'Older'

Nabiki nor Ranma had seen much of one another in the last couple of days. Though the pigtailed boy wasn't particularly being evasive of Nabiki, he hadn't gone out of his way of approaching her, either. Nabiki, on the other hand, felt she needed to give Ranma some space for the time being, meaning, she was outright avoiding him.

She went on with her life, forcing the feeling of dissettlement down and out of her attention. Unfortunately, it would not be denyed, as it subtly made it's presence known though various minor mistakes she made during her days.

Nabiki's final client of the day had just left, and she allowed her head to slump onto her desk, feeling drained from having to concentrate so much on the person she was just with, with minor cramps not helping the situation. If she was in a wry mood, she would have considered that this was usually how she felt after breaking up with a boyfriend. Nabiki's shoulders tensed, as she thought about how fortunate she was that-

"Uh oh, this looks like man troubles to me!"

Nabiki's shoulders tensed. No, not her, anyone but her right now...

"Hi, Jesse," Nabiki mumbled with her face still pressed against the desk, "I thought you were supposed to be working day-duty at the New Sanno for the whole month?"

"More hired help," the black woman in a charcoal gray women's suit answered, swishing her long braided hair to the side, "I got some estra time on my hands now."

"That's good," Nabiki replied, still not rising to greet her friend, "Could you come back another time?"

"I could, but I'm here now, and I want to hear about this," Jesse retorted, sitting on the desk by Nabiki's head.

"There's nothing to talk about, I just don't feel good, okay?" Nabiki knew already that there just was not going to be a way to get rid of the woman. She knew Nabiki almost as well as she knew herself, and better when it came to problems with her love life. It was both comforting and aggrivating at the same time.

"Maybe not..." Jesse said, as she went into her oversized handbag, "But I bet with your cycle starting sometime this week, I can convince you to give me something interesting..."

"I'm not on my cycle right now," Nabiki bluffed, still refusing to raise her head. She was steadfast on not talking about her situation; if Jesse ever found out about Ranma, she was sure to NEVER hear the end of it.

"I'll bet..."

Nabiki refused to look up at the sound of the plastic wrapper being torn from a box, refused to give into curiosity as she heard the box being opened. Her willpowered was obliterated by the massive legions of femenine hormones that had become much more proficient at controlling her life within her recent years, at the delectable scent of chocolate, cherries, almaretto.

Nabiki's glared at the other woman with eyes surrounded by red-flushed flesh, "That was dirty, and you know it!"

"Your favorite! Only available at the BX in the New Sanno," Jesse said in a sing-song voice, "Oh, how I would just love to share these delicious cherry cordial with my best friend..."

"GIMME!!!" Even with her martial arts training, Nabiki fell just short of the woman, who had managed to skip away just in time.

"Share and share alike, I aways say," Jesse replied, taking a slow, tantilizing bite out of another sweet, "I think I could finish all these by myself..."

Nabiki glowered at the other woman, as she felt the urge to give in become even moreso overwhelming...

____________________

Ranma grumbled, as she fumbled with the key to Nabiki's house. Earlier that morning, Ranma had found it taped to the door with a note from Nabiki. It didn't take a genious to figure she was avoiding the pigtailed martial artis, which oddly upset her quite a bit, but relieved her as well.

shaking her head in resignation, Ranma opened the door, and recalled what the note had instructed her to do, as the low keening sound of a home alarm system sounded. Swearing, Ranma quickly entered the punchkey code on the touch panel under the doorbell, ceasing the noise abruptly.

Yeah, this day was going true to form, Ranma thought to herself. She was already being labeled as a social misfit, what with her peers distancing themselves from him because of his extraordinary abilities, and he barely managed to dodge getting drenched several times during the course of school. It was a mixed blessing that he was out of sight of most of the crowd when the bucketfull of water that feel from one of the school windows landed on him. The only ones around would probably dismiss what they saw as some illusion... she hoped.

Ranma walked into the house, and closed the door behind her. It felt weird, not having the once ever-consistant presense of her father around, plus with her subtle exile at school, and Nabiki's surrupticious avoidance, she was feeling somewhat... lonely.

She used to muse on the though of how it would be to finally be rid of her father for a few days at least, but found the reality less than appealing. Well, at least there was one thing that could be done about it, the red-headed girl thought to herself. She picked up her slippers, and made for the exit to the back yard, aiming to lose herself in training. Just as delicate fingers grasped the glass sliding door knob, Ranma heard the front door open.

