Title: Life In A Northern Town
Author: S. Mark Gunther
Part: 2/?
Warnings: Angst.
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is not mine. I'm borrowing the characters with
respect, and I claim no ownership except for the ideas expressly put forward 
in this fic.
Summary: Things get interesting.
Pairing: None yet.
Archive: Yes to AAML, and the RAAC archive. Anyone else, ask
first.

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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: LIANT2.txt

Life In A Northern Town
By S. Mark Gunther

     The next morning rose clear in the eastern sky and the bird began their 
morning concert earlier then usual. Hikaru saw all this as he sipped from 
his first mug of tea. He stood by his window and looked out on the town he 
had come to live in. The small children running off to early classes, the 
hurried businessmen rushing off to their jobs, the mothers taking out the 
trash and shooing the stragglers. It was, in a word, peaceful.

     Hikaru took another sip and shivered as a stray breeze whipped around 
him from the south. As the wind left, however, he was still shivering as he 
thought about the events of the previous evening. He just couldn't fathom 
the things Akane told her that evening, much less the idea that she and 
Nabiki would be living in the very town he had found sanctuary in. Another 
drinks, another shiver.

     "Gos-kun?" He heard a small voice from the doorway, a small, soft, 
halting female voice. He turned his head slightly and saw Kaori's lithe 
frame leaning against the door, timidly looking at him with her trademarked 
wide eyes. "Are you going to the club lunch today?"

     "No, Kaori. I still have a lot of work to do here." Hikaru answered 
with a small smile. "I told Prof. Hasagawa I'd have the draft of my thesis 
on his desk by this Friday. I need some me time, you know."

     Kaori just nodded and turned to leave but stopped and looked back at 
the boy. "Then will you be here this evening? I...I...think we need to 
talk." Her cheeks blushed as she said this, her body shaking a leaf in the 
wind.

     "Of course. Shall we say around 9?"

     "Yes. 9 will be all right. Goodbye for now." Kaori scurried off, 
leaving Hikaru alone with his thoughts. The raven-haired boy sighed softly 
and turned back to the window, his thoughts jumbled in his mind. He couldn't 
help but notice a hint of sadness in her voice, sadness he rarely saw in 
her. He didn't like seeing women in pain, much less anyone who'd spend any 
time with him.

     "Gossy? Good morning!" Hikaru turned again and saw a smiling Asana 
Miyoki beaming at him. His eyes did a short double take as he took in the 
image of the house party girl. She was dressed more conservative then 
normal, her hair in a bun with a knot at the top of her head. Her face and 
eyes were clear and bright, almost as if she was dressing up for someone. 
"Did you sleep well?"

     "No." He smiled wryly and looked at the girl with a sneaky smirk. "I 
didn't sleep all that well, sister. But thank you for asking."

     "Well it's not like you had an easy day yesterday, little brother." 
Both grinned at one another as Asana stepped a little farther into Hikaru's 
room. They joked like this often as they considered each other nearly 
brother and sister in their playfulness. Along with their mutual love and 
respect for one another as friends, their playfulness kept them from losing 
perspective. "I got to watch out for my little brother as he deals with all 
these harlots."

     "And I have to worry about my big sister as she deals with these 
equally devious women. That is, if last night was any consideration," Hikaru 
added with a nasty smirk and a look of recognition as he saw Asana's cheeks 
blush slightly. "Did you and Nabiki have fun last night?"

     "Always. Did you ever think someone being with me wouldn't be fun?" The 
both laughed and smirked softly at the collective memory. "In fact, we're 
meeting for brunch and apartment shopping this morning. I hope to get to 
know her better."

     "Of course. The devious, matchmaking, underhanded women always 
gravitate towards one another." Hikaru said lightly as he walked to Asana 
and placed a kiss on her cheek. "What I'd like to know is if you two do get 
together, you both won't start ganging up on me."

     "But Gossy, we have to! It's how we stay friends with you," Asana 
giggled as she returned the kiss and hugged him tightly. "Besides, when I'm 
done with her, she won't have to think about anyone else but me to plot 
about. I saw her eyes when she looked at me."

     "You may have been seeing greed, you know."

     "I doubt it. A girl knows when another girl is interested in her," 
Asana replied, patting the boy on the shoulder softly as she turned to the 
door. She walked a few steps and looked back at Hikaru as she crossed the 
threshold of the doorway. "But Hikaru-san, can you do me one favor?"

     "Sure. Name it."

     "Don't break Kaori's heart too badly. I wouldn't think highly of you if 
you did that, brother or not." Before Hikaru could respond to that charge, 
Asana was gone. Once again, Hikaru was left alone with his thoughts. By this 
time, he had given up any ideas of studying and sat down beside his window. 
The sun shone into his eyes and with a squint and a sigh, he fell deep into 
thought.

***

     Nabiki looked up from the fancy yet simply set table and saw Asana's 
smiling face coming towards her. For a brief moment, she almost thought she 
was seeing a clone of herself, right down to the stylish yet tasteful 
handbag. "Good morning, Asana," she said, extending her hand.

