I thank Andrew Huang for contributing the title.
Below are very rough drafts for Chapters 5 - 9. Enjoy. These are
definitely not the final copies, as on skimming through I could not help
but notice some awkward places as well as places where the plot ran a
little thin.
Chapter 5
After school, Hiroshi handed Ranma five 1000 yen bills. "There,
have all of my savings. So are you going to do it?" Ranma took
the bills, and counted them briefly before putting them into his
wallet. Calmly, Ranma walked over to a public telephone, and
dialed. Hiroshi seemed quite angry. "Ranma, I thought..." Ranma
silenced Hiroshi with his hand, and for a few minutes, Ranma spoke
quietly into the phone.
Ranma hung up the telephone, and nodded to Hiroshi. "I think
we can do something. You're coming over to my house now. But we
have to stop at Hikaru Gosenkugi's house. I have to pick up some
things from there."
About an hour later, Ranma walked out of Hikaru's house,
carrying a moderate sized box. Ranma had to stop a couple time to
catch his breath. Hiroshi looked at Ranma. "Hey, what's in the
box?"
Ranma dropped the box. "A couple transceivers and some
observation tools." Ranma opened the box, revealing various small
cameras and listening devices. Ranma pulled out a parabolic
microphone. "Hmmm, I always wanted one of these."
Hiroshi stared at the stuff in front of him. "So what are they
for?" Ranma stared at Hiroshi for a moment.
"They are for you. Like everyone knows, you go mute around
girls. I'm going to tell you what to say around Nabiki." Hiroshi
nodded knowingly. Ranma took a glance at his watch. "Well,
knowing Nabiki, she likes to be punctual. We have to hurry. You
have a business meeting with her back at school." Ranma also knew
that the school gymnastics team's practice going to be over soon.
Ranma walked with Hiroshi into the school yard, and he paused
to place the small ear piece into Hiroshi's ear as well as his own.
"Can you hear me?" Hiroshi heard Ranma's voice through the ear
piece. Hiroshi nodded. "Ok, Nabiki should be in the back lot,
waiting for you. It's her standard meeting place."
Ranma lounged around the entrance of the school, and within
minutes of Hiroshi's departure, Ranko showed up with her friends.
Ranko looked at Ranma critically for a moment. "Ranma! What are
you doing here?"
Ranma smirked sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Ranko. I forgot to tell
you, but Ryoga wanted to meet you today in the park about..."
Ranma looked at his watch, and feigned surprise. "... an hour ago.
I'm so sorry, but I completely forgot about that, and well, you
know..." Ranma shrugged his shoulders at Ranko.
Ranko grumbled internally, despite her brother's intelligence,
he could still be such an idiot. "No problem." Ranko turned to
her friends. "Hey, I think I'm going to go for a jog. So, I won't
be able to go home with you. Ok?" Ranko waved goodbye and she ran
from a the school at a pace far more faster than a jog.
* * *
Ranko paused at a tree to catch a breath. She had probably
combed every single inch of the park for Ryoga, and there was still
no sign of him. 'Great, he probably went home or something.'
Ranko looked around, but the vast greenery around her didn't
divulge any information about the whereabouts of Ryoga. 'Damn it!'
Ranko kicked a rather large rock, and it went sailing into the
bushes.
Seconds later, there was a thud, and the sound of a person
collapsing onto the floor. Ranko practically swore, and she tore
her way through the bushes, and by some freak coincidence, there
was Ryoga, lying on the ground, with a rock on his head. Ranko
didn't know whether to panic or not.
* * *
"Ok, Hiroshi. All you need to do is walk up to Nabiki and sit
down next to her. Chances are, she won't know about you. She
probably hasn't even heard about you." Ranma was sitting on a
bench, peering through a pair of binoculars.
Hiroshi muttered under his breath. "Thanks for your
encouraging words, Ranma."
"Remember, whatever you do, do not respond to me, or my
questions. The only person there is Nabiki." Ranma grumbled for a
moment, and refocused the binoculars
"S..." Hiroshi had to shut himself up.
"Great, just sit down next to Nabiki, and I'll take over from
there. Just remember, she isn't really into the touchy feelly
stuff. You will not move until I tell you." Ranma could see
Hiroshi's head bob up and down once through the binoculars. "Great,
consider yourself to have a new girlfriend."
* * *
"Oh dear, Ryoga, I'm so sorry." Ranko gingerly touched the
bruise that was on the side of Ryoga's face. Ryoga laughed
nervously as he shrugged off the pain easily.
"Oh, Ranko, it's nothing. I'm just so happy that you showed up.
" Ryoga sat down. "I was worried that you'd never show up."
Ryoga rested his head in his hands, but he recoiled slightly when
he touched his bruise.
"I'm surprised that you waited for me." Ranko considered
whether she should tell the truth about her brother forgetting the
message, but she decided to cover for her brother. "I don't know,
but Ranma told me before he left school, and I just forgot. I'm so
sorry." Ranko looked shamefully at the ground.
Ryoga panicked. "Err, well," he started to laugh nervously.
"I don't mind. The important thing was that you came." Ranko had
to smile.
* * *
Nabiki looked up, and found that a boy that she had never seen
walk up to her. "You're Hiroshi? Right?" There seemed to be a
long delay before the boy actually acknowledged Nabiki's existence.
"Oh yeah, I'm Hiroshi." Hiroshi laughed nervously, before
settling down on the bench.
Ranma muttered. "Baka." He then slapped his forehead.
"Hiroshi, show some balls now! Nabiki likes her men to at least
have a little spine." Hiroshi tightened up a little.
"So what did you come here for?" Nabiki asked Hiroshi, as she
preyed on an apple.
Ranma whispered carefully into the transmitter. "I am
interested in borrowing some money. Well, I am more interested in
taking back some money that you've wrongfully taken from me."
Hiroshi's recitation was less than spectacular. "I'm
interested in... borrowing some...money. Well, actually, um, I
think I am more interested in taking back some...money that you've..
.wrongfully taken from me." Ranma heard through his ear piece
the choppy version that Hiroshi said.
This was going to be a harder task than what he thought.
* * *
Ranko looked at Ryoga. "Really? You're happy that I just
showed up?" Ryoga nodded furiously, like a puppy more than happy
to see it's master. Well sure Ranko liked Ryoga, but the fact that
she was very important to him was even more of a turn on.
"Great!" Ranko exclaimed, but then she silenced herself.
"Well, it's sort of funny. I always had a crush on you." She
giggled, as Ryoga turned red.
"R-r-really?" Ryoga had heard Ranma, but was sort of
distrustful of Ranma. Perhaps it was all of the rumors that were
circulating around school about Ranma's less than honorable
business tactics.
Ranko too blushed. She nodded. Ryoga seemed quite surprised.
"You're really beautiful." Unconsciously, he reached over, and
felt Ranko's hair. She blushed even more, and slapped him,
knocking Ryoga on to the ground.
"Oh, stop it, you're embarrassing me!" Ranko's face by now
probably had a ton of blood flowing through.
"It's true! I was wondering, whether you'd go out on a date
with me. But if you don't want to go with me, I can understand,
because I was wrong for hitting your brother, and if you hate me
for that..." Ranko slapped Ryoga a few times.
"Silly, Ranma practically said it was ok for me to go on a date
with you!" Ryoga seemed quite surprised.
"He said that!"
Ranko grabbed Ryoga and reeled him in. "I don't think I can
wait for that date. Do you want it to start now?" Ryoga nodded,
as he was quite mesmerized with Ranko's beauty. As he stared at
Ranko's face, Ryoga thought to himself. 'Ranma, I take back every
stinking bad word I said about you in my entire life.'
* * *
Nabiki seemed intrigue. "I owe you money? And I have never
really made a formal agreement with you. How could I possible owe
you any money."
Ranma spoke into his hand set. "Ok, take out the tape I gave
you. Whatever you do, don't let Nabiki get her hands on it. And
say what I say now..."
Hiroshi was noticeably getting better at repeating what Ranma
was saying. "Let's say for starters, I've lost some 20000 yen to
you through bets. I think I'm entitled to have 50000 yen for
damages and compensation. This tape here is proof that you've
rigged all of your gambling operations."
Nabiki seemed extra calm. "Is that so? 50,000 yen seems to be
a stiff payment. It's a good 150% interest."
"As a result of the deals, I've lost my girlfriend, and I'm in
debt with various other people. I need to pay them back. Besides,
I think I deserve a small profit for your deception." Hiroshi
nodded his head somewhat jerkily.
Nabiki looked at Hiroshi rather calmly. "And what should
happen if I don't agree?"
Ranma spoke. "Ok Hiroshi, looked her straight in the eye."
Hiroshi looked at Nabiki, despite the fact her black pupils scared
the hell out of him.
"Then, shall we say, tomorrow, people will be getting a sampler
of this tape in the mail." Nabiki stared intrigued at the person
across from him. He had certainly managed to out think her, on
this point though. She had to think of a way to salvage her money,
and perhaps earn something from him.
"Oh great, I have to go home. My father probably needs my help
now." Nabiki appeared to be thoughtful. "You have presented a
convincing case to me. Meet me tonight at the café, 8:00 pm sharp.
I think we need to have a serious discussion about this matter."
Hiroshi nodded his head, as Nabiki walked off.
* * *
Ranma walked home in silence. Not quite silence, because
Hiroshi was next to him babbling like a fool. "That was so cool
Ranma! I think your plan is working! Do you think Nabiki is
interested in me?"
Ranma sighed, and shoved the rather heavy box filled with
equipment into Hiroshi's hands. Ranma then leaned against the
fence and rubbed his eyes. "Just be quiet Hiroshi, I have a
fucking headache right now. And to answer your question, yes,
Nabiki is currently interested you on the professional level.
