Ranma ½ – Happily Ever After
Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is the property of Takahashi Rumiko and all those other large corporations that publish and distribute Ranma ½. No profit is gained from this work, just a great deal of enjoyment writing it.
Chapter 50 – Sometimes Boring Is Welcome
Even though it was after ten when Akane and Ranma returned home, Kasumi was still awake and waiting for them to come home.
"You didn't have to wait up for us," Akane said after exchanging hugs with her sister.
"It really isn't that late," Kasumi replied, "and I thought you might like to get your messages before morning."
Kasumi retrieved an envelope from the phone table and handed it to Ranma, who immediately recognized the stationary. There was no need for Ranma to open the envelope to know its contents.
"Does my great grandmother actually think that we would forget about the invitation for dinner?" Ranma asked as he opened the envelope and remove its contents. Ranma read the invitation and then smiled broadly. He handed the invitation to Akane who, after she read it, began to laugh. Akane handed it to Kasumi who grinned as she read the invitation.
"It was the same two gentlemen who were here last week who delivered the invitation this morning," Kasumi said. "There were still scratches on their faces and they seemed relieved that you weren't here to accept the invitation personally."
"I'll write a note and get it in the mail tomorrow and let her know that we will be there," Akane said. "I wouldn't want those two gentlemen to have to repeat the ordeal of reminding us how important it is for us to accept the invitation."
"I think it's funny that she extended the invitation to Katsu as well," Kasumi commented.
"Were there any other messages?" Ranma asked.
"Only the phone call from Akane's gymnastics' coach to remind Akane that there would be practice after school tomorrow," Kasumi answered.
"I wasn't expecting us not to have practice," Akane said. "We couldn't believe that she gave us the week off considering that we have a tournament in just a few weeks."
"She also said that there would be a club meeting before practice," Kasumi added. "She said she had a very important announcement to make and that practice would probably run late."
"I wonder what kind of important announcement she has?" Ranma asked.
"She didn't say what it was about," Kasumi answered. "She only said that after the meeting there would be a full practice and that you would be late getting home."
"There's no way to tell what it might be about," Akane said. "The coach has really been acting strangely since she came back and she said some really strange things at the funeral. She wasn't in school the rest of last week after the funeral. I'm not going to worry about it. I hadn't planned on missing practice."
"So," Kasumi asked, "did you have fun on your little vacation?"
"It was a lot of fun," Akane answered. "Aka-chan's school's festival was bigger than some of the community festivals we have here."
"Did your friends enjoy themselves?" Kasumi inquired.
"I think it was exactly what Hikari needed," Akane responded. "Kasumi, do you think it would be all right if Aka-chan came to visit us during the winter school break?"
"I don't see why not," Kasumi replied. "I don't think we have any special plans this year… at least not yet. We can talk more about it tomorrow though. It sounds like you're going to have a busy day. You should probably get some sleep."
"You're right," Ranma said. "We didn't any sleep on the train."
Kasumi handed the dinner invitation to Ranma and said, "Why don't you show this to Katsu. I'm sure he'll be absolutely honored."
Monday morning brought a return to a more normal routine. Akane and Ranma were up early and went for their morning run and did their morning workout… although somewhat lighter than they usually did. Partially because there was a bit of a chill in the air this morning. Mostly though it was because their workout schedule the previous week had been erratic at best and even the light run they did demonstrated how much of an effect missing a few days had.
When Akane and Ranma arrived at breakfast Soun was already sitting at the dining room table reading the paper and Kasumi was setting food on the table. Once Akane and Ranma had taken their seats, Soun set the newspaper aside.
As they ate, Akane and Ranma provided a full report about their weekend activities, describing the Aka-chan's school and the various events at the festival.
"There weren't any problems because you showed up unannounced, were there?" Soun asked.
"No," Akane replied. "Aka-chan had all of her classmates over for a party at the inn after the festival. Aka-chan's grandmother had set aside one wing of the inn for that."
"Akane and I stayed in the same room we stayed in when we were there for our honeymoon," Ranma added.
"I'm glad everything worked out," Soun responded. "Did you see the invitation from your great grandmother?"
"Kasumi gave it to us last night," Akane said.
"And at this point I don't think we have anything planned that would prevent us from attending," remarked Ranma.
"At this point…" Soun said in a slightly raised voice. "At this point there shouldn't be anything that would interfere with you attending dinner at your great grandmother's. I still need to get an estimate for the repairs to the damage from the last time you turned down her invitation."
"I didn't think we did that much damage to the dojo," Ranma responded.
"Father is exaggerating," Kasumi commented. "There's a slight crack in one of the wall boards, but I think father would like to have your friend come in and make some other repairs to the house."
"Don't worry dad," Akane said. "I'll make sure Ranma and I make it to dinner on Saturday even if I have to kick Ranma's butt all the way there."
"There won't be any need to do that," Kasumi said. "The gentlemen who delivered the invitation said that there would be a car to pick you up… at five o'clock Saturday afternoon… precisely.
Kodachi and Nabiki walked slowly toward the train station. Even though there was a good chance that they would miss their train, neither felt enough enthusiasm to rush. The mood was the same throughout the entire Kuno household. Somber was the only proper word to describe the atmosphere at breakfast.
"It felt almost like a wake this morning at breakfast," Nabiki said as they walked.
"No… I think a wake would have been far more cheerful." Kodachi responded with nothing that even closely resembled enthusiasm in her voice.
"Isamu-san never made an appearance this morning," Nabiki said after a moment of reflection. "Usually he's right in the middle of things barking out orders."
