Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2, nor claim to.
Chapter Thirteen: Iaijustsu (Speed Draw)
"You say, 'Why does everything I do confound you?' You say that I pulled the world from under you, you can't go through it this time." Barenaked Ladies: Too Little Too Late
"Dammit! Where is he?!" Keira shouted to herself as she raced into the abandoned lot. Looking around, there was nobody here. "Sauske-kun, where are you?!" Sighing, she dropped the bracer and kunai, using this short break to get her equipment on. First, she placed her shuriken pouch onto her belt next to her right hip, and slid her sword into the belt as well, snugly fitting behind her back. She slid it out a little of the sword to make sure it would slide easily, then snapped it back into place.
Picking up the bracer, she slid it over her left arm, before locking it down in place. Adjusting the cloth, put there to keep it from chafing her skin and sliding around, she fiddled with the small loop which crossed between her thumb and fingers, covering the center of her palm. Once she felt it was secure, she grabbed the kunai from the ground.
One at a time, starting at the small set of holes at the bottom of the bracer, near her elbow, she slid the ring end of each kunai into the space perpendicular to her arm. Once in, she pulled it back, turning the point towards her elbow. There was a loud click as the kunai was locked into place. This was repeated until all seven of the kunai were in place.
Keira sighed. Now she was really ready. But this was still an empty lot. Where was Sauske?
Reaching down, she pulled the note from her pocket, reading the address again. "Am I at the right spot?" she asked openly to the empty field. "Okay, I'm at . . . wait a second! That's not a nine! That's a four! Shoot, that's at least halfway across the district!" Suddenly, the rest of the letter came to mind, and Keira folded the note, placing it in her pocket.
She took a deep breath, then sprinted off for her new destination at full speed. "Hang on, Sauske-kun! I'll be there soon!"
- - -
Sauske watched Aki carefully. She carried her blade around in front of herself, placing the tip down into the ground. Sliding her hand out, holding the sword at arms length, Aki refocused her eyes on him, and they never wavered after that.
"Brick-boy!" Aki said loudly after a moment's pause. "The time has come! . . . We are going to settle . . . everything that has happened right now!"
Sauske eyed her suspiciously. He shook any fear out of his mind. His father had taught him all kinds of ways to battle people with weapons. Swords were the first ones he had ever learned. The fact that the opponent was very good with swords meant rule one would be most important: Separate the swordsman from his or her sword.
Aki watched as Sauske slid into a fighting stance, his hands up near his face, clenched loosely into fists. Aki smiled, pulling the blade out of the dirt. Grasping the handle tightly, she turned the blade around behind her, readying the sword for a slash.
- - -
Sakura had a plan. There was one way she was sure she could pull a victory out with. It wasn't necessarily the neatest plan, but it could work. Everyone had been talking about her joining Kendo club, but also how she had only been using a sword seriously for what, five months? Hopefully her opponent thought she was inexperienced. Sakura smiled, because she knew she wasn't.
"GO!" the coach shouted, holding up the thumbs up sign. Sakura immediately bolted forward, trying to cross the distance between her and her opponent as quickly as possible. Her sword was swept back to one side, to look like an obvious slash attack. The other kendoist obviously flinched at such a brazen charge, expecting a bit more controlled assault. Which put him in a very dangerous position.
Sakura had already crossed the distance between them, and struck immediately. Turning her sword forward, the point shot around to change her attack form. Immediately, she thrusted the sword forward, rising up from her hip, straight towards her opponent's head.
He saw the strike changed, but already off balance from her charge. Moving quickly, he swung his sword around, deflecting the sword up and over his head, instead of into it, as his own sword tossed across his body, uselessly hanging aside. He almost just gave up then, having put Sakura in the perfect position.
Sakura smiled. Everything was going perfect. Her sword, while deflected away from her thrust, simply dropped straight down, crushing onto her opponent's head. He buckled a bit under the force Sakura put behind it. Maybe she did hit a bit hard, but that wasn't important.
"STOP! Point to the challenger!" the coach shouted, and immediately, the two combatants separated, walking back to their original positions.
