Innocence of Mine Chapter 10 Rediscovery, a ranma fanfic

Innocence of Mine

By Douglas Helm and "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl

Those characters that are original and the story "Innocence of Mine" are copyrighted ©2006 ShoujoFiction .com by Douglas Helm and Will Wolfshohl. Ranma ½ characters are copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi.

This story and our many other stories reside at our Shoujo Fiction dot com domain. Comments are welcomed and encouraged.

Chapter 10 - Rediscovery

Nabiki Saotome, now dressed in a set of pink coveralls, a white T-shirt, and sweater, sat on her bed hugging her stuffed toy Pikachu to her chest. The eight year old watched quietly as her mother hung up her elementary school uniform. It was shortly before four in the afternoon.

"Mommy?"

"Hmmm?"

"When's supper gonna be?" Nabiki asked. She didn't want to go to bed TOO early.

"Oh, in about an hour or so," Kasumi responded before asking, "Do you have any homework today, Na-chan?"

"A little bit, Mommy," the youngster replied while hugging her stuffed toy. Kasumi sighed and came over to sit down beside her youngest daughter.

"You mad at me?" Nabiki shook her head after a moment, her mother continued, "I'm not trying to be mean, but what you did yesterday was wrong."

"Hai, I know," Nabiki agreed sadly and snuggled closer as her mother gave her a one-armed hug. "Mommy?"

"Nani?"

"Can Ruri-chan and Minako-chan come over after school tomorrow?"

After several seconds of silence, Kasumi slowly shook her head. "Iie, I don't think so, Nabiki."

"Okay..."

"But, if you're good," her mother began, "Maybe they can come over Saturday and spend the night..." The youngster brightened at this prospect and gave her mother a hug. "Now, Nabiki, you should do your homework."

"Hai!" Pigtails bounced as Nabiki hopped off of her bed and started routing through her bookbag, not even noticing that Kasumi had left the room. The little girl clambered back onto her bed and considered what she needed to do to finish her homework. She had just decided to do the dreaded math problems first to get them out of the way. That's when Akane came in dressed in a set of jeans and a green sweater.

"Hi Onee-chan!" Nabiki chirped happily giving her sister a hug once she came close enough.

"I was thinking, Nabiki-chan..." Akane began and then halted. The smaller girl looked up expectantly. "I guess I really messed things up yesterday, ne?" The nine year old hopped up onto the bed next to her and sighed. "Gomen."

"I ain't mad at you, Onee-chan," Nabiki assured her big sister. She moved closer and to demonstrate it she gave Akane another large hug. "I really wanted to see that mirror. Or at least Nabiki-oneechan did."

"Nabiki-oneechan?" Akane asked dubiously. "Where is she?"

"Right here," the youngster stated pointing at her head, "Why?"

It took an effort for Akane not to roll her eyes at Nabiki. 'Oops, I almost forgot how young Nabiki is,' she mused, 'Imaginary friends and all. At least, I never had one. Better not let on to her.'

"I wish Ojii-sama's mirror hadn't got broke."

"You and my backside both, Imouto," Akane grumbled. Her little sister blinked in surprise. "Mama was REALLY POed at me." 'I don't remember it but I must've been responsible for getting us both into trouble. Gomen, Na-chan.'

Na-chan nodded. "Hai... Mommy was really mad at me too. She even spanked me."

"Me too," Akane admitted while blushing slightly. 'It was so humiliating.'

"Honto? I didn't hear ya cryin' or nothing, Onee-chan."

"I was still downstairs," Akane pointed out. Kasumi hadn't bothered to march her former sister upstairs. She felt a little better after her eight year old pigtailed sister hugged her again. 'This kid is really huggy. Kinda nice though.' "Man, I wish I was older, Nabiki." She let out a silent sigh. 'I just know I'm going to tick Ranma off next. There's no way I can keep up with the 'good little girl' act forever.'

"The mirror showed me all grown-up, Onee-chan. Maybe Happosai-ojiisama would give it to you so you can be bigger too." 'Na-chan!'

