raemowse@aol.com
27th February 2006, 06:40 PM
I've gotten more than a few inquiries from people that haven't gotten a copy of Ch. 5 for whatever reason the FFML been's getting goofy with the mail as of late, so I'm reposting it here.
[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 Better or For Worst-Case Scenario
Chapter 5: Missing in Reaction
"A lazy Sunday afternoon," Nabiki said aloud as she laid across her bed on her back. Dressed in cutoff jean shorts and a loose tee shirt, the sleeves rolled up, she lazily stretched and sat up. Her eyes focused in on Ranma, who was sitting in the corner on the opposite side of the room reading a thick comic book. "Don't you agree, honey?"
He seemed to not have heard her, but Nabiki knew he had - she long since learned to recognize that almost imperceptible tensing around his neck. It only occurred when an embarrassing topic threatens to rear its head and he wished to not have anything to do with it. She sometimes wondered if he was even aware of it. Nabiki didn't think so; otherwise, she felt Ranma would have learned to stop doing it. At least in her vicinity.
Nabiki supposed to herself she could take advantage of it and tease Ranma in some sort of way or fashion, but she decided against it; better to remain unpredictable, to make sure he didn't become numb to her wiles. Besides, it had been almost a week since the videotape incident, when she finally accepted her marital situation and started using it in a whole new way to keep boredom and the humdrum at bay. Plus it was a Sunday - no school, no pressing family engagements, and no visitors. Let Ranma have a break from her antics.
She flopped back onto her bed, faintly smiling. _I'm really salt of the earth here._
For his part, Ranma looked over his comic to eye his wife. _Funny, I thought she'd do something by now._ He let himself wind down after a few moments more of covertly watching his significant other's inaction, then tried resuming his reading pleasure. However, he shook his head and put down the volume - the story and action had been going downhill since halfway through the fourth volume, turning more melodramatic, inane, and sometimes downright silly. It was like a martial arts soap opera, or perhaps better worded as a marital arts soap opera, based on the actions of the younger sister. At one point, Ranma could have sympathized with the main character, as he, too, got an unwanted girl wanting to marry him, but now that he went and admitted feelings for the girl's older sister. He shook his head, promising himself to skim over the next volume before buying it.
He stood up, stretching his legs and back, feeling muscles loosen and creak. Popping his neck twice, he started to leave the room.
"Going out?" Nabiki asked, looking over in his direction.
"Yeah. Gonna take a walk."
"Anyplace special?"
"Hadn't thought about it."
She sat up. "Well, give me a minute to change."
He looked over his shoulder. "You wanna come with me?"
"Sure. It seems too nice a day to spend it indoors."
"Well. okay. I'll be downstairs." He slipped out of the room, leaving Nabiki to her own devices.
In truth, going through a few katas was forefront in his mind. However, the dojo had been locked up since Thursday afternoon, though why was beyond him.. When he asked Mr. Tendo about it, the curt answer was that it was under repair and would be off-limits until sometime after Tuesday. He brought it up with Nabiki later on, who vowed to do some investigating herself. She turned up nothing; every entrance point was locked, and the windows were covered with heavy cloth. Also, the key to the building was not in its usual place. Whether she did more investigating after that, Ranma did not know. He just decided to not worry about it and practice out in the backyard.
That turned to be more distracting than anything else. He normally didn't think about it, but the first time he looked over his shoulder to taunt his old man and remembered he didn't live at the Tendo residence anymore, the realization of why splashed him with the strength and numbness of icy water.
He and Nabiki were married.
Ever since then, whenever he'd step into the backyard to practice, his mind would suddenly cloud up with all the annoying, puzzling, difficult thoughts and questions, running and bouncing around in his head so rapidly, he sometimes misremembered the next step of the kata, though his body hadn't. The collision of two different trains of thoughts resulted in a few funny incidents. That inverted double-wheeled flying kick he accidentally done one time would have looked really cool had he not ended up splashing headfirst into the backyard pond with his legs flopping every which way.
"All right, I'm ready," Nabiki said behind him, shaking him out of his thoughts. Ranma glanced at her. She had slipped on a pair of faded jeans, sneakers, and a brown tee shirt with a printed message across the front. He perked an eyebrow as he read it.
"'Alien Abductee'?"
Nabiki shrugged. "It would explain a few things lately."
Ranma really couldn't disagree with her. "Okay, let's go."
They waltzed out through the front door and into the world.
Even after a week, being together, let alone married, still felt surreal. Occasionally, a neighbor they came across would congratulate the two on their wedding and wished them many happy years together. Even the old woman that would throw water on the sidewalk (and invariably Ranma) in the mornings smiled at them, giving them a comforting bow as they passed by.
"Just who is she, anyway?" Ranma asked, looking at the elderly lady.
Nabiki started to open her mouth to say her name, but a thought occurred to her - she didn't know it, either. "So, where are we going?"
He shrugged, his former inquiry forgotten. "Just around." His stomach took that moment to put in its two cents. "On the second thought, let's go grab something to eat."
"Sounds good to me." She wasn't particularly hungry, but she was curious as to where he would go for food, as two places he might have eaten would most assuredly be off limits to him. Did he even think about that? Knowing him, probably not.
He led the way down the street. Nabiki was content with just following him, thought she did make a point to stay abreast of him. She wasn't sure if Ranma ever thought about traditional women's roles, but she wouldn't take a chance on someone seeing her walking behind him like an obedient pet.
=DING DING=
Ranma tensed up, along with Nabiki, who drew close to him; if it was Shampoo coming to seek revenge, she stood no chance out in the open. They looked around quickly for a lavender-haired Amazon warrior/delivery girl. However, the only person they saw was Mousse, running down the street on a delivery bike. then nearly running into a telephone pole.
"Must be really busy at the Cat Café," Ranma said absently. "Sending Mousse out on a delivery." He turned away, shrugging and continued on his way with Nabiki still in tow, though she had remained a little closer to her husband.
"Ranma."
"Mm? Whatsit?"
".It's nothing."
".Okay."
They traveled for several minutes, neither one speaking. Or at least not aloud in Nabiki's case. Her mind started to whirl as she tried to put together a puzzle that started to bug her. Of the four girls to have claims to Ranma, three of them have already did something: Akane threw out the door any hopes of her and Ranma reuniting with her formal acceptance and virtual surrender; Ukyo decked Ranma in the nurse's office (and caused sizeable damage to the bed, the way she heard it); Kodachi tried to blackmail Nabiki into divorce so she could have Ranma all to herself, which ended up with quite a bit of property damage at the Kuno Estate, along with a dearth of destroyed doctored copies and one recovered master tape. Also, thanks to the Kunos, she had all the reason in the world to stay with her now-husband. Amazing how almost being devoured whole by someone's pet crocodile will rearrange one's priorities in life.
However, the one she would have expected to deliver an immediate (and most likely very violent) response - the Amazon warrior Shampoo - was AWOL. The total lack of response had her more worried than becoming a reptile's snack. Was it some kind of psychological game? Nabiki could hardly believe the Amazon would simply give up and go home, but then again, mind games were not a normal part of her repertoire, either. The only thing she could think of was that it was part of some weird tribal custom or something, but what? Pieces were missing, and she needed them to get a clear picture.
"Huh, Ucchan's closed."
Nabiki looked up, her thoughts shattered by the simple phrase. Her eyes lighted upon the okonomiyaki diner, and her brows knitted in mild surprise. She had no idea they had wandered around this far. However, what on earth were they doing here anyway?
"Planned on eating here or something?" She perked one brow incredulously at her husband.
"No. though now that you mention it, I haven't had okonomiyaki in a while." Ranma rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then glanced at Nabiki, who still wore her disbelieving face. ".What?"
She stared at him for a few seconds longer, pursing her lips together. "Some things will never change," she said, more to herself.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Haven't been married for more than a few weeks, and already, you're trying to sneak back to see old flames."
Ranma sputtered in shock, unable to get words to come out of his mouth.
Nabiki turned her face away from him, covering up with her hands as she did so. "You're so cruel, beloved. Don't I mean anything to you? And after I gave myself to you."
For about ten seconds, Ranma's brain hung itself, any possible responses frozen with the system lockup. However, once his thinker rebooted and everything went back into motion, he mentally slapped himself for falling into yet another one of Nabiki's mind games. "Dammit, Nabiki! Stop that!"
She smirked at him from under her hands. "You're getting faster," she said under her breath. Abruptly, Nabiki turned around and drew in close to him, her face turning serious. "Just admit it, Ranma. You were going to go see Ukyo."
"I was not! There just happens to be a beef bowl vendor on the other side of this street."
"Uh huh."
He folded his arms, cocking his head to one side. "Really. And why would you be so concerned about me seeing Ucchan, anyway?"
For a moment, she considered whapping him upside his head. However, as dense as he was, she'd probably break her hand. "Because you would end up having her chase after you. Again."
"What?" Ranma scrunched up his face, as if he smelled something had gone bad, but didn't know where it was coming from. "How do you figure that?"
"Knowing you, you'd go talk to her, do something charming to or for her, and leave her thinking maybe she still has a shot at you."
His left eye twitched. "Gods, what do you take me for? I'm married to you!"
She looked him in the eye. "You also like using people."
He jerked back as if he took a blow on the chin. "'Using people'? I'm nothing like y-" Ranma's own hand snapped shut on his mouth so fast, it startled him.
Nabiki glanced down at the ground briefly, then shifted her head up to hold his attention with her eyes. "I know what I am, and I admit to it honestly." She reached up and slowly peeled his hand away from over his mouth. "Be honest with yourself, too, Ranma."
They stood there, rooted in place by their silent struggle, her hand holding his still. Neither one spoke, but their eyes communicated in volumes. Finally, Ranma pulled his hand out of hers, tossing it up in exasperation. "Fine, don't believe me. Let's just go home." He turned on his heels and started to walk back the way they came.
"I thought you were hungry."
He didn't look back. "I'll live."
Clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, Nabiki shrugged and followed suit, pulling up beside Ranma so she could keep tabs on his mood from the corner of her eye. She soon realized that was a waste of time, as his face was the most unusual level of neutrality she ever seen on the young Saotome. Idly, she wondered what was going on through his head, then decided to focus on other things; the afternoon was already spoiled, and there seemed to be no clues willing to jump out of the bushes and shout "Here! Here!" on Shampoo's current whereabouts and state of mind. So she turned to the only other mystery that's been gnawing at her toes recently: what was so special in the dojo that it's remained locked all weekend?
She would have to investigate later. Right now, she was starting to feel a little hungry. She hoped Kasumi had some kind of snack prepared; she hated having to make something herself.
* * * * *
She still had no luck gaining admittance into the dojo. Questioning her father about it led her nowhere; he deflecting her inquiries with answers that sounded rehearsed. Akane had no clue, either, as she flatly said she didn't know and was a little frustrated she couldn't go practice inside till almost the middle of the week. Asking Kasumi about it turned out to be more bizarre than she would have ever fathomed.
"Hey, Kasumi," Nabiki asked as she came out of the kitchen crunching on a squat Asian pear.
"Yes, Nabiki?" she inquired as she was sitting in the living room watching something on television. It turned out to be a baseball game, the Tokyo Giants playing against some other team. Who they were, Nabiki neither knew nor cared; she was not a sports fan. She only knew about the Giants because Kasumi, surprisingly, turned out to be a big fan of theirs - that and the fact they were quite a losing bunch. Her older sister loved them anyway. probably because she had a crush on one of the players. It was the only thing Nabiki could think of that made sense.
