"Ranma! Get over here!"
The belligerent voice was his father's. Ranma looked at Akane, upset that the quiet that they had enjoyed over the last week had just ended. But he was also also happy that his father finally returned home. Giving Akane a small smile, he left her and went into the back yard.
Only to be thrown into the pond by his father the moment he set foot on the porch.
"Slow! Get up you lazy bum!" Genma yelled.
Ranma looked at his father and launched an aerial kick as he screamed at him, "You Ass! Why'd you have to ruin a perfectly good afternoon!"
Genma saw the kick, and turned to throw Ranma even further but found himself being grappled by his son.
"You fat oaf! Leave me alone!" Ranma used his father as a pole, and swung to the ground, where threw his father into the pond.
Genma, now a panda, charged out of the water towards his son, keeping a low profile. The battle was rejoined when Ranma threw himself into the air.
For what seemed to be hours, father and son jumped, kicked, threw, and hit each other while they traded insults to each other.
When they had concluded, Ranma was sweating.
Genma-panda held up a sign, "You need more discipline son! My absence does not mean you can lounge around the house!"
Ranma went into the house, and headed directly for the bathroom. His father fell the ground by the pond, exhausted.
***
Sitting at the dinner table was a bit chaotic. Ranma had become used to sitting between Kasumi and Nabiki, with Akane sitting across from him. Now that the fathers have returned, Soun took his usual spot. Looking around the table he saw that Nabiki and Akane had traded places and that Nabiki was patting the floor the floor that was between her and his father. "Good enough for me," he thought.
Ranma started to salivate as he plopped himself on the cushion next to Nabiki, knowing that he'd soon be eating when Kasumi and Akane went into the kitchen to bring out the meal. He attempted to distract himself from his rumbling stomach by wondering how his father and Tendo were able to get away from the miniature demon.
"So, Pops, how did you and Tendo get away?"
Genma had a puzzled look on his face for a moment, as if something didn't look right at the table. After popping the knuckles on his hands, he told his tale. "It was a miracle! I thought I had seen the end of my days when the master started chasing us. We had been running for two days, and when we weren't running, the evil one was throwing bombs at us. Finally we found ourselves running on some sand, we were so exhausted we had no idea where we were. We were about to dive in the water when we saw a bunch of umbrellas. That's when the Master ran ahead. We took advantage of the situation, and turned around. We could hear the screams of a bunch of girls behind us.
"Remembering that one who runs away lives to fight another day, we ignored the noises and took the first bus home." Genma's stomach growled
As Genma described more of his trip, Kasumi and Akane came into the room, and started serving food. As to be expected, Genma started to pick food off his son's plate. Ranma blocked Genma's attempts, then made a few plays for his father's plate.
In a blur, his father emptied his plate in seconds. He watched Kasumi start dishing out another plate for him when Ranma noticed that his father was starting to pick food off of Nabiki's plate. Wit quick speed, Ranma intercepted his father's chopsticks and place the food back onto Nabiki's plate. When Ranma watched his father try to steal a small morsel off of Akane's plate, he threw a chopstick at Genma's hand before he could pick anything up.
The thrown chopstick earned Ranma a dirty look from his father. Ranma locked eyes with his father and challenged him. Each time his father started to try to pick a little bit of food off of everyone's plate, Ranma would deftly block the attempt. After a few minutes of being constantly blocked, Genma started to reach for the platters on the table.
Kasumi looked at Ranma in alarm, who did not miss the concerned expression on the lady's face. Angry that Genma had upset Kasumi, Ranma swallowed a few choice expletives that were reserved for his father and kept his insult to a minimum.
"That is ENOUGH!" Ranma planted a fist in his father's face. "If you want to eat like a pig do it elsewhere." As the fist impacted his father's face, he felt a satisfying "crunch" as his father fell backwards from the blow.
Satisfied that his father wasn't going to get up soon, Ranma made himself comfortable and thanked Kasumi as she passed him a new plate of food.
***
Genma awoke just as dinner was winding down. His face sore, he watched his son eat with a wary eye. Anger seethed inside, "Ungrateful son! He knows he should take every opportunity to train! Now he just sits there."
It was when Ranma stood and started to gather the dishes when Genma wondered what happened to his son. He looked at his son as if he grew a second head and asked, "What are you doing?"
Nonchalantly, as if there was nothing wrong, Ranma answered his father, "Helping Kasumi do the dishes."
His fears confirmed, Genma spat just loud enough for those still at the dinner table to hear, "My god! He's turned sissy! I spend a week away, and he starts acting like a girl!"
"Stuff it, Pops. I like doing dishes with Kasumi."
Genma was surprised to hear the anger in Ranma's voice. "This isn't the way it's supposed to be," he thought. Fighting an urge to slap some sense into him, his thought processes rambled on, "I'm going to have to straighten him out in the morning." He watched his son and Nabiki leave the room before he turned to his partner and asked, "A game of shogi?"
In the kitchen, Ranma was in turmoil. He should have remembered that his father would try some stupid stunt like his food stealing. Ranma tried not to think about what his father had planned for him the next morning, he sighed and listened to Kasumi tell her story about a wet paper bag and broken eggs.
By the time the dishes were done, he was in a better mood, having forgotten the after dinner stress. Hanging up his apron, he gave a smile and a wave to Kasumi and bounded up the stairs to study with Nabiki.
While playing their game, the fathers heard what was obviously Ranma climb the stairs followed by a door slam close. Then it became quiet, with only Kasumi's humming coming from the kitchen.
"Where's he going?" Genma asked his shogi partner.
"I don't know," Soun repled as looked at the shogi board. "You don't suppose he's leaving, do you?"
Genma looked up with worry in his eyes. "He'd better not. Let's find out."
As Soun stood up and wasn't watching the board, Genma deftly moved three pieces on the board with his feet before standing himself.
The two men peered into the kitchen doorway where they saw the eldest daughter taking off her apron. Soun asked, "Kasumi dear, where is Ranma going?"
"Upstairs, Father. To study."
The fathers looked at each other, then back at Kasumi. With a voice that was normally reserved for expressing condolences, Genma asked, "Did Ranma and Akane fight any while we were gone?"
Kasumi smiled an waved her hands, "No. No, not at all."
Huge grins broke on their faces. "Ranma and Akane," Genma started, and Soun completed, "haven't fought!"
"I think I hear bells ringing! Oh, what a happy day!" Genma said as he grabbed his gaming partner, and dashed up the stairs. "We must see this for ourselves! Hush! Quiet!"
With handkerchiefs tied to their faces as a disguise, the two men halted in front of Akane's room and pressed their ears to the door. Silence. They cracked the door open and peered in. All they saw was Akane at her desk.
"Huh?" Genma said in confusion.
Just then a noise came from down the hallway. The two curious and disappointed fathers stealthily crawled down the hallway, listening for the noise again. When they came to Nabiki's door, they heard Nabiki giggle. Genma, looking at Soun, whispered, "A phone call?"
Soun replied, "No phone. Ssshh!"
A moment later the hear a "bweeee!" Then Nabiki imitating Akane, "Oh, P- Chan!" And finally the sound of Nabiki and Ranma laughing.
"Ranma and Nabiki laughing? In the same room together?" Genma grabbed Soun before he started wailing, and dashed downstairs.
"Kasumi, I thought you said Ranma was with Akane?" Genma thought the worst, that Ranma and Akane had broken up for good, and Nabiki was milking the situation.
"Oh no, Uncle Saotome. Ranma studies with Nabiki for about an hour then he goes and studies with Akane." Kasumi couldn't understand the reaction of the fathers.
Soun had tears forming in his eyes and he started to sniffle.
"It's been wonderful! Last week Ranma has gotten his highest score ever. Akane too. And Nabiki thinks that cram school is getting easier since she's been studying with Ranma." Kasumi loved telling good news, and this was probably the best she had given in a long, long time.
Genma grabbed Soun's collar and went back up the stairs, feeling an urgent need to investigate further. The two fathers listened at Nabiki's door, only to hear almost nothing. Occasionally Nabiki would ask a question and Ranma would answer. If he gave a wrong response, Nabiki would tell him where to find the right answer. Less frequently, Ranma would ask Nabiki a question. The Fathers heard Ranma laugh, a comment by Nabiki, a muffled explanation by Ranma, and eventually howls laughter. Looking at each other, the two elders had the same thought - Ranma should be with Akane, his fiancee.
Genma brought himself to full height, puffed his chest, straightened his gi, adjusted his glasses, and asked, "Ready, Tendo?"
"Ready!"
"Cookies!"
The two men looked at each other in horror. "Cookies?" they thought simultaneously. "Oh, NO!" The two men dove down the hall to Kasumi's room to avoid being trampled by three growing teenagers. Taking position, they stood ready to defend themselves as a feeding frenzy grew before them.
***
After school, Ranma had changed into his chore clothes he walked down the stairs where he met his father, who was standing at the bottom stair with his arms crossed.
With a disapproving tone, Genma addressed his son, "What are you doing, son?"
Ranma was looking forwards to working and talking with Kasumi and his father was trying to ruin his day. Over the previous week, he decided that the hour or so that he spent with her was a nice break from schoolwork, martial arts and fiancees. Now that his overbearing parent had returned home, he feared that his daily moment of peace was at jeopardy. Bracing himself for what may be a battle, his response to the question was a challenge, "I'm gonna help Kasumi with the yard. Now get outta my way."
Ranma wasn't surprised his father disagreed loudly, "Boy! Ungrateful son! You don't have time to do any of that! You must train to be a great martial artist! Working in the garden has no bearing on your future!"
Ranma looked at his pontificating father, and responded with the first thought that came to his mind. "Oh, it doesn't? Then why is it that great martial artists have great training centers, and crummy ones have ugly shacks?" Ranma poked his finger at his father's forehead and continued, "If great martial artists care about their schools, and poor ones don't, what does it say about you?"
"It looks like I have to teach you a lesson!" Genma started to make a grab for Ranma's arm, only to find air, pain, and then blissful darkness.
In the back yard, Kasumi watched Ranma strut into the garden. A few moments ago she had heard his remark about caring for the training center while putting on her gloves and was impressed his line of thinking. Although Ranma would have been just disrespectful to his father three weeks ago, but this time he presented an argument that she couldn't find much fault with. Over the last week Ranma's comments had not been as brash, and occasionally he showed signs of having thought before speaking. "Yes, Ranma was improving," she thought.
As she washed the dust and dirt off the steps, she watched Ranma pick up a heavy stone and started to dig out the hole were the stone was before she finally asked, "What on earth was that howl a few minutes ago?"
Ranma rubbed the dirt off of his hands before bending over to pick up the rock again. As he wrapped his arms around the gray basalt, and had an exaggerated "what'd I do this time" look on his face before saying, "What howl?"
