(Three years ago)
He was lost.
That wasn't a new thing, of course, but he usually didn't get lost inside a building he was familiar with. The school wasn't that big but, for some reason, he just couldn't find the doors leading outside. He sighed as he opened yet another utility closet - the fifth one in a row.
But now that he thought about it, that mop looked awfully familiar. It could easily be that it was the same closet - five times over.
He glanced out the window, seeing the reddish light as the sun started to set. Everyone else had gone home hours ago. Normally, even when he was feeling confused, he could just follow the crowd out. But today he had gotten saddled with cleaning the chemistry lab and the last class had left it a mess. Some idiot had decided to dump the contents of two beakers together, resulting in an explosion of fizzy, foamy mess which the teacher had assured them wasn't toxic, but still smelled terrible. By the time they had finished, the rest of the students were long gone, and Ryouga's classmates had been eager to go, leaving him in the dust. One wrong turn and he had lost their trail. He had followed their voices for a while, but they had gotten fainter, and finally the school was silent.
Maybe I should just hunker down here for the night, Ryouga thought miserably. But his stomach growled in protest. He wanted nothing more than a hot bath to wash off the filth from cleaning that lab, but right now he wasn't even sure that he could find the showers, much less his own home.
It wasn't like Ranma would have waited, after all.
He stumbled a bit, realizing that in his reverie he had walked into a stairwell going down. Curious, he followed it. It lead to another floor with classrooms and lockers, just like the one he had been on.
"This doesn't look like the basement…" he thought, walking towards a set of large double doors. The light shining in from them was blinding, so he pushed them open and stepped outside.
Outside!
Ryouga blinked, then looked behind him. Was… was I on the wrong floor the entire time?! He looked up at the windows of the second floor. Windows he had been walking past the whole time. How had he not noticed!? He had looked out, contemplating just throwing himself out the window! How had it not registered he was on the second floor when he looked down!?
He closed his eyes tightly and struggled to keep the tears of frustration and shame from coming. It's not fair! Mom and Dad are gone, and I'm sick of being lost all the time! What did I ever do to deserve this!? He drew his hand back to punch the wall, but held himself back, fist trembling. Finally he relaxed and let his arm drop, sighing heavily.
"That's a good idea, man. Last time you did that you got detention for a week."
Ryouga whirled to see the impish face of the pigtailed boy inches from his own. He yelped and stumbled backwards.
"What the hell, Ranma?!" he shouted angrily. "What are you even doing here!?"
Ranma blinked. "I said I was gonna walk ya home, doofus! Geez, what're ya yellin' at me for!? You're the one who took forever to meet me!"
"You… waited?" Ryouga boggled at the pigtailed boy.
"Well duh!" Ranma folded his hands behind his head and shrugged. "I gave my word, y'know? A man doesn't go back on a promise like that. That's like… lesson one of bein' a martial artist."
Ryouga scowled, feeling potentially slighted by that last remark. It was easier for him to believe that the pigtailed boy had stuck it out just to show him up rather than any real determination to fulfill a promise. "I know that!" He stuffed his hands in his pockets and shouldered past the other boy. "Let's just go… It's late and I need a bath before bed."
"Sure thing," Ranma said nonchalantly. "Hey, uh… since you're fillin' the furo anyway…"
"Yes, you can have one too. Just… let me do mine first, okay?" He gave the other boy a sideways glance. "And wash your hair this time, wouldja?"
"What's wrong with my hair?" Ranma asked, hand moving to it self-consciously.
"It's always all greasy. It's like you rinsed it in motor oil or something," Ryouga replied gruffy.
"Oh… Uh… that's because of this… this stuff Pops makes me use on it…" Ranma replied, sounding uncharacteristically subdued.
Ryouga raised an eyebrow. "Oh, like medicated shampoo or something?"
"... Something like that," Ranma replied weakly.
Ryouga felt his annoyance flicker, smothered by a wave of self-consciousness over having stumbled on something the normally unflappable boy was embarrassed about. "Yeah… well… make sure you wash your face at least. You've got smudges or something on your cheeks."
"...Those're freckles."
Ryouga blinked, turned and gave the boy's face a closer look.
Ranma blushed and backed up a step. "H-hey, what's the deal?"
"Huh. So they are," Ryouga muttered. He sighed heavily, giving up the notion of remaining mad at his friend. He shrugged and turned, resuming the walk home. "Sorry…"
"No biggie," Ranma replied. "Pops hates 'em… says they're unmanly but… lots of guys have freckles… right?"
"Sure," Ryouga said off-handedly.
"Plus… I'll… I'll probably outgrow 'em, right?" Ranma went on. His voice sounded uncharacteristically subdued.
Ryouga glanced at him. The pigtailed boy was walking with his eyes down, looking at the pavement.
"They're faint. Probably won't be there in a year or two," Ryouga reassured him. He had no idea if that was actually true or not, but it seemed plausible enough.
"Yeah!" Ranma brightened.
Ryouga sighed. He had no idea how someone like Ranma survived. Even the smallest imperfection… at least if it was something he cared about… was always such a huge setback for him. For a guy who was such a beast in a fight, his ego was remarkably fragile at times.
They walked in silence for a few minutes. Ranma's spirits seemed buoyed and oddly, despite getting lost and the knowledge that his curse was slowly but steadily getting worse, Ryouga felt a bit better too. It was nice to know someone was willing to wait for him. Even if it was the most annoying guy in school.
"... So for dinner you up for Chilled Soba tonight?" Ryouga asked. "Still got a bunch of packs to work through before they expire."
"Sounds good!"
000
(Present Day)
Ranma stirred. She felt warm and… safe - which was a new feeling for her. It was wrapped around her like a blanket, along with comforting arms, and the presence of someone familiar… no, more than one someone. The concept of names didn't register yet, but that was okay. They were supposed to be there.
There was that odd sense of surprise realizing she was sleeping. Hadn't she just been doing something? Or was that the dream? It was so hard to tell which was which… not that it mattered. The presences were there in both, so she was content to linger between the two for now. She tried to settle back into the pleasant lassitude of the dream. Where were they? The park, right? Somewhere warm and sunny…
Something kept telling her she needed to wake up, though. A… noise? Noises were bad and she wanted to sleep! "Mnnh… U'chan… your turn…" she mumbled.
She felt one of the warm bodies against her stir. "Nuh… Ryo's turn…" Ukyou replied. "Ryo…"
"Nnh?" Ryouga started a little, having been more deeply asleep than they had.
"Sach'ko…" Ukyou mumbled.
"She's beeping…" Ranma added, then snuggled back into the comforting warmth.
"Beeping…" Ryouga said, sounding a bit more awake now. He groaned and shifted a bit, earning a few mumbled protests from the girls. "...Ranma, that's the alarm."
"Then take it away from her… not s'posed to be up yet…" Ranma muttered, frowning as the pleasant dream faded and ebbed, no matter how she tried to hold onto it.
"Morning already…?" Ukyou mumbled, in traitorous acknowledgement of the waking world.
Ranma could feel them both recede from the dream which made clinging to it pointless. Grudgingly, she allowed herself to be pulled from the pleasant drowse, her eyes fluttering open as her mind started to sort out reality from the dream.
She looked up a little and her eyes met Ukyou's. She smiled a little and got a smile in return. Then she glanced up to meet Ryouga's eyes and realized that she was lying partially on top of him with Ukyou. She smiled at him as well, closing her eyes, to see if she could snatch a few more minutes of sleep, since everything seemed alright with...
…and then her mind finished sorting 'Dream' from 'Reality'.
She managed to make it nearly to the other side of the waiting room in one leap, but she stumbled over the table next to the couch and tumbled, crashing in a heap in the corner.
"Ranchan!" Ukyou sat up, quickly extricating herself from the couch and Ryouga.
Ranma peered up at her uncomfortably, currently upside-down as she struggled weakly to right herself. She noticed that Ukyou was still in her school uniform, as was she. For just a moment she felt a sense of relief at the realization that she had been fully clothed the whole time… whatever had happened that resulted in the three of them being on the couch together. Then she remembered she was in a skirt.
"Aaaaugh!" She scrambled to try and right herself and recover her modesty at the same time, but only managed to get more tangled up in the process before Ukyou came over and gently helped her up. Ranma's face was burning by the time the shameful display of klutziness was finally done with.
"Okay, three questions before I go to find a nice, quiet corner where I can curl up and die of shame. First… where are we?" She rubbed her head as she looked around, confused.
"The waiting room in Dr. Tofu's clinic," Ukyou said.
"Okay…" Ranma nodded, looking around again. The lighting was different than she was used to but, now that she was waking up, she recognized it. "Second… Why were we all in bed together?"
"It wasn't a bed…" Ryouga said weakly, looking studiously at the wall next to him.
"You had an… 'episode', I guess? A bad reaction to adding me to the Link," Ukyou said gently. "We think it kicked up the Neko-ken or something and knocked you cold. Doc Tofu told us to stay with you because your ki levels were so low, and doing that had stabilized Nabiki when it happened to her, so… Well…" She glanced at Ryouga and shrugged sheepishly.
"Nothing happened," Ryouga said quickly.
Ranma closed her eyes and sighed in relief. "Okay… so third question is answered; there isn't a baby sleeping in the other room, waiting for us to take her to the park for the day…"
Ryouga's head snapped around and he stared at Ranma, his eyes widening. "I… Y-you mean… Sachiko?"
"We were having a picnic…" Ukyou gasped. "Oh my god! We all had the same dream!" She put her hand on her forehead. "No wonder it seemed so real!" She blinked. "Wait…" She glanced at Ranma, then Ryouga. "Are… is Sachiko… I mean…?"
"She's mine," Ryouga and Ranma said in unison.
Ranma blinked, then glared at Ryouga. "Hey! This was my dream Ryouga!"
"You got the name 'Sachiko' from me, Ranma!" Ryouga growled back. "Remember? You jumped through my window and woke me up because you needed to gush about your date with Ukyou!"
"You gushed about our date?" Ukyou started to smile. "I think that means 'Sachiko' is mine, doesn't it Ranchan?"
"No!" Ryouga protested. "She's…"
"I told you I was her mother and I could use the name if I wanted…!" Ranma protested then trailed off, her eyes widening again as her face paled. "…to…"
Ranma swallowed hard, curling up quickly into a ball. Oh god, I was Sachiko's MOM in the dream! She started rocking slowly as the full impact of that settled in. I dreamed I had a kid and I was the MOTHER and I was OKAY with it until just a second ago and that means… She shuddered as a sudden image of Mikado Sanzenin's face filled her mind's eye. Urk!
There was the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs and a sleepy looking Doctor Tofu peered out from the hallway leading to his small apartment, toothbrush in hand. "Do you three always make so much noise in the morning?"
000
After giving each of them a brief examination and addressing Ryouga's complaints of a stiff neck from sleeping oddly on the couch, Dr. Tofu declared them fit for school. Their uniforms were rumpled and slept in, but there was little they could do about that. Ukyou had, at least, had the presence of mind to remove her jacket and hang it up before they had started but Ryouga's and Ranma's respective uniforms were both wrinkled messes. They cleaned themselves up and made themselves presentable as best they could.
"Nabiki will meet you at school and bring fresh clothes," Doctor Tofu advised them. He provided them a simple breakfast and sent them on their way after reminding them to come back the next day with Shampoo to continue the experiment, and to contact him if there were any new side effects.
Ranma walked ahead of the others, keeping to herself. Her back was hunched, her fists were clenched and she was practically stalking towards school. Tentative questions or attempts at conversation from Ryouga or Ukyou had been ignored. It was fairly obvious to Ryouga that Ranma was pissed, but he wasn't exactly sure why.
