C&C needed please


Nabiki sat at the table, figuring up how much 
she�d made off of Ranma�s fight. [Well� let�s see�] 
As she fingered through the wad of money in her hands 
her attention was caught by a very impressive stack of 
thousand yen notes that was placed on the table in front 
of her.

	�Ah, ah.� said a soft voice from across the table
as she started to reach for the money.  �You are Nabiki 
Tendou, correct?� At her nod he continued, �I was told 
that you are the person to talk to in order to get 
information around here. That�s all yours� if you give 
me all the information you have on the Saotomes.�

	Nabiki pulled her hand back from the pile and 
regarded the boy, [No� Young man], she corrected herself, 
in front of her. He was fairly tall at around 175 
centimeters and looked to weigh around 70 kilograms. He 
had shoulder length black hair, shockingly bright blue 
eyes, and the trim body of a gymnast� or a martial artist. 
[Cute, definitely cute.]

	�And you are?� she asked.

	He smiled at her and then reached over and took
one of the thousand yen notes off of the pile and 
placed it in front of him. �I�m� called Mura.�

	Nabiki�s eyes widened slightly as he took one 
of the bills back and then she smiled inwardly to herself. 
[Hhmmm� this could get interesting.] �Well let�s see� Ranma
and his father came here six months ago and are staying 
at my family�s house.�

	�Ah�� Mura breathed, �that certainly would explain 
why everyone says you know all about them.� He waved 
towards the pile of money. �Please, do continue.�

	She looked at him shrewdly, trying to 
figure out exactly what his angle was. Then she 
looked at the money. [Ah well, might as well 
continue with the story. I can always find out 
more about him later. And I�m getting paid a 
LOT for common information.] "They came here from 
a training trip to China, where they managed to get 
cursed at a place called Jusenkyo. Now whenever they
get splashed with cold water Mr. Saotome turns into a 
giant panda and Ranma turns into a girl. Hot water 
turns them back to what passes for normal for them.� 
She paused, waiting for him to act shocked or show 
disbelief at what she�d just said. He just looked at 
her and smiled again. 

	�I�m� familiar with Jusenkyo� Again, please 
continue.�

	She managed to keep the surprise of his 
comment off of her face and just looked at him. 
As he shook his head and reached for the pile 
again she suddenly said �Never mind, it�s not 
that important.� [Yet.] �My father and Mr. Saotome 
used to be students together a long time ago. Mr. 
Saotome apparently promised our father years ago 
that his son, should he have one, would marry 
one of my father's daughters, should he have 
had any. Mr. Saotome brought Ranma here, and he 
and my father chose Akane to be his fiancee.� 
At the look on his face she faltered. For a moment, 
a quick fleeting moment, she had seen great pain 
and anger in his eyes and then just as suddenly, 
it was gone. �Since then,� she continued, haltingly
�It�s been fight city here in Nerima. Ranma has 
three fiancees now� four if you count Kodachi Kunou, 
but no one does except her.� She stopped for a moment 
to gage his reaction and then continued. �Let�s see, 
there�s Akane of course. Ukyo Kounji, she was engaged 
to Ranma by Mr. Saotome in exchange for a Yattai as a 
dowry when they were around six. Then he split with the 
Yattai and Ranma but left her behind.� At his disgusted
 look she sighed. �Yep, he�s a real winner, isn't�t he?�

	�Oh yes, Nabiki, you have no idea�� She raised
an eyebrow and sighing he reached over and pulled two
notes off of the pile. "Try thirteen arranged marriages,
and three stolen dowry's not including miss Kounji's." 
Nibiki's jaw dropped and he bared his teeth in what might
possibly, somewhere, be considered a smile. "There's also
roughly nine million yen in stolen goods and/or damages 
from  Okinawa to China." She sat there just looking at him 
in disbelief and he finally reached over and gently put his 
hand under her chin and closed her mouth. Nabiki jumped 
slightly at the contact and he looked briefly in wonder at 
his hand.

        Nabiki shook her head rapidly back and forth in 
order to try and clear it. "Are you serious? Nine million?"
[Now that's a LOT of money...]  "Thirteen marriages...?"
Even her mind was starting to boggle from the implications.

       He sat back for a moment and stared off into the 
distance. "Yes." he said quietly. "I can supply you with
names, dates, amounts and contact numbers if it is necessary."
  