"Ranma's been a bit grouchy lately."
Kasumi hadn't turned from the screen to reply. "Whatever could be bothering him?"
Nabiki glanced at television herself to see what had her older sister so riveted. Bottom of the ninth, Giants at bat. Score was 4-2 in favor of the other team. Two men on first and second, one out. The batter at the plate just earned his second strike with no outs against them. "I don't know. I suggested he go to the dojo and work it out. Says he can't. It's been locked up or something."
The Giants suddenly got a lucky break. The pitcher threw the ball, but it didn't break right. Smashed right into the batter's left thigh. Bases were now loaded, a pinch runner going in for the injured player, and the Japanese version of Casey Jones stepped up to the plate, ready to bring it all home.
Kasumi smiled. "That's because Father's holding some things inside."
"Really.? Such as-"
The pitcher shook off two signs from the catcher, then nodded in affirmation on the third. He reared back and let the ball fly like an arrow, going just inside on the batter. "Ball," the umpire called, and the pitcher cursed his luck.
"Well." She hesitated, but then continued. "Don't tell anyone else about this, but-"
The leather bullet streaked across the plate, burrowing deep inside the catcher's glove. Strike. Kasumi frowned. "Hold on a moment, Nabiki."
Nabiki frowned as well. It would be easier to turn off the TV set and have her older sister's undivided attention, but she may have her own rehearsed lines like her father. As long at the Giants were doing well, though, she was far more candid and likely to give all the answers she wanted to know. Realizing that, Nabiki turned her attention to the game.
Two more balls called, then a foul ball that, had it managed to remain on the other side of the foul line marker, would have been a grandslam homerun and the Giants would have won. Nabiki spared a glance at Kasumi while the other team had a conference on the plate concerning the pitcher, catcher, and the team manager. She was sitting there, her hands clasped together tightly, her eyes hard locked onto the screen, as though she was exerting her will on the outcome of the game.
Nabiki hadn't felt this disturbed around her sister since she found out about the bets Kasumi made on her wedding.
The shortshop had been brought into the fold on the mound for a few seconds more, something the announcer thought was strange, and made an offhand remark about bringing in the rest of the infield for the summit. The meeting ended, everyone drifting back into their prescribed places. On the mound, the pitcher didn't even look at the Japanese Casey Jones or the catcher. Instead he slowly wound up with his eyes closed, snapping them open just before he delivered his last offering to the batter, a screwball. The batter reflected it hard off his bat, a powerful linedrive screaming to right field - that was intercepted in mid-flight by the shortstop, who sprang up into the air like he had a pair of wings to snag the miniature missile. In one fluid motion, the shortstop came down and tagged out the second base runner on the shoulder before he even realized he needed to get back to the base, let the ball catapult out of the glove and into the air again just as he landed only to bounce back up like he was made of rubber, snare the floating sphere again and sling it down to first base, where the other runner understood the situation a second too late and dove back to safety. But by then, the ball was firmly embedded inside the first baseman's glove.
Triple play.
"Excuse me." Kasumi sounded as though someone had just canceled Christmas as she got up, exiting the living room. "I have to cook... something."
Nabiki was stunned, too, particularly once she found out the name of the shortstop that single-handedly killed the Giants' and her hopes: Number 36, Souma Saotome. She made it a high point to find Ranma or his parents and ask about their relatives. Chances were, they were going to be one short at the next family reunion if she had anything to say and do about it.
In the meanwhile, she cut off the TV, having gained virtually nothing of use from in the last few minutes. They're using the dojo for storage. for what though? Was it too large to take up to Ranma's old room? And just what were they storing there, come to think about it?
With that thought in mind, Nabiki got up and made her way upstairs to investigate. However, something new arrested her progress: there was a lock on the door. Or to be more precise, the old doorknob had been taken off and replaced with one that required a key to open.
* * * * *
"There's a lock on your old room," Nabiki said, sitting on her bed in her sleepwear, one leg crossed over the other.
Ranma, still wearing his pants and undershirt, was reading another one of his comic books. "Yeah. So?"
"'So?' Don't you think it's strange to put a lock on your door now?"
"Nope," he said, still not looking up. "Just butt out of it."
She arched an eyebrow at him in confusion. "'Butt out'?"
"What, you're a parrot, as well as a snoop, too?"
Nabiki was a little cross at that. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Means you can't keep your nose out of other people's business." This time he put the volume down and looked at her flatly. "Thought you would have learned after that whole videotape business."
The comment stung her more than she would admit. "Hey, I care about what's going on, and I don't want someone getting hurt over something that could have been prevented."
"Bullshit. You just want to know stuff so you can hold it over people's head. You like feeling superior over everyone else, rub their faces in it."
She jerked back in shock, not at the accusation itself - though she wouldn't have confessed to its validity anyway - but at the fact that it was Ranma making them of his own will. Who was the person sitting across from her, and what had it done with the real Ranma? She found it hard to believe that he could even think, let alone argue, this way. Of course, he only was reacting to whatever she said, but still, he was showing a whole different side of himself, something that she found very intriguing, attractive.
However, she was not about to let him win this verbal battle anytime soon. "I'm not like you, Ranma baby. I don't go around gloating about how I do this or that to someone I topple."
Now it was Ranma's turn to give her the incredulous look. "Excuse me? Who was so sure about me going to Ucchan's, then got so damn smug when I dropped the matter, like it was true and I didn't want to admit it? Wasn't me, that's for sure."
Nabiki glared hard at Ranma, trying to decide whether or not she was pissed that he wasn't backing down as he did in the past. It was like he was a whole different person now. Was it because they were married that he grew stones? Was he just angry with everything that had happened and was just blowing off steam? More importantly, why did she find herself liking this new Ranma?
He continued on, oblivious to her penetrating look. "You can't keep you nose out of other people's business because you like knowing everything, and you can't wait to rub it in someone's face later when something goes wrong. 'Haha! You screwed up!' Not today, Nabiki. Not today. I don't give a shit what's going on with my old room, and you're not gonna give a shit, either. End. Of. Story."
A thousand arguments, persuasions, and coercions came to mind. Nabiki had plenty of ammo to spit back. However, the hand that should have pulled the trigger became relaxed by a warm tingling feeling flooding throughout her body. Her heartbeat came in faster, electricity danced all over and under her skin, heightening her sensitivity, and her body felt a lot hotter. The room seemed smaller, she and Ranma so much nearer. Her eyes widened a little as she absently licked her suddenly-dry lips.
"Oh my god." she murmured. "I'm." She bit her lip, forcing herself to not finish the sentence. "No. no. this isn't." she said to herself, her voice dropping lower and lower till she could barely hear herself.
Ranma had been watching her for about half a minute, his eyebrows furrowing together as she suddenly became extremely self-conscious and fidgety. Her face and body were flushed a pinkish hue. She refused to even look in his direction anymore.
"Well, I'm be damned," he said at last. "Never thought I'd see the day you were unable to talk back."
"Ranma, shut up." Nabiki muttered. "Dealing with something."
"Yeah." He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back, looking smug. "I know you are."
She turned a quick glare in his direction. "You're not helping here."
He cracked a confident smirk in her direction, her glare of silence about as effective as building a snowman without snow. "'Be honest with yourself,' eh, Nabiki? You know everything, so don't hold back the truth."
"Oh, you can't handle the truth."
"Heh, more like you can't. The moment someone sees through you, you're suddenly all scared and embarrassed."
Her eyes turned towards him dangerously, hunger welling up in them. "Is that what you think it is?"
His eyes were half-lidded in their superior confidence. "I know so."
She exhaled sharply though her nose and she gripped the edge of her bed tightly. "Well let me tell you something, then." Quickly, she pushed herself off into his direction, practically pouncing him in the exchange. He jerked back from the surprise approach, his head smacking against the wall as Nabiki brought her face in close to his, their noses inches apart.
"The absolute, honest truth is, right now, I have a burning urge to rip your clothes off and fuck you like an animal. I want to feel you inside of me and all over me, doing so many little naughty things to me, you'd make me scream like a wild woman. Our bodies entangled fast and hard, pushing away and refusing to let each other go, passion and lust raging out of control." She sucked in a short breath through her teeth, fighting to dispel her sudden carnal thoughts. ".but no, that's not going to happen. Not here, not now, not ever. Being married, okay, I have to admit it was a shock to the system, but after it wore off, I can deal with it perfectly well. However, we are not going to be sleeping in the same bed. We are not going to have terrible and wonderful bouts of torrid, unbridled lovemaking, no dirty, kinky, tie-me-to-the-bed-and-spank-me-daddy sex, and definitely none of that out-and-out raw animalistic fuck-me-so-hard-I-can't-walk-straight-in-the-morning. We are married, but nothing else beyond that. And if you don't stop turning me on, you're going to make me do some or all of those things I just mentioned, and I'll make damn sure you'll regret every last bit of it in the morning. Got it?"
Nabiki tore her eyes away from his once the last syllable fell from her lips, taking in deep breaths through her mouth. If she kept looking into them, she was almost positive she would have tossed everything to the four winds and acted on her desires. The air on her skin burned, and she tried her hardest to not think about anything along those lines. She needed to move back to her bed, give herself space, but that felt like inviting disaster; however, so was remaining so close to the source of her unexpected temptation. She never experienced such a cocktail of hormones quite like this, and she wondered if it was really a bad thing. Daringly, she stole a glance in his direction, seeing if he was suffering anything like her.
Surprisingly, he wasn't suffering. In fact, it seemed like Ranma wasn't feeling anything; both his face and eyes were totally blank, staring off where Nabiki's head had been moments ago. The only sign of life coming from him was his lips, which slowly moved up and down in tiny bobbles.
Nabiki grabbed his head and kissed him hard, cursing herself only after breaking the intimate connection. "Get out," she said breathlessly, releasing him. "Go sleep on the roof or something for the next few days. Hurry up before I act on. something naughty."
Ranma could only nod numbly at his wife. Painstakingly - Nabiki noted that she did have some kind of effect on him - he slid up the wall, then staggered towards the door. His hand fumbled for the knob a couple of times before catching it fast, then he disappeared with its opening and closing.
Nabiki watched him go without incident. Once he was gone, Nabiki heaved a heavy sigh and moved back to her bed. "Gods. I don't know if I can deal with that again." She peeled back her covers and tried her best to lay down and not think about that hungry, damp feeling she knew would not go away as easily.
* * * * *
Kasumi had awakened early, as usual. A quick bath and a change of clothes later, she was making her way to the kitchen, when an unusual sight greeted her. Her brows furrowed in concern. "Little brother.?"
A shirtless Ranma was sitting on the floor of the kitchen, his body slumped over. He smelled of cool, stale exertion, as if he had been working out earlier. A small line of drool had crept from the corner of his mouth and down his chin. In one hand, a half-eaten piece of fruit threatened to escape his nonexistent grasp.
Carefully approaching, Kasumi knelt down and lightly touched his hand. "Lit-"
Before she could finish the word, Ranma's eyes flew open. "No!" he shouted, his hand cresting upwards quick as a flash.
