Michael Gutin

Disclaimer: What do you want from me? Are you implying that the characters I'm using aren't really mine? Preposterous. Huh…what's what? Is that a lawsu…damn…that's a lot of money…fine, characters property of Rumiko Takahashi.

Walking a Thin Line

Chapter 2

Falling

I wake up normally for once. No damned pandas or buckets full of cold water. I realized I had missed the silence. Just another reason to sort out this mess, I suppose. I get dressed and step out of my room. As I walk down the hall, I notice that Nabiki is standing at the entrance, waiting for me. Could she have figured out a way out of this so soon? I doubt it, but I follow her in anyways.

She sits down, but says nothing. Okay, forget about silence, I'm getting impatient here.

"Well?" I ask her, a little more harshly then I intended. What's with me? That's twice in two days. Must be nerves. Nabiki just looked at me for a moment, then sighed. Yeah, this definitely isn't going to be good news. As I take a good look at Nabiki, I realize she must have stayed up a long time. Her hair was a mess, and she had bags under her eyes. She still looked great though. All the Tendo girls do, but I always thought Nabiki looked the best. That one day when she wore the…gah! I can't be thinking about that now of all times. Luckily I was snapped out of my thoughts by her voice.

"This is tricky…" she finally said.

"No, really?" I replied.

She glared at me. "I'm trying to help you here."

"Sorry, I just…" She was right. She was trying to help me. Why was I being such a jerk? But every since yesterday I'd been off. I should be concentrating on the fiancé problem, but my thoughts had been wondering. It finally really hit me that I could be myself now. Over the past two years, I'd been so busy thinking of how 'he' would act, I never really got a chance to think about how I really felt about it. Nabiki had asked 'Which one do you want?' but I hadn't answered. I said it was because I didn't care…but was it because I didn't know? Do I even want any of them? I've been acting like I love Akane for so long, but do I? No…she's a martial artist, but so are Ukyo and Shampoo. She can be nice, but she's never as nice as Kasumi. The fact that she's a tomboy…actually, it never mattered to me either way. And people say she's strong, but she would never have had the guts to do some of the things Nabiki has done. And her temper, god how I abhor it. Yes, I will definitely be glad to get rid of her.

See? I just did it again. I have to focus.

"So have you come up with anything?" I asked, the hopefulness in my voice so evident it was pathetic.

"No." Of course not. I had thought about this for weeks. I shouldn't expect her to do it in a day. But there was something else I needed advice with.

"Erm, Nabiki…you realize you're the only one that knows about me." She looked confused. "You know, the real me." I clarified, "The rest are still buying my act."

"Oh…" she said as it finally dawned on her.

"So, do you think I should keep it up?"

"For now, after all we don't know how everyone will react to this new you, and the less we know, the worse off we'll be." Makes sense, but still…

"Nabiki, remember that the reason I came to you is because things have changed. We will have to do something new, and we'll have to do it soon."

"I know Ranma, I know."

"Oh, and Nabiki…"

"Yes?"

"Thanks." She smiled. Was it a genuine smile on Nabiki's face? Nah, couldn't be, it is Nabiki I'm talking about. Either way, I smiled back before getting up and leaving to eat breakfast.

Breakfast. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but one of the things me and…I should really give my alter ego a name, hmm...I've never been a creative sort of guy, so I'll just call him 'Old Ranma'. Anyway, me and Old Ranma both do have that same enthusiasm for food. Of course, I'm not rude enough to eat like Old Ranma, but I sure want to. So here, at the table, is one of the few times I don't really have to act. Pretty weird reason to look forward to breakfast, but then coming from a guy who turns into a girl when splashed with cold water…

I noticed Akane glaring at me. Was this because of yesterday, or something new I did wrong? Whatever it is, it's keeping her quiet, so I'm thankful for it. It's always been a balancing game with Akane. Keeping her angry enough to leave me alone for the most part, ye not mad enough to mallet me. Looked like for once I was winning without even trying, so I was in a pretty good mood. I guess because I got up early, I finished about the time Nabiki did. I figured the more time we had to talk the better, and a walk to school would be a golden opportunity. But I couldn't draw suspicion…Aha! This'll be easier than I thought.

As soon as Nabiki got up to leave, I said "Hey, Nabiki wait for me."

Everyone looked at me, shocked, including Nabiki. I winked at her before exclaiming "What? I'd rather go with anyone over that uncute tomboy over there."

Akane's reaction was obvious. "RAAANMAAA!" but before she could get violent, I quickly grabbed Nabiki's hand and ran out the door, calling back "Gotta go!"

We ran for a while before finally slowing down. I waited for Nabiki to catch her breath. Gotta remember that she's not a marital artist like most of the people I hang out with.

I decide to start some conversation. "So, pretty good eh?"

"Er, Ranma?"

"What?" I asked, slightly deflated.

"Can I have my hand back?"

Whoops. I quickly let go of her hand. "Sorry." I said and bowed.