"The rumor mill says that you broke his jaw," Kodachi replied.
"I can only hope. I felt bad for the girl that was assigned this morning as my personal servant. I thought she was going to start crying every time she looked at me."
"It didn't help that you called her Mami."
"Probably not. What is her name anyway?"
"It doesn't really matter," Kodachi replied. "You'll probably have a different girl assigned tomorrow. So, have you come up with any ideas to get Mami back."
"Short of kidnapping her from her aunt's house… no."
"That's kind of a lame plan," Kodachi replied. She began to smile. "Anyway, we don't have anyplace to keep her once we grab her."
Finally a smile crept on to Nabiki's face. "The could always keep her at my father's house."
"That's true… We could."
The pair walked silently for a moment.
"Actually… I was thinking of talking to Isamu-san and apologizing to him. Maybe I did overstep my bounds."
"Come on now," Kodachi asked. "Where is the scheming Nabiki that I remember? Has your pregnancy dulled your sense of devious?"
"Maybe this time devious isn't what's necessary."
The walk to school this morning was leisurely. With a little encouragement from Kasumi, Akane and Ranma had managed to leave for school ahead of schedule.
"Did you remind Kasumi that you're going to be late tonight?" Ranma asked.
"Just before we left," Akane answered. "Did you remember to bring your homework with you? It would be a shame to leave it at home after you put all that effort into it."
"What effort?" Ranma replied. "We had one literature worksheet to do and we finished that last night after we got back home."
"Well, it's more effort than you ever put into homework before," Akane said. "Someone might actually think that you're becoming a responsible adult."
"No chance of that… at least not anyone who knows me," Ranma replied with a laugh.
Akane took on a more serious look. "Speaking of being a responsible adult… How much did this weekend cost us?"
Ranma replied. "It didn't cost as much as I expected considering that Aka-chan's grandmother refused to take any money for our room or meals."
"Why not?"
"She said that she had already written off the rooms for the party and since it's the slow season already they would have probably been empty anyway."
"That still isn't right. You should have insisted."
"Don't think I didn't try, but then she pulled the line, 'Family stays free'".
"How about Miyuki and Hikari's train tickets?"
"Miyuki paid for those… and she paid for dinner on the way home. The only thing we paid for were our tickets and for the taxi to the inn… and some bus fare."
"And for sake and champagne from the liquor store," Akane added.
"And for sake and champagne… So it really was a cheap weekend. We have enough money to do this again."
"I don't think we'll be making any trips to Kyoto in the near future," Akane said. "The important announcement at the gymnastics' meeting is probably to tell us that we're going to have Saturday practices until the Prefecture tournament. I wouldn't be surprised if the coach will want to have practices on Sundays too."
"That's a little much to ask," Ranma replied. "When are you supposed to have time for yourself?"
"Time for myself… or are you worried that I won't have time for you?"
"Well…" Ranma said quietly.
Akane stopped and Ranma along with her. She slid the hand she had been holding Ranma's hand with around to Ranma's back and she drew Ranma close to her and hugged him.
"Don't worry Ranma. I will always have time for you."
Compared to the events of the previous week, the day was delightfully peaceful for Akane and Ranma.
The big announcement, of course, came during the meeting of the gymnastics' club (although not exactly what everyone expected).
Yeah, just as everyone expected there would be Saturday practices (although, thankfully no practices on Sunday), but the major news was the change in the tournament schedule and the format of the tournaments.
With an eye toward finding candidates to compete in the upcoming Olympics, the national gymnastics' committee asked the schools to standardize the format of the tournaments. In addition, the three best teams from each Prefecture tournament would compete in a regional tournament and then the three best teams from each region would compete in a national tournament. This required a change in the date of the Prefecture tournament (which usually occurred the week after Akane's birthday). The regional tournament was now scheduled for the first weekend in February. The national tournament was scheduled for the second to the last weekend in February, just two weeks before graduation.
Akane hoped that it wouldn't interfere with Kasumi's wedding.
"All of the tournaments will now be two day events," Miss Nohina explained. "Saturday will be the team all around competition and Sunday will be the individual all around and the individual events. Although awards will be given for all of the events, the important event will be the team all around. That will represent sixty-five percent of the team score. Only the top three scoring teams from each level of tournaments will get to compete in the next level."
"So when are these qualifying tournaments?" Sayuri asked.
"The district tournament will be the second to the last weekend in November," the coach answered, "the weekend before the holiday weekend. The prefecture tournament will be the weekend before Christmas."
"That doesn't give us much time to get ready," Yuka said. "How many people will be on the team?"
"For the district and prefecture tournaments the teams will have eight members," the coach responded. "For the regional and national tournaments the teams will only have six."
"Have you decided who will be on the team yet? Miyuki asked.
"No I haven't," the coach replied. "And I don't intend to."
"What do you mean?" Miyuki asked.
"I've been told by a number of people that my personal biases cloud my objectivity," Miss Nohina replied, "so I'm staying out of this. You, as members of the Gymnastics' Club, are going to choose who represents the school."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Sayuri asked.
"Honestly, I don't particularly care," the coach said. "You can flip a coin… You can draw straws… You can even play 'rock, paper, scissors' for all I care. I would hope that you would choose based on each members skill and ability. But however you choose, I need the list of names of the people representing the school by the Monday before the first tournament."
Miss Nohina paused for a moment and then continued. "Now for something I'm sure some of you will consider good news. The last weekend in November is a school holiday. I have a commitment to be out of town that weekend, so there will be no practice on that Friday or Saturday. Now… on that happy bit of news… let's practice."
