[Note: The FFML ignores my italics for some reason, so thoughts and
italicized words will be bookended with underscores ( _example_ ).]
Ranma 1/2 and all related characters are property of Rumiko Takahashi. No
disrespect intended for this simple fanfic.
For Better or For Worst- Case Scenario
Chapter 3: Sex Lies on Videotape
* * * * *
"So, when are you bringing your stuff up here, Ranma?" Nabiki asked as she
walked through her room door, tossing her satchel onto her bed.
"In a minute," the inquired replied, remaining at the doorway. He wore a
pensive look. "Say, Nabiki…"
"Yes?" She looked at Ranma, smiling a little.
That smile still made Ranma feel nervous. She had been doing so since they
talked on the way home. What on earth could make her be so happy about their
colossal mistake of a wedding, particularly since she was just as desperate
to get out of it as he was not a few hours ago?
"What? Is there something on my face?" she asked, the smile not
disappearing.
He realized he must have been staring hard at her, and quickly shook his
head. "Um, nothing. Nevermind. I'll just be a minute."
"No. Go ahead and take your time. Enjoy your last moments of freedom,
Ranma-baby."
Eyebrow cocked in question, he puzzled briefly over her comment. "Uh, sure.
I'll just be in the dojo if you need me."
"Thanks." Her smile reshaped itself into a toothy grin.
Ranma took this as a sign to leave. Quickly.
"I'll talk to Kasumi about drawing up a bath for you."
He grunted and nodded as he was turning away, only half hearing her; his
mind was busy making an escape route. The door closed behind him, and Nabiki's
expression dropped into a flat scowl.
"Oh, we'll have a nice little talk… dear sister…"
Nabiki took a few minutes to change out of her school uniform, opting for a
pair of jeans and a loose-fitting white tee shirt. Once dressed, she left
her room, fully intent on "thanking" Kasumi for everything she had done.
She hadn't managed three steps when a surprise crested the top of the stairs.
"Akane."
The young Tendo, still wearing her school uniform, looked directly at her
slightly older sister. "Yes?"
_Kasumi can wait,_ Nabiki thought to herself, taking advantage of the
anger-induced steely resolve in order to talk to her little sister. "Come, let's
talk for a moment."
"O… kay." Puzzled, Akane went to her room door, opening it. "Come in. I
was going to change out of my uniform."
Maintaining a cool composure, Nabiki strolled in. Akane pulled up the rear,
closing the door behind her, then started to go to her closet to choose
something different to wear.
"Why exactly did you organize that little celebration this morning?" Nabiki
asked, sitting down on her sister's bed.
Akane paused, holding a red skirt and yellow blouse in hand. "I already
told you," she said, turning to look at her. "Kasumi thought it would help me
get past you and… Ranma's wedding." She bit her lip, choosing to look away
from the brunette.
"Mm hmm. And when did she mention this idea?"
"Last night after dinner. You were still in your room. Dad wasn't the most
thrilled about you not being present, but he could understand, what with
everything hitting our family all at once."
Nabiki had to admit she was a little surprised. Her father being even
slightly concerned about her well-being… When was the last time that happened?
Usually, it's "Oh, don't worry about Nabiki," "She can take care of herself,"
or "She'll manage."
Filing away that thought, she continued on. "So, Kasumi had this idea for
how long?"
Akane didn't answer right away, choosing to take a couple of steps closer to
her own blood. "Nabiki, what's this about?" she more asked than demanded,
peering closer to the other girl.
Nabiki, for her own good, pushed away from her sister, swinging her legs
over the corner of her bed, and standing up. She was facing the wall opposite
of Akane. "Kasumi's been playing us like fools…" she said under her breath.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on whose point of view is taken,
Akane missed the comment. "What did you say?"
Glancing over her shoulder, Nabiki simply said, "Nothing important. I'll
leave you alone now."
Still puzzled, Akane only nodded. "Okay…"
The older sister didn't hear it. She walked out of the youngest girl's room
and straight to the staircase, anger flaring up within her mind.
_Kasumi is going to pay…_
* * * * *
Kasumi selected a few nicely sized potatoes and carrots, setting the group
beside the radishes, onions, a stout head of cabbage and a fair cut of pot
roast beef on the kitchen counter. Humming to herself, she moved over to the
utensils, picking up the wooden cutting board, well marked from where countless
blades bit into the surface, then a brown handled chef's knife which she sat
atop the last-mentioned object, tip and blade pointing away from her body.
She paused long enough to grab hold of two metal containers to place the food
in once it was prepared.
After washing the food off, she was about to begin the meticulous work, when
Nabiki, pushed open the kitchen shutters aside. "Kasumi, let's talk about a
few things."
"Can it wait? I was about to begin cooking dinner." She grabbed the
cabbage and brought it over to the cutting board.
The middle daughter fumed. She didn't even bother turning around to face
her! "It's been waiting far too long. We talk. Now."
The older woman paused, knife poised over her would-be produce victim. Then
slowly she set the cutting utensil down and looked as her younger, married
sister. "Please hurry. Dinner will be late."
Nabiki blurted out. "I don't give a damn about dinner! My life is more
important!"
Understanding dawned on Kasumi. "Oh, that…"
"Yes, that!"
She shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I am not very
experienced in those matters. I do hear some things, though so-"
The married one grew even more irate. "Don't you dare try to dodge the
issue. You know exactly what you've done, you manipulative little-" Hastily she
bit off the rest of the sentence and took a step back, upon seeing the look
on her sister's face.
It was very flat and neutral. Like stone.
Moments passed, silence running amok in the kitchen.
"Well?"
Nabiki's jaw worked up the nerve to reply. "W-W-Well, what?"
"Do you wish to finish was you were going to say?"
A chill ripped down the married woman's spine. "F, forget about it. It's
not important, anyway."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Forget about it already."
"All right." Kasumi's face grew more expressive. "Oh, my! Dinner will be
late if I don't get started on it." She turned her back on her sister and
began chopping into the innocent vegetable before her.
For a minute, the homemaker peeled off, rolled, and chopped up the cabbage
leaves. Nabiki remained rooted to where she stood, not speaking, not moving.
Anger still warred inside of her, but it was tempered with restraint… not
fear. She went off the wrong end, and she was promptly admonished for her
outburst. Perfectly natural to happen, so she was restraining herself, that's
all.
Kasumi did _not_ just scare the hell out of her.
The above-mentioned wove her voice into the staccato sounds of slicing and
dicing. "If you're wondering about the bet, the twenty-five thousand yen was
not placed on a whim."
Nabiki jerked out of her introspection. "What did you say?"
"Really, I put up fifty thousand yen on the outcome of the wedding."
The brunette frowned. "But your winning bet was-"
"I know that. I had two bets made. One for, one against."
Nabiki cocked an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Really? There was no mention
of someone hedging their bets."
"That's because I had asked Akane to place the 'Against' bet."
The married woman gaped at her older sister's back. "You did what?!"
Kasumi pushed the cabbage strips into a bowl, and grabbed one carrot,
chopping it into several orange coins. "I wanted her to believe that this was just
another plot to torment her and Ranma, as you have done so in the past. I
had intended for her to have hope."
She pushed off one neatly chopped vegetable into an awaiting bowl, and went
for another. "I had also hoped your bookies would have mentioned her placing
the bet to you before the wedding. In fact, I made sure she would let each
one know that she was placing it." A quick shift, and more carrots filled
the container their brethren occupied. "I was hoping you would have come to
your senses by that."
Nabiki felt sickened. "No one said anything about it."
"Regardless, the money would have been made back if you two did not get
married. However, now that you have-"
=Ka-TUNK=
Though the blade must have chopped through the potato's flesh hard enough to
leave a noticeable deep groove in the cutting board, the married sister still
staggered back as though the kitchen knife was jammed through her body.
Kasumi paused. "Oh, my." She turned to look at her sister. "Could we talk
another time? With you distracting me, I forgot to peel the potatoes."
"…Sure, sis. Take your time."
She smiled. "Thank you." Turning back around, she began peeling the victim
of its tough skin, humming to herself with every whittle.
Nabiki slid out of the kitchen, keeping the kitchen doors within her vision
until she had to leave the living room. Not because she was afraid of her
sister, she would note to herself. She was just looking to see if anyone else
was listening in.
Kasumi did _not_ just scare the hell out of her _again._
* * * * *
Ranma was just setting up his bed mat in the corner of the room again when
Nabiki walked into the room wearing a none-too-happy face. Upon seeing him
looking at her, the young woman closed the door behind her and sat down upon
her bed. Then she fixed a strange look on him for a few moments, not saying
anything in that time.
"W-what?" Nabiki's gaze made the normally cocky martial artist feel like he
was a bug under a magnifying glass.
She didn't say anything for a few seconds longer before replying. "Ranma,
do you ever get the feeling you're being used?"
He looked at her as though she grew another head. "'Being used'? Coming
from you? Is this a trick question?"
"I mean by anyone else?"
He blinked in confusion. She should have reacted to that in some way.
Vicious, overly kind while plotting something nasty, played it off only to trip
you up later, something that would imply she was going to get him back for
something. She sounded almost… accepting of the offhand accusation.
That unnerved him for reason he could not explain at the moment.
"Nabiki, you feeling okay?"
She frowned slightly. "Not really, but that's not important. Tell me what
about our wedding do you remember."
"Huh? What's bringing this up now?"
"Just tell me. Do you remember anything different, someone telling you
something, overheard a rumor, something, anything?"
Ranma sat down on his bed mat, fixing a stare on his "wife." "No… What's
going on?"
The brunette pursed her lips. She should tell him about the role her
"beloved" sister played in their wedding. However, it would most likely amount to
a waste of breath, considering his track record with women. In Kasumi's
case, she could turn aside a hardened murderer with a smile and an offering of a
few snacks. It would take less than that to topple Ranma onto her side.
How can an older sister be so sweet and devious at the same time?
"Nothing," she finally said, shaking her head in frustration. "I was just
checking out a few inquiries from the wedding."
"Oh…" He thought for a second. "Wait a sec. Do they got anything to do
with me?"
Predator instincts arose, sensing a prime opportunity to alleviate some of
her confused, foul mood of the last few minutes, At Ranma's expense, of course;
after all they were now married, which granted her exclusive grounds to make
him miserable anyway. Not missing a beat, she feigned a sigh. "Oh nothing…
just something about cameras and seeing… if you have sex as a girl."
