Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Two Wallets ❯ With A Friend Like This... ( Chapter 5 )

A Tale of Two Wallets

(An Altered Destiny)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

Nabiki looked down at the booklet in front her a very long time before picking up a pen to begin writing. Aloud to herself she muttered, "How do you begin these things anyway? Might as well just write what comes to mind…"

Dear diary sounded too cliché. She wanted her first attempt at chronicling her life's adventures to have some pith and originality. Diaries were more Akane's thing than her own, or maybe it was Kasumi's. Should she ask Kasumi for insight on how to compose her thoughts in writing? Probably not. Nabiki was not into anything flowery or poetic. Her writing style had always been crisp and to the point, and what passed for a chronology of her daily events usually consisted of a few notations in her infamous ledger. At the moment that ledger was sitting unopened to one side but she had no desire to set down her present thoughts there, so she looked at the book in front of her-which had been a gift from Kasumi many years back but which had always gone unused-taking up space among her other books, which was a rare thing with Nabiki since she hated to waste space for any reason.

Nabiki just sighed and started to write, "I'm putting my thoughts down into this stupid thing because if I don't tell somebody what's happening to me I'm going to go crazy! Bad enough Daddy got me betrothed to this guy whom I never even knew existed as little as a week ago, but now with all the insane things that keep happening around here I'm looking at several years of therapy just coping with the turns my life has taken.

"My Fiancé is named Saotome Ranma, which is a good name to describe him since he's as wild in his behavior as an untamed stallion. He's into martial arts big time, meaning that he eats, sleeps and dreams the stuff full time, and about the only thing he wants to be in his life is the best there is at beating people up for a living.

"He's also a pretty nice guy, though Akane would gag if she saw me write this.

"I honestly don't know what her problem is. I'm the one Daddy expects to marry the jerk. He's arrogant and rude with a stuck-up personality that I'd normally hate in a guy ten times as good as he thinks he is…" Nabiki paused a moment before resuming, "Only problem with that last statement is that there's nobody better than him in all of Nerima.

"I know because I've checked.

"Ranma can also be incredibly sweet when he wants to be. I think he just isn't that used to being around other people, which is why he lacks proper manners and says things without thinking them out first. He's what I would normally call an easy mark, a sucker play waiting to happen, a guy who can't stand to see anyone suffer, whether or not they deserve to suffer. Hell, I've even seen him act nice to Kuno, and even I've never had that big of a stomach.

"The reason for our engagement is for our family's pride and honor, or so both of our fathers keep insisting, but I suspect that means about as much to Ranma as it does to me. We agreed to go along with their nonsense just to keep everybody happy, but lately I'm wondering at just how seriously we're both starting to take this whole business. I can't believe that I'm actually starting to have feelings about the guy, or that he can be seriously interested in me the same way.

"I mean that I can understand if some boy wanted to go to bed with me or have me be his steady date. I know I've got better-than-average looks, and guys are hitting on girls way more plain looking, so it's not about my physical appearance. If Ranma wanted me that way, I'd have no problem with it because he's a pretty nice looking guy, and that goes for him in either of his two forms. I've even caught myself admiring him when he shows a bit more skin than is usually revealed by his Chinese-style clothing. If he wanted to take me to bed I'd probably say yes, just so long as we could get away with it without Daddy becoming suspicious.

"The problem is that I think Ranma likes me in a different way than this, and that's the part I'm not too sure about. I'm not into this romantic touchy-feely stuff that other girls go on about all of the time, and when Ranma acts like he just wants me to be his friend I'm at a total loss to figure him out. I know he's lonely, but how desperate can you be to want to strike friendship up with your own fiancée?

"Or maybe I should make that the local Ice Queen. That's what everybody else seems to think I am, including Akane.

"And things are just getting worse between us as I'm starting to like him in a way that just can't be good for my normal business. What really set things over the edge yesterday was that business about Ryoga, and now we've got a shared secret to bind us together in a conspiracy of silence, and how will I ever make it up to Akane?"

Nabiki paused in her writing to think back to the incident in question. It had been raining late when she went downstairs to try and con Kasumi into giving her some late-night sweets, when in through the back porch came a very soggy and female Ranma-chan.

"What happened to you?" she asked Ranma and was rewarded by seeing the redhead wince.

"It was Ryoga again," she sighed, "He must have found his way back here, and what are the odds about that? We started fighting again, and he had that stupid umbrella, only for some reason he kept it open while we fought as though he were afraid of getting wet or something."

"Didn't know he was fussy about things like that," Nabiki folded her arms over her chest, "So what happened?"

"The baka fell over some bushes a ways away from here and vanished, poof!" Ranma made a hand gesture as though signifying a small explosion, "Left his umbrella behind and everything, not to mention his clothes, his backpack and everything but that bandana he wears. I looked around but I couldn't find him."

"His clothes?" Kasumi asked in surprise, "Oh my…I hope he doesn't catch a chill in this weather."

Ranma favored Kasumi with a puzzled glance as if unable to believe that she could not get what she was indicating, but Nabiki did and gasped, "You think he has a Jusenkyo curse?"

"Makes sense," Ranma nodded, "He says he followed me into China, but I'd swear I never saw him while I was there. China's a pretty big place, so he probably got lost trying to find me and wandered up by sheer chance in the Quanjing district."

"What are the odds?" Nabiki asked dryly, "So you think this might possibly be the reason why he thinks you've messed up his life?"

"I can't think of anything else that would do it," Ranma said in disgust, "The way Ryoga thinks he probably stumbled into one of the springs at random and blames it all on me. That would explain the part about me making his life living hell a lot better than the fight over bread would."

