[FFML] [Fanfic][Ranma][Rewrite] For Better or For Worst-Case Scenario Ch. 5

Had to rewrite the last two chapters, as the ending's changed up, so y'all
can stop sending me emails wondering what the hell was I thinking with Chapter
6 (I rushed, I admit it :D).

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 5: Missing in Reaction

"A lazy Sunday afternoon," Nabiki said aloud as she laid across her bed on
her back. Dressed in cutoff jean shorts and a loose tee shirt, the sleeves
rolled up, she lazily stretched and sat up. Her eyes focused in on Ranma, who
was sitting in the corner on the opposite side of the room reading a thick
comic book. "Don't you agree, honey?"

He seemed to not have heard her, but Nabiki knew he had - she long since
learned to recognize that almost imperceptible tensing around his neck. It only
occurred when an embarrassing topic threatens to rear its head and he wished
to not have anything to do with it. She sometimes wondered if he was even
aware of it. Nabiki didn't think so; otherwise, she felt Ranma would have
learned to stop doing it. At least in her vicinity.

Nabiki supposed to herself she could take advantage of it and tease Ranma in
some sort of way or fashion, but she decided against it; better to remain
unpredictable, to make sure he didn't become numb to her wiles. Besides, it
had been almost a week since the videotape incident, when she finally accepted
her marital situation and started using it in a whole new way to keep boredom
and the humdrum at bay. Plus it was a Sunday - no school, no pressing
family engagements, and no visitors. Let Ranma have a break from her antics.

She flopped back onto her bed, faintly smiling. I'm really salt of the
earth here.

For his part, Ranma looked over his comic to eye his wife. Funny, I thought
she'd do something by now. He let himself wind down after a few moments
more of covertly watching his significant other's inaction, then tried resuming
his reading pleasure. However, he shook his head and put down the volume -
the story and action had been going downhill since halfway through the fourth
volume, turning more melodramatic, inane, and sometimes downright silly. It
was like a martial arts soap opera, or perhaps better worded as a marital arts
soap opera, based on the actions of the younger sister. At one point, Ranma
could have sympathized with the main character, as he, too, got an unwanted
girl wanting to marry him, but now that he went and admitted feelings for the
girl's older sister… He shook his head, promising himself to skim over the
next volume before buying it.

He stood up, stretching his legs and back, feeling muscles loosen and creak.
Popping his neck twice, he started to leave the room.

"Going out?" Nabiki asked, looking over in his direction.

"Yeah. Gonna take a walk."

"Anyplace special?"

"Hadn't thought about it."

She sat up. "Well, give me a minute to change."

He looked over his shoulder. "You wanna come with me?"

"Sure. It seems too nice a day to spend it indoors."

"Well… okay. I'll be downstairs." He slipped out of the room, leaving
Nabiki to her own devices.

In truth, going through a few katas was forefront in his mind. However, the
dojo had been locked up since Thursday afternoon, though why was beyond
him.. When he asked Mr. Tendo about it, the curt answer was that it was under
repair and would be off-limits until sometime after Tuesday. He brought it up
with Nabiki later on, who vowed to do some investigating herself. She turned
up nothing; every entrance point was locked, and the windows were covered with
heavy cloth. Also, the key to the building was not in its usual place.
Whether she did more investigating after that, Ranma did not know. He just
decided to not worry about it and practice out in the backyard.

That turned to be more distracting than anything else. He normally didn't
think about it, but the first time he looked over his shoulder to taunt his
old man and remembered he didn't live at the Tendo residence anymore, the
realization of why splashed him with the strength and numbness of icy water.

He and Nabiki were married.

Ever since then, whenever he'd step into the backyard to practice, his mind
would suddenly cloud up with all the annoying, puzzling, difficult thoughts
and questions, running and bouncing around in his head so rapidly, he sometimes
misremembered the next step of the kata, though his body hadn't. The
collision of two different trains of thoughts resulted in a few funny incidents.
That inverted double-wheeled flying kick he accidentally done one time would
have looked really cool had he not ended up splashing headfirst into the
backyard pond with his legs flopping every which way.

"All right, I'm ready," Nabiki said behind him, shaking him out of his
thoughts. Ranma glanced at her. She had slipped on a pair of faded jeans,
sneakers, and a brown tee shirt with a printed message across the front. He perked an
eyebrow as he read it.

"'Alien Abductee'?"

Nabiki shrugged. "It would explain a few things lately."

Ranma really couldn't disagree with her. "Okay, let's go."

They waltzed out through the front door and into the world.

Even after a week, being together, let alone married, still felt surreal.
Occasionally, a neighbor they came across would congratulate the two on their
wedding and wished them many happy years together. Even the old woman that
would throw water on the sidewalk (and invariably Ranma) in the mornings smiled
at them, giving them a comforting bow as they passed by.

"Just who is she, anyway?" Ranma asked, looking at the elderly lady.

Nabiki started to open her mouth to say her name, but a thought occurred to
her - she didn't know it, either. "So, where are we going?"

He shrugged, his former inquiry forgotten. "Just around." His stomach took
that moment to put in its two cents. "On the second thought, let's go grab
something to eat."

"Sounds good to me." She wasn't particularly hungry, but she was curious as
to where he would go for food, as two places he might have eaten would most
assuredly be off limits to him. Did he even think about that? Knowing him,
probably not.

He led the way down the street. Nabiki was content with just following him,
thought she did make a point to stay abreast of him. She wasn't sure if Ranma
ever thought about traditional women's roles, but she wouldn't take a chance
on someone seeing her walking behind him like an obedient pet.

=DING DING
Ranma tensed up, along with Nabiki, who drew close to him; if it was Shampoo
coming to seek revenge, she stood no chance out in the open. They looked
around quickly for a lavender-haired Amazon warrior/delivery girl. However, the
only person they saw was Mousse, running down the street on a delivery bike…
then nearly running into a telephone pole.

"Must be really busy at the Cat Café," Ranma said absently. "Sending Mousse
out on a delivery…" He turned away, shrugging and continued on his way with
Nabiki still in tow, though she had remained a little closer to her husband.

"Ranma."

"Mm? Whatsit?"

"…It's nothing."

"…Okay."