The girl leaned over to him. "Well, she seems aggressive." The man nodded. "What should we do?" He only smiled.
As the two reached their spot again, the coach turned to Sakura. "Are you ready, challenger?" Sakura nodded. The man turned to her opponent. "Are you ready, champion?" he said with an over-eager wink.
The champion looked over, noticing the signal, even from the hundred-foot distance or so. He took a deep breath, readying himself, then nodded almost to the point of a bow. Then, he raised his sword up, clenching the handle tightly. Time for the real thing.
"I see." The girl replied, making a few notes on her clipboard, and checking some boxes. "Hopefully she'll last long enough to show some real strength."
"You underestimate Sakura, Yanagi. The Saotomes are a very powerful martial arts family, as are the Tendos, and the two families have merged to make her. Sakura has also trained under her father, one of the best martial artists out there. She is not a great swordsman, but she does have a great ability to fight. That will give her an edge."
"So, I take it you think she's going to win this?" Yanagi asked with a slight hint of disbelief in her voice.
"No. Not a chance." The coach replied, before thrusting out the thumbs up sign. "GO!"
- - -
Sauske ducked as the sword swung over his head. Unfortunately, he forgot to keep watching Aki.
"HIYAH!" Aki shouted, kicking her foot up, smacking Sauske in the face as her sword passed over him, her blue aura flowing all around. The boy tumbled back several feet, before crumpling to the ground. Sauske groaned slightly, lying flat on the ground. When her arms slowed the sword down, she swung the sword back to her right side, holding it up for a powerful chop down.
Sauske placed his hands on the ground, pushing himself up. He rubbed his chin, trying to dull the pain, but he stayed siting on the ground.
Aki, seeing her chance was now, let her aura burst go. A huge swarm of blue light surrounded everywhere around her, easily filling most of the field, and she raced forward. The boosted strength and speed would make this plan perfect. Charge him while he's down, and use the sword to force him to give up. Forcing a blade to his throat would be sure to secure victory.
Sauske held his breath as the aura of the Chinese girl spread. He focused as well as he could, planning to roll aside right before she swung. It would plant the blade into the ground, and then he could toss her aside, and throw the weapon away. And, it would keep him safe from the sharp edge.
"THIS IS THE END!" Aki screamed in a battle cry, reading herself to stop the blade, only feet away. When the time was right, she threw all her strength in, swinging the blade down at Sauske.
CHINGG-GG-GG! DSSSSHhhhhhhh! Sauske involuntarily gasped as the ringing of metal on metal sounded over the battle cry, followed by the shifting of dirt as something slid across the ground. He looked up, and stared in awe at the scene. The only other sound, as the other sounds faded away, was an extremely heavy breathing.
A labored voice spoke up, with a tone of absolute hatred behind it. "What the hell are you doing to Sauske-kun?!"
- - -
Sakura heard the word "Go", and so she charged again. Her opponent did not shrink at this attack, however. But, that should be expected, since it is rare that someone is fooled twice. Even so, she pulled the sword back to her hip, readying for a quick thrust attack.
The distance was soon covered, and Sakura shot her sword forward, aiming for the middle of her opponent's chest. He was ready this time, and he would not let himself make another mistake.
Sliding his left foot behind him, the swordsman twisted his body ninety degrees, shifting his body out of the way of Sakura's attack. The sword was now in front of his stomach, several inches away. The girl immediately tried another attack, slashing towards him with her sword, only to be blocked as he slid his sword down to stop it. There, they held that position, the man holding Sakura's sword a bay inches from its target. Then, he made his attack.
Sliding his left foot back to where it was before, he put all his strength behind his sword, shoving it away and to his left. Sakura wasn't prepared, and so her sword swung out wide to her side. The swordsman quietly watched her, before swinging his sword up and at her.
The sword impacted onto the side of Sakura's face, knocking her head around several times inside the helmet. The blow knocked her body away, and she stumbled back several steps, as the sword of her opponent followed through and slowed to a stop on the other side of his body. Sakura continued to stumble, before coming to a stop, collecting herself.
