The next morning rose clear in the eastern sky and the bird began their morning concert earlier then usual. Hikaru saw all this as he sipped from his first mug of tea. He stood by his window and looked out on the town he had come to live in. The small children running off to early classes, the hurried businessmen rushing off to their jobs, the mothers taking out the trash and shooing the stragglers. It was, in a word, peaceful.
Hikaru took another sip and shivered as a stray breeze whipped around him from the south. As the wind left, however, he was still shivering as he thought about the events of the previous evening. He just couldn't fathom the things Akane told her that evening, much less the idea that she and Nabiki would be living in the very town he had found sanctuary in. Another drinks, another shiver.
"Gos-kun?" He heard a small voice from the doorway, a small, soft, halting female voice. He turned his head slightly and saw Kaori's lithe frame leaning against the door, timidly looking at him with her trademarked wide eyes. "Are you going to the club lunch today?"
"No, Kaori. I still have a lot of work to do here." Hikaru answered with a small smile. "I told Prof. Hasagawa I'd have the draft of my thesis on his desk by this Friday. I need some me time, you know."
Kaori just nodded and turned to leave but stopped and looked back at the boy. "Then will you be here this evening? I...I...think we need to talk." Her cheeks blushed as she said this, her body shaking a leaf in the wind.
"Of course. Shall we say around 9?"
"Yes. 9 will be all right. Goodbye for now." Kaori scurried off, leaving Hikaru alone with his thoughts. The raven-haired boy sighed softly and turned back to the window, his thoughts jumbled in his mind. He couldn't help but notice a hint of sadness in her voice, sadness he rarely saw in her. He didn't like seeing women in pain, much less anyone who'd spend any time with him.
"Gossy? Good morning!" Hikaru turned again and saw a smiling Asana Miyoki beaming at him. His eyes did a short double take as he took in the image of the house party girl. She was dressed more conservative then normal, her hair in a bun with a knot at the top of her head. Her face and eyes were clear and bright, almost as if she was dressing up for someone. "Did you sleep well?"
"No." He smiled wryly and looked at the girl with a sneaky smirk. "I didn't sleep all that well, sister. But thank you for asking."
"Well it's not like you had an easy day yesterday, little brother." Both grinned at one another as Asana stepped a little farther into Hikaru's room. They joked like this often as they considered each other nearly brother and sister in their playfulness. Along with their mutual love and respect for one another as friends, their playfulness kept them from losing perspective. "I got to watch out for my little brother as he deals with all these harlots."
"And I have to worry about my big sister as she deals with these equally devious women. That is, if last night was any consideration," Hikaru added with a nasty smirk and a look of recognition as he saw Asana's cheeks blush slightly. "Did you and Nabiki have fun last night?"
"Always. Did you ever think someone being with me wouldn't be fun?" The both laughed and smirked softly at the collective memory. "In fact, we're meeting for brunch and apartment shopping this morning. I hope to get to know her better."
"Of course. The devious, matchmaking, underhanded women always gravitate towards one another." Hikaru said lightly as he walked to Asana and placed a kiss on her cheek. "What I'd like to know is if you two do get together, you both won't start ganging up on me."
"But Gossy, we have to! It's how we stay friends with you," Asana giggled as she returned the kiss and hugged him tightly. "Besides, when I'm done with her, she won't have to think about anyone else but me to plot about. I saw her eyes when she looked at me."
"You may have been seeing greed, you know."
"I doubt it. A girl knows when another girl is interested in her," Asana replied, patting the boy on the shoulder softly as she turned to the door. She walked a few steps and looked back at Hikaru as she crossed the threshold of the doorway. "But Hikaru-san, can you do me one favor?"
"Sure. Name it."
"Don't break Kaori's heart too badly. I wouldn't think highly of you if you did that, brother or not." Before Hikaru could respond to that charge, Asana was gone. Once again, Hikaru was left alone with his thoughts. By this time, he had given up any ideas of studying and sat down beside his window. The sun shone into his eyes and with a squint and a sigh, he fell deep into thought.
***
Nabiki looked up from the fancy yet simply set table and saw Asana's smiling face coming towards her. For a brief moment, she almost thought she was seeing a clone of herself, right down to the stylish yet tasteful handbag. "Good morning, Asana," she said, extending her hand.
"Good morning to you, Nabiki," Asana replied as she took it and sat down at the table. A waiter appeared almost immediately at their table and they both ordered their food. When he left, they both sipped at their water and waited for the other person to make the first move.
