[FFML] [Ranma 1/2][Fanfic][Rewrite] For Better or For Worst-Case Scenario Ch. 1-2

[RaeMowse@aol.com]

[Note: The FFML ignores my italics for some reason, so thoughts and
italicized words will be bookended with underscores ( _example_ ).]

Ranma 1/2 and all related characters are property of Rumiko Takahashi. No
disrespect intended for this simple fanfic.

For one week, Nabiki was engaged to Ranma. Through the backfiring of a
revenge plot by Ranma, their engagement was broken off and he and Akane got back
together. What if things did not happen that way? What if Ranma's plan of
revenge actually succeeded as far as execution goes?

For Better or For Worst-Case Scenario
Chapter 1: Be Careful What You Ask For...

Fingers of sunlight tickled Ranma's eyelids as he slumbered. He grumbled as
his consciousness stirred, then the rest of his being activated in an almost
domino fashion. Automatically, one eye cracked open.

Immediately, he regretted doing so; it felt as if a thousand bees lanced his
brain repeatedly with Amaguriken speed. He shuddered violently in agony,
slamming the offended eye shut. His head throbbed for a moment more before
fading; however, the pain hadn't disappeared completely.

He felt something move in his arms, snuggling against his chest warmly and
sighing softly. It definitely sounded female; however, he was not very
willing to open his eyes again and suffer the wrath of the sun god. So, in Ranma's
mind, identifying whoever the person was through his other senses was the
safest thing he could do with the least amount of pain inflicted on him. Or at
least in theory. Hoping that it wasn't Shampoo (that incident caused far
too much trouble for him at the time, and he rather not have a repeat of it),
he used his fingers of one hand to feel out the unknown interloper.

It was very much female to his surprise (and horror); the good thing was, he
did not feel any odango hairstyles, so Shampoo was definitely out. The hair
did not feel very long, either, which removed a number of other girls,
including Kodachi; sneaking into his bedroom in the middle of the night may not be
above her, though she had not done so to his knowledge. Ukyo would not do
such a thing either, or at least he hoped she wouldn't have. That would be...
weird, for reasons which he could not think of at the moment; his head felt
like it was splitting down the middle.

His hand sent more information to his sluggish brain for processing. Hair
was definitely cut short, bobbed was the word, he thought to himself. Akane?
The thought melted away when it came up. She was still mad at him, and all
because of Nabiki. He would have to exact revenge on the brunette; the
conversation he heard the other day revealed that she was playing him for a sap
all last week. Maybe pretending he had fallen in love with her lock, stock,
and barrel would be good enough; that would make her think twice before toying
with Ranma Saotome again.

The hand was sending up way too much data for him to process at this rate,
so he mentally told it to return back to wherever it had left from. There was
a very pleasurable moan, almost a purring sound, coming from the female,
probably invoked by where the hand relocated itself, but it was placed in the
waiting line of his mind. Examining and filing away the information, he was
proved right that it was not Akane; this person's hair was cut all wrong to be
her bob. It was snipped angularly from the back to her collarbone. Plus her
breasts felt bigger, judging from the way they were pressed against his
body. Also, the stranger's body, while lean and toned, was not very muscular;
even her derrière was softer, more rounded out. Whoever this person was, she
was definitely no martial artist.

She was also naked.

....so was he.

It took well over ten seconds for the implications to finally register. The
mental klaxons blared like banshees, which made his head hurt even more, but
one thing was certain. The situation was bad, with an overwhelming,
guaranteed potential to worsen.

There was no other choice; he had to open his eyes. Very cautiously, he
pried them open little by little, tilting his head down and away from any source
of light. His head throbbed with those accursed bees attempting to turn his
brain into Swiss chess, but he forced himself to bear the pain in order to
know just what was going on.

A bleary pair of eyes greeted Ranma. Blinking a little, he pulled back,
examining the owner of those eyes. If he weren't so out of it, there would have
been instant calamity right then and them. Instead, he simply said, "Hey,
Nabiki."

"Hey yourself, Ranma," a groggy Nabiki mumbled.

Silence ensued. The two blinked dumbly at the other. Apparently, Nabiki's
brain was just as sluggish as his was.

Obviously, hers recovered much more quickly than his, judging from the way
her eyes grew wide like headlights. Suddenly, she screamed at the top of her
lungs. Ranma's migraine intensified significantly at the sonic assault, so
much that his vision seemed to shift and displace itself..

"What the hell are you doing in my bed?!" she cried out, pushing the
surprised young man away as hard as she could.

Already off-balance from Nabiki's scream, Ranma found himself tumbling to
the floor violently. He bounced off the matted floor, rolled head over heels
twice, and landed against the wall upside-down on his shoulders with his legs
dangling just above his head. He moaned, feeling very nauseous. His brains
were making a very good attempt to crack his skull open and run free around
the room. "I wish you didn't do that..." he mumbled, wincing.

Nabiki mentally pulled up short, seeing his state of undress, then quickly
checked her own body. "Oh, no... it didn't... it couldn't have..." she
breathed. Frantically, she hopped out of her bed and flung back the covers. She
sharply sucked in her breath, her eyes popping wide open as she stared at her
bedcover

Nearly in the center of the sheets was an irregular, burgundy splotch,
somewhat smeared about on the ivory fabric. A glittering nearby caught her eye
and she quickly switched her attention to its source. It was coming from a
small diamond refracting light in a spray of several colors. The precious gem
was mounted in a facet of a golden ring adorning the ring finger of her left
hand.

All color drained from Nabiki's face then. After spending several moments
blinking at the unchanging scene, she sank down to her knees, muttering "It's
all a dream" over and over. A tear quietly slid down along the side of her
nose, then trail down the crease her mouth had formed as she chanted her flat,
lifeless mantra.

Meanwhile, Ranma had righted himself and found a pair of white pants
haplessly tossed into one corner of the room. Slowly, but surely, his brain began
to make sense out of a lot of things, once he was able to battle the grating
migraine into a sort of stand-off. First thing he noticed was that he was in
Nabiki's room. Second thing he noticed, in addition to the discovery of the
white pants, which he was putting on at the moment, was that there were other
articles of clothing strung about like a hurricane had flung them around the
room. An ivory tuxedo coat with a red smudge along the collar over here, a
wedding dress with a broken zipper over there, a garter belt hanging on the
doorknob, a pair of yellow-and-blue boxer shorts practically clawed off at the
waistband lying alongside a pair of lacy white panties, shoes... and the
faint scent of sake.

His mind froze in place. "No way... we didn't... how-"

A knock on the door slapped down most of his rising denials. "Son, are you
two finally awake?"

Another woman's voice. It certainly wasn't Kasumi's; why would she call him
"son" anyway? Curious, though leery of any more surprises, he approached
the door like it was a fierce opponent, and cautiously opened it just wide
enough to see the person on the other side.

Standing there was an older woman, looking to be in her early thirties. She
wore a blue kimono with her auburn hair pulled up into a bun. Her blue eyes
twinkled a bit as she smiled at Ranma exuberantly. "Son, I take it you and
Nabiki-chan are ready for lunch now?"

He blinked. "Nabiki-chan? Lunch? Son?" Cocking his head to one side, the
door swung open further as he more said than asked, "Mom?"

She nodded, smiling. "Yes, son?"

For a minute, Ranma just stood there gaping at his mother. His mind was
completely devoid of any thought; better to be empty-headed than to scream about
losing one's sanity. Then he allowed one thought to permeate his
consciousness, and he promptly voiced it. "Uhh... does this mean, you know?"

"About the training trip to Jusenkyou?"

He paled a bit.

