[FFML] [fanfic][Ranma] Blackmail

[June Geraci]

Hello there!

Before I paste this story in, a few notes.  This was partially written 
during one of the FFIRC
One Hour Challenges.  I stuck the story into my "projects" folder, and 
it's been sitting there
ever since.

With the impending loss of my FortuneCity web hosting, I've been 
posting my old stories on
fanfiction.net - something I never thought I'd do!  The positive 
feedback made me open up the
dusty old folder of unfinished stories, to see if I could actually do 
some writing.  This was the
result.

So here's "Blackmail", and hopefully you'll see some more chapters of 
my ancient series.

As always, I'd love some feedback!

June

v

Blackmail

A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by June "KaraOhki" Geraci.
Started June 29, 2003, completed April 18, 2012

Ranma 1/2 is the creation and property of Rumiko Takahashi.  I'm 
borrowing her characters and situations.  This story was written for 
fun, not profit, and may not be used commercially.

------------------------------------



Serenity.  Ranma had achieved serenity as he moved through his kata, 
and he reveled in the peace he found in the dojo.  A small bird sat 
just outside the door, trilling happily, and that added to his 
contentment.

"Ranma?"

The young man was concentrating too deeply to hear the soft voice, and 
he continued to practice.

"Ranma?  Excuse me?"

It wasn't until Kasumi approached Ranma and touched his shoulder that 
he became aware of her presence.  Unfortunately, her touch caused him 
to jump so high that he ended up clinging to one of the ceiling beams. 
Kasumi couldn't help but giggle at him when he dropped down to the 
floor.

"I'm sorry, Ranma.  I DID say hello more than once."

Ranma blushed, embarrassed.  Only Kasumi had the ability to sneak up 
on him unnoticed, and he momentarily wondered if she did it on purpose 
before dismissing the idea.  "Didja want something, Kasumi?"

"Could you possibly deliver something for me?  Mrs. Katayama isn't 
feeling very well, and I did some cooking for her.  Her husband is 
simply helpless in the kitchen."

"Sure, no problem."

Kasumi smiled.  "It's on the counter whenever you're ready."  She 
returned to the house, failing to notice Nabiki pressed against the 
wall just outside the dojo door.

*****

A few minutes later Ranma left the house carrying a rather large 
hamper.  Nabiki watched the clock for ten minutes before picking up 
the phone.

"Nekohanten!  What can Shampoo do for you?"

"I have information for you.  Ranma will be meeting Ukyo on Yanagi 
Lane in about fifteen minutes."

The line went dead, and Nabiki quickly dialed a second number.

"Ukyo, I thing you should know where Ranma is going right now."

Somewhat out of breath from her run, Nabiki stationed herself behind a 
hedge on Yanagi Lane, camera in hand, waiting to see the fireworks.

*****

Sometime later, Ranma returned to the Tendo home.  His clothing was 
torn, his hair was coming out of its pigtail, and he was missing one 
shoe.  Kasumi emerged from the kitchen drying her hands, and dropped 
the towel on the floor.

"What happened to you?"

Ranma removed his remaining shoe and grimaced.  "Shampoo and Ukyo 
happened.  They ambushed me and got into a huge fight with each other 
about who was going to take me home with them.  When I said I didn't 
want to go home with either of them they stopped fighting with each 
other and took it out on me."

Kasumi gasped.  "Oh, no.  Did they ruin--"

"No.  They found me when I was coming back.  I need a bath."  Ranma 
turned around and then turned back.  "By the way, Mr. Katayama says 
thanks.  I think he must've been tryin' to cook something, because the 
house seemed kinda smoky when he opened the door.  For a second I 
thought Akane was visiting."  Ranma flinched as he finished speaking, 
and looked around for his fiancée.

Kasumi laughed.  "You were lucky this time.  Akane went shopping." 
Then her face grew serious.  "Don't you think it's about time you 
stopped saying things like that?"

"I will when she stops trying to set the kitchen on fire."

*****

Later in the day, Ranma was trying to puzzle out the answers to a 
homework assignment when an envelope was shoved under his door.  He 
opened it and discovered photographs from the fiasco of that morning. 
Both Ukyo and Shampoo had been all over him, but whoever took the 
pictures made them look as if he had been the one doing the grabbing. 
A note accompanied the photographs, and Ranma grimaced when he 
recognized Nabiki's writing.

"Meet me in the dojo.  Now."

He hurried to obey the summons.  Nabiki sat inside the dojo, looking 
for all the world as if she owned it, and Ranma got the sinking 
feeling that she looked as if she owned him as well.  There were 
several photographs in front of her.