"I guess I should start asking you about what I want to know," Nabiki said softly, her face breaking into a wide smile. Both girls laughed easy and smiled more as the tension between them broke.
"What you want to know about is clearly written all over your face. You want to know about my Gossy," Asana replied as she pulled a small notebook out of her purse. Nabiki did the same and both of their eyes met as they addressed their papers in similar ways.
"I guess you can't hide the lies from someone else who lies for a living."
"And who says I lie for a living?" Asana smirked as she wrote her first comment.
"As you said, it's written all over your face." Both girls smiled at this and laid their pens down. The waiter came back and served both of them their tea. They sipped and simmered for a moment, both gauging the strength behind their words.
"You're right. I've made a career out of lying, cheating and manipulating to get my way. But I also have a conscience. And I won't give you any information that you'll be able to use against Hikaru because of that conscience." Asana picked her pen back up and recorded another entry on her paper.
"What makes you think that I'd hurt Gosunkugi?"
"Please, while you're here, call Hikaru by his real name. He's earned that right."
"If I do that, tell me why how earned that right in the first place," Nabiki replied as she blew some steam from her tea. "When he left Nerima, he left under a cloud of disgrace. I would tend to think that bad habits followed the person who indulged in them."
"For a while, that was true." Asana said as she sighed a little. "When he came here he basically had no friends. He and I became friends because he helped me on a particular problem that no one else could."
"And that was?"
"It was something you don't need to know right now. When you need to know, I'll tell you. But for now, be assured it was something only someone of his experience could help me with." Asana looked at Nabiki with a serious look and was given one in return. "He helped me as a friend. I helped him get over Akane Tendo and make a fresh start."
"You mean, he still obsessed over my sister even when he came up here?" Nabiki asked softly. "I thought he was over her..."
"So did we all in the house." Asana sighed and looked down on her notebook. "When he first came here, all he could talk about was how he had made mistakes in Nerima and how he couldn't get over how he had messed things up. For a long time he drank pretty heavily. He made deals with older college students to get alcohol and drank himself into a pretty deep hole. Soon he was almost in a spot where he was going to be sent back to Tokyo. I helped him get over that."
"Did he live in the house you're in now when he came here originally?"
"Yes. Kaori is my second cousin and we both pay rent on the house. We took him in because we're both transplants as well. She and I both were transfer students from Kyoto and when my parents died we decided to both stay here and make a new life." Asana wrung her hands together a little as she spoke. Nabiki noticed this and longed to slide her hand in hers and comfort her.
"Your parents both died?"
"Yes. They died in a car accident. From then on, Kaori's parents have helped us out when and where they could. Even now, as we're about to become independent for good, they still help when they can."
"So when did Gos...err, I mean Hikaru come to live with both of you?"
"When he came here, the woman who was to be his host mother was so vicious to him that he was almost ready to go back home. After he and I became friends and he helped to settle the issues we had with the school gangs, there was enough money from his job to help us with the bills. So I decided to ask him to stay with us. By this time he had become a brother to me and a best friend to Kaori. I didn't want him to leave when there was so much more he needed to have from us and so much more we needed to get from him."
"He means a lot to you doesn't he, Asana," Nabiki said lightly, her voice soft and regretful.
"I never had a brother, Nabiki. Or a sister. I'm an only child. With my parents gone, Kaori and Hikaru are the only family I have. I may make Hikaru's life unbearable but I'd lay my life on the line for him. He helped me when no one else wanted to. From time to time he still gets static from people because of it. To me, loyalty is the least I can do for him."
"You mentioned that there were gang problems at your school. What happened that would cause Hikaru to be a part of all that?" Nabiki asked as the waiter arrived and set their food on the table. For a moment, neither girl spoke as they began to tear into the brunches they had bought. Though they both ate in a dignified, lady-like manner, their plates were more then half finished on the inside of 10 minutes and both seemed ready for more.
"When Hikaru came here, his first jobs were menial information gathering for both of the rival gangs. We had two main gangs at our school and they didn't deal with one another well. I was...a liaison for both of them and that's how we met initially." Asana replied as she took another sip of her tea.
"When you met Hikaru, you mean?" Asana nodded her head in the affirmative and Nabiki wrote more into her little notebook.