Tonight, if everything goes smoothly, you'll have her hook, line,
and sinker." Ranma groaned. "I think I need to take a nap or I
can't do anything tonight."
Hiroshi looked at Ranma as Ranma walked home clutching his head.
He had to admit, his friend's plan was working quite perfectly.
* * *
"Ranko! You're home! I was so worried about you." Nodoka
looked at Ranko, just to make sure her daughter was completely safe.
Ranko didn't seem to care about her mother's overprotectiveness.
"Mom, I just went on the best date today. He was so sweet, and
funny!" Ranko sat down on the table, and sighed. Nodoka had to
smile, and she slid a cup of tea to Ranko.
"So what happened? You have to tell me." Nodoka poured
herself a cup of tea, and settled next to Ranko. Before Ranko
could even speak, someone yanked the door open and walked in.
"And in comes Hurricane Ranma." Ranko said quite
uninterestedly. "What happened Ranma?"
Ranma waved back his sister and mother. "Don't worry. I think
I'm going to go to my room, and collapse." Ranma seemed quite
shaken as he walked up the stairs. Nodoka and Ranko could hear the
door to Ranma's room slid shut.
"He's been getting a lot of headaches, hasn't he?" Nodoka
asked. Ranko nodded. She knew that migraines could easily take
out a person, especially Ranma.
Ranma settled onto his bed, and found that his vision was going
hazy. He felt as if he was in a thick cloud, and couldn't find his
way out. Lying on the bed, Ranma closed his eyes and tried to
sleep off the migraine.
* * *
Ranma was bothered awake by the sound of his alarm clock
screaming wildly. It was 6:00 pm, which meant that he had 2 hours
to get ready. 'Shit, I overslept.' Ranma stood up quickly, and
felt all the blood drain from his head. Ranma almost fell back
again. 'Damn, I still have that headache.' Ranma sighed, and
grabbing the bottle on the table next to him, he helped himself to
a couple aspirins, which he swallowed dry.
Ranma picked up the telephone, and quickly dialed. He croaked
into the phone. "Is Hiroshi there?" Ranma waited a bit, as
presumably Hiroshi was given the telephone. "Hey Hiroshi, are you
ready? I'm going to be over at your house."
He heard Hiroshi's voice on the other end, sounding rather
concerned. "Hey, Ranma you don't sound so good. You want to
cancel tonight? I mean if you're not up to it."
Ranma cut him off. "I'll be there. And canceling the dinner
would be suicide." Ranma hung up the phone, grabbed his satchel,
and was out the door.
Ranma rushed down the stairs, surprisingly not stumbling once,
and was out the door, before his mother or Ranko could protest.
'Sorry, Ranko, Mother.' He ran out, heedless of his mother's
protests or Ranko's shouting.
* * *
Ranma reached Hiroshi's house, gasping heavily for air.
Hiroshi looked at Ranma, somewhat incredulously. "Hey, man, you're
going to push yourself to death. Maybe we should cancel tonight."
Ranma glared at Hiroshi. "I told you that would be suicide.
Postponing the date is the same as telling Nabiki you don't have
any balls." Ranma handed Hiroshi an envelope. "Here, 15000 yen
from my personal stash. You'd better pay me back by the end of the
year."
Hiroshi opened the envelope and leafed the bills. "What's with
the cash?" Ranma practically slapped himself.
"It's to impress Nabiki you dolt. And to emphasize the fact
that you do have a lot of capital to burn. It's make you seen even
more useful to Nabiki. It's to grab her interest, and then once we
have her interest we can play with her emotions." Hiroshi looked
at Ranma who seemed unnaturally calm. He had to shiver slightly
when Ranma talked about emotions in such a neutral way.
"Geesh, you make this sound like a surgical operation."
Hiroshi grabbed the cash, and placed it into his thin wallet.
"It is." Ranma walked off. "It would be a miracle for Nabiki
to fall in love with you."
* * *
Nabiki sat in the tiny booth, somewhat impatient. She had to
admit, what she saw of Hiroshi was quite interesting. Despite his
meek behavior, he did seem to have a rather interesting personality.
And plus, he managed to win in their first minor faceoff. 'Well
not for long. I intend to make a profit tonight.'
Promptly at 8:00 pm, the door to the café swung open, and in
came Hiroshi walking in rather confidently. Unknown to Nabiki,
Ranma had entered the café some ten minutes earlier, disguised with
a baseball cap and sunglasses. He had ordered some cheap tea, and
was seated about 4 chairs away from Nabiki.
"Ok, Hiroshi, all you need to do is walk in, and sit down right
next to Nabiki. You just need to seem confident." Hiroshi did as
he told. He walked up to Nabiki, and without even waiting for her
to invite him to site down, he helped himself to a chair. "Good.
Just say hello to her."
Hiroshi leaned back in his chair. "Hi, Nabiki."
Nabiki eyed Hiroshi. "Hi, Hiroshi. Please sit down." Nabiki
seemed to be somewhat intrigued by the boy's overconfidence.
Usually, that meant that he had something valuable. "So we want to
talk business, right?"
"Nod as if you are serious. A very brief and simple up and
down. No tremoring." Ranma hissed into his microphone. Hiroshi
did as he was told.
"Very way, but if you want to, please indulge me. I feel a
need to play a bet. Are you willing to bet that you are going to
spend less than me tonight?" Nabiki grinned to herself. She was
pretty sure that she could win. Obviously, she had ordered some
water, and since water was free, there was no way that she could
loose.
Ranma smiled ever so slightly. "Bingo, Hiroshi, agree. Keep
in mind, you are going to purposely loose the bet." Ranma quickly
tabulated in his mind a menu. "Hmmm, Hiroshi, just don't start
ordering until I tell you. We have to get this timed perfectly."
An hour later, Nabiki found herself laughing at Hiroshi's
rendition of a teacher's speech. "Not only did he completely
contradict himself in class, he made himself seem like an asshole
to the entire PTA." Nabiki had to smile somewhat, considering the
amount of trouble that Hiroshi (in reality Ranma) had to go through
to get a mean teacher kicked out of school.
"Is that so? I've never really done anything that big in my
life. I stick to running gambling operations. I'm not really
interested in messing around with others. I guess I'm a true
businesswoman." Nabiki sipped some expresso, that Hiroshi had been
kind enough to offer.
Hiroshi looked at his watch. "Oh my, I'd better be going back
before my mother freaks out." Hiroshi looked at the table, and
smiled sheepishly. "I guess I lost the bet. I guess you'd want
payment." Hiroshi fished through his pockets, and tossed 10,000
yen and a small micro-cassette onto the table.
Nabiki's eyes opened slightly. This certainly was a strange
development. "Errr, I'd be happy with the tape only." Hiroshi
shrugged his shoulders.
"You made me smile and laugh, I think the money there is
minuscule compared to what you did for me." Hiroshi left the café,
not after paying on the way out. A boy wearing a cap soon followed
Hiroshi out the door.
* * *
"Ranma, you are amazing. How do you know how to say that
stuff? And you make the perfect responses for everything!"
Hiroshi was completely amazed with how smooth the entire night had
went. "I mean, you seemed ready for anything."
"Well, you paid me, so I did my research." Ranma drank some of
his tea, and immediately grimaced. "I could make better tea."
Ranma flung the cup into the nearest wastebasket. Ranma turned at
the corner.
"See you tomorrow." Hiroshi waved to Ranma. Ranma just walked
home.
Chapter 6
Nabiki slowly walked in the door. Kasumi looked up from the
table. "You're a little late." Nabiki nodded in agreement, as she
walked to the refrigerator and grabbed some soda pop. Kasumi
seemed interested as she sat down at the kitchen table to do
homework. "What happened?"
Nabiki sat down right next to her sister. "Kasumi, did you
ever meet a person that you just quite didn't know how to trust?"
Kasumi had to smile.
"A boy, I presume?" Nabiki nodded. Kasumi shrugged her
shoulders in response. "I wouldn't really know. I guess I was
lucky when I met Tofu. He's such a sweet person." Nabiki had to
nod in agreement. Yep, Tofu Ono, smart kid with a very, very
bright future.
"I don't know. This person is halfway between decent and
conniving. He actually tried to blackmail me. But in the end he
gave up, and I got a profit. Surprising thing was, he didn't seem
too angry about it." Nabiki pulled out some money and dumped the
cassette on the table.
"Maybe it's his way of getting your attention?" Kasumi
fingered the cassette for a moment, and looked at the money. "This
is a lot of money."
"That's the other thing that intrigues me. He demands 20,000
yen from me, and yet, he easily flashes around cash as if it ready
didn't matter for him." Nabiki sighed.
"Well, I wouldn't know. But this is a hefty sum of cash."
Kasumi slid the dollars back to Nabiki.
* * *
"Hey, Hiroshi." Hiroshi heard someone calling his name, and
closing his locker door, he came face to face with Nabiki.
Immediately he waited for that quiet voice to tell him what to do,
but that was the problem. The tiny voice, also known as Ranma, was
not present. Hiroshi felt his jaw locking up.
He did manage to force out a greeting. "Hi."
"I was wondering about yesterday, I mean I really appreciated
your 'gift'." Hiroshi nodded vigorously. Nabiki had to wonder,
was this the same person that she talked to yesterday. The person
she had dinner with yesterday knew how to talk. He interacted,
mixed perfectly with her, but the person here, he was a complete
social moron.
"Are you feeling ok?" Nabiki stared at Hiroshi closer, and
poor Hiroshi, without prodding from Ranma, finally broke down. His
pupils dilated, and he locked into staring at Nabiki. Nabiki felt
uncomfortable. "Whatever." She left Hiroshi, who was still locked
into staring at nothing.
