WARNING: While there will be no actual 'Lemon' content contained herein, adult situations, language, violence and acts of a sexual nature are strongly implied.
Disclaimer: The rights to 'Ranma 1/2' are owned by its creator, Rumiko Takahashi. The rights to 'Gold Digger' are owned by its creator, Fred Perry. The rights to characters from other sources, which are likely to make cameo appearances, are retained by their respective creators. This story is for entertainment purposes only and written without expectation of monetary or material profit.
Notes: While drawing primarily from the original 'Ranma 1/2' Manga series, some elements and characters from the 'Ranma 1/2' Anime series may also be utilized. This is BOTH a 'Continuation' and an 'Alternate Universe' fan-fiction in regards to the characters and events of 'Ranma 1/2' and 'Gold Digger', meaning: the characters WILL be 'Out-of-Character' to one extent or another and that canon events the reader is familiar with may or may not have been altered to a greater or lesser degree. This fan-fiction is also a 'Crossover', combining elements from the two aforementioned sources. For most of the story, we will attempt to adhere closely to canon, in regards to Fred Perry's 'Gold Digger' series, but at some point, events will diverge from canon and concessions will have to be made for the intermingling of the two base series.
Furthermore, it is 'presumed' that the events of the 'Ranma 1/2' Manga series take place over a span of less than one year, as there is little, if any, real indication of the passage of time in canon. Therefore, Ranma and Akane are still freshmen at the time this story begins, while Nabiki and Kunou are juniors.
Timeframe: Immediately following the failed wedding attempt at the end of the 'Ranma 1/2' Manga series; there are several months remaining until the end of the current school year at Furinkan High... ('Gold Digger' timeframe will become apparent when introduced into the story.)
WARNING: This is self-beta'd if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, please PM me with the paragraph and fix.
BATTLE MAGE
By
Ryan Slicer
(original story concept, writing and guidance)
Book One: Control
Part Six: More Shopping and An Encounter... Or Two
Thursday morning saw Ranma, Akane and Nabiki walking to school, with Akane in between both Ranma and Nabiki. Ranma and Nabiki looked at each other as Akane stepped ahead of them. They both shrugged, thinking Akane was assuming that Nabiki might be trying to take Ranma away from her. When Akane saw they were behind her, she slowed her walk and got back in between them.
Ranma quietly lowered his head before jumping up onto the fence as he got near one. Keeping his balance as they headed towards the school. His thoughts turned to the night before when he and Nabiki were discussing getting his outfit for the party before his mother came up and invited herself to accompany them, along with Akane. 'Well I hope that we can get through this without Akane getting angry because Nabiki is picking the outfit.' he thought, taking it in stride that he and Nabiki both agreed to do this so Akane would back off and let Ranma have a break from everything going on.
Nabiki's thoughts centered around the party and the senior who called her Furinkan's Queen. Though she knew she was often called the 'Ice Queen' because of her attitude towards the boys who did try to ask her out. However that didn't explain why the senior sought her out in the first place. When she heard Ranma jump onto the fence, she looked at him for a moment and then glanced away, her mind now focused on his athletic prowess, even if it was just walking to school.
She knew, of course, that most of the girls in school loved his physique and wouldn't mind taking him to their beds if they could. She, on the other hand, thought that wasn't a good reason to bed someone.
Oh sure she could appreciate how a man looks and think a quick romp would make any woman swoon, if they kept reading those romance novels that perverted their minds about said strong, handsome men. Nabiki knew that not all strong, handsome men were like Ranma. Ranma would never force himself on you, never take advantage of any situation for his own needs.
'He's the knight in shining armor, but with a brain to boot.' Nabiki thought to herself, 'He won't even touch any of his fiancées, even when they throw themselves at him, almost ready to do it.' She took a quick glance at Ranma before looking ahead, noting that he wasn't paying attention, but was still fully in control of his pace on such a small walking path, 'I mean I get it. Even when he's working out and has his shirt off, he's very rugged and built like a gymnast, but that's only if you watch him as he's focused on working out.' Nabiki's thoughts continued, 'still, if he hadn't shown any mental capacity, I would have just gotten a free look, some blackmail and possibly a bit of humor.' Nabiki tightened her grip on her school bag, squeezing the leather handle as she mind drifted to Nodoka inviting herself and Akane. 'They shouldn't cause problems, but if they do.' Nabiki left that thought where it was as they neared the school.
All three turned to enter the school through the front gates, as students saw that they were there, they started to subtly move away from the group, making a wide path directly to the school footlockers.
"What's with the warm welcome?" Ranma mentioned as they walked past all the students. As they got closer, Hiroshi and Daisuke came up to Ranma, with Sayuri and Yuka coming up to Akane. Both Ranma and Akane split with their friends towards their footlockers, while Nabiki started for hers and met up with Ryonami.
"The rest of the school doesn't want to get in the crossfire between you and your harem." Daisuke mentioned, before shrugging off the glare Ranma gave him. "What? That's what people are saying."
"It's not a harem!" Ranma growled out, about ready to deck someone for even mentioning that to him. Daisuke was lucky that Ranma considered him a friend, even if he was a little bit perverted. 'But then how many boys our age aren't some sort of pervert.' looking over at Hiroshi to see if he had anything to say about his 'harem'.
"Don't look at me." Hiroshi said, waving his hands a bit to ward off an even further glare. "You don't have to convince me about them. I know they're crazy." He patted Ranma on the shoulder, "Beautiful, but crazy nonetheless."
Ranma wasn't going to deny that, but he also wasn't going to say it out loud. He opened his locker, finding a few love notes still being dropped off in his locker. He pulled them out and went through them to see if any of them were challenges or anything else. Finding nothing worth looking at, that wouldn't bring the school down if he even thought about reading and acknowledging them, he squeezed the letters together into a ball before looking between his friends, "You can have them. Nothing but trouble."
"We have a question for you, Ranma." Hiroshi brought up as they started to go to their classroom, "Why have you been hanging around Nabiki more?" Ranma looked over at Hiroshi before looking at Daisuke to see him giving a questioning look.
"She's helping me with school work." He replied, knowing that was how he explained it to Akane, "It also keeps my Pop and their Pop from trying to get Akane and me married right after we finish homework." He looked down for a moment, and then looked up as they neared their classroom.
"So why at lunch as well? It doesn't look like she's helping you with school work then." Daisuke asked, looking back at his friend. "You've even stopped sitting with us at lunch the last few weeks."
"I'll let you guys know later. At lunch time." Ranma responded, sliding the classroom door open and finding his seat after they entered the room. He did notice that Ukyo wasn't at her desk again and wondered, if only for a bit, if he was a little too harsh on her.
-LINE BREAK-
Nabiki and Ryonami walked down the hallway towards Nabiki's classroom. Passing by students who continued to move away from them as if Nabiki was bad luck. "What do you know about this supposed 'Queen of Furinkan', 'Nami." Nabiki quietly spoke to her associate.
"Not sure, that's the first time I heard it. Especially when we know pretty much everyone here." Ryonami responded, "Unless they're talking about your supposed nickname."
Nabiki growled at that. It wasn't like she turned down all those guys out of spite, it was because of what happened earlier in her freshman year. She knew about that rumor that made rounds across the campus, and she had yet to squash it, "I wish I could get rid of that nickname." Nabiki muttered to herself. "Can we see if that's what they mean?"
"Sure thing, 'Boss'." Ryonami said as she walked to her class. Nabiki nodded, glad that Ryonami was one of her best associates, and even a friend. She then went and sat at her desk, setting her bag on the hooks that kept it close by. Kuno leaned over and looked at the middle Tendo sister before speaking.