They traveled for several minutes, neither one speaking. Or at least not
aloud in Nabiki's case. Her mind started to whirl as she tried to put together
a puzzle that started to bug her. Of the four girls to have claims to Ranma,
three of them have already did something: Akane threw out the door any hopes
of her and Ranma reuniting with her formal acceptance and virtual surrender;
Ukyo decked Ranma in the nurse's office (and caused sizeable damage to the
bed, the way she heard it); Kodachi tried to blackmail Nabiki into divorce so
she could have Ranma all to herself, which ended up with quite a bit of
property damage at the Kuno Estate, along with a dearth of destroyed doctored
copies and one recovered master tape. Also, thanks to the Kunos, she had all the
reason in the world to stay with her now-husband. Amazing how almost being
devoured whole by someone's pet crocodile will rearrange one's priorities in
life.

However, the one she would have expected to deliver an immediate (and most
likely very violent) response - the Amazon warrior Shampoo - was AWOL. The
total lack of response had her more worried than becoming a reptile's snack. Was
it some kind of psychological game? Nabiki could hardly believe the Amazon
would simply give up and go home, but then again, mind games were not a normal
part of her repertoire, either. The only thing she could think of was that it
was part of some weird tribal custom or something, but what? Pieces were
missing, and she needed them to get a clear picture.

"Huh, Ucchan's closed."

Nabiki looked up, her thoughts shattered by the simple phrase. Her eyes
lighted upon the okonomiyaki diner, and her brows knitted in mild surprise. She
had no idea they had wandered around this far. However, what on earth were they
doing here anyway?

"Planned on eating here or something?" She perked one brow incredulously at
her husband.

"No… though now that you mention it, I haven't had okonomiyaki in a while."
Ranma rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then glanced at Nabiki, who still wore her
disbelieving face. "…What?"

She stared at him for a few seconds longer, pursing her lips together. "Some
things will never change," she said, more to herself.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Haven't been married for more than a few weeks, and already, you're trying
to sneak back to see old flames."

Ranma sputtered in shock, unable to get words to come out of his mouth.
Nabiki turned her face away from him, covering up with her hands as she did
so. "You're so cruel, beloved… Don't I mean anything to you? And after I gave
myself to you…"

For about ten seconds, Ranma's brain hung itself, any possible responses
frozen with the system lockup. However, once his thinker rebooted and everything
went back into motion, he mentally slapped himself for falling into yet
another one of Nabiki's mind games. "Dammit, Nabiki! Stop that!"

She smirked at him from under her hands. "You're getting faster," she said
under her breath. Abruptly, Nabiki turned around and drew in close to him, her
face turning serious. "Just admit it, Ranma. You were going to go see Ukyo."

"I was not! There just happens to be a beef bowl vendor on the other side of
this street."

"Uh huh…"

He folded his arms, cocking his head to one side. "Really. And why would you
be so concerned about me seeing Ucchan, anyway?"

For a moment, she considered whapping him upside his head. However, as dense
as he was, she'd probably break her hand. "Because you would end up having
her chase after you. Again."

"What?" Ranma scrunched up his face, as if he smelled something had gone
bad, but didn't know where it was coming from. "How do you figure that?"

"Knowing you, you'd go talk to her, do something charming to or for her, and
leave her thinking maybe she still has a shot at you."

His left eye twitched. "Gods, what do you take me for? I'm married to you!"

She looked him in the eye. "You also like using people."

He jerked back as if he took a blow on the chin. "'Using people'? I'm
nothing like y-" Ranma's own hand snapped shut on his mouth so fast, it startled
him.

Nabiki glanced down at the ground briefly, then shifted her head up to hold
his attention with her eyes. "I know what I am, and I admit to it honestly."
She reached up and slowly peeled his hand away from over his mouth. "Be honest
with yourself, too, Ranma."

They stood there, rooted in place by their silent struggle, her hand holding
his still. Neither one spoke, but their eyes communicated in volumes.
Finally, Ranma pulled his hand out of hers, tossing it up in exasperation. "Fine,
don't believe me. Let's just go home." He turned on his heels and started to
walk back the way they came.

"I thought you were hungry."

He didn't look back. "I'll live."

Clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, Nabiki shrugged and
followed suit, pulling up beside Ranma so she could keep tabs on his mood from the
corner of her eye. She soon realized that was a waste of time, as his face
was the most unusual level of neutrality she ever seen on the young Saotome.
Idly, she wondered what was going on through his head, then decided to focus on
other things; the afternoon was already spoiled, and there seemed to be no
clues willing to jump out of the bushes and shout "Here! Here!" on Shampoo's
current whereabouts and state of mind. So she turned to the only other mystery
that's been gnawing at her toes recently: what was so special in the dojo
that it's remained locked all weekend?

She would have to investigate later. Right now, she was starting to feel a
little hungry. She hoped Kasumi had some kind of snack prepared; she hated
having to make something herself.

* * * * *
She still had no luck gaining admittance into the dojo. Questioning her
father about it led her nowhere; he deflecting her inquiries with answers that
sounded rehearsed. Akane had no clue, either, as she flatly said she didn't
know and was a little frustrated she couldn't go practice inside till almost the
middle of the week. Asking Kasumi about it turned out to be more bizarre
than she would have ever fathomed.

"Hey, Kasumi," Nabiki asked as she came out of the kitchen crunching on a
squat Asian pear.

"Yes, Nabiki?" she inquired as she was sitting in the living room watching
something on television. It turned out to be a baseball game, the Tokyo Giants
playing against some other team. Who they were, Nabiki neither knew nor
cared; she was not a sports fan. She only knew about the Giants because Kasumi,
surprisingly, turned out to be a big fan of theirs - that and the fact they
were quite a losing bunch. Her older sister loved them anyway… probably because
she had a crush on one of the players. It was the only thing Nabiki could
think of that made sense.

"Ranma's been a bit grouchy lately."

Kasumi hadn't turned from the screen to reply. "Whatever could be bothering
him?"

Nabiki glanced at television herself to see what had her older sister so
riveted. Bottom of the ninth, Giants at bat. Score was 4-2 in favor of the other
team. Two men on first and second, one out. The batter at the plate just
earned his second strike with no outs against them. "I don't know. I suggested he
go to the dojo and work it out. Says he can't. It's been locked up or
something."

