Proxemics
By Ninnik Nishukan
Chapter Four: Food For Thought
When they finally reached the Kuno estate at the end of their leisurely stroll and she had to let go of Kuno-chan's arm so he could get his keys to unlock the front door, Nabiki suddenly felt like one of those stupid, old cartoon characters who would be walking merrily off of a cliff and straight into thin air until they realized they'd run out of solid ground.
She hadn't run out of solid ground, but she was about to run out of time.
This was it. He'd bought her dinner, he'd bought her dessert, he'd bought her coffee, they'd had their pictures taken and they'd gone to an arcade…and it was getting late and she was running out of excuses.
Her own family was expecting her home soon, and in an hour or so, daddy would start wailing about his little baby Nabiki being kidnapped or something.
But she still hadn't talked to Kuno-chan. Not really. And there were a few things she wanted to know before they parted their ways for good.
Even with all of their 'business transactions' during high school, and even if he'd come to visit the Tendo Dojo many a time (usually uninvited), she'd never been inside his house before. There were several reasons for this. One, Principal Kuno, two, Kodachi, three, she'd always been a little wary about what kind of ideas Kuno-chan might get into his head if he got a girl alone with him in his house, and four, there had just never really arisen an occasion for it.
Now, though, she felt there really was a valid occasion. Besides, she was kind of curious about what the interior of his house looked like.
"Aren't you going to invite me in for a cup of tea?" Nabiki asked casually, although she was feeling anything but casual.
"Nabiki," Tatewaki said seriously, "My father is out and my sister left for a gymnastics tournament a couple of days ago."
Nabiki blinked. "And…?"
"We would be all alone," He explained, clearing his throat in slight embarrassment. "It simply would not be proper."
She was about to laugh at him again for being so old-fashioned when it struck her right out of the blue that it might not be about having an outdated attitude towards manners concerning the other gender at all. Normally Kuno would be nothing but forward when it came to girls, humiliating himself willingly by spouting poetry loudly and chasing them and even going so far as to initiate physical contact, so she couldn't imagine that he'd be shy about simply inviting her into his home for a cup of tea, of all things.
Kuno Tatewaki wasn't exactly known for being shy.
…which meant that the real reason for declining her suggestion might only be that now, when having fulfilled his end of the bargain by taking her out to dinner, he no longer wished to spend any more time in her company if he didn't have to.
While not vain, she knew she was blessed with quite striking looks; enough boys had unsuspectingly asked her out on dates to let her know this. She had a pretty face, good skin, nice hair, long legs and a curvy figure, so there couldn't be anything wrong with her in that aspect.
Tendo Nabiki had a very healthy amount of confidence, so she didn't let herself get discouraged very easily, but maybe…maybe he just didn't like her. In fact, once during second year after one of his first fights with Ranma, he'd actually said that he hated her. She hadn't cared much at the time since he was obviously having a hissy fit over losing the fight, but now she had to wonder…maybe he really did hate her?
After all, he'd been doing nothing all evening but complain about how much she bothered him and how much fun he wasn't having, so—
"Well, then," She said, managing to sound nonchalant. "I guess this is it."
"It would appear so." Tatewaki agreed, his face carefully blank.
"It's been fun." Nabiki went on, clutching her handbag.
"Yes." He said, and she couldn't quite tell whether he really meant it or if he was just being polite.
"Goodbye, Kuno-chan." She said finally; she saw him opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but then he just shut it, nodding instead.
So Nabiki turned on her heel and left.
Tatewaki was pacing in his room.
Somehow, and he really couldn't imagine why, he'd thought that she'd do…something before leaving. He didn't know what, exactly, but just something.
Not nothing, anyway; not just leaving like that with barely a 'goodbye' thrown his way.
And he hadn't even been able to respond with anything. His last words ever spoken to Tendo Nabiki hadn't been able to form in his mind and hadn't been able to leave his mouth and now it felt very…unsatisfying. It felt like unfinished business.