Not that there was a shortage of things that it could be, given the mess that had been their morning.
"Are you gonna talk to us, sugar?" Ukyou asked timidly, finally broaching the subject as they approached the school gates.
"Nope," Ranma said curtly.
"Look, Ranma…" Ryouga sighed. "We're sorry. I'm sorry. The whole Link thing has turned into a mess and I know that anything that triggers the Neko-ken is bad, and I realize that it wasn't exactly the most reassuring way to wake up…"
Ranma whirled on them. Her eyes were flashing with anger. "That's not it! I'm not mad about any of that!"
"I… then what did we do, Ranchan?" Ukyou asked, attempting to placate the furious redhead.
"One of you got me pregnant!"
It was important to note that, at this time of day, the streets were far from empty. Furinkan students were arriving from all directions, milling around the school gates as they waited for friends to arrive or were just making their ways inside. Ranma's declaration was clearly audible to all of them.
And that included a knot of familiar individuals who were also just arriving; Sayuri, Yuka, Rin, Riko, Hiroshi, Daisuke, Nabiki, Shampoo… and Akane.
The silence that descended across the entire block was a like a physical thing. Even the birds stopped singing for the moment.
From Ranma's expression, she didn't need to see that Akane was behind her. The sudden shift from anger to fear told Ryouga she knew exactly who had just overheard.
For his part, Ryouga had never seen Akane's aura flare quite that brightly before.
"Oh… Hi Akane…" Ukyou said weakly, her eyebrow twitching as she tried to force a smile.
Akane's fists were clenched and her eyes were hidden behind her bangs. Her aura crackled around her like a physical thing. The rest of the group were standing behind her (well behind her) and staring at Ryouga, Ukyou and Ranma with wide eyes.
Hushed whispers were starting all around them as a crowd started to gather.
"Did you hear that?!"
"I didn't even know that was POSSIBLE for Ranma!"
"'Course it is, she's gone full girl, didn't you hear?"
"That was just a rumor!"
"When was the last time you saw her as a guy, huh?"
"But a BABY? At HER age?"
"Wait, how would UKYOU be the father?!"
"Toldja dude, she's TOTALLY got a curse! No WAY a girl could pull off looking that much like a guy!"
Ranma turned, slowly, stiffly and haltingly, as though her joints were all very rusty hinges. The 'creak' was almost audible.
"Umm… Hi, 'Kane…" Ranma said weakly. "L-look, I can explain…"
Akane's aura flickered, and the concrete under her feet suddenly cracked with an audible *pop.*
"You have five minutes to explain. To Nabiki. And then for her to explain to me why any of you get to live," Akane said tightly.
Ranma looked over at Nabiki who was currently leaning against the wall, coughing. The wet, brown stain on the wall and the coffee cup in her hand suggested that Nabiki was trying to recover from the attempted aspiration of a hot, caffeinated beverage. She glanced back to Akane and chuckled nervously. "Okay… can we just give Nabiki a minute to…?"
"Four minutes," Akane replied.
"Look, Akane, it's not…" Ukyou started.
"Three minutes," Akane snarled.
"Shut up!" Ranma hissed at Ukyou and Ryouga, then gave Akane a nervous smile and skirted around her to run over to Nabiki, who was still coughing.
"Okay, not much time…" Ranma said, putting a hand on Nabiki's shoulder. "I had a dream where I had a kid and either Ryouga or Ukyou was the father - I'm not sure which - and we were linked at the time, so they had the dream too and I'm mad at both of them because… because… reasons."
Nabiki coughed again, nodded and patted Ranma's shoulder. She handed Ranma her half empty coffee cup and walked over to her little sister.
Akane gave her an expectant look. "One minute," she said.
Nabiki nodded, cleared her throat, then thumped her chest. "Whew! That stuff burns when it goes down the wrong pipe! Okay, short version? Nobody is pregnant, nobody slept with anyone else, and all three of them are idiots."
"And?" Akane folded her arms and raised an eyebrow expectantly. Her aura flickered and dimmed.
"And try not to break anything. Ranma does have a game after school today." She shrugged, then called nonchalantly over her shoulder. "Ranma, could you be a dear and toss that for me? Thanks!"
Ryouga's eyes widened as Akane's aura flared back to full intensity while Nabiki casually (but quickly) retreated to the safety of the school gates. "Awwww, crap…"
000
"This is all your fault, Ranma!"
The cry was a familiar one to the small group standing out in the hall with water buckets. Ranma, Ukyou and, to a lesser degree, Ryouga all showed signs having been thoroughly and freshly pummeled and Akane was standing a few feet further down the hall and glaring balefully at them.
"Why is it always my fault?!" Ranma groused. The water bucket sat balanced on her head and her arms were folded as she sulked.
"You don't just blurt out something like that at school, you idiot!" Akane shot back. Her gaze swivelled to Ryouga and Ukyou. "And you two! Shame on you for taking advantage of Ranma like that!"
"Taking advantage…!?" Ryouga sputtered, taken aback. "It was a dream!"
"It doesn't matter! Ranma was in a vulnerable emotional state, and you both should have more self control than to seduce her like that!" Akane asserted, raising her chin haughtily.
"Seduce…!? We were having a picnic!" Ryouga protested.
"So you got Ranma pregnant in a public park!?" Akane squawked, outraged.
There was more audible murmuring from the classroom.
"No! I mean, Sachiko was already born by this point…!"
"So this had been going on for nine months or more?!"
Ukyou leaned back against the wall and folded her hands behind her head. "Actually… I would totally have seduced Ranchan in the park."
"So you were the one who did it!" Ranma cut in, shooting Ukyou an accusing look.
"Well I don't remember if I got to dream that part, but that's how I'd do it," Ukyou waggled her eyebrows. "But Sachiko is totally my kid."
"She's not…! How would that even work!?" Ryouga protested, rubbing his temples.
"Instant Nannichuan is a thing, sugar," Ukyou shot him a wink.
"So you did seduce Ranma!" Akane said, levelling an accusing finger at Ryouga.
"What!? No! I never…!"
"But you're insisting that Sachiko is yours!"
"Well, yes, but that's just because…!"
"Do you need someone to explain how this whole babymaking thing works, sugar?" Ukyou teased.
"Arrrgh!" Ryouga pulled at his hair.
"I think you're just miffed because I got your wife pregnant!" Ukyou crowed, pinching his cheek. "Score one for the older sibling!"
"'Wife'?"
Ukyou and Ryouga froze. It was their turn to make slow, halting turns to look at Akane.
"Ooops…" Ukyou murmured.
"'Ooops!?'" Ryouga hissed at her.
"Explain. Now," Akane said tightly, folding her arms across her chest.
"W-e-ell… remember when Ranma had to pretend to be Ryouga's fiancee to get him out of the Hospital?" Ukyou said quickly. "Turns out the hospital 'helpfully' listed them as Common Law spouses so they could release Ryouga's medical info to Ranma. So legally they're now kinda considered…"
"It's not a real marriage!" Ryouga said quickly.
"It's just… for tax purposes?" Ukyou added.
"We just found out last night! We weren't keeping anything from you, we just wanted to discuss it with Nabiki first to see how serious this really is!" Ryouga finished desperately, noticing the battle aura was back.
"I see," Akane said, her eyes narrowed. "Can I ask a question? How did you three stay linked all night?"
Ryouga felt the blood drain from his face. His eye twitched as his brain realized the situation was lost, and all intelligent thought fled for the hills to wait out the impending apocalypse.
"Uhh… well… you see…" Ukyou said nervously.
"Seems to me it'd be hard to keep up holding hands in your sleep all night, wouldn't it?" Akane asked, taking a step forward, casually snatching up the handles of the two water buckets at her feet and lifting them up. "You'd roll over, twist and turn… even if you bound your hands together I doubt it'd work. But you three stayed linked long enough to share a dream all night." She stopped, her dark brown eyes hard as she looked over at each of them in turn. "So, I'm going to ask this once, and I hope I've made it clear that I'm not stupid. How did you stay linked all night?"
Ukyou winced and closed her eyes,taking a deep breath. "Ranma passed out after the link was first made. Her ki levels were low, so Doc Tofu wanted us to stay linked as long as possible to keep her from bottoming out. She didn't get to have a say in it, so don't get mad at her! We… staked out the couch in Doc Tofu's waiting room and… slept on that couch together with Ranma between us."
"Clothes on!" Ryouga added desperately.
"God yes, clothes were on. Look how rumpled everything is!" Ukyou gestured at herself.
Both of them started laughing nervously as Akane resumed stalking towards them.
"Is that true, Ranma?" Akane asked the redhead with that same eerie, disconcerting calm.
Ranma just covered her face with her hand and sighed. "As far as I know? I mean after the Link went haywire I kind of had a minor meltdown when I found myself in bed with these two."
Akane nodded, then lifted up the buckets, one balanced on each hand. "Thank you for being honest," she said to Ukyou and Ryouga.
"Uh… No problem Akane?" Ryouga said weakly.
"If you had been lying to me, I would have beaten you both to death with these buckets," Akane said with the same eerily calm menace.
"Aheh… No need for that, right 'Kane?" Ukyou said nervously, her eyes flicking towards the nearest escape route.
"Of course not," Akane said. She suddenly broke out into a sweet smile.
Then tipped the buckets over each of their heads.
Ryouga's change was immediate; he dropped to the floor in a pile of wet clothing, his whole world going dark as the bucket covered him entirely. He could hear Ukyou yelp as she, too, was drenched with cold water.
The bucket tipped up just enough for him to see Akane crouched in front of it, glaring at him. "Now. If you sleep with either of my fiancees again, regardless of the circumstances, I am going to use you to practise making pork okonomiyaki." She dropped the bucket back into place, plunging him once more into darkness.
"And you!" Akane said, her tone getting less cold, more of the familiar rage seeping into it as she whirled on Ukyou. "Since you seem to like sleeping on couches so much, you can just sleep on your own! Alone!"
There was the sound of footsteps, and a startled yelp from Ranma as apparently Akane grabbed her hand and dragged her along as she stalked off to wherever she was going to vent the rest of her anger.
Ryouga huddled down in the wet pile of clothes, shivering, and not from the damp or cold.
The bucket was lifted, the light momentarily blinding him. Ukyou crouched in front of him, soaking wet herself, as she set aside his bucket.
"Well… that went better than I expected…" Ukyou muttered, scooping him and his clothes up in her arms.
000
Akane didn't say a word to Ranma as she dragged her along. The redhead didn't resist after a few squawks of protest, and just followed along in meek silence. Akane led her up a few floors and to the roof. After the incident with Kuno, no one was supposed to be up there - her least of all, but Akane didn't really care at the moment. She stepped out into the fenced off area and closed the heavy fire door behind her, trying not to dwell on the fresh paint on the new door, or the fact that it didn't swing as smoothly, as though the door frame itself had been warped and their best efforts had been unable to fully restore it.
"Ranma…" she started, but was cut off when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her as the redhead hugged her from behind. Akane shuddered. All of the carefully chosen words she had planned to say tumbled out of her head and she slumped as the tensions that she hadn't even realized she'd been carrying in her shoulders and neck were suddenly eased, making her muscles spasm and twitch.
"Sorry, 'Kane…" Ranma said softly. "I ain't got a Link with you yet so I kinda gotta guess, but… I figured if you dragged me out here you probably needed this more'n to pound me flat?" The redhead hooked her chin over Akane's shoulder and gave her a hopeful look.
Akane turned in Ranma's arms and wrapped her own arms around the shorter girl in a fierce hug. She held her for a few minutes, shaking.
"I'm trying to do better," Akane said finally. "I really am."