Hiroshi felt someone hit him in the back of the head. "You
idiot, you basically ruined everything that I set up for you!"
Hiroshi shook his head once as he returned to reality, and he
turned to see a rather exasperated Ranma.
"I don't know. The instant I saw her..." Hiroshi began.
"Your IQ drops to 4, and you begin to make vegetables look
sentient." Ranma leaned against the lockers. "If you're going to
keep ruining what I've carefully built for you, then don't bother
with my help. I have limited energy, and I can't go around ever
day trying to patch up you and your girlfriend."
Ranma left Hiroshi behind.
* * *
"Ryoga!" Ryoga Hibiki seemed to be lost, in the schoolyard.
Well, he himself wasn't lost, but he just simply didn't know where
that voice was coming from. There was a brief rustle of leaves,
and a black haired beauty, also known as Ranko Saotome, leaped onto
his back.
She smiled. "Hi Ryoga. Yesterday was so perfect." Ryoga
laughed nervously.
"Hi Ranko, so what brings you here?" Ryoga swung Ranko around,
so she landed on her feet, in front of him.
"I don't know. I guess I just felt bored." Ranko smiled.
"You skipped class?" Ryoga looked at Ranko somewhat seriously,
and was sort of surprised when Ranko nodded. "Doesn't your mother
know? Go back to class!"
Ranko smiled. "Geesh, as if having me in class is useful. I'm
a martial artist! I don't want to be a desk jockey when I grow up.
What do you think will happen to my figure?" Ranko indicated to
herself, and in the blowing wind, her somewhat loose clothing was
quite revealing.
Ryoga was quite speechless, as the wind pressed the thin silk
against Ranko's chest, revealing the fact she didn't have a bra on.
He turned his head so he wouldn't get distracted. "Any how, how
is Ranma doing?" Ryoga turned back to Ranko. "What happened to
him, he's so different than the Ranma I used to know."
The joy that was on Ranko's face flickered a little. "I don't
how he is doing. He never tells me or mother anything. He just
doesn't seem to be around the home a lot."
"It's that bad?" Ryoga looked at Ranko.
Ranko nodded. "Hey, are you in some of Ranma's classes?"
Ryoga nodded. "But you have study hall now, right?" Ryoga nodded
again. He couldn't stand being cramped up in the library during
study hall, so he sneaked outside. "Could you keep an eye on Ranma
for me? Make sure he doesn't get into trouble." Ryoga nodded
again.
Ranko looked at Ryoga's watch and giggled. "I think the
teacher will begin to get suspicious when I've taken a bathroom
break longer than twenty minutes See you!" Ranko gave Ryoga a
quick peck on the cheek, and she ran off.
* * *
Ranma sat at his usual bench, and Hiroshi was seated next to
him. "Where is Daisuke?" Ranma had to ask. He hadn't seen
Daisuke today. He wasn't in any of the classes.
Hiroshi shrugged his shoulders. "I heard that Kodachi tied him
up, and brought him over to her home for you-know-what..." Ranma
grimaced slightly.
"Sometimes I feel sorry for giving him Kodachi. Could you
deliver this to Hayashi? Someone wants Hayashi to take a fall
during the next Judo club tournament." Ranma seemed quite neutral.
"Just don't let Nabiki see you give the letter to Hayashi. I
surmiss that she already paid off the other person to take a fall,
so she can win off Hayashi."
"And you don't care!" Hiroshi looked at Ranma.
"This is business. If you won't deliver the letter, I will do
it myself." Ranma sighed, as it seemed that these days, everyone
had to complain about his MO.
"I don't think I can do it." Hiroshi handed the letter back to
Ranma.
"No problem, I'll do it myself." Ranma took the envelope, and
he stood up, and walked off.
* * *
Ranma sighed, as Hayashi agreed to throw the fight. In truth,
he agreed so quickly was that the fight was really a practice
session, and didn't have any bearing on his ranking. In addition,
he did owe Ranma a big favor. Ranma remembered that it was a big
challenge to get Hayashi together with a girl who just absolutely
hated judo. However, it was fortunate that the girl was open
minded, thanks to Ranma's meddling.
Ranma felt his wallet in his pocket, fattened with payment from
a particular classmate who wanted to get even with Nabiki. As
Ranma walked away, he began to doubt his actions. 'Is it right? I
think Nabiki stands to lose a lot.' Ranma silenced his concerns as
his mother did need the money.
'Whatever, it's just business.' Ranma thought as he left the
school yard.
* * *
Ranma pulled open the front door to his home, and walked in.
There was Soun Tendo sitting on a couch, idly drinking a cup of tea.
"What are you doing here?" Ranma stared blankly at Soun.
Soun seemed quite uncomfortable, as there was something
unsettling in the way Ranma carried himself. "Well, you mother was
gracious enough to invite me over for some tea."
"Is that so?" Ranma left the room without even bothering to
say goodbye or such. Soun sipped his tea. Yes, Nodoka was quite
right, Ranma wasn't going to take the marriage easily.
As soon as Ranma got upstairs and into his room, his telephone
immediately rung. "Hello?" Ranma talked into the headset.
"Hi, it's me, Nabiki. I just got him, and my father isn't here.
" Nabiki's voice sounded quite worried.
"You need not worry. He's here, drinking tea with my mother."
Ranma sounded rather hateful of the idea.
"I was getting worried. Well you know, I've been recently
really thinking about it, but you know this marriage might actually
be a good thing. I mean my Father usually spent a lot of time
crying..." Nabiki started.
Ranma's throat hardened. It seemed that everyone had jumped to
the other side, he was the only one left who seriously opposed the
wedding. The problem was that he realized that he was powerless to
do anything. His mother had her mind set, and once she was
determined to do something, she was going to go all the way. "I
wouldn't be surprised."
Nabiki heard the droning tone, indicating that Ranma had hung
up on her. Staring at the head piece for awhile, Nabiki turned off
her phone.
Ranma stared for the phone, and he resumed his work, when the
telephone rang again some thirty minutes later. Ranma sighed, and
rolled over on the bed to pick up the telephone. "Hello."
It was Hiroshi. "I have a problem. I tried to call Nabiki to
apologize to her, but she hung up on me, saying she had important
things to do. I need your help, please Ranma. I don't want to
lose her now." Ranma sighed as he really did feel tired always
helping Hiroshi.
"Um, ok Hiroshi. Let me see." Ranma stared at the cracks in
the ceiling. 'Think, Ranma, think. A plan. A simple plan.'
Ranma began slowly. "Maybe we can arrange a surprise visit tonight.
Meet me, right after sun down at the Tendo dojo. Got it?" Ranma
had a plan in his head that might work, that is if Nabiki hadn't
completely given up on Hiroshi.
"Um sure."
* * *
Nodoka settled down next to Soun. "So is Ranma home?" Soun
nodded, but he didn't quite seem as enthusiastic as Nodoka.
"He just came home." Soun sipped some tea. "But he wasn't too
enchanted with my presence here. I think he doesn't like me."
Soun sighed, as he knew that having two large families merge was
bound to create a little friction. Although, recently, he had to
be happy to note that Nabiki was getting more and more manageable,
regarding the upcoming marriage of course.
"That's too bad, maybe I need to have a serious talk with Ranma.
" Nodoka seemed a little serious. Perhaps a bit too serious.
"Oh it's nothing. You don't need to make Ranma agree. I mean,
it's natural for a boy to be attached to his father. I'm sure that
once Ranma realizes that we are serious, that he will accept our
decision."
"You seem too optimistic." Nodoka sighed. "You don't know
Ranma. Once he sets him mind to something, he will never rest
until it's done, his way. That's the one trait that I had hoped
that Ranma wouldn't inherit from his father." Nodoka drained her
tea cup quickly.
* * *
"Ok, how is this going to work?" Hiroshi leaned against the
fence with Ranma. Ranma grimaced slightly as he fought off the
droning headache that he had felt since morning. The light rain
that was drizzling down from the sky wasn't making it any better
for Ranma.
"Quite simple, you're going to go down there, and pitch this
rock at her window to get her attention. Once you have her
attention, you're going to recite after me. Got it?" Hiroshi
nodded. Ranma carefully opened the front gate to the Tendo Dojo,
and silently slipped into the yard.
Once the two friends positioned themselves outside of Nabiki's
window, Ranma handed Hiroshi a stone. Hiroshi wound his arm back
and flung it at Nabiki's window. Hiroshi's aim was off as the rock
soared above the window, striking the roof of the house and
ricocheting into the night.
"Can't you aim at all?" Ranma hissed. "Try again." Ranma
handed Hiroshi another stone. This time Hiroshi's aim was to the
side, and the stone harmlessly dented the side of the house. Ranma
growled at Hiroshi's incompetence. "Let me do it." Ranma grabbed
a rock and tossed it at Nabiki's window. It bounced off the window,
creating enough noise to grab Nabiki's attention.
Nabiki had been studying some Calculus, when she heard
something hit her window. Grabbing her flashlight, she peered out
the window. In the light rain, she could see Hiroshi standing
outside of her window.
"Oh it's you. Bother me some other time, I'm busy." Nabiki
pulled back, and was about to close the window, when she heard
Hiroshi shout. "Please, Nabiki, stop. At least allow me have the
dignity of apologizing to you."
Hiroshi stared at Ranma, somewhat amazed that Ranma could do a
passable imitation of his voice. Ranma hissed to Hiroshi. "Bend
your head down so Nabiki can't see your mouth." Hiroshi did as he
told.
Somehow, the voice that Nabiki heard was a lot more forceful,
and she was compelled to listen. "Ok, you've got one minute. I'm
really busy."
