Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ A Date With Destiny... ( Chapter 14 )

Nabiki 1/2

(A Very Scary Thought)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

Based Upon the Altered Destinies Storyline

Inspired by the works of such fans as

Wade Tritshler

Richard Lawson

James Jones

And Many Others

Standard Disclaimer: This is inspired by the work of Takahashi Rumiko and is not my original creation. All characters belong to her. This is only a fanfictional work, and is not intended to compromise the rights of the original owners, distributors and publishers of the Ranma series. I have no money to spare and would very much appreciate if no one tries to sue me.

"So, where are we going first?" Nabiki asked her date as the two of them strode casually down the lamplit streets of Nerima.

"I dunno," Ranma smiled, "Anyplace you like. I just want you to have a good time with me is all."

"That shouldn't be too hard," Nabiki smiled at him, "Provided it is possible for the two of us to be alone without someone coming along to spoil things."

"What, you mean like crazy kickboxers out to reclaim a title they claim you

stole?"

"Or flamboyant millionairesses taking exception to a pair of Peasants out to enjoy a night on the town?"

"Or long lost boyfriends out to strike up an old flame?"

"Or poetry-spouting samurai-wannabes out to kill or date us?"

"Or our parents trying to push us too fast into something we'd rather work out together?"

"Hmmm," Nabiki paused, "Give me a minute. I'll try and think of something that could top that."

"How about if we see a movie?"

"Not a bad idea," Nabiki smiled, "Only what kind?"

"Something you'd like, I hope."

"Well," she mused, "Do you know what kind of movie that is?"

"Hey, I 'm not a mind-reader!" he protested.

"I know that," she grinned, "But a fiancée should know his budding bride's personal tastes, and so far as I know you've never asked me about what kind of movie I most enjoy. If I had to guess with you I'd bet it was a Sports movie."

"Maybe," Ranma said, "But I prefer action films that have a lot of intensity. I prefer films about samurai, or the warrior tradition."

"Not surprising," Nabiki mused, "So what about a Martial Arts film?"

"Depends on who's making it," Ranma said, "Most films with Martial Arts are badly choreographed. If it looks fake, chances are I'm not going to enjoy it. I like Jackie Chan, though, he makes it look real, and he takes risks doing his fight scenes."

"An actor who does his own stunts has a fool for a Fight Coordinator," Nabiki pointed out, "I can admire his daring, and he does have good technique, but risking his neck that way isn't smart, it's foolhardy. I can understand how he's inured himself to pain after training in Peking Opera..."

"I saw 'Farewell My Concubine,'" Ranma pointed out, "Hard to believe they went through all that suffering just to learn how to act out ancient stage plays. It almost makes our form of training seem laid back!"

"Well, the Chinese are very passionate about their cultural history," Nabiki noted, "You can take my word on that, but I agree that it was a lot of bother over very little, and when interest died off those guys had to find other kinds of employment. I take it as a good lesson in never specializing in just one type of career field."

"Well, I still don't know what else I'd be interested in doing besides helping run the dojo," Ranma said, "That was a great idea you had getting your dad to reopen the hall to taking in new students."

"We can't live on air, Saotome," Nabiki pointed out, "We've got to get a stable income going down or we'll lose the dojo when the banks foreclose."

"I'm sure glad you're taking care of that stuff," Ranma replied, "Uncle's always saying that I just don't have good business sense, in fact I think that's one of the reasons they wanted us to...um...marry."

"Uh, yeah," Nabiki felt the same momentary pause at the mention of their engagement, so she promptly changed the subject back to that of movies, "I used to watch a lot of Hong Kong films before I attended a set and found out how they get made. I actually got an autograph from Fei Long, if you can believe it..."

"Fei Long?" Ranma was suddenly envious, "He's one of the biggest stars in the industry! I've seen all of his movies! Do you still have it?"

"I'm afraid not," Nabiki said reluctantly, "I sold it to raise some short-term capitol that I needed in a hurry. If I'd known I was going to meet someone like you, though, I might have been tempted to keep it."

"What's he really like?" Ranma asked, "His fights seem so real! I can't even tell which parts are done with clever camera angles and stunt work?"

"Oh, he's as real as they come in that business," Nabiki replied, "He's actually a pretty nice guy, even gave me a few pointers. He's one of the few major stars who thumbs his nose at the Triads that control most of the business."

"That must take a lot of guts," Ranma marveled, "I'd sure like to shake the hand of a guy that brave."

"Actually, you two might just hit it off," Nabiki smiled, "You've both got a lot in common, and he's not that much older than us. So...what about a foreign film?"

"I'm not big on subtitles," Ranma admitted.

"Hey, it can help with your language skills," Nabiki grinned, "Only a barbarian specializes in only one language."

"Maybe so," Ranma conceded, eyeing her thoughtfully before saying, "I suppose you like those weepy soap-opera dramas with a lot of angst, about people who sit around complaining about how messed up their lives can be."

