'Older'
Nabiki still wasn't accustomed to waking up that early in the morning, but the tantilizing smell that permeated her room beckoned her release from slumber.

Her half-asleep mind only urged her to investigate at the pleas of her stomach, forcing her to pull herself from bed, and enticed her to standing. In the back of her sleep-addled mind, she wondered why she was still wearing her pajama pants, but dismissed it, as there were more important things to consider.

Through years of practice, she maneuvered through her home from her bedroom, entering the kitchen, and finding the source of the morning aroma.

"Morning."

"Good Morning," Nabiki returned, not even turning to face whoever spoke. She didn't even wonder why someone was in her house this early in the morning, much less who it was.

She sat down at one of the places set, before level 2 morning functions kicked in. Tiredly, she got back up, and walked into the main cooking area from the small dinette room, and started the coffee maker. After that was done, she meandered back to her seat, waiting for food.

Irritated by her lack of response, Nabiki's houseguest sat at the other place set, after setting four dishes at the table. Not even bothering with formalities, the woman almost blindly scooped up from each dish onto her plate, and dug in with her chopsticks.

Right as the morsel of food touched her tongue, her eyes flew open wildly, before she made a mad dash for the sink.

"A bit dramatic, don'tchathink?" Ranma grumbled, staring irritatedly at Nabiki.

After guzzling about two liters straight of tapwater, Nabiki turned towards her somewhat forgotten houseguest, "Huh? Ranma? What did you put in that?"

"Spicy bean paste, why?"

Nabiki blinked, "I don't have any spicy beanpaste..."

"I had to go pick it up from the corner store," Ranma replied, non-chilantly, before he dug into his own over-spiced meal; just the way he liked it.

"I better be able to taste my coffee, still," Nabiki commented dryly, before she turned to check on the coffee maker's progress. "You're going to a different school this morning. You'll have to finish filling out the paperwork at school since there was only so much I could vouch for you."

Ranma grumbled something unintelligently, and continued with his meal.

"I should be back in time from work to let you back in. You'll have to take the bus down the street innnn...." Nabiki checked the microwave clock, and baulked, "Two and a half hours? How can you stand to be up this early?"

"I'm used to it, I guess," Ranma replied, "Pops usually wakes me up a little earlier so we can get some sparring in."

"it's too early for this, I'm going back to bed."

"What do you want me to do with your food, then?" Ranma asked, as Nabiki turned to leave the kitchen.

"Put it in the refrigerator for me, I'll see it when I get back up."

"And your coffee?"

Nabiki stopped; she sincerely hated wasting freshly brewed coffee. "I guess there's not really much of a point for me going back to sleep, is there? I guess I could get a little morning workout before I have to go to the office."

"Your call," Ranma replied, returning to his meal. Nabiki resignedly returned to her seat at the western table, and was careful about how much of anything of Ranma's cooking she put into her mouth at once.
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Instead of finishing through his own morning workout, Ranma watched Nabiki from the roof, after telling her he wanted to take an early bath. It wasn't anything impressive to him, but she did obviously work out often.

She wore an expression of fierce concentration that belayed her rather graceful movements. She seemed to lack power, more focusing on speedy repetitions, almost as if she were doing an aerobic exercise. She was a practitioner, but more for the health aspects of it, the pigtailed martial artist decided. Of course, it was also fairly obvious she could easily handle her own if she were to be accousted in the street. But it was a small wonder to him that she looked as good as she did... for her age, he quickly added.

Ranma came out of his reverie, just as Nabiki abruptly stopped, fanned herself a bit, and turned back to the house. Quickly, he somersaulted backwards off the roof, back to the front of the house, and rushed in the front door. He wasn't quick enough, as Nabiki managed to catch him coming in.

"Where'd you go?" Nabiki enquired, not actually caring all that much.

"Ah... I went for a j-jog around the area," Ranma hastefully replied, drawing a sceptical look from Nabiki.

"Whatever," the older woman replied, before taking a deep breath, "Whew, I never worked out for that long in a while, I don't see how you manage it every morning, Ranma."

"Youth," Ranma quipped, finding the opening too easy.

"Cute," Nabiki replied with a smirk, surprising Ranma that she took it so well. "I'm going to take a shower."

At that reminder, Ranma turned to see how much time he had before he had to catch the bus. His eyes went wide when he realized the time; had he been watching Nabiki that long?