"I think you did pretty good, all things considered," Ranma replied.
"I'm still so angry, though…" Akane sighed and buried her face in Ranma's hair for a moment. "Even though I know it's not what it all sounded like. Sometimes… sometimes I just feel like everyone is laughing at me and I just… I just want to…" She hugged the redhead a little tighter.
"I can still take a punch, y'know," Ranma murmured in her ear. "I mean, if it'll make you feel better…"
Akane shook her head violently. She relaxed her hold on the redhead a little, but just enough to capture her lips in a deep, needful kiss. She felt Ranma stiffen in surprise, but it only lasted for a second before she relaxed and Akane could feel Ranma's hands start to roam across her back. She smiled as she realized just how much Ranma's tendency to flinch had lessened. She broke the kiss and relaxed her arms a bit, holding her loosely as she looked into those blue eyes. She liked the blush on her cheeks - liked that it was for her - and liked that the sight of it did more to sooth her anger than hitting something or someone ever had. It was… reassuring.
"I think I'm going to start doing that when I get angry instead," Akane said softly. "If… if that's okay?"
Ranma swallowed. She was blushing a little more hotly. "I… I promise not ta use that as an excuse to make you mad…" she smiled, her expression a little timid.
Akane grinned then her expression grew somewhat more seductive. "Well then, maybe I should think of an even better reward for you if you're trying to be good? Like you are right now?"
Ranma swallowed hard.
000
Nabiki was having trouble focusing on the lesson.
Part of it was having hit a dead end on the research front. Hiroshi and Daisuke had done a remarkably good job on their background checks of the various Regulatory Committee members, trying to find out who Himura might have bought in order to get Ranma past the birth record checks, but so far there weren't any solid leads. At least, none that her limited resources could uncover.
She could almost feel that icon on her phone pulsing in her pocket.
Trying to steer her thoughts away from that issue seemed to just land her in yet another quagmire, as in her imagination, she started speculating about what might have happened last night with Ranma, Ryouga and Ukyou. She knew nothing had but, for some reason, her mind kept wandering to pleasant 'what if' scenarios that were gradually drifting into increasingly erotic territory. Ranma and even Ryouga were fair game for such things, but usually Ukyou wasn't a subject of her fantasizing, and she certainly rarely indulged in such things during school, where such vulnerable indulgences were unwise at best. However, she found herself increasingly unable to tear herself away from these thoughts as an odd warmth blossomed in the pit of her belly and she pondered tracking down one or all of the subjects of her daydreams. Right up until the chalk smacked her in the forehead.
"Pay attention, Ms. Tendo! I normally don't have to ask you twice, but for the third time, could you pick up reading at the third paragraph of page 76, please?" The teacher said crossly.
Nabiki swallowed and glanced around the room, cheeks burning from the humiliation and the loss of face as everyone stared at her. She stood, read the passage mechanically, and sat back down quickly afterwards, doing her best to appear like she was paying attention.
She was still having trouble focusing. Getting caught daydreaming in class should have been like a bucket of ice water on her libido, but she could still feel the tug on her thoughts - the tendency to drift down naughty paths and the flush that lingered well beyond her initial embarrassment. This faltering of control was entirely uncharacteristic for her. Even Shampoo was giving her a questioning look.
Her eyes narrowed as she pushed those thoughts away, a growing suspicion in her mind as to the source of her distraction. You wouldn't do it AGAIN, would you, little sister?
000
Ranma felt a bit sheepish as she slipped back into her clothes, mindful that, for the second time, she had become entirely guilty of being every bit the pervert Akane had always accused her of being. And, like the last time, she had done so with Akane, who had been the one to instigate it.
Maybe there was something to that…
I'd better not let this happen too much… she thought with a slight pang of regret. No telling what kind of ammo this would give Himura if anyone found out, never mind the rumours it would start in the school. ALREADY got too much of that going on.
She glanced timidly at Akane, who was fluffing out her hair, a satisfied smile on her face.
She found herself smiling in response, some of those old heart flutters coming back. God, she's beautiful when she smiles…
Akane noticed her looking. A slight blush graced her cheeks, but she kept smiling. "I uh… I'm sorry, Ranma. I got a little carried away again."
Ranma shook her head vigorously. "N-no! I mean, you've got nothing to apologize for! I-I mean…"
Akane giggled and leaned in to silence Ranma with a kiss.
Ranma closed her eyes, relaxed and surrendered to Akane's soft lips, shyly slipping her arms around her again. The dark haired Tendo still had a way of putting her off-balance… she just had much more pleasant ways of expressing it now.
"Still…" Akane said after the brief kiss ended, looking into Ranma's eyes. "I know I've kind of… 'neglected' part of you."
Ranma felt her cheeks burn. "I… uh… I'm pretty sure you've been real thorough, Akane…"
"Baka!" Akane giggled, then bapped the redhead on the top of her head with the flat of her hand. "I meant your male side!"
"O-oh!" Ranma blushed deeper, then ducked her head. "Umm… I thought… I mean, I know there was what happened in the furo, but… You're not really into guys… right?" She chewed on her lower lip, nervous about treading into such newly charted terrain. The landmines that could be lurking…
Akane shrugged. "Well… I mean, not really but…" she smiled, "It's you. And it's not fair to ask you to be something you're not for me just because I prefer it…"
Ranma shook her head. "But Akane… I am this," She gestured to herself. She swallowed nervously, feeling some of that old fear and apprehension that bubbled up whenever she strayed into such territory. "I mean… I'm a guy too, of course… that's just as much me, but…" She took a deep breath. "It's hard to explain. You don't need to do everything with both sides of me to be happy. Just like… Well, you know my problems with Shampoo's curse, right? I gotta work on that some. I know it hurts her that I'm afraid of her, but I don't think she expects me to…" She made a disgusted face.
Akane shuddered. "Let's not get into that, please. I have too much personal experience with that kind of curse problem."
"But that's kinda my point," Ranma pressed. "You don't gotta be that way with me as a guy unless it's good for you, too. I don't… I don't think I'd even like it if you weren't into it, y'know?" She cocked her head. "It's not much different than if I was smelly or sweaty before bed. You'd tell me to go take a shower first for that, right? So… same thing."
Akane's brow furrowed. "Y-yeah, but Nabiki…"
"…Is Nabiki. An' she definitely prefers me as a guy. She's just… she told me once that nobody is one-hundred percent one way or another, right? Like you stick a bunch of straight jocks in prison long enough and stuff happens, even if it wouldn't normally. She's… like a '70-30' kinda girl, I guess?"
"50-50." Akane said, arching an eyebrow and smirking. "She's got you and Shampoo. I think she might be overestimating her preference for boys."
Ranma grinned back. "65-35. She flirts hard with poor Ryo, and I'm pretty sure she means it. She just knows he'd never do anything about it."
"60-40, final offer."
"Deal!"
They both broke out giggling.
Akane sighed and draped her arms over Ranma's shoulders. "Are you sure, Ranma? I mean… I mean I still want to be your wife. I want… Well, I want kids one day." She leaned in a bit closer, touching their foreheads together. "I think I'd still like to try. To see what it's like. Like you said, nobody is 100%. So maybe even if I'm 90-10… well… maybe a bit more than 10% where you're concerned." She winked. "I might enjoy it if I'm in the mood."
Ranma swallowed again. She felt a twinge at the mention of kids, but… not an entirely bad one. She tried to push aside the dream for the moment and focus on what was in front of her. "I-I'd… I'd like that. Whatever makes you happy, Akane."
"So… What about you?" Akane asked.
Ranma felt a cold surge of fear.
Akane held up a hand to forestall a panic. "I'm not trying to start a fight. You don't have to say anything if you're not okay with it. I'm just…" she sighed, "I guess I'm curious. I'm not going to accuse you of sleeping around with Ryouga, I swear."
Ranma closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then released it. "I'm… sorry, 'Kane," she finally replied after a few moments of internal struggle. "It's… that's like the scariest topic possible for me right now."
"That's okay." Akane purred. "But… Just remember, if I don't have to feel guilty about liking girls… you don't have to feel guilty if you happen to like a guy. Right?"
Ranma raised a skeptical eyebrow. "So what was that freakout this morning over the dream all about, then?"
Akane scowled. "I'm a work in progress, okay? Besides… you beat me at way too many girly things as it is. I swear I will never forgive you if you get pregnant before me!"
000
Lunch could not have come soon enough for Ryouga.
The awkwardness of the morning had been bad enough when some of his most personal and private dreams had become a topic for public discussion.
But then shortly after Akane had dragged Ranma off who who-knew-where, he had begun to get a definite idea of what they were up to - something he recognized due to unfortunate prior experience.
The mental images that came to mind, colored by what he remembered of the sounds from the locker room that day did not help the situation. He had managed by stuffing tissues up his nose until the teacher had noticed and, aghast, had sent him to the nurse's office again (with Ukyou to escort him). Thankfully the bleeding had tapered off by then, but all the feelings that had been stirred through the Link still left him feeling anxious and restless.
I wish I still had some of that waterproof soap, he thought glumly as Ukyou led him back through the school. Then I could go and stick my head under a faucet and run cold water until this goes away.
"Stupid Ryouga…" Ukyou grumbled, arms crossed, her posture slightly hunched as she walked. "Stupid pervert brain… stupid nosebleeds…"
Ryouga raised an eyebrow, then realized there was a blush to Ukyou's cheeks. Oh, that's right. She's part of the Link now, too. She's probably feeling it, but doesn't know what it is.
"It's Ranma and Akane," he said, interrupting her muttered tirade.
"What?!" Ukyou stopped and whireld to glare at him.
"What you're feeling. It's the Link. It started after Akane dragged Ranma off," Ryouga clarified. "It's… not the first time they've done this."
Ukyou blinked, then her eyes widened. "Wait… you mean you can… every time Ranma has…?!" She grabbed him by the collar. "Are you telling me you've been sensing it every time Ranma and I…!"
"Not every time. Just… I was only in the same building when it happened the one time, so I'm guessing it's a proximity thing," Ryouga said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.
"How do you know that's what it is?" Ukyou asked suspiciously.
Ryouga sighed heavily. "Akane and Ranma were in the locker room. I was outside waiting for them and… they weren't quiet."
"You eavesdropped on them!?" Ukyou started to shake him by the throat.
"I… didn't… have… a… choice!" Ryouga managed as the Okonomiyaki chef did her best to throttle him. "They told me to wait!"
Ukyou hesitated. Her grip finally slackened and she backed off, but not before slugging him hard on the shoulder. "Next time try stuffing the tissue in your ears, jackass," she muttered, rubbing her hand.
"I tried that. It didn't help," Ryouga replied, jamming his hands into his pockets.
Ukyou looked away, suddenly seeming uncertain. "That… must have sucked actually, huh? I mean… If it was anyone but those two…" She sighed and shook her head. "Geez, Akane really can be an insensitive jerk sometimes."
"Akane is the insensitive one? What about Ranma?" Ryouga asked.
"Don't tell me you're still defending her…?!" Ukyou shot him an annoyed glance.
"I'm not," Ryouga folded his arms. "Just curious is all."
Ukyou pinched the bridge of her nose, closed her eyes and thought for a bit. "It's… well… As much as I had to admit it, Ranma has never, ever been able to say 'no' to Akane - not when she's sincerely wanted something. You think Ranma would let me or Shampoo smack her around the way Akane does? Akane has had Ranma wrapped around her little finger and she didn't even know it for the longest time. It was a part of what made her so frustrating. The worst part is that knowing Akane is totally clueless doesn't help! She does it to me now, too!"
"Trust me, I'm pretty well acquainted with it," Ryouga muttered dryly.