"You're very photogenic, future brother-in-law."

Ranma just glared at her.

"Oh?  Nothing to say?  I'm surprised."  Nabiki waved at the display 
before her.  "Quite intriguing, don't you think?  I'm sure Akane would 
be very interested in these."  She picked up one of Shampoo and Ranma, 
and examined it.  "Perhaps Mousse might want to see this one."

Ranma's hand shot out and grabbed the pictures.  Within seconds, all 
of them were shredded.  His satisfied smile dissolved when Nabiki 
began to laugh.

"I hope you enjoyed that, Saotome, but the negatives are in a very 
safe place."

"What do you want from me?"  The words came out in a growl, and Nabiki 
smiled.

"I have a little idea, and you might want to hear me out before you 
say yes or no.  This could be good for you as well as for me."

Ranma crossed his arms and nodded, but his face showed his suspicion.

"Would you say that your activities in Nerima cause just a bit of 
property damage?"

"It ain't my fault!  I can't help it if people attack me in public 
places!"

Nabiki waved her hands.  "Yes, yes, I know.  But the local shopkeepers 
don't see it that way.  Have you ever noticed how nervous they get 
when you walk by?  Some of them even start protecting their 
breakables."  When Nabiki got no reply, she continued.  "Now if there 
was a way for the local merchants to have some kind of advance warning 
when there was going to be trouble, they could pull in their stands, 
lock up their merchandise, and save themselves some money."

"So?"

"So here's what we're going to do."  Nabiki spoke for quite a long 
time and then stopped, waiting for Ranma's reaction.

"No.  I won't do it."

"But--"

Ranma held up a hand.  "I don't want any part of it."  Nabiki opened 
her mouth to speak, but a gesture from Ranma made her stop.  "And I 
don't care if you tell Akane!  She'll beat the crap out of me and 
forget about it."

"Really?" drawled Nabiki.  "Somehow I doubt that.  Do you want to take 
that kind of chance?"

"I, um--"

"I didn't think so."

*****

"What did you call this again, Miss Tendo?"

"The Early Warning System.  If I know there's trouble coming, I'll 
phone you."  Nabiki pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to the 
shopkeeper.  "These are my rates."

The man read the paper and shook his head.  "I have to admit that your 
rates are reasonable, but what if nothing happens after you call me?"

"Payment would be expected only if my warnings are accurate.  I 
wouldn't ask you to pay me for misinformation, would I?"

The shopkeeper looked at the sheet again and scratched his head. 
"I'll think about it, Miss Tendo.  My insurance rates have been going 
through the roof since Saotome came to town."

"That's all I ask."

*****

Ranma looked suspiciously at the small envelope Nabiki handed him. 
Rather than open it, he looked at her.

"What's this?"

"Your cut."

"My WHAT?"  Ranma tore the envelope open, and a bankbook fell out. 
Upon examination, Ranma discovered that the book had his name on it, 
and that there were several deposits.  He threw the book at Nabiki, 
who caught it gracefully.  "I don't want this.  You're cheating those 
folks out of their money by setting up trouble.  Maybe I should tell 
them what you're up to."

"I wouldn't advise that."

"Why the hell not?"

Nabiki waved the book at him.  "How are you going to explain this?  It 
looks to me like you're a willing participant in this--how will it 
look to everyone else?"

Ranma grabbed the book and shoved it in his pocket.  As he left the 
room, he looked over his shoulder, and the look in his eyes made 
Nabiki back up a step.

"Damn you, Nabiki Tendo!"

*****

Akane peeked into Ranma's room and found it empty.  She frowned, and 
headed downstairs and into the dojo.  It too was empty, so she 
returned upstairs and knocked on Nabiki's door.

"Come in!"  Akane entered the room and found her sister reading a 
book.  "Did you want something?"

"Yes.  Have you seen Ranma?"

Nabiki raised an eyebrow.  "Me?  I haven't seen him all morning. 
Why?"

"I don't know.  He's been spending a lot of time away from the house 
the past few weeks, and I don't like it."

"Oh?  And why is that?"

Akane sat down on her sister's bed and frowned.  "He won't tell me 
where he's been.  I think maybe he's spending time with the other 
girls."

"Are you jealous, then?"

"Me?  Jealous?  You've GOT to be kidding!  I just don't trust that 
pervert!"  Akane got up and stomped out of her sister's room.

"This is more fun than I thought it would be," remarked Nabiki.