"He basically was a gatherer of information for both sides and they rarely ever knew what was going on. For a while he used the work to drown his sorrows." Asana paused for a moment and then continued, her voice lowered and slightly halting. "But soon both sides became less about childish pranks and more about really hurting people. Some people who weren't even in the middle of the conflicts started getting hurt and he couldn't take it anymore."
"So what did he do?"
"The only thing he could do: Defect. He told both sides that he was retired and that he was only going to take photos and work for himself. At that point he was also drinking the most of his sorrows and everything began to fall apart for him. The gangs didn't take it well but they listened to him later on when they had to."
"Why?"
"It's hard to explain. But suffice to say that he made it more worth their while to become friends and unify then keep fighting over sticks and stones."
"I guess that will have to come out later," Nabiki said with a small tight smile.
"Perhaps it will. And perhaps it may never come out. Sometimes I think Hikaru would be better off if he could leave all his past behind and just move on." Asana said with a sigh, the worry lines evident on her skin.
"That's true as well." Nabiki said as the waiter took away their plates and refilled their tea. "So I guess it's my turn to divulge my dirt, isn't it?"
"If you'd like, you can. But I think it would be a hell of a lot more beneficial to me to just pay you for that little bit of confessional." Asana replied with a dirty smile.
"The money won't be that important without what I have to say."
"And that is?"
"Why Akane and I are here in Kashima in the first place."
"I'm listening..."
"Well, to tell you why I'm here I must go back to when Hikaru left." She sipped that last of her tea and set the cup back down on the table. "Right after Hikaru left there was an incident where Ranma, her husband, rescued her from a very ugly fate on top of a mountain..."
"Wait, is this the Ranma Saotome who had so many fiancées?"
"One and the same. How did you learn about him?"
"Hikaru. And one of my other friends fought in a match with him on a recent trip through southern Japan. He should be proud. His exploits are being sung by every child prodigy martial artist in the land." Both girls smirked at this bit of news and chuckled softly.
"He should be so lucky. But anyway, when he rescued my sister and then failed to get married to her because of a wedding disaster," Nabiki said slowly, "They both eloped one night and got hitched. I was their witness and arbiter and they came back to Nerima as husband and wife. From then on, the problems started."
"Such as?"
"Family issues. Both of the fathers hiding secrets and having conflicting issues on how they wanted the joint family to proceed. The other jilted lovers coming back to both of them and wanting revenge for their issues. You know, little things like that." Nabiki sighed heavily and looked off into the bottom of her teacup. "It made me so damned tired to watch them, the constant fighting and issues. It hurt me to see both of them unhappy."
"It must have."
"Well that wasn't the worst of it. You see, one of Ranma's fiancées, a woman by the name of Ukyou Kounji kept on being close to Ranma. She weaseled her way into a lot of the problems Ranma and Akane were having at the time. She stole Ranma's affections away because she knew how to be a friend to him. My sister was only trying to be a perfect wife for him and she couldn't do it."
"Sounds to me like your sister is the one to blame, having him go to another woman for comfort," Asana remarked lightly.
"Normally, it would be. But my sister was a tomboy from day one. She was being forced to learn how to be a proper housewife from Ranma's mother. She was a woman who had a warped view on life as a whole and loved her son to death. Nothing was ever good enough for this woman and Akane just snapped at one point. She came home to find Ranma gone and her mother in law berating her for a cooking failure. When she found him, he was hugging Ukyou tightly and looking damn glad to be with her. That night she stayed at a friend's house and later that week we left for Kashima."
"Wait...that would mean that she and Ranma are really just having a lover's spat, right?" Asana asked tentatively.
"No, it means that Akane's not going back to Nerima anytime soon. As we came up here on the train and discussed, I decided to use this bit of a spat for both of our advantages. I was going to develop a large employment base for my services to exploit when I did return to Tokyo and she..." At that point, Nabiki felt her throat tighten a little and her breathing become heavier. "I'm going to try and reconcile things between Ranma and Akane here."
"I see." Asana said softly, putting her hands up on the table. "So you're going to bring them away from the issues and see if something good happens."
"Yes."
"A bit of a gamble, don't you think?"
"No more then me letting them continue to fight and hurt one another," Nabiki replied shortly.
"This is true. But what does Gossy have to do with all this?"
"I want to use him as a bargaining chip for Ranma to get back with Akane..." Nabiki said softly. For a long moment, neither girl spoke. Finally, Asana raised her hand and motioned to the waiter for the check.
