Ranma ½
Disclaimer: This episode of Ranma ½ is of my own creation. I do not own any portion of Ranma ½. "Ranma ½" and all related characters, names, etc. are ©1988-2008 Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. Ranma ½ is a trademark of Viz Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
My Savior
'How did it all come to this?' were the prevalent thoughts running through the young woman's head as she stood at a street corner in a somewhat dingy but still fairly upscale part of central Tokyo, a long while away from the clean streets of Nerima. She adjusted her thin wire-frame glasses before brushing a hand with well manicured white polished nails through the long wild blonde wig that covered her brown, pageboy style hair, trying her hardest to stop her body from trembling. Her soft ruby red lips were stuck in a light frown as she looked around and the nearly vacant streets around her. She nervously shifted her long light brown trench coat from one arm to the other, making sure to keep her purse firmly grasped in her hand. At first glance the startlingly attractive woman appeared to be wearing a charcoal gray women's business suit…but that was only at first glance. The skirt was far too short to ever be deemed respectable business attire and she did not have the regular white button up shirt under the top, revealing part of her breasts as well as an impressive amount of cleavage. She stood with an air of calm confidence but her pose reeked of sexuality and seduction. Adding in where she was standing and the first thought of her true profession was right on the money: prostitute.
Nabiki Tendo held in a nervous sigh for the umpteenth time as her sharp eyes watched the streets all around her. She had passed by several locals and more than a few other young woman wearing similar outfits as her who worked the streets on her way to what she was now calling 'her corner', all of whom gave her an appreciative once over. As she waited for whoever would be her first ever client (she liked using this term instead of customer to distance herself as far from the thought of selling her body) as well as the person to take from her the last part of her innocence she had held onto her mind traveled back to what brought her to this unwanted position in life…
It all started two years ago after the whole wedding fiasco. While rummaging through the wreckage in the dojo with the rest of the family trying to salvage what they could Nabiki came to the realization that Ranma and Akane were not a good fit…at least not in their current states. When the young Saotome first walked into their lives both Kasumi and herself immediately pushed the familial obligation onto their youngest sister's shoulders, thinking that since they had the most in common that they would be perfect for each other. They never mentioned that when they first found out about his curse they were somewhat unnerved by it and took the coward's way out: dump it on someone else's lap and heads for the hills. It took nearly a year and a half and untold amounts of sweat, laughter, tears, wins, losses, bumps, bruises, cuts, scrapes, astronomical repair bills and a whole assortment of other things to finally get the point across that they were in fact too alike to be compatible with each other.
Both were skilled in martial arts, though Ranma far surpassed Akane, and everyone else for that matter, in pure skill. Both had short tempers stemming from sheltered lives brought forth from their fathers and were too emotionally insecure with themselves to ever make a move unless it was under dire circumstances…and even then the progress they made wouldn't last more than a few days at most. The biggest problem with their relationship was the would-be suitors for one would also become the rivals of the other in the drop of a hat and neither had the patience or experience to deal with them properly. Later that evening as she had told Kasumi about her thoughts, the eldest sibling wholeheartedly agreed with her and added in her own comments that were also right on the money with the young on-again, off-again fiancées.
One thing that nobody knew about Kasumi was that she was not the oblivious young woman she appeared to be. At a young age she was forced to become a housewife in a broken house. Their father was too distraught after the death of his wife and their mother Kimiko Tendo and burrowed himself deep in a shell that took years for him to emerge from…and even then he was never quite the same confident and strong man they had once admired. Kasumi had to put her own dreams and goals aside to cook and clean for her family and hid herself behind the façade of an all around mother figure to both her father and younger sisters.
It was several years later when Nabiki had begun to run betting pools and blackmail and extort others for money to help with her family that Kasumi opened up to her in secret. Both had very keen minds and wanted to become something more than they were. While the middle daughter was becoming more cold and slightly ruthless when dealing with people who had money she wanted and had desired to become the richest and most powerful businesswoman in the world, the eldest began to truly enjoy helping others and making them feel better and aspired to become a nurse or even a doctor to help others when they needed help the most.
They would go into Kasumi's room and spend hours at a time talking about whatever was on their minds whenever they had some alone time, their outside personas being left at the door. Both discussed their dreams and plans for the future as well as the problems their family faced. As soon as they left the room or 'their sanctuary' and they like to call it sometimes, their façades would quickly slip back into place and they would act like nothing was different. It had continued on that way until after Ranma and Akane's failed wedding.
About a week after the fiasco everyone noticed a change in the young Saotome. He began to become more and more subdued and had a distant look in his eyes like he was lost in his thoughts. All he would do was get up in the morning, eat breakfast in a sedate, normal fashion (now not even stopping his father from stealing food from his plate), go out to either the koi pond or up on the roof and sit and stare out into nothing for a short while, go to school where Nabiki's sources told her that he stayed awake during classes but still had the same detached look on his face, eat lunch in the same fashion as breakfast, repeat his detachment for the rest of school, go back home where he would again go out to either the koi pond or the roof, eat dinner like he had the previous two meals, go back out for an hour or two before coming back inside, washing up and then going to bed.
The middle Tendo daughter was slightly shameful to admit that she made a good profit from all of the students and even some teachers paying her to get info on Ranma's mysterious new actions, or lack thereof. From what she gathered, he hadn't even been tossed out in the halls to carry buckets of water once and had answered the few questions that the instructors occasionally gave him correctly, showing that he was smarter than he had always lead other to believe and getting the elder two Tendo siblings to constantly ponder on the vast enigma that was Ranma Saotome.
His father would demand to practice at random periods throughout the day and Ranma would calmly get up from whatever he was doing and have a training spar, but even these were different the norm. The younger Saotome's movements were still smooth like silk and he flowed from one move to the other like water but his face remained quite impassive. Never once did he taunt, boast or insult like he normally did nor did he respond to any of the like from his father, frustrating the older man to no end. Ranma did always win his spars and when he did he would calmly walk away, never saying a single word.