*****

Ranma sat atop the roof of the local bakery, watching the people 
below.  He was bored and rather hungry, and was about to give up and 
go home when his pocket began ringing.  He sighed and pulled out the 
cell phone Nabiki had given him.  "Yeah?"

"My sources tell me that Shampoo should be passing by just about now. 
Mousse is shadowing her."

"Right." Ranma looked down and saw the Amazon approaching on her 
bicycle.  "Looks like she's heading towards Lee's stand.  You want me 
to go down now?"

"No.  Let her make her delivery, and then just stroll by.  You should 
know what to do by now!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know.  Doesn't mean I like it."

"Well get to it!"  Nabiki sounded rather impatient.  "I've got to 
start warning the shopkeepers."  The call was cut off, and Ranma 
shoved the phone in his pocket and continued to watch Shampoo.  When 
Mousse ducked into an alley he jumped from the roof and made sure he 
was standing right behind Shampoo when she made her delivery.  When 
she turned around, her reaction was predictable.

"Airen!" she shouted, as she abandoned her bicycle and threw herself 
onto him.

*****

Mousse ran down the street, trying to keep Shampoo in view in front of 
him.  Lately she'd been running into Saotome much too often.  He 
watched her make her delivery and accept payment, and he ducked into 
an alley so she wouldn't see him as she passed on her way back.  It 
took a second or two for him to realize that she hadn't passed him 
yet.

"Did she take another route?" he muttered to himself.  "That would be 
a waste of time."  Mousse emerged from the alley and clenched his 
fists.  Shampoo's bicycle lay on the ground, wheels turning, while she 
held onto Ranma for all she was worth.  It failed to register with 
Mousse that Ranma didn't look all that happy.  Then again, he had once 
more failed to wear his glasses.

*****

Nabiki's phone rang, and she hurried to grab it.  "Yes?"

"Change of plans!"  Ranma sounded breathless.  "We're heading toward 
the fish market!  Can you handle it?"

"Try to stall!  I'm on it!"  Nabiki cut the call off and began dialing 
for all she was worth.

*****

When Ranma finally got home, Akane took one look at his condition and 
began yelling.

"You've been in another fight!  Who was it this time?"

She took a few steps closer to Ranma, who cringed as she examined him.

"What's this on your neck?  Lipstick?  Who--wait a moment!  I 
recognize that perfume--you've been with Shampoo!"  Akane took a step 
back, crossed her arms, and glared at her fiancé.  "So you've been 
fighting with Mousse, then.  What's wrong with you?  Why can't you 
just stay away from her?  Why?  I HATE YOU!"

Akane's ranting attracted the attention of her father, and Ranma's. 
Genma wasted no time in joining the scene. "What an ungrateful son I 
have!  He has a beautiful fiancée, and instead of paying her the 
attention she deserves, he chases other women!"

Soun had his own take on the situation.  He burst into tears, and 
gathered his daughter into his arms.  "My poor baby!  Go ahead and 
cry, Akane.  Daddy will take care of you."

Within seconds, Akane twisted out of her father's grasp, and gave him 
a withering look.  "Do you see me crying, Daddy?  Why should I cry 
over that pervert?"

Nabiki watched the scene deteriorate from her perch on the stairs 
before quietly going up to her room to count her money.

*****

"Where did you see him?  Which way is he headed?  Got it, thanks!" 
Nabiki closed her phone, stuck it in her pocket, and went looking for 
Ranma.  This was the first time Ryoga had turned up in Nerima in 
weeks, and she wasn't going to miss out on the opportunity to make 
some money.

To her surprise, Ranma wasn't in the dojo.  A quick check of the roof 
proved it to be unoccupied, and Nabiki descended the ladder, feeling a 
little bit concerned.  If she didn't locate Ranma quickly, Ryoga was 
quite capable of wandering off and vanishing.  Perhaps Akane knew 
where he was.  Her little sister wasn't talking to her fiancé, but 
that didn't mean she'd stopped keeping track of his whereabouts.

"Akane, have you seen--" as Akane's bedroom door swung open, she 
realized her little sister's room was empty.  A second glance made 
Nabiki think it was empty in more ways than one.  Akane's hairbrush 
was missing, and the backpack she kept on the floor in the corner 
wasn't there.  A few moments' snooping provided the information that 
some of her little sister's clothes were missing.

Intending to check Ranma's room, Nabiki whirled about and ran into the 
hallway, where she narrowly avoided crashing into her older sister. 
Kasumi was standing there, with the serious look she only wore when 
she was being the substitute mother to her younger sisters.

