CHAPTER ONE: MISTAKES
NINE YEARS AGO
Nabiki Tendou was livid.
Today had been an exceptionally shitty day for the nineteen year-old university fresher from Nerima Ward. The coffee-stained blouse that she could not save had been a rare, expensive personal reward. Her smart phone was trashed by river water and probably washed out to Tokyo Bay by now. She had a fresh third- degree burn wound over the left side of her chest and had vaso-vagaled out like a weakling when it happened. On top of all that, she lost nearly 50000 yen in revenue. Nothing had gone according to plan.
She really needed money and now. No longer did she have her gossip network and the betting pool revenue streams from her high school days. Still, she intended to keep her promise, but she was running out of time. She needed to scramble to scavenge every last yen she could manage.
Going back to Nerima for the Winter recess had been a mistake. She had moved out the previous Spring to start at Komaba in Meguro Ward (1). This visit was her first one back since. Nothing had changed. The same pointless, endless charade of banal insanity continued to revolve around her younger sister Akane and her hapless arranged aqua-transexual fiancé Ranma Saotome. The same crazies also continued to hang off of their clueless coattails chasing delusions of consequentiality. Nabiki quickly remembered why she had been so eager to leave in the first place.
# # # # #
Nabiki's mother Akiko had taught her sketching and painting. Most people did not know. After Akiko's death, Nabiki had kept up with both in secret for years.
Despite having married into the Tendou family for the most traditional of reasons, Akiko Taniguchi had been an unconventionally progressive and passionate person. A British Nisei, she had been born in London to a fairly well-to-do ex-pat family. She had spent a good amount of her childhood in the cultured halls and classrooms of well known girl's boarding schools, becoming quite well versed in Western art and literature before eventually moving to Japan as a teenager.
Nabiki's maternal grandfather, having made his fortune abroad, needed the union with the old, venerable House of Tendou to cement the Taniguchi's status in more traditionally established Japanese circles. Westernized as Akiko was, she still remained Japanese enough to understand the value of her family's honor, never failing to publicly extoll the primacy of family above all else. Yet, despite Akiko's unwavering outward show of domestic devotion and contentment throughout Nabiki's childhood, Nabiki knew better. Soun Tendou, who even now constantly professed his eternal, undying love even now for his departed wife, remained an ignorant, deluded slave of his melodramatic imagination, still wholeheartedly believing that their marriage had ended up epitomizing the true love match.
In private, Akiko had always emphasized to Nabiki and her sisters that they needed to know how to see and hear things for themselves as they were. Waiting for others to tell you what things were and accepting those pronouncements at face value would not do. To teach these things, Akiko immersed the girls as best she could in all of the Western literature and art she had studied.
After Akiko's death, however, Nabiki alone had stuck with their mother's teachings. Kasumi and Akane found other interests. Nabiki would be forever grateful that she had. The philosophical principles Akiko had passed on to Nabiki through art had set her apart early on with tremendous advantage. As a bonus, Nabiki realised at some point that people were willing to pay for her expressive creations.
Chisa Takagi, the middle-aged lady who owned the small coffee shop down the road from Furinkan High, was one of those people. Her shop was popular with the students, Nabiki included. Takagi-san liked to decorate her shop with works by local amateur artists.
Naturally, Nabiki had seized the opportunity and established a long-standing relationship with the woman. She paid prices that were more than fair and even used to allow Nabiki to display other pieces for sale on the shop walls. Somewhere along the way, they even became friends.
Takagi-san respected Nabiki's need to remain anonymous without any questions, which Nabiki appreciated. She had worked hard to build her reputation as the cold-hearted, self-absorbed, mercenary Ice Queen of Furinkan High. The damage otherwise to her painstakingly crafted image would have been incalculable. She needed that image to protect her interests — especially growing up in a place like Nerima.
Today, Nabiki had woken up before sunrise to see the middle-aged lady. She planned to drop in before opening hour with her newest pieces and catch up on some neighborhood gossip. Unfortunately, nothing proceeded according to plan in a place like Nerima. She hated herself for being stupid enough to make the mistake of forgetting that sad fact in her months away from home in the normal world.