Maybe that was what she'd meant to bother him with for the rest of his life? That he never got to tell her goodbye properly? Never got any closure?
That was absurd, though, even for her. She couldn't possibly have planned for him just to stand there like a slab of granite, unable to utter a single syllable.
He'd been a little thrown, though; there had suddenly seemed to be something he'd said or done that had made her lose her pep, and it had probably been the fact that he'd turned down her suggestion of letting her inside his house for a cup of tea.
Maybe that was why he suddenly felt as if there was a lack of closure? What would've happened if she had stepped inside his front door? What would've happened if she'd come upstairs for a cup of tea?
…and perhaps that was why he'd said no? Because he didn't know what would happen? He still had no clue as to why she really wished to be in his company and what her plans for him had been and perhaps that had scared him.
But now he would never know what might've happened, what she might've had to say to him, why she'd even asked to come inside in the first place.
Why had he said no to her?
Perhaps she's right, he thought wretchedly; perhaps she really does intimidate me…
He shook his head angrily as he strode across his room, pulling the uncomfortable uniform jacket from his back to fling it across a chair. No, that would be too unbearable of a thought, and he refused to let it confuse him for the rest of his days!
She would not have him waste valuable time wondering about what she might've said or done when he had things to do, a life to lead and—
—and he would really have to move out of this ridiculously big, empty house one of these days. He wanted to shout out his frustrations, but he began to be afraid, and perhaps not for the first time, but more than ever, of hearing no reply but his own voice echoing back to him in the vast, chilly halls of his house.
He really needed someone who could listen to him vent.
"Master Kuno?"
Tatewaki almost jumped at the voice, but caught himself just in time. Of course. Sasuke. How could he have forgotten about his loyal servant?
Sasuke had already sensed what a foul mood his master was in, and so he was approaching cautiously as he entered the room.
"If I may be so bold," He began timidly, "What's wrong, Master Kuno?"
Tatewaki shook his head. "It's Tendo Nabiki, she's…she's just—"Sighing irritably, he waved a hand dismissively. "I do not know." He felt nonplussed; he'd had the urge to rant, but now he was simply lost for words.
Sasuke tilted his head, regarding his master with concern. He'd seen him annoyed over the middle Tendo daughter before, but he usually had a very definite idea of why he was annoyed, and he was usually angrier about it; now he just seemed frustrated and confused.
"Perhaps," Sasuke went on thoughtfully, not knowing what else to say, "Perhaps you could meditate on the matter?"
Kuno scoffed, saying nothing as he simply glared at the ninja.
"All right," Sasuke cleared his throat. "Maybe not. But how about reading a little?"
Tatewaki sighed a little, walking over to his desk to sit down. "I might as well," He muttered. "Perhaps it would help take my mind off…uh…well. Yes. I think I'll read a little before bed."
Sasuke nodded, satisfied. "Shall I fetch you some tea, Master?"
Kuno winced. Right now, he could've been having tea with— "No, thank you, Sasuke. Just a glass of water, please."
"Right away!" Sasuke said, disappearing quickly.
Pulling out a book of some of his favourite poems from the shelf above his desk, Tatewaki opened it at a random page and began to read the first poem he laid his eyes on.
We
met but for a moment, and
I'm wretched as before;
The tide
shall measure out my life,
Unless I see once more
The maid,
whom I adore.
Okay. Reading that really hadn't helped at all.
When she got home, Nabiki kicked off her shoes, dodged Happosai, who was heading out the door, ducked to avoid getting hit by a cup that was meant to hit the ancient pervert, greeted her father, who had thrown the cup and was apologizing profusely to her, side-stepped to get out of the way of Genma and Ranma, who were fighting over a piece of food again, and snatched a biscuit from a tray that Kasumi was carrying into the living room.
During all this, she didn't bother to cover up the slightly upset expression on her face, because in that kind of chaos, who would notice?
