(Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the characters and stories associated with it.)

A tense evening

Dinner that night started out pleasant enough. Nodoka and Kasumi worked together in the kitchen preparing a delicious meal while Genma and Soun played yet another game of shogi. In reality, the two men took every opportunity to cheat against one another and any resemblance to a real game of shoji was purely coincidental.

Genma was in his human form for once. He always preferred to lounge in his panda form and would be so now if it weren't for the presence of his wife, Nodoka. She had told him earlier how she felt about dirty animals roaming through their host's home, and made the point quite clear. The single inch of steel she exposed on the family honor blade was more than enough to convince her portly husband that she would take no excuses on the matter.

After moving a piece, Genma rubbed his chin for a moment, "I tell you, Tendo. The boy's getting soft."

The head of the household reached over and moved a piece, "How so, Saotome?"

Genma looked up at his long time friend, "I trained Ranma to be the best there is. For him to be taken down by a common street punk….It's a stain on the family honor."

"But Saotome, you heard what the doctor said. The boy was shot during a robbery attempt. I know he's nearly mastered the art, but I wouldn't expect him to be able to dodge bullets."

Genma's glasses reflected a momentary flash of light, "How can he be the best if some street punk can take him down so easily? I'm telling you, he needs more training!"

Soun was about to comment when Kasumi came up to them, "Father? Uncle Saotome? Dinner is ready."

As Genma rushed off to sit at the dinner table, Soun reached down and quickly adjusted a few pieces on the board. He chuckled to himself as he walked to the dining room, "I can always count on Kasumi's cooking to be your weakness, old friend."

After everyone was seated and dinner was served, the two families sat down to enjoy their meal. Unlike most evenings at the table, Genma was not shoving the food into his mouth like a machine on overdrive. In fact, he was almost civil in the way he was eating. Perhaps it was the absence of his son at the table, or maybe the smirking glare he was getting from Nabiki. More than likely, though, it was the unsettling sight of the family katana sitting on the floor between him and his wife.

Akane was having trouble eating her baked fish. Her thoughts kept going back to the visit at the hospital and how she lost control of her anger over hearing Ranma was with another woman. At first she was worried sick about him when she heard he had been hurt and was rushed to the hospital, but after the doctor mentioned the girl she didn't hear another word. Her anger had taken over and not for the first time, the youngest Tendo was regretting her actions.

As she placed a small piece of fish in her mouth, she continued to think about Ranma, "What am I going to do? I made a fool out of myself in front of the whole family! I know I shouldn't have stormed out like that…. But why was he with another woman, anyway? Stupid Ranma! Why does he have so many girlfriends? I...It doesn't feel right without him sitting here for dinner…"

And so it went for Akane. All of this wrestling with her thoughts was not missed by her older sister, Nabiki. The middle Tendo kept an eye on Akane as she casually ate her dinner, taking note of the occasional glances her sister was making to Ranma's place at the table.

She picked up a bit of rice and turned to Akane and asked, "So tell me, Akane. Are you going to come with me tomorrow after school to visit Ranma?"

Akane looked up suddenly, "What do you mean?"

Nabiki smirked, "Well, he is your fiancé, after all."

Akane's cheeks began to blush, "I-I guess so."

Nabiki picked up another piece of food, "We'll need to leave the school quickly, though. I don't want to bump into any of the other fiancés on the way there."

Akane darkened a bit, "What if she's there?"

Nabiki smirked, "I've got you now, little sis!"

"What if who's there, Akane?"

Akane looked over at her sister, "You know. The girl the doctor said came in with Ranma. That one."

Nabiki tilted her head slightly as she picked at her food, "Ah, that one. You know, Akane. I heard she was with him in the ambulance when he was brought in to the hospital."

Akane's eyes widened slightly, "You know who she is? Who, Nabiki? Tell me who!"

Nabiki looked at the tip of her chopsticks for a moment before looked over at Akane, "Now Akane. You know just about nothing goes on around here without me knowing about it. If anyone was with Ranma, you can be sure I'd have all the details."

Akane's face grew red and she suddenly reached into her pocket. She then pulled out a one thousand yen note and slammed it on the table in front of Nabiki. "Here! I'll pay what every you want, just tell me who he was with!"

Nabiki looked down at the note and then up to her sister. She didn't like turning down money, but this was going to be one time she needed to, "I'll tell you what, Akane. This one is on the house."

There was a short gasp from around the table as Nabiki leaned forward and continued, "You see, little sister…Ranma was with me."

The young Tendo's eyes shot open and she glared at Nabiki, "You? Why in the world would he be with you?"

Nabiki shook her head slightly before glaring back, "Akane, Akane, Akane. You should know by now that my business operations are just that; mine and mine alone. However, if you had stayed in the hospital for a few minutes, you would have heard me tell Auntie that Ranma and I were going to meet downtown to take care of some things. Unfortunately, Ranma intervened in a robbery attempt and was shot protecting some little children. When the ambulance came to take him to the hospital, I was the one that rode with him."

Nabiki's words were calm and even, but for Akane, those same words stung like a slap in the face. She was suddenly very aware of the rest of the family now looking at her. "Dear god, what have I done? I lost it again! Why can't I control my temper?"