She found herself ambushed by carnage as she made her way into the kitchen to make her morning coffee. Scattered ingredients, utensils, and bowls littered the sink and countertops. Nabiki knew Kasumi would outright faint in horror at the sight of her ravaged domain. In the middle of this disastrous war zone stood Akane, evidently trying to prepare breakfast. Their poor, hopeless sister had always been cluelessly bad at cooking.
"Good morning, Oneechan! I thought I'd make you and everyone else something special since you're back," Akane explained with a bright smile. She proudly declared that she was trying out some new recipes for beginners that she had found online.
Nabiki had neither the desire nor the time to spend imprisoned between her bed and the commode. Her mind raced to cobble together an excuse for not staying. She quickly masked her discomfort behind an excessively cheerful morning greeting. She then
babbled something about appreciating Akane's thoughtfulness but not wanting to deprive Ranma and the rest of the family of precious food. Besides, she was on a diet and had already arranged to meet an friend for breakfast.
While stumbling through her excuse, she moved as inconspicuously as she could manage to rescue her coffee machine from the ongoing storm and ferry it to the relative safety of possible end of the counter. Nabiki had to force her hands to stop shaking as she rushed to prep the machine as fast as she could manage. The brew cycle lasted forever. Finally, with her precious black elixir secured in a thermos, she bolted for the front door, pausing only to slip on her coat and shoes and sling over her shoulder the tube carrier with the works she planned to present at the shop.
Because of her rushed escape, she found herself pleasantly ahead of schedule. She made it to the familiar foot bridge traversing the river a few blocks down from the cafe just as the low set Winter sun was cresting the horizon. She decided to stop, sip her coffee, and admire the fiery streaks of red and gold angling in against the Earth.
The light cut mysterious, intriguing shadows between the shops and homes around her. In her mind's eye, she could readily see the tableau laid out appealingly on a canvas. Thinking herself alone with no one to see, she afforded herself a secret, contented smile.
A shrill, livid scream suddenly ripped through the cool, morning tranquility.
"RANMA NO BAKA!"
Her younger sister.
Before Nabiki could react, a heavy blow struck hard against her left shoulder, causing her to stumble forward. The scalding contents of her thermos splattered down her top. She hissed fiercely in pain.
Another shout followed seconds after, this one a bellowing male voice.
"RANMA! HOW DARE YOU MISTREAT AKANE! PREPARE TO DIE!"
Ranma's Saotome's eternally hopeless self-declared martial arts rival Ryoga Hibiki.
Looking up, Nabiki made out the outline of an ominous looking projectile coming directly at her face. In horror, she reached deep into her memories for what remained of some old self-preservation lessons. Though she would never be a martial artist, she still proved athletic enough in her own right to throw her body out of the way with a few centimeters of clearance between the object's path and her eyes.
Her landing, however, was outright shit. Her body slammed down hard against the unforgiving pavement. The shoulder strap of her carrier tube broke. Her phone and thermos flew out of her hands. She could only watch helplessly as all three objects tumbled over the side rail into the icy water coursing beneath the bridge.
The inputs into her brain quickly became too overwhelming to process. Her arms and legs felt hot and heavy. A deafening roar rushed up in her ears. The edges of her vision collapsed in on themselves as her consciousness faded into nothingness.
# # # # #
As Nabiki came around, she felt like her head would fall off her shoulders. Another part of her registered that her entire corporal being burned with pain.
"Fuck…!"
The money along with the promise she had made were almost certainly all lost causes now. "Non-combatant" or whatever nonsensical category she fell into in these crazies' minds, who was she to think that her safety had ever been assured in the midst of a constant warzone like Nerima.
Screw all of these spoiled, bratty, self-centered, thoughtless, resident assholes: her sister; that clueless self-righteous bandanna-pig asshole; and, of course, Ranma Saotome, that arrogant, inane, vacuous, transsexual future brother-in-law of hers. They all deserved to part with every last yen she had squeezed out of each one of them over the years and more. Better people could do better things for the world with all the gifts and blessings those stupid, spoiled kids never even appreciated they had.
Adding insult to injury, Akane's annoying, tear-streaked face was the first thing that came into focus as Nabiki finally forced her eyes open.
