I do not own Ranma 1/2
Miles to Go Before I Wake
Chapter 4
It had been three weeks since the start of summer, and as usual the season was a mixed blessing for Nabiki. Obviously since school was out she had more free time to devote to the things which truly mattered in life, things such as shopping, reading manga, and manipulating people to her advantage. However with no school many of her fellow classmates and potential customers had decided to go on vacation and take a break from the hectic life inherent in living in Nerima.
In addition, the summer was both good and bad news for Nabiki's information network. Her subordinates no longer had school to occupy them, and were therefore free to devote as much time as she needed to information gathering, but at the same time many had decided to go on vacation as well. Thus while her minions were gathering data faster and more efficient than before, there were fewer of them so there had appeared a few gaps in the information network available to Nabiki.
Only one of those gaps had been deliberate however. Any information about the Kuno family had been strictly censored. Nabiki had felt something that she couldn't easily define all those weeks ago when she had last seen Tatewaki, something that she wasn't sure was good or bad. Something she hadn't been able to easily identify.
So she had decided that it would be a good idea if she took a break from the situation until she was able to accurately define what the situation was. She had used this flimsy excuse as a reason to forbid her subordinates from gathering any data on the dealings of the Kuno household, or if they did learn anything, to keep it from her.
For a reason she couldn't or wouldn't even reveal to herself, Nabiki felt that it was safer if she had as little to do with Tatewaki as possible. When she had seen him at his lowest point, and he had been a different person. That change had... scared Nabiki. It was as if one of the stable supports for her life had shifted. Tatewaki had changed from being a harmless and lucrative idiotic nuisance into an actual person with the ability to feel, and to hurt.
Nabiki had decided to use this information sabbatical to come to grips with the change, and had nobly put off this endeavor by almost every means at her disposal. She had spent the first week of the vacation going from store to store with her friends, disposing of a large percentage of her savings by buying everything from new clothes to new reading material. But then they had traitorously left her by leaving on vacation with their families. Nabiki had then spent the following week tracking down and collecting on all the outstanding debts owed her before they too skipped town.
After that Nabiki had just about run out of options when Ranma and his father finally returned from Okinawa. Without a solution to their curses of course, just deep suntans and a few dirty looks from Ranma and angry mutterings about a father willing to sell his son for a tourist's map of a buried treasure. That had been a week ago, and after life had settled back into its familiar rhythms, Nabiki had quickly found herself becoming bored and dangerously close to contemplating the forbidden subject that was Tatewaki Kuno.
As a last ditch effort, Nabiki was rereading one of her favorite manga in front of the television while only peripherally paying attention to the drama unfolding in the other half of the room. It seemed that Ryoga had just returned from one of his epic journeys around the block and through Europe.
"Here Akane, I-I brought something for you." Ryoga said as he lowered his pack to the ground and started to rummage around in it.
"Oh that was nice of you Ryoga, but you didn't have to get anything for me." Akane replied. Ranma just rolled his eyes and moved closer while pretending to be disinterested.
Ryoga eventually found whatever it was he had been digging around for and with a triumphant flourish extracted it from the backpack and held it up for all to see. It was a small cloth sack which Ryoga swiftly opened to reveal a small bouquet of intertwined blown glass tulips which started out dark green near the stems but slowly faded into translucent pink at the buds.
"I picked it up near Kyoto. I think." Ryoga said while gently handing it to Akane and not reading the small sticker on one of the stems which declared the bouquet a product of Denmark.
"Oh its beautiful Ryoga! Thank you." Akane cooed as she examined the glass flowers minutely. She then turned to Ranma and said, "Don't you think its a wonderful gift Ranma?"
For his part Ranma felt no need to add to his rival's ego, an overinflated one in Ranma's opinion. "Eh, its just a bunch of glass." He said while turning slightly to contemplate whatever was on television, as if it was more interesting than Ryoga's gift.
Ranma's swift turn however had the unfortunate consequence of jarring Akane's arm while she was trying to show the flowers to him. This in turn resulted in her losing her grip on the fragile flowers and they swiftly plummeted to the floor and with a delicate crash exploded into a million fragments.
Akane watched the fall and the resulting destruction and responded with a disappointed, "Oh." and a sad expression. Ryoga on the other hand stared at the tiny glass shards as if they had made up the physical manifestation of his heart. After all reasoned Nabiki to herself, who knew just how long ago they had been purchased, and how long Ryoga must have carried them around, always having to be careful not to crush the delicate glass whenever he traveled.
