An Unexpected Visitor
by David Eddy <dje@progress.com>
A fan fiction based on Takahashi Rumiko's Manga series, Ranma 1/2.
The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the property of Takahashi Rumiko and
her licensees.
This is a revengefic... well, sort of. I've been doing a bit
of travelling lately and this sort of came to me. It's set
just after I finished part 4 of Nekophobia.
C&C is welcomed as usual.
=======================================================
"Binggg-bonggg."
I jerked my head up in surprise, the characters of Nerima
fading from my mind. Who could be calling at this hour? I hadn't
ordered room service. Frowning, I pushed back the chair from the
desk and wandered through to the front room. I opened the door.
The young woman standing there was shortish, her silken,
straight black hair finishing on her neck. She was dressed in
jeans, a tee-shirt, and a jacket, and she was as cute as hell. She
was also Japanese.
"Er, arr, err, um," I said intelligently in shock. I
swallowed to get my vocal cords in working order. "May I help
you?"
She frowned at me. "You know me," she said.
Oh no. It couldn't be. "Nabiki?"
She nodded with a smile. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"
My social programming kicked in, and I smiled and stepped back
from the door, holding it open. "Please come in. Make yourself at
home."
Still smiling, she walked past me into the lounge room. As
she passed I could smell her perfume. It was... something floral.
I let go the door and allowed it to close, watching her as she
looked about the room. She walked up to me where I was standing by
the door, still shell-shocked, and stopped about two feet away from
me. She looked me up and down. She seemed to study my hands for a
moment.
"You *are* a big one, aren't you?"
With a shock I realised that her head didn't even come up to
my shoulders. Still, the comment served to get my brain
functioning again, pushing the paralysing "how" and "why" questions
to one side for the moment. I followed her as she headed past the
bathroom into the bedroom. She brushed past the open closet doors
to the desk, where my laptop's screen glowed white into the dimly-
lit room. She glanced at the screen.
I followed her in and sat cross-legged on the bed, watching
her bend over to read the contents of the screen.
"What's this?" she asked, tapping the screen.
"Nekophobia five. It's not finished yet."
"Oh, good." She smiled again as she shed her jacket and
draped it carefully over the back of the desk chair before sitting
down on the bed.
I frowned. "'Oh, good?'"
Nabiki frowned. "You weren't easy to find, you know," she
said, vaguely accusing. "This isn't Melbourne."
I raised my eyebrows at her. "I still can't believe that you
exist at all."
She looked around ostentatiously. "This is a nice place."
I shrugged, deciding to let her lead the conversation. "It's
okay."
"Do you normally stay in a two-room suite?"
"Sure, in this hotel I do. All the rooms are suites." I
smiled.
"Hmph." She lay down on her side on the bed. "You know,
Akane and Ranma aren't very happy with you."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Neither of them are all that thrilled with Akane's curse."
I snorted but managed to suppress a laugh. "They're not meant
to be. They needed something to bring them closer together."
"But that's not why Akane got cursed is it, hmmm?"
I sighed. "No, it's not. You know as well as I do that the
story's essentially about inflicting that curse on Akane and seeing
what happens as a result."
"That was a bit of a cruel thing to do, wasn't it?"
I quirked my lips downward in a show of sympathy. "Yah, a cat
curse is something *I* wouldn't want, that's for sure. But it's
only a story. It's not as though they really exist or anything...
err..."
Nabiki smiled at me, that smile I knew so well, as my stomach
got stuck on "down elevator".
"It's not all that bad, is it?" I asked weakly. "I mean,
they're getting together, and maybe Ranma's going to learn to deal
with his ailurophobia."
"Ailuro-what?"
"Fear of cats."
"Oh. Well, to tell you the truth, he's not real happy about
that, either."
"Eh? Why on earth not?" I was starting to feel nervous.
"The neko-ken is his most powerful technique. He's used it
deliberately before today. You must know about the time he got the
phoenix pill? Well, if he's not afraid of cats, how's he going to
access the technique?"
I sighed. "Yeah." I looked at her. Oddly, she was looking
pretty happy. Not angry. She didn't seem to be wearing a bra.
"You're just full of good news."
"Oh, I haven't even told you about Ryouga yet... or Happousai,
the old pervert, not that he doesn't deserve it... or Shampoo... or
Cologne... or Ukyou--"
"Ukyou?! What's *her* gripe?"
"You've only had her play a bit part, and even then she had to
acknowledge that Akane had a superior claim to Ranma than she did."
"Oh, gods, this isn't happening," I moaned, shaking my bowed
head. Suddenly my feet seemed really interesting. A thought
occurred to me. Looking up again, I saw that Nabiki was still
smiling at me. "So what's *your* gripe, Nabiki? May as well
collect the whole set." I covered my face with my open hand.
