The Ring

Ranma ½ and the characters therein are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, not me.

I must be some sort of sexual deviant or something, because all I can seem to write lately is dirty…

---***---

"Ah ha!" shouted a dusty Akane. She'd finally found what she was looking for in the attic. She straightened up from under the pile of boxes she was searching, and held her treasure up to the light. It was a small wooden box, completely devoid of any ornaments other than a brass hook and eye keeping the lid closed. She opened the lid and looked inside. There she saw an arrangement of jewelry, some of it old and outdated, but still beautiful to look at. Besides, Akane would never pawn off any of it. It belonged to her mother.

She stood there in the dim light for a short while, admiring the jewels. She was hoping to find something that she could wear often to honor her mother, something simple but elegant, perhaps some diamond earrings or a gold necklace. She was sifting through the jewels when she heard a click. Curious, she looked under her finger to see that a small trap door had opened in the bottom of the box, revealing a small secret compartment. She must have pushed down on the door, opening the spring loaded latch. Lifting the tiny door, she peered inside, and found an unusual piece of jewelry. It was silver, shaped like a "C" and had diamonds mounted in small silver cups on both ends of the curve. She looked inside the compartment, thinking that it was an earring, but she didn't see its pair. Besides which, there didn't seem to be a way to hook it to an ear.

"What is this?" she wondered aloud.

---***---

The curious piece of jewelry continued to perplex her that evening as she took her bath. She was sitting in the furo, staring at it in the palm of her hand, trying to figure out just what it was. She reached out her other hand to touch one of gems, and was surprised to find that it could rotate. Holding it in her fingers, she twisted the gem until the mounting came off in her hand. Akane briefly panicked that she had broken her mother's jewelry, but then noticed that the gem was meant to screw on and off of the base like that. Maybe it was an earring after all and this was how you put it on. Still, you'd need a rather big hole in your ear to wear it.

She looked up when she heard the door open and in walked Kasumi wearing a robe. "Oh! I'm sorry Akane! I didn't know anybody was in here," she apologized.

"It's OK Onee-san," replied the younger woman. "I must have forgotten to put the sign up. You can join me if you want though!" She smiled at her older sister.

Kasumi smiled back and disrobed. She quickly washed herself before entering the tub, sitting across from Akane. "What's that in your hand?" she asked.

Akane looked up from her pondering surprised, almost as if she had forgotten her sister was even in the room with her. She held out her hand. "I found Mom's old jewelry box up in the attic and this was in a secret compartment inside. I can't figure out what it is or how to wear it though."

Kasumi held out her hand for the ornament, and Akane gave it to her. The older woman examined it briefly, before her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Umm, Akane, this is a body piercing. Are you sure you got this from Mother's jewelry box?"

Akane's eyes bulged as well. "A body piercing? Mom?"

"Yes…" replied Kasumi. "I wasn't aware that she had one either, but my friend Michiko has one in her belly button that looks kind of like this." She continued to stare at the piercing, trying to figure out what it was doing in her mother's box. "I don't recall ever seeing a belly ring on Mother though…"

Akane took the ring back from her sister and examined it once more, looking at it in a different light now that she understood what it was for. Then an idea struck her. "That picture of all of us at the beach! Mom was wearing a bikini that day. That was about a month before she passed away wasn't it?"

Kasumi thought about the picture, remembering the trip. "Yes, it was. We can look at it after we get out of the bath. I know which album it's in."

---***---

Twenty minutes later they were rifling through the picture album trying to find the pictures from that day at the beach. The two sisters were somewhat misty eyed at the reminiscing they were doing, all the reminders of their long deceased mother, but they were happy to be doing the reminiscing with each other. Finally they came to the picture taken by a passer by, a picture of the entire family sitting together on the blanket, Kasumi about eight years old standing next to her father, and Akane only five, sitting in her mother's lap. A six year old Nabiki was smiling and waving a shovel at the camera. Soun was looking much younger, and had his arm around his beautiful wife.

"Akane, you look so much like her," Kasumi said as they looked at the picture. It was true, right down to the hairstyle Akane was a dead ringer for her mother. Even the body type, it was obvious that the woman had been an avid martial artist as well, as her bikini showed off her toned and muscled body. There was one problem though.

"There's no ring," Akane said. "There's not even a hole, or a scar where there would be a hole for a piercing. She wasn't pierced there." She looked at her sister, about to ask the obvious question, when she noticed that Kasumi had become even paler than usual. "Kasumi?"