"See? Even after she rips your heart out and stomps on it!" Ukyou gestured in his direction. "Ranma doesn't stand a chance! All she has to do is give you that look with those big brown, soulful eyes and you're doing whatever her heart desires! And right now her heart is apparently making up for a lot of years of being sexually repressed because holy crap they've done it on the school grounds twice now!" She tossed her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Once Shampoo hears about this, it'll be a contest!"
Ryouga winced and pinched his nose closed.
Ukyou gave him a sympathetic look. "Sorry, sugar. I'll… uhh… I'll try and get a warning to you if I catch wind of them starting this sort of thing up."
"I'm a little surprised you're not joining in," Ryouga replied. At the nasty glare she shot him he held up a hand to ward her off. "I mean…! You usually kinda get roped into going along with whatever craziness the rest of them get up to, even before the whole fiancee agreement."
Ukyou rolled her eyes. "Yeah? Well I also am a bit more practical and level-headed than those three, and that practicality tells me that the Principal has this place wired up with more bugs and cameras than a prison. Getting a nooner isn't exactly worth the risk of it ending up on tape, especially with Little Ms. Blackmail running the show nowadays."
"I… hadn't thought of that…" Ryouga replied, brow furrowing as he started to consider the implications.
"Yeah, and neither has Akane, which is why, when she and Ranma pop their heads up again, I'm going to drag her off for a little chat," Ukyou said as she led him to the double doors leading outside.
"Just Akane? Not both of them?" Ryouga asked.
"As I said, even if Ranma was aware, she'd just cave when Akane said 'Pretty please, Ranma?'" Ukyou huffed, managing a fairly respectable imitation of Akane's pleading tone. "You can talk to her about it. Or Nabiki will, but I figure she deserves a gentler wake up call than the one I'm in the mood to give Akane."
"Seems like a double standard to me," Ryouga said. At her sharp look he stopped and held up his hands. "I'm just saying!"
"Odd that you're arguing against Ranma for once. Lately you've been pretty staunchly on her side." Ukyou folded her arms and gave him a skeptical look.
"Ranma also hates being coddled or getting special treatment," Ryouga pointed out. "And she's super protective of Akane. She's gonna balk if she thinks you're picking on Akane and letting her off the hook."
Ukyou sighed in frustration. "I know, you're right. I just… I don't think talking to them together will work very well. I know Akane will listen to me, and I've gotten pretty good at getting her to listen even when it's stuff she doesn't want to hear. And you…" She poked Ryouga in the chest. "Like it or not, Ranma talks about stuff with you that she won't talk about with any of us. So if there's anything she's not okay about she'll probably tell you about it before she tells any of us."
"Since when did I get the job of being Ranma's confidante?" Ryouga asked, mostly to himself.
"Since you became her best friend?" Ukyou replied.
"You're her best friend."
Ukyou sighed and shook her head. "I'm her fiancee. I learned the hard way over this past year that you can't have both. I'm a lot of things with Ranchan… but a trusted outsider isn't one of them. That kind of trust doesn't survive the first kiss. Once there's that… investment in the other person, it changes things, for better or worse." She cocked her head, and gave him a searching look. "Keep that in mind, okay?"
Ryouga gave her a confused look. "Okay? But… why?"
"Just do, all right?" Ukyou patted him on the shoulder. "Now… help me think of baby names."
Ryouga blinked. "Baby names…?"
"Yeah," Ukyou grinned. "I figured it wasn't fair of me to steal 'Sachiko' from you, and since I'm obviously the father of Ranma's baby…"
Ryouga didn't hear the rest over the *smack* of his hand hitting his own face.
He was spared that awkward conversation by the arrival of another, as the door swung open and Ranma and Akane stepped out. Akane was wearing the biggest grin Ryouga had seen on her face since she managed to get a hit in on Ranma during sparring.
"Oh! Akane!" Ukyou said brightly. She hopped over and snatched up Akane's arm. "Ranma, you don't mind if I borrow our mutual fiancee for a moment, do you? Didn't think so! Keep Ryouga company for me! Thanks! Bye!"
"Wait, Ukyou, what are youuuuuuuuuuu-!" Akane's question became a yelp as the okonomiyaki chef dragged her bodily off around the corner of the building.
"What was that all about?" Ranma asked, frowning after the two.
Ryouga sighed. "Ranma... you remember what happened in the locker room with you and Akane, right?"
Ranma blinked, then turned beet red. "W-wait, why you bringing that up…?!"
"You remember how you could feel when I was starting to lose it when all of my 'fiancees' showed up, even though you weren't touching me?" Ryouga added, folding his arms and looking at her evenly, waiting for her to catch on.
It didn't take long. The blush drained from her face, as well as all other color. "Oh…"
"I think it's actually worse now that Ukyou is part of the Link… like it made it stronger," Ryouga said thoughtfully. "But… That's why Ukyou is dragging Akane off to have a chat. She figures it was her idea."
Ranma glanced in the direction the two had gone, and looked about ready to follow. "That's…!"
Ryouga reached out and caught her arm to stop her. "Look, let Ukyou handle this. Like it or not, she's better at handling Akane and giving her bad news than you are."
Ranma whirled, jerked her arm free and glared at him. "Since when did you end up my relationship manager, huh? I already got Nabiki doing that. I don't need it from you, too!"
"Somebody has to watch out for you!" Ryouga shot back. "It's not like you'll ever actually ask for help if you really need it! You said yourself that you've almost blown this too many times to count! Maybe you should start actually listening to other people for once, huh?!"
"And you're saying I should start by listening to the guy who used to express his concern for my well being with the phrase 'Ranma Saotome, prepare to die'?" Ranma asked sourly.
"I…" Ryouga trailed off, feeling an unexpected pang of guilt at that. Part of him had thought they were past all of that. Some uncharitable part of him pointed out it was really his fault in the first place. "I… Fine. You've made your point." He turned away, jamming his hands in his pockets.
He felt a touch on his arm, just a flicker of the Link, a brief flash of concern. He turned, blinking in surprise at Ranma's worried expression.
Ranma blushed and looked away immediately, as if she had been caught at something. "I… Okay, sorry… that… that was low. You don't do that anymore and it's not fair for me to keep using it."
Ryouga felt an odd heat in his own face, and he realized it was because Ranma had just apologized to him. Ranma never apologized… unless it was to Akane. "It's…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "No… it's cool. It's my own damn fault. It's not like I ever really wanted you dead, anyway."
"Oh really? Coulda fooled me…" Ranma sniffed.
"Even after all the times I could have done it, but didn't?" Ryouga asked, his jaw tightening as he felt the prickles of hurt.
"Well… I mean yeah you could have, but… I dunno… I always figured you didn't because it would be dishonorable or something…" Ranma replied weakly.
Ryouga shook his head. "I just… I just wanted you to respect me," he said finally. "I guess in the messed up way our friendship always worked the only way I thought I could do that was by being a threat. That's why I was always down your throat about Akane, too. I… I never really figured I had a chance with her, but… I want you to at least respect her." He huffed and looked away from her. "Sometimes it feels like there's nothing you do respect, and that's probably the most frustrating thing of all."
"Izzat why you were always angry at me all the time? You don't think I respect you?" Ranma asked.
"Well… you don't, do you?" Ryouga glanced sidelong at her, raising an eyebrow. "You don't hate me. I'll even buy you think of me as a friend, but I don't think you respect me."
"That's not true!" Ranma glared at him. "I… look." She hopped up onto the railing of the landing, crouching down and wrapping her arms around her knees, perched like a bird. "I'm not… I know I'm not real good at showing it. Respect… wasn't really something I learned a lot about growing up. Pops taught me you only respected someone who was strong, an' only then until you proved you were stronger. That was why he was always harping on how I needed to show him 'respect.'" She sighed. "Thing was, when I finally did beat him… I found out that deal only worked one-way. Nabiki has been teaching me that my whole idea of 'respect' is kinda messed up."
"That's putting it mildly," Ryouga said, giving her a skeptical look.
"So… I get where you're coming from. I ain't ever shown you respect. But… that was 'cuz I didn't know how." She looked him in the eyes. "I always did respect you…. In a sense. I trusted you. I do trust you. That's… that's about as close as I ever got to really respecting someone. I know that ain't the same, but…" She trailed off, her gaze dropping. "I guess I'm trying to say I'm sorry. For not showing you the respect you deserved."
Ryouga was silent for a moment, not entirely sure how to respond to that, or even properly process it. He walked over to the steps next to the railing she was perched on and sat down. He chuckled dryly.
"Fine. Just don't get sappy on me," he said with a small grin.
She grinned back and the tension dissolved, the easier sense of camaraderie settling into its place.
That's better, Ryouga thought, somewhat bemused that some things really hadn't changed much between them since middle school. Now that the feud had ended a lot of the old dynamics from those days had started to resurface.
He noticed her fidgeting out of the corner of his eye and glanced up at her. She was looking away from him and showing that restless demeanor that said she wanted to say something but was having trouble finding the words/courage for it.
He kept his mouth shut. Prodding Ranma generally didn't help things along much, and usually just triggered some kind of furious denial that she was trying to say anything at all.
"Umm… Ryo…" Ranma started. "A-about Sachiko…"
"Yeah?" Ryouga replied noncommittally. He felt a slight sinking sensation in his gut. Damnit, I thought we had gotten away from this…
"In your dream… not the one last night but… but the first one… well, the one you had when I came in through your bedroom window and woke you up… I… I guess you could have dreamed about her before that…. Did you dream about her before that?" Ranma started to slip into babbling.
Ryouga reached up and lightly tapped her on the knee with his fist. "Oi, ask your question, Saotome!"
She glared at him. "I'm getting to it, ya jerk!" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "The first time you had a dream about Sachiko… who was her Mom?"
"I… urk…" Ryouga froze up. The lie would be easy. It would get him out of trouble. Heck, it would even make more sense than the truth. All he needed to do was open his mouth and say Akari's name. It was an easy name to say. He liked saying her name. He even liked the idea of her in that scenario. It was easy to imagine her as his future wife and as the mother of his children.
But it wasn't the truth. At looking up at Ranma's searching blue eyes, he couldn't bring himself to tell them the lie right away. That moment's hesitation gave Ranma her answer.
"It was me… wasn't it?" Ranma asked softly.
"I…" Ryouga struggled to find some sort of explanation or excuse. It didn't help that all he remembered of the dream itself was just fragments. "I mean it wasn't…" He sighed heavily, slumping. "Just… don't read too much into it."
He heard her move, but didn't look up, figuring she was probably going to walk off now. To his surprise, he felt a presence next to him, and the sense of her body heat as she sat on the steps next to him. He shot her a surprised look.
She was studying the concrete at their feet. "It's not a big deal that you dreamed about me, if that's what you're panicking about," she said, her voice quiet. "It's not like you got control over it. Heck, I had a few dreams about Kuno after he said he was in love with me." She shuddered involuntarily.
"Mine… wasn't exactly a nightmare, though…" Ryouga admitted tentatively. That felt like a dangerous admission to him, edging closer to admitting things.
"I… I get that," Ranma twiddled her thumbs. "I don't think… I mean God knows with all the skimpy outfits I've paraded around Nerima in, I…" She sighed. "That's not the point, okay? It's… why dream of me as a mother?"
Ryouga blinked, giving her a confused look. "What do you mean?"
Ranma closed her eyes tightly. "I can see fantasizing about me, okay?" she said quickly. "I mean… you find me… my girl side… attractive, so… I get it. It ain't news. I mean, you straight up told me I was cute when you first found out about the curse, and I've used it pretty mercilessly against you with all my stupid disguises." She shuddered and shook her head. "B-but… but… I mean, why imagine me as-as someone with a kid?"
