Ranma/Hannibal
Mindgames
The roaring sound of billions of tears from the sky slamming immercifully against any surface freely availible barely drowned out the crashing thunder. Any other sound was swallowed into the cacophony of dull, deafening noise, and went unnoticed to her, as she stared into his eyes.
Eyes that seemed a rose-crystal color where they should be blue, like diamond vampires sucking her essence away from where she stood, ten feet away. The umbrella he held over his head never wavered; stone colored against the shapless grayness he stood in that was only defined by the barely identifyable streaks of pouring rain.
Ranma's eyes were complimented by the humorless smile upon his face. A smile of a predator, a smile of a sadist, a smile of someone who found nothing more pleasureful than tearing you apart; mentally, physically, spiritually.
As she wiped a loose strand of hair from her face, she noticed something else about the smile directed towards her. There was a certain intrest; not of amusement, and something other than sexual. Obviously an attraction he found in her, but too unnerving for her mind to decipher.
Without a word, or change in countenance, Ranma turned, and walked away, allowing the gray, gloomy atmosphere to swallow him.
She demanded answer, as to what he was doing, why he was doing it, and moved to follow, until...
__________________
Nabiki's alarm clock stirred her from slumber, sygnifying yet another day of potential prosperity and strife. Immidiately, thoughts of their houseguest came to mind; she already decided that Ranma was much more than he had even alluded to, making himself more of an enigma than she had ever encountered.
He was a liability, someone capable of disrupting her comfortable routine. It wasn't that he thought he was all that dangerous, just a bit on the weird side. Nonetheless, it was only prudence that she uncover as much as possible about him; any extra coin in her pocket, as she would say.
__________________
"Hey Nabiki... you taking off already?"
Nabiki said not a word, as she walked by Ranma, and put on her shoes to leave. She barely turned a glance towards him, but it seemed as if he missed it entirely. With that look, she asked herself the multitudes of questions that she needed to get answers for; how good was he really? What had happened on his training trip for ten years? What lay in his history to be unearthed?
Nabiki decided that she needed to get to school early, so she may start the trail down Ranma's past. Ranma snorted, when Nabiki failed to reply, and smiled a bit to himself.
__________________
"Aoi, I need a big favor..."
The senior that was currently presiding as office aide turned to the middle Tendou sister with more than just a tiny bit of fear.
"Ah... what is it you need?" She asked in a guarded tone. Nabiki asking anyone for favors usually meant she had something on them that would prove... probmatic if unveiled, or she was desperate.
Nabiki... desperate... syntax error.
"I need you to check on a new studen't records for me, it's pretty important!"
Nabiki wouldn't be so direct if she had something on her. "Ah... you know I can't do that, Nabiki." Still, even tempting fate was unsettling.
Nabiki's grew into that oblivous expression when she was thinking, not a good sign for Aoi. "I understand, but it was pretty important. I just wanted to find out about the new kid staying with us, that's all."
"Considered asking him directly?" Aoi countered, folding her arms across her chest. The more the conversation went on, the more she realized she wasn't in any danger.
Nabiki fumed to herself, wishing she had the time to find out a little more about the quiet little office aide. Unfortunately, though he didn't seem much of a physical threat... yet, Ranma made Nabiki a bit jumpy. With a fustrated growl, Nabiki stormed from the office, deciding that she was going to have to become more prepared for next time.
Aoi sighed, finally allowed to make her quick trip to the bathroom. She quickly got up, and scurried out of the office herself, towards the girl's lavatory. Fortunately for Nabiki, she had been at the other end of the hall, getting a drink of water, when she noticed the office aide rushing to the bathroom.
Nabiki quickly entered the office, and headed for the file room. It didn't take long for her to locate the specific records she needed, and opted to just keep them for the time being, and return them later.
__________________
"Akane..."
The girl in question turned towards Ranma, walking beside her, with a curious expression.
"Your sister, what's she like?"
"Which one?"
"Nabiki, she's the one with short hair, right?" Ranma knew full well which one was Nabiki, but decided that the vague observation approach may help him better in this instance.
Akane turned back forward, "Well, she's a bit flippant sometimes, and she's a bit of a mercenary. She can be a bit irritating if you let her, though. Usually it's best to stay on her good side, and ignore her when she tries to tease you."
"I see," Ranma mused.
"Why?"
"I dunno," Ranma replied, slipping back into a more 'relaxed' speech pattern for Akane's benefit, "Something about her kinda worries me, you know? I guess I'm just being paranoid."
