Prologue

Note: Hello everyone! I have started on a new fanfic, about our favourite aquatransverstite in 20 parts. Sit back and enjoy the madness :)

Discalaimer: I do not own anything from the Ranma 1/2 Universe, other than this crazy idea. That honour goes to Takahashi-san, I just felt like cleaning up the post-wedding fiasco...

All things considered, it was ironic that after over a year and being the one who was adding fuel to the fire, Tendo Nabiki decided that enough was enough.

Since her mother's death a decade previously, Nabiki had worked hard to acquire a reputation as a hard and financially savvy woman, particularly because of Kasumi. Her older sister had taken on the burden of keeping the house at the time, but outside of buying supplies, was woefully inadequate when it came to financial matters. The middle sister had always been told that she had a head for numbers and decided that she would do what she could to help.

Years of using information to her advantage brought her to this moment, where she was sitting in her room, her family home damaged and tarnished, and worrying about the future which, thanks to her own machinations, looked to be more uncertain than ever.

Normally, Nabiki would never have done anything illegal, but the results of her recent 'sale' made her sit up and take notice.

Her questionable activities had started rather innocently several years before. Nabiki had been learning to develop pictures as part of the photography club when a class mate and another member of the club had approached her with a strange request. Seeing as most of her pictures were those of her friends, the boy had asked if she would give him one, featuring that girl that he liked.

As a joke, Nabiki had requested 500 yen, and was surprised when the boy reached for his wallet and handed over 5 shiny coins.

At first, she and her friends had laughed it off as a fluke, but somehow, the word had spread. More people, mostly boys, had started lining up, cash in hand, in order to acquire picture of their object of desire. And try as she might, the middle Tendo had found herself powerless to refuse, as for the first time in over three years there was a way that she could help supplement the family's income. As time went on, Nabiki went out of her way to acquire more and more pictures and sell them for more and more money, arguing that she only had a limited supply of paper on which to print them.

Her friends, the ones that had been supportive at the onset, had begun to feel uncomfortable and stopped associating with her.

The pain and rejection hurt, and Nabiki acquired a new source of income – information. She had learnt to take pictures covertly, bought all the supplies to do the developing in the comfort of her own home, and started selling the boys in her school the things they wanted to hear – what hobbies each girl had, how to win her over, what they loved and hated. By the end of that school year, she had established a net of information and gossip, all of which was for sale for the right price, as long as no lives were endangered.

She lost the majority of her old friends, but new ones sprung up. Over the next year, the brunette had discovered that in the strange town that was Nerima, it was possible and easy to have groupies. Students came to her to learn about how to run a business and do her bidding for her, most not even realising that with working for free, they were being exploited as much as the people they were spying on.

So it was amazing that after all the ways that she had used to exploit Akane, Ranma and the various bits of chaos that have been following since the arrival of the cursed youth, Nabiki finally decided that it was up to her to stop the nonsense and cut off her own supply of cash.

But perhaps it was not so amazing, considering that she finally had enough to go to university in Tokyo U with. The confirmation of her application had arrived that morning, as well as the confirmation that she had won a substantial scholarship for to cover a large part of her tuition and living costs. The possibility of interning as an investigative financial journalist over the summer also beckoned, meaning that for the first time ever, she had enough money set aside to support her own dreams and help her sisters survive the next few years in relative financial security.

It was now pretty certain that Kasumi would have enough to support herself, father and Akane until the youngest graduated, and Akane would probably be able to go to university if everything worked out. There was just one hitch – her plan had to work perfectly, or there would be hell to pay.

Sighing, Tendo Nabiki lifted the phone receiver to make two very important phone calls.