=CRACK=
The sound seems to reverberate through the kitchen like thunder, shaking Ranma out of his dream state. He gaped in horror as the entire world went into slow motion. Like a rubber doll, Kasumi's upper half had stretched for the wall, but her lower half had not complied at first and tried to hold its ground. After realizing its folly, her legs chose to surrender quickly, and they shot out from under her in the opposite direction her head was taking. Fresh blood trailed from the corner of her mouth as gravity quickly reasserted its grasp upon the young woman. With a thud, Kasumi crashed into the floor, her arms flailing briefly before settling into a haphazard tangle.
He was so stunned, his body refusing to function at all. His eyes soaked up the image of her sister-in-law laying there, still as death. Somehow, one hand found strength to float through the air, reaching out to touch her. Fear stayed his hand, though, as if afraid to shatter a dream and discover the nightmare was real. "Ka. Ka. Kasumi?"
She stirred at mention of her name, moaning as she painstakingly drew herself up into a sitting position. Her left hand gingerly cradled her right arm as she slowly made its fingers flex open and closed. The impact point on her jaw was already shifting colors.
Ranma almost lost bladder control on the spot. Instantly he prostrated himself before her. "I'm so sorry, Kasumi! I didn't know it was you and-"
"It's all right Ranma," she said calmly, partly smiling, partly wincing in the furious pain in her jaw and right shoulder, which took the brunt of her fall. "I was the one that was careless. You could say it was just. karma."
No matter how much she reassured him, though, Ranma still felt miserable and guilty. Hearing the explanation Kasumi concocted for everyone else - a minor accident in the bath earlier - served only to intensify it. He didn't look in anyone's direction that morning. In fact, he didn't even eat anything at the breakfast table. He sat there for a few minutes, his food and chopsticks remaining untouched, then quickly excused himself, going out the front door and heading to school.
It took around five minutes for Nabiki to catch up with him, practically running the whole way. "What possessed you to hit Kasumi, of all people?"
Ranma visibly tensed up. "Wh, what're you talking about? She already told you-"
"Yeah, yeah. However, you've been practically blurting out your guilt all morning."
He glared at her. "Stop poking your nose where it's not wanted."
Nabiki looked back defiantly. "She's my sister. I have a right to know."
He turned away, not slowing down his pace. "Then go ask her."
"She's covering for you. What happened?"
He refused to answer at first, then quickly relented, stopping in place. "Look," he said, turning to face Nabiki again. "It was an accident. I had a dream, and she just tried to wake me at the wrong time. That's it."
She perked both eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yeah. End of story." He turned on his heels and began walking again.
Twisted though it seemed, Nabiki actually smiled at the idea of her meddlesome sister getting her comeuppance. Serves her right for her invasive actions at Nabiki's wedding. Then she frowned, remembering last night. If someone like Kasumi got hit with karmic payback - no pun intended, she amended to herself - what kind of retribution could Nabiki expect? Was she already in the midst of the cashing in that paycheck?
She bit her lower lip slightly, mulling her thoughts around on the concept of karma. Frowning internally at the answers given to her, she stepped with the quickness of a rabbit. Within seconds, she was abreast of her husband. "Um, Ranma?"
He grunted his acknowledgement.
".I'm sorry."
Ranma didn't register her words for a moment. Once they were entered into his brain, however, he stopped in midstep, looking at his wife. "You're. apologizing?"
She held his eyes for a second, then looked off to one side. "Yeah."
He had to cock an eyebrow. "For what?"
She sucked on her lower lip now, then made the words come out. "For being nosy."
"Oh. um, okay." He couldn't think of anything else to say.
They walked together in silence for a short bout.
"You know, about yesterday afternoon." Ranma began, folding his arms.
She looked over at him. "What about it?"
".Thanks."
"'Thanks'? For what?"
"For saying what you said. about Ucchan. I didn't really think about all that stuff."
Nabiki looked at Ranma sideways for a moment. "Believe it or not, I do care about things other than myself. Maybe I don't show it often enough, but it doesn't make it any less true."
"Yeah, I was thinking about all of that last night, after I left. I know us getting married ain't no picnic, and not something we would've chose to do if we could repeat the last two weeks, but-"
Nabiki cut him off in midsentence. "Hey, Ranma?"
"Huh? What?"
"Let's go see your friend, Ukyo. After school."
He looked at her queerly. "Why'd you want to do that?"
"I want to clear the air between us and your ex-fiancées. Make sure they know that our marriage isn't a trick of some sort, and that you are off the market. No confusion. No nonsense. Just upfront honesty."
"Huh." Ranma slowly nodded his head. "All right, I guess. Your plan, though."
"No problem. I'll have some strategy prepared for you by lunch. Which reminds me." She handed him his packaged lunch.
Ranma took the proffered bag without complaint. "Well, see you at lunch."
"Later, Ranma."
The married couple reached school momentarily and branched off to their respective classes.
* * * * *
_How did one deal with a broken heart?_ Akane thought to herself, as she gazed out the classroom window. The substitute homeroom teacher hadn't arrived to class yet; the regular one, Mr. Tawakichi, was out. She didn't know what the real story was, but rumor had it that he split up with his wife of seventeen years to get married to a seventeen-year-old former student of his whom he had been having an affair with last year. Not that she believed such creepy, outlandish rumors - this was Japan, not America, after all - but the thought of it gave her something to think about. Assuming everything was, in fact, true, how would Mrs. Tawakichi deal with the sudden breakup? Was she deeply in love with her husband? Were they merely brought together through an arranged marriage? Would she have faulted the girl, or would she be able to find the strength and compassion to forgive him and not hold it against him? Maybe she would get rip roaringly drunk, find a gun, and shoot him and his young sweet-tart lover while they were in the middle of-
Akane shook her head on the last thought. Again, this was Japan - no one gets shot here. A different story in America - as much as she would like to visit the States some day, she really didn't want to get shot abroad doing so. It was a wonder the country even had overcrowding issues; she would have assumed there would be plenty of open spaces - though the hospitals and morgues would be overflowing.
The substitute homeroom teacher arrived just before she could start asking herself the real questions she wanted to know answers for, but too afraid to follow through. As her mind turned towards the humdrum of school work, she noticed that an unfamiliar young man padded into the classroom shortly. The substitute conferred with the student outside the classroom briefly, then reentered, the student in tow.
A quick introduction - the new student was actually present in the first part of the school year, but had been hospitalized for several months. Some of Akane's peers seemed to have recalled him, though she didn't know him from Adam. She wondered if he had given pursuit back when Kuno was making every man prove their worth to her through daily morning fights.
The substitute teacher then directed the old classmate to an empty desk in the back, a row over from Akane. At this point, something was niggling the back of her mind, but she couldn't figure out why. She glanced back to the seat as the young man had walked towards it, and she felt something about it was just. wrong. Like there should be someone else there. However, she couldn't think of anyone not present today: Ranma was here, looking bored as usual, as well as Shigeki, Uryu, Chiyo, Ukyo, Urumi-
_Wait a second!_
Quickly, Akane raised her hand. The substitute peered in her direction and made a quick glance at the seating chart before addressing her. "Yes, Ms. Tendo?"
She stood up in place. "Excuse me, teacher, but isn't that Ukyo's seat you assigned the new student?"
The substitute teacher frowned a little, then re-read the seating chart. "Hmm. Yes, it was a few days ago. However, Ms. Kuonji has resigned from Furinken High School Friday, so it may be given to another student."
_Resigned?_ Akane mouthed the word in surprise. _Why would she leave Furinken?_ Unconsciously, her eyes shifted over to Ranma. He was sitting rigidly alert now, his brows pinched together. _Because of Ranma?_
* * * * *
Lunchtime rolled around midday. Some students made their way to the cafeteria to purchase a meal and snack, while others who brought homemade food elected to eat inside their class room, or head outside and enjoy Mother Nature's company. Nabiki normally fell underneath the category of the latter; today was no different, as she made her way down the stairs to meet Ranma. Two of her friends flanked her, talking amiably among each other, and directing various questions to Nabiki. The subject of late: Nabiki's marriage.
"It's just sooo romantic, the way you two just got married like that!" the one girl with long dark hair commented half-dreamily.
"Kind of underhanded, though, even for Nabiki," the other girl with the sun-kissed skin and nearly-blonde hair trimmed short akin to Akane's hairstyle said matter-of-factly.
"Aww, Mariko, you're just jealous Jiro isn't sweeping you off your feet like that."
Mariko rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Junko. Like I was ever attracted to him. Besides, I'm friends with his girlfriend."
"Akane is Nabiki's sister, and that didn't stop her from finding true love with Ranma, now, did it?" Junko said, more to the subject in question.
Nabiki had to suppress the urge to sigh. While it was a joy to have female friends that did not, in fact, conform to societal norms of Japanese culture, she sometimes wished they would at least not be so willing to discuss more discreet issues out in the open. Especially with sore spots, such as Junko's last comment. "Now, now. that was not my fault. I've been conspired against by the gods, and for now, I'm just staying with things as is. Nothing's changed."
The girls nodded, and they took several more steps.
"Bet they do it three times a night," Junko whispered to Mariko.
However, Nabiki managed to overhear the remark. She colored significantly in response. "Junko." she said with an edge of promised death in her voice.
"Speaking of lovers, there's yours Nabiki," Mariko quickly said, pointing at Ranma, who was pacing under the location of their meeting place.
"Oooh! Bet he's been dying to see you all-"
Junko and Mariko both blinked as a sudden blast of wind whipped their uniform skirts around.
"What was that?" Mariko said, looking around.
"More importantly, where's Nabiki?" Junko chimed in.
"What?"
"She's. gone! And so is Ranma!"
"Where did they go?"
The two scanned the area in confusion, then stood there silent.
".Bet they ran off to have a quickie on the roof."
".Junko, you really need to get yourself a boyfriend."
* * * * *
"Dammit, Ranma!" Nabiki shrieked as she clung tightly to her husband's neck as he went sailing though the air, carrying her in his arms. "What the hell's your probl-" She shrieked again as he vaulted over Furinken's outer wall and bolted down the sidewalk.
He gave a quick explanation about Ukyo as he took the shortest route from school to Ucchan's Okonomiyaki Restaurant - a straight line. He hopped, ducked, dodged, slid, and swung from trees, walls, fences, people, pet, houses, and cars without breaking stride.
"Gods, couldn't you have waited till after school?!"
"No, I can't!" He somersaulted over a small pond at the last second, his feet finding purchase on the nearby house's roof. "This gotta be done n-"
The roof suddenly caved in under the shock of Ranma and Nabiki's combined weight. In hindsight, it was probably already weakened from where the home owner did not see fit to guard it from the elements, and as a result, the structure beneath had rotted away. However, that did not stop the pair from falling through and crashing into the home owner's bedroom in a tangled heap.
Ranma moaned in pain. "Oh, my head. You okay, Nabiki?"
"Yeah. I'm fine," she said, slowly uncurling from the fetal position Ranma had tucked her into to prevent her from getting injured. "Don't think that'll make up for this dumb idea of a field trip."
"Yeah, yeah." He couldn't help but smile at her admonishment.
She tried to be cool, though she felt just the opposite. "We're taking the long route back to school, so you know in advance."
Once the couple composed themselves, they left through the front door and trekked the rest of the way to Ukyo's restaurant on the ground.