"I think you and I are going to need to talk more about this as we shop. Because I think we can both make both our goals work for us..." Asana said softly, a small smile creasing her lips.
Hikaru took another sip and shivered as a stray breeze whipped around him from the south. As the wind left, however, he was still shivering as he thought about the events of the previous evening. He just couldn't fathom the things Akane told her that evening, much less the idea that she and Nabiki would be living in the very town he had found sanctuary in. Another drinks, another shiver.
"Gos-kun?" He heard a small voice from the doorway, a small, soft, halting female voice. He turned his head slightly and saw Kaori's lithe frame leaning against the door, timidly looking at him with her trademarked wide eyes. "Are you going to the club lunch today?"
"No, Kaori. I still have a lot of work to do here." Hikaru answered with a small smile. "I told Prof. Hasagawa I'd have the draft of my thesis on his desk by this Friday. I need some me time, you know."
Kaori just nodded and turned to leave but stopped and looked back at the boy. "Then will you be here this evening? I...I...think we need to talk." Her cheeks blushed as she said this, her body shaking a leaf in the wind.
"Of course. Shall we say around 9?"
"Yes. 9 will be all right. Goodbye for now." Kaori scurried off, leaving Hikaru alone with his thoughts. The raven-haired boy sighed softly and turned back to the window, his thoughts jumbled in his mind. He couldn't help but notice a hint of sadness in her voice, sadness he rarely saw in her. He didn't like seeing women in pain, much less anyone who'd spend any time with him.
"Gossy? Good morning!" Hikaru turned again and saw a smiling Asana Miyoki beaming at him. His eyes did a short double take as he took in the image of the house party girl. She was dressed more conservative then normal, her hair in a bun with a knot at the top of her head. Her face and eyes were clear and bright, almost as if she was dressing up for someone. "Did you sleep well?"
"No." He smiled wryly and looked at the girl with a sneaky smirk. "I didn't sleep all that well, sister. But thank you for asking."
"Well it's not like you had an easy day yesterday, little brother." Both grinned at one another as Asana stepped a little farther into Hikaru's room. They joked like this often as they considered each other nearly brother and sister in their playfulness. Along with their mutual love and respect for one another as friends, their playfulness kept them from losing perspective. "I got to watch out for my little brother as he deals with all these harlots."
"And I have to worry about my big sister as she deals with these equally devious women. That is, if last night was any consideration," Hikaru added with a nasty smirk and a look of recognition as he saw Asana's cheeks blush slightly. "Did you and Nabiki have fun last night?"
"Always. Did you ever think someone being with me wouldn't be fun?" The both laughed and smirked softly at the collective memory. "In fact, we're meeting for brunch and apartment shopping this morning. I hope to get to know her better."
"Of course. The devious, matchmaking, underhanded women always gravitate towards one another." Hikaru said lightly as he walked to Asana and placed a kiss on her cheek. "What I'd like to know is if you two do get together, you both won't start ganging up on me."
"But Gossy, we have to! It's how we stay friends with you," Asana giggled as she returned the kiss and hugged him tightly. "Besides, when I'm done with her, she won't have to think about anyone else but me to plot about. I saw her eyes when she looked at me."
"You may have been seeing greed, you know."
"I doubt it. A girl knows when another girl is interested in her," Asana replied, patting the boy on the shoulder softly as she turned to the door. She walked a few steps and looked back at Hikaru as she crossed the threshold of the doorway. "But Hikaru-san, can you do me one favor?"
"Sure. Name it."
"Don't break Kaori's heart too badly. I wouldn't think highly of you if you did that, brother or not." Before Hikaru could respond to that charge, Asana was gone. Once again, Hikaru was left alone with his thoughts. By this time, he had given up any ideas of studying and sat down beside his window. The sun shone into his eyes and with a squint and a sigh, he fell deep into thought.
***
Nabiki looked up from the fancy yet simply set table and saw Asana's smiling face coming towards her. For a brief moment, she almost thought she was seeing a clone of herself, right down to the stylish yet tasteful handbag. "Good morning, Asana," she said, extending her hand.
"Good morning to you, Nabiki," Asana replied as she took it and sat down at the table. A waiter appeared almost immediately at their table and they both ordered their food. When he left, they both sipped at their water and waited for the other person to make the first move.
