Nodoka stood outside a huge 20-story glass building, and then pushed
through the revolving doors. She went to the front desk and asked for
Nabiki Tendo. After showing her i.d. proving her identification as " Akane
Saotome," and confirming that she had an appointment, she walked to the
elevators and when she was inside pushed the lighted button for the 20th
floor. The doors opened and she walked into a large office, the bright
sunlight coming in from the full-length windows momentarily stunning her.
When her vision cleared she saw a very well-kept woman sitting in front of her behind a large, intimidating, polished, wooden desk. The woman, whom Nodoka assumed to be the legend, Nabiki Tendo, was dressed in a no-nonsense red business suit, with matching, vibrant red lipstick, that went very well with her dark, short hair, and large, coldly, and accusative eyes. On her left hand she wore an obviously expensive wedding ring and around her neck, she wore a short, silver, necklace with 3 pearls. Underneath the desk and unknown to Nodoka she was wearing strappy, stiletto-heeled red shoes and in her lap, lay a small handgun.
Nodoka bowed and said:
"Mrs. Tendo?"
"You. are NOT, Akane Saotome." She said unemotionally and deliberately, pronouncing each syllable as if it was an unwanted chore. She stared at Nodoka as if she were a bug she was pinning to the wall.
"No, and I'm sorry for the deception, but- I need your help."
"You. You need MY help." She continued in the same voice, but with disgust added to the mix.
" And what? You expect me to give it to you? I'm not one to forget a slight, and TRUST me. Your deception is a huge slight in my eyes. I'm also not to do favors for free and you can't possibly have ANYTHING I want. Both of these factors are a disadvantage to you and I'm afraid that as I have no reason to help you, you're just going to have to deal with your little problem without me. Now. I'm sure you can find the elevator by yourself." Then Nabiki bent back over her work and started to sign papers with an obviously expensive fountain pen.
Nodoka had come, prepared to be polite, and maybe do a little groveling, but this! She was infuriated. And having been training under her mistress for as long as she had, meant it was not a good thing for the subject of her fury. However, today her mission was different, and so required special ammunition.
She strode forward and slammed a picture down underneath her hand onto the desk, which while not causing Nabiki to jump did make her look up quickly in anger and shock at her "guest's" audacity.
"You want a reason?!? Here's a god-damn reason!!! Did you think I just looked you up on the web, saw that you had 2 sisters and said "gee, ya know, I bet that the younger sister disappeared a couple years back and by pretending to be her I could go see THE Nabiki Tendo. Gosh wouldn't that be cool??" She said the last part in a high pitched bubbly voice, acting like the idiot she was pretending to be. She continued, angrily and sarcastically:
" I'm SORRY your "highness" but I just don't have THAT much of an interest in you. If you DIDN'T want what I have and what I know, you NEVER would have let someone named Akane Saotome in here. You want your sister. Don't you. You want to know where she is and what happened to her. And I know. ME!! Is that a sufficient reason to help me or not? Because if it isn't I will leave your uppity arrogant self alone and I will go home and you won't have to hear from me ever again!"
A deaf, blind, mute could have told that Nodoka wasn't bluffing. And Nabiki was NOT a deaf, blind, mute. She was also extremely unpredictable and clever. Instead of hearing her beg to hear what happened to her little sister as most people would have, Nodoka instead heard the sound of a gun being cocked against her forehead.
" You know. I think I CAN help you out. I'll let you live and you- *Nabiki yanked the picture out from under of Nodoka's hand*- will tell me where my sister is."
Nodoka, apparently, was unpredictable to. Instead of cringing and agreeing like most people did with Nabiki, she simply smirked.
" I'm from the city Highness. And I've known your sister for 3 years. Do you honestly think..that some weak, little, arrogant business woman with a tiny, pathetic, little gun can scare me?!?
"It will do the job." Nabiki responded calmly and coldly as usual.