Ranma felt himself grow cold in the rain. 'Shit, I should have
brought a jacket.' Ranma stifled a cough and cleared his throat.
In his best Hiroshi voice, he continued. "Nabiki, I am really
sorry for being such an insensitive person in school today, because
I truly believe you are a beautiful girl. I don't know but I was...
" Ranma couldn't continue as he suppressed a cough. He shook
violently for a moment.
Nabiki sat there, somewhat intrigued by the fact that Hiroshi
seemed to have stop talking. She leaned out of the window, to get
a better view. She saw Hiroshi standing outside the window, his
head looked downwards, as if in respect to her. Ranma cursed
himself for being so weak, but he decided to use the break as an
advantage. "... I was afraid, I was afraid that you wouldn't
accept me."
Nabiki sat at the window, trying to digest Hiroshi's words.
What managed to intrigue her was how Hiroshi seemed to be in phases.
His personalities seemed to oscillate between extremely friendly
and extremely shy. But then again, it did feel good to have an
admirer. "And?" Nabiki felt extremely warm to Hiroshi at this
point. In fact by now, she was pretty sure that Hiroshi was
genuinely in love with her.
And just knowing that can be a comforting thing to a girl.
* * *
Nodoka sat with Ranko and her guest, Ryoga, at the dinner table.
Nodoka seemed quite detached from the animated discussion that
Ranko and Ryoga were having. Ranko looked at Nodoka worried.
"What's wrong, Mother?"
"I'm wondering, where is Ranma?" Nodoka stared at the empty
place at the table. "Why isn't he home?"
Ranko seemed thoughtful for a moment. "I don't know. But I
overheard that he and Hiroshi were planning to do something
toinight. Ranma did leave in a hurry this afternoon, and he could
have left something on his desk." Nodoka nodded, and she walked up
the stairs, down the hall, and into Ranma's room.
His room was a meticulous as ever, but there were a few
differences. Ranma in his haste seemed to have left his keys
behind. Ranko appeared in the doorway with Ryoga. She looked at
the keys. "Wow, those are Ranma's keys to his drawer! Even he
never leaves these behind." Ranko took them, and with eager hands
tried to unlock Ranma's desk drawer.
"Ranko, what are you doing! You know it's wrong to go through
Ranma's stuff!" Nodoka searched Ranma's desk, and she found a
filling folder labeled "Hiroshi" on top. She grabbed the folder
and opened it. There were endless photographs of Nabiki Tendo
inside.
Ryoga bent forwards, and picked up a photo. "Who's the chick?"
Immediately he lost his breath as he felt Ranko's mighty elbow
crash into his gut. "Of course, she's not as beautiful as you,"
gasped Ryoga.
Nodoka leafed through the photographs. Included in the pile
were several handwritten sheets. Nodoka read the notes, and was
quite surprised as they were a complete evaluation of Nabiki Tendo.
It listed her likes, her dislikes, her passions, her turn offs,
her favorite activities. Scrawled in the margin was "See Personal
File."
Nodoka turned to Ranko. "What does Ranma do in school anyhow?"
Ranko shrugged her shoulders, as she really didn't know.
Ryoga volunteered to answer. "Mrs. Saotome, I just came to
this school, but I've heard that most guys know that if you want to
get a girlfriend, and it just seems too difficult, Ranma could fix
you up for a fee."
Nodoka looked at the detailed notes which just screamed that
Ranma did spend a lot of time. "And I was wondering how come Ranma
didn't have any free time." Nodoka took the keys from Ranko's
hands, and she opened Ranma's drawer. Pulling it open, she found a
ton of folders, labeled with various names, presumably clients of
Ranma. There was Tatewaki, Daisuke, Hayashi, and plenty of other
names. In addition, there were quite a few files devoted to girls.
"Ok, so that would explain why Ranma doesn't sleep a lot."
Ranko and Ryoga nodded in agreement, as essentially, Ranma had
cataloged the entire student population of Furinken High, listed
their likes and dislikes as well as debts and other useful pieces
of information.
Nodoka's eyes landed on the folder devoted to Nabiki Tendo.
Surprisingly it was slightly heavier than all of the other folders.
"Is Ranma interested in Nabiki?" Nodoka looked at Ranko.
"I don't think so, Mother. I think Ranma and Nabiki have sort
of come head to head in the past, although Ranma doesn't like to
advertise his presence. I guess Ranma likes to 'know his enemies.
'"
Chapter 7
The rain and coldness were beginning to take a toll on Ranma.
His vision slowly began to haze over, and he couldn't think
straight. He tried to continue imitating Hiroshi. "And I think
I'm in love with you." Ranma's voice died down from there, as he
grabbed his head futilely trying to stop the migraine. With a
muffled groan, Ranma fell down into the mud as the migraine
overwhelmed him.
Nabiki heard a low groan, and hearrd Hiroshi shout. "Shit,
Ranma! What's wrong!" Nabiki's heart, which had been pumping
rather hard from Hiroshi's warm speech, suddenly stopped. 'Did he
say, Ranma?' Nabiki grabbed her flashlight and raincoat, and went
outside.
Sloshing around, Nabiki made her way to the patch of ground in
front of her window, and found Hiroshi trying to wake up Ranma by
tapping his cheek. Nabiki stood there. "What is going on here?"
Hiroshi looked at Nabiki, and froze. Maybe it was time to tell
the truth. "It's a long story?" Hiroshi seemed quite nervous as
Nabiki approached. Nabiki listened carefully to Hiroshi's voice,
and yes, it was somewhat different from the voice that she had
heard in the window.
"Just got out of my yard. And take your friend with you."
Nabiki's analytical mind quickly summarized the situation.
Kasumi was waiting by the door, when Nabiki walked in angrily.
In the entryway, Nabiki tossed off her umbrella, muddy shoes, and
raincoat. Kasumi could see a rather angry expression on Nabiki's
face. "Nabiki, what's wrong?"
"Boys are some of the most insensitive slobs in the whole world.
" Nabiki stomped up the stairs.
* * *
Ranma was taking some books out of his locker, when he suddenly
felt that someone was standing behind him. Turning around, he was
face to face with a really angry Nabiki Tendo, who was standing
there with her arms crossed. "Why did you do it?"
Ranma opened his satchel, and placed a book in it. "What did I
do?"
"You know what I'm talking about. Could you tell me why?"
Nabiki stood there, somewhat impatient with the extraordinary
calmness that Ranma displayed.
"5000 yen." Ranma closed his locker, and shouldered his
satchel. Nabiki could not believe her ears. Ranma actually had
the audacity to play around with her emotions, for only 5000 yen.
Nabiki grabbed Ranma, and was surprised with the ease that she
slammed him against the locker.
"You did that for money! You bastard! Do you know how much it
hurts, to have a glimmer of hope that immediately becomes nothing."
Nabiki shouted at Ranma loud enough that the entire hall became
silent, and students focused on the two. Ranma stared at Nabiki,
but he didn't respond.
"You're a selfish, indulgent, piece of horse shit!" Nabiki
kneed Ranma in the groin, and to her satisfaction, he went down.
Ranma started to laugh, but his laugh was broken by a spasm of
coughing. "And you're one of the most hypocritical people I know.
You run your own business, and I've personally seen the damage
you've done, to students and to some of my friends. Think of the
other people you blackmail with your secrets."
Nabiki felt so angry by that point that she tried to punch
Ranma. Ranma's hand immediately intercepted her fist. Ranma
leaned forwards and whispered into her ear. "I let you hit me the
first time, because yes, I do feel guilty for almost allowing
myself to fall in love with you and playing with your emotions like
that. But do not think that you can hit me again. If you try to
cross me, I will not be forgiving."
Ranma grabbed his satchel, and stumbled down the hall,
periodically taking rests against the wall in an attempt to catch
his breath. Nabiki whirled around, and left the hall.
* * *
Ranko landed next to Ranma as he slowly walked home. "Ranma,
will you give me a little clue what is going on? I just heard that
Nabiki tried to punch you up today!" Ranma continued walking, as
if he didn't hear his sister.
Ranko grabbed Ranma by the collar, and pushed him against the
wall. "Ranma, I've just had it with your attitude problem. You're
going to tell me what happened, or I'm going to put you 6 feet
under.
Ranma looked into his sisters eyes, and knew that she wasn't
joking that much. "Ok , I'll tell you."
Sometime later, Ranko was in her room lying on her futon, while
Ryoga was doing homework on the floor. "Isn't that weird, Ryoga?
I mean, why would Ranma go through all of that trouble for his
friend? I mean, I know Ranma does a lot for me, but I definitely
know that Ranma would not go way out of his way to help me. You
get my drift?" Ryoga nodded his head, but for the moment, he was
paying attention to his biology text book.
"Hey, Ryoga, are you even paying attention to me?" Ranko
leaned over the side of her futon.
"Yes, that's nice Ranko." Ryoga continued studying, knowing
very well that he'd better remember the material for next week's
exam.
Ranko felt exasperated. Sure she liked her boyfriend, but she
did prefer to have him pay attention to her. "Hey, I'm going to
take off my shirt, and dance naked around town, you want to come
with me?"
"What!" Ryoga slowly looked up at Ranko, and was relieved to
see that she still had her shirt on. "I don't know, but I was
thinking about Ranma. Do you think the reason he went through all
that trouble is that he has a crush on Nabiki?"
"What! Explain, before I think you have brain-damage." Ranko
focused on Ryoga, waiting for a grand explanation.
"Well think about it. Ranma doesn't like his body, and he
feels that he's useless. He likes Nabiki, and along comes his
friend Hiroshi who really probably has a passing fling for Nabiki.
