*
Journey From the West
A Ranma 1/2 /??? fiction
chapter 1

Sun Tzu summed it up neatly in "The Art of War."

"All large things begin first, as small things".

In this case, it started with a smile.

However, since it was a smile belonging to Nabiki Tendo, it wasn't a smile
one would call "pleasant" or "reassuring".

In fact, as anyone familiar with the middle Tendo daughter could tell you,
Nabiki rarely smiled.

 No, usually about all people saw was an occasional sarcastic smirk from
her, and that was about as close as she usually got. All in all, it was
pretty safe to say that an actual smile from Nabiki was a rarity.

But rare doesn't mean non-existent.

An actual 'Nabiki smile' usually can be traced to one of two causes. The
first, involves the transfer of large sums of currency into her bank
account. The second, involves her seeing one of her more elaborate schemes
come to fruition, which also usually put large sums of currency into her
bank account.

Essentially, Nabiki Tendo was seen, in the eyes of many people, as a
heartless mercenary driven to amass as much money as she could. Someone
devoted heart and soul to the pursuit of cash, and willing to stop at
nothing, and step on anyone that got in her way. As such, she was someone
that most people avoided at all costs, mainly to keep her from draining
their own bank account drier than the salt flats in New Mexico.

Knowing this, it's easy to see how Nabiki acquired the bad reputation that
followed her since before junior high.

People, children especially, label a person by whatever they first notice
about them. The traits everyone seemed to first notice about Nabiki were
that she appeared driven purely by avarice, and possessed of a cruel streak
that'd make a demon blush. For better or worse, Nabiki Tendo had been given
the title of "The Ice Queen", and it had stuck.

The sad thing was, that if that's all you saw, then that was all she had let
you see.

In reality, Nabiki was far more complex and sensitive than people gave her
credit for. She just felt uncomfortable with displaying any part of that
side of herself, and hid behind her "Ice Queen" mask.

The reason for this begins a long time ago and, oddly enough, started with
the purest of motives.

Nabiki had always been a dutiful daughter to her family, mostly because, by
being dutiful, it got her the attention and approval she desperately craved
from her parents. Being born the middle Tendo daughter had been hard on her,
especially when her two sisters seemed to mesh so perfectly with her
parents, effortlessly gaining their approval at every turn, while she
struggled to get what attention she could.

Kasumi, excelled in the "womanly skills", as her mother put them. Kasumi and
Keiko Tendo had become inseparable.  It was clear which of the three sisters
had become the favorite of the Tendo Matriarch, and Nabiki knew it wasn't
her.

Akane, one year younger than Nabiki, had always been so full of energy and
utterly unafraid of rough-housing, it somehow seemed only natural she became
the tomboy of the three. She'd taken to martial arts like a fish to water,
and seeing that the Tendo family was a martial artist family, she'd become
"daddy's little girl" and heir to the Tendo Dojo almost immediately,
monopolizing her father's time at every opportunity.

With her older and younger sisters so clearly aligned with one of each of
her parents, Nabiki had frequently felt left out or forgotten.

>From an early age, Nabiki Tendo had learnt her place in life, at least as
far as she saw it. She came to believe that she had to work for everything
she got in life, and since she needed the attention and approval of her
parents, she worked hard at getting it however she could.

Duty to her family always came first for Nabiki, this was something she
later would bend and twist as best she could, but would never break.
Whatever it took, Nabiki Tendo would always do what was needed for her
family, no matter the personal cost to herself.

When Keiko Tendo died, the seed, from which "The Ice Queen" would eventually
grow, took root.

Soun Tendo, had watched his beloved wife slowly waste away before his eyes,
and after she'd passed on, he'd simply ceased to care about anything but his
own loss. He spent day upon day grieving over the death of his wife, largely
ignoring the outside world and the daughters who depended on him. He'd
become a shell of the man he once was, drinking heavily, and collapsing in
weeping fits ill befitting a man of his chosen profession.

Though many of his students remained loyal to him, he felt unworthy of their
loyalty and turned them away. He closed the doors to his training hall
canceling all classes and drowning in his grief. He told himself that he
sought to spare the students the shame of having a sensei that had fallen so
far from the ideal of the stoic martial artist. The truth was, he felt no
joy in The Art, now that he'd lost what he felt was most dear to him.

The loss of revenue that this situation created began a spiral of declining
fortunes for his family.

At the time, Kasumi Tendo had tried to take on the burden of holding the
family together, by herself. She stepped into her mothers place in the home,
and did what she could to find ways to make ends meet. Unfortunately, she
just didn't have the knack at creative money management the Tendos needed to
pull out of the financial nosedive they found themselves in.