"Of course. Your father told me last night. I must say I was a little put
off about you turning into a girl, but clearly that hasn't affected your
manliness one bit." The way Nodoka beamed at her flesh-and-blood made him feel a
little uncomfortable as well as somewhat embarrassed.

"It's nearly one o'clock," she informed him. Ranma blinked in surprise, but
before he could say something in response, she went on. "You were so..." A
blush suffused her cheeks while she beamed with pride. "...manly last night,
your fathers and I decided to let you two sleep in today. Hopefully, you
will contain your excitement better from now on. I doubt it if anyone managed
more than a few hours rest with all the noise you and your lovely bride made
last night."

"Excuse me?" Nabiki inquired, appearing immediately behind Ranma. She had
wrapped a thin bed sheet around her previously nude body and was doing her
best to control her attitude in her current state. She was performing poorly at
the task.

Nodoka either did not hear her, or did not pay her any attention. "At any
rate, Kasumi and I have prepared you two a very big lunch. We figured you'd
need the energy. There's also a hot bath drawn, so relax and enjoy yourselves
first before preparing to eat, though not too much." She gave Ranma a
secret wink; he nodded dumbly in response. "And don't worry about the bed
coverings; we'll take care of everything." Then she added in a low whisper, "I hope
you were gentle with her, son."

It wasn't low enough for Nabiki's ears. She nearly fell over, livid at the
very comment.

Ranma, still not up to speed with the current world, mumbled, "I... I guess."

Ranma's mother hugged him, fiercely. "Oh, son, you make me so proud! I'll
be expecting lots of grandchildren, all right?"

If Nodoka weren't holding him, Ranma would have very well fell over.
Nabiki, however, did complete her aborted tumble, thumping onto the floor.

The older woman looked down over the young man's shoulder and spotted her
sprawled out. "Oh, Nabiki-chan, you're awake! I hope we didn't disturb your
rest, dear," she said, releasing her son.

"No, not at all..." she responded, a touch of frost in her voice.

"Good!" Nodoka clapped her hands in joy, clearly unaffected by Nabiki's
thinly veiled mood. "Well, I'll see you two downstairs later, all right?"

"Uh... sure, mom," a shell-shocked Ranma barely muttered.

"All right then." She bowed to both of them and quietly left the hall.

The door was closed firmly behind Nodoka, Nabiki's hand on the knob.
"Ranma," she said with the most even tone of voice she could muster. "We must have
a talk. Now." Her efforts were failing, judging by the little snarl on the
end of her last word.

"Why me?" he muttered to no one in particular.

She spun him around until he was facing her. "Because this is your fault.
All of it."

"Like hell it is!" he snarled, getting defensive. His brains gave him a
quick reminder that loud noises were a bad thing at the moment, but he ignored
the pain-filled warning. "I wasn't the one who decided to get engaged to you."

"You could have backed out of it."

"Yeah, right, like you would have let me."

"If I had known how stupid you were, I would have backed out myself!"

"Then why didn't you?"

"I don't know!"

They glared at each other for several seconds. Then something dawned on
Ranma. "What are fighting about?"

Nabiki blinked. "You mean, you haven't figured it out?"

He scratched the back of his head, pondering. "Well, I kinda know that we
got married yesterday-"

"And whose fault was that?" She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at
him.

"Hey, I wasn't the one who told my old man and Mr. Tendo to get a
western-style wedding with the works set up by the next day!"

"I wasn't the one who proclaimed an undying love in a maze the day before,
remember?"

Ranma started to open his mouth to fire off a retort, but closed it quickly.
She was right, after he gave himself a moment to think it over. The whole
"I love you" plan in the maze was suppose to be about revenge; however, it
backfired. Nabiki should have been afraid and ran off, but instead she
insisted on him telling everyone about the wedding that would be held the next day.
It felt like another trick, but he could not be sure, so he did as she
asked, watching for her reaction. She acted nonchalant about his news, which
disappointed him. Then he overheard Nabiki converse with Kasumi again about the
whole wedding plans. The older sister disproved of her toying with Ranma
again, while she laughed it off. "Relax, Kasumi, Ranma doesn't have the balls
to actually marry anyone. I'm not worried one bit."

Her comments raised the hackles on the back of his neck. Again, she was
manipulating him. Well, so would he. Tit for tat. Point, counterpoint.

Of course, things didn't turn out that way, as evidenced by the
morning's-correction-afternoon's antics. So what happened? Did she really want to marry
him all this time? Ridiculous! But still...

"If this is what you wanted, then why are you so upset about it?!"

That question caught Nabiki flatfooted; she did not expect him to think of
that, so she did not have a reply ready. Two days ago, she had deduced almost
immediately that his "great revenge plan" that had stirred her imagination
was just another lame Ranma Saotome trick. It irked her that she was foolish
enough to actually believe that he really would harm her for all the pranks
she pulled on him; he was too soft in that respect. So, as a counterattack,
she told him to announce to everyone and the wedding that was planned for the
next afternoon. It was rather surprising that he had done it and it was even
more of a shock that their fathers manage to corral everything needed for a
western-styled wedding (including invitations and catered foods) to the dojo
for the next day's "glorious" event, but she landed on her feet and made sure
the wedding would be a total bust. She personally delivered wedding
invitations to Ukyo, Shampoo, and Kodachi, knowing full and well they would demolish
the festivities. She could yell at Ranma, blaming his fiancée troubles for
everything, break off their engagement, let the ruined son find solace in
Akane's arms, and everything would fall back to normalcy. She convinced a few
of her friends to run a betting pool on the likelihood of one or all events
happening; after all, she had to make something of a profit off of this whole
scheme, as it was almost certain the money gifts the guests would bring would
have to be given back. She felt so confident, she even told them to throw
in a bet on she and Ranma actually getting married with a ten-to-one odds
rate. Her plan was so easy, even an infant could pull it off.

Apparently, she must have been a newborn, because none of the expected
catastrophes happened at all. Shampoo, Ukyo, Kodachi... none of the three showed
up at all. Somewhere in the planning and execution, things went terribly
awry, and the only hitch that occurred yesterday was her own. And it was all
because of her pride, at that. If she was not so proud, she would have ended
the ceremonies when it was becoming increasingly clear that no party crashers
were arriving, and Ranma apparently wanted to be married to her. Either
that, or he was baiting her with another lame trick and was incredibly stupid
not to realize what they were walking into.

"Nabiki?"

She shook herself out of her thoughts at the sound of her name. "What is it
now?"

'Um... my question-"

"Drop it, Ranma." She felt weary and old. Dealing with the new changes in
her life was already sapping her strength. "I'm going to the bath now.
Don't you dare follow me in."

There wasn't much force in her voice, but Ranma backed up all the same. "No
problems outta me. Just hurry up; I wanna get cleaned up, too."

She ignored him, padding out of her room, parts of her mind still in a daze.
So prideful... so stupid... the thoughts jogged about within her head,
unable to differentiate themselves in her mind. So muddled in her own world, she
nearly knocked over Kasumi as she was coming upstairs.

"Oh, my! You're awake now, Nabiki?"

"Nope, still dreaming." _-or rather, living in a nightmare,_ she thought
dourly to herself.

"I see. Is that why you are wrapped up in your bed sheet?"

Nabiki blinked, and looked down. "Dammit!" she swore under her breath,
spinning around quickly and re-entering her bedroom.

Ranma, who was busy examining his shredded underwear, looked up as the
middle Tendo daughter flung off her bed sheet to retrieve a bathrobe. She quickly
jammed her arms into the sleeves, when she suddenly remembered her visitor.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" She snapped the front of her robe close
as tightly as possible.

He grabbed his head with one hand. "You mind? My head's killing me here."

"I'm going to kill you if you don't get out of my room right now!"

