Subject: [FFML] [fanfic][Ranma] Kunou's Best Friend 2/6
From: The Sebastians
Date: 9/6/1998, 4:07 PM
To: fanfic@fanfic.com


Kunou's Best Friend 2/6
by Trisha L. Sebastian



[Except for Motoki Kensuke and Nakamura Kiyone, the other characters in 
this fanfic are the intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi and the 
financial property of the manga and anime companies that decided
to snatch them up.  Damn copyright laws......]



	Frankly, I was just as surprised as Kensuke was when Nabiki gave
me that choice piece of information.  I had just finished this month's
spreadsheet when she came up to me and sat down.  In her hand was a piece
of polished wood, about a foot in length.  She was toying with it by 
rubbing her hand against the grain of the wood, then she abruptly broke it
in two pieces, placing the longer piece in her pocket and handing the other
one to me.

	I looked down at my hand and sighed.  "Motoki have a problem with
Kunou?"

	A brief flash of approval flickered in Nabiki's eyes before she 
nodded.  "Seems like Kunou-chan's attentions towards Ranma are getting on 
his nerves.  The silly boy actually tried to tell him the truth this
afternoon."

	I gave a short bark of laughter.  "Like he'd ever listen.  All
men are fools when it comes to women.  Especially Kunou."

	She smirked.  "Hey, Ranma can't help the fact that he fell into
that 'spring of incredibly endowed young girl.'"  She gave a wry grin.
"Too bad that can't work for me."

	"Aw, come on, chief," I grinned, punching her lightly on the 
shoulder.  "If you wanted, you could have any guy in this school under
ten minutes."

	Her lips twitched with amusement.  "Perhaps.  Anyway, about 
Motoki...."

	"Let me guess, you want me to dissuade him with my feminine wiles?"
I asked, smiling seductively.  "Or just arrange for a nasty accident to 
happen to him?"

	She laughed.  "None of the sort.  I want you to help him."

	I almost choked.  "You what?"

	"I want you to help him.  No questions asked."

	"Nabiki-san...."  A thousand questions were on my mind, but abruptly,
Nabiki patted the pocket with the longer piece of wood and laid a finger
on the bridge of her nose.  That was the signal for, "Don't ask me any
questions, because you're not getting any answers that you can't figure out
on your own."  She got up then, and walked out of the 'office.'


***************************


	Of course I didn't tell Motoki-chan about the entire conversation
as we walked home from school together.  Just enough to satisfy his
curiousity, but not reveal my agenda... whatever it was.  An entire day
later and I still couldn't figure out what Nabiki had in mind.  So,
to get my mind off that problem, I decided to probe Motoki-chan for as
much information as I could.  Needless to say, it was very hard.

	"So, when did you decide that you'd had enough with Kunou's
obsession over Ranma?" I started.

	"Not long ago."  He kept his eyes straight ahead of him, walking
stiffly beside me.  His arms didn't swing like normal people's did; he kept
them at his side, almost militant.

	I racked my brain for any momentous occassions that happened in the
last two weeks and came up with one answer.  "It was the time you all got 
your butts kicked by Saotome, isn't?  When he royally spanked the entire
kendo team, all becaue of your sempai's arrogance during that whole
'captain of honor' thing, right?"

	I could hear him grit his teeth.  "No, he did not 'royally
spank' us.  We... retreated in the face of adversity."

	I laughed.  "It sounds like the kendo team's got their own 
version of the 'Saotome Secret Technique', eh?"

	He stopped in his tracks.  "Never compare us to him.  Ever."

	Oooh, I hit a soft spot.  I'd have to file that away for future 
reference.  "Okay, I know when it happened, so what exactly did Kunou
say to you when you tried to talk some sense into him?"

	His jaw clenched, then he continued walking.  "Once I mentioned
her and Saotome in the same sentence, he started to lecture me about her 
virtues."  I noticed him clench his fist against his thigh.  "Then, well,
you know..."  He waved his other hand around to indicate that attempt 
earlier.

	"Like I said, not a bad try, but the direct approach never works
with Kunou."  I decided to try and soften him up to me.  "Actually,
Nabiki tried that in the beginning, too.  But Kunou wouldn't face
the truth."

	"So, if Nabiki's already tried to tell him the truth and it
didn't work, why does she think you can do any better?"

	Why, indeed.  "That's for me to know and for you to wonder about,"
I said blithely, his words worrying me inside.  I changed the subject.
"So, where are you taking me for dinner?"