Kasumi smiled and tossed a small pebble in his direction.
***
Onna-Ranma had pummeled Kuno senseless one more time, and once more, saw a photo of his girl form fly out of Kuno's shirt.
He knew there was only one person that would have taken those pictures, and it was Nabiki. As he left the scene of the non-battle, he found himself angry and thought that he'd had enough. Ranma was not only aggravated that Nabiki allowed Kuno to maintain his delusions, but also that she also stoked Kuno into a frenzy by selling him pictures of his girl form.
That night, on the rooftop, Ranma came up with a plan. It would take a while, a lot of research, and required plans within plans.
Over the next three weeks Ranma kept an eye out for Nabiki, learning her habits, specifically looking for clues as to when she had that infernal camera with her. Such investigation was not without its hazards and failures.
Akane heard a series of scrapes on the roof between her room and Nabiki's, and was curious as to the source. When she opened the window and looked to the right, she saw that Ranma was attempting to fasten some large search lights to the side of the house. Wondering what her earnest while fiancee was up to she called out to him, "What are you doing, Ranma?
Ranma was struggling to hold a light in place with one hand while latching a support beam to the roof. Akane could hear the frustration in Ranma's voice as he replied, "Nothing."
Such a short answer sometimes infuriated her, but this time curiosity won, so she had more patience than normal. "Then why are you hanging upside down outside Nabiki's window?"
Ranma was ratcheting a bolt on to the gimble while he hung upside down from the roof. "Cuz I'm waiting for Nabiki."
Akane made herself comfortable, knowing that this conversation was going to take a while. "Nabiki?" she asked.
Ranma dropped a thick electrical cord to the ground while answering, "Yeah."
"Why Nabiki?"
Still upside down, Ranma wrapped the excess power cord around his arm. "Cuz."
"Because why?"
"Because I want to see something," he said as he pulled up the prong from the ground.
"See what?" she asked. Akane was beginning to think Ranma really was a pervert, why else would he need so much light?
Fumbling with the window to Nabiki's room, Ranma grunted, "Can't tell you, it's a secret."
Irritation finally crept into Akane's voice, "A secret? So that's why you're trying to break into my sister's room?"
"Yep." Ranma swung into the room with the power cable.
Akane wondered what Ranma was doing. Why would he need to shine a zillion candlepower spotlight in her sister's room?
Still more curious than angry, she left her room and opened the door to Nabiki's room. Since it was dark in there, she turned on the light.
BZZZZZZAPT! The house went dark.
An "awwwwww!" followed by a "thump!" was heard outside.
Moments later, Kasumi found a charred Ranma outside, glowing in the dark.
***
A few days later, after enduring many puns about his shocking experience, Ranma stated to follow Nabiki in trench coat disguise.
From school to a camera shop, from the camera shop to cram, from cram to a magazine rack, and finally from the magazine rack to the Nekohanten. So intent was Ranma in following Nabiki he had no idea where he was until he felt the purple haired great-granddaughter of the proprietress wrap her arms around him.
"Airen! We go on date now, no?" she asked with her trademarked bubbly voice.
Ranma pleaded while trying to get of the hug, "Shampoo, let me go. Can'tcha see I'm busy?"
Nabiki watched Ranma struggle, and when she saw that Ranma was trapped for the duration, she walked up to Ranma. With a playful look in her eye, she winked at him and left with a "Tootle-loo!"
***
Ranma did eventually learn what he was trying to learn, and put the second phase of his plan into effect. He started making himself hard to photograph by avoiding Nabiki's normal hideouts or by finding ways to ruin the shots she could make.
In low light conditions he would move quickly, knowing that the picture would blur. When he knew that he would be photographed, he tried to make sure some undesirable element would be in any picture she took. When it was unavoidable that a good picture would be taken, he posed in the most ridiculous form as possible.
When Ranma started posing, Nabiki knew that she had turned prey and was caught. Finally facing her hunter while walking home from school on the day she conceded defeat, she commented to Ranma, "I didn't think you could figure it out."
"What out?" Ranma asked Nabiki with the innocence of a babe.
"When I was going to take pictures of you."
Ranma developed a "gotcha" smile and let her know her failures, "It wasn't that hard. You make lots of noise when you are reaching for your camera."
Nabiki smiled at Ranma. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, and he wouldn't stay angry for long. "I guess I'll have to be more quiet then," she remarked as she tried to come up with other ways to take his picture.
Matching her smile, Ranma responded, "Nah, you'll need to do more than that. Once I figured out what was going on, it was easy for me to sense you."
Nabiki was peeved that he was so confident. "So, mister martial arts can detect me huh? Well, I can still take pictures of you."
"Nope. You are too noisy, the camera makes a distinctive sound, and sometimes I can smell it when you change film."
Nabiki sighed. The little spar was not as fun as she hoped it would be. "So I should just give up, huh? Do you have any idea how much money Kuno pays for your pictures?"
Ranma relaxed a little, and stated what he'd heard many times, "About the same as what he pays for Akane's. About six hundred Yen per print."
Nabiki was surprised that Ranma knew the going rates for her photographs. "How..."
It was time for Ranma to be surprised; he thought the price of the pictures were common knowledge. "How did I know? Aw, come on. I've heard you negotiate the price more than once. Everybody knows that Kuno buys the pictures. Heck, half his class laughs at how much he pays."
"You know this is going to hurt my finances." Nabiki tried a different tactic, and gambled that Ranma was paying attention to her lectures about household finances.
Ranma scoffed, "So? You normally sell him about five pictures a week. That's not a lot of money."
"It's enough. On a good week, it actually covers my expenses." Nabiki pressed what she thought was her only advantage.
Ranma scoffed at the statement. "What expenses? You don't buy clothes, you borrow them from Akane or Kasumi."
Nabiki flipped her hair, "Hey, I have to look good. And I have my expenses."
Derisively, "Yeah, magazines and food." In the back of his mind, Ranma tried to remember if Nabiki paid for anything in the house.
"At least I pay for my stuff. You don't do anything but mooch."
"I don't mooch."
Nabiki knew the tide has turned. "Since when did you ever pay for a meal since you've been here?"
"Pops got a job. He gives Mr. Tendo the money."
"Your father gives Father money all right. They both spend all the money on sake and blown wedding plans."
Ranma became depressed. "Oh."
Seeing Ranma depressed bothered Nabiki. "Well, he does make Father happy. I guess that counts for something."
Silenced prevailed for a short while as they walked. A cold wind started to blow.
"I suppose I could resell the pictures to the rest of the school. I don't think I could get six hundred yen per shot, but I think I could get a hundred Yen.
Ranma challenged Nabiki, "You wouldn't."
Nabiki had a smirk on her face. "Try me."
Ranma looked at Nabiki. "You would." He looked at the street in front of him. "Lost again, didn't I?"
Nabiki smiled, and nodded affirmatively.
It was quiet again. The wind was beginning to feel chilly.
Again, it was Nabiki that spoke. "You know, Ranma, if you would pose for a few shots, I could probably triple the money I charge Kuno."
Ranma couldn't believe that she even mentioned the idea and tried to nix it. "No way," he said.
"Think about it. You can contribute more to the house than your father."
"That isn't hard to do. I do more now than he does as it is."
Nabiki acknowledged Ranma's point with a "Ding!"
Ranma continued, "I don't want to imagine what that creep would want to do with my pictures."
Nabiki was thinking like a lioness hunting prey. "The pictures don't have to be of your girl form. I'm certain that Kodachi would be interested in a few pictures."
Ranma shivered at the thought. "Eww! She's even worse."
"So then, just how do you plan on earning your keep?"
"Well, someday I would like to teach after I inherit the dojo."
Nabiki playfully knocked Ranma on the side of his head. "Not then. Now."
Ranma rubbed where he was hit. "I dunno. Get a job?"
"You know you can't do that."
Ranma looked around the corner, then rubbed his hands. "I can't teach yet."
"Why not? Everybody here knows you and how good you are. You wouldn't have any problems getting students."
Ranma looked forward, as if he was trying to peer into the future. Quietly, he let Nabiki know his one shortcoming he was willing to admit, "I'm not a master. I haven't been certified. And I'm not ready. Yet."
Nabiki was surprised that Ranma had any humility but it didn't stop her from pressing the point, "So you are going to be a mooch."
Ranma thought about several events he would rather not remember. Sadly, "Yeah. It's better than stealing."
To Nabiki, the last comment sounded a little bit like a confession. "Stealing? You stole?"
Ranma was surprised that this even came up, and he knew that Nabiki wouldn't let this one drop. "No. I didn't steal. Not really. But yeah." He paused a moment as memories of hunger and desperation surfaced. It may have been a moment of survival or "training" at the time, but he thought about his victims. He tried to continue, "That's..." Ranma stopped in mid- sentence again, looked at the ground, and started again "That's not right and not fair."
Nabiki heard what Ranma said, and tried to let Ranma save a little face. "Your father stole."
Both Ranma and Nabiki had slowed down to a crawl. The cold air began to bite, but neither of them felt it as their nerves had already given them the chills.
"It wasn't like that," Ranma started. "He used me. I didn't know what was going on. At least most of the time. It was a few years ago when I finally figured out what he was doing. We came to an agreement. No more stealing."
Nabiki wondered what happened. Anytime Ranma and his father agreed on anything there was a fight. "An agreement?" she asked.
Ranma nodded. "We didn't talk for two weeks. He beat me up everyday. I finally got one over him, and he got stuck hauling fishing nets for a while. He made good money too. When he finally got paid, we were going to skip out at night because we had to pay some collectors the next day. That evening on the way home, he was robbed by some guy with a gun. He never did see what the guy looked like. "
Nabiki wondered where this was going; this made no sense given Ranma's normal behavior.
Just as Nabiki started to say something, Ranma continued.
"Just before we left, I dropped an envelope of money on the ground. The collector that was chasing us picked it up."
Nabiki found herself admiring Ranma. "He really doesn't want to be like his father," she thought. For some strange reason she felt a little warmer, and asked, "You stole the money, didn't you?
Ranma innocently looked at Nabiki, "What are you talking about?"
They both turned into the Tendo compound, eagerly looking forward to a hot tea.
***
Ranma was confident that his idea would work. Making sure that no one else was in the hall, he knocked on Nabiki's door.
"Psst! It's me. Let me in."
"What's with the secrecy?" Nabiki asked. For the last few days Ranma had been trying get the moxibustion chart from Happosai, but so far every attempt had led to failure. She was certain he had come up with an idea, and the fact he was in her room was a warning that she was soon going to be involved.