"Like I really want to see you naked again!"

Infuriated, Nabiki grabbed a book off her table and let it fly at the young
Saotome. "Get out!"

Ranma dodged the makeshift projectile, quickly heading toward the door.
"Fine! Whatever! I'm outta here!" He stormed into his room across the hall.

Nabiki came out of her room in a huff. "Damn idiot..."

Kasumi covered her mouth to keep from laughing. "I hear that the adjustment
period will only last for a month at most. Really, you could consider
yourself lucky to be married to Ranma."

With a bit of effort, she forced her murderous thoughts of strangling her
beloved older sister into the dark recesses of her mind. "So, Kasumi," Nabiki
began, controlling her voice. "What's with the sudden change? The day
before-"

"I know, I know. I was a little harsh on you then. But I've come to
realize that Ranma seemed very eager to be wedded to you, so I decided not to be so
critical. And I know you would not have followed through with it unless you
were serious about the marriage as well."

Nabiki blinked. "Really?"

"Yes. At the reception, the way you two were drinking, I just thought you
were overwhelmed with everyone's love and support. Even Auntie Nodoka could
see it."

Again, Nabiki blinked. "Drinking?"

"It was the best sake Father could find. 'Nothing less than the best for my
girls' he said as he helped organize everything."

"Okay... I think I'll be heading down to the bath house now."

"All right. Is Ranma joining you later?"

Again, Nabiki fought down the image of her hands around Kasumi's neck,
shaking her like a rag doll.

* * * * *
"Great, we got drunk," Nabiki muttered to herself as she reclined against
the bath's tiled walls. "We got drunk, and we... we..." She shivered
unconsciously. It made her feel so uncomfortable admitting she had not just slept
with Ranma, but they were so noisy, no one else could sleep either. She would
never live it down. How Akane must have been feeling while having to listen-

Akane! her mind screamed, rousing Nabiki out of her depressed state. She
sleeps in the room adjacent to hers, so she had gotten first-hand knowledge of-

She gasped, feeling what little hope she may have had slide into the hot
water and dissolved completely. Even if she could get their marriage annulled,
or, worse comes to worst, divorce Ranma, there was no way her little sister
could ever truly accept her former fiancé after listening to him make love to
someone else. Especially when the "someone else" was her own blood.

"Great, it just gets better and better," she muttered to herself. Then she
brightened a little. "Well, at least the betting pool's cash will be of some
comfort. It's not like someone was stupid enough to actually bet on us
getting married."

* * * * *
"What?!" Never in all of Nabiki's life had she been more cursed than what
was thought possible. "Someone won the bet?!"

The younger girl on the other line shirked from her "boss's" shriek. "Like
I said, someone won the bet."

Nabiki willed herself to visibly calm down on the phone. "How many?"

"Just one."

"Good news at the least. Next question. How much?"

The other girl paused nervously, clearing her throat very slowly.
"Twenty-five."

"Twenty-five yen?" The newly inducted Saotome wife breathed a sigh of
relief. "A whimsical bet, no doubt. Hope against hope for the best outcome. For
a moment, I was getting scared there."

"No, you don't understand... Twenty-five thousand."

The silence that chased after that sentence, those three little words, was
deafening the middle Tendo daughter. She, however, was not paying it much
attention, her concentration completely focused on the younger girl on the other
end of the phone line. After what felt like eternity and two days, Nabiki's
mouth finally began processing the massive traffic jam in her brain.
"Twenty-five... thousand?"

"Yes." The answer cemented her thoughts. Some god or goddess up there must
really not like her today.

"That's 250,000 yen that person won... How much did we take in yesterday?"

"Including the winner's bet, minus expenses, around 200,000 yen."

It took the married Tendo a minutes to collect herself again. "Now, who,
exactly, won the bet?" She had to figure out a way to get that person to
forget the whole thing; she didn't have 50,000 yen just lying around! No one was
suppose to actually bet on her tying the knot in the first place!

"Um... #136. A Kay Tee."

Nabiki paused for a moment. "Kay Tee?"

"That's what it says. No name, just the initials Kay Tee."

"Well, call me immediately if this Kay Tee comes around to collect."

"But Nabiki, it's suppose to be your honeymoon."

"Never mind that! Just do it!" Angrily, she slammed the phone down onto
the cradle. She was being mocked again, this time by her own underling! What
deity force did she piss off, she wondered, fuming at her luck.

"Oh, Nabiki!"

She looked up from the phone to her sister. "Oh, what is it, Kasumi?"

"I need to borrow the phone. I have to call this number." She waved a blue
slip of paper just in front of Nabiki.

"That looks familiar," the younger of the two said, more to herself, her eye
casually tracking the slip.

"It should be. It is one of your gambling slips. Number 136."

"Oh, well, in that case-" The words slapped Nabiki fully awake. "Number
136?!"

"Yes, dear sister. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to redeem this." Kasumi
reached for the receiver.

"Hold it!" Nabiki proclaimed, jerking the cordless unit out from underneath
her hand. "I want to know what the hell is going on here, 'dear' sister."

Kasumi gave her a blissful smile. "Why, Nabiki, I simply made a bet on your
future happiness, is all."

Her eyes narrowed. "Bullshit. 25,000 yen is not a bet on future happiness;
it's a fool's gamble, unless you're privy to some inside information."

Kasumi's smile seemed to broaden a little. Suddenly, Nabiki had an immense
desire to beat her charming sister senseless as she could feel the cold
realization of a trap snapping on her, rending her completely helpless to prevent
change. It was a decidedly unfriendly feeling. She idly wondered if Ranma
felt like this with her. Realizing where her thoughts had strayed, she
quashed it immediately and gave her full attention to her angelic sister balancing
her halo atop the points of her hidden horns.

"It wasn't easy, Nabiki, but I managed to learn some 'inside information.'
I learned about how you planned on sabotaging your own wedding. As your
sister, I couldn't let anyone do such a thing, even if it's the bride wanting
such things to occur. So, I took care of matters."

Dread laid inside of Nabiki's stomach. "How?"

"It was rather easy. I spoke with Mousse and convinced the nice young man
to slip Shampoo sleeping pills in her food at night, just enough for her to
sleep into the afternoon of the next day. Also, I gave Kodachi a corrected
invitation, saying the wedding was actually going to be held in Kobe."

Nabiki blinked. She knew her older sister was smart, but when did she get
devious? "Okay, that took care of two obstacles. But what about -"

"Ukyo? I made a call to a health inspector whom I met a few times, and
actually became friends with. He gave her a call afterwards, telling her to be
at her shop for an inspection; otherwise, her business may well be shut down."

Nabiki took a long moment digesting all that information. She came to one
conclusion. "I think I liked you better when you appeared to be vacuous and
blissfully unaware of your surroundings."

Kasumi shrugged slightly. "In times like these, one must be very alert.
Now, excuse me; I need to redeem this ticket." She held out her hand for the
handset.

Nabiki gave her older sister a decidedly unfriendly glare, before speaking.
"Don't worry about calling it in; I'll bring you the money later today."

"All right, little sister." Kasumi smiled again that sweetly evil smile.
"I'll be outside hanging the laundry if you're looking for me." She turned
around and left her sister standing in the living room.

Nabiki had never in her life wanted to kill Kasumi so badly as she felt at
the moment.

* * * * *
Meanwhile, Ranma was sitting outside on the patio steps, gazing at the koi
pond, his lovingly-prepared lunch half-eaten. His appetite was absent, partly
from the subsiding hangover, partly from what he had just stepped into
yesterday, and partly from realizing he was doomed. Akane, he hadn't seen at all
today, mainly because she left for school while he was...

