Title: A Tough And Brutal Friendship
Author: S. Mark Gunther
Part: 2/?
Warnings: Hospitals. Insanity. Forced Companionship. Angst
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is not mine. The characters are not mine. the belong 
to the great and mighty Rumiko Takahashi. Only my opinions about them and 
the series, and the plot line therin is mine. Hence why I'm still poor.
Summary: Hikaru + Kodachi + Hosiptals = ?
Archive: Yes to AAML, and the RAAC archive. Anyone else, ask
first.
Comments: This fic is also dedicated to Finmagik, the always awesome
inspiration for me any time I write about Gosunkugi. :D I want to also thank 
Kurenai for helping out on this fic.

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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: ATABF2.txt

A Tough And Beautiful Friendship
By S. Mark Gunther

     "So, Gosunkugi has been babysitting your sister?" Nabiki asked Tatewaki 
Kuno lightly, her hands resting over the cup of tea she was nursing. Both 
young people were sitting in a small, out of the way coffee shop. Both had 
small pads of paper and pens in front of their teacups. Both hated every 
minute of being with one another.

     "Yes. It was the only way I could assure that I would be able to meet 
with you and know my sister would not be in peril." Tatewaki sighed as he 
looked over his shoulder, out of the window of the small shop onto the 
brightly lit midday sky. His hands idly spun the pen he wrote with in his 
fingertips as he spoke. "Normally during the midday, she would be finding a 
new way to seduce Ranma Saotome or practicing her gymnastics with the team 
at her school. Since she is away from both of those things, I didn't want 
her to lose herself in the loneliness of being away from what hurt her..."

     "So you decided to play matchmaker with someone I used to take pictures 
for me?" Nabiki asked lightly, her face showing a calm fury behind her 
serene expression. "What gave you that right, Kuno?"

     "The name is Tatewaki and what gave me that right, as you so glibly put 
it, was the fact that you have used my obsession for both Ranma and your 
sister to fund your household. You used me, now I'm using you." The kendoist 
smiled a nasty smile to the middle Tendo as she sipped at her tea. "You're 
just angry because your grip has been loosened on the school at my sister's 
benefit."

     "And why shouldn't I be?" Nabiki's sharp words pierced the air like a 
knife. "All you could have done was come to me and told me the problem and I 
would have solved it for you."

     "For a price..."

     "Do you honestly think I'd do anything for you, for free?"

     "Even after I offered to help your family, Nabiki? Even after I offered 
to give you more then you could ever need?" Tatewaki said with a sad smile. 
Nabiki's frosted over face blanched with the innuendo behind his words and 
she looked at him with a tight expression.

     "Please. Don't. Not here. And not now."

     "Then when, Nabiki? When you've stripped me of all my money? When your 
sister is married off? When will you ever take time out to take care of 
yourself?" Tatewaki glanced at his watch and saw the hour hand creeping to a 
critical point. "I must go. We'll continue this soon. Make an appointment 
with me tomorrow at school."

     "It'll cost you."

     "It always does." Tatewaki stood up and gathered his things. With a 
slight bow at his waist, he left the table leaving Nabiki alone to collect 
her thoughts. A tear ran down her cheek, silent and alone. She could feel 
the shivers along her spine as she watched Tatewaki walk out the door. Her 
hand touched the edge of a silky paper envelope as she shut her eyes to 
block out any more tears from falling.

     Tatewaki walked out the door to the waiting car, the driver already 
starting to drive off as he sat down in the cushy rear seat. His eyes 
strayed over to the window, the clear blue sky rolling past his eyes. He 
still felt the sadness...

*****

     Tatewaki Kuno could feel the eyes of the young woman on him as he sat 
in the large cushy chair. He didn't like the idea of anyone looking at him 
as intently as Nabiki did but he also knew that this woman in front of him 
held the key to his sister's breakdown and recovery. He didn't like to know 
a woman could still make him go week in the knees as he felt when he desired 
Akane Tendo.

     "So, Tatewaki, please tell me why you're here," The woman said, her 
hands placed chastely in her lap, a small tape recorder in the lap of her 
skirt.

     "Well doctor, my sister was just admitted to the hospital after 
she...she..." Tatewaki said softly, his normally theatric voice now cut down 
to a slightly sane murmur, "She cut herself with a gymnastic ribbon."

     "Was she trying to commit suicide?"

     "No!" Tatewaki replied sharply, his eyes meeting the doctor's for a 
brief moment. He then looked down and sighed heavily. "She was trying to 
harm herself because she had just helped to ruin a wedding for someone."

     "How did she ruin a wedding for someone?"