"STOP!" The coach shouted. "Point to the champion!" After Sakura glared at her opponent for a moment, they nodded, and walked back to their original positions.
"That wasn't very good." Yanagi said quietly to the coach. "She seemed very capable before, but now, most of the other candidates would easily have escaped that."
"You're underestimating the Saotome clan again, Yanagi." The coach said, smiling. "When the chips are down, at least from what I've heard, they can come back in a split second. I'm sure Sakura has more behind her than we've seen so far." He turned towards Sakura. "Challenger, are you ready?!" Sakura nodded, and so the coach turned back to her opponent. "Champion, are you ready?!" He nodded as well.
"Underestimating her, hmm?" Yanagi said quietly, watching Sakura carefully. "We'll see, sensei."
"Just watch." The coach replied, before throwing out his thumbs-up sign. "GO!"
- - -
Keira gasped for breaths as she struggled to hold her arms up. The sword was easy to handle, since she had used this very one since she was eight. Her right hand held the handgrip of the ninja-to, while her left hand was placed against the backside of the blade. The sword was arced over her head, and her arms were buckling under the weight. Her left leg was slid far back, and both knees were bent to give her body more support. With each breath, her whole body shuddered.
Her head was turned up, however, staring across the way, past her sword, to her opponent. Her eyes were alight with flame, a look of pure rage flowing through her face. Her teeth were clenched, and a faint, but quickly glowing, red glow could be seen exuding from her entire body.
"Answer the question!" Keira shouted again, her body still under the stress of holding back this attacker's sword.
"Who are you?" Aki asked calmly, without letting up on her weight on her sword. She needed to keep the girl there. Whoever this brown-haired girl was, she had suddenly appeared in front of her and stopped her sword. That may not have been much of a feat, since she was already slowing it to begin with, but the look of anger in the girl's eyes, and the growing battle aura told her not to take chances. Aki would work to be sure the girl would not move without destroying her chances at winning any fight.
"Me?" Keira said with a sarcastic sweetness. "I'm Sauske's best friend, Kuonji Keira." There was a small tap when Sauske jumped back onto his feet. "And if you even thin about hurting Sauske-kun again, I'm going to wh – AAAAAAHHH!" Keira screamed at the unknown as she was pulled away. Aki, not expecting it either, let the sword drop into the ground.
"Shhh! Keira, it's okay." Sauske said quietly into her ear as he landed several feet back, his hands gently carrying the girl by her waist.
"S-Sauske-kun?" Keira asked, looking up at him over her shoulder. The bright red glow faded, then dispersed completely. "Are you all right?" Her voice was much calmer now, but her look of rage was now replaced with worry.
"I'm fine, Keira, but I need you to do something for me." Sauske continued, watching Aki stare at them from across the short distance they had jumped.
"What is it, Sauske-kun?" She asked immediately, letting her hands lower down and the sword tip touch the ground.
"I need you to stay out of this fight." Sauske said quickly and sternly, his eyes still focused on Aki. "I can explain later, but you can't attack Aki no matter what happens."
"But . . ."
"No buts." Sauske said, releasing her and stepping around and in front. "I need to do this on my own."
Keira stared at the back of her best friend's head. Slowly, she sighed deeply. "All right, Sauske-kun. I won't get in your way." She lifted her sword from the ground, swung the tip behind her back, and slammed it back into the sheath with one quick shove.
Aki stared at them, surprised. "He is like a tranquilizer for her. I have never seen someone so calm so quickly." Aki muttered to herself, watching the two talk. Then, she shook her head before raising her sword back up into a ready stance. "Ready now, Brick-boy?" Aki said slowly, staring at him.
Sauske did not say anything; instead, he simply nodded and raised his hands up.
- - -
"Where is it?" Mousse said angrily, looking around the small toolbench they had set up in the main area. There was still plastic over the floor, and several tables waiting to be finished, along with exposed studs and insulation in certain parts of the walls, but it was finally starting to look like a real restaurant.
His youngest daughter glanced up over the window of the kitchen. "Oh, Pai, have you seen the grinder around here?" She thought for a moment, then shook her head, and disappeared into the kitchen again. "Grr, where is it?!"