       Nabiki's mind finally came back on line. "If you 
know so much, why are you paying me for information?"

       "Confirmation of the facts I already know, and you 
have told me some things I didn't."

       [Okay... that makes sense... something's still
not right though.] "Alright, fair enough. Do you know 
about Shampoo? She�s from China; some Amazon village 
called Joketsuzoku. Ranma beat her in a fight and now 
she thinks they�re engaged.� At this he just shook his 
head in disbelief. �I take it you know of the Amazons?� 
At his nod, she continued.  �Well Shampoo followed them 
here from China and now she�s after him. Along with her 
came Cologne and Mousse. She�s one of the Matriarchs of 
the Amazons and he�s this half-blind Martial Artist. 
Kodachi Kunou is the last one. Around here that is. 
She�s completely bonkers and studies Rhythmic 
Gymnastic Martial Arts. Ever since the Saotomes 
showed up there�s been a virtual parade of 
martial artists here. All of them either to 
fight with Ranma, marry Ranma or kidnap my 
sister.� Nabiki quit talking and just looked 
at him as if trying to decide whether or not 
to continue.

	Mura sighed yet again and said. �This one�s 
free. I am not here to try and challenge him. I am 
definitely not here to kidnap your sister.� He 
pointed over to where Akane was presently engaged 
in a full-blown screaming match with Ranma. 
�Personally, I don�t know if I have enough money 
to pay you to take her back if I did kidnap her.� 
Nabiki had to smile at this comment. �As for 
marrying him� even when he�s a girl I think he'd 
be a little to butch for me.� 

	Nabiki laughed out loud at this. �Yep. 
That�s our Ranma.� 	

	Mura frowned at this comment and then his 
face went back to the neutral expression it had had before. �Abilities?� 

	�Well�Ranma�s the best of the martial 
artists around here except maybe for Cologne 
and Happosai. She�s the Matriarch from China, 
like I said and he�s��

	�I know all about Happosai. Thank you.� 
She faltered for a minute at the weird tone in 
his voice, but then continued.

 �Mr. Saotome spars with Ranma every day and 
they seem to be pretty evenly matched. Ranma 
is faster but Mr. Saotome is stronger and has 
more experience of course.

	 �Personalities?�

	She hesitated a moment and then looked 
at the money again. A lot of money. Something just 
wasn't�t adding up but she had no idea what it was. 
�Ranma is rude, crass, conceited, quick-tempered, 
insensitive, brash, arrogant, loud-mouthed, 
over-confident, juvenile, sexist, and a general pain. 
He�s also incredibly honorable considering his father. 
He keeps his word and when he�s not careful it�s obvious 
that he�s really a decent person. I�m pretty sure that 
he�s in love with my sister but you�d never get him to 
say that.�

	He looked across at where Akane was busy 
malleting Ranma into the ground. �Looks like 
the feelings are mutual.� He said wryly.

	�Yea. Believe it or not I think it is.� 
She said semi-wistfully.

	Mura just shook his head. �Okay� if 
you say so..."	They both turned and watched 
as Akane proceeded to pick Ranma up and head 
into the school.

	�And the old man?� He asked in a voice 
suddenly devoid of emotion.

	She looked at him again. Really looked at 
him. The way he was sitting and the expression 
on his face. Or rather, the lack of expression 
on his face. [Genma. I should have guessed earlier. 
Now, the question is, do I tell him the truth or 
just part of the truth?] She sat back and regarded 
him some more. [The truth, I believe..." 

	[Damn. She�s brighter than I gave her 
credit for. She suspects now.] 

	�Mr. Saotome is a slime.� She said 
suddenly. �He preaches honor at Ranma but 
doesn't�t know the meaning of it. He�s a gluttonous 
pig, he mooches off of everyone, he�s a drunkard 
and, from all appearances, he�s a low-grade liar 
and a thief. All he does is eat, sleep, drink, 
play shogi with my father and eat some more.

	�Well� that�s pretty much strait forward...� 
He sat back and looked at her, then he thought back on
what she'd said earlier, about halfway through the 
conversation. "Wait a minute..." He asked puzzled. "You 
said earlier that the marriage between your Father and 
Genma was arraigned years ago? How many years?" 