"I need your help." Ranma's eyes were darting, looking for anything that could tip Happosai of his intentions.
"Well, what is it?" Nabiki was cataloging different ways she could profit from helping him.
"I need you to help me defeat Happosai so I can get the moxibustion chart. I go..."
Nabiki interrupted Ranma, "No. No way..." Nabiki did not want to be in harms way. Pain and violence was not in her lifestyle.
Ranma ignored Nabiki and continued, "... tta have you take some pictures of me."
Nabiki's eyebrows arched as she said, "Take pictures of you?" She thought Ranma finally has lost grip on reality.
Ranma had a confident tone that he had a plan, "What's the one thing that will drive him beyond anger?"
Nabiki answered quickly since it was so obvious, "That didn't work. Stealing his 'prizes' did not get him mad enough."
With thin patience Ranma gave Nabiki another try. "Nope. That ain't it. But you're close. Try again. What happened the first time I tried to do the Dragons' Heaven Blast on him?"
"It didn't work, he didn't get angry." Nabiki was wondering why Ranma was repeating himself.
"Oh, he was angry all right. But what really happened? What did he do before it was completed?"
Realization hit Nabiki, "He stopped to peek at... "
Ranma had a smile spread across his face. "Yep. His hormones overrode his anger. So if I can get him mad and then get him goin' with something with lust, I'm certain that I can get the Heaven's Blast to work on him. If that pervert sees some pictures of me, he ain't gonna control himself, and I can knock him out long enough for me to get the chart from him. Will you take the pictures?"
Nabiki eye's bulged when she heard his plan. Scratching her chin, she let Ranma know her thoughts, "You realize the pictures are going to have to be very enticing? You'll actually have to wear feminine underwear? And pose in them?"
Ranma's jaw hit the ground and then he loudly protested, "What! I have to wear WHAT? No way, I'm not gonna to wear any chick stuff."
"How predictable can you get?" Nabiki was amused, she let out a giggle, her plan was perfect. She saw opportunities for mischief and profit, "And I know exactly what you need. I won't charge you either."
"I am NOT going to wear..." he protested one more time, obviously his manliness was not to be trifled with.
"Fine. The plan won't work then. It is going to have to be something special to get Happosai to go over the edge. An ordinary picture of you isn't going to do it."
She walked up to Ranma, and stood beside him, being careful not to spook him. In a quiet voice, Nabiki gave her offer to Ranma. "Ranma, listen. You really do need to do something special here. I'll tell you what. I'll do the whole thing for free if you do exactly what I tell you."
Ranma thought it through, and he became suspicious. Ranma had to ask her if he really heard her correctly, "For free?"
"Yes, but remember, you have to do exactly what I say. And you have to trust me. Can you do that?" Nabiki watched Ranma shuffle from side to side. She waited for his answer.
Ranma had a resigned look on his face when he agreed, "What do I have to do?"
Nabiki was about to grin, happy that she knew she was going to make an awful lot of money when she realized that Ranma might get upset if he found out her real plan. Instead, she held her expression neutral, and quickly tallied the tasks that needed to get done.
"I need a couple of day to pull some things together and to figure out how to do the pictures so that Happosai will go all out." Nabiki stopped and thought, trying determine if she could be ready in less time. "Two days is about right. I'll let you know when I'm all set."
"Two days! Isn't there anyway you could be ready sooner?"
Nabiki knew that Ranma was frustrated; being weak really made his life miserable. And when he was miserable, the family suffered.
"Sorry, Ranma. These pictures have to be special, and I need to make sure I have the film, developing, and everything else ready so as soon as the pictures are taken you can use them the next day." It wasn't the developing and printing that was the problem, she knew she could get a one day turnaround. What she needed the extra time for was to obtain the special things that would make the photos drive the old pervert crazy.
Ranma sounded disappointed, "That long? For a few pictures? Heck, it shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes?"
"We are going to do this right, Ranma. We have to make sure the pictures are perfect. You won't get a second chance at this. And remember, you promised to trust me and do exactly as I say or it won't work."
Ranma was about to leave, but turned to face the greedy one. "Nabiki, you aren't planning on selling any of the pictures you will be taking, are you?"
Her answer was slow in coming. "Well, there are certain costs that have to be covered, and my time isn't exactly free. The thought did cross my mind."
Ranma's face hardened.
Nabiki knew that Ranma objected to her sideline business, but the expected monetary return was such that it was very hard for her not to sell pictures of Ranma. Looking at Ranma's stern expression caused her to pause long enough for her to consider his feelings and opinions. This was not going to be an inexpensive operation, and she needed to recoup her expenses.
Being in the same room as Ranma reminded Nabiki that Ranma was a person, someone with feelings. She saw that Ranma was serious, he did not want any more pictures to be sold. She did not want to upset him, and she wanted to do a good job -- for him.
The last thought troubled Nabiki. She actually considered not selling the pictures because he asked. That wasn't right.
In a quandary, Nabiki tried to negotiate a middle ground. "Ranma, please let me make some money. I won't sell any more than I have to." She was thinking that by keeping the agreement vague, she could claim higher expenses, therefore she would be able to sell more photographs.
The haggling began. Ranma opened with two pictures could be sold, and Nabiki countered with ten. In the end, it was accepted that Nabiki could sell five pictures, and if costs were higher than expected, she could sell three more if necessary.
With the negotiation completed, a tired Ranma left the room, and Nabiki started dreaming about the profit she was sure to make. She was certain that Kuno would pay for the entire effort with just three pictures, and any sales after that would be profit.
So why was she worried that she was going to make Ranma angry with her?
***
After a day and a half of preparation, Nabiki set her gear up in the guest room while Ranma made sure that Happosai could not interfere with the plan. It was late afternoon, and Ranma had doused himself with water to change to girl form before knocking on the door.
"Can I come in now?"
Nabiki opened the door. "Sure. Glad to see you are already a girl."
On a small table was a camera with several lenses, film canisters, tape, pens, and a light meter. Tacked on the wall was a white sheet, and on the floor were several pillows of different sizes and shapes. In one corner was a sheet tacked to the walls.
Sounding curious, Ranma asked, "What is all this stuff?"
"It's a set. If we used the normal stuff that's in here, he might be suspicious that it's a trap. By putting things in here that aren't normally in here, he'll never figure out that what's going on."
Ranma shook his head and pointed to a rack of clothes. "No, I mean THAT stuff."
Nabiki made sure she had eye contact with Ranma before answering. "Remember I said to trust me. That is what you are going to have to wear to get his attention. Now, take a look at the pillows and the wall. I'm going to take pictures of you getting dressed and undressed over there, and probably a few of you pretending to be asleep on the pillows."
Ranma walked closer to the rack and started inspecting its contents. He looked as if he was about to be forcibly castrated. He asserted his maleness, "No. I can't do that. I'm a guy. Guys don't wear that stuff."
Nabiki predicted his reaction, and over the last day, she'd planned how she would get him to wear the contents of the rack. Carefully choosing her words, Nabiki started to lead Ranma down the necessary path. "Ranma, there's no other way. Think about it. If you wore your normal boxers, how would he react?
Ranma did not want to wear the frilly stuff on the rack. "Just fine."
"Would he? You need to get him so excited that he won't be able to control himself. He's seen you in boxers all the time. What does he really want you to do?" Nabiki pulls out a hanger from which a lacy bra hangs. "He wants you to put this on! It's his biggest dream. Trust me, Ranma. This will work."
"But if anybody finds out..." Ranma still hung on. Deep in his mind, he started to chant, "I'm a guy!"
Slipping into her tutor mode, Nabiki responded. "Everyone will find out. The whole school knows you want to challenge Happosai. Not only that, it's the only place you can fight him and keep the damage down." Nabiki started to smirk. "You will have an audience."
Thinking about the audience, Ranma challenged Nabiki. "What's my cut?" he asked.
Confused, Nabiki had to ask what he meant. "Your cut?"
Ranma smirked, "Well, I know I'm going to win. You know I'm going to win. And I know that you are going to try and bookie the fight."
Nabiki was totally caught off guard. "He's been hanging around me too much. Time to show him he's out of his league" Nabiki thought before she made her offer, "Ten percent of my cut."
Ranma figured since that he's doing all the hard work, he offered fifty percent.
"Hey, if you take fifty percent, there's not exactly any profit. Fifteen, and you don't have to wear this." Nabiki shoves a bright red, see through baby doll in Ranma's face.
"Uhhhh. Okay," he stammered as abject fear registered on his face.
Nabiki snickered. She bought the baby doll as part of a joke to play on Ranma, and his reaction was worth every Yen she paid. As she looked at the baby doll again, she decided that she wasn't going to charge Ranma for that particular little goodie, but couldn't figure out one last time why she bought the baby doll in her size, and not Ranma's.
Putting the baby doll back on the rack, Nabiki tried to calm Ranma down. "This'll be fun. We will start with some simple pictures and we'll then work our way to the pictures that will certainly set Happosai on fire." Looking at Ranma in his normal Chinese outfit, she decided that they'll start easy, and work towards the more spicy outfits and poses.
"Why don't we start with what you have on now?"
Relief showed on Ranma's face as he said, "Whatever."
Nabiki pointed to a bare corner and started giving directions with "Stand over there, in the corner please." As he walked, Nabiki started to snap pictures.
"Take your shirt off, Ranma." Nabiki snapped a few shots and watched Ranma take his shirt off. He was doing it too fast, so she had him put his shirt back on, and take the shirt off slower. Again he took his shirt off too fast.
"This isn't a race, Ranma. Try it again, but do it as slow as you possibly can." Nabiki watched Ranma take his shirt off at a speed that she thought was acceptable.
Realizing that Ranma wasn't prepared for what she had planned for him to do, Nabiki thought about how to make the session go easier for both of them. When Ranma started looking around the room, thought that rehearsing might help.
"Ranma, we need to practice some poses before I take any more pictures." Nabiki tried to describe the poses that she wanted Ranma to perform. As she spoke, she watched Ranma nod his head as if he understood. When she stopped talking she looked deeply at Ranma's face for understanding. Noting that Ranma's eyes were glassing over she knew that he had no idea of what she asked him to do.
"This confirms it," she thought, "there's no way he's a girl."
After snapping her fingers to make sure that Ranma was paying attention, she sat on one of the pillows. "Ranma, watch me boy, this is what I want you to do" she instructed as she started to perform the poses that he was to perform. Ranma started to mimic her on a different pillow, and after a few runs, Ranma had mastered the art of loving the camera.
After watching Ranma pose one last time, she shook her head and muttered to so quickly and perform so well was that the training done for martial arts herself, "Incredible." Her only explanation as to how Ranma could have learned how to pose so perfectly must have conditioned him to learn any physical task. She thought of the stories of Ranma on ice skates and threw that theory out. "Just fucking incredible" she thought.