Akane shook her head rapidly. "No way, Nabiki-chan. I don't wanna even tempt the kamis." 'Or Kasumi.' Besides, as far as Akane could piece together, Happosai's mirror had had the opposite effect. It had brought her here to this strange reality and regressed her into a child. "I do wish I had some mushrooms though."

"Mushrooms? Why?" Na-chan asked her sister curiously. She had never shown any propensity toward them.

"Well, because I could be older then." When the younger girl gave her a very dubious look, she decided to explain. 'What the heck? Can't hurt to tell her.' "See, Nabiki-chan, Ra-Daddy ate these mushrooms one time and he got littler than you." 'Better not say I spanked him.' Akane was appalled when her sister began to giggle. "Nani?"

"That never happened, Onee-chan. You're being silly!" 'Akane's ribbing us again, ne Onee-chan? I'm not so...'

"I swear I'm telling ya the truth, Nabiki." Animatedly, she explained, "Daddy ate this magic mushroom and it made him littler than you and he was really mean to poor Ryouga-kun too. I had to hide another bigger mushroom so he could go back to normal 'cause he kept destroying them."

Nabiki by this time was staring at her older sister in total disbelief. 'Ne,' Nabiki Tendo began, 'Na-chan, can I talk to our onee please?' Na-chan shrugged and handed control over settling back to see what her invisible friend was up to. Maybe she could figure out what was wrong with her sister. "Akane-oneechan, did Ryouga-kun eat a mushroom too?"

"Hai... And Ryouga got little. He and Ranma, I mean he and Daddy, kept fighting and they kept wrecking the crop of mushrooms. If I hadn't hid some under the porch..."

"Akane-chan, Da... Ranma calls you a tomboy, ne?"

Akane blinked and then slowly nodded while saying, "Hai. An uncute one."

'NANI? Daddy doesn't say that! Why are you fibbing?' Na-chan protested. 'Akane is really pretty! Daddy thinks so too.'

'I know, Na-chan,' Nabiki Tendo assured her younger self.

"How did you know... Nabiki? Is that really you?"

"Hai, IMOUTO!" Nabiki chirped while grinning broadly. 'Imouto?' She then gave a squeak as Akane hugged her hard. "And Na-chan's here too!"

"Na-chan?" the nine year old asked.

"Hai, I'm sorta in here with her, Akane. Kinda hard to explain. We've been on lots of adventures and yesterday was a pretty big adventure for both of us." The eight year old nodded in agreement with her other self.

"Nani? I don't get it, Onee-chan."

"You should, Akane," Nabiki argued and then frowned, "I hope you're treating your host nicely." 'I'm confused!' Na-chan whined. 'Na-chan, remember when I first got here, how cranky I was? Hai... I think Akane is acting weird 'cause she has an older Akane in her too like you have me. Oh!' The little girl's eyes went wide.

"Are you okay?"

"Hai, Akane-oneechan. I'm glad you're okay now. You were sure actin' funny before." 'Na-chan! Well, she was! Well, so were we! Hai but you ain't so bossy now as before. Hmnph!' Nabiki Tendo crossed her arms and pouted.

"Mind telling me how we got into this mess, Nabiki?"

The youngster before her sighed and then after several moments, she replied, "There's a demon, actually a demonic arbiter, named Kaji who was mad at me. He made things like this. You know, I think it worked out really good for us. Now that I know how to behave and stop being so bossy, like Na-chan says. Mommy 'n' Daddy 'n' you..."

"We need to track this Kaji down right away and force him to put things back to normal," Akane stated firmly putting her fist into her palm.

"But I don't want Nabiki-oneechan to go!" Nabiki whined.

"Kami-sama, talking to two Nabikis is giving me a headache," Akane grumbled, "One's bad enough."

"Hey!"

"AKANE! NABIKI!" came Kasumi's voice from the bottom of the stairs.

"HAI!" both children responded.

"Are you both doing your homework?"

"'I' am, Mommy!" Nabiki sang out and gave her sister a pointed look.

"Hai!" Akane shouted but didn't bother moving.

"You better go do it, Onee-chan, or Mommy will be mad," Nabiki warned sternly.

"Why bother? It's boring grammar school baby stuff," the older girl complained.