Nodoka just smirked again before darting her hand out and grabbing Nabiki's wrist and twisting her hand up, so that the gun no longer aimed at her. The hold was extremely painful, and Nabiki knew from her husband, and the past, that trying to pull out from the hold would just hurt more, and probably break her wrist. So she did what anybody would do in the interest of self preservation. She dropped the gun.
"Happy now?" She asked.
"No. But it will do. Now as I said. I need your help. Are you going to help me or not?" She asked, releasing Nabiki's wrist.
Nabiki sighed and rolled her eyes and resumed her normal bored/ you're an idiot look.
"Obviously. What do you want."
"Information. And in return? YOU'LL get information. Sound fair? If it's not, too bad. That's my offer, take it or leave it."
Nabiki sighed.
"Sit down already dammit. What do you need to know?" she asked and picked up her coffee and started to sip it. Nodoka sat in the hard chair and examined her hands.
"...Did she love Ranma Saotome?"
*cough* That apparently was enough to mildly startle Nabiki.
" Ya. Ya she did. Is that it?" She asked harshly.
" Why, why did she leave him? If she loved him I mean."
"You obviously have not met Ranma Saotome. He..he wasn't the easiest person to love. And he had a lot of girls after-
" Ya, I know, 3 fiancees, I got that much, I wanted to know why she left.
" She couldn't handle it I guess. It just got too hard for her. I don't know. "
" Just one more question...Did he.Did he love her?"
" More than any of us ever knew, until it was too late. She was gone, and he.he couldn't stand it. She was his whole life. And when she was gone, we found out how important she was to all of us, but especially to him. He went crazy after reading her note and left, 4 months later, trying to find her."
"note?.."
"M-hmm. It said a lot to all of us. But to him. It just said. Ranma- if you ever felt anything remotely good about or for me.you won't
come after me Ranma.
-Akane His logic was, that he never DID feel anything remotely good about her. He was COMPLETELY in love with her, there was nothing remote about it. He's a cop now. Calls every couple of months to see if there's been any news and to check in.
" I know. That he's a cop and all" She said when Nabiki raised a cynical eyebrow.
"Right. My turn. What is my sister doing? I'm not going to ask you where she is, she obviously doesn't want to be found. She must have money to have survived all these years. Is she doing anything.compromising?" Nabiki questioned.
" It really depends who you ask. To anyone normal? She's a fuckin heroine. You ask the cops? She's a psycho. It's all perspective." Was Nodoka's response.
" I suppose, and your questions confirmed that she's NOT Akane Saotome huh. Look. I don't have any questions about my sister you could answer, and even if you could, I'd rather see her. However I doubt she knows you're here right? And if you came to her with me in tow, she'd probably kill you. It's never good to corner a wounded tiger. I'll give you a letter and a ride back to wherever it is you need. Here."
Nabiki pulled out a letter from a drawer and handed it across the table. Nodoka raised her eyebrows in surprise that Nabiki already had a letter ready."
" I'll give her the letter. I don't want the ride. You just want to know where I live. Also. I need some more help. Ranma's working on a case that is.very sensitive, and very important to your sister and me. Could you..distract him somehow? Call him home for some reason? Whatever you can do helps. "
" Not for you. But for Akane. I'll do it."
"Arigato, that's all I ask. Thank you for your time. By the way, you can keep the picture" Nodoka said and walked away towards the elevator.
"Wait." Nabiki said and then bent over to scribble something on a piece of paper when Nodoka paused.
"Here." she said holding out the paper.
"When you go downstairs you'll be given a key, and then you can come and go freely up here without an appointment."
"Thank you." Nodoka said taking the paper, and then turned around and left
Nabiki looked at the picture of a beautiful, young, women with long, thick, midnight blue hair and picked up her phone.
"Lina? Yes, I want you to have Mrs. Saotome followed. Yes she's coming down now. All right good." She hung up and then turned to look out across the city that belonged to her financially, one single tear falling down her iron cheek, in memory of the one flaw on her stainless reputation of always finding what she wanted, or ways to get it.