Akane chuckled, "Ranma, being paranoid around Nabiki is probably a *good* thing!"
Ranma shared in the laugh, but his eyes held a different attitude.
__________________
Throughout lunch, Nabiki scanned through Ranma's records. It was surprising to find that he held a substantial gradepoint average, even with his erronious attendance. Nabiki presumed Ranma may have been about genious level, and upgraded him as a threat. Still not all that grave of one, but someone to most assuradly keep under close observation.
Other than his academic record, the locations he had stayed for some brief amounts of time, and part of his slight, meticulous medical history, Nabiki was unable garner much on her potential fiance. With a sigh of fustration, she copied down the list of locations Ranma had stayed at and at the time he was there to do further research, and left the cafeteria to return the records.
__________________
The day at school ended without much event, and the after-hours before dinner, once they returned home, had proven just as uneventful. Ranma and Akane had been discussing homework, as Nabiki looked upon the two.
She noted how comfortable Akane was with Ranma, which meant the spotlight for the engagement was off of the middle Tendou daughter. That filled her with a slight relief that was unfortunately tainted with reservations. Akane wasn't exactly favorable with any guy, yet Ranma had managed to get her to warm up to him, even with several non-favorable incidents in which Akane had been slighted. What did her sister and him have in common?
Nabiki quickly turned her gaze away from Ranma, as he turned his head slightly back to her, not quite paying attention to Nabiki, but enough to acknowledge she was there, and that he may have noticed her boring gaze. She cursed herself for drawing his attention, and decided that she should remove herself from his presence, in case she drew too much attention to her activities.
Akane looked up to see her sister walking out of the room, but paid little attention to it, before returning to Ranma, "You're the only one in the class who's got all this figured out, I swear, Ranma!"
The pigtailed boy's attention snapped back to his peer, before he nervously began to scratch his head, "Well, I guess I'm just a bit lucky about it. I had to study English while I was traveling, so I have the experience over the rest of you."
Akane nodded, "Well, I'm glad you did." Her eyes rolled up and to the left towards the ceiling corner, "It's funny, the way you explain it makes much more sense than even the teacher."
"Well," Ranma answered, "I think it's more of understanding how another person interperates things. I guess we have a similarity in perspective."
Akane frowned at that, "You're saying you know how I think?"
Not an intentional trap, Ranma knew, but just her subconcious safety mechanism bred from her distrust. "No, nothing like that, I'm pretty sure even the teacher could help you just as well, if he were directly focusing on you. I mean teaching a broad group of people in the same manner wouldn't yeild as well the results."
Akane seemed visibly relieved at the answer, "That makes sense."
"Thank you," Ranma replied, before standing up, "If you'll excuse me, I'm a bit thirsty, want anything?"
"I'm fine, thanks," Akane replied, going back to identifying the parts of the complex English sentence.
Ranma walked into the kitchen, to find exactly who he was looking for. "You've been snooping around."
Nabiki took another spoonful of her icecream, before looking back at Ranma, "What ever do you mean, Saotome?"
"I mean that you've been watching me ever since we've returned from school. The other day, you expressed a great deal of intrest in me, which itself isn't all that suspicious, but you haven't asked me anything directly." Ranma tilted his head in curiousity, while Nabiki's face remained flippant, "What did you find out from my school records?"
Nabiki quickly began choking on the mouthful of icecream she was swallowing, before finally working it down the right pipe. "Thought so," Ranma replied, leaning against the counter next to Nabiki in the kithen.
"W-what are you talking about?" Nabiki replied between her gasps.
"Nabiki...chan..." Ranma started, giving her a term of endearment meant for slight intimidation, "you're not *that* clever. I figured out the reason you were rushing to school this morning had something to do with me, since you were trying to ignore me. Of course, that may have been from some dislike towards me, but that fleeting glance you gave me told me that you held no animosity towards me." Ranma leaned back from the counter, as Nabiki watched him with slightly narrowed eyes and a cool expression. "And since no one at school knows me, I could safely presume that you were interested in my records, not that they would tell you much exept that I'm a good student. The reaction you just gave me only confirmed it."
Nabiki attempted to appear nonchilant, "So, why don't you tell me about yourself? You seem like an interesting person."
Ranma smirked, before fully pulling away from the kitchen counter, "Then where would the fun be in that?" He asked with an innocent expression, as he went to a cabinet and got a glass, "I trust you will tell me what you discover?" With that, he filled it with water from the sink, and left back for the tearoom to continue his homework with Akane, leaving Nabiki seething and even moreso determined.