"Oh my," Kasumi said again, "What do you suppose he came out as?"

"Hard to say," Ranma shrugged, "The guide told us there were over a hundred springs, each with its own tragic story. The only common link between them is that cold water activates the curse and hot water reverses it. Whatever Ryoga turns into is bound to be something he really hates, so much so that he can't even admit what it is."

"That does make things complicated," Nabiki said as she stroked her chin in consideration, "If he turns into a small animal he could find his way inside the house and we'd never know it. It could be something dangerous, like a rat or a snake."

"That's what I figured," Ranma said, "We'd better tell everybody to be on their guard in case he tries to get revenge in his cursed form. He won't be after the rest of you, but with his sense of direction he could attack the wrong party by mistake…"

"Right," Nabiki nodded, "Maybe we ought to call in animal control or…"

"Isn't that a bit extreme?" Kasumi asked them, "Whatever the poor boy's faults, he is still a human being."

"Well, technically human anyway," Ranma shrugged, "And even though he is a baka, he used to be my friend. I'd hate to haul his butt down to the local shelter before I've had a chance to pound some sense into his thick skull."

"I'd rather err on the side of caution," Nabiki noted, "Where the safety of my family is involved…"

"I know," Ranma said as reassuringly as she could, "I'll do everything to help, I just wish I could talk to Ryoga and get him to listen to my side of things instead of always jumping to conclusions."

It was at this moment that Akane came down into the kitchen clutching a small bundle in her arms. Kasumi took notice of this and said, "Oh my…what is that you've got, Akane-chan?"

"Oh this?" Akane smiled as she held out a small black animal that closer inspection showed to be a little piglet, "I found him in my room, isn't he adorable? I wonder how he got there."

"A pig?" Nabiki frowned, then took notice of the tiger-striped bandana it was wearing.

"He probably wandered out of the rain," Kasumi replied, "How cute he is…"

"You call that cute?" Ranma snorted, "Looks like pork on four legs if you ask me."

"Ah-Ranma…" Nabiki cautioned as the little piglet gave an angry squeal and tried to lunge for Ranma in spite of Akane's efforts to hold him.

"Shut up, Ranma!" Akane snapped, "You're upsetting little P-chan…"

"P-chan?' Nabiki and Ranma chorused together while the piglet stopped squirming and looked up in surprise at Akane.

"P for Pig," Akane smiled, holding the piglet close to her bosom, which caused said piglet to become unusually quiet, "I think I'd like to keep him for a pet if Dad will let me."

"I think that's a very nice idea, Akane-chan," Kasumi smiled, "Contrary to what many people may think, pigs actually make very fine pets and are even cleaner than dogs and cats, and I think this one looks intelligent because he seems to like you."

"Huh," Ranma snorted, "You want a pig for a pet, go right ahead. You ask me the two of you deserve each other."

"Uh, Ranma…" Nabiki attempted to get his attention.

"Well fine!" Akane snapped, "Who asked for your opinion anyway? Just stay away from us and we'll both be happy. Now if you don't mind I'm taking him to the bathroom to clean him up…"

"Uh oh," Nabiki murmured to herself, then aloud she said, "I don't think that would be a very good idea, Sis. We'll clean him up for you, no problem.'

"We?" Ranma repeated.

"The two of us," Nabiki tried to stare at him in a meaningful way, hoping he might get the hint that this was urgent and failing badly due to Ranma's obtuseness.

"Why would I want anything to do with a pig?" Ranma folded her arms over her chest and assumed a stubborn posture.

"Because you need to take a bath too," Nabiki pointed out, trying a different tract, "And this concerns a certain someone we both know who shares a certain problem we were just discussing, remember?"

"What problem?" Ranma-chan asked in confusion, looking at the piglet again as if trying figure out what was so special about the little side of cutlet Akane was clutching in her hands, the he finally took notice of the tiger-striped bandana, "Oh…that problem…"

"I don't know what the two of you are talking about," Akane snarled, "But I'm not letting him anywhere near P-chan."

Nabiki wondered if it was her imagination or was the little pig really developing a nosebleed?

"Now Akane-chan," Kasumi spoke reassuringly, "I'm sure Ranma doesn't mean any harm to your new pet. It's very late, however, and you have school in the morning. I'll see to cleaning him up for you myself…"

"Ah!" once again Nabiki and Ranma found themselves in chorus before Nabiki quickly said, "That's all right, Kasumi-chan, we'll take care of it, it won't be any problem."

She moved to take the piglet from Akane, who seemed reluctant to surrender her pet, but when Nabiki assured her that she would see to it that Ranma behaved herself she finally conceded the point and headed for the stairs, asking that P-chan be brought to her when she was ready. No sooner was she out of sight, however, when Nabiki grabbed Ranma by her collar and dragged her with her into the bathroom, making certain to shut the door before handing the piglet over to Ranma.

"Why am I doing this?" Ranma wanted to know as she had to use both hands to keep the struggling pig from biting.

"Because you're the martial artist here, not me," Nabiki said levelly, "And you're really a boy, which I'm sure will upset him less than if I do it. Besides, he's supposedly your friend, so I'm expecting you to restrain him."

"All right," Ranma sighed as she took a firm grip on the bandana to hold the piglet with one hand while turning on the hot water with the other. She waited until the furo was filled several inches before dropping the pig into the water, then stepping back as the expected transformation happened.

"Gah!" Ryoga cried as he sprang to naked life, covering himself up when Nabiki eyed him coolly, "That's too hot!"

"Oh?" Nabiki asked sardonically, "Like you're in a position to dictate?"

