Ranma cleaned the sundae glass before addressing Nabiki. "So, let me get this straight. You're taking pictures of Akane and me and selling them because we're martial artist?"

"That's basically the 'official excuse' that I can give you"

"Why martial artist?"

Nabiki puffed her chest and tried to impersonate Genma. "A martial artist should always be prepared at all times" she said in a gruff voice.

Despite the implied sarcasm, Ranma laughed. "Even by pop's standard, that's horrible, Nabs"

"Hey. What can I say" the middle Tendo girl finished off the last of her ice cream. "Ah... That's purely ambrosia" she said while closing her eyes. Then, cocking her head a bit, she shot a quizzical look at the boy. "Now, beside from finding blackmailing material on me, what else do you want?"

"No... Nothing"

"Are you sure?" She seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Here," she said as she handed a face down photograph.

He was reluctant to take it. "What is it?"

"A picture of my top without any bra on"

Ranma had to pinch his nose to prevent blood from streaming out.

Nabiki flipped the photo up. It was a picture of a smaller version of her fully clothed. "I suppose a seven year old girl doesn't have to wear any bra"

"You tricked me!"

"No, no, no. I'm telling you the truth. It is you who twisted my words to fit your understanding.

"You…" An image of a faceless girl flashed in his mind. "It's a promise, Ranma"

Nabiki looked at him spacing out and decided to prompt him. "So, what will it be Saotome-kun?"

"Thanks but no thanks," The young martial artist was still cautious about whatever being asked out of him. Especially so that he has just seen how she managed to trick Ryouga regarding the pendant. He may be physically stronger, but when it comes to wit and verbal martial art, she was years ahead of him. She could probably sell comb to a bald man.

"Very well, I'll help you"

"I didn't say anything"

"You just did"

"I remember very well not saying anything so you're not going to trick me"

"There. You specifically said 'anything'. Right after 'well not saying'"

"Huh?" Ranma took a few seconds to understand what was going. A crooked smile from the girl in front of him made him realize what she meant. "Kso. A literal person is very annoying"

"But this annoying literal person is about to say something that may be of importance to you"

Ranma's eyebrows were raised in interest. "How much? I don't have that much money"

"Consider that the pictures of you that I took this morning as the payment"

"Heh. Like I can do anything about them"

"Hmm... Despite what it seems, actually, you can do something"

"Like what? Mentally condemn you to eternal hell for taking them? That's not a big help. Been there, done that, haven't got the t-shirt yet" Ranma saw a very brief flicker in Nabiki's eyes.

"Okay, have you ever wondered why some of the troubles that besiege you don't go away?"

Ranma nodded.

"It is because, in a twisted kind of way, you really don't want them to disappear"

"Riiiggghhhttttt... I really enjoy being scared of cc...cca...cats"

"Okay, we'll focus on your fear of that thing. Do you hate that fear so much?"

"That's obvious. I can't see why I 'want' the fear"

"Answer my question, Ranma. When you father admitted that he thought you Nekoken the wrong way, have you ever wondered whether there was a correct way?"

"No" Ranma looked thoughtful. "It may sound weird, but now that I think of it, it seems to me that the only way to learn Nekoken is by following the method pop used"

"Precisely. There is no other way than the one your father used"

"How did you know?"

Nabiki smiled.

"Yeah. Wish shop thingy again"

"No, the manual didn't mention about other methods. I checked and rechecked, especially the Mandarin version of it"

'She can read in Mandarin. That can be useful in the future, if I can afford it. Maybe I can ask her to find the loophole regarding the "kiss of marriage" law' "Yeah, seems like there's no other way"

"I can heal you"

"What is the catch?"

"Two. One, you will become my errand boy for two weeks. When I say my errand boy, it will include leasing you out to various clubs. But on the plus site, I wouldn't take any of your pictures or lending you out to your ever loving fiancées, at least without your prior permission"

"Sounds like a slave to me"

"Either that, or an unpaid photography model. An unpaid gigolo job is open if you're a pervert like my sister said"

Ranma considered his options very carefully. "I get to choose whether to agree going to the clubs or not. I don't want Kuno to hire me as a punching bag"

"Four weeks"

"Two and a half"

"Three weeks and I'll help in explaining about this to Akane"

"You drive a hard bargain"

"Do we have a deal?"

