Disclaimer:

The characters in this story aren't mine, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi and other publications... I'm only here so I can practice my writing...lol... I do not own any of the characters and gains no profit from writing this story... so again please don't sue!!!... I already have enough problems managing bill payments...

I do not intend on making any profit from making this story but only a writer writing about one of her favourite character, namely Nabiki.

Author's Pre-notes:

First let me, tell you readers this... You are all driving me INSANE!

Just when I thought I could go on and move on to write other stories or at least finish one of my stories you all beg me to write a sequel! ( No I'm not angry really. Lol)

Due to popular demand, I have decided to make this story longer and as a series. Thank you all for your kind support and reviews. I also apologise in advance if the story won't meet other readers expectations for originally this was meant to be a one shot fic. Domo Arigatou.

This chapter is where it all began so to speak, so this is the beginning hence the title.

Warning: SLIGHT AU AND OOC's

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Nabiki woke up early that morning. Her sleep, like every morning was interrupted by the loud ruckus that was happening outside near the Koi pond, you could almost set your watch to it. Reluctantly she stretched out in her bed, rubbing her eyes as she got rid of the last remnants of her comfortable sleep. She went and looked out through her window, her eyes squinted due to the rays of the morning sun. She cursed inwardly since her eyes hasn't really adjusted to the light yet and turned her attention towards the two figures below.

"YOU CALL THAT A PUNCH BOY?!" Taunted Genma.

"LOOK WHO'S TALKING OLD MAN!!" Ranma replied back.

A series of attacks were then exchanged between them.

Nabiki scowled as her gaze drifted from the two martial artists only to be drawn inexplicably and solely on to Ranma. Try as she might, she couldn't take her eyes off him which bothered her ever so slightly. She had admitted long ago that Ranma was quite good looking with a really great physique with a happy go lucky personality, those facts didn't escape her, but her fascination in him surprised her. She shook her head slightly. Deciding that she was still half asleep and decided to take a shower and get dressed while the bathroom was free.

Ranma paused abruptly. He sensed someone had been watching him from nearby. With his concentration broken, it allowed his father to take advantage of his weakness. His father launched a series of attacks then launched him to the Koi pond.

"PAY ATTENTION BOY!" Genma reproached him.

Ranma, now in his cursed form replied back by paying back his father with a more vicious attack of his own and launched his father to the Koi Pond. He smiled smugly as he watched his father get out of the pond, now in panda form. He then began to look around in suspicion. He was definitely sure someone was just observing him just now but whoever it was, they were gone now.

Breakfast resumed as per normal or at least as normal in the Tendo household. Soun was reading the morning paper while the Saotomes' gobbled down the food at astonishing rate. Akane was yet again arguing with Ranma as they ate, while Nabiki and Kasumi ate in silence, just watching the scene in front of them. Finally Nabiki stood up to indicate she was to go ahead to school. Kasumi had began clearing the table while Soun and Genma had began a game of shogi. Akane quickly got up and insisted that she will walk with her sister to school today, followed by Ranma.

As usual, Ranma walked on top of the fence while the two Tendo sisters walked on the paved way below. Akane was yet again complaining about Ranma and spouting that "all boy's are pervert," speech as they walked on. Ranma had his hands behind his head as he walked on the fence, trying to drown out Akane's annoyed voice when he felt someone watching him again. Casually trying not to look obvious, he began to study his surroundings. His eyes subtly scanning the immediate area until he had finally caught the culprit. It was none other than the middle Tendo!

Automatically, Ranma tensed. This was not good. When the middle Tendo looked at him like that, something was definitely up which normally meant some money making scheme of hers and by the looks of things, it most probably involved him in someway. This always tended to him being bruised, battered and chased by the Nerima Wrecking Crew (NWC). He felt an involuntary cold shiver run down his spine as a massive sweat drop formed on his head. It didn't help matters when, due to his preoccupation of what Nabiki has in store for him, he lost his footing and fell onto the water below.

"HONESTLY RANMA! EVERY SINGLE BLOODY MORNING!" Cried a very irate Akane.

Nabiki on the otherhand, hid her mirth. She loved the way she can exude her power over people, Especially powerful martial artists like Saotome Ranma. She was surprised however about the feeling of panic that came over her when Ranma became aware of her gaze on him. She doesn't know why her gaze seemed to be preoccupied by him all of sudden. Sure he was good looking enough, and sure he was nice but she knew all of these before and it never really attracted her attention before. She shook her head in denial.

No.

She is not falling for Saotome. Its like her falling for Kuno. Actually now that she thought about it, there's more of a chance with her falling for Kuno than Ranma primarily because he was rich. Happy about her rationalization to herself, she accompanied her sister in trying to fish out Ranma from the water below.