"Aki was using it yesterday, I think, and she left it in the corner over there." A boy approximately Aki's height replied, waving his hand over towards another part of the room while carrying some more boards out through the back door to cut.
Mousse glanced over to where his son had pointed, before walking slowly in that direction. Picking through the pile of things and holding them up to see them clearer, eventually he found what he was looking for. "Found it!" Then, he paused. "Why did Aki need it?"
"Something about fixing up her sword." The boy replied just as he disappeared out the door.
"Meuze, there is no time. We have to get going." Shampoo said loudly, walking in quickly.
Mousse looked up, surprised. "Going? I thought we were meeting them in a half an hour, Xiang Pu?"
"Yes, but we need to make some other stops first."
Mousse sighed, and walked towards the stairs to the apartment they had above their restaurant to change into his regular robes.
- - -
Sauske waited as Aki bolted towards him. When she reached him, Aki slashed her sword across at his gut with serious strength, but Sauske hopped back in time to let the blade glide past without touching him.
Aki hopped forward as well, letting the power behind the sword swing turn her body faster. Once her back was to Sauske, she swung out her left foot, the spinning throwing it out towards the boy's head.
The boy ducked underneath the back spin kick, only to see Aki now in position to use her sword again. She swung the sword down again, aiming for the crouched boy, when his spun his back around. Sauske knew it would be doubtful to avoid a slash from this range, so his spin would at least lessen the blow and let him escape easier. Arching his chest out, he made an opening in his personal space to allow the sword to swing by harmlessly.
There was a light pressure on his school bag, but otherwise Sauske was unharmed. Feeling ready to move again, he dove forward, rolling forward across the ground to safety. Once he stopped, he turned around again, facing Aki, snapping his hands back into position.
"Sauske-kun! Are you okay?!" Keira shouted from a short distance outside the fight.
"Fine!" Sauske replied, never taking his eyes off Aki. Aki repositioned her sword, readying for another thrust attack, but waiting for Sauske to make the first move.
Sauske took a deep breath, before dashing forward. His eyes trailed from Aki to the sword, and never left. Aki began running towards him as well, gripping the sword tighter than ever. Once he was in range, She thrust her sword out, when the boy dropped down to the ground. Spinning on the ground, Sauske slid underneath the sword, back to the girl. Once he reached her, he stood up suddenly, accidentally hitting Aki in the chin with the top of his head.
Slipping his hands forward, he wrapped his fingers around the sword hilt, holding on to the small crosspiece. Then, he threw his body backwards, and shoved his hands forward, pushing the girl and the sword apart. After a moment of struggle, Aki was forced to let go, and Sauske slipped between the space in her hands. The girl stumbled backwards a few steps.
Sauske stepped forward a bit, and tossed the sword away. It bounced along the ground for a moment, then fell onto the ground and coasted to a stop on the grass. Sauske breathed a sigh of relief, hearing Aki approach from behind. "All right," Sauske began, turning around, "what is this about . . . AKK!"
Sauske grunted as Aki punched him in the face, right hand to left cheek. He grunted again as she repeated the punch with her left hand onto his right cheek, and finished with a roundhouse onto the left side of his neck. Sauske flopped down several feet back, collapsing into a heap.
Aki walked slowly to her sword, as Sauske leaned himself up from the ground. "We are fighting . . . If you don't already know why . . . it is too late. Now, . . . fight me!"
- - -
Nabiki sighed as the sound of a bus roaring down the road rumbled outside. "What time is it?" she thought to herself, looking up at the clock. "Wow." She muttered to herself, before looking up to her sister, sitting at the other end of the table, reading some martial arts book. "Hey, Akane, where is everyone? Shouldn't some of them be home by now?"
Akane shook her head. "No, Sakura is at Kendo tryouts right now, so she's going to be home late, and Sauske is meeting Keira at Ucchan's today. And the bus for Auska, Amy, and Joseph doesn't . . ." Akane looked up at the clock as well, and blinked, ". . . just passed by. Huh, that's odd." Akane finished, her voice softening.