     "Good morning to you, Nabiki," Asana replied as she took it and sat 
down at the table. A waiter appeared almost immediately at their table and 
they both ordered their food. When he left, they both sipped at their water 
and waited for the other person to make the first move.

     "I guess I should start asking you about what I want to know," Nabiki 
said softly, her face breaking into a wide smile. Both girls laughed easy 
and smiled more as the tension between them broke.

     "What you want to know about is clearly written all over your face. You 
want to know about my Gossy," Asana replied as she pulled a small notebook 
out of her purse. Nabiki did the same and both of their eyes met as they 
addressed their papers in similar ways.

     "I guess you can't hide the lies from someone else who lies for a 
living."

     "And who says I lie for a living?" Asana smirked as she wrote her first 
comment.

     "As you said, it's written all over your face." Both girls smiled at 
this and laid their pens down. The waiter came back and served both of them 
their tea. They sipped and simmered for a moment, both gauging the strength 
behind their words.

     "You're right. I've made a career out of lying, cheating and 
manipulating to get my way. But I also have a conscience. And I won't give 
you any information that you'll be able to use against Hikaru because of 
that conscience." Asana picked her pen back up and recorded another entry on 
her paper.

     "What makes you think that I'd hurt Gosunkugi?"

     "Please, while you're here, call Hikaru by his real name. He's earned 
that right."

     "If I do that, tell me why how earned that right in the first place," 
Nabiki replied as she blew some steam from her tea. "When he left Nerima, he 
left under a cloud of disgrace. I would tend to think that bad habits 
followed the person who indulged in them."

     "For a while, that was true." Asana said as she sighed a little. "When 
he came here he basically had no friends. He and I became friends because he 
helped me on a particular problem that no one else could."

     "And that was?"

     "It was something you don't need to know right now. When you need to 
know, I'll tell you. But for now, be assured it was something only someone 
of his experience could help me with." Asana looked at Nabiki with a serious 
look and was given one in return. "He helped me as a friend. I helped him 
get over Akane Tendo and make a fresh start."

     "You mean, he still obsessed over my sister even when he came up here?" 
Nabiki asked softly. "I thought he was over her..."

     "So did we all in the house." Asana sighed and looked down on her 
notebook. "When he first came here, all he could talk about was how he had 
made mistakes in Nerima and how he couldn't get over how he had messed 
things up. For a long time he drank pretty heavily. He made deals with older 
college students to get alcohol and drank himself into a pretty deep hole. 
Soon he was almost in a spot where he was going to be sent back to Tokyo. I 
helped him get over that."

     "Did he live in the house you're in now when he came here originally?"

     "Yes. Kaori is my second cousin and we both pay rent on the house. We 
took him in because we're both transplants as well. She and I both were 
transfer students from Kyoto and when my parents died we decided to both 
stay here and make a new life." Asana wrung her hands together a little as 
she spoke. Nabiki noticed this and longed to slide her hand in hers and 
comfort her.

     "Your parents both died?"

     "Yes. They died in a car accident. From then on, Kaori's parents have 
helped us out when and where they could. Even now, as we're about to become 
independent for good, they still help when they can."

     "So when did Gos...err, I mean Hikaru come to live with both of you?"

     "When he came here, the woman who was to be his host mother was so 
vicious to him that he was almost ready to go back home. After he and I 
became friends and he helped to settle the issues we had with the school 
gangs, there was enough money from his job to help us with the bills. So I 
decided to ask him to stay with us. By this time he had become a brother to 
me and a best friend to Kaori. I didn't want him to leave when there was so 
much more he needed to have from us and so much more we needed to get from 
him."

     "He means a lot to you doesn't he, Asana," Nabiki said lightly, her 
voice soft and regretful.

     "I never had a brother, Nabiki. Or a sister. I'm an only child. With my 
parents gone, Kaori and Hikaru are the only family I have. I may make 
Hikaru's life unbearable but I'd lay my life on the line for him. He helped 
me when no one else wanted to. From time to time he still gets static from 
people because of it. To me, loyalty is the least I can do for him."

     "You mentioned that there were gang problems at your school. What 
happened that would cause Hikaru to be a part of all that?" Nabiki asked as 
the waiter arrived and set their food on the table. For a moment, neither 
girl spoke as they began to tear into the brunches they had bought. Though 
they both ate in a dignified, lady-like manner, their plates were more then 
half finished on the inside of 10 minutes and both seemed ready for more.

     "When Hikaru came here, his first jobs were menial information 
gathering for both of the rival gangs. We had two main gangs at our school 
and they didn't deal with one another well. I was...a liaison for both of 
them and that's how we met initially." Asana replied as she took another sip 
of her tea.

     "When you met Hikaru, you mean?" Asana nodded her head in the 
affirmative and Nabiki wrote more into her little notebook.