Authors Note: Hi everybody. Thank you for the reviews again. I did try the double spacing, thank you, but now it took out my indents, so please forgive the lack of indentations. Any suggestions? Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you again and please email me at mandfmafia_7@yahoo.com if you have any ideas, or review, either way.
When her vision cleared she saw a very well-kept woman sitting in front of her behind a large, intimidating, polished, wooden desk. The woman, whom Nodoka assumed to be the legend, Nabiki Tendo, was dressed in a no-nonsense red business suit, with matching, vibrant red lipstick, that went very well with her dark, short hair, and large, coldly, and accusative eyes. On her left hand she wore an obviously expensive wedding ring and around her neck, she wore a short, silver, necklace with 3 pearls. Underneath the desk and unknown to Nodoka she was wearing strappy, stiletto-heeled red shoes and in her lap, lay a small handgun.
Nodoka bowed and said:
"Mrs. Tendo?"
"You. are NOT, Akane Saotome." She said unemotionally and deliberately, pronouncing each syllable as if it was an unwanted chore. She stared at Nodoka as if she were a bug she was pinning to the wall.
"No, and I'm sorry for the deception, but- I need your help."
"You. You need MY help." She continued in the same voice, but with disgust added to the mix.
" And what? You expect me to give it to you? I'm not one to forget a slight, and TRUST me. Your deception is a huge slight in my eyes. I'm also not to do favors for free and you can't possibly have ANYTHING I want. Both of these factors are a disadvantage to you and I'm afraid that as I have no reason to help you, you're just going to have to deal with your little problem without me. Now. I'm sure you can find the elevator by yourself." Then Nabiki bent back over her work and started to sign papers with an obviously expensive fountain pen.
Nodoka had come, prepared to be polite, and maybe do a little groveling, but this! She was infuriated. And having been training under her mistress for as long as she had, meant it was not a good thing for the subject of her fury. However, today her mission was different, and so required special ammunition.
She strode forward and slammed a picture down underneath her hand onto the desk, which while not causing Nabiki to jump did make her look up quickly in anger and shock at her "guest's" audacity.
"You want a reason?!? Here's a god-damn reason!!! Did you think I just looked you up on the web, saw that you had 2 sisters and said "gee, ya know, I bet that the younger sister disappeared a couple years back and by pretending to be her I could go see THE Nabiki Tendo. Gosh wouldn't that be cool??" She said the last part in a high pitched bubbly voice, acting like the idiot she was pretending to be. She continued, angrily and sarcastically:
" I'm SORRY your "highness" but I just don't have THAT much of an interest in you. If you DIDN'T want what I have and what I know, you NEVER would have let someone named Akane Saotome in here. You want your sister. Don't you. You want to know where she is and what happened to her. And I know. ME!! Is that a sufficient reason to help me or not? Because if it isn't I will leave your uppity arrogant self alone and I will go home and you won't have to hear from me ever again!"
A deaf, blind, mute could have told that Nodoka wasn't bluffing. And Nabiki was NOT a deaf, blind, mute. She was also extremely unpredictable and clever. Instead of hearing her beg to hear what happened to her little sister as most people would have, Nodoka instead heard the sound of a gun being cocked against her forehead.
" You know. I think I CAN help you out. I'll let you live and you- *Nabiki yanked the picture out from under of Nodoka's hand*- will tell me where my sister is."
Nodoka, apparently, was unpredictable to. Instead of cringing and agreeing like most people did with Nabiki, she simply smirked.
" I'm from the city Highness. And I've known your sister for 3 years. Do you honestly think..that some weak, little, arrogant business woman with a tiny, pathetic, little gun can scare me?!?
"It will do the job." Nabiki responded calmly and coldly as usual.
Nodoka just smirked again before darting her hand out and grabbing Nabiki's wrist and twisting her hand up, so that the gun no longer aimed at her. The hold was extremely painful, and Nabiki knew from her husband, and the past, that trying to pull out from the hold would just hurt more, and probably break her wrist. So she did what anybody would do in the interest of self preservation. She dropped the gun.