"What's odd?" Nabiki replied with a calm voice.
Akane shrugged. "It's just that they're usually home by now. Oh well, it's probably nothing." Akane heard the phone start ringing. Standing up, she walked to the phone calmly. Picking it up, she placed the receiver to her ear. "Hello?"
"Hi, Mommy!"
"Hello, Auska. Where are you?"
"Oh, um, well, me, Amy, and Joseph are all at Uncle Ono's clinic, and he said we should call ya'."
"Something wrong?"
"Well, Amy had a really bad asthma attack durin' school, and after we got off the bus, Joseph said we should see him before we went home, so we're all here now."
"Oh, my." Akane said out of a force of habit. "Is she all right?"
"Akane? Something wrong?" Nabiki asked, looking up from the table, holding her calm appearance.
"Yeah, she's fine. Uncle Ono said she should take it easy for the rest of the day, but she'll be fine. We're just goin' to be back a little late, though."
"All right, that's fine." Akane replied. "Stay together, though."
"Yeah, we will. Bye!"
"Bye, Auska." Akane listened to the click as her daughter hung up the phone, then hung up the phone on her end, and returned to the table.
"Akane, what's going on with Auska?" Nabiki asked, again with her straight face.
Akane sighed, returning to her book. "Amy had another asthma attack at school, and so when school was over, the three of them went to see Ono. They're going to be back soon."
"Oh, okay." Nabiki replied, and returned to her empty, bland daydream as best she could. It was much tougher that it sounded.
- - -
Sakura spun rapidly as she slid past him. Swinging her sword out as she went, there was a very satisfying CRACK! as she struck him in the back. "STOP! Point to the challenger!"
Sakura stood up proudly, as the score was now 2-1 in her favor. One more point and she would win. She returned calmly to her position, and spun back to face her opponent. The kendo club member did the same.
The coach smiled, glancing between them. "Challenger, are you ready?" She nodded. "Champion, are you ready?" He nodded. Smiling wider, he swung out his hand in a thumbs-up sign. "GO!"
The two combatants charged, clanging their swords together on the first blow. Yanagi sighed. "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it."
"What is it?" the coach asked.
"Sakura is . . . amazing to keep up for so long, after five months of practice with a sword. Doesn't that seem a bit odd? After all, he's been training . . ."
The coach cut her off. "Yes, it is amazing. But, the fight is not over. He can still win."
"The score is two to one, obviously Sakura's the new favorite."
"He's got plenty of tricks left, trust me. You ought to know to never doubt him, all the time you've spent at these. Sakura is quite good, but nowhere near his caliber yet." The coach smiled, running his hand through his black hair. "What did score her as so far?"
Yanagi glanced down at her clipboard, while occasionally turning back to the fight. "Speed five, offensive technique four, defensive technique three, power three, and stamina four. Should I go on?"
"No, I think that's enough for now. But put offensive technique two and defensive two."
The girl looked up at him. "Why would I do that? Her strikes are pretty close to hitting most every time, and she has blocked a lot of attacks."
"Yes, but that's not the reason. Her strikes are getting close because they're much faster than almost everyone else on the team. There's no real skill to them beyond the basics. It makes sense that great speed can make up for poor technique, right?"
"Well, yes, that makes sense."
"Then how did he just hit her," CRACK! "the same way she hit him less than a minute ago? If she was good enough to attack him and strike him, how come she missed the same strike returned back on herself?"
Sakura grimaced under her mask. How did she miss that? He had just suddenly slid out of view, dropped past her side, and slammed his sword right into her back. "Whoever this is, he knows some good moves." She thought to herself. "Wait a second, that was my attack! How did he do that?! I didn't even see it coming!"
As Sakura and her opponent retreated to their positions, the coach glanced down at Yanagi. "Hey, why don't we liven things up a bit?"
Yanagi glanced up at him with wide eyes. "Are you sure that's a good idea to let him have full freedom again? It might be too much for her."
"It's more for her than him." The coach looked up at Sakura. "She's got some aura, she tells me, and I think we already know what the decision is. Might as well take a break."