"What, you weren't planning on having kids one day?" Ryouga asked lightly, intentionally ignoring the context.
"Not like this!" Ranma looked up at him. Her eyes were slightly wild, pools of conflicted emotion. "Not-not… not someone who's actually responsible for a kid!" She pulled her legs up to her chest again, hugging them as she resumed staring at the concrete. "I mean… look at me. I'm a pile of issues! I can barely take care of myself, much less… much less…" She squeezed her eyes shut. "Moms are supposed to be good at taking care of their kids, right?"
"I like to think Dads are too," Ryouga replied. "They're not always, obviously…"
Ranma snorted. "Yeah. Uh huh. I got a double helping of that 'not always', thanks." She rested her chin on her knees. "But… I always figured if I had kids, whoever I married wouldn't be dumb enough to leave me alone with the kid, much less drag 'em off for fourteen years wandering Asia. But… but a Mom? A Mom's… she's gotta…" She blushed and uncurled a bit, putting her hand on her belly. "She's gotta be there for the kid right from the start. She's all the kid's got. That's like… Kasumi level stuff. Any of the girls… as rough as they get, they've all had moments, y'know? Where you can see it in 'em. 'Specially Akane… but me?" she trailed off.
"Then why worry about it?" Ryouga asked. "It's not like you're in any extreme danger of ending up a mother, right?"
"But it's not like I can't!" Ranma shot back, glaring at him. Her hand moved, her arm curling almost protectively around her midsection. "I-I mean… all the parts are there!" She shuddered again and quickly pulled her knees back up. "Nevermind! It's stupid. This is all stupid!"
Ryouga's eyes widened as he caught a flicker of understanding. "You… want to be a mother."
"No!" Ranma protested hotly, but she couldn't meet his eyes. She looked away, then curled a little tighter. "I… I mean… not… not now. Even thinking 'bout kids either way would be dumb now… b-but…" She shook her head again. "I should be able to just laugh this idea off as… as stupid! Or… or at least it should creep me out! B-but…" She rested her head on her knees, chewing her lower lip. "Something keeps dragging me back to it. I can… I can remember what it felt like to… to hold her and…" She swallowed. "This… this is weird, right? I'm being weird. Tell me I'm being weird so I can get over this."
Ryouga folded his own arms, resting them on his knees as he regarded her for a long moment. The answer was even easier this time. It wasn't even technically a lie; she was being weird, as only Ranma could be.
"I think you'd be a good Mom."
She gave him a wide-eyed, almost fearful look.
It was his turn to study the cracks in the concrete. "I mean, you'd wanna do a little growing up first, but… You know better than anyone what growing up without a Mom was like, and what you wished for from your Mom when you finally met her. So… just try and be that."
"But… what if I can't? What if I try, but I screw it up?" Ranma gestured feverishly. "What if I start getting the same stupid ideas my idiot father got when I was born?!"
"You won't." Ryouga gave her a sidelong glance and a grin. "I won't let you."
Ranma blinked.
"What, you thought I was going somewhere, Saotome?" Ryouga arched an eyebrow. "Once we get all this nonsense in our lives sorted out, that I was just gonna walk off into the sunset and not come back?" He chuckled dryly. "Mebbe I woulda actually tried that at one point but… Let's be honest. Fate or Karma or whatever… something keeps dragging me back into your life. So… I'll be around when you have kids, too. And if you think I'm gonna let you slack off with a kid around…"
"I… I get it!" Ranma said nervously, waving him off. She looked away shyly, though she was smiling now. "Umm… thanks, Ryo."
Ryouga shrugged nonchalantly. "It's what friends do… right?"
Ranma smiled and nodded, then scooted a little closer to him. "Yeah…" She relaxed a little, mirroring his pose, her shoulder just lightly touching his. Something about the casual contact was… reassuring to her.
"Just promise me we won't end up like Mr. Tendo and Pops, okay?"
"Fairly certain it's not physically possible for you to get that fat, Ranma."
"Who says I'm going to end up the fat one!?"
"Because you'd look terrible with a mustache."
"Hey! I could pull it off better'n you!"
000
Nabiki still hadn't managed to shake the 'itchy' feeling from earlier, though now it was just making her irritable. She wanted to track down Ranma and find out if her suspicions were correct, and from there to decide if she was going to get angry about it. She was leaning towards getting angry, to be honest.
As it turned out, though, she didn't need to find Ranma, as someone else had beaten her to the punch. She rounded the corner to find Ukyou confronting a subdued-looking Akane. Ukyou's arms were crossed, her foot was tapping and she generally looked rather annoyed. All of which just confirmed Nabiki's suspicions.
REALLY baby sister? Nabiki sighed heavily, loudly enough to announce her presence, then folded her arms, leaned against the wall and waited for them to notice her.
Akane turned, saw her older sister looking as cross as Ukyou had been, and ducked her head, turning beet red.
"I guess Ukyou already gave you the lecture about the side effects of mixing the Link with irresponsible behaviour at school?" Nabiki asked.
"Does everyone have to know?!" Akane protested stubbornly, adopting one of her typical sulking postures.
"This whole arrangement comes with compromises, baby sister," Nabiki replied.
"I just wanted some time alone with Ranma! Is that so wrong?!" Akane shot back, clenching her fists. "Why am I always last?!"
Nabiki narrowed her eyes. She was in no mood for an Akane 'me-too!' temper tantrum, especially when she had been getting precious little time with Ranma herself. "You really want the honest answer to that, Akane?"
Ukyou held up a hand, giving Nabiki a stern look that surprised the Middle Tendo into silence. She took Akane by the shoulders and turned her to look at her.
"Listen, sugar. I know it's frustrating, especially since it's that potential you've always had finally getting developed that's put you last in line this time," Ukyou said gently. "But you won't always be last, I promise. It's like a recipe right now… you know how some ingredients need to go in at different times because they cook at different speeds? None of them are unimportant, but you have to do it in the right order to make the recipe work. That's kind of what we all are right now. Does that make sense?" She cocked her head, waiting for the youngest Tendo's response.
Akane sighed heavily. "You're right, Ukyou. I just… It's hard sometimes, you know? Especially when you and Ryouga come back joking about having a baby with Ranma."
"That's fair," Ukyou replied, nodding. "I'm sorry. Look, you'll understand better once it's your turn. I was a bit giddy this morning and I wasn't really thinking. And… nobody is mad at you for sneaking off with Ranma, love. It's just the place and the timing were a little inconvenient."
"So… Next time I kidnap Ranma, I should take her further away?" Akane asked, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"Probably best. Actually, to be safe, just invite me along and I'll tell you for sure when you've gotten us far enough away." Ukyou winked.
Akane smiled and leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "I'll keep that in mind. Now… I have a very very awkward apology to make to Ryouga. Excuse me." She stepped around Ukyou and slipped past Nabiki, heading down the hall towards the doors.
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Nicely defused," she said.
"I get to talk a lot of people down in my restaurant," Ukyou replied. "I'm basically the bartender for the lunchtime crowd. Besides, I kind of understand Akane better than most."
"I've noticed," Nabiki replied. "Thank you. I probably was about to make that whole situation worse. I wasn't in the right frame of mind for this." She sighed and shook her head. "Which I can't afford to be since this sort of thing is supposed to be my job…"
Ukyou walked up to her. "Don't be too hard on yourself, sugar. Everyone has an off day and it's not like that's your only contribution. Besides, you've basically been killing it every other time." She patted Nabiki in the shoulder.
There was a spark at the contact that made them both gasp, like a jolt of static electricity, except it was accompanied by a sudden rush of perception as the Link suddenly opened up between them.
Ukyou jerked back her hand reflexively, breaking the connection, then looked at it, confused. "Woah…"
Nabiki steadied herself against the wall. "Well… I guess that answers the question of whether you and I are Linked or not. Though it's usually less… uh… abrupt."
"I think Ranma was talking about this happening," Ukyou said. "We should probably tell her about it." She tentatively extended her hand. "Uhh… test? To make sure."
Nabiki nodded, swallowing and reaching out tentatively to touch Ukyou's fingers with her own, ready to jerk back if there was another jolt. There wasn't. This time the Link simply flowed smoothly into being, and she became aware of the ebb and flow of Ukyou's emotions.
"That is weird…" Ukyou said, blinking a few times. "I mean, I know I just spent all night linked to Ranma and Ryouga… but it's still weird."
Nabiki felt a bit self-conscious. Ranma was one thing… even with Ryouga there was that playful interest… and she was eagerly anticipating being able to peek into Shampoo's emotional landscape. But it was a bit uncomfortable to be sharing such an intimate thing with Ukyou. The girl was a friend, to be sure, but knowing she was seeing her emotions and seeing Ukyou's in turn made Nabiki feel more than a little awkward.
"You okay, sugar?" Ukyou cocked her head. "Your… ummm… I don't even know the right words for it. It got kinda spiky over there."
Nabiki closed her eyes and sighed. You're going to have to deal with this, Nabiki. "I'm feeling self-conscious." she forced herself to say. "Because this is all a bit awkward, because we're not… you and I aren't…"
"'Knocking boots'?" Ukyou asked with a grin.
"Not quite what I was going to say, but… it gets the point across, I guess," Nabiki sighed.
Ukyou nodded, drawing her hand back. "Yeah, I can see that. Sorry. I guess it's kind of like having to strip down in front of a casual acquaintance, huh?"
Nabiki took a deep breath and held her hand back out. "Yes. But we're not casual acquaintances, Ukyou. We're…" She frowned, not sure of the right word. "I don't know just what we are, but this is a factor in our lives now, right? We should probably try and get used to this… this… level of awareness now, before the option to not be in close proximity gets a lot more scarce."
Ukyou regarded Nabiki's hand, then nodded and took it, closing her eyes as the Link flowed once more. "I guess… It's kind of like one those things you need to get accustomed to living with another person?"
"Maybe a tad more intimate, but… yeah," Nabiki replied. She took a minute to 'listen' to Ukyou's emotions. The Chef had a much more stable underpinning than Ranma or Ryouga, though there was definitely a more volatile surface layer to her.
"Is that going to cause us trouble?" Ukyou asked, a look of concentration on her face. "That… things aren't… I dunno, 'even' between us all?"
Nabiki considered her answer before she said anything. She could sense an increase in 'spikes' from Ukyou's emotions, which she assumed were anxiety in some form. Not critical, but this was obviously something Ukyou was concerned about.
Which is good, because I WANT everyone thinking about this. Nabiki closed her eyes. "I think, to borrow Ryouga's term for it, we have to treat this like a family… and to understand that relationships aren't always equal or the same in a family but… it all works out in the end somehow." Nabiki sighed with frustration at her inability to articulate it more clearly. "I think that as long as we are aware there's always going to be ebbs and flows and the occasional disparity, and that the relationships each of us have with every one of the others is going to be unique and it's own 'thing'," she shrugged, "Well, we're probably still doomed, but it won't be from tearing each other apart."
Ukyou snorted. She leaned against the wall beside Nabiki, her hand settling into a less awkward clasp. "Okay, that I can handle. I was a little worried that the Link would… 'push' things in a direction I didn't want things to go."
"In my experience those sorts of fears are kind of silly. If you don't want to go in that direction, then you won't go in that direction," Nabiki said as nonchalantly as she could.
"Like how you didn't want to fall for Ranma but did anyway?" Ukyou asked, eyebrow arching.
Nabiki scowled. "That… that was more denial. Why, are you worried about suddenly developing a deep and uncontrollable longing for me?" She raised an eyebrow of her own.
Ukyou blushed and looked away. "N-no! No, it's… I was kinda worried about things getting weird with Ryouga, you know?"