"Listen you-!" Ryoga started to snarl, then hesitated before looking away sheepishly, "Um…would you mind not looking? This is embarrassing enough as it is…"

"Hah, as if you're anything special," Ranma sniffed, "So why didn't you tell me you had a Jusenkyo curse in the first place instead of attacking me like you did?"

"Oh, like I'm supposed to trust myself around you!" Ryoga snapped with a vicious grimace that showed his pronounced canines, "It's your fault I've got this terrible curse in the first place, Ranma!"

"And how do you figure that?" Ranma asked, "It's not like I asked you to follow me into China."

"After the cowardly way you ran away from our challenge…"

"Ran away?" Ranma said hotly, "I waited three days for you to show up, Baka! Where were you?"

"I…got lost," Ryoga hesitated only for a fraction of a second before almost shouting, "But a real martial artist would have waited until I showed up on the forth day so we could honorably fight!"

"It was Pop's idea to leave Hokkaido, not mine!" Ranma was almost shouting now, "Why did you have to follow us? It wasn't like the argument we had couldn't wait until I got back from that trip to China."

"I didn't want to take the chance of you running out on me again…"

Nabiki put her fingers in her mouth and blew a whistle, then signaled with her hands, "Time out! Enough of this pointless bickering. So you thought your grudge was enough of a reason to follow Ranma over a thousand miles into China, where you got cursed to turn into a pig, so whose fault is that anyway? You ask me you brought this on yourself, Hibiki."

"I wasn't asking you for your opinion," Ryoga sulked, "Besides, it never would have happened if some crazy panda being chased by a red-haired girl hadn't knocked me into that spring in the first place…"

"Red-haired girl?" Ranma blinked, "So why aren't you blaming her instead of me, you Jackass?"

"Um, Ranma?" Nabiki looked at her meaningfully.

"Huh?" Ranma blinked, then absently played with her Chinese braid as though examining its color.

Just then the door behind Nabiki slid open and a panda standing on its hind legs looked in, then gave an apologetic snuff before sliding the door shut again as Ryoga stared in amazement, then anger.

"It was you all along!" Ryoga lurched to his feet with arms outstretched, only to be met by Ranma's fist as she knocked him back into the bathtub.

"Okay," Ranma said slowly, "So maybe I wasn't looking where I was going at the time. I'd just been knocked into a spring myself and came out looking like this, so the only thing I had on my mind at the time was beating the hell out of my Pop."

"It does sound as though you bear at least partial responsibility, Ranma," Nabiki pointed out.

"Hey, it wasn't my idea to get cursed like this!" Ranma protested, "You think I'd wish the same thing even on him?"

"Curse?" Ryoga said as he recovered, laughing bitterly before snarling, "You call that body a curse? You have no idea what a curse is! I turn into a PIG! Not only that, but when I first came out of that spring the first thing I ran into was that damned panda, who thought I was something to eat! He took me to the nearest hut and gave me to a local to try and boil alive in a cook-pot!"

"I think I see the problem," Nabiki surmised, "As a pig your fighting abilities are next to nothing. Must've made life pretty hard finding your way back from China."

"Hard doesn't begin to cover it, lady," Ryoga said in disgust, "Everywhere I went I was picked on and nearly grabbed up as a snack, and water seemed to find me every which way I went. Whenever I could find hot water it still took me a day to hunt my belongings down so I could renew my quest, but I had determination on my side, and now I won't rest until I've made you suffer as I have, Ranma!"

"Not in my house you're not," Nabiki said flatly, "I heard about the mess you two caused with your fight and I won't stand for that in here. Besides, you owe me Hibiki, for saving your life."

"What do you mean saving my life?" Ryoga glared, "I don't owe you anything!"

"That's what you think," Nabiki sniffed, "I could have just as easily let Akane find out your little secret, then you really would have been in real trouble."

"Akane?" Ryoga's entire attitude suddenly shifted.

"She's still mad about what you did to her hair," Nabiki replied, "And if you popped up naked in a bath right in front of her she would have called you a pervert."

"Oh yeah," Ranma rolled her eyes, "No need to have a repeat of that!"

"You mean…she'd be angry with me?" Ryoga wilted.

"Quick on the uptake I see," Nabiki said dryly, "More like she'd throttle you where you sit, Hibiki, so behave yourself or I'll let her know where to find you."

"I-I don't want to see her angry at me," Ryoga looked down, "She seems like such a very nice girl…"

"Like you'd know about women," Ranma sniffed.

"Shut up, Ranma," Nabiki and Ryoga said together.

"Hey, what did I do?" Ranma looked at Nabiki in confusion.

Nabiki took a deep breath and said, "Look, Ryoga, I know this may be hard for you to believe but Ranma here did not intend you any harm, so why don't you just back off a minute and think of how this must seem from his perspective. Ranma thought you were his friend, but you show up here trying to kill him…"

"Friend?" Ryoga growled again, "Is that what he told you?"

"It's the truth, you moron," Ranma insisted, "I wasn't your enemy back in middle school, and I sure as heck didn't mean to knock you into one of those cursed springs. You think I'd wish that on an enemy?"

"I don't know what to think of you anymore," Ryoga glowered, "I thought you were my friend at one point, but you were always teasing me, picking on me, calling me names and stealing bread from me at lunch…"

"I also walked you to and from your house, in case you've forgotten," Ranma said, "Look, Ryoga, I don't know what you think about me, but I've never done you any deliberate harm, and I sure didn't mean to see you stuck with this curse. I've got enough trouble turning into a girl whenever I get wet, and how do you think I feel about looking like this in front of my iinazuke?"

"Iinazuke?" Ryoga repeated.

