'Can't You see that I Love You?'
Ranma presumed the lost boy was even moreso ticked than usual; he didn't even command him to die this time. The pigtailed martial artist leaped out of the way just in time to miss becoming one with the newly formed crater.
"Nabiki set you up to this, didn't she?" Ranma stated in a factual tone. He wasn't surprised, as since the neko-ken incident, every maniac in Nerima was after his hide in the most permenant manner. On top of that, he just barely missed getting committed. As it is, he now has regular appointments with his old psychiatrist, Dr Tristan. Ranma had nothing against the guy, since he helped him originally get his cat fear under *some* sembalance of control, so that he didn't immidiately go cat at the sight of one, but the underlying threat and implied ultimatum that was given to the pigtailed boy did not make him all that comfortable with the German psychiatrist.
It was as if every possible wrong that Ranma could recall was springing up to haunt him. Kuno increased his harrasment several-fold to the point of hysterical zealousness, and Ranma was finding his constant attacks to become more and more stressful.
He was shunned at school by the general populace, for his forcing himself upon someone as kind and gentle as Kasumi. Even Akane would have nothing to do with him; he at least thought she would understand. Even offering to assist when she was training for a gymnastics tournament against the undefeated regional champion didn't get more than her anger. Ranma accepted the youngest sister as a lost cause, after offering his condolences for her loss, and she decked him with her good hand.
Finally, Kasumi; she seemed terrified of him. Ranma tried desperately, but in vain to explain the situation, but she worked even harder to ensure that she wasn't even in the same room as him. She knew now to avoid leaving her window open now.
Ranma knew the source of the wellspring of animosity directed towards him; Nabiki. Ever since the nekoken, she had become even more malicious towards him, not that she was ever lenient to begin with. Ranma was sincerely considering striking out on his own just to get out of the situation, but his damnable honor, and even stronger, his concern for Kasumi would not allow him to leave the eldest Tendou sister to her other sister's mercies.
Ranma decided, as he parried an almost wild kick from Ryoga, that it was time to fight back... hard.
___________________
Nabiki kept gripping the edge of the desk in her bedroom, as she considered the current bane of her existance...
"Ranma."
She said the name with finality, a tone of sulfuric acid corroding away at the tombstone with Ranma's epitath. To kill him... no, it wasn't enough, it was farrrrr too small a solution. She wanted him broken, friendless, afraid of his every step, alone. She wanted him to see that his 'help' to Kasumi, his prying into business he should never had gotten involved with, his 'concern' for something he couldn't possibly understand, was not welcome. Once he has suffered the way he inadvertantly intended to have Nabiki suffer, she would do away with him.
After days of abuse, the edge of the desk finally buckled, and splintered away in Nabiki's hands. Casually, Nabiki brought her hands to view with her dark eyes, and looked at the somewhat deep puncturing splinters that began to draw blood with detached intrest. The sight that for some reason, calmed her...
___________________
Ryoga was well beyond unconciousness, before he hit the ground. Ranma's elbow was still in place from his follow up to his knee into the Lost Boy's gut. Ranma meant to send the pigheaded boy a message; next time one of Ryoga's floating ribs may just end up puncturing something vital, if he were to seriously come at Ranma again.
The younger Saotome was no longer in the mood for his opponents. He turned back to look in the direction of the Tendou dojo, and considered how best to take on Nabiki. He could see what she was doing, he knew enough about tactics to not be blind to her intentions. She was attempting to isolate him from everything, so that he would be as good as useless to fight back. Well, he had a few ways to counter of his own.
He had to smile to himself, as he thought about thanking Nabiki for supplying him with one potential method.
___________________
Kasumi was terrified of the situation. Nabiki hadn't barely said a word to her, which meant she was mad... *very* mad. Kasumi knew that if Nabiki were to ever get that mad, fear be within the target of her ire. The eldest Tendou daughter hoped to quell the situation somewhat, by avoiding Ranma altogether. Unfortunately, the pigtailed boy was more than a little persistant.
It was a dangerous situation, Kasumi knew. She knew how Nabiki worked, she had seen how she had coerced Dr. Tofu to distance himself from the Tendous, once she discovered his infatuation with Kasumi. It was mostly harmless, but Nabiki made sure nothing would come of it.
Ranma, on the other hand, wasn't about to give up, Kasumi knew that. That meant that it wasn't going to end until Ranma was out of the picture in a deadly permenant manner.
With that, Kasumi decided, it was time to break off the engagement with Ranma.
___________________
"Ranma, this is a surprise," Dr. Tristan stated, opening the door to his apartment to find the pigtailed martial artist standing before it. "I understand I had given you an open invitation whenever you wanted to talk, but I would have to insist you at least call ahead."
"Sorry, doc," Ranma replied, sheepishly, "But I had something to talk to you about. It's kinda important."
"Well, I guess I have a few moments before I have to step out, please, come in." Ranma took the invite, but stayed by the front door. The doctor noticed, and presumed his patient was somewhat in a hurry, "What is it you wanted, now?"
"Well," Ranma thought about how to approach his inquery, "I wanted to know something about, well, girls liking girls..."