Nabiki wanted to talk to Isamu but, considering his scarcity after his return the previous day, she had fully expected to have to hunt him down. The last thing Nabiki expected was to have Isamu standing on the walkway to the house, apparently waiting for her.
And if the expression on Isamu's face was any indication, any conversation that was to follow was not going to be pleasant. If looks could kill, Nabiki would already be dead, cremated, buried and damned to the infernal regions.
There seemed no point in putting this off and, even if Nabiki wanted to, it was apparent that Isamu did not since he approached Nabiki long before she had any opportunity to take any alternative action.
"I really don't care what our differences are," Isamu said brusquely, stopping slightly more than an arms length from Nabiki. "But I do not appreciate these kind of infantile pranks. You put me in a very uncomfortable position and if anything like this happens again, I will file a formal complaint with Master Kuno."
Nabiki stared at Isamu for a moment and then asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about."
"No, I don't. If I'm being credited with doing something that put you into an uncomfortable position, I'd like to know what it is. At the moment… I don't have a clue."
"What I'm talking about is the rumor that my daughter is no longer here because I was trying to silence her about an illicit sexual relation between her and me. I do not appreciate being dragged to the police station to explain the whereabouts of my daughter and to have her explain that there was never any such relationship between us."
Nabiki stood and looked in total disbelief of what she was hearing and tried desperately not to fall on the ground in uncontrollable laughter. But try as hard as she might Nabiki could not keep the slightest hint of a smile from escaping from the corner of her mouth.
"I'm… I'm sorry," Nabiki finally said. "I… I would really love to take credit for that, but I can't. I… I have no idea where something like that might have come from. What makes you think I would start a rumor like that?"
"Because you have not exactly made it a secret about the way you feel about the actions I have taken with my daughter."
"Isamu-san, I may think you're an idiot, but I would never start a rumor as vicious as that about anyone… even my brother in law."
Nabiki and Isamu stood and looked at each other for a tense moment. Finally Nabiki asked, "Isamu-san, I know that I can be a real manipulative bitch sometimes, but other than that endearing trait, why don't you like me?"
"You are a disruption to this household," Isamu answered quickly.
"Excuse me," Nabiki responded, more than a little perplexed by Isamu's reply. "Could you run that by me again?"
"You are a disruption to the operation of this house," Isamu replied. "Since your arrival there has been nothing but problems. Staff members question the tasks they have been assign… My own daughter questioning my authority… Master Kuno making inquiries about the operation of the household and the household budget. And personally I believe that your only interest in Master Kuno is his money. I have done considerable checking into your background. Your financial dealings are somewhat legendary in Nerima."
"So you think the only reason I got pregnant was to rip off my husband," Nabiki said. "If you've done as much investigation into my background as you say then you know that if I had wanted to acquire my husband's money, I didn't need to get pregnant and get married to do that. If I wanted my husband's money I would have it by now… every Yen of it. No if that is your concern about me you don't have to worry. I married Kuno because I love him. So put your mind at ease."
Nabiki stepped passed Isamu and began to walk toward the house but she hadn't taken more that three steps passed Isamu when he said, "I would appreciate it if you did not interfere with the day to day business of the household. If you have need of anything please request if directly from me."
Nabiki turned back to Isamu and said, "All right. I'm making my request. I want Mami back."
"I'm sorry but that will be quite impossible."
"Why?"
"Because your relationship with my daughter makes it impossible for her to function effectively as a member of the household staff."
"She doesn't have to be on the household staff," Nabiki responded. "I'm sure it would be fine with everyone if Mami was simply a resident here."
"The only way I would consider letting my daughter stay as a resident is if she were here as a member of the staff," Isamu replied, "and as I've said before, your relationship with my daughter has made that quite impossible."
Nabiki began to say something but Isamu cut her off. "I'm sorry, but that is the way it is."
Nabiki glared at Isamu. "Then I might find it impossible not to interfere with the day to day business of the household."
Nabiki turned and walked into the house, leaving Isamu standing outside.
"So… who do you think will make the team?" Hikari asked as she and Miyuki walked toward home.
"I'm not sure," Miyuki responded. "As far as I'm concerned the only sure bet is Akane."
"Are you saying that because of your personal interest in Akane?" Hikari queried.
"No. I'm saying that because I think Akane could win three of the four events."
There was a momentary pause in the conversation, then Hikari asked, "Why not all four?"
"She admitted to me after the Prefecture tournament that she has no idea how she did what she did on the bars. And since then she's spent most of her time on the balance beam, she hasn't had much time to actually figure out what she did."
"Yuka has really developed a good floor exercise routine… and she's always been good on the vault," Hikari commented.
"That's true… and Sayuri is probably our best on the uneven bars."
"Have you seen Fumiko's floor exercise?"
"You mean the first year girl?"
"That's her. She's been doing gymnastics since she was seven."
"I've seen her on the beam. She's not bad but she still needs to work on her dismount."
"And Aoi has some pretty good vaults… and she's got a really good floor exercise."
"Yeah, but she can't stay on the beam. I haven't seen her on the uneven bars."
"Neither have I."
"You'll probably make the team Hikari," Miyuki said after a pause to think.
"Do you really think so?"
"You're the most consistent club member on the uneven bars and you have one of the best floor exercises."
"But consistent means that I don't fall off the bar, but my routine isn't spectacular… and I have more problems staying on the balance beam than Aoi does."
"You just need to pick up your speed a bit on the bars… and I'll work with you and Akane on the beam."
"You're acting like you don't expect to make the team."
"I'm not," Miyuki responded.
