The next few days were not good in the Tendo-ke. Both Kasumi and Nabiki seemed to be subject to wild mood swings. One moment one or the other would be lost in fond remembrance the next they would be brimming with angry frustration and woe betide any man that presented a target. Each daughter showed this in their own way, whether it was Kasumi accidentally nearly burning dinner because she was lost in a world of her own and then serving Genma nothing but bamboo because "If Saotome-san wishes to be an animal then he can eat like one!"
. Nabiki on the other hand was more dangerous still. On the second day since the boys' departure Soun found her sitting on the porch, twirling a daisy in her fingers, and occasionally raising it to her nose. Seeing that she was smiling he decided it was a good moment to bring up the issue of the engagement. After all she would see why it would be best for all concerned if she let Akane marry Ranma. I mean it was obvious, wasn't it. Instead of being rational however she went deathly still, waited till he had run out of steam and started to try and fill the charged silence that remained with mindless 'wisdoms,' and only then did she talk. "Father what Ranma and I choose to promise each other is not for open discussion. Need I remind you about certain clippings I have laid my hands on?" her eyebrow quirked, her eyes icy. "The headline was very interesting, something about Paired Perverts on Prep school Panty Raid. The pictures were very clear for the time if I remember rightly." Needless to say Soun was off in a shot.
."Well
Soun-ol-buddy" Genma asked.
."We
need a plan B," Soun explained sadly, "newspapers, from July 83"
.
"You don't mean?" Genma asked blanching
.
"Juuban" the two of them said together, shivering.
."Maybe
we could get Akane to join up?" Genma asked.
."Hmm
good idea I'm sure she would go down well in the barracks" Soun
replied, with a straight face.
."Yes a
girl like her is bound to make lots of girlfriends in the SDF."
Genma added.
."She
would have to be an officer though" Soun asserted.
."Yes
of course." Genma agreed, "She definitely needs girls under her."
."Not
all the time, of course she must be under other girls as well."
Soun said.
It may have been childish but the innuendo at least lightened Nabiki's mood for a while. Hentai images of butch lesbian officers and Akane "serving" under them, briefly raced through her mind and she had to try hard not to laugh out loud. Instead she told the troublesome two that she was off out and went to Abi's house for a bit of female reassurance, (spelled "S.A.K.I." and "CHOCHOLATE CHIP").
.-------------------------
.When
Nabiki came back the next day, after being in the office, she was in
a terrible mood. Her hangover had conspired with a nightmare of a day
talking with her clients on the phone, the result required plenty of
aspirin and a dark room. Instead of this she was met with a sullen
looking Akane and a joyful looking pair of fathers. "What is it?"
she demanded.
."Pervert's
coming back." Akane said as if someone had stolen her lollipop.
Nabiki was momentarily taken back.
."Says
who?" she said, eyes narrowing.
. "Kasumi
says she got a call from Tofu saying he'll be home tomorrow" said
Soun. "and Ranma works for the same division, right?"
."Close,
but no cigar," replied Nabiki. "Where is she now?"
."She
went home about half an hour ago." Replied Soun, quickly adding
that she had left dinner in the oven beforehand. Nabiki moved over to
the phone, dialled and waited for her sister to pick up, all the
while ignoring the rest of her household.
."Moshi
Moshi" came Kasumi's voice.
."Moshi
moshi," replied Nabiki, "good news about Tofu?"
."Yes
isn't it." The doctor's wife agreed.."Did
he say anything about Ranma?" Nabiki asked, with a trace of concern
in her voice.
."No,
is there any reason he should have?" Kasumi asked in reply.
."No
not really," Nabiki added, "but can you bring him over to talk
when he gets in."
."Not
quite what I had in mind but maybe we could on the way home."
Kadumi said reluctantly.
."Thanks
sis," Nabiki said and hung up. She turned to the audience that had
gathered around her, "You are all idiots." She said and then went
to her room, "call me when dinner's done" she called over her
shoulder.
.When Tofu arrived the following day Nabiki was sat working at the dining room table. She looked up to see him, carefully hiding behind her blank mask. On the other hand he was visibly sad.."Nabiki," he started, "I'm sorry. I don't have the words, all I can say is that I'm sorry." The emotion was written all over him, from the way he stood to the slight sheen in his eyes.
."Not good enough Ono." Nabiki said coldly, "I need more." Tofu swallowed and tried again.
."He
tried to give me a message but neither of us could find the words, so
he sent these." Tofu said holding out his hand. Nabiki put hers out
and the doctor dropped a pair of dog-tags into them. Nabiki swallowed
herself, her mouth suddenly dry.
."Does
this mean?" she asked.
."The
scenario they selected didn't require a doctor," Tofu added
sadly. Not saying why. Nabiki turned them over in her hands, they
were shiny, new.
."Major
Saotome?" She asked.
."Its
still pending but they let them take the promotions first because
they-"."Won't
be around to get them later." Nabiki finished. "I am going to my
room." She added, unwilling to let them see her cry. "Later you
will give me more details."
."I'm
not allowed" he started, but stopped when she fixed him with an
Arctic look. " Fine we'll talk about it later." She left and
the parents immediately mobbed him with ridiculous questions, which
he didn't answer. Akane meanwhile just sat back looking smug.