He couldn't force himself to finish that line of thought - the consequences
were grave enough as they were. Silently, he looked up at the sky, praying
to whatever deity not laughing at him to have somehow spared Akane of his
stupidity. And from hearing whatever went on in Nabiki's room. Maybe he could
talk Shampoo into using that memory-erasing technique to wipe last night out
of her-

Damn, he had completely forgotten about Shampoo and Ukyo. And Kodachi, as
an afterthought. Maybe that same deity he was just praying to could take him
now, and spare him a hideous death.

"Ranma, my boy."

The newlywed husband looked up at the voice of Genma, who sat down beside
him. He held a small brown paper bag folded over. "So, how does it feel your
first day of being married?"

"Horrible, dad."

The older Saotome chuckled heartily, patting Ranma on the back. "Oh, it
takes some time getting used to the differences. It's not an easy path to walk,
just like martial arts. Sometimes, marriage is fraught with more peril than
The Art."

Ranma shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

Genma raised his empty hand. "Yes, son, I do know what you meant. Akane,
right?"

The son nodded.

"She's stronger than you think. Like everything else, it'll take time.
She'll get over it soon enough."

That wasn't the kind of answer he was hoping for. Then again, he hadn't
really expected his father to come out and talk to him about marriage in the
first place. It certainly was a surreal moment: real, true-to-life bonding over
something other that martial arts with the old man. It made him feel funny,
and he couldn't find the strength or courage to ask the real questions on
his mind-like how the hell can he escape being married to Nabiki.

"Oh, by the way, I picked up something for you. It'll put to rest some of
the burning questions you must have but are afraid to ask about right now."
He handed over the brown parcel. As Ranma took it in wonderment, Genma got
up. "Don't despair, boy." He went inside the residence, leaving Ranma alone
with his thoughts.

Curiosity setting in, Ranma unfurled the packaging, dropping a box with a
note secured around it by a rubber band. The note removed before looking at
the box, Ranma read aloud. "'Family after high school. Ask for more as
needed'? What the-" he started to say, turning over the box in his hand.

Nodoka was sipping a cup of tea when Genma came into the kitchen area. She
set her cup down on the saucer. "So, did you-"

"CONDOMS FAMILY PACK?!"

Nodoka heard her son's proclamation from outside and smiled. "I told you he
may be concerned with starting a family while Nabiki is still in high
school."

Genma nodded assertively. "Apparently so, my wife. That should ease his
mind of worry."

"I agree. Tea, dear?"

"Yes, please."

* * * * *
The wedded Tendo was sitting in front of the television, seeing the images
flash before her eyes, but not watching it at all. Ranma came in, looking
around the room before spying her. Quickly, he approached his "wife."

"Nabiki, we gotta talk."

Her eyes focused to reality again, and she painstakingly turned around to
face her "husband." "Oh, really, now, Ranma, baby? About what, pray tell?"
She held up a hand before Ranma could open his mouth, then placed the tip of
her index to her chin. "No, wait, let me guess; you've figured out yet
another aspect of my life in which you can ruin. I'm overjoyed, really."

"Will you shut up and listen to me for once in your life?! This is serious!"

"And you think I'm not?"

"Look, you think I like this any more than you do? Old man just gave me a
bunch of condoms; you got any idea how embarrassing that is?"

"Oh, pooh, you were given condoms, so wha-" Nabiki's words went dead,
giving way to a growing sense of freshly born horror.

Ranma considered getting Tofu to recommend a surgeon to sew his mouth shut.
Every time he opened it, something bad invariably occurred. Like now,
judging from the way Nabiki's face paled, like she was being turned into a Goth
girl right before his eyes. "Uh, Nabiki-

"God damn you, Ranma." It came out so quietly, Ranma almost missed it.
"You _did_ find another aspect of my life to ruin. You son of a bitch. Do you
really hate me that much?" Her voice quivered as she spoke the last sentence.

"What are you talking about?"

"You getting me pregnant."

Ranma stared at her for a few moments. Then he smirked, confidence wafting
through the room. "Oh, is that all you're worried about? No problem!"

Nabiki was really getting annoyed with people and their little secret
smiles. She so much wanted to imbed her fist dead into her "husband's" kisser and
ruin that smile forever. "What do you mean, 'No problem'? It's a very big
problem!"

He dismissed he concerns with a wave of his hand. "Nabiki, there's no way
you can be pregnant!"

An unexpected ray of light bore through the clouds of darkness surrounding
Nabiki. She couldn't explain it, but the way Ranma beamed made her feel…
hopeful. "How, why are you so certain about... this?"

Ranma grinned. "Everybody knows you can't get pregnant the first time you
have sex with someone!"

The ray of light was devoured by the black hole Ranma's proclamation created
in the living room. Habiki's eye twitched uncontrollably.

"Y-You... you..."

"Oh, don't thank me, Nabiki. I'm just glad I remembered what Hiroshi and
Daisuke told me a while back."

"You... _idiot_!"

"Huh?" Ranma was confused. "What're you getting upset about? I told you-"

"Are you really that stupid, or do you practice everyday?"

"Hey!"

"You can get pregnant on the first try. Or if you practice the _rhythm_
method. Or if you pull out before ejaculation. Or if-"

Ranma was slowly backing away from Nabiki; she may have sounded calm and
rational, but her body language was throwing out more screams and expletives
than a ship of drunken sailors. Tears welled in her eyes like lakes on the
verge of flooding during the rainy seasons. Worse, still, Ranma had no idea as
to what to do, too afraid of stepping on another emotional landmine.

"I'm home..." Startled, Ranma and Nabiki looked at the front door as one.
A now-dumbstruck Akane blinked back at the two, and time momentarily lost its
hold over the living room. The memory, however, was burned indelibly in the
minds of the three teenagers.

Just as suddenly as the whole world stopped in its tracks, time reasserted
control, and life moved on.

Nabiki got up, unsteadily to the point she had to grab Ranma's shoulders to
remain standing. Dropping her head to her chest, she spoke softly, her voice
quavering. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Akane..." Tears tumbled down the
married Tendo's cheeks, splattering on her clothes and the floor carelessly.
"I..."

"Nabiki," Akane said, her voice trembling slightly. However, that seemed to
have been too much for her sister, as she suddenly bolted for her room,
stumbling and falling all the way up the stairs. She could only watch her flee
the room, rooted to the spot on the landing. Then her eyes landed on Ranma,
who had a completely lost look about him, eyes darting to the stairwell, and
then back at her, his mouth moving, but no intelligent words were forthcoming.
She rent her eyes from the scene, turning to go back outside.

"Akane, wait!"

"I'm going to the dojo, to train, Ranma. Go to your... your wife... She
needs you."

The gravity of the words _your wife_ threatened to suffocate the young
husband. Coming from Akane, they were daggers of ice, lancing through his spirit,
and freezing him where he stood. He watched helplessly, as she quickly
walked out the door on him, both literally and figuratively.

He crumbled into the couch, realization leaving him drunk and sickened.
There was no easy way out for him. In fact, there was no way out at all. He
was now married to a life of misery. Worst still, this was just the first day,
and Ranma didn't know if he could make it through another one, since harder
times were most certainly waiting around the corner, ready to bludgeon him at
a moment's notice. He was trapped under the rock and a hard place, no room
to breathe, or move without inevitable death looking to gain its pound of
flesh.

_What do I do now?_ Ranma thought to himself, stifling his nonexistent tears
harshly. _Men don't cry; they fix everything._ The problem was that he
didn't know where to start. Perhaps it was time he had a long talk with those
that have already been through this kind of thing before.

"Now, where did my parents go?"