"Crap!" Ranma rushed past Nabiki to the lower bathroom, causing the woman to roll her eyes, and head to the bathroom adjacent to her own room.
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Nabiki business at the office was rather short, as she had no appointments, and she could keep her own hours. Estimating Ranma would be about four more hours before he would return home, Nabiki decided she had time to pay Dr. Tofu a visit, and find out what he wanted this time.

She pulled up to the designated parking spots near Tofu's clinic, and made her way through the gates. As usual for somewhat temporate days, Tofu's front door was open. Upon her entry, the secretary that had replaced Kasumi a while back looked up, and favored Nabiki with a smile.

"Hello, Ms. Yamakaze, is Tofu busy?" Nabiki enquired, returning the smile.

"He's between patients, and I think it was his last one for the day coming up in a bit." The elderly woman supplied.

Tofu walked out, assuming his last appointment for the day had come in, finding Nabiki talking with his secretary, "Nabiki, what a pleasant surprise."

"Hello Ono," Nabiki greeted with a short bow, "Had some free time, and decided to drop by to see what it is you had to talk about."

"Hmm, well my last appointment should be arriving any minute now, and after that I'm going to go take a lunch. We can talk then if you like?"

Nabiki nodded, "Should it take long?"

"Oh, no, not at all! Just a routine check up for a patient, nothing complicated."

"Alright then, I'll wait," Nabiki pulled her minidiskman from her purse, sat down in one of the lounge seats, and closed her eyes while listening to her music.
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"So, Ono, what did you want this time?" Nabiki enquired, knowing the drill pretty well after having gone through it so often during Tofu and Kasumi's divorce. It was a shame to see them seperate, she thought, but with Tofu being four years younger than Kasumi, her older sister's old biasness against younger men, while fueled by Tofu's other eccentricities, drove her to distancing herself. It was ironic, Nabiki thought, as she had decided that Kasumi was the one acting the least mature about the situation, and her reasoning behind it was far from adult.

"Ah, actually, I wanted to talk about you," Tofu commented with a serious tone.

Nabiki jumped, when Tofu's hand landed on hers, and she turned to look at him with shocked eyes. "D-doctor?" True, the man was rather handsome, and she wouldn't be adverse to the idea of them possibly becoming closer. Unfortunately, he was also her dearest sister's ex-husband; it didn't take much brainpower to realize how much that would complicate things.

"I just wanted to ask if you know what you're doing," Ono asked with a great deal of concern in his voice.

Nabiki shook herself out of her surprise just enough to comprehend what he said, "What?"

"I found out from Kaoru and Kasumi about your... fiance." Tofu continued. "I understand he's quite a ways younger than you?"

"Wha? Oh, OH!" Nabiki felt the mental breath she had been holding release, and chagrin set in. Tofu was just concerned about a friend, that's all. That realization turned that chagrin into a pang of despair. She leaned back into her seat, and sighed, "It was something my lame-brained father stuck on me at the last minute. It's nothing really all that serious."

"Yes, I heard it was arranged. How your father could contrive such a fool-hardy idea, especially in this day and age, is beyond me. He always seemed like a level-headed man."

"I thought you would have known him long enough to know better," Nabiki quipped, jokingly, earning a chuckle from Ono.

"Perhaps," he continued, waving the waitress off, and signalling for her to give them a few more minutes, "But I also heard he's staying with you."

"Yeah, you can thank my dearest sister for that," Nabiki replied wryly.

"Anyways, I just wanted to ask if you had actually given this consideration. I'm not going to say that I'm for or against it, but a relationship like this would be rather... difficult."

"Like I said, Ono, it's nothing serious," Nabiki repeated, finding herself becoming irritated, just the same.

"I know, I know," Tofu continued, "But, hypothetically speaking, if you *were* to become interested in him, maybe out of obligation or something, I couldn't say, had you given thought to having children?"

"I just told you noth-" Nabiki stopped short, as her eyes shifted downwards, and a frown formed on her face. From her nearly standing position, she sank back into her seat, keeping her eyes down on the table, and bringing her right hand to rub her forehead, before closing her eyes.

"Nabiki, are you okay?" Tofu enquired, concerned about her sudden shift in demeanor.

