Oh but it has been so long, hasn't it? Why did am I writing right now? I'd like to say it's because I have free time, but it's quite the opposite, I have so much homework to do, I mean, I should be doing it now, instead of this. But for some reason, I've decided not to. I think I might actually be a masochist; I apparently secretly crave the ol' up till two in the morning listening to Beseech as I desperately try to spew out yet another piece of commentary on East of Eden. But enough ranting, moving on…

Oh, sweet responses!

Onikami-no-Shinobi: Oh, he shall. He shall.

nonengel: It's good to be back man.

NoshMono: To answer your first question, you don't. Also, you don't know if the tinfoil really is enough to protect you from the alien's mind control rays. Just a thought. You don't belong to any extremist pairing faction you say? Thank you. Thank you so much. Please, please don't ever change. People, if a story is well written, I'm telling you honestly, it doesn't matter who ends up with who, please believe me. And if I do decide to not finish this, I will put in a little mini-ending, thanks for the suggestion. And also, the ending you suggested, not too bad, in my opinion.

Huh: Dude! My first flame! Actually, the funny thing is this is a good thing. The way I look at it, no matter what you write, you're going to have people who hate it. If you think no one hates your story, that just means they're keeping silent. Meaning everyone is just being nice to you, meaning they might not really like your story at all, but just don't want to be mean. This flame means that at least some people are being honest.

P.S.

Y r u so mean 2 me:(

JohnnyG: I know man, it's the best story ever, I would say.

Innortal: Lacking in development? You sir, have gone too far. I'm gonna go cry in the corner now.

Done!

Walking a Thin Line

Chapter 9

Comprehending

Well, the date was good.

Great.

Awesome.

I mean, I think. It's not like I have much to compare it too. But still, I had a great time, Nabiki did. We went home.

Good times.

But I really should be getting back to my plan. I stared at the bundle of papers before me, and sighed.

It would work, wouldn't it? I mean, it had to. I felt uneasy about something, but I let it go. I dropped the papers down and headed for the dojo.

Wouldn't you know it, Ryoga was there. Not piggy Ryoga either, but good ol' human Ryoga.

He stared at me as I entered the dojo.

"Why are you humming?" he demanded.

"Hey I'm not..." I started to say, but then I realized that I actually was humming.

So I changed my response to "Uh…"

Actually, that wasn't much better.

"Ranma…you've been awfully cheery these last couple of days…" he said menacingly.

"You make that sound like it's a bad thing…" I said nervously.

"It is. Because if you're happy that means your up to something. And if you're up to something that only means bad things are about to happen to me and Akane."

I didn't quite follow that piece of logic, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"So…"

"So…" he said, pulling me into a headlock. "Tell me what you're up to Saotome!"

"Hey…" I said, as I struggled to get out of it. "I ain't doin' nothin'"

Right then Nabiki opened the door.

"Hey, you two, quit screwing around in here, Ranma, I need to talk to you."

She turned and walked away.

I realized now that Ryoga had loosened his grip, I ducked out and turned to face him.

He stared at me, "Hey…since when does Nabiki…smile…when she talks to you?"

"When she wha…" And then I realized, she had been smiling. And not a smirk, or a grin of amusement, but a genuinely happy smile. It was, to be honest, quite shocking.

"Yeah…since when…" I muttered.

"You think maybe she's up to something…" he mused.

"Maybe…"

"She…she said she wanted to see you…"

"Yeah…"

"Aren't you gonna go?"

"You think…you think I should?"

"Yeah…"

"You think maybe she…"

"No…"

"But what if…"

"Just go…"

"Okay…"

And so I went.

As I entered her room, I noticed she was absorbed in something she was writing. So naturally I crept up quietly, got up right next to her, and in a loud voice, said
"Hey Nabiki! What's up?"

Haha, it turns out the great Nabiki can indeed be frightened. Good air time too.

"Jeez Ranma, you trying to kill me?" She demanded.

"What?" I asked in a mock confused voice "Why would I ever try to kill someone as cute as you?"

"Are you…are you flirting with me Ranma?" she asked.

Before I could answer, she took a step closer to me.

"Because you know…I really like that sort of thing…"

She pressed herself up against me.

"Don't you?"

She was joking, right? I mean, she had to be, and yet…

"Uh, I…that is, I…"

She pulled away and giggled.

"You're too easy Ranma."

So cruel.

And yet, as I saw her laughing, I couldn't help but laugh too.