"Michiko has other piercings that looks like this," Kasumi replied. "I was hoping I was wrong, but Mother doesn't have one in her belly button, and I don't ever remember seeing her with a piercing on her… chest… when we bathed with her. There's only one other place it could be. "

Curiosity gnawed at Akane. She had to know what had caused her sister to have such a strong reaction. "What? Where?"

Kasumi's pallor changed suddenly from pale to bright red. She leaned in close to Akane and whispered into her ear. Akane's eyes widened and her own face turned beet red. "In her WHAT?"

---***---

The next day, Akane found herself standing in front of a tattoo and piercing parlor, rather surprised to find that not only was it not in a seedy side of town, but that it also looked rather clean and professional inside. Even so, she was still extremely nervous about being here. It was a snap decision really to go visit Kasumi's friend Michiko, but she had to know where exactly her mother had been pierced, and she wasn't about to ask her father.

There was also the other reason she was here that was making her so nervous. There wasn't much in her mother's jewelry box that she'd want to wear every day, this was the only thing in the box that kept her interest. She was still trying to decide if she even wanted to be pierced, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

She opened the door to the parlor, jumping when the bells tied to the other side of the handle jingled to announce her entry. She berated herself for being so nervous, but it didn't seem to help calm her down much. She walked up to the tattooed and pierced woman behind the counter. She didn't think she'd ever seen someone with so much metal in her head at once. She had two rings through an eyebrow, umpteen up and down both ears, and even one in her nose. The woman's hair was streaked with pink, and she had tattoo sleeves on her arms, and one of a panda on her neck. That last one made Akane chuckle despite herself as it made her think of her fiancé's slothful father.

"Hi! Welcome to Martial Arts Body Art!" the woman chirped. "I'm Michiko, what can I do for you?"

Akane couldn't help but wonder how her conservative and traditional sister could have ever been friends with the woman smiling at her from behind the counter. "Um… yes, my name is Akane and…"

"Akane? Akane Tendo? Kasumi's little sister?" Michiko interrupted. When Akane nodded, the tattooed woman ran around the counter and enveloped Akane in a hug. "It's been so long! How are you doing? How's Kasumi? She get her hooks into that doctor yet?"

Akane was startled. "You know me?"

Michiko smiled. "I used to babysit you when I was in middle school with your sister. Back then I didn't have all the tattoos and piercings. Well, not ones you could see anyway," she admitted. "Gosh it's been at least a year since I heard from Kasumi last. You'll have to give me your phone number so that I can call her!"

Akane giggled despite herself, now remembering her old babysitter, and calming down at the familiar presence. "Kasumi's doing fine, but she hasn't hooked Dr Tofu yet. I'll give you our number so that she can tell you about it herself."

"Great! But you're not here to reminisce with your old babysitter are you?" She gave Akane a conspiratorial wink. "Trying to rebel are we? Going to get your boyfriend's name tattooed on the small of your back? Don't worry, I won't tell your sister."

Akane blushed brightly and shook her head. "No, not a tattoo, I was actually wondering if you could tell me what kind of piercing this is," she said as she fished the ring out of her pocket. "I know it's not an earring, and I don't think it's a belly button ring either."

Michiko picked up the ring in her fingers and examined it. "Oh that's easy, it's a curved barbell. Usually these are used as body piercings. Though, I've never seen one with diamonds in it like this, usually they have beads or metal balls in them. It must have cost a pretty penny. Where did you get it?"

Akane turned beet red. "I found it in my mother's old jewelry box," she mumbled.

Michiko's eyes boggled. "Really? Cool! So you want to get pierced to be like her? Where did she have it done?"

Akane turned an interesting shade of purple, and unable to voice her response, settled for pointing towards her crotch.

Michiko just smiled at the younger girl. She wasn't the first person to get cold feet about piercings and certainly wouldn't be the last. It was obvious that despite the rather intimate nature of the piercing, it was something Akane wanted to do, she just needed a little push. "Tell you what," Michiko said. "I'm closing up the parlor in about an hour. Why don't you hang out here, browse the jewelry counter and maybe some idea books, and we'll go out to dinner together afterwards to catch up? Sound good?"

Relieved that the subject had changed, Akane nodded and went to sit down in the waiting area. Michiko watched amused as most of the tension left the younger woman's body. She was going to make her quota this week thanks to Akane.