"I guess I should start asking you about what I want to know," Nabiki said softly, her face breaking into a wide smile. Both girls laughed easy and smiled more as the tension between them broke.
"What you want to know about is clearly written all over your face. You want to know about my Gossy," Asana replied as she pulled a small notebook out of her purse. Nabiki did the same and both of their eyes met as they addressed their papers in similar ways.
"I guess you can't hide the lies from someone else who lies for a living."
"And who says I lie for a living?" Asana smirked as she wrote her first comment.
"As you said, it's written all over your face." Both girls smiled at this and laid their pens down. The waiter came back and served both of them their tea. They sipped and simmered for a moment, both gauging the strength behind their words.
"You're right. I've made a career out of lying, cheating and manipulating to get my way. But I also have a conscience. And I won't give you any information that you'll be able to use against Hikaru because of that conscience." Asana picked her pen back up and recorded another entry on her paper.
"What makes you think that I'd hurt Gosunkugi?"
"Please, while you're here, call Hikaru by his real name. He's earned that right."
"If I do that, tell me why how earned that right in the first place," Nabiki replied as she blew some steam from her tea. "When he left Nerima, he left under a cloud of disgrace. I would tend to think that bad habits followed the person who indulged in them."
"For a while, that was true." Asana said as she sighed a little. "When he came here he basically had no friends. He and I became friends because he helped me on a particular problem that no one else could."
"And that was?"
"It was something you don't need to know right now. When you need to know, I'll tell you. But for now, be assured it was something only someone of his experience could help me with." Asana looked at Nabiki with a serious look and was given one in return. "He helped me as a friend. I helped him get over Akane Tendo and make a fresh start."
"You mean, he still obsessed over my sister even when he came up here?" Nabiki asked softly. "I thought he was over her..."
"So did we all in the house." Asana sighed and looked down on her notebook. "When he first came here, all he could talk about was how he had made mistakes in Nerima and how he couldn't get over how he had messed things up. For a long time he drank pretty heavily. He made deals with older college students to get alcohol and drank himself into a pretty deep hole. Soon he was almost in a spot where he was going to be sent back to Tokyo. I helped him get over that."
"Did he live in the house you're in now when he came here originally?"
"Yes. Kaori is my second cousin and we both pay rent on the house. We took him in because we're both transplants as well. She and I both were transfer students from Kyoto and when my parents died we decided to both stay here and make a new life." Asana wrung her hands together a little as she spoke. Nabiki noticed this and longed to slide her hand in hers and comfort her.
"Your parents both died?"
"Yes. They died in a car accident. From then on, Kaori's parents have helped us out when and where they could. Even now, as we're about to become independent for good, they still help when they can."
"So when did Gos...err, I mean Hikaru come to live with both of you?"
"When he came here, the woman who was to be his host mother was so vicious to him that he was almost ready to go back home. After he and I became friends and he helped to settle the issues we had with the school gangs, there was enough money from his job to help us with the bills. So I decided to ask him to stay with us. By this time he had become a brother to me and a best friend to Kaori. I didn't want him to leave when there was so much more he needed to have from us and so much more we needed to get from him."
"He means a lot to you doesn't he, Asana," Nabiki said lightly, her voice soft and regretful.
"I never had a brother, Nabiki. Or a sister. I'm an only child. With my parents gone, Kaori and Hikaru are the only family I have. I may make Hikaru's life unbearable but I'd lay my life on the line for him. He helped me when no one else wanted to. From time to time he still gets static from people because of it. To me, loyalty is the least I can do for him."
"You mentioned that there were gang problems at your school. What happened that would cause Hikaru to be a part of all that?" Nabiki asked as the waiter arrived and set their food on the table. For a moment, neither girl spoke as they began to tear into the brunches they had bought. Though they both ate in a dignified, lady-like manner, their plates were more then half finished on the inside of 10 minutes and both seemed ready for more.
"When Hikaru came here, his first jobs were menial information gathering for both of the rival gangs. We had two main gangs at our school and they didn't deal with one another well. I was...a liaison for both of them and that's how we met initially." Asana replied as she took another sip of her tea.
"When you met Hikaru, you mean?" Asana nodded her head in the affirmative and Nabiki wrote more into her little notebook.
"He basically was a gatherer of information for both sides and they rarely ever knew what was going on. For a while he used the work to drown his sorrows." Asana paused for a moment and then continued, her voice lowered and slightly halting. "But soon both sides became less about childish pranks and more about really hurting people. Some people who weren't even in the middle of the conflicts started getting hurt and he couldn't take it anymore."