Akane was quickly becoming more like her old self and started accusing Ranma of ignoring her, though he was doing a good job of doing that to everyone for the most part. She would yell at him and he would sit there detached from everything around him and she would get even angrier and hit him and storm off in a huff. He would then calmly get up like nothing had happened and would resume his detachment.
All the rivals and suitors had kept to themselves for the time being. Kasumi had spoken to them all individually about how upset she was at their interference in the wedding, the destruction of their family dojo and their all around unpleasant behavior in what was supposed to be a beautiful and sacred event. She had pumped them all so badly full of guilt about their actions that they had no problems giving her their share of the money needed to repair the damage done to the dojo and to leave both Akane and Ranma alone so they could have time to heal. The few that did try to argue about the last point were given a harsh glare from the normally, in their point of view, calm and somewhat aloof Tendo Daughter. That had quickly silenced any who dared to question Kasumi Tendo.
Both of Ranma's parents tried to get him to respond more like his normal self but he barely talked anymore and any responses he would give only lead to more confusion and frustration from the two adults. After another week or so Auntie, in a rather wise move, decided to drag Genma back to their own house claiming that her son needed time to deal with everything going around and the less people around him to distract him the better.
It had been nearly a month since the failed wedding that Ranma finally started to do more than be lost in his thoughts. The first person he showed any true response to was Kasumi. The older sister told her that evening in her room how she woke up early to go downstairs and prepare breakfast as per her normal schedule only to find Ranma in the kitchen preparing the food. She went on to say that he turned around and met her eyes for a few moments before smiling softly and asking if she wanted to help him. After she heartily agreed neither said a word but both worked in a perfect tandem with each other. When breakfast was finished and everyone left to do their own thing Ranma again joined her in the kitchen and helped to put the leftovers in the refrigerator and clean the dishes.
Nabiki noticed the glorious smile on her older sister's face and the twinkle in her eyes and wondered not for the first time if pushing the handsome young man towards Akane had been a mistake.
Another week passed and Ranma had continued to assist Kasumi in her daily duties around the house when nobody was around to see him. He expanded his help to assisting with the laundry, cleaning the house and even carrying the groceries home with her. The middle sister caught him in the act once when she thought he didn't know he was being watched. She was quite surprised to see the small smile on his face as he helped carry groceries down the street with her elder sister and to hear him calmly respond to anything she talked to him about. They had just passed the bushes Nabiki was hiding in when his back stiffened slightly and he turned his head to look directly at her, causing her heart to beat so rapidly she was afraid it was going to burst out of her chest. After a moment he smiled directly at her and nodded once before turning around and following Kasumi back home.
Later that day and the 'Ice Queen of Furinkan' was busy up in her room crunching numbers and trying unsuccessfully to keep herself awake. Kasumi had kept her up a good portion of the previous night telling her about her day and Ranma's help. She was glad to hear about the young man coming out of his shell but now her body was demanding sleep, sleep that she couldn't give it until she was done making sure the finances would work out for the next month. She placed her hands over her face and said aloud how she could really use a good, strong cup of coffee.
After a couple minutes of silence Nabiki was disturbed by the wonderful aroma of a freshly brewed cup of coffee. At the sounds of glass clinking together right next to her the young woman moved her hands off of her face and turned to see a steaming mug of black gold on a small plate on her desk. She looked up towards the door only to see it starting to close, but nobody was nearby. Thinking just who it might be she softly called out Ranma's name only to have the pig-tailed boy appear out of nowhere by her door, no doubt having hidden himself under the Umi-senken.
They stared at each other for what seemed like a lifetime before she questioned him on why he got her some coffee. He quietly responded that he overheard saying that she needed some so he made it and brought it to her. That got a lovely smile out of Nabiki as she thanked him and his response was to let out a cute blush before nodding once and leaving her to her work, making sure to close the door behind him.
As the days went by Ranma started to spend more time with the middle sister like he was with Kasumi. It started off with little things like getting her some coffee when she was feeling sleepy or her afternoon tea on weekends and he would always talk with her for a few minutes before leaving. It soon escalated to walking with her when she needed to go on an errand like collecting money and protecting her from some of her more violent clients who did not want to part with their money.
If someone would have asked Kasumi how she felt with Ranma helping her she would have beamed at them and easily answered: appreciated. If someone were to ask Nabiki the same question she would have hesitated briefly before quickly muttering: safe and then leaving the room.
Ranma soon began to open up towards everyone around him bit by bit. Auntie was overjoyed at having her son getting back to normal while Genma and Daddy both agreed that all the boy needed was time and he'd be back to normal and they had started to make plans for another wedding but a dual glare from both Kasumi and Nabiki stalled their plans and they left to play another game of Shogi. Ranma blushed slightly and quietly thanked the two young women while his mother hugged him tightly.
Akane was silent the entire time and watched the odd scene play before her with narrowed eyes.
Both of the sisters soon decided to allow the pig tailed young man entrance into 'their sanctuary' after another week of his improvement. It was a hard decision to make since it was only the two of them for so many years but both agreed that if anybody deserved to be a part of what they had, it was Ranma.
After some coaxing they managed to get him into Kasumi's room, a place he never entered out of respect for the eldest Tendo daughter. When he calmed down they all spoke to each other, telling each other about their lives and dreams for the future. The young man was quite stunned at how different each of the girls were and how well they hid their true selves from the outside world. They talked long into the night and when Ranma began to tire he thanked them for bringing him into their sanctuary and for showing him something so wonderful. As the two blushed from his praise he shocked them by getting out of his seat, leaning forward and placing a gentle kiss on Nabiki's forehead. He then repeated the same for Kasumi. None of them noticed that Kasumi's door was open or the young woman standing in the doorway.