Nabiki blinked as Ranma nodded to her then she said, "Uh…yeah…it's something our parents arranged. Ranma and me…well…"

"You're his iinazuke?" Ryoga looked at her in confusion, "But I thought Akane…"

"What?" Ranma frowned, "You think I want anything to do with her? Who told you that?"

"I…heard a guy at school say you were after both of the Tendo sisters," Ryoga said simply.

"Both?" Ranma frowned, "This guy wouldn't happen to wear a Kendo practice outfit, would he?"

"As a matter of fact he did," Ryoga replied with a curious look.

Nabiki and Ranma exchanged another look then once more chorused, "Kuno."

"Look…" Ryoga began, then hesitated as he glanced down at himself before saying, "I don't suppose you know what happened to my clothes…?"

"I left them on the back porch to dry, along with your backpack," Ranma replied, "By the way, do you know that umbrella you carry weighs a ton? I had to drag it here from where you vanished."

"Oh," Ryoga said, "Well, it's kind of a gift from my father…"

"Your father?" Ranma repeated.

"Yes," Ryoga looked embarrassed, "I haven't seen him in a very long time. I never seem to be able to find my way home, and I think it runs in the family. I've got this older sister and…"

"Later," Nabiki averred, "Right now we need to discuss a few things about you and this grudge you've got with Ranma. It's bad enough that you attacked him at school, but then you show up here at my house…"

"I wasn't after any of you," Ryoga assured, glaring angrily at Ranma, "It was him I was after, and with everything I've suffered…"

"You're really hung up about that, are you?" Nabiki replied, "It sounds to me as if Ranma was guilty of negligence, not deliberate intent, and you partly share the blame by following him to those cursed springs in the first place. So how does coming after him now make things better?"

"It doesn't," Ryoga said sullenly, "Nothing can ever make up for the pain and humiliation I've suffered, except maybe seeing you pay for your crimes, Saotome!"

He started to lurch up out of the tub, heedless of his naked condition, when there came a knock on the door as Akane called out, "Are you guys done with P-chan yet? And who's that you're talking with?"

"Gah!" Ryoga gasped and suddenly made a lunge for the faucet, turning on the cold tap before Ranma could think to stop him.

Nabiki had been trying to think of a reason to tell Akane not to come in when she saw the pig hit the floor with all four legs in motion, so that by the time Akane had opened the door he was running at her full tilt. With a surprised exclamation of delight Akane opened her arms and into them jumped Ryoga as she hugged him close to her bosom with obvious approval.

"Oh, you smell so clean… but didn't they dry you off at all?" Akane cooed as she straightened up, "Well, no matter, I'll warm you up soon enough, then off to bed we go, P-chan. Thanks Oneechan, I'll catch you later."

As Akane turned and retreated back into the hall with her small black cargo, Ranma and Nabiki stood staring after her, Ranma with her mouth agape. It took a moment before either one could react, and then Nabiki started to softly chuckle.

Ranma looked at her in alarm and said, "What's so funny?"

"Akane," Nabiki replied, and then her laughter became more pronounced, "She's going to take a pig to bed…and that pig is Ryoga!" her laughter became so pronounced that she started to double over.

"What's so funny about that?" Ranma wanted to know, then blinked as she belatedly got the joke and gasped, "She's taking a guy into her bed?"

"But she doesn't know it!" Nabiki slapped her knee with one hand while holding her sides with the other, "Akane, who can't even stand to be around other boys her age…with that boy!"

"Yeah, it's so ridiculous!" Ranma could not help sharing her laugh, and for the next full minute neither one of them could stop laughing, until finally Ranma gasped, "You know…it really isn't that funny…"

Nabiki sobered up, "You're right, it's not. I was just struck by the…ludicrousness of it all. We have to tell her that isn't really a pig she's thinking about adopting for a pet."

"Ah…" Ranma hesitated, "Do we have to? I mean…I know it's wrong to let her sleep with him and all that, but…well…telling her about Ryoga's problem…it's just not honorable."

Nabiki frowned, "How do you figure that?"

"Budo teaches us the harmony and discipline that comes with the Art, Nabiki," Ranma replied, "It's not honorable to tell anyone about the weaknesses of one's opponents. I don't like the way the baka is behaving, but we used to be friends, and to betray his secret like that when I'm…kind of responsible for him being like that…"

Nabiki looked at him crossly and said, "Explain to me how that's less honorable than letting him take advantage of my sister, Ranma. Akane can be a bit thick herself at times, but she deserves to know the truth…"

"And then what?" Ranma asked, "You know how angry she was about what he did to her hair? If she finds out about this she'll probably kill him."

Nabiki inclined her head with a questioning look, "Excuse me? Wasn't he trying to do the same thing to you?"

"I know," the redhead replied with a sad expression, "But in spite of that I don't think it's honorable to betray him. Besides, I know he won't hurt Akane. Ryoga couldn't even stand to look at a girl-let alone talk to one-without passing out. He's got this incredible shyness problem…"

"Doesn't seem to have that problem around you," Nabiki pointed out, "But I suppose you're right. Akane would clobber the guy on principles and not think twice about it."

"It wouldn't be a fair fight," Ranma nodded, "Ryoga isn't as fast as me, so he'd just wind up standing there and taking it like an idiot. I want him to stop chasing me, but I need time to convince him that it's pointless taking his frustrations out on me…"

"Like you do with your father every morning?" Nabiki asked.

"That's different," Ranma scowled, "I've got a LOT of reasons to pound on my father, and he does fight back, and it's not like I don't have enough reasons to clobber the old panda."

"All right," Nabiki sighed, "You win, we won't tell Akane. Still, you know it's not right for Ryoga to sleep in her bed."