TBC

Ranma 1/2 and all related characters are property of Rumiko Takahashi. No
disrespect intended for this simple fanfic.

For Better or For Worst-Case Scenario
Chapter 2: Aftermath Before Math

"Hey, Kasumi," Ranma said, poking his head outside, where the named person
was busy pinning bed sheets onto the clothesline. "You seen mom 'n pops?"

She glanced over her shoulder, a pin between her seasoned fingers as she
straightened out her latest quarry. "Oh, my, no, Ranma. Not since they left a
little while ago."

"Oh. Know when they'll be back?"

"I suppose they may come visit in a few days," Kasumi said, snapping the pin
shut onto the linen, imprisoning it on the line.

Ranma frowned. "Visit?"

She turned to face him fully. "Didn't Auntie tell you?"

"...tell me what?" He did not like the way the conversation was going.

"Last night, Auntie and Mr. Saotome had decided to return to their home and
stay out of your and Nabiki's new life for the time being."

His eyes widened. "They just up and left me here?"

"It was decided that since you and Nabiki were now married, and you would
inherit the dojo, it would be best to let you remain here and get adjusted to
your new life without them interfering in yours and Nabiki's fun."

He blanched at the idea of him and Nabiki having "fun" in the way they
probably meant. It would be a cold day in hell before he let himself get tangled
in her bed sheets.

"Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?"

He shook his head. "Don't think I could take the answer if I did. Thanks,
anyway, Kasumi."

"You're welcome, little brother."

Ranma coughed hard, as he almost choked on his own saliva upon hearing those
words. _Little brother..._

* * * * *
Ranma looked at Nabiki's room door as if he was trying to peer through the
wood fibers and see her directly. Since her emotional outburst downstairs, he
really didn't want to approach her at the moment. He could imagine how she
must have felt, though... well, not really, but their whole marriage must
have really taken a toll on her almost as much as it's been affecting him.

For as long as he had been living in the Tendos' home, he could hardly think
of a time he had seen Nabiki less than annoyed by anything. Not even his
curse seemed to be that big a deal to her; of course that didn't keep her from
foisting him onto Akane at the first chance she got. But outside of their
initial meeting, she usually found some joy in tormenting him, or scheming a
few bucks here and there at his expense. Just a few weeks ago, he would have
thought Nabiki was one of the most heartless people he had ever met before.
But now, seeing her so open, vulnerable... it wasn't an act, that much he
knew. She was very much torn up, and he certainly was not making matters any
better.

It was still her fault, though.

Damn her, why did she go to such lengths to have some petty fun on his
account? Making him her fiancé, putting him in so much trouble with Akane, faking
her love for him... She was just so frustrating. Now, he was apparently
stuck with her... for life...
_Damn her..._ Turning on his heel, he trudged to his room. His hand
reached for the door knob, but it turned on its own. Instantly, Ranma stepped
back, formulating an aggressive-neutral stance, preparing for any physical threat
that he could deal with. In fact, a good brawl was just the thing he needed
to distract him from his current woes.

Unfortunately (for Ranma, anyway), it was only Soun emerging from the room.
He gave the younger man a broad grin. "Son! I'm glad to have caught you
now."

"Oh?" he said, relaxing his body.

"Your parents and I had talked last night and we agreed that it would be
better for your father to return home to his wife, and let you begin your new
life here with little interference from us."

"Yeah, I heard. Least I won't have to worry 'bout pops rolling on top of me
at night."

"Indeed. Don't worry about your belongings; your mother placed them in
Nabiki's room before they left."

The younger man staggered back a step, alarmed. "She did what? But-"

Soun clapped Ranma on both shoulders, chuckling heartily. "You're now a
married man, son. It wouldn't do to sleep away from your wife, unless you've
done something wrong, and she puts you out on the couch." He laughed, wrapping
his arm around Ranma's shoulders, then suddenly jerked him in tightly around
the neck. The Saotome heir blinked in surprise, then noted the grave smile
that the patriarch brooked him.

"Of course, you won't do anything wrong with my daughter, will you, son?"
His expression intensified, the well-developed arm growing taunt around the
young man's neck.

Though the mock chokehold was irritating, the expression was what made Ranma
afraid to resist the hold. "N-no, of course not, Mr. Tendo."

And like spring rain, Soun was beaming a sunny smile again. "No need to be
so formal, son. We're related now."

"Um, okay... Father."

"That's the spirit!" Soun clapped Ranma on the shoulders once again.

Too bad the Saotome son looked more like he was haunted by wailing ghosts.

* * * * *
"I'm in hell." Nabiki was sitting at her desk with an open English book
before her, giving her "husband" a sidelong glare as he, partly dressed in a
white undershirt and his favored Chinese-styled pants, rolled out his tatami mat
and plopped it in the corner farthest away from her.

"Think I'm in paradise here?" He glared back at her from his side of the
room, unfolding the quilt and laying it down on the straw-crafted bed. He
couldn't help but wonder why on earth did Nabiki wear cutoff shorts that short in
the first place.

She absently pushed up the sleeve of her sweat shirt. "You're being a lot
more passive about this than I would have dared hoped."

He simply grunted. "We're stuck right now. Probably for good, like this
damn curse."

"Please." She turned back to her text, though she hadn't seen a word of it
for the last ten minutes. "You're just not looking deep enough."

He frowned deeply, sharply looking at her. "You figure out something,
then." He quickly added, "Or is whining and bitching the best you can do?"

The words stung Nabiki more than she cared to admit, but she was not about
to let him know that. Or to have the last word. "So, you are just going to
accept things, just like a dutiful little girl would... I see."

Predictably, a jab at his curse and masculinity incensed him. "What you
say?"

She spun around languidly in her office-type chair, bare feet stopping her
so that she faced Ranma directly. "It's only been a day; there's a way out of
this, and we can put everything back to normal. So stop being a weak,
little girl about this."

A tic began dancing a jig underneath his eye, his fingers flexing rapidly,
making small, sharp cracking sounds. For a moment, Nabiki wondered if that
last comment was just a little too much. The she frowned to herself. _That
kind of thinking is what got me in this mess in the first place. He really
won't harm me..._ And to convince herself just that, she leaned in, smiling.
"Or do you intend on hitting me like the coward you are?"

This time his knuckles sounded like he was breaking walnuts barehanded.
Again, Nabiki wondered if that comment was just a little too much. A search for
the voice of reassurance that was there a second ago discovered it cowering
in a corner of her mind.

Just went she started to berate herself for being so stupid, Ranma suddenly
relaxed. This, in turn, gave her cause to turn off the panic switch that was
tripped. She even felt a little foolish for doubting her instincts.

"You know... you really like having your back rubbed, don'tcha?"

She almost fell out of her chair, so sudden the conversation changed
directions. Her mind reeled from the comment, and she fought hard to get her
thoughts together. "Where the hell did that come from?!"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Dunno. Just something that came to mind.
Probably from this morning, or something."

"A fine time to be mentioning that. Are you going somewhere with this line,
or are you just wanting to get in my bed again?"

He glared at her. "Like hell. I'd sooner have sex with Kuno as a guy
before I'd ever want back in your bed again."

"Hmm... Claim you are gay... That could work."

He scowled. "Forget it; I ain't pretending to be a fag, not even to get out
of being married to you."

"Oh, it's not like you have to really kiss boys as a boy, Ranma. I'm pretty
sure I can find someone that can doctor a few candid-"

"Will you just shut up about that? That's not even the point!"

Nabiki frowned. "Pity, and that would have solved everything, too."

He sighed. "God, you're such a selfish bitch. Playing more stupid games,
even now."

She tried to ignore his words. "Look Ranma-"

He thrust his hand up, cutting Nabiki off. "No, you look. You think you
know everything, but I know something you don't."