Nabiki continued to gaze at Akane with one eyebrow slightly raised as if waiting for her sister to respond. Akane no longer wanted to confront her sister on the subject and turned her eyes towards Nodoka. If she was looking for some sympathy from the Saotome matriarch, she was greatly disappointed. Nodoka's face was a mask of unemotional coldness, looking at Akane with a plain, unblinking gaze.

Lowering her eyes, Akane stood up, "I-If you'll excuse me, I need to lie down for a minute. I'm not feeling very well."

Akane then bowed slightly before leaving the room. When she was out of the room, Soun cleared his throat and stood up, "Ah…excellent dinner as always, Kasumi.

When she smiled back, he turned to his friend, "Saotome, what do you say we go finish that game we started?"

Glad to put some distance between him and the katana, Genma quickly got up, "Excellent idea, Tendo!

Kasumi stood up and picked up a few dishes. She paused and glanced over at her sister, "Nabiki? Would you mind giving me a hand here?" Her smile was as pleasant as always but her tone was off enough for Nabiki to know this was not a request.

Nabiki stood up, "Sure, sis. No problem." "I might as well face the music."

The two sisters gathered the remaining dishes while Nodoka asked, "Would you like some assistance?"

Kasumi bowed slightly and smiled, "No, Auntie, that's alright. We have it well in hand, thank you. This will be done shortly, so why don't you relax a bit until we're done?"

Nodoka bowed politely and Kasumi turned and headed to the kitchen with the last of the dishes. Nabiki was stacking some plates on the counter when Kasumi entered the kitchen and didn't notice the older sister had closed the door and placed her back against it. When Nabiki looked up, she saw Kasumi with her hands clasped in front of her, standing with her back against the door and very effectively cutting off the only escape route.

Nabiki was taken back her older sister's uncharacteristic attitude, "Uh-oh…."

Instead of being angry, Kasumi just smiled as she looked at her sister.

Nabiki sighed, "Look sis, you know as well as I do that Akane had that coming."

Kasumi continued to smile as she tilted her head slightly to one side, "Hmmm?"

"God, I hate it when she does that!" "Akane needed to be told. You heard Auntie at the hospital, she wasn't happy at all! We can't just let her go flying off the handle every time she feels like it."

Kasumi looked at her sister for a few moments longer before speaking, "While it's true that she did need to be spoken to, that was father's job, and not yours."

Nabiki snickered, "Like that's going to happen anytime soon. You know as well as I do that he can't face that sort of thing rationally anymore."

Kasumi smiled a bit, "Let me ask you something, Nabiki. How do you feel about Ranma? Do you like him?"

Her eyes grew large, "Huh? What kind of question is that?"

"Hmmm?"

"Damn…. Yes I like him. Heck he's practically family as it is. But that doesn't mean I want to marry the guy. Not when he's already engaged to Akane and two other psycho suitors. You and I both pushed her on him when he first got here, remember?"

Kasumi walked away from the door and began to work on the dishes. As she did, she turned to her sister, "Remember Nabiki, the family agreement was for Ranma to marry one of the Tendo daughters. Both of us are still potential fiancés for Ranma until he marries either Akane…or one of us."

Nabiki looked at her sister for a moment and sighed, "Yeah, I remember."

She then stretched for a bit before turning towards the door, "Look Kasumi, I'm going to do a bit of studying and then I'm off to bed. It's been a long day."

Kasumi turned and smiled, "Alright Nabiki. Pleasant dreams."

As Nabiki headed up the stairs towards her room, Nodoka walked over to where the two men were playing shoji. She bowed to the Tendo elder, "Soun, if I may speak to you before my husband and I turn in for the night?"

Soun was a bit startled with the woman's appearance, "Why, of course Nodoka. Would you like to talk in the garden, it's a warm evening."

She smiled warmly, "That would be lovely, thank you."

The two parents headed outside and slowly walked along the path around the koi pond. "Soun, I want to thank you for the kindness you have shown us these past few months. I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't offered your home to us. Although my husband may not show it we are deeply indebted to your hospitality."

"Think nothing of it, Nodoka. After all, we will soon be related when our children get married."

Nodoka bowed slightly and smiled back, "Ah yes, the agreement that my son wed one of your daughters. Tell me Soun, Nabiki and Kasumi do not yet have fiancés do they."

The elder Tendo shook his head, "No, not that I know of. Why do you ask?"

Nodoka looked down at the koi pond for a moment before looking back up, "Akane was very disrespectful this afternoon. A young woman of her age should not be screaming at the top of her lungs at a respected physician just because she thinks her fiancé was with another woman."

Soun lowered his eyes, "I know. She has been like this for a while."

"I understand, Soun. It is always difficult for children to lose their mother. That is why this is difficult for me to say."

"What do you mean?"

Nodoka folded her hands in front of her, "This isn't the first time I've seen such behavior. Time and time again, she has jumped to the worst possible conclusion. I know my son is no angel and his social skills leave a lot to be desired, but I also know he has always been there for your girls when it counted."

Soun smiled at that and she continued, "However, I want you to know that if Akane does not begin to control these dishonorable outbursts of hers, I will be forced to end the engagement between her and Ranma and switch it to one of the other daughters."

"You-you cant be serious!"

"Indeed I can, Soun. Don't worry, you and I will talk of this again later. Until then, good night."

With that, Nodoka bowed and then turned and headed back towards the house, leaving a shocked Soun staring at the koi pond.

Upstairs a young woman removed a set of high quality head phones from her head and placed them on her desk, "Damn…!"