He asks Ranma for help, and Ranma accepts. Ranma uses Hiroshi as a
shield, so he can voice his feelings to Nabiki without letting
Nabiki see him." Ryoga turned back to his biology textbook.
Ranko laid there for a few seconds, trying to follow Ryoga's
chain of logic. "Ok, I think I can see it now. Hey, that's pretty
sick stuff. I mean Ranma gets some girl to fall in love with
someone else because he loves her? How did you figure that out?"
Ryoga smirked. "I guess you haven't been reading our book for
literature class, 'Cyrano de Bergerac'?" Ranko seemed befuddled
for a moment.
"Um, not quite. What's it about?" Ranko grabbed her satchel
and rooted through it. After some fierce searching and
trailblazing, Ranko managed to pulled out a worn, torn, and
generally, an unused copy of Cyrano de Bergerac, translated into
Japanese.
"It's basically the same thing that happened to Ranma, Hiroshi,
and Nabiki, but the character that reflects Hiroshi dies in the end.
And like Nabiki's supposed to become a nun, and like Ranma's
supposed to have a long nose."
Ranko stifled a giggle, as she tried to imagine Ranma with a
long nose. "I got to read this book." Ranko brushed the mountains
of dust off the book, and opened the cover.
* * *
Nabiki walked in the front door, and slammed it shut behind her.
Kasumi looked up from the table, and as Nabiki stormed into the
room. "Kasumi, I'd like to make a clarification on my statement.
Boy are fine. Ranma Saotome is an asshole." Nabiki sat down next
to Kasumi and sighed.
"And why is that? You know he's going to become your step
brother in two weeks." Kasumi reminded Nabiki. Nabiki didn't
really hear Kasumi, as she seemed to be off in her own world.
"If he tries to take advantage of me again, I'll rip off his
stinking head!" Nabiki muttered while grabbing the teapot and
pouring herself a cup.
"He tried to take advantage of you!" Kasumi looked at Nabiki
rather shocked.
Nabiki looked at Kasumi, and had to laugh. The expression on
her older sister's face was priceless. "No, I don't mean that. I
mean he played with my emotions. He practically had me fall in
love with a nobody. For a measly, 5000 yen."
* * *
Ryoga looked at Ranko, and could practically tell something was
on her mind. "Ranko, what are you thinking of?"
Ranko sat up on her futon. "What do you think if we tried to
get Nabiki and Ranma together? I mean, it would do a world of good
for Ranma. Looking at him everyday like that is going to make me
depressed." Ranko sighed and settled down. "Besides, I think it
was about time that he found someone compatible with him. Nabiki's
the only girl at school, who remotely has a similar thinking
process."
"Is that so? Hey, isn't she going to be your step-sister soon?
Isn't that going to be weird?" Ryoga looked at Ranko.
Ranko settled down next to Ryoga. "So what? At least the two
are happy, right? Please Ryoga?" Ranko gave Ryoga the
ultra-kawaii cute girl with large eyes treatment, Ryoga sighed an
nodded his head. "Thanks! Now we have to start planning!"
Ranko tossed her unread textbooks onto the floor. "Anything to
skip homework?" Ryoga asked, and Ranko nodded her head.
"Hey, this is going to be more interesting." Ranko giggled as
she detailed her plan to Ryoga.
* * *
The next day, Ranma opened his locker, surprised to find a
letter shoved in through the vent. Shrugging his shoulders, Ranma
grabbed the envelope. Tearing it open, Ranma quickly skimmed its
contents and his face visible twisted slightly. Crumpling the
letter, Ranma tossed the letter back into his locker and slammed
shut the locker.
Meanwhile, Nabiki was surprised to find a letter as well in the
bottom of her locker. She neatly tore the top of the envelope out
and read the letter within. Nabiki looked around to see if someone
was laughing at her, and she placed the letter within her satchel.
Nabiki walked into her classroom. Ranko leaped up. "Yes!"
At lunch time, Ranko sat next to Ryoga. "Hey, Ryoga, how did
Ranma take the letter." Ranko giggled when Ryoga poked her in the
ribs.
"I don't really know. He crumbled the letter and tossed it."
Ryoga grabbed his lunch.
"Hmm, that means that he's probably trying to think about it."
Ranko settled down. "Damn, I hope for once, he makes a decent
decision."
* * *
After school, Ranma walked cautiously to the tree that was
designated in the letter. In his hands was the crumpled letter,
and with a final sigh, he smoothed it out, and shoved it into his
pocket. Ranma looked at the old tree, which had managed to survive
despite the ravaging by worms and other insects.
With a sigh, Ranma leaned against the tree, and waited. Not
much later, his patience was rewarded when Nabiki picked her way
through the tall grass. She seemed surprise to see Ranma standing
there.
Ranma was first to talk. "Is this some sort of joke?"
Nabiki was second. "That's what I like to ask you. Maybe
someone else is playing a joke on us."
Ranma scanned the horizon, but in the sea of grass no one was
to be seen. "I can't tell. Well, I guess that's that. Nice to
meet you again, but I can't afford to waste time." Ranma turned
around, but as he moved, his sensitive ears picked up a crackling
noise coming from above. Instinctively Ranma grabbed Nabiki, and
pulled her.
A large limb crashed down from above. Ranma looked up at the
tree, but most of his sight was obscured by the leaves. "I guess
it isn't safe here." Nabiki however was sort of paralyzed as the
branch had passed her face by no more than half a foot. It was a
huge branch, obviously heavy enough to crush a human. Ranma shook
Nabiki as she wasn't responding. With a sigh, Ranma heard more
cracking noises coming from the tree.
Picking up Nabiki, Ranma left the tree immediately.
In the tree, Ranko and Ryoga smiled. There plan was proceeding
quite smoothly.
Ranma ran with Nabiki slung over his back out of the field, and
back to the schoolyard. Stopping at an outdoor waterfountain,
Ranma wet his hands with the cold water and patted her face. "Hey,
wake up!" Ranma was panting rather hard. Suddenly, Nabiki blinked
her eyes, and saw Ranma. Nabiki climbed to her feet.
"You idiot! You almost had me killed!" Nabiki looked around
want was surprised to find herself outside of school. "What
happened?" Nabiki looked at Ranma who was now on his knees
breathing heavily, and she surmised that Ranma had carried her down
the from the far field to the school yard.
Ranma gasped between breaths, "Tell me when it's morning," and
he collapsed onto the ground, completely exhausted.
"Hey, this isn't funny." Nabiki nudged Ranma with her foot,
but she suddenly remembered that Ranma had a very weak constitution.
* * *
Genma finally pushed the boulder back enough that he could get
a hold of Ranma. Ranma was a complete mess. Essentially, Ranma's
back was a mess of clotted blood. "Don't worry, boy, I'll get you
out of this." Genma carefully lifted up Ranma, but to his dismay
he saw how limp Ranma's legs were, as compared to his arms which
were tense.
"Father." The boy moaned. His eyes were somewhat glazed over
as it was evident that his body was in shock. Genma could feel his
son's body slowly cooling off. He knew that his son needed
attention quick.
Genma ran quickly towards the mouth of the cave, when an after
shock struck, and the tunnel began to collapse even more. Genma
successfully dodged various rocks, but just before reaching the
mouth, he felt a looming shape above him. Instinctively, he threw
Ranma forwards.
Ranma shouted in pain as he landed on the ground. Behind him,
was his father, caught underneath a massive wall of rocks. Genma
groaned as he tried to work his way free, but the damage had been
done. Genma clasped Ranma's hand, and forced a smile. "Don't
worry, some people will be around soon to help us. I think I'm
going to take a nap now." Genma's voice gradually died down, and
he rested his head against dirt.
But no help came. Ranma waited there, struggling to move.
Screaming for his father, but no one came. Ranma laid there,
unable to move, unable to get help for his father. He was helpless.
And when it started to rain, Ranma was unable to keep himself dry.
By the time people found him two days later, he was cold, numb,
sick, and barely responding.
* * *
Ranma sat up with a scream. Wiping his eyes, which were filled
with tears, Ranma hugged his legs to his chest, a feat which was
impossible for him 5 years ago. He was in the cave. His body felt
cold. He felt sick and unwilling to move.
Nabiki was seated next to his bed. "Hey, I was sorry I kind of
snapped at you back there. I kind of realized I owe you one."
Nabiki had played the entire scene in her mind, and using her
intelligence, she had been able to piece it all together.
Apparently, Ranma had pulled her so she wouldn't get hit. Nabiki
remembered becoming paralyzed with fear, and most likely Ranma was
worried, so he carried her to the school.
Ranma looked around, as if searching for something, and
although he didn't find what he was looking for, he looked at
Nabiki for a moment, suddenly realizing that he wasn't in the cave.
"Are you feeling ok?" Nabiki looked at Ranma, who seemed to be
undergoing a ton of stress at that moment. Ranma barely nodded,
got out of bed, and slowly walked out of the room. Nabiki stood up,
and followed Ranma out the door. "Hey, you hear me?" Ranma
turned to Nabiki, and he nodded.
"Then what's wrong?" Nabiki seemed perplexed about Ranma's
behavior.
Ranma sank to the ground. "I never remembered what exactly
happened to my Father, but when I was 6 years old, he decided to
take me on a year long trip to China, for training. But I never
really remembered what happened on the trip. It seemed that
something just blocked my mind. The only thing I could remember
was getting lost in this cave, and getting rescued by people"
"But these few days, I've been getting these dreams, about what
happened in the cave. My father died was dying in front of me, and
I couldn't do a think to help him. I couldn't even move." Ranma
kneeled there, his head low. "I killed my father."
"But you didn't kill your father." Nabiki offered. At least
she'd think that Ranma wouldn't go as far as to go kill a person.
