* * *
Part Three
* * *
Ranma ran downtown, Akane hot on his heels, not that he
noticed. He had one purpose in mind. He burst into Ucchan's
Okinomiyaki-ya.
"Hey, Ucchan!" he called out as he entered. Ukyou looked up.
She was still upset over lunch, but being a fiancee of Ranma had
steeled her to minor setbacks such as that (1). Why, she hadn't
needed any more than two or three hours of crying to feel better!
She beamed at him. Maybe he'd come to apologize. That would be a
pleasant, not to mention completely unexpected surprise (2).
Then Akane came in. Ukyou's smile fell like Ranma's chance of
winning the 'Miss Universe' competition after they announced the
heated pool swimming event (3). Then again, maybe Akane had come
to gloat. She sighed and walked over to Ranma. "Yes, Ranma?" she
asked. Ranma didn't notice her trepidation.
"Table for one, Ucchan," he said. Ukyou brightened. He and
Akane were separate? "And some company?" Ukyou's smile fell
again, this time like a lead balloon.
She sighed. "Table for one. Looks like you've already *got*
your company, though," she said.
Ranma looked around him, puzzled. "What?" he asked. "Is
Shampoo hiding somewhere, or something?" He remembered how Ukyou
had reacted to his being polite at lunch. Perhaps he should be
more direct. "Ucchan, I want to talk to YOU."
Ukyou stared, then broke into a broad smile. "Sure, Ranchan,"
she said. "Just a sec." She turned to Akane. "And what can I do
for YOU?" she asked Akane in her iciest tones.
Akane looked back, defiantly. "I'm with him," Akane growled
at her.
Ukyou felt her heart breaking (4), but she turned to Ranma
anyways. "Ranchan? Is what she says true?" she asked him.
Ranma was surprised. "Huh?"
She pointed at Akane. "Are you with Akane?"
Ranma was confused. "Not last time I looked," he answered
truthfully.
Ukyou smiled, and turned back to Akane. Akane fumed. "Oh--
oh, just give me a table!" Ukyou grinned, and led her to a table
in the corner.
Ukyou then sat down with Ranma. "What's up, Ranchan? Oh, I
almost forgot your okinomiyaki. How many today?" she asked him,
standing back up.
He shook his head. "It's okay, Ucchan," he said. "I'm not
hungry." She stared at him. If he hadn't come to eat, then why?
"I wanted to talk with you," he admitted to her.
Ukyou felt her heart skip a beat and sat back down into her
seat. "Su-sure," she said happily. Then she frowned. "But what
about--" she waved in Akane's direction, who was sitting and trying
to listen in on the two of them. She was too far away to hear
details, but she could certainly *see* them just fine!
Ranma smiled. Ukyou worried too much about her restaurant.
She should learn to relax. "Don't worry about it, Ucchan," he
said. Ukyou was surprised, but nodded. "Well...Ucchan...I've got
a problem. I mean, I think I do. Well, I don't know if I do or
not, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right? Or maybe it
isn't. Actually, I was hoping you would know. At least...well,
there's someone who I think I've hurt, or insulted, or done
*something* to really badly," he managed.
Ukyou gave up trying to make sense of the first half of his
speech and nodded enthusiastically at his last sentence. He wanted
to apologize to her! Ranma continued. "But I, uh, well, I think
she's angry, and I'm not really sure why..." Ah! Now Ukyou
realized the problem. She smiled and took Ranma in hand, both
figuratively and literally.
"Ranchan," she said softly, "sometimes a girl needs to *know*
she's the only one for a boy. She needs to be *told* he loves her,
and only her. If he talks to other girls more than her, or asks
her about others instead of talking *to* her, of course she'll be
upset. It's only natural. Do you see?" She smiled tenderly at
him.
Ranma hesitated, then nodded. "I...I guess so," he said. "So
I need to tell her I love her?" Ukyou nodded her head excitedly.
Ranma was going to tell her he loved her!!
Ranma shook his head, dejectedly. "I don't think I can do
that," he said. "Isn't there something else I could do, like, uh,
get her a funny card or something?" Ukyou tried to keep from
breaking out into tears. Don't lose it now, girl, she admonished
herself.
"But...but you *do* love her, right?" she asked, faintly.
Ranma was taken aback. Love *AKANE*? Ukyou noticed his
hesitation. "Well--you have strong feelings for her at least,
right?" she begged. Oh, please, let it be, she prayed.