____________________

"What's the big deal?" Jesse asked, as she sat next to Nabiki on the floor against the wall, as the latter woman feasted on cherry cordial, "So, you're shacking up with a younger man. You go, girl!"

Nabiki took a moment to pause from her gorging, "It's not like it's by choice. Ranma is... a friend of the family who needed a place to stay for a while. Since my sister's place is a bit cramped, I volinteered my guestroom for the time being."

"And you're hooked on this guy, too."

As they were both speaking in English, Nabiki found it a bit difficult to figure if her friend and former English tutor was making a statment or a question. "He's just a friend, alright?"

Jesse smirked wider at the irritance in Nabiki's voice, "Is he also interested in you?"

"WHAT?"

"Nabiki, this Ranma guy has to be at least something to catch your interest, and then be able to aggrivate you," the black woman replied in seriousness, "And don't even try to lie about it, you like the guy."

"There's a little more to it than you think," Nabiki replied, sullenly, before wincing in realization of what she just verbally gave away.

Fortunately for her, Jesse didn't focus on it, "There's no reason why you shouldn't at least try to work with him a bit. You know what they say about younger men..."

"No, I *don't* know what they say about younger men..."

"Me neither," Nabiki's friend said with a grin, "You can tell me when you find out..."

____________________

"Auntie Nabiki? You home?" Kaoru called out. He had hoped to find her or Ranma home, actually more interested in the pigtailed martial artist.

The young Ono had found a new idol, even if Ranma wasn't all that much older than him. As fast as Ranma moved, it was both awe-inspiring, and motivating at the same time. He really wanted to get Ranma to show him a few things, maybe even spar with him some more. Fighting someone as good as Ranma was sure to raise his own skill level, and maybe one day, he could even possibly match Ranma...

He walked through the house, until he was faced with a vision that stopped every thought of his mind cold.

"Kaoru, what are you doing here?" the redhead asked with an oblivious and guileless expression.

The young man's eyes dilated as they also went wide, as his own expression went blank. As he stood there, ram-rod straight, Ranma pouted slightly at not getting an answer. "Nabiki's not back yet, you can wait for her if you want."

"Ah... h-hi, um... n-n-nice t-to meet y-you h-here... of all p-places!!!" Kaoru shouted, almost wildly.

Ranma leaned back from the volume, before leaning back towards Kaoru. The redhead's eyes narrowed, as she peered closely at the boy, "Are you okay?"

"F-FINE! N-N-NEVER BETTER!!!" Kaoru shouted even louder, as he began to scratch the back of his head, and laugh almost hysterically.

"No need to shout, you know?" Ranma retorted, now standing a good distance away from Kaoru.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! S-sorry... um... ah..."

"Ran-" Ranma stopped herself, realizing that Kaoru didn't know about her curse. Well, best to limit the amount of people who do...

"Ranko."

"R-Ranko.... n-n-nice to m-m-meet you here... of a-a-all places!"

"You said that already, and I'm staying here for the time being," Ranko said, dryly.

"You do? I thought Auntie Nabiki lived here!" Kaoru asked, dumbly.

"She does, I guess I'm her houseguest right now."

"..."

"Uh..." Ranko felt somewhat self-concious with him staring at her, "You wanna sit down... or something?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!" Kaoru suddenly pulled out his housekeys, the set with the little skeleton on it, "YOU HEAR THAT, STACY-CHAN? SHE ASKED ME TO SIT DOWN!!!"

"Would you please quit shouting?" Ranko asked, covering her ears.

"SHE EVEN ASKED ME TO STOP SHOUTING, STACY-CHAN!!!"

"Uh... right," Ranko grabbed him by the shoulders, attempting to guide him to the couch, where he could sit and wait for Nabiki, without bothering her for a while. The young Ono froze like a statue, causing Ranko to have to pick him up, and carry him under arm to the couch. She set him down against the seat, laying against it like a board. "Why don't you relax there for a while, alright?"

"R-r-relax... Icandothat!" Kaoru exclaimed, as he went limp, with one arm gripping the armrest.

"Good, you do that then," Ranko suggested. Once she figured Kaoru wasn't going to be acting goofy for a bit, she started towards the bathroom for a shower, idly removing her shirt as she did so.

Kaoru turned just in time to see Ranko's bare back.

::SHRIPPPP!!!::

Ranko froze at the sound, and turned back to the living room, where she found Kaoru gripping the arm rest of Nabiki's couch, "What the heck are you doing?"

"Ahhhhh..... I dunno?" Kaoru asked, focused on her torso, and idly ripping the armrest to shreds.