"Is this about your curse?" The docter asked with a slight tone of amusement.
"No, it's actually not about me," Ranma replied in a somewhat calm tone.
The doctor shrugged, "You are uncomfortable with such pairings? I'm afraid that such relationships are not my expertese, but I can safely say that from an emotional standpoint, there are not any-"
"What if they're sisters?" Ranma interjected quickly.
The doctor's face became solidly serious, "That... well, I would say is not an acceptable relationship. But, as I ust reiterate, that is not my field of expertise. What brings this question to your attention...?"
___________________
"Kasumi."
the eldest Tendou sister almost snapped to attention at the tone; not only was it the first word she had heard from Nabiki in a while, it was given with a hard, undefiable edge, "Nabiki-chan?"
Nabiki walked into the kitchen, cradling her bandaged hand. Kasumi stifled her first reaction of concern, since the dead set look in Nabiki's eyes warned her about doing anything that may irritate her.
"I've noticed you've been avoiding Ranma a lot more lately," Nabiki's voice was as hard as the seemingly onyx irises of her eyes, "You want him gone just as much as I do now."
Kasumi felt herself trembling slightly, even moreso afraid of her younger sister than she had ever been before. With a dumbed nod, Kasumi responded, hoping that agreeing with Nabiki in whatever she wanted would appease her.
"Good," the younger sister replied in a terse responce, "You're going to help me. He seems to trust you a lot, that's good for what I have planned..."
___________________
Ranma sighed at the discussion she had with the doctor. He was sympathetic to the situation, but told Ranma in a roundabout way that she would have to first prove it, for he wouldn't get involved until he had conclusive evidence. That was a big problem, for Ranma was sure Nabiki would ensure nothing of the sort could be easily discovered.
That also brought up a problem with time. Ranma knew hers was running out, Nabiki was out to ruin her life, and was steamrolling ahead to do so. So far, the only people that hadn't seemed to turn on him were Ranma's own father, Dr. Tristan, and Mr. Tendou, and one of those three were bound to turn soon.
Ranma gritted her teeth, as she heard the whistling sound through the light rain. Her fustration levels were at sky peak, and she didn't feel like dealing with anyone else in a friendly type manner. With a growl, the redhead turned, and caught the hurled object in her hands, cupping the sphere that was heading for her head with both hands. She threw it sideways into the wall next to her, causing it to crumble to concrete dust.
"DAMN IT!" Ranma screamed, "COME OUT SO I CAN END THIS QUICK!"
"You stay still for Shampoo, yes?" A waterlogged young lady replied, leaping from the roof she was standing on.
Ranma presumed the lost boy was even moreso ticked than usual; he didn't even command him to die this time. The pigtailed martial artist leaped out of the way just in time to miss becoming one with the newly formed crater.
"Nabiki set you up to this, didn't she?" Ranma stated in a factual tone. He wasn't surprised, as since the neko-ken incident, every maniac in Nerima was after his hide in the most permenant manner. On top of that, he just barely missed getting committed. As it is, he now has regular appointments with his old psychiatrist, Dr Tristan. Ranma had nothing against the guy, since he helped him originally get his cat fear under *some* sembalance of control, so that he didn't immidiately go cat at the sight of one, but the underlying threat and implied ultimatum that was given to the pigtailed boy did not make him all that comfortable with the German psychiatrist.
It was as if every possible wrong that Ranma could recall was springing up to haunt him. Kuno increased his harrasment several-fold to the point of hysterical zealousness, and Ranma was finding his constant attacks to become more and more stressful.
He was shunned at school by the general populace, for his forcing himself upon someone as kind and gentle as Kasumi. Even Akane would have nothing to do with him; he at least thought she would understand. Even offering to assist when she was training for a gymnastics tournament against the undefeated regional champion didn't get more than her anger. Ranma accepted the youngest sister as a lost cause, after offering his condolences for her loss, and she decked him with her good hand.
Finally, Kasumi; she seemed terrified of him. Ranma tried desperately, but in vain to explain the situation, but she worked even harder to ensure that she wasn't even in the same room as him. She knew now to avoid leaving her window open now.
Ranma knew the source of the wellspring of animosity directed towards him; Nabiki. Ever since the nekoken, she had become even more malicious towards him, not that she was ever lenient to begin with. Ranma was sincerely considering striking out on his own just to get out of the situation, but his damnable honor, and even stronger, his concern for Kasumi would not allow him to leave the eldest Tendou sister to her other sister's mercies.
Ranma decided, as he parried an almost wild kick from Ryoga, that it was time to fight back... hard.
___________________
Nabiki kept gripping the edge of the desk in her bedroom, as she considered the current bane of her existance...
"Ranma."
She said the name with finality, a tone of sulfuric acid corroding away at the tombstone with Ranma's epitath. To kill him... no, it wasn't enough, it was farrrrr too small a solution. She wanted him broken, friendless, afraid of his every step, alone. She wanted him to see that his 'help' to Kasumi, his prying into business he should never had gotten involved with, his 'concern' for something he couldn't possibly understand, was not welcome. Once he has suffered the way he inadvertantly intended to have Nabiki suffer, she would do away with him.