Akane, however— who was usually very sensitive towards other people's feelings, except for a blind spot where Ranma was concerned— did notice as their eyes met when she was coming down the stairs.
"How was the ceremony, Nabiki?" Akane asked hesitantly when she saw her sister, a curious and slightly concerned look on her face.
"Principal Kuno did the ceremonial speech." Nabiki told her little sister dryly as she brushed past her on her way up the stairs. "If I said you had something to look forward to next year, I'd be lying."
"Nabiki?" Akane tried again. "What's—"
"It was a blast," Nabiki cut her off sarcastically.
Nabiki tried to ignore the way her sister stared after her as she went up the stairs.
The second she stepped into her room, the telephone rang.
"This is Tendo Nabiki. How may I help you?"
"What was that all about?"
Despite her bad mood, Nabiki had to grin. Michiko had always had a tendency to blurt out what was on her mind without even as much as a greeting first. "I assume you're curious about today, right?"
"What were you doing with Kuno?"
Nabiki winced at the negative implications that Michiko put into his name, and was glad the other girl couldn't see her. Nobody actually liked Kuno-chan, did they? "Just tying up a few loose ends," Nabiki said evasively.
"Don't tell me you're still trying to wring his money out of him?" Michiko said incredulously. "I know it's only Kuno, but jeez…! Leave a guy alone, won't you?"
Michiko hadn't meant for that to be an insult, but Nabiki could still feel the dig. Yes, she should have. She should have just let him be. "Michiko," She said, managing to keep her voice even, "I think you should try asking Yuki for a date."
The other end of the line went silent for a while, then: "I don't think it's me he's interested in."
Nabiki smiled just a little. "Don't worry. I don't think he wants to date me anymore."
"Really? He told you this?" Michiko asked hopefully.
She could lie, but it would most probably backfire. That was one thing living with Saotome Ranma had taught her. Dishonesty tended to be followed by chaos in her household. "No," She chuckled. "But if he asks about Kuno, you might want to hint towards me already being taken."
A scandalized gasp. "Nabiki, don't tell me—you're not—"
"Really not," Nabiki said tightly before she forced her voice into a mellower vein. "But Yuki doesn't have to know that. I'm just trying to do you a favour here, Michiko."
Michiko's laugh sounded a little too relieved, which bugged her for some reason. "Okay. Thanks, Nabiki." Her friend cleared her throat then. "And just how much will it cost me to be able to lie to Yuki about Kuno being your boyfriend?"
Nabiki smiled. "Well, there will be some social stigma on my part, but let's just say two thousand yen since it's you."
Kuno couldn't sleep.
He couldn't stop thinking about the day he'd found out the truth about Saotome Ranma.
He'd noticed, in fact, that every single time he'd felt stupid for the three or four months he'd known the truth, his thoughts went involuntarily to that very event, when Saotome had cornered him in an empty classroom and had forced him to listen to his story. Because he'd never felt so stupid in his entire life as he had then, and every time he felt even a little bit of that same feeling now, the memories appeared in his brain like a conditioned response. Just like he'd automatically sliced the hell out of a watermelon every time he saw one before, now he got an instant replay of the most humiliating event of his life each time he felt things he didn't want to feel.
Except now, instead of seeing the horror vision of his 'glorious pig-tailed girl' turning into that vile Saotome Ranma again and again like a broken record— the horrible boy had thought him so dense that he'd shown him the transformation a good six or seven times even after his explanation before he figured he'd understood it, and even then he'd explained the workings of his curse once more, just to be sure— his inner eye now saw the face of Tendo Nabiki as she'd appeared that day.
Later that same day, when it had been time to go home, Nabiki had looked at him from across the school yard, her gaze unflinching and pitiless before she'd just shaken her head and left. There had been no doubt in his mind, then, that she'd gotten word of what had transpired that day between himself and Saotome, and knowing that she knew had caused his ears to burn with the shame and a lump to form in his throat as he suddenly felt truly, truly humiliated for the first time in his life.