His eyes flew wide open. "W-W-W-W-What?!"
"Like I said, it's nothing." She pointedly studied her nails.
"Like hell it is!" He sprang to his feet. "I heard about sickos putting
little cameras in people's houses, spying on them when they're taking their
clothes off!" Quickly, he started looking around the room.
Nabiki stifled a peel of laughter. Playing on Ranma's imagination was one
thing, but watching him wind himself up on factual, though irrelevant,
information was something else entirely. "What are you doing, Ranma-baby?"
He lifted up a couple of items in his immediate vicinity. "Looking for
those little black cameras. Hiroshi says they're about the size of a 500 yen
coin, but they can see everything!"
Nabiki struggled to keep from laughing, but was quickly failing. She knew
he'd be a good source of comedy relief, but watching him take such a
bald-faced lie so seriously! It was priceless!
He glanced over to her, and started getting upset. "Geez, Nabiki! This
ain't no laughing matter! I got enough problems now, and people peeking in on
me ain't going to help me at all!" He lifted up the picture frames on her
desk.
The brunette fell out laughing hard. "Oh my god you're a riot!" She rolled
back and forth on her bed, trying to catch her breath. "I'm about to piss
myself! I can't believe you're such an-"
Ranma suddenly appeared before, his expression pensive, and thrust one hand
a few inches shy of her face. It took a few seconds but, all traces of
laughter became extinct.
She was breathless again, but for different reasons. "Someone put a camera
in my room."
He nodded numbly, holding a small black camera, about the size of a 500 yen
coin between his thumb and forefinger. "Found it behind one of those
pictures on your desk."
"Someone put a camera in my room." She was rigid with dread. The feeling
of having one's private sanction violated without knowing stripped away all
confidence and goodwill.
"Yeah... It was facing your bed."
"Someone…" The cold pit in her stomach suddenly flared into a blistering
inferno. Her hands clenched into tight fists, teeth gritting hard enough to
crush rock. "Someone is going to die."
* * * * *
"…Mm hmm. That's the range? Hmm… That's more than helpful. Why am I
asking? …oh, just looking into expanding my network, that's all. No, you
haven't done anything wrong… yet. Thanks, Mugi-baby. Bye-bye."
Nabiki hung up the handset and looked over the information she scribbled
down on the pad by the phone. "Okay, this electronic whiz I know says this
camera model has a radius of up to two hundred and fifty meters from the
receiver."
Ranma made a face. "Eight hundred feet? That could be just about anywhere
around here!"
She looked in the direction of the kitchen. "…No, I don't think so.
Chances are, it's a lot closer than that."
He looked at her sideways. "What makes you say that?"
"Call it a hunch. If it was me trying to get some private shots of someone,
I'm get as close as I could without attracting attention, so I could make
sure nothing went wrong."
Ranma mulled that over in his mind for a few moments. "I guess that makes
sense. You would know better."
She responded with a look, but he was busying thinking about something with
his arms folded across his chest, eyes on the floor. Quirking one corner of
her lips, she walked to the front door.
Was this yet another Kasumi plot to get and keep her and Ranma married? A
few days ago, the very thought would have been hysterically funny at best.
Now, she wasn't so sure. While she was pretty sure Kasumi wouldn't know what
to do with a lot of electronic devices if you fed her the instructions, that
didn't rule her out entirely; after all, it turns out she knows people that
work for the health department. Who's to say she doesn't know someone in
security, or a mischievous uber-techno geek?
She grounded her teeth in anger. Just who the hell is her older sister to
try and control her life, anyway? If she hadn't stuck her nose in where it
didn't belong, the marriage would never have happened. Akane and Ranma would
be at each other's throats and making up at the same time right now, no thanks
to Kasumi.
"Dammit…" Nabiki muttered under her breath, closing the door behind her.
Ranma looked up to see her disappear through the front door. A quick study
of her posture as she left spoke louder than the phrase she barely spoke, but
he got both messages clearly.
"Huh… she's really pissed… not that I can blame her…"
"Hm? Is there something wrong, son?"
Startled, Ranma turned around to face the owner of the voice. "Ah, no, Mr.
Tendo, just-"
"It's Father, my son. We're related now, so don't be so formal."
The younger man scratched his hear in apology. "Um, yeah… Father. It's
going to take some getting used to, still."
"And we'll be here to support you and my precious daughter."
He seemed on the verge of breaking into a flood of tears, so Ranma hastily
changed the subject. "Ah, you seen something strange before the wedding?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Just… Just anything that didn't look right. Someone where they shouldn't be
… Anything."
Soun scratched his chin, looking directly at his son-in-law. "Is there
something I should be aware of going on?"
"Nabiki was wondering about something. I… I don't know what it was,
though." It was partially the truth. While he knew the "why" she was looking for
something, he didn't know the "what."
"Hmm… Now that you mention it, there was one spooky-looking young man
looking for the restroom."
Ranma's ears perked up a little. "A spooky-looking guy?"
Soun nodded. "Yes, appeared as though he doesn't sleep at night. He seemed
as though he would soil his clothes and my floors at any moment, the way he
was shaking, so I quickly gave him directions and he rushed off."
"Oh?" _That sounded kinda like Hikaru Gosunguki,_ Ranma thought to himself.
"Well, do you remember anything else about him?"
Soun snorted. "Of course there was more. When he left, he had accidentally
dropped a funny-looking doll on the floor. It looked like he was sewing a
red shirt and black pants onto it. Pins were sticking into the doll, probably
to keep the cloth secured." Remembering that, Soun shook his head. "It's a
shame… a high school student, and he's playing with dolls…"
Ranma, on the other hand, looked as though he just saw a ghost walk behind
his father-in-law and give the young martial artist the finger. "No way…"
"Pardon me, Son?"
"Gotta go find Nabiki, Mr. Tendo! Thanks for your help!"
"It's-" The Saotome son was long gone out the door when Soun started to
speak. "Nevermind…" His brows knitted together, forming a frown on his face..
"I wonder what that was really about…
Ranma bounded up the stairs, practically skipping the stairs and going
straight for the landings, and quickly swung into Nabiki's room. "Hey Nabiki, I
think it might have been-"
A long sleeve, striped, motley-colored shirt had wrapped itself around the
martial artist's face, obscuring the rest of the sentence. Nabiki happened o
have looked up at the moment. "Oh, hey, Ranma. Check the dresser and
drawers, the put then back in." She resumed her work.
He pulled the shirt off his face and caught sight of the scene before him.
Nabiki was on her knees lifting up her bed mattress, her alert and keen eyes
searching for anything vaguely resembling hidden spy equipment. Having been
violated in such an alien way, she was bound to leave no stone unturned. In
her case, every article of clothing she owned was strewn across the room,
the dwarves pulled out and stacked in one corner. All her books were left
open, cascading across her desktop in a chaotic literary spread.
She paused in her meticulous work to give Ranma a reproving look. "The
drawers, Ranma. Check them and the dresser." Her head ducked down to resume
work. "And put them back in place afterwards."
Shrugging, he tossed the shirt onto the pile on her bed. "I think it might
have been Gosunkugi," Ranma said as he reviewed the dresser drawers and the
dresser itself.
"Say that again?"
"Gosunkugi." He looked inside the dresser body, then lifted it up to look
underneath. "He always has a camera with him taking pictures of Akane when he
thinks no one's looking."
"True, Ranma." Nabiki dropped the mattress down, then sat on one corner of
the bed. She watched him turn the dresser itself around to peek behind it.
"Which is exactly why that doesn't make a lot of sense. If he were that
gutsy, he would have put the cameras in Akane's room, not mine."
Each drawer was carefully inserted back into the dresser. "Maybe he got the
rooms confused?"
Nabiki gave him a look. "He'd have to be blind to miss the nameplates on
the doors."
He sighed. "Look, that's the best I can think of. If it's not him, then
we're stuck with no one else."
"Oh, there's always someone else…" Nabiki muttered ruefully.
"What did you say?"
She bit her lip, forgetting that Ranma has much better sensory perception
than the regular guy on the street. "Nothing. Let's just say it is Hikaru
Gosunkugi. First off, why would a spineless wimp like him do it in the first
place?"
Ranma shrugged. "Mr. Tendo did say he looked pretty shaken. Maybe someone
was putting him up to it?"
"Possible. He and Kuno did work together to expose your greatest weakness
once."
He shuddered, remembering the trap door fall into a pit of stray cats and
one large lion. "Don't even remind me of that incident."
Nabiki ignored his obvious discomfort. "So, let's say he is indeed working
for someone else. Who? Who'd be interested in videotaping us?" She quickly
cut off her for-now husband before he could open his mouth. "Not counting
'sickos.'" After a moment, she added. "Well, excluding the ones we know,
anyway."
"I dunno. Who'd want to watch someone else have sex, anyway?"
She perked an eyebrow in wonder at that comment. "Boy, you've been living a
sheltered life. Anyway, back to the matter at hand."
"Hey! What kind of-"
"I can't see," she said, cutting Ranma off again. "How Kuno would benefit
from seeing me and you have sex."
"Maybe he's trying to blackmail you or something."
Nabiki snorted derisively. "Hardly. He doesn't have the brain capacity to
make that subtle a plan."
Ranma, on the other hand was leery. "Are you sure about that?"
She gritted her teeth a little, before making herself unclench her jaw.
"Absolutely. Besides, I have a lot more dirt on him. He wouldn't dare take the
chance."
He would have said something else, but the hard look in her eyes warned him
off from progressing any farther down that line. "So, who else would put him
up to it?"
Nabiki threw herself bodily backwards onto the piles of clothing burying her
bed. Arms spread wide, feet dangling off the side, she stared at the
ceiling for a few moments. "I have no idea. Let's go ask him."
* * * * *
The pale, frail-looking boy with dark circles under his eyes was busy poring
over a science-fiction magazine. "Mmm… power suit…" he said, slouching at
his desk. "When I get that, I'm sure Akane would-"
The sharp knock on his room door interrupted his budding fantasy. Sighing
heavily, Gosunkugi plopped the magazine down on his desk, and pushed himself
out of his seat. He ran his fingers through his rumpled, disheveled dark
hair, mumbling just loud enough to be heard. "What is it, mom?" he asked,
opening his room door.