"Yes... actually I had, but even before I found out about Ranma," Nabiki said, tiredly. She brought her eyes up to meet Tofu's, matching his serious expression. "I'm not going to lie. Seeing Kasumi and Akane's boys still makes me pretty jealous."

"I see," Tofu commented, sitting back in his own chair, "Have you ever considered artificial insemination, or even adoption? They've developed techniques that have exponentially increased the chances of..." Tofu fought for a way to delicately put what he wanted to say. Mercifully, Nabiki saved him, already knowing what he was talking about.

"I'm well aware of that, Ono, I've done the reasearch already." Nabiki sighed again, as she folded her arms under her chest loosely, "I just wouldn't want a child to raise without a father."

"It wouldn't be as if he were without any father-figures," Tofu stated, "Your father i'm pretty sure wouldn't pass up the chance. I would be more than happy to offer assistance, myself."

Nabiki almost whispered, "It's more than that, Ono, it's a bit more than that."

"...oh..." Tofu replied, understanding what Nabiki meant, or more precisely, what she felt she needed.
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Nabiki was left in a meloncholy mood after her lunch with Dr. Tofu. She couldn't fault him for his concern, but she sincerly wished he hadn't had unwittingly dug into her personal affairs. Coupled with the fact she had almost embarrased herself by misinterpreting his motives, Nabiki was left with nothing but the urge to indulge in the light-headed sensation that a fine wine could bring, and the escape from her own reality that could be found in a good movie.

As she pulled up into her driveway, she recalled the catalyst of her current dilemma. Not too difficult, as he sat impatiently outside the front door of the two-story house. Of course, it took her a while to place the red-head, having only seen Ranma's cursed for the day before last.

Nabiki got out of the car, as Ranma came to standing, favoring the redhead with a surprised expression in retaliation to her irritated glare, "Ranma, what are you doing home already?"

"School got out almost an hour ago," Ranma replied tersely, "Ya know? If I'm supposed to stay with you, how about getting me a key so I don't haveta wait for you every time?"

"Honestly, Ranma, It couldn't have been that long," Nabiki replied, taking a quick deep breath to keep her calm, "How in the world did you get home before me, anyways? The bus that would have dropped you off shouldn't have even arrived yet."

"Didn't take the bus," Ranma stated quickly, "You gonna open the door, or what?"

"Hold on, what did you mean you didn't take the bus?" Nabiki enquired, while walking to the door, just fast enough to not seem like she was stalling, but slow enough that she figured Ranma would be getting even more irritated, "You didn't skip, did you?"

"I ran home, okay?"

"How could you have run home? The school's halfway across the district from us!"

"It was a lot faster than the bus," Ranma countered, evasively.

Nabiki sighed, and walked into the house after unlocking the door. She almost haphazardly kicked her shoes off, dropping her own energy down to merely sufficient to survive. She slumped down onto the couch, deciding to get a bit of rest before she poured herself something to drink. She wasn't much of a drinker, but she did enjoy the occasional indulgement.

Ranma came into the living room, still drying his hair with one of the bathroom towels. He sat on the other end of the couch away from the woman, giving her quick glances as she was lalled back against the seat. "What's with you?"

"Draining day," Nabiki commented. It wasn't truly a physically strenuous day, but the highlight event of it left her emotionally drained in a way she hadn't had to deal with for years. "Want Chinese?"

Ranma paused in drying his hair, "What?"

"Want to order out Chinese?" Nabiki repeated, not bothering to look over at Ranma. Tonight she wasn't quite in the mood for Ranma's rather exorbantly flavored cooking, and used years old tact from having to deal with her younger sister to quell the situation before it got started.

"I guess..." Ranma replied guardedly, "As long as you're paying. Where we going?"

"I said order out, Ranma. I don't particularly feel like going out anywhere right now. Why were you in such a hurry to get home, anyways?"

Ranma twitched slightly at the way she kept saying 'home' as if it was home to both of them, but refrained from commenting, "Let's just say there aren't many places I can switch out of my cursed form in private."

"Heh, true. I'm pretty sure you get some weird stares when you enter the men's room as a girl, or change to a guy in the girls bathroom, for that matter."

"You don't know the half of it. I hate getting labeled as a pervert." Ranma's face darkened at that thought, having come across the situation enough times to prove to his disliking.

"Sorry to hear it's been that difficult on you," Nabiki apologised sympathetically.