"With Ryouga?" Nabiki frowned, confused. "Okay, aside from the obvious complicated mess that would cause… what would be the big problem with that?"
Ukyou closed her eyes. Nabiki could sense more turmoil in her emotions and kept quiet to let the other girl gather her thoughts.
"Hindsight is 20/20, right?" Ukyou said softly. "Sometimes you get so caught up in chasing after something, you don't realize what you've trampled on to get there. For the longest time I've wanted Ranma to see me… well, romantically. It used to frustrate me how I kept getting 'friendzoned' with him. But at the same time, there was… this sort of easy trust he had with me. And I really valued that. But the more I tried to get closer to him, the more it eroded that trust. I mean… he still trusts me, but… it's all wrapped up with obligations and the physical side of things. I realized afterwards that it had lost that… simplicity. I kinda felt like he had just wanted a 'guy friend.'"
"And you feel guilty for changing that?" Nabiki asked.
Ukyou shook her head. "No… well, yeah, a little, but… it's not like it would have been fair to either of us to pretend things were actually that way between us. As much as he wanted a 'guy friend', that's not what he ever was to me, and trying to be that for him was just tearing me up inside. But," she sighed heavily, "but the stupid thing is? I want a 'guy friend' too. I just didn't want it to be Ranma. And… at some point… that's what me and Ryouga ended up becoming."
"Really? No interest at all?" Nabiki asked playfully.
Ukyou gave her an annoyed look. "Trust me, sugar. With the amount of time we've spent alone together? If something was gonna spark it would have." She chuckled. "He's… he's what I need more than anything else in my life right now, and that's family. I've got plenty of romantic entanglements. And so does he, to be honest." She made a sour face. "Even if some of them are in common."
"So… what does that make us?" Nabiki asked playfully.
Ukyou gave her a bemused look. "I'm still figuring you out, sugar. Currently? Business partners. Though don't think I didn't notice those spikes when I mentioned Ryouga. You're interested in him."
"You don't have a problem with that, do you?" Nabiki asked archly. "Considering your current relationship with my baby sister?"
Ukyou looked surprised. "Not even gonna deny it, huh? Well, I guess 'blunt' is kinda your thing, isn't it? In that case it depends on what you plan to do with it," Ukyou replied. "Even now, I'm still not sure I get you, Nabiki Tendo. I just wanna make sure Ryouga doesn't get hurt, and that's gonna be hard enough with him…" she trailed off, "Y'know, with him and Ranma."
"If you're worried I'm going to string him along and use him, I won't," Nabiki replied. "It's hard to be blind to the feelings of someone who's emotions can literally knock you to the ground from the other side of the school. Ryouga and the Link are a crash course in empathy. But… ultimately, what I do hinges a lot on him and Ranma. I'm curious what your take on things between them is." She cocked her head. "What do you think? Just 'guy friends'?"
Ukyou sighed heavily. "Dear god, no." She shook her head, unconsciously squeezing Nabiki's hand as more of that dark worry bubbled up. "Before all this Link stuff, he and I used to talk a lot. Not even plotting, just… talking about stuff with someone who didn't have totally competing goals, but kinda understood your situation, you know? Ryouga had two topics: Akane Tendo and Ranma Saotome. Akane was the usual nonspecific mooning and zoning out until I smacked him over the head so, weirdly enough, it was usually Ranma he'd settle on."
"A lot of fantasies about beating Ranma into a pulp, then?" Nabiki asked.
"No… that's the thing. I'd probably just smack him for that too." Ukyou's gaze was on the ground. Emotions Nabiki recognized as guilt and worry continued to bubble forth. "Everything… and I mean everything… had an undercurrent of getting Ranma to respect him, and frustration about when Ranma didn't. It wasn't enough to beat Ranma… I mean, Ryouga's done that. It was always about respect. Even when he complained about how Ranma didn't respect Akane… it was like it was all outrage about seeing someone else experience what he was experiencing. And that was something I kinda had in common with him, too. That should have set off warning bells… especially when Ryouga would complain about Ranma vamping him like she does. He was always furious about how she was making fun of him rather than being upset about the whole 'come on' in the first place. I always asked him why he never seemed to be able to see through her disguises - and I never got a decent answer out of him. Part of me always wondered… Well, 'what if'? You know? What if Ranma wasn't teasing one time?"
"It already happened," Nabiki said casually. "Ranma got tagged with some sort of magic fishing rod, fell madly in love with Ryouga and started doing all the creepy stalker-ish stuff love potions seem to always make people do." Nabiki shrugged. "Aside from things being really awkward, nothing happened."
"Yeah, but that's magic. That doesn't count. Like you said, it's pretty obvious and creepy," Ukyou replied. "I mean, Ryouga isn't the fastest on the uptake and he figured out it was bogus. But… there's no love spell or potion in play right now... is there?"
"Not so far as I can tell. And I've been checking," Nabiki tried to sound unconcerned. "No, as far as I can tell, all of this…" she gestured around vaguely, "is just… the next stage of The Madness, I guess?"
"'The Madness'. It worries me a bit you have a term for it," Ukyou said, sounding a little bemused. "But I guess that makes sense. You seem to be the one person who has a grasp on actually managing all this chaos."
Nabiki sighed heavily. She suddenly felt very tired. "I thought I did. I jumped on the tiger's back thinking I could tame it and make it do tricks. It seems I've convinced everyone else that I know what I'm doing too." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "And now I'm in way too far over my head to let on that I haven't the slightest clue what I'm doing."
Ukyou looked at her for a moment, then gave her hand another reassuring squeeze. "You wanna talk about it?"
Nabiki glanced at her from the corner of her eye, quizzically.
"I'm a pretty good listener. Almost a professional you might say," Ukyou said with a wan smile. "You can't keep all this stuff to yourself. Then you're just making the same mistake Ranma made, right? Trying to shoulder it all?"
"It's not like it's really stuff you guys can help with," Nabiki muttered.
"Firstly, that's not the point of talking about it with someone," Ukyou replied. "Most of the people who lay out their problems to me at Ucchan's don't expect me to actually do anything to fix them. And secondly? Try me." She nudged Nabiki with her elbow.
Nabiki took a deep breath. "All right… to start with, Himura's Grandfather has turned this whole volleyball thing with Ranma into a test for her… and me. If we lose? Well… probably not going to end well. But if we win? The Yakuza are probably going to want to chat with me for one reason or another."
"I'd think something like that would be right up your alley?" Ukyou asked.
Nabiki shot her a horrified look. "Are you insane?! I'd think the myths and legends about them would be enough to worry even you. Me… I know just enough to know that the myths are myths, the reality is actually a lot worse, and that I am an insignificant fish in their big pond. And once you're in that pond, you're in it with the sharks forever."
Ukyou shrugged. "So we'd be sunk unless we could find some Master Mercenary Genius to help us deal with them." She reached over and poked Nabiki's shoulder with her finger. "Oh, hey. I guess we're good then?"
Nabiki shuddered. "Don't joke. I'm not on that level. I don't want to be. That's why I wanted to go into business, not crime! Business has rules, it has structure and if you screw up the worst thing they do is come for your money. Maybe there's prison time if you really mess up… But they don't come for your family."
"Depends on the business, sugar," Ukyou replied. "I've set up shop in the same neighborhood as some pretty shady outfits."
"Not like this," Nabiki shot back.
She reached into her pocket and fished out her cell phone, swiping to the new app that had been added. She then held it up for Ukyou to see. "I've also come to the attention of some people who want Himura's Grandfather and his company to go down. They're offering to swap their hacking services for any information I might be able to get in this meeting I was promised - should I happen to 'beat' Himura. Basically, they want me to turn stoolie on a major player in the local branch of the Yakuza."
Ukyou frowned. "What do you need a hacker for?"
Nabiki sighed and looked at her phone contemplatively. "I haven't been able to dig up anything on what Himura is doing behind the scenes. She's been out of town a couple of times, including a few trips to the airport. There's this whole issue about how Ranma's birth gender should have disqualified her from playing volleyball competitively but hasn't, and the fact that Himura is so supremely unconcerned about all of this, even with how easily Ranma's team is trouncing other high-ranking teams. She's way too smart not to be worried… unless she's already got a rock-solid play. But I haven't got the contacts to find out what she might be up to. Except… this one."
"What would taking that deal mean?" Ukyou asked softly.
"Most likely scenario? Some sort of Witness Protection. New identity for me and the family. Move to a new place. It'd affect you guys too… anyone who's connected to me, really. Worst case, we all end up hunted by the Yakuza."
Ukyou looked thoughtful a moment, then shrugged. "Okay. That's it?"
Nabiki gaped at her. "'That's it'!? Ukyou…!"
Ukyou rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know what you're gonna say; 'Guns on one side, Martial Artists on the other results in a lot of dead martial artists.' Look, I've dealt with punks with guns before, even a couple of Yakuza trying to get protection money. You don't have to beat all the guns in Japan, you know. You just gotta be too much trouble to be worth taking down. All of us together? We're easily more trouble than the Yakuza want. Trust me."
Nabiki opened her mouth, closed it again, then looked at her phone. "But…"
Ukyou turned to her, squeezed her hand and reached out and tapped the icon. "There. It's my fault now. You do what you need to do with that to take Himura down and let us worry about the heavy lifting parts, okay?"
The cat icon animated, giving a thumbs up before going back to being static. Nabiki stared at it for a moment, then looked over at Ukyou.
"I… thank you," Nabiki managed finally.
"We've been relying on you pretty heavily of late to make the tough decisions. I thought it was about time we took some of the load off," Ukyou replied.
Nabiki's phone buzzed - an incoming text message with no originating number.
She swallowed nervously, then squeezed Ukyou's hand. For once she was grateful to have some support. Huh… look at me relying on others, she thought as she brought up the message, which was simply a notification that they'd be calling her at the end of the school day. The old me would be appalled. She thumbed her phone off and gave Ukyou a tentative nod.
She felt a reassuring squeeze in return, and the warmth of reassurance from Ukyou through the Link. It helped, somehow. Nothing had changed - all of the factors were still exactly as bad as they were before - but somehow they seemed more manageable. As though a big part of what had made them seem so hopeless and insurmountable was… just loneliness.
I think… I think I'm glad I'm not that Nabiki anymore.
000
Konatsu was sweeping in front of the shop, letting his mind wander. There was a pleasant zen to chores. It had been a solace and a refuge for him when he had lived with his Stepfamily at the Red Hot Tea House. Naturally, his family had abused the zen-like state he adopted for such tasks to plant a number of rather powerful subconscious suggestions but, with them gone and Ukyou's support, he had made quite a bit of progress in asserting himself. Still, it was nice to be alone and not have to keep his guard up - and when it was quiet like this he could settle back into that pleasant trance that made the work fly by.
"Konatsu!"
Or… perhaps another time, Konatsu thought regretfully, looking up from his sweeping to see Mineko trotting towards him. He leaned the broom against the wall and bowed formally. "Mineko-san, it's a pleasure to see you again."
Mineko looked around nervously. "Konatsu, I need to talk to you. But… Can we go somewhere else to talk, please?"
Konatsu blinked. Despite her demeanor, he did not sense anyone threatening in the immediate vicinity. "Is something amiss?"
"I… just don't want to talk here," Mineko shook her head. "Please?"
Konatsu considered. Technically, Ucchan's was still open, though it was dead slow at this time of day. He had seen Ukyou close the shop briefly for errands or even for personal reasons but he had never considered doing so himself. Still… Mineko was a friend, and obviously unsettled. Loyalty to Ukyou and a sense of duty warred with the impulse to help a friend, and ultimately the latter won out.