"Talk
Tofu" Nabiki commanded. It was the next day and she had cornered
him after dinner, while his wife washed up. Her eyes showed little
sign of the previous night's tears.
."There's
not much I can say." He replied.
."Start
with why you aren't going!" she demanded
."The
predicted series of events means that any after-event care will be
merely prolonging the inevitable." Tofu quoted. "The Commander in
chief agreed with Ranma that sending a doctor along would be a waste
of valuable resources."
."And
sending a major isn't?" she asked forcefully.
."Someone
has to lead the mission," Tofu replied.
."So,
if I get this right Ranma has been put in charge of a mission so
unlikely to succeed that they don't expect any survivors." Nabiki
said starting to break her icy façade.
."No!
That's not it at all." Tofu asserted, reaching out to put a hand
on her shoulder. "No team Ranma has been a part of has ever failed.
Simply put he is the best we've got."
."Then
why?" she asked, tears starting to come.
."Because
it's the only way." Tofu said sadly. "I argued against it as
strongly as I could but in the end the boss and Ranma were right,
this needs to be done and we need him to do it."
."What,
what needs to be done so badly its worth his life?" she demanded
anger rising.
."Not
just his," Tofu said, "twenty five of this world's best. But
you are missing one thing."
."What,
damnit?" she demanded
."As I
said he has never failed yet. Ranma has regularly done the impossible
for X-Com, so much so that we all sort of expect him to now. If there
is any way those people can come back he'll find it. Don't give
up on him yet" Tofu said, becoming more determined. But when Nabiki
looked up there was no light in her eyes.
."Why
not, when he has" she said opening her hand to reveal the tags.
."Just
give him a chance." Tofu begged quietly. Nabiki only nodded and
clenched the tags again before heading back to her room.
.After
that day things sort of returned to normal, the way things were
before the pig-tailed soldier came into their lives. Nabiki worked,
Akane 'trained' and threw hissy fits, and the fathers went on
with planning her marriage to the younger Saotome.
.A little
later Soun managed to bribe Akane's way into a civil service
tryout. She failed the personality test and found herself working as
a traffic warden. A task the young martinet was eminently suited for.
Soun and Genma figured it was close enough to soldiering that Ranma
would hardly notice and Nabiki refused to let her quit, claiming they
needed the money.
.In fact, under the surface things had really changed. Tofu had grown more distant and more impulsive at the same time. The guilt of not going was warring with the joy of being with his family. And he rarely forgot it was Ranma's fault. Nabiki on the other hand was involved in more shady areas. The little that Tofu had given her was nowhere near enough, so she was digging, trying to find any and all information on Ranma and the cause he was dying for.
This led her to an old woman in Paris by the name of Louisa-Marie Gault. She was the elderly mother of a man who had served with Ranma and had proved a vital source of information.
."Yes
Saotome, Jean-Paul often spoke of him, quite a man eh?" Louisa said
suggestively in heavily accented English. Nabiki feigned a blush.
."What
did he say?" she asked in her passable English.
."There
was this story," Louisa started. "Back in the beginning the bugs
had us beat. They were faster, nastier and more heavily armed. The
first many of our boys knew of them was a burst of Plasma igniting
their chest, burning straight to the spine. The early missions were
characterised by lots of screaming, dying and few successes. The
Aliens also have this thing they can do you know, they get into your
head and make you see things, believe them. Before you know it you
are shooting your own side or just trying to swallow a grenade to
kill the voices in your head.
."A lot
of that changed when Ranma and the girl came to the unit. Even when
they were just training they started to teach people new ways to do
things. New tactics to fight, new ways to focus your mind so the bugs
can't get in, things like that. Added to that the two of them were
good, I mean to hear Jean-Paul say it they were supermen. Whenever
someone needed to go through a door, or take point, one of them would
volunteer. Now that used to be a death sentence, Jean Paul used to
dread being the most junior rank to arrive at a door, because they
were always sent in first. If you didn't get em all in your first
salvo you were toast. Well Ranma and later the china-girl refused to
play that game. Jean Paul swore that once-upon a time he saw Ranma
bend around one of their plasma blasts, from the ankle to the floor
and back up again!
"Any
which way it didn't stop the terror but it did make it a lot easier
to deal with. They started to win more missions than they lost and
soon we were catching up with them. Then one day Jean calls me, says
that things have got worse, so bad he says that even Ranma got hit.
The next day I got this." And with that she handed Nabiki an
envelope. Inside were a pair of dogtags, a letter and The
Crois-de-Guerre, France's highest award. "Sure it came in a fancy
box and with some letter about keeping secrets but I had enough of
that from big-nose DeGaulle.
."May I
see the letter?" Nabiki asked.
."Sure,"
Louisa replied, got up and went to a cupboard. She took out a fancy
hard-wood box and a letter. It was marked "Secret de la Monde."
When Nabiki pointed it out to Louisa she said "World secret, and
the next line means that unauthorised possession of of this knowledge
is a capital crime. You still sure you want to know?"
."Yes,
tell me everything." Nabiki replied