"Oh? That would be...?"

"Akane already gave up on me."

Nabiki didn't speak. For a long moment, she only studied Ranma's face. The
subject felt more like a bug under a magnifying glass. She finally drew
breath through pinched lips, then spoke. "How do you know that?"

"Well, she just said that... that my _wife_ needs me now. No Nabiki, no
sister... just _wife_." He slumped down on his bedroll, his features arrested.

The quietude of the room after that only served to loudly ring Akane's words
inside Nabiki's head.

She looked off out her window. "Ranma, get the fuck out of my room."

He rose to his feet without complaint. "I'm going to the dojo tonight, but
I gotta start sleeping here tomorrow; I really don't wanna deal with your
dad."

Her response was a thrust of her index finger pointed to the door. She
never looked at him. She only heard him pick up a few things, and the door
closing behind him.

She wished she didn't have to hear herself cry, though.

* * * * *
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. That battle with Nabiki was more
exhausting that his learning the Hiryu Shoten Ha or Kachu Tenshin Amagurikin. She
almost got him, though; he really did want to hit her at that moment. Or
rather, he really wanted to hit something, and Nabiki was literally marking herself
as an appropriate target. Knowing her, it was probably just another plan to
get out of their marriage.

But did they all have to end up with him getting disgraced in some fashion
or another while she comes out like a rose?

_Selfish bitch,_ he thought to himself. On that, he set up his bedding,
made sure the lights were turned off, and resolved himself to never get tangled
with anyone even remotely like Nabiki for the rest of his life. Or in his
next one.

* * * * *
"Whoever said dreams are the key to solving our problems is a moron," Nabiki
said to herself, still laying in bed. She shuddered, recalling the dream
that essentially roused her mind into the waking world. The images were
disturbing: she was wandering around in a giant expanse of darkness -- staggering
really, as she had a long, slender sword rammed through her torso, the ornate
handle just visible from beneath her breasts - calling for help. The blood
never stopped pouring from the wound, each step causing it to ooze and squirt
whenever she stumbled, which was quite often. Logically, she should have
stopped and done something about it. However, whenever she tried, she was
attacked by the wolves.

They stood out against the darkness, their furs black as onyx. Predatory
ruby eyes gleamed with a level of malevolence, hunger, and bloodlust. And they
could certainly not miss the smell of her blood. Anytime she paused for
longer than a second, they would pounce, forcing her to run away from their
snapping ivory fangs and continue her lurching. They never attacked her
otherwise, though she could just see them nearby, three that she made out. One on
each side and one nipping at her heels whenever she wavered her stride. It was
like they were herding her, driving her towards... towards...

The rest of the ethereal dream vanished the longer she remained awake. She
didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse in disguise. However it measured
up, Nabiki knew that today was not going to be an easy day. First day back
to school since she and Ranma were married, and she dreaded the inevitable
questions that would occur.

No, scratch that, she was more afraid of her reactions to them. Yesterday
had shaken her world nearly to its foundations, and the flood of tears did
little to clean up the mess left behind in the assault. And something the
middle Tendo - correction, married Tendo - until she could come up with something
- knew, if nothing else, was that she did not want to relieve those moments
anytime soon.

Grumbling, she pulled herself out of bed, exaggeratedly stretching and
yawning, then scratched her leg before locating her bath things and her school
uniform. _May as well get the day over with._ The people would want to know
the truth, and she needed to fabricate one for their inquiring minds.

* * * * *
"Thanks, Kasumi," Ranma said as she passed him a bowl of rice. He snared
himself a piece of baked fish and proceeded to eat.

"You're welcome," she replied, then turned to her father, who had his nose
buried in the morning news paper. "Would you like anything?"

"Nothing for me at the moment." He sipped some of his coffee, and turned
the page. "Where are your sisters?"

"Akane had already left for school early this morning. Nabiki may be still
getting ready for school."

"Actually," the subject of the latter sentence said, standing in the doorway
of the dining room. "I was just looking for my dear husband."

Ranma coughed violently, having accidentally sent some rice and fish down
the wrong passage. He pounded on his chest a few times to help clear the mix
up.

"Aw, honey, are you all right?" she said, smiling at him.

He cleared his throat, eyeing her warily. "Just fine. What do you want?"

"I had wanted to leave for school early enough to talk to our classmates
about our marriage so we aren't late."

Now Ranma looked at Nabiki as if left arm was suddenly replaced with a blue
tentacle. "Are you feeling well?"

"Never better since you walked into my life. Please finish eating, dear."

"I... think I'm done for now..." He thanked Kasumi, who it turn supplied
both him and Nabiki their lunches. He was convinced it was going to be his last
meal, at that. Nabiki, happy to be married to him? Calling him dear?
Surrendering to-

"I can't believe you actually fell for that load of shit."

He blinked into the present, fixing a bewildered gaze on Nabiki. They were
far away from the house, treading the old path to school.

She smirked. "Here I am, lying my ass off to the family, and I thought you
were smart enough to recognize that." She then looked at him flatly. "Or
did you forget that I'm a selfish bitch?"

He frowned. "And I think I gotta make that title longer, now."

"I'm going to let that slide, because I am feeling much better. I have a
plan."

"A plan for what?"

"My, we have to work on your short-term memory."

Ranma was clearly annoyed. "Just spit it out."

"You're no fun in your old age. Whatever happened to that spark we had on
our wedding night?"

He gritted his teeth. "That's enough of this shit..." His expression went
from frustrated to sinister quickly. "...dear wife."

The jabbing died on that note. "Anyway," Nabiki started, being more
serious. "I have a plan to convince the school that we're not married and nothing
happened."

"Oh. Found that time machine, eh? While we're changing the future, can we
also go back to make sure I never got cursed? That'll be wonderful."

She smirked in spite of herself. "Seems like I'm rubbing off on you. But
this calls for no time machine. Just a little explanation."

He crossed his arms. "Can't wait to hear this."

"This is all part of a plan to get Akane to admit her true feelings."

His head snapped around to look at her profile. "Say what?"

"Just like the movies," she said, smiling. "Man and woman are married.
Enter old flame, whom man still has feelings for. Unhappiness with his current
life, the two gravitate towards each other until they re-ignite those old
feelings, and they confess their deepest feelings. He leaves his wife, whom he
was never happy with, and gets back with his true love."

Ranma studied her for a little while, a concentrated look affixed on his
features. "I never thought you could be so... so..."

"Ingenious?" Nabiki primed, giving him a confident, half-lidded look.

He shook his head. "Sappy."

She glared at him. "Look, I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart.
Don't get smart with me, because I'll have no problem staying married to you."

"What? But I-"

"-can make your life a living hell." She tossed her hair back, leveling her
gaze. "You thought our engagement was bad? Wait until I start trying in
our married life. I'll start by selling off the dojo, and then..."

Ranma gulped, throwing up his hands. "Hey, hey, now... no need to get
vicious. I was just saying you're like the last person I'd ever thought would be
talking that soap opera junk other girls at school get obsessed with."

She seemed to consider what he said. "Well, now you know better. So, just
try to look a little miserable, and we should be more than convincing.

"You mean I don't look miserable enough?"

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

Hands were thrown back up. "Sorry... just came out."

Nabiki's response was to turn away and continue heading towards school.
Ranma fell in step behind her.

* * * * *
"Wait a sec," Nabiki said, stopping just at the gates of Furinken High
School.

"Hm? What's up?"

"Something's wrong."

He perked a brow, walking around her. "What do you mean? I don't see
anyone-"

"That's just it. No one's out on the grounds talking, walking, or generally
goofing around, waiting for the bell to ring." She scanned the grounds,
trying in vain to find some sort of life outside. She was disappointed, which
set off the hairs on the back of her neck.