Once they were near their destination, Nabiki pulled Ranma to the side. "You wait here."
"Huh? Why do I-"
"Trust me on this. Just wait here. I'm going to go talk to her first."
"What? But-"
She pressed her fingers to his lips. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."
He looked at her, searched her eyes. Slowly he nodded in agreement, and she let her fingers slide away from his lips. On impulse, he caught the tip of one between his lips for a second, then let it go. They both blushed at the action.
"Um. hurry up. Don't wanna be late for your next class."
"Y, yeah." She turned away and padded over to the shop.
_What brought that on?_ they wondered as one.
As expected, the restaurant was still closed from Sunday. Nabiki peered through one of the windows. The dining area played host to several cardboard boxes, many of them filled with packing straw and objects. The walls were bared of advertisements and prices. There was no sign of anyone in the store, though. Withdrawing from her viewpoint, she moved towards the store doors and knocked.
A few minutes later, Nabiki returned to Ranma. "Nobody's home," she said simply. "Let's try again after school."
Sighing, he agreed, and they returned to school. However, the situation was the same as before, only the boxes that were their previously were now gone. A white moving truck stood on display across the street. "It's like she didn't want anyone to know she was leaving," Ranma commented glumly as they followed the course home.
"Or maybe she's avoiding you."
"Maybe." He was silent for a few moments. "I've been a shitty friend," he said, more to himself.
Nabiki perked an eyebrow in surprise, but didn't say anything.
Soon, they arrived home. "We're home."
Akane had greeted them, then turned to Ranma. "You have some visitors."
He furrowed his brows. "I do?"
"Yes, both of them are on the porch."
Curious, he went to see who had came around to see him. Mom and dad maybe? As he neared, he could hear snatches of conversation.
"So it's agreed."
".yes, it's agreed."
".and remember, no backing out."
"Understood."
Ranma opened to door. The two people looked at him as one.
"Hello, boy."
"Hey, Ranchan."
He looked from his dirty, disheveled-looking father to a somewhat disheveled, stern-but-beaming Ukyo. "Hey to you, too. What's going on?"
"Nothing important," Genma said tersely, getting up. "Now if you excuse me." He pushed past Ranma and disappeared around the corner.
"You beat him up again?" he asked, looking at Ukyo.
"No. I just happened upon him that way. Though I would have used aggressive negotiations if need be."
"Okay." He sat down on the porch.
"I bet you already heard. I dropped out of Furinken High School."
"Yeah. Found out this morning."
"I talked to my dad last week and told him about everything that's happened here. He felt that I should come back home."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I was going to, too."
He looked at her a little strangely.
"I had some time to think about things, and maybe I was being too hard on you. It was quite a shock, finding out that you had married Nabiki, of all people! Akane, I guess I could understand, but Nabiki? What were you thinking?
"Then, I kinda sat back and thought, well, maybe you got tricked into it or something - much as I hate to admit it, you are kinda gullible."
"Hey!"
"I was all set to come save you from a life of unhappiness." She gave him a small grin. "But then, I talked to Akane, and I don't think she realized it, but she said some things that put everything in perspective."
"Really? Like what?"
She looked away, touching her index fingers together. "Mmm. Girl stuff. You wouldn't understand."
"Since I left China, I spend half my time as a girl. I think I would."
She colored slightly. "It, it's not important.! You're getting me off track! Shut up and let me finish, Jackass!"
"Fine, finish then! Damn!"
"Look, the important thing is that you're a married guy, now. That's something I have to respect. If things were reversed and we were married." She paused and looked at him quietly. "I would want other people to respect our situation. There's no shame in that, so it'd be stupid to try and run away from the fact. Besides, as we all know, running away doesn't make the problem go away."
"Huh." Ranma closed his eyes in thought. "Yeah, that's true. Thanks to pop, everything got so complicated."
"Don't worry about him. I already squared things away with your father."
He opened his eyes and looked at his friend. "How so?"
"He'll be repaying for the cart he stole all those years ago in free advertisement and labor for the next year."
"You're gonna have pop work for you?"
"Mm hmm. As a panda bear. With our combined cuteness factors, Ucchan's will become the biggest hit in the entire Nerima Ward. That the real reason I dropped out of Furinken. To focus on the business."
His eyebrows arched in surprise. "Really?"
"Mm hmm. I'll be staying around until I branch off another chain and get someone to mange Ucchan's here." She looked at him slyly. "Maybe you and Nabiki would be interested.?"
Ranma laughed. "Me? Running a business? Nah. Might be up Nabiki's alley, though. Put it to her sometime; she'd probably jump on it."
"I'll do that."
There was a knock coming from the inside. Ranma turned in its direction. "Yeah?"
Nabiki opened the shutters. "Hey, your dad wants to see you." There were traces of annoyance in her face, though she kept her features neutral as she went on. "In the dojo."
"What? The dojo's open now? Thought it wouldn't be open for another few days."
"Hey, go ahead and see your father," Ukyo said. "I'll talk to Nabiki about that proposition, then let myself out."
"You sure?"
"Positive. You can visit me anytime at the restaurant."
"Okay. Cool. Well, see you later, Ucchan!"
"Bye, Ranchan!"
He disappeared into the house, a smile gracing his lips. "Wow, worked out better than I thought!" he whispered excitedly to Nabiki as he passed by.
"Glad for you," she smiled back. She watched him disappear into the next room, then redirected her attention to Ranma's ex-fiancée. Her back was to Nabiki, staring out across the yard.
"Nabiki." she said without turning around.
"The business idea sounds interesting, though I'm not one for cooking. Let's see what'll happen in the next few years first before anything else."
"Understood."
"Anything else you wish to talk about?"
Ukyo didn't reply. Nabiki gave her a minute, then started to close the door.
"Nabiki."
She paused. "Yes?"
"Be good to him."
Nabiki noted the slight trembling in Ranma's friend's shoulders. "I will. Take as much time as you need. No one will disturb you."
".Thank you."
Nabiki closed the shutter firmly and made good her word, standing guard for the whole of 15 minutes. The silence from the other side of the shutter answered that Ukyo Kuonji had left the premises.
* * * * *
"Sleeping in the dojo tonight?" Nabiki asked as Ranma rolled up his bed mat.
"Yeah," he responded, scooping that and his backpack up. "Pop thinks I'm being stupid, but hey, I haven't been able to spar with anyone without worry about something for a week. And it's not like he can tell me what to do now; I bet mom's keeping him pretty busy back home."
_In more ways that one, I bet._ Nabiki shook her head, trying to dispel the mood her thoughts were already venturing into. "Don't injure anything."
"Hah. I could go all night," he replied, hoisting his sack onto his shoulder.
Nabiki tried hard to keep that line in context with his activity. The dojo finally freed up - the mystery behind its lock-up will go unsolved now - Ranma was bursting to do what he loves most - martial arts without inhibition. It was fortunate that he had an outlet for his pent up desires that he had demonstrated at least once already. Nabiki, on the other hand, didn't have an effective one. The half-sketched drawings and half-baked stories she had done in those times fitted nicely in a shoebox under her bed, though by all rights she should set the lot of them on fire and pretend they never existed. However the means, their separate activities kept them from being alone together for too long, which would result in some sort of passionate, tragic coupling, and she did not want to deal with that.
"Anyway, see you in the morning, Nabiki. Night."
"Night."
Once he left, Nabiki flopped onto her bed. Half of her was glad he wasn't presenting her with temptation; the other half was upset that he didn't even try to stay in the room. She sighed deeply.
"How long can this keep going on?" she spoke aloud. No one answered her back, which wasn't a shock. She tried to recall anything that would give her an answer. Nothing came within her grasp, though. That was a disappointment. Shaking off the mental threads, Nabiki undressed, put on her sleepwear, and turned in for the night. Perhaps all she needed was to sleep on it, and the answer will present itself like a present.
As she slept, she dreamed. It felt familiar, like the ones of the black wolves with the sparkling eyes forcing her to continue marching ahead to some unknown destination. She looked behind her, seeing those same three wolves with vermillion eyes staring at her. Turning around, she found a window before her, one that gave her a splendid view of a tall mountain, like the ones reported in National Geographic magazines. She couldn't help but let her eyes linger on the majestic peak striding upwards as if to scratch the very heavens. A smile danced across her face.
However, the blue skies started to shift into a deep darkness, and fear stole away the happiness she felt in the beginning. Somehow, she made out movement on the mountain, an object that loped down its side at an alarming speed. Nabiki took one, two, three steps back at a time, but the object getting bigger and bigger seemed to have made her its destination. Soon, she could make out another wolf, fur the same color as a starless midnight sky, its amethyst eyes flashing in the darkness. Her knees gave out, and she sunk to the floor as the wolf raced towards her, its desire apparent.
It was going to devour her.
Her body ignored all stimuli, remained limp in the face of all verbal prodding and her own willpower, and did not acknowledge the desperation of survival instincts coursing through her body. She felt rooted in place, a mollified meal of terror for her predatory companion. In seconds, the wolf was upon her. It slammed into her headfirst, knocking her onto her back in supine form. Then it padded confidently, murderous intention wafting through the air as it rested its paws on her thighs, staring down at her.
Nabiki risked looking at her captor once, then found herself unable to tear away for its own eyes. The wolf's violet eyes swirled with red, spiraling around and around in a bizarre hypnotic fashion, like looking down into a hurricane. It raised its head and howled in cold, calm fury and Nabiki's blood matched its emotion temperature. Then it dropped its head, serrated fangs sinking into and tearing out her entrails with vicious abandon.
Her eyes flew open, but her body felt like lead. Her heart pounded in her breast, pulse racing like a demented dervish. She was acutely aware of every sensation that touched her body. She could feel the coolness of the air draping over her face, the sweat even cooler on her forehead. The bed sheets, which were usually soft and cottony-feeling, scratched at the back of her thighs and caused a minor irritation against her left shoulder. She knew of how her mattress was in desperate need of turning as she was of late habited to sit on the edge and the light sheets and the need to trade them in for some slightly thicker ones, or at least add on a summer comforter.
She could even tell without looking the sharpness of the two swords crossed over her head, with a brightly colored bonbori serving as a third leg of a mock armament tent. She knew that the blades were slowly sinking under the weight of the beachball-sized weapon, balanced precariously atop the crossing of the hilts. She also knew that the blades were secure against either side of her neck, the razor-honed edges just brushing her skin. She knew that the slightest movement, even to take a breath so she could scream at the top of her lungs, would make the weapons cut into her flesh, and possibly sever one of, if not both, of the main arteries running to her brain. And she had no illusion about removing the swords herself - chances were, her head would be crushed under the motley mace and-or she would get cut and bleed to death at the least.
Nabiki was now acutely, and embarrassingly, cognizant of the fact that she just lost control over her bowels as the threat of death not only imposed on her, it had violated her sanctuary, the second time it has happened in as many weeks. In ten seconds, every horrific and negative thought and feeling she had since two days before she and Ranma tied the knot welled inside of her, bubbling into a raging torrent, and flooded her with the emotional cocktail. She openly wept, feeling afraid, humiliated, ashamed, and very, very sorry for herself. Everything was her fault, she knew it, but she didn't want to own up to it. Not totally. If she could redo things.
"Help." she spoke feebly, tears streaming down her face and soaking her pillow and hair. "Help me. someone, please. help. me." Only death that the weapons promised her paid her heed, kissing her flesh lovingly.