"Happy now?" She asked.
"No. But it will do. Now as I said. I need your help. Are you going to help me or not?" She asked, releasing Nabiki's wrist.
Nabiki sighed and rolled her eyes and resumed her normal bored/ you're an idiot look.
"Obviously. What do you want."
"Information. And in return? YOU'LL get information. Sound fair? If it's not, too bad. That's my offer, take it or leave it."
Nabiki sighed.
"Sit down already dammit. What do you need to know?" she asked and picked up her coffee and started to sip it. Nodoka sat in the hard chair and examined her hands.
"...Did she love Ranma Saotome?"
*cough* That apparently was enough to mildly startle Nabiki.
" Ya. Ya she did. Is that it?" She asked harshly.
" Why, why did she leave him? If she loved him I mean."
"You obviously have not met Ranma Saotome. He..he wasn't the easiest person to love. And he had a lot of girls after-
" Ya, I know, 3 fiancees, I got that much, I wanted to know why she left.
" She couldn't handle it I guess. It just got too hard for her. I don't know. "
" Just one more question...Did he.Did he love her?"
" More than any of us ever knew, until it was too late. She was gone, and he.he couldn't stand it. She was his whole life. And when she was gone, we found out how important she was to all of us, but especially to him. He went crazy after reading her note and left, 4 months later, trying to find her."
"note?.."
"M-hmm. It said a lot to all of us. But to him. It just said. Ranma- if you ever felt anything remotely good about or for me.you won't
come after me Ranma.
-Akane His logic was, that he never DID feel anything remotely good about her. He was COMPLETELY in love with her, there was nothing remote about it. He's a cop now. Calls every couple of months to see if there's been any news and to check in.
" I know. That he's a cop and all" She said when Nabiki raised a cynical eyebrow.
"Right. My turn. What is my sister doing? I'm not going to ask you where she is, she obviously doesn't want to be found. She must have money to have survived all these years. Is she doing anything.compromising?" Nabiki questioned.
" It really depends who you ask. To anyone normal? She's a fuckin heroine. You ask the cops? She's a psycho. It's all perspective." Was Nodoka's response.
" I suppose, and your questions confirmed that she's NOT Akane Saotome huh. Look. I don't have any questions about my sister you could answer, and even if you could, I'd rather see her. However I doubt she knows you're here right? And if you came to her with me in tow, she'd probably kill you. It's never good to corner a wounded tiger. I'll give you a letter and a ride back to wherever it is you need. Here."
Nabiki pulled out a letter from a drawer and handed it across the table. Nodoka raised her eyebrows in surprise that Nabiki already had a letter ready."
" I'll give her the letter. I don't want the ride. You just want to know where I live. Also. I need some more help. Ranma's working on a case that is.very sensitive, and very important to your sister and me. Could you..distract him somehow? Call him home for some reason? Whatever you can do helps. "
" Not for you. But for Akane. I'll do it."
"Arigato, that's all I ask. Thank you for your time. By the way, you can keep the picture" Nodoka said and walked away towards the elevator.
"Wait." Nabiki said and then bent over to scribble something on a piece of paper when Nodoka paused.
"Here." she said holding out the paper.
"When you go downstairs you'll be given a key, and then you can come and go freely up here without an appointment."
"Thank you." Nodoka said taking the paper, and then turned around and left
Nabiki looked at the picture of a beautiful, young, women with long, thick, midnight blue hair and picked up her phone.
"Lina? Yes, I want you to have Mrs. Saotome followed. Yes she's coming down now. All right good." She hung up and then turned to look out across the city that belonged to her financially, one single tear falling down her iron cheek, in memory of the one flaw on her stainless reputation of always finding what she wanted, or ways to get it.
Authors Note: Hi everybody. Thank you for the reviews again. I did try the double spacing, thank you, but now it took out my indents, so please forgive the lack of indentations. Any suggestions? Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you again and please email me at mandfmafia_7@yahoo.com if you have any ideas, or review, either way.