     "The boy who was getting married was someone she held a candle for, 
doctor. She disrupted the wedding as a last ditch endeavor to win his heart 
or at the very least, delay the inevitable. I should know; I was there to 
witness it."

     "And she was feeling remorse?"

     "I don't know."

     "I see." The young doctor adjusted her glasses, her hands needing to 
stay busy as she looked upon the younger boy. "So your sister was admitted 
because she broke down internally. Why are you speaking to me?"

     "Because I realize that I was at fault as well, Doctor."

     "How so?"

     "I was in love with the woman my sister's beloved was marrying. I was 
also in love with the boy's female half, an anomaly I had once attributed to 
sorcery. I soon found out it was a curse that he had afflicted upon 
himself." Tatewaki's voice began to falter a little as he spoke. "He was a 
martial artist and on one of his trips with his father he was cursed by fate 
to become a woman when splashed with cold water. He changed back to a male 
when splashed with hot water but for many months I thought that he was in 
fact two different people."

     "...I hope you can understand that this is a little difficult for me to 
believe," The young doctor said softly, her hands fidgeting slightly in her 
lap, "considering that I'm trained in the normal events in human 
experience."

     "If you think this is difficult for you, doctor, think about me 
yearning for two people and trying to fill a hole inside my heart with that 
yearning." For a long moment neither person spoke, their thoughts resonating 
inside their heads. "Doctor, my sister and I have both been trying to fill 
holes inside of ourselves for years now. Ever since our mother went away and 
our father became insane, we've both succumbed to the serpent of lust. 
Anything we fancied became what we'd obsess about to try and fill the hole 
inside our hearts."

     "How do you know this?"

     "Sitting with my sister, seeing her strapped to the bed at the 
hospital, it made me search deep inside of my soul to figure out how we 
could have fallen so far. We weren't like this always, doctor. At one time 
we were happy children but we've had to grow up so fast. And I feel like I'm 
falling over into a well of despair..." His breath came slow and heavy, his 
hands shook as he spoke. "I just want to take something to slow it all 
down..."

    "I see. Well, lie out on the couch and take that pill on the small 
table. Take it and the water and then we'll begin." Tatewaki nodded as the 
doctor turned her chair and watched as he laid down on the studio couch. The 
kendoist felt his body react favorably to the soft cushions as he reclined. 
The water was cool in his mouth as he drank it down with the small red pill. 
He laid his head back and looked up at the ceiling. Soon the voice of the 
doctor was wafting over his ears but he couldn't hear it. His mind was 
already falling away.

*****

     Tatewaki smiled slightly as the memories passed before him. He could 
see the doctor listening beside his body as he reclined on the couch. It 
felt so good to know she had helped him. Each session passed before his eyes 
as he watched the scenery around him go by. With each session the doctor and 
he delved deeper into his past and his obsessions. With each passing day, 
his heart began to exorcise the demons of the past and begin anew.

     His heart grew weary as he realized just how much he really loved 
Nabiki Tendo. Really loved, as opposed to merely lusted after. Over time, 
the sessions with the young woman gave him the confidence to tell her his 
true feelings for her. He had no clue that she was going to react the way 
she did. Nor did he think she was going to react as she did when he revealed 
how he knew she was using him for her families' benefit. It was something he 
had figured out with the help of the doctor and it was something that put an 
immense strain on how Nabiki related to him. He had no clue she'd react like 
she did.

     Soon his melancholy spell was broken as the driver stopped the car 
outside the hospital. He briskly stepped out of the car and walked to his 
sister's room, his normal sense of bravado and manliness now back up to the 
full. As he walked to his sister's room all the previous stresses began to 
fall away a little. He turned the corner to the psych ward and saw a heavily 
breathing, exhausted looking Hikaru leaning against the nurses' station. He 
noticed that the shin guards had been replaced by a wide pair of cricket leg 
pads. "I see someone has upgraded his protection," he observed blithely as 
he tapped the stressed lad on the shoulder.

     "Well she's your sister." Hikaru slumped forward and began walking to 
the elevator, Tatewaki just behind him. His book bag slumped jauntily on his 
shoulder and with the leg pads he actually looked less like a geek and more 
like a wimpy jock. "I found out the hard way that I needed a set of leg pads 
that could slide easier on that tiled floor. And since you've given me the 
money to upgrade, I decided to go all out."

     "Well I didn't just give you that money for my sister. I also need you 
to spend a few days with Nabiki Tendo."

     "Why?" Hikaru looked at Tatewaki in slight surprise as they waited for 
the elevator. "I finished my contract with her right before you...hijacked 
me..."

     "Apparently she feels much the otherwise. And frankly, for both our 
constitutions, it would be best if we let her get her way a little." Both 
boys stepped into the elevator and proceeded down to the lobby. "She...she 
can be a bit too much to handle when she doesn't get what she wants."