Ranma, on the other hand, took one look up and pointed. "Well there's
someone, who just ducked back inside."

She followed his hand, but missed the target. "Where did he go?"

"Dunno. He was a student, though."

Nabiki frowned. "I really don't like this..."

He shrugged. "Well, knowing the principal, he may have the field covered in
pineapple bombs or something."

The thought of getting blown up- as it was a very real possibility with
Principal Kuno manning the helm of Furinken - made the married Tendo grow weak in
the knees as well as feel lightheaded. "Ranma, if anyone ever suggests you
to become a counselor, do me a favor... punch them out."

Ranma glanced behind him, seeing her stagger on her feet. "Aw, man..." He
grabbed her by her shoulders, holding her like that until she was standing
steadily. "Look, I don't what's wrong here, but I ain't gonna let anyone or
anything hurt you, all right?"

She could tell he was serious about his statement. Despite herself, she did
feel somewhat moved by that kind of determination. She shook her head,
dissolving those thoughts. "All right." She then smirked a little. "But if you
get me killed, consider yourself divorced."

"That's not funny." He couldn't help but chuckle a little at the thought.
Then he swept her up into his arms, an action that caught the brunette
off-guard.

"What the hell-" One hand had turned into a fist, poised in the air to
strike.

"Hey, a man's only good as the promises he keeps, you know?" With his face
set, Ranma took off running, streaking up the pathway, his eyes scanning
everything that looked suspicious. If something odd was in his path, he hopped
over it. Nabiki held onto him, her own eyes darting around, looking out for
some surprise attack that invariably followed. She was disappointed that
there was none; it would have explained away the missing students.

Just as they reached the front doors, one swung open partly, and two
pineapples were tossed out, both heading straight for the two.

"What the?" The married man skidded to a halt as the seemingly harmless
fruit sailed towards their location.

Nabiki was wide-eyed in disbelief. "Ranma!"

He didn't have the time to drop his accidental bride. Tightening his grip
on her, the martial artist twisted his body around on the ball of his foot,
angling a kick to smash one Hawaiian delight into the other that was lagging a
little behind. With luck, the resulting explosion would be at his back,
keeping her safely in front of him while he dealt with the damage.

Fortunately, the pineapples didn't explode as he figured. Instead, they
made a hollow bursting sound, like someone jabbing a needle through a balloon,
but deeper. Immediately, it started raining motley confetti and streamers.
Then there were a series of cap gun-like poppings in random intervals, and a
series of shouts.

"Congratulations, Ranma and Nabiki!"

"Huh?" Both of them looked at the school doors, where a throng of people
streamed out into the courtyard, waving banners, yanking on various party
poppers, and generally having a good time. Students, teachers, even the principal
(strumming a ukulele) were out there, celebrating.

"Congratulations?" they said as one, looking at each other.

"On your wedding guys!" one student shouted.

"Whodathunkit? You and Nabiki being on the up and up," another chimed in.

"You're so cruel, Ranma! Stringing Akane along while you secretly pined
after Nabiki!"

"Lucky dog!"

"And I though for sure you were just trying to scam us out of money, with
those bets and all!"

"You da man, Saotome!"

"We're so jealous of you, Nabiki!"

The small celebration washed over the couple for which it was held in honor
like a phantom wave, both wide-eyed in disbelief. Their peepers grew more,
if it was possible, as Akane approached them. That, in itself, wasn't the
reason for their surprise and panicking.

Her smiling sadly holding her own set of unfired party poppers, on the other
hand, sent up all kinds of alarms and warnings.

"I hope you didn't mind me setting this up, Nabiki," she said. "Kasumi
thought it might help me work through this if I were to assemble a small
celebration."

Nabiki hadn't even noticed that she slid out of Ranma's arms and was
standing on her own feet again. "She did..." the older sister's mouth failed her in
mid sentence, lips moving without sound.

Turning to Ranma, the former fiancée did her best to not look grieved.
"I... was a fool for not seeing what... who you really wanted. I'm sorry..." she
said, bowing, struggling hard to keep her composure. "I hope... we can
be... friends..."

The married man had none of the grace his new "wife" demonstrated a second
ago. Instead, his mind went into Automatic Response Mode while the rest of
him dealt with the shock surging through his body. "...uh, yeah... 'course...
ah..."

Akane straightened up, herself on the brink of tears. "Thank you," she
whispered, then pulling the strings on each party popper taunt, firing them off,
one on either side of her. "And congratulations."

Ranma remained immobile. Nabiki, on the other hand, fainted dead away.

* * * * *
"This can't be happening," the brunette said, sitting up on the examining
table. "What the hell did I do wrong?"

"Dunno," Ranma said, sitting in a chair in front of his "wife," holding a
cup of water in hand. "Doesn't this kinda screw up your plan?" He took a sip
afterwards.

She glared at her "husband." "Of course it does. Don't be an idiot."

"Hey, it's not my fault we got married."

The corner of her upper lip curled slightly, baring some teeth. "Like hell!
If you weren't such a cocky, arrogant bastard-!"

He met her eyes with the same resentment she displayed, then went into a
cuteness act. "'Hey, Ranma, let's get married tomorrow! Tee hee!'" Cuteness
dropped, he then glared fiercely at her before turning away. "Cry me a river."

"Good idea." She kicked her foot up, catching the bottom of the cup in his
hands. Water splashed up, drenching her "husband," and triggering the
Jusenkyo curse.

The newly made girl sputtered. "What the hell what that for?"

Nabiki said nothing, only slid off the table, picked up her bag and headed
out the door, leaving a wet guy-turned-girl to fume at her back.

"Damn her," Ranma swore, then starting to get up.

"Ranchan?"

He froze in his spot, only his eyes daring to turn in the direction of the
familiar (but secretly dreaded) voice. He saw her standing in the doorway,
wearing the same boy's uniform that she chose for attending Furinken High
School, wearing the same spatula bandolier around her body, complete with the
handle of her enormous battle steel spatula jutting up from behind her. All in
all, it looked like the same old Ukyo he remembered. However, there was
something off about her today. Her face…

"Um, hi, Ucchan..."

She stared hard at the cursed, little girl before her, her eyes seemingly
searching for something. "Say it isn't true."

He shrank back a little. "S-say what isn't true?"

Anger flared. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, you Jackass!" Then
it sputtered out, leaving behind the searching eyes. "Say you didn't really
marry Nabiki Tendo."

He was expecting it to happen sometime, but not this soon. And how delicate
his fingers were in his cursed body. He never noticed that before now. The
way they danced on the empty air-

"Tell me everyone is lying!" She had lunged for him, stopping within arm's
reach, afraid of what he would say. "Please..."

The desperate tone of her voice grabbed his heart and wrenched it out of
place, squeezing it tightly in its vise grip. He couldn't find the strength to
put Nabiki's plan into action. "Y... yeah. But I can explain-"


He never got the chance to get any further. Ukyo's fist stuck him squarely
in the jaw, ripping his lithe girl body off his feet. He spiraled for a
second, only to have his flight abruptly halted by the examination table. His
body folded over the top like it was a pile of soggy noodles, only to discover
it couldn't stick to the surface like cooked pastry. Expectantly, he slid
off the table, and fell into a pile on the floor beside it, moaning painfully.

The last thing he could remember was seeing a miserable Ukyo barreling out
of the office, her sobs lingering along with the only other thing she said.

"You Jackass...!"