	"Dinner?"  He raised his eyebrow at me.  "The deal we made 
didn't include free meals."

	"No, but I plan better when I'm eating, and since I'm hungry..."
I let the sentence trail off, and he stared at me.  "Fine, fine... we'll go 
dutch, okay?"

	He finally grunted.  "Oh, alright.  Ucchan's okay?  They've got 
some student specials."

	I beamed at him.  "Perfect."  I linked my arm in his, drawing
a surprised look from him.  I gave him a confident look in return,
hiding the fact that I had no idea whatsoever about what to do next.


**************************


	Megumi helped us to a seat in one of the booths near the back and
took our drink orders.  The whole dinner crowd was there, all of Ukyou's
usual patrons.  Ranma and Akane were sitting at the counter, Ranma inhaling
his usual five okonomiyakis.  I saw Kensuke look at Ranma with disgust,
tinged with annoyance.  On a hunch, I asked him, "So, what's your beef
with Ranma anyway?"

	"Isn't it obvious?  He's loud mouthed, rude, disrespectful, crude..."
Kensuke grabbed the drink that Megumi set down and drained about half of it,
wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve.  "He's got no manners, and
he has no respect for his superiors."

	"Come on, Motoki-chan," I grinned.  "If you mean yourself, then 
that's crazy!  You're both the same age.  And he's way better than you are
at martial arts."

	"I wasn't talking about me, Nakamura.  I meant Kunou-sempai."

	"Kunou?  Feh.  He doesn't command respect."  I sipped from my drink
and watched Kensuke's eyes narrow.

	"Don't speak that way about Kunou-sempai.  He deserves more respect
than your 'employer' does," he sneered.

	"Just what did you mean by that?"

	"Exactly what it sounds like.  Tendou Nabiki uses people for her
own purposes.  Just when you think she's helping you, she turns her back
on you and leaves you to the wolves."  He sat back in the booth, his eyes
alight.  "And you won't even care, because you're too busy licking at her 
boots to notice she's stepping all over your back."

	"Well, what about your sempai?  He goes around getting beat up by
women, then asks them to 'date with him.'  He sounds like one of them
sadomasochists."  I sat back, anger fueling my words.  "In fact, I'll
bet you five hundred yen that the only reason why he likes Akane and
Ranma so much is so he can get beat up by them and get his rocks off."

	We sat like that for a full minute, our eyes locked in fierce 
battle when Megumi finally broke the silence.  "Hello in there?  Can I get
your orders?"  She looked at us with concern.

	"Pork okonomiyaki special."  Megumi blinked as she heard our orders
in unison, and quickly wrote it down.  "Coming up," she said, then hurried
off to the grill.

	We sat there in silence for a minute, then I said, "Well, we can 
agree on at least *one* thing."  Kensuke stayed silent.  I extended the 
peace offering.  "If we're going to be working together, I promise not to
trash your sempai if you promise not to bash on mine.  We have to put 
aside these differences and focus on your goal."

	"Which is?"

	"To tell Kunou the truth about the pig-tailed girl, and maybe
get him to stop making a fool of himself."  I crossed my fingers beneath
the table.

	He took a deep breath and nodded.  "Agreed."  Kensuke leaned on the
table.  "So, what did you have in mind?"


********************************


	I reported in to Nabiki later on that evening.  True to form, she
didn't ask me any questions, letting me give my whole impression of the
matter.

	"I really think that Motoki's serious about this.  He spoke with
short sentences, rather clipped and to the point.  And you know what *that*
means."  I twirled the phone cord around my finger.  "He might actually
succeed.  I've given him some good ideas, like--"

	Nabiki cut me off mid-sentence, saying that she wanted to see
it first hand.  I sighed.  "I don't know if it'll work though, Kunou
is a stubborn fella."  She made a sign that she was about to end the
conversation.  "Wait!  Can you answer a yes or no question for me?"
She paused, intrigued.  "Is this part of the 'big plan'?"

	She laughed, then hung up.  That meant, "Silly girl, everything
is part of the big plan."  I got no sleep that night.


TO BE CONTINUED..............



AUTHOR'S NOTES:

9-1-98:  It's amazing how much better you can write when your previous
work gets dumped in a power outage.  Due to the intense heat out here
in California, the Nabiki/Kiyone scene got re-written, as well as the 
Kensuke/Kiyone one.  Anyway, comments and criticism goes to:
sebast5228@earthlink.net in care of me.  Flames can be sent to Hell
where they will be dealt by the appropriate minion.


Trisha L. Sebastian