"But I wandered into that cave, and my father was worried about
me, and he tried to find me." Ranma paused. "If I never wandered
into that cave, then Father would be alive."
Monster or not, Ranma still deserved some sympathy. Well, at
least that was what Nabiki felt. "But you didn't kill your father.
Whatever happened was a complete accident. You should at least
appreciate the fact that you are alive."
"Alive? Yes, I am alive. But do I enjoy my existence? The
sole reason I exist is to atone for what I did to my father. I
should be dead right now."
* * *
Nodoka seemed quite worried when Nabiki sat across from her.
"Ranma told you this? He was supposed to never learn about this."
Nabiki looked at Nodoka surprised. "You knew about this! How,
why?"
"At the time, Genma, Ranma, and some friends were in China
traveling around to train and such."
"Somehow, Ranma decided to explore some caves beneath a large
volcano, and Genma, my husband, got worried. He went to find Ranma,
but Ranma was buried in a cave in. Genma was able to rescue Ranma,
but a second cave in buried my husband. He died in front Ranma."
"For two days, Ranma was alone, soaked to the bone because of
the rain. He was barely alive when the Amazons found him. They
told me that they gave him some weird formula of shampoo that was
supposed to make him forget details of his father's death, and that
helped to make Ranma recovery quickly. But I guess, the Formula
finally wore off."
Nodoka sipped on some tea. "Perhaps it is for the better, as
living a lie is often worse than living itself. Nabiki, could you
please do a favor for me, and keep this a secret? The only other
person who really knows about the truth is Soun, as I have told him.
"
Chapter 8
There was rapid knocking on the front door. Nodoka, who was
cooking dinner, wiped her hands on her apron, and walked over to
the door. Carefully she opened the door, and looked outside. Her
melancholy face, thinking about Ranma, immediately melted into a
smile. "Father! What are you doing here?"
The old man in the doorway replied. "Hi Nodoka! How could I
possibly stay away from my favorite daughter's wedding." Nodoka
opened the door wide, allowing her father to come in.
Nodoka called out. "Ranma, Ranko. Grandfather Happosai is
here!"
* * *
Ranko came leaping down the stairs, and was surprised by the
old diminutive man that was standing in the entry way with a big
smile on his face. Happosai looked at Ranko and smiled. "Ah, the
granddaughter I've never seen." Happosai turned to Nodoka. "She
looks better than you." Nodoka smiled.
Nodoka seemed worried. "Where's Ranma? He hasn't seen
grandfather for 12 years."
Happosai looked around. "Yeah, where is Ranma? I remember him
when he was only 4 years old. He could almost knock his old
grandfather down." Happosai started to laugh. Nodoka and Ranko
groaned inwardly.
There was the creak of the stairs as Ranma walked down. Last
night was not a restful night for Ranma, and it was apparent. His
hair was a mess, and he was breathing heavily. Ranma forced a
smile that looked rather fake. "Hi Grandfather Happosai."
"Hi Ranma! It's nice to see that you've grown so tall!" With
amazing agility, Happosai leaped through the air and landed on
Ranma's shoulder. "Hmmm, my boy, you don't look so good, what's
wrong?" Happosai leaned close. "Bad luck with the girlfriend?"
Nodoka laughed nervously as she waved her arms around. "Now
Grandfather, you don't want to overwhelm Ranma right now."
Happosai leaped off Ranma.
"Say, boy, you look down. Maybe you want old Happosai to give
you something special." Happosai locked his hand around Ranma's
wrist and dragged him to the other room. Satisfied that he and
Ranma were alone, Happosai turned to Ranma and spoke with a hushed
tone. "Ever seen these boy? Always good for getting a quick laugh.
" Happosai reached into his clothing and pulled out a glossy
magazine. On the cover were women in rather revealing positions.
Ranma didn't seem that interested, although he did look at the
cover for a bit. "Into the porn, old man?"
"Ah, not interested. Yeah, they aren't that interesting, just
a bunch of photos." Happosai tossed the magazine behind him.
There seemed to be a gleam in his eyes as he prepared to reveal his
next trick. "How about this Ranma?" Happosai pulled out a black
lacy bra.
"I hope you didn't steal that." Ranma didn't seem interested.
Happosai seemed discouraged for a moment, and then he decided to
try the direct approach.
"Ok, Ranma, what's eating at you? Maybe I can help." Happosai
leaped up, and looked straight into Ranma's eyes, which wasn't hard
since Ranma was seated against the wall.
"There is not a single thing that you can help." Ranma tried
to get up, but he just didn't feel that he had the energy to do so.
* * *
Nodoka was cooking dinner, when the door behind her opened.
"Yes?" Nodoka turned around, revealing Happosai who was reading a
few scrolls and flexing his hand in rather weird ways. "Oh Father,
you don't need to come here. Just wait out in the dining room, I
should be done in a few minutes."
"Oh it's not that, I'm just wondering about Ranma. What's
wrong with him?" Happosai noted that Nodoka sighed rather loudly.
"I was hoping that you didn't ask." Nodoka stirred some stuff.
"Perhaps it was best you didn't know." Happosai was interested,
and he stood there silent knowing very well his daughter would
continue talking.
A little bit later, Happosai nodded knowingly. "So Ranma is a
little weak? Eh. And he feels like he's useless and helpless.
Happosai reached into his shirt and pulled out an old tome. "Maybe
there is something that I can do after all. I was beginning to
worry that he was having troubles with women. Bah, worry not
Nodoka, I'm sure I can solve Ranma's problem."
* * *
Ranma and Ranko watched Happosai with amazement as he downed
his sixth bowl of rice without the slightest delay. "Wow,
Grandfather you sure have a big appetite." Ranko observed. Even
she had to concede defeat after 3 bowls of rice.
Ranma placed his first bowl of rice on the table. "Yeah, I
guess you take after him, Ranko." Ranko grabbed Ranma by the
collars and shook him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ranko shouted. If there was
one thing that Ranko could not stand, it was a comment about her
eating habits. As a child, she tended to the heavy side and people
were merciless when they made jokes about her. Fortunately, with
her maturation, her metabolism burned away all of her fat, leaving
a rather slim and well-figured woman. (Notice I didn't say well
proportioned.)
"Hey, nothing, just joking." Ranma was virtually helpless, and
Ranko released his collar.
"Just checking."
"Say Ranma," Happosai eyed Ranma as he slurped soap from his
bowl. "Maybe you and I want to spar a little in the Dojo later?"
Immediately, Nodoka and Ranko gave a strange look at Happosai.
"Father, I don't think..." Nodoka began. "I mean, it probably
isn't good if..."
"Nonsense! I'm sure Ranma would have no problem disabling an
old man like me." Happosai smiled like a cat that had caught its
mouse. Ranma sighed, and stood up. Happosai chuckled as he
followed Ranma to the Dojo.
As soon as Ranma entered the Dojo, Happosai shut the door and
locked it behind him. Ranma slowly walked to the center of the
room, and turned around to face Happosai. "Ok Ranma, I want you to
strike me. Don't worry, I won't move." Happosai had a weird
all-knowing smile on his face.
"Are you sure? I don't have the strength to do..." Ranma
began, but Happosai cut him off.
"Just do it!" Immediately, Ranma's legs instinctively slipped
into a ready stance, and he charged Happosai. However, even as he
got closer, he felt the strength leave his legs, turning his
muscles into jello, and Ranma fell to his knees.
Happosai nodded knowingly. His daughter hadn't been lying when
she said that Ranma was weak. Ranma grimaced. "See, old man, I
can't do it."
Happosai still had to evaluate Ranma. "Well, then, just punch
me. No need for any fancy. Walk up to me an punch me." Ranma
slowly looked down at Happosai, and almost laughed.
"Well, what do you want me to do? Crawl to you and then
punch?" Happosai sighed, the amount of negativity that Ranma was
outputting was certainly a pain to listen to.
"Ok then, kick me like a soccer ball." Ranma shrugged his
shoulders, and taking a deep breath, he cocked his leg back, and
launched it at Happosai.
Ranma stared at his Grandfather since the old man wasn't moving
at all. As soon as Ranma's leg passed, Happosai's hand lashed, and
Ranma felt three fingers stab into his leg. Immediately his
muscles in his leg locked up, and Ranma ended up throwing himself
into the ground.
Ranma felt all of his breath leave him as he slammed into the
ground, and he felt that he saw a flash before his eyes. Ranma
laid still on the ground. Happosai leaned over Ranma's face with a
cheerful grin. "See Ranma, you don't need brute force to be a
martial artist. All you need is the right mindset. And you my boy,
don't have the right attitude. Here, read this book, and memorize
it. I'll see you here tomorrow, same time."
Happosai dropped an ancient tome on Ranma's chest. Ranma
strained as he pulled his head up and stared at the cover.
Apparently the book was an ancient Chinese medical text. Ranma
muttered something before he collapsed back.
Nodoka watched through the window as Happosai left the dojo by
himself. Apparently, he was cheerful about something.
* * *
Ranma groaned as he touched his back, which was completely
tight as a result of Happosai's demonstration. Ranma immediately
climbed into bed, but for some reason he couldn't sleep. Perhaps
it was the fact that he was thinking about how Happosai was able to
disable him with three fingers.
Ranma turned his head to his desk, on which was the ancient
tome. For a long time Ranma stared at the book, before slowly
getting out of bed and turning on his desk lamp. The night was
going to be long.
Ranma, whether it was a result of the accident, had a rather
capable mind, if he put his mind to a task, he would never quit
until he succeeded. Right now, Ranma sought to memorize the tome.
Opening the book, Ranma stared at the faded Chinese characters.
Unfortunately, it had been at least ten years since he used Chinese.
Groaning in disgust, Ranma slammed the book shut.