After days of abuse, the edge of the desk finally buckled, and splintered away in Nabiki's hands. Casually, Nabiki brought her hands to view with her dark eyes, and looked at the somewhat deep puncturing splinters that began to draw blood with detached intrest. The sight that for some reason, calmed her...
___________________
Ryoga was well beyond unconciousness, before he hit the ground. Ranma's elbow was still in place from his follow up to his knee into the Lost Boy's gut. Ranma meant to send the pigheaded boy a message; next time one of Ryoga's floating ribs may just end up puncturing something vital, if he were to seriously come at Ranma again.
The younger Saotome was no longer in the mood for his opponents. He turned back to look in the direction of the Tendou dojo, and considered how best to take on Nabiki. He could see what she was doing, he knew enough about tactics to not be blind to her intentions. She was attempting to isolate him from everything, so that he would be as good as useless to fight back. Well, he had a few ways to counter of his own.
He had to smile to himself, as he thought about thanking Nabiki for supplying him with one potential method.
___________________
Kasumi was terrified of the situation. Nabiki hadn't barely said a word to her, which meant she was mad... *very* mad. Kasumi knew that if Nabiki were to ever get that mad, fear be within the target of her ire. The eldest Tendou daughter hoped to quell the situation somewhat, by avoiding Ranma altogether. Unfortunately, the pigtailed boy was more than a little persistant.
It was a dangerous situation, Kasumi knew. She knew how Nabiki worked, she had seen how she had coerced Dr. Tofu to distance himself from the Tendous, once she discovered his infatuation with Kasumi. It was mostly harmless, but Nabiki made sure nothing would come of it.
Ranma, on the other hand, wasn't about to give up, Kasumi knew that. That meant that it wasn't going to end until Ranma was out of the picture in a deadly permenant manner.
With that, Kasumi decided, it was time to break off the engagement with Ranma.
___________________
"Ranma, this is a surprise," Dr. Tristan stated, opening the door to his apartment to find the pigtailed martial artist standing before it. "I understand I had given you an open invitation whenever you wanted to talk, but I would have to insist you at least call ahead."
"Sorry, doc," Ranma replied, sheepishly, "But I had something to talk to you about. It's kinda important."
"Well, I guess I have a few moments before I have to step out, please, come in." Ranma took the invite, but stayed by the front door. The doctor noticed, and presumed his patient was somewhat in a hurry, "What is it you wanted, now?"
"Well," Ranma thought about how to approach his inquery, "I wanted to know something about, well, girls liking girls..."
"Is this about your curse?" The docter asked with a slight tone of amusement.
"No, it's actually not about me," Ranma replied in a somewhat calm tone.
The doctor shrugged, "You are uncomfortable with such pairings? I'm afraid that such relationships are not my expertese, but I can safely say that from an emotional standpoint, there are not any-"
"What if they're sisters?" Ranma interjected quickly.
The doctor's face became solidly serious, "That... well, I would say is not an acceptable relationship. But, as I ust reiterate, that is not my field of expertise. What brings this question to your attention...?"
___________________
"Kasumi."
the eldest Tendou sister almost snapped to attention at the tone; not only was it the first word she had heard from Nabiki in a while, it was given with a hard, undefiable edge, "Nabiki-chan?"
Nabiki walked into the kitchen, cradling her bandaged hand. Kasumi stifled her first reaction of concern, since the dead set look in Nabiki's eyes warned her about doing anything that may irritate her.
"I've noticed you've been avoiding Ranma a lot more lately," Nabiki's voice was as hard as the seemingly onyx irises of her eyes, "You want him gone just as much as I do now."
Kasumi felt herself trembling slightly, even moreso afraid of her younger sister than she had ever been before. With a dumbed nod, Kasumi responded, hoping that agreeing with Nabiki in whatever she wanted would appease her.
"Good," the younger sister replied in a terse responce, "You're going to help me. He seems to trust you a lot, that's good for what I have planned..."
___________________
Ranma sighed at the discussion she had with the doctor. He was sympathetic to the situation, but told Ranma in a roundabout way that she would have to first prove it, for he wouldn't get involved until he had conclusive evidence. That was a big problem, for Ranma was sure Nabiki would ensure nothing of the sort could be easily discovered.
That also brought up a problem with time. Ranma knew hers was running out, Nabiki was out to ruin her life, and was steamrolling ahead to do so. So far, the only people that hadn't seemed to turn on him were Ranma's own father, Dr. Tristan, and Mr. Tendou, and one of those three were bound to turn soon.
Ranma gritted her teeth, as she heard the whistling sound through the light rain. Her fustration levels were at sky peak, and she didn't feel like dealing with anyone else in a friendly type manner. With a growl, the redhead turned, and caught the hurled object in her hands, cupping the sphere that was heading for her head with both hands. She threw it sideways into the wall next to her, causing it to crumble to concrete dust.
"DAMN IT!" Ranma screamed, "COME OUT SO I CAN END THIS QUICK!"
"You stay still for Shampoo, yes?" A waterlogged young lady replied, leaping from the roof she was standing on.