I am still working on the ASCII versions of this story and hope to have
them up tonight or some time tomorrow. I have gone over nearly every
piece of it to correct minor typo's et cetera. There also some minor
changes to the storyline. The web site now has the latest, corrected
versions, if you wish to review them.
Attached here are Scenes 35 thru 37.
Regards,
Don Granberry.
Most of the characters in this piece and the setting for it, were
conceived of by Rumiko Takahashi for her Ranma1/2 series of Manga. All
such characters and the setting are the property of Takahashi-san and
her licensees. All other characters in the piece are purely fictional
and any resemblences to actual persons living or dead are purely
coincidental.
Spreading Wings
Part I: The Burning Ring of Fire
Scenes 35 through 37
Ranma Saotome stared outside at the cold drizzle with a grim
visage. He would have to get out into the rain, and then Biru-san would
know about his curse. So what? He silently asked himself. you should be
used to people finding out about the curse by now. Yeah, but not all of
'em know I flash my breasts at dirty old men, he answered himself. He
remembered how the big American looked at his girl half and shuddered.
"What's the matter, Ranma?" Nabiki asked from behind him.
He turned to find her sitting at the table, sipping at a cup of
tea.
"It's Wednesday and it's cold and it's raining just enough to
invoke my curse after about five minutes."
"So?"
"So, I am supposed to go run with Biru-san this afternoon."
"You're nervous about him meeting your girl half?"
"A little."
"You haven't gotten used to that, yet?"
"No."
"Come here and sit down, Ranma," Nabiki said, "We need to talk."
Ranma sat down with a worried look on his face. This is going to
cost me he thought.
"I might be able to help you out, Ranma."
"I was afraid of that."
Nabiki smiled at him reassuringly.
"It won't cost you all that much."
"Oh, yeah?" Ranma asked incredulously, "That'll be a change."
"All you have to do is tell me what is going on with you and
Akane."
"Why don't you ask her?"
"Because I suspect you are the one responsible."
Ranma forced himself to swallow his heart back down into his
chest. How does she know already he wondered.
"Well...we..ah...we..."
"Finally admitted to yourselves that you love each other?"
"And to each other," Ranma quickly added, "but we don't want Dad
or Mr. Tendo to know for a while yet."
"Not a problem. Help with that is a freebee."
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief.
"Have you been making love to her?" Nabiki asked as she
scrutinized his face.
"Ah...well...we...uh...sort of..."
"Sort of?"
"We haven't done anything that would get her...I mean
cause...any.."
"So you the two of you just had a little sushi on Friday night."
"Huh?" Ranma was genuinely puzzled. "It was all gone!"
Nabiki rolled her eyes.
"Never mind!" she said, suppressing a laugh, "I gather you two
haven't done anything that might cause the family embarrassment."
"Ah...yeah I guess...you could..."
"Good. Have you set a date?"
"I want to be sure the dojo is turning a good profit, first."
This news took the normally unflappable Nabiki back for several
seconds.
"I see."
"Do you?" Ranma asked. He knew he had no way of figuring out what
the dojo's income was without Nabiki's help. Sooner or later these were
matters he would have to handle, or help with at least. He wasn't
looking forward to it.
"Yes, I am convinced that you are serious about my little sister,
and not just your art," she leaned over and pecked him on the cheek.
Ranma stiffened with surprise.
"I am very grateful to you for that."
"So how are we doing?"
"We are better than solvent," Nabiki said in an assuring voice,
"Do you want to go over the books now?"
"Let's do it Sunday, I have to go run with Biru-san today."
"As for your little problem with rainy Wednesdays though, I need
help with a special project."
"How special?"
"I am doing a calendar for my business school project."
Ranma groaned out loud.
"How long will I have to pose?"
"It isn't that simple, my dear Ranma. This is mainly for the
family business anyway."
Ranma listened as she explained. He had to admit that the idea
had potential. She even offered him four percent of the profits but he
held out for six. In addition, she or one of her minions would have to
run with Biru-san on rainy days. Ranma was actually smiling by the time
Nabiki left to change clothes. Maybe she would turn out to be a pretty
good sister-in-law after all, he thought. Come to think of it, a
sister-in-law that was constantly scheming to put money in the family
banking count was a first-rate sister-in-law.