"While I may despise you for your mercenary ways. I must have information about that red-headed Aphrodite who was with you. She almost seemed familiar." He leaned back and looked up, pondering where he saw her.
"Kuno-baby, normally I would give you the information with a payment, but that information is not for sale today." Nabiki replied, turning away from the eccentric young man, who started to rant and rave at the atrocity of not getting the information. 'Not that I would even tell you if I had sold it. I already gave Ranma nightmares about you the first time you met him." Nabiki recalled the first time Kuno and Ranma met after she gave him the challenge letter. 'I hope that Ryonami can find out what that ditz Toriyama was talking about.' she wondered to herself, before she heard the class representative start to ask for everyone to stand. She began to follow the rest of the class in their morning routine once the teacher had arrived. 'Not like I wouldn't go to the party anyway, but I would like to know a bit more just so I'm prepared.'
"Maybe you're turning over a new leaf." Kuno mentioned quietly as they sat down and began their lessons, "Normally you would have jumped at the chance to take that which is mine and asked for sweets or coffee." He stopped as he felt the shiver down his spine as he looked over at the mercenary woman, only to snap his mouth shut as he saw the hair around Nabiki start to rise slightly before she calmed down and ignored him. 'Maybe I doth poke the natural dragon a little too much.'
-LINE BREAK-
Ranma, Daisuke and Hiroshi found a spot they could claim to eat lunch, as they sat down, Daisuke spoke up to Ranma, "So what's the deal with you and the queen?" Ranma almost glared at Daisuke, remembering what Kuno said yesterday before he stopped and sighed. He couldn't go flying off the handle like he did this morning.
"Nabiki's got a plan to keep me in the same group because of my grades." Ranma stated as if it was fact, "She figures it'll keep the messes at the dojo low because if me and Akane study together, our idiots for fathers tend to think that we're getting hitched right afterwards." Ranma opened his bento and started to eat it as Hiroshi asked another question.
"But don't you have good grades to pass the midterms and finals?" Hiroshi asked, questioning why Ranma would be falling behind, even though it was obvious that he slept through most of the class.
"I missed this last midterm and the make-up for it, and that brought my grades down a lot." This he wasn't lying about, but the teachers in the know about his actual grades helped him schedule an out of school midterm and the school that allowed for it transferred his score back to Furinkan High. "Besides, with Nabiki doing the tutoring I don't have to worry about getting dragged to the altar and asked to say 'I do' everytime I try to get school work done."
"That's true." Daisuke replied, taking a bite from his bento. "Still, wouldn't Kasumi or someone else be a better choice?"
"Kasumi, sure, but she doesn't have a lot of time with everything going on at the house." Ranma noted, pointing his chopsticks at Daisuke, "Besides, she's been out of school for a year, maybe two?"
"Well that is true." Hiroshi said, "Still I don't think that she wouldn't know most of the subject materials either." Ranma nodded in acknowledgement. "I guess it doesn't matter, but as long as you're not being held back, then I guess it doesn't matter who helps you."
Ranma was about to remark about that as he finished his bento, when he looked over at Nabiki. He noticed that she was a bit upset and wanted to see what was going on with her. His concern for her had grown during their time discussing and spending more time together, that he couldn't help but close his bento box, clean up his mess and walk over to Nabiki. He didn't care that most of the school was watching as he headed towards her and plopped down in front of her and Ryonami.
Nabiki looked up and saw that Ranma was sitting in front of her. She did notice that his eyes held a bit of concern and her heart did a bit of that flutter that she read in some of her romance mangas she sometimes picked up. "Yes, Ranma-kun."
"You looked like someone messed up your day. Wanna talk about it?" Ranma remarked at the look of her face. "I mean... if you want to... not that it's any of my business."
Nabiki gave a genuine smile before shaking her head. "It's okay, Ranma-kun. I'll be fine." She gently brushed a strand of hair from her face before looking at Ryonami. "Did you find anything else out?"
"I really think Toriyama got the wrong person, but if she did get the right one, then I would think that someone has a grudge against you." Ryonami said, taking a few more bites of her bento.
"If that were the case, then I don't need to worry about it." Nabiki replies, picking out the rest of her bento before looking at Ranma, who had a confused look on his face. "The reason I'm going to the party is that someone invited me to it, along with a plus one. But Ryonami couldn't figure out why someone would ask me to go to their party. I'm hardly one that socially interacts with the students here, aside from the money making schemes I make for the bets and such."
"Then why go in the first place?" Ranma asks as he rubbed his chin, ignoring a lot of the glares he was getting from Akane, who was watching the whole thing.
"So that when I find out who invited me, I'll fleece them of everything they got." Nabiki gave both Ryonami and Ranma a grin worthy of her mercenary title. Ranma shivered at the grin as he remembered that grin from when she took him dancing the first time. Though it was not as pronounced back then as it was now.
-LINE BREAK-
Akane watched Ranma as he sat down with his friends for what seemed like the first time in weeks, at least since Ranma stated that Nabiki was helping him with his schoolwork. Akane gave a soft sigh of relief as things started getting back to normal. She started eating the bento her sister made that morning and began chatting with her friends about the upcoming weekend and any plans any of them had made.
"So, Akane, what plans do you have this weekend?" Sayuri asked, looking over at her friend and noticing that she was eating and looking at something else. She followed her friend's eyes and saw that they were looking at Ranma. A grin slid across her face as she leaned over to Akane, "Do you finally have plans for him and you? Are you guys going somewhere this weekend?"
This woke Akane up before she looked over at Sayuri, "Sayuri!" Akane shrieked quietly at her friend, "Where did you get that idea from?"
Yuka looked over at Akane and then at Sayuri before speaking up. "Akane, you've been watching Ranma for weeks now. I know you've had some ups and downs this week, but seriously, you act like he's going to jump out to the world and declare his undying love for you." Yuka remarked, she lifted her arm from the table and rested her head on it while keeping an eye on Akane, "It's like you don't even want him to, but you don't want to let him be around anyone else except you."
"Well what do you expect?" Sayuri spoke up before Akane could start to say anything. "I mean, she's up against Shampoo, Ukyo and that crazy Kuno girl. It's kinda hard not to be somewhat possessive." She looks back at Ranma for a moment. "I have even noticed that he's been with Nabiki more than Akane, you'd think that Nabiki took over the engagement again." She glanced at Akane to get an affirmative on that statement.
Akane began to grumble, "No. He's still my fiancé. He's getting lessons from Nabiki for school." she looked over at Ranma once again, only to find him not sitting with his friends. 'The lunch bell hadn't rang so Ranma wouldn't have left the grounds, and none of the rivals have been here.' She looked around the campus grounds and noticed him sitting with Nabiki and Ryonami. 'Why is he with her now? Wasn't he with Daisuki and Hiroshi?' Both Yuka and Sayuri noticed that Akane was searching around the campus. They both knew that she was looking for Ranma and when they spotted Ranma as well with Nabiki and Ryonami, this caused them to grin and look at eachother.
"Looks like he's over there with Nabiki again. Would you care to explain, Akane?" Sayuri asked, forcing Akane's head back over to her friends.
"He told me that Nabiki is helping with his course work. And that if he didn't get better grades that he would be held back a year." Akane whispered softly. "And I don't think he would be held back, but..." She paused, looking back at Ranma, "Now I'm not so sure."
