird building for people with weird interests.

"We have different rules inside. That means no sex." Kara explained to Ranna, completely uninterested whether the other girl liked her or not. It was Reiko's hope that the two of them would open up to each other and perhaps even become friends. But just because both of them were anti-social, didn't actually mean that they would magically get along.

A soft blue light washed over the two girls as they got up to the entrance, recognizing Kara as someone allowed access, the two large doors opened for them.

Kara guided Ranna inside, taking her through the large entry hall towards an area where multiple elevators were located, and had the two of them step into one.

"Basement level 3" Kara spoke, and the elevator activated. She had said there was no sex in the building, and this was true to a degree. Sex was allowed, but only if it was part of a magical experiment. The lab was a place for magical science, not for playing around.