* * * * *
The married Tendo walked the hallway of the second floor, fuming to herself.
She tried to rationalize some answers for her current woes, an explanation
that would set everything right, or at least justify her swelling misery and
anger. So far, everything she has been planning lately has backfired in some
grand fashion. Worse yet, she was being sabotaged, and by someone whom she
would have never suspected in a thousand years: her own beloved Kasumi.

_She's going to pay for this. I don't know how she knew what I was up to,
but she's going to pay for this dearly..._

"Nabiki Saotome."

Immediately, her thoughts were yanked into a whole new - and very revolting
- direction. Turning furiously, her eyes lighted upon the person that had
put her and Ranma's surname in the same sentence. If looks could kill, the
authorities would never find Kuno's body.

"It is a fortuitous occasion, indeed. Had I not witnessed such an event
with my own eyes, I would feel as though you would deem yourself capable of
misleading me. But, no, it shall be upheld as truth, that you and the foul
sorcerer Ranma Saotome have indeed found peace in a manner of holy sanctimony."

The more Kuno talked, the angrier and more volatile her mood degenerated.

He then knelt down before her, surprising the young woman. Hands roughened
and trained in the pure art of kendo clapped together twice, then he followed
up the motion with bowing his head.

Nabiki perked an eyebrow. "What are you doing, Kuno-baby?"

"Praying for your soul. May the gods honor your noble sacrifice, Nabiki
Saotome. I shall never forget what you've done to dissuade the black magicks
that Saotome cur has inflicted upon the beauteous tigress Akane." Quietly, he
shed his tears. "Truly, I have misjudged you once again. I never once
considered you alone would be a selfless soul."

Hitting him, while it would have probably been very therapeutic, would have
been pointless; it wouldn't hurt him nearly enough. Maybe she could convince
Ranma to beat him up good and live vicariously through him.

The kendoist bowed once at the waist, then stood erect. "However, I feel I
must warn you."

"Hm?" Nabiki looked at him inquisitively. "Warn me about what?"

"My younger sister. Saddened as I am to say, she is not one for
understanding such spiritual nobleness, and her affections for the cur Saotome leaves
her weakened in emotional fortitude."

She waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, yeah, she's head over heels in love
with Ranma. What else is new?"

"Do not take my words lightly, Nabiki Saotome." She twitched at the title,
but Kuno paid it no heed. "My younger sister has been known to hold a grudge
for some, and her vengeance is oft swift and terrible. Your union with the
one whom she seeks favor has placed a tree in her path. It is likely she
will cut it down in all manners of the term."

The young woman took a few moments to digest the swordsman's words. "I see…"

"Truly. I must be off." He looked at her solemnly. "Again, I must thank
you for your brave sacrifice. Your name shall always be remembered; your deed
shall never be forgotten." Regally, he strode away from Nabiki.

She stared at his back for a while longer. "I should have at least kicked
him." Frowning, she added mostly to herself. "And when did I get this
violent?"

* * * * *
"Thank the gods the day is finally over…" Nabiki said, walking out of the
school building. Throughout the day, just about everyone that had known about
her had wished her good luck in her marriage. It was still irritating, but
she let their words wash over her. She had something to think about, namely
Kodachi Kuno.

Kuno's words clung to her as if he just spoken them, and not hours ago.
Initially, she tried dismissing them as nonsense, but the gravity in which he
said them still weighed upon her, convincing her to at least consider what
could happen. However, after a few moments of considering what kendoist's
eccentric gymnastic sister could do as revenge, Nabiki was left disturbed. She
really needed to see Ranma. However, no one had seen him when she inquired at
lunch. In fact, no one she talked to had seen at all, aside from that morning.

"Yo, Nabiki."

"Hm?" She turned around, and caught sight of the person she was looking for.

"Akane said you were looking for me?" Ranma said, walking up beside her.

She continued moving on through the gates. "Where were you? And why do you
have a bandage of your face?"

The martial artist touched the flesh-toned bandage adhered to his cheek.
"Oh, Ucchan came around just after you left. She was kinda pissed about us
getting married, so she decked me."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow in question. "And that was enough to lay out the
great Saotome, master of Anything Goes School of Martial Arts?"

"Ha ha. The nurse let me lay up in her office for a bit. She was afraid I
had a concussion or something, since I kinda left a dent in her table from
where I hit it." He shook his head. "I'm cool, though."

"I already knew that. A mountain could fall on your head before it did any
kind of brain damage."

He started to glare at her, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. "While
I was there, I was thinking about what'll Shampoo do once she finds out." He
drew his arms up above his head, then laced his fingers together, locking
them as he held to the back of his neck. "Well, assuming she hadn't already."

"And Kodachi."

"Hm? What about Kodachi?" He looked puzzled as to why Nabiki had mentioned
her.

Her face became a mask of neutrality. "Kuno mentioned thins morning that
Kodachi may try to take a stab at revenge, too."

"Dammit, I keep forgetting about her." He sighed, then looked at her.
"Hey, what I said this morning still stands, all right?"

She looked at him, a twinkle of mischief in her eye. "That 'selfish bitch'
isn't long enough a title for _moi_?"

He nearly tripped over himself. "God, just forget I said that already!"

Nabiki chuckled. "You're still so easy to tease, Ranma-baby."

He sighed. "You know good and well what I'm talking about."

"No. How about you just tell me again?"

"…I said that I'll protect you, no matter what."

She smiled, taking great pleasure in dragging it out of him. "Well, that's
good to know."

Sighing, he responded off-handedly. "Yeah, 'specially since you might be
carrying my kid and stuff."

The brunette froze in midstep. The pigtailed fighter kept on walking, not
noticing she had stopped. Panic streaked across her face, her heart thumping
like a jackhammer inside her chest. It almost didn't seem real, like it
occurred in another lifetime. The reminder was a bucket of cold water splashed
right into her face.

She wanted to cry again for being such a fool, but she really didn't want to
let anyone else see her at her most embarrassing moments. No one needed to
know about those times. She didn't want anyone to know her secret fears.

Meanwhile, Ranma glanced over his shoulder, noticing for the first time the
girl he accidentally married was no longer there. Turning around, he saw her
still standing, her foot not touching the ground. Her eyes were dark,
obscured by her bangs of hair. Worry drew on his features. "Hey, Nabiki?"

She didn't seem to respond at first, but a second or two later, her foot
came down to the concrete. Her head shifted upward, revealing her face once
again to him. She was smiling broadly, but Ranma felted disturbed just looking
at it.

"I'm fine, Ranma-baby. Let's hurry up and get home." Without waiting for a
reply, she hurried past him.

Watching her diminutive form disappearing around the corner of the walkway,
Ranma let go of a breath he wasn't aware of holding and scratched his head.
"Weird…" Shrugging, he followed after her.

On the opposite side of the street, a girl with ash black hair tied up in a
one-sided ponytail dressed in a uniform in which the jacket clearly marked her
as being a student of St. Hebereke had been hiding behind trees and fences,
following the two newlyweds. She didn't follow any farther now, her intense
hazel eyes creating their own well of tears. In one hand, a ribbon twirled
slowly around its wand, cutting a groove on the grass and earth just by her
foot. In the other hand, she held a video cassette tape devoid of any and all
markings.

"Nabiki Tendo… how dare you take what rightfully belongs to me," the girl
known as Kodachi Kuno spoke to herself. "And attempting to bind him to you for
a long life of misery… I will not stand for it." She glared at the last
place she saw the object of her hatred.

"I will destroy you like the insignificant bug you are."

TBC

Adrian Moten


"Oh, come off it. You think you can just escape? Walk out of this world like
it's some bad movie? It's too easy to make like a bird. To flap your wings
as you chicken out. The tough part's walking. Taking what comes along and
walking right through it. That's what real people do."
-Eikichi Onizuka, GTO


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