Watanuki looked at his clock. It was nearly 8.00 pm. He sighed. A few more minutes of standing around like an idiot. The bespectacled boy considered himself as a very normal teenager with a normal personality. Well, considering that he could see spirits, he was pretty normal. He had healthy desire for girls, which was why he felt a bit peeved at Yuko for hinting that he's destined for Doumeki, the ever annoying brat. He watched Ecchi films, not even a Yaoi one for heaven's sake! Watanuki looked skyward and thought about the person he liked the most. Yes, it's Himawari-chan. Well, the Vestal Sprite is beautiful too, in her own way. But no matter what, the most important thing was they're females. The conclusion brought him to a question he was burning to ask to the ever mysterious, raven haired Dimension Witch sitting in front of him.

"Yuko-san…"

Yuko's head was on her palm as she gazed him lazily. "Yes, Watanuki?"

"Why am I wearing this bunny ears?" He looked at his hands as each of them was holding a signal light. "I can understand the need for me to wear the construction worker's uniform and wave the lights, but why must I wear the bunny head?"

"Because they functions as a radar antenna" Yuko answered.

"But don't you have anything else?"

"Nope. Besides, I think they're cute," She turned toward a black Furby-like creature next to her. "Right, Mokona?"

"Right. You look cute wearing them Watanuki" Mokona said.

Watanuki crossed him arm indignantly, scoffing at Mokona. "Like I care about your opinions"

"You really look cute…" Mokona said.

"I'm not responding"

"You should wear a bunny dress to go with it…" the creature said in a sing song voice.

Watanuki blew a raspberry. "I don't care anymore. You can say anything you want and I can just ignore it"

"You kinda look girlish in that get up"

Watanuki looked away. "I'm immune to that already"

"Watanuki is a girly girl…"

"Hmph…"

"Watanuki is gay"

Stop saying that I'm gay! I like women!"

Yuko raised her eyebrows slightly. "So you like me? I'm flattered by your affection… I don't know you're into older women" She smiled predatorily. "Well, I don't really mind going out with a much younger man…

"No! I don't you like you!" Watanuki said, crossing his hands.

"But Watanuki, I'm a 100 woman. So if you don't like me…"

"Watanuki likes men" Mokona continued helpfully.

"I like women" Watanuki insisted.

"So now you're back to liking me" Yuko said.

"No!"

Yuko feigned disappointment, dramatically looking away. "I thought that you're normal"

"So you're back to being gay" Mokona said.

Watanuki put his hands on his head and shouted. "Oh, kami-sama, give them a sign that I'm not a gay!"

A second later, he was flat on the ground, with something heavy on his back.

"Ouch…"

"Sorry about that" a girl's voice said. "I was calling out for you to move but you were covering your ears and shouted something"

Watanuki felt the weight behind him shifted. "It's okay" he said as he got up, dusting his cloth. He straightened up and came face to face with an attractive girl with a helmet-style hair cut. The girl was wearing a maid style dress, with something that looked like mouse ears on her head. The overall visual package was strangely cute to him and Watanuki couldn't prevent himself from blushing a bit.

The girl seemed to notice that and came a bit closer. "You…"

"Er… yes?"

"You're dressed funny"

Watanuki's jaw dropped as he stared at the girl, dumbfounded. After a while he managed to regain his composure and pointed toward her. "Yeah, and you should talk, wearing a maid's dress and mouse ears like that"

"I'm a girl, and it's okay for a girl to dress in such a cute way"

Watanuki humphed. "Well, if I didn't dress like this, you wouldn't have gotten back safely"

The girl turned toward Yuko. "I see that you still like to play pranks on your part-timers, just like always, Yuko-san"

Yuko gave a cheery smile. "Nice to see you too, Na-chan"

"Don't call me that," Nabiki said quietly.

"Oh, sorry... I regret that I forgot about that, Nabiki-chan" Yuko said, her face not showing any regret at all.

Watanuki stepped forward a bit, drawing Nabiki's attention. "Wait a minute"

"Yes?" Nabiki asked.

"What did you mean when you said that she's playing pranks as always?"

Nabiki examined him from head to toe. "I see. Now I understand why you're here. Actually, all I need to return home to focus on a strong spirit presence from this dimension and time. You, a source of a powerful spirit stands out like a very strong beacon, especially with Yuko's magic augmenting you"

"So that means…"

"You can be naked as far as I'm concern and I'll still be able to detect you presence"

"And that means…"

"You have been tricked"

Watanuki let out a defeated sigh as he looked down dejectedly. "I know it"

Nabiki pat his head. "I pity you. Yuko-san likes to boss people around, isn't she?"

"Yeah..." Watanuki answered slowly

"And she always like to poke fun at your sexuality, right?"

"Yeah..." The answer became a bit stronger.

"You're a normal teenager, right?"

"Yeah..."

"You like girls, right"

"Yeah" Watanuki began straightened up.

"You watch those ecchi videos of naked girls because you're straight, right?"

"Yeah!" he said with full spirit

"You're giving me a 2,000 yen right now, right?"