"Well let us know if something does change. We wouldn't want you to feel down about it because he did something he wasn't supposed to do." Yuka said, with Sayuri nodding, though both knew that Ranma wouldn't do anything, no matter what Akane said. Both mentally sighed at the fact that they wished they had a boyfriend like Ranma, who wouldn't take advantage of them. 'Though if he did, I wouldn't let him go.' They both thought to themselves subconsciously.
'Now I just need to get through the shopping trip. I'll make sure that Ranma is dressed so he isn't going to get more women attracted to him.' Akane thought, looking back over at Ranma before snorting quietly. 'Why am I so upset with him being around Nabiki. She's helping him get better grades.' Akane's thoughts drifted to other issues, turning back to her friends who started a different conversation. 'It's probably because of the party. Yeah, he never invites me for anything, but yet he'll jump at the chance to go with Nabiki.' Akane shook her head slightly to clear that thought out. 'No.. Nabiki will make sure he's not caught up in anything at this party. Even though she would probably take bets on how long it would take for him to get frisky with a girl.' She growled before once again shaking her head, 'Stop thinking of it like that. He'll be fine. I need to trust him more.'
-LINE BREAK-
The final bell of the day rang out and all the students started leaving the campus. Ranma met up with Akane and Nabiki at the front entrance. Both girls were talking about something but stopped as Ranma appeared. "You ready?" He asked, letting the girls know that he was ready to get this over with as soon as possible.
"We are, Ranma." Akane replied, holding her school bag in front of her. Nabiki nodded next to her sister and the trio started towards the market place. Once they got there, they found Kasumi almost immediately as Ranma and Nabiki knew exactly where she would be standing. Next to her was the auburn haired, Saotome matriarch. Her kimono dressed as elegantly as usual, with the lotus flowers scattered across her kimono. The Saotome honor blade was nowhere to be seen, which brought Ranma some relief. Akane waved her arm up so Kasumi and Nodoka could spot them, which Kasumi did and the trio headed towards them through the crowded streets.
"Akane-chan, Nabiki-chan, Ranma-kun." Nodoka started, "You're all here. Now," Nodoka looked at Nabiki, "You said last night that you wanted to get Ranma an outfit that matched your dress." Nabiki nodded, "Well as it's your dress, if you know what to look for please escort us to the shops."
"Of course, Auntie." Nabiki said, grabbing Ranma's arm and guiding the entourage over to a few of the clothing shops. Akane growls lightly before coming up and grabbing Ranma's other arm.
"Nabiki, you don't need to grab Ranma like that." Akane mentioned, keeping up with both of them.
"I'm only doing it so that he doesn't get swept up in the crowd." Nabiki remarked as Kasumi came up behind the three of them, along with Nodoka. Their hold on Ranma helped separate the crowd as they headed to the shops, keeping Kasumi and Nodoka from also being swept up in the school and work rush.
Once they get to where most of the clothing shops are, Nabiki spots a shop that would have clothes that would look good on Ranma and fit his current style. "Here we go." Nabiki motions to the shop, a chinese outfit shop that held shirts and pants that looked like Ranma would normally buy, but had more elegant designs than his plain chinese shirts and pants.
"If he's going to wear the same type of clothes, why not have him use the clothes he's already got?" Akane snidely remarked. She twitched her nose slightly at the fact that they were buying him the exact same type of clothes he already wears. The group entered the shop and looked at the clothing racks of shirts and pants. "I mean, there's nothing here that he probably doesn't have."
"Akane, we've seen his clothes." Nabiki pointed out, "They just don't match the dress I'm wearing to the party. I figure he could use some nicer ones in case you guys decided to go out on a few dates." This caused Ranma and Akane to blush, with Ranma shaking his head and about to open his mouth before he was elbowed by Nabiki. "Still it wouldn't be fair if I got something new and he didn't for something he was roped into."
Akane and Kasumi looked at Nabiki before Kasumi spoke up, "Yes that is true. It wouldn't be fair to him." Kasumi then took Akane aside and pointed out a few places to search for clothes for him to try on, making Akane let go of Ranma now that they were in the store.
"What about that dress that my manly son wore? Was that part of getting an outfit that he needed?" Nodoka remarked, causing both Kasumi and Nabiki to stop and look at the elder Saotome.
"There may be a time where Ranma needs to dress for the occasion. Especially when that is related to martial arts." Kasumi mentioned casually as she looked at one of the shirts on the rack. Everyone looked at Kasumi before she looked up from the shirt rack. "Well it's not that far off. He's had to dress up a few times to save us. Like with Toma and Picolet." Kasumi shrugged before Akane managed to make a retort.
"Toma wasn't that bad." Akane grabbed a shirt she thought would look nice, a blue, long sleeve shirt with a crane on it. "He just wanted a companion."
"By stealing all the girls of marrying age? Akane, get real." Nabiki stated, but was glad that she got a nice dress out of it. "Seriously Akane, even his guards were bad. I was held by a dumb dog-like man that even Kuno couldn't defeat."
"Then how did you get out?" Akane asked, grabbing another shirt off the rack.
"I threw a bone out the window." Nabiki grabbed a few shirts and pants before grabbing Ranma and taking him to the dressing rooms. She pushed him inside and handed him the shirts she grabbed. Akane came up and Nabiki grabbed the clothes from her arms.
"Hey now!" Akane said as she saw her shirts pulled away from her arms. She was about to continue on but Nabiki walked right into the dressing room with the clothes in her hands. As the curtain fluttered close, Akane looked aghast before she reached out and grabbed Nabiki's shirt, pulling her back out. "Just what do you think you're doing?"
"I wanted to see if they would fit him before he tried them on." Nabiki mentioned casually, as if she did this all the time with Ranma.
"But you're not his fiancée. So I should be the one to check." Akane said before pulling Nabiki away from the curtain. She opened the curtain herself and turned to look at Ranma before she stopped at what she saw. Her face turned red at the sight, as this was one of the first times she's seen his body up close that didn't involve him being fully naked.
Ranma's back was slightly tanned but showed very small white lines across his back and arms. While hardly noticeable, they did have a bit of a crisscross pattern with multiple lines in each direction, as if claws were scratching his back. Nabiki stepped up behind her sister and saw the marks before she spoke up. "Those aren't on your girl-form's back, Ranma-kun." This caused Ranma to turn around and the girls noticed that there were no marks on his chest, but on his sides there were a few small scratch marks.
"What are you guys doing in here?" He noticed that they had opened the curtain.
"Nabiki was following you and I stopped her from going in further." Akane growled out a response.
"So that's why she was pulled back out." Ranma spoke up, before grabbing Akane and turning her around. "Now I'm trying to put on these clothes, so get out." to which he pushed her out of the room and past Nabiki before closing the curtain.
"So you wanted to get a good eyeful of your fiancé hmm?" Nabiki grinned before she saw Akane's face turn bright red.
"It's not like that." Akane placed her hands on her face. 'Though he does look better, however, those scars on the back.' Akane shivered a bit before storming off towards the clothing racks.
Nodoka watched the interaction with Akane and Nabiki and frowned slightly before shaking her head. She walked over to the youngest Tendo and took her aside, "Why don't we look for a few more shirts for Ranma to try on." Akane looked at the Saotome matriarch and nodded as they walked away from the dressing rooms. 'I'll have to take young Akane aside and discuss with her several things.'
"Okay Auntie." Akane replies as she walks with the older woman, 'I just need to calm down. It'll do me no good if I'm riled up by my sister.' She looked through the clothing racks and took her time searching for a shirt, as well as a pair of pants for Ranma to wear.