Well the day seemed to progress per normal. They had to make a quick detour to Dr Tofu's to change Ranma back into his Guy form. They proceeded to the gates of Furikan only to be stopped by the hentai mob lead by Kuno, followed by the horrible sounds of bones cracking and girly screams the guys where reduced to after hurricane Akane and Ranma was done with them. Nabiki on the other hand quickly separated from them and headed towards her lackeys for the morning report and bets. The betting pool has been getting a little stale since no one bets against Ranma anymore. So as a counter-measure, they were reduced to making bets of how long the fights would last but even then the bets are also starting to get stale.

This bothered Nabiki a lot. This means she might have to take out some money from her college fund. Well at least selling pictures of Ranma and Akane hasn't declined but it didn't increase either. It would probably increase if she took more risqué pictures of them but her conscious isn't that too far gone for her to be able to do such a thing. Besides Akane was her sister. She would not do something that cruel and obscene to her. Ranma in the other hand is another story altogether.

Nabiki reasoned Ranma sometimes deserves what came to him but that's not fair. The guy was probably born under a bad sign or something to have all this crap happen to him. Honestly, sometimes Nabiki wondered how he gets to all kinds of troubles all the time but with all his troubles comes profit. This is where she comes in.

Nabiki however, was interrupted from her musings by none other than Kuno Tatewaki.

"Nabiki Tendo a word with your person." Kuno said in his usual poetic tone.

"Why sure Kuno-baby, you know I always have time for my favourite client." Nabiki replied in her sweet saccharine voice. More like favourite toy/victim she thought to herself.

Kuno winced at her endearment. Nabiki smirked at this, she just loved getting under people's skin.

"Must you address me in such ridiculous term?" replied a very annoyed Kuno as he stood or should I say towered over her, trying to assert his dominance.

"You know you look cute when your angry?" Nabiki replied, not even flinching from where she stood before switching into a more business like tone. "Would you like to see my newly acquired photos of your Goddess and Fair Maiden?"

At the mention of photos followed by the pet names of his beloveds, Kuno forgot his annoyance towards the middle Tendo. Instead, he snatched the photos from her hand which she was waving lazily in front of him to get his attention.

There was nothing really grand about the photos. Its just the two girls working out or photos of them caught unaware but to Kuno it was like some piece of rediscovered art. He drooled as he looked at each one. Nabiki grinned at his eager form, she can already hear the sound of 'caching!' from the cash register.

"Such beauty! Such prowess! Such Grace!" Kuno would mumble from time to time, before finally looking up at Nabiki with a knowing frown. "How much?"

"1000 yen per shot." Nabiki replied.

"WHAT?! THE HEAVENS THEMSELVES WEEP AT SUCH OUTRAGEOUSNESS!" Kuno cried out in her face.

"1500 yen" Nabiki replied back sternly. Mentally calculating how long it will take for the blue thunder to realise that the more he protested, the more she will up the price.

"WITH ALL THE..."

"2000 yen " Nabiki said. By now Kuno stood in front of her with barely contained rage but she remained cool and collected. She masked her expression well. If she showed any weakness in front of him, she might find herself in grave danger. She wasn't really that sure if Kuno was as unstable as his sister, Kodachi.

"S-SOLD!" Kuno slammed the money in front of her. Kuno had no choice. He realised the more he argued, the more she would up the price, and the more she up the price the more his anger rose. Despite what others say about him, he stands by his word as a noble martial artist and samurai. He will not hit nor hurt the weak and defenceless. He is more assuredly won't hit a girl, Even if it was Nabiki Tendo which proved to be challenging at times!

Nabiki grinned. Though she wasn't at all to happy about Kuno giving in so early, the look on his face alone was priceless.

"Nice doing business with you Kuno-Baby." She teased as she got up from where she sat and left him with newly acquired purchases.

Kuno just grunted in response now too preoccupied with his purchases to even notice the enticing way Nabiki's hips swayed as she walked away.

The two figures never noticed Ranma's concealed presence. Ranma tried to fight down the anger he felt when he witnessed Nabiki's business deal go down. Though he already knew about Nabiki selling photos of him and Akane all over Furikan, he's still a bit peeved that she sells them to Kuno of all people and his other would be fiancees. Granted he is not the sharpest knife in the block but he does know that by what Nabiki is doing, it will be harder to resolve this whole Fiancée fiasco since she kept putting oil into the fire.

The day proceeded as it always been. Except that Ranma's rivals and would be fiancées showed up after school and tried to smash, drug, kill and date him, not necessarily all in that order. Ranma had no choice but to use the Saotome Secret Technique.

That's right, as shameful as he admits it he ran away. Better than getting trampled, hit or drugged any day. Upon his retreat, he noticed a large building not too far away. He decided that the building was good enough and decided to hide out in the local library building. No one would ever suspect him to ever be there anyways so he decided to stay there for a while and wait till everything cools down.

The library itself was kind of eerie to him with all the silence, towering bookshelves as well as the old musty smell of old books surrounding him. The deftly silence surrounding him was almost deafening to his ears but he found some sort of peace and comfort here. Something that surprised him.