Starting again, Nabiki started to give Ranma instructions. "Okay, we'll pick up where we left off. Remember, take your shirt off slow." She watched Ranma go through the motions of taking his shirt off, and she thought it was more than good enough.
As she worked through the first set of poses, she started to encourage Ranma, "Think about what you are going to do to the old geezer when you get your strength back!" She knew that the next few moments were going to be the decision point; if he followed through what she had envisioned, she was confident that his plan would work and that she would have more than enough money to play for her purchases, developing, printing, and time.
Pulling a hanger off the rack, she asked Ranma to do something he had always refused to do. "Could you put this on?"
On the hanger was a very basic and conservative white bra.
Ranma looked at the bra. "No." It was simple statement. He was not going to put the bra on.
Nabiki looked at the bra and then at Ranma. Walking over to Ranma, she tried to cajole him. "He'll go nuts with you in it."
Ranma was not looking at the bra or her, so Nabiki put the bra in his face and barked, "This is something an old lady would wear. It's boring and comfortable. There is absolutely nothing feminine about this. If you want your stupid plan to work, put it on!"
Ranma continued to look elsewhere. Just as Nabiki was about to give up, Ranma reached for the bra. His face was emotionless, his eyes unfocused. Ranma took the bra off the hanger, and started to put it on. Over his head, and with the back still fastened. He struggled to get the bra over his chest, and when he was getting frustrated, he heard Nabiki laugh.
"Come here Ranma and give it to me." Nabiki was wishing she had that scene on film, it was hilarious.
"Now face me, and do it like this." Nabiki unhooked the straps, reached around Ranma and fastened the hooks in front. She then twisted the bra around so the hooks were on his the back, and gave him her final instructions.
"Now bend over, and put your arms in the straps." Watching Ranma put his first bra on she started to laugh again.
"What's so funny?" Ranma stood up, and started tugging on the bra. It wasn't too uncomfortable, just strange and restricting.
Nabiki wiped the tears from her eyes, and started adjusting Ranma's shoulder straps. "You. I would have thought that you being a girl half the time would have taught you how to dress." The vision of Ranma trying to slide the bra over his breasts and getting his hair caught in the shoulder straps was a vision she wouldn't forget soon. She suppressed a chuckle as she reached for the light meter in her pocket.
Nabiki stepped back, checked the lighting, and worked him through a second set of photos. After a few short minutes, she stopped. "I have to reload the camera, so why don't you change?"
Ranma had a look of surprise and relief when he said, "We're done? Great! That was easy!" Ranma's face broke out into a grin.
Nabiki put a malicious grin on her face and corrected Ranma, "Bad choice of words, Ranma, and of course you'd interpret them wrong." She pointed to the rack of clothes. "Ranma, I meant you need to put one of those on."
With a deflated look on his face, he walked over to rack and picked out something. The hanger had a robe with a yellow top and matching shorts.
Ranma looked at the chemise again, and realized it was too small. Small enough that might fit Akane. "Hey, this is Akane's!"
Nabiki continued to label the film canister as she spoke, "Of course it is. You thought I spent a lot of money on this?"
"It won't fit" he mutterd. With confidence that bordered on arrogance, Ranma puffed his chest and threw his shoulders back for maximum effect, admired himself for the moment as he said, "That un-cute tomboy doesn't have what I have."
Ignoring the insult to her sister, she played to his ego. "That's why it'll be perfect. Just put it on."
After closing the cover to her camera, she noted that he had not responded to her. While putting the camera back on the tripod, she saw that Ranma was staring at the wall again. She decided that it would be best to let him get psychologically ready. As she walked over to the pillows, she said, "Take your time, Ranma. When you're ready, I'll be sitting here."
Just as she sat down he protested, "I am ready!"
Groaning as she stood up, she was glad she didn't have enough time to get comfortable. Walking to the camera, she pointed the far wall where there were several empty shelves and told him that was where the next set of photos were going to be taken. Remembering the last set, she instructed Ranma to smile a bit more than last time. Again Nabiki worked Ranma through the poses she taught him and just when she thought they had completed what she thought was the last pose, Ranma started to improvise newer poses, more athletic than the demure ones that she had taught him earlier.
Not wanting to miss the opportunity, she egged Ranma on, "Oh! This is great Ranma. Keep it up!" Nabiki's camera clicked every time Ranma changed to a new pose. In just minutes Nabiki had to stop when she felt the motor in the camera start to hum.
"Uh, oh. Ran out of film," she muttered, "And just as soon as you were getting the hang of it." Walking back to her bag where the film was kept, she asked Ranma to change again. "Try the blue nightie."
Ranma walked over to the rack, and picked up the only blue thing on the rack. He sighed, and went off to change while Nabiki dealt with the camera and film.
When Ranma returned, Nabiki looked at Ranma in disbelief. She went behind Ranma's changing curtain and found the tag that was on the nightie. Looking at the tag and then at Ranma, she still couldn't believe what she was seeing. "He fills that baby doll better than the model on the card!" she thought. Shaking her head to make sure she wasn't dreaming, she thought about tripling the price of each picture in this set.
Nabiki called to Ranma as she waved her hands at the wall. "Oh, by the calendar."
As the two of them worked, Nabiki felt the urge to tease Ranma a little. Just as Ranma completed his first kata of "Anything Goes School of Modeling Poses," Nabiki stepped away from the camera and leaned on the wall next to Ranma. Lightly touching his face, Nabiki cooed, "Oh, Ranma, darling, you know you are very sexy in that outfit?"
Ranma was about to walk to the changing curtain when he registered Nabiki's comment. Loosing all concentration, his struggled to keep his balance as started to stammer. "I... I... I..."
Having gotten her enjoyment for the moment, Nabiki winked at Ranma as she walked back to her camera, and nonchalantly said, "It's okay. I'm just teasing you."
As she waited for Ranma to change, she started to check the battery level on the camera and flash units. Seeing that Ranma was staring at the remaining things on the rack, she called out, "Last few shots. See the black robe on the rack? Put everything on that hanger on."
Satisfied that the batteries were going to hold out just a bit longer, Nabiki changed the film roll again and waited for Ranma. A few moments later, a voice came from behind the makeshift changing room.
"Uh, Nabiki. Do I have to?"
"He's showing modesty?" she thought. This took Nabiki by surprise. Given all the time that he's gone topless in public, why would he suddenly decide to cover himself up now?
"Yes Ranma, you do. It may not look right, but let's try." Nabiki decided to encourage him. "You can do it."
"I really don't think this will work." Ranma sounded very doubtful.
"Ranma, the thing you took of is more risqué than what you have on now."
Sounding a little pained, "But, it don't look right."
Nabiki was at a loss at what Ranma was talking about, "Then why not let me see..."
"I can't!" Ranma sounded as if something was very wrong.
Nabiki played her ace. "Remember what I said earlier?"
Ranma recited her admonishing, "Trust you." After a second, he came out from behind the curtain and stood before Nabiki so she could see what was wrong. "See what I mean?" he said as he indicated an obviously painful chest.
Putting her hand on Ranma's shoulder, Nabiki tried to smile and not laugh again as she instructed Ranma to turn around, "I should have known."
Nabiki started to re-adjust all the straps of the bra, and loosened the clasps and gently chastised him for his ignorance, "Honestly. You spend enough time in girl form. You really ought to know how to do this. Okay, hands over your head." With one final adjustment, Nabiki declared Ranma ready.
A long while later, Nabiki said they were almost done. Reaching down into her bag, she pulled out a thermos, and handed it to Ranma, "We're almost done, Ranma. Go change back into your normal clothes."
"Almost done? Then why are you handing me the thermos?" Ranma was suspicious of what she had in mind.
"Well, uh, I think I, uh, er, um..." Nabiki wanted to hide, she wanted to take a few pictures of Ranma in his male form for herself, but didn't want him to know it.
Thinking that Nabiki wanted to sell pictures of his male form to the girls in school, he relented. "Okay. Just remember my cut."
When Ranma came out, he had a big grin on his face. Nabiki started snapping pictures, sometimes as he posed, sometimes when he was doing nothing but walking around the room. When the camera complained that the battery was getting low, Nabiki declared that they were finished.
"All done. Now, get out of here before someone starts to wonder where you are." Nabiki stood there waiting for Ranma to leave. He was just standing there as if he was trying to make a decision.
Eventually Ranma's face broke into a victorious smile. "Thanks!" he called out.
Nabiki shot the last few frames of film of him smiling as he left the room.
Ranma stood at the door, with visions of sending Happosai far away. "This will work. I've got him. I've GOT HIM! I've got a plan to bring out 100%... No! Make that 120% of that old mummy's AURA!"
***
It was a couple of days after defeated Happosai that Ranma asked Nabiki about the photo sales. "I saw one of the new pictures of me in Kuno's bag. How much?"
Nabiki pulled her face from the book she was reading. She had hoped that Ranma would forget about her sales. Knowing that Kuno bought every picture she took of girl-Ranma, she asked, "Which one was it?"
"One with the black robe." Ranma was carefully watching Nabiki for clues of betrayal.
"Two thousand yen." Nabiki breathed easier, if Ranma had said it was blue nightie, she would had to lie, for the only blue nightie she sold went for six thousand yen.
Ranma was angry that she had already sold some of the pictures and did not let him know. Anger crept into his voice, "Did Kuno buy them all?"
"Yes, that idiot bought all five of them." Nabiki smirked with the thought that Kuno was a fool.
"Doesn't surprise me." Ranma's opinion of the Kuno boy was even lower than that of Nabiki's.
Nabiki wanted to continue reading, but she was expecting that Ranma was going to ask how much money she made on his fight with Happosai. When Ranma started to look at his own homework, she returned to her own books.
Twenty minutes later, Nabiki sighed deeply. She knew wasn't studying, but instead she was staring at paper. With resignation in her voice, she called out, "Ranma."
Popping his head up from his book, "What?"
Nabiki pulled her wallet from her desk drawer, and started counting money. When she was done, she held out a wad of bills to Ranma. "Here."
Ranma's eyes opened. Nabiki was actually giving him money, and for no reason. Just as he was about to ask why she was waving money in his face he answered his own question. This was his share of proceeds from the photo sales. He took the money, and quickly counted it.
"Twenty one hundred Yen? I thought that you said they sold for two thousand apiece?"
"No, I said the black one sold for two thousand Yen. The blue one went for much more."
"Oh." Ranma placed the money in his pocket. "Nabiki?"
"What is it, Ranma?"
"Thank you."
Seeing the smile on Ranma's face first embarrassed Nabiki, and then she found that she had a strangely giddy feeling.
