Fortunes Told, Fortunes Made
AN: Here we go again! A bit late for some, but Merry Christmas! For those who don't celebrate that, Happy Holidays!
Without further ado, enjoy!
Chapter 4: The Meeting
Nabiki didn't consider herself particularly school-focused, but she did care about her grades enough not to skip class. Fortunately, since it was her last year before college, she had enough credits to have a free period in the morning on some days, which gave her plenty of time to work on various moneymaking schemes, and right now, there was one plan much more important that any other. However, since Ranma and Ryoga had not come back to the dojo the night before, she had to work on a different angle.
'My usual assistants won't be enough for this plan, but at least they can keep the usual rackets going while I'm preoccupied,' Nabiki thought as she strolled down the sidewalk. 'Fortunately, I have a few options in mind that would be all to happy to see my plan succeed. I just have to get them on board...'
Seeing Shampoo pass by on her bicycle, Nabiki grinned. 'Well, this makes my job easier,' Nabiki thought as she entered the Nekohanten.
"Welcome in, sit wherever you like," Cologne called out from the kitchen. "Mister Part-Time, leave the dishes and take orders until Shampoo gets back."
A moment later, Mousse emerged from the back and approached the table she had taken a seat at. Adjusting his glasses, he asked, "What can we get you today, Tendo?"
"I'll take an order of the Asa-Ramen," Nabiki said. "And a moment of your time."
"Better make it quick," Mousse replied as he wrote down her order. "The Mummy Monkey is a slave driver even when we're slow."
Nabiki grinned and asked him bluntly. "How would you like to help me make sure Ranma NEVER marries Shampoo?"
Mousse froze as her words registered. After a moment, he asked, "Can you really do that, Tendo?"
"If the plan I'm currently working on succeeds, then Ranma will be married to someone else, and Shampoo will be more likely to kill Ranma, than marry him." Seeing the smile spread across Mousse's face, Nabiki continued. "Of course, it would be significantly easier if I had someone to help me. Perhaps someone with access to ancient Chinese magical artifacts and potions?"
Mousse frowned at that. "As much as I like the sound of that, it isn't easy for me to get access to that Monkey Mummy's artifacts without getting caught." Mousse shook his head. "Besides, if Ranma marries a different girl, Shampoo is required by our laws to kill her."
Nabiki suspected as much, but that did not affect her plan as much as the boy thought. "Oh, I know you can be creative when it comes to getting your hands on magic. And as for the rest... Tell you what, meet me at my family's dojo tonight at midnight, and I'll explain everything."
Mousse nodded and headed toward the kitchen. "Very well. Tonight, then."
As he headed off, Nabiki leaned back in her seat, thinking, 'Now I just need to talk to Happosai, and wait for tonight.'
When Ranma woke up, it took her a moment to remember where she was. She had been woken up by a splash of cold water like she often was, but she definitely was not in the Tendo's guest room.
"Were you planning to sleep all day, Saotome?" Ryoga asked with a smirk, as he balanced the now empty bucket he had on one of his fingers.
As the events of the previous day came back to her, Ranma scowled at him and said, "Well, looks like one of us is feeling better, at least." Without a second thought, she pulled off her soaked shirt and began to wring it out. When she did not hear any rebuttal, Ranma glanced over to see Ryoga looking away with a blush on his face. Rolling her eyes, the redhead added, "Geez, it's just me, ya pig. Usually ya ain't that easy unless I've got some disguise on..."
"Y-Yeah, well..." Ryoga stuttered, before hurrying out of the room. "I, uh, I'm going to go get breakfast ready!"
"Huh. He's acting weirder than usual," Ranma muttered to herself. As she pulled her still damp shirt back on, her eyes widened as she remembered the possibility of him having already swallowed the Love pill. Rushing outside, she caught up with Ryoga just before he reached the street. "Where'd ya think ya were getting breakfast, Okinawa?"
Blinking in surprise as he realized he had left his house, the Lost Boy blushed as he turned to her, suggesting, "Maybe, we should just get breakfast at the Nekohanten?"