Ranma sat at his desk staring at the book. With a sigh, Ranma
reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a Chinese-Japanese
dictionary. "I've got all night. I guess I can was my time."
Ranma opened the book and turned the page. He was greeted with
plenty of diagrams.
Looking closely at the images, he realized that Happosai had
written the translations in the margin. Perhaps the task wasn't so
hard as it seemed.
* * *
Happosai looked at Ranma for a moment before shouting. "Boy,
when I ask you to spar with me, I do not want to see you sleep in
front of me!" Ranma offered no response as he was snoring softly,
while standing up, a feat that no mere man could ever accomplish.
With a grumble, Happosai grabbed a pail from the corner of the
Dojo and walked outside. Moments later, Happosai returned, and
tossed the bucket at Ranma. Ranma practically screamed as the cold
water hit him. "Boy, when the Master of the Anything Goes School
talks to you, you'd better listen."
"Yeah, whatever." Ranma said.
"That's 'Yes, Master' to you! Ranma, you have the worst
attitude that I've ever seen in a student. Even your father was
better behaved."
Nodoka was surprised by the amount of shouting that was coming
from the Dojo. She turned to Ranko. "What do you think is
happening?"
Ranko shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. And I don't care,
unless it interferes with my date tonight. Sorry Mom, I really
have to go now!" Nodoka finally realized that Ranko was wearing a
nice dress, which was a bit unusual for her daughter.
"Young lady, you'd better be back by 12!" Nodoka called as
Ranko tore out of the house.
* * *
Happosai was impressed. He had quickly drilled Ranma over the
flow of chi within the human body, and Ranma was able to respond
accurately. Not perfectly, but accurately. 'Now, that was one
thing Genma could never learn.' Happosai thought as he shouted out
locations and had Ranma point them out on a training dummy.
Happosai had to smile. "Not bad at all Ranma. Now, let's go
over it all again."
"But..." Ranma seemed to be clearly exhausted. The
combination of sleep deprivation as well as constant drilling was
beginning to take a toll on Ranma.
"No buts Ranma! You have to train to the point that it becomes
instinctive!" Ranma merely groaned, but stubborn, he stuck to the
task. "Then, you can start on the road to becoming a master of
this skill."
* * *
Ryoga sighed as he walked into the park. Of course as usual,
he had to be at the designated waiting place some twenty minutes
earlier. Not a big deal, at least for Ryoga. He had an intense
patience. Besides, he felt he could wait for eternity for Ranko.
However, he didn't have to wait too long, as within a few
minutes, Ranko broke through some bushes cursing her dress. "Who'd
ever..." Ranko tugged at her skirt, since it was caught in the
bushes. "think that..." Ranko brushed some leaves that had
decided to stick to her blouse. "dresses would be such a pain in
the ass!" With her final words, Ranko finally extracted herself
from the bush.
Ryoga's jaw dropped. "R-r-r-r-anko! Y-yo-you're in a dress?"
"You like it?" Ranko twirled around, and stopped right in
front of Ryoga. Ryoga's eyes looked downwards, and...
"Yes, and if you don't mind, I think I've seen too much."
Ryoga groaned for a moment, before falling onto the ground.
"Um Ryoga, are you alright?" Ranko knelt beside him.
* * *
For what seemed like hours, Ranma focused on the dummy in front
of him, his hands lashing out to strike pressure points as fast as
he could recall. Despite the lack of movement, Ranma found himself
settling into a pattern which he could almost instantaneously
recall the correct location and order with which to strike the
points.
Happosai was pleased with Ranma's fast learning. "Boy, 12
years ago, I knew you were talented and by golly, I knew you could
learn this!"
Ranma sat down to take a breath. Happosai continued. "Don't
worry Ranma my boy, your grandfather isn't the Master of Anything
Goes for no reason. I'll be sure to teach you some of my other
tricks. But now, I'm going to go out for a little stroll."
Happosai somehow magically produced a large empty sack. "I'll be
back!"
With infinite amount of energy, Happosai opened the door and
leaped out of the dojo.
* * *
Ranko giggled as she thought about the movie that she had seen
with Ryoga. It did seem that Ryoga had a vast knowledge for movies.
Perhaps it had to do with his endless wandering to find Ranma.
Ranko stopped, and she grabbed Ryoga, ready to kiss him when her
ears detected a low whistling sound coming from her right.
She immediately pushed Ryoga back, and lashed out with both
hands. Ryoga had to be amazed as Ranko stopped two throwing
daggers right in front of him.
There was a clapping noise, and an old woman called out.
"Impressive, no doubt the blood of the amazons still run through
you, unlike your father." A small withered old woman hoped out of
the bushes. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Cologne."
Ranko muttered. "What an old witch." Cologne lashed out with
her cane, and Ranko immediately leaped backwards. "Hey, what are
you trying to do? Kill me?"
"Not bad at all. Most people wouldn't have reacted in time."
Cologne stood there, with a gleam in her eye. "Ranko Saotome, you
will feel fortunate to have met me. We will meet again in the
future." Before Ranko could react, the old woman leaped into the
bushes and left not a single trace.
"Ranko, what the hell does she want with you?" Ryoga had
briefly seen what had happened, and he just felt that the old woman
was certainly a force to be reckoned with.
"I don't know. I don't even understand." Ranko stared at the
two thin sharp slivers of metal in her hand. "Amazons?"
Chapter 9
Ryoga walked silently next to Ranko as the returned home.
"Ranko, maybe we should tell your mother what happened. Maybe even
your grandfather?"
Ranko remained silent as she continued homeward. "I don't know.
Maybe you're right. I should ask grandfather."
With a sigh, they heard screams of anguish in the distance.
"Give back my bra you lech! Kill the pervert! Give us back our
underwear you dirty old man!" Ranko immediately assumed battle
stance, as she heard those screams gradual get closer.
"What a haul! What a haul!" cried an old man in the distance.
Ranko seemed to recognize that voice.
"Grandfather Happosai?" Ranko leaped on top of the fence, and
squinted in the direction of the sounds. And true to her
observations, she saw her old grandfather running full speed with a
bag overflowing with women's undergarments and a huge mob of women
following him.
Ryoga looked up at Ranko. "Is it your grandfather?"
Ranko squinted harder, as she couldn't quite believe her eyes.
But there was no doubt. It truly was her grandfather. "Yes."
Ranko quickly bent down and grabbed Ryoga by the arm. "Quick get
up here! He's passing through!" Ryoga leaped up onto the fence
next to Ranko.
And not a moment too soon, since in seconds, Happosai rushed
past Ranko and Ryoga. Happosai looked up at Ranko and waved, a
pair of black, lacy, thong panties in his hand. "Hi Ranko!"
Ranko twitched as Happosai disappeared down the street. "Ok, I
think I'm going to die from embarrassment."
* * *
"But Great-grandmother!"
"No buts, Mousse. You must marry Ranko Saotome. She carries a
very strong Amazon bloodline." Cologne looked at her only
grandchild, who was quite reluctant to follow her plan.
"But I don't love Ranko. I've never seen her at all!" Mousse
complained. "I only love Shampoo."
"Well Mousse, who are you going to listen to? Some half-rated
Amazon or your Great-grandmother?" Cologne stood in front of
Mousse, somehow a menacing figure despite the fact that she was way
shorter and shriveled compared to him.
"You... but." Mousse answered.
"Good, you are going to marry Ranko and that's that. She is
going to be a very good Amazon. I can see it, she has the blood
within her. It's quite strange though, considering neither her
father nor her brother ever had demonstrated any useful traits. A
shame." Cologne was busy unpacking clothing, and hanging them in
the closet.
Cologne continued talking as she worked. "Mousse, I have
worked hard for 12 years for this day, praying that Ranko would
indeed be the one, and my labor has worked off. Within the week,
you are to challenge Ranma Saotome to a duel. And I believe you
will find it easy to defeat him." Cologne had a weird smile on her
face.
"How are you so sure?" Mousse was sometimes afraid of what his
great-grandmother was willing to do to preserve the amazons.
"I already told you before, I worked hard for 12 years."
Cologne handed Mousse some of his clothing. "I know Ranma Saotome
will be no match for you."
* * *
"Not fast enough!" Happosai barked at Ranma, who was quickly
becoming frustrated. "Ranma, I didn't bother to teach you
techniques to watch you sit there all day and guess what to do.
When I call out, I expect you to instantly know the answer!"
Ranma grumbled. 'So old man, you want to see fast? I'll show
you fast.' Ranma mentally loosened his muscles, and prepared.
Nevertheless, Happosai was impressed with Ranma's speed
increase. "Very good Ranma. Let's proceed to the next stage,
using objects and pressure combinations. Now I want you to watch
me demonstrate the five basic combinations on this dummy here."
Ranma stared intently at his Grandfather as he went through each
specific form briefly.
* * *
"Hey Ranma, how are you?" Hiroshi and Daisuke were leaning
against the fence. Ranma shrugged his shoulders as he approached.
"I don't know, I sort of feel better than usual." Ranma sighed,
as he didn't like the idea of walking to school that morning. "I
just don't feel like going to school." Ranma's voice faltered off,
and he leaned against the fence.
"I know what you mean, Monday isn't exactly the best day to
have school." Ranma leaned stood up, and forced himself to walk.
Hiroshi and Daisuke both sighed, and they followed Ranma.
Hiroshi looked at Daisuke. "Say, how was your weekend?"
"It was marvelous. Kodachi, man, she knows how to make me
happy." Daisuke stretched his arms back and stared at the sky as
he reminisced the various things he did with Kodachi that weekend.