"Naw," Nabiki said, "Some of those are pretty depressing, and a lot more are simply pretentious. I like a movie that has a lot of heart and a good story, one that hasn't been done to death, like the umpteenth remake of a Gojira movie."

Ranma had a sudden idea and smiled, "What about that new film by Kurusawa? He always makes great movies that've got everything you just said, and this one's had some pretty good reviews."

"That's a great idea," Nabiki brightened, "Or we could always go for the old standby."

"And what's that?" Ranma wondered.

She smiled, "Anime. I've been wanting to get caught up on a particular series that I haven't watched since I was little."

"You like Anime?" Ranma was surprised, "I didn't think you'd have much time, what with all the traveling you did with Father."

"We weren't always on the road or traveling, Ranma," Nabiki said, "I insisted on attending some school, and your father agreed it would be a good idea for me to keep up on the rest of my studies. That's how I first met Keiko and Ryoga."

"Right," Ranma sniffed, "Them. I guess that was pretty educational."

"Why Saotome-kun," Nabiki purred, "You have a positive gift for understatement."

"Well, Tendo-san Nabiki," Ranma returned her smile, "May I also say that you certainly are full of surprises?"

"It's one of my charms."

"I'll say it is," Ranma returned her grin, then they held that moment looking fondly at each other before they both shied away, feeling that mutual awkwardness that always seemed to crop up whenever they were like this. Ranma quickly remarked, "I think we might have time to eat something before we see the show."

"Good idea," Nabiki replied, "Theaters always charge such outrageous food prices..."

Meanwhile overhead a shadowy figure continued to stalk the pair, keeping them always within sight while avoiding any mistakes that might give her presence away. Vaulting from rooftop to rooftop she had an excellent vantage point from which to observe the pair holding hands and leaning towards each other in a MUCH TOO friendly manner that left no doubt of the nature of their nocturnal endeavor. She was trying to decide what to make of that when something else became apparent.

She was not the only one following Nabiki and Ranma.

A curious figure was moving nonchalantly in the same direction, doing nothing to draw attention to itself, but otherwise staying a constant distance behind the amorous duo as though observing them on personal business. This was too great a coincidence to be merely coincidental, but the strange boy in the black school uniform with the odd cooking implement slung across his back was clearly not making any hostile overtures as yet. She debated confronting this stranger, then decided not to waste time over him as she would risk losing her real quarry, and that was something that could not be permitted...

"YOU WHAT???"

Genma quailed at the shocked and angry glares that were being fixed upon him by nearly everyone present, save only Kasumi, who was merely looking confused and deeply worried. What had just been revealed to his wife and best friend (not to mention both of the other Tendo sisters and their curious friends) was that he had made a bargain with Kuonji Akira that was utterly incomprehensible and would very likely result in him very soon becoming a dead man.

Nodoka's reaction was the worst by far, "You sold our son for food?"

"You violated our sacred pact by engaging Ranma to another woman?" Soun shouted.

"It wasn't like that!" Genma protested, "I mean, at least...it didn't seem so cut and dry at the time. It was a difficult choice, one of the hardest I have ever made, but it was either that or risk starvation for me and little Nabiki..."

Kuonji-san did not appear particularly ruffled by the news that Saotome Ranma had another, second engagement. He just smiled affably and said, "Please, there is no need for everyone to become so excited. My daughter will marry your son, as we agreed. By your own admission the engagement to Tendo-san's middle daughter is only a couple of weeks recent, while the general arrangement you made between your Houses does not stipulate any terms that would likely invalidate our arrangement."

"How do you figure that, sir?" Nodoka asked him but a bit more stiffly than was her usual wont.

"Saotome-san accepted the agreed-upon dowry when he took my Yatai," Kuonji noted, "Therefore he committed himself and his son to our arrangement. What terms did you offer him to accept engagement to your middle child, Tendo-san?"

"Ah," Soun blanched, "The honor and tradition of the Anything Goes School...and my family dojo."

"Then we have staked equal terms," Kuonji smiled, "The Yatai was my livelihood, the Dojo is yours, therefore we both have given our children matching stakes for the future. However, since Saotome-san and I worked this out nearly ten years to the day, while the arrangement you made with Akane-san was ended by your own mutual decision..."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard!" Akane all but exploded, "Ranma and Nabiki are in love with each other! You can't force them apart because Ojisama made a stupid agreement on an empty stomach...!"

She suddenly realized what she was admitting to. She had just openly conceded that Ranma and Nabiki were in love. The last traces of hope between her and Ranma were thus fully extinguished. Akane quailed a bit at this knowledge, but refused to show her doubt, deciding it was finally for the better.

"I would agree in principal," Kodachi mused at her side, "I may not have any particular interest in Ranma-san or your sister, but they do seem a reasonably good match. The problem is, in terms of pure legality, I would have to concede that Kuonji-san's argument is nonetheless valid."