Akane was a young woman of extremes. She vehemently denied her feelings for Ranma but would be viciously protective over him when another woman came sniffing in his direction. Because of how she grew up she never learned to control her temper and always had an inherent distrust of young men. With the Saotome youth in her life she continually grew closer to him but couldn't ever make the move to move onto the next step. When he told her he loved her after the battle with Saffron she had felt elated and when her father and Uncle Saotome suggested a wedding she was still on a high after his declaration and readily agreed. She cooled down after the wedding fiasco but thought that her and Ranma would be closer because of what she said.
She was wrong.
The pigtailed young man who swept into her life and had stolen her heart had become quiet and ignored her…something she didn't appreciate one bit. She fell back into her old habit of yelling at him to get a response and when that didn't work she advanced to violence but yet again, he didn't respond. Akane found herself in quite the conundrum. She knew he loved her and that she loved him (well she never told him but he had to know…right?) but his ignoring her hurt a lot more than she thought it would. All of her old methods of getting his attention weren't working and she honestly didn't know what to do. At first she thought that maybe some other girl had come into the picture but her worries were eased by Nabiki who said that Ranma was never spotted with anyone new and that he hardly went out in the first place. That kept her content for the time being.
When Ranma began to open up more she was excited that maybe he was just in a funk and was getting back to normal and soon they'd be together like she wanted them to be. When her father and Uncle Saotome talked about another wedding she blushed but was kinda, sorta, maybe hoping that her pigtailed savior would agree and that things would go back to where they should be. When both of her sisters intervened and scared them off, she felt a mix of conflicting emotions and a great deal of worry began to settle in the pit of her stomach.
When she went to watch Ranma sleep, a habit she formed after the incident in China, and found that he wasn't in his futon several alarm bells rung off in her head. She quickly went to Nabiki's room to find it empty as well. With a growing sense of dread she turned around and went to Kasumi's room. The door was closed and she could hear voices coming inside. When she opened the door she was met with a sight that made her blood run cold: Ranma standing in front of her sisters and leaning down to…to kiss them. In an instant her dread and cold was replaced with a rage unlike anything she had ever felt before. She clenched her teeth and her eyes clouded over and she only saw red.
She didn't yell or let out a mighty battle cry like so many times before, she let her rage take over and just acted.
As soon as Ranma's lips left Kasumi's forehead his body stiffened as he felt someone quickly approaching him from behind with ill intent in mind. He couldn't sense the desire to hurt, maim or defeat, only the cold desire to kill, destroy and annihilate. Acting on pure survival instinct he turned around, grabbed the glowing red hand in his own and used the other to sharply strike upwards to disable his opponent.
A sharp crack resounded through the room as Ranma's blow swiftly broke Akane's forearm, hitting it with such force that one of the bones was protruding from her arm. All was silent for a moment and then the youngest Tendo let out an ear-piercing scream as she fell to the floor cradling her broken arm. Kasumi and Nabiki were quickly at her side and the sounds of their father rushing towards the noise drowned out Akane as her screams turned into sobbing in pain. The eldest daughter quickly got to her feet and rushed out the door to get to their phone to call Doctor Tofu to come over and help.
All the while Ranma stood completely still, his face stuck in an expression of utter horror. While his mind was frozen on the spot his body calmly moved him out of Kasumi's room and he entered his own. His mind quickly went back into the state of detachment he had been in for nearly a month and without an expression on his face he wrote a quick note, gathered all his belongings into his old traveling pack and leapt out the window without a second glance.
Hours later after Akane was properly tended to, her arm set in a cast and a prescription for a mild pain reliever diagnosed, the two older sisters realized that they hadn't heard a single word from Ramna since he accidentally broke their youngest sibling's arm. They ran up to his room, opened the door and turned on the lights only to find the young man who wormed his way into their hearts gone as well as all of his belongings. His futon was neatly folded up and a piece of paper was lying on top of it. With trembling hands, Nabiki picked it up and held it so her sister could read it with her.
Everyone,
Sorry but I'm leaving. I hurt Akane and I'm too dangerous to be around. Don't know how long I'll be gone. I'll come back when I'm better and safe. Please don't go looking for me.
Ranma
Kasumi and Nabiki were too distraught to even cry, the pain of having Ranma gone too much to even let out a single tear.
Nearly two years had passed since anyone had seen or heard a peep from Ranma Saotome.
Most of the rivals and would be suitors had either left in search of the young heir to the Saotome branch of the School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts despite his pleas not to or, in the case with the Kuno siblings, went about acting like he was never a part of their lives in the first place and continuing on with their own strange delusional world.
Akane's injury and Kasumi and Nabiki's explanation of what happened set a fire under Soun and a part of him, the confident responsible father that he buried under layer and layer of sorrow for his dearly departed wife, had finally started to emerge again. He told his youngest that she was wrong to let her anger control her and blindly attack someone with their back turned, especially since she didn't have all the facts put into place. While she was healing he set the both of them up to meet a therapist twice a week to help them deal with their own emotional problems and inner demons.
They had both come out of their multiple sessions over a year and a half later better people. Akane's temper and boy hating had really tuned down and while a part of it was still there, she was able to think things through before acting and was more of a joy to be around. She was still hurting emotionally about Ranma but the therapy and several intense talks with her sisters made her realize that they may have loved each other, but it would not have ever lasted between them. There were too many wrong with how their lives had been thrown together to make things right they way they needed. After a bit of a down time she decided that it was time to go out on a limb and try something new, she had finally trusted young men enough to try dating.
Their father had emerged from his therapy sessions much closer to the father they once knew and thought lost than he had been in years. He learned that it was okay to grieve for his wife, but not to let it control the way he reacted when he though of her or if she was brought up. He was able to open his eyes to the world around him and see his three beautiful daughters for who they were and to stop trying to force them to do things that they either didn't want to do or weren't ready to do. He had begun to train himself once more and had stated that he would soon reopen the dojo to students when he felt he was ready enough to start teaching again.