The Giants suddenly got a lucky break. The pitcher threw the ball, but it
didn't break right. Smashed right into the batter's left thigh. Bases were now
loaded, a pinch runner going in for the injured player, and the Japanese
version of Casey Jones stepped up to the plate, ready to bring it all home.

Kasumi smiled. "That's because Father's holding some things inside."

"Really…? Such as-"

The pitcher shook off two signs from the catcher, then nodded in affirmation
on the third. He reared back and let the ball fly like an arrow, going just
inside on the batter. "Ball," the umpire called, and the pitcher cursed his
luck.

"Well…" She hesitated, but then continued. "Don't tell anyone else about
this, but-"

The leather bullet streaked across the plate, burrowing deep inside the
catcher's glove. Strike. Kasumi frowned. "Hold on a moment, Nabiki."

Nabiki frowned as well. It would be easier to turn off the TV set and have
her older sister's undivided attention, but she may have her own rehearsed
lines like her father. As long at the Giants were doing well, though, she was far
more candid and likely to give all the answers she wanted to know. Realizing
that, Nabiki turned her attention to the game.

Two more balls called, then a foul ball that, had it managed to remain on
the other side of the foul line marker, would have been a grandslam homerun and
the Giants would have won. Nabiki spared a glance at Kasumi while the other
team had a conference on the plate concerning the pitcher, catcher, and the
team manager. She was sitting there, her hands clasped together tightly, her
eyes hard locked onto the screen, as though she was exerting her will on the
outcome of the game.

Nabiki hadn't felt this disturbed around her sister since she found out
about the bets Kasumi made on her wedding.

The shortshop had been brought into the fold on the mound for a few seconds
more, something the announcer thought was strange, and made an offhand remark
about bringing in the rest of the infield for the summit. The meeting ended,
everyone drifting back into their prescribed places. On the mound, the
pitcher didn't even look at the Japanese Casey Jones or the catcher. Instead he
slowly wound up with his eyes closed, snapping them open just before he
delivered his last offering to the batter, a screwball. The batter reflected it hard
off his bat, a powerful linedrive screaming to right field - that was
intercepted in mid-flight by the shortstop, who sprang up into the air like he had a
pair of wings to snag the miniature missile. In one fluid motion, the
shortstop came down and tagged out the second base runner on the shoulder before he
even realized he needed to get back to the base, let the ball catapult out
of the glove and into the air again just as he landed only to bounce back up
like he was made of rubber, snare the floating sphere again and sling it down
to first base, where the other runner understood the situation a second too
late and dove back to safety. But by then, the ball was firmly embedded inside
the first baseman's glove.

Triple play.

"Excuse me…" Kasumi sounded as though someone had just canceled Christmas as
she got up, exiting the living room. "I have to cook... something."

Nabiki was stunned, too, particularly once she found out the name of the
shortstop that single-handedly killed the Giants' and her hopes: Number 36,
Souma Saotome. She made it a high point to find Ranma or his parents and ask
about their relatives. Chances were, they were going to be one short at the next
family reunion if she had anything to say and do about it.

In the meanwhile, she cut off the TV, having gained virtually nothing of use
from in the last few minutes. They're using the dojo for storage… for what
though? Was it too large to take up to Ranma's old room? And just what were
they storing there, come to think about it?

With that thought in mind, Nabiki got up and made her way upstairs to
investigate. However, something new arrested her progress: there was a lock on the
door. Or to be more precise, the sliding door had been replaced with a door
and a knob. One that now required a key to get into..

* * * * *
"There's now a door and a lock on your old room," Nabiki said, sitting on
her bed in her sleepwear, one leg crossed over the other.

Ranma, still wearing his pants and undershirt, was reading another one of
his comic books. "Yeah. So?"

"'So?' Don't you think it's strange that the slide door is now just a
regular door with a knob?"

"Nope," he said, still not looking up. "Just butt out of it."

She arched an eyebrow at him in confusion. "'Butt out'?"

"What, you're a parrot, as well as a snoop, too?"

Nabiki was a little cross at that. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Means you can't keep your nose out of other people's business." This time
he put the volume down and looked at her flatly. "Thought you would have
learned after that whole videotape business."

The comment stung her more than she would admit. "Hey, I care about what's
going on, and I don't want someone getting hurt over something that could have
been prevented."

"Bullshit. You just want to know stuff so you can hold it over people's
head. You like feeling superior over everyone else, rub their faces in it."

She jerked back in shock, not at the accusation itself - though she wouldn't
have confessed to its validity anyway - but at the fact that it was Ranma
making them of his own will. Who was the person sitting across from her, and
what had it done with the real Ranma? She found it hard to believe that he
could even think, let alone argue, this way. Of course, he only was reacting to
whatever she said, but still, he was showing a whole different side of himself,
something that she found very intriguing, attractive.

However, she was not about to let him win this verbal battle anytime soon.
"I'm not like you, Ranma baby. I don't go around gloating about how I do this
or that to someone I topple."

Now it was Ranma's turn to give her the incredulous look. "Excuse me? Who
was so sure about me going to Ucchan's, then got so damn smug when I dropped
the matter, like it was true and I didn't want to admit it? Wasn't me, that's
for sure."

Nabiki glared hard at Ranma, trying to decide whether or not she was pissed
that he wasn't backing down as he did in the past. It was like he was a whole
different person now. Was it because they were married that he grew stones?
Was he just angry with everything that had happened and was just blowing off
steam? More importantly, why did she find herself liking this new Ranma?

He continued on, oblivious to her penetrating look. "You can't keep you nose
out of other people's business because you like knowing everything, and you
can't wait to rub it in someone's face later when something goes wrong. 'Haha!
You screwed up!' Not today, Nabiki. Not today. I don't give a shit what's
going on with my old room, and you're not gonna give a shit, either. End. Of.
Story."

A thousand arguments, persuasions, and coercions came to mind. Nabiki had
plenty of ammo to spit back. However, the hand that should have pulled the
trigger became relaxed by a warm tingling feeling flooding throughout her body.
Her heartbeat came in faster, electricity danced all over and under her skin,
heightening her sensitivity, and her body felt a lot hotter. The room seemed
smaller, she and Ranma so much nearer. Her eyes widened a little as she
absently licked her suddenly-dry lips.