He almost had a heart attack upon lighting his eyes on Ranma and Nabiki.
The former looked annoyed, but the latter was smiling, and Nabiki Tendo -
correction, Saotome - wearing a smile was never a good thing. Quickly, he tried
to close the door shut; however, with Ranma's foot in the way, he may as well
been trying to move a mountain with his nose.
"Gos-baby, it's been so long since I've last seen you! How are you doing?"
In response, he fell over his own feet trying to get back away from the door.
"So clumsy…" Nabiki remarked, walking into the room with Ranma bodily
barricading the door. "You really need to be more careful. You could accidentally
break a leg… an arm… knock your teeth out…"
"Gyah!" The room owner quickly scrambled to the window and leapt to freedom…
or he might have, had it not been securely locked. Furiously, he clawed at
the latch, nervous, frightened fingers trying their best to pull it free.
A hand fell upon his shoulder, and he ceased all action. Gosunkugi broke
out into a cold sweat, his knees knocking together. "I, I, I don't know
anything! J-Just leave me alone!"
"I dunno, Nabiki. Seems like he knows plenty," Ranma lazily commented from
his position.
She pursed her lips, as if in deep thought. "About video surveillance? You
may be onto something."
Gosunkugi's eyes widened more in horror. "N-No! Please!"
The young woman slowly turned the terror-stricken youth around to face his
company. "Gos-baby," she softly purred as she reached into her pocket,
producing the mini-camera with a small flourish. "What can you tell me about this?"
Gosunkugi's mouth opened and closed rapidly, but no intelligent sound came
forth. His eyes were wild, searching for some way out.
Ranma sighed loudly. "Forget this, Nabiki; let's just beat the hell out of
him till he starts talking"
The subject of the would-be vicious pummeling squeaked, with his legs giving
way. Nabiki let him fall bonelessly to the floor, then watching him squirm
and wriggle about like a worm after a rainstorm. "D-Don't hurt me! I just-"
"Just what, Gos-baby?" She folded her arms under her breasts, smirking at
the back of his head. "Just wanted to see what's life like being a voyeur?"
To her and Ranma's surprise, the sickly boy seemed genuinely disgusted with
the idea. "We just wanted to know if you were just tricking everyone into
thinking you two got married!"
The brunette woman lightly coughed into her hand, hiding away part of her
expression; her "husband" looked away entirely, a dour look evident on his
profile. "How do you mean, Gos-baby?"
His eyes stared up to his handlers. "The odds you set up on your wedding…
No one thought much about the ten-to-one bet on you two tying the knot, but
someone heard that someone had placed a large bet on that longshot, and well,
everyone got suspicious."
_Kasumi..._ Nabiki scowled, thinking what her sister had done. Upon seeing
Gosunkugi shirk away from her little by little, she forced herself to calm
down. "Okay, okay, so where does this camera come into play?"
"Um, well, I heard some talking about their suspicions, and…" He shrank in
on himself, before continuing on. "I… Ivolunteeredtospyonyoutwoformoney!"
There was a long pause of silence after that verbal rush. Nabiki stared
hard at the cowering informant, her eyes practically boring though his very
being. Ranma, for his part, looked like a deer caught in headlights. Gosunkugi
cringed, trying to make himself as small a target as possible.
"You sold us out?" she began, each word carefully measured and weighed. Not
waiting for a response, she continued. "First off, how much did you take in
to do this?"
The martial artist almost fell over. "What the hell does that matter? He
was spying on us that night we-" Abruptly, he shut his mouth, blushing a
furious shade of scarlet.
"A little over fifteen thousand! They pooled their money together and gave
it to me for copies!"
Now it was Nabiki's turn to almost fall over. "Copies?! You made copies?!
How many?!"
Gosunkugi wailed. "I didn't! I swear! I didn't even look at the whole
thing! I couldn't bring myself to watch it beyond you two kissing! Honest!
I'm telling the truth!"
"Who else saw it with you?"
"No one! Mom doesn't let my friends stay here past eight on a school night!"
"Where is the-"
A sudden knock on the room door stole everyone's attention. "Hikaru dear,
is everything all right in there?"
"Yes, Mrs. Gosunkugi," Nabiki smoothly said. "We're just practicing our
lines for the school play."
A trace of disbelief wafted through the door with her words. "You're in the
school play, Hikaru dear?"
A sharp kick into Gosunkugi's backside shook him into compliance. "Y-Yes,
mom. School play… rehearsing for play…"
"How wonderful, dear! Don't let me interrupt your practice, then." And on
that, she left from the door.
Ranma looked at the door, then at Nabiki, clearly in a state of disbelief.
"I can't believe you just-" Then he paused for a second, and restated
himself. "On second thought, I can believe you just lied like that as if it's
nothing."
She gave him a sly smile. "Flattery will get you everywhere, except one
place." Then she refocused her attention on novice voyeur. "Time is short.
Make a list of everyone who paid for a copy of the video, then give me both
that info and the tape, as well as the money you accepted for it."
"I… I can give you the list and money… but not the tape…"
Nabiki gave him a look of disbelief. "Oh, I think you can. Blackmail tends
to only make my husband very prone to random acts of violence." She looked
up to Ranma, who was mouthing "Husband?" with a shocked expression adorning
his features. "Care to give our friend a demonstration?"
"No! I would if I could… but… i-it's… gone…"
Sighing, she made a dismissive motion with her hand. "Ranma, find out who
Gos-baby sold the tape to, then kill him."
Ranma looked around the room as if there was another guy with whom he just
happened to share the same name.
Gosunkugi was too busy quavering in fear to notice. "I swear I didn't sell
anything! It was sitting in my VCR last night, but when I woke up this
morning, it was just gone! I don't know what happened to it! I'm telling you
guys the truth! Please don't kill me! Please don't! Please!!" He started to
sob, bowing his face to the floor as though he was trying to become one with
it.
The newlywed couple both had to turn their heads; Ranma felt embarrassed,
while Nabiki was openly disgusted. "Just go get the money, Gos-baby. And
everything that came with the micro camera. Reception unit box, cables,
everything. And you tell anyone who comes inquiring that a martial artist - he wore
a mask, so you don't know who he was, but he could fly and burn stuff just by
touching it - caught wind of what was going on and destroyed everything."
She turned her face back to Gosunkugi once again, who was still bowed and
weeping. "We will burn one tape and…" Nabiki bit her lip slightly before
continuing. "And the largest yen note of the lot, just so you'll have proof. Most
likely, they will not pursue the issue beyond your word. Under no
circumstances are you to let them know that we know. Is that understood?"
"Y-Yes, Nabiki."
"Good. Now go do it."
Goodbye, power suit… Gosunkugi thought glumly as he weakly got up and did
newly wedded woman's bidding.
* * * * *
Nabiki read and re-read the list of names Gosunkugi supplied her with as she
and Ranma made their way home. "Surprisingly short. Only four names, and
all of them I recall having some difficulties with in the past."
Ranma cut his eyes to his right, looking at her flatly. "Gee, you sound
disappointed that not enough people hate you. Trying to reach some sort of
quota or something?"
A small retort rose up in her mouth, but she pushed it back from leaving the
tip of her tongue. "No, I was more thinking about who Gos-baby didn't put
on the list."
That comment got a raised eyebrow from her companion. "Think he was still
holding out, even after all the hell you put him through?"
"Considering I just forced myself to burn a five thousand yen note out of a
pile of change and small notes, I'd say yes." She shook herself, dispelling
the memory of such handsome currency being swallowed up by cold, orange
flames. "Did you notice how crisp and new the bill was?"
"Uh, no… I don't normally go into seizures over losing what wasn't mine in
the first place."
'Oh, trust me. It felt so sharp and crisp, just like it came straight off
the printing press."
The only response Ranma had was to roll his eyes. "Ever think you're just a
_little_ obsessed with money?"
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
His face fell. "What planet are you from?"
Nabiki smirked. "Haven't you ever heard how people get money _and_ are able
to keep it?"
"Don't spend it?"
"Heh. That's a minor thing, but the true secret to acquiring loads of money
is very simple."
"Is that so?"
"Yep. So simple and easy, most would never get it in a million years."
"And that's… what?"
The brunette stopped walking, darting her eyes to and fro exaggeratedly, as
if to spy hidden interlopers spying on them. Then she took his arm, cupped
her hand and drew to Ranma's ear, whispering softly. "Love money," she said,
drawing out each word.
He blinked as he found himself coloring a little and hastily pulled away.
"Oh, o-okay. Whatever you say."
She shook her head, mildly amused with his reaction. "That's the one thing
I really want." Her voice grew softer, quieter. "To not have money become
an issue."
He didn't know how to respond to that, so he opted to keep his mouth closed.
Realizing where her thoughts were straying, she snapped out of her
reflection and looked at Ranma. "You didn't hear that last part."
"Hear what?"
"Exactly." She looked up at the sky, noting the clouds swelling more and
more with gray. "Come on, it's going to rain shortly."
He didn't question the strange behaviors the middle Tendo girl-turned-his
wife had just displayed. Plus the lack of concern for the whereabouts of the
missing tape disturbed him. Either Nabiki was some kind of closet
exhibitionist, or something else was on her mind that took precedence over everything
else. He just quickened his pace, wanting to avoid changing into a girl
needlessly.
He'd ask her about the tape again once they were home.
* * * * *
_I can't believe I started talking about that,_ Nabiki thought to herself,
as she kicked off her shoes at the landing and jammed her feet into her house
slippers. _And with Ranma, of all people!_ She glanced off to her side,
noting that Ranma seemed inattentive for the moment, taking time to pull of his
footwear. This whole marriage situation has definitely screwed me up.
_Just focus on the present; reliving the past isn't going to make that tape show
up._
Entering the den, she caught her father's eye, who was approaching her.
"Ah, good. You're home, daughter."
"Yeah, just got in, Daddy. Something's up?"
He produced from his gi top a small brown package. Upon lighting her eyes
on it, she sucked in a breath through her teeth. "This was left at the door,
addressed to you."
"Thank you, Daddy." She quickly took the package from his fingers and headed
upstairs.
He smiled bemusedly, watching her practically fly up the stairwell. "Just
like when she was little. Some things will never change." The patriarch
glanced over to see Ranma approaching the steps as well. "Ranma, my son."