The belligerent voice was his father's. Ranma looked at Akane, upset that the quiet that they had enjoyed over the last week had just ended. But he was also also happy that his father finally returned home. Giving Akane a small smile, he left her and went into the back yard.
Only to be thrown into the pond by his father the moment he set foot on the porch.
"Slow! Get up you lazy bum!" Genma yelled.
Ranma looked at his father and launched an aerial kick as he screamed at him, "You Ass! Why'd you have to ruin a perfectly good afternoon!"
Genma saw the kick, and turned to throw Ranma even further but found himself being grappled by his son.
"You fat oaf! Leave me alone!" Ranma used his father as a pole, and swung to the ground, where threw his father into the pond.
Genma, now a panda, charged out of the water towards his son, keeping a low profile. The battle was rejoined when Ranma threw himself into the air.
For what seemed to be hours, father and son jumped, kicked, threw, and hit each other while they traded insults to each other.
When they had concluded, Ranma was sweating.
Genma-panda held up a sign, "You need more discipline son! My absence does not mean you can lounge around the house!"
Ranma went into the house, and headed directly for the bathroom. His father fell the ground by the pond, exhausted.
***
Sitting at the dinner table was a bit chaotic. Ranma had become used to sitting between Kasumi and Nabiki, with Akane sitting across from him. Now that the fathers have returned, Soun took his usual spot. Looking around the table he saw that Nabiki and Akane had traded places and that Nabiki was patting the floor the floor that was between her and his father. "Good enough for me," he thought.
Ranma started to salivate as he plopped himself on the cushion next to Nabiki, knowing that he'd soon be eating when Kasumi and Akane went into the kitchen to bring out the meal. He attempted to distract himself from his rumbling stomach by wondering how his father and Tendo were able to get away from the miniature demon.
"So, Pops, how did you and Tendo get away?"
Genma had a puzzled look on his face for a moment, as if something didn't look right at the table. After popping the knuckles on his hands, he told his tale. "It was a miracle! I thought I had seen the end of my days when the master started chasing us. We had been running for two days, and when we weren't running, the evil one was throwing bombs at us. Finally we found ourselves running on some sand, we were so exhausted we had no idea where we were. We were about to dive in the water when we saw a bunch of umbrellas. That's when the Master ran ahead. We took advantage of the situation, and turned around. We could hear the screams of a bunch of girls behind us.
"Remembering that one who runs away lives to fight another day, we ignored the noises and took the first bus home." Genma's stomach growled
As Genma described more of his trip, Kasumi and Akane came into the room, and started serving food. As to be expected, Genma started to pick food off his son's plate. Ranma blocked Genma's attempts, then made a few plays for his father's plate.
In a blur, his father emptied his plate in seconds. He watched Kasumi start dishing out another plate for him when Ranma noticed that his father was starting to pick food off of Nabiki's plate. Wit quick speed, Ranma intercepted his father's chopsticks and place the food back onto Nabiki's plate. When Ranma watched his father try to steal a small morsel off of Akane's plate, he threw a chopstick at Genma's hand before he could pick anything up.
The thrown chopstick earned Ranma a dirty look from his father. Ranma locked eyes with his father and challenged him. Each time his father started to try to pick a little bit of food off of everyone's plate, Ranma would deftly block the attempt. After a few minutes of being constantly blocked, Genma started to reach for the platters on the table.
Kasumi looked at Ranma in alarm, who did not miss the concerned expression on the lady's face. Angry that Genma had upset Kasumi, Ranma swallowed a few choice expletives that were reserved for his father and kept his insult to a minimum.
"That is ENOUGH!" Ranma planted a fist in his father's face. "If you want to eat like a pig do it elsewhere." As the fist impacted his father's face, he felt a satisfying "crunch" as his father fell backwards from the blow.
Satisfied that his father wasn't going to get up soon, Ranma made himself comfortable and thanked Kasumi as she passed him a new plate of food.
***
Genma awoke just as dinner was winding down. His face sore, he watched his son eat with a wary eye. Anger seethed inside, "Ungrateful son! He knows he should take every opportunity to train! Now he just sits there."
It was when Ranma stood and started to gather the dishes when Genma wondered what happened to his son. He looked at his son as if he grew a second head and asked, "What are you doing?"
Nonchalantly, as if there was nothing wrong, Ranma answered his father, "Helping Kasumi do the dishes."
His fears confirmed, Genma spat just loud enough for those still at the dinner table to hear, "My god! He's turned sissy! I spend a week away, and he starts acting like a girl!"
"Stuff it, Pops. I like doing dishes with Kasumi."
Genma was surprised to hear the anger in Ranma's voice. "This isn't the way it's supposed to be," he thought. Fighting an urge to slap some sense into him, his thought processes rambled on, "I'm going to have to straighten him out in the morning." He watched his son and Nabiki leave the room before he turned to his partner and asked, "A game of shogi?"
In the kitchen, Ranma was in turmoil. He should have remembered that his father would try some stupid stunt like his food stealing. Ranma tried not to think about what his father had planned for him the next morning, he sighed and listened to Kasumi tell her story about a wet paper bag and broken eggs.
By the time the dishes were done, he was in a better mood, having forgotten the after dinner stress. Hanging up his apron, he gave a smile and a wave to Kasumi and bounded up the stairs to study with Nabiki.
While playing their game, the fathers heard what was obviously Ranma climb the stairs followed by a door slam close. Then it became quiet, with only Kasumi's humming coming from the kitchen.
"Where's he going?" Genma asked his shogi partner.
"I don't know," Soun repled as looked at the shogi board. "You don't suppose he's leaving, do you?"
Genma looked up with worry in his eyes. "He'd better not. Let's find out."
As Soun stood up and wasn't watching the board, Genma deftly moved three pieces on the board with his feet before standing himself.
The two men peered into the kitchen doorway where they saw the eldest daughter taking off her apron. Soun asked, "Kasumi dear, where is Ranma going?"
"Upstairs, Father. To study."
The fathers looked at each other, then back at Kasumi. With a voice that was normally reserved for expressing condolences, Genma asked, "Did Ranma and Akane fight any while we were gone?"
Kasumi smiled an waved her hands, "No. No, not at all."
Huge grins broke on their faces. "Ranma and Akane," Genma started, and Soun completed, "haven't fought!"
"I think I hear bells ringing! Oh, what a happy day!" Genma said as he grabbed his gaming partner, and dashed up the stairs. "We must see this for ourselves! Hush! Quiet!"
With handkerchiefs tied to their faces as a disguise, the two men halted in front of Akane's room and pressed their ears to the door. Silence. They cracked the door open and peered in. All they saw was Akane at her desk.
"Huh?" Genma said in confusion.
Just then a noise came from down the hallway. The two curious and disappointed fathers stealthily crawled down the hallway, listening for the noise again. When they came to Nabiki's door, they heard Nabiki giggle. Genma, looking at Soun, whispered, "A phone call?"
Soun replied, "No phone. Ssshh!"
A moment later the hear a "bweeee!" Then Nabiki imitating Akane, "Oh, P- Chan!" And finally the sound of Nabiki and Ranma laughing.
"Ranma and Nabiki laughing? In the same room together?" Genma grabbed Soun before he started wailing, and dashed downstairs.
"Kasumi, I thought you said Ranma was with Akane?" Genma thought the worst, that Ranma and Akane had broken up for good, and Nabiki was milking the situation.
"Oh no, Uncle Saotome. Ranma studies with Nabiki for about an hour then he goes and studies with Akane." Kasumi couldn't understand the reaction of the fathers.
Soun had tears forming in his eyes and he started to sniffle.
"It's been wonderful! Last week Ranma has gotten his highest score ever. Akane too. And Nabiki thinks that cram school is getting easier since she's been studying with Ranma." Kasumi loved telling good news, and this was probably the best she had given in a long, long time.
Genma grabbed Soun's collar and went back up the stairs, feeling an urgent need to investigate further. The two fathers listened at Nabiki's door, only to hear almost nothing. Occasionally Nabiki would ask a question and Ranma would answer. If he gave a wrong response, Nabiki would tell him where to find the right answer. Less frequently, Ranma would ask Nabiki a question. The Fathers heard Ranma laugh, a comment by Nabiki, a muffled explanation by Ranma, and eventually howls laughter. Looking at each other, the two elders had the same thought - Ranma should be with Akane, his fiancee.
Genma brought himself to full height, puffed his chest, straightened his gi, adjusted his glasses, and asked, "Ready, Tendo?"
"Ready!"
"Cookies!"
The two men looked at each other in horror. "Cookies?" they thought simultaneously. "Oh, NO!" The two men dove down the hall to Kasumi's room to avoid being trampled by three growing teenagers. Taking position, they stood ready to defend themselves as a feeding frenzy grew before them.
***
After school, Ranma had changed into his chore clothes he walked down the stairs where he met his father, who was standing at the bottom stair with his arms crossed.
With a disapproving tone, Genma addressed his son, "What are you doing, son?"
Ranma was looking forwards to working and talking with Kasumi and his father was trying to ruin his day. Over the previous week, he decided that the hour or so that he spent with her was a nice break from schoolwork, martial arts and fiancees. Now that his overbearing parent had returned home, he feared that his daily moment of peace was at jeopardy. Bracing himself for what may be a battle, his response to the question was a challenge, "I'm gonna help Kasumi with the yard. Now get outta my way."
Ranma wasn't surprised his father disagreed loudly, "Boy! Ungrateful son! You don't have time to do any of that! You must train to be a great martial artist! Working in the garden has no bearing on your future!"
Ranma looked at his pontificating father, and responded with the first thought that came to his mind. "Oh, it doesn't? Then why is it that great martial artists have great training centers, and crummy ones have ugly shacks?" Ranma poked his finger at his father's forehead and continued, "If great martial artists care about their schools, and poor ones don't, what does it say about you?"
"It looks like I have to teach you a lesson!" Genma started to make a grab for Ranma's arm, only to find air, pain, and then blissful darkness.
In the back yard, Kasumi watched Ranma strut into the garden. A few moments ago she had heard his remark about caring for the training center while putting on her gloves and was impressed his line of thinking. Although Ranma would have been just disrespectful to his father three weeks ago, but this time he presented an argument that she couldn't find much fault with. Over the last week Ranma's comments had not been as brash, and occasionally he showed signs of having thought before speaking. "Yes, Ranma was improving," she thought.
As she washed the dust and dirt off the steps, she watched Ranma pick up a heavy stone and started to dig out the hole were the stone was before she finally asked, "What on earth was that howl a few minutes ago?"
Ranma rubbed the dirt off of his hands before bending over to pick up the rock again. As he wrapped his arms around the gray basalt, and had an exaggerated "what'd I do this time" look on his face before saying, "What howl?"