"Why not? You're probably the only member of the team who can compete with Akane on the balance beam."
"But the balance beam is my only event. It would be silly for me to take away a spot on the team from someone with better all around skills. I'll be happy doing some coaching. That's what I've been thinking of going to college for."
"How do you think we should pick the team?"
"'Rock, paper, scissors' doesn't sound like a very bad idea," Miyuki replied.
"Seriously!"
"Seriously…" Miyuki said. "Probably the best way would be to have tryouts like we did before the last Prefecture tournament."
"Your probably right," Hikari said.
The two girls walk side by side in silence for a more than a minute. Hikari walked with her head slightly bowed but occasionally would look over toward Miyuki.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere (at least to Miyuki), Hikari asked, "Would you like to have sex with me?"
Miyuki froze in place while Hikari took another three steps before she stopped and turned to face Miyuki.
"Wh… what?" Miyuki finally managed to ask.
"I asked, would you like to have sex with me?"
"Where the hell did that come from?"
"That's what you and your mother were arguing about last night… wasn't it?"
"We weren't arguing. We were discussing what happened over the weekend."
"Miyuki… I know what arguing sounds like. Take my word for it. I'm kind of an expert. Last night wasn't a knock-down, drag-out fight, but it definitely qualified as an argument."
Hikari paused for a moment and then continued. "Miyuki I don't want to be the reason that you and your mother argue."
"You're not," Miyuki answered. "We've had discussions like that since I tried to kill myself. She seems to think that any time I'm alone with another girl it's to have sex. It doesn't seem to matter what I say to her."
"Would it be better if I weren't staying with you?"
"I don't think it would matter. She would still question what I was doing. And where would you go if your weren't staying with me?"
"That doesn't matter."
"Yes it does," Miyuki quickly. "It matters a lot. It matters a lot to me. You matter a lot to me."
Miyuki took a deep breath and said, "I going to have a quiet discussion with my mom when both of us aren't so tired and irritable. I'm going to try to explain to her how I feel… even if I'm not really sure how I feel."
"That's good…" Hikari responded. "But you haven't answered my question. Do you want to have sex with me?"
"How much of the discussion did you hear last night?"
Hikari sighed. "I guess most of it. I'm sorry. I came back into the living room because my books never made it into our room on Friday. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."
"That's all right, but then you heard the answer to that question. Maybe someday… but not right now."
Hikari looked around for a moment and then stepped up to Miyuki. "Maybe someday sounds good. I'm glad that I matter to you."
Hikari kissed Miyuki on the cheek and whispered, "I love you."
With Katsu at his side, Ranma reclined on the bed and watched Akane as she finished getting herself ready for bed. Katsu purred contentedly as Ranma scratched him behind his ears.
Akane finished brushing her hair and climbed into bed next to Ranma. Ranma extended his arm and Akane cuddled up with her head on Ranma's shoulder. Ranma drew his arm back and embraced Akane and she kissed Ranma on the cheek.
Sensing that this was about the limit of the attention that he was going to receive, Katsu repositioned himself to the end of the bed.
"Ranma, are you feeling all right?" Akane asked, sensing that Ranma, although physically in the bed next to her, was off somewhere else in spirit.
"I'm fine," Ranma responded.
"You've been unusually quiet tonight. Is something bothering you?"
"No… nothing's bothering me… Really."
"You're really good at so many things, but the one thing you can't seem to get the knack of is lying to me. What's wrong?"
Ranma remained silent for a moment and then said, "I guess… well… I guess that… well… this whole thing with the gymnastics' club…"
"I don't think you have anything to worry about," Akane said. "It won't take up any more time than it did before the Prefecture tournament last year. And there's no guarantee that I'll even make the team."
"You'll make the team. I'm sure of that."
"I'm glad you think so, but since the all around competition is so important this year, I don't think it's as sure of a thing as you seem to think it is."
"Since the coach isn't picking the team, how is the club going to decide who is going to compete?"
"We didn't really talk about it today. Most of us were just trying to get back into shape after not practicing for a week."
"I know what if feels like if I miss just a few days of working out. I can't imagine what it would feel like if I didn't work out for a week."
"It wasn't pretty. There were a lot of bumps and bruises."
"Are there any bumps or bruises you'd like me to take care of?"
"Not really. I did a bit better than most because I was still doing my workout in the dojo."
"Oh," Ranma said with a disappointed tone.
"But I wouldn't mind if you did some preventive massage."
"Preventive massage?" Ranma asked. "And what exactly might that be?"
"Some massage in places that might get hurt," Akane cooed.
Ranma began to lightly massage Akane's shoulder and arm. "Like this?"
"Hmmm… That's a nice start," Akane replied. "But I was thinking more of my lower back. You know… where I bruise when I land."
Ranma slid his hand down Akane's side and on to her hips, "You mean here?"
"Mmmm… That's exactly where I mean."
Akane shifted her body on top of Ranma, kissed him and quietly cooed, "You might try massaging with both hands."
The remainder of Nabiki's evening after dinner was taken up with accounting homework that was due the following morning. Even though Nabiki had always had a particular knack for dealing with numbers, spending the evening staring at the homework worksheets was almost more than she could take.
And what made things even worse was that usually Mami would come in with tea about eight and sit and talk with Nabiki. Mami would ask questions about what Nabiki was doing and even though Mami probably didn't understand half of Nabiki's explanation, she would listen intently to the answers. Many times just explaining things to Mami would help Nabiki solve some problem that had stumped her to that point.