-LINE BREAK-
Nabiki and Kasumi sat outside the dressing rooms, waiting for Ranma to come out of the dressing room so he could show the first outfit. As they waited for a bit, they got into a quiet discussion about what happened earlier.
"Ranma-kun is getting to be a bit more handsome isn't he?" Kasumi remarked, which caused Nabiki to look at her older sister in a new light.
"Where did that come from, Onee-chan." Nabiki grinned slightly as she elbowed her sister. "I thought you had your sights on a certain doctor we all know." This caused Kasumi to blush slightly before looking at Nabiki.
"Were you still interestested in that threesome Ranma mentioned after the wedding?" Kasumi remarked back, poking her sister in the side as well. "I seem to recall Ranma making that suggestion after I heard a noise in the bath." Nabiki also began to blush before both heard the curtain slide open.
Out came Ranma in this blue shirt Akane had grabbed with the golden crane in the lower half of the shirt. It was a long sleeved shirt that Ranma had rolled the sleeves rolled up slightly to the middle of his forearms and the shirt fully buttoned up. He rubbed his forearms a bit while looking at the two sisters, both who turned and stared at Ranma.
Nabiki stood up and walked around the martial artist, looking at him up and down with the shirt. She did like the black silk pants that he wore, but the shirt. She shook her head and wondered why she didn't like it. She even changed how the outfit looked on him and unbuttoned the first two ties near his neck, letting her see part of his chest. She took a step back and shook her head again. "I don't like it. Something's just off with it."
"Okay Nabiki." Ranma replied before going back into the dressing room. As the curtain closed, Akane and Nodoka came up, with a few more outfits for Ranma to try on. Akane saw that the curtain was shut and that Ranma wasn't out of the dressing room.
"Where's Ranma, still getting dressed?"
"He just showed us the blue shirt with the crane on it. I didn't like how it looked on him."
"That was the one that I picked out." Akane grumbled. "I thought it looked good on him."
"Well it didn't look good going with my outfit, so it was your fault for storming off and not waiting for him to try it on." Nabiki mentioned as she sat back down. She saw Akane sit down away from her and Kasumi. As Akane sat down, Ranma stepped out in a white, sleeveless shirt with a black dragon wrapped around his torso, with the head coming down off his right shoulder. He also wore navy blue pants with it that tapered off at his ankles. Nabiki got up again and looked him over before shaking her head once more.
"I like the style. Just not the colors. Let's see if we can find one with a different color of the dragon." Ranma nodded and went back into the dressing room. As the curtain closed, Akane turned to her sister.
"You need to stop ogling my fiancé." Akane grumbled to Nabiki, who looked at her with an eyebrow raised in a questioning look.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm checking to see if I like the outfit and it matches my dress for the party this weekend." Nabiki replied before stepping up to her sister and poking her chest. "Besides, I have to look at all of him to make sure he looks good. I'm not going to have him show up in his usual clothes that look like they've been dragged through the dirt and have tears in them." She turned away from Akane to sit back down. 'However, some of those shirts do look good on him, especially some of the sleeveless ones.' Nabiki thought with a soft smile on her face. One that didn't get noticed by anyone.
Ranma came out once more in a white-silk sleeveless Chinese tang with an embroidered blue dragon across the left shoulder. He also changed the pants from the navy blue to the black silk pants he was wearing. Nabiki's eyes widened and she saw the outfit and grinned and Kasumi also gave him a wide smile at the outfit before Akane stood up and walked around him like Nabiki had done to the last two outfits.
"I don't like this one. Looks like he's a bodyguard or something." Akane spoke up after circling him a few times. "All he needs is more hussies hanging off his arms." She grumbled to herself, loud enough for Ranma to hear, with how close they were together. Ranma's eyes narrowed before Nabiki stood up.
"I think he looks really good, and it matches my dress just right." Nabiki mentions before Akane twirled around and handed Ranma the shirts she picked out earlier.
"Well I don't, and I get the final say in what he's wearing as his fiancée." Akane reminds Nabiki.
Nabiki bristles at the response, and behind Akane, Ranma groans as well. "Akane, I don't mind this one, and in fact I have one just like it without the dragon print."
"And besides," Nabiki adds to the conversation, "You're not the one going out with him to this party as I was invited and not you."
Akane was about to retort before Kasumi spoke up. "Nabiki does have a point, Akane. Ranma is taking Nabiki to the party and she should have some say in the outfit." While Nodoka came up to Akane and grabbed her arm.
"Let's have my son wear a few more outfits before Nabiki decides fully which one she wants." Nodoka gently knocks on the doorframe of the dressing room. "Ranma, could you please hand Nabiki the outfits you were wearing earlier so she can put them back."
"Sure, mom." Ranma said, having already taken the shirt off, he grabbed the clothes he tried on and passed them to the curtain, which Nabiki grabbed and started towards the return items counter of the dressing room. She handed over the outfits she didn't like and set the shirt she liked off to the side to the attendant standing there.
"Shopping for your boyfriend?" She asks casually while hanging up the two shirts and the navy blue pants.
Nabiki looked up at the attendant and shook her head, "No, he's my sister's fiancé, but he's helping me out with a party."
"You sure he's not your boyfriend." The attendant smiled at the middle Tendo sister. "Looks like he's more comfortable with you than her."
"If you only knew." Nabiki chuckled softly, "If you only knew."
-LINE BREAK-
Mu Tsu walked down the street after finally being released by the police. While it wasn't a pleasant experience, especially being grilled by them about what happened, he finally acknowledged that he did wrong and was not supposed to attack people within the club and bar. As he walked down the street, he looked through the shop that the Tendo sisters, Nodoka and Ranma were in and saw something that brought his mind to a boil. 'That two-timing bastard. If he's supposed to be with Akane, then why is he with two others, especially as a girl.' he thought before he began to charge the woman with auburn hair. His glasses, having slipped up his forehead as he was in the middle of his charge, caused him to not realize his target wasn't Ranma, but Nodoka Saotome. "Ranma, you bastard. I'll hurt you for hurting Xian Pu!"
Nodoka heard the charge and yelling of Mu Tsu, and shifted backwards as she turned, watching as the blind martial artist flew past her, Kasumi and Akane. This caused him to crash into the dressing room where Ranma was as he was getting, the curtain fell down and the girls, and one matriarch saw that Mu Tsu had managed to pull down Ranma's boxers once he crashed into the room, 'Oh my manly son!' Nodoka cried out in her mind.
Akane and Kasumi also saw the nude form of Ranma Saotome, one with a gasp as she remembered what she saw in the bath the first time that she met him, while the other gave a soft "oh my." as she placed her hands up to her mouth, causing the older one to become bright red in embarrassment, while the other had something else to say.
"You PERVERT!" Akane yelled out, "Stop showing that thing, that... freak of nature and put some clothes back on!"
Ranma stomps on Mu Tsu and kicks him out of the dressing room, which causes Mu Tsu to let go of his boxers so Ranma could pull them back up to cover himself up enough. Once he does cover himself up, he slams his fist down on top of Mu Tsu's head to knock him out before he could get up fast enough. "Damn it, Mu Tsu. Just one day is all I ask for without all this chaos." He proceeds to pick up the amazon and throw him out of the store onto the sidewalk. As he turns around, he notices all the female attendants are blushing heavily and starts whispering to themselves before Ranma remembers he's in his boxers. He turns and looks over at Akane, who's now turning beet red, but not in anger. However he does know he needs to get dressed, and goes back to the dressing room to grab his clothes he was in. As he passed the four women, Nabiki having joined the other three and gave Ranma a wink at the free show, he heard Kasumi mention something to Akane.