After a moment, Nabiki regained her normal composure.

"Today. We're doing this today."

"What?"

"What do you think? What you and Akane have been practicing for all this time?"

"Ah, right, but why today?"

"Because both Shampoo and Ukyo will be in a relatively secluded spot at exactly the same time."

Sounds reasonable. Wait…

"…you know this how?"

"I just do."

Good enough for me.

"All right, so what where and when?" I asked.

"Why, right in front of our school, at 6 o'clock."

I nodded, and was about to leave, when an idea popped into my head.

"Hey, Nabiki, afterwards, wanna grab a bite to eat?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound nearly as hopeful as I felt.

"I can't, I'm busy."

"Oh." I said, hoping I didn't sound nearly as rejected as I felt.

I turned to leave.

"But…" I heard Nabiki say behind me, "..How about tomorrow?"

"Sure, I'm free then." I said, hoping I sounded way more nonchalant then I felt.

So the time came, and as Nabiki had said, Shampoo and Ukyo were both there. We did our little dialogue, and I think it worked.

Why you ask?

"Ranma, now you all left to Shampoo" Shampoo purred at me as she clung to my left arm.

"Ranma honey, don't pay attention to her, after all, now that Akane's gone, there's nothing keeping us from…" she sighed happily as she clung to my right arm.

That's why.

Now to get out of here.

"I…I gotta go…" I said, and jumped away, figuring they'd leave me alone for a bit.

…So yeah, that didn't work. But on the plus side, they both switched arms, and since Shampoo grips way tighter than Ukyo, at least the feeling of numbness was starting to even out on both my arms.

"Don't you guys have…um…work to do?"

They looked at me, and sighed dreamily.

"You know…food…delivery…you have to make it? Anything?"

Nothing. Wait, I got it.

"Food…'cause you know, I'm hungry…"

I braced myself.

"Ah! Of course, how silly, Shampoo get Ranma food right now!" Shampoo said.

"No way, Ranma was talking about my food!" Ukyo retorted.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

And so, I left them to their devices.

I walked home, not roof hopping, because I really didn't want to go anywhere particularly fast. On the way, I saw Nabiki, walking with some guy. They didn't notice me, and walked into some restaurant.

Actually, not some restaurant, but the one I had been planning to take Nabiki to tomorrow.

Wait, a second, was she on a date?

Nah. I mean, Nabiki doesn't date much. I mean, only when she's low on cash. Yeah, she was probably trying to get some cash out of him.

I looked inside and saw the two of them seated, they seemed to be having a generally good time. Nabiki was laughing a lot, and smiling.

I felt angry. This is…it's…it's none of my business, I realized.

I should go home. Yeah. Home. I'm not some stalker who follows some girl around while she…

Damn it, what was she doing. She can't like that guy, can she?

No. No. None of my business. Going home now.

It was about seven when I got back, and I realized I had nothing to do, so I went to the dojo to train. When I was tired, I went to go to sleep.

But I couldn't get to sleep. I just watched the alarm clock, 10:59, 11:00, 11:01…

Damn, I need some sleep. It's too late to be up.

Like Nabiki, isn't she back yet, she shouldn't be out so…

Stop. Stop. Gotta go to sleep…sleep….

I heard the door open and jumped out of bed. I had to find out.

I opened my door, and stopped her as she was about to open her own.

"Uh, hi." She said.

"Where were you?" I demanded.

"Out." She said simply.

"With?"

"What do you care?" she asked me.

"I was just…just asking." I quickly said.

"Oh." She said.

She stared at me for a moment, and I quickly averted my gaze. She started to turn.

"I saw you. On my way back home. With some guy." I said, before I could stop myself.

"Oh." She said again

What am I doing? I should just get out of here before I say something else stupid.

"Wait…" she said, and I froze.

"Are you…are you…jealous?" she asked.

"Yes." I blurted out, without thinking.

Gah! Stupid. Why in the world did I say that? Nabiki just stared at me some more, damn this is embarrassing. I really gotta…

"It…it wasn't like that…" she said softly.

"Huh?"

"I…he was just a friend Ranma…" she said.

"Oh."

"Good night Ranma."

"Yeah, good night."

Author's Notes: Another one done. Not a particularly good chapter, but it works. I know some of you have been saying that I really should finish this. Honestly, I'll try to.

You can expedite the process though, you know.

It's called reviewing.

Do it!