The youth paused in mid stride, turning his head to meet Soun's eyes.
"Yeah, Mr Tendo?"
"Father. It's Father, now."
Ranma sighed. "Yeah, still gonna take some getting used to."
The older man nodded. "Remember what we talked about yesterday." For added
effect, he flexed one arms, pumping his fist in front of his chest. "Don't'
let misfortune befall my daughter… or else."
The pigtail youth swallowed nervously, his mind on recent events. "N-No
sweat, Mis-" He bit off the word in mid-speech, then spoke the corrected
version. "I mean, Father."
At that, Soun beamed. Very good, my son." The older man headed back into
the living room.
Scratching his head at the odd turn of events, Ranma headed upstairs and
turned the corner, approaching Nabiki's room. He knocked once. "Can I come in?"
"It's your room, too, now," he heard Nabiki say through the door, sounding
tired and beaten. Curious, he walked in.
His eyes lighted upon her still form laying haplessly across her bed face
up, her eyes closed as though she just passed on from the world. Beside her,
brown wrapping paper carelessly torn apart laid, playing host to a black video
cassette tape. It had no labels or writings of any kind adorning the
plastic case.
Before he could ask about the tape, Nabiki asked. "Am I really that
horrible a person, Ranma?"
"Huh?"
She rose up into a sitting position, and patted a place beside her
languidly. She had not once opened her eyes, though. He obliged her, seating himself.
"Be honest with me here, Ranma. Am I really such a bitch that people would
go out their way to make me suffer for it?"
He tried searching her face, but her eyes still had not opened. "Well, I
don't hate you or nothing. You just… piss me off a lot and stuff."
"Did you really want to be married to me?"
He gave her a weird look. "Nabiki, what the hell are you going on about?"
"I'm being serious. Had you once thought about being married to me before?"
Still leery of the extreme change that overcame his newly-made wife, Ranma
got up. "Dunno. I don't really think a lot about what tomorrow's got in
store for me. I just face up to it like any other day and not worry about what's
going to happen."
Nabiki was dead silent for a few moments. "Now, I'm more afraid to look at
the tape."
"Why's that?"
Her eyes opened finally, and the amount of worry they held nearly drowned
him. "Because I'm pretty sure our wedding night's on that tape right here."
* * * * *
They had eaten in silence at the dinner table, each one lost in their own
thoughts. After the meal, Akane had approached her, asking if something was
wrong, but Nabiki waved her concern off, citing marital adjustments. She and
Ranma had adjourned to their room for the night. The light was turned out,
but no one slept.
Neither one wanted anyone in the family to see their lewd, drunken sexual
acts on film. Since Nabiki had neither a TV nor a VCR (a problem Nabiki would
quickly seek to correct as soon as possible), they waited until everyone had
retired to their own rooms and were thought to be soundly asleep. Then they
stole from their room and down to the living room. By then, the clock read
half past twelve.
They had to act quickly, view the tape, and confirm their worst fears.
Nabiki turned on the TV set, turning down the volume to a bare minimum to avoid
waking up her father, while Ranma popped the tape into the VCR. Every tiny
noise made in the silent room sounded like gun shots, and time slowed to a
crawl.
Everything set up, Ranma pressed Play, and they hugged closely to the screen
to view their intoxicated passion play out before them.
What they got was an image of a smiling Kodachi Kuno waving a plain black
tape in front of the camera.
Once Nabiki and Ranma overcame the shock, the tape was rewound a bit, and
then played, this time, the volume turned up a little bit to hear what she was
saying.
_"Oh, hello, Nabiki. I assume you did get my little present I left for you.
I'm sorry - terribly sorry - I could not deliver something more suitable
for your wedding; it seems I was given the wrong location after all. But, lo,
I discover I did not miss out on the real event after all. After overhearing
my charmingly thoughtful brother request that dreadful pale boy with the
dolls to verify the authenticity of your martial bliss, I could not help but to
inquire in the matter myself. And that, my dear sneaky Nabiki, is where I
somehow wound up with this piece of matrimonial fun. It's quite naughty, I
must say. Gives me cause to blush furiously even as I made copies. I bet you
would like to relive those moments, ne?"_
_Kodachi blows a kiss at the camera as her image fades out. Then a sudden
burst of Nabiki clutching onto Ranma, sloppily kissing him on the mouth and
dipping down along his throat. The groom, for his part, was fondling her
still-concealed bosom, his fingers pulling at the satiny fabric of her wedding
gown, groping for a zipper, or something. Her hand drew up, grabbing his crotch
with a greedy hand and stroking him through his pants._
_The lustful image cuts out again, fading in a blushing Kodachi._
_"Just positively scandalous, wouldn't you agree, Nabiki? It would be every
naughty pervert's dream to see you in such smutty action, of that, I'm
positive. And I hear from my brother that there are many of those kinds of people
that go to your school. I simply can't imagine the teachers or my father
taking well to catching this kind of material in their fine student's hands.
Why, I'm certain they would go so far as to dismiss the author of the tape._
_"Of course now, if you were to end up taking yourself out of this beautiful
bondage of love to Ranma-sama, I highly doubt anyone would be interested in
viewing such a dirty, naughty pastime. What says you?"_
The screen went black for a few moments before turning a bright blue. The
newlywed couple remained put for many minutes, one finally draping an arm
around the other. The power was eventually cut to the TV set and the video tape
retrieved before the VCR meets the same fate as its brethren. Then the duo
of Ranma and Nabiki plodded back to their room, the gravity of their reality
threatening to obliterate them.
TBC
Ranma 1/2 and all related characters are property of Rumiko Takahashi. No
disrespect intended for this simple fanfic.
For Better or For Worst-Case Scenario
Chapter 4: Operation: "B" Sting
Morning slowly rose over the Tendo home, seeping its way into every
available facet of the house. Nabiki stirred unusually easily today, her mind
aflutter with the latest string of curses laid upon her head. In the end, Kodachi
had the tape - a tape, which, as her suspicions led her to believe, Kuno and
others paid Gosunkugi to make in the first place. "God damn them," she
muttered under her breath, angrily balling up her hand and thumping it on her
mattress.
"Hmuh? Wha?"
Mattresses usually don't talk back.
Looking where her fist rested, another thought came to mind; she did not
have black and/or red bed sheets, either. Then Nabiki became more alert of a
sturdy weight across her back, looping partway around her waist, and a firm
presence against her side. That could only mean one thing.
She quickly detached herself from under Ranma's arm, jostling the martial
artist into a more wakeful state. While he overcame sleepiness, a quick essay
of their state of dress gave Nabiki some comfort, but it did not dissipate
her mood. She must have fallen asleep on Ranma early that morning after
viewing the blackmail tape - after a bout of crying, she mused angrily to herself.
They were both sitting up and dressed at the time, so nothing else could
have happened. Still, things have gone too far with this marriage situation.
She let things go too far too long.
It had to stop, and now.
However, Nabiki was not about to do things Kodachi's way. Divorcing Ranma,
while it would make the most sense - even wanted to a degree - was not an
option. First off, there was no guarantee of the blackmail footage disappearing
once the Bitch Rose's demand was met. That video footage would loom over
her head for potentially years on end, and its revelation at the wrong time
would have a devastating impact on her personal and professional life. Crippled
career options, public shame, family and personal life rent apart, driven to
whoring herself out in Shinjuku's notorious red light district just to eek
out a living - every scenario that came to mind made her shudder coldly. The
tape would make her Kodachi's personal bitch, and Nabiki was damned if she
was going to let that happen. She had a lot of pride in her independence,
making her own way in life, and taking no one's shit. In fact, she would stay
married to Ranma forever, just to piss off that annoying gymnast.
Nabiki winced at herself for that last thought. She really had to do
something about Ranma as well. He may have given up on patching things with Akane,
but her mind was still attuned to extricating herself from his heroic
tendencies, the leading cause of his cocky, affable charm. She had no desire to be
another notch on his egotistical belt; she would not allow herself to be
swayed and swoon over him whenever he came to her aid. He flew into the face of
everything she stood for, and letting her world be shaken any more than it
had been was like divorcing Ranma - not an option.
Nabiki needed a plan and fast. The clock was ticking, and she couldn't
afford to waste seconds in indecision. Dealing with Kodachi and getting rid of
those tapes right now took precedence over everything else. Perhaps she could
use Ranma - not for his muscle, but as a simple decoy - while she alone
completed her goal and reasserted herself as the independent, self-sufficient
young woman she took pride in being.
"Yo, Nabiki," Ranma said, standing in her line of vision. "You okay? Looks
like you're spacing out on me."
She looked at him for a moment or two, a slow smile spreading across her
lips. "I'm better than okay, Ranma-baby. I'm doing just fine."
He couldn't help but feel a cold shiver skip down his spine. "Um, all
right, cool. So, you got-"
"Got to go, Ranma-baby," Nabiki said abruptly. "The day is already looking
up, and I don't have time to waste." Grabbing her bath stuffs, she skimmed
out of the room.
The martial artist cocked an eyebrow, wondering aloud. "What was that all
about? She already come up with something about the tape?" Shrugging to
himself, he knelt down beside his undisturbed tatami bed and burrowed into his
back pack, pulling out his road-weary kempo gi and changing into it. Then he
went downstairs, bypassing Kasumi who was heading towards the kitchen, and
made a beeline for the dojo.
Beginning his warm-ups, Ranma let his mind wander. _Something's up with
Nabiki. I don't know what, but I can just feel something is just… just wrong._
He mulled over a few things mentally. The foremost thought was about the
blackmail tape. Kodachi using it as leverage against Nabiki, that could have
been expected. Finding out Kuno had invested into its making, that was new.
Then again, not really; he was a pervert anyway. Spying on Nabiki like
that, though… Was there no end to his obsessions? Wasn't he content with Akane
and his girl-half?
Reality came back to Ranma quickly, as his train of thought affected his
leg, sending him off-balanced from one practice kick. Quickly reframing his
thoughts, he focused on his practice and deigned not to visit his concerns until
after breakfast. Somehow, he needed to do something about Kodachi, but he
wasn't nearly as good in thinking up a plan. He'd have to ask Nabiki if she
had something up her sleeve.