"Oh my god…" she murmured. "I'm…" She bit her lip, forcing herself to not
finish the sentence. "No… no… this isn't…" she said to herself, her voice
dropping lower and lower till she could barely hear herself.

Ranma had been watching her for about half a minute, his eyebrows furrowing
together as she suddenly became extremely self-conscious and fidgety. Her face
and body were flushed a pinkish hue. She refused to even look in his
direction anymore.

"Well, I'm be damned," he said at last. "Never thought I'd see the day you
were unable to talk back."

"Ranma, shut up…" Nabiki muttered. "Dealing with something…"

"Yeah." He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back, looking smug.
"I know you are…"

She turned a quick glare in his direction. "You're not helping here…"

He cracked a confident smirk in her direction, her glare of silence about as
effective as building a snowman without snow. "'Be honest with yourself,' eh,
Nabiki? You know everything, so don't hold back the truth."

"Oh, you can't handle the truth…"

"Heh, more like you can't. The moment someone sees through you, you're
suddenly all scared and embarrassed."

Her eyes turned towards him dangerously, hunger welling up in them. "Is that
what you think it is?"

His eyes were half-lidded in their superior confidence. "I know so."

She exhaled sharply though her nose and she gripped the edge of her bed
tightly. "Well let me tell you something, then." Quickly, she pushed herself off
into his direction, practically pouncing him in the exchange. He jerked back
from the surprise approach, his head smacking against the wall as Nabiki
brought her face in close to his, their noses inches apart.

"The absolute, honest truth is, right now, I have a burning urge to rip your
clothes off and fuck you like an animal. I want to feel you inside of me and
all over me, doing so many little naughty things to me, you'd make me scream
like a wild woman. Our bodies entangled fast and hard, pushing away and
refusing to let each other go, passion and lust raging out of control…" She sucked
in a short breath through her teeth, fighting to dispel her sudden carnal
thoughts. "…but no, that's not going to happen. Not here, not now, not ever.
Being married, okay, I have to admit it was a shock to the system, but after it
wore off, I can deal with it perfectly well. However, we are not going to be
sleeping in the same bed. We are not going to have terrible and wonderful
bouts of torrid, unbridled lovemaking, no dirty, kinky,
tie-me-to-the-bed-and-spank-me-daddy sex, and definitely none of that out-and-out raw animalistic
fuck-me-so-hard-I-can't-walk-straight-in-the-morning. We are married, but
nothing else beyond that. And if you don't stop turning me on, you're going to
make me do some or all of those things I just mentioned, and I'll make damn
sure you'll regret every last bit of it in the morning. Got it?"

Nabiki tore her eyes away from his once the last syllable fell from her
lips, taking in deep breaths through her mouth. If she kept looking into them,
she was almost positive she would have tossed everything to the four winds and
acted on her desires. The air on her skin burned, and she tried her hardest to
not think about anything along those lines. She needed to move back to her
bed, give herself space, but that felt like inviting disaster; however, so was
remaining so close to the source of her unexpected temptation. She never
experienced such a cocktail of hormones quite like this, and she wondered if it
was really a bad thing. Daringly, she stole a glance in his direction, seeing
if he was suffering anything like her.

Surprisingly, he wasn't suffering. In fact, it seemed like Ranma wasn't
feeling anything; both his face and eyes were totally blank, staring off where
Nabiki's head had been moments ago. The only sign of life coming from him was
his lips, which slowly moved up and down in tiny bobbles.

Nabiki grabbed his head and kissed him hard, cursing herself only after
breaking the intimate connection. "Get out," she said breathlessly, releasing
him. "Go sleep on the roof or something for the next few days. Hurry up before I
act on… something naughty."

Ranma could only nod numbly at his wife. Painstakingly - Nabiki noted that
she did have some kind of effect on him - he slid up the wall, then staggered
towards the door. His hand fumbled for the knob a couple of times before
catching it fast, then he disappeared with its opening and closing.

Nabiki watched him go without incident. Once he was gone, Nabiki heaved a
heavy sigh and moved back to her bed. "Gods… I don't know if I can deal with
that again…" She peeled back her covers and tried her best to lay down and not
think about that hungry, damp feeling she knew would not go away as easily.

* * * * *
Kasumi had awakened early, as usual. A quick bath and a change of clothes
later, she was making her way to the kitchen, when an unusual sight greeted
her. Her brows furrowed in concern. "Little brother…?"

A shirtless Ranma was sitting on the floor of the kitchen, his body slumped
over. He smelled of cool, stale exertion, as if he had been working out
earlier. A small line of drool had crept from the corner of his mouth and down his
chin. In one hand, a half-eaten piece of fruit threatened to escape his
nonexistent grasp.

Carefully approaching, Kasumi knelt down and lightly touched his hand. "Lit-"

Before she could finish the word, Ranma's eyes flew open. "No!" he shouted,
his hand cresting upwards quick as a flash.

=CRACK
The sound seems to reverberate through the kitchen like thunder, shaking
Ranma out of his dream state. He gaped in horror as the entire world went into
slow motion. Like a rubber doll, Kasumi's upper half had stretched for the
wall, but her lower half had not complied at first and tried to hold its ground.
After realizing its folly, her legs chose to surrender quickly, and they shot
out from under her in the opposite direction her head was taking. Fresh
blood trailed from the corner of her mouth as gravity quickly reasserted its
grasp upon the young woman. With a thud, Kasumi crashed into the floor, her arms
flailing briefly before settling into a haphazard tangle.

He was so stunned, his body refusing to function at all. His eyes soaked up
the image of her sister-in-law laying there, still as death. Somehow, one hand
found strength to float through the air, reaching out to touch her. Fear
stayed his hand, though, as if afraid to shatter a dream and discover the
nightmare was real. "Ka… Ka… Kasumi?"

She stirred at mention of her name, moaning as she painstakingly drew
herself up into a sitting position. Her left hand gingerly cradled her right arm as
she slowly made its fingers flex open and closed. The impact point on her jaw
was already shifting colors.

Ranma almost lost bladder control on the spot. Instantly he prostrated
himself before her. "I'm so sorry, Kasumi! I didn't know it was you and-"

"It's all right Ranma," she said calmly, partly smiling, partly wincing in
the furious pain in her jaw and right shoulder, which took the brunt of her
fall. "I was the one that was careless. You could say it was just… karma."