That was somewhat easier for Ranma. Of course he had strong
feelings for Akane. Mostly he felt that she was the most
irritating, annoying, aggravating person on the planet. And he
felt that very strongly. "Um...I guess so...yeah," he said,
seeming to gain confidence in his own words as he spoke them.
Ukyou beamed at him. "Well then, that's not so bad, is it?"
Ukyou asked him. "Just tell her that!" Ranma was taken aback.
Tell Akane she annoyed him? That would be tantamount to suicide!
Ukyou noticed his reticence and cursed silently. Come on now,
girl, she told herself. Don't let this fish get away this time!
She leaned forward, showing off her assets to good view (5). "I
know it's hard, Ranchan," she said in a soft voice. "But she'll
cherish it all the more for it being hard for you to say. Trust me
on this one." Her eyes shone luminously as she gazed at him.
Ranma blushed. "But...but isn't that a bit weird to say to
somebody?" he asked her.
Ukyou snapped out of it. "W-weird?" she gasped. She
desperately gripped the table as something real to hold on to. She
couldn't lose it now. Not when she was so close. She gulped and
licked her lips nervously. "Ranchan, it's the most natural thing
in the world to say to someone else," she tried. "She'll thank you
for being so honest, and then she'll say the same thing back to
you. That's how it works." How could he think it was weird? She
had to nip that idea in the bud before it could tear him away from
her!
Ranma pondered that particular grain of wisdom. He had the
feeling that no matter what Ukyou said to the contrary, if he was
to tell Akane she was getting on his nerves, she'd kill him. But--
Ukyou *did* know girls better than he did. That was why he was
talking to her, after all. Maybe she had something there. But he
wasn't quite sure. He decided to clarify his position. "But
Ucchan, I've told her that a hundred times!"
Ukyou nearly fainted. Ranchan loved her, he did! He did!
She noticed him eyeing her oddly and realized she must be acting a
little strangely. She tried to keep the flush off her face as she
thought of how to reply. "R-really?" she stuttered. "I never--I
mean, I--oh, Ranchan--you have to come out and *say* it! If only
I had known, I--" She started crying.
Ranma began to feel guilty. Here was Ukyou, with her own
problems, and he was laying all of his on her shoulders. She could
be so *sensitive* sometimes. He tried to make her cheer up. "Aw,
Ucchan, it's okay. I guess I was never good at words, but that's
not your fault, is it?" He smiled a dazzling smile at her.
She sniffed and stared into his eyes, lovestruck. "N-no,
Ranchan. Of course not..." She sighed. "Oh, Ranchan. You have
to be direct! A girl can't be *sure* you mean what you say unless
you're straight and to the point!" She smiled at him. Finally,
she would hear the three little words from him she longed for,
dreamed for...
He frowned. "Direct?" His brain ran through a scenario of
him telling Akane she aggravated the heck out of him, right to her
face. His brain went into the corner and hid itself, whimpering in
fear. "What do you mean by direct? I mean, do you mean *direct*
direct? Or could I just, you know, hint at it a little? I mean,
I *could* just say it straight, but..."
"Just--just come right out and say it!" Ukyou was ecstatic.
He was going to say it! He was! But...he wasn't saying anything.
Then she remembered Akane. Not to mention the customers. And the-
-oh! Of course! How could she have been so foolish? Of course he
didn't want to say it in front of everybody like this! She glanced
over at Akane, who was fuming. She didn't seem to realize what was
going on, though. Ukyou thought that was for the best. Now that
she had Ranchan, she really didn't need to antagonize Akane any
further.
"It's best if you do it privately," she confided shyly, "and
make it a special moment for both of you." There. He ought to get
the hint. Hmm. This was Ranma. Maybe not. "And...she might make
it special for you, too." She blushed at her own forwardness.
Ranma blinked uncertainly. "I guess so," he said, obviously
unconvinced. "So I, uh, tell her how I feel." Ukyou eagerly
nodded. "And then she thanks me for being honest about it." She
nodded again. "And then she tells me she feels the same way."
Ukyou nodded vigorously.
Ranma thought he had it now. It was sort of like marriage
counselling. You came out straight and talked about the problems
you had with the other person, and you both agreed on some way to
work them out. It was so simple, he liked it (6). He smiled.
Then a nagging thought crossed his mind.
"But, Ucchan--what if she doesn't like me saying that to her?"
he stammered. "I think she'd be angry at me." He wasn't sure he
wanted to be alone with Akane when she got angry. The paramedics
might not be able to get to him in time.