Kasumi and Nabiki were grateful to have their father and baby sister back to what they used to be, what they were supposed to be all this time, but it couldn't replace the gaping whole that Ranma had left in their hearts when he vanished without a trace. They may have been a whole family once again but unfortunately they were going to be coming onto some hard times very soon.
Nabiki crunched the numbers but couldn't find a good solution to their problems. While the therapy sessions for both her father and sister were a long overdue necessity, they were also alarmingly expensive. She graduated high school as well as her 'work group' so she lost a great deal of income from their dealings at the school and all her other ventures were drawing up dismal numbers. The middle sibling had no choice but to dip into her own personal savings and the account she had opened up to save money for both herself and Kasumi's college funds and was forced to bleed them nearly dry. No bank would give her any more loans since she had already taken out so many before to help with the multitude of repairs caused by what she dubbed the 'Nerima Wrecking Crew'. She had paid off the loans but was not as consistent with the payments as she wanted to be and all the banks decided to put a 'no loan' stamp on the Tendo file for a full year until the family proved that they were back in better financial standings.
She had always managed to scrounge up enough money to pay the utility bills and groceries but was falling behind on the mortgage payment on their house. Nabiki paid them what she could but it wasn't the amount they wanted and had agreed upon. As the months passed the Tendo household received more and more mail from the mortgage company asking for full payments that grew larger and larger. The middle daughter soon began getting the mail every morning to keep the news from her family. She had felt like she had failed them and couldn't let them know that fact.
To make her woes even worse was her finding out that she had passed her Tokyo University exams but didn't have the funds needed to pay her tuition. She knew that even if she could get a proper student loan in place and continued on with her schooling she would eventually have to pay them down the road and that road was too cloudy to want to make a trip down it as it was. She had informed the school if her financial problems and they were surprisingly kind enough to inform her that her test scores were quite high and when she was ready, their door was always open for her.
With that problem out of hand Nabiki had the time to focus on procuring enough funds to make a payment large enough to satisfy the mortgage company. Her moment of peace was shattered the next day when she got a letter informing her that they had been patient as they could be for six months but if they did not make a payment of nearly five hundred thousand yen (Kami, how did it manage to get that high?) within a month, they would be forced to foreclose on the house.
With that storm cloud floating over her head, the middle Tendo daughter had sat down and brainstormed on what could get her a lot of money and fast. She knew that Auntie had some money on her but she was sure that it was nowhere near enough the amount she needed and she never liked to owe someone else money. Auntie would gladly take them in and care for them while they got back on their feet if they were forced to leave their home but she would still feel like she was a failure and Nabiki didn't want to be a charity case. Gambling was her first real option but she quickly vetoed that plan since there was too much risk involved and the possibility of losing the little she had left was a hazard she wasn't willing to take. The only other two options she could take were to either become a stripper…or a prostitute. After doing some searching and asking some questions Nabiki Tendo came up with a decision that would change her life forever. To save her family and their home she would sell her body to strangers for money.
The thought left a hollow feeling in her very soul but she knew she had no other options. Akane could never do such and thing and Kasumi, though while very attractive, was much too innocent and she could never force that choice on either of them. She loved them too much to even think about it. The middle sibling quickly found a good spot that would work for her. It was in a spot of Tokyo that wasn't exactly the cleanest yet was far from being the dirtiest. The assorted clubs and bars that littered the area catered to a more upscale clientele, the kind she would prefer to work with. There was no was she would let some common miscreant off the streets touch her body. She doubted they would have had the money she was going to charge in the first place.
After finding a good spot to work from she then procured the necessary items to attract men towards her but also keep her identity a secret. She was wearing the outfit she would use as a…as a street walker and perfecting her posture and walk to lure in clients who were already being drawn in by her looks when Kasumi entered her room. She tried to talk away what she was doing as just playing around but her older sister always had a way of seeing through lies and quickly broke through to find out the truth.
Nabiki told Kasumi of her plans and of course she tried everything in her power to convince her younger sibling to not make such a rash and horrible choice. The former 'Ice Queen of Furinkan' calmly explained that they were too far in debt and needed a large amount of money immediately to keep their house from going into foreclosure and that even if all of them got jobs they wouldn't make enough to keep them from losing the house that their mother had once lived in and raised them in the short time that she was around. This was the only choice.
Again the elder sister vehemently denied that her choice was the only option and Nabiki agreed and said that the only other 'profession' she could take that would bring in good money was to become a stripper. She went on to say that that was her first option but after going out and viewing what was around, becoming a prostitute, or professional escort (they both liked that term since it didn't sound as distasteful as the others) was easily the better choice.
Each and every gentleman's club she visited were all the same in that they were run by local Yakuza of that area and all held the same policy towards the women they 'employed'. Each of them would walk onstage and dance and strip off all their clothing and publicly debase themselves for the men who cheered and made constant lewd comments at them. After they were done dancing and collected whatever money was thrown onstage each girl would be required, if not forced to walk the floor wearing nothing but whatever heels they were wearing onstage until they were propositioned. They would then take whoever propositioned them to one of the many single rooms upstairs and be forced to do any disgusting and degrading thing the customer wanted until they were satisfied and they would clean up, go back downstairs and walk the room again until they had to go back onstage to dance and the routine was continued until their shift was over. The customer wouldn't pay them, rather whatever bartender worked downstairs and the girls would all get their 'cut' at the end of their shift, a cut that was always rather slim for what they were doing.
Making it worse were the occasional Yakuza thug who would frequent the club and demand and receive any woman they wanted…they would never pay of course. They never had to. A few of the women she had managed to speak to told her that most of the Yakuza thugs were quite abusive and would leave bruises and cuts all over their bodies, forcing them to take some time off to heal and robbing them of money they desperately needed. It was a hell they didn't want but were forced to accept.