"I know," Ranma replied, "Leave everything to me and I'll fix things…"

Of course I should have known better. Ranma's bright idea was to try to sneak into Akane's room late that night to steal Ryoga out of there, but the baka couldn't even do that right and somehow managed to land on top of Akane in her bed, waking her up and causing her to draw the necessary and logical conclusion.

I was standing on the ladder right below when Akane's angry outcry was followed by the sight of Ranma being ejected forcibly out of her window. I watched in dread as Ranma somehow contrived to land once again in the middle of the Koi pond (and I am seriously tempted to believe that he really is drawn there by some kind of magnetic attraction). I scooted down and hid the ladder before Akane could spot me, then fished a sopping wet Ranma-chan out of the pond, helping him get back to his feet so that he could head straight for the bathroom to change back again. We both concurred that a second attempt would not be prudent, so we each retired to our beds, taking what comfort we could from the thought that it was Akane who was in error.

I decided that maybe I could turn the situation to my advantage and elected to confront Ryoga later in the day with the intent of blackmail. Without Ranma around to complicate things it was much easier to talk to the boy, after I secured the bathroom and dropped him into freshly filled furo. I was oddly thrilled at the sight of a pig turning into a rather good-looking guy but refused to let myself be distracted.

True to Ranma's prediction the boy remained in the tub and refused to come out where I could see him. Even though I was fixing him with my patented icy stare he still felt acutely embarrassed and covered his private parts the whole time, even though they were under the water.

"Now then," I began, "I trust you had a nice nap with my sister?"

"I…" Ryoga looked down in some confusion, "I didn't mean to do that, I just didn't want…I mean…she was so nice to me, I couldn't object when she…"

He seemed to be considering what had happened, and I could tell from the way his eyes were starting to roll back that he was on the verge of a fainting spell while his nose started bleeding, but I wouldn't have any of that during negotiations. Very sternly I said, "All right, so you slept with her, but nothing came of that, ne? You were a pig at the time and she was wearing her pajamas."

"H-hai," Ryoga gasped, looking at me with a grateful expression, "I would never do anything to dishonor her. I hope you can believe me…"

"What Akane doesn't know won't hurt you," I assured him, watching as he slowly caught the significance of my words, and I judged by his expression of dawning horror that he had, so I continued, "Akane wouldn't like finding out what you did, but I'm willing to overlook the matter if you promise to be a good little boy and hear me out."

"All right," Ryoga sighed, "You win. What do you want?"

"To start with, tell me exactly why you're so angry with Ranma," I said with more sternness in my voice, bearing and posture, "I can't believe this whole thing started over a piece of bread you guys fought over."

"Believe what you want, lady," Ryoga said gruffly, "Your iinazuke did more than steal food from me in the cafeteria, he taunted me almost every day! He was rude, insensitive, wouldn't take me seriously and on top of everything he stuck me with this curse!"

"All right," I said, "He's got his share of faults, but you can't really blame him for all of those things. You act like such a baka that you probably should expect a little good-natured teasing, and Ranma seems to think that the two of you were friends…"

"Would a friend do something like this to me?" he replied hotly, splashing water on the floor in an angry gesture.

I was starting to wonder if being a pig did not somehow suit this poor boy's behavior. The way he was acting made me think his pig form might just be an outward reflection of his inward nature.

"He might if it was an accident," I studiously replied, "The way he tells it he was in shock over the whole thing himself. He'd just found out he turned into a girl and was out to punish his father when you happened to get into their way."

"And that makes what he did right?" Ryoga growled, "Until I can find a way to remove this curse I'm going to have to spend the rest of my life avoiding water! You can't expect me to just ignore that…"

"All right," I sighed, seeing how stubborn he was going to be. "Then what if we settle this matter honorably? No random attacks, no hiding out in the dark waiting to strike, just a plain, old fashioned out-in-the-open fight, you against Ranma, no quarter asked or given?"

He looked at me with obvious curiosity, "Aren't you afraid I'll hurt your precious fiancé?"

"It looks to me as if you can barely touch him," I said confidently, "But if you two promise to abide by the rules of a fair fight, then we can lay out the stakes in advance. Say if you lose you promise to stop picking fights with Ranma and let bygones be bygones. If you win I'll see to it he makes a public apology, without specifying the details, in front of our whole school so that you can have the satisfaction of his public humiliation. Deal?"

Ryoga thought about it and finally agreed to the match. I had every confidence that I would be able to convince Ranma to go along with the terms, knowing how he seemed to be incapable of refusing any challenge. His ego seemed incapable of accepting the possibility that he could lose, so he let me set everything up, which was great because I could schedule the time and place, then charge admission from the students.

The match took place at our school arena, like the other one was supposed to happen with Kuno before. As I anticipated, most of the school turned out to see first-hand Ranma-their newly declared school champion-take on the new kid with the half-ton umbrella, and I stood to make a very tidy profit from the whole encounter.

Of course I wanted the fight to be fair, but on this matter Ranma refused to give in, insisting that he did not need a weapon to counter the advantage Ryoga had with belt, umbrella and bandanas. I tried reasoning with the boy, but he assured me that everything would be all right and expressed supreme confidence that he was still better off without a weapon. I had my doubts, but I finally gave in and let him fight the way he wanted.

I saw Ryoga glare with determination at Ranma while I calmly set about collecting bets and laying odds for the match, all the while wondering if Ranma were not in over his fool head. I may not practice the art like Akane, but I am a pretty good judge of these things, and I would say that Ranma's insistence on fair play and fighting with a handicap gave Ryoga the advantage. Judging by the bets I took I was far from the only one who made this assessment.