"Yeah!" he said as he handed Nabiki the said money.

Pocketing the money, Nabiki continued, "You're a man and the world will know that you're a perverted heterosexual man"

"YEAH!" Watanuki shouted, raising his hand in the air. "I am a perverted heterosexual man!"

He blinked.

He blinked again. "Somehow, there's something wrong here"

He blinked again.

"WHA! You tricked me!"

Nabiki looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"You tricked me into saying that I'm a perverted heterosexual"

Nabiki scratched her temple. "So, would you rather be saying you're a gay just like Yuko-san and Mokona implied?"

"No. But you made me shout the words! It's a good thing that there's nobody around or things would have gotten messy"

"Did I make you say them out loud?"

"You did. Don't play with words" Watanuki said, getting ready to enter verbal sparring mode.

Nabiki sighed. "Although I don't know what you're saying, but if admitting that would satisfy you, then I apologize for my misconduct"

Watanuki who was waiting for Nabiki to deny responsibilities for what happened was caught flatfooted by the apology. "Although I've finally won a verbal spar against a woman, I somehow feel that this victory is a bit hollow. And taking about hollow, why did I feel that something is amiss here?"

Nabiki didn't answer him and instead started walking to Yuko-san, stopping just a few steps in front of the older woman. She the reaches inside the apron pocket in front of her dress…

And pulled out a bottle of wine.

Watanuki quickly scooted in front of her and looked closely. "How the heck did you pull out a bottle from a pocket that small?"

Nabiki smiled. "I got it from a 22th century robot cat named Doraemon whom I met while traveling through other dimensions. This item is called the 'Fourth Dimension Pocket'. If you want to fly, I can sell to you few Takecopta (bamboo copter), 100 yen each"

"What's the use of the device?" Mokona, curious about the contraption, asked.

"You put one on your head your head and you'll be able to fly"

"That seems interesting. You bought them for how much?" Watanuki asked.

"Free"

"I don't want. Looks like defective goods to me"

"I assure you that it's of high quality. They're made in China"

"Wait… that means…"

"Don't confuse China today and China in the future"

"So if they're good, why did you get them for free?"

"As a favor"

"A favor?"

"I taught the robot's owner about mathematics… and a bit of something else"

Somewhere in another dimension, another time,

The middle-aged raised his spectacle and rub his eyes, expressing disbelieve at the paper he was seeing. He squint his eyes, turned the paper around a few times until he was convinced by what he saw.

"Nobita"

"Yes?" a nerdy boy answered.

"Congratulation," the teacher said, hesitancy evident in his voice, "you get 100 marks for your arithmetic"

The boy moved to the front of the class and took the paper. "It's thanks to your persistence, teacher"

The teacher laughed. "You're welcome"

Meanwhile, at the back, girl named Shizuka looked at him with respect in her eyes. "I've never thought that Nobita would become a good student"

Nearby, two boys crossed their hands in disgusts.

"Hmpph. That Nobita must have been cheating during the exam, no doubt using another one of Doraemon's weird gizmos again" a burly boy by the name of Giant remarked.

"Maybe this time he had a pencil that can write the answer," a boy, much shorted than Nobita, said.

"You know Sinyu, I really feel like punching him when he gets back to school"

"Why don't we do that?"

"Are you kidding?" Giant said, clearly afraid, "do you remember what he said will happen if we disturb him?"

Sinyu nodded, clearly remembering Nobita's threat. He could almost see Nobita holding two envelopes, grinning mischievously. "Sinyu, Giant, each of you saw what was in you respective envelopes and I don't think I need to tell you what will happen if you bully me again" "You know, I wish he still relies on Doraemon's toys. This 'new' Nobita is really menacing" he said, while imagining Nobita laughing cruelly.

Giant nodded. "I know what you mean" "When the day comes, I will make sure to get all pictures of me wearing dresses two years ago, along with their negatives"

"We'll have to wait for our opportunity", "If I lay even a finger on me, he will reveal the secrets about me still wetting my bed occasionally and drinking milk from a baby bottle"

"Yeah" "Then I'll kick his butt"

"Sinyu! Giant!" The teacher roared. "What are you doing, daydreaming like that? You two g make yourself sober by standing outside the class!

The two boys groaned.

Watanuki fished out his wallet and peered inside. "Hmm… I should really pay attention where my money is going" He then handed Nabiki some bills. "I'll take five of them"

"Here you are" Nabiki said, handing the mini helicopters and taking the money.

The teenage boy put them away.

"Watanuki…" Yuko-san said.

"Yeah?"

Yuko held out the bottle of wine Nabiki gave her. "Don't you think that some snacks to go with this wine would be nice?"

"Seems the case to me"

The wish shop owner smiled. "Well then, go and get some of them. Some takoyaki would be good"

"You trick me again! Where in the world can I get the takoyaki at this time?"

"Oh well, I guess we have to settle for the udon"

"Udon?" Watanuki asked. "Oh, the fox that sells udon"

"Here, bring Mokona with you to protect you just in case" Yuko said, handing it to him.