Of course with the cause of all the pain in his life standing before him, it wasn't long before Ryoga's sadness transformed into near endless rage. "Ranma! How dare you deliberately destroy Akane's gift! You have no idea of the Hell I went through to bring it to her! Prepare to die!" He shouted out while separating his umbrella from his pack.
Before Ryoga's outburst Ranma had looked slightly remorseful, his glance moving from the broken glass to Akane's disappointed face, resting on Ryoga's expression of disbelief and woe. Once Ryoga snapped into his usual rage however, Ranma also quickly slipped into his usual arrogantly defiant smirk.
"Bring it on Ryoga, its not like you won't be going through the same store again in about ten minutes anyway." Ranma said while assuming a defensive stance. With a roar of rage Ryoga attacked with his umbrella and Ranma quickly countered. Akane meanwhile began to try and defuse the situation and separate the two combatants.
About this time Nabiki tuned out the fight. The rivalry between Ryoga and Ranma may morph and change the way it instigates the fights between them, but once the fight was joined the outcome was always inevitable. The two combatants would continue to exchange ever more powerful blows, causing all sorts of damage, until finally Ryoga became exhausted or Akane managed to subdue Ranma via blunt force trauma.
Nabiki's attention was only recaptured after a few moments however when the fight spilled into the street through a hole in the wall that had not existed a few seconds earlier. It wasn't the property damage that pulled Nabiki out of her manga however. Though she cataloged it as another means to black mail Ranma via his own guilt into doing something which would benefit her. No, it was because right as Ranma followed Ryoga out through the hole in the wall, someone had rung the doorbell.
Knowing that Kasumi was outside hanging up the laundry and that the two father's rarely if ever answered the door, Nabiki took it upon herself to see just who was desperate enough to willingly come to the Tendo house.
Opening the door she was unpleasantly surprised to find none other than Tatewaki Kuno. He hadn't noticed her opening the door, occupied in watching the rapidly disappearing blur of red and yellow that was about to be lost in the distance, followed by Akane. Nabiki took a moment to study Tatewaki, and notice all the changes he had undergone.
The first thing that she noticed where his clothes, they were no longer the regular kendoist practice uniform, instead he was wearing a rather fashionable ensemble of dark slacks, and a dark green button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to midway between his hands and elbows. On anyone else it would have looked presentable, but for some reason it didn't seem to fit Tatewaki. It didn't bring out the color in his eyes Nabiki finally decided.
She then looked past the new clothes and saw the small dark stain on the collar of the shirt, it almost appeared to be dried blood. Her eyes then swept up and took in the dark circles around his bloodshot eyes and his very disheveled hair.
"Hello Kuno-baby, if you came to play with Ranma and Akane then I'm afraid that they just stepped out." Nabiki broke the moment by slipping into her normal persona of all knowing and condescending business woman.
Tatewaki quickly turned from the quickly disappearing spectacle and his slight frown turned into an even small smile. "Actually Nabiki Tendo while Akane Tendo's presence would have been a pleasurable experience, I have come merely to engage you in conversation."
Nabiki's demeanor cracked only slightly. True he was speaking with a few of the normal mannerisms of Tatewaki, but the Tatewaki Nabiki had known would never have stopped by just to chat. Deciding that it would at least be interesting to see just where this new development led, Nabiki opened the door wider and stepped aside while saying, "Well then Kuno-baby, if you've got the money, then I have the time. Please come in and make yourself at home."
Tatewaki's smile never wavered as he strode by Nabiki and removed the leather shoes which had replaced his normal sandals and she closed the door behind him. Nabiki brushed past Tatewaki and skirting the disaster zone that had been the living room, led him through the dinning room and out onto the porch. Kasumi had just finished bringing in the laundry and as she breezed by them carrying the full basket said, "Oh Nabiki, I hadn't realized that you were planning on having company today. I'll go make tea for the two of you."
Nabiki started to correct her sister, that it was only Tatewaki and he didn't need tea, but before she had the chance Kasumi had already disappeared into the house. Nabiki sighed and turned back to Tatewaki who had stopped on the threshold separating the rest of the house from the porch. He was just standing there enjoying the all too temporary serenity of the backyard. It was really quite lovely when no one was trying to kill someone else and causing property damage.
Nabiki went back into the house and picked up two of the cushions from the dinning room and shortly thereafter the two teens were seated and silently contemplating the koi pond which rippled occasionally as the fish darted to the surface.
While Tatewaki seemed to be relaxed and meditatively enjoying the silence, it began to stretch into the unbearable for Nabiki. However just as she was about to break it by asking Tatewaki just what he had come over for, Kasumi reappeared bearing a tea service which she set between Nabiki and Tatewaki. Then with a smile unnoticed by Tatewaki but Nabiki took note of it and almost scowled in return. Her smile only increasing Kasumi retreaded back into the house to putter out of view of the two, but well within earshot.
