Michiko woke up in her bed to see one of the lionesses' staring at her. She
smiled on reflex but it was a sad smile.
*Why do I feel so shitty?* she thought to herself. And after a couple of seconds the memories came flooding back. Her eyes watered immediately but didn't fall
I won't cry, I won't cry, I WILL NOT CRY!!! I lost control last night. O god what did I say?!?* She thought to herself.
Suddenly there was a tentative knock on the door.
" Co-come in!" She called.
Nodoka stuck her head in tentatively.
"Michiko?" she asked softly.
"No!!" was the vehement response, and then softer
"No.that's.that's not my name Nodoka. I stole it. It..it belonged to my mother."
"Why?" Nokoka asked.
"why what?" was the response.
"Why did you have to take someone else's name? What was so bad it forced you to hide who you are."
"Y-you don't wanna know Nodoka. It's not an everybody lives happily ever after kind of story." She replied, her voice catching.
Nodoka simply looked at her, one eyebrow raised skeptically
"*sigh*. Ok, I was the youngest of 3 sisters, born to my parents: Tendo Michiko and Soun. My mom died when I was 6. My eldest sister, Kasumi, took her place, She was a gentle, kind girl, and was a very good surrogate mother. My second sister, was an amazing entrapaneur. She could take practically any situation and make a profit, quite a useful talent, considering MY passion." She said
"martial arts?" Nodoka guessed.
"Hai. My life was one long fight, In the mornings I'd get up and go to school where she laughed as she reminisced believe it or not, I'd have to fight off 40 boys every morning."
"Why?! How old were you?!" Nodoka asked, as indignantly as if it had happened to her.
" 2 reasons: teenage boy hormones and an idiot named Kuno . And it started when I was 14 because Kuno made a speech saying how only somebody who could defeat me could be my boyfriend, not that I'd date any of the losers anyway. He ended up marrying my second sister a few years back. Maybe you've heard of him. Kuno Tatewaki?"
Nodoka gasped.
" But doesn't that make your sister THE NABIKI TENDO???" she asked in awe.
Michiko laughed.
"Yep, very intuitive. My older sister is named Nabiki. Anyway. I was on the volleyball team, the baseball team, in the drama club.and I was the BEST, totally undisputed. But then, when I was 16 my father gathered my sisters and me around and made an announcement. His friend Saotome Genma, and his son Ranma were going to move in with us and one of us would marry him. We were furious of course. Well..I was furious. Nabiki just said" I hope he's cute" and Kasumi said " O, I hope he's older than me." Of course I WAS the only one who hated guys." She said
"Well of COURSE!! What with what you had to deal with every morning!" She said in indignation.
Michiko smiled and continued her story:
" Well they arrived. And.they weren't what we expected: A short teenage girl and a giant panda. I was overjoyed, Nabiki was really peeved and Kasumi just said " Oh my!" I asked the girl, who's name turned out to be Ranma, if she wanted to be friends. She. she was really happy about it. Later we were in our dojo sparring and-"
Nodoka cut in
"Dojo? Your family owns a dojo?!"
"Oh yes, Tendo Dojo of Anything Goes, or Indiscriminate Grappling. I'd spent almost half my life in that building. Anyway we were sparring, kempo, She beat the shit out of me. Well she didn't actually hurt me, but she could have wiped the floor of me, trust me!."
Nodoka's eyes were wide. She'd never even HEARD of a fighter better than Michiko-Lady-whatever.
" Don't look so surprised Nodoka. No matter how good you get, there will always be somebody better than you" At this Soun's daughter looked down sadly.
"Anyway, later that night I wanted to take a bath. I walked in but it was.. already occupied.
"By who, Ranma? So what? You're both girls." She trailed off as she saw Michiko shaking her head with an eyebrow raised cynically.
"No, No Nodoka we weren't. We AREN'T. Saotome Ranma was most DEFINITLY a man."
"But-you said_"
" I know. He's a Jusenkyo boy Nodoka. He's cursed and THIS-" she said and held up the photo.
"THIS is his cursed form." And then Michiko continued to tell Nodoka about her hectic engagement to one martial artist, Saotome Ranma.
Authors note: What do you think? Don't worry, you'll find out later why Nabiki's so famous. Thank you everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it. If you have any feedback, suggestions, constructive criticism I'd be happy to hear it! Thanks again everyone!