Ranko groaned, knowing Nabiki will probably blame her for this, too. With some quick thinking, deciding she didn't want him around to cause any more destruction, Ranko walked over to Kaoru, pulled him off the couch by one arm, and lead him, hand in hand, to the front door. She opened the door, and placed him outside.

"I'll tell you what, how about I tell Nabiki to call you, alright?" Only seeing Kaoru's trembling as a reply, Ranko sighed, and closed the door, just in time to miss the younger Ono begin to dance away with his keychain 'Stacy-chan'.

Ranma grumbled, as she turned back to look at the mess in the living room. It was best, she decided, to clean it up to at least minimize the disaster. But first, she needed to put something on. Her chest hurt from buncing around without a shirt.

____________________

Nabiki thanked whatever deities decided to be merciful on her. Much to her relief, Jesse had only stopped by for a short visit, citing that she knew when Nabiki would most likely need her monthly 'comforts'.

The middle aged woman had to chuckle at that, Jesse did know her pretty well, well enough to be her best friend, in fact. But, regardless, Nabiki had to be in a certain 'mood' to be in the proximity of Jesse. Of course, much to Nabiki's chagrin, the black American woman vowed that she would get to the bottom of the mystery of Nabiki's latest interest, before she departed.

Sighing, Nabiki leaned back in her chair, looking towards the ceiling while cradling her now only somewhat irritated stomach. This only highlighted to Nabiki that it she needed to have Ranma moved elsewhere, before an incident occured. Coupled with the fact that her current level of hormones are keeping her from remaining intimately distant from the pigtailed boy, things could get pretty... complex.

She leaned forward onto her desk, tapping her right index finger against the balancing desk sculpture, spinning it lightly. She wasn't going to tell Ranma, in case he decided to run off half-cocked after his father, but her own father had been clever enough to take an advance on their shared creditcard the morning of their disappearance. With that being the case, she would have to wait until the cash he had taken out went thin, and he wasn't using one of the other credit cards he owned to himself. Hunting the irrisponcible parents down may take a while.

Nabiki tapped the balancing desktoy once again, almost knocking it off its cradle. Once she got her hands on Ranma's father for convincing hers of such a hair-brained scheme, she...

"Hmm, hold on a sec..." Nabiki said to herself out loud. There was one idea she hadn't even considered. What about Ranma's mother? Assuming she was still around, and not crazy/distant/indifferent to her son, she probably missed him a great deal. Ten year training trip, she recalled Ranma saying...

"Yuko..." Nabiki addressed over the phone unit on her desk.

"[Yes, Ms. Tendou?]"

"I need you to do a bit of extracirricular work for me. I need to find out the wife of Genma Saotome, presuming he's married. Try looking into his last known address first, and seeing if there's still residency being held there."

"[Ma'am?]"

"I'm going to go on ahead home for today. If you need any more info, call me on my cell-phone."

"[Understood, Ms. Tendou.]"

Nabiki nodded in satisfaction, "Thanks Yuko. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"[Have a nice evening, Ms. Tendou.]"

____________________

"Well... this *is* the monsoon season," Soun commented, as he slicked the water from his hair, and pulled his somewhat water-resistant suit from his chest.

The panda wearing a torn business suit didn't take any comfort in his best friends words. Just as well, he was getting tired of wearing that monkey suit and looking 'presentable'. It was the first leg of their haitus... of their training trip, stopping off in Shanghai. After a few days of... training... at that local, they would fly to... travel to Myanmar, then to Sri Lanka, prior to Singapore, then up to Indonesia, before a quick stop to Borneo to complete their training trek. Genma had estimated to Soun the trip should take... three months...

By then, his son and Soun's daughter should be madly in love with one another, securing the joining of the schools. It was all too perfect!

Unfortunately, Genma couldn't even get up the enthuesiasm from even thinking about the trip. "[I'm going to go find some hot water,]" the panda's sign read, before it turned away. It halted its progress immidiately, as an arrow passed under its nose, imbedding itself into the concrete wall next to him. It had landed close enough for its feathery end to tickle his panda nose and cause him to sneeze.

"Friend of yours, Saotome?" Soun asked, pointing to the direction where people were quickly dodging to the sides of the crowded street, giving way to a charging lavender haired girl with twin butterfly swords held high.

"WHERE RANMA!!!"

As his panda eyes went wide, Genma's panda feet spun him around, and carried him at speeds that pandas weren't normally accustomed to do so, particularly on just their hind legs. Then again, much could be said about a cursed individual trying to save his panda hide...