"You're already on the hook for not doing it before, 'member? Mommy'll string you up by your thumbs if it ain't done."

Sighing, Akane capitulated and slid from the bed. "Hai... Hai, I'll go get it and bring it in here, Nabiki-chan." 'Kids... But at least this kid loves me.' She could understand Nabiki did not want to risk a repeat of their punishment either.

# # # # #

Nabiki had finished her homework and was lying on her stomach reading a children's book for her book report assignment when her stomach growled. She glanced at Akane who had apparently given up finishing her homework and had started doodling.

"Onee-chan?"

"Hmmm?"

"Are ya gonna help Mommy with supper tonight 'cause I'm gettin' hungry?"

"Yeah," Akane sighed, brightening, "Ne, Nabiki-ONEECHAN, where did you meet this Kaji character? I mean how can you locate him?"

The younger girl's forehead furrowed for a moment and then she answered, "Onee-chan, Nabiki-oneechan says it don't matter 'cause this is nice and she wants to stay here with us." 'Please don't leave me, Onee-chan.'

"Why?" Akane squawked in surprise. Nabiki shrugged and went back to reading her book. "Come on, Nabiki, please don't make me beg."

The eight year old sighed and sat up with an annoyed look on her face. "Nabiki-oneechan says that he has a shop down by the arcade. It sells really old stuff... I think." The pigtailed girl gathered up her book, slid from the bed, and then headed for the door.

"Where are you going, Nabiki?" Akane nearly demanded. 'We don't have time to linger around here all day.'

"Bathroom," Nabiki said and left the room.

'Baka!' Akane thought, 'A shop down by the arcade, ne? But why is she so happy about being here?' Being an eight year old that's the size of the average kindergartener didn't seem like her mercenary sister's style. Her sister was never small for her age or so dependent. She would have followed Nabiki and made her see reason but Kasumi called her downstairs to set the table.

Meanwhile, both Nabikis were having a discussion of their own. 'Akane-oneechan's acting weird again. I don't like it.' Nabiki Tendo nodded. 'Hai, what a pain. Why don't our onee-chan 'drive' sometimes? Dunno... Anyways, we need to get this book done and it was getting to the interesting part.' It was Na-chan's turn to nod. 'I wish Rumi-chan and Minako-chan could come over tomorrow. We'll just need to be on our best behavior for the rest of the week. Won't that be hard, Onee-chan? Hey, we've always been a good little girl. It'll be easy! HAI!'

# # # # #

After supper, Nabiki Saotome was in her room alone getting ready for bed. She undid her pigtails then finished dressing in her favorite bunny-footed pajamas. As she went to turn off the light, she heard her mother's voice coming from Akane's bedroom; it didn't sound happy. Moving over to the door, she opened it a little and was able to hear Kasumi saying, "...Banned from the dojo for a month!"

'WOW!' Na-chan thought eyes going wide, 'Mommy is really M-A-D!'

"That's not fair, Ka-Mama!" came Akane's protest.

"None of your homework is done, young lady," Kasumi stated in an icy voice, "I told you before that if you didn't have your homework done, you couldn't train."

"It's boring!" was the retort. 'I can do that crap in my sleep!' Nabiki winced and backed away from the door. There was no reason to risk being pulled into that firestorm.

'Why's Akane-oneechan arguing with Mommy? I don't know but let's get into bed.' They had just fully snuggled under the covers and were watching the door intently when their mother came into the room. The woman looked annoyed, which almost immediately vanished to be replaced by a small soft smile. The mother of two padded over to the youngster and bending down gave her a hug and a kiss. "I want you to sleep tight, Nabiki-chan."

"'Night, Mommy," Na-chan replied, hugged her mother, and then asked tentatively, "Mommy?"

"Hmmm?" Kasumi replied while tucking the covers about her little girl.

"Ne, am I a baby 'cause I sleep with a nightlight?" 'Nani?' Nabiki Tendo questioned, 'I don't think we are!'

"You'll always be my little girl but iie... Why?"

"'Cause Ruri-chan and Minako-chan don't," Na-chan offered after a moment, "'N' if they stay over..." Her mother brushed a few stray hairs off of her forehead and smiled.