No matter how much she reassured him, though, Ranma still felt miserable and
guilty. Hearing the explanation Kasumi concocted for everyone else - a minor
accident in the bath earlier - served only to intensify it. He didn't look in
anyone's direction that morning. In fact, he didn't even eat anything at the
breakfast table. He sat there for a few minutes, his food and chopsticks
remaining untouched, then quickly excused himself, going out the front door and
heading to school.

It took around five minutes for Nabiki to catch up with him, practically
running the whole way. "What possessed you to hit Kasumi, of all people?"

Ranma visibly tensed up. "Wh, what're you talking about? She already told
you-"

"Yeah, yeah. However, you've been practically blurting out your guilt all
morning."

He glared at her. "Stop poking your nose where it's not wanted."

Nabiki looked back defiantly. "She's my sister. I have a right to know."

He turned away, not slowing down his pace. "Then go ask her."

"She's covering for you. What happened?"

He refused to answer at first, then quickly relented, stopping in place.
"Look," he said, turning to face Nabiki again. "It was an accident. I had a
dream, and she just tried to wake me at the wrong time. That's it."

She perked both eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah. End of story." He turned on his heels and began walking again.

Twisted though it seemed, Nabiki actually smiled at the idea of her
meddlesome sister getting her comeuppance. Serves her right for her invasive actions
at Nabiki's wedding. Then she frowned, remembering last night. If someone
like Kasumi got hit with karmic payback - no pun intended, she amended to
herself - what kind of retribution could Nabiki expect? Was she already in the
midst of the cashing in that paycheck?

She bit her lower lip slightly, mulling her thoughts around on the concept
of karma. Frowning internally at the answers given to her, she stepped with the
quickness of a rabbit. Within seconds, she was abreast of her husband. "Um,
Ranma?"

He grunted his acknowledgement.

"…I'm sorry."

Ranma didn't register her words for a moment. Once they were entered into
his brain, however, he stopped in midstep, looking at his wife. "You're…
apologizing?"

She held his eyes for a second, then looked off to one side. "Yeah."

He had to cock an eyebrow. "For what?"

She sucked on her lower lip now, then made the words come out. "For being
nosy."

"Oh… um, okay." He couldn't think of anything else to say.

They walked together in silence for a short bout.

"You know, about yesterday afternoon…" Ranma began, folding his arms.

She looked over at him. "What about it?"

"…Thanks."

"'Thanks'? For what?"

"For saying what you said… about Ucchan. I didn't really think about all
that stuff."

Nabiki looked at Ranma sideways for a moment. "Believe it or not, I do care
about things other than myself. Maybe I don't show it often enough, but it
doesn't make it any less true."

"Yeah, I was thinking about all of that last night, after I left. I know us
getting married ain't no picnic, and not something we would've chose to do if
we could repeat the last two weeks, but-"

Nabiki cut him off in midsentence. "Hey, Ranma?"

"Huh? What?"

"Let's go see your friend, Ukyo. After school."

He looked at her queerly. "Why'd you want to do that?"

"I want to clear the air between us and your ex-fiancées. Make sure they
know that our marriage isn't a trick of some sort, and that you are off the
market. No confusion. No nonsense. Just upfront honesty."

"Huh…" Ranma slowly nodded his head. "All right, I guess. Your plan, though."

"No problem. I'll have some strategy prepared for you by lunch. Which
reminds me…" She handed him his packaged lunch.

Ranma took the proffered bag without complaint. "Well, see you at lunch."

"Later, Ranma."

The married couple reached school momentarily and branched off to their
respective classes.

* * * * *
How did one deal with a broken heart? Akane thought to herself, as she gazed
out the classroom window. The substitute homeroom teacher hadn't arrived to
class yet; the regular one, Mr. Tawakichi, was out. She didn't know what the
real story was, but rumor had it that he split up with his wife of seventeen
years to get married to a seventeen-year-old former student of his whom he
had been having an affair with last year. Not that she believed such creepy,
outlandish rumors - this was Japan, not America, after all - but the thought of
it gave her something to think about. Assuming everything was, in fact,
true, how would Mrs. Tawakichi deal with the sudden breakup? Was she deeply in
love with her husband? Were they merely brought together through an arranged
marriage? Would she have faulted the girl, or would she be able to find the
strength and compassion to forgive him and not hold it against him? Maybe she
would get rip roaringly drunk, find a gun, and shoot him and his young
sweet-tart lover while they were in the middle of-

Akane shook her head on the last thought. Again, this was Japan - no one
gets shot here. A different story in America - as much as she would like to
visit the States some day, she really didn't want to get shot abroad doing so. It
was a wonder the country even had overcrowding issues; she would have assumed
there would be plenty of open spaces - though the hospitals and morgues
would be overflowing.

The substitute homeroom teacher arrived just before she could start asking
herself the real questions she wanted to know answers for, but too afraid to
follow through. As her mind turned towards the humdrum of school work, she
noticed that an unfamiliar young man padded into the classroom shortly. The
substitute conferred with the student outside the classroom briefly, then
reentered, the student in tow.

A quick introduction - the new student was actually present in the first
part of the school year, but had been hospitalized for several months. Some of
Akane's peers seemed to have recalled him, though she didn't know him from
Adam. She wondered if he had given pursuit back when Kuno was making every man
prove their worth to her through daily morning fights.

The substitute teacher then directed the old classmate to an empty desk in
the back, a row over from Akane. At this point, something was niggling the back
of her mind, but she couldn't figure out why. She glanced back to the seat
as the young man had walked towards it, and she felt something about it was
just… wrong. Like there should be someone else there. However, she couldn't
think of anyone not present today: Ranma was here, looking bored as usual, as
well as Shigeki, Chiyo, Ukyo, Urumi-

Wait a second!

Quickly, Akane raised her hand. The substitute peered in her direction and
made a quick glance at the seating chart before addressing her. "Yes, Ms.
Tendo?"

She stood up in place. "Excuse me, teacher, but isn't that Ukyo's seat you
assigned the new student?"

