Looking For Trouble

A Ranma ½ / Teen Titans Fan Fiction

by

Jeremy Harper

Disclaimer – Ranma ½ is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi. Teen Titans is the property of DC Comics. Both are used without permission.

Chapter 4

"Hey Ranma," said Roy as he stepped into the backyard. He had changed into a dark-blue tee-shirt and jeans. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

The pig-tailed boy looked at his friend, noting he seemed agitated. "Yeah. What's up?"

Roy glanced at Akane. "Alone, please?"

"Is something wrong, Roy?" she asked, being a conscientious hostess.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Roy said with false joviality. "I just need to talk to Ranma about something private."

Ranma half-quirked his mouth. "Do you mind, Akane?"

"Of course not. I'll wash up now. I'll let you know when the furo's free."

He waited until she was in the house and out of earshot before speaking. "What's wrong? You look like you got smacked upside the head with a two-by-four."

Roy chuckled nervously. "Yeah... well... um..." Ranma started getting worried – his friend rarely got tongue-tied. "I think we should leave," he finally blurted out. "Like now."

"Why?"

"I just think it would be a really good idea if we made ourselves scarce."

Ranma stared at Roy hard for a moment. "What happened?" he asked bluntly. "You're acting like we're going to have tea with Brother Blood." Roy made a face but said nothing. "Besides, I thought you wanted to meet Nabiki so you could see how she compares to her sisters," Ranma finished sarcastically.

"She compares pretty damn well," Roy said softly, flashing a small, dazed smile.

Ranma's pig-tail bristled slightly in response to a premonition of doom. "How do you know that?"

"I sorta ran into her... in the furo..." Roy hesitated a moment then smiled lamely.

"Right," said Ranma flatly. "And?"

"Let's just say she's quite impressive." Roy thought for a moment. "I think she was impressed, too," he said smugly.

Ranma looked at him in disbelief before dropping his face into his hands. "Only you, Roy."

"It was an accident!"

"Only you, Roy," Ranma repeated with greater force. He looked up and glared at the older boy. "How did she react? I don't think I heard a scream."

"She was pretty cool about it," admitted Roy. He chuckled. "Said if I kept staring, she'd charge me for the show."

Ranma pondered that for a moment. "Yeah, that sounds about Nabiki's speed," he muttered. "So you both saw each other naked, and it seems she's more amused than anything else. I think you'll be fine."

"Ranma..."

"Man up and deal with it, Harper."

Roy glared at him indignantly before blowing out a breath and nodding. "All right," he muttered. Suddenly he laughed. "Gotta admit, I've only been here a day and this has been my most interesting visit to Japan in a long time."

"I can relate to that," said Ranma.

Akane found Nabiki in the furo. Her older sister seemed quite pleased with herself – she wore a satisfied smile and was humming happily as she soaped her leg and foot with a washcloth.

Akane paused for a moment, feeling conflicted, then gave a mental shrug and stepped in. "Nabiki," she said a trifle stiffly.

"Akane," Nabiki said pleasantly. She took a bucket and rinsed herself off before getting into the tub for a soak. She sighed in pleasure as she sank into the water, closing her eyes and tilting back her head. Her smile became a little brighter.

Akane watched her curiously as she sat on a stool and filled a bucket. "You seem happy," she said.

"I'm feeling amused," explained Nabiki. "Who's the red-headed boy? A friend of Ranma's, I assume."

"Yeah, that's Roy, Roy Harper. He's visiting for a couple of weeks." She gave Nabiki a gimlet stare. "If you showed up for trivial things like dinner, you would have heard me tell the family he was coming over with Ranma."

Nabiki gave a negligent shrug before opening her eyes. "He's really cute," she said.

"I guess," said Akane. She considered it for a moment before shrugging and emptying her bucket over her head. "I didn't really notice."

"No you never do, unless the boy in question is a superhero," Nabiki teased. Akane blushed deeply and looked away as she started soaping her body. "What's he like?"

"Roy? I like him. He's funny without being obnoxious, and pretty smart. He's a very good martial artist, too – at least when he's being serious."

Nabiki nodded. "Is he rich?"