Ukyou stared. Could he be that insecure? Hadn't she told him
so many dozens of times how she felt? She suddenly felt horribly
stupid. With Ranma, *words* didn't mean much at all. He was a
martial artist. ACTIONS were what counted. She'd been doing it
all wrong, all this time, without even realizing it. So many
wasted months...years, even...if she had only known!
"Ranma..." she murmured. "She does. Trust me." And she
would prove it. HIS way, for once. She leaned forward, closing
her eyes. How could she have been so blind? If a kiss was what it
took--or a hundred of them--then it was a price she would gladly
pay any day of the week for her beloved Ranchan!
Ranma smiled. He was really blessed to have such an
understanding friend as Ukyou. Who else could he talk to about
Akane? Ryoga would kill him, Nabiki would blackmail him, Kasumi
wouldn't even understand him, his father would just give him
another speech about women and marrying Akane, Kodachi would drug
him, Kuno would try to date him, Mousse would hit him with a toy
potty, his mother would force him to commit seppuku and Happosai
would do something totally depraved--no, Ukyou was the only real
friend he could count on in this. Now he knew exactly what to do.
Ukyou kept leaning forward, eyes closed. She knew it
sometimes took time for boys to get the nerve to kiss a pretty
girl, especially their first time. She was patient. She'd waited
so very long for this moment, and she didn't want to rush it.
But even for Ukyou, five minutes was a long time. She decided
she'd cheat a little and peek. Ranma was gone. She glanced around
the room, eyes open, startled. He had left the restaurant. Worse
yet, Akane had left with him.
A primal wail of rage emanated from Ucchan's.
(1) Like having your world crumble around you, being kidnapped by
an unnamed martial artist/demon/god for unspeakable purposes,
finding out the love of your life has yet another fiancee other
than yourself, finding him in a compromising position with one of
the aforementioned other fiancees, and discovering your fiance is
an aquatranssexual, just to name a few. All of these have happened
more than once, by the way (including discovering him to be an
aquatranssexual. Ranma thought he'd been cured more than once
during the series, only to find later it was just a temporary fix).
(2) As opposed to a pleasant and completely expected surprise, of
course.
"Can I change this future?" -Lisa Simpson
"No. Just try to act surprised." -Fortune Teller
(3) I have no idea whether they have a heated swimming pool event
in the Miss Universe competition, but if not, they should--just in
case. Either that or open up the talent category to include
shapechanging.
(4) With Ukyou, this was an hourly event, similar to Akane beating
up Ranma. In fact, it was as so regular and precise that locals
had started to set their watches to it. This led to a disaster one
day when Ranma decided to go on a vacation without his fiancees,
and everybody was convinced their watches had broken. Finally,
order was restored when his fiancees tracked him down and
confronted him, whereupon Ranma was beaten up by Akane and broke
Ukyou's heart enough times to put everybody's watches back on
track.
(5) Ukyou was wearing a snappy outfit which had no decolletage but
had her net worth in yen, as calculated by Nabiki herself, sewn
into it near the neck on the front. Come on, you hentai are really
pushing. You think I'd give in that easily?
(6) Ranma liked simple things. His life had been far, far too
complex for his taste so far.
* * *
"Dinnertime, everybody!" called Kasumi.
Everybody sat down at the table to eat. Nabiki looked over at
Akane. "So Akane, what's the story with you and Ranma?"
Mr. Tendo started to cry. "Oh, my daughter and her fiance are
fighting with each other!!" Ranma ignored him.
Akane sighed. "Daddy, please. I was over at Dr. Tofu's,
Nabiki. It seems Ranma is suffering from a rare disease or
something like that. Something weird that isn't in the medical
books."
"Oh, my," added Kasumi. "I was just reading a book Dr. Tofu
lent me on rare and strange diseases."
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "A rare disease that makes him rude
and selfish? Gee, *that's* a convenient excuse."
Ranma stopped eating and looked up at Nabiki. "Nabiki, just
who exactly do you think you're talking to?" he asked her,
unamused.
Nabiki was startled. "What?" she asked him.
Akane gave her an 'I-told-you-so' look. "He can't see me any
more," she confided.
Soun burst into a new array of tears. "Oh, my son-in-law
can't see my daughter, his fiancee!! How terrible!!" Everybody,
Ranma included, ignored him completely (1).
"There, there, father," soothed Kasumi (2).
"Hm," said Nabiki. "I guess that means it extends to sound,
too. What about the other senses?"