Kasumi smiled and tossed a small pebble in his direction.
***
Onna-Ranma had pummeled Kuno senseless one more time, and once more, saw a photo of his girl form fly out of Kuno's shirt.
He knew there was only one person that would have taken those pictures, and it was Nabiki. As he left the scene of the non-battle, he found himself angry and thought that he'd had enough. Ranma was not only aggravated that Nabiki allowed Kuno to maintain his delusions, but also that she also stoked Kuno into a frenzy by selling him pictures of his girl form.
That night, on the rooftop, Ranma came up with a plan. It would take a while, a lot of research, and required plans within plans.
Over the next three weeks Ranma kept an eye out for Nabiki, learning her habits, specifically looking for clues as to when she had that infernal camera with her. Such investigation was not without its hazards and failures.
Akane heard a series of scrapes on the roof between her room and Nabiki's, and was curious as to the source. When she opened the window and looked to the right, she saw that Ranma was attempting to fasten some large search lights to the side of the house. Wondering what her earnest while fiancee was up to she called out to him, "What are you doing, Ranma?
Ranma was struggling to hold a light in place with one hand while latching a support beam to the roof. Akane could hear the frustration in Ranma's voice as he replied, "Nothing."
Such a short answer sometimes infuriated her, but this time curiosity won, so she had more patience than normal. "Then why are you hanging upside down outside Nabiki's window?"
Ranma was ratcheting a bolt on to the gimble while he hung upside down from the roof. "Cuz I'm waiting for Nabiki."
Akane made herself comfortable, knowing that this conversation was going to take a while. "Nabiki?" she asked.
Ranma dropped a thick electrical cord to the ground while answering, "Yeah."
"Why Nabiki?"
Still upside down, Ranma wrapped the excess power cord around his arm. "Cuz."
"Because why?"
"Because I want to see something," he said as he pulled up the prong from the ground.
"See what?" she asked. Akane was beginning to think Ranma really was a pervert, why else would he need so much light?
Fumbling with the window to Nabiki's room, Ranma grunted, "Can't tell you, it's a secret."
Irritation finally crept into Akane's voice, "A secret? So that's why you're trying to break into my sister's room?"
"Yep." Ranma swung into the room with the power cable.
Akane wondered what Ranma was doing. Why would he need to shine a zillion candlepower spotlight in her sister's room?
Still more curious than angry, she left her room and opened the door to Nabiki's room. Since it was dark in there, she turned on the light.
BZZZZZZAPT! The house went dark.
An "awwwwww!" followed by a "thump!" was heard outside.
Moments later, Kasumi found a charred Ranma outside, glowing in the dark.
***
A few days later, after enduring many puns about his shocking experience, Ranma stated to follow Nabiki in trench coat disguise.
From school to a camera shop, from the camera shop to cram, from cram to a magazine rack, and finally from the magazine rack to the Nekohanten. So intent was Ranma in following Nabiki he had no idea where he was until he felt the purple haired great-granddaughter of the proprietress wrap her arms around him.
"Airen! We go on date now, no?" she asked with her trademarked bubbly voice.
Ranma pleaded while trying to get of the hug, "Shampoo, let me go. Can'tcha see I'm busy?"
Nabiki watched Ranma struggle, and when she saw that Ranma was trapped for the duration, she walked up to Ranma. With a playful look in her eye, she winked at him and left with a "Tootle-loo!"
***
Ranma did eventually learn what he was trying to learn, and put the second phase of his plan into effect. He started making himself hard to photograph by avoiding Nabiki's normal hideouts or by finding ways to ruin the shots she could make.
In low light conditions he would move quickly, knowing that the picture would blur. When he knew that he would be photographed, he tried to make sure some undesirable element would be in any picture she took. When it was unavoidable that a good picture would be taken, he posed in the most ridiculous form as possible.
When Ranma started posing, Nabiki knew that she had turned prey and was caught. Finally facing her hunter while walking home from school on the day she conceded defeat, she commented to Ranma, "I didn't think you could figure it out."
"What out?" Ranma asked Nabiki with the innocence of a babe.
"When I was going to take pictures of you."
Ranma developed a "gotcha" smile and let her know her failures, "It wasn't that hard. You make lots of noise when you are reaching for your camera."
Nabiki smiled at Ranma. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, and he wouldn't stay angry for long. "I guess I'll have to be more quiet then," she remarked as she tried to come up with other ways to take his picture.
Matching her smile, Ranma responded, "Nah, you'll need to do more than that. Once I figured out what was going on, it was easy for me to sense you."
Nabiki was peeved that he was so confident. "So, mister martial arts can detect me huh? Well, I can still take pictures of you."
"Nope. You are too noisy, the camera makes a distinctive sound, and sometimes I can smell it when you change film."
Nabiki sighed. The little spar was not as fun as she hoped it would be. "So I should just give up, huh? Do you have any idea how much money Kuno pays for your pictures?"
Ranma relaxed a little, and stated what he'd heard many times, "About the same as what he pays for Akane's. About six hundred Yen per print."
Nabiki was surprised that Ranma knew the going rates for her photographs. "How..."
It was time for Ranma to be surprised; he thought the price of the pictures were common knowledge. "How did I know? Aw, come on. I've heard you negotiate the price more than once. Everybody knows that Kuno buys the pictures. Heck, half his class laughs at how much he pays."
"You know this is going to hurt my finances." Nabiki tried a different tactic, and gambled that Ranma was paying attention to her lectures about household finances.
Ranma scoffed, "So? You normally sell him about five pictures a week. That's not a lot of money."
"It's enough. On a good week, it actually covers my expenses." Nabiki pressed what she thought was her only advantage.
Ranma scoffed at the statement. "What expenses? You don't buy clothes, you borrow them from Akane or Kasumi."
Nabiki flipped her hair, "Hey, I have to look good. And I have my expenses."
Derisively, "Yeah, magazines and food." In the back of his mind, Ranma tried to remember if Nabiki paid for anything in the house.
"At least I pay for my stuff. You don't do anything but mooch."
"I don't mooch."
Nabiki knew the tide has turned. "Since when did you ever pay for a meal since you've been here?"
"Pops got a job. He gives Mr. Tendo the money."
"Your father gives Father money all right. They both spend all the money on sake and blown wedding plans."
Ranma became depressed. "Oh."
Seeing Ranma depressed bothered Nabiki. "Well, he does make Father happy. I guess that counts for something."
Silenced prevailed for a short while as they walked. A cold wind started to blow.
"I suppose I could resell the pictures to the rest of the school. I don't think I could get six hundred yen per shot, but I think I could get a hundred Yen.
Ranma challenged Nabiki, "You wouldn't."
Nabiki had a smirk on her face. "Try me."
Ranma looked at Nabiki. "You would." He looked at the street in front of him. "Lost again, didn't I?"
Nabiki smiled, and nodded affirmatively.
It was quiet again. The wind was beginning to feel chilly.
Again, it was Nabiki that spoke. "You know, Ranma, if you would pose for a few shots, I could probably triple the money I charge Kuno."
Ranma couldn't believe that she even mentioned the idea and tried to nix it. "No way," he said.
"Think about it. You can contribute more to the house than your father."
"That isn't hard to do. I do more now than he does as it is."
Nabiki acknowledged Ranma's point with a "Ding!"
Ranma continued, "I don't want to imagine what that creep would want to do with my pictures."
Nabiki was thinking like a lioness hunting prey. "The pictures don't have to be of your girl form. I'm certain that Kodachi would be interested in a few pictures."
Ranma shivered at the thought. "Eww! She's even worse."
"So then, just how do you plan on earning your keep?"
"Well, someday I would like to teach after I inherit the dojo."
Nabiki playfully knocked Ranma on the side of his head. "Not then. Now."
Ranma rubbed where he was hit. "I dunno. Get a job?"
"You know you can't do that."
Ranma looked around the corner, then rubbed his hands. "I can't teach yet."
"Why not? Everybody here knows you and how good you are. You wouldn't have any problems getting students."
Ranma looked forward, as if he was trying to peer into the future. Quietly, he let Nabiki know his one shortcoming he was willing to admit, "I'm not a master. I haven't been certified. And I'm not ready. Yet."
Nabiki was surprised that Ranma had any humility but it didn't stop her from pressing the point, "So you are going to be a mooch."
Ranma thought about several events he would rather not remember. Sadly, "Yeah. It's better than stealing."
To Nabiki, the last comment sounded a little bit like a confession. "Stealing? You stole?"
Ranma was surprised that this even came up, and he knew that Nabiki wouldn't let this one drop. "No. I didn't steal. Not really. But yeah." He paused a moment as memories of hunger and desperation surfaced. It may have been a moment of survival or "training" at the time, but he thought about his victims. He tried to continue, "That's..." Ranma stopped in mid- sentence again, looked at the ground, and started again "That's not right and not fair."
Nabiki heard what Ranma said, and tried to let Ranma save a little face. "Your father stole."
Both Ranma and Nabiki had slowed down to a crawl. The cold air began to bite, but neither of them felt it as their nerves had already given them the chills.
"It wasn't like that," Ranma started. "He used me. I didn't know what was going on. At least most of the time. It was a few years ago when I finally figured out what he was doing. We came to an agreement. No more stealing."
Nabiki wondered what happened. Anytime Ranma and his father agreed on anything there was a fight. "An agreement?" she asked.
Ranma nodded. "We didn't talk for two weeks. He beat me up everyday. I finally got one over him, and he got stuck hauling fishing nets for a while. He made good money too. When he finally got paid, we were going to skip out at night because we had to pay some collectors the next day. That evening on the way home, he was robbed by some guy with a gun. He never did see what the guy looked like. "
Nabiki wondered where this was going; this made no sense given Ranma's normal behavior.
Just as Nabiki started to say something, Ranma continued.
"Just before we left, I dropped an envelope of money on the ground. The collector that was chasing us picked it up."
Nabiki found herself admiring Ranma. "He really doesn't want to be like his father," she thought. For some strange reason she felt a little warmer, and asked, "You stole the money, didn't you?
Ranma innocently looked at Nabiki, "What are you talking about?"
They both turned into the Tendo compound, eagerly looking forward to a hot tea.
***
Ranma was confident that his idea would work. Making sure that no one else was in the hall, he knocked on Nabiki's door.
"Psst! It's me. Let me in."
"What's with the secrecy?" Nabiki asked. For the last few days Ranma had been trying get the moxibustion chart from Happosai, but so far every attempt had led to failure. She was certain he had come up with an idea, and the fact he was in her room was a warning that she was soon going to be involved.
"I need your help." Ranma's eyes were darting, looking for anything that could tip Happosai of his intentions.