"It's alright. Once you find Pops, I can drag his sorry carcass back to China, so we can find a way to get permenantly cured. I just hate having to wait."

"Hopefully, you won't have to wait too much longer," Nabiki consoled, before finally drumming up the energy to pick up her purse from the glass coffee table, removing her cell phone from it, and hitting one of the speed dials.

"Hello, yes, it's Nabiki again. Yeah, the usual's great..." Nabiki pulled the phone from by her mouth, "Ranma, you have any idea what you want?"

"Um, I guess whatever you're having."

"Make that two orders of... no, it's not a date, mind your own business, Chin." Ranma could hear the laughter from where he was coming over the phone.

"Jerk..." Ranma grumbled, getting up from where he was sitting.

Nabiki hung up the phone, and put it back in her purse, "Should be here in about half an hour. They have some pretty fast delivery."

"Alright," Ranma commented, "Gonna go outside and practice until they get here, then." The pigtailed martial artist didn't see Nabiki's slight nod, as he walked towards the back yard.
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Nabiki looked over to find Ranma entering the house, just as she was retrieving their meal from the delivery man, "Ranma, you're just in time. Go... um... clean up or something."

"Yes... Mom," Ranma mumbled, before heading to the bathroom.

Nabiki payed the man, not catching Ranma's comment, and then brought the meal to the small dining room. Ranma had returned a couple of minutes after she had set the two separate bento-shaped containers on opposite sides of the table.

Both sat down, not wasting time on formalities, as neither were all that accustomed to them. After several moments, the pregnant silence began to grate on Nabiki's nerves, and decided that she needed to open up some conversation. "So, Ranma..."

"Yeah?" Ranma replied, quickly, before returning to eating.

It was then that Nabiki noticed the speed he was consuming his food, "Do you really need to eat that fast?"

Ranma looked up, with an irritated expression, "Do you really have to eat that slow?"

"Hey! I was just asking a question!" Nabiki placated with a tone almost of amusement.

It was enough to quell the pigtailed boy, "Heh, you think this is fast, you should see me when Pops is around. I gotta get it down my throat before he gets a chance to swipe it from me."

"You know, you might actually taste the five spices if you eat it slower..." Nabiki offered with a smirk.

Ranma stopped with the chopsticks in his mouth, allowing him to briefly savor what he was eating, "Wuzzis?"

"Five-spice chicken with extra licorice and pepper. My personal fave of theirs."

"Huh," Ranma commented, taking his time to try another bite, "Got pretty good taste for an old lady..."

Nabiki shook her head, deciding to let the comment slide as a favor to impetuous youth, "Want to watch a movie?"

Ranma stopped eating for a moment to respond, "Um, sure, I don't get to watch them often, what with Pops being broke all the time, or us on the move."

"Hmm," Nabiki considered, "You like Mifune?"

"Who?"

Nabiki stopped her face just short of smearing it with her meal. "Toshiro Mifune! Come on! You're a martial artist... you're Japanese... right?"

"Of course I am!" Ranma answered, tersely for both questions.

"Well, Ranma, I think it's time I got you reaquianted with Japanese civilization," Nabiki stated with jovial resolve, "hurry up and finish, I'll go look for one of my DVDs."

Ranma finished shortly, finding Nabiki heading back to the kitchen. "Go ahead and make yourself comfortable, I'm going to go get me something to drink."

"Okay," Ranma replied, turning to stare patiently at the blank TV screen. Nabiki returned with a small wineglass, and a warm bottle of ricewine.

"What are we watching?"

"Yojimbo," Nabiki stated, almost proudly, as she poured herself a slight amount of beverage "Maybe you can tell me what it was he did at the beginning, here. I've never figured the motions out." Ranma shrugged, and turned to the screen, as a wanderer, hands in sleeves, spotted a dog in the distance with something in it's mouth...
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Ranma had to admit, he was rapt in the film from beginning to end. So much so that he hadn't noticed Nabiki leaning against him until the credits rolled.

He almost jolted when he noticed the weight against him, before his breath stilled; exactly when had she gotten that close to him?

Ranma looked at her contentfully sleeping face, barely lined with a wrinkle or two. He had to snort, considering he was the one who had school in the morning, and she wore out faster than he did.