"...sounds promising. What's the second one?"

"It's harder than the first one" Nabiki became silent for a minute. "If I remove that fear, you will lose Nekoken forever"

Ranma was shocked. "How about if I become your slave for half a year?"

Nabiki shook her head. "No, Ranma. It wouldn't be enough"

"A year?"

"In order to remove your fear of feline, I need to remove the Nekoken. The technique is very powerful, but it achieves its power by bonding you to a feline spirit"

"That doesn't explain how it causes my fear of those furry things"

"Being a boy at that time, and being lowered into a dark pit full of starving full of those furry things, you became scared. When you were at the threshold, between sanity and madness caused by the fear, a feline spirit entered into an agreement with your soul to protect you from descending into total madness. As such, whenever you experience an intense fear caused by felines, the spirit will take over your body to protect you. And as added bonus, you'll become stronger and more agile"

"But I don't know what happens every time I enter that state"

"The spirit also don't know what happens when you're conscious so we can say that it's pretty fair"

"So this spirit, will it go against any attempt to cure me?"

"No. But if I am to remove your nekophobia, I must remove nekoken"

"Couldn't you just leave nekoken intact?"

"It wouldn't be fair for the spirit as it will be trapped into an agreement that your soul will not abide after this. If I ignore that part, the injustice will bring more troubles to you. So, if you really want to be free of fear, you will have to dissolve the soul bind between the two of you, and with it the nekoken. Now, think carefully, Ranma. Are you willing to pay the price?"

Ranma sat there, feeling that an eternity has passed before he made his decision. "Very well, I agree. I wanted this for a long time. There have been times when the technique saved me, but I really want to live my life without being haunted by fear of ca… ca…ats"

"Thus, an agreement is being signed by two souls, Tendo Nabiki and Saotome Ranma"

Nabiki brought up her right hand and began some incantation.

Ranma raised his hands to stop her. "Whoa! Don't tell me you're going to do it now, here in this restaurant? Every passerby can probably see us here"

"Why do you think I picked a secluded spot? Anyway, this is Nerima, Saotome-kun. We see flying saucers and Godzilla every fortnight and crazy martial artists slugging it out everyday here." She continued reciting some arcane words. Soon her fingertips began to glow bluish. She placed them on Ranma's forehead.

Ranma closed his eyes.

"By the power of the all encompassing power that is most caring and loving, I Tendo Nabiki seek thou guidance to release one Saotome Ranma from his contract with the cat spirit that lurks inside him. Unbind" The glow on her fingertip turned red.

Meanwhile, Ranma was seeing a rerun of how he spent the time in the pit with the cats, observing from the outside of his younger body. He could see the fear on his younger self's face as numerous cats surrounding him. Then he saw a spirit of a black kitten entering his body, triggering the nekoken. Suddenly, there was flash. He closed his eyes. When he opened them, he saw that the spirit was facing him, purring. Ranma forgot that he feared cats and instead look at it with interest, as if wanting to know what it will do next. The kitten smiled at him. 'Thank you for setting me free' it spoke directly to his mind, as it began to fade.

'Thank you'

"No, thank you for all what you have done for me"

'We had a blast, didn't we?'

"Yeah, a real blast"

'I would not forget you'

"Same here"

The kitten spirit smiled as it became engulfed in a blinding light, waving one of its paws. 'Sayonara'

"Sayonara" He waved back


Ranma jolted awake. He saw Nabiki's head was on the table. "Nabiki?" He prodded her. "Nabiki, are you all right?" This time panic crept into his voice. He relaxed a bit when he saw her stirred slightly.