     "He basically was a gatherer of information for both sides and they 
rarely ever knew what was going on. For a while he used the work to drown 
his sorrows." Asana paused for a moment and then continued, her voice 
lowered and slightly halting. "But soon both sides became less about 
childish pranks and more about really hurting people. Some people who 
weren't even in the middle of the conflicts started getting hurt and he 
couldn't take it anymore."

     "So what did he do?"

     "The only thing he could do: Defect. He told both sides that he was 
retired and that he was only going to take photos and work for himself. At 
that point he was also drinking the most of his sorrows and everything began 
to fall apart for him. The gangs didn't take it well but they listened to 
him later on when they had to."

     "Why?"

     "It's hard to explain. But suffice to say that he made it more worth 
their while to become friends and unify then keep fighting over sticks and 
stones."

     "I guess that will have to come out later," Nabiki said with a small 
tight smile.

     "Perhaps it will. And perhaps it may never come out. Sometimes I think 
Hikaru would be better off if he could leave all his past behind and just 
move on." Asana said with a sigh, the worry lines evident on her skin.

     "That's true as well." Nabiki said as the waiter took away their plates 
and refilled their tea. "So I guess it's my turn to divulge my dirt, isn't 
it?"

     "If you'd like, you can. But I think it would be a hell of a lot more 
beneficial to me to just pay you for that little bit of confessional." Asana 
replied with a dirty smile.

     "The money won't be that important without what I have to say."

     "And that is?"

     "Why Akane and I are here in Kashima in the first place."

     "I'm listening..."

     "Well, to tell you why I'm here I must go back to when Hikaru left." 
She sipped that last of her tea and set the cup back down on the table. 
"Right after Hikaru left there was an incident where Ranma, her husband, 
rescued her from a very ugly fate on top of a mountain..."

      "Wait, is this the Ranma Saotome who had so many fianc�es?"

      "One and the same. How did you learn about him?"

      "Hikaru. And one of my other friends fought in a match with him on a 
recent trip through southern Japan. He should be proud. His exploits are 
being sung by every child prodigy martial artist in the land." Both girls 
smirked at this bit of news and chuckled softly.

     "He should be so lucky. But anyway, when he rescued my sister and then 
failed to get married to her because of a wedding disaster," Nabiki said 
slowly, "They both eloped one night and got hitched. I was their witness and 
arbiter and they came back to Nerima as husband and wife. From then on, the 
problems started."

     "Such as?"

     "Family issues. Both of the fathers hiding secrets and having 
conflicting issues on how they wanted the joint family to proceed. The other 
jilted lovers coming back to both of them and wanting revenge for their 
issues. You know, little things like that." Nabiki sighed heavily and looked 
off into the bottom of her teacup. "It made me so damned tired to watch 
them, the constant fighting and issues. It hurt me to see both of them 
unhappy."

     "It must have."

     "Well that wasn't the worst of it. You see, one of Ranma's fianc�es, a 
woman by the name of Ukyou Kounji kept on being close to Ranma. She weaseled 
her way into a lot of the problems Ranma and Akane were having at the time. 
She stole Ranma's affections away because she knew how to be a friend to 
him. My sister was only trying to be a perfect wife for him and she couldn't 
do it."

     "Sounds to me like your sister is the one to blame, having him go to 
another woman for comfort," Asana remarked lightly.

     "Normally, it would be. But my sister was a tomboy from day one. She 
was being forced to learn how to be a proper housewife from Ranma's mother. 
She was a woman who had a warped view on life as a whole and loved her son 
to death. Nothing was ever good enough for this woman and Akane just snapped 
at one point. She came home to find Ranma gone and her mother in law 
berating her for a cooking failure. When she found him, he was hugging Ukyou 
tightly and looking damn glad to be with her. That night she stayed at a 
friend's house and later that week we left for Kashima."

     "Wait...that would mean that she and Ranma are really just having a 
lover's spat, right?" Asana asked tentatively.

     "No, it means that Akane's not going back to Nerima anytime soon. As we 
came up here on the train and discussed, I decided to use this bit of a spat 
for both of our advantages. I was going to develop a large employment base 
for my services to exploit when I did return to Tokyo and she..." At that 
point, Nabiki felt her throat tighten a little and her breathing become 
heavier. "I'm going to try and reconcile things between Ranma and Akane 
here."

     "I see." Asana said softly, putting her hands up on the table. "So 
you're going to bring them away from the issues and see if something good 
happens."

     "Yes."

     "A bit of a gamble, don't you think?"

     "No more then me letting them continue to fight and hurt one another," 
Nabiki replied shortly.

     "This is true. But what does Gossy have to do with all this?"

     "I want to use him as a bargaining chip for Ranma to get back with 
Akane..." Nabiki said softly. For a long moment, neither girl spoke. 
Finally, Asana raised her hand and motioned to the waiter for the check.

     "I think you and I are going to need to talk more about this as we 
shop. Because I think we can both make both our goals work for us..." Asana 
said softly, a small smile creasing her lips.



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