"Well, what if I move it out to the hallway but leave your door open? And then if you're not scared, we can try closing your door, ne?" After several seconds' consideration, the child nodded her head.

Meanwhile, Akane Tendo fumed in the darkness of her bedroom. 'I can't believe this!' she thought savagely, 'Banned from the dojo? Who does she think she is? I'm the heir to the Tendo Dojo!' She rolled to her side and glowered at the opposite wall. 'Baka Kaji! Just wait until I get my hands on him!' She wanted to leave right now and find the person who had transformed her into a little girl. 'I'll bash his head in!' Unfortunately, there were two things stopping her. First was the fact that she didn't know exactly where his shop was. She needed a way to coax its location out of Nabiki. Second was the fact that she was in body (if not in spirit) a kid. That simple fact implied certain limitations on her movements. 'Kuso!'

Flopping back over onto her back, she sighed and crossed her arms. 'How am I going to get Chibi-Nabiki to help me?' The former tomboyish teen, however, never came up with any substantive plans before she fell asleep.

# # # # #

Shampoo tiredly cycled her way towards home when she spotted a familiar face. She pulled up in front of Ukyo's okonomiyaki restaurant with a, "Nihau, Spatula Girl!" She giggled at using that playful nickname.

"Konnichiwa Shampoo-chan." Ukyo greeted. When they had first met, neither had been on such good terms. Both had been openly hostile toward the other. Now though, things were better. They were not by any means close friends but both shared certain things in common, so they'd come to mutually respect and like each other.

"Ukyo closing now?" The teen nodded. "Shampoo done deliveries too. It busy day."

"Yeah, want a cup of tea?" The purple-haired teen considered and then nodded while dismounting her bike. "Good, I need one too and I wouldn't mind the company. Head on in, Shampoo-chan, and I'll be there in a second."

"Shampoo start water."

"Arigato, Shampoo-chan," Ukyo said and continued closing up her okonomiyaki establishment. It didn't take long and soon both sixteen year old beauties were sitting across from each other with a cup of tea and some sweets in front of them.

"Can I ask you something?" Ukyo inquired after a comfortable silence.

"Nani?" Shampoo asked.

"Why are you still in Nerima? I mean me I got a beef with Ranma's old man we haven't quite worked out yet but you..."

"Ukyo not know?" the Amazon questioned, "Shampoo thought everybody know."

"I know Ranma-san saved you but as a story, it's pretty plain." The spatula-wielding okonomiyaki chef grinned. "There's no juicy details."

Shampoo grinned. "Shampoo tell, Ukyo, it good story." The young chef refilled their cups and waited. The young Amazon gathered her thoughts and then began, "When Shampoo little girl, littler than Nabiki-chama, she go off on her own. Shampoo silly girl, think she can hunt like Amazon warriors."

"Did Mousse tag along?"

"Iie, Shampoo give baka Mousse slip. Shampoo think she can fight wild boar." The purple-haired girl nodded as Ukyo sucked in her breath in shock. "Girl Shampoo not know how dangerous boar really was. Lucky, it not kill me. It chase Shampoo so Shampoo climb tree to get away but boar hit it hard enough to make Shampoo fall. Shampoo fall in pool."

"Gomen... Did you get a curse?"

"Shampoo already had Jusenkyo curse so was kitty cat. Shampoo run; boar chase but can't see. I go in cave where Ranma-sama stay for night. I no see him first, only sleeping panda. Shampoo try run out but I knock over kettle of hot water and changed back to girl."

Ukyo grinned. "I bet that surprised Ranma-san."

The young Amazon giggled. "Ranma-sama not happy. Was going to use kettle to change back to man. Shampoo still silly, pick up Ranma-sama's walking stick and go back out to fight boar that shame Shampoo." Here the Amazon blushed. "Ranma-sama no let me out so Shampoo hit him and tell him not to be baka male." (I'm lucky Ranma-sama wasn't a woman from our tribe or I'd have been in BIG trouble!)

"Honto? I bet he wasn't happy about that, ne Shampoo-chan?"