"Kasumi, is Ranma--"

"He's not here."  The fact that Kasumi had actually interrupted her 
silenced Nabiki, who waited for her to continue.  "He left you this." 
Nabiki automatically held out her hand, and Kasumi placed an envelope 
in it.  Kasumi turned around and walked away, but not before giving 
Nabiki a disapproving look that shook her down to her toes.  She 
glanced down at the envelope, and locked herself in her bedroom to see 
what it contained.

*****
"Nabiki,

I told you when you started this warning thing that I didn't like it. 
I don't think it made any difference to you.  But what you didn't know 
was that from the beginning I had a silent partner. I went to the 
person I trust the most.  We tried to figure out what to do, but we 
couldn't come up with anything."

Here the handwriting changed, and Nabiki gasped when she realized who 
was writing the next part of the letter.

"When Ranma came to me, he was very upset.  He's put up with your 
schemes because you're my sister, but he's been angry at you since you 
helped wreck our wedding.  Couldn't you tell?  I thought you'd be 
smarter than that.  Ranma wanted to tell the shopkeepers exactly what 
you were doing to them, but the two of us were afraid that they'd 
blame him, too, so we decided we needed some advice."

The handwriting changed again, and Nabiki's heart sank when she 
realized who Akane and Ranma had gone to for help.

”First, Nabiki, I must say that I am extremely disappointed with you. 
I might even say that I am angry with you.  That being said, you need 
to know what has happened, and what will happen.  Akane and Ranma were 
very surprised when I told them that Ranma's first instinct--to tell 
the truth--was exactly what I recommended.  He and I visited everyone 
you sold your 'services' to.  Ranma told them about the money you had 
deposited in the bank for him, and offered to divide it between all of 
them, because he didn't want it.  To our surprise, when they saw the 
amount in the account, they laughed.  Evidently, the 'share' you gave 
Ranma was a very, very small portion of what you collected.  To quote 
some of the people we spoke to, Ranma was 'welcome to keep the money, 
as our thank you for exposing the scam'.

"Expect visits tomorrow from everyone you cheated.  We expect that you 
will refund every single yen that you took.  If you don't have enough 
money, you'll have to earn it--but you WILL pay it all back.  Some of 
the shopkeepers wanted to call in the authorities, but as a favor to 
me,they did not.  You have damaged the good name of the Tendo family, 
and I will see to it that this does not happen again.  Ever."

Nabiki turned to the last sheet, and saw that the writing belonged to 
Ranma again.

"Me and Akane, we figured this was a good time to get out of town. 
It's not going to be too nice to be in the house for a while.  Nobody 
would dare be mean to Kasumi, so she should be fine.  But you?  You 
probably don't know this, but I've been watching your back for a long 
time.  Some of the people you've taken advantage of have wanted to 
come after you, and I've 'convinced' them not to.  But as of today, 
you're on your own.  So I took the money you gave me out of the bank 
this morning, right after Akane and I got married.  Yeah, you read 
that right.  See ya in a couple of weeks.  Oh, and I'd be tiptoeing 
around Akane when we get back.  I've seen her mad before, but this is 
way worse than anything I've EVER seen.

Ranma

P.S.  Our dads are out celebrating with Mom.  I don't think they'll be 
in any shape to help you out tomorrow.  Sorry about that."

Nabiki dropped the letter onto her bed, staring off into space.  For 
the first time in her life, she had absolutely nothing to say.

*****

For all of their careful planning, Kasumi, Akane and Ranma had 
forgotten something.  The business owners Nabiki had cheated were 
hesitant to harm her physically; however, there were other people in 
Ranma's life who had no qualms about it.

*****

Nabiki was getting very stiff, curled up in a ball behind the 
equipment stored in the dojo's tiny storage closet.  When Kasumi had 
spotted Ranma's "fiancees" coming, she'd shoved her sister into the 
closet and locked the door.  Outside, she could hear the girls 
searching all over the Tendo property, and some of the things they 
were saying made her shiver.

"How dare she give Ranma-honey enough money to go get married.  He was 
supposed to marry ME!"

"Now Ukyo, dear, you misunderstood what I said--"

"Is her fault Airen left with kitchen-wrecker!"

"Ranma-sama is gone!  I will have my revenge!"

"Now girls, please, listen to me!"

Then another set of footsteps entered the dojo, heavier than the 
others.

"Nabiki Tendo!  What hast thou done!  You have financed the marriage 
of the vile Saotome to the fair Akane Tendo!  The gods are weeping!"

Nabiki shuddered, and curled into a tighter ball.