While Kasumi agonized over the state of the finances, the 8 year old Nabiki
tried to help out as best she could; cooking (an unspeakable disaster),
laundry (she thought that pink panties were nice, but Kasumi had assured her
that they had started out white), cleaning the house (she'd learned that
cleaning Tatami mats with a garden hose didn't work very well). Nothing
seemed to be her forte, until the night she found Kasumi crying over the
ledgers that showed the household finances.

Sitting down at the table with her older sister, she tried to help figure
out the columns of numbers, and make her big sister stop crying. That night
Nabiki Tendo learned her hidden talent. She could make numbers sit up and
dance.

Soon after she'd sorting out the family finances, she started taking care of
all things to do with money that related to her family. In time, taking care
of the family money grew into a source of great pride for her, and became
something she looked forward to eagerly. Overnight, it seemed, a "chore" had
become a passionate love affair with the almighty Yen.

As everyone knows though, passionate love affairs throughout the ages have
ended up causing some mighty big problems.


DISCLAIMER
Ranma and Co. are not owned by me, nor were they created by me.
They were created by Rumiko Takahashi and I stand in awe of Takahashi-sama
and her remarkable creativity. Suing me would be unproductive for the
companies like
Viz and Kitty who publish her works.


Tendo Dojo, Nerima Ward, Tokyo Febuary 3rd 1996 3:23 pm

The smile slowly faded  and Nabiki's face resumed it's normal, coolly
speculative, appearance as she looked up at the wall calendar, mulling over
what she saw. She idly started chewing on the end of her pen.

"Let's see, it's the middle of February now, that means it's about 3 weeks
from now before we are out of school for break, and school doesn't start up
again until mid April.hmmmmmm"

 Nabiki sat back in her chair twirling the chewed on pen in her fingers. A
delighted look again appeared on her face and she actually started shaking
with glee, hugging herself tightly.

"Oh Nabiki-chan, I've GOT to hand it to you, you've outdone yourself this
time."

 "A couple weeks worth of disruptions at the beginning of school, and by
then it'll all be over. This is all so. so... 'Perfect'."

She just couldn't stop smiling, as she leaned back in her chair and put her
feet up on her desk

"I love it. It's the perfect plan. Nothing can possibly go wrong. "

 The 'smile' was joined by a chuckle, a giggle, and finally outright
diabolical laughter, while Nabiki savored the joy she felt at seeing one of
her more clever plans come to fruition.

All the floating tea-stalks, throughout Tokyo, did high speed nose-dives,
huddling fearfully in the murky depths of teacups. In the distance, storm
clouds started holding rallies in preparation for what they knew would be a
bumper crop of opportunities to thunder ominously.

This being Nerima however, these sorts of events were taken in stride as
'par for the course'. After all, most residents in the area knew a text book
example of the classic "Nerima Effect" when they saw one. It wasn't
something anyone questioned anymore, it just 'was'.

Downstairs in the Tendo home, Kasumi Tendo heard her younger sister's
laughter, and for a moment, just a moment, Kasumi's blissful smile faltered,
and a shadow of worry crossed her face as she raised her fingers to her
lips.

Thus was spoken the final unlucky omen, in two words.

"Oh my!"

*****
Ranma � is the creative work of Rumako Takahashi, a creative genius in the
world of Manga.
She, along with Viz and Kitty own the rights to the Manga and Anime.
I merely take out the characters for a test drive.
I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I did writing it.
It's not what you think it is.
*****

The Tendo Dojo; Febuary 4th 1996 6:00am

Dojos are the true homes of martial artists. As such, these 'training halls'
are no strangers to the sounds of fierce duels of honor.

Indeed, in the long history of the Tendo dojo, countless struggles have been
held within it's halls by masters of strange and powerful martial arts
techniques.

Dojos truly are the places where those who spend their lives mastering "The
Art" , find the time and setting to master themselves, and discover who they
are.

 As such, the Tendo Dojo is a temple of sorts, where the worship of "The
 Art" finds its outlet of expression in combat between peers.

Hark, even now the battle cries of two of these masters of the mysterious
art that is "Anything Goes" can be heard piercing the morning air.

"Gimme that back! It's the last one."

"HA! Too slow boy! Go find your own pickle. I saw it first"

"It was already in my bowl when you saw it. Now, DROP THAT PICKLE OLD MAN!
Hey! Get back here!"

"Feh!, never. You'll have to catch me first boy."