The substitute teacher frowned a little, then re-read the seating chart.
"Hmm. Yes, it was a few days ago. However, Ms. Kuonji has resigned from Furinken
High School Friday, so it may be given to another student."

Resigned? Akane mouthed the word in surprise. Why would she leave Furinken?
Unconsciously, her eyes shifted over to Ranma. He was sitting rigidly alert
now, his brows pinched together. Because of Ranma?

* * * * *
Lunchtime rolled around midday. Some students made their way to the
cafeteria to purchase a meal and snack, while others who brought homemade food
elected to eat inside their class room, or head outside and enjoy Mother Nature's
company. Nabiki normally fell underneath the category of the latter; today was
no different, as she made her way down the stairs to meet Ranma. Two of her
friends flanked her, talking amiably among each other, and directing various
questions to Nabiki. The subject of late: Nabiki's marriage.

"It's just sooo romantic, the way you two just got married like that!" the
one girl with long dark hair commented half-dreamily.

"Kind of underhanded, though, even for Nabiki," the other girl with the
sun-kissed skin and nearly-blonde hair trimmed short akin to Akane's hairstyle
said matter-of-factly.

"Aww, Mariko, you're just jealous Jiro isn't sweeping you off your feet like
that."

Mariko rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Junko. Like I was ever attracted to
him. Besides, I'm friends with his girlfriend."

"Akane is Nabiki's sister, and that didn't stop her from finding true love
with Ranma, now, did it?" Junko said, more to the subject in question.

Nabiki had to suppress the urge to sigh. While it was a joy to have female
friends that did not, in fact, conform to societal norms of Japanese culture,
she sometimes wished they would at least not be so willing to discuss more
discreet issues out in the open. Especially with sore spots, such as Junko's
last comment. "Now, now… that was not my fault. I've been conspired against by
the gods, and for now, I'm just staying with things as is. Nothing's changed."

The girls nodded, and they took several more steps.

"Bet they do it three times a night," Junko whispered to Mariko.

However, Nabiki managed to overhear the remark. She colored significantly in
response. "Junko…" she said with an edge of promised death in her voice.

"Speaking of lovers, there's yours Nabiki," Mariko quickly said, pointing at
Ranma, who was pacing under the location of their meeting place.

"Oooh! Bet he's been dying to see you all-"

Junko and Mariko both blinked as a sudden blast of wind whipped their
uniform skirts around.

"What was that?" Mariko said, looking around.

"More importantly, where's Nabiki?" Junko chimed in.

"What?"

"She's… gone! And so is Ranma!"

"Where did they go?"

The two scanned the area in confusion, then stood there silent.

"…Bet they ran off to have a quickie on the roof."

"…Junko, you really need to get yourself a boyfriend…"

* * * * *
"Dammit, Ranma!" Nabiki shrieked as she clung tightly to her husband's neck
as he went sailing though the air, carrying her in his arms. "What the hell's
your probl-" She shrieked again as he vaulted over Furinken's outer wall and
bolted down the sidewalk.

He gave a quick explanation about Ukyo as he took the shortest route from
school to Ucchan's Okonomiyaki Restaurant - a straight line. He hopped, ducked,
dodged, slid, and swung from trees, walls, fences, people, pet, houses, and
cars without breaking stride.

"Gods, couldn't you have waited till after school?!"

"No, I can't!" He somersaulted over a small pond at the last second, his
feet finding purchase on the nearby house's roof. "This gotta be done n-"

The roof suddenly caved in under the shock of Ranma and Nabiki's combined
weight. In hindsight, it was probably already weakened from where the home owner
did not see fit to guard it from the elements, and as a result, the
structure beneath had rotted away. However, that did not stop the pair from falling
through and crashing into the home owner's bedroom in a tangled heap.

Ranma moaned in pain before he spoke. "You okay, Nabiki?"

"Yeah… I'm fine," she said, slowly uncurling from the fetal position Ranma
had tucked her into to prevent her from getting injured. "Don't think that'll
make up for this dumb idea of a field trip."

"Yeah, yeah…" He couldn't help but smile at her admonishment.

She tried to be cool, though she felt just the opposite. "We're taking the
long route back to school, so you know in advance."

Once the couple composed themselves, they left through the front door and
trekked the rest of the way to Ukyo's restaurant on the ground.

Once they were near their destination, Nabiki pulled Ranma to the side. "You
wait here."

"Huh? Why do I-"

"Trust me on this. Just wait here. I'm going to go talk to her first."

"What? But-"

She pressed her fingers to his lips. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

He looked at her, searched her eyes. Slowly he nodded in agreement, and she
let her fingers slide away from his lips. On impulse, he caught the tip of one
between his lips for a second, then let it go. They both blushed at the
action.

"Um… hurry up. Don't wanna be late for your next class."

"Y, yeah…" She turned away and padded over to the shop.

What brought that on? they wondered as one.

As expected, the restaurant was still closed from Sunday. Nabiki peered
through one of the windows. The dining area played host to several cardboard
boxes, many of them filled with packing straw and objects. The walls were bared
of advertisements and prices. There was no sign of anyone in the store, though.
Withdrawing from her viewpoint, she moved towards the store doors and
knocked.

A few minutes later, Nabiki returned to Ranma. "Nobody's home," she said
simply. "Let's try again after school."

Sighing, he agreed, and they returned to school. However, the situation was
the same as before, only the boxes that were their previously were now gone. A
white moving truck stood on display across the street. "It's like she didn't
want anyone to know she was leaving," Ranma commented glumly as they
followed the course home.

"Or maybe she's avoiding you."

"Maybe…" He was silent for a few moments. "I've been a shitty friend," he
said, more to himself.

Nabiki perked an eyebrow in surprise, but didn't say anything.

Soon, they arrived home. "We're home."

Akane had greeted them, then turned to Ranma. "You have some visitors."

He furrowed his brows. "I do?"

"Yes, both of them are on the porch."

Curious, he went to see who had came around to see him. Mom and dad maybe?
As he neared, he could hear snatches of conversation.

"So it's agreed."

"…yes, it's agreed."

"…and remember, no backing out…"

"Understood."

Ranma opened to door. The two people looked at him as one.

"Hello, boy."

"Hey, Ranchan."