Nabiki killed a little more time waiting for Tatewaki to begin talking by preparing a cup of tea for herself. She took a small sip, and finally became fed up with his inattention. "So Kuno-baby, its not every day that you just stop by for a cup of tea. What's the occasion? In the market for a few new pictures?"
Tatewaki shook himself slightly as if he had been on the verge of sleep and turning slightly to regard Nabiki replied, "To be honest, I had an excuse to come here, but I'm afraid that I've forgotten it. I suppose its because for some reason this is the only place I can relax." Then as if he had said the most natural thing in the world, he nonchalantly began preparing his own cup of tea.
Nabiki was taken aback, she had never seen Tatewaki like this before, he seemed frank, honest, open. As if he truly felt that he was in the safest place in the world. She hid her surprise behind her cup and after allowing herself a moment to compose her expression, she replied, "And here I was thinking that I was one of the major causes of stress in your life. Weren't you the one who said that you despised me?"
Tatewaki chuckled slightly, without humor. "That's true, but that was also a long time ago, it seems a lifetime." He replied.
"Yeah, at least two months since the last time." Nabiki said with her usual deadpan manner.
Tatewaki smiled, a cold smile which didn't reach his eyes Nabiki noticed. "For some two months is a lifetime. I will admit that at the time I did believe that I despised you. But as of late my entire life has... changed. My view of you is no exception. I no longer despise you, I understand you perfectly, and for that I am grateful. You are perhaps one of the few areas of my life that has not undergone a radical change as of late. So long as you are unabashedly self-serving and motivated entirely by fiscal gain, then at least some part of the world makes sense." He lapsed into silence and continued to drink his tea while enjoying the nice cross breeze that the large hole in the living room provided.
Nabiki was both outraged and flattered by Tatewaki's declaration. Flattered by how much he seemed to depend upon her, and outraged at how he viewed her. Although when she thought about it, the way Tatewaki seemed to picture her was fairly accurate based on how she had been treating him. Although just because it was justified didn't mean that he should have said it. Besides it wasn't like she always was motivated by money, the yen that she had taken from him the last time they had met was rolled up and shoved behind the drawer in her desk. She had been tempted to use it, but for some reason she always felt reluctant to spend it.
While Nabiki was trying to compose herself enough to retort back to Tatewaki, he suddenly continued. "For the past few weeks I've been ... tired, no not tired exactly, maybe frustrated would be a better word, but that's not it either. I just have felt so worn out. I thought that once I had taken control of my situation I would be able to find relief. But I'm afraid that by trying to fix things I've only managed to break them further. I think that I made the right choices, yet the outcomes are all wrong. I thought I was saving my sister and myself from my parent's fate, but she..." He sighed deeply and leaned against the nearby post. "She does whatever I say, exactly. She's like a robot and I'm forcing her to act according to my wishes. I want her to be happy and sane, I want her to quit obsessing over that damn Saotome, its unhealthy. But every time I try to get her to see, to understand, it only drives her farther away."
Nabiki was silent, she didn't have any advice to give Tatewaki right off the top of her head. In fact he was making her decidedly uncomfortable. There had never been anyone who had confided in her as deeply as Tatewaki was, and if he truly saw her as he had described her earlier, then what did that say about how desperate he was?
Tatewaki sighed deeply again and continued. "There is something that has been eating away at me lately, I've felt alone and empty. Every time I try to sleep I just lie awake for hours worrying about whether I am making the right choices or not, and if I'm only speeding along my sister's deterioration. Even when I do manage to sleep, I awaken even more tired than when I go to bed. And as of late I find that I'm unable to get my conversation with your father out of my mind. Truly what are my goals in life and how should I achieve them. I don't have the answer." He closed his eyes and lapsed into silence.
Nabiki wasn't sure what to think, and even less sure of what she should say. But she knew that she needed to say something, anything. "Well" she began, "the one thing about life is that there are seldom any right or wrong answers, just one choice being better than another. Life isn't a multiple choice question, its an opinion essay. So I guess before you can think of the goals you want, you first need to figure out what you think success is. Take me for instance I think a successful person is someone who always has the means to obtain what they want. That's why I'm planning on attending a university and getting a business degree so that I can become a highly paid CEO."
Nabiki glanced over at Tatewaki and found him unchanged, his eyes still closed and relaxed. She would have thought that he was asleep except for the fact that one of his fingers was lazily circling the rim of his teacup. Nabiki decided to continue, "And its not like you have to decide what you are going to do right now, I mean there is still a lot of time left and even if you decide that you've made the wrong choice, you can always go back and change it."
