Interesting Times

By socchan

Chapter Twelve: Curse Magnet

The Norse bell rang as Nabiki entered Carrmella's shop. "Carmella!" she called, hugging the book to her chest, "Carmella, I found it!"

Carmella looked up from the counter, startled. "You did?"

Nabiki nodded, and laid the book on the counter for Carmella to look at. Carmella silently read the cover, then flipped through the pages, pausing here and there to read a few details. She met Nabiki's eyes over the counter. "It's all here." She said, in slight awe.

Nabiki smiled. "That's good to hear."

Carmella shook her head. "Not really. Greg has eyes and ears everywhere. The second he gets wind that we have the book, he'll start planning his attack."

"Oh," Nabiki was a bit downtrodden. Then she straightened, a determined look on her face. "Well, then, we'd damn well better be ready for him when he comes. How many people do you know that could help us?"

Carmella stared at Nabiki for a moment, a smile slowly spreading on her face. "I'll get my address book out."

When Nabiki got home that night, she was exhausted, but happy. She and Carmella had contacted about two hundred of her associates in that three hour period, and even the ones who couldn't come were willing to help out however they could. People had started arriving before the first hour was up, and helped out, calling people they and Carmella knew. Twenty people had made it that day alone, and more would be coming in the next. Nabiki swore the shop grew to accommodate them, laws of physics be damned.

Nabiki let out a content sigh as she slipped out of her shoes and into her slippers. "I'm home!" she called.

"Welcome back!" Kasumi said, smiling brightly. "Auntie Saotome stopped by to drag Uncle Saotome home at last, and Father went to help him settle in, so we have the house to ourselves."

Nabiki smiled to herself. "That's good. Now we can finally clear out that guestroom."

Kasumi nodded. "Yes, I dare say it's been a long time since I've seen it without a panda."

"I know what you mean," Nabiki said, wistfully. "If there's one thing I won't miss, though, it's the repair bills he and Ranma caused."

Kasumi smiled at this. "Why don't you sit down? I'll have dinner on the table in a few minutes."

"Okay." Nabiki sat seiza, then frowned at the slight pulsing from something in her pocket. "Say, Kasumi," she said, absently, "Do you think it's possible for someone to attract curses?"

"Oh," Kasumi said, dishing out some food for herself and her sister. "So you've found out." She sat down with a resigned sigh as Nabiki lifted a quizzical eyebrow. "I was wondering how long it would take you. I was, well, told really when I was seven. I've had time to come to grips with it." She took a sip of her tea, eyes unfocused. "It's hard to know that you're the reason strange things keep happening in the world around you, particularly to your family and friends. I didn't think this was sweet, naïve front I put up would fool anyone for long, but it's worked for twelve years now."

"Kasumi…" Nabiki said, carefully. "Are you saying that you…"

Kasumi lightly rubbed her temples, then met Nabiki's gaze. "I'm a curse magnet. I've been that way since I was born. Something in my aura draws things like curses to the ones I love, and to me. You don't know how many times I've contemplated running away so you wouldn't have to deal with this, but each time I've realized that not only would I hurt you by leaving, you'd all come to look for me and get cursed in the process."

Nabiki looked at her older sister in awe. "I never would have guessed. How is it that you're still here?"

Kasumi laughed, somewhat bitterly. "The same thing that attracts curses to me also keeps me from being cursed myself. Ono was the one who told me, and Lord knows he took long enough getting it out, but he had a good reason. He has a strong negating affect on curses, but the strength of my 'magnetic force', shall we say, made it hard for him to do any work on curses around me. That's why he would always go into those strange fits when he was around me—he had a hard enough time keeping most of the curses already in place from tearing the town apart, and the concentration of inactivated curses around me didn't help. He left a while ago to see if he could find something that would help my… condition, but he's not back, so I guess that means he hasn't found one."

Both Nabiki's eyebrows were raised by the end of this speech. "And how he acts around you has nothing to do with how he feels about you?"

Kasumi's cheeks tinged pink. "Well, I would assume not…"

"How about your feelings towards him?"

Kasumi paled considerably. "Oh, my. I—I didn't think of that…"

Nabiki sighed as the pulsing quickened its tempo in urgency. "Well, I helped Ranma out, so now I suppose it's your turn." She pulled the orange Wish from her pocket. "Here, Kasumi. I should keep Doctor Tofu from going nuts when he sees you, and it might be able to cut down on the number of curses you attract."

Kasumi took the claw, and looked from it to her sister. "But, why?" She sounded confused as she looked.

"Because you aren't appreciated enough." Nabiki stated, flatly. "You work long and hard all day, you take care of us, you deal with all the stress that comes with attracting curses, and people hardly ever thank you. You deserve a little happiness, I would think."

Kasumi smiled warmly. "Thank you." She said, slipping the Wish around her neck. "I'll write to Ono as soon as I can to tell him he can come back."

Nabiki grinned. "You do that."

Kasumi caught her eye. "By the way, Nabiki, you've done something for me and Akane, but have you done anything for yourself?" She watched with amusement as Nabiki turned red. "I see you have. But I won't go prying into your private affairs. I would like to know where Ranma and Akane really are, though."

Nabiki grinned, sheepishly. "Promise not to tell Dad?"

"Of course."

"I gave Ranma a cure so he would go around the world with Akane and train her."

Kasumi lifted a delicate eyebrow. "But what do you get out of the bargain?"

Nabiki shrugged. "Less property damage?"

Kasumi laughed. "Very well, I'll accept your reason. Now help me clear the table before Father gets back." Nabiki was glad to comply.

The phone rang while they were washing the dishes. "I'll get it," Nabiki said, drying off her hands.

"Alright."

Nabiki reached the phone before its second ring. "Hello?"

"Nabiki?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Carmella?" To say Nabiki was surprised would have been an understatement. "How did you get my number?"

"Worry about that later. Listen, a soothsayer just contacted one of my associates—he said the battle would be this Thursday night!"

=^-,-^=

Only one more chapter after this one. And an epilogue, but I'm going to be posting them one day apart as opposed to my usual two, because if I don't, you'll kill me. Hell, I'll be lucky if you don't kill me now! Anyhow, if anyone's confused by anything in this chapter, or in any of the others, drop me a line, and I'll see what I can do. See you soon!

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is property of Rumiko Takahashi, and therefore, not mine. I make no claim of it, and this piece of fan fiction is written purely for entertainment, not for money. The Cat's Wishes and Cursed Whisker powder are my concepts, and Carmella is my character, so you'd better ask before using them—or at least give me some credit. Thanks much!

--socchan