He looked from his dirty, disheveled-looking father to a somewhat
disheveled, stern-but-beaming Ukyo. "Hey to you, too. What's going on?"

"Nothing important," Genma said tersely, getting up. "Now if you excuse me…"
He pushed past Ranma and disappeared around the corner.

"You beat him up again?" he asked, looking at Ukyo.

"No. I just happened upon him that way. Though I would have used aggressive
negotiations if need be."

"Okay…" He sat down on the porch.

"I bet you already heard. I dropped out of Furinken High School."

"Yeah. Found out this morning."

"I talked to my dad last week and told him about everything that's happened
here. He felt that I should come back home."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I was going to, too."

He looked at her a little strangely.

"I had some time to think about things, and maybe I was being too hard on
you. It was quite a shock, finding out that you had married Nabiki, of all
people! Akane, I guess I could understand, but Nabiki? What were you thinking?
Then, I kinda sat back and thought, well, maybe you got tricked into it or
something - much as I hate to admit it, you are kinda gullible."

"Hey!"

"I was all set to come save you from a life of unhappiness." She gave him a
small grin. "But then, I talked to Akane, and I don't think she realized it,
but she said some things that put everything in perspective."

"Really? Like what?"

She looked away, touching her index fingers together. "Mmm… Girl stuff. You
wouldn't understand."

"Since I left China, I spend half my time as a girl. I think I would."

She colored slightly. "It, it's not important…! You're getting me off track!
Shut up and let me finish, Jackass!"

"Fine, finish then! Damn!"

"Look, the important thing is that you're a married guy, now. That's
something I have to respect. If things were reversed and we were married…" She
paused and looked at him quietly. "I would want other people to respect our
situation. There's no shame in that, so it'd be stupid to try and run away from the
fact. Besides, as we all know, running away doesn't make the problem go
away."

"Huh…" Ranma closed his eyes in thought. "Yeah, that's true. Thanks to pop,
everything got so complicated."

"Don't worry about him. I already squared things away with your father."

He opened his eyes and looked at his friend. "How so?"

"He'll be repaying for the cart he stole all those years ago in free
advertisement and labor for the next year."

"You're gonna have pop work for you?"

"Mm hmm. As a panda bear. With our combined cuteness factors, Ucchan's will
become the biggest hit in the entire Nerima Ward. That the real reason I
dropped out of Furinken. To focus on the business."

His eyebrows arched in surprise. "Really?"

"Mm hmm. I'll be staying around until I branch off another chain and get
someone to mange Ucchan's here." She looked at him slyly. "Maybe you and Nabiki
would be interested…?"

Ranma laughed. "Me? Running a business? Nah… Might be up Nabiki's alley,
though. Put it to her sometime; she'd probably jump on it."

"I'll do that."

There was a knock coming from the inside. Ranma turned in its direction.
"Yeah?"

Nabiki opened the shutters. "Hey, your dad wants to see you." There were
traces of annoyance in her face, though she kept her features neutral as she
went on. "In the dojo."

"What? The dojo's open now? Thought it wouldn't be open for another few
days."

"Hey, go ahead and see your father," Ukyo said. "I'll talk to Nabiki about
that proposition, then let myself out."

"You sure?"

"Positive. You can visit me anytime at the restaurant."

"Okay. Cool. Well, see you later, Ucchan!"

"Bye, Ranchan!"

He disappeared into the house, a smile gracing his lips. "Wow, worked out
better than I thought!" he whispered excitedly to Nabiki as he passed by.

"Glad for you," she smiled back. She watched him disappear into the next
room, then redirected her attention to Ranma's ex-fiancée. Her back was to
Nabiki, staring out across the yard.

"Nabiki…" she said without turning around.

"The business idea sounds interesting, though I'm not one for cooking. Let's
see what'll happen in the next few years first before anything else."

"Understood."

"Anything else you wish to talk about?"

Ukyo didn't reply. Nabiki gave her a minute, then started to close the door.

"Nabiki."

She paused. "Yes?"

"Be good to him."

Nabiki noted the slight trembling in Ranma's friend's shoulders. "I will.
Take as much time as you need. No one will disturb you."

"…Thank you."

Nabiki closed the shutter firmly and made good her word, standing guard for
the whole of 15 minutes. The silence from the other side of the shutter
answered that Ukyo Kuonji had left the premises.

* * * * *
"Sleeping in the dojo tonight?" Nabiki asked as Ranma rolled up his bed mat.

"Yeah," he responded, scooping that and his backpack up. "Pop thinks I'm
being stupid, but hey, I haven't been able to spar with anyone without worry
about something for a week. And it's not like he can tell me what to do now; I
bet mom's keeping him pretty busy back home."

In more ways that one, I bet. Nabiki shook her head, trying to dispel the
mood her thoughts were already venturing into. "Don't injure anything."

"Hah. I could go all night," he replied, hoisting his sack onto his shoulder.

Nabiki tried hard to keep that line in context with his activity. The dojo
finally freed up - the mystery behind its lock-up will go unsolved now - Ranma
was bursting to do what he loves most - martial arts without inhibition. It
was fortunate that he had an outlet for his pent up desires that he had
demonstrated at least once already. Nabiki, on the other hand, didn't have an
effective one. The half-sketched drawings and half-baked stories she had done in
those times fitted nicely in a shoebox under her bed, though by all rights she
should set the lot of them on fire and pretend they never existed. However
the means, their separate activities kept them from being alone together for
too long, which would result in some sort of passionate, tragic coupling, and
she did not want to deal with that.

"Anyway, see you in the morning, Nabiki. Night."

"Night."

Once he left, Nabiki flopped onto her bed. Half of her was glad he wasn't
presenting her with temptation; the other half was upset that he didn't even try
to stay in the room. She sighed deeply.

"How long can this keep going on?" she spoke aloud. No one answered her
back, which wasn't a shock. She tried to recall anything that would give her an
answer. Nothing came within her grasp, though. That was a disappointment.
Shaking off the mental threads, Nabiki undressed, put on her sleepwear, and
turned in for the night. Perhaps all she needed was to sleep on it, and the answer
will present itself like a present.