____________________

Nabiki felt slightly more irritated, having to deal with unexpected traffic on the way home. By the time she arrived in her driveway, all she wanted was a nice, long bath.

She almost stumbled to the door, and paused at finding it unlocked. She slowly opened the door, and then wondered why her alarm was turned off. "Oh yeah, Ranma," she recalled, before removing her shoes.

"Ranma? I'm home." At the non-committal, but audible grunt that acknowledged her presence, Nabiki sighed. It sounded to her like he was still upset. Putting on her most winning smile, Nabiki found Ranma sitting on the patio with the door open to the house, staring over the fence. A cursory glance over to the thermostat revealed that the air was on.

"Ah... Ranma," Nabiki began, being very careful to maintain a calm voice, it seemed like this day was created to fustrate her to no end.

"Yeah?" Ranma replied, not turning to face Nabiki."

"Would you mind keeping the door closed when the air conditioning's on? Not that I'm accusing you of anything, since you may not have known it was running."

"Sorry," Ranma answered with a sheepish tone.

"That's alright," Nabiki closed the door behind her, "Mind if I sit down with you?"

"It's your house."

"You don't have to be such a little..." Nabiki quickly stopped herself, before considering if Ranma was indeed being smartmouthed, or just lacked proper manners in social etiquite.

At that, Ranma finally did turn on Nabiki, "'little' what?"

"Forgive me, Ranma, I'm having a very bad day today," Nabiki said, looking off the other way, and folding her hands over her lap.

"...." Ranma stifled a gulp, finding Nabiki a bit too close to him, and scooted to the side a bit, "Uh... no problem, I guess."

Nabiki frowned as Ranma scooted away, feeling a slight pang of dejection at his act. Shoving the small feeling away, Nabiki turned to look where Ranma was. "You know? I've never actually did this before..."

"Did what?" Ranma asked with a genuine hint of curiosity.

"Just sit back here, and look out there." Nabiki pointed out to the sun that was beginning to set on the horizon, greatly obscued by the fence of her backyard.

"Didn't feel like watch'n TV or anythin'," Ranma commented.

"There's nothing wrong with that. Truth be told, I don't watch all that much TV myself, either."

"Cool."

An ackward pause ensued between them, and Nabiki felt compelled to continue the conversation, "It looks pretty nice out there..."

From a sideways glance, Nabiki caught Ranma's whimsical smirk. "It would probably look a lot better from the roof, since there wouldn't be a fence in the way."

"Oh, really, Mr. Saotome?" Nabiki retorted with a wry tone, "Maybe one evening you should take me up there and show me."

Ranma went rigid at the suggestion, before turning to Nabiki with a nervous glance, "M-maybe."

Nabiki frowned again, "Ranma, you need to relax. I'm not going to bite or anything... and... and I'm sorry if I seemed like I was avoiding you..."

"Didn't notice," Ranma replied, not looking at Nabiki.

The middle-aged woman had lived long enough to be able to identify such an obvious lie. "I guess I just never learned to deal with men," Nabiki continued, and sighed.

"What do you mean?" Ranma risked a quick glance towards Nabiki, before almost immidiately turning away.

"Well, as boyfriends... and friends," Nabiki added the last part before Ranma had gotten too anxious, and possibly did something they both would regret. "I can't say I understand how you men work, even with experience." Nabiki chuckled to herself at a private joke.

Ranma jolted, as Nabiki put her hand against Ranma's back, but her somber tone held him in place, as well as the small sliver of pride that arose from an older woman calling him a man. "Ranma I know I probably seem a bit difficult to get along with, so just bear with me, okay?"

"Alright... I guess."

"Good!" Nabiki almost chirped, "I just have a lot more going on than you realize." Including femenine issues. At that after-thought, Nabiki wondered if Ranma had ever had his girl-side checke up on. She would have to enquire on what would most assurably be a delicate subject later on, when the mood wasn't so unstable.

"Yeah, you said that before."

Nabiki took his comment with a grain of salt, "Well, I'm going inside. Thanks for sharing the view."

"No problem." Ranma watched Nabiki stroll away through the closed glass door, unwittingly finding it more interesting than the view he was originally watching.

Nabiki stretched, as she walked towards her room. Ranma was still being a bit guarded, but she didn't feel that disturbing tension that was between them before. With a satisfied smile, she continued to her room, before she stopped.

Ranma's head snapped up, as the low, soothing background noise of the evening was disturbed.