"Well, what is it?" Nabiki was cataloging different ways she could profit from helping him.
"I need you to help me defeat Happosai so I can get the moxibustion chart. I go..."
Nabiki interrupted Ranma, "No. No way..." Nabiki did not want to be in harms way. Pain and violence was not in her lifestyle.
Ranma ignored Nabiki and continued, "... tta have you take some pictures of me."
Nabiki's eyebrows arched as she said, "Take pictures of you?" She thought Ranma finally has lost grip on reality.
Ranma had a confident tone that he had a plan, "What's the one thing that will drive him beyond anger?"
Nabiki answered quickly since it was so obvious, "That didn't work. Stealing his 'prizes' did not get him mad enough."
With thin patience Ranma gave Nabiki another try. "Nope. That ain't it. But you're close. Try again. What happened the first time I tried to do the Dragons' Heaven Blast on him?"
"It didn't work, he didn't get angry." Nabiki was wondering why Ranma was repeating himself.
"Oh, he was angry all right. But what really happened? What did he do before it was completed?"
Realization hit Nabiki, "He stopped to peek at... "
Ranma had a smile spread across his face. "Yep. His hormones overrode his anger. So if I can get him mad and then get him goin' with something with lust, I'm certain that I can get the Heaven's Blast to work on him. If that pervert sees some pictures of me, he ain't gonna control himself, and I can knock him out long enough for me to get the chart from him. Will you take the pictures?"
Nabiki eye's bulged when she heard his plan. Scratching her chin, she let Ranma know her thoughts, "You realize the pictures are going to have to be very enticing? You'll actually have to wear feminine underwear? And pose in them?"
Ranma's jaw hit the ground and then he loudly protested, "What! I have to wear WHAT? No way, I'm not gonna to wear any chick stuff."
"How predictable can you get?" Nabiki was amused, she let out a giggle, her plan was perfect. She saw opportunities for mischief and profit, "And I know exactly what you need. I won't charge you either."
"I am NOT going to wear..." he protested one more time, obviously his manliness was not to be trifled with.
"Fine. The plan won't work then. It is going to have to be something special to get Happosai to go over the edge. An ordinary picture of you isn't going to do it."
She walked up to Ranma, and stood beside him, being careful not to spook him. In a quiet voice, Nabiki gave her offer to Ranma. "Ranma, listen. You really do need to do something special here. I'll tell you what. I'll do the whole thing for free if you do exactly what I tell you."
Ranma thought it through, and he became suspicious. Ranma had to ask her if he really heard her correctly, "For free?"
"Yes, but remember, you have to do exactly what I say. And you have to trust me. Can you do that?" Nabiki watched Ranma shuffle from side to side. She waited for his answer.
Ranma had a resigned look on his face when he agreed, "What do I have to do?"
Nabiki was about to grin, happy that she knew she was going to make an awful lot of money when she realized that Ranma might get upset if he found out her real plan. Instead, she held her expression neutral, and quickly tallied the tasks that needed to get done.
"I need a couple of day to pull some things together and to figure out how to do the pictures so that Happosai will go all out." Nabiki stopped and thought, trying determine if she could be ready in less time. "Two days is about right. I'll let you know when I'm all set."
"Two days! Isn't there anyway you could be ready sooner?"
Nabiki knew that Ranma was frustrated; being weak really made his life miserable. And when he was miserable, the family suffered.
"Sorry, Ranma. These pictures have to be special, and I need to make sure I have the film, developing, and everything else ready so as soon as the pictures are taken you can use them the next day." It wasn't the developing and printing that was the problem, she knew she could get a one day turnaround. What she needed the extra time for was to obtain the special things that would make the photos drive the old pervert crazy.
Ranma sounded disappointed, "That long? For a few pictures? Heck, it shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes?"
"We are going to do this right, Ranma. We have to make sure the pictures are perfect. You won't get a second chance at this. And remember, you promised to trust me and do exactly as I say or it won't work."
Ranma was about to leave, but turned to face the greedy one. "Nabiki, you aren't planning on selling any of the pictures you will be taking, are you?"
Her answer was slow in coming. "Well, there are certain costs that have to be covered, and my time isn't exactly free. The thought did cross my mind."
Ranma's face hardened.
Nabiki knew that Ranma objected to her sideline business, but the expected monetary return was such that it was very hard for her not to sell pictures of Ranma. Looking at Ranma's stern expression caused her to pause long enough for her to consider his feelings and opinions. This was not going to be an inexpensive operation, and she needed to recoup her expenses.
Being in the same room as Ranma reminded Nabiki that Ranma was a person, someone with feelings. She saw that Ranma was serious, he did not want any more pictures to be sold. She did not want to upset him, and she wanted to do a good job -- for him.
The last thought troubled Nabiki. She actually considered not selling the pictures because he asked. That wasn't right.
In a quandary, Nabiki tried to negotiate a middle ground. "Ranma, please let me make some money. I won't sell any more than I have to." She was thinking that by keeping the agreement vague, she could claim higher expenses, therefore she would be able to sell more photographs.
The haggling began. Ranma opened with two pictures could be sold, and Nabiki countered with ten. In the end, it was accepted that Nabiki could sell five pictures, and if costs were higher than expected, she could sell three more if necessary.
With the negotiation completed, a tired Ranma left the room, and Nabiki started dreaming about the profit she was sure to make. She was certain that Kuno would pay for the entire effort with just three pictures, and any sales after that would be profit.
So why was she worried that she was going to make Ranma angry with her?
***
After a day and a half of preparation, Nabiki set her gear up in the guest room while Ranma made sure that Happosai could not interfere with the plan. It was late afternoon, and Ranma had doused himself with water to change to girl form before knocking on the door.
"Can I come in now?"
Nabiki opened the door. "Sure. Glad to see you are already a girl."
On a small table was a camera with several lenses, film canisters, tape, pens, and a light meter. Tacked on the wall was a white sheet, and on the floor were several pillows of different sizes and shapes. In one corner was a sheet tacked to the walls.
Sounding curious, Ranma asked, "What is all this stuff?"
"It's a set. If we used the normal stuff that's in here, he might be suspicious that it's a trap. By putting things in here that aren't normally in here, he'll never figure out that what's going on."
Ranma shook his head and pointed to a rack of clothes. "No, I mean THAT stuff."
Nabiki made sure she had eye contact with Ranma before answering. "Remember I said to trust me. That is what you are going to have to wear to get his attention. Now, take a look at the pillows and the wall. I'm going to take pictures of you getting dressed and undressed over there, and probably a few of you pretending to be asleep on the pillows."
Ranma walked closer to the rack and started inspecting its contents. He looked as if he was about to be forcibly castrated. He asserted his maleness, "No. I can't do that. I'm a guy. Guys don't wear that stuff."
Nabiki predicted his reaction, and over the last day, she'd planned how she would get him to wear the contents of the rack. Carefully choosing her words, Nabiki started to lead Ranma down the necessary path. "Ranma, there's no other way. Think about it. If you wore your normal boxers, how would he react?
Ranma did not want to wear the frilly stuff on the rack. "Just fine."
"Would he? You need to get him so excited that he won't be able to control himself. He's seen you in boxers all the time. What does he really want you to do?" Nabiki pulls out a hanger from which a lacy bra hangs. "He wants you to put this on! It's his biggest dream. Trust me, Ranma. This will work."
"But if anybody finds out..." Ranma still hung on. Deep in his mind, he started to chant, "I'm a guy!"
Slipping into her tutor mode, Nabiki responded. "Everyone will find out. The whole school knows you want to challenge Happosai. Not only that, it's the only place you can fight him and keep the damage down." Nabiki started to smirk. "You will have an audience."
Thinking about the audience, Ranma challenged Nabiki. "What's my cut?" he asked.
Confused, Nabiki had to ask what he meant. "Your cut?"
Ranma smirked, "Well, I know I'm going to win. You know I'm going to win. And I know that you are going to try and bookie the fight."
Nabiki was totally caught off guard. "He's been hanging around me too much. Time to show him he's out of his league" Nabiki thought before she made her offer, "Ten percent of my cut."
Ranma figured since that he's doing all the hard work, he offered fifty percent.
"Hey, if you take fifty percent, there's not exactly any profit. Fifteen, and you don't have to wear this." Nabiki shoves a bright red, see through baby doll in Ranma's face.
"Uhhhh. Okay," he stammered as abject fear registered on his face.
Nabiki snickered. She bought the baby doll as part of a joke to play on Ranma, and his reaction was worth every Yen she paid. As she looked at the baby doll again, she decided that she wasn't going to charge Ranma for that particular little goodie, but couldn't figure out one last time why she bought the baby doll in her size, and not Ranma's.
Putting the baby doll back on the rack, Nabiki tried to calm Ranma down. "This'll be fun. We will start with some simple pictures and we'll then work our way to the pictures that will certainly set Happosai on fire." Looking at Ranma in his normal Chinese outfit, she decided that they'll start easy, and work towards the more spicy outfits and poses.
"Why don't we start with what you have on now?"
Relief showed on Ranma's face as he said, "Whatever."
Nabiki pointed to a bare corner and started giving directions with "Stand over there, in the corner please." As he walked, Nabiki started to snap pictures.
"Take your shirt off, Ranma." Nabiki snapped a few shots and watched Ranma take his shirt off. He was doing it too fast, so she had him put his shirt back on, and take the shirt off slower. Again he took his shirt off too fast.
"This isn't a race, Ranma. Try it again, but do it as slow as you possibly can." Nabiki watched Ranma take his shirt off at a speed that she thought was acceptable.
Realizing that Ranma wasn't prepared for what she had planned for him to do, Nabiki thought about how to make the session go easier for both of them. When Ranma started looking around the room, thought that rehearsing might help.
"Ranma, we need to practice some poses before I take any more pictures." Nabiki tried to describe the poses that she wanted Ranma to perform. As she spoke, she watched Ranma nod his head as if he understood. When she stopped talking she looked deeply at Ranma's face for understanding. Noting that Ranma's eyes were glassing over she knew that he had no idea of what she asked him to do.
"This confirms it," she thought, "there's no way he's a girl."
After snapping her fingers to make sure that Ranma was paying attention, she sat on one of the pillows. "Ranma, watch me boy, this is what I want you to do" she instructed as she started to perform the poses that he was to perform. Ranma started to mimic her on a different pillow, and after a few runs, Ranma had mastered the art of loving the camera.
After watching Ranma pose one last time, she shook her head and muttered to so quickly and perform so well was that the training done for martial arts herself, "Incredible." Her only explanation as to how Ranma could have learned how to pose so perfectly must have conditioned him to learn any physical task. She thought of the stories of Ranma on ice skates and threw that theory out. "Just fucking incredible" she thought.