Ranma looked disgusted. "Ha ha. I mean, it's cute and all,
but the act gets boring *real* fast."
Nabiki got a speculating look on her face and turned to Ranma.
Everybody ignored this, too (3). "Ranma, how much would you pay me
to tell you where Akane is?"
Ranma cocked an eyebrow. "That kawaiikune tomboy? Man, why
would I *pay* to--WHAM SMASH THUD--urk?"
"Oh, my!" exclaimed Kasumi, looking at the unconscious figure
of Ranma lying on the floor. His back was bent at an angle not
usually found in humans. Live humans, anyway.
Nabiki looked at him. "Well, I guess that answers *that*
question. Hm. So it extends to at least three senses."
Akane looked bored. "Why not just say it affects all the
senses, Nabiki? He can't detect me in any way."
Nabiki grinned at her younger sister. "Why, what do you mean,
Akane? Do you smell that much? You're supposed to shower after
gym class, you know."
Akane turned scarlet. "Wh-what?" she stammered.
"Oh, my!" added Kasumi.
"That's NOT what I meant!!" yelled Akane, still red. Mr.
Tendo started wailing again. Mr. Saotome started on his fifth
bowl, unperturbed by any of this.
Nabiki smiled. "I know, Akane. You're just too easy to
tease, sometimes. So he can't see you. When did this all start?"
Akane thought about it. "Uh...I guess, last night."
Nabiki nodded. "Right after dinner, would you say?"
Akane thought about it some more. "Um...yeah! How'd you
guess, Nabiki?"
"I just put two and two together. Do you want to find out how
to cure him?"
"Oh, Akane! Oh, Nabiki! How self-sacrificing! How noble!
Akane! You do love Ranma, after all!!" Her father sobbed into his
sleeve.
"Oh, my!" added Kasumi. "How touching!"
"That's not it!!" exclaimed Akane. "I just--ohhh, how much,
Nabiki?"
"Three thousand yen." Nabiki smiled.
"What?" gaped Akane. P-Chan wandered into the room, attracted
by the shouting. Akane unconsciously scooped him up in her arms.
"One thousand is all I'll pay!" she said furiously.
"Done," replied Nabiki. She had been willing to settle for a
hundred. After all, it was only common sense. They'd figure it
out sooner or later--probably sooner--without her, so it was just
a quick buck (4).
"Go ask Shampoo what she put in Ranma's ramen," Nabiki said.
"There's your 'disease' for you."
There was silence as everyone digested this fact. Akane
started to get angry.
"How *dare* she!" she yelled.
"Of course! It all fits!" cried Mr. Tendo.
"Shampoo?" queried Kasumi. "But she was so polite!"
Everyone went back to dinner, more or less. This sort of
thing was normal for them. Ranma was laid down on the sofa until
he woke up, and everybody else continued in silence, going their
various ways afterwards.
Well, everybody but one.
P-Chan stared at Ranma with hatred and curiosity. Ranma's
curse? What had his old rival done *this* time? Whatever it was,
it couldn't be good. He resolved to make Ranma pay for it.
(1) Which is really too bad. If Ranma had paid attention just
this once, he might have learned something interesting.
(2) Okay. ALMOST everybody.
(3) Which was too bad as well, because every time this happened,
one or more of them paid for it. Literally. The reason nobody
paid attention to her look was because it was no different from the
one she normally used to signify indifference, interest, boredom,
or, for that matter, sleep.
(4) Actually, it's a quick $8.50 US.
* * *
Ranma woke up, groaning. He quickly did a scan of the room.
He shivered. Fainting again. This time, in front of everybody
else, no less. Oh, well. There was nothing he could do about it.
He swung his legs down onto the floor. Maybe he could lie his way
through it. All he had to do was turn the legendary Saotome charm
on...
Ryoga charged him. Ranma blinked, but his instincts were too
finely-honed to be caught off guard. He leapt up, letting Ryoga
pulverize the sofa instead. Ranma landed behind his rival. "Man,
Ryoga. How many times do I have to tell you, this is no place to
fight! If you gotta get beaten up again, let's do it outside."
Ryoga snarled. "Shut up, Ranma! What have you done to Akane,
this time?"
"Whaddaya mean, *this* time?!?" demanded Ranma. Then he
frowned. "Oh. Right...I wish I knew, believe me."
Ryoga stopped. "What? You mean you don't even know what you
did to her?"
Ranma's eyes lit up. "You mean you do?" He smiled. "Ryoga,
old buddy, old pal. We haven't talked in a long time, have we?"