I sat down beside Akane, who was staring at Ryoga with a strangely focused expression. I thought maybe she was still angry about her hair (the gossip around school had made it the second-major topic of the day after the fight itself), so I asked her about it.

What she said in reply surprised me.

"I'm not holding him to blame for that," she insisted, "You weren't there, you didn't see the way Ranma antagonized and bullied him. I can't blame Ryoga for being angry, although he was pretty careless about where he was aiming. It's Ranma I hold responsible for the entire mess, which is why I hope Ryoga kicks his smug face in. He deserves it, the baka."

"I'm surprised to hear you defend him," I replied, "After all, he is a guy…"

"He's not like the other guys in our school," Akane snorted, "And he was awfully nice to me this morning. He even insisted the other boys leave me alone and said it wasn't manly for them to attack me."

That was news to me, although I did belatedly recall hearing that Akane had shown up for her morning fight with the new boy in her presence. She had gone on ahead of us since I lagged behind to discuss the details of the fight with Ranma, and by the time we got to school all we could see were the usual litter of bodies, including Kuno's. Neither one of us had thought anything about it at the time and separated to head to our respective home rooms, like always, while my mind was a whirl with the possibility of making a lot of money with bets for and against Ranma.

That Akane would not resent Ryoga for interfering in her fight the way Ranma had the day before was significant. In fact, looking back I wondered if she might not be reconsidering her position against boys based on her favorable perception of this boy. I soon found out that he was the sole exception to her general diatribe against the male of the species-Tofu notwithstanding.

The fight started out with an exchange of words, which quickly escalated to fists as Ryoga attacked first, refusing Ranma's repeated overtures to bury the hatchet. The early exchanges were pretty standard martial arts moves, but it did not take long for those two to get really into it, and then the fight became fast and furious with everybody in the stands rooting for whichever guy they bet money on. It was better than a prizefight.

I'd coached Ryoga to be mindful that his umbrella did not go spinning out of control like the last time, but beyond this everything was open, and so the boy made full use of all his weapons in his attempt to pound Ranma into the dirt. Ranma, for his part, fought with strong defenses and great style, moving so quickly that Ryoga could not lay a hand on him, not even when he started throwing a hail of scarves in Ranma's direction.

Everything was going fine so far, in fact so well that I should have been suspicious. Naturally things started to go wrong when Kuno suddenly made his appearance, declaring that he would fight both Ranma and Ryoga for their respective outrages. That settled the question in my mind about who had sent him to dreamland that very morning.

Of course the haiku-spouting moron never stood a chance in the seventh Hell of standing up to both boys at once, and they jointly set aside their differences to mutually boot him out of the arena, but the interruption opened things up for more things to go wrong. Ranma was a bit slow in turning his mind back towards the fight and seemed to drop his guard for a moment. Ryoga was quick to rush in, but Ranma had been faking inattention and turned to meet his rush, dropping back to catch the other boy with his feet planted firmly in Ryoga's stomach before catapulting him almost entirely out of the stadium.

Ranma was on his feet again and charging at Ryoga while the other boy recovered, and pretty soon their fight carried them both out beyond the limits of the school grounds. I sat where I was in stunned surprise as I realized that the fight was now thoroughly out of control and would likely be settled where others could not see it. That did not sit well by me since the victor had to be determined with witnesses present so that no one could demand a refund on their bet later. That was why, I insisted at the time, I got up to follow them, as did Akane and several other students.

It was not hard to figure out which way those two had passed judging by the signs of destruction that they were leaving in their wake. Their fight raged on for another block or so before it terminated with both arriving at a local fountain, where Ranma proceeded to get himself soaked so that he turned female while hardly seeming to notice.

Ryoga was trying very hard to stay dry as he took in Ranma's transformation, then glared angrily and accused Ranma of trying to cheat with a sex-change. No one else present caught the reference as the appearance of the redheaded Ranko caused a different sort of reaction in the crowd. The guys, of course, started making the usual speculative comments while many of the girls just glared in resentment of the attention their boyfriends paid her. Ranma, for her part, was taunting Ryoga and making full use of his aqueous aversion, even going so far as to splash water at Ryoga to make the other boy back away and keep his distance.

I was silently cursing myself for not having anticipated such an event as it gave the appearance that Ranma had run out on the fight, leaving his cousin in his place to fight his battle. I knew what this would do to the betting odds and I at once started racking my brain to come up with a good explanation that would not wind up costing me money. Of lesser concern to me was the fact that Ranma was deliberately antagonizing Ryoga, which was the opposite effect of what I wanted this fight to produce, and worst still was the real possibility that Ryoga's little secret was about to be exposed before Akane. If she found out that he was her cute pet pig of the night before I had no doubt at all that Akane would go ballistic and attack him.

That was why I chose that moment to call out, "Ranko, what are you doing here? Stop playing with the pig and go find Ranma!"

Both combatants paused in the middle of their exchanges to look at me with puzzled expressions, and I just rolled my eyes in exasperation and said, "The fight's not over yet between him and your cousin! Tell Ranma I want to see him right away, and Ryoga…stop picking on Ranko. You want everyone to see what kind of a boar you can be?"

"Now look, lady," Ryoga started to protest, but Ranma caught on quicker than the baka and smiled back, "Hey, sorry, Nabiki! I was just having a little fun with this silly. I think he took a wrong turn or something…"

"Why you…" Ryoga started to round on him when he saw Ranma scoop up a handful of water in both hands and smile at him meaningfully. In a voice almost too low to be heard I saw her mouth the words, "You want Akane there to see what you're really like? Behave yourself or I'll make a new man out of you."