Rolling her eyes again, Ranma said, "Yeah, that's probably the only way ta keep ya from taking a detour ta Hokkaido before we talk ta Cologne." With that, she grabbed his hand and started dragging him down the street, not noticing the goofy grin on his face as she-
-stared into his deep brown eyes. He chuckled nervously, as they danced to the music, saying, "I can feel them staring at us. It's a bit..."
"Let them stare," Ranma replied with a grin. "They're just jealous 'cause we're the hottest couple in the room!"
"Did you just call as a couple?" Ryoga asked in surprise.
"Oh, you know what I mean," Ranma shot back, rolling her eyes, before-
-a bicycle wheel collided with her head, snapping her out of the vision as she heard Shampoo's voice say, "Nihao, Ranma! You come for too, too delicious ramen? Shampoo just come back from early morning order. Make bowl just for you when get back inside!"
As Ranma extricated herself, she opened her mouth to reply, but Ryoga was quicker for once, saying "Watch where you're going, Shampoo! Besides, we came to talk to Cologne, not you!"
Hopping back to her feet, Ranma said, "Calm down, Bacon Breath. Besides, compared ta your punches, that was nothing." Licking her lips she added, "Besides, nothing wrong with some free ramen while we wait for the old ghoul!"
As the trio headed inside the restaurant, Shampoo latched on to Ranma's arm, while Ryoga glared at the amazon. Ranma glanced at her rival and asked, "Ya okay, P-chan? You've been acting weird all morning."
Immediately, Ryoga's glare vanished. "Ah! No, I'm fine, Ranma," he said with an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
Rather than be reassured, however, Ranma was more sure than ever that something was wrong. 'He almost never calls me just "Ranma" unless it's followed by "prepare to die",' the redhead thought to herself. 'It's not like he never acts like this, but it's usually only around Akane...' As that thought occurred to her, Ranma groaned, as that all but confirmed her suspicions.
She was drawn out of her thoughts by Shampoo letting go of her arm and saying, "Airen and Lost Boy find table. Shampoo let Great-Grandmother know you here then bring too, too delicious ramen bowl." With that she hurried off to the kitchen.
Ranma did as she suggested, but as Ryoga sat across from her, a dreamy expression on his face, Ranma could not help but be reminded of similar expressions he had worn when on 'dates' with Akane. 'Dammit! Is the real curse that I'm only gonna see things I can't avoid? There's no way that's true, is it? ...No. I ain't gonna stand by and let some stupid visions tell me how my life's gonna go!' Ranma thought, burying her worry behind a wall of self-righteous anger.
"My, my, quite the dour expression this morning, Son-in-Law," Cologne said, startling the redhead out of her thoughts once more. "I don't suppose you've come to tell me you decided to marry my granddaughter and join the tribe, have you?"
"There's no way Ranma would do that!" Ryoga declared, glaring at the old woman, before glancing across the table and adding nervously, "Er, you wouldn't, right, Ranma?"
Ranma buried her face in her hands, and groaned at that outburst. Raising an eyebrow questioningly, Cologne turned to the redhead and asked, "Looking for a cure to some love potion gone awry, I take it?"
"Something like that," Ranma admitted. "I think this idiot swallowed one of those Amazon Love Pills that showed up a while back."
"I did?" Ryoga asked in confusion.
"That seems unlikely," Cologne said to Ranma, ignoring the Lost Boy for the moment. "As you are well aware, two of the pills were used during that incident, and the recipe to make more is back in my village. Even I do not have it memorized, and I certainly don't have a copy lying around."
"What about the one that wasn't used?" Ranma asked. "Ya still got it, right? Could Mousse or somebody have swiped it when ya weren't looking?"
"Actually, I decided that the Day Pill would have little use on its own, and was too much trouble to keep around after the other two were use," Cologne explained. "So, I threw it in the ocean with the Lifetime pill. So, unless a fish swallowed it, got caught, and then this boy ate that fish, it is quite unlikely, like I said."
The sound of Ranma's face hitting the table echoed throughout the mostly empty restaurant, as the redhead heard those words.
"Well, at least it'll only last a day," Ranma grumbled as she sat up once more.