"Iie, Ukyo, Ranma-sama smack little Shampoo on bum and tell her behave or Shampoo in more trouble. Ranma-sama give Shampoo shirt and then go out to get rid of boar. Boar baka, not realize stronger person now facing it so our village have nice roast boar that night."

"So you followed him then? For marriage?"

"Iie, Ranma save little girl Shampoo from silly mistake. Law say Ranma-sama become Shampoo's adopted honored parent. I not get to leave to follow Ranma-sama for long time, make Shampoo sad. Shampoo can no marry Ranma-sama, only if man beat woman in fair fight. Shampoo would..." Suddenly, the Amazonian teen halted and blushed brightly, before taking a long sip of tea.

"I think I know, Shampoo-chan. So you came to see him and help him with the girls, ne?" The purple-haired girl nodded.

"Village think Shampoo headstrong and need strong father but Ranma-sama already have babies."

"Ah..."

"So, Spatula Girl," Shampoo questioned innocently, "How Ryouga-kun in bed?" She was pleased when Ukyo spewed tea across the table.

# # # # #

The Moon was beginning its descent into the western sky when Kasumi awakened. She lay there wondering what had awakened her. She stared into the late night gloom and it was a minute or two before she realized that a small form was standing beside her bed.

"Na-chan?" she whispered but she knew that it wasn't. There was no response except a silent hesitation. Smiling to herself, she lifted the covers and was not surprised when Akane slipped under them, only to snuggle against her. Kasumi wrapped her arms about her daughter and hugged her. "Can't sleep, ne Akane-chan?" The youngster shook her head and pressed closer, sighing when Kasumi started to stroke her long hair.

After a few moments, Akane murmured, "Mama..." and then drifted back to sleep. Her mother smiled and drew the covers about them more than also drifted off to sleep. Outside clouds were quickly gathering and soon it began to snow softly, quietly, covering the city in silent whiteness.

# # # # #

Ranma Saotome awoke to darkness. He smiled to himself as he felt the soft warmness of his wife's flesh pressing against him. He move a hand a gently stroked her side, tracing her form. She stirred and Ranma thought that perhaps he could steal some time before the day started. His intentions were thwarted when Kasumi stopped his hand.

"Akane is here, Ran-chan," she whispered, not bothering to move.

This wasn't the first time one of his young daughters had joined them during the night. Ranma came up on one elbow fully intending on sending his eldest back to her own bedroom but she was nowhere to be seen. "Iie, 'Sumi-chan. She must've left," he declared. Satisfied that they were alone, he started to lower his head to kiss her but jerked backwards as she suddenly sat up.

Kasumi looked around, her eyes lighting on the clock. "Oh my!" the woman exclaimed. She threw back the covers and slid out of bed. "It's late!"

He glanced at the alarm clock. "It's only seven, my love."

"Gomen, Ran-chan. I need to get the girls ready."

"They do have two grandparents in the house," Ranma pointed out. "Come back to bed for a while." He winked at her.

"Not now," Kasumi hissed. "Go find the girls while I go start breakfast."

Sighing and dejected, Ranma got out of bed, dressed, and looked out the window. He was surprised to discover it was snowing. It didn't look as if it would be letting up anytime soon. Sighing again, he left the bedroom and walked the short way down the hallway to Akane's room. He found it empty; her bed already made. Moving onto Nabiki's room, he found the bed unmade but the room empty.

Rapidly moving downstairs, he located Kasumi who was looking annoyed. His father-in-law was standing in the kitchen looking bemused.

"Why didn't you wake me up, Otou-san?"

"I'm quite capable of making the girls' bentos. I made yours many days, remember Kasumi-chan?"

"And what about their breakfast, Otou-san?"

"They've already eaten some..." Soun commented, stacking the completed bento boxes on the counter, "Cereal thanks to Akane, I believe."

"Tendo-san, where are they?" Ranma asked.

"The dojo," Soun commented, "Ol' Saotome is still sawing logs." He quipped, "He saw the snow and decided that practicing sleep would be best." Ranma snorted and shook his head. He glanced at Kasumi and decided to go and find his daughters.

The first thing he heard was giggling. As he padded up the stairs towards the door of the dojo, the father of two smiled; both of his children sounded happy. He quietly stepped inside and watched for a few moments as Akane and Nabiki played some type of dodging game.