"So what did he do?"
"The only thing he could do: Defect. He told both sides that he was retired and that he was only going to take photos and work for himself. At that point he was also drinking the most of his sorrows and everything began to fall apart for him. The gangs didn't take it well but they listened to him later on when they had to."
"Why?"
"It's hard to explain. But suffice to say that he made it more worth their while to become friends and unify then keep fighting over sticks and stones."
"I guess that will have to come out later," Nabiki said with a small tight smile.
"Perhaps it will. And perhaps it may never come out. Sometimes I think Hikaru would be better off if he could leave all his past behind and just move on." Asana said with a sigh, the worry lines evident on her skin.
"That's true as well." Nabiki said as the waiter took away their plates and refilled their tea. "So I guess it's my turn to divulge my dirt, isn't it?"
"If you'd like, you can. But I think it would be a hell of a lot more beneficial to me to just pay you for that little bit of confessional." Asana replied with a dirty smile.
"The money won't be that important without what I have to say."
"And that is?"
"Why Akane and I are here in Kashima in the first place."
"I'm listening..."
"Well, to tell you why I'm here I must go back to when Hikaru left." She sipped that last of her tea and set the cup back down on the table. "Right after Hikaru left there was an incident where Ranma, her husband, rescued her from a very ugly fate on top of a mountain..."
"Wait, is this the Ranma Saotome who had so many fiancées?"
"One and the same. How did you learn about him?"
"Hikaru. And one of my other friends fought in a match with him on a recent trip through southern Japan. He should be proud. His exploits are being sung by every child prodigy martial artist in the land." Both girls smirked at this bit of news and chuckled softly.
"He should be so lucky. But anyway, when he rescued my sister and then failed to get married to her because of a wedding disaster," Nabiki said slowly, "They both eloped one night and got hitched. I was their witness and arbiter and they came back to Nerima as husband and wife. From then on, the problems started."
"Such as?"
"Family issues. Both of the fathers hiding secrets and having conflicting issues on how they wanted the joint family to proceed. The other jilted lovers coming back to both of them and wanting revenge for their issues. You know, little things like that." Nabiki sighed heavily and looked off into the bottom of her teacup. "It made me so damned tired to watch them, the constant fighting and issues. It hurt me to see both of them unhappy."
"It must have."
"Well that wasn't the worst of it. You see, one of Ranma's fiancées, a woman by the name of Ukyou Kounji kept on being close to Ranma. She weaseled her way into a lot of the problems Ranma and Akane were having at the time. She stole Ranma's affections away because she knew how to be a friend to him. My sister was only trying to be a perfect wife for him and she couldn't do it."
"Sounds to me like your sister is the one to blame, having him go to another woman for comfort," Asana remarked lightly.
"Normally, it would be. But my sister was a tomboy from day one. She was being forced to learn how to be a proper housewife from Ranma's mother. She was a woman who had a warped view on life as a whole and loved her son to death. Nothing was ever good enough for this woman and Akane just snapped at one point. She came home to find Ranma gone and her mother in law berating her for a cooking failure. When she found him, he was hugging Ukyou tightly and looking damn glad to be with her. That night she stayed at a friend's house and later that week we left for Kashima."
"Wait...that would mean that she and Ranma are really just having a lover's spat, right?" Asana asked tentatively.
"No, it means that Akane's not going back to Nerima anytime soon. As we came up here on the train and discussed, I decided to use this bit of a spat for both of our advantages. I was going to develop a large employment base for my services to exploit when I did return to Tokyo and she..." At that point, Nabiki felt her throat tighten a little and her breathing become heavier. "I'm going to try and reconcile things between Ranma and Akane here."
"I see." Asana said softly, putting her hands up on the table. "So you're going to bring them away from the issues and see if something good happens."
"Yes."
"A bit of a gamble, don't you think?"
"No more then me letting them continue to fight and hurt one another," Nabiki replied shortly.
"This is true. But what does Gossy have to do with all this?"
"I want to use him as a bargaining chip for Ranma to get back with Akane..." Nabiki said softly. For a long moment, neither girl spoke. Finally, Asana raised her hand and motioned to the waiter for the check.
"I think you and I are going to need to talk more about this as we shop. Because I think we can both make both our goals work for us..." Asana said softly, a small smile creasing her lips.