Shrugging off his thoughts, Ranma decided that it probably was time to retire, as early as he tended to get up; ignoring the still turned on television, and the half finished second helping of sake Nabiki had poured herself at some time.
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Nabiki woke to the soft but steady beeping of her alarm, silently damning it for waking her from the perfect dream. She raised her head to find herself cuddled against her bunched up comforter, feeling more than a little disappointment that it wasn't the handsome gentleman that she had spent the evening drinking and watching a classic black and white film with in dreamland. Who had then carried her off to bed, and...

Sighing in tired resignation, yet with a still very sleep-muddled mind, Nabiki began to sit up from her bed, before realizing something didn't feel quite right. The feel of the cotton covers against both her legs, back, and arms alerted her to the fact that she had gone to bed without her pajamas; a habit she almost never did.

Slowly coming to at least capable levels, Nabiki's brain began to access the situation. The last time she recalled doing that, well... she was wearing even less than just her bra and panties, and she wasn't cuddling against a comforter.

Dismissing that thought of years ago (waaaaayyyyyy too many years for Nabiki's liking), she continued to consider other possibilities. If she was too lazy to put them on, then most likely she wouldn't have even bothered taking off her regular clothes; as much as she disliked doing laundary, she would let something like that slide if she was in the wont to do so.

Last thing she could remember from last night, was watching... watching one of her older favorites with Ranma. Nabiki blushed, realizing where the basis of her dream had come from. She had drank a little ricewine, and though alcohol tended to make her sleepy, she didn't drink near enough to try anything scandelous with Ranma, even if he was supposed to be her fiance.

So, Ranma carried her to bed when she apparently went to sleep. She had to admit, that was rather romantic of him, even if it wasn't his intention. Of course that also meant...

A small frown appeared on Nabiki's face, as she got up, quickly found her pajamas, and donned them, before heading from her room. She found Ranma sitting at the table, eating breakfast with a place set for her. Nabiki idly realized that Ranma had also set her alarm clock for her to get up and eat. She would consider his thoughtfulness when she wasn't in an angry mood, a bit more awake, and slightly less disappointed with her lovelife.

"Ranma," Nabiki called out with a slight chill in her voice.

"Morning," Ranma replied, oblivious to Nabiki's mood.

"Did you undress me last night?"

Ranma looked up at Nabiki with a puzzled expression, "Yeah, i didn't think you wanted to sleep in your ironed clothes, so I folded them up and put them on your dresser."

"Did it ever occur to you that perhaps you overstepped yourself?" Nabiki enquired, allowing more of her irritation to show, "I happen to enjoy my modesty, you know?"

"Wha?" Ranma blinked a couple of times, before he realized what Nabiki was talking about, "Oh, that. It ain't like you have anything I haven't seen before," Ranma replied, as his expression darkened, "I'm a girl half-"

Nabiki cut him off, allowing her anger to take full reign; this was starting to remind her a bit too much of a couple of her old boyfriends, "You perverted little..."

Both Ranma and Nabiki's eyes went wide, as soon as the words left Nabiki's mouth. Ranma's from shock, and a more than a little sense of betrayal, as Nabiki's did from the almost instantanious recollection of the conversation they had last night.

Nabiki's mouth slammed shut, as she stared worriedly at the pigtailed boy at the table. After a few moments silence, she finally spoke again, "Ranma... I... I'm."

Ranma turned away, and sat up from the table, "Save it, I gotta get ready for school." Ranma rushed by Nabiki, making sure not to even so much as graze her as he passed by her through the kitchen threshold. Nabiki closed her eyes, and leaned against the side of the frame.
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Nabiki went over the terms of agreement with her client, reciting the words as is rehearsed. Her mind had been completely elsewhere, thinking back on earlier that morning. She was mad at him, but she didn't want to hurt him that way. It was a mistake eating at her conciousness, drawing off her concentration.

"Um... I guess it's okay, but I... um... think I'll hold off for a while..."

Nabiki blinked, and stared confusadly at her prospective client, "Pardon?"

"I'm not too sure about this, maybe I can ask again about this later?"

Nabiki berated herself, knowing the reason Mr. Hayabusa suddenly declined. She probably didn't sound all that enthuesiastic about what she was doing, which would affect a client's confidence. "Of course," Nabiki replied, putting on her best smile to put the man at ease, "take all the time you need. I wouldn't want to you make a hasteful decision if you're not completely at ease with yourself. Here, take this, and go over it. My secretary will supply you with a number I can be reached and at what best times."