The one thing that Nabiki noticed was the eyes of a good number of the women she saw. She was always good at reading people and a person's eyes always told what they were feeling. Some of the girls were slightly frightened and humiliated at what they were doing, as well as any sensible person would be, but the ones that frightened her were the women whose eyes were filled with a calm detachment…similar to what Ranma was like after the wedding fiasco. They had been doing their jobs and so many other demeaning things for so long that they didn't care who or what they were doing anymore, so long as they got paid at the end of the day. That was one thing that the middle Tendo daughter feared of becoming most of all.
So in retrospect, becoming an escort was an easier, and more affordable decision. As an escort, Nabiki wouldn't have to show off her body to an entire crowd of leering men and give up a good portion of what she earned to a group of greedy filth that would treat her like they owned her. It would be just her and her client. She wouldn't attach herself to some greedy and more than likely abusive pimp, she would go out on her own and keep everything she would rightfully earn. She would dictate the terms of what she and the client would do and if they were insistent on disobeying her rules she was still in great shape from her continued calisthenics and practiced some useful self-defense moves. She also would keep a knife and a can of mace in her purse at all times if it ever came down to that.
After what seemed like hours Kasumi finally relented and begged her younger sister to be safe. Nabiki walked out of her older sister's room and re-entered a few moments later with a new purse. She opened it to reveal the knife and can of mace she mentioned but also a handful of condoms. She also said that she was taking the pill as an extra precautionary measure.
After a few moments the middle Tendo girl began to tremble as the reality of the situation finally occurred to her. In less than a day, she would become an escort and would sleep with men for money. Kasumi quickly pulled her sister into her arms and comforted her the best that she could. When the younger, with tears in the corners of her eyes, whispered out if she thought she was going to become like one of those strippers, one of those who wouldn't care about what they had become, the elder whispered back that she didn't know, but that she would always love her no matter what.
That was what finally broke the damn and Kasumi held onto Nabiki even tighter as they both cried harder than either ever had before. They let out tears they didn't know they could still produce and cried out all the pain and anguish they had held in for years. Kasumi cried for the sacrifice her younger sister was going to make for her family while Nabiki cried for what she was going to do, that after tomorrow she would never be the same woman anymore. Neither of the young women knew how long they cried until they fell asleep in each others arms but both woke up in the morning feeling better at letting several years worth of pain out, but also even worse knowing what was going to be done later that night, what one of them was going to become…
Nabiki was interrupted from her deep and painful thoughts as she felt someone approach her from behind. She turned around and forced her face into a welcoming smile despite the desire to gag. The man was dressed in a dark blue business suit that did nothing to make him appear anything resembling attractive. He was over a head shorter than her and almost as wide as he was tall. His black hair was greasy and didn't look like it had been washed in ages and his thick glasses gave his beady eyes a creepy enlarged look. Finishing off the sight was a slightly upturned nose and the leer he was giving her that sent unpleasant shivers throughout the middle Tendo daughter's body.
"You're new here," he said in what he must have presumed to be a suave tone but didn't quite sound that way with his annoyingly high-pitched and squeaky voice. "I know every girl that works this part of town and I've never seen you before. The name's Toshiro by the way," he greeted while holding out his hand.
"Hitome," Nabiki smoothly replied with the name both she and her sister made up the previous night, taking the offered hand in her own and nearly recoiling at how clammy it felt in her own. "You are right that I am new here." Some movement behind Toshiro caught her eye. One of the girls she passed earlier way waving in her direction. When the girl noticed she caught Nabiki's attention her face first fell into a remorseful expression before she raised one hand up and rubbed her thumb against her fore and middle finger, pointed up a few times and then gave her a quick thumbs up before looking back out to the streets.
Though she had never worked the streets before, the young woman once quoted as being 'The Ice Queen of Furinkan' had used similar hand signs with her girls back in high school. She immediately understood that the man in front of her was as unpleasant in other areas as he was to both the eye and ear and that she could charge him quite a large fee for her time and he would gladly pay it. By the looks of him and judging by his demeanor, paying for a woman was the only way he could ever touch one and it was obvious if he was willing to pay large amounts for one.
'I wish to Kami that I didn't get this ugly slob for my first time,' she sadly thought to herself. 'I originally wanted first time to be with someone I loved and cherished who would sweep me off my feet and treat me like a goddess, not some creepy loser who picks me off the streets and will probably treat me like a whore…like the whore I am.' That last thought almost brought out the torrent of tears she had shared with Kasumi last night, but she had cried herself out then and would be strong and do what she had to do to keep her family off the streets.
'Hitome' sneered as she noticed that the possible client was not looking at her face, rather staring down into the valley between her breasts with a hungry expression and a bit of drool coming out of the corners of his mouth. Sucking up both her pride and disgust she calmly said, "So are you looking for any company tonight?"
Toshiro quickly wiped his mouth clean and nodded. "I am and I own an apartment a few blocks from here that I keep so I can entertain lovely women just like you." He paused to rub his hands together and Nabiki had to struggle to not shudder. "But first," he began, "I want a small sample of what I'm going to have." He reached out to grab her breasts and 'Hitome' quickly stepped back and narrowed her eyes dangerously at her soon to be severely beaten client, causing the unpleasant man to tremble at her icy glare.
"We will do no such thing until we discuss the payment I will receive for my time and the terms you will abide by for the entertainment of my company," she spoke in a business tone that left no room for compliance. At his hurried nod she replied, "thirty thousand yen, half now, the other half after we are finished. I do not perform oral or anal and that is non-negotiable." As he frowned she continued, "I also do not kiss my clients so do not expect me to but you may kiss me anywhere so long as it is not on my lips. I also like to stay safe so protection is also required." She folded her arms under her breasts and pushed them up slightly, making them more appealing and putting Toshiro in a slight trance at the sight.