He'd started trying to avoid her after that, but she wouldn't let him.
Now he wasn't sure if he even wanted to avoid her any more, but now it was too late, and that made him feel very, very stupid indeed.
Rolling around, Tatewaki gritted his teeth as he punched his pillow with a white-knuckled fist. He should have known about the 'pig-tailed girl' earlier, he should have noticed earlier just how little interest Tendo Akane had in him—
—and he should have noticed who it was at that entire, wretched joke of a school that actually had any interest in him at all, even if she showed it in a very strange fashion and even if he still wasn't sure what that interest even was.
And now he wouldn't get to know, either.
In the middle of the night, Nabiki woke up because she suddenly realized that she'd actually completely forgotten about the thousand yen that Kuno-chan owed her.
Her feet hitting the floor with a slap as she swung them out of bed, she leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, feeling sick to her stomach. After a moment, she reached out with a trembling hand to take a sip of water from the glass on her night stand.
She never forgot that kind of thing! What was wrong with her? What in the world was wrong…with…her?
Slumping back on her bed, she screwed up her face in an effort not to scream. Gods, how could she have been so absent-minded?
That stupid, self-obsessed kendoist, always walking around like he'd forgotten to remove the coat hanger from his shirt, that stiff, boring, stupid, stupid, stupid— it was all his fault, him and his disapproving, tight lips and his narrow, sceptical eyes…!
Well, he wasn't going to get away with it! That thousand yen was rightfully hers!
Also, she'd had a disturbing dream about him stopping her, where he'd tackled her around her waist and had embraced her tightly, begging her not to leave.
He hated him.
Because now she almost wished he'd done that, too.
There was something she was coming to realize. She didn't like it at all, but the fact was that today had been the first time she'd ever been on a date where she actually wanted to meet the guy again for a second date, and wasn't that just so absurd? For one thing, it hadn't even really been a date, and for another thing— this was Kuno they were talking about here! Although he liked to think so, he wasn't exactly the prime candidate for the Eligible Bachelor Awards!
The thing was, though, that when she'd just started attending Furinkan, the first two weeks or so before people really started getting to know each other…well, the thing was that Kuno-chan actually had been popular among the girls.
Silly little first years who still had their heads stuck in junior high school and knew nothing about love, had fallen for his looks alone. His deeper voice, taller stature and strangely restricted, almost composed behaviour put him in stark contrast with the other, more immature-seeming boys, and it had only taken a day or two for him to be branded as 'cute' and 'cool' by a gaggle of giggling girls in her class.
And it had only taken another day or so after that before some starry-eyed girls had tried leaving notes in his locker and asking him out, but after Kuno had started getting a little more comfortable in his new school environment— he'd probably just been holding back before he'd been able to feel out the situation— and had begun acting more and more like the Kuno-chan she knew today, the girls had dropped him one by one, quickly put off by his arrogant eccentricities.
Nabiki had seen this movie once where the heroine had told the leading man that the first time she'd seen him, she'd thought he was handsome, but that then of course he'd opened his mouth; this seemed to be the case with Kuno-chan's rapid climb to and equally rapid fall from popularity.
Sometimes she wondered if he ever wondered what happened to all the attention and the notes. If she knew him right, though, he'd probably just explained it away by 'his glorious self having overwhelmed them with shyness to such a degree that they'd decided to worship him from afar', or something along those lines.
Either way, the bottom line was that Kuno Tatewaki wasn't exactly the catch of the day.
So why did she feel as if she might say yes if he actually did ask her out on a real date one of these days?
Of course, it could have been the fact that even if he had basically paid for the whole thing, today had been the only date she'd been on where she'd had fun in a way that wasn't based on the wicked kicks she got from tricking some starry-eyed boy out of his money.