As she slept, she dreamed. It felt familiar, like the ones of the black
wolves with the sparkling eyes forcing her to continue marching ahead to some
unknown destination. She looked behind her, seeing those same wolves with red,
blue, green, and white eyes staring at her. Turning around, she found a window
before her, one that gave her a splendid view of a tall mountain, like the
ones reported in National Geographic magazines. She couldn't help but let her
eyes linger on the majestic peak striding upwards as if to scratch the very
heavens. A smile danced across her face.

However, the blue skies started to shift into a deep darkness, and fear
stole away the happiness she felt in the beginning. Somehow, she made out
movement on the mountain, an object that loped down its side at an alarming speed.
Nabiki took one, two, three steps back at a time, but the object getting
bigger and bigger seemed to have made her its destination. Soon, she could make
out another wolf, fur the same color as a starless midnight sky, its amethyst
eyes flashing in the darkness. Her knees gave out, and she sunk to the floor
as the wolf raced towards her, its desire apparent.

It was going to devour her.

Her body ignored all stimuli, remained limp in the face of all verbal
prodding and her own willpower, and did not acknowledge the desperation of survival
instincts coursing through her body. She felt rooted in place, a mollified
meal of terror for her predatory companion. In seconds, the wolf was upon her.
It slammed into her headfirst, knocking her onto her back in supine form.
Then it padded confidently, murderous intention wafting through the air as it
rested its paws on her thighs, staring down at her.

Nabiki risked looking at her captor once, then found herself unable to tear
away for its own eyes. The wolf's violet eyes swirled with red, spiraling
around and around in a bizarre hypnotic fashion, like looking down into a
hurricane. It raised its head and howled in cold, calm fury and Nabiki's blood
matched its emotion temperature. Then it dropped its head, serrated fangs sinking
into and tearing out her entrails with vicious abandon.

Nabiki's eyes flew open, but her body felt like lead. Her heart pounded in
her breast, pulse racing like a demented dervish. She was acutely aware of
every sensation that touched her body. She could feel the coolness of the air
draping over her face, the sweat even cooler on her forehead. The bed sheets,
which were usually soft and cottony-feeling scratched at the back of her
thighs and caused a minor irritation in the center of her back. She knew of every
little detail about how her mattress was in desperate need of turning as she
was of late habited to sit on the edge and the light sheets and the need to
trade them in for some slightly thicker ones, or at least add on a summer
comforter.

She could even tell without looking the sharpness of the two swords crossed
over her head, with a brightly colored bonbori serving as a third leg of a
mock armament tent. She knew that the blades were slowly sinking under the
weight of the beachball-sized weapon, balanced precariously atop the crossing of
the hilts. She also knew that the blades were secure against either side of
her neck, the razor-honed edges just brushing her skin. She knew that the
slightest movement, even to take a breath so she could scream at the top of her
lungs, would make the weapons cut into her flesh, and possibly sever one of, if
not both, of the main arteries running to her brain. And she had no illusion
about removing the swords herself - chances were, her head would be crushed
under the motley mace before she could react. Or worse, she would cut

Nabiki was now acutely, and embarrassingly, cognizant of the fact that she
just lost control over her bowels as the threat of death not only imposed on
her, it had violated her sanctuary, the second time it has happened in as many
weeks. In ten seconds, every horrific and negative thought and feeling she
had since two days before she and Ranma tied the knot welled inside of her,
bubbling into a raging torrent, and flooded her with the emotional cocktail. She
openly wept, feeling afraid, humiliated, ashamed, and very, very sorry for
herself. Everything was her fault, she knew it, but she didn't want to own up
to it. Not totally. If she could redo things…

"Help…" she spoke feebly, tears streaming down her face and soaking her
pillow and hair. "Help me… someone, please… help… me…" Only death that the
weapons promised her paid her heed, kissing her flesh lovingly.

* * * * *
"Wow, it's almost one," Ranma commented as he glanced at the clock on the
far wall. It had been over three hours since he had set first foot in the dojo
in almost a week. Absently, he wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of
his hand, grinning to himself. He had been nonstop in his practice, flowing
from one kata into another and another, and tired, he may have been now, it
felt great. His mind did not clutter with tons of worrisome, wandering
thoughts as it did whenever he tried to exercise in the backyard. He didn't think
about his father no longer living with the Tendos, he didn't think about his
marriage and the various difficulties that crept up with it, and he most
certainly did not think about what Nabiki told him last night. It was just him and
doing the one thing he loved to do - the Art. It was pure, relaxing, and
attentive. It was the core of his being, a lover which he was most intimate with.
All his troubles faded away in the midst of its very essence. There was no
strife, there was only-

The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood up on end, shattering his
serenity. Ranma involuntarily shuddered as the chilling sensation clawed down
his spine. Something was horribly wrong…

"Nabiki?" He wondered for a moment why her name came to the fore of him
mind, even as his feet snapped him out of the dojo automatically, if a little
jerkily. Movement caught the corner of his eye, but he was too slow in his
reaction to see exactly what - or who - it was disappearing over the wall. His
battle instincts cried out to track down the distraction, but his other feeling
- the one that dragged him outside - rallied his mind back to his original
purpose with renewed urgency.

Quick as a flash, Ranma bolted into the house. He barely registered the
squat table in his path as he kicked it away. Bounding up the stairs four steps
at a time, he swung over the banister and into the upstairs hallway. Reaching
Nabiki's room, he checked her door with his shoulder powerfully. It gave way
too easily under the force, breaking it parts to make way for him. The room
flooded with light immediately as he tagged the wall switch. His heart froze at
the sight greeting him.

The silence tore at his ears. A trinity of deadly weaponry surrounded
Nabiki's head. He could see a red line forming where one of the swords touched. The
bonbori pushed down on the blades. A slow decapitation. Or at least-

"Help… me…"

Later on, he would admit that he couldn't even remember moving, let alone
acknowledging the presence of the other family members and his own father, but
almost instantly he was there beside Nabiki, tossing off the cold steel
holding his wife hostage and cradling her to his body. It took a few moments for
her to recognize what had happened to her, but once her mind made the
connection, all she could do was cry into his body, trembling all over. He tried his
best to calm her down, while one thought echoed in his mind, growing hotter
and hotter until it erupted into an inferno.

Shampoo…

TBC

Adrian Moten

"Falling in love is something that happens to you, like getting run over by
a truck."
-Amy Alkon, the Advice Goddess