Mindgames
The roaring sound of billions of tears from the sky slamming immercifully against any surface freely availible barely drowned out the crashing thunder. Any other sound was swallowed into the cacophony of dull, deafening noise, and went unnoticed to her, as she stared into his eyes.
Eyes that seemed a rose-crystal color where they should be blue, like diamond vampires sucking her essence away from where she stood, ten feet away. The umbrella he held over his head never wavered; stone colored against the shapless grayness he stood in that was only defined by the barely identifyable streaks of pouring rain.
Ranma's eyes were complimented by the humorless smile upon his face. A smile of a predator, a smile of a sadist, a smile of someone who found nothing more pleasureful than tearing you apart; mentally, physically, spiritually.
As she wiped a loose strand of hair from her face, she noticed something else about the smile directed towards her. There was a certain intrest; not of amusement, and something other than sexual. Obviously an attraction he found in her, but too unnerving for her mind to decipher.
Without a word, or change in countenance, Ranma turned, and walked away, allowing the gray, gloomy atmosphere to swallow him.
She demanded answer, as to what he was doing, why he was doing it, and moved to follow, until...
__________________
Nabiki's alarm clock stirred her from slumber, sygnifying yet another day of potential prosperity and strife. Immidiately, thoughts of their houseguest came to mind; she already decided that Ranma was much more than he had even alluded to, making himself more of an enigma than she had ever encountered.
He was a liability, someone capable of disrupting her comfortable routine. It wasn't that he thought he was all that dangerous, just a bit on the weird side. Nonetheless, it was only prudence that she uncover as much as possible about him; any extra coin in her pocket, as she would say.
__________________
"Hey Nabiki... you taking off already?"
Nabiki said not a word, as she walked by Ranma, and put on her shoes to leave. She barely turned a glance towards him, but it seemed as if he missed it entirely. With that look, she asked herself the multitudes of questions that she needed to get answers for; how good was he really? What had happened on his training trip for ten years? What lay in his history to be unearthed?
Nabiki decided that she needed to get to school early, so she may start the trail down Ranma's past. Ranma snorted, when Nabiki failed to reply, and smiled a bit to himself.
__________________
"Aoi, I need a big favor..."
The senior that was currently presiding as office aide turned to the middle Tendou sister with more than just a tiny bit of fear.
"Ah... what is it you need?" She asked in a guarded tone. Nabiki asking anyone for favors usually meant she had something on them that would prove... probmatic if unveiled, or she was desperate.
Nabiki... desperate... syntax error.
"I need you to check on a new studen't records for me, it's pretty important!"
Nabiki wouldn't be so direct if she had something on her. "Ah... you know I can't do that, Nabiki." Still, even tempting fate was unsettling.
Nabiki's grew into that oblivous expression when she was thinking, not a good sign for Aoi. "I understand, but it was pretty important. I just wanted to find out about the new kid staying with us, that's all."
"Considered asking him directly?" Aoi countered, folding her arms across her chest. The more the conversation went on, the more she realized she wasn't in any danger.
Nabiki fumed to herself, wishing she had the time to find out a little more about the quiet little office aide. Unfortunately, though he didn't seem much of a physical threat... yet, Ranma made Nabiki a bit jumpy. With a fustrated growl, Nabiki stormed from the office, deciding that she was going to have to become more prepared for next time.
Aoi sighed, finally allowed to make her quick trip to the bathroom. She quickly got up, and scurried out of the office herself, towards the girl's lavatory. Fortunately for Nabiki, she had been at the other end of the hall, getting a drink of water, when she noticed the office aide rushing to the bathroom.
Nabiki quickly entered the office, and headed for the file room. It didn't take long for her to locate the specific records she needed, and opted to just keep them for the time being, and return them later.
__________________
"Akane..."
The girl in question turned towards Ranma, walking beside her, with a curious expression.
"Your sister, what's she like?"
"Which one?"
"Nabiki, she's the one with short hair, right?" Ranma knew full well which one was Nabiki, but decided that the vague observation approach may help him better in this instance.
Akane turned back forward, "Well, she's a bit flippant sometimes, and she's a bit of a mercenary. She can be a bit irritating if you let her, though. Usually it's best to stay on her good side, and ignore her when she tries to tease you."
"I see," Ranma mused.
"Why?"
"I dunno," Ranma replied, slipping back into a more 'relaxed' speech pattern for Akane's benefit, "Something about her kinda worries me, you know? I guess I'm just being paranoid."