"I really envy you." Hiroshi looked enviously at Daisuke, who
stuck his tongue out. Hiroshi then turned to Ranma "Say what did
you do this weekend? Was Nabiki pissed?"
Ranma nodded. "She was royally pissed, but I think my apology
was accepted."
"You think?" Hiroshi was kind of interested in the fact that
Ranma made an apology. He usually never admitted to making a
mistake or a wrong-doing.
"Well, I was sort of unconscious before I could get her
reaction." Ranma sighed as he walked.
"Oh yeah, before I forget." Hiroshi rooted through his pockets
and brought a fist full of bills. "Here is for the money you lent
me." Ranma looked at Hiroshi for a bit, and he shrugged his
shoulders.
"Keep the money." Ranma coughed a little in the brisk morning
air. "Damn it's cold."
* * *
"Hey Ranma." Ranma was carefully putting his books into locker.
Without even bothering to turn around, Ranma greeted his
visitor. "So what brings you to seek me? I don't do business with
you."
"This isn't about business, goddamn it." Nabiki felt Ranma's
single devotion to business was beginning to get on her nerves. "I
just wanted to talk with you privately."
Ranma looked at Hiroshi, who shrugged his shoulders. "Very
well, step into my office?" Ranma gestured to the door.
Nabiki seemed a little put off. "That's the boys lavatory."
Ranma snickered. "Well, I would personally prefer the girls
lav, but it seems that most girls in this school would kill me if
they found out I were in there." Ranma didn't really know why he
wanted to talk Nabiki in the boys lavatory. Perhaps he just wanted
to see how desperately Nabiki wanted to talk to Ranma.
Nabiki hesitated for a bit.
* * *
Ryoga settled next to Ranko's desk. "Ranko, I delivered the
letter to Nabiki. She took the letter, no problem."
Ranko grinned. "Well, Ranma and Nabiki should be making out in
no time." A small smile surfaced on her face.
Ryoga looked at Ranko. "And how do you know?"
Ranko giggled. "You didn't bother to read Ranma's analysis of
Nabiki. She really lacks a romantic interest. I mean, most girls
if they don't have boyfriends, they'll probably go nuts over the
first boy who shows interest in them. And how better to show
Ranma's interest by giving Nabiki Ranma's portfolio on her?"
"So this is just a big gamble on your part?" Ryoga didn't seem
to understand how Ranko was so sure about Nabiki's reaction. Ryoga
remembered when he handed to envelope to Nabiki, she wasn't to
thrilled to see the contents.
* * *
Ranma saw on top of the sink as Nabiki stood still in front of
him. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" Nabiki began to
speak, when Ranma motioned her to stop. Walking over to one of the
stalls, Ranma banged on the door. "Hey, you in there. Get out now,
or I'll make sure your girlfriend makes your life a living hell."
The stall door opened slightly, and as soon as the person using
the commode realized that it was Ranma Saotome, there were the
sounds of a person quickly pulling up his pants and the toilet
flushing. The student left the bathroom as quickly as possible.
Ranma shrugged his shoulders. Nabiki pulled out a manila
envelope. "I just got this from your sister this morning." She
handed it to Ranma. Ranma looked at Nabiki as he opened the
envelope. There was a little letter from Ranko as well as extra
stuff.
"I read the entire letter, and the other notes inside. Did you
truly write those?" Ranma carefully unfolded a small packet of
paper within. It was a page from his file on Nabiki.
Ranma choked up. "I didn't know that you kept such detailed
notes about me." Ranma leafed through the folder, and everything
was there: his estimates of Nabiki's sizes, her classes, a rough
approximation of her schedule, pictures, her interests.
"Yes I did."
"Well mister." Nabiki stepped forward and jabbed Ranma in the
chest. "You'd better tell me a good reason that you have all of
this stuff on me. And you'd better tell me how you got this
information. And why."
"Collected it myself." Ranma seemed to sink down as he didn't
like to tell the truth, that he was interested in Nabiki Tendo. "I
don't know. I can't do anything else, so I just did it to past the
time."
Nabiki looked at Ranma, and everything about him seemed to tell
him that he wasn't doing a good job of lying. He was staring at
the ground. He was fiddling with his fingers. Heck, she could
tell that he had the barest tinges of a blush.
"Is that so?" Nabiki took out a sheet of paper. "Ryoga handed
this to me personally, this is a list of arguments claiming that
you are interested in me." Ranma stared at Nabiki.
"Damn Ranko, she's always trying to do this to me." Ranma
muttered.
"So why didn't you tell me at least to my face? Why did you
have to use Hiroshi?" Nabiki looked at Ranma, and was surprised
when his face began to harden.
"What do you think? Why would a girl like you want to be
associate with a person like me? I don't think that you'd want to
be associated with me. I guess I'd better leave before anyone gets
any ideas." Ranma walked briskly towards the door.
"Would you please wait?" Nabiki followed Ranma.
Ranma pushed the door to the lavatory open, scaring the hell
out of Hiroshi. Nabiki was close behind. "Ranma, please wait."
Ranma didn't want to wait, he didn't want to be anywhere near
Nabiki at that moment. He started to run.
Hiroshi looked at how fast Ranma ran off. "I didn't know he
could run that fast." Nabiki leaned against the wall, staring at
the sheet of paper in her hand. Hiroshi suddenly swore. "Fuck,
Ranma shouldn't be straining himself like that." Hiroshi grabbed
Ranma's satchel and ran down the hall.
Nabiki looked at Hiroshi. "What do you mean?"
Hiroshi paused. "If you haven't noticed, Ranma is weak. If he
overexerts himself, he could faint and stop breathing." Hiroshi
didn't feel like divulging anymore. Nabiki decided to follow
Hiroshi.
The reached the end of the hall, and there was still no sign of
Ranma. "You go outside, I'll check the second floor." Hiroshi
made his way towards the stairs.
Nabiki jogged around the school, her eyes quickly scanning
around. She practically made her way around the school once, when
she noticed Ranma on the ground. She ran up, and kneeled next to
Ranma. Ranma seemed to be fighting for air as he laid on the
ground.
Nabiki rolled Ranma over. "You idiot. What are you trying to
do? Kill yourself?"
Ranma muttered between gasps. "Perhaps it's better that way."
Ranma closed his eyes. Nabiki seemed afraid for a moment, and she
shook Ranma a bit.
Ranma coughed, and his eyes flickered for a moment and then
locked open. "So do you admit that you're in love with me?"
Nabiki looked intently at Ranma.
"You're going to be my sister." Ranma said, as his breathing
slowly returned to normal. Ranma looked helpless as Nabiki was
holding his head.
"That doesn't answer my question." Nabiki stared at Ranma, who
immediately looked the other way.
"No. I don't." Ranma tried his best to sound sure of himself,
but he sounded like a bad tape recording.
Nabiki had to smile. "You're a bad liar, you know?" Ranma
didn't return the smile.
"I can't love you." Ranma shook off Nabiki's hands and slowly
stood up. His muscles which ached suddenly spasmed and he fell
back down. Nabiki tried to help Ranma up, but he shook off her
help. "You're going to be my sister. It's wrong for me to love
you." Ranma grimaced slightly, and he walked away.
Ranma walked away with a heavy feeling in his heart. For
awhile, he had been truly interested in Nabiki. He had seen her,
heard about her, learned all that he could about her. The single
problem was that he knew that it was practically impossible for a
girl like Nabiki to be attracted to him. And finally, after their
parents were going to be married, Nabiki admitted that she could
love him.
* * *
Ranko watched Ranma as he walked home. Apparently, her plans
had not developed the way that she wanted them to. "Ryoga, what
did you think happened?" Both watched Ranma walk home, a little
ways ahead of them. Without even seeing his face, they both could
tell Ranma wasn't smiling at all.
"I don't know. Maybe Ranma is scared of entering a
relationship." Ryoga offered.
"Maybe you are right. But I can't really imagine Ranma
actually afraid of something. I mean when I threaten him, he
doesn't turn and run." Ranko played with her pigtail.
"I don't mean that type of scared, Ranko." Ryoga grabbed Ranko
by the arm and tried to tickle her.
"Hey! You know that I'm ticklish! Stoppit!" Ranko started
giggling before Ryoga even touched her.
* * *
Kasumi couldn't help but notice the troubled face on Nabiki as
she walked into the Tendo home. With a worried look, Kasumi closed
her books and walked over to Nabiki. "Nabiki what happened? Did
Ranma try to take advantage of you again?" Kasumi looked over
Nabiki, and from what Nabiki told her, she was beginning to develop
a little dislike for Ranma Saotome. In Kasumi's opinion, any man
who had to gall to play with a woman's feelings did not have the
right to experience true love.
"No. It's not that." Nabiki sighed as Kasumi took her coat
and hung it in the closet for her. "It's just that I find it
strange to even begin to understand Ranma."
A look passed Kasumi's face. "Oh, and what about this Ranma?"
Nabiki couldn't help but find an acrid tone in her older sister's
voice.
"Well, Ranko sort of gave this to me." Nabiki opened her
satchel and handed the manila envelope to Kasumi. "She says that
Ranma has a crush on me."
Kasumi took the envelope and peered inside. There were plenty
of photographs and other stuff inside. Kasumi did have to admit,
it was the work of a rather dedicated individual. "And what does
Ranma say?"
"He won't say anything. He even tried to run away from me."
Kasumi closed the envelope and handed it back to Nabiki.
"He tried?" Kasumi was surprised with Nabiki's choice of words.
"Well, he collapsed. All he would say was that I was going to
be his sister, and that it was wrong for him to show any interest
in me. He left right after that."
Kasumi shrugged her shoulders as she cleared away her books in
preparation for dinner. "Well, I must agree with Ranma. It
wouldn't be proper, considering he is going to become our brother."