"Grrrrr! Where do you think you're going? You lazy good for nothing.HEY!"

Crunch munch munch munch

"Too late Ranma. I see living here is making you as lazy and weak as a
 girl."

"Damn it! You asked for it now, pop."

A scuffle could be heard, followed by a loud crashing sound of splintering
wood, and a final splash from the Koi pond.

"GROWF!"

"Serves you right, you greedy jerk."

Soun Tendo looked up from behind his newspaper to take in the result of the
exchange he'd heard.

Ranma was standing in a ready combat stance in the middle of the breakfast
table, facing the now broken and splintered shogi doors that faced the back
yard.

Ranma had obviously hurled his father out of the house, through where the
once intact doors had been.

Soun sighed, wondering once more if uniting the schools was really worth all
this headache and repair bills.

Soun did his mental checklist to make sure that all was as expected.

His old friend Genma, now a panda, .make that a 'wet panda', was lumbering
back toward the house after a visit to the pond, courtesy of Ranma Saotome
air service, check.

Kasumi was smiling blissfully while refilling Ranma's rice bowl, check.

Akane was getting furious at Ranma for ruining the peace of breakfast as
usual, or maybe for just being Ranma, it's so hard to tell the difference at
times, not that there had been too much of peace since the Saotome's had
arrived anyway, check.

 Nabiki was sitting with a bored smirk on her face while watching Ranma and
his father exchanging blows over pickles, Check.

"Oh well. It's another day, much like the last. At least no one's been
kidnapped this month.", He thought.

As he began retreating back behind his paper barricade something suddenly
occurred to him.

"Hmmm, something's missing, Let's check that again., Genma-Panda (check),
Ranma (check), Kasumi (check), Akane (check), Nabiki (.) "Hmmm. where's
Nabiki? she's not at the table. this bears consideration." Soun thought to
himself.

 He folded his newspaper neatly, maintaining an air of quiet dignity, he
turned to Kasumi.

"Kasumi dear, where's Nabiki? I notice she isn't here for breakfast yet."

Kasumi paused a moment considering, then smiled sweetly

"Oh. She told me she'd be down to join us in a few minutes father. She
wanted to make sure that Ranma and his Father were done playing first,
before she came down."

 She paused a moment watching the Saotome father and son pounding on each
other, and then added, "I think she has something to tell everyone about.
Whatever it is, it must be very amusing. I can't remember the last time I've
seen her laughing so."

Immediately the Tendo early warning danger sense kicked in and began to
broadcast a low-level alert.

Soun and Akane both appeared frozen in place, eyes wide, hair poinged out
oddly, even the obligatory extra large sweatdrops began to solidify on the
backs of their heads.

Sensing the change in the atmosphere, Ranma and Genma let their fight grind
to a halt.

Tensions rose dramatically as Kasumi's comment sank in.

The general opinion of everyone was expressed, by Ranma, in a single word.

 "W-What?"

Kasumi turned and cocked her head to one side slightly.

 "Oh my, yes! She came home from school yesterday before anyone else got
home, in a very good mood. But an hour or two later, she must have read
something very amusing in her mail, I could hear her laughing from the
kitchen."

Ranma looked to his father. In the space of an instant, unspoken
understanding flashed between the young Saotome and his elder.

"Right!"

 Ranma nodded to himself.

"Honorable Father, it's time for another training trip! Let's go!"

A sign appeared in the Panda's hand while he shouldered his travel pack that
seemed to appear from nowhere.
The sign read "Absolutely! No time ta lose m'boy! We've got important
training to do!"

The sign was flipped around and on the back it read, "You get the tent, I'll
get the provisions. Hop to it!"

Both scrambled to their feet, and started making for an exit, any exit.

As if on cue a female voice, tinged with sarcasm, floated across the room.

"And where do you two think you're going?"

Nabiki's arched look pinned the father and son where they stood.

Looking at the middle Tendo daughter, the first thing that Ranma thought was
"Oh Man, This ain't good."

Nabiki actually looked genuinely happy, she was even smiling.

Ranma's finely honed danger sense was jangling like fire alarms in a hotel
hosting a pyromaniac convention.

"Sit down Ranma. You too, Mr. Saotome, I've got some news I need to pass on,
and it concerns everyone here"

Nabiki moved toward the table, herding the father and son back to their
usual places.

Before sitting, she appeared to collect herself for a moment, and then
addressed the group.

"Now, before I start, I ask that everyone please hold any questions until
after I've explained everything, okay?"

Hearing affirmative sounds she nodded and began, sitting up tall.