     "Fine. Whatever." Hikaru looked over to the right and sighed a little 
as both boys hit the street. He slid on a pair of dark sunglasses and 
shifted the bag on his shoulder. "I have to go home and think about some 
things. I'll call you this evening to find out when and where Nabiki wants 
me to be."

     "Would you like a ride, Hikaru?" Tatewaki asked genially.

     "No. But thank you. I...I just need some time to think alone." With 
that he turned and began to walk off, his pads still on and a distant look 
on his normally withdrawn face. Tatewaki nodded a little and stepped into 
his car.

*****

     Hikaru could feel the stares of his peers as they rolled and rambled 
through the streets, the early evening sun beginning to make it known. The 
pads felt good on his legs as he walked and the glasses on his eyes almost 
seemed like they worked out well. His lips curled into a tiny smile as he 
remembered who bought the glasses for him. Kodachi had been let out for a 
bit of fresh air and with a chaperone, was able to go and buy some 
accessories to help her look more like a woman. And she had bought the 
glasses for him saying they'd make him look good.

     He liked the glasses. He liked the feeling of not having anyone be able 
to read his eyes anymore. All the girls that seemed to swirl around him with 
their friends on the street merely passed him by, neither noticing him or 
caring about him. Anonymity had its perks. Plus the fact that he realized 
his face looked less drawn and sullen with them on didn't hurt much either. 
The people around him and the white noise they created seemed to wash around 
him like the breakers on a shore. Quickly his feet carried him to his home 
and his sanctuary.

     When he entered his house he saw that no one was there. His mother's 
note on the table informed him of the situation he was in. Both parents were 
out and he had to make dinner for himself. A small smile crossed his lips 
and he trudged to his room to take off his gear. The steps creaked and 
groaned out their disapproval as he walked through the upper level. It felt 
good to him to be home; no one would harm him here.

     He sat on the bed as he entered his room. A groan escaped from the 
futon springs as he began to unstrap his pads. It was a time consuming 
process and he used the time to contemplate his situation. He didn't know 
what Nabiki wanted but he also knew that it had to be something big to 
summon him after their contract had ended. A niggling concern rolled through 
his head as the first leg pad came off: What was going to happen to Kodachi 
when he realigned himself with Nabiki? Would she be all right without him? 
The very idea that he would care about the black rose made him stop and look 
off into the distance a moment.

     A chuckle escaped from his lips and his head shook slightly. He knew he 
was falling for her and he couldn't do anything about it. And truth be told, 
he didn't want to. His mind mulled over the last time he had seen Akane 
Tendo at school. She seemed so vibrant, so full of life. And yet, she seemed 
to emanate a feeling of failure from all over her body. And then there was 
also the Ranma factor. He could see the look in her eyes when she saw him, 
hit him, talked to him. To want to have her was pointless and he began to 
realize just how pointless it all was. But he still felt her gaze as he 
pulled the last pad from his leg. It was hard to give up Akane. He knew this 
all too well.

     And yet, as he rose to go to the kitchen, he realized how much he 
desired the black rose. She was demure, cheerful, soft and very girlish when 
she wasn't unhappy. And even when she was unhappy she seemed to have a grace 
about her, very much unlike the girls he knew and saw. He knew she had 
issues inside of her and the thought that he might have to deal with her 
unbridled emotions again worried him. The past week with Kodachi had been a 
mix of running, fighting, feuding and fawning. He was tired just thinking 
about the times that had happened. But there were those eyes...and those 
thighs. His mouth salivated as he thought about her but he shook off those 
thoughts with an oath as he walked into the kitchen. In a flash, ingredients 
were on the counter and a cutting board was being worked upon. Hikaru worked 
silently, not wanting any white noise to sully his thoughts as he worked.

     Just as he put the noodles for his soup on to cook, the phone rang out 
loud. He picked it up and spoke into it for a moment. Then, after a brief 
conversation he hung up the phone and began to make more food. While the 
soup finished, he set two plates at the small table. Soon the dinner was 
finished and he set everything up for he and his visitor. For Hikaru had 
just found out that he was going to have an unexpected visitor. One he hoped 
would make his evening more interesting. The doorbells rang and upon the 
doorstep stood a blushing and slightly out of breathe Kodachi Kuno. She wore 
a demure white blouse and a long length black skirt and her hair was done up 
in a bun. She smiled softy at the boy as she took a step forward.

     "Good evening, Hikaru. Won't you invite me in for dinner?"

     "Of course. It's not like I have a choice."

     "No, you don't." And with that, Kodachi walked into his house. Hikaru 
closed the door with a barely audible sigh.




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