He patted Ryoga on the back amiably.
Ryoga tried to bite Ranma's hand. "You're not getting
anything from me," he retorted. "At last! Akane will be mine!"
He charged at Ranma, lashing out with his fists.
"Do you think that's a really good idea to say that," asked
Ranma, "seeing as how she's standing right there?"
Akane paused, startled. She'd heard shouting from downstairs
and come down to see Ranma and Ryoga at it again--in the house,
despite the hundred warning's they'd had--just in time to hear
Ranma's last sentence. Her eyes widened. Had Ranma actually seen
her? Was he cured?
"What?" asked Ryoga. He turned around and saw Akane. His jaw
dropped. "A-akane," he stammered. "I, uh, I didn't, I mean I--
urk!"
Ranma grinned as he put his fist down. "Boy, that idiot is
nearly as dumb as Kuno." He paused in a rare moment of reflection.
"Still, he's usually not *that* dumb. Seeing Akane's face when she
isn't even there. Dumb as a--urk!"
Akane shivered in anger as Ranma fell at her feet. How *dare*
he get her hopes up that way!? She stomped off, to work her anger
out on a dummy (1).
(1) Not Ranma, a *practice* dummy.
* * *
Ranma walked into the kitchen, still rubbing his head. He was
getting headaches more and more frequently these days. He sighed
and opened the fridge. Maybe there was something from dinner left
over.
"Yo, Ranma," said Nabiki, "what's up?"
Ranma looked up. "Where did *you* come from?" he asked her.
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you want to talk to
me like that?"
Ranma backed up a few feet. "Oh, no," he groaned. "What did
I do this time?"
Nabiki smiled knowingly. "Well," she said, "I wouldn't be the
one to talk about it. That is," she amended, "if I had a little
incentive."
Ranma winced. "Okay, okay," he moaned. "How much?"
Nabiki pursed her lips. "Oh, I think I could guarantee my
silence for no more than...five thousand yen."
Ranma's mind boggled. "WHAT!?"
Nabiki smiled at him. "Welll, if you want me to tell Akane,
then that's okay..." She let the sentence hang in the air. Her
patience was not in vain; Ranma snapped at it like a drowning man
seeking support.
"Okay!" he said. "Just don't tell her!" He paused. "Um...I
don't have much on me right now..."
Nabiki smiled at him. "That's okay. I'll put it on your
tab."
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing now that the danger
had passed. In fact, he was so relaxed that he forgot entirely
that he didn't even know what she was talking about--which was a
good thing for Nabiki, since she had no idea, either.
Ranma looked back into the fridge. "Yuck," he complained.
"Nothing but leftovers."
Nabiki leaned in closer. "Say, Ranma," she said. "How would
you like to hear where Akane is?"
* * *
Mr. Tendo came down the stairs to find Nabiki walking out of
the kitchen. "Ah, there you are," he said. "I've been looking all
over...what are you doing?" he asked, noticing the wad of bills in
her hands.
Nabiki smiled at him. "Oh, just figuring out how much money
I can put into my RRSP this year."
"Oh, I see," said Mr. Tendo, not seeing at all. "Well...I was
hoping we could talk about Ranma for a while, before bed. You
know, a nice father-daughter chat?"
Nabiki nodded. "Of course, Daddy. At the usual rate, of
course."
Mr. Tendo groaned. "Why must I have such an ungrateful
daughter?"
"Do I have to tell you about THAT, Daddy?" asked Nabiki
mischievously. "What would you like to know about men and women?"
"Nabiki!" cried Soun. "I'm being serious! What do you know
about what's happening to Ranma?"
"How much do you have?" she retorted.
* * *
"Mm...boy, you sure can make a great miso soup, Kasumi," said
Ranma in between slurping down the bowlful in his hands. He
stuffed a fishcake in his mouth without stopping for breath.
'Yes, breakfast is great,' said Genma's sign. He spun it
around. 'Seconds, please,' said the back. He held out his bowl.
Kasumi smiled as she dished out more soup into the panda's
bowl. "Why, Ranma, you're certainly in a good mood this morning."
Mr. Tendo frowned. "Yes, he is." Then he smiled broadly.
"Ranma! You must be cured! Is that it?"
Ranma stopped eating for half a second. "Cured?" he asked,
then resumed stuffing his face.
Mr. Tendo frowned again. "I guess not," he said. "But...if
he can't see Akane...why would he be so happy?"