Akane rolled her eyes. "I don't know. It hasn't come up in our conversations. But if I had to guess, I'd say that he has money."

Nabiki nodded again and got out of the furo, grabbing a towel and drying off. Once she finished she started for the door but hesitated. She looked at the floor, biting her lower lip then turned to Akane. "I'm sorry," she said in a soft, quick rush.

"Excuse me?" said Akane.

Nabiki took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "About what I said to you yesterday morning, and how I've been acting the past week. It's all been uncalled for." She sighed and bowed to her little sister. "I'm sorry."

Akane looked at Nabiki silently for a minute. Her cruel words still hurt, but the apology seemed sincere and Nabiki looked contrite. As frustrating and capricious her sister could be, Akane was never able to remain mad at her for long. I'm too nice, Akane thought sardonically. With a sigh and a smile she bowed back. "It's okay. I forgive you."

Nabiki smiled and nodded before going to the changing room to dress.

After washing and changing, Ranma found Roy in the living room, sitting at the table to Akane's left. Alfred was there as well, chatting with Kasumi over a cup of tea. Ranma greeted the older man, sat next to Akane and glanced at Roy, who wore an abstracted expression as he drummed his fingers on the table. Akane gave Ranma a questioning look, to which he responded with a shrug and a helpless smile. He debated with himself whether to tell Akane what happened between Roy and Nabiki, not certain whether it was his business to do so. He decided to hold his silence for the time being, not wishing to embarrass his friend any further.

A few minutes later Soun Tendo emerged from his bedroom, where he had changed out of the business suit he wore for Town Council meetings into his more comfortable gi, and Nabiki came downstairs, dressed in a tank top and a pair of black cloth shorts cut rather high. Somehow Ranma managed to introduce Roy to them both with a straight face.

Soun simply bowed with basic respect, but Nabiki had a large, mischievous smile on her face. "Delighted to meet you, Roy," she drawled as she bowed, giving him a very direct look.

Roy blushed, and could not quite meet her gaze. "Thank you," he muttered. "Nice to meet you, too." Akane glanced between her sister and her new friend, confused by the interplay between the two. Ranma sighed inaudibly.

Kasumi and Alfred led most of the conversation, with Ranma, Akane and Soun interjecting occasionally. The Tendo patriarch volubly expressed his pleasure when Alfred mentioned he and Ranma would be renting a house only a few streets away. Alfred smile with cool politeness while Ranma and Akane rolled their eyes.

Meanwhile Nabiki and Roy exchanged glances across the table. Nabiki sent him sly looks, her smile provocative. At first Roy still could not look her in the eye, but after a few minutes he got over his embarrassment and started looking back, feeling in turns annoyed, amused and pleasantly challenged.

"You speak very good Japanese," Nabiki said after Roy responded to a polite question from Kasumi.

"I've always been good with languages," he said. "It helps that I get to practice speaking it a lot."

"With Ranma?"

"Sometimes, but I'm also in Japan often. My guardian has a lot of business dealings here."

"You have a guardian?"

"Yeah," Roy grinned wryly. "I'm a charity case, too."

"Hmmm. Is your guardian anyone I'd know?"

"I doubt it. His name is Oliver Queen."

Nabiki's eyes widened a little. "Queen? As in Queen Consolidated?"

"Yeah." Roy's brows lifted in surprise. "You've heard of Queen Consolidated?"

"I'm interested in business," she answered. She smiled and arched an eyebrow. "You're pretty interesting, too."

Roy smirked at that. Akane was not sure whether to giggle or shake her head. Ranma simply sighed again.

When they finished with the late lunch Nabiki excused herself and headed out to the backyard. Roy took a minute to finish his tea before following, very aware of Ranma and Akane watching him. He found Nabiki standing on the engawa, arms folded beneath her breasts as she leaned against the wall.

"Do you usually keep girls waiting?" she asked.

"Sometimes," he said. "Depends on the girl and the situation. "Nabiki nodded her understanding." Look, about earlier..." Roy hesitated, trying to marshal his thoughts, and cursed himself silently when he felt a blush touch his cheeks again. Nabiki watched him; her expression of amused expectation spurred him forward. He took a deep breath and needlessly straightened his tee-shirt. "I'm sorry I stared at you like that, up in the bathroom. I was startled, but that doesn't excuse it. It was rude of me."