Tea did arrive precisely at eight, but the staff member who brought it (a different girl than had been attending to Nabiki earlier in the day) did not look like she was interested in any conversation. As a matter of fact, the girl (her name is Kaede; Nabiki would have to remember that) looked rather tense and nervous; like she was expecting Nabiki to take her head off and hand it to her. So when Kaede asked if Nabiki needed anything else, Nabiki responded that everything was fine and that she would not need anything further tonight.
Nabiki was certain that she could hear a sigh of relief through the door and she wondered what kinds of rumors were being circulated about her that would elicit such a reaction. Nabiki could only imagine.
Nabiki hadn't realized how long it had taken her to finish the assignment. It was already almost bedtime (well bedtime was a lot earlier than it used to be; no more staying up into the early morning since she gotten pregnant). And even if it wasn't quite bedtime, there seemed no point in staying up.
Kuno had made himself scarce after dinner. That wasn't that unusual. He was very conscientious about disturbing Nabiki while she was doing school work. It was probably fallout from the time Nabiki had the major class projects and she nearly took his head off on a number of occasions. Maybe Kuno had talked to Kaede before she delivered Nabiki's tea and warned Kaede about disturbing her while she was working.
While Nabiki walked toward the bedroom she thought how unusual it was that she referred to her husband by his surname… Kuno. He absolutely detested his given name, Tatewaki. When Nabiki asked Kodachi about it, Kodachi dug out a picture album and showed her a picture. The face was definitely that of her husband (although in the picture he was no older than four… maybe five at the oldest), but the hair was significantly longer… well passed the child's shoulders.
"When my brother was younger," Kodachi had explained, "my father insisted that my brother wear his hair long like that. He would call my brother 'Tatewaki-chan' in front of my brother's friends. mostly to embarrass him. There was even a picture of my brother in a girl's school uniform from the first day of kindergarten. I burned that at my first opportunity. I may have been insane, demented and cruel, but even I couldn't let a picture like that exist."
"I never realized how weird your father is," Nabiki commented. "But I always thought that your father was into buzz cuts."
"My father was a man of extremes," Kodachi said. "One day my brother came running into the house screaming and crying. His head had nearly been shaved bald except for a tuft of hair in the middle of his head. My father had decided that that was now an appropriate haircut for Tatewaki-chan. That was probably the straw that broke the camel's back. He was out of the house within a week. But even after my father was gone, the boys at school would call my brother Tatewaki-chan. That's why he hates the name so much."
Nabiki thought that someday she would have to talk with her husband and decide on a pet name that would be agreeable to everyone.
When Nabiki arrived at their bedroom, Kuno was already there, working on some paperwork at a small desk he had set up in the corner of the room. As Nabiki entered, Kuno put the papers he was looking at down and stood and walked to greet her with a hug and a kiss.
"Did you get your assignment done?" Kuno asked.
"It took a lot longer than I expected, but its done and ready to hand in," Nabiki reported. She paused for a moment and then asked, "You didn't happen to mention to anyone on the staff that I sometimes get testy when I get involved in a homework assignment?"
"You… Get testy… I never noticed that."
Nabiki scowled at Kuno.
"And even if you did," Kuno continued, "you don't do it often enough to warrant warning the staff about it. Why do you ask?"
"The girl who brought be may tea tonight… Kaede… when Kaede brought me my tea tonight she seemed nervous… Like she was worried that I was going to attack her."
"No, I didn't say anything," Kuno responded. "On the other hand, did you have another go around with Isamu-san?"
"If you mean, did I try to rearrange his face again… no", Nabiki answered. "But we did have words that were less than pleasant when I got home. It seems like someone reported him to the police because Mami had disappeared. For some reason he thought that I might have something to do with it. I'd love to take credit for it, but I had nothing to do with it. Why? Did Isamu-san come to complain to you?"
"No, he didn't come to complain to me, but I heard about the incident from one of the staff members. No, I just noticed a bit more tension at the dinner table."
"I tried to apologize to him, but he went ballistic. He said that I was a disruption to the household and that the only reason I got pregnant and married you was to rob the family of its money."
"You got pregnant and married me to steal the family money," Kuno said with mock astonishment. "And I thought you married me because you loved me and I was the father of the child you're carrying."
"Stop that!" Nabiki protested. "You know that I married you because I love you."
"I know that," Kuno said as he put his arm around Nabiki and the two walked toward the bed. "I've always known that. And I love you too."
"Besides…" Nabiki said coyly as she and Kuno sat down on the edge of the bed, "If I really wanted to get all of your family money I could have done it without going through the trouble of getting pregnant and getting married."
"I know that too," Kuno replied as he hugged Nabiki.
Both Nabiki and Kuno began to laugh.
After a moment Nabiki asked, "What were you working on that was keeping you busy tonight?"
"After my sister mentioned that the staff didn't get the raise that I authorized," Kuno explained, "I decided to have a look at the house accounts. While Isamu-san was out this morning running errands I had Sasuke bring me some of the ledger books from Isamu-san's office."
Nabiki looked at the stack of ledger books on her husband's desk and commented, "Don't you think Isamu-san will notice that all of those are missing."
"Sasuke said that he doubts that Isamu-san will notice they're missing," Kuno replied, "considering the mess in his office, but Sasuke replaced the missing books with blank books."
"I hope that's the case," Nabiki said, "but people like that seem to be able to notice when their mess has been disturbed. So did you find anything?"
"Honestly, I'm not really sure what I'm looking for," Kuno answered. "As far as I can tell all of the numbers look all right. At least how much the staff is being paid looks correct."
"Well, the number may look all right, but does the amount on paper match the amount in the pay envelopes. Isamu-san does pay the staff in cash, doesn't he?"