"Come to finish me off?" Nabiki grumbled as she fought to sit up and take her first look at the damage.
She was back home in her own bed. She had been changed to a set of flannel pajamas. Her left arm had been placed in a sling to immobilize the shoulder, and a velcro brace had been strapped around her left wrist. The left side of her chest had been dressed with large strips of gauze held up by wrap-around bandages. Dr. Tofu, the long-time family physician, clearly had already been by the house.
"I'm sorry, Oneechan," Akane said, bowing her head low in shame. "It's just that stupid Ranma — "
"Akane!" Nabiki barked, cutting her sister off. She could not stand the old, tired refrain that she knew was about to follow. "For once, can you just swallow some responsibility without excuses? How many times have we been over this shit before? You're ridiculously spoiled and have a nasty anger management problem. Grow up and change before someone actually gets hurt around here. Someone who actually matters."
"Oneechan! Don't say that! You matter a lot!"
"Oh please. Aside from incidentally being your sister, I barely register to you and your wrecking crew entourage."
Nabiki tried to swing her legs over the side of the bed and stand up. A wave of dizziness struck as she did. An ignominious thud rang out as she collapsed to the floor, loud enough to draw attention from the whole house. She knew because the footsteps of the herd began thundering up the stairs and toward her room.
"Oneechan!"
"Don't touch me! You've done enough!" Nabiki hissed as Akane approached her.
"My daughter!" Soun Tendou cried out in a panic as he barged in, nearly tearing the door off its hinges. Kasumi and the Saotomes piled in behind him.
"Stop it, Nabiki!" Kasumi said as she knelt on the floor and hugged her sister. "You're hurt!"
"Everyone get out of here!" Nabiki hissed hotly through her gritted teeth. "Just everyone get out!"
Kasumi backed her up by throwing a look at the rest of the family that permitted no argument. Akane, their father, and the Saotomes sheepishly left in quick succession. Nabiki was grateful.
"I can't stay here," Nabiki said once they were alone. "This shit is too much for me. I'm going back to Meguro."
"Language, Nabiki!" a horrified Kasumi scolded. As usual when the two sisters were alone, her unnatural facade of unflappable serenity faded away.
"Fine," Nabiki growled. "Fuck!" she spat instead in English, their mother's real first language.
Akiko had insisted that her daughters learn it too (2). Its open use in their home had gradually faded in the years since their mother's passing, particularly since Soun Tendou had no clue what his daughters were saying when they conversed in the language. Of course, Nabiki, always pragmatic and forward-thinking, had kept up with speaking on her own. She had made a special point of keeping up with the choice words in particular.
"I still understand that too," Kasumi commented disapprovingly.
"Fine," Nabiki said, giving up and switching back to Japanese. "It's true though. I need to go back."
"You should rest," Kasumi insisted as she started to help Nabiki back up onto the bed. "We can talk more tomorrow."
"No! I mean to be out of here today!"
"Nabiki, please calm – "
She could no longer restrain the actual thoughts burning at the tip of her tongue. "Mom would be appalled by this shit!"
"So you want to walk out on us…?!"
Nabiki winced, unable to hold her stern expression in the face of the panicked sadness in Kasumi's suddenly downcast eyes. Family truly had always been the heart of Akiko's values, the center of her entire world. Even as the free and self-assured independent spirit that Nabiki was, she could not conceive of defying their dead mother's memory when Kasumi put things that way. With a resigned sigh, Nabiki reaffirmed to her older sister that she had no intention of abandoning anyone or anything.
"Still, no matter what, Akane needs to grow up at some point and assume responsibility for her actions. We don't help by making excuses for her. Like I told her, she needs to change before someone actually gets hurt. That goes for you-know-who too. Whether I'm here or not is irrelevant. Maybe my leaving like this might even make a constructive impression on someone that there's a real problem here."
"Okay, yes, we have problems – "
"Thank you for finally admitting that – "
"But what family doesn't. Be careful what you wish for, Nabiki," Kasumi admonished quietly.
"Hey! What exactly do you think I'm asking for?"