It didn't really matter, though. Furinkan had gone bye-bye as far as she was concerned, and with any luck, the Kunos would all move to Hawaii so she'd never have to see them again—
Her chest clenched then when she remembered something; oh, gods, she'd actually told him she would miss him, hadn't he? Of all the stupid things to—
Nabiki closed her eyes as she began to feel as if a headache was coming on. It didn't matter now if she never saw him again, did it, because she'd been dumb enough to tell him— how could she have— now, even if they never saw each other again, he'd live in the knowledge that she would miss him, that she would be thinking of him, and she'd never get over the regret of having uttered those idiotic words.
He didn't want anything to do with her anymore, and was now free to laugh over her confession for years to come.
She didn't want to give him the satisfaction, but there was nothing she could do about it, either, that didn't involve seeing him again, which he would just interpret as a confirmation that she did miss him; and what was she supposed to do, anyway, tell him 'by the way, I don't miss you'?
Who actually went and contacted someone to tell them that they didn't miss them?
It was hard for her to fall asleep again after all that, because she couldn't shake the image of him laughing his maniacal laugh at her as he teasingly waved a thousand yen in front of her, just out of her reach.
She'd even spent 400 yen on taking those stupid pictures, which were now stuffed into the back of her desk drawer, as far they could go. She'd never had to spend a single yen on a date before.
There was definitely something wrong with her.
Her family was used to her often not bothering to get showered and dressed for breakfast, only leaving her pyjamas on and her hair in a mess since she was the only late riser in the family, but they'd never seen her looking quite this thunderous.
Her father stared at her with increasing worry as she skewered her piece of fish violently with one chopstick, obviously not giving a rat's ass about table manners, which she usually always did even if she was very tired.
Nabiki was reminding him, in fact, more of Akane than herself this morning.
"Nabiki?" Soun tried politely. "Did something bad happen yesterday?"
She only sent a withering glare his way, and he shrunk back, concentrating instead on his breakfast again. Nabiki felt a small stab of guilt; daddy had nothing to do with her problems, so she shouldn't let it all out on him.
"I'm fine, daddy," she mumbled as she took a sip of tea. "Don't worry about me," She added when he seemed doubtful, sending him a small, but reassuring smile.
Akane was looking at her with the same expression she'd worn last night, Nabiki noticed, and rolled her eyes as she dug into her breakfast, a little more controlled this time. She really didn't need any silly questions this early in the day.
By the time breakfast was over, she'd decided. Even if His Highness Kuno's smugness levels might balloon out to mushroom cloud-sized proportions about it, she'd have to go see him again. She simply couldn't go around being this irritated. And a thousand yen was a thousand yen.
After she'd gotten showered and dressed, she slipped out the door before anyone could ask her where she was going.
"I'm going for a walk." She threw this message over her shoulder to her father, and then she was gone.
Tatewaki stared at the telephone on the table in front of him.
When he'd moved to put away his old uniform jacket a moment ago, the photo booth pictures had fallen out of the pocket. He'd almost, but not quite, forgotten about them. After staring at the photos for a long while, he'd put them into a drawer and had gone downstairs with a new purpose.
He'd had Nabiki's phone number ever since first year, when she'd sold him a copy of her notes from a class he hadn't been able to attend because he'd found himself not in the nurse's office, but at the hospital, after a particularly bad fight with a third year student. Afterwards, she'd flippantly told him she'd given him a discount instead of sending him a get well card. Her phone number had been on a post-it on the second page of her notes, along with the cheerful message Nice Doing Business With You, Kuno-chan. If only he'd known back then that she'd never give him another discount again; she'd probably only given him the first one to trick him.
During the two or three years he'd had her phone number, however, he didn't think he'd used it even once. He'd always preferred to send a letter along with Sasuke or something instead. It had more class. Besides, even he could admit to himself that he loved having an excuse for flaunting his calligraphy skills.
