I do not own Ranma ½

The red sun of dawn glaring through his bedroom windows awoke Tatewaki. He blearily regarded the unshuttered windows, and then sat up in his bed, resting his head in his hands. If he had dreamed the previous night, he didn't remember it. Nevertheless Tatewaki felt exhausted for some reason, both in mind and body. It did not help any that for some reason the room was stifling, and even clothed only in boxers provided Tatewaki with little relief.

He starred through his fingers at the mess which dominated the floor of his room for a few minutes before calling out, "Sasuke." At least he tried calling out, it actually came out more as a quiet croak. Tatewaki cleared his throat and tried to find moisture in his dry mouth before trying again. "Sasuke!" He yelled out successfully.

Almost instantly the small ninja popped out of a hidden door in the floor of Tatewaki's room.

"You called sir." Sasuke half stated, half asked.

Tatewaki regarded his servant for a moment before sitting up straight and running his hand through his hair. "Sasuke, I need you to clean up this mess in my room." He said, while gesturing to the various piles of shredded paper before continuing. "I also found out that my father is in the hospital." Tatewaki sighed, "For some reason I have been barred from not only visiting him in this time of need, but even from inquiring after the severity of his condition. While I have been informed that his injuries were minor, I wish for you to personally ascertain the reason behind my father's hospitalization, as well as the length of time he will be indisposed."

Sasuke gave Tatewaki and stern salute and a snappy "Yes sir!" before he jumped fully into Tatewaki's room. He pulled a sack from somewhere and proceeded to begin to clean the room, grabbing handfuls of shredded images and disposing of them in a blink of the eye.

Tatewaki watched him for a few seconds before deciding that it was time for him to freshen up and prepare for the school day ahead. He stood and walked across the room toward the entrance to his personal bathroom, but paused at the doorway. He turned around to once more regard his short ninja servant.

"Sasuke…"

At the mention of his name, the ninja paused to regard his master, who seemed to be feeling uncomfortable about something.

Tatewaki continued on hesitantly. "Sasuke, do you… do you like me? I mean, am I… do you think I'm a good person?"

Sasuke of course was caught flat footed by the random question, and had only begun to fully process it before Tatewaki turned back around and waved his hand dismissively over his shoulder. "Never mind," Tatewaki said, "I didn't mean to ask that. Just ignore the question." With that the young man walked away and closed the door behind him on a very confused and slightly frightened ninja.

As he turned on the harsh fluorescent lighting, Tatewaki for his part wondered why he had asked such a question. After all what did it matter if Sasuke like him? The ninja was tied to the Kuno family by an oath. Even if he hated them, he was still honor bound to serve them.

The bathroom that Tatewaki found himself in was Spartan, sterile, and in juxtaposition to his bedroom, cold. The fluorescent light bounced off the white tile of the floor, the white porcelain of the sink and other bathroom fixtures, and off the mirrored surface of the medicine cabinet.

The Kuno household had a wide variety of bathing options open to them, from traditional outdoor furos, to indoor private ones, to modern bathrooms with bathtubs the size of small swimming pools. Usually Tatewaki indulged in the more opulent baths later in the day, choosing instead to start his days off in a more authentic manner by dousing himself with pails of ice cold water. He seldom used this particular bathroom even though it was conveniently located next to his bedroom, feeling that it somehow seemed cold, austere, and distasteful.

But that day he didn't feel up to his usual toilette, Tatewaki merely wished to do whatever was necessary in order to be finished quickly. So he shed his boxer shorts and walked over to the spigot in the wall, his footsteps echoing off the polished walls. Still feeling the effects of his over warm bedroom, Tatewaki twisted the faucet so that only cold water rained down upon him.