Meanwhile, Nabiki had finished her bath, humming a little as she donned her
school uniform. She had come up with a plan. "A bit brutish, of course,"
she spoke to herself, making sure everything was in place and immaculate on
her. "But I'm not going to be another damsel in distress for _him._" One quick
glance in the mirror gave her reason to smile. "Done right, and he'll be
the one that'll need saving." She chuckled to herself. "Oh, yes, Nabiki,
you'll be back on top of things very soon. But first, I need something."
Coming down the stairs, Nabiki made a beeline for the kitchen. Her eyes
lighted upon Kasumi cutting up a vegetable near the stove, and for a moment, a
simmering pot of resentment and anger began to boil in her belly. However,
she forced the feeling down, and smiled. "Hey, sis," she said, breezing into
the kitchen, approaching her older sibling.
Kasumi paused in her work, looking up. "Oh, hello, Nabiki. How are you
feeling today?"
"Never better." Stopping just before Kasumi, Nabiki cleared her throat.
"Look, I just wanted to apologize about yesterday. I was pretty bitchy, and…"
_Trail off, let her bite._
Setting the knife down, Kasumi spoke. "No, it's all right. I suppose if
our roles were reversed, I would have every right to be angry at you, too. I
only wanted to help Akane have faith in the strength of love."
Nabiki involuntarily winced as the verbal knife was jammed into her back and
twisted sharply. "Look, we all do some stupid things some times. But we… we
…" She looked away, unable to face up to her sister as the recent blackmail
effort gave Nabiki a fresh reminder of what _her_ "stupid things" had
resulted. "We just gotta deal with it."
Sighing sadly, Kasumi spoke again. "I'm so sorry for interfering, Nabiki.
Will you forgive me?"
The move surprised Nabiki, clearly not expecting an apology, especially this
early on in the game, especially one that seemed so heartfelt and sincere.
_What the hell's going on,_ she wondered to herself as she worked into her
response.
"Hey, it's all right, sis. You just thought you were doing the right thing,
that's all." A moment's hesitation later, Nabiki leaned in and gave Kasumi
a quick hug, careful not to get herself dirty on Kasumi's apron. "I forgive
you."
The older woman beamed. "Thank you, little sister."
Quickly changing the subject, Nabiki said, "Oh, I saw Daddy a little while
ago. I think he wanted to see you about something."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Might have been urgent. Who knows with him, though?"
"Oh, my, I better see what he wants, then," Kasumi said, removing her apron.
"By the way sis, if you see Ranma this morning, tell him I'll see him later
at school. I'm going to take care of a few things before class."
"All right, Nabiki. I made your lunch just before you came in."
"Okay, sis."
"Have a good morning, little sister."
"You, too, sis."
On that, Kasumi exited the kitchen. Sighing in relief, Nabiki grabbed both
her lunch, and the one item she really came down for. She carefully tucked
it away into her bag, then quickly left the house before anyone could stop
her. A few minutes later, Kasumi returned to the kitchen puzzled, as her father
had not been seeking anyone this morning. Pushing it aside mentally, Kasumi
finished her kitchen work, and made Ranma and Akane's lunches, then began
cleaning up. As she breezed by the cutlery block, her eye caught something.
Pausing, she took quick stock over her kitchen supplies, counting and
remembering everything where she puts it. Then she recounted, since the numbers did
not add up. Her brows knitted together, placing a frown on her face.
"Oh, my. What did I do with that paring knife?"
* * * * *
After his workout, Ranma took a quick bath, then entered the dining room,
where Kasumi had breakfast on. Nabiki wasn't there, he noticed, but he
shrugged mentally and sat down to partake of his fill. She was probably soaking
herself into a Japanese prune or something.
"Oh, little brother," Kasumi said. The title _little brother_ still took
some getting used to, he realized, as he forced himself to cough up pieces of
rice that tried to pay his lungs a visit. "Nabiki left for school early, but
she said she will see you there later."
"Oh, okay, thanks, Kasumi." _Nabiki already has a plan? Cool. I just hope
I don't have to do something stupid again._
A few moments later, Akane wandered into the dining room, cleansed and ready
to eat breakfast. However, one look at Ranma's face, and her appetite
waned. "Oh, morning, Ranma."
He looked up at the mention of his name. "Um, hey, Akane."
The only sound made in the next several seconds was Soun rustling his
morning paper when he flipped to the Business section.
"Akane," Kasumi said at last. "Have a seat. Your breakfast will get cold."
Eyes darting everyway but in Ranma's direction, Akane sat down at the table
and start to eat slowly. Again, silence reigned supreme, chopsticks clacking
against porcelain in erratic, staccato rhythm being the only freedom of
sound enjoyed. Finally, she pushed away her dish half-eaten. "I'm sorry sis,
but I better go to school now."
"All right," Kasumi said. "Ran-" She cut herself off suddenly.
The teen looked up a little puzzled. "Hm?"
After a second of indecision, Kasumi shook her head. "It's nothing now."
Grunting, Ranma returned to eating. However, one eye kept looking in
Akane's direction as she walked away. A few minutes later, he pushed his
mostly-empty bowl away. "Hey, I better run to school, too, Kasumi."
She nodded. "Don't forget your lunch."
"Okay." He took a quick detour to the kitchen. Noticing there were two
lunches sitting there - one for Akane, no doubt - he collected both of them,
then darted out of the house. Akane hadn't gone very far, as he could still see
here from the house gate. Tightening his grip, he started off, intent on
catching up with his ex-fiancée.
* * * * *
Nabiki stood by the gate of Furinken High School, scanning the sparse early
morning crowd. "Where is he?" A couple of seconds later, her eyes lighted
upon the target of her desire: Tatewaki Kuno. Pulling away from her perch,
she made a beeline towards the kendoist.
Halfway there, Kuno noticed Nabiki's approach and turned to face her. "Good
morning, Nabiki Saotome."
She smiled sweetly. "Good morning to you, Tatewaki."
He perked an eyebrow at the sudden familiarity. "Is there something the
matter?"
"What makes you say that?" Taking his arm, Nabiki pulled him around the
corner of the school, away from prying eyes.
Before Kuno could respond, he felt something sharp and slender pressed hard
against his crotch.
"Try anything, and I'll lop off your little sword. And don't ever call me
Saotome again." For emphasis, she jerked the paring knife a little, making
him wince at the thought.
"What's the meaning of this, Nabiki?" He wanted to shout, but circumstances
forced him to be more discreet. "Has your marriage to that foul sorcerer
finally driven off your sanity?"
"Possibly, though we wouldn't be here at this point if not for you paying a
certain person to do some spying on me in a most personal moment."
"I have no idea what-"
She almost cut him off. "Don't play games with me, bitch. I know you had
to invest in Gosunkugi's scheme to videotape me in my room."
"Oh, that little issue." Relaxing as much as one can with a blade
threatening to make him less than a man, Kuno spoke. "Of course, I provided money to
that spooky boy to give me verification of the validity of yours and Ranma's
marriage. How he did it, I was not privy to the knowledge, nor did I want to
be as such."
Her eyes narrowed. "You expect me to believe that?"
"Nabiki, in all honesty, I would rather face Emma-oh naked and weaponless
that to expose myself to whatever perversions that foul sorcerer may want to
perform on you, and to look upon you dressed in anything less than your school
uniform is disrespectful to your honor… not to mention you do nothing for me
in the first place."
"Hmm. I'm not sure whether I should be flattered or insulted. But your
sword may yet remain intact."
"'May yet'?"
"Your sister has the tape. I thought you were in on it, too, but I may be
wrong now."
Kuno closed his eyes and leaned his head back. "That would explain why she
has remained in the video room since I arrived home yesterday. I believe she
was there this morning when I left for school."
"Oh?"
"I thought it was strange, but I did not inquire on the matter. As long as
she remains out of trouble, it matters little to me."
"Nice family life…" she said dryly.
Kuno ignored that comment completely. "I will aid your cause as much as
possible, Nabiki. Without you in that foul sorcerer's path, he may well seize
hold over Akane Tendo's mind and bewitch her once again, and there's no
telling what's to become of my fiery pigtailed goddess." He cleared his throat
once before continuing. "Also, I will not let word of my sister's misdeeds
concerning you, nor of this incident slip through my lips, as per my paying
homage to your pure and noble selflessness to marry the fiendish Ranma for the
greater good."
He was quickly getting on her last nerve with all his spouting about her
"sacrifice" to get married to Ranma, but it wouldn't do to renege on his cool
willingness to help her keep her name unsoiled by lobbing off his two nutty
friends. "All right." Nabiki slowly removed the blade, tucking it into her
bag.. "Tell me about the layout of your home."
"What would you need with such information?"
Nabiki gave him a half-lidded look. "Why, I'm going to pay your little
sister a visit later, Kuno-baby."
* * * * *
Akane, for her part, was lost in her own thoughts, mostly oblivious to the
world. Idly, she kicked a rock off the painted brick wall that separated the
houses from the immediate view of passersby. In a way, she felt the same way
- separated, isolated from everything.
How could things get so out of hand in just a week? One day, she was
engaged to Ranma, the next, he's now married to Nabiki. Nabiki, of all people!
What happened between the two beforehand? She was so sure it was just
another one of her malicious pranks, but the more she tried to get Ranma back, the
more she ended up propelling him away. Was she the cause of their union?
Was there something going on between them from the beginning? Was Ranma just
getting back at her for throwing him away in the first place?
Akane wanted to cry again, like she did every night since Ranma and Nabiki
got married, since she heard them consummate their marriage, listening to their
wild, carnal desires and groans like one would watch a train wreck -
horrified and rooted in a sickening curiosity to see it through, no matter how many
tears were shed for the loss of others. It just didn't feel real, like a
scene from a science fiction movie, but it happened all right. And now, she
had to live with that day for the rest of her life.
_But how the hell can I live with that, when I see him sitting there like
nothing happened?_
"Boy, you're really slacking off on your training."
Startled, Akane whirled around and found herself face-to-face with Ranma.
Her heart pounded in her chest, a thousand different feelings shooting through
her body in a second. "Um, ah, hi… Ranma."
He stood there, his mouth slowly working up words. "You… forgot you lunch."
He thrust the box towards her.
"Thanks." She took it from him tentatively, then started to turn around.
"Akane."
She tried to will her legs to continue forward, but they stopped of their
own accord, feeling heavy as lead. She didn't turn around, though. "Yeah?"