Slow on the uptake that Ryoga obviously was he got the point this time and immediately desisted. His expression was like the proverbial deer in the headlights as he glanced towards Akane, who was looking back with innocent curiosity written plain in her expression.

Of course Kuno showed up right away and further added to the confusion as he spotted his "Osage no Onna," so while Ranma was fending off his unwanted advances I turned to Ryoga and began rescheduling the match for another day. I promptly cancelled all bets and promised my fellow students that I would give them better odds for the next match, along with a point spread to make it more interesting. Ryoga left at once vowing to go into immediate retraining so that next time he saw Ranma he would be ready to pound him into mush.

The crowds loved it, being good showmanship and all with lots more spectacle promised for the next time but I was somewhat less than happy with these results. I'd made a modest profit on ticket sales but nothing like what I stood to reap had Ranma fought all out and defeated Ryoga in a single round, as I'd originally anticipated. I knew that Ranma had fought with less than his full potential, being far too lenient with Ryoga for some screwed up reason like honor or pity, I never doubted.

Once the crowd had thinned out I grabbed Ranma by her wrist and drew her off to one side so that we could talk in private. I made it plain to Akane that this was exclusively between me and my "iinazuke" as I sought a secluded spot then rounded on her and said, "What's the big idea, Ranma? Are you stupid or something?"

"What's your problem?" she asked in surprise, "You don't like the way I fight my battles?"

"You know I won't second guess you on combat strategy," I said with a derisive snort, "But I thought we agreed you were going to confine this thing to the track so that there wouldn't be any of this collateral damage," I waved in a generalized way at the damaged cars, destroyed fences and foliage that lead in an almost straight line back towards the High School, "Do you have any idea what kinds of lawsuits this could open up? Worse by far you almost destroyed public property by bringing the fight up to that fountain, and what about your vaunted Bushido Code against exposing Ryoga's curse to Akane?"

"All right," she conceded, "I guess we did kind of let things get out of hand, but most of that was done by Ryoga…"

"You're still as liable as he is," I snidely pointed out, "And if anyone connects you with my house we're the ones who could be liable. I won't stand for you involving us in your petty brawls…"

"Well fine!" she snorted, "Then you don't have to be! It wasn't my idea to stay with your family in the first place. I never asked any of you to be responsible for what happens to me, especially not you."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I frowned.

"You don't want to take responsibility for what happens to me, that's just fine by me," she said firmly, "Only it seems to me that you were the one getting pretty involved in my welfare, making bets on the side. How much did you make for yourself anyway?"

"A little," I said somewhat stiffly, "Not as much as I'd like, but…"

"So where do you come off as so much more high and mighty than me?" she asked, "I'm the one who could have gotten hurt out there, not that there was a chance in the nine hells of that baka Ryoga laying a finger on me, not that you'd care about it one way or another…"

I don't know what happened next, I think I must have snapped or something because the next thing I know my hand is connecting with her face and Ranma's head snaps back-more in shock and surprise than actual impact, I imagine-and then I turned around and started running. I don't know why I acted that way, I just knew that I felt very hurt and angry at what Ranma had just said about me. He was implying that I was heartless, an opportunistic bookie out to make a yen at his expense, and that came so close to the truth as far as I let other people know about me that I felt exposed and raw. For some reason I found myself hating him and feeling guilty at one and the same time, feelings unlike any other I can ever remember feeling for another human being.

I would have denied it at any other time, but it hurt being called those things by him. I thought he might know me better, but he obviously did not, and what he believed was worse by far than anything I would have wanted him to believe. I only knew that I had to get far away from there or I would lose it on the spot, and so I fled from Ranma, half expecting her to chase me. I did not stop running until long after I felt tired, and when I did I sought a hiding place where no one could see my face as I started crying.

Crying. Me! The girl who never cries, who has never shed a tear about anything since my mother…and for that idiot? What kind of spell did he cast on me to make all of my normal defenses just disappear whenever he was around, and why did it matter so much to me just what he thought about my business tactics? Why should I care if he thinks I run the school prostitution rings and print counterfeit money in the school basement?

I must be taking this engagement thing a little too seriously, and that really does have me worried. I never had any interest in marrying while I was young. That's what other girls dream about, empty-headed little kawaii Geisha dolls who think being a housewife is the beginning and end of what it means to be a woman. I have plans, I've got looks and ambition, and there is no way I am tying myself down with some macho creep who thinks I'm nothing but a selfish opportunist out to cheat everyone and rake in all the profits, even if it is technically true.

I mean, it is true that I think a lot about money, but that's not entirely because I'm selfish. I put most of the money to good use, which kind of brings me back around to the final incident of the day that happened a little more than two hours ago and got me sitting here writing all this stuff down for posterity in the first place.

What happened was that I came home late and went straight to my room without joining the others for some communal dinner. No way did I want to see Ranma wolfing down Kasumi's fine cooking while glaring at me and thinking whatever kind of evil I imagined he would be thinking. I locked my door and opened by schoolbooks intending to do some studies so that I could take my mind off this whole iinazuke business. I let Kasumi put my dinner down in front of the door, but I still was not hungry as I stared at my texts finding the words just blurred before my eyes. I could not concentrate, I was still too wound up about what Ranma had said to me, and there was a nagging suspicion that I had forgotten something pretty important to me but could not for the life of me remember what it was.

And then I heard a rapping at my window, turned to look and almost fell off my bed. It was Ranma, of course, hanging upside down like some kind of a bat in male form and looking at me as if he wanted to talk. I recovered from my surprise and was about to tell him to go away when he waved something in front of the window that changed my mind completely.

It was my business ledger, the one I used to record all of my personal transactions.