---------
Nabiki looked herself over in the full length mirror as she
changed. She had been careful to stay in shape while going to college,
running a minimum of five miles per day. She had learned early on in
high school that her appearance was one of her very best weapons. Good
looks and the right pose caused the male brain to clabber in a much more
useful way than a mallet did. A conscious male was actually a good deal
easier to deal with than an unconscious one. Certainly the conscious
ones were much more profitable. She just had to be careful and make sure
they stayed distracted and off balance.
She probably could have gotten by with less exercise, but the
trade-off would have been dieting. Running every day was the far lesser
of those two evils. Her efforts had paid off handsomely, even if she did
say so to herself. She pulled on her sweat pants over her gym shorts and
a heavy sweat shirt over her sports bra. I wonder what I should say to
him at the door? She wondered.
"Hey, handsome!" She said aloud as she gauged the provocativeness
of her pose in the mirror, "You can have me if you can catch me."
Her pose collapsed into a paroxysm of laughter. Nabiki don't be
insane! She admonished herself. An evil smile grew upon her face as the
perfect thing to say came to mind. It was amazing how much you could
learn from the world wide web--and a few friends with connections.
She looked at herself in the mirror for a few more seconds and
stripped off her sweat pants.
"If you've got 'em, flaunt 'em!" she said to the reflection in
her mirror.
Nabiki was pleased with her timing when Westerlake opened the
door. He had already changed clothes. She ignored the tigerish fire in
his eyes and delivered the line she had dreamed up. She had practiced
making it sound particularly snooty while walking over to his house. It
worked much better than she expected. Westerlake's jaw bounced off his
tennis shoes. Nabiki turned to her right and sprinted down the sidewalk
badly hampered by a fit of laughter. The look on Westerlake's face alone
had been worth the trouble of a five-mile jog.
"Jarhead?" he shouted angrily. That single, shouted word echoed
out over all of Nerima. "Who the hell told you to call me a jarhead?"
Nabiki glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, he was boiling
along behind her. The look on his face had a vague familiarity to it. It
was a mixture of irritation, confidence and acquisitiveness that
reminded her of someone else she knew. She turned and ran backwards as
she cupped her hands around her mouth.
"Nyah! Nyah! Don't hurt yourself old man!" she shouted.
Nabiki then turned her full attention to the path in front of
her. It would be very bad form to slip and let Westerlake catch her
early in their run. Besides, she wanted to see if he could catch her at
all. She stepped up her pace a little, suddenly more grateful than ever
that the weather was cold.
---------
"I wonder where I'll take 'em today?" Happosai whispered to
himself as he stuffed his bag full of sports bras and gym shorts.
"Running through neighborhood streets and parks is getting old. The
docks maybe?"
He kept packing the oversized bag until it was stretched tight,
savoring the feminine chi that saturated each garment. He listened
intently as he tied the mouth of his bag closed. He could hear the
telltale squeak of closing faucets. The first couple of girls were
definitely leaving the showers. He jumped up on top of the lockers so he
good get a good view of the shower room opening. Sure enough, two girls
had just stepped out of the shower. He took great delight in their
slender figures. They saw him as well of course.
"Ahhh!" the younger of the two girls screamed as she desperately
tried to cover herself with her arms. The other girl simply placed both
hands on her hips and fumed.
"You are going to get it this time!" the girl said between
gritted teeth, "You...you...old lecher!"
Happosai stuck his tongue out at her and laughed. The girl's aura
had a delightful flavor to it.
"Gosh you're pretty when you're angry!" he said over his
shoulder.
The girl was reaching for a nearby mop. In seconds the locker
room was filled to the earache with the banging of locker doors and the
shrieks of outraged girls.
Happosai jumped out one of the high, narrow windows and cast
about for a direction of travel, knowing he had about ninty seconds
before the girls would come boiling out of the locker room. They would
be after him like a hive of freshly robbed bees. He laughed at the
thought of it.
"Lousy, stinking weather!" he said aloud to himself, "I guess
we'll go through the shopping district today. They'll need shelter and
something warm to drink after their little work out."
The girls came storming out of the gymnasium's double doors. Happosai
took his first bounce towards Canal Street with a laugh designed to both
annoy and inflame. The merchants could use the extra business and he did
not want his girls to get sick. Their auras weakened considerably
whenever they had a cold.