The silence that strode between them was heavy, foreboding, blotting out
everything but the other. Finally, Ranma cut through the quietude with his
blunt tongue. "Look about the wedding, I don't-"
"Don't!".
Surprised by her outburst, Ranma fell silent.
Akane was just as shocked at herself, but her mouth began working out her
thoughts into words before she could stop herself. "It doesn't matter, anyway.
What's done is done. Too late to change anything now."
Ranma took a step forward. "Look, Akane, what-"
So caught up in his attempts of trying to right wrongs, he was caught
flatfooted when she suddenly whipped around and grabbed the front of his shirt,
yanking him forward. For a split second, it seemed like Akane was about to
either hit him, or make out with him in broad daylight. Neither scenario
happened. Instead, he saw her eyes, rimming with tears, flashing anger and sadness
at the same time.
"Don't try to make me feel better, Ranma. I messed up. I know that, and
I'm going to accept that, much as I don't like it."
"But Akane-"
She sighed, looking down. "Look, if you really want to make me feel better,
promise me you will never - and I mean NEVER - hurt Nabiki or let her get
hurt like me."
His brows shot up in surprise. "What?"
"Promise me that!" Her fist holding his shirt trembled, though her grip was
just as firm.
"Okay, okay! I promise!"
Sighing in relief, she slowly looked at him again. "I'm going to hold you
to that, Ranma. Break your word, and I'll kill you myself."
Straightening his shirt, he just looked at her in mute shock.
The rush of fear and adrenaline that flowed through her limbs dissipated,
and Akane felt lightheaded and sick. "I'm going back home; I don't feel well
now."
"Well, let me help you back."
She shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. Just hurry to school, and remember
your promise."
He reached out a hand to her, but after a few seconds of hovering, he
withdrew it without touching her. "Yeah… all right, Akane. That's what you want,
you got it"
"Thank you, Ranma."
He grunting in response, turning away from her and started running towards
the school. Akane's eyes stayed on him, watching his form gradually shrink
until it disappeared around a corner. Then she started going back home, her
legs turning into rubber, refusing to support her weight several times. But
she forced herself to go on, ignoring the scrapes and bruises each fall served
her.
They hurt a lot less than what she felt in her chest.
In short order, she barreled through the front door, not bothering to take
off her shoes, and ended up crashing into a bewildered Kasumi who was just
coming into the den, toppling the older sister backwards and onto the floor,
Akane laying on top of her haplessly. The younger girl broke into tears dammed
for too long.
"Akane! What's the matter?"
"Oh, God, Kasumi! It's really over this time! It's really over between us…
" She blubbered into Kasumi's blouse, clutching her tightly.
Kasumi only held her in response, letting her younger sister cry everything
out. Soun came to the dining room door to see what was the commotion, his
eyes spying the two heaped on the floor embracing each other. Closing his
eyes, he breathed deeply, then moved away from the door.
* * * * *
"Let me get this straight," Ranma said to Nabiki as she changed out of her
uniform and into a pair of jeans, his back turned to her. He could see her
shadow as she danced with her clothes thanks to the afternoon sun, but did not
feel the need to mention this for one reason or another. "You want me to go
over to Kuno's house, and keep Kodachi busy while you sneak in from another
side and find the tapes?"
"Of course," Nabiki responded, tugging a black t-shirt over her head, then
fluffing out her hair.. "Tell her that I demanded a divorce and threw you
out, leaving you with no place to go, and that she was the first person to come
to mind. Once you're inside, keep her distracted in the living room. Don't
let her go anywhere else until I give you the signal. Oh, you can turn
around now"
He shuddered slightly, thinking about having to keep Kodachi busy, then
looked in her direction.. "And what kind of signal is that going to be?"
"You'll know it when it comes." Truthfully, Nabiki hadn't thought of
anything in that manner. Not her problem, though; her whole life and future were
at stake, and she could not afford to waste time trying to make everyone as
comfortable as possible. Besides, Ranma would probably flee the house in short
order, with Kodachi hot on his trail, making her task a whole lot easier.
"Wouldn't it be easier to just fight back with fire. I mean, we got her on
that tape she sent you. Can't we do something with that instead?"
"Like what, go to the police? Blackmail her back, threatening to ruin her
family name and honor with the tape, and everyone that was in on it?"
"Well, I guess something like that."
Nabiki gave him one of the coldest, most intense stares he had ever
experienced. He literally shivered unconsciously under her eyes, his legs refusing
to respond for a moment. "First off," she started off slowly, each word
measured. "I have more faith in the Yakuza than I do in our own government and
the police. How do you take an organization seriously when its members
constantly try to shame criminals into submission? Secondly, I don't want anyone
else to see the tape. I don't want anyone to even know it exists. Lastly,
trying to entrap Kodachi in the same manner is futile. Even if we were
successful, she'll be like a cornered animal. Having nothing else to lose, she will
strike out with every bit of fury and power she has before she goes down in
flames, hoping to drag us down with her."
He huffed. "I don't like it." He had wanted to say something to Nabiki
about Akane when he got to school, but he didn't see her until lunch. By then,
he couldn't think of a way to bring it up, and the more he thought about it,
the more he decided to just handle it himself. It was the manly thing to do,
surely.
"Look, Ranma. This is the best way. If I approach Kodachi, she's likely to
try and kill me before-"
"Like hell! Ain't no way I'm letting that happen!"
Nabiki stared at Ranma's set facial features for a moment, her heart
skipping a beat. Smacking herself mentally, she recovered from his impassioned
outburst. "So, you will have to go in and keep her busy while I dig up the
tapes."
He sighed. "Okay, whatever. Just be careful in there, okay?" Ranma
couldn't help but feel he was forgetting to mention something important. However,
every time he tried to grasp that wild strand of thought, it would flitter
away, hide behind something else in his mind. Mentally, he shrugged; if it was
important, he would remember it soon enough.
Nabiki smirked. "Yes, dear." Snuggling up on Ranma suddenly, Nabiki made a
motion to kiss him.
His eyes bugged out, and he jerked away. "Whoa, whoa, hey! Cut that out!"
She snickered into her fist. "Oh, Ranma, Ranma…" Clearing her throat,
Nabiki continued in a more serious tone. "Stop worrying so much. You do as I
say, and we'll be back home in no time. Now let's go. Do whatever it takes to
keep her distracted."
Ranma gave her a look, then shrugged. "Okay, okay. Let's just get this
over with." On that, he left Nabiki's room.
Watching his back, Nabiki frowned deeply to herself. Then she walked over
to her desk and opened a small drawer. Pulling out a small, high speed camera
from within, she checked to make sure it had a fresh roll of film properly
loaded, then stuffed it into her right pocket. _This had better work; I can't
take much more of Ranma's doting concern._ As an afterthought, she rummaged
in her closet. "Now what did I do with that bag?"
Ranma found himself sneezing violently once as he was coming down the
stairs.. "Man, is it dusty or something?" he said to himself, waiting in the den
for Nabiki. A few moments later, she stepped onto the landing as well. She
had a large, brown, empty gym bag slung over her shoulder, the strap pulling
tautly across her body. Instead of heading towards the front door, she turned
in the direction of the kitchen.
"Go on ahead. I'll be out in five minutes, to keep her less suspicious."
He shrugged again and walked out the front door. Nabiki, popped into the
kitchen, grabbing a small plastic container and filling it up with water.
Another few steps, and she had obtained bleach from the laundry room. Pouring a
little of the overwhelming cleanser into the container, she carefully placed
the paring knife in the liquid. Setting the bleach in front of the sink -
Kasumi should get the hint, though she'd probably be confused as hell - Nabiki
mentally prepared herself one last time, then trekked out of the house to
reclaim her life.
Thirty minutes later, Ranma found himself standing in front of the massive
Kuno Estate black-painted gates. _Here goes nothing._ He buzzed the house
from the intercom. A few moments went by, then an older, masculine voice broke
through the speaker.
"Kuno Estate. With whom do you wish to see?"
"Hey, my name is Ranma and I-"
The speaker crackled again with a much more energetic and decidedly female
voice. "Ranma dearest, is that you?"
Kodachi, the martial artist thought to himself. "Yeah, it's me, Kodachi."
"Oh, please come in, Ranma dearest! Pardon me, I will be there shortly!"
There was a heavy buzzing sound. A tingling sensation of foreboding crawled
down his back as the gate yawned before like a giant mouth, but he forced
himself to plod forth. Hopefully, this whole event would be over and done with
inside of ten minutes.
Moments later, he was standing at the front door. One ring of the bell, and
a tall, slight man appearing to be in his thirties answered the door
immediately, looking immaculate as the Kuno family butler. He gave the martial
artist a slow once-over, eyes narrowed, fingers purposefully adjusting his
silver-rimmed monocle. After the silent inspection, he asked, "Ranma Saotome?"
Ranma nodded, giving the butler a critical eye. "That's me."
"Enter." The butler stepped to one side, holding the door open for the
guest. Ranma padded into the lion's den called a house, eyes darting to and fro,
checking for anything that would spell his doom. That meant everything in
this case.
Seconds later, the first - and largest - threat to his safety appeared
cresting down from the top of the stairs. "Ranma dearest! How nice it is to see
you! To what may I owe your unexpected visitation?"
_Unexpected my ass. I bet she was banking on it._ "Well, Kodachi, it's
like this…"
()()()()()
"Hmm… Ranma should have since drawn Kodachi out of the video room," Nabiki
said to herself as she strolled to the intercom. Adjusting the bulky bag with
one hand, she ignored the buzzer; instead, she punched in the code to the
gates - a nice, late wedding "gift" from Kuno in addition to all his reverent
worship. As expected, the metal structure swung open for her, and she quickly
made her way over to the left side of the house, checking for the second
window on that side. Peeking in, she saw Kuno in the small study room reading a
book at the desk. _Hagakure,_ she noted, _Book of the Samurai. How
appropriate._ Checking the room for any other occupants, she then tapped out the
code he gave her.
_Taptaptap. Tap-tap-tap. Taptaptap._
Without looking up from his book, he stood up, walked over to the window,
unlatched it, and pulled it up. Nabiki hoisted herself up and pulled herself
through, landing on a pillow left just underneath the sill. _How thoughtful
of Kuno…_
"What a noisy bird," he commented to himself, still reading his book as he
closed the window, re-latching it. Then he sat back down at the desk.