"He's not a freak of nature, he's just above normal for an asian male." This caused him to blush as he walked past the women, "There are larger ones outside of Japan though." Ranma quickly beat a hasty retreat to one of the other dressing rooms to get dressed properly.
Akane looks at her older sister, still blushing, but now it's even deeper as her mind tries to imagine anything larger than what she just saw, or remembered seeing from when they first met. 'It can't be. There can't be anything larger than that.' She shook her head and softly began to whisper, "That's not true." Kasumi looked at Akane, whose voice continued to grow louder as she said, "It can't be true. That's not possible." Until she started screaming. "It's not TRUE! It's not possible that there is something larger than that!" She turns to Kasumi, "Please please tell me that's not true." To which Kasumi shook her head.
"There are more larger ones out in the rest of the world... Oh my." This last bit of information caused Akane to faint right there in the middle of the store. By this time Ranma had gotten dressed and saw that Akane fainted. He sighed and picked her up so she was resting on his back as they started for the door.
Nabiki grabbed the outfit she wanted Ranma to be in and paid for it. "Sorry about the mess."
"It's alright." The cashier said to the middle Tendo sister, "We have the martial artist insurance as part of our shop's operational policy, so we're covered." She smiled at the girl who was making the purchase, "Besides, we don't blame him at all, especially after the show he provided for us." This caused the attendants behind her to giggle softly and fan their faces as they 'swooned'. This caused Nabiki to chuckle and nod at the three women. Once the outfit was in the bag, she left with the rest of her party and started for the Tendo-ke.
Nodoka quietly clicked her tongue at the response Akane had to Ranma's 'manliness', 'Looks like I'll have to have a frank discussion with her. Seems like Soun didn't tell his daughter about the birds and the bees.' Nodoka thought to herself, then softly grinned, 'At least it'll hopefully get her to be ready to provide such lovely grandbabies.'
-LINE BREAK-
About halfway to the Tendo-ke, Akane woke up and got off of Ranma's back. Shaking her head and wanting to be a little bit away from him at the moment. Once they had arrived, they slipped out of their shoes and they separated to their rooms, with Kasumi and Nodoka heading towards the kitchen to fix dinner. Akane walks past her sister and Ranma to her room and slams the door shut with her face now flush from being reminded of what she saw. She continued to see flashes of Ranma in the nude both stepping out of the tub and in the store they were at. She shook her head trying to banish the thoughts from her mind, but they seemed to keep coming back, 'I'm not a pervert. I'm not a pervert.' she chanted in her head as she tossed her book bag onto her desk as she changed from her uniform to her casual clothing.
Nabiki and Ranma looked towards Akane's room as they heard the door slam before looking at each other. Nabiki handed him the outfit that she got from the store. "Keep that nice and ready for the party. Don't want a stud like you missing out and head there naked." Nabiki jokes as she runs a finger up and down his arm. This caused Ranma to shiver slightly at the touch before he poked her shoulder.
"What about the saying, 'Don't write checks you can't cash.' I would have thought you'd stick to those ideals." This caused Nabiki to chuckle before she walked off to her room.
"Maybe I want to cash that check." Nabiki smirked before her door shut behind her. She leaned up against the door and slid down before licking her lips. 'Oh god that was better than the furo. I got a real good look at him this time and..' Her face became more flushed as she rubbed her legs together. 'Get it together girl. He's going to the party with you and then we can talk about other things later.'
Ranma smirked to himself before he walked into the guest room. He placed his new shirt and pants away in a drawer he used for some of his specialty items that he wanted to keep. This included the dress and blouse he got yesterday with Nabiki and Kasumi. As he finished putting everything away, he started working on his school work until he got the call that dinner was ready.
-LINE BREAK-
Dinner was quiet as all the women were keeping to themselves their thoughts about the young man in the house that sat between Nabiki and Kasumi. This seemed to be the new normal with Nodoka sitting next to Genma and Akane, with the youngest Tendo sister sitting next to her father. Afterwards, as the three youngest got up to get their school work, Nodoka spoke up.
"Akane, can I talk with you for a bit in your room?"
"Sure, Auntie." Both Nodoka and Akane went up the stairs behind Nabiki and Ranma. Nabiki and Ranma came down from their rooms and started to work on their school work, with Nabiki 'helping' Ranma with his work.
After a while, Akane comes down with her homework to finish up, red in the face and staying far enough away from Ranma and Nabiki. The night passes quietly for the trio as Soun and Genma sit on the veranda.
-LINE BREAK-
Ranma got up from his futon, once more surprised that he was able to get a good night's sleep. Then he looks over and notices that his mother and father were asleep as well, and glad that his mother was there to curb Genma's tendencies to spar with Ranma early in the morning by throwing him out the window. He decided that he didn't want to workout this morning, but he would later after he came back to the Tendo-ke today, he'd just have to double his workout time. He went down to the furo and cleaned up to get ready for the day. As he started coming up the steps he saw Akane at the top of the steps.
Akane was in her school uniform and coming down the steps when she noticed Ranma coming up. As she saw him, the thoughts and dreams that she had the night before caused her to blush red and breathing a bit more heavier. Those thoughts that Nodoka planted into the youngest Tendo's mind seemed to interact more with her. She saw Ranma was almost to her and she backed up before she cried out. "PERVERT!" and her hand came up, slapping him so hard that he was knocked down the steps and laid out, flat on his back. Ranma looked back up at the steps and didn't see Akane, but after a few seconds he heard a door slam shut.
Nabiki was dressed in her school uniform and was walking down the hall to the stairs when she heard Akane's cry, then watched as she ran to her room. She heard the thud of something hitting the floor at the bottom of the steps and she ran to the steps only to see Ranma holding his cheek and looking up at her. His eyes wide and looked very hurtful as he wondered what he did this time.
Nabiki calmly walked down the steps and knelt next to Ranma. "You okay?"
"I honestly don't know." He sat up and winced as he released his hand from his cheek where he was slapped. "I'm not sure what I did to get slapped this morning." He held his toiletries and had his towel over his shoulder. He wasn't half naked or anything that would be considered as perverted. He sat up and rubbed his cheek a little bit while wincing slightly at the tenderness of the slap.
Nabiki looked him over quietly, resting a hand on his shoulder as he sat up. When she finally got a good look at his face, she narrowed her eyes at the handprint that was visible on his cheek. 'Akane's gone a little too far this time. He didn't even do anything.' Nabiki thought before she shook her head, 'I'll talk to her when I get the chance to.'
After breakfast had finished, with Ranma sporting a bandaged cheek and Akane having skipped breakfast to head to school earlier than normal, Nabiki and Ranma headed out to school. It wasn't very far when Nabiki looked over at Ranma and reached up to touch the bandaged cheek, to which Ranma pulled away from the touch before she could reach it. Nabiki growled mentally and was really ready to admonish her sister about this incident. As they stop at one corner to turn towards the school, Ranma stops Nabiki by placing a hand on her arm.
"Nabiki. Do you think what happened yesterday might have caused her to fly off the handle like that?" Ranma asked quietly.
"Well, from my perspective, it definitely deserved something, like a pinch and a lap dance." Nabiki smiled and gently nudged her shoulder against his, letting him know that she was joking and it did bring a small smile to his face. "But really, no it shouldn't have. That was not your fault and it was an honest accident from Mousse trying to attack you." Nabiki gently slid his hand down to hers and she squeezed his, "But everything isn't your fault. But I wouldn't mind another show, and I think Kasumi would like one as well." This caused Ranma to chuckle softly and smile a bit more.