He walked around for a while. Reading the spines of different books, and found some quite interesting ones. Soon he found himself carrying at least five different books, wanting to read them. He was too preoccupied in reading the spines of different books on the shelves to see if he would also be interested in reading them, when he unknowingly bumped into someone. Knocking his books from his hand as well as the other person's as they both collided against each other.

"G-Gomen Nasai. I wasn't looking at where I was going," He quickly amended as he immediately got down to his knees and began to help pick-up the discarded books. He noticed the books where mostly about Finance and Business but one book caught his eye. It was a fairly thick romance novel with an equally cheesy title. A complete contrast in his opinion.

"It's alright. I wasn't looking where I was going as well." Replied a very familiar and feminine voice.

As he looked up and handed the books to it's respective owner, he was taken in surprise as to who it was he bumped into.

"G-gomen Nasai!" he apologised again but this time, he was back on his knees. His palms above his head, begging for forgiveness. Quite comically if you witnessed it.

Nabiki on the other hand was not amused. Ranma's ramblings of apology attracted unwanted attention from the other people in the library. People began to whisper around them as they looked at the two. With an exasperated sigh she tried to calm Ranma down.

"It's alright Ranma-kun, No harm done." She said trying to fight down her annoyance. Knowing Ranma, if she showed her displeasure at the moment he would have started a scene and she did not want to be kicked out of her sanctuary haven. I will have to make him pay later, She decided.

Ranma in the meantime was surprised by Nabiki's words. Is this the same girl that made his life hell? Making him stop his rambling and look at her weird. Trying to figure out if this was the same Nabiki Tendo or if this was one of the pod people he had read from the backs of one of the books he happened to be browsing.

Nabiki on the other hand finally got irritated with him and left him there on his knees. She didn't like the way he looked at her. It made her heart skip a beat, the way he looked at her and only at her and no one else. It made her feel like they where the only two people in the immediate area making it almost hard for her to breathe at such attention.

"Note to self; Got to stop reading romance novels." She quietly told herself as she tried to clear her thoughts and feelings.

She then inspected her books. Finding the said book, she put it back on one of the nearby shelves not caring if it belonged to that section or not. She had heard of many girls believe in the cockamamie plots, eliciting delusions and predestined junk. While she liked reading these books for leisure, and sometimes for her own sense of twisted, sardonic humour, she never knew it would affect her unconsciously. She for one wouldn't want to turn out with delusions of everlasting love, soul mates, kismet and all that junk. It will mess with your head, perfect example would be the Fiancée Brigade.

She was a practical, modern age woman. So why in the world did Ranma make her feel so uncomfortable at times? Like just now? She shook her head and checked out the books she had at the reception desk and made her way out of the library not noticing that Ranma had began to follow her.

Ranma was taken back by surprise when Nabiki just up and left him. He got her mad andin his personal experience, it's never wise to get the middle Tendo angry. He doesn't know why girls has these effects on him. Maybe his father was right about women. The tears of a woman are their most diabolical weapons against men but she didn't look like she was crying at all. Just upset. Over him.

Ranma frowned as guilt washed over him. It was always his fault. In any case he has to make amends somehow and knowing Nabiki he had to make it quick before she gets other ideas on how he could make up for it.

Watching Nabiki as she walked away, made him study her, trying to figure out the middle Tendo girl. She seemed preoccupied. Like something was in her mind. Maybe that's why she barely ever gets into a tight situation. She was always thinking about stuff. Either for her benefit or at another's expense. Either for her own amusement or just her whim. He decided he wouldn't mind having Nabiki's smarts. It sure will make his life a lot easier not to mention avoid any troubles and problems his old man will get them into. Maybe if he watched her closely enough, her smarts would rub off on him? He laughed. That will be the day. But what if it did though?

Ranma was snapped from his thoughts once he finally got out of the library. He saw Nabiki still preoccupied with her thoughts and was about to cross the street. A semi was driving almost at full speed towards the middle of the road. He saw Nabiki who didn't seem to stop from her stride and was about to cross.

"WATCH OUT!" He cried out as he shot away from where he stood, determined to get to Nabiki in time.

Various screams where heard as the sound of heavy breaks and the blarring of the horn was heard.

For Nabiki, everything looked surreal as time slowed down.

xxxxxxx

Author's Notes:

Well what did you think? Have to leave it like so. I planned to only write up to 5 pages from now on so I have more control over the plot line.

The library scene was kind of cheesy I know but you have to admit that Ranma isn't the type of person to go there, especially of the way he was brought up by Genma.

The "Tears" line was brought up by my guy friend over some argument we had about girls using them as well of emotional blackmail. Lol. You got to love being a girl!

Well That's all for now. Have to refine my other stories and update them. Please review. Let me know what you think but please be gentle.

Ja Ne,

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