'Na-chan is missing her anime show.' "Ne!" he called out, both children turning to face the doorway, "Nabiki-chan, aren't you going to watch your show?"

"Ah!" Nabiki gave her sister a stern look and then ran over to hug her father. "Ohayo Otou-san!"

Her father hugged her back scooping her up and giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Nabiki-chan, how are you?"

"Nabiki didn't want to get out of bed, Daddy," Akane complained.

"Daddy wasn't even up yet," Nabiki countered.

"And I thought you were banned from the dojo, young lady," he commented to the nine year old.

"I was watching my imouto and then she wanted to do something while we waited for you," Akane explained. 'I can't believe I crawled in bed with Kasumi! You'd think I was really a little kid!' She also wanted to question Nabiki but the youngster was more interested in talking about what she and her friends would do on the weekend than talking about Kaji.

"Well, we're both awake now, Musume. I think Akane you should try and get SOME of your homework done while you have the chance."

"Hai..." the youngster groaned but came over and hugged her father before heading into the house. Ranma followed behind her carrying Nabiki piggyback. "Daddy?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you like blueberries?"

"Un... Why?"

"'Cause," the youngster began while lifting her head, "Niko-chan said he didn't like them 'cause they made it rain every time he ate 'em."

"I think that's a fib, Imouto," Akane commented, pausing by the door to the house. 'Little kids...'

"And what fruit don't you like?"

"I like 'em all 'cept peaches, Daddy. You know that," Nabiki replied with a smile, "Daddy?"

"Hmmm?"

"Can you teach me how to do a cartwheel?"

"Hai, I can, Nabiki-chan. Ne, what about after school?" The only response was a giant hug and a giggle. "Although we might be playing outside in the snow if it keeps up like this."

"That would be sugoi!"

# # # # #

"Look at all the snow!" Minako gushed. Her small nose was pressed to the window.

"Sugoi..." Ruri agreed. She and Nabiki were standing besides the ribbon-wearing blonde looking out the window at lunchtime. The sky had grown darker and the snow fall more steadily, so much so that it looked like white curtains. The streetlamps were like small beacons in a forest of white.

"Minna!" their sensei called. All activity within the classroom paused as each head turned to regard their teacher. "Gather your things up, class. Because of the weather, the school will be closing early today. Your parents are coming to pick you up."

As the trio of second-graders moved towards their desks, Nabiki said, "Gomen, I wish you could come over today."

Minako shrugged. "It's okay, Na-chan. Your mommy called mine last night. She said I could come over Saturday... if I did okay on the math test." The little blonde grimaced. "I hope I do." 'If not, I won't be sitting for a long time.' She sighed internally.

"Me too!" Nabiki commented.

Ruri nodded. "Hai. Mommy said I could come too." Nabiki grinned in anticipation.

A short time later, Nabiki was plowing her way through the snow holding onto her father's hand and feeling as if the wind would lift her right off of the sidewalk. Akane had taken her hand and was bringing up the rear of the little group as they made their way home.

'I hope this clears up, Onee-chan,' Na-chan thought, 'I wanna play outside later. Maybe build a snowman.'

'Hai!' Nabiki Tendo agreed. Na-chan wanted to ask why her older sister now looked no older than Akane but had decided that if her older self wasn't worried about it, she shouldn't be either.

"Don't worry, Musume!" Ranma called to his two daughters. "When we get home, I bet Mommy has some hot chocolate for us!"

'Sugoi!' both Nabikis cheered simultaneously and tried to walk faster.

# # # # #

"O-NEE-CHA-AN!" came the insistent voice of Nabiki from the front entranceway. Akane in her darkened bedroom pulled the pillow over her head and pretended not to hear.

"O-NEE..." The youngster's voice was suddenly cut off after a minute or so she could hear Nabiki say, "FINE! I'M GONNA PLAY ALL BY MYSELF!" Akane could see her younger-older sister then marching down the hall, or more likely back outside where the torrent of snow had slackened.