"It definitely was," agreed Nabiki. "It was so rude that I don't know if I could ever forgive you. I mean, everyone knows perverts can't be trusted."

"Say what?" protested Roy with a sputtering laugh. "I'm a pervert? Then what are you? You stared pretty hard yourself."

Nabiki waved a hand dismissively. "It's different when a girl looks at a boy. A boy staring at a naked girl is a pervert; a girl staring at a naked boy has a healthy curiosity."

"Chee... hypocritical much?"

"Sometimes. Depends on the situation and the boy."

Roy laughed. "So, you're absolutely certain I'm beyond your forgiveness?"

"Well, maybe not completely beyond, if you show proper repentance."

"Would proper repentance involve treating you to a bite to eat sometime?"

Nabiki tapped a forefinger against her chin as she pretended to think Roy's offer over. "It would make a good start," she conceded.

Roy nodded. "I'm not familiar with Nerima ward. You've got any suggestions?"

"There's an ice cream parlor I really like. They make great sundaes and serve some pretty good burgers and melts."

"Okay. You free tomorrow? Say around one o'clock?"

Nabiki smiled. "I think I can fit you into my schedule."

"I have a date tomorrow," said Roy as he leaned against the back seat of Alfred's hired Benz, pillowing the back of his head with his hands.

"Indeed, Master Roy?" said Alfred. "With Miss Nabiki, I assume."

"Yup." He grinned smugly.

Ranma gave him something of a sour look. "Well, at least you've recovered from your panic, though your judgment is still suspect. Nabiki's more interested in going out with your wallet than yourself."

"Maybe," said Roy, though personally he doubted that. Some of Nabiki's motivations may have been self-serving, but he knew he was not mistaken about the look of admiration he had seen in her eyes all this afternoon. "I'm use to girls only interested in my wallet. Besides, this will give her a chance to know the real, charming me attached to said wallet."

"After which she runs screaming for the hills, never to be seen again," said Ranma.

Roy sighed dolefully. "The abuse I put up with by being your friend, Saotome."

Ranma laughed. "Well, hopefully your date won't be too terrible."

"You really don't care much for her."

"Eh, I'm certain she wanted to go along with an engagement to me just because of Bruce's money, so no, she didn't make a good first impression. And I'm not happy with what she said to Akane yesterday. But Akane did tell me Nabiki apologized for it." Ranma shrugged. "Maybe there's more to her than I've seen so far."

"What exactly did she say, anyway? You didn't mention."

"She implied Akane actually enjoyed having to fight off those idiots at her school, because of the attention it drew to her."

"Unh." Roy pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I'll keep that in mind and file it away for future reference."

"Will you want the car tomorrow, Master Roy?" asked Alfred.

"No thank you. I'll take the train in for this. Think you can spare me for the day, Ranma?"

"I think I'll be able to find something to occupy my time," said Ranma. "Akane's having another lesson with Yoru-sensei that day. I'll probably join her and get some training in too."

"Nothing more romantic to do with a girl than get beat up with her for a few hours."

"Hey, if it works for Ollie and Dinah..." Rama returned dryly. "I bet I'll have more fun than you will."

Roy grinned. "We'll find out. Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

"What's going on between you and Roy?" Akane asked Nabiki. "You were trading funny looks all during lunch."

"We were flirting, Akane," Nabiki said with tolerant amusement. "You know what flirting is, right?"

"Oh!" Akane blushed slightly, feeling a little stupid. "I didn't realize..."

"No big deal. You haven't had much experience with it, considering all the morons at school thought trying to beat up a girl was a legitimate way to get her to out on a date."

Akane grimaced. "Good point. So, did this flirting lead to anything?"

"It led to Roy offering to buy me lunch at the Neapolitan Ice Cream Parlor tomorrow.

"Oh! Well... I hope you have a good time. He really is one of the good guys, sis."

"Thank you, though I have a feeling he's not too good." She smiled and shrugged. "I've never had the chance to go out with an American before. It should be an interesting experience."

Author's Notes: Thanks again to PurseMonger for her pre-reading, enthusiasm and support.