"I'm a bit tired, that's all", she whispered. "You can go home first. I have to wait here until my strength returns"

"No. Let me carry you home instead"

"Your slavery and torture will start tomorrow"

Ranma lifted Nabiki and carried her bridal style. "Ah heck. I can start practicing now. Maybe you can give me a break for what I do today"

"Fat chance" she murmured in response. When Ranma got to the entrance, she tugged on his shirt. "Wait. Let me pay for the sundaes first"

He carried her to the counter and set her down. The middle Tendo girl opened her purse. Ranma held her by her shoulder as he noticed she couldn't stand still yet. Nabiki handed the money to the cashier. When he offered to carry her again, she declined, stating instead that she wanted to walk home, lest anyone found them.

During the walk home, with him supporting Nabiki who walked like a drunkard, Ranma thought hard about what they had talked about while they were in the shop. He was so lost in his thought that when his foot came into contact with something furry, he didn't notice it at first. When he looked down, he saw a beautiful kitten. Almost instinctively, he kneeled down to pat it on its head, while pulling Nabiki toward him so that she wouldn't collapse. Only after they have walked few steps away did he realized what he had done. "You really cured me" It was said in awe.

"Mhmm" the girl clinging to his arm couldn't even open her eyes, letting him guide her instead.

"My fear with the cats, they're gone" Ranma marveled at how he managed to keep composed despite being overjoyed. Then he realized something else. "That means... my curse... can it be cured?"

"Saotome-kun" Nabiki breathed. "The Jusenkyo curse... is so powerful that it can be Hitsuzen by itself" She staggered a few more stops before continuing. "Such curse can be negated by another curse. Normally the person afflicted with such a powerful curse will be given the chance to heal himself three times in his lifetime" Nabiki strengthened her grip on Ranma for support. "You have had the first chance, and you decided to turn it down"

"When?"

She didn't answer him. They continued walking in silence until he could see the general outline of the Tendo residence when Nabiki spoke. "During the battle with Saffron you decided that Akane's life is more important than your cure, didn't you?"

"Yes"

"You could've have healed your Jusenkyo curse. But, the price of such cure is her life"

"You mean..."

Nabiki raised her head to look Ranma in the eyes. "Do you really think that somehow Saffron woke up one day and decided that he want to be your enemy? As I said earlier, everything is linked to everything else in this vast universe. You nearly died fighting a demigod, so what I'll be saying may seem to trivialize your fight. But, perhaps Saffron was only a pawn in a giant cosmic game to determine whether you are ready to make a sacrifice for the opportunity to be free of the curse"

"Damn! That's not a cure. And not a goddamned game either. We're dealing with a life here. Your sister's life!" Ranma said angrily.

"Maybe. Yet you only have two more chance left" Nabiki stopped and looked at her house which was across the road in front of her. "Despite all that, I really appreciate what you did Ranma. You have saved my family" she let go of his arm. "Now go"

"How about you?"

"I'll be fine. I'll wait a few more minutes before entering. You don't want a free flight into a lake, do you?"

Ranma nodded and crossed the street into the house. Meanwhile the middle Tendo girl shook her head to get rid of the nauseated feeling she had. Then she had something hurling from inside of her chest and quickly put her hand over her mouth. When she removed her hand to look at it, she was very glad that Ranma wasn't around her anymore. Fisting it as tightly as he could, she entered the house while reminding herself not to overexert herself next time. She just hoped that no one would catch her bloodied hand.


1


Author's note (3 January 2005)

1. Since this chapter, along with the preceding one can be counted as an episode, I decided to upload it within a short span. But I do it at the expense of depleting my buffer chapters, chapters that I reserved for correction purposes and quality control (right... you don't believe that one, do you?). Do expect the next episode to be updated later than usual.

2. Yes, Nabiki is becoming OC, but she is running a weird wish shop, remember. She will help Ranma solve some of his problems while adding more and more problems to compensate for them.

3. The cross over and bishoujo will probably start from next episode. I'm using this four chapters to set the story. I apologize for the upcoming chapters because as I promised in the title, it will be chaotic, sometimes to the point of being pointless. You know, like those fillers you hate so much. Yet, in those fillers, I will put in some fillet. You can skip some of the episodes and not miss anything much (maybe, maybe not). Anyway, for those who do take my warning and stopped reading this fiction, I would like to say thank you very much and perhaps see you in the future.

4. Thanks to Innortal who pointed out the part where Nabiki hocked up. You're da person, person.