"This won't take long, but it's important. I need to talk about the family
finances."

Tensions that had already been high, increased noticeable. Everyone knew
that Nabiki took money very seriously.

"For a while now, we've been getting by in the household finances with the
extra money Mr. Saotome has earned with his odd jobs, the money our father
had invested when our Dojo had students, and what extra money Ranma has
contributed from when he worked at the Cat Caf�."

Nabiki  paused a moment letting everyone consider her words, politely
omitting her own contributions which everyone knew made up a large share of
the household income.

"However, what we've brought in just isn't able to cover all the expenses."

Worried looks began to appear among the group, Soun himself looked nearly
ready to burst into tears.

"Calm down daddy, I just want to get the bad news out of the way quickly, be
patient, you can cry afterwards as much as you like."

Soun dabbed at his eyes, nodding while Nabiki continued.

"You see, the collateral damage that the house has sustained, combined with
the food bills, the heating bills, insurance premiums, taxes, and especially
the gas bills for heating water."

She glanced meaningfully at the two Saotomes who tried to look as
inconspicuous as possible.

".are killing us. to the tune of more than four million yen debt."

Soun let forth a class five Tendo wail and did a credible impersonation of a
lawn sprinkler.

Kasumi patted his back comforting him with soft reassuring comments.

"There, there. Oh, father, it'll all be fine I'm sure."

Nabiki waited a moment before continuing.

"With the Dojo not taking in any students, this has made the financial
situation for our family dire. This is the bad news."

She looked at the squirming elder Saotome and added,"I mention this, not to
make you or your son feel unwelcome, but because we all consider you part of
the family already. Since Ranma and Akane are nearly married already, and as
my future in-laws, I felt it only fair you should know how things stand".

Genma nodded sagely, inclining his head toward her respectfully, while Soun
seemed occupied with flooding the room.

"I thank you, future daughter-in-law"

Ranma started to protest, saying, "Hey! Wait a-minute! I still ain't said I'
m marryin' anyone, especially no tom-."

The soft blue glow of Akane's battle aura sprang to life next to Ranma, a
dark look from Akane promised pain, pain by the bucket load and troweled on
liberally if he completed the "T" word.

For once Ranma's mouth was overruled by his survival instinct.

"Errr I mean . uhhh.Go ahead Nabiki!"

Nabiki smirked.

"Why thank you Ranma-kun.I guess Pavlov was right after all. Well.to
continue. Two days ago, Auntie Nodaka called and talked to me while daddy
and Mr. Saotome were out at the community center for the All Nerima Regional
Go tournament. It seems the contractors have finished rebuilding most of the
Saotome home. She was most anxious to have Ranma and Genma come back to live
with her immediately."

Soun's wailings shut off like a switch had been flipped.

"What?!"

He wasn't sure whether he should be crying harder, or start dancing a jig.

Nabiki knew that after dropping that bombshell, she'd have everyone hanging
on her next words, so she paused to take a sip of her tea, smiling into her
cup, letting the tension build.

Akane looked stricken, in just a few sentences her world had been thrown
into chaos, her mind whirled at the implications, "Ranma, gone? No!. I can't
let him leave m. I mean..I. He just can't leave like that, can he?"

Ranma also wasn't handling the news well either, "Leaving?!", it just couldn
't be. It'd been the only place he felt secure in for years.

Then, looking at, Akane he felt a hole open up in his heart

"But, I can't leave, what about the engagement?

Suddenly it dawned on him, based on the fact that everyone was staring at
him,  he'd just spoken his thoughts out loud.

Nabiki smiled.

"Don't worry Ranma, I spoke with her, and we've come to an understanding.
She agreed with me that Ranma should continue to stay here to continue his
education. The facts are that Furinkan is a good high school and leaving so
close to the end of the school year would be most disruptive to Ranma's
education."

Ranma, and Akane both looked relieved, until they caught each other, and
quickly hid behind their familiar dirty looks at each other.

Nabiki smiled, "It didn't take all that much more effort on my part to
convince her that he should stay at Furinkan to complete high school. Auntie
agrees that it's best he stay at Furinkan where he seems to fit in."

Genma nodded to himself.

"However Mr. Saotome, she insists that you return home immediately, and that
Ranma spend weekends at home with her."

Nabiki let one of her nastier smiles appear.

"Anyway, I have something planned that requires that Ranma stay here where I
can keep an eye on him."

Sweat drops filled the room.

Genma-Panda held up a sign, "Did she say anything. ummm else?"

Nabiki tapped her index finger against her lower lip contemplatively,
looking upward.