The icy water served both to cool him down and wake him up. While the initial burst seemed far too cold to stand, his body soon acclimatized and the cold water even began to feel as if it were warming up. Tatewaki had often fantasized about, and had even indulged in on occasion, sitting at the base of a waterfall, meditating as the water pounded down on his body, driving all physical sense out of it. He enjoyed the rush and pounding of water, whether from a waterfall or showerhead, the sound drove out all other distractions, and the pounding drove out all other feelings. The rest of the world drifted away and became inconsequential leaving only the water, and eventually even that faded away and left only himself.

After a few minutes Tatewaki shook himself from the near stupor he had fallen into, and proceeded to clean himself. Mere minutes later he finished rinsing off the last of the soap suds from his body and turned off the shower, leaving deafening silence, broken only by the dripping of the showerhead, and the soft gurgling of water as it drained down the grate in the floor.

Tatewaki wiped his now water heavy hair out of his face and turned to the towel rack next to the porcelain sink. He dried himself off, and then wrapped a towel around his middle, using another to finish drying his hair. He draped the extra towel over his shoulders as he reentered his room, finding no signs of either his family's ninja, nor of the many pictures he had destroyed last night.

He walked past the now bare walls to his closet, which he opened and found hanger after hanger of traditional clothing. Tatewaki sighed to himself, for most of his life he had felt that traditional clothing was special and somewhat chic, and three years ago he had indulged himself by transitioning his repertoire from the occasional formal dress worn on special occasions, to everyday wear. However that day, he just didn't feel like wearing it for some reason. So he pushed the hangers aside, until he found perhaps the only none traditional set of clothes that he had kept after he had changed his wardrobe.

It was an old Furinkan High School uniform. During middle school, Tatewaki and Kodachi had both attended the same institution, and had been forced to wear the hideous uniform which went along with it. They had been much closer in those days, and had spent many hours deriding various things about their school, from various teachers, to other students, and especially their uniform.

So during the final weeks of his last year in middle school, Tatewaki had been surprised by Kodachi when she had laid out the Furinkan uniform for him, and modeled her own off as well. Apparently she had gone out and purchased them shortly after Tatewaki had decided on attending that particular institution after vigorous pleading from his sister who had wanted to attend the high school because of its connections to their father.

Tatewaki had been reluctant at first because of those same connections, but he had eventually bowed under his sister's pressure, and the assurance of the staff that the principal was not expected back anytime that decade. So both siblings had decided to attend Furinkan, and while Kodachi was not too enthused about the girl's uniform, at least it was better than their middle school one, and she thought her brother looked quite handsome in his.

Shortly afterwards, Tatewaki attended his first day at Furinkan, and immediately became enamored of the Kendo club. In addition, compared to middle school, the upperclassmen at Furinkan seemed so impressive, they were all intelligent, aloof, and did things like rebelled against authority and wrote poetry. From the very first, Tatewaki realized that being an underclassman was a disadvantage, but to be an underclassman with a clingy sister would be devastating. So following his very first day, Tatewaki began to spend as much time as he could training in Kendo, and what little time was left over he spent reading the great classics, Sun Tzu, Confucius, and Shakespeare to name a few. Even though they were a bit beyond his level of understanding, he was able to remember bits and pieces of their works, and rearranged them around in his head to make sense.

During that time, he had no time for Kodachi, who had at first tried to continue being the close and clingy little sister, but Tatewaki had no time for the infantile concerns of a child. When she needed help with her homework, Tatewaki brushed Kodachi off, the same was true when she just wanted to hang out, or was being bullied. Tatewaki would just tell her that she needed to grow up and take charge of her own life and rely on him less. Eventually she did. A few months after he had started high school, Tatewaki abruptly noticed that he had seen less and less of his sister, when he found the charred remains of a girls uniform for Furinkan in the backyard of the Kuno estate. Shortly after that, Kodachi had announced that she was going to attend the prestigious St. Hebereke Academy. Tatewaki had been relieved at the news, and for some reason had felt emptier. He had stopped wearing his normal uniform from that point on.