"Can I pencil you in for after graduation?" Ranma jokingly replies.
"Sure. My schedule is free the week after. How does that sound?" Nabiki grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. This definitely caused Ranma to laugh as they continued on towards school.
In the distance, Nabiki and Ranma saw someone they were not expecting. Kodachi Kuno stood near the gates watching the crowd as they entered. Though several students who knew the other crazy Kuno, aside from the principal, steered away from her. As she finally looked towards the street, she saw her prey and bounded over the crowd of students to her target. "Ranma-sama! I just had to come and see you..." She looked at the fact that Nabiki was holding onto Ranma still and her eyes widened. "I see that that wretched girl, Akane Tendo, has left your wonderous side and you're stuck with one of her elder sisters." This caused Nabiki to release Ranma, but not quickly to hurt Ranma's feelings. "One would think with the Mercenary Tendo that you'd be not only out of reach but at such high prices." She turned to Nabiki. "How much to have my lovely Ranma-sama for a night?"
Ranma then looks at Nabiki, who gives him a slight nod before he steps away from the Kuno maiden and heads directly to the school shoe lockers. This allowed Nabiki to focus her attention on Kodachi so she could put her in her place. "This time Ranma's not going to be loaned out. And even then we're not together. Akane is still his fiancée and I was only walking him to school today."
"But you were holding onto my darling Ranma-sama. Why would you do that if you're not his betrothed from the Tendo clan?"
"Akane decided to leave a little earlier than normal and Ranma wanted to talk. Can't someone escort a lady to her destination without anyone thinking otherwise?"
"Perhaps you're correct. However I do believe with this predicament, that I might be able to sweep up Ranma-sama from that, what did my Ranma-sama call your sister?" Kodachi said as she brought a finger to her chin, "Oh yes... That boorish tomboy."
While normally Nabiki would be upset, this day she just shrugged her shoulders, "Try as you might, but I very much doubt Ranma will even come close to you."
"Oh you must have forgotten who I am. I'm Kodachi Kuno, the black rose of St. Hebereke high school. Ohhh ho ho ho ho." Kodachi laughed as she jumped away from Nabiki. "I'll get my Ranma-sama one day. And then we'll have a wonderful life together. Oh ho ho ho."
Nabiki groaned at the laugh that Kodachi uses, 'That bitch laugh of hers is so annoying.' she thought as she walked to the school shoe lockers herself, to which Ranma was waiting for a moment to see if she was okay. When Nabiki nodded to him, he gave her a thumbs up before heading towards his classroom. 'I just hope that your day gets better, Ranma-kun." Nabiki told herself, not realizing that she just inherently cursed the boy.
-LINE BREAK-
Ranma decided to leave school without Nabiki or Akane after hearing from Nabiki at lunch that Kodachi wanted to try and break him up fully with Akane. He managed to find Nabiki and let her know that he was heading back to the Tendo-ke by himself as he needed to think about things.
As he got to the gate, he saw Ukyo standing there, in her cooking uniform for her restaurant, however something was different about her. She wore no bandoleer, and her traditional larger spatula was nowhere to be seen. This caused Ranma to question what was happening, but he decided that he would ignore it and walked past her. Until he felt his shirt being tugged by Ukyo as he passed. Ranma turned around and was about to berate her for even coming back and talking to her until she spoke up.
"I'm sorry." Ukyo states softly, her head down and face turned away from Ranma "I wasn't thinking at all about you. It was just so that I could say I got you." Ukyo apologized for what she said to him. Her fear was that he would outright reject her apology and she kept her face away from him. Ranma then looked at her finally, noticing that she's very submissive and what he could glance at from her face was the dark circles under her eyes. He took a deep breath and without any anger or frustration, he gently tugged his shirt out of her fingers, which caused Ukyo to hitch her shoulders as if she's about to cry. Ranma then faces her fully.
"I don't know Ukyo. This is hard enough to discuss with you without any yelling or screaming that happened the last time. I just don't know if I can forgive you for what happened both at the wedding and a week ago." He took a breath to keep himself calm as he tried to express his next thoughts, "I really think that we need a break from each other, not only as a fiancée but as a friend as well." Ukyo nods, her shoulders finally hitching and he could hear her crying quietly before she rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her cooking uniform. Once done, she stands up straight and nods once, pulling in all her experience at acting as a boy to keep her from breaking down even further. She turns away from Ranma and starts heading towards her restaurant.
Ranma then notices the crowd and was about to turn towards the Tendo-ke once more before Akane came up to him. She turned to look in the direction that Ukyo headed towards before she responded to what happened, "So, you're finally cleaning up the fiancée mess?"
Ranma then turned very quickly to Akane, who turned to face him and saw that his eyes had narrowed, his anger and frustration at the remark that Akane had said, which caused the youngest Tendo sister to actually step back and not confront the storm which she was about to cause. Ranma snorted and without saying anything else, he turned and jumped onto the closest roof and jumped across the roofs of the houses away from the Dojo
Akane looks at where Ranma is heading until she feels a hand smack her on the back side of her head. "You are as subtle as a rampaging bull, Akane." Nabki spoke up after hitting her sister.
"He's finally getting rid of his unwanted fiancés and now you're getting on me about it?" Akane looks back at her sister, "He's doing what Daddy asked him to do in the first place."
"You pretty much just threw it into his face that he may have lost one of his closest friends all because she was a fiancée." Nabiki flicked her finger against Akane's nose, causing Akane to step back, "I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't come home after what you just said to him."
"Oh don't get on his side, he was being a womanizing pervert by stringing Ukyo, Shampoo and myself along as fiancées. And now that he finally got rid of one, you're telling me I did wrong?"
"How would you like it if one of your friends did or said something that made you so mad you wouldn't want to be friends with them and then I told you 'good riddance'?" Nabiki leveled a hard stare at her younger sister, "That's pretty much what you did to him right now." Nabiki walks away from her before making a paring shot back, "You really are something, Sis. I didn't think you would hit him so low while he was down. But I guess even I can be wrong sometimes."
Akane looks at Nabiki with wide eyes before narrowing them at her. 'At least I have something you don't, and I very much doubt that you would ever have someone like Ranma, because he will never be into a bitch like you.' Akane then walks off, not to the dojo but to a park where her friends were waiting for her.
-LINE BREAK-
Ranma hopped across the ward towards the center of the district where he stopped at Shakujii park's entrance. He took a moment to admire the park entrance before walking up one of the trails. He took a moment to explore the area until he got to a set of ruins. He stopped and sat next to the ruins walls and went over his thoughts about what happened and his talks with Ukyo.
'Why didn't you just leave it alone, Ukyo. All you had to do was wait and let things cool off.' He thought while clenching his hands into tight fists, 'I thought you'd at least understand what I'm trying to do. I can't do it if you constantly throw your friendship at me to cover for what happened.' Ranma sighed before leaning back against the wall
'Making no decision, IS a decision, with its own pros and cons.' The voice of Gina came into his thoughts.
'Your right there, Gina. I need to make one, because I haven't made one decision yet and it's all coming to head now. Things are falling apart and being destroyed.' Ranma sighed before standing up and walking back out onto the main road. 'However there is one decision I do need to make. And that's to fix the Neko-ken. It's just how I am going to get there. I'm not going to do what my old man did and cheepen out. I have to make it to where this manual is and see what else was translated.' As he got to the entrance, he nodded to himself. "I'll have my stuff ready and the transcripts I already have packed." He told himself out loud before jumping up to the closest roof and running across them once more back to the Tendo-ke.