He lifted the store's noren off its rack, furled it, slid open the door and placed it inside. "It is slow right now. I can afford a few minutes if it is something urgent," he said, turning to Mineko after having secured the restaurant. "Where would you care to talk?"
"Anywhere… just… not here," Mineko took his hand, looking around for a moment. "I guess the park will do. Come on." She started to lead him at a brisk pace. Once they were a block away from the restaurant, she seemed to relax a little. "Himura has that place bugged. I didn't want her to overhear what I have to tell you."
Konatsu scowled. "I was not aware she had stooped to such lows in her conflict with Ranma and my Lady Ukyou."
Mineko laughed, a bitter, almost hopeless sound. "Oh god, Konatsu, you have no idea! She's gone off the deep end. Really, really gone off the deep end." She led Konatsu to the small park, finally releasing his hand. She turned and sat down heavily on a bench, clasping her hands in her lap and shuddering.
"What has happened?" Konatsu asked, gently prompting her to speak. He felt an odd, growing sense of worry.
"Please, please understand before I say anything that I didn't want any of this," Mineko said, giving him an imploring look. "I just… I just wanted to play competitively. I wanted to go to the Olympics. I… started experimenting with… substances. Not seriously, but… but I had heard so many athletes use that stuff that I figured… I needed to know what it did and what it felt like; if it was something I could overcome with regular training or… or if I was going to have to accept that it was part of what I needed to do to get where I wanted to be. Himura… Himura found out. She covered it up without me even needing to ask. Said I was too promising to allow something like that to get in my way. I… I believed in her. I believed her when she said she could get me where I wanted to go without the drugs."
Konatsu sat down next to her. "You feel she has betrayed this trust, then."
Mineko clenched her fists. "It was just supposed to be volleyball. It was just supposed to be a game! But… But now that Himura has power." She shuddered. "She's started getting in over her head, I think. She made a deal with some scary people from China. She's got students at Furinkan working on some sort of… of potion. One that changes people."
"Changes them?" Konatsu asked.
"Man to woman, human to animal, that kinda stuff. Like the curses Ranma and the others have, except… except the changes are one-way and permanent. And they affect you up here," Mineko tapped her temple. "Convince you you always were whatever it is they turn you into. I think they also make it so other people can rewrite your memories. Something about a 'suggestible state'."
"That's horrible!" Konatsu's eyes widened. As someone who had always had a disparity between mind and body, he could well imagine the agony that could come from being forced into a form not your own, especially if the knowledge of what had been done to you was taken. You would never be quite right, and never know why.
"She's… she's looking for test subjects," Mineko said. "People who… who she thinks might actually welcome the change, at least on some level, I guess." She swallowed. "Konatsu… you're on the list!"
"She… wishes to target me for her experiment?" Konatsu was taken aback.
"You and a number of other martial artists who have… she called it 'gender dysphoria'. I think she wants to test it so she can use it on Ranma, so she wants someone with… with a similar mindset? I don't know." She dropped her head into her hands. "I don't know anymore! It's all so crazy now!"
"I see." Konatsu put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You needn't worry about me. I am more than capable of protecting myself." He paused as he considered the import of what Mineko had told him. "They… are seeking someone who they believe would welcome the effects of this potion?"
Mineko nodded, glancing at him. "I… don't know why. I mean, obviously no one wants their memories rewritten, even if they do want to… transition I guess. Right?"
Konatsu was silent a moment.
"Konatsu?" Mineko asked after the moment stretched on.
"Some memories… I would not miss," Konatsu said finally. "There have been times I have dearly wished I could… rewrite who I was. To be more assertive, to be more sure, to be…" His eyes flicked down. His form was feminine in all of the right places, and all of it the artful use of padding and deception. "To be more genuine. My life since my parents died has not always been easy. Sometimes I wonder… who I might have become had I not fallen to my Stepmother's care."
"You'd… actually want this?" Mineko asked, her voice a little hushed.
That comment brought Konatsu out of his reverie. He smiled and shook his head, eyes closed. "No… no, I do not. The idea is tempting on the surface, but the price…"
He felt a prick on his arm. His eyes snapped open and he turned to see a small spot of red on his forearm and Mineko holding what appeared to be some kind of tranquilizer dart in her hand. Her guilty expression filled in the rest for him.
He bolted to his feet, lurched and stumbled, but his legs were already numb and heavy. He managed a few steps before falling to the ground.
Mineko ran over to him, kneeling near him as he struggled against the poison. "Just… just relax, Konatsu! Please? It's… It's for the best! You have to trust me that this is for the best…"
"Mnnrrrrgh…" Konatsu tried to speak, but already his tongue was thick and unresponsive. Spots were dancing across his vision as the darkness closed in from the edges. Part of him wondered what kind of sedative could possibly work so fast without killing him. Part of him wondered if it was actually a sedative at all.
Ukyou… I'm sorry… His last thoughts faded into the darkness as his consciousness was ripped forcibly from him.
000
The noise and confusion of the game made an almost comforting distraction for Nabiki when her phone finally did ring.
She excused herself from her seat. Ranma's team was winning handily; well enough that Ranma was feeling comfortable enough to show off. The crowd was eating it up.
And Himura, sitting on the team bench, looked happy with the development.
Something was up. Nabiki hadn't been able to relax as the sense that she was missing something fundamentally important gnawed at the back of her mind.
As soon as she felt the buzz of the phone in her pocket, she tapped Hiroshi on the shoulder and motioned for him and Daisuke to follow her. Ignoring his confused look, she got up and fished the phone out of her pocket.
"Nabiki Tendo," she said as she deftly slipped through the crowd and out the side exit into the cool night air.
"We were worried you weren't going to take us up on our offer," the highly filtered voice said on the other end of the line. "Are you alone?"
"No," Nabiki stated matter-of-factly. "But they're associates and I trust them, and I'm done flying this solo. Before we discuss anything I want to be clear any protections need to extend to all those associated with me."
"That's… a tall order," the voice of Alibaba said hesitantly.
"It's that or no deal," Nabiki replied. "You get full cooperation from me, whatever it takes, but I need them shielded from reprisals and scrubbed from any official records."
"…N-Nabiki?" Hiroshi asked, eyes wide as he listened to her side of the conversation. Daisuke was gaping at her silently next to him.
Nabiki held up a finger to keep them quiet until she got the answer she wanted from the hacker.
"We… will do everything in our power. Records are easy, but we've got limited resources, you understand."
That was the answer Nabiki had expected. She settled into negotiation mode. "That's understood. I have the resources to handle physical protection, as long as I get sufficient forewarning. But I need their anonymity maintained. No cops coming to them asking them to testify or anything. Clear?"
"We can do that," Alibaba sounded almost relieved through the filtration. "So can we assume we can do business then?"
"On two conditions. Firstly, I'm introducing you to my two associates because I'll need you to work with them on this. They're my eyes and ears on the ground when it comes to all things Himura. You'll deal with them and their requests." Nabiki took a deep breath. "And secondly, I need you to get me Ranma Saotome's Family Register and Birth Records. Copies of the unaltered originals."
"Ranma Saotome? But…" The voice sounded confused.
"I think Himura has altered Ranma's records, so I'll need to know what she's done, as well as have backups of the originals to fix it. Which means it's not just enough to get me access to the Hall of Records," Nabiki stated.
"That would require access to the actual physical records. We can get you in for that, but…" Alibaba started.
"You need someone to actually go in and do the research," Nabiki glanced at Hiroshi and Daisuke and gave them a wink. "I think you see why I wanted to introduce my associates?"
"I see. Yes, we can do that."
"Good. Give me a moment, please." She tapped mute on her phone, then looked Hiroshi and Daisuke in the eyes. "So now comes the part where I ask the two of you how deep down the rabbit hole you're willing to go?"
"You mean we're getting into Yakuza territory," Daisuke said.
Nabiki nodded. "This is… way outside of what you two signed on for," she admitted. "Going this route locks me in long-term. It's not just about beating Himura in a game of volleyball. It's about taking down Tanaka Pharmaceuticals, torpedoing important Yakuza operations in this part of Japan, and probably angering a lot of people that it's not particularly smart to anger."
Hiroshi and Daisuke exchanged a glance.
"It's dangerous. We might die," Hiroshi said matter-of-factly.
"The same could be said of trying to get curry bread at lunch at this school," Daisuke responded.
"We could end up on a Yakuza hit list," Hiroshi countered, again with that calm tone.
"We live in Nerima and know Ranma Saotome. We probably already are," Daisuke parried. "If we pull this off, though, it might be our break into real detective work."
"If we screw it up, no Law Enforcement Agency or Detective Firm will touch us with a ten foot pole."
"They weren't going to anyway. Furinkan High, remember? They wouldn't even come out here for Career Day because of safety concerns."
"I remember that. Wusses. I suppose that if they're scared of a few martial artists then the Yakuza would seem pretty intimidating."
"Right? So when it comes time to save those Martial Artists, who's gonna do it?"
"Us, of course."
"Exactly. Who else can?"
"So then it seems we're in agreement."
They turned to her as one. Daisuke gave her a thumbs up.
"Angering people it's not smart for us to anger is kind of our thing," he said with a grin.
"That and detective work," Hiroshi added.
"And tutus."
"I think the tutus go without question at this point."
Nabiki chuckled and shook her head, feeling immensely better as she unmuted her phone. "Well, it seems they're on board if you are. I hope you're ready for the ride."
000
Getting the wheels in motion with Alibaba had made Nabiki feel better, but she wasn't quite ready to return to the crowd and noise of the gymnasium. From the roar of the crowd she could tell that Ranma's team was still winning handily. She'd let the team give her the play-by-play later on anything important that she might have missed. She sent Hiroshi and Daisuke back inside and decided to take a short walk to clear her head.
Coming around to the parking lot, she noticed there were two limousines taking up an obscene amount of space. One she recognized as belonging to the Kuno family, and the other she assumed was Himura's. She noted with some amusement that the Kuno Limo had boxed Himura's in.
Well, good to see Kodachi has decided to continue pursuing her beef with Himura. If nothing else that'll be a distraction for her. Nabiki smiled a little, but it faded quickly. Still not sure how I'm going to defuse things with the Kuno siblings, though.
"Nabiki Tendo?"
Nabiki froze. The voice was familiar, of course, but it had a tone and inflection to it that she hadn't heard in a very long time. She turned slowly to see a tall figure step out from the shadow of the nearby tree.
It was a bit unusual to see Tatewaki Kuno in a regular school uniform. It made him seem lankier and taller. He looked a great deal healthier than when she had seen him last in the hospital, though she noticed that he still moved with a slight stiffness.
She crossed her arms and raised a skeptical eyebrow. She had heard Ranma and Ryouga's account of the 'new and improved' Tatewaki Kuno, but she remained unconvinced. "If you're looking for your Pig-tailed Goddess or my little sister, they're both inside."
Despite the dim lighting, the wince was visible. "Did I really insist on calling her that?" He asked rhetorically, then shook his head. "No matter. I've spoken with Ran about my past behaviour and… I fear I am not quite ready to make my amends to your sister yet. I am here simply because my sister wished to watch Ran play. I… did not feel comfortable making an appearance."
"Yet you broke out the old uniform anyway," Nabiki noted.
"It seemed appropriate to wear it while here, even if I'm not ready to come back," Tatewaki replied. He tugged at the collar and chuckled. "Not that I wore it overmuch when I was here. I have also discovered that my wardrobe is somewhat lacking in attire that is not more appropriate for the Feudal Era."
Nabiki frowned. "Fair enough. But why come here? It's not like Kodachi can't ride in the limo by herself."