Akane chuckled, "Ranma, being paranoid around Nabiki is probably a *good* thing!"
Ranma shared in the laugh, but his eyes held a different attitude.
__________________
Throughout lunch, Nabiki scanned through Ranma's records. It was surprising to find that he held a substantial gradepoint average, even with his erronious attendance. Nabiki presumed Ranma may have been about genious level, and upgraded him as a threat. Still not all that grave of one, but someone to most assuradly keep under close observation.
Other than his academic record, the locations he had stayed for some brief amounts of time, and part of his slight, meticulous medical history, Nabiki was unable garner much on her potential fiance. With a sigh of fustration, she copied down the list of locations Ranma had stayed at and at the time he was there to do further research, and left the cafeteria to return the records.
__________________
The day at school ended without much event, and the after-hours before dinner, once they returned home, had proven just as uneventful. Ranma and Akane had been discussing homework, as Nabiki looked upon the two.
She noted how comfortable Akane was with Ranma, which meant the spotlight for the engagement was off of the middle Tendou daughter. That filled her with a slight relief that was unfortunately tainted with reservations. Akane wasn't exactly favorable with any guy, yet Ranma had managed to get her to warm up to him, even with several non-favorable incidents in which Akane had been slighted. What did her sister and him have in common?
Nabiki quickly turned her gaze away from Ranma, as he turned his head slightly back to her, not quite paying attention to Nabiki, but enough to acknowledge she was there, and that he may have noticed her boring gaze. She cursed herself for drawing his attention, and decided that she should remove herself from his presence, in case she drew too much attention to her activities.
Akane looked up to see her sister walking out of the room, but paid little attention to it, before returning to Ranma, "You're the only one in the class who's got all this figured out, I swear, Ranma!"
The pigtailed boy's attention snapped back to his peer, before he nervously began to scratch his head, "Well, I guess I'm just a bit lucky about it. I had to study English while I was traveling, so I have the experience over the rest of you."
Akane nodded, "Well, I'm glad you did." Her eyes rolled up and to the left towards the ceiling corner, "It's funny, the way you explain it makes much more sense than even the teacher."
"Well," Ranma answered, "I think it's more of understanding how another person interperates things. I guess we have a similarity in perspective."
Akane frowned at that, "You're saying you know how I think?"
Not an intentional trap, Ranma knew, but just her subconcious safety mechanism bred from her distrust. "No, nothing like that, I'm pretty sure even the teacher could help you just as well, if he were directly focusing on you. I mean teaching a broad group of people in the same manner wouldn't yeild as well the results."
Akane seemed visibly relieved at the answer, "That makes sense."
"Thank you," Ranma replied, before standing up, "If you'll excuse me, I'm a bit thirsty, want anything?"
"I'm fine, thanks," Akane replied, going back to identifying the parts of the complex English sentence.
Ranma walked into the kitchen, to find exactly who he was looking for. "You've been snooping around."
Nabiki took another spoonful of her icecream, before looking back at Ranma, "What ever do you mean, Saotome?"
"I mean that you've been watching me ever since we've returned from school. The other day, you expressed a great deal of intrest in me, which itself isn't all that suspicious, but you haven't asked me anything directly." Ranma tilted his head in curiousity, while Nabiki's face remained flippant, "What did you find out from my school records?"
Nabiki quickly began choking on the mouthful of icecream she was swallowing, before finally working it down the right pipe. "Thought so," Ranma replied, leaning against the counter next to Nabiki in the kithen.
"W-what are you talking about?" Nabiki replied between her gasps.
"Nabiki...chan..." Ranma started, giving her a term of endearment meant for slight intimidation, "you're not *that* clever. I figured out the reason you were rushing to school this morning had something to do with me, since you were trying to ignore me. Of course, that may have been from some dislike towards me, but that fleeting glance you gave me told me that you held no animosity towards me." Ranma leaned back from the counter, as Nabiki watched him with slightly narrowed eyes and a cool expression. "And since no one at school knows me, I could safely presume that you were interested in my records, not that they would tell you much exept that I'm a good student. The reaction you just gave me only confirmed it."
Nabiki attempted to appear nonchilant, "So, why don't you tell me about yourself? You seem like an interesting person."
Ranma smirked, before fully pulling away from the kitchen counter, "Then where would the fun be in that?" He asked with an innocent expression, as he went to a cabinet and got a glass, "I trust you will tell me what you discover?" With that, he filled it with water from the sink, and left back for the tearoom to continue his homework with Akane, leaving Nabiki seething and even moreso determined.