Yanagi sighed. "Do you think we should?"
The coach smiled, without turning away from Sakura. "Why not. Go get some spare swords." Yanagi scuttled off, walking towards a nearby closet labeled "EQUIPMENT" on the door. The coach smiled wider. "Both of you, I have an idea for this last round."
The two fully dressed kendoists looked at him expectantly. "What is it?" Sakura asked.
"Well, since the score is tied, we thought it might be interesting to let some of the rules lax. Like, for instance, dropping the rule on special attacks."
If the coach could have seen Sakura's eyes, he would have found them sparkling. "R-really?!" she said happily. "YES! I can use my aura!" She thought proudly, clutching her sword.
The coach noticed Sakura's opponent looking over at him expectantly. The coach simply nodded back. "So, the rules are as such. The only targets are still the arms, head, or torso. Hits must be scored by the sword which you wield. Should it break, we have spares. Combat does not end until I call stop and declare a winner. First strike wins. The ring size is now expanded to the entire gym, except for the area in which Yanagi and I stand. Any questions?"
Sakura clutched the sword tighter. She was going to win! "Nope, not at all!"
Her opponent simply shook his head.
The coach smiled. "Ready?" he swung out his hand in a thumbs up sign as Yanagi stepped up next to him, holding a pile of swords in her arms, along with her clipboard. "GO!"
- - -
Sauske ducked and rolled around again, continuing to dodge the relentless assault by Aki. It seemed, though, with every successful dodge, her flurry of blows grew. Each escape simply drove her on further. Her blue aura had faded again into a deep, piercing red.
Sauske loosened the strap of his bag on his left shoulder, before sliding the bag into his right hand. "Enough!" he shouted, throwing the bag straight for Aki. With a quick strike, Aki knocked the bag sideways and away with the blade of the sword, before it bounced harmlessly on the ground and stopped. Aki then lifted the sword overhead as they came close together again.
Nearly tripping over a loose rock, Sauske saw the sword coming down to crash onto him. "SAUSKE-KUN!" Keira shouted from the sidelines. His attention was diverted long enough to see Keira throw something his way. Reaching out, he grabbed the object, and swung it up.
CHINGG! The greatsword crashed down onto the small kunai, but Sauske stood firm under the pressure of Aki's attack. Barely able to fit his two hands onto the handle, Sauske began to push back. Finding some serious leverage, Sauske suddenly put all his strength behind the shove, and pushed the blade up and over his head.
The kunai headed straight for the ground when Sauske dropped it, rushing in to fill the space just in front of the Chinese amazon. Grabbing her two arms by the wrist, the boy quickly turned them both out, causing her to drop the sword onto the ground behind him.
Aki gasped, not in pain, but in the feeling of her sword falling free of her grasp. She tried to escape from Sauske's hold, but he quickly snapped her arms down to her side.
The boy did not hesitate. Stepping forward again, he wrapped his arms around her a little above the waist, before weaving his fingers together. Tightening his grip around her body, his arms passing over hers between the elbow and wrist, he effectively locked the girl's arms at her side. Hopping slightly, he placed his feet roughly on top of hers, holding them down. Then, Sauske dragged her body up to him as close as possible, placing his face on the left side of hers, so that each could only see over the other's back.
The "Hug Lock" was complete, and Aki was all but completely helpless.
Sauske tightened his grip. "All right. Now tell me what this is about!"
Next Chapter: Aki's revelation, and Sakura's discovery!
Well, that's the end of that chapter. I hope everyone is enjoying this story, because I'm enjoying writing it. If anyone out there knows what the real names of Shampoo and Mousse are, I would really like to know ("Xiang Pu" and "Meuze" are just guesses, but I'm pretty sure they are close.). Anyway, on with the reviews:
The Liz: Wait, there's more swordfighting to come. (By the way, Shampoo did have a sword while she was chasing Ranma and Genma too) As for the possibility of a Kuno . . . I'm keeping my mouth firmly shut.
Sleepingbear: Yes, Brandon is a bit of a jerk, but he's a nice jerk.