"I'm not sure," Kasumi conceded. "I just know that perfection is the enemy of great, and change isn't always good. We've both been through enough to know that."
"I'm not asking for 'perfect' or anything extraordinary. Just something better than this pointlessly fucking insanity," Nabiki grumbled with a frown.
"Nabiki!"
"Look, Oneechan," she went on, ignoring the look on Kasumi's face. "Life is short. Honor agreement or not, those two have to either move forward or move on."
"You have a talent for always making things sound so simple."
"Because it is simple. Too bad not everyone can be as smart as me."
"This has nothing to do with being smart, Nabiki. I'm your sister. Akane is too. You and her are not as different as you think. It's not hard at all for me to imagine Akane behaving and sounding exactly like you if your positions were reversed."
"Oneechan!" Nabiki chortled.
Kasumi's mind clearly wanted to run wild again with the idea that her younger sisters were Irish twins.
"I would never allow myself to end up in Akane's position. I don't let feelings cloud my judgment, and I don't have an anger management problem. Most of all, I don't leave decisions that should've been made yesterday sitting around for tomorrow."
"Be careful about what you say, Nabiki," Kasumi repeated, fixing the younger girl with the full weight of a very pointed and unamused stare. "I mean it. From a distance, things are always simple. The grass is always greener on the other side. The playing field always looks far more obvious to all of the spectators than the players."
Nabiki sighed in exasperation. "Maybe, maybe not. This discussion is moot either way."
# # # # #
When Nabiki arrived back at Komaba that evening, her dorm, like the rest of the campus, was deserted. Roughly a week remained in the recess.
On her way out of Nerima, she had called on Takagi-san to apologize for failing to show up that morning. To Nabiki's relief, the older woman assured Nabiki that she did not need to worry; they had known one another long enough for the old lady to surmise that Nabiki must have had a good reason for not coming. "You obviously had a bad morning," she noted, eyeing the sling supporting Nabiki's left arm.
"Not the best."
Takagi-san helped Nabiki to a seat at one of the tables, brought over a cup of coffee, and took up the other seat at the opposite end of the table. She talked about how she remained very much in need of a nice piece for the open-faced brick wall above the hearth. It faced out against large west-facing windows set in the far wall. Low-set red and gold streaks from the early setting Winter sun filtered in, recapitulating the pretty light that had defined the tableau Nabiki had been admiring that morning before her unfortunate misadventure.
"Tell you what," Takagi-san said after a moment of thought. "I know the timeframe is short and that you may not be feeling your best, but if you're up for it, we may be able to still move forward with a deal. Could you get me something, say, by midday tomorrow? Nothing too fancy or overly complex. In fact, more on the Minimalist side would do quite nicely."
Outwardly, Nabiki politely accepted the unexpected offer with her usual cool and reserved business demeanor. Inside, however, she was giddy with elation. Not for the first time, she wondered if Takagi-san was on to her. Regardless, the answer to that question was immaterial. At the end of the day, she would still be able to keep her promise.
Her burn continued to itch and throb beneath the bandages concealed under her top. Her back also ached when she stood. Adrenaline, however, easily drowned out her body's protests. With renewed energy and purpose, she rushed onto the train back to Meguro. She ducked into a convenience store next to the station to grab an onigiri, a pack of karaage balls, a pair of canned coffees, and a bottle of OTC ibuprofen.
As she carded herself into her residence hall, the sight of the silent and empty atrium lobby only made her even more excited. She shot up to her room to dump her stuff, throw some pills into her mouth, and retrieve a blank canvas and materials. With her left shoulder immobilized and the wrist of her dominant hand trapped in a brace, she really had no time to waste. She had a very long night ahead of her.
# # # # #
CHAPTER NOTES
(1) The Komaba undergraduate campus in Tokyo's Meguro Ward is 1 of 5 campuses of The University of Tokyo (Todai), which is widely considered the most prestigious and selective University in Japan. Todai is the only University in Japan where undergraduates have two years of a general curriculum before choosing a specialized field of study. Among the University's alumni, faculty, and researchers, there have been 17 prime ministers, 18 Nobel laureates, 4 Pritzker laureates, and a Fields Medalist.
(2) The detail about English will become relevant later in my story.