Drawing the pillow down to her chest, she hugged it while rolling to her side and staring at the wall. 'I don't want to stay like this!' Akane whined to herself yet again, 'But how am I going to get the information about this Kaji character out of Nabiki? She can be stubborn when she wants to be.'

"Akane-chan?" came the soft voice of Kasumi, "Ne, why are you giving Nabiki 'the silent treatment'? She wants you to go play." Akane shrugged and kept staring at the wall. She sensed Kasumi moving across the floor before she felt her bed shift as her mother sat down on its edge. "Is something wrong? You usually love playing outside in the snow with your imouto." The girl remained mute. "Akane?" The nine year old hid her face against the pillow. Sighing, the mother of two got up and left the room.

After awhile, Akane rolled to her back letting the pillow slide to her side and she stared up at the ceiling, feeling trapped, feeling as if she wanted to hit something.

"Akane-chan?" The youngster sat up and was startled as Happosai hopped onto her bed. "Anything I can do?"

"Gomen nasai. I didn't mean to break the mirror, Happosai-ojiisan," Akane muttered, feeling herself blush, "I guess I really put my foot in it." 'Kami-sama, why did I just apologize to the old hentai?'

"Indeed... I feel bad for bringing such a dangerous item into the house." The wizen old man gave her a searching look. "Anything you want to tell me?"

"Nani?"

"Well... You've been out of sorts lately, Akane-chan. Are you sure there's nothing going on that a fellow martial artist can help you with? I won't tell your parents."

"Not with Nabiki being baka!" Akane felt her anger swell within her. "What I wouldn't give to..." She clamped down on the urge to blow up. Venting normally helped but she couldn't afford it in her current regressed state though. Retaliation against Nabiki would likely lead to swift and painful punishment for her posterior.

"You know, Akane-chan, Nabiki looks up to you." When she snorted, Happosai grinned. "She does. Not just because you're her onee. And you not doing your homework will make Nabiki not want to do hers and she does need to keep her grades up."

'What's he talking about? Nabiki is a good student. She used to help me when... Is Na-chan that dumb... Iie, I can't worry about the kid.'

"Akane-chan?"

"It's boring, Ojii-san," Akane groused. "I can do it in my sleep!"

"In that case, do it and get it out of the way," the ancient martial arts master said reasonably.

Her retort was cut short by the appearance of her sister in the doorway. The eight year old put her hands on her hips and glowered at her sister. She would've thought it looked cute if not for her foul mood. "Are you sulking, Onee?"

"Iie!"

"Then come 'n' play!" The younger girl glowered as her older sister shook her head. Marching into the room, she crawled onto Akane's bed and knelt there looking stern. "Akane-oneechan, why are you mad at me?" she asked with big puppy-dog eyes.

"Because your Nabiki-oneechan won't tell me where Kaji is!" she snapped.

Happosai, who had been trying to think of something to distract both girls, froze as she her heard that name. 'Couldn't be... They must mean someone else.' "Akane-chan, who is Kaji?" he tried to ask calmly.

"Apparently, a demon that made my baka onee young!" the child practically shouted. Happosai's eyebrows rose. Akane though was almost instantly sorry that she had shouted because Nabiki's eyes misted over and the eight year old looked to be on the verge of tears.

"Akane!" Happosai hissed then soothed, "Don't cry, Na-chan. You know I'm not mad at you and I'm sure your onee isn't either, ne Akane?"

Akane obstinately looked to her desk and didn't answer. Nabiki sniffled and then admitted, "Happosai-ojiisama, I'm sorry about the mirror. Gomen nasai! I was really naughty 'n' I didn't mean..." At that point, her tears increased and she buried her head into the old man's shoulder.

"There there. I'm not mad at you, Na-chan," the old man interrupted, "Truly I'm not." Akane looked in disbelief at the old master being uncharacteristically kind. Nabiki sniffled for a moment and then gave Happosai a hug, which he returned with a smile. "Now, tell me how you know about Kaji?" he asked, trying to keep the worry about of his voice.

Unseen under Akane's bed, Mamoru listened as the story unfolded. 'This,' the demon thought to itself, 'Is not good.'

End of Chapter 10

Coming next in Chapter 11 - Saying Good-bye