"That's true," Kuno replied, "but I can't just ask the staff how much is in their pay envelopes without making Isamu-san suspicious."
"Maybe we won't have to," Nabiki said as she stood up. "Let me have a look at those books and see if I can spot something."
"You don't have to do that," Kuno protested. "It's late and you just spent the evening working on accounting homework." Then Kuno quietly added, "And I was hoping that we could spend some… ahhh… romantic time together tonight."
"Well then… this will be perfect," Nabiki said smiling. "You know me. Nothing gets me into a romantic mood more than columns of numbers representing large amounts of money."
The members of the Gymnastics' Club gathered at lunch time in the little alcove where Ukyo usually set up her grill to meet and discuss what to do about picking who would compete in the tournaments. Miyuki had stopped by Miss Nohina's office before school to get more information about the tournaments and the competition rules. The coach seemed less than satisfied that Miyuki was taking the lead in the selection process, but there was little the coach could do about it.
While the club members talked, Ranma sat with Uchan, eating the seafood okonomiyaki that Uchan had prepared for him.
"So what's all the discussion about?" Ukyo asked.
"The Gymnastics' Club has to decide whose going to compete in the rest of the tournaments for this year," Ranma replied after he swallowed the big bite he had taken.
"That seems easy enough to do," Ukyo said. "Just have a competition and pick the best people to send."
"I think they'll figured that out," Ranma said. "But it sounds like the tournament rules won't make it quite that simple. I'm sure they'll figure something out. How are things going with you? I haven't seen Ryoga and Mizuki lately. He hasn't wandered off again, has he?"
"No he hasn't wandered off again," Ukyo replied, sounding slightly irritated. "If you and Akane got out of your bedroom more often I could have told you the news."
"What news?' Ranma asked. "Did Ryoga propose?"
Ukyo began to blush brightly. "N… no… Ryoga didn't propose. What makes you think he would do something like that?"
"Don't know," Ranma replied. "I thought it was a good wise ass response to you saying that Akane and I spend too much time in the bedroom."
Ukyo growled at Ranma, "I should hit you for saying something like that."
"You probably should," Ranma said. "I probably deserve it… But… what's the news?"
"Ryoga and Mousse have gone into business together," Ukyo replied. "People were so impressed with some of the carpentry work that they did in my restaurant and at the Cat Café that other people started asking them to do projects. They've turned it into a full time business. They have jobs booked through the beginning of the New Year."
"I'd better let Akane's dad know," Ranma said. "He has some repairs and renovations he'd like done around the house."
"He's going to have to get on the list if he wants to get anything done before next summer," Ukyo said. "Ryoga gets new jobs almost every day, so the list is filling up quickly."
"I'm not trying to be mean or anything," Ranma said, "but how do the two of them find their way to the jobs? I mean considering Ryoga's sense of direction and Mousse's vision."
"That's where Mizuki comes in," Ukyo answered. "She makes sure that Ryoga gets to the job site… and Mousse's vision isn't a problem any more."
"How could his vision not be a problem?' Ranma asked. "He's blinder than a bat without his glasses and he's always taking off the glasses he has."
"One of the first things that Shampoo did when Mousse got paid the first time was to take him for new glasses. Shampoo helped pick them out. She told Mousse how handsome he looked when he wore them, so now he doesn't want to take them off."
"So things are going well for Shampoo and Mousse?"
"Pretty well. With Mousse working during the day, they've had to hire help at the Café. And Shampoo has been doing more of the cooking. Grandma Cologne keeps talking about wanting to go back to China. But Shampoo and Mousse and Ryoga and I have been going out together on Friday nights."
"Did you ever talk to Ryoga about him and Mizuki moving into your apartment?"
"I mentioned it. Mizuki thought it was a great idea but Ryoga didn't really say anything other than it might be worth thinking about."
Ukyo paused for a second and then asked, "Ranma, why did you ask if Ryoga had proposed to me?"
"Like I said, I was just being a wise ass."
The look on Ukyo's face changed, almost looking as if she were ready to cry.
"Uchan," Ranma asked as he placed his hand on hers, "Would you like Ryoga to propose?"
Ukyo said nothing but placed her other hand on top of Ranma's and forced a smile to her face.
After the discussion was done, it was almost a unanimous decision to hold a mini-tournament the Saturday before the district tournament. The rules would be simple. Each club member who wished to try out for the team would have to compete in all four events and the eight competitors (plus two alternates) with the highest total scores would compete in the district event. The only restriction was that at least three of the team members had to be first or second years students (a rule set for the district and prefecture tournaments).
Other issues were not quite that simple. Travel to the sites of the district and prefecture tournaments would not be significant (the sites had yet to be announced, but even so the distance would not be so great that staying overnight would be required). On the other hand, the regional tournament would be held in Mito (about 120 kilometers away) and the national tournament would be held in Sapporo. Both tournaments (if the team made it to that level of competition) would require the team to stay multiple nights and the national tournament would require travel by airplane… an expense that each team member would have to pay.
"We'll worry about things like that if we make it that far into the competition," Miyuki declared.
Since Miyuki had already stated that she was not going to try out for the team (as much as Akane, Hikari, Yuka and Sayuri tried to convince her otherwise), she became the organizer of the tryouts. She knew of several former members of the club who were still in the area who might consent to act as judges.
One of the members of the club suggested selling tickets to the tryouts and use that as a fund raiser to help pay for travel… just in case the team made it to the regional level. Miyuki agreed to talk to the principal to see if that would be possible.