 "I seem to remember something about having a job with a local Dojo lined up
for you already, and wanting to discuss some charges of animal cruelty
against you from some years ago. Oh yes, and something about a number of
unpaid bar tabs?"

It's heard to imagine a Panda weeping.

 The Tendos became familiar with the sight, it wasn't pretty.

Nabiki smirked.

 "This does help out with the financial situation for our family a bit, but
it still leaves us more than a little short financially. However, as I said,
I have something planned, but to make it work, we need to keep Ranma here,
him and all the weirdness he attracts."

"Hey, that stuff ain't my fault Nabiki. I don't do nothin to cause any of
it."

Akane chimed in, "Feh! Yeah right! Nothing strange happened around here,
until you showed up you idiot. You turned all our lives upsidedown."

"Ha!, like Kuno and all the fights you had with half the male student body
of Furinkan everyday were 'normal'?"

Rannnnmaaaa!"

"Point taken Ranma.", Nabiki said, stepping in to prevent another fianc�e
feud.

"Remember, I asked everyone to let me finish before turning this into a
free-for-all."

Akane continued to shoot dark looks at Ranma, while he stuck out his tongue
at her.

Nabiki sighed.

"Anyway, even you have to admit Ranma, demon bean shooting plants, Pantyhose
Taro, bicycle riding chinese amazons serving up mind altering ramen,
Okanomiyaki slinging, cross dressing, revenge seeking, martial artists,
Underwear haunting ghosts, Martial arts Dogi that make their wearer
invincible, and God knows what else, are not even remotely normal, are
 they?"

Seeing Ranma shrug guiltily she continued "These sorts of things never
happened around here till before last year when you showed up. I mean look,
even poor sweet Kasumi got possessed by an Oni only a few weeks ago."

Kasumi smiled sweetly while Soun cringed remembering the back massage Kasumi
gave him while possessed.

"Anyway, a few ideas to help the situation panned out, a few didn't, but
something big finally happened yesterday, and I had something turn out far,
far better than I'd hoped it would."

Nabiki smiled brightly.

"Now, I've always liked a challenge, But I'll admit, the idea of how to use
Ranma's talent ofattracting chaos, for our benefit had me stumped. I simply
hadn't been able to come up with anything"

Nabiki paused while watching Ranma grumble.

"Until a couple of months ago, that is. That's when I came up with
operation: Coyote"

Hoping to see some sort of reaction and getting none, she sighed

"Well, that was wasted on them. Anyway, it suddenly occurred to me
that.well. aside from being a great martial artist, the only thing that
Ranma is really good at, is...well, to be blunt about it, 'making life hell
for everyone around him.'"

"HEY! That's not fair!"

 Ranma protested loudly, "I'm tellin ya."

"Yes, yes Ranma-kun I know.. "'It ain't your fault', well intentional or
not, it's something you are good at, and this is a hard talent for anyone to
turn into an asset.", She paused to smile proudly, "Unless you're as clever
as me, that is."

"You see, I'd discovered that one of my.mmmm. 'friends'... one who owes me a
favor, well. his mother holds a high position in the host family selection
committee for the U.S./Japan exchange student program."

Nabiki paused seeing the curious looks she was getting.

 "Anyway, I called in that favor that 'friend' of mine owed me, to arrange
for a college  exchange student to stay with us. Until the weirdness around
here drives them out that is."

She smirked in amusement.

"Which, I figure won't be too long after he or she starts seeing what life
is like around Ranma."

Soun coughed politely.

 "Now Nabiki, sweetheart, I know you mean well, and I appreciate you getting
rid of one of our freeload. ummm I mean 'helping reunite my good friend
Genma, with his wife', but this doesn't sound like anything to be all that
excited about."

Soun nodded to himself.

 "I spoke with Mr Tanaka down the street when he hosted that French exchange
student last year, he said it was interesting, but didn't recommend it. They
certainly didn't make any money off it anyway. So even if we were willing to
accept some Gaijin into our home. Something that I for one am not very
enthusiastic about I just don't see what you're getting at."

"Well Daddy, Mr Tanaka hosted a high school student, and the rules for that
are somewhat different than for College"

 Nabiki knew this question would come up, and was completely ready for it.

 "You see, I looked into the program and some of the loopholes that exist.
It turns out that host families do get some reimbursement from the program,
but unlike high school students, college students have to pay for most of
the costs they create. The most beautiful part of it is that if he leaves
voluntarily, we have no responsibility to refund any of the reimbursement,
or the rent he pays, or any riders or extra compensation offered to us
whatsoever."