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
Adrian Moten
http://goldenarms.deviantart.com
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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 5: Missing in Reaction
"A lazy Sunday afternoon," Nabiki said aloud as she laid across her bed on her back. Dressed in cutoff jean shorts and a loose tee shirt, the sleeves rolled up, she lazily stretched and sat up. Her eyes focused in on Ranma, who was sitting in the corner on the opposite side of the room reading a thick comic book. "Don't you agree, honey?"
He seemed to not have heard her, but Nabiki knew he had - she long since learned to recognize that almost imperceptible tensing around his neck. It only occurred when an embarrassing topic threatens to rear its head and he wished to not have anything to do with it. She sometimes wondered if he was even aware of it. Nabiki didn't think so; otherwise, she felt Ranma would have learned to stop doing it. At least in her vicinity.
Nabiki supposed to herself she could take advantage of it and tease Ranma in some sort of way or fashion, but she decided against it; better to remain unpredictable, to make sure he didn't become numb to her wiles. Besides, it had been almost a week since the videotape incident, when she finally accepted her marital situation and started using it in a whole new way to keep boredom and the humdrum at bay. Plus it was a Sunday - no school, no pressing family engagements, and no visitors. Let Ranma have a break from her antics.
She flopped back onto her bed, faintly smiling. _I'm really salt of the earth here._
For his part, Ranma looked over his comic to eye his wife. _Funny, I thought she'd do something by now._ He let himself wind down after a few moments more of covertly watching his significant other's inaction, then tried resuming his reading pleasure. However, he shook his head and put down the volume - the story and action had been going downhill since halfway through the fourth volume, turning more melodramatic, inane, and sometimes downright silly. It was like a martial arts soap opera, or perhaps better worded as a marital arts soap opera, based on the actions of the younger sister. At one point, Ranma could have sympathized with the main character, as he, too, got an unwanted girl wanting to marry him, but now that he went and admitted feelings for the girl's older sister. He shook his head, promising himself to skim over the next volume before buying it.
He stood up, stretching his legs and back, feeling muscles loosen and creak. Popping his neck twice, he started to leave the room.
"Going out?" Nabiki asked, looking over in his direction.
"Yeah. Gonna take a walk."
"Anyplace special?"
"Hadn't thought about it."
She sat up. "Well, give me a minute to change."
He looked over his shoulder. "You wanna come with me?"
"Sure. It seems too nice a day to spend it indoors."
"Well. okay. I'll be downstairs." He slipped out of the room, leaving Nabiki to her own devices.
In truth, going through a few katas was forefront in his mind. However, the dojo had been locked up since Thursday afternoon, though why was beyond him.. When he asked Mr. Tendo about it, the curt answer was that it was under repair and would be off-limits until sometime after Tuesday. He brought it up with Nabiki later on, who vowed to do some investigating herself. She turned up nothing; every entrance point was locked, and the windows were covered with heavy cloth. Also, the key to the building was not in its usual place. Whether she did more investigating after that, Ranma did not know. He just decided to not worry about it and practice out in the backyard.
That turned to be more distracting than anything else. He normally didn't think about it, but the first time he looked over his shoulder to taunt his old man and remembered he didn't live at the Tendo residence anymore, the realization of why splashed him with the strength and numbness of icy water.
He and Nabiki were married.
Ever since then, whenever he'd step into the backyard to practice, his mind would suddenly cloud up with all the annoying, puzzling, difficult thoughts and questions, running and bouncing around in his head so rapidly, he sometimes misremembered the next step of the kata, though his body hadn't. The collision of two different trains of thoughts resulted in a few funny incidents. That inverted double-wheeled flying kick he accidentally done one time would have looked really cool had he not ended up splashing headfirst into the backyard pond with his legs flopping every which way.
"All right, I'm ready," Nabiki said behind him, shaking him out of his thoughts. Ranma glanced at her. She had slipped on a pair of faded jeans, sneakers, and a brown tee shirt with a printed message across the front. He perked an eyebrow as he read it.
"'Alien Abductee'?"
Nabiki shrugged. "It would explain a few things lately."
Ranma really couldn't disagree with her. "Okay, let's go."
They waltzed out through the front door and into the world.
Even after a week, being together, let alone married, still felt surreal. Occasionally, a neighbor they came across would congratulate the two on their wedding and wished them many happy years together. Even the old woman that would throw water on the sidewalk (and invariably Ranma) in the mornings smiled at them, giving them a comforting bow as they passed by.
"Just who is she, anyway?" Ranma asked, looking at the elderly lady.
Nabiki started to open her mouth to say her name, but a thought occurred to her - she didn't know it, either. "So, where are we going?"
He shrugged, his former inquiry forgotten. "Just around." His stomach took that moment to put in its two cents. "On the second thought, let's go grab something to eat."
"Sounds good to me." She wasn't particularly hungry, but she was curious as to where he would go for food, as two places he might have eaten would most assuredly be off limits to him. Did he even think about that? Knowing him, probably not.
He led the way down the street. Nabiki was content with just following him, thought she did make a point to stay abreast of him. She wasn't sure if Ranma ever thought about traditional women's roles, but she wouldn't take a chance on someone seeing her walking behind him like an obedient pet.
=DING DING=
Ranma tensed up, along with Nabiki, who drew close to him; if it was Shampoo coming to seek revenge, she stood no chance out in the open. They looked around quickly for a lavender-haired Amazon warrior/delivery girl. However, the only person they saw was Mousse, running down the street on a delivery bike. then nearly running into a telephone pole.
"Must be really busy at the Cat Café," Ranma said absently. "Sending Mousse out on a delivery." He turned away, shrugging and continued on his way with Nabiki still in tow, though she had remained a little closer to her husband.
"Ranma."
"Mm? Whatsit?"
".It's nothing."
".Okay."
They traveled for several minutes, neither one speaking. Or at least not aloud in Nabiki's case. Her mind started to whirl as she tried to put together a puzzle that started to bug her. Of the four girls to have claims to Ranma, three of them have already did something: Akane threw out the door any hopes of her and Ranma reuniting with her formal acceptance and virtual surrender; Ukyo decked Ranma in the nurse's office (and caused sizeable damage to the bed, the way she heard it); Kodachi tried to blackmail Nabiki into divorce so she could have Ranma all to herself, which ended up with quite a bit of property damage at the Kuno Estate, along with a dearth of destroyed doctored copies and one recovered master tape. Also, thanks to the Kunos, she had all the reason in the world to stay with her now-husband. Amazing how almost being devoured whole by someone's pet crocodile will rearrange one's priorities in life.
However, the one she would have expected to deliver an immediate (and most likely very violent) response - the Amazon warrior Shampoo - was AWOL. The total lack of response had her more worried than becoming a reptile's snack. Was it some kind of psychological game? Nabiki could hardly believe the Amazon would simply give up and go home, but then again, mind games were not a normal part of her repertoire, either. The only thing she could think of was that it was part of some weird tribal custom or something, but what? Pieces were missing, and she needed them to get a clear picture.
"Huh, Ucchan's closed."
Nabiki looked up, her thoughts shattered by the simple phrase. Her eyes lighted upon the okonomiyaki diner, and her brows knitted in mild surprise. She had no idea they had wandered around this far. However, what on earth were they doing here anyway?
"Planned on eating here or something?" She perked one brow incredulously at her husband.
"No. though now that you mention it, I haven't had okonomiyaki in a while." Ranma rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then glanced at Nabiki, who still wore her disbelieving face. ".What?"
She stared at him for a few seconds longer, pursing her lips together. "Some things will never change," she said, more to herself.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Haven't been married for more than a few weeks, and already, you're trying to sneak back to see old flames."
Ranma sputtered in shock, unable to get words to come out of his mouth.
Nabiki turned her face away from him, covering up with her hands as she did so. "You're so cruel, beloved. Don't I mean anything to you? And after I gave myself to you."
For about ten seconds, Ranma's brain hung itself, any possible responses frozen with the system lockup. However, once his thinker rebooted and everything went back into motion, he mentally slapped himself for falling into yet another one of Nabiki's mind games. "Dammit, Nabiki! Stop that!"
She smirked at him from under her hands. "You're getting faster," she said under her breath. Abruptly, Nabiki turned around and drew in close to him, her face turning serious. "Just admit it, Ranma. You were going to go see Ukyo."
"I was not! There just happens to be a beef bowl vendor on the other side of this street."
"Uh huh."
He folded his arms, cocking his head to one side. "Really. And why would you be so concerned about me seeing Ucchan, anyway?"
For a moment, she considered whapping him upside his head. However, as dense as he was, she'd probably break her hand. "Because you would end up having her chase after you. Again."
"What?" Ranma scrunched up his face, as if he smelled something had gone bad, but didn't know where it was coming from. "How do you figure that?"
"Knowing you, you'd go talk to her, do something charming to or for her, and leave her thinking maybe she still has a shot at you."
His left eye twitched. "Gods, what do you take me for? I'm married to you!"
She looked him in the eye. "You also like using people."
He jerked back as if he took a blow on the chin. "'Using people'? I'm nothing like y-" Ranma's own hand snapped shut on his mouth so fast, it startled him.
Nabiki glanced down at the ground briefly, then shifted her head up to hold his attention with her eyes. "I know what I am, and I admit to it honestly." She reached up and slowly peeled his hand away from over his mouth. "Be honest with yourself, too, Ranma."
They stood there, rooted in place by their silent struggle, her hand holding his still. Neither one spoke, but their eyes communicated in volumes. Finally, Ranma pulled his hand out of hers, tossing it up in exasperation. "Fine, don't believe me. Let's just go home." He turned on his heels and started to walk back the way they came.
"I thought you were hungry."
He didn't look back. "I'll live."
Clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, Nabiki shrugged and followed suit, pulling up beside Ranma so she could keep tabs on his mood from the corner of her eye. She soon realized that was a waste of time, as his face was the most unusual level of neutrality she ever seen on the young Saotome. Idly, she wondered what was going on through his head, then decided to focus on other things; the afternoon was already spoiled, and there seemed to be no clues willing to jump out of the bushes and shout "Here! Here!" on Shampoo's current whereabouts and state of mind. So she turned to the only other mystery that's been gnawing at her toes recently: what was so special in the dojo that it's remained locked all weekend?
She would have to investigate later. Right now, she was starting to feel a little hungry. She hoped Kasumi had some kind of snack prepared; she hated having to make something herself.
* * * * *
She still had no luck gaining admittance into the dojo. Questioning her father about it led her nowhere; he deflecting her inquiries with answers that sounded rehearsed. Akane had no clue, either, as she flatly said she didn't know and was a little frustrated she couldn't go practice inside till almost the middle of the week. Asking Kasumi about it turned out to be more bizarre than she would have ever fathomed.
"Hey, Kasumi," Nabiki asked as she came out of the kitchen crunching on a squat Asian pear.
"Yes, Nabiki?" she inquired as she was sitting in the living room watching something on television. It turned out to be a baseball game, the Tokyo Giants playing against some other team. Who they were, Nabiki neither knew nor cared; she was not a sports fan. She only knew about the Giants because Kasumi, surprisingly, turned out to be a big fan of theirs - that and the fact they were quite a losing bunch. Her older sister loved them anyway. probably because she had a crush on one of the players. It was the only thing Nabiki could think of that made sense.