Tatewaki finally opened his eyes and softly whispered, "I wonder about that." Nabiki barely heard him over the distant birdsong and the occasional ripple from the pond. Before she had a chance to respond though, Tatewaki's expression changed from one of sadness to one of thoughtful determination, his mask had been put back on.
"Nabiki Tendo, let us talk of things more pleasant than my personal life. I have recently thought about purchasing the services of a well respected financial advisor who was recommended to me by several knowledgeable individuals." Truthfully he had searched through the phone book for the financial office with the most impressive name. "However due to the poor performance of the previous advisors to my family, I'm not entirely sure that I should allow them to operate with little or no personal oversight. However I have encountered a minor difficulty in that I have very limited knowledge in the field of finances. Seeing as how you are an expert, I was wondering what advice you would have for someone such as myself."
He then reached down and refilled his teacup, sipping at it while waiting for her response. Nabiki was initially surprised by the change in direction of the conversation, but if she was one thing, she was agile on her mental feet, and they had finally entered into a topic where she was quite knowledgeable.
"Well Kuno-baby, if I were you then I would think about what I want most from my investments." Nabiki started, beginning to feel the small surge of excitement she received whenever talking about money. "For instance if you want a secure investment then you should consider a diversified mutual fund, or the bond market. But if you want something high yield, then short selling stocks is lucrative but risky. Personally..." At this point Nabiki noticed the gazed look that was falling over Tatewaki. As usual there were few who truly appreciated the same interests as her.
Taking pity on Tatewaki Nabiki decided to try a different approach. "Listen Kuno-baby, the best way to lose your money is to not know how to manage it. Like you said you don't have much experience with money management and even if I did teach you everything I know, it would take a long time and would most likely be mind numbingly boring. Trust me, if you don't think working with financial numbers is interesting now, then its not likely it ever will be interesting for you."
Seeing Tatewaki's become crestfallen, Nabiki continued. "But you are right, without proper oversight you run the risk of being taken advantage of. Tell you what, for a small percentage based fee, I would be willing to act as your financial ... assistant, checking up on what exactly your investment managers are doing and making sure they have your best interests at heart. At the same time I would be willing to train you as much as you want so eventually you can look after your own affairs."
Tatewaki carefully set his tea cup down, not bothering to hide the suspicion from his face. "I have already considered the option of you assisting me in this matter. However even though you are the most knowledgeable person I know on these matters, I feel that my financial future is too important to leave in your hands. After all you are still in high school."
Nabiki knew that Tatewaki probably wouldn't warm up to the idea immediately, but his casual dismissal of her talents infuriated her. It was true that she was young, and in the eyes of the world inexperienced. But she knew that she was better than most people when it came to money, hell she was probably better than half the people who made their living off of money management. To have Tatewaki sit there and casually dismiss her out of hand firmed Nabiki's resolve. She had offered her services to be nice, but now that he had refused her, Nabiki promised herself that no matter what she would become Tatewaki's financial advisor, whether he liked it or not.
Gripping her own tea cup tight enough to cause her knuckles to whiten, Nabiki spoke through her clenched jaw. "Well then Kuno-baby, if you have such little faith in me, then how about this then. Don't give me control over your entire fortune, just a tiny piece like five percent. I promise you that in six months I'll have that five percent making more money than the rest of your investments combined. I'll even manage it for free. At the end of six months if I have managed to out perform the rest of your financial managers, then we'll set up a salary for me and a larger portion of your investments to manage. If I don't get it to perform well, then I'll give you as many pictures of my sister as you want for life."
Tatewaki looked surprised, and he turned away from Nabiki to regard the back yard once more. He sat there silently for a few minutes, quietly meditating, then softly he replied. "Your offer is generous, it almost seems as if I would be getting all the benefit from it. But I know that can not be the case because you would never enter into an agreement where you would not be able to gain something."
Nabiki smirked as she took another sip of tea, she hadn't heard a no in his speech, she had him, he just didn't know it yet. "Trust me Kuno-baby I would be getting a lot out of this deal. I didn't mention how much my salary will be once I prove myself, but I assure you it will be enough for even me. And you will know that I am worth every yen of it."
Tatewaki silently meditated a few minutes more before replying. "It seems as if my own risk would be minimal, and whether you win or lose, I would gain. However I have one request for the prize if you lose."
Nabiki's smirk blossomed into an outright smile as she replied, "If I lose Kuno-baby, If I lose."