"Don't worry, Watanuki. I will protect you from all that spirits," Mokona said

Watananuki grumbled but accepted him anyway. With Mokona in hand, the boy began walking away.

Nabiki looked at Watanuki's back as he walked away. "A spirit seer?"

Yuko nodded.

Nabiki fished out for a can of coffee from the apron's pocket, opened and drank it. "You always have interesting people working for you"

"Like yourself"

"Perhaps. What made him interesting?"

Yuko gazed at the girl next to her. "He has the bloodline or 'curse' as he would like to call it"

Nabiki lowered the can slightly. "I see" She thought about what Yuko said. Being her assistance for so quite some time, Nabiki has learned to decipher most of what was being said beneath the line. The boy named Watanuki also had the similar problem that she had when she was small. But unlike Watanuki, she couldn't see the spirits; she could only feel their presence when they were trying to swallow her. But for her, such events were rare. Then realizing something, she nodded to herself. "Now I understand. I had been about certain thing"

"Don't let it get to your ego. She did it not just for you, Nabiki-chan. She knew that eventually she'll succumb to her disease, that's why she created the array to protect all of you. Even though you're the only one who inherited her poisoned blood-line, your sisters inherited the other aspects of your mother as well. Kimiko was a gentle woman, who had hordes of men fawning over, her" Yuko smiled. "Obviously you didn't have any of those. And those blessing also carries with them the ability to make the souls of the bearers unique as well, although their souls weren't the kind the spirits like"

Nabiki smiled wanly. "Thank you for saying such nice words. I needed to hear that"

"Not at all. By the way, although it has nothing to do with me, but I think you already know what happens if you remove your seal too often"

"I understand the risks very well"

Yuko clasped her hands. "Oh well, I've fulfilled my part of the bargain with you mother to take care of to care of yourself. Now I have only Akane and Kasumi to take care of"

"Somehow, I don't think giving advice is what my mother meant when she asked you to take care of the three of us"

"True, but I already saved you when you went missing for two years, remember?"

"I still feel as if only a few days have passed at that time"

"Well, maybe we can discuss about it later. So back to our story about you removing your seal in order to remove the spirit from his body"

"I needed to do that"

"Hmm... Why do you need to do that?" Yuko played with few strands of her hair. "And may I know why the cat spirit you extracted from the boy is with you right now?"

Nabiki tooked another long pull from her drink.

Yuko rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "A secret, hmm… this is interesting"

The middle Tendo girl got up and moved to deposit the empty can in a dustbin. "Thank you again for your help, Yuko-san" She then began to walk away.

"What is Nabiki-chan's real feeling regarding him?" Yuko said cryptically.

Nabiki stopped for a few seconds before continuing on her path.

Yuko looked at the girl leaving her sight before saying, "I see. Although I wouldn't interfere in your matters, Nabiki-chan, it would be fun to see how things will turn out in the end"

A rune appeared appeared and was replaced by a crystal bowl, showing another Nabiki standing by a sleeping Ranma, her finger on his forehead. "Damn, I never thought that she would be able to return so soon. I'll just need to alter his memory to cover my trail" the other Nabiki said as her finger begin to glow.

Yuko smiled mysteriously. "Yes, Nabiki-chan. I find it very interesting"

1
Author's note (6 September 2006)

1. Well, a segment has been explained, which is why Musna was uncomfortable with Nabiki (it was due to the fact that the spirit of Nekoken was with Nabiki at that time, not Nabiki). Explaining why the spirit was with her would have given the 'real' reason why she removed the Nekoken away, and that will spoil the ending of the first saga. I can confirm that barring any problem, the first saga will end before the end of this year.

2. Some of you may wonder why Ranma and others didn't have much of the screen time. I did think about doing a chapter before this, featuring Ranma-tachi, but decided that it would be better to concentrate on one segment first.

3. Nabiki's mouse ears will be explained in my first 'Omake' special, a chapter that doesn't have anything to do with the main storyline. Just pure senseless COs. The Omake special will be published after this chapter.

4. Judging from the responses that I got, it seems that it's okay for me to continue with my storyline. You can still tell me what you think. If you want, you can refer to the questions below.

a) Eventually, this story would become more serious, with lesser nonsensical COs. When that happens, would you prefer the story to be split, meaning that you prefer me to post it under a new story title (a sequel), or would you just like me to continue on in this current title?

b) You're a fan of which matchup?

c) What scenes would you like to see?

d) Do you think that this story has a villain (gender and number neutral)? If so, who do you think the villain is?

e) Do you prefer Coke or Pepsi? (Okay, I'm just asking about this)

f) Is it okay for me to do major character deaths (this is the real question that I wanted to ask for the 'e' but I forgot at that time)

Doraemon

Well, is there anybody who reads this fiction that doesn't know about Doraemon, the loveable cat that traveled from 22th century to help Nobita, the ten year old boy who always get into troubles, using a myriad of weird and zany gadgets? Actually, it's a well known classic, and if you haven't heard about it, do tell me and we can talk about the story.