"Ranma's been a bit grouchy lately."
Kasumi hadn't turned from the screen to reply. "Whatever could be bothering him?"
Nabiki glanced at television herself to see what had her older sister so riveted. Bottom of the ninth, Giants at bat. Score was 4-2 in favor of the other team. Two men on first and second, one out. The batter at the plate just earned his second strike with no outs against them. "I don't know. I suggested he go to the dojo and work it out. Says he can't. It's been locked up or something."
The Giants suddenly got a lucky break. The pitcher threw the ball, but it didn't break right. Smashed right into the batter's left thigh. Bases were now loaded, a pinch runner going in for the injured player, and the Japanese version of Casey Jones stepped up to the plate, ready to bring it all home.
Kasumi smiled. "That's because Father's holding some things inside."
"Really.? Such as-"
The pitcher shook off two signs from the catcher, then nodded in affirmation on the third. He reared back and let the ball fly like an arrow, going just inside on the batter. "Ball," the umpire called, and the pitcher cursed his luck.
"Well." She hesitated, but then continued. "Don't tell anyone else about this, but-"
The leather bullet streaked across the plate, burrowing deep inside the catcher's glove. Strike. Kasumi frowned. "Hold on a moment, Nabiki."
Nabiki frowned as well. It would be easier to turn off the TV set and have her older sister's undivided attention, but she may have her own rehearsed lines like her father. As long at the Giants were doing well, though, she was far more candid and likely to give all the answers she wanted to know. Realizing that, Nabiki turned her attention to the game.
Two more balls called, then a foul ball that, had it managed to remain on the other side of the foul line marker, would have been a grandslam homerun and the Giants would have won. Nabiki spared a glance at Kasumi while the other team had a conference on the plate concerning the pitcher, catcher, and the team manager. She was sitting there, her hands clasped together tightly, her eyes hard locked onto the screen, as though she was exerting her will on the outcome of the game.
Nabiki hadn't felt this disturbed around her sister since she found out about the bets Kasumi made on her wedding.
The shortshop had been brought into the fold on the mound for a few seconds more, something the announcer thought was strange, and made an offhand remark about bringing in the rest of the infield for the summit. The meeting ended, everyone drifting back into their prescribed places. On the mound, the pitcher didn't even look at the Japanese Casey Jones or the catcher. Instead he slowly wound up with his eyes closed, snapping them open just before he delivered his last offering to the batter, a screwball. The batter reflected it hard off his bat, a powerful linedrive screaming to right field - that was intercepted in mid-flight by the shortstop, who sprang up into the air like he had a pair of wings to snag the miniature missile. In one fluid motion, the shortstop came down and tagged out the second base runner on the shoulder before he even realized he needed to get back to the base, let the ball catapult out of the glove and into the air again just as he landed only to bounce back up like he was made of rubber, snare the floating sphere again and sling it down to first base, where the other runner understood the situation a second too late and dove back to safety. But by then, the ball was firmly embedded inside the first baseman's glove.
Triple play.
"Excuse me." Kasumi sounded as though someone had just canceled Christmas as she got up, exiting the living room. "I have to cook... something."
Nabiki was stunned, too, particularly once she found out the name of the shortstop that single-handedly killed the Giants' and her hopes: Number 36, Souma Saotome. She made it a high point to find Ranma or his parents and ask about their relatives. Chances were, they were going to be one short at the next family reunion if she had anything to say and do about it.
In the meanwhile, she cut off the TV, having gained virtually nothing of use from in the last few minutes. They're using the dojo for storage. for what though? Was it too large to take up to Ranma's old room? And just what were they storing there, come to think about it?
With that thought in mind, Nabiki got up and made her way upstairs to investigate. However, something new arrested her progress: there was a lock on the door. Or to be more precise, the old doorknob had been taken off and replaced with one that required a key to open.
* * * * *
"There's a lock on your old room," Nabiki said, sitting on her bed in her sleepwear, one leg crossed over the other.
Ranma, still wearing his pants and undershirt, was reading another one of his comic books. "Yeah. So?"
"'So?' Don't you think it's strange to put a lock on your door now?"
"Nope," he said, still not looking up. "Just butt out of it."
She arched an eyebrow at him in confusion. "'Butt out'?"
"What, you're a parrot, as well as a snoop, too?"
Nabiki was a little cross at that. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Means you can't keep your nose out of other people's business." This time he put the volume down and looked at her flatly. "Thought you would have learned after that whole videotape business."
The comment stung her more than she would admit. "Hey, I care about what's going on, and I don't want someone getting hurt over something that could have been prevented."
"Bullshit. You just want to know stuff so you can hold it over people's head. You like feeling superior over everyone else, rub their faces in it."
She jerked back in shock, not at the accusation itself - though she wouldn't have confessed to its validity anyway - but at the fact that it was Ranma making them of his own will. Who was the person sitting across from her, and what had it done with the real Ranma? She found it hard to believe that he could even think, let alone argue, this way. Of course, he only was reacting to whatever she said, but still, he was showing a whole different side of himself, something that she found very intriguing, attractive.
However, she was not about to let him win this verbal battle anytime soon. "I'm not like you, Ranma baby. I don't go around gloating about how I do this or that to someone I topple."
Now it was Ranma's turn to give her the incredulous look. "Excuse me? Who was so sure about me going to Ucchan's, then got so damn smug when I dropped the matter, like it was true and I didn't want to admit it? Wasn't me, that's for sure."
Nabiki glared hard at Ranma, trying to decide whether or not she was pissed that he wasn't backing down as he did in the past. It was like he was a whole different person now. Was it because they were married that he grew stones? Was he just angry with everything that had happened and was just blowing off steam? More importantly, why did she find herself liking this new Ranma?
He continued on, oblivious to her penetrating look. "You can't keep you nose out of other people's business because you like knowing everything, and you can't wait to rub it in someone's face later when something goes wrong. 'Haha! You screwed up!' Not today, Nabiki. Not today. I don't give a shit what's going on with my old room, and you're not gonna give a shit, either. End. Of. Story."
A thousand arguments, persuasions, and coercions came to mind. Nabiki had plenty of ammo to spit back. However, the hand that should have pulled the trigger became relaxed by a warm tingling feeling flooding throughout her body. Her heartbeat came in faster, electricity danced all over and under her skin, heightening her sensitivity, and her body felt a lot hotter. The room seemed smaller, she and Ranma so much nearer. Her eyes widened a little as she absently licked her suddenly-dry lips.
"Oh my god." she murmured. "I'm." She bit her lip, forcing herself to not finish the sentence. "No. no. this isn't." she said to herself, her voice dropping lower and lower till she could barely hear herself.
Ranma had been watching her for about half a minute, his eyebrows furrowing together as she suddenly became extremely self-conscious and fidgety. Her face and body were flushed a pinkish hue. She refused to even look in his direction anymore.
"Well, I'm be damned," he said at last. "Never thought I'd see the day you were unable to talk back."
"Ranma, shut up." Nabiki muttered. "Dealing with something."
"Yeah." He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back, looking smug. "I know you are."
She turned a quick glare in his direction. "You're not helping here."
He cracked a confident smirk in her direction, her glare of silence about as effective as building a snowman without snow. "'Be honest with yourself,' eh, Nabiki? You know everything, so don't hold back the truth."
"Oh, you can't handle the truth."
"Heh, more like you can't. The moment someone sees through you, you're suddenly all scared and embarrassed."
Her eyes turned towards him dangerously, hunger welling up in them. "Is that what you think it is?"
His eyes were half-lidded in their superior confidence. "I know so."
She exhaled sharply though her nose and she gripped the edge of her bed tightly. "Well let me tell you something, then." Quickly, she pushed herself off into his direction, practically pouncing him in the exchange. He jerked back from the surprise approach, his head smacking against the wall as Nabiki brought her face in close to his, their noses inches apart.
"The absolute, honest truth is, right now, I have a burning urge to rip your clothes off and fuck you like an animal. I want to feel you inside of me and all over me, doing so many little naughty things to me, you'd make me scream like a wild woman. Our bodies entangled fast and hard, pushing away and refusing to let each other go, passion and lust raging out of control." She sucked in a short breath through her teeth, fighting to dispel her sudden carnal thoughts. ".but no, that's not going to happen. Not here, not now, not ever. Being married, okay, I have to admit it was a shock to the system, but after it wore off, I can deal with it perfectly well. However, we are not going to be sleeping in the same bed. We are not going to have terrible and wonderful bouts of torrid, unbridled lovemaking, no dirty, kinky, tie-me-to-the-bed-and-spank-me-daddy sex, and definitely none of that out-and-out raw animalistic fuck-me-so-hard-I-can't-walk-straight-in-the-morning. We are married, but nothing else beyond that. And if you don't stop turning me on, you're going to make me do some or all of those things I just mentioned, and I'll make damn sure you'll regret every last bit of it in the morning. Got it?"
Nabiki tore her eyes away from his once the last syllable fell from her lips, taking in deep breaths through her mouth. If she kept looking into them, she was almost positive she would have tossed everything to the four winds and acted on her desires. The air on her skin burned, and she tried her hardest to not think about anything along those lines. She needed to move back to her bed, give herself space, but that felt like inviting disaster; however, so was remaining so close to the source of her unexpected temptation. She never experienced such a cocktail of hormones quite like this, and she wondered if it was really a bad thing. Daringly, she stole a glance in his direction, seeing if he was suffering anything like her.
Surprisingly, he wasn't suffering. In fact, it seemed like Ranma wasn't feeling anything; both his face and eyes were totally blank, staring off where Nabiki's head had been moments ago. The only sign of life coming from him was his lips, which slowly moved up and down in tiny bobbles.
Nabiki grabbed his head and kissed him hard, cursing herself only after breaking the intimate connection. "Get out," she said breathlessly, releasing him. "Go sleep on the roof or something for the next few days. Hurry up before I act on. something naughty."
Ranma could only nod numbly at his wife. Painstakingly - Nabiki noted that she did have some kind of effect on him - he slid up the wall, then staggered towards the door. His hand fumbled for the knob a couple of times before catching it fast, then he disappeared with its opening and closing.
Nabiki watched him go without incident. Once he was gone, Nabiki heaved a heavy sigh and moved back to her bed. "Gods. I don't know if I can deal with that again." She peeled back her covers and tried her best to lay down and not think about that hungry, damp feeling she knew would not go away as easily.
* * * * *
Kasumi had awakened early, as usual. A quick bath and a change of clothes later, she was making her way to the kitchen, when an unusual sight greeted her. Her brows furrowed in concern. "Little brother.?"
A shirtless Ranma was sitting on the floor of the kitchen, his body slumped over. He smelled of cool, stale exertion, as if he had been working out earlier. A small line of drool had crept from the corner of his mouth and down his chin. In one hand, a half-eaten piece of fruit threatened to escape his nonexistent grasp.
Carefully approaching, Kasumi knelt down and lightly touched his hand. "Lit-"
Before she could finish the word, Ranma's eyes flew open. "No!" he shouted, his hand cresting upwards quick as a flash.