"It's almost time for classes to start," Miyuki said. "Let's all do our best at practice so that we can represent Furinkan High School in the national tournament."
To which the team replied with a resounding, "Yes!"
The summons for Hikari to come to the office came unexpectedly Thursday morning just before lunch.
Understandably everyone in the class was concerned, including Miss Hinako (who, for some reason, was looking a little more buxom than usual these days).
"I hope nothing else has gone wrong," one student commented. "Hikari deserves a break."
"Miyuki, you haven't heard any news about Hikari's aunt… have you?" Yuka asked.
"We haven't heard anything." Miyuki answered. "In fact, Hikari's been trying to get in contact with her grandmother to get information, but it's almost impossible to track her down."
"Don't you know which hospital Hikari's aunt is in?" another student asked.
"Not really," Miyuki answered. "All I know is that it's somewhere in the northeast of the United States… I think somewhere in New York."
"If I remember correctly," Ranma commented, "that's like saying its somewhere in Tokyo."
"Ranma, when did you ever pay attention to anything other than martial arts and Akane to remember something like that?" Daisuke asked.
"Ranma pays attention to a lot of things besides martial arts and me," Akane said.
"Name three," Daisuke responded.
After a moment of thought Akane said, "Well there's eating… and… ahhh… there's…. ahhh…"
"OK… I'll give you eating," Daisuke said with a smile, "but not much more than that."
"Hey!" Ranma protested. "I pay attention to other things… I just prefer to pay more attention to Akane and martial arts." Ranma paused and closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them again he began to recite, "New York State is located in the north east United States and was one of the thirteen original states of the United States. Its largest city is New York City. The land area of New York State is more than four times greater than that of the Kanto region."
The members of the class stared silently at Ranma until Sayuri broke the silence. "Akane what have you done with Ranma? The Ranma I know wouldn't have known that we actually live in the Kanto region."
"We do?" Hiroshi said mockingly.
Attention turned from Ranma to Hiroshi as Sayuri shook here head in disbelief.
"I haven't done anything to Ranma," Akane said. "but Ranma and I have been studying for the college entrance exam lately and… "
"OK," Sayuri interrupted, "let's stop right there. That's simply beyond the realm of believability. It's would be easier to believe that the coach invited Miyuki into her apartment for a beer."
From her seat behind Sayuri, Miyuki said, "Well she didn't exactly invite me in for a beer, but…"
Sayuri turned in her seat and stared at Miyuki, who shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Sayuri turned to face the front of the room, closed her eyes and shook her head.
It wasn't any more than fifteen minutes before Hikari returned to the room, but it seemed to take forever… And when Hikari did return it was impossible to tell by the expression on her face what the reason was for her being called to the office.
"I'm sorry for disrupting the class," Hikari said as she bowed to Miss Hinako and then she returned to her seat.
No one had the courage to ask Hikari why she had been called to the office, so a thick suffocating silence hung over the classroom that no one dared to violate.
This went on for more than a minute… until Miss Hinako shattered the stale stillness. "Well?"
The suddenness of Miss Hinako's query startled everyone, but in particular Hikari.
"W… Well what?"
"What happened?" Miss Hinako pressed. "Why were you called to the office?"
"It was a phone call from my Grandmother," Hikari reported. "I'm sorry about that, but she has a problem with the time difference between the United States and here. You would think that after all these years of travel she would remember that it's fourteen hours different."
"Fine… fine…" Yuka said. "So your grandmother is time zone challenged. Why did she call? How is your aunt?"
"My aunt had surgery on Wednesday… no wait… that would have been Tuesday," Hikari explained. "I guess the doctors drilled some holes to relieve pressure from the bleeding from her injury… and it seems like they were able to stop any further bleeding. Grandma said that it was touch and go for a while."
"So, how is your aunt doing?" Yuka asked, voice raised in exasperation.
"She's fine," Hikari said. "About an hour ago my aunt woke up for the first time since she was injured."
It took a moment for the news to sink in, but once it did everyone stood up and gathered around Hikari.
"That's wonderful," Akane said.
"That's the best news in a while," Ranma added.
"Come on… smile," Sayuri said. "There's no reason to look so gloomy."
"It's still going to be a while before my aunt will be better," Hikari cautioned. "The doctors told my grandmother that my aunt may have to have as much as a year of treatment and physical therapy before she won't have to be under medical care… And there may still have to be more surgery."
"Even so," Miyuki said as she extended her hand to Hikari, "that is great news. I'm so happy for you."
Hikari took Miyuki by the hand and helped her to stand. Then Miyuki threw her arms around Hikari and held her closely. Miyuki whispered in Hikari's ear, "I am so happy for you." The she kissed her on the cheek.
"You won't tell anyone that I talked with you," Noriko said to Nabiki, looking around the small pantry where they had been talking to make sure that the two were really alone. "It would be bad if the wrong person found out that we had this conversation."
"No problem," Nabiki responded. "And of course you won't tell anyone about what I was asking."
"Of course not," Noriko replied.
"Good then," Nabiki said. "I think we're all set then. By the way, what are we having for dinner tonight?"
"Roasted marinated pork, Shitake with Shoyu, vegetables pickled in miso, miso soup with shrimp and rice," Noriko answered.
"Sounds delicious," Nabiki said. "Thank you for the information. Why don't you leave first and I'll head out after a minute or two."
"Thank you," Noriko said as she slid the door open and exited, closing it quickly once she was outside.
As it seemed with any question asked around the Kuno household, the answers always seemed to evoke more questions than provide solutions to the original question, and Noriko's answers were no different.