"Gods, I can't *believe* I'm havin' this conversation," I said to
myself.
"Oh, *I* don't have a gripe. I really like it."
Surprise washed through me. I lowered my hand and looked over
my index finger to see Nabiki smiling at me. One hand was playing
with her trousers and faint indentations were visible in the front
of her shirt. "Eh?"
"Kasumi, Nodoka, and me: We all really like it, though the
others think you're a bit crass for discussing Ranma's honour
problems so bluntly."
"I'm writing for Westerners, it's gotta be blunt," I said
automatically, leaning forward. "Most of 'em have -- or had, I
should say -- no idea."
"You still got some of it wrong, but they don't hold that
against you. You, too, are a Westerner, after all."
"Nobody's perfect."
She laughed. At a joke so old it had moss growing on its
lichen, she laughed. Bemused, I shook my head. She really was
pretty. "I'm glad to hear that *some* of you guys like the story,"
I said.
"And you'd better make sure it stays that way," she said.
My stomach sank again and ants feet ran up my spine. "What?"
"So far, the three of us have been able to keep the others
under control. But if Ranma and Akane get tired of being jerked
around, they might bring the others on a little... visit."
"Oh, great," I said listlessly. "Ruin the story, or get some
visitors I'm still having difficulty believing exist."
Nabiki frowned prettily. "What are you talking about?"
"Listen, Nabiki, have you ever written fiction?"
"Not if you don't count my tax returns," she said.
I smiled and shook my head. After a decent pause I continued.
"Then pay attention. We're now a bit over halfway through. Lots
of things have happened, one or two things have been resolved but
mostly there's a whole lotta threads hanging around in mid-air.
The funny thing is, after a while it acquires a momentum of its own
and you can't just change course in mid-stream."
Nabiki blinked at me slowly. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm afraid I can't just not put Akane and Ranma through some
more trials. There's certain things they've got to do to get to
the end of the story... if only because the others are going to do
it to them."
"Oh, that! Oh, don't worry, they don't mind normal goings-on.
Just don't overdo it."
"Oh. Err, right. Okay."
"And I wouldn't worry too much about Ryouga anyway. He'll
never find you."
I raised one eyebrow at her. "You have no idea how much that
comforts me."
"Good, I'm glad to hear it."
I slapped my open hand over my face with a loud *smack* and
shook my head. "I was being *sarcastic*," I said from under my
hand.
With a sigh, I put my elbows onto my knees and leaned forward,
studying my guest. She was still lying on the bed, head propped up
on one hand, only now her free hand was toying with her shirt. She
was still smiling. The silence drew out until I had to break it.
"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence, then?" I
asked. "I can't believe you came to tell me to be a good boy or
I'll have ravening characters after my blood."
"Not completely, no." She toyed with her lip and looked me in
the eyes. "I really came to thank you, and to ask a favour. I've
been thinking of doing an MBA."
"Oh, that's good. I'm sure you'll do well. Where?"
"Well, I've been accepted by Oxford and Harvard and a couple
of others, but I've always wanted to see Australia. So I'm going
to a university here, and I'm looking for a place to stay. Can I
stay with you?"
"Oh, okay, fine. But... what on earth did you want to thank
me for?"
"Oh, that? I've always wanted a little brother... I've always
wanted love. It looks like you're giving me both." She got up
onto her knees, and I watched two hard points move about under her
shirt. She walked on her knees over to where I sat, took my face
in her hands, and kissed me.
I awoke with a start, a faint ache in the back of my head
telling me that I had stayed up far too late the previous night
getting that revengefic idea out of my head. I sat up and reached
for the glass of water on the bedside table and used it to rinse
out my mouth.
Ugh. Thank god it'd been a dream. Oh, boy, was I glad that
the characters were imaginary.
"Ohayou, anata," came a female voice. "Genki?"
"Eh? Oh, good morning, Nabiki. I'm fine thanks. How are--
urk!!"
Nabiki. In my bed. Calling me "darling". Oh my god.
It hadn't been a dream. Nervously I thought back to our
conversation of the previous night. "Err... Nabiki? When do you
start at the University of Sydney? You see, I'm flying home
tomorrow night, and I'll have to check out of the hotel tomorrow
morning so I'm afraid you can only stay here until then."
"I'm studying at Melbourne University. You know, where you
live. Why else would I ask to stay with you?"
My stomach headed for the floor again. I had the feeling it
was going to become a common feeling. What would my wife say?
"Oh."
--
David Eddy -- dje@progress.com
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/8341/