I stared at it and paled, realizing that I must have dropped it sometime between slapping Ranma's face and arriving home. That he had found it implied that it was dropped while running away from him, which meant that he had seen it fall and recovered it and most probably had glanced through the pages.

I was on my feet at once and opened the window to gasp as he handed it to me then gave me the strangest kind of look and asked politely if I would let him enter. I could hardly think of a reason to refuse since he obviously knew something about my business transactions, so I stepped back and watched as he moved fluidly inside with enough grace to put shame to a monkey.

Then he stood before me with his head bowed and said the words to me, "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry," I replied, neither as a question nor a statement, wondering what he had to be sorry for since I was the one who had slapped him.

He did not long keep me in the dark, "I shouldn't have said those things about you. It was thoughtless of me, I didn't know any better."

I just stared at him wondering what had caused him to adopt such a humble tone with me since my general impression of Ranma was that of a guy too proud to admit to personal failings unless he was backed against the wall with a forced tape confession. He had explained his lack of grace before, true, but never with such firm regret as I saw in his blue eyes when he looked up at me now and for a moment I could do nothing but stare back in confusion, waiting for him to continue.

"I realize that I can be pretty insensitive sometimes," he said simply, "Never have had much reason to think about it until now. Somehow I just keep saying and doing the wrong things, but I never meant to hurt your feelings, Nabiki. I hope you can forgive me."

I was only silent a few more moments before I said, "I forgive you, Ranma. I guess you had a right to chew me out for only thinking about my profit margins. I'm glad you weren't hurt and…um…sorry about that slap I gave you."

"What?" he softly chuckled, rubbing his cheek with one hand, "That? Don't worry about it, I've been hit a lot harder than that by experts. I was kind of surprised, though…nobody ever caught me napping like that before. Maybe it's a good thing for me you don't practice the Art like Akane."

"I guess so," I found myself chuckling back, and for some obscure reason I was feeling a lot better for the gesture.

But then he started looking at me in a very different way and I felt my breath catch. He was silent only a moment before he smiled at me and said, "You know…you can awfully cute when you smile. You should smile more often, it makes you look very pretty."

"Hah?" I intelligently replied, or words to that effect.

He started to turn away, then paused as he said, "You know…I took a look at that ledger, just out of curiosity, not 'cause I want to pry or nothing."

"You…what?" I suddenly felt my good mood evaporate at the thought of someone intruding into my personal secrets.

"Don't worry," he said, "I didn't understand most of it. Like I told you before, I'm not good with business stuff, just basic math. You've organized things pretty good in that thing, as near as I can tell, and even somebody like me can figure out the plus and minus table. I had no idea you were used to handing such large amounts of money."

"Yeah?" I asked almost challengingly as if to defy the implication that a girl like me was not supposed to be that good at business, but it turned out that was not what Ranma had intended.

"Kasumi says you run the family finances," he noted simply, "I saw a lot of entries in there for food, utilities, taxes, rent, basic living costs and stuff like that. I didn't add it all up, but it looked like a lot of money. Kasumi says your father hasn't been teaching classes in quite a while, and nobody here has a job, so I guess all that yen comes from the stuff you collect in the plus table. As near as I can see your figures look pretty even," he glanced around at my room for a moment then smiled at me again and said, "Not much I see here that costs money, and Kasumi says you borrow a lot of your clothes from her and Akane. Way I see it…you're not just doing this for the money."

He turned and went back to the window, hoisting himself up onto the sill before he paused to say, "I'll try and keep the fight in one place next time, and I won't let that baka Kuno mess things up either. Go ahead and do whatever you think you have to, whatever you think is best. I know I don't have any right to complain," he turned and gave me a confident look as he added, "But I'm still going to pound him flat, so be sure you bet on me or you'll be throwing away your money."

And then he was gone and I was left there standing in the ruins of my life, wondering why the hell I was feeling so tied up in knots at what he had just said to me. I kept replaying the scene in my mind, and then I got the stupid idea to sit down and write all of this down, which brings me back to where I started over an hour ago.

And now that I've just put all of this down in writing I still don't feel any closer to the answers. I've just had one of the strangest days of my life, either the worst or the best I could not tell you. I'm starting to feel as if I'm losing all control over myself, and it's all because of Ranma! Why does he do this to me? HOW does he do this to me? How the hell did I let things get this messed up and what in the name of the gods do I do now to put things back the way they were before this fiancé nightmare started in the first place?

I really do not have an answer for any of this. I'm just tired and I hurt all over and I can't even think about eating. I've got homework to do but I'm just too mentally exhausted to even think about that stuff, and I can't get Ranma out of my thoughts. I can still see him perched on my sill, that cocky smile of his telling me that he's on top of everything, that there's nothing he can't accomplish, and I'm going crazy here just thinking that he could do this to me in only one week since our fateful meeting.

Am I in love with the guy? In spite of what I've said to Akane I think love is pretty important, but it's something I'd rather put off until I've gotten my life into the shape I want it to be. What am I going to do if I really do fall in love with somebody like him? He's as wild as his name implies, but when he wants to be nice he can just…

I don't think I want to go on about it. This whole diary thing is stupid, and I probably won't try it again since it doesn't seem to be helping. It's too lame a concept and it's not really like me being this introspective. Maybe if I sleep on it I'll feel better in the morning. Yeah, that's probably the best idea I've had all day. Maybe in the morning I'll think of a way to put things right. After all, I'm Tendo Nabiki, there's nothing I can't handle. I don't need fancy moves or martial arts to do my fighting, I can always find an angle that can put me atop of any situation.

That's right, tomorrow. I'll think of what to do tomorrow…

Continued

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