When Nabiki thought that enough time had passed, she too slid the door to the storeroom open and exited… and immediately came face to face with Kodachi.
"Looking for some information in particular," Kodachi asked, "or just the general run of the mill rumors?"
"How… how long… how long have you been here?" Nabiki spluttered, trying to recover from the surprise of suddenly running into Kodachi.
"I just got here," Kodachi answered. "I came to find Noriko-chan to check out the latest in household news and rumors… But when I saw her head out of the pantry, I figured that she was already in conference with someone. That's where she goes when she has some particularly juicy bit of news that she wishes to disseminate confidentially… to one person at a time. So what did you find out?"
"Well I found out why everyone seems so nervous and quiet around me," Nabiki said finally gaining her composure. "It seems that Isamu-san has threatened anyone who has even so much as a casual conversation with me with termination."
"That was nice of him," Kodachi replied. "Did you ask Noriko-chan about her pay envelope?"
"No," Nabiki answered as she and Kodachi began to walk down the hallway. "I'm not ready to start asking things that will sound like a direct accusation that Isamu-san is stealing money from the household."
"But my brother said that you found something in the books," Kodachi said.
"Not directly," Nabiki said. "I was only able to audit a small sample of the ledger books before Kuno had to return them, but all of the payroll totals were correct and consistent with the rate of pay that had been authorized… And a trial balance in the other household expenses seemed to match receivables, but I thought I found some issues in several of the sub-accounts. I really need to check the numbers against last year's books and see why there's fluctuation in some line items that should be fixed expenses. Of course it would really help if I had the actual purchase orders, invoices and receipts to check against.
Nabiki looked over at Kodachi, who had a glazed and distant look in her eyes.
"There is no doubt that you and your brother are related," Nabiki said with a laugh. "He had the same glazed look when I tried to explain it to him."
"So if you didn't ask about the staff's pay," Kodachi asked, "what information were you looking for?"
"Just different things," Nabiki answered. "About Isamu-san… and Mami… and her mother."
"Be careful with that," Kodachi responded. "Asking questions about Mami-chan's mother could incite more hostility than coming out and accusing Isamu-san of being a thief."
"What do you mean?"
"Not here," Kodachi said. "Do you have class tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
"Then we'll talk on the way to the train."
Miyuki came into the kitchen in search of something to drink for Hikari and herself and found her mother at the kitchen table working on papers that were spread out all over it's surface.
Doing her best not to disturb her mother, Miyuki headed to the refrigerator and grabbed two cans of iced coffee.
"Could you get one of those for me?" Miyuki's mom said without looking up from the document she was reading.
"Sure. No problem," Miyuki responded. She grabbed another can from the refrigerator and set it on the table next to her mother. "Would you like a glass to drink that out of?"
"Would you like another glass to wash?"
"Not particularly."
"Then I don't need a glass," Mrs. Hozumi replied. She looked up at Miyuki and asked, "What was the phone call?"
"Hikari's grandmother," Miyuki replied. "I'm only hearing one side of the conversation, but it sounds as if there has been considerable improvement from this morning. I'll get a full report when Hikari gets off the phone."
"She's still on the phone with her grandmother?" Miyuki's mother asked.
"She's still on the phone with her grandmother."
"It's been almost an hour. I'm glad I'm not paying for that call."
"Well, the phone bill doesn't seem to be bothering Hikari's grandmother. Her company is probably paying for it."
Miyuki's mom returned to the paperwork on the table and Miyuki stood and watched for a moment before asking, "What ya working on?"
"Travel papers," Miyuki's mom replied.
"Travel papers? You going somewhere?"
"Australia."
"So dad finally talked you into going with him while he's on that job there?"
"Not yet. But your dad's company really wants him to take this assignment, and your dad told them that he wouldn't go unless I agreed to go with him. This is kind of a propaganda trip to try to convince me to agree to go with him."
"So dad's company is paying for a vacation for the two of you. How long will you be gone?"
"Two weeks," Mrs. Hozumi answered. "Dad will be home for your gymnastics' tournament and then we'll leave the following Monday morning."
"When would this job start in Australia?"
"Your father would start right after the New Year and I would join him after your graduation."
"So dad wouldn't be here for graduation?"
"Probably not," Mrs. Hozumi answered in a voice that obviously lacked any enthusiasm at all.
"You don't sound very happy about this," Miyuki said.
"I'm not… really. From what your father told me on the phone today, it's about a sixteen hour drive from the job site to the nearest major city… and the nearest town is more than an hour away."
"Really out in the middle of no where."
"I think we have to go through the middle of no where to get to this place. It's at least another three hour drive from there."
"Mom, if you don't want to go, just tell dad."
"But your father won't take the assignment if I don't go."
"So he doesn't take this assignment. There will be others."
"But the company promised that if he took this assignment and stayed there through the end of the job, they would promote him to a senior position that would not require him to travel… Maybe even make him a vice president."
"Didn't the company make a promise like that before this job in Okinawa?" Miyuki asked.
Her mother only nodded her head in the affirmative.
"How long would he have to be in Australia?"
"At least three years."
"At least three years… but it could be longer?"
"It could be longer. And the only time we'd be able to get back to Japan would be around Christmas and New Years. I'm not sure I want to be away for that long. I'm not sure I'm ready to leave you on your own for that long."
"Mom! I'm going to be graduating from high school… and probably going to college," Miyuki said. "If I go away to college I'd have to be on my own and take care of myself."
"I know," Miyuki's mother responding softly. "It's just that I worry about you and…"
"Mom, why don't you take a break from your paperwork," Miyuki said. "I think we need to talk."