"I wouldn't know," responded Akane icily. "I'm glad he's so
happy without me. I know *I'm* having a wonderful time."
"Oh my," interjected Kasumi, "you're doing a wonderful job of
hiding it."
Ranma stopped stuffing his face for another microsecond.
"Speaking of Akane, where is she today?" he asked. Nabiki smirked
silently.
Mr. Tendo pointed right next to Ranma. "Right there, Ranma."
Ranma looked, then gave Mr. Tendo a cold stare. "Uh-huh," he
retorted. "Sure."
Ranma was suddenly spun in place by a very large panda, ending
up dizzily facing Akane. Genma shoved a sign in Ranma's face.
'She's right there, idiot!' it read.
Ranma bashed his father over the head. "What was that for,
Pop?!?" Mr. Tendo started crying again. Nabiki laughed.
Akane glared at her. "Oh, and what's so funny, Nabiki?"
Nabiki wiped a tear from her eye. "All of you...Ranma,
especially. He's so much fun to tease."
Akane's eyes narrowed. "What did you tell him *this* time?"
she demanded.
Nabiki defended herself smoothly. "Nothing important," she
said. "But why would *you* be so concerned for his welfare?"
Predictably, Akane blushed and started stammering. "I-I'm not
concerned for that baka at all! He can get himself killed for all
I care!" Soun started crying again.
Ranma turned to Nabiki, not noticing the tomboy in between the
two of them. "Hey, Nabiki," he said. "Where's Akane?"
Nabiki looked thoughtful. "I think she's visiting her aunt in
Osaka," she told him.
"WHAT?!?" shouted Akane. "I'm right here!!"
Ranma nodded. "Oh," he said. "But shouldn't she be in
school?"
Nabiki shook her head. "She got a special exemption pass
because auntie Kumiko is dying."
"WHAT?!?" cried Soun. "My dear sister is dying?" He started
wailing.
"Oh, my!" said Kasumi. "How sweet of Akane, to go visit her!"
"I'M RIGHT HERE!!" yelled Akane.
Ranma shook his head. "Gee," he said. "I'm sorry. I didn't
even know Akane *had* an aunt."
Kasumi blinked. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "He's right! Father
was an only child, weren't you, father?"
Soun stopped wailing. There was silence as everybody looked
at him. He coughed uneasily. Then he started wailing again.
"NOW what!?" yelled Akane.
"I'm crying for the sister I never had!" he sobbed.
Ranma turned his glare on Nabiki. "So," he said. "You were
*lying* to me!"
Nabiki looked hurt. "Moi?"
Ranma was confused for a second. "Don't you try changing the
subject," he warned her. "I see right through that fancy stuff in
a second (1)."
"I'm sorry, Ranma," apologized Nabiki sarcastically.
"Well, good," he said earnestly. "Now, what's the truth?
Where's Akane?"
"I'M RIGHT HERE!!" Akane screamed.
"SHE'S RIGHT THERE!!" shouted Soun.
"She's sleeping over at Yuka's place," lied Nabiki.
"Oh," said Ranma. "Thanks, Nabiki." He grabbed his school
bag. "Well, I'm off. See ya!" He ran out the door. Soun and
Genma fell over.
"This is hopeless," sobbed Soun. "I just can't get through to
him...the poor boy..."
Akane fumed. "If Nabiki was just willing to be *nice* for
once..."
Soun sat upright. "That's it!" he cried.
"What's it?" asked Akane. Behind her, Genma raised a sign
asking the same thing.
Soun turned to Nabiki. "Nabiki! Ranma trusts you! He
listens to you! You can help him and Akane get married!"
"WHAT?!" yelled Akane.
Nabiki pouted. "But it's so much more fun to tease him," she
complained.
Soun sighed. "How much?" he asked her.
"Daddy!" exclaimed Akane.
Nabiki considered. "If I told Ranma the truth, he wouldn't
believe me," she said. "BUT...I could tell him a few lies,
carefully cultivated to earn his trust..." suddenly her eyes
widened, and she turned to Akane. "Akane, aren't you supposed to
be following Ranma in case this gets worse?"
Akane's eyes widened. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "You're
right!" Akane got up and ran.
Nabiki smirked. "It's almost too easy," she said, turning
back to her father. "Now...daddy...Mr. Saotome..." she took a deep
breath, enjoying the dramatic buildup. "How much would you pay me
to get Ranma to tell Akane he loves her?"
(1) Some philosophers believe that to God, a million years is but
a second. I just thought I'd point that out.
End of Part Three