Now, though, he felt as if he needed to hear her voice, to hear how she responded to him initiating contact again, so he could have some sort of clue as to how she felt and what she thought, even if she'd probably try to hide it.
Taking a deep breath, he reached for the old post-it with her number on it—
He jumped with surprise when the doorbell rang, almost yelping. For a few seconds his thoughts were so jumbled that he thought it had been the phone ringing; he shook his head as he realized his hand was already reaching for the receiver, unconsciously hoping it might've been her calling him so he wouldn't have to.
Straightening his shirt and clearing his throat, he quickly strode over to the front door. Who it was that was standing outside wasn't some sort of delivery person or his father coming back early like he'd thought; it really wasn't, and it caught him completely unaware—
"N-Nabiki?" He became so bewildered he didn't even think about the fact that he was stuttering like a fool.
Nabiki blinked; that wasn't the voice of someone who was annoyed and disgusted at seeing her again, was it? Surprised, yes, but perhaps pleasantly so. Could it have been that he didn't hate her, but that he'd just been nervous about being alone with her like that?
"Hello, Kuno-chan." She greeted him, more friendlily than she thought she might have. The fact that he wasn't puffing up his chest and gloating about her return made her suddenly feel quite generous with the benefit of the doubt.
"Did…did we have an appointment today that has slipped my mind?" He asked hesitantly, fumbling for an explanation, and it would've been so easy to lie, to make up some sort of excuse for her presence, but what would be the point?
"Nope, we didn't." She shook her head slowly.
"Well, then…I thought you said we'd never see each other again," He said uncertainly, a question in his eyes.
"That's because I thought we wouldn't." Nabiki grinned playfully. "But you do still owe me a thousand yen, and as you know, I don't take matters of debts owed to me very lightly."
"No," He agreed after searching her face for a moment. "No, you do not."
This was something out of the ordinary, he realized, even more so than yesterday. She didn't really have a good reason to be here. If she really hadn't wanted to see him, she could've just had him transfer the money to her account or something or she could've asked him for the money yesterday; it certainly wasn't like her to forget about money like that.
"Um…I do not have my wallet on me right now, but if you would like to come inside for a moment, I could get it." He suggested politely, relieved when she nodded.
He noticed his hand shaking a little when he opened the door wider to usher her inside.
Nabiki felt strangely elated suddenly, as if she'd just breathed in some substance that had made her lighter; if he was letting her into his house under such obviously lame pretences—she knew that he knew it was strange that she'd forgotten about the thousand yen the night before— it seemed as if maybe he did want her company after all.
This time Tatewaki forgot his excuses about nobody being home, despite the fact that the house really was empty.
TBC.
Author's note: By the way, I forgot to tell you that this fic is based on the anime, not the manga, which among other things explains the existence of Sasuke.The poem Kuno reads is by MOTO-YOSHI SHINNŌ.
Kuno's initial popularity at Furinkan is purely based on the comments he got when he visited St. Hebereke for the duel between Ranma and Kodachi. The girls were all "Ooh, he's so dreamy," or something and then Hiroshi and Daisuke muttered "Ignorance is bliss" because the girls wouldn't have said that if they knew how loopy he was. I'm just imagining that girls who didn't know him might find him attractive at first sight.
The movie Nabiki is talking about is As Good As It Gets, starring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt. "When you first entered the restaurant, I thought you were handsome... and then, of course, you spoke."
I finally found out the name of that okonomiyaki restaurant chain from chapter two. It's called Kyou-chabana. I'm actually not sure if they have any restaurants in Tokyo or not (I know they have them in Osaka and Kyoto), but if they don't, let's just pretend they do, huh:)
WARNING:
The next chapter will have lemon content, and it will be
graphic, so please don't read it if you don't like that
sort of thing, and please don't go around reporting me or
something, either, because I really don't want to have my account
deleted or whatever happens when you write naughty fics around here.
If
anyone thinks I should post chapter five on another site instead of
here, please tell me.