"Yeah…yeah, that'll do," he mumbled while licking his lips and eyeing her from top to bottom. 'Hitome' closed her eyes and attempted to banish the thoughts of that slimy tongue defiling her still pure body. Her eyes quickly opened as he said, "But I wanna do you bareback honey." As she started to narrow her eyes he quickly exclaimed, "I'll double…no…triple your offer!"
The thought of more money was appealing, especially an amount that would help to take a semi-decent chunk out of the amount she owed, but she was still hesitant to proceed. She may have taken precautions to prevent from getting pregnant but who knew what sort of diseases could be floating through that nasty body of his. As if he heard her thoughts, he added, "And don't you worry about catching anything from me baby, I'm completely clean." He paused to straighten his tie as Nabiki let out a soft snort at that exclamation. "I work for a pharmaceutical company…I'm one of the higher ups and we get tested all the time. I've got the results in my briefcase back in my apartment. You can look at them and see for yourself." He let out what was supposed to be a charming smile that made the bile rise in the back of her throat and held out a hand. "So do we have a deal?"
The young woman played out every possibility in her mind. If he was lying about the tests and the paperwork she could leave and would still have the down payment she requested. If he was telling the truth and tried to break any of her rules she could get away from him, forcefully if need be, demand full payment for wasting her time and leave. If he was telling the truth and abided by her rules down to the tee, then she would be losing her virginity to this fat slob of a man…something she could never take back. 'My virginity for ninety thousand yen,' she sadly thought to herself. 'I always thought that it would be priceless.'
Thinking about her family, she slowly nodded her head about was about to take his hand and go down a road she never wanted to travel when a deep voice from the shadows said, "I know she was about to agree to keeping you company Mr. Watsura but I don't think she was really that interested in sleeping with you."
Her client's eyes grew impossibly wide at the sound of the stranger's voice and his whole body broke out in a nervous sweat. He turned around to see a man still hidden in the shadows of the building next to him. "M-M-M-Mr. Red D-Dragon sir! H-How are you?" Though 'Hitome' was rather amused at the fat little man's reaction, this new stranger who kept in the shadows was making her feel more than a little uneasy. She wasn't adept at all in reading people's auras but she could feel power pulsing out of this man in waves. She didn't know what she got herself into and now she had no idea what was going to happen to her. If things got too heavy she could possibly run towards the other street walkers and call out for help. She was sure at least one of them would have a gun on them. It was a safer street to work on than many others but a girl's got to take care of herself somehow.
"I am doing quite well thank you for asking," this 'Mr. Red Dragon' calmly replied. "My last excursion was quite…profitable." Nabiki's ears twitched at the last word, old instincts drawing her towards anything mentioning money and profits. She wasn't too sure but she felt the stranger's eyes on her after his last statement. "Now what did I tell you about your own little excursions Toshiro." At the man's flinch, he continued, "I know you are having trouble finding a woman who would settle down with you but I do not like you having to force your company on these poor women." He chuckled slightly. "If any of them ever truly enjoyed their time with you I'd have to have someone check her sanity."
Toshiro swelled up as his face reddened. "T-That's not true!" he sputtered indignantly, his anger pushing past his obvious fear of the mysterious Dragon person. "They're all whores! Nothing but filthy whores! I pay them to do a job and they do it! Who gives a damn how they feel about it?"
The air around them dropped in temperature dramatically and got surprisingly thick, making breathing difficult. Nabiki hugged herself tightly as she could see her breath coming out of her body on hurried gasps and her exposed skin became completely covered in goose bumps. Her 'probably soon to be dead' client was stiff as a board and all color had drained from his face, just realizing how badly he fucked up.
"I care," Red Dragon said in a deadly whisper. "They do not want to do what they do but they have no other choice. They need the money and you should be grateful that they're desperate enough to sleep with a pathetic fat slob like you to get it Toshiro." 'Hitome' flinched at both the man's tone and the shot at her desperation…though it was true. Toshiro look like he was going to soil himself and she had to admit that if she were the cause of this mysterious man's anger she would be in the same boat. He then continued, "I will kindly ask you to leave this young lady alone and go back to whatever hole you crawled out of. If I ever see you harassing any of these poor unfortunate girls again I'll do you worse than I did Crusher in my last match."
Her 'was going to be but is now scared shitless' client let out a strangled whimper before turning around and running as far as his chubby little legs could take him. As soon as he was out of sight the air around Nabiki warmed back up a great deal and it became much easier to breath. As she shook of the chill she looked up at the man still covered shadows and said, "I don't know if I should thank you for getting that pig away from me or charge you for the money I could have made off of him." She paused to tap a finger against her lips. "In fact, I think I might just do both."
Red Dragon chuckled lightly while muttering, "Still the same." As the woman in front of him raised a delicate eyebrow at the last statement, he continued on in a more remorseful tone, "I had hoped to never see you fall to these lengths. Your family must had fallen into some really bad times for you to resort to selling your body for money Biki-chan."
The middle Tendo daughter's eyes shot wide and she felt total fear course through her veins. "W-Who are you?" she shakily questioned. "How do you know who I am?" It was bad enough with Kasumi knowing about her new profession but if someone else knew and decided to spread the word around, the rest of her life would be ruined.
"Don't be like that," he calmly assured her while slowly stepping out into the light, "you trusted me once with your secrets and I never told another soul. I still do and will always keep your secrets safe from the rest of the world." As he finally emerged fully into the light, Nabiki felt her breath get caught in her throat and her body went numb in shock. There standing in front of her carrying two enormous duffel bags that appeared to be filled to the brim and wearing thick black boots, black pants, metal arm bracers that went from the backs of his hands up to his elbows, a white button up Chinese silk shirt with an image of a majestic red dragon on it, long flowing raven hair and a soft pair of beautiful blue eyes was none other than Ranma Saotome. "Hi beautiful," he greeted with a cheeky smile, "long time no see." His smile quickly disappeared as the young Tendo in front of him collapsed to her knees, her breathing coming out in sharp rasps and a dazed look in her eyes. He was immediately at her side lifting her to her feet and wrapping a supportive arm around her waist.