---***---

Later, Akane found herself in a small stylish bar sitting across from her old babysitter as they munched on appetizers. Michiko had a big mug of beer in front of her, and had drained one already. "Seriously Akane, ask for a beer! They know me here, and they'll believe me if I tell them that you're 20." She took another drink from her mug. "Or would you prefer something fruity? The bartender makes a mean Cosmo."

Akane blushed and shook her head. She wasn't even sure Michiko was 20 for that matter. She tried to change the subject. "So, why is your parlor called 'Martial Arts Body Art' anyway?" she asked before taking a sip of her cola.

"Oh, well that's the name of my school of martial arts," she replied. "I guess you could say that the parlor is my own personal dojo." Michiko was disappointed to see that Akane's mind wasn't blown at this revelation. Instead the younger woman was nodding her head sagely. "What, you've heard of it?"

"No, but it's not the weirdest martial art I've heard of," said Akane, waving the question off. "What kind of moves and attacks does it have?"

Michiko just stared at Akane. Then she waved down the waiter. "I'm going to need another mug, and Akane wants a Cosmo. Don't worry she's 20." When the waiter rushed off to fill the order, Michiko held a finger to Akane's lips to prevent her from protesting. "You just told me that you've heard of weirder martial arts than tattooing and piercing. That means that either I've not had enough to drink, or I've had too much and you need to catch up. So we'll cover all the bases here by getting both of us a drink while you explain what you meant by that."

---***---

About thirty minutes later the two women were eating their meals and laughing uproariously. Akane had three empty martini glasses in front of her, and was working on the fourth as she explained the subtleties of Martial Arts Eating. "So here's Ranma, starving to death trying to learn how to stretch his mouth so that he can eat off of his own head without using his hands, when the… restraints… fall off of his body because he's lost so much weight, but his pride won't let him just leave the mansion. He has to beat this guy, so he goes into the fight anyway." She took another sip of her drink. "Turns out the secret to the petit-bouche school was to force feed everyone else in the room so that you had less to eat on your own plate. Man, these things are really good."

Michiko, for her part, had five empty steins in front of her and was half way through the sixth. It was taking her longer to drink this one though because she kept cracking up at the stories about Akane's fiancé and all the martial artists who he came up against. "So, this Ranma guy, you like him don't you?" she asked.

"What?" Akane said. "Nooooo no nonono. He's a pervert with three other women chasing after him. Don't like him at all."

Michiko smiled. It seemed that she had a much higher tolerance for alcohol than her drinking buddy. "Oh come off it Akane, I asked you about the other martial arts schools you'd heard of that were as weird as the one I practice, and all you've talked about for the last thirty minutes was this guy and how amazing he is at picking them up really quickly."

Akane blushed. Her head was spinning and she wasn't exactly sure what she had said over that thirty minute period anymore. "Well, what about your school? What do you do in it?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Michiko just smiled all the wider, knowing that she had her answer. "Well, it's a combination of piercings and tattoos that stimulate the ki centers and gates in order to enhance your own abilities." She pointed to the rings in her eyebrow. "These help with my concentration." Then she pointed to the tattoos on her arms. "This design increases my strength and endurance." Finally she lifted her shirt and showed her pierced naval. "This one was just for fun!"

Akane cracked up at that last one. "So what does a… umm… hood piercing do then?" she asked timidly.

Michiko's smile turned shark-like. "Well, when done normally, it just increases the pleasure of foreplay and sex." She laughed out loud when Akane turned that interesting purple color again and took a big swig of her Cosmo. "When a student of Martial Arts Body Art does it however, it opens up a ki gate, and allows you to touch your reserves much easier." She held out her hand for Akane and concentrated. A small ball of ki formed in her hand, similar to what Akane had seen Ranma and Ryoga do. "There are other ways to learn how to do this, but the right piercing in the right place can make it so much easier to access your own ki that you don't have to muck around with emotions that are hard to call up in battle or stand there shouting for hours on end giving yourself a hernia."

Akane was amazed by the fact that this small woman was able to summon power to her hand like Ranma could, who was much stronger than she. "You have a piercing down there?" she asked, transfixed on the ball of ki in Michiko's hand.

"Yup! Got one in my labia too, but that does something different. I can show you in the bathroom if you like," she offered.

Akane just sat back and shook her head. If she could summon ki like this, she might be able to scare off her rivals. Ranma would certainly sit up and take notice. But there was the location… "Is there any other way to open a ki gate like that piercing does?" she asked.