But now it seemed that was all he had left in the ways of western clothing. So with only a minimal amount of reluctance, he once again clothed himself in the uniform. It was slightly tighter than he remembered, but in a snug, comfortable way.

After adjusting his collar and making sure his hair was presentable, Tatewaki turned off his light, and left his barren room. He quickly made his way through the hallways of the Kuno mansion, which were just as dark and silent as the previous evening. However as he was passing the corridor leading to Kodachi's domain, he heard a quiet click, the sound of a key turning in a lock.

Tatewaki paused and peered into the gloom, eventually making out the form of Kodachi. She seemed frozen, staring at him as if he were a ghost, but quickly regaining her composure, she sedately walked toward Tatewaki. She stopped about ten feet away from him and the two siblings eyed each other warily, like two beasts of prey encountering one another with no real reason to fight, neither wishing to start a conflict, but ready to engage in one if the other did start it.

Tatewaki took in his sister's appearance, she was in her usual leotard, but it was wrinkled and stained. That fact combined with the deep, dark circles around her bloodshot eyes, indicated to Tatewaki that his sister had been out all night doing … whatever, and had only now returned.

Clearing his throat nervously, Tatewaki broke the silence. "Have you been informed that our father is in the hospital?" He asked.

Kodachi narrowed her eyes. "Yes, I found out yesterday, although I'm somewhat surprised that you have deigned to take an interest in our father's health, since you have without fail harped upon his deficiencies at every opportunity."

Tatewaki uncomfortably looked away from his sister's accusing gaze and replied, "He is many things, an eccentric, probably an idiot, and possibly insane." He turned to once again look at his sister. "But above all, he is my father. Of course I am concerned for him."

Kodachi returned Tatewaki's gaze with an expression which seemed to ask the question, "really?"

Tatewaki turned his face away again and continued, "For some reason he has denied me access to his sickroom. However I do not believe he has placed any such restriction upon you. If you could, please go to see him, and tell him … send him my regards." He was answered by an unladylike snort from Kodachi and the sound of her walking away. Tatewaki looked up to regard her retreating form.

"Kodachi." He called out. "I… I thought that maybe I should take a break from the Kendo team." Kodachi paused in the hallway, still turned away from Tatewaki. "Do you think that maybe, we could do something together, you know like a normal brother and sister?"

Still turned away from Tatewaki, Kodachi replied, "I'm sorry dear brother, but between gymnastics and my other extracurricular activities, I simply don't have time for you anymore." She then quickly and silently disappeared into her room, leaving Tatewaki alone once more in the corridor.

He continued to stand there for a few moments, but then he resumed his trek to the front door. There Tatewaki found his usual sandals, as well as a wide variety of spares. Tucked away in an often overlooked nook however was a pair of well worn leather shoes in need of a good polishing. Finding no other alternatives though, Tatewaki laced up the shoes and exiting the mansion, began another wonderful day in the life of Tatewaki Kuno.

On his way to school, Tatewaki marveled at the springiness found in shoes versus the usual wooden sandals he wore. He also noticed how merely changing clothes also changed how he felt. His normal clothing was long and flowing, giving him a strange sort of sense of freedom. The more western clothing he was wearing however made him feel more… professional.

His trip to Furinkan seemed to pass by quickly; he arrived at the gates to the school well before the majority of his peers. This was the usual state of affairs, but instead of waiting in the courtyard for the arrival of Akane, Tatewaki instead made his way to his classroom.

He was the first one there, and he took his customary seat. He waited a few minutes in silence, but soon other students began to drift in to the classroom, many seemingly shocked at Tatewaki's presence. The room slowly filled up, and as it did, so too did Tatewaki's nervousness, he was anticipating the arrival of one particular person, and fifteen minutes before the bell signaling the start of the school day rang, she appeared at the door to the room. Nabiki.

Sorry this chapter is short, but I'm trying to stick to a schedule of putting out whatever I have on Wednesdays in order to avoid my previous posting schedule which was better measured in months rather than weeks.