*Why do I feel so shitty?* she thought to herself. And after a couple of seconds the memories came flooding back. Her eyes watered immediately but didn't fall
I won't cry, I won't cry, I WILL NOT CRY!!! I lost control last night. O god what did I say?!?* She thought to herself.
Suddenly there was a tentative knock on the door.
" Co-come in!" She called.
Nodoka stuck her head in tentatively.
"Michiko?" she asked softly.
"No!!" was the vehement response, and then softer
"No.that's.that's not my name Nodoka. I stole it. It..it belonged to my mother."
"Why?" Nokoka asked.
"why what?" was the response.
"Why did you have to take someone else's name? What was so bad it forced you to hide who you are."
"Y-you don't wanna know Nodoka. It's not an everybody lives happily ever after kind of story." She replied, her voice catching.
Nodoka simply looked at her, one eyebrow raised skeptically
"*sigh*. Ok, I was the youngest of 3 sisters, born to my parents: Tendo Michiko and Soun. My mom died when I was 6. My eldest sister, Kasumi, took her place, She was a gentle, kind girl, and was a very good surrogate mother. My second sister, was an amazing entrapaneur. She could take practically any situation and make a profit, quite a useful talent, considering MY passion." She said
"martial arts?" Nodoka guessed.
"Hai. My life was one long fight, In the mornings I'd get up and go to school where she laughed as she reminisced believe it or not, I'd have to fight off 40 boys every morning."
"Why?! How old were you?!" Nodoka asked, as indignantly as if it had happened to her.
" 2 reasons: teenage boy hormones and an idiot named Kuno . And it started when I was 14 because Kuno made a speech saying how only somebody who could defeat me could be my boyfriend, not that I'd date any of the losers anyway. He ended up marrying my second sister a few years back. Maybe you've heard of him. Kuno Tatewaki?"
Nodoka gasped.
" But doesn't that make your sister THE NABIKI TENDO???" she asked in awe.
Michiko laughed.
"Yep, very intuitive. My older sister is named Nabiki. Anyway. I was on the volleyball team, the baseball team, in the drama club.and I was the BEST, totally undisputed. But then, when I was 16 my father gathered my sisters and me around and made an announcement. His friend Saotome Genma, and his son Ranma were going to move in with us and one of us would marry him. We were furious of course. Well..I was furious. Nabiki just said" I hope he's cute" and Kasumi said " O, I hope he's older than me." Of course I WAS the only one who hated guys." She said
"Well of COURSE!! What with what you had to deal with every morning!" She said in indignation.
Michiko smiled and continued her story:
" Well they arrived. And.they weren't what we expected: A short teenage girl and a giant panda. I was overjoyed, Nabiki was really peeved and Kasumi just said " Oh my!" I asked the girl, who's name turned out to be Ranma, if she wanted to be friends. She. she was really happy about it. Later we were in our dojo sparring and-"
Nodoka cut in
"Dojo? Your family owns a dojo?!"
"Oh yes, Tendo Dojo of Anything Goes, or Indiscriminate Grappling. I'd spent almost half my life in that building. Anyway we were sparring, kempo, She beat the shit out of me. Well she didn't actually hurt me, but she could have wiped the floor of me, trust me!."
Nodoka's eyes were wide. She'd never even HEARD of a fighter better than Michiko-Lady-whatever.
" Don't look so surprised Nodoka. No matter how good you get, there will always be somebody better than you" At this Soun's daughter looked down sadly.
"Anyway, later that night I wanted to take a bath. I walked in but it was.. already occupied.
"By who, Ranma? So what? You're both girls." She trailed off as she saw Michiko shaking her head with an eyebrow raised cynically.
"No, No Nodoka we weren't. We AREN'T. Saotome Ranma was most DEFINITLY a man."
"But-you said_"
" I know. He's a Jusenkyo boy Nodoka. He's cursed and THIS-" she said and held up the photo.
"THIS is his cursed form." And then Michiko continued to tell Nodoka about her hectic engagement to one martial artist, Saotome Ranma.
Authors note: What do you think? Don't worry, you'll find out later why Nabiki's so famous. Thank you everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it. If you have any feedback, suggestions, constructive criticism I'd be happy to hear it! Thanks again everyone!