=CRACK=
The sound seems to reverberate through the kitchen like thunder, shaking Ranma out of his dream state. He gaped in horror as the entire world went into slow motion. Like a rubber doll, Kasumi's upper half had stretched for the wall, but her lower half had not complied at first and tried to hold its ground. After realizing its folly, her legs chose to surrender quickly, and they shot out from under her in the opposite direction her head was taking. Fresh blood trailed from the corner of her mouth as gravity quickly reasserted its grasp upon the young woman. With a thud, Kasumi crashed into the floor, her arms flailing briefly before settling into a haphazard tangle.
He was so stunned, his body refusing to function at all. His eyes soaked up the image of her sister-in-law laying there, still as death. Somehow, one hand found strength to float through the air, reaching out to touch her. Fear stayed his hand, though, as if afraid to shatter a dream and discover the nightmare was real. "Ka. Ka. Kasumi?"
She stirred at mention of her name, moaning as she painstakingly drew herself up into a sitting position. Her left hand gingerly cradled her right arm as she slowly made its fingers flex open and closed. The impact point on her jaw was already shifting colors.
Ranma almost lost bladder control on the spot. Instantly he prostrated himself before her. "I'm so sorry, Kasumi! I didn't know it was you and-"
"It's all right Ranma," she said calmly, partly smiling, partly wincing in the furious pain in her jaw and right shoulder, which took the brunt of her fall. "I was the one that was careless. You could say it was just. karma."
No matter how much she reassured him, though, Ranma still felt miserable and guilty. Hearing the explanation Kasumi concocted for everyone else - a minor accident in the bath earlier - served only to intensify it. He didn't look in anyone's direction that morning. In fact, he didn't even eat anything at the breakfast table. He sat there for a few minutes, his food and chopsticks remaining untouched, then quickly excused himself, going out the front door and heading to school.
It took around five minutes for Nabiki to catch up with him, practically running the whole way. "What possessed you to hit Kasumi, of all people?"
Ranma visibly tensed up. "Wh, what're you talking about? She already told you-"
"Yeah, yeah. However, you've been practically blurting out your guilt all morning."
He glared at her. "Stop poking your nose where it's not wanted."
Nabiki looked back defiantly. "She's my sister. I have a right to know."
He turned away, not slowing down his pace. "Then go ask her."
"She's covering for you. What happened?"
He refused to answer at first, then quickly relented, stopping in place. "Look," he said, turning to face Nabiki again. "It was an accident. I had a dream, and she just tried to wake me at the wrong time. That's it."
She perked both eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yeah. End of story." He turned on his heels and began walking again.
Twisted though it seemed, Nabiki actually smiled at the idea of her meddlesome sister getting her comeuppance. Serves her right for her invasive actions at Nabiki's wedding. Then she frowned, remembering last night. If someone like Kasumi got hit with karmic payback - no pun intended, she amended to herself - what kind of retribution could Nabiki expect? Was she already in the midst of the cashing in that paycheck?
She bit her lower lip slightly, mulling her thoughts around on the concept of karma. Frowning internally at the answers given to her, she stepped with the quickness of a rabbit. Within seconds, she was abreast of her husband. "Um, Ranma?"
He grunted his acknowledgement.
".I'm sorry."
Ranma didn't register her words for a moment. Once they were entered into his brain, however, he stopped in midstep, looking at his wife. "You're. apologizing?"
She held his eyes for a second, then looked off to one side. "Yeah."
He had to cock an eyebrow. "For what?"
She sucked on her lower lip now, then made the words come out. "For being nosy."
"Oh. um, okay." He couldn't think of anything else to say.
They walked together in silence for a short bout.
"You know, about yesterday afternoon." Ranma began, folding his arms.
She looked over at him. "What about it?"
".Thanks."
"'Thanks'? For what?"
"For saying what you said. about Ucchan. I didn't really think about all that stuff."
Nabiki looked at Ranma sideways for a moment. "Believe it or not, I do care about things other than myself. Maybe I don't show it often enough, but it doesn't make it any less true."
"Yeah, I was thinking about all of that last night, after I left. I know us getting married ain't no picnic, and not something we would've chose to do if we could repeat the last two weeks, but-"
Nabiki cut him off in midsentence. "Hey, Ranma?"
"Huh? What?"
"Let's go see your friend, Ukyo. After school."
He looked at her queerly. "Why'd you want to do that?"
"I want to clear the air between us and your ex-fiancées. Make sure they know that our marriage isn't a trick of some sort, and that you are off the market. No confusion. No nonsense. Just upfront honesty."
"Huh." Ranma slowly nodded his head. "All right, I guess. Your plan, though."
"No problem. I'll have some strategy prepared for you by lunch. Which reminds me." She handed him his packaged lunch.
Ranma took the proffered bag without complaint. "Well, see you at lunch."
"Later, Ranma."
The married couple reached school momentarily and branched off to their respective classes.
* * * * *
_How did one deal with a broken heart?_ Akane thought to herself, as she gazed out the classroom window. The substitute homeroom teacher hadn't arrived to class yet; the regular one, Mr. Tawakichi, was out. She didn't know what the real story was, but rumor had it that he split up with his wife of seventeen years to get married to a seventeen-year-old former student of his whom he had been having an affair with last year. Not that she believed such creepy, outlandish rumors - this was Japan, not America, after all - but the thought of it gave her something to think about. Assuming everything was, in fact, true, how would Mrs. Tawakichi deal with the sudden breakup? Was she deeply in love with her husband? Were they merely brought together through an arranged marriage? Would she have faulted the girl, or would she be able to find the strength and compassion to forgive him and not hold it against him? Maybe she would get rip roaringly drunk, find a gun, and shoot him and his young sweet-tart lover while they were in the middle of-
Akane shook her head on the last thought. Again, this was Japan - no one gets shot here. A different story in America - as much as she would like to visit the States some day, she really didn't want to get shot abroad doing so. It was a wonder the country even had overcrowding issues; she would have assumed there would be plenty of open spaces - though the hospitals and morgues would be overflowing.
The substitute homeroom teacher arrived just before she could start asking herself the real questions she wanted to know answers for, but too afraid to follow through. As her mind turned towards the humdrum of school work, she noticed that an unfamiliar young man padded into the classroom shortly. The substitute conferred with the student outside the classroom briefly, then reentered, the student in tow.
A quick introduction - the new student was actually present in the first part of the school year, but had been hospitalized for several months. Some of Akane's peers seemed to have recalled him, though she didn't know him from Adam. She wondered if he had given pursuit back when Kuno was making every man prove their worth to her through daily morning fights.
The substitute teacher then directed the old classmate to an empty desk in the back, a row over from Akane. At this point, something was niggling the back of her mind, but she couldn't figure out why. She glanced back to the seat as the young man had walked towards it, and she felt something about it was just. wrong. Like there should be someone else there. However, she couldn't think of anyone not present today: Ranma was here, looking bored as usual, as well as Shigeki, Uryu, Chiyo, Ukyo, Urumi-
_Wait a second!_
Quickly, Akane raised her hand. The substitute peered in her direction and made a quick glance at the seating chart before addressing her. "Yes, Ms. Tendo?"
She stood up in place. "Excuse me, teacher, but isn't that Ukyo's seat you assigned the new student?"
The substitute teacher frowned a little, then re-read the seating chart. "Hmm. Yes, it was a few days ago. However, Ms. Kuonji has resigned from Furinken High School Friday, so it may be given to another student."
_Resigned?_ Akane mouthed the word in surprise. _Why would she leave Furinken?_ Unconsciously, her eyes shifted over to Ranma. He was sitting rigidly alert now, his brows pinched together. _Because of Ranma?_
* * * * *
Lunchtime rolled around midday. Some students made their way to the cafeteria to purchase a meal and snack, while others who brought homemade food elected to eat inside their class room, or head outside and enjoy Mother Nature's company. Nabiki normally fell underneath the category of the latter; today was no different, as she made her way down the stairs to meet Ranma. Two of her friends flanked her, talking amiably among each other, and directing various questions to Nabiki. The subject of late: Nabiki's marriage.
"It's just sooo romantic, the way you two just got married like that!" the one girl with long dark hair commented half-dreamily.
"Kind of underhanded, though, even for Nabiki," the other girl with the sun-kissed skin and nearly-blonde hair trimmed short akin to Akane's hairstyle said matter-of-factly.
"Aww, Mariko, you're just jealous Jiro isn't sweeping you off your feet like that."
Mariko rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Junko. Like I was ever attracted to him. Besides, I'm friends with his girlfriend."
"Akane is Nabiki's sister, and that didn't stop her from finding true love with Ranma, now, did it?" Junko said, more to the subject in question.
Nabiki had to suppress the urge to sigh. While it was a joy to have female friends that did not, in fact, conform to societal norms of Japanese culture, she sometimes wished they would at least not be so willing to discuss more discreet issues out in the open. Especially with sore spots, such as Junko's last comment. "Now, now. that was not my fault. I've been conspired against by the gods, and for now, I'm just staying with things as is. Nothing's changed."
The girls nodded, and they took several more steps.
"Bet they do it three times a night," Junko whispered to Mariko.
However, Nabiki managed to overhear the remark. She colored significantly in response. "Junko." she said with an edge of promised death in her voice.
"Speaking of lovers, there's yours Nabiki," Mariko quickly said, pointing at Ranma, who was pacing under the location of their meeting place.
"Oooh! Bet he's been dying to see you all-"
Junko and Mariko both blinked as a sudden blast of wind whipped their uniform skirts around.
"What was that?" Mariko said, looking around.
"More importantly, where's Nabiki?" Junko chimed in.
"What?"
"She's. gone! And so is Ranma!"
"Where did they go?"
The two scanned the area in confusion, then stood there silent.
".Bet they ran off to have a quickie on the roof."
".Junko, you really need to get yourself a boyfriend."
* * * * *
"Dammit, Ranma!" Nabiki shrieked as she clung tightly to her husband's neck as he went sailing though the air, carrying her in his arms. "What the hell's your probl-" She shrieked again as he vaulted over Furinken's outer wall and bolted down the sidewalk.
He gave a quick explanation about Ukyo as he took the shortest route from school to Ucchan's Okonomiyaki Restaurant - a straight line. He hopped, ducked, dodged, slid, and swung from trees, walls, fences, people, pet, houses, and cars without breaking stride.
"Gods, couldn't you have waited till after school?!"
"No, I can't!" He somersaulted over a small pond at the last second, his feet finding purchase on the nearby house's roof. "This gotta be done n-"
The roof suddenly caved in under the shock of Ranma and Nabiki's combined weight. In hindsight, it was probably already weakened from where the home owner did not see fit to guard it from the elements, and as a result, the structure beneath had rotted away. However, that did not stop the pair from falling through and crashing into the home owner's bedroom in a tangled heap.
Ranma moaned in pain. "Oh, my head. You okay, Nabiki?"
"Yeah. I'm fine," she said, slowly uncurling from the fetal position Ranma had tucked her into to prevent her from getting injured. "Don't think that'll make up for this dumb idea of a field trip."
"Yeah, yeah." He couldn't help but smile at her admonishment.
She tried to be cool, though she felt just the opposite. "We're taking the long route back to school, so you know in advance."
Once the couple composed themselves, they left through the front door and trekked the rest of the way to Ukyo's restaurant on the ground.
Once they were near their destination, Nabiki pulled Ranma to the side. "You wait here."
"Huh? Why do I-"
"Trust me on this. Just wait here. I'm going to go talk to her first."