"RANMA! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY COUCH?!?"

____________________

Ranma grumbled lightly, as she snuck towards the school hoping no one would notice her. Despite being surprise-splashed almost arriving at the school, the redhead found her mood a bit lighter than it had been for a few days. Ranma didn't like holding grudges, and tended to let them go as much as he could. Unfortunately, something about Nabiki's unintentional assaults to his maturity and virtuousness irked him to no end. Eventually, he would have let it go, but he wasn't sure what the repercussions would have been.

The talk she had with her last night let Ranma at ease a bit, realizing that she would never intentionally upset him. It was comforting, to know that even after a short time of knowing one another, and even if not by their own designs, that she had concern for Ranma's welfare. Admittingly, she also felt the same towards her. She was a nice woman, and she figured she would be hard pressed to find another like her around. Although, Ranma was at a loss to figure her reaction to the missing arm-rest of her couch...

"Excuse me, Miss..."

"ACK!!!" Ranma jumped, and whirled on the boy that had somehow managed to sneak up on her, "DON'T DO THAT!"

The bandanna-clad boy flinched back a bit, a bit quelled by the angry young girl, "Ah... do what?"

Ranma blinked at the guile-less expression of the boy before her. With that, and the obvious travel-worn air about him, she took a little pity on him. Besides, it was her fault for being so pre-occupied with trying to figure out a way to get to the men's bathroom of her school without getting questions, "Ah, nothing. Sorry I snapped at ya."

"Uh, that's okay, I guess. Is this Furinkan High?"

Ranma blinked at the boy before her, suddenly finding him strangely familiar, but dismissed the notion, "Ah... no. If I'd guess, Furinkan High would be in the NERIMA district..."

"Oh... he heh..."

Ranma's expression turned into a hooded glance at the nervously chuckling, and obviously lost, boy. "This is Saitama. Actually, Ikebukuro..."

"Then... could you tell me which way it is to Nerima?"

"Subway's down that direction," Ranma pointed down the street to her left.

"Thanks, I'll be on my way, then." The boy headed to his left, about to walk to destinations unknown.

"STOP!"

"Huh?"

Ranma walked up to the bandanna'ed boy, turned him 180 degrees, and then shoved him. "Keep walking that direction until you see the words 'Subway'."

"Ah.... t-thanks again," the boy grinned sheepishly, showing a slight fang as he unconciously scratched the back of his head. He turned back around, heading slightly off course the direction Ranma pointed.

Ranma sighed, and decided it was a lost cause, before dodging into a crowd of students, hoping not to be noticed.

"Soon, Ranma," the fanged boy growled, as he concentrated on moving as much in a straight line as possible, but consumed by his thoughts. "Soon, I'll have my revenge for the Hell you've put me through. Soon, you will understand the suffering you have cause to Ryoga Hibiki!"

Ryoga smirked, before pausing, and looking around at all the trees suddenly replacing the towering buildings.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I, NOW?!?"

____________________

Nabiki played with her electronic pachinko pocket game, passing the time for the day in her office. She wasn't sure what to make of Ranma's mood last night, and hoped that they were at least on the way to being sociable with one another.

She fought down a fit of chuckles, thinking about how priceless the expression on Kasumi's face would be, once she told her eldest sister that her son has a serious crush on another guy.

Ranma was a good kid, although a bit rough about things. She couldn't blame him, after all, who knows what manners he picked up from his father. And from the little stunt he conned her own father into, she didn't imagine him to be the paramount of culture.

"[Ms. Tendou]"

Nabiki shut her game off, and answered the page, "Yes, Yuko?"

"[I've located a Mrs. Nodoka Saotome. Would you like her number?]"

Nabiki blinked, "Nodoka Saotome?" The name was ringing a bell, but a faint one.

"[Yes, Ma'am. You requested I find her-]"

"Oh! Genma's wife!" Nabiki relised, cutting her secretary off, "Boy, Yuko, you work quickly."

"[Well, it's not like I have much else to do,]" Yuko replied, the wry smirk being heard over the comm.

"You make it sound as if you don't actually *want* this cushy, boring job..." Nabiki replied with mirth. "But really, how did you find her so quickly?"

"[She was one of your clients.]"

Nabiki stopped short, "Wh-what?"

"[One of your first, in fact. I thought that was why you were looking for her?]"

"Actually, the reasons I was trying to find her were more personal than anything," Nabiki replied, somewhat chagrinned.

"[I presumed Genma Saotome was an old client, so I looked through the records first.]"