-LINE BREAK-
Nabiki leaned up against the counter as she told her sister about her day. As she got to the end and she heard about Akane, Kasumi stopped making dinner and looked over at Nabiki.
"What did Akane say to him?"
"Just that he was finally cleaning up the fiancée mess between him and Ukyo. Even though Ukyo looked like she was about to cry." Nabiki shrugged slightly, "She pretty much told him off for getting upset with Ukyo about what's been happening the last few weeks with her and after the wedding."
"Were you there to tell Akane what she did wrong?" Kasumi responded. Her hands took the towel in her hands and wringed it dry, even though there was no water soaked into the towel, almost as if she was frustrated or anxious.
"I told her exactly how I felt about what she did. And explained to her what she did and asked how she would feel if I did something like that to her." Nabiki sighed, "After that, I don't know where Ranma is right now."
"I hope Ranma-kun will be okay. This family will fall apart if he just leaves us like this." Kasumi then placed the towel down over the faucet of the sink before continuing on fixing dinner.
"You said it, Kasumi. And I agree with you." Nabiki stood up from the counter and was about to leave when she saw Kasumi stopping her chopping some vegetables for dinner. She noticed that her sister's hands were shaking and she couldn't tell if it was from her being upset at Akane, or worried for Ranma.
-LINE BREAK-
Akane slid the door open to the Tendo-ke and stepped into the entryway. She slid her shoes off and shut the door behind her, "I'm home!" she called out. As she took a few steps towards the stairs, she saw Nabiki coming down. As she got closer to Nabiki, she started to open her mouth but kept it shut as she saw the icy glare coming from the middle Tendo sister. 'Okay, ice bitch, not like I wanted to talk to you anyway.' She thought as she went to her room to change. When she did so, she came down stairs and went to the kitchen. "Kasumi? Is Ranma back yet?"
"No he isn't, little sister." Kasumi stated, her tone a little more colder than it should have been when Akane arrived home as usual, "Dinner won't be served until Ranma comes back, so you'll have to wait."
Akane shivered at the tone, 'Why the hell is Kasumi like this?' It took her a minute to realize that Nabiki was home and she growled quietly to herself, 'So she must have said something. Probably put me in the wrong light with Kasumi. Ranma is doing what father asked him to do.' What Akane failed to realize is that Ranma also said for Genma to fix those problems, not him. As she stepped out of the kitchen and started to go towards the main room, she heard the front door slide open and then shut. As she turned around, Ranma was walking towards the steps when their eyes met. Just as she was about to turn around and ignore him, Kasumi stepped out of the kitchen,
"Oh Ranma-kun, Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Can you come upstairs with me?" she said as she pulled him up the stairs with such a gentle smile and serene atmosphere about her. This caused Akane to look at the two strangely before wondering a few things.
'Why is she doing that, she's never done that to anyone that I remember, least of all Ranma.'
-LINE BREAK-
Kasumi guided the young Saotome, but instead of going directly to his room, she opened her door and gently pushed him inside. Like the other two sisters, she had a western-style bed in the corner against the southern window, a bookshelf and a desk, however the desk contained a mirror hanging on the wall. The bookshelf contained several fantasy novels, medical books and even a few romance novels. This was the first time that Ranma had entered the eldest sister's room and he was about to feel a bit uncomfortable before Kasumi sat him down on her bed. He looked up at her before she took the chair and sat it in front of him. When she sat down on the chair, Kasumi saw the look of apprehension on his face.
"It's okay Ranma-kun." She said, reaching out to pat his knee, like an older sister would when she was worried about a younger sibling. "I just want you to tell me about your day. No interruptions." She gave him a comforting smile, which helped Ranma relax as well. His shoulders slumped slightly forward and his body sagged as he placed his elbows on his knees.
'Be a man, Ranma. We don't show our emotions to anyone.' Ranma heard Genma in his mind, 'Don't act like a girl, because you'll sound like one when you act like that.' Ranma closed his eyes and tried to ignore it, when he finally looked up and opened his eyes, he saw Kasumi look at him with a worried look and a frown. "Ahh.. I'm alright Kasumi. Just had a really bad day. A good night's sleep will help with that."
"Ranma-kun. Maybe I should have said something different." Kasumi started as she scooted the chair closer to the bed, "You need to tell me what happened. This will help you feel better than just a good night's sleep." She reached out again and patted his arm, rubbing his forearm gently before taking his hand into hers. "I'll just sit and listen."
"Why are you doing this, Kasumi?" Ranma asked, watching as Kasumi took his arm and started rubbing and massaging it when she felt his arm tense or felt unnatural knots. She also gently pressed specific pressure points in his hand and arm to help him relax as well.
"Nabiki told me what happened, but she couldn't tell me everything." She leaned forward and took his other hand, causing him to sit up a bit as she continued her ministrations on his other arm, "No fear of anyone coming in, and not in front of anyone else."
Ranma knew that Nabiki would be the one to tell her what happened, especially after what Akane had said to him before he decided he needed to be alone. He took a few breaths before starting. "The last few weeks, I've had... arguments with Ukyo about what she meant to me and why she did what she did at the wedding. It came to head the Tuesday after the wedding, where she couldn't decide if she was my friend or my fiancée." Ranma started, detailing everything that happened up until this afternoon. "...Then she tries to apologize for what she did and said, but... I don't know Kasumi. What am I supposed to say, tell her all is forgiven? Tell her that I'll forget everything she did because she apologized?" Ranma started to get more frustrated as he started asking Kasumi the rhetorical questions.
"I'm not sure what you should have done, but you did what you could at the time." Kasumi softly spoke, patting his knee after having worked his arms. "What happened after? I heard that Akane said something to you?"
"She said that I was finally cleaning up my mess that your father had asked me to do. As if it was my mess in the first place." Ranma snorted, turning his head away. "It's not my fault that all of them decided to come up to me and said I was their fiancé. It's not my fault that they won't leave me alone. It's not my fault!" Ranma finally blurted out, "How could I have known that this would happen. It's my father's fault, not mine. And I refuse to believe anything else." He stopped his ramblings as he felt a pair of arms wrap around his body and the bed shift slightly to accommodate another person. He looked behind him and saw Kasumi hugging him, with her head against his.
"It truly isn't your fault, Ranma-kun. But I don't think anyone knows how to fix it." Kasumi quietly spoke into his ear. She gently kissed his temple before getting up. "Take your time and relax a bit while I finish up dinner. Then come down and eat, little brother." She gently ruffled his hair and gave him one of her dazzling smiles, which caused him to smile at her affections that she was giving him.
"Okay, big sis." He smiled back before getting up himself, "Thank you." He said before leaving Kasumi's room with her to the guest room.
"Always, Ranma-kun. You come to me if you still want to talk about anything. My door is always open for you." Kasumi smiled.
Ranma decided that Kasumi needed a parting shot from what she did the other day, "Is that an open invitation for anything?" He grinned, giving her the dashing smile, to which Kasumi leaned forward and whispered softly into his ear.
"Don't make a promise you can't keep, Ranma-kun." She leaned back and gave him that serine smile she always has on her face before heading towards the steps, not seeing the red face Ranma was making.
'2-0 Kasumi. Perhaps I need to up my game with Nabiki's help.' He thought as he shut the door to the guest room to put his things away.