        She looked at him sitting there expectingly. 
This is something important, she realized, even if she 
didn't know why. "Years and years. Before my sisters 
or I were born. Why?"

        He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't. Stunned
was to small a word. Just when he'd thought that his 
opinion of the fat bastard couldn't go any lower. [Easy,
guy. she doesn't know... She can't know. No one does.]
He took a deep breath, and then another. "Must be
wonderful for you to know how much dishonor that that
old man is bringing on your house." He said bitterly.
"Dishonor seems to be his stock in trade."

       Nabiki just sat there watching the display of 
emotions on his face. Disgust, anger, resentment, others
that passed to swiftly to recognize and a couple that she
couldn't recognize. His outburst caught her by surprise.
[What the...? What is going on here?]

The school bell rang, surprising them both. �Looks like 
it�s time for you to be heading back to class, Miss 
Tendou."

	Nabiki scooped up the stack of money in 
front of her. �Are you going to be challenging 
Mr. Saotome?� The look on her face actually 
suggested that she was hoping he would.

	�No.� He hesitated, �Not today anyway.� 
He got up and started to walk away. �Rest assured, 
Nabiki Tendou, when I finally do come for the 
old man... You�ll be one of the first to know." 



* 			*		      *


	Fridays were always good days for Nabiki. 
She�d get to sleep in tomorrow instead of getting 
up early and Fridays were her collection day, the 
day when interest went up if she wasn't�t paid. 
Lunchtime was always profitable.

She felt his presence in front of her as she 
was counting her money.  �Well hello� I�ve 
seen you around but you�ve always seemed to 
disappear after the fighting is over. I was 
starting to think you�ve been avoiding me.�
She REALLY wanted to know why he'd reacted the
way he did when she'd told him about the arraigned
marriage of Ranma and Akane. Maybe now she'd get her
chance to find out.

	She wasn�t too far off the mark and he
was a little nervous about letting her know it. 
He�d done some checking up on her as well as on 
the information that she�d given him. Truth 
be known he�d only spent part of the last two 
months since their first meeting checking on 
the Saotomes. The rest of the time had been 
spent observing her. Nabiki was very smart and 
VERY perceptive. Actually, she was too perceptive 
for his safety but he ignored the inner qualms. 
He was lonely. �I�ve been busy training  and 
studying.� [Sorta] �My Sensai is a hard taskmaster.� 
[Definitely]
         
         "Oh really...?" she asked coyly. "So, are 
you going to run off on me without finishing the 
conversation this time?"

	�Uhmmm� Sorta. Look, I want to ask you something."

	�Yes?�
	
	Uhmmm�. Look, my Sensai is going out 
tonight with some old friend of his. I... I was 
wondering...� He hesitated a moment, then spoke 
in a rush Wouldyouliketogoouttodinnerwithmetonight?�
[Oh, That was REAL smooth� Idiot]

	Nabiki pretended to look him over as her 
mind worked a million miles a minute. She hadn�t 
been asked out in a long time. Most, if not all, 
of the guys in Nerima were intimidated by her. 
The few that had asked her out in the last two 
years had been trying to use her for HER money. 
They�d regretted it immensely. Now she was faced 
with a good-looking guy, (Who obviously had money 
of his own) who had more than two brain cells in 
his head, and who she wanted information from, asking 
her to go out. The novelty of the situation was immensely enjoyable. 
�You know� I think I�d like that.�

	�You would?� I mean... Great!� Uhmmm� Where 
would you like to go? You name it.�

	"Anywhere I want?"

        At his nod Nabiki�s eyes lit up. �As my sister 
would say: Oh My!�

	�Anywhere you want Nabiki. After all� 
what is money there for if not to spend?�

	Nabiki�s mouth dropped a little, and she 
closed it with an audible snap. �Mura� I am going 
to HAVE to work on your perception of money� After 
tonight anyway.

        "I have only one thing to ask of you...
Could you please arrange for the Saotomes to NOT be 
at your house tonight? I'd rather I didn't meet up 
with them until I am ready to, and I'd like to not
spoil the evening.

        Nabiki didn't want to spoil the evening either.
There'd be plenty of time later for fighting AFTER she
found out what she wanted to and definitely after dinner
at that new restaurant





this is it so far... I am working on the Date scene
were a lot of info is given out and Nabiki starts to
think that a permanent boyfriend may not be so bad.



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