"I gave the driver the night off. It seems he has gotten precious few of those as neither my sister nor I have been terribly attentive to the needs of our staff. I drove the limo."
"You drove…" Nabiki echoed with flat incredulity.
"I suppose you are entitled to your surprise, but yes, I do have my license. It was something of a matter of pride at the time as I recall. The rigors of it seem to have forced some form of clarity on me as it is one of the few things I remember clearly from the past few years. Or, at least my last few attempts once bluster and posturing had failed to get me what I wanted." He tucked his hands into his pockets. "I… am told I made quite a scene the first time I failed the test."
Nabiki's mouth twitched into a slight grin in spite of herself. "I'm sorry I missed it. But you just happened to give your driver the night off on a night you knew Kodachi needed a ride? Sorry, but you're still a terrible liar Kuno-baby."
He chuckled dryly. "I… suppose I deserve that. You're right… I did want to be here. Some notion of somehow finding the words or the courage on the drive over. A pleasant fantasy that did not come true, leaving me cowering here. It seems that outcome did not satisfy fate, though."
"If you're expecting me to go in and drag out my sister so you can soothe your conscience…" Nabiki started.
"I would do no such thing," Tatewaki said, perhaps a little more sharply than he intended because he paused and took a breath. "Forgive me… I fear I am… unprepared. Yours is by far the hardest atonement that I must make."
"Mine?" Nabiki gave him a confused look. "What apology do you owe me?" She found herself taking a few steps closer, wanting to see his expression in the dim light.
"My recollection of many of the things I have done is dim. A… trick of brain chemistry, I am told. I am like the drunkard waking up from half a decade of indulgent torpor. But… When I first chose to heed my father's wishes and throw away my medication…" He pulled his hand from his pocket, displaying a small orange pill bottle, which he studied briefly, "When I chose to throw away my sanity… it was not abrupt or sudden, and I remember each moment as I felt my restraint and control peel away from me. It was… freeing at first. I suppose intoxicating is an appropriate analogy. And I remember confronting you and…" He trailed off.
"That was ancient history, Kuno," Nabiki said. "I got my pound of flesh back for that and then some."
Tatewaki shook his head. "So I wronged you and tossed you a yen coin as payment, though the amount was revised upwards over time. Even if you are satisfied that covers my debt, I am not." He looked at her with an intensity and clarity in his eyes she hadn't seen from him in a long time. "I said hateful things to you… things that were not meant for you, but were born of my resentment of my mother. You had been nothing but supportive. Perhaps you were the only one who truly did support me… and the first time you showed vulnerability to me I attacked it."
Nabiki blinked.
"And even afterwards, I continued to dismiss you. To use you as an avenue to feed my obsessions. I barely acknowledged you as a person. I called you a mercenary and a gold digger."
Nabiki's eyes narrowed. "If we're being honest, I did earn that on my own merits."
"And how much responsibility do I bear for setting you on that course?" Tatewaki asked. "I remember clearly the girl I knew in middle school, before the haze, and the girl I see now, and…"
"Tachi, stop."
"What if I had not forgone my medication?" Tatewaki asked. "What if I had even just listened? You… you were asking me to…"
"I said stop," Nabiki said sharply, cutting him short. He blinked in confusion.
"I'm not doing this, Tachi," Nabiki said firmly. "I know you're all fired up to make your amends and to make things right, but I am not going down the 'what if' trail today." She walked up to him and poked him in the chest. "Yes, you ripped out my heart and stomped on it. I was thirteen. That was bound to happen. No, you are not the driving force that led me to become the Ice Queen of Furinkan. There are a lot more important factors in my life that have led to that than you. I was angry and hurt. And I got over it. And I forgave you for it. And I knew something was wrong and I didn't do anything to help you, so if anything…" She closed her eyes and sighed. "If anything, I owe you an apology."
"Nabiki…" He gaped at her.
She sighed and turned away, wrapping her arms around herself. "You have the worst timing, Kuno. Of all the times to pick to get your head straight…" She laughed bitterly and shook her head. "Do you know how long I waited for exactly that apology?"
"Five years?" Tatewaki offered.
"Two," Nabiki corrected him. "The first year was because I was angry and wanted you to prostrate yourself in front of me so I could grind your apology back in your face. The second year was because I was lonely and I just wanted my friend back. And then after that… I realized I didn't need an apology anymore." She turned to look at him. "It's only been recently I started to realize that I didn't deserve one."
"Didn't deserve… How on earth do you figure that?" Tatewaki asked, appalled.
Nabiki turned to look at him. "Kuno… Tachi. If a thirteen year old boy is being ordered by his sole legal guardian to do something, no matter how stupid or self-destructive… how long do you figure it'll be before he does it? Parents are supposed to be the ones who know what's best for us. It's hard not to listen, even if in our guts we know they're wrong. God knows I've gone along with enough of Daddy's stupidity, not to mention what Ranma has let his insane parents talk him into. What you said to me… You said it because you weren't in control, and you weren't in control because someone took it away from you. I understood that and figured it out by the time we ended up in the same homeroom class here. But… I didn't do anything."
"And what, pray tell, could you have been expected to do?" Tatewaki asked gently.
"Something!?" Nabiki shot back, throwing her hands in the air. "Something other than whoring out my little sister and… and our houseguest to you when it was obvious you weren't well?"
"There was nothing you could have done," Tatewaki replied.
"I didn't even try," Nabiki sighed. "You were supposed to be my best friend, and then the instant it seemed like I needed you more than you needed me…" Nabiki trailed off, rubbing at her forehead. "I didn't want to dig into all of this yet. I have so much else going on…"
"I didn't intend for this to cause you strife, Nabiki Tendo." Tatewaki took a step forward and put his hands on her shoulders.
She gave him a startled look, and he immediately released her and stepped back.
"I… I apologize, I overstepped…" he stammered.
Nabiki gaped at him for a moment longer then shook her head and chuckled dryly. "You know… When Ranm… Ran told me how much you had changed, I didn't believe her."
"I don't believe I have changed overmuch," Tatewaki replied. "I am just… aware now, I suppose." He took a small step towards her, extending a hand. "I do not wish to overstep again, but… are you all right? I have been focused on my needs, but… I understand you and your family are in a serious situation, and you yourself have been under considerable stress."
Nabiki closed her eyes. The idea of being able to unload some of what was weighing on her was tempting, but she reminded herself that as reasonable as Tatewaki seemed now, he was not a neutral party.
And he's only a few skipped pills from being a maniac again, a dark voice whispered in the back of her mind.
That's not fair! another part of her protested.
Are you going to just forgive him so easily? After what he did to you and to your sister? After what he put Ranma through? YOUR Ranma? What his father and even his sister are putting you all through? the voice continued, cold and merciless. Are you willing to take that much of a risk just because you want your childhood friend back?
Nabiki's shoulders sagged. No… I can't, she realized.
She looked back up at Tatewaki. She couldn't muster any real hate in her heart for him, but neither could she afford trust. "I'm sorry, Tachi. I am. But… I'm not your middle school friend anymore. And more importantly, you're not mine. My problems are my own and, like it or not, you and your family are part of those problems. And until I can trust that your grip… your commitment to your sanity is a little firmer, I have to keep you at arm's length for now."
A hurt expression crossed his face. His hand dropped to his side and his eyes fell.
"Yes… yes of course. You're right," he said softly. "Your circumstances demand… pragmatism."
Nabiki felt an ache in her heart, an old hurt prodded awake. She clenched her fists. "Tachi… If I was being my old cynical self, I would be selling you some sob-story right now to try and manipulate you into selling out your father and sister to help me. I'm still not entirely sure why I'm not but… If this is you… if you're really back… I want to believe it. I want it to be real… but I can't afford to trust that it's real. Not just because you're suddenly saying all the right things, anyway. So I'm being honest right now, even if it makes me look like a total bitch because…" she took a deep breath, "because I'm hoping you'll prove to me you're back."
"You wish for me to earn your trust once more?" Tatewaki asked hopefully.
"That's not your cue to do something stupid and impulsive," Nabiki said quickly. "But… yes?" She gave him an uncertain look, not entirely sure of her own feelings herself. "Look, just… take your pills and keep doing what you're doing. I guess I just want to see that this is going to last before I'm willing to dredge up the past."
Tatewaki looked thoughtful for a moment, his expression solemn. Finally he nodded and gave her a stiff, formal bow.
"Thank you, Nabiki Tendo," he said. "I… am not sure what I expected, meeting you today. But you have offered me some direction and a willingness to give me a chance to prove through deed what words find insufficient. I will not squander that, I promise."
Nabiki schooled her expression to one of careful, businesslike neutrality, wrestling back emotional control, and nodded in return. "Good. If you'll excuse me…" Her voice cracked a bit at the end and she covered by turning and walking quickly away.
000
"Match point! And the winner is Furinkan High!"
Ranma pumped her fist in the air, giving an exultant shout as the crowd roared. She was quickly joined by the rest of her team while practically the entire school was roaring in the stands.
Ranma decided that she was never going to get tired of this part.
"That's three!" Riko crowed. "They were really good, too!"
"Yeah, if I was Himura, I'd be getting a bit worried," Yuka said smugly. "These guys were all the teams that gave her 'Championship Team' a tough time last year and we're trouncing them! Probably not so confident about beating our 'little team' now, huh?"
Sayuri scowled. Ranma noticed her expression and followed her gaze to where Himura was already leaving. She was chatting and joking with the other members of her team, seemingly unconcerned.
"I'm not so sure," Sayuri murmured softly.
"Awww, that's just her fronting," Yuka replied. "You know how it is. She's gotta maintain her precious facade even if she's headed home to smash every plate in the cupboard."
Ranma's brow furrowed. While Himura wasn't exactly easy to read, she had to admit that the older girl seemed rather carefree, all things considered.
Her train of thought was cut off as someone else tackle-hugged her from behind. She yelped and turned her head to see Akane grinning over her shoulder at her. She was quickly joined by Shampoo and Ukyou, which was more than Ranma could sustain, and they ended up tumbling to the floor.
"They gonna be this enthusiastic when we win game five, or we beat Himura's team?" Riko asked, watching the impromptu wrestling match.
"Oh no, for that the clothing is going to come off," Yuka said with a sly grin.
Rin blinked innocently at her. "Why would their clothing come off?"
"Well, you see when two or more martial artists love each other very much, they- -mmmmmmpph," Yuka started, but Sayuri had slapped a hand over her mouth.
"Please don't corrupt the Rin any more than is absolutely necessary?" Sayuri said in a tired voice. "We managed to go the whole game without breaking her brain this time."
Ranma extricated herself from the bottom of the pile. She was entirely used to getting dogpiled, though it was a lot more pleasant now that it didn't immediately spark a fight. "Okay, okay! I need to breathe!" She giggled a bit as she was reluctantly released. "Besides, I'm all smelly. Lemme take a shower, okay?"
She turned towards the showers, but immediately found herself wheeling about onto a different course when someone hooked her arm and redirected her towards the exit. She blinked and turned to see Ukyou, arm looped through hers, and a determined expression on her face as she marched them towards the exit with conviction.
"U-Ucchan?" Ranma asked, a little startled by the sudden move. "Where are we going?"
"You're taking your shower at my place, sugar," Ukyou said.
"B-but…!"
"No buts!" Ukyou said, still looking resolutely forward as they made it to the door. "Akane line-jumped once already today. I haven't had any alone time with you since we got linked and I can only be so patient, so it's my place and a shower, or right here in the parking lot!" She turned and gave Ranma a glare that told her that the okonomiyaki chef was deadly serious.
Ranma swallowed hard.
000 (Chapter 28 End)
This is a shorter chapter, but it made sense to end here because it was the end of the day.
More soon!