Starting again, Nabiki started to give Ranma instructions. "Okay, we'll pick up where we left off. Remember, take your shirt off slow." She watched Ranma go through the motions of taking his shirt off, and she thought it was more than good enough.
As she worked through the first set of poses, she started to encourage Ranma, "Think about what you are going to do to the old geezer when you get your strength back!" She knew that the next few moments were going to be the decision point; if he followed through what she had envisioned, she was confident that his plan would work and that she would have more than enough money to play for her purchases, developing, printing, and time.
Pulling a hanger off the rack, she asked Ranma to do something he had always refused to do. "Could you put this on?"
On the hanger was a very basic and conservative white bra.
Ranma looked at the bra. "No." It was simple statement. He was not going to put the bra on.
Nabiki looked at the bra and then at Ranma. Walking over to Ranma, she tried to cajole him. "He'll go nuts with you in it."
Ranma was not looking at the bra or her, so Nabiki put the bra in his face and barked, "This is something an old lady would wear. It's boring and comfortable. There is absolutely nothing feminine about this. If you want your stupid plan to work, put it on!"
Ranma continued to look elsewhere. Just as Nabiki was about to give up, Ranma reached for the bra. His face was emotionless, his eyes unfocused. Ranma took the bra off the hanger, and started to put it on. Over his head, and with the back still fastened. He struggled to get the bra over his chest, and when he was getting frustrated, he heard Nabiki laugh.
"Come here Ranma and give it to me." Nabiki was wishing she had that scene on film, it was hilarious.
"Now face me, and do it like this." Nabiki unhooked the straps, reached around Ranma and fastened the hooks in front. She then twisted the bra around so the hooks were on his the back, and gave him her final instructions.
"Now bend over, and put your arms in the straps." Watching Ranma put his first bra on she started to laugh again.
"What's so funny?" Ranma stood up, and started tugging on the bra. It wasn't too uncomfortable, just strange and restricting.
Nabiki wiped the tears from her eyes, and started adjusting Ranma's shoulder straps. "You. I would have thought that you being a girl half the time would have taught you how to dress." The vision of Ranma trying to slide the bra over his breasts and getting his hair caught in the shoulder straps was a vision she wouldn't forget soon. She suppressed a chuckle as she reached for the light meter in her pocket.
Nabiki stepped back, checked the lighting, and worked him through a second set of photos. After a few short minutes, she stopped. "I have to reload the camera, so why don't you change?"
Ranma had a look of surprise and relief when he said, "We're done? Great! That was easy!" Ranma's face broke out into a grin.
Nabiki put a malicious grin on her face and corrected Ranma, "Bad choice of words, Ranma, and of course you'd interpret them wrong." She pointed to the rack of clothes. "Ranma, I meant you need to put one of those on."
With a deflated look on his face, he walked over to rack and picked out something. The hanger had a robe with a yellow top and matching shorts.
Ranma looked at the chemise again, and realized it was too small. Small enough that might fit Akane. "Hey, this is Akane's!"
Nabiki continued to label the film canister as she spoke, "Of course it is. You thought I spent a lot of money on this?"
"It won't fit" he mutterd. With confidence that bordered on arrogance, Ranma puffed his chest and threw his shoulders back for maximum effect, admired himself for the moment as he said, "That un-cute tomboy doesn't have what I have."
Ignoring the insult to her sister, she played to his ego. "That's why it'll be perfect. Just put it on."
After closing the cover to her camera, she noted that he had not responded to her. While putting the camera back on the tripod, she saw that Ranma was staring at the wall again. She decided that it would be best to let him get psychologically ready. As she walked over to the pillows, she said, "Take your time, Ranma. When you're ready, I'll be sitting here."
Just as she sat down he protested, "I am ready!"
Groaning as she stood up, she was glad she didn't have enough time to get comfortable. Walking to the camera, she pointed the far wall where there were several empty shelves and told him that was where the next set of photos were going to be taken. Remembering the last set, she instructed Ranma to smile a bit more than last time. Again Nabiki worked Ranma through the poses she taught him and just when she thought they had completed what she thought was the last pose, Ranma started to improvise newer poses, more athletic than the demure ones that she had taught him earlier.
Not wanting to miss the opportunity, she egged Ranma on, "Oh! This is great Ranma. Keep it up!" Nabiki's camera clicked every time Ranma changed to a new pose. In just minutes Nabiki had to stop when she felt the motor in the camera start to hum.
"Uh, oh. Ran out of film," she muttered, "And just as soon as you were getting the hang of it." Walking back to her bag where the film was kept, she asked Ranma to change again. "Try the blue nightie."
Ranma walked over to the rack, and picked up the only blue thing on the rack. He sighed, and went off to change while Nabiki dealt with the camera and film.
When Ranma returned, Nabiki looked at Ranma in disbelief. She went behind Ranma's changing curtain and found the tag that was on the nightie. Looking at the tag and then at Ranma, she still couldn't believe what she was seeing. "He fills that baby doll better than the model on the card!" she thought. Shaking her head to make sure she wasn't dreaming, she thought about tripling the price of each picture in this set.
Nabiki called to Ranma as she waved her hands at the wall. "Oh, by the calendar."
As the two of them worked, Nabiki felt the urge to tease Ranma a little. Just as Ranma completed his first kata of "Anything Goes School of Modeling Poses," Nabiki stepped away from the camera and leaned on the wall next to Ranma. Lightly touching his face, Nabiki cooed, "Oh, Ranma, darling, you know you are very sexy in that outfit?"
Ranma was about to walk to the changing curtain when he registered Nabiki's comment. Loosing all concentration, his struggled to keep his balance as started to stammer. "I... I... I..."
Having gotten her enjoyment for the moment, Nabiki winked at Ranma as she walked back to her camera, and nonchalantly said, "It's okay. I'm just teasing you."
As she waited for Ranma to change, she started to check the battery level on the camera and flash units. Seeing that Ranma was staring at the remaining things on the rack, she called out, "Last few shots. See the black robe on the rack? Put everything on that hanger on."
Satisfied that the batteries were going to hold out just a bit longer, Nabiki changed the film roll again and waited for Ranma. A few moments later, a voice came from behind the makeshift changing room.
"Uh, Nabiki. Do I have to?"
"He's showing modesty?" she thought. This took Nabiki by surprise. Given all the time that he's gone topless in public, why would he suddenly decide to cover himself up now?
"Yes Ranma, you do. It may not look right, but let's try." Nabiki decided to encourage him. "You can do it."
"I really don't think this will work." Ranma sounded very doubtful.
"Ranma, the thing you took of is more risqué than what you have on now."
Sounding a little pained, "But, it don't look right."
Nabiki was at a loss at what Ranma was talking about, "Then why not let me see..."
"I can't!" Ranma sounded as if something was very wrong.
Nabiki played her ace. "Remember what I said earlier?"
Ranma recited her admonishing, "Trust you." After a second, he came out from behind the curtain and stood before Nabiki so she could see what was wrong. "See what I mean?" he said as he indicated an obviously painful chest.
Putting her hand on Ranma's shoulder, Nabiki tried to smile and not laugh again as she instructed Ranma to turn around, "I should have known."
Nabiki started to re-adjust all the straps of the bra, and loosened the clasps and gently chastised him for his ignorance, "Honestly. You spend enough time in girl form. You really ought to know how to do this. Okay, hands over your head." With one final adjustment, Nabiki declared Ranma ready.
A long while later, Nabiki said they were almost done. Reaching down into her bag, she pulled out a thermos, and handed it to Ranma, "We're almost done, Ranma. Go change back into your normal clothes."
"Almost done? Then why are you handing me the thermos?" Ranma was suspicious of what she had in mind.
"Well, uh, I think I, uh, er, um..." Nabiki wanted to hide, she wanted to take a few pictures of Ranma in his male form for herself, but didn't want him to know it.
Thinking that Nabiki wanted to sell pictures of his male form to the girls in school, he relented. "Okay. Just remember my cut."
When Ranma came out, he had a big grin on his face. Nabiki started snapping pictures, sometimes as he posed, sometimes when he was doing nothing but walking around the room. When the camera complained that the battery was getting low, Nabiki declared that they were finished.
"All done. Now, get out of here before someone starts to wonder where you are." Nabiki stood there waiting for Ranma to leave. He was just standing there as if he was trying to make a decision.
Eventually Ranma's face broke into a victorious smile. "Thanks!" he called out.
Nabiki shot the last few frames of film of him smiling as he left the room.
Ranma stood at the door, with visions of sending Happosai far away. "This will work. I've got him. I've GOT HIM! I've got a plan to bring out 100%... No! Make that 120% of that old mummy's AURA!"
***
It was a couple of days after defeated Happosai that Ranma asked Nabiki about the photo sales. "I saw one of the new pictures of me in Kuno's bag. How much?"
Nabiki pulled her face from the book she was reading. She had hoped that Ranma would forget about her sales. Knowing that Kuno bought every picture she took of girl-Ranma, she asked, "Which one was it?"
"One with the black robe." Ranma was carefully watching Nabiki for clues of betrayal.
"Two thousand yen." Nabiki breathed easier, if Ranma had said it was blue nightie, she would had to lie, for the only blue nightie she sold went for six thousand yen.
Ranma was angry that she had already sold some of the pictures and did not let him know. Anger crept into his voice, "Did Kuno buy them all?"
"Yes, that idiot bought all five of them." Nabiki smirked with the thought that Kuno was a fool.
"Doesn't surprise me." Ranma's opinion of the Kuno boy was even lower than that of Nabiki's.
Nabiki wanted to continue reading, but she was expecting that Ranma was going to ask how much money she made on his fight with Happosai. When Ranma started to look at his own homework, she returned to her own books.
Twenty minutes later, Nabiki sighed deeply. She knew wasn't studying, but instead she was staring at paper. With resignation in her voice, she called out, "Ranma."
Popping his head up from his book, "What?"
Nabiki pulled her wallet from her desk drawer, and started counting money. When she was done, she held out a wad of bills to Ranma. "Here."
Ranma's eyes opened. Nabiki was actually giving him money, and for no reason. Just as he was about to ask why she was waving money in his face he answered his own question. This was his share of proceeds from the photo sales. He took the money, and quickly counted it.
"Twenty one hundred Yen? I thought that you said they sold for two thousand apiece?"
"No, I said the black one sold for two thousand Yen. The blue one went for much more."
"Oh." Ranma placed the money in his pocket. "Nabiki?"
"What is it, Ranma?"
"Thank you."
Seeing the smile on Ranma's face first embarrassed Nabiki, and then she found that she had a strangely giddy feeling.