She smiled slyly "It's okay, just don't let it happen again Saotome"

"Ha." I say as arrogantly as I can "You got to hold the hand of Ranma Saotome, you should be honored."

We both burst out laughing. After the laughter subsided, I looked at her and grinned. "I haven't had a good laugh like that in a long time."

"Me neither…"

I noticed her staring at me and turned away. "Yeah…"

"We should probably go."

"Yeah…"

We both continued our trip to school in silence. How the hell did things turn so awkward?

We reached the entrance to school. "Well, bye Saotome." Nabiki said as she walked off.

"Sure.." I muttered.

I stood there for a moment before I realized… "Dammit, I was supposed to talk about the fiancé thing. Argh!"

How had I forgotten about that? Like I said before, I was probably off…no, I was fine this morning, and I'm perfectly normal now. Was it because of her? I really needed to think about this, but of course it was at this time that the bell chose to ring, so instead I half-heartedly made my way to school.

Yet another act. Now, I wouldn't go as far as saying I liked going to school. But I had an enthusiasm for it that Old Ranma never did. You have to understand, I love martial arts. Him? He's obsessed with them. It's his life. To him activities are measured in terms of their relevance to martial arts. In his perfect world all, and I mean all, conflicts would be solved through fighting. Disease, famine, love, hate, loneliness, depression would all be solved through fighting. That was why he picked fights all the time. It wasn't something he was good at, it was the only thing he could do. That's why he hated school, not really because the actual subject matter bored him, but because it had nothing to do with martial arts, and so it was useless to him. I actually listen to the teachers more than anyone knows. When I pretend to be asleep, most of the time I'm paying as much attention as possible to make up for not being able to see the board. I can't let anyone know this, so I do bad on the tests on purpose. It's frustrating, maybe I wouldn't ace my test, but just once I'd like to know how I really did. Stupid, stupid Old Ranma. I never realized how much I hated him, because I had to become him, until this moment. But it would be over soon. Yes, I have to keep sight of the goal. That final goal. Happiness? No, I just want to get rid of him. Of course I want everyone around me to come out of this okay, but that was my personal salvation, just to finally get rid of him.

I noticed that Ukyo wasn't here. Not good. If she was here, than maybe I was overacting. Maybe it hall all just been another attempt to separate Old Ranma and Akane. Everything would be back how it was. But she wasn't. It that the girls, or Ukyo at least, realized they had pushed things too far. What would they do now? Back off? Not even in my wildest dreams. Re-double their efforts? Undoubtedly, but how? What will they do? How far will they go? So many questions, I already knew I couldn't answer enough of them. I had to have faith in Nabiki.

Please, whatever Gods are out there, please let there be an end to this, and guide me to it. I wanted this more than anyone knew, because I have another secret. Something that not even Nabiki knows. I would never tell her, never tell anyone. That if…if there's nothing to be done, there is always a way to stop this with only one death. That if this escalates, the dying of one man shall put an end to tit. That this could be over at any time and the price would be the death of person. Me.

The bell rings for lunch. I have more important things to do than eat. Nabiki approaches me once I get outside. Loud enough for several people to hear she says

"I've got to talk to you about that money you owe me."

She led me to a more secluded spot. "I have an idea."

"You do?" Wow, I sounded desperate.

"Look, first thing we have to do is try to calm things down, only after that can we figure out a way to get rid of them."

"Oh." I was a little disappointed, but she was right. We had to make sure nothing dangerous happens again, at least, not for a while.

"You have to really get it through their heads that what they did was bad, and should not be repeated." She told me.

"That's it?" Seemed to easy.

"No." There we go.

"You see, if you just come up to them and start yelling at them…"

"…it would seem like I was choosing Akane."

"Exactly."

"But…"

"But if you make it perfectly clear that you have no intention of marrying Akane, then maybe they'll back off."

"Hey, that's a pretty good idea."

"Of course it is, I though of it."

"Meaning what?"

"Merely that I am an underappreciated genius who can do anything I put my mind too."

"Which is why you're reduced to taking pictures of my girl from while I sleep?"

"Well…Hey! You know about that?"

"Of course, you're not the only genius here."

She laughed at that. "Sure Saotome, well, I have to go."

"Off to blackmail some poor kid out of his lunch money?"

She mock-growled at me "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

"Well, goodbye Ice-Queen."

"Goodbye baka."

She left, leaving me feeling better than I had been in days. But was it because we finally had the start to our plan, or was it because of the time I spent with her…

Author's Notes: Yup, another chapter finished. I thought it was pretty good, and quite frankly I think most of my stories suck. But not this one. I'm enjoying writing this story. So much that I've actually written a bit ahead, and just have to motivate myself to type it up on the computer. See, I write a lot of this crap when I should be doing homework at school, and my handwriting sucks, so it's always annoying to get my stories into electronic form.

Reward my effort with C&C and donuts.

Yes, I'm serious, donuts.

If one of you mailed me a donut, it would definitely make my day.