"Thank you."

Fifteen minutes after Mr. Hayabusa left, Nabiki still failed to bring her mind back to her work. How was it the feelings of a kid were bothering her so much?

"Yuko, can you re-assign today's new clients to other staffmembers? And tell today's regular that I'm not feeling well right now," Nabiki stated into the comm. unit on her desk. She decided there was only one way to rectify this situation.
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Ranma's foul mood kept anyone who wished to approach him at a good distance; not a good way to start his second day of school. The pigtailed boy was almost glad the day had ended, but it also meant he had to return ho.... to her house. With somber steps, Ranma dredged out from the school, not paying attention as he ran into who he thought was one of the students.

"Something on your mind, Ranma?"

Ranma stopped, realising who it was he bumped into, "Nabiki, what are you doing here?"

"Who's that, Ranma's Mom?" A student enquired in the background.

"Hey, she's kinda hot!" Another stated.

"Pig," a femenine voice replied.

"If that is his mother, why did he call her by her first name?"

"Maybe his step-mother, I dunno..."

Nabiki ignored the comments, keeping her attention on Ranma, "We need to talk before this gets to be a big problem with us."

"Talk about what?" Ranma asked, evasively.

"Come on, I'll buy you a snack," Nabiki answered, nodding her head back to the parking lot of the school. Ranma gave Nabiki a wary glance, before nodding, and heading in the direction she gestured to.
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For once, Ranma wasn't particularly in the mood to eat, as he looked over the pastry that Nabiki had ordered for him, insisting that he would enjoy it.

The middle-aged woman sipped a bit of her coffee, looking over it's rim at the young man across from her, trying to steel her nerves. Finally ending the silence that had existed since they arrived, Nabiki spoke.

"Ranma, I'm sorry for this morning."

Ranma looked away, "It's alright, forget about it."

Nabiki pouted slightly, before she hardened her expression, "No, it isn't alright, Ranma. I said something that was out of line, regardless of what the situation looked like. I wasn't thinking straight, and I was already upset. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"Sure, whatever," Ranma replied, looking out the window they were sitting next to, "Is that all?"

"Damn it, Ranma," Nabiki seethed, finally becoming fed up with his attitude, "I'm trying to apologise here! Why are you acting like a little jerk about this?"

"Hey! I ain't the one who goes around accusing people of being perverts!"

"And I said I was sorry!" Nabiki retorted.

"And I said it's alright! Not my fault you don't believe me! So just let this drop, okay?" Ranma hadn't even raised his voice, or turned to face Nabiki during the whole trade-off, "Like I want to look at anything an old woman like you has, anyways."

Nabiki literally felt her bloodpressure rising, as she slammed the heels of her palms into the table, and nearly shot to standing. She was trying to set things right with Ranma, feeling that it was extremely important they got along at least. She said she was sorry several times already, and had done everything but kow-towed to him! Of course she didn't believe he accepted her apology, he didn't really sound like he believed... believed her...

"Oh," Nabiki said, quietly, as she shrunk down into her chair, ignoring the stares around her she was recieving from everyone but Ranma. That's what it was about, Ranma didn't trust her. He had actually told her something that she didn't realize was a serious vunerable spot with him, and not too soon after she had told him he wasn't a pervert, she went and accused him of taking advantage of her with lecherous intent. He had trusted her, possibly even felt a little comfortable with her, and she had broken his confidence in her.

"Ranma," Nabiki kept her voice soft, as she brought her right hand up to rub her temple, "for what it's worth, I really am sorry. You're not a pervert, and I should have known better." Nabiki internally gave herself a wry smile; if the pigtailed boy knew the dream she had the previous night...

"It wasn't fair to you, and I know you only had the best of intentions." The middle-aged woman gave a chuckle, "We can't let a little thing like this come between friends, can we?" The last part was said with a hopeful lilt.

After a pregnant silence, Ranma spoke, "Can we go now?"

Sighing, Nabiki attempted to release some tension, before speaking, "I'll go ahead and take you home." Ranma grunted, non-committingly, as he got up from his seat. Nabiki watched him walk towards the door, a short trek that would end him at her car. Closing her eyes once more and hanging her head, she knew she probably had a good ways to go before regaining his trust again.