"What? But-"
She pressed her fingers to his lips. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."
He looked at her, searched her eyes. Slowly he nodded in agreement, and she let her fingers slide away from his lips. On impulse, he caught the tip of one between his lips for a second, then let it go. They both blushed at the action.
"Um. hurry up. Don't wanna be late for your next class."
"Y, yeah." She turned away and padded over to the shop.
_What brought that on?_ they wondered as one.
As expected, the restaurant was still closed from Sunday. Nabiki peered through one of the windows. The dining area played host to several cardboard boxes, many of them filled with packing straw and objects. The walls were bared of advertisements and prices. There was no sign of anyone in the store, though. Withdrawing from her viewpoint, she moved towards the store doors and knocked.
A few minutes later, Nabiki returned to Ranma. "Nobody's home," she said simply. "Let's try again after school."
Sighing, he agreed, and they returned to school. However, the situation was the same as before, only the boxes that were their previously were now gone. A white moving truck stood on display across the street. "It's like she didn't want anyone to know she was leaving," Ranma commented glumly as they followed the course home.
"Or maybe she's avoiding you."
"Maybe." He was silent for a few moments. "I've been a shitty friend," he said, more to himself.
Nabiki perked an eyebrow in surprise, but didn't say anything.
Soon, they arrived home. "We're home."
Akane had greeted them, then turned to Ranma. "You have some visitors."
He furrowed his brows. "I do?"
"Yes, both of them are on the porch."
Curious, he went to see who had came around to see him. Mom and dad maybe? As he neared, he could hear snatches of conversation.
"So it's agreed."
".yes, it's agreed."
".and remember, no backing out."
"Understood."
Ranma opened to door. The two people looked at him as one.
"Hello, boy."
"Hey, Ranchan."
He looked from his dirty, disheveled-looking father to a somewhat disheveled, stern-but-beaming Ukyo. "Hey to you, too. What's going on?"
"Nothing important," Genma said tersely, getting up. "Now if you excuse me." He pushed past Ranma and disappeared around the corner.
"You beat him up again?" he asked, looking at Ukyo.
"No. I just happened upon him that way. Though I would have used aggressive negotiations if need be."
"Okay." He sat down on the porch.
"I bet you already heard. I dropped out of Furinken High School."
"Yeah. Found out this morning."
"I talked to my dad last week and told him about everything that's happened here. He felt that I should come back home."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I was going to, too."
He looked at her a little strangely.
"I had some time to think about things, and maybe I was being too hard on you. It was quite a shock, finding out that you had married Nabiki, of all people! Akane, I guess I could understand, but Nabiki? What were you thinking?
"Then, I kinda sat back and thought, well, maybe you got tricked into it or something - much as I hate to admit it, you are kinda gullible."
"Hey!"
"I was all set to come save you from a life of unhappiness." She gave him a small grin. "But then, I talked to Akane, and I don't think she realized it, but she said some things that put everything in perspective."
"Really? Like what?"
She looked away, touching her index fingers together. "Mmm. Girl stuff. You wouldn't understand."
"Since I left China, I spend half my time as a girl. I think I would."
She colored slightly. "It, it's not important.! You're getting me off track! Shut up and let me finish, Jackass!"
"Fine, finish then! Damn!"
"Look, the important thing is that you're a married guy, now. That's something I have to respect. If things were reversed and we were married." She paused and looked at him quietly. "I would want other people to respect our situation. There's no shame in that, so it'd be stupid to try and run away from the fact. Besides, as we all know, running away doesn't make the problem go away."
"Huh." Ranma closed his eyes in thought. "Yeah, that's true. Thanks to pop, everything got so complicated."
"Don't worry about him. I already squared things away with your father."
He opened his eyes and looked at his friend. "How so?"
"He'll be repaying for the cart he stole all those years ago in free advertisement and labor for the next year."
"You're gonna have pop work for you?"
"Mm hmm. As a panda bear. With our combined cuteness factors, Ucchan's will become the biggest hit in the entire Nerima Ward. That the real reason I dropped out of Furinken. To focus on the business."
His eyebrows arched in surprise. "Really?"
"Mm hmm. I'll be staying around until I branch off another chain and get someone to mange Ucchan's here." She looked at him slyly. "Maybe you and Nabiki would be interested.?"
Ranma laughed. "Me? Running a business? Nah. Might be up Nabiki's alley, though. Put it to her sometime; she'd probably jump on it."
"I'll do that."
There was a knock coming from the inside. Ranma turned in its direction. "Yeah?"
Nabiki opened the shutters. "Hey, your dad wants to see you." There were traces of annoyance in her face, though she kept her features neutral as she went on. "In the dojo."
"What? The dojo's open now? Thought it wouldn't be open for another few days."
"Hey, go ahead and see your father," Ukyo said. "I'll talk to Nabiki about that proposition, then let myself out."
"You sure?"
"Positive. You can visit me anytime at the restaurant."
"Okay. Cool. Well, see you later, Ucchan!"
"Bye, Ranchan!"
He disappeared into the house, a smile gracing his lips. "Wow, worked out better than I thought!" he whispered excitedly to Nabiki as he passed by.
"Glad for you," she smiled back. She watched him disappear into the next room, then redirected her attention to Ranma's ex-fiancée. Her back was to Nabiki, staring out across the yard.
"Nabiki." she said without turning around.
"The business idea sounds interesting, though I'm not one for cooking. Let's see what'll happen in the next few years first before anything else."
"Understood."
"Anything else you wish to talk about?"
Ukyo didn't reply. Nabiki gave her a minute, then started to close the door.
"Nabiki."
She paused. "Yes?"
"Be good to him."
Nabiki noted the slight trembling in Ranma's friend's shoulders. "I will. Take as much time as you need. No one will disturb you."
".Thank you."
Nabiki closed the shutter firmly and made good her word, standing guard for the whole of 15 minutes. The silence from the other side of the shutter answered that Ukyo Kuonji had left the premises.
* * * * *
"Sleeping in the dojo tonight?" Nabiki asked as Ranma rolled up his bed mat.
"Yeah," he responded, scooping that and his backpack up. "Pop thinks I'm being stupid, but hey, I haven't been able to spar with anyone without worry about something for a week. And it's not like he can tell me what to do now; I bet mom's keeping him pretty busy back home."
_In more ways that one, I bet._ Nabiki shook her head, trying to dispel the mood her thoughts were already venturing into. "Don't injure anything."
"Hah. I could go all night," he replied, hoisting his sack onto his shoulder.
Nabiki tried hard to keep that line in context with his activity. The dojo finally freed up - the mystery behind its lock-up will go unsolved now - Ranma was bursting to do what he loves most - martial arts without inhibition. It was fortunate that he had an outlet for his pent up desires that he had demonstrated at least once already. Nabiki, on the other hand, didn't have an effective one. The half-sketched drawings and half-baked stories she had done in those times fitted nicely in a shoebox under her bed, though by all rights she should set the lot of them on fire and pretend they never existed. However the means, their separate activities kept them from being alone together for too long, which would result in some sort of passionate, tragic coupling, and she did not want to deal with that.
"Anyway, see you in the morning, Nabiki. Night."
"Night."
Once he left, Nabiki flopped onto her bed. Half of her was glad he wasn't presenting her with temptation; the other half was upset that he didn't even try to stay in the room. She sighed deeply.
"How long can this keep going on?" she spoke aloud. No one answered her back, which wasn't a shock. She tried to recall anything that would give her an answer. Nothing came within her grasp, though. That was a disappointment. Shaking off the mental threads, Nabiki undressed, put on her sleepwear, and turned in for the night. Perhaps all she needed was to sleep on it, and the answer will present itself like a present.
As she slept, she dreamed. It felt familiar, like the ones of the black wolves with the sparkling eyes forcing her to continue marching ahead to some unknown destination. She looked behind her, seeing those same three wolves with vermillion eyes staring at her. Turning around, she found a window before her, one that gave her a splendid view of a tall mountain, like the ones reported in National Geographic magazines. She couldn't help but let her eyes linger on the majestic peak striding upwards as if to scratch the very heavens. A smile danced across her face.
However, the blue skies started to shift into a deep darkness, and fear stole away the happiness she felt in the beginning. Somehow, she made out movement on the mountain, an object that loped down its side at an alarming speed. Nabiki took one, two, three steps back at a time, but the object getting bigger and bigger seemed to have made her its destination. Soon, she could make out another wolf, fur the same color as a starless midnight sky, its amethyst eyes flashing in the darkness. Her knees gave out, and she sunk to the floor as the wolf raced towards her, its desire apparent.
It was going to devour her.
Her body ignored all stimuli, remained limp in the face of all verbal prodding and her own willpower, and did not acknowledge the desperation of survival instincts coursing through her body. She felt rooted in place, a mollified meal of terror for her predatory companion. In seconds, the wolf was upon her. It slammed into her headfirst, knocking her onto her back in supine form. Then it padded confidently, murderous intention wafting through the air as it rested its paws on her thighs, staring down at her.
Nabiki risked looking at her captor once, then found herself unable to tear away for its own eyes. The wolf's violet eyes swirled with red, spiraling around and around in a bizarre hypnotic fashion, like looking down into a hurricane. It raised its head and howled in cold, calm fury and Nabiki's blood matched its emotion temperature. Then it dropped its head, serrated fangs sinking into and tearing out her entrails with vicious abandon.
Her eyes flew open, but her body felt like lead. Her heart pounded in her breast, pulse racing like a demented dervish. She was acutely aware of every sensation that touched her body. She could feel the coolness of the air draping over her face, the sweat even cooler on her forehead. The bed sheets, which were usually soft and cottony-feeling, scratched at the back of her thighs and caused a minor irritation against her left shoulder. She knew of how her mattress was in desperate need of turning as she was of late habited to sit on the edge and the light sheets and the need to trade them in for some slightly thicker ones, or at least add on a summer comforter.
She could even tell without looking the sharpness of the two swords crossed over her head, with a brightly colored bonbori serving as a third leg of a mock armament tent. She knew that the blades were slowly sinking under the weight of the beachball-sized weapon, balanced precariously atop the crossing of the hilts. She also knew that the blades were secure against either side of her neck, the razor-honed edges just brushing her skin. She knew that the slightest movement, even to take a breath so she could scream at the top of her lungs, would make the weapons cut into her flesh, and possibly sever one of, if not both, of the main arteries running to her brain. And she had no illusion about removing the swords herself - chances were, her head would be crushed under the motley mace and-or she would get cut and bleed to death at the least.
Nabiki was now acutely, and embarrassingly, cognizant of the fact that she just lost control over her bowels as the threat of death not only imposed on her, it had violated her sanctuary, the second time it has happened in as many weeks. In ten seconds, every horrific and negative thought and feeling she had since two days before she and Ranma tied the knot welled inside of her, bubbling into a raging torrent, and flooded her with the emotional cocktail. She openly wept, feeling afraid, humiliated, ashamed, and very, very sorry for herself. Everything was her fault, she knew it, but she didn't want to own up to it. Not totally. If she could redo things.
"Help." she spoke feebly, tears streaming down her face and soaking her pillow and hair. "Help me. someone, please. help. me." Only death that the weapons promised her paid her heed, kissing her flesh lovingly.
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
Adrian Moten
http://goldenarms.deviantart.com
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