"Almost as noisy as my dear sister's guest. At least she's in the living quarters,
away from here."
Nabiki smiled to herself. Kuno would give some aid, though he'll look the
other way. Literally, in this case. At any rate, he said all she needed to
know. Ranma had made it in, and got Kodachi away from the video room.
Quietly, she opened the study room door, checked to make sure the coast was clear,
and slipped out, making her way to the video room.
In the living room, Kodachi was cooing over a dejected-looking Ranma as he
sat on an expensive-looking couch. Hors d'oeuvres, which he suspected his
hostess made herself, remained on a small table close by undisturbed. "Poor
dear, that heartless wretch of a woman did all that to you, my dearest?"
"Yeah…" His acting was bad, but somehow, it made him look more defeated and
dejected. "I should have known I meant nothing to her."
Kodachi smiled even more broadly "Do not worry about a thing, my dearest, I
will take care of that harridan for you. Tea?"
He looked surprised, but fought down the urge to shout. "No… don't concern
yourself with her. I wouldn't want to… trouble you, yeah."
"Oh, it will be no trouble at all, Ranma dearest. In fact, I have already
constructed the means to her personal destruction."
The term "personal destruction" confused the young Saotome. "You have?
How's that?"
"You said she seeks divorce, correct?"
"Yeah…" He was getting a bad feeling about this.
"What if you were to pre-empt her by filing for divorce yourself, on grounds
of infidelity?"
"What? That's crazy! I couldn't do that!"
"You're right. You need proof, and that, I have for you."
"You do?"
She smiled and, though it was meant to be heartwarming, it chilled Ranma
almost to his soul. "I do, all on tape."
* * * * *
There have been few times Nabiki has ever been at a loss for words.
Strangely enough, almost each one of those times has involved Ranma in some way.
And now, she needed to tally up another moment of wordless response. Involving
Ranma, and yet… not.
Upon entering the room, Nabiki noted a stack of unwrapped, unlabeled tapes
in one corner of the room next to the pile of freshly bought and unopened
ones. An expensive computer slept on nearby, surrounded by various cords, some
running into the back of a set of two VCRs and television monitor close by.
In one of the VCRs, another unmarked tape had been rewound and ejected, but
not removed. Out of curiosity, she played the tape in the empty, top VCR.
She expected the unmarked tape to be a copy of her and Ranma's infamous
wedding. What came up on the screen was a complete shock, though. Sure, she was
present in the video, but… who the hell's the guy she's kissing?!
* * * * *
"You did what?!" Ranma said, almost squeaking in stunned shock.
"Just a little video editing, overlaying another man's face over yours. It
pained me to cover up your exquisite features, but it was necessary. Not the
full tape, mind you, only about ten minutes' worth, but it'll be more than
enough to destroy her and anything she may hold over you, including any chance
of you impregnating her."
Ranma's mind was blank for several seconds, his face stuck in an open-mouth
gape.
Kodachi blushed under his stare. "Oh, my, Ranma dearest… the way you look at
me so…" Still blushing, she turned away from him slightly, covering her
mouth. "We should wait until divorce proceedings are finalized, which shouldn't
take long in family court."
"Nabiki ain't gonna like this…" he mumbled, the first lines of thought
coming to him after his mental server crash and reboot. "Akane's gonna kill me…"
Kodachi shyly looked at Ranma. "Oh, do not let your become so worried over
those… peasants. You are more than welcomed to stay here with me." She
suddenly blushed again, turning away demurely. "Well, not _with_ me, not yet."
Looking up, she quick rose to her feet. "Come, Ranma dearest, let me show
you that harridan's downfall."
Remembering Nabiki, he shot out of his seat, grasping Kodachi by her
shoulders firmly. "No!! Let's not!"
"Oh, my…" Kodachi's eyes changed into a half-lidded desirous gaze, her face
flushed. "You're so beautiful when you're forceful…"
Suddenly too aware of his predicament, Ranma quickly let Kodachi go and
returned to his seat. "C-come on. L-let's just sit here a while longer…" he said,
patting a spot an arm's length away from him.
She cleared her throat. "Y-yes… I almost forgot myself, Ranma dearest." She
slowly sat down, looking away as to cool her flustered cheeks. However, she
was now sitting much closer to the young Saotome, a detail he could scarcely
overlook.
_Dammit, Nabiki, were the hell's your signal?!_
* * * * *
"Dammit, Kodachi, where the hell's your screwdriver?!" Nabiki's teeth were
gritted so hard, they could powder granite between them.
She had quickly tallied up and bagged about 30 possible copies of the
doctored video she needed to destroy. Kodachi's computer hard drive had to go as
well; unfortunately, she could not find a screwdriver laying around the room,
nor did she have the strength to just yank it out. Kuno wouldn't assist her
in this, she already knew, so somehow she had to get Ranma in the room. But
he was busy keeping that spoiled rich bitch busy. Plus she was bound and
determined to save her own ass, so he was already dismissed from her mind.
However, she had more pressing concerns on hand than inflating Ranma's macho ego.
She had yet to find the master tape.
It was nowhere in the room so that could only mean she either hid it, or she
has it on her person. Banking on the smarter thing to do - hiding it -
Nabiki quickly peeked outside the door. Seeing no one around, she stealthily
stole her way upstairs, making another beeline directly to where Kuno said
Kodachi's room would be.. Thanking the gods for small wonders - as expansive the
Kuno mansion was, they had very few people catering to their whims, whether
it was on purpose, or by sanity's design she did not care to speculate - she
crept into the lavish room without being spotted.
She did not have far to search. Laying open on her desktop was a book.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Kodachi's diary, an entry penned in
today. Nabiki spared a moment to read it.
_Dear Diary. I finally completed my special project. That damned Nabiki
Tendo will not dare bother Ranma dearest and I ever again, so long as I having
the original version. For now, my pet green turtle will guard it well. I
suspect she will try something to gain it back - peasants never learn._
"She has a turtle guarding it?" Nabiki chuckled. "Does it know ninjitsu and
swings nunchucks, too?"
Downstairs, Ranma was doing his best to keep Kodachi from leaving the living
room. Most of them usually involved grabbing her and making her sit down
again, but the effect that had upon her creeped him out more. He could almost
feel the heat of her desire flood the room by now, and he desperately wanted
out. It was a small wonder she hadn't used any paralysis powder or something
of the like on him already. Then he reconsidered that thought - he had
neither eaten, nor drunken anything Kodachi offered, though it all looked very
appealing, and his stomach was starting to get at him, reminding the martial
artist that he hadn't had any food since lunch. However, the idea of the
diabolical Black Rose having her way with him while he could do nothing frightened
off any urge to eat within throwing distance of her, and he can throw pretty
far, indeed.
Speaking of which, he really wish he could throw _her_ pretty far, too - she
all but lived in his lap now, the way she invaded his personal space. Plus
she kept glancing at him with those soft bedroom eyes. Her mouth may have
been saying "no" and "we must wait," but if he made the slightest motion for
it, she would take him right then and there on the couch, and to hell with
whoever came around to watch. The last few times, he resorted to talking her
back down., which wasn't nearly as dangerous as grabbing her, but it made
matters even more complicated for him: the lack of touching her now seemed to make
her want him even _more_ than before! Truly bizarre!
_Shit, Nabiki! Gimme my fucking sign!_
Then he saw her outside through the glass doors, though his brows furrowed
as she knelt in front of the large pond in the Kuno backyard. What the hell
is she doing down by the water? He tried to see more, but Kodachi noticed his
averted gaze.
"What is it, Ranma dearest?" she asked, her head starting to turn in the
same direction.
Without thinking, he grabbed her head and yanked it back to face him. A
huge mistake, he realized right after he done it. The burning lustful gaze
returned at full strength, heralding something else.
"Oh, Ranma dearest, I can't take this torture anymore!"
"Wha-" His words were smothered back down his throat, her lips crushing
against his hotly. Completely floored, he flailed his arms and legs wildly,
trying to get up, get out, and get free from the Black Rose as she entwined her
arms around his neck and shoulders, holding fast to him.
"Jackpot!" Nabiki said to herself, lifting up one of the numerous stones
outlining the huge backyard pond. This chosen one had been recently moved, she
observed. Underneath it lay a small green strongbox. No combination lock on
this brand, only a small clasp, which she hurriedly popped open and looked
inside.
The gods must be smiling upon her now.
There was still a chance the tape she just found may well be a fake, so she
would be quick in verifying it before she left the Kuno estate. She didn't
come all this way to be tricked and sent home empty-handed. But she really
wanted to shout for joy. Somehow, she just knew this was the real McCoy.
Straightening up she was about to flag at Ranma, but came up short as he was
busy making out with the person responsible for all her current woes. A fl
are of anger blew through her as she reached into her pocket for the camera
she put there, just in case she got a chance to put Ranma and his heroics back
into their places: out of her life. She raised the unit to her eye, then
lowered it, feeling a sudden wave of shame and guilt wash over her. She was
just put in the same predicament not more than thirty minutes ago. What kind of
message would that be sending if she turned around and paid good fortune
with ill?
She debated with herself for a second or two, deciding her answer to that
question. It soon was clear what kind of message she wanted to send,
especially to Ranma: _I don't give a damn._ Again, she raised the camera to her eye,
readying for a shot.
Struggling to break free of the Kiss of Death, Kodachi style, Ranma caught a
glimpse of Nabiki standing at the glass door, but he never noticed the
camera; the huge thing rising out of the pond behind her had his attention. And
suddenly he remembered what he had forgotten about much earlier.
"GREEN TURTLE! RUN!"
Both young women halted in their current actions to look at him bewilderedly.
That was when Nabiki noticed the monstrous shadow on the ground, heard the
guttural, inhuman declaration. Dread filled her stomach as she dared to look
behind her. All she could see was a rapidly darkening tunnel of red rimmed
full of sharp teeth, reeking of rotting death and scum, the "voice" echoing in
her soul the same sentiments. She never had a chance to get a thought into
her head, only watch the cave of death and damnation close in slow motion,
taking her into its depths.