Nabiki knew that she had reached the part of the deal making process that
she loved, the point when the 'fish' had nibbled the bait and was waiting to
be hooked and reeled in. She adopted a mock sad tone to her voice.

"But I understand daddy. I guess I'll just write back and tell them that we
can't accept Ten million yen."

Nabiki looked away, thinking to herself, "Hook!"

Soun and Genma gasped, "Ten million."

Nabiki, got up, dusting her arm lightly as though brushing off some lint,
then proceeded to inspect her fingernails as she made her way to the
stairway, still not meeting their eyes, "Yes, Ten million, oh well too bad,
I'll just have to tell them we can't accept".

Her hidden smile grew, "Line!"

Soun and Genma both blurred, appearing next to her nearly instantly. The
motioned her to sit back at the table, nearly pushing her back to a sitting
position.

"Let's not be too hasty now sweety. After all, it is a martial artists duty
to foster international relations whenever possible. Isn't that right
Saotome?"

"Indeed it is Tendo"

"Tell us more daughter."

She nodded,"And Sinker! Gotcha!"

Nabiki gave a light laugh to herself.

 "Why thank you Daddy. I hoped that you might reconsider once you thought
about it."

Once the two men had seated themselves again, she leaned in toward the table
a little, drawing them in, and making  them feel like they were part of her
conspiracy.

"I'm sure you're all wondering how we might be able to acquire such a large
sum. Well, it all starts with understanding Americans"

Ranma and Akane looked a bit sick and more than a little dubious. They could
see that Nabiki was playing their father's like flutes.

Nabiki didn't pay too much attention to Ranma or Akane, however what
momentarily threw off her tempo was the complete disappearance of Kasumi's
omnipresent smile.

Hurriedly she looked away, she'd figure out what was bothering Kasumi later.

"Now, as you are probably all aware, the US has, over the past couple
decades, developed a fascination with Japan, mostly our culture, but
especially our martial arts."

She paused while the father's nodded to themselves.

"When I first floated the possibility of us accepting a host student, I was
caught totally unprepared for the response I got."
Various puzzled looks appeared.

"After the first couple of calls came in within hours of placing us in the
program, I knew something was up. So I placed our application on hold
temporarily and took the time to do a little research to figure out why we
were so popular all of a sudden."

She smiled a disturbingly sweet smile.

"That's when it hit me, I saw the unique appeal that living in an honest to
goodness family owned Dojo would have for a visiting American student.
Especially with the glut of martial arts movies that Hollywood puts out."

More puzzled looks followed.

Sighing in exasperation she added, "Don't you get it? There's a lot of
belief that most Japanese martial arts masters flat out refuse to teach
nonjapanese. To some foreigner this looks like a once in a life time
opportunity. That's when I saw we have a gold mine on our hands."

She paused waiting to drop the next piece of information, taking a moment to
take a sip of her tea.

"I was practically being begged by a number of very well-to-do families to
accept their sons or daughters as guests. But, what cinched it for me was
when they started offering extra money if we'd teach the guest student some
martial arts."

She chuckled.

"In effect we could pick and choose from a large number of wealthy
candidates, and since I wanted to make sure that we didn't get less then the
best possible ..candidate, one that couldn't possibly handle the chaos we
deal with, I set up some specific criteria to be used to screen out
undesirables."

Comprehension started to appear on a few faces.

"I also wrote up a description of the Dojo and the Nerima area that would be
sure to discourage the less financially secure candidates from applying.
Those who did make it through the screening process would be very well off
financially, and of a specific type of personality".

The cool smile she'd been wearing up until then widened perceivably as she
looked at Ranma and the fingers of his hands began to reflexively assume
warding gestures under the table.

"I am happy to say, family, that we have found our pigeon,"

She chuckled.

 "I mean . our 'candidate'. And with Ranma-kun still living here, attracting
chaos like normal, it'll all come off perfectly. In fact, with the money
that we will be receiving I anticipate that not only will this completely
make up for all the damages that the Dojo has received while clearing all
our outstanding debts, but we'll end up with a net profit of some.4,125,000
Yen, even if damage levels remain consistent with those suffered over the
past year."