-LINE BREAK-
Dinner was a quiet affair, with Ranma sitting between Nabiki and Kasumi while Akane sat next to her father and Nodoka. Kasumi started serving Ranma first, then Nodoka, after that she served Nabiki, Soun, Gemma and Akane last before serving dinner for herself.
Akane saw that she was the last to be served and decided that tonight she'd keep quiet for the night and eat her meal. She already got the cold shoulder from both of her sisters today, and she didn't want to disrupt the meal at all. She kept her head down and just focused on her meal.
Nodoka saw that Genma was about to steal something from her son's plate, but a quick glare towards him stopped that thought that Genma had, causing him to sit up straighter and quietly eat his meal.
Soun looked between his three daughters and Ranma before he took a moment to realize that Ranma was starting to get closer to Nabiki and Kasumi, while slowly pulling away from Akane. He knew that if he was to get anything out of this arranged marriage that he needed to make sure that Akane married Ranma. Though he didn't verbally express his thoughts, he was still worried that his old friend was deliberately sabotaging this contract between them.
Once the meal was finished, both Ranma and Nabiki got up, but went their separate ways, Ranma to the dojo and Nabiki to her room.
Akane was debating whether to go to Ranma or to her room, when Kasumi asked her to help clean up from dinner.
-LINE BREAK-
Ranma started his cool down and took several deep breaths, taking the moment to deal with everything that happened that day. Ukyo's apology, Akane's remarks, Kasumi's comfort. All those things wrapped around his head and he was finally able to relax. He headed back to his room and saw Nabiki at the bottom of the steps.
"Going my way, Ranma-kun?" Nabiki said as she saw him herself, before giving a slight smile at her little joke. Ranma shook his head at what Nabiki was doing, but decided to go along with it.
"I guess I am. Want to join me?"
"I guess I should." Nabiki responded in kind. As they got up to the top of the stairs, Nabiki grabbed his arm and gently guided him to his room, sliding the door open and walking in there with him as well before pushing the door shut to give them both a bit of privacy so they could talk. "Anything on your mind you'd like to get rid of?" to which she gave him a wink before she added, "Only twenty yen per session." This caused Ranma to laugh softly, reminding himself that this was honestly one of the few times she's actually asked for yen from him in the last month or so.
"Why charge so little? Are my thoughts not good enough for you?" Ranma replied, trying hard to get into the little game Nabiki was obviously playing to bring his mind out of it, but he really couldn't continue it on. He sat down on the tatami mats, with Nabiki following him as she knelt in front of him. This was a first as the only time Nabiki had even sat seiza that Ranma could remember was when she told him she was dressed in her kimono waiting for him to arrive. 'She must be taking this seriously if she was sitting like that.' Ranma remarked to himself before he responded once more. "In all honesty. I really just want to be left alone. It's been a really hard day with everything happening and tonight just didn't help."
Nabiki nods and pulls him into her arms, hugging him gently as she rests her head on his shoulder. This caused Ranma to wrap his arms around her as well, finally getting used to her hugging him for whatever reason she deemed. Though this was still pretty new to him as he's never seen her hug anyone. Ranma felt Nabiki's hands run up and down his back before she pulled away a bit. "Let me know when you want to talk about it. I know Kasumi talked to you, but if something happens, don't leave me in the dark." She smiles at him and sees him return smile before the door opens up behind her.
"Ranma can we..." She stopped mid way through her question as she saw the scene in front of her. Her face became red as she saw how close they were. "Why are you holding my sister, you letch!" Akane reached out to grab her sister, but Ranma quickly turned around and reached out to grab Akane's arm. Nabki spun a bit and was behind Ranma, to which she stood behind and had a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm not a letch, Akane. And she was hugging me." Ranma replied back, keeping a good grasp on her arm. Akane looked back at him with a bit of rage in her eyes.
"Yeah right. My sister doesn't have a compassionate bone in her body." Akane snarled back, trying to yank her arm out of Ranma's grip, "I bet she was going to use this as blackmail, but you decided to be the pervert you are to her. I should have had Daddy kick you and your father out when we first met!" This caused Ranma to reel back a bit, bumping into Nabiki as he let go of Akane. He stood as tall as he could against her.
"You never did want the engagement once you heard about it!" Ranma remarked, upset about the fact that he was trying to get Akane to acknowledge that she was in the wrong.
"I thought my Daddy was archaic with his idea of an arranged marriage." Akane pointed back at him, "And you didn't like it either, because you wanted to go back to China!"
"I had gotten the curse for less than two months and it was horrible."
"That's a lie if I ever heard one. I still say you were using your body in a perverse manner to get your jollies off."
"Maybe I should have Shampoo get you a few packets of Nannichuan for you to experience the idea of what it feels like to switch genders every so often!"
"ENOUGH!" Nabiki yells out at them, "Akane, you are at fault for barging into his room without knocking, and you are also wrong about Ranma doing anything perverted!" Nabiki glares at her younger sister, "So I suggest that you walk away before I do something that I will not regret doing, especially after today."
"I can't believe you would side with him then your own sister." Akane glared at her before yanking her hand out of Ranma's grip. "And if you do anything perverted like that again, I will have Daddy kick you out."
Akane turns around, leaves and slams the door shut, only to come face to face with Kasumi, who has a very stern face.
"Little sister," Kasumi says in a very chilled tone, not unlike Nabiki's when someone who owes her money doesn't pay it off when it should, "You are not allowed to go near Ranma for the rest of the week, and you are banned from the Dojo until I say it is okay for you to return. Not Daddy or anyone else."
Akane freezes and looks at her oldest sister with wide eyes before looking very ashamed. Kasumi continues, "Nabiki was right, in that you were completely at fault for barging in on our guest, throwing accusations at him, and you were about to bring dishonor to our family because of this. I was told that Nabiki explained what you did wrong at school and you still continued to bother Ranma-kun. You have disrupted this household and made it feel very uncomfortable for our guests. Go think on it while you are banned from the Dojo and away from Ranma." Akane nods and walks to her room under the stare of Kasumi's gaze before she shuts her door.
-LINE BREAK-
Nabiki and Ranma stand there for a moment, with Ranma taking a few deep breaths to calm down, Nabiki resting her left hand on his back and her right on his shoulder. She saw how stressed he felt from that last interaction, seeing from his profile as he closed his eyes before she felt him trembling a bit as he came down off the adrenaline. Nabiki was about to reach out before she heard Ranma speak softly.
"I can't do this anymore. I thought after China and the whole Saffron incident that she would see that I do care about her, but it seems like that was fleeting at best."
"Ranma?"
"And now I've brought this onto you." He turned and looked at her before she reached out and placed a finger on his lips.
"You didn't do anything else that wasn't already there between Akane and I. She's always hated the fact that the way I do things and how I've responded to them makes me act like a cold bitch at the best of times." She gave him a smile which he returned once she dropped her finger from his lips. "But that doesn't excuse her from how she reacted to what happened, regardless if she had knocked or barged in here."
"I'm just getting very tired of this back and forth between us." Ranma looks down, "Maybe I should leave and let you guys get back to how things were..." Nabiki grabbed his head and held it so he was looking at her.
"Do not think about leaving. At least not until after the party." She smiled and gave him a wink, "besides you haven't seen my outfit yet. And you definitely don't want to miss it." This got Ranma to chuckle slightly as he nodded his head.
"Not until after the party. Maybe things will cool down after that." Nabiki nodded and squeezed his shoulders.
"Just don't forget that, Ranma. I wouldn't forgive you if you left before the party was over."