Michiko shook her head. "Not really. On a guy they'd have to get it done through the foreskin, or lower down the shaft if he was circumcised. Doesn't work as well if he's cut though," she added thoughtfully. "There are some tattoos that could increase the rate of flow of your ki, but that wouldn't help you much if you didn't already have easy access to it."

Akane looked down at her meal, deep in thought as she picked at it with her chopsticks. It was so tempting to say yes, in order to get stronger; in order to prove herself as a martial artist, in order to prove herself to Ranma. But the place it had to go…

The bell on the door of the restaurant jingled as a new customer walked in the door. Akane was still deep in thought, so she ignored the new presence, until the newcomer walked up to their table. "So Shampoo was right about Kitchen-wrecker! Is on a secret date yes?"

Akane turned her head slowly, groaning at what she knew was going to be a big problem. She was too drunk to handle this right now. "Hello Shampoo," she said through gritted teeth.

The Amazon was holding an empty take out box, obviously on a delivery run bringing food for the proprietors of the restaurant. "Now Shampoo know why you with Ranma. Is a good way to hide Pervert Girl's true feelings!"

Michiko frowned at the newcomer. This was obviously one of the rivals Akane had mentioned briefly, by her obvious lack of proficiency with Japanese, she was probably the Chinese woman. "Akane's not a girlfriend," she managed without slurring. "She's an old friend and we're catching up."

Shampoo ignored the older woman. "Is ok Akane, many womens in tribe like other womens. Shampoo wish you luck!" She then leaned over and gave Akane a kiss on the forehead. "Now Ranma belong to Shampoo!"

That was the final straw. Akane took a swipe at Shampoo, missing widely as the Amazon jumped back laughing. She tried to stand to continue the fight, but stumbled as her alcohol addled head threw off her balance. Shampoo pranced up to her rival and poked her with a finger, knocking the drunk woman on her ass with very little effort. Michiko stood to defend her friend, glowing a dark shade of purple as she began to gather her ki for battle.

Shampoo watched as the new challenger began to form her ki into a ball in her hands. This was an unexpected turn of events, one she was unprepared for. She quickly got into a defensive stance, ready to take on the pierced and tattooed woman.

Akane knew she had to do something or else this little bar was going to end up a big crater. If only she hadn't finished her last drink, she could throw it on Shampoo, transforming her. "Ugh," Akane burped as the thought of another drink made her nauseous. Then, without warning, it made her sick. All over Shampoo's shoes.

Shampoo felt the warm wetness splash against her feet, and looked down to see Akane throwing up all over them. "Gah!" she screamed as she jumped out of the way, too late to be missed completely. Her shoes were ruined. She glared furiously at Akane who was still sitting on the floor, swaying a bit now. Shampoo was about to beat on the drunk girl, but decided it would be a waste of energy. Vengeance would be so much more satisfying when the object of her vengeance was coherent enough to understand what was going on. "Shampoo think you deserve each other," she huffed as she stormed out of the restaurant, got on her bike, and sped off down the street.

Akane looked up at her friend, still stunned that Shampoo had taken smaller woman's aggressive stance as a viable threat. She watched in awe as Michiko's aura died down, the purple color dissipating. Michiko let out a deep sigh as she let go of her control and relaxed. She held out a hand to help Akane stand up. "You ok?" she asked.

Akane only had one thing to say. "I want that power."

Michiko shark-like smile came back, and she helped Akane out of the restaurant and back to the parlor.

---***---

I've had this one floating around on my computer for a long time now. It was originally supposed to be a one shot lemon that kinda got away from me. The original idea came from the fact that I like women with piercings and tattoos in fun and interesting places, so I tried to figure out a way to get Akane to get some body art, thus sprang Martial Arts Body Art and her new master Michiko. Michiko is my own character, but she is heavily influenced on the character Abby Sciuto from the TV show NCIS.

And yes I know that tattoos are rather taboo in Japan, but it's losing it's Yakuza stereotype and becoming something that is more accepted by society. However, if you can't get over the fact that Japanese people who aren't Yakuza are going to be covered in tattoos, then you should just quit reading now and save us all a lot of stress.

By the way, my beta reader O'Donohugue liked her so much that he's borrowing her for a couple of his fics, most notably "Meeting Later." The reason I'm posting this first chapter instead of waiting to finish the whole thing is so that he can release his next chapter which features her introduction. Go read it! It's good!