Nabiki handed her father a brochure that bore a picture of their Dojo on the
front, and was written in elegant English script.
***********************
A rare opportunity
In efforts to better international relations, our family has agreed to offer
one fortunate student an opportunity to experience a hitherto unseen side of
Japanese culture.
The Tendo Dojo, a family run martial arts compound has graciously expressed
interest in hosting one college level American student. (1st year students
need not apply)
The host student will be provided accommodations in the family compound
where he or she be expected to become part of the family for the duration of
his or her stay.
.
Be aware, this endeavor is not for the faint of heart, for rigorous physical
training will be part of the daily regiment, and all applicants are expected
to be fit, and of upstanding moral character. As such, a medical profile, a
personal injury waiver, and letters of recommendation must accompany all
applications.
The benefits however are beyond compare.
The student will gain a deep understanding and appreciation for traditional
Japanese culture as well as develop the self discipline that our school will
instill in them.
The household itself is deeply steeped in tradition. As a traditionally run
exclusive martial arts school all members of the household will be able to
offer a guest a great deal of assistance in getting to know more about some
of the less commonly encountered facets of Japanese culture through personal
tutelage, and first hand experience.
The home and training grounds themselves are located in the Nerima ward of
Tokyo, so the hosted student will be well within reach of the most modern of
facilities, while also being living in an area where old traditions are
followed and respected.
Being so centrally located, the Nerima ward offers the one lucky guest
student a great deal of scholastic choices.
Apply soon, for it is highly unlikely that the position will be open for
long.

We do not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, nationality, sexual
orientation, Appalachian origin, Vietnam-era veteran status, or ancestry
(provided you are not burakumen)
**********

"The best part of the whole deal Daddy, is that every part of it is
completely legal and above board."

Giggling, Nabiki continued, "You'd be surprised how well 'rustic eastern
mystique' sells to gullible Americans."

 Nabiki's grin got even wider as she watched the reactions of the two men.

"The funny thing is, we'll be giving them everything that we are billing
ourselves as, and more. In our own way, we do offer something completely
unique and yet very traditionally Japanese about the whole arrangement."

Looking at each person at the table in turn she said, "I defy anyone to show
me anyplace else in Japan that has what have happen here regularly. I mean
come on, honor duels, battles with Oni, curses, mythical beasts, perverted
martial arts masters, and even multiple arranged marriages all happening at
once."

She laughed.

"It's like some kind of real life Kabuki play, and you can't get much more
Japanese than that."

Genma, arms folded across his chest grunted and nodded in agreement.

"Too true Nabiki-san, the high level of action and excitement that the life
of a martial artist carries with it is too much for most people. Aye Tendo?"

Soun nodded in agreement.

"Right you are Saotome. Right you are!"

Soun turned to his daughter.

 "It's a fine idea Nabiki. Go ahead with it. You have my bless-"

"Hey!" Akane looked at her father in shocked anger. Leaning forward with
fists resting on the table, she shouted at him

"Wait a minute Daddy!"

Rounding on her sister she glared at her.

"Nabiki Tendo!, h-how could you two think of doing something like this? You
know how dangerous it can be here. You'd actually put someone at risk like
that for a few Yen?"

Kasumi nodded in agreement.

"Akane is entirely right. But additionally, Father, Nabiki, if we have a
guest in our home, it is our duty as members of this household to see to it
that they are safe and feel welcome. It is most definitely 'not nice' to
treat a guest in the manner you are describing. It's positively...it's
positively.dishonorable, and I for one will have nothing to do with it.
This is just plain wrong. "

Nabiki shook her head.

 "I never said we'd do anything to disturb anyone, or be less than
hospitable, Kasumi. But what other people do, now that's beyond our
control."

Akane looked directly at Nabiki simmering with barely suppressed anger.

"Older sister, I think this is a really bad idea! I mean it! I mean, think
about what you're actually suggesting. And I don't just mean how rude it is
to try and make a guest leave. It means we'd have some strange Gaijin
wandering around our house, getting into everything.", she shuddered
slightly.

Nabiki acted puzzled for a moment, suddenly seeing an opening to play a
trump on Akane's argument.

 "Sis, I'm surprised at you. I thought for sure that you wouldn't be someone
that would actually 'discriminate' against someone, especially based on
their nationality. You've always been so open-minded and forgiving, well.
except for Ranma, and the boys at school, and well. most everyone else. But
I must say, I didn't think you'd be a racist."

Akane's eyes widened in surprise, trading their angry glare for defensive
shock.

 "N-Nabiki, it's not like that. I mean, I-I've seen what they're like on the
news all the time. Americans. they're violent.", she said, throwing her arms
up.

Nabiki chuckled.

"Oh, you mean that, unlike we Japanese, they knock down walls and scream
threats like 'Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!', or something like that?"

 Ranma flinched at Nabiki's impersonation of Ryoga's voice.