A heartbeat later, the jaws of the huge alligator snapped shut, cracking the
air forcefully, the heavy sounds of snapping and crushing plain and
sickening to the ears. Especially to Nabiki's; that could have been her being
snapped and crushed, she dully realized instead of the gym bag of dubbed tapes she
was carrying. Her world opened up more, showing that she was not standing on
her feet; the way she felt at that moment, she would not have had the
strength to do so.
"Whew, that was too close! You all right, Nabiki?"
"Huh?" She almost didn't recognize who was talking to her, but it all came
crashing back to her. Her head tilted up to face the owner of that voice.
"R-Ranma?"
"You didn't get hurt or nothin', right?"
"I… I think I'm fine." She did a customary body check, making sure
everything was where they were moments before. Then she saw she still held onto the
original tape. "I got the tape. Wow."
"Yeah, that's nice. Time to go!"
"W-wait!"
Ranma didn't have time to hear her protest. He immediately sprang to his
left, dodging the mammoth reptile's lunge, then hopped back a few feet,
avoiding its jaws.
Nabiki clung tightly to her savior. "Where's Kodachi?! We have to get back
to the video room, quickly!"
He grunted, clearing a low-swinging tail sweep, then dove over to his right.
"Threw her off me. I think she's knocked out, or something. Didn't have
time to check!" He barely dodged another swipe. "Damn, Nabiki, we gotta stop
meeting like this!"
"Forget that! We need to get her hard drive now!"
He paused for a split second. "Get her what?"
He saw it coming in, and again, he tried to dodge. However, with Nabiki in
his arms, coupled with his hesitation, he wasn't fast enough. Green Turtle's
giant tail caught him, snatching him out from underneath the young woman and
sending him bodily into its watery home.
Nabiki landed hard on her rump, grunting in pain. She knew any moment the
cutely-named monster was going to turn its sights on her. However, her body
refused to respond to her commands. Fear had paralyzed her completely, even
before the gleaming, reptilian greenish-yellow eyes bore hard into her soul,
designating her as its next meal. Its massive jaws started to swing open.
"Oh, no you don't!" came a shrill, feminine shout. Ranma, changed into his
girl form, zipped over Nabiki, both hands together as he brought then
crashing down onto Green Turtle's snout. He got the desired effect: the alligator
recoiled from the sudden blow, snapping its mouth shut. While still in the
air, he ripped open his Chinese shirt and swooped down on it like an eagle,
managing to slide its closed mouth into the opening between his shirt and back.
Twirling his female body forward, his arms jerked out of the shirt, though
he held fast to the sleeves, and planted both of his too-small bare feet
firmly on the underside of its jaw. Rapidly, he yanked and tied the sleeves
together tightly, preventing the huge reptile from opening its mouth, then bracing
himself against the floor, he thrust his legs up forcefully, pitching the
gator's head back and exposing its soft underbelly for a few moments. It was
more than enough time for Ranma. bodily propel himself up to his feet and, in
the same fluid motion, drive his fist home into that vulnerable flesh with
the force of a thousand punches compressed within the span of one second. The
monstrous animal's body flew across the living room, crashing through one
side of the open doorway and shattering the bottom of the stairs into splinters.
He flicked up the middle finger of his punching hand at the unconscious
beast. "Suck on that, you overgrown suitcase."
The immediate threat taken care of, he spared a look around the room. One
glance to his left informed him that Kodachi was, indeed, slumped against the
wall, unconscious, but breathing. A spiderweb indention marked where her
head had impacted, and from the look of it, she hit the surface very hard. Most
likely she would not come to for a few hours. Another scan gave him view of
the butler from earlier poking his head out from one room, joined by a maid.
Ranma held out his hand in their direction. "Want some?" he said, glaring
down his arm, his fingers beckoning.
Their reply was to duck back into the room, slamming the door shut quickly.
"Smooth," Nabiki said, forcing herself to stand erect. "At least you're
wearing an undershirt. Let's get that hard drive and get the hell out of this
madhouse." She walked unsteadily towards the wet pile that once was her gym
bag. She started to reach for it, but on second thought, she picked up a
couple of the table doilies nearby. Stuffing the original tape into her right
pocket, she wrapped the decorative cloths around her hands, then grabbed the
sodden mess. Turning back to Ranma, she said. "This way."
Ranma held her no argument. He followed her to the video room, and
extracted the hard drive Nabiki wanted. He knew nothing about computers, but even he
was pretty sure that Kodachi's computer would never work again under any
circumstances.
* * * * *
It must have been after eight, Ranma mused, as the sun had fallen beneath
the horizon, making way for the moon. The two newlyweds did not speak since
they left the Kuno estate, unless Nabiki had a command on her lips. Every now
and then, Ranma glanced in her direction, but she was completely unreadable,
even as they were watching the pile of tapes burn up into ashes and slag.
He wandered around the miniature inferno devouring the perverted memories of
something he wasn't even sure he wanted to remember. It hadn't even been a
week they were married, and already it felt like it had been months since
they had received that late "gift." Now that everything had been taken care of,
all the parts of the tragedy-in-the-making gathered and destroyed, Nabiki
should at least be relieved. But as he studied her profile, she still wore
that blank expression. Then he noticed something in her pocket.
"Hey, Nabiki, isn't that the original tape?"
She didn't seem to even register his presence at first, but slowly she
looked down. Her hand pulled free the tape, then transferred the unlabeled item
into her other hand and dove again into her, fishing out a slim camera. She
studied the latter item for a long time, turning it over and over in her hand
like a child studying an alphabet block.
She swore quietly. "Damn you…"
He perked a brow. "What's that you said?"
She looked directly at him for the first time since that afternoon. "If you
weren't there today," she began. "I'd probably be dead by now."
He shrugged. "Yeah, probably so. Kodachi's-"
"Is this how things are always going to be?"
"Huh?"
"I come up with some plan, something goes wrong, you come to my rescue, and
we do it all over again. Is that my fate? To fall and swoon over your
heroic acts? To become weak and pathetic and unable to do anything on my own like
I've always done until now?"
Ranma furrowed his brows. "Whoa, wait, what's going on here?"
Nabiki looked away from him. "You want to hear something funny? I thought
I could do this on my own. I had to get uncharacteristically aggressive with
Kuno this morning - I mean, I risked getting dismissed from Furinken and
probably some jail time just having a knife on my person, not to mention
threatening to use it on Kuno - but I didn't want your help. I wanted you out of my
life so badly, I-"
His eyes grew wide as Nabiki poured out her soul to him, telling him
everything he never wanted to know about her life since their wedding. He wasn't
even sure she was aware of the tears dripping down her face as she
uncharacteristically made herself naked and vulnerable before him. He guessed she was
under strain some time before, but this was nothing like he expected.
"-and I couldn't even take that photo without worrying about moral
ramifications. I tried to embarrass you, sell you, get rid of you, destroy you, and
yet, you continue to come to my rescue, risking your own life to do so. Is
this how I will always live? Dependant on you to wipe my nose every second?
Is it?!" Her voice cracked with raw emotion on the last sentence, her eyes
cutting at him.
"I…" Ranma started to say, then trailed off. _What would the man do at this
point?_ No answer fell from the stars and graced him with the knowledge; he
wondered if there was even such a knowledge in the first place. So he fell
back onto his training over the years for the solution. However, the only one
that he could think of was the Saotome Secret Technique, and running away
wouldn't-wait a second. He quickly recalled what his father had told him while
teaching him the maneuver, then he rapidly whipped up a plan of attack based
on that one scrap of true wisdom quickly launched it at Nabiki, hoping it'll
do the trick.
"I think you're cute!"
For a few moments, no other sound could be heard for miles around. A page
of old newspaper gently blew through the lot. Then she uttered a single word
very quietly.
"What?" She blinked and shook her head in disbelief. "You think I'm--?"
Ranma released the breath he wasn't even aware of holding and smiled,
pressing his advantage. "Yeah, real cute! And smart! Smarter than anyone I know!"
"W-well, I am, but what-?"
"So what 'cha worrying about? You're Nabiki. You think of really smart
plans and they go off without a problem most of the time. So this one didn't
work out like you thought. Big deal. Even the best like me screw up once in a
while. You know what I do, though? I don't worry about it and keep on
doing as I've been taught and raised. The world ain't gonna end over one
mistake. Just don't make it again, and it's all cool. You know?"
She had a blank expression on her face for a little while, but then a smirk
slowly crept across her face. "You realize that I'm going to go back to
being a cold-hearted, money-grubbing bitch. This moment of weakness will never
happen again."
"Phft! Please, like I'd want you to be so damn needy and dependant on me
all the time. I like you just the way you are."
"Heh. You're a glutton for punishment and suffering."
"Hah! Bring it on."
"All right." She stepped into his personal space and slipped her arms
around his neck. "And thanks for saving me," she said and, before Ranma could
react, she planted her lips on his for a second. You know," Nabiki started as
Ranma's brain went offline. "This whole marriage thing gives me a whole new
latitude of ways to torment you." She withdrew her arms and started to walk
back home.
"No fair…" a stunned Ranma said weakly.
She grinned over her shoulder at him. "Who says I play fair?" Looking down
at her hands, she called back to him. "Before I forget, dump this into the
fire as well," Nabiki said, flicking her right towards him.
Ranma snapped out of his bewildered state and caught what Nabiki threw him.
He started to toss it into the fire, then noticed what he was holding.
"Hey, wait, are you-"
"Very sure. Have to get rid of the last bit of evidence of today's
exploits, you know."
"I… guess so," he said, more to himself, as he dumped Nabiki's
expensive-looking camera into the burning barrel. "So, ah, what are you gonna do with…
that?"
"Watch it, what else? After all, it's my wedding night."
"What? You serious? I thought you didn't want any-"
"Things change. Besides, I have to take notes, too, so I can exploit all
the new and interesting ways I can embarrass you and make you miserable."
"You're gonna do _what?!_ Get back here with that tape!"
Nabiki smiled as she slipped the tape down her shirt. "Frisk me for it."
"Urk! Dammit, that's not fair!"
"All you have to do is reach down between my-"
"Argh! Damn you!"
"Oh, Ranma... you're so easy to tease…"
TBC
Adrian Moten
"Oh, come off it. You think you can just escape? Walk out of this world like
it's some bad movie? It's too easy to make like a bird. To flap your wings
as you chicken out. The tough part's walking. Taking what comes along and
walking right through it. That's what real people do."
-Eikichi Onizuka, GTO
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