Unknown: I know its confusing so far, but things are going to start making sense soon, I promise. As for Sauske, there are a few reasons it's spelled the way it is. 1. It's different from Sasuke (some people do watch the anime, even if I don't, so I wanted to make the name look different) and 2. So it's pronounced correctly (same with Asuka being spelled Auska)
Reynolds Brandon
Age: 41
Occupation: Financial Consultant
Strength: 1
Stamina: 1
Speed: 1
Ki: 1
Aura: 0
Special Techniques: 0
(Note: Brandon has never practiced any specific form of martial arts.)
Brandon, having arrived after the original story of Ranma ended, remains a bit separated from the past. His first appearance in the lives of Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki especially, did not happen until after Akane had become pregnant with Sauske. That one visit was his first to Japan, and, obviously, it was one he would never forget.
Brandon's story begins back in New York City, where he lived most of his life with his family, which consisted of himself, his father, his stepmother, and his stepsister. (His mother died of complications at childbirth, so he never knew her) They were quite well off, and actually even more so as his uncle and father's co-owned investing firm began to take off. Fortunately for him, his parents had done what few rich families do: put a lot of pressure on their children to do work for themselves and earn their own money. It put a lot of responsibility into Brandon, which would be what carried him on.
Then again, that meant Brandon had to earn his own money most of the time. It wasn't until he was fifteen that he came up with an idea, and it was one he had been using since he was a kid. His family and his friends loved card games. So, Brandon became an exceptional poker player. Of course, US law prohibits minors gambling, but one fake ID later, the "eighteen year old Christopher Walkins" became a real poker player.
His parents caught him once, when he was seventeen, and they really tore him out about it. So, he gave up on playing for five months, until his eighteenth birthday, and then he began playing again with his parents blessing. So, while he attended college in business, he paid for at least half his tuition through his card habit. He was good enough to risk the money, and at least three times out of four he came left with over three times what he brought. He did have days walking home broke, and he did make his share of mistakes gambling, but he knew what he was doing.
He did play professional poker a few times, winning first in a regional tournament, first in a state tournament, and seventh in a national tournament, under the same fake name "Christopher Walkins". He liked obscurity; it helped keep intimidation down at the real casinos when he used his real name. But he never planned to make a life of it. It wasn't secure enough for him. He was never going to stop playing, but he would find something much more suitable for long term.
Which is why he was immediately hired by his family business, to a quiet lucrative position. It wasn't just family that got him the job, however. He had a high honors degree for business and economics behind him. That, and his poker playing had given him some useful talents for a negotiator. He could keep a straight face through anything (rumor is he only smiled once while watching Jerry Seinfeld's comedy act), whether it was good or bad. It wasn't that he was emotionless, it was just he could control his face whenever he wanted. Which, nowadays, he only does to further prolong the humor of the situation, or at work.
Another one of his talents was risk assessment. He could weigh out most situations, picking where everything would end up, with amazing accuracy. For cards, it meant he knew exactly when to fold and when he could raise based on his cards. In the financial world, it meant the same thing: when to invest, and when to back away. The one thing he couldn't do, however, was read others, which is one of the reasons he gave up on a professional poker career. He only ever really knew what he had, and everyone else was as mysterious as he was when he gave his emotionless little smirk.
But his life was not dominated by work, as much of his family would attest to. Brandon loved practical jokes, and had learned how to do them in a way that left very few people angry with him. Most everyone would just glare for a moment, and then burst out laughing. Almost nobody has been safe from this constant barrage, and only because he was married to her, and she helped out on almost every one of his pranks since they met. Nabiki has been very willing to pull tricks on others, including her family and his, and having an accomplice meant people would could be more forgiving, since it had been doubly approved as non-offensive
As for the story of how they met, Brandon was assigned to meet with Nabiki as a representative of the family business, which had grown to a large corporation by that time. After researching about her to know what he had been put into, he felt ready to meet with her. And so, he headed to Japan with three months of intensive Japanese language training, a thick file on Nabiki, and some financial files to speak with her about. He was quite impressed with her when they met, since she had been able to trim the files about a good ten thousand dollars in the ten minutes they were waiting for the food to arrive at lunch.