"No, but..that's not fair! What about all those stories about what happen to
girls around Okinawa, near the millitary bases? Yuka at school, she told me
her cousin got raped by some American up there."

"Akane, Akane, this is a college student, not some soldier with too much
time on his hands, and too little brains in his head. And you always have
Ranma around to protect you."

Ranma, always looking for a chance to insult, jumped in "Heh, all that Akane
would have to do is show how uncute she is, and he'd probably run in fear if
he tried anything."

Akane growled deep in her throat.

 "They're rude Nabiki! They're disrespectful, weird, and I hear they even
smell funny. With our luck it'd probably be some stupid boy who'd end up
being a bigger pervert than Ranma is. Though how that's possible I don't
know."

"Hey! I ain't no pervert and you know it... You sexless tomboy!"

"Ohhh I know you well enough Ranma. You're worse than Happosai most of the
time."

Sighing to herself Nabiki made the mental effort needed to filter out the
raising tide of repetitive insults her sister and Ranma began hurling at
each other.

Nabiki turned her attention to her Father and Genma, ignoring the litany of
"Flatchested gorrila-girl", "Inconsiderate jerk" and the various sounds of
Akane pummeling Ranma.

Nabiki coughed politely to get her Father's attention.

"Well, Daddy, since Akane's argument against having a foreign guest largely
consists of 'they smell funny', there's still one last thing to mention. I
set all this in motion a couple months ago. Since then I'd had a lot of
responses, but nothing really worthwhile. At least, that was the case until
yesterday. That's when I got the information I needed on my final four
candidates."

Taking another sip of her tea she continued.

"After doing a little research on each of them, I've narrowed it down to one
really good one. If you approve, he'd be arriving sometime during the last
two or three weeks of school, that means in just under a month or so."

Soun nodded, considering the information.

 "So, what sort of person is this candidate?"

Nabiki snatched a dossier folder from thin air and placed it on the table,
opening it up

"Well, he's certainly no insane martial artist, so that's one thing in his
favor."

Handing out some of the documents for everyone to look over, she continued,
"His father is an investment banker in the U.S. His mother appears to have
been a actress of some sort, but otherwise is now a housewife, no brothers,
no sisters. They live in a managed community called, ahh here it is, La
Mancha Vista. It's a residential development in California outside LA."

She pointed to a high school transcript.

"Very good marks in a private school as you can see here. Oh yes, now that
is one thing, he's working on a degree that requires that he get some
special schooling that's found only in Japan. He appears to be going for a
degree in some sort of obscure engineering discipline, and since this seems
to be something taught and used almost exclusively in Japan, it seems that
he wants to really 'get to know' the Japanese people and our culture."

Nabiki dug into the documents, finding what she wanted.

"It says here that he'll be attending Nekomi tech as a student and also
working at Furinkan as a part of the advanced English language instruction
program to help pay his way."

Nabiki shrugged.

"Apparently he's already set a lot of things up, ahead of time, and was just
looking for a good host family. Ha!, I can hardly wait to see how he handles
dealing with Ms. Hinako. We might not have to do anything to get rid of him
if she starts hanging around the Dojo again."

Ranma began to sweat, listening to Nabiki.

"Oh yes, his application says that he has a computer science minor. All in
all I'd say he's a 'structure' type of person, and a bit of a technophile.
So, he'll be expecting a 'calm, peaceful and traditional' Japanese
household, and from what I see, he's just not cut out to deal with hoards of
insane martial artists rampaging through his life."

Everyone took a moment to glance in Ranma's direction surreptitiously.

"Anyway", Nabiki continued, ",with all the damage that we've had to deal
with, it couldn't possibly get any worse having this Gaijin around.", she
chuckled to herself " In fact, Ranma and Akane should thank me for this, it'
ll even keep Kuno-baby off Ranma's back for a while."

Ranma and Akane looked puzzled.

Nabiki knew, from the nods her Father and Mr. Saotome were giving her, that
she'd won over the people that made the final decisions, even if her sisters
objected. Her plan was a hairs-breadth from getting final approval; she just
needed to close the deal now before anyone talked them out of it. So she
spoke the words that she knew would get their 'okay'

"It's a perfect plan, what could possibly go wrong?"

Soun nodded again, having made up his mind.

"Well, Happosai has been missing for weeks, with any luck he won't show up
till after this American has arrived. So, daughter, what is our new
houseguest's name?"

Nabiki smiled victoriously, "Dan. Dan Cervantes"

Several miles away, a series of thunderclouds cursed their luck, they'd
missed their cues several times already today.

TBC

Comments and criticisms are welcome.


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