Nabiki looked up into her eyes, her own starting to refocus. "Ranma?" she softly whispered while gently touching the side of his face. "Is it really you?" When he nodded in response tears began to pour out of her eyes and she buried her head into his chest, sobbing, "Oh Kami it is you! I missed you so much Ranma! Why did you leave like you did?" She pulled her head back to look him in the eyes again, her own already red and puffy from crying. "I never want you to leave us again."
The young man smiled and nodded again. "You can count on that Biki-chan." He shifted his body and easily scooped her up in a bridal carry, her body feeling nearly weightless in his powerful arms. "Come on, let's get you home."
Nabiki quickly shook her head in the negative. "Kasumi knows I'm out here but Daddy and Akane don't and they should be home by now. I don't want them to see me like this…they'd ask too many questions that I don't want to answer. I already told Kasumi to let them know that I'd be out for the night and I still intend to do that." She paused to lean her head against Ranma's chest, his steady heartbeat helping to calm her frazzled nerves. "Let's just…rent a room somewhere. I want…I need to talk to you about…well everything."
Nodding again in understanding the young Saotome tilted his head forward and gently pressed his lips against Nabiki's forehead, repeating the same gesture he did the last time they say one another. As a pleasant warmth spread through her body he said, "Alright, let's go."
After finding a decent enough hotel and paying for a room for the night, Ranma led Nabiki into the elevator up to the floor their room was located. After they were both inside he turned around to close the door and turned back only to have her palm collide with the side of his face. As he brought a hand up to the slowly reddening mark the middle Tendo grabbed him by the collar and shouted, "How could you leave us like that?! What the hell were you thinking?! Kasumi and I spent so much time trying to break you out of your shell and when we start to make some good progress you just up and leave like we were nothing?! Like we meant nothing to you?! Why didn't you tr-mmpff!" she finished as the young man pushed her arm aside and pulled her in for a searing kiss, completely blowing the wind out of her.
Using his superior size and strength he twisted her around and pinned her body against the door while still ravaging her mouth with his own, Nabiki quickly responding in kind. As their tongues battled for dominance in each other's mouths the young woman felt electricity flow throughout her entire body from down from the tips of her toes up to every strand of hair on her head. She had only kissed a few men and all of those were on the cheek. After Ranma had left she lost all interest in other men, as did Kasumi. They both found a great catch in the same man and never got to tell him how much they cared for him until it was too late and he was gone from their lives. She would date from time to time but no man interested her enough to be a keeper. Now she was heavily kissing the man she had somehow fallen in love with and the power and intensity of it rocked her to her very core.
Ranma's hands slid under her top and rubbed along her bare stomach, sides and back, leaving trails of heat along them that built a small inferno in the Tendo girl's lower abdomen and caused her to gasp and moan as his talented fingers did wonders on her body without touching anything more intimate. Nabiki moved her hands up off of his shoulders to his head, brushing through his silky raven locks and scratching his scalp, earning a deep grunt of approval. Just as quickly as he started the kiss Ranma broke it off, getting a loud groan of disapproval from the young woman in his arms.
He gently pressed his forehead against her and stared directly into her chocolate eyes, their lips swollen from their kiss and their breathing coming in deep gasps for air. "After we got back from China," he softly began, " and after the disaster that was the wedding I was in a pretty messed up state. To save Akane back in China I had to…I had to kill this guy called Saffron." As her eyes widened in disbelief, he trudged forward, "He didn't really die…he's some sort of immortal Phoenix Kami or something. I destroyed his body and he was reborn as a baby, but when I used my last attack on him, I wanted to kill him…to completely destroy him. He was the toughest opponent I've ever faced and I had to push myself beyond my limits to stop him. I had to cause I knew that he wanted to kill me and everyone else and I wasn't going to let that happen.
"After we got back home I was still so happy that Akane was alive that what I did didn't really settle in yet. After that whole messed up wedding thing and things started to cool down, that's when it hit me. I was willing to go against everything I stood for…I was willing to kill someone and I was glad that I did it." Ranma paused to close his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "I couldn't face myself after that and I sorta spaced out all the time, thinking about what I'd done and wondering if I was still a good person or not." Nabiki didn't dare to interrupt him now, he was bearing his soul to her and she was going to be a good girl and listen until he was finished.
"I think it was during that time that I started to realize that me and Akane weren't going to work out. She was all sweet and great to me for a while but she started to act like her old self again and it hurt to know that after what I did for her she was still yelling and hitting me like I didn't matter." He stared intently into her eyes, the raw emotions flowing through them making her heart flutter in her chest. "You and Kasumi weren't like that. You left me alone and respected what I was going through and let me open up to each of you on my own terms. I really appreciated that more than you could ever know. That night…that night when I kissed you and Kasumi I realized that while I still loved Akane, I was in love with both of you." He leaned forward and easily captured the middle Tendo sister's lips in a soft, yet beautiful kiss that she enthusiastically returned.
After a few moments he pulled back and his eyes clouded with pain. "Then Akane attacked me. I didn't mean to hurt her like I did. I reacted out of pure instinct to protect myself and the two of you and that's what I did. What I didn't expect was for a part of me to enjoy hurting her…to finally make her hurt for all the times she hurt me. When I felt that I knew that I was too dangerous to be around and needed to go out on my own and figure out what was going on with me. I never wanted to leave without saying goodbye properly but I was afraid that I'd do something to hurt you and I couldn't live with myself if I ever did that." He briefly closed his eyes and when he opened them the pain was gone, leaving his blue eyes as beautiful as they always have been. "So I roamed all across the country meditating, training and doing a bunch of other things and now I have full control of myself and I know I'm safe to be around now."