To skip over much of the story, the relationship blossomed beyond a simple business partnership, and began to grow into something much more serious. They spent their vacations visiting each other, and as Ranma and Akane prodded Nabiki about her relationship, Brandon's stepsister and friends prodded him twice as much. With approval from both families (enthusiastic approval, especially from the Tendo side), the two were married.
When they finally agreed to live in New York, each saying they should stay in the other's hometown, Brandon did his best helping Nabiki adjust to America, and they both helped each other get used to being a family. After all, they were, like every other couple from Nerima, still very young (Brandon was 24, Nabiki was 23). To help her with being completely out of Japan, Brandon continued learning Japanese, and, of course, the decided to spend all of their vacations visiting her family in Japan, since Brandon could see almost all of his family everyday.
When Joseph and Amy were born, both he and Nabiki agreed to raise them right, teaching responsibility as best they could and in the same way Brandon was raised. Their children were very bright, and did well in school, both with plenty of friends for support. Even though work was a big part of their lives, both Nabiki and Brandon made sure to spend all the time they could with their family, and each other. Except for Amy's asthma and Joseph's occasional discipline problems, Brandon couldn't have wished for a better family.
Which, obviously, was why it didn't last forever. When the openings in Japan came up, Brandon and Nabiki were assigned it. Since it was approved before the two of them even heard about it, which was done on purpose by one of the members of the company, they were forced into it. After long talks, several conversations with their children explaining how they would have to move to Japan, without going into specific details on why, and many, many angry letters to aforementioned employee, they agreed to go. For Nabiki, it meant going home. For Brandon, it meant a whole new life. For Joseph and Amy, especially Joseph, it was a curse.
Moving to Japan was easy. Moving into, and building onto, the Tendo house to accommodate a second family went smoothly. Picking up their job in a whole other country, simple. Getting the children assimilated into the Japanese world, still being worked on. Amy made the cultural switch rather easy, since they had practiced much of it in New York for Nabiki's benefit, but feeling like she lost all her friends back in New York was not something she enjoyed. Fortunately, she's become very accustomed to Japan, made new friends, and still speaks with most of the ones she left behind regularly, whether through the phone, through letters, or by visiting on their return trips to New York.
Joseph, however, has not changed much, for both Nabiki and Brandon. Again, getting used to the culture and language of Japan was almost effortless. Going from a high honor student to barely passing in a single week was definitely not a good opening, though. While some may say it was the fact that Japanese schools are often much more difficult than American, all his teachers said it was his absolute lack of effort and determination that really brought his grade down. Home wasn't much better, since he quite openly hated both his parents for bringing them here, and separating both himself and Amy, especially Amy, from their friends.
While Joseph has calmed down a lot from the beginning, it has been hassle after hassle for Brandon to get him to do work at school. Since whenever he has to get something done, he does with relative ease, it's obvious to everyone that he is smart enough to get the work done. And he loves being around his new friends and his Japanese half of his family, so that's not it either. And Amy is obviously happy again, so that's not the cause either.
At this point, Brandon is doing his best to keep Joseph out of trouble, and from making more. He still hasn't figured out why he won't just do what he wants, and why he is so constantly incensed with them, especially Nabiki. After a never-ending four year fight, he hasn't been able to solve anything. Brandon can see Nabiki struggling to keep everything together, and cracking under the stress, at least privately, and he can't stop kicking himself for not being able to stop it. The only thing the three of them have been able to accomplish is to keep most of the problems inside the family. Akane is the only one who even remotely knows how constant the struggle can be sometimes.
But, he knows life's not perfect, and so, Brandon keeps going. While the problems with Joseph seem insurmountable, he works at it when he can, and is just there for his family when he can't. Even though Joseph can be hateful towards him and Nabiki, there are always little clues that show, at least at the very core of their son, that he does still love them, even a little bit. And he and Nabiki both still love each other too much to even consider letting the family fall apart, and so they 're going to stay together no matter what happens. And they'll never give up. Because Brandon, like Nabiki, really, really hates losing.