Tatewaki cut his eyes towards Nabiki for a second before staring straight ahead again. "If you lose, I don't think that I would like pictures of your sister."
Nabiki was momentarily confused, but quickly caught on. "Oh well if you want pictures of the Red Haired Girl, then those might be more difficult to get, but I might be able to manage."
Tatewaki shook his head slightly. "No, I don not really want pictures of her either."
"Well if you keep acting half-way sane like you are now, then I might be able to convince Akane of going on a date with you but ..."
Tatewaki interrupted Nabiki's offer. "I don't want pictures, and I don't want dates. Not of them, not now. If you fail, then I want you to owe me a favor."
Nabiki looked over at Tatewaki in surprise. "What kind of favor?" She asked quirking her eyebrow.
"I'll tell you if you lose." Tatewaki replied, though when he turned and saw Nabiki's questioning eyes, he thought of the implications he had made and began to blush. "I assure you it will not be anything of an ... intimate nature. Strictly professional."
Nabiki knew that despite all his bluster Tatewaki was mostly innocent, but she did so enjoy teasing him. "Well if its going to be a strictly professional favor, then I know a few hotels not far from here which are discrete and charge by the hour ..."
"Nabiki! Please, I truly did not mean it in that way. Please let us drop this conversation." Tatewaki quickly interrupted, his face turning red. He quickly turned away from her and tried his best to ignore her while his embarrassment faded.
Laughing on the inside Nabiki let the conversation lapse while she refilled her tea cup and joined Tatewaki in the silent contemplation of the yard. It only lasted a few minutes however before the serenity was interrupted by the abrupt appearance of the Kuno family ninja.
"Master Kuno, you must come quickly!" Sasuke breathlessly announced after having blurred over the top of the wall surrounding the yard. "Mistress Kodachi has threated the staff that she will release Mr. Turtle upon them if they do not allow her to cook tonight's meal!"
Tatewaki regarded the ninja for a moment before he sighed. "Yes of course Sasuke, I'll come right away." So saying he stood up and stretched his cramped leg muscles before turning to Nabiki. "Thank you so much for your enjoyable company on this fine day. Please forward the bill to the Kuno mansion, or if you would like, we can settle it when you come over to help me with the money matters."
He then turned to leave. As he was passing through the doorway back into the house, he murmured, "So once again I have to leave this safe haven and return to the pit. So be it." Sasuke bowed to Nabiki then instead of following his master through the house, leapt onto the roof and to the front yard to await his master.
Nabiki quietly placed her cup back on the tray of the tea service. She was excited because she had such interesting work before her, figuring out the most lucrative manner in which to invest someone else's money, but at the same time she was thoughtful. Tatewaki seemed almost as a different person. Sure a few of his mannerisms were the same, but him not having any interest in her sister or the female version of Ranma seemed alien to Nabiki. He had also seemed subdued and contemplative. Adjectives that had seldom described Tatewaki ever before. It was too early to tell, but Nabiki hoped that this change would be a good one.
Deciding that she had better get to work, Nabiki reached down to pick up the tea service and return it to the kitchen, when she was surprised by the sudden appearance of her sister Kasumi who rapidly swept down and cleaned up the tea things.
"He seems like a very nice boy." Kasumi said as she lifted the tea service up.
Nabiki snorted, "Yeah, seems would be the right word. He is completely caught up in himself, the few times he looks beyond his own nose its to look at Akane or Ranma. And to top that, he is too oblivious to realize that male Ranma and female Ranma are the same person." She said while standing up and following Kasumi to the kitchen to pilfer a cookie.
"Well I don't think he is the only one who is oblivious around here." Kasumi said quietly as she began to clean the tea cups in the sink.
Nabiki looked at her sister for a moment to see if Kasumi was mocking her. But as usual, it was impossible for anyone to believe that Kasumi had any malicious intent for too long. So Nabiki shrugged off her sister's comment and taking one of the cookies lying out, proceeded upstairs to her room. She had a lot to do to prepare herself so that she could prove to Tatewaki that she was worthy of his respect. As she bent down to start her work, it never occurred to her to question why his respect was so important.
More to come.
Author's Notes:
Thanks for all the reviews, hopefully I will live up to your expectations for this story. Although I will likely fail.
Honestly this was a difficult chapter to write and I'm not really satisfied with how it came out, but I need to move on. Right now I am conflicted in what the next chapter should contain, I'm not sure whether I should begin the ramping up towards the climax and finale of the story, or if I should do a chapter from Kodachi's perspective. I feel guilty due to the one dimensional manner I have depicted her in. However, I have already dragged you readers through several chapters of character development with no action whatsoever. Please let me know which way I should go.