"If you don't mind, son-in-law, I'd like to know exactly how this happened. I'm surprised you would even think of the pills," Cologne said with a frown.
"It was, uh, just a hunch," Ranma said. "He thought he accidentally swallowed a rock last night, but then he started acting kinda funny after he saw my cursed form."
"I see," Cologne narrowed her eyes in suspicion for a moment, before shrugging it off. "Based on what you told me, the pill should wear off around sunset. So, I expect that you will have a busy day ahead of you, Son-in Law."
"Ugh, don't remind me," Ranma groaned, as the old woman leapt atop her staff, cackling as she bounced away.
When the old woman reached the kitchen, Cologne turned to the eavesdropping Shampoo and said, "If you don't take that ramen out soon, child, it will go cold."
"Is Great-Grandmother really no stop Lost Boy from loving Airen?" Shampoo asked with a frown.
"Even if I wanted to, the recipe for the antidote is back home in China," the Elder Amazon replied. "Besides you know how Son-in-Law reacts to advances from men. Today will be an embarrassment, but tomorrow everything will be back to normal, although the Hibiki boy may be a bit more bruised if he tries something."
Shampoo relaxed as she heard those reassuring words. Heading over to the table with a slightly cooled bowl of ramen, she smiled and said, "Sorry for wait! Hope Airen enjoy!"
"Thanks, Shampoo!" Ranma said, immediately pulled from her bad mood by the smell of good food.
Shampoo pulled out a chair to sit down next to Ranma, but before she could follow through, a new group of customers walked in. Suppressing a sigh of frustration, she smiled at the redhead and said, "Shampoo have go work now, but Airen date Shampoo later, yes?"
Ranma hesitated as Shampoo hurried over to the new customers, expecting another outburst from Ryoga. However, when none came, she turned toward him, looking at the Lost Boy for the first time since she had started explaining things to Cologne. Rather than angry, though, her rival only looked depressed.
"It's only because of a magic pill, huh?" Ryoga mumbled, completely oblivious of his surroundings. "That's really the only reason I feel this way when I seen your adorable figure?"
Ranma's eyes widened as his words triggered a memory she had not thought about in a long time.
"That... you call a curse? Whining about your misery... with such an adorable figure!"
'He... he said I was 'adorable' the first time he saw me in this form, too,' Ranma thought to herself, as her face heated up in embarrassment. Scowling across the table, Ranma said, "Why do ya gotta say stupid stuff like that, huh? Besides, you'll be back ta normal tonight, so why don't we just treat it like a cold and find ya some place ta sleep it off, what do ya say?"
"That makes sense. I mean, now that I think about it, I don't remember feeling quite like this before last night. But, the thought of just staying away from you until this feeling fades..." Ryoga trailed off and gripped the front of his shirt over his heart, as if the idea alone caused him physical pain.
Ranma rolled her eyes at the melodramatic gesture, but frowned as she said, "I suppose that is kinda like running away, huh?"
"Ranma... if it really is only for one day... can I please spend it with you?" Ryoga pleaded. A moment later he blushed and hurried to add, "Not doing anything weird of course! We could see a movie, or walk in the park, or just spend the day sparring. Whatever you want!"
At first Ranma wanted to outright refuse. After all, she had no desire to let the vision of them kissing come true. Then, a thought occurred to her. 'I tried ta stop him from swallowing the pill, and that only made me the first person he saw. Maybe if I go along with this instead of fighting it, then the kiss won't actually happen! Besides, the alternative is going ta school, and I've already missed the morning classes, anyway.' Out loud, Ranma said, "Ya know what? Sure, I could use a day ta relax. But if ya try anything funny, I'll kick your ass, got it?"
"Of course!" Ryoga said happily, her threat doing nothing to dampen his joy at her acceptance.
As the two left the restaurant, neither noticed a suspicious pair of eyes following them, nor a figure slipping out behind them to trail the pair...
AN: And there it is! Again, I hope you all have a happy holiday season!
What will happen in the day to come? Who followed the pair out of the restaurant? Find out in future chapters of Fortunes Told, Fortunes Made!