"That's good, that's good," Nabiki responded. It would make things a lot easier if she were to happen to be 'checking up' on an old client instead of straight out enquiring about her son. For all she knew, Nodoka may be enstranged from her family, even if Yuko didn't note any relation problems between her and Genma. "Go ahead and give me the number, and patch me in, if you would."

____________________

Kaoru walked home from school, still suffering from the same bliss and agony that he had from the previous day. Last evening, he had met that *one*. The one, his father had told him, that would make it so hard to concentrate, that would leave you tonguetied and almost out of your mind. That one you were destined for...

Of course, he had said this before his divorce from Kaoru's mother, but that was currently an irrelevant detail.

That left the young Tofu with another dilemma, if that's the way the amazing redhead made him feel, how in the heck was he going to be able to talk to her? With a sigh, he pondered his situation, not paying much attention as to where he was heading.

"Geez, maybe I should talk to Dad. He managed to finally ask Mom to marry him, so he has to be able to give me a few ideas. Or maybe I should ask Mom, she's a woman, after all. Na, Mom would probably meddle in it. You know? Maybe I should Nabiki! Didn't she say she was living with Nabiki, or something? I wonder what her relationship is? Deities, I REALLY hope we're not related, that would be ackward. Man, this love stuff is confu-whoops!"

Kaoru stopped, just in time to keep from running into the young man with long, brown hair, just twisting to the side before impact. It left the other guy unsatched, but unfortunately, Kaoru himself had to take a tumble, as he was unable to maintain control of his sudden shift in momentum.

"Better watch were you going."

"Ah," Kaoru grinned sheepishly, as he took the prooffered hand, "Thanks, I'm afraid my mind was elsewhere." Something began to needle Kaoru in the back of his mind. Something was quite off about this guy...

"I'll say." The other guy, probably just a little older than Kaoru, turned back to the old tapanyaki restaurant, as if inspecting it on the outside. "You know? I always wanted to own my own restaurant, and I may have to stay here for a while..."

The young Tofu blinked, and then leaned forward towards the long-haired boy, forcing him to lean back with a startled expression on his face. Kaoru peered closely, before his eyebrows raised to the top of his forehead. "Uh... did you know you're a girl?"

The long haired... person... blinked, before favoring Kaoru with a hooded gaze.

____________________

"Hello to you too, so this is the residence of Nodoka Saotome, wife of Genma Saotome?" Nabiki enquired, in as polite and unalerting tone as possible.

There was a long pause at the other end, "[... you're not a debt collector... are you?]"

Nabiki double-blinked, "Nnnnnnnoooooo...."

"[Um, is this a private detective? I'm afraid I do not know the whereabouts of my husband. And I couldn't tell you much, whatever you need you'll have to take up with him...]"

Nabiki had to stop at that, "Um, pardon me, 'private detective'?"

The woman at the other end sighed with immense relief, "I apologise, I don't recieve many calls, and all the ones I do that have mention of my husband usually are not pleasant ones."

"I would guess so," Nabiki replied in a droll tone. She decided once she got home, she would have to ask Ranma exactly what type of man his father was. "Actually, Mrs. Saotome, this is Nabiki Tendou..."

"Hmm? I recall the name Tendou, but I'm afraid that you are a bit lost to me."

"You came to my office about... sayyyyy... fourteen years ago..." Nabiki awaited the gratified reply that always made her day, once recollection set in.

The middle aged woman could almost feel the woman at the other end's eyes grow wide, "Oh! OH! Ms. Tendou! How do you do? I must express how thankful I am for your help. I didn't know what I would do, as my husband put himself entirely into training in martial arts, we had very little income."

"So, I guess you're living comfortably, then?" Nabiki enquired, continuing the dialogue.

"Very much so. I even was able to move from my old apartment, though the house I live in now is a bit large for my own needs, but I hoped to surprise my son and Husband, once they returned... but I had lost contact with them recently..."

Nabiki heard the sincere concern in Nodoka's voice, and decided that she could press to her primary reason for contacting the woman without concerns about drumming up negative reactions. "Actually, Mrs. Saotome, I was contacting you about your son. You see, he's temporarily staying with me, and-"

Nabiki slowly crawled back onto her chair, using one hand to pat down her hair as it had gotten mussed during her tumble... caused by the rather audible shout over the phone. She took a moment to steady her nerves, before replying, "I-I'm glad to... hear... you're happy. P-perhaps we can discuss this sometime tomorrow, over lunch?"