At those words Nabiki felt pure happiness filter throughout her body. She pulled Ranma close and dug her face into the crook of his neck, relishing in both the warmth of his body and his deep, musky scent. "You don't know how happy I am to hear that Ranma-kun. I'm sure Kasumi will be just as elated to have you back in our lives." Her smile quickly left her face as she remembered just how she got to where she was. "Ranma," she hesitantly began, "I was out in the streets tonight because we're in a bad situation. Money hasn't been coming in like it used to and if I don't get three hundred thousand yen by the end of the month…we'll lose the house." She pulled him tight as she felt tears form in the corners of her eyes.
Instead of being shocked or saddened by this news, Ranma only let out a wide smile. He gently separated himself from the lovely Tendo woman and picked up his two large duffel bags, calmly walked over to the hotel room's single king sized bed, unzipped the bags and dumped their contents onto the bed. Nabiki's eyes widened in shock and thousands, if not millions of assorted yen notes cascaded down onto the bed. After each were completely empty, covering the bed with more yen notes than there was bed, Ranma tossed the duffel bags aside and turned to his current roommate with another cheeky smile. "I fought in a lot of underground fighting tournaments all over the place while I was away. It really helped to challenge new opponents and let out and frustration I was feelin at the time. This," he gestured to his clothing, "was something I decided to wear one day and they stuck me with the name 'Red Dragon'. I liked it so I went with it. Your ex Toshiro," he said with a wide grin that immediately annoyed the 'was going to be but to hell with it!' escort in front of him, "was stupid enough to bet against me for some big guy called Crusher. All muscles, no brains, took him out in ten seconds flat. Sure showed Mr. Piggy that nobody beats Ranma Saotome, nobody!"
Nabiki chuckled lightly at how some things never change and felt all the pressure and stress she had been putting herself under for months vanish like it was never there. She placed a hand on her hip and asked with a feral gleam in her eye, "So you won all this money by yourself? I'm impressed Ranma-kun." She spoke his name un a sultry purr, the sight of all that money and a gorgeous piece of man standing next to it shifting her hormones into overdrive.
The young Saotome was too happy to notice as he quickly shook his head. "Nope! I only won a small portion of this. Everything else came from some help by the Black Widow!" At Nabiki's confused look he reached behind him and pulled out a tiny outfit from nowhere…just like what Akane used to do with her mallet. The material was an all black spandex outfit with no material for the left leg and both arms with a leather choker that clasped around the neck. He spun it around and a large red hourglass shape covered most of the back, the mark of the female black widow spider. "I figured that I'd make tons more money if I went into some fights as 'Ranko' and wearing this sexy little number. A bunch of guys seem to always think that a girl is gonna lose against them and I always made sure to bet a lot on myself. Sure showed them!"
In response the former Ice Queen leapt into his arms and shoved her tongue into his mouth, putting as much passion into the kiss as she could. For several minutes they stayed like that until she finally sensually slid down his body until her feet hit the floor. As Ranma was slowly getting out of his daze she removed her blonde wig and glasses and tossed them aside. Next to go was her top, skirt and panties, leaving completely nude save for her high heels. She turned around with her hands on her hips and used her 'escort strut' to saunter over to the yen covered bed, the young man's eyes drinking in every ounce of her creamy smooth skin. She turned around and fell onto the bed, the feel and scent of the yen all around her arousing her to even greater heights.
With her eyes closed she began, "Tonight I was ready to give away my virginity, something I was holding on to give only to the man I loved, to some random stranger on the street who was going to pay me for it. Now I am willing to give it to the man I love like I always wanted." She leaned up and looked at him with tears streaming from her eyes. "I love you Ranma Saotome, I love you with every fiber of my being and I know Kasumi feels the same and I couldn't be happier that my first time is going to be with you." She quickly wiped her tears away and beckoned him closer with a single finger. "Now come here Ranma-kun and make love to me on top of all this money…oh and lose those clothes. You won't be needing them anymore tonight."
The young heir to the Saotome style of the Anything-Goes Martial Arts never removed his clothing so quickly in his life. Nabiki drank in his nude body with rapt hunger as he strutted to her. As he leaned down on top of her she whispered, "You will always be my Ranma. My savior. Now make love to me."
And he did, and it was wonderful.
The End
Author's Notes: Hey everybody, I'm back! I know I haven't updated any of my fics in a long ass time and I apologize profusely for commiting such a horrible sin. Like I had mentioned a while back I had worked on too many different fics at once and severely burned myself out. I tried many times to continue my work but I couldn't get any good ideas out and just wound up frustrated and lost my inspiration to continue. For a while I backed off my fics and focused on my life thinking that after some time my inspiration would return along with ideas to continue my work. I was right.
I know that many of you wanted to see one of my other fics to be updated instead of this all new story but it was an idea that popped into my head while I was at work of all things just a little over a day ago. When I sat down to write what I thought would be a few paragraphs or a page or two at most turned out to be page upon page upon page of new material that I couldn't believe was coming out of my head! I managed to write a great sized Ranma 1/2 one-shot in only a day and a half...much more than I have managed to get out in nearly two years! I rediscovered that old flame I thought I lost and the ideas poured in like they haven't in so long.
Now I'm not going to promise immediate updates on all of my fics, I don't want to rush into things and burn myself out again. I am getting back into writing again and hope to continue with the fics that many of you enjoyed years ago and, from the occasional review I recieve, still do to this day. I checked out my poll and the top story that was voted for will be the story I will focus on so keep an eye on that one for a future update. All my appreciation to you loyal fans out there -- lighthawkdemon
Questions or comments? E-mail me at: lighthawkdemon on Y!