"Ah, I can see that you have a very alert mind for business, Kuno-chan," Kuonji smiled, "You would not doubt get along very well with my daughter. She has the family instinct for management and profit, one reason why I intend to give her a place of business that she can start out with on her own. My agents have already signed the papers on a very promising site that I will give to my daughter on her sixteenth birthday, which is coming up by next week. If she can turn a profit there in less than a year, I will give her greater responsibilities and a chain of stores to supervise as a regional representative for Kuonji Enterprises."

"I thought I recognized your name from last week's issue of Business Times," Kodachi said brightly, "Your company is one of the fastest rising food chains in Japan, earning as much as one-point-five billion yen by last quarter."

"So you see," Kuonji beamed as he turned to the other astonished onlookers, "What I am offering your son is a stake in Ukyo's inheritance, and she stands to become a very wealthy lady before she even graduates from Business College. She has an excellent grade point average and has even better instincts than her old man. She is also a superb cook, having mastered our family's secret arts of Anything Goes Martial Arts Okonomiaki Cooking..."

"Anything Goes Martial Arts Okonomiaki Cooking?" Soun's eyebrows shot up and for a moment he forgot all about his anger, "Why, the secrets of those techniques have been lost for generations! I had no idea that anyone still practiced these arts..."

"Father," Kasumi gently reminded, "We were discussing Nabiki-chan's engagement."

"Oh, quite right," Soun replied, then glared at Genma once more, "Saotome...!"

"Uh, look, Kuonji-san," Genma swallowed, "If this is just about the Yatai..."

"Oh, that," Kuonji said dismissively, "Forget it, you actually did me a favor. Taking it off my hands gave me a good excuse to settle down and start a local business in the Hakaido area, which became the first in a chain of Okonomiaki shops I've since opened. I'd been on the road since Ukyo's mother passed on to her ancestors, and I had been living too much with my grief, which is one reason I thought about having you taker her off my hands to raise as your own child. I didn't want the reminder of everything I had lost. You forced me to see that Ukyo was the most important thing in my world, seeing how you trained Tendo-kun's child to be formidable enough to give little Ukyo-chan a run for her yen. I have since devoted myself to training her, and she has had excellent motivation. The one problem I have is getting her to obey me in this simple request that she marry your boy."

"Ukyo didn't want to marry anyone?" Ryoga asked, still finding it difficult to even think of his childhood friend as anything but a boy he liked to hang around with.

"Exactly, hai," Kuonji sighed, feeling deflated, "In part I believe that is what fueled her anger and determination to be the best at Martial Arts Cooking: to seek your Ranma out and force him to renounce their engagement, as if such a thing would invalidate the wishes of their parents!"

"Wait a second," Akane said, "Did you just say she wants to fight Ranma to make him give her up? Now that is crazy!"

"Actually I can understand her feelings," Keiko mused, "If someone were trying to force me to marry some boy I'd never met I'd get pretty mad myself. It does seem a little extreme wanting to fight him and all, but I suppose she thinks it's the honorable way to end an engagement."

"Hah!" Akane snorted, "I only wish it had been that simple!"

"You are saying that Ukyo is not agreeable to this engagement," Nodoka frowned, "Why then would you want to force it on her?"

"Because I don't exactly plan on living forever," Kuonji's tone finally began to express fatigue, irritation and a faint note of resignation, "And it is long since time for Ukyo to grow up and stop denying that she is a woman. I indulged her whim of pretending to be a boy for many years, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to abide by her insolence, and I want her to marry so that she can pass on our fortune and family traditions to a new generation. Perhaps if she meets your son she will reconsider her priorities and learn that it really is not so bad accepting the arrangements I have gone to such lengths to secure on her behalf. If she will agree to marry I can die a happy man, and our ancestors will be at peace. So you see, while I am sympathetic to your position in this matter, I must nonetheless insist on my right to declare Ukyo as Ranma-san's legitimate iinazuke."

"But what if your Ukyo attacks him?" Akane asked, "Ranma could be get hurt, or worse!"

"I've no doubt that the boy's been well trained to hold his own in a fight," Kuonji smiled, "After all, he is your son, right Saotome-kun?"

"Ah...hai," Genma said faintly, wondering if he should start looking for a shovel to dig his own grave, or would that be too anticlimactic? From the way Nodoka was eyeing him just then it was as if he could already feel the press of the tanto against his stomach.

He just hoped for the boy's sake that Ranma would keep one eye out for his backside, or that Nabiki would maintain her survival instincts that had kept the two of them alive for so long. He had a sudden prickly feeling that they both were going to need it...

Dinner came first as both Ranma and Nabiki discovered how hungry they were, and after a brief discussion of their options they settled on a local Chinese restaurant that--while relatively expensive--had a good reputation for service.

Ranma had winced when he heard Nabiki order up just about everything on the menu in fluent Chinese, then she smiled at him and suggested something more modest for him, assuring Ranma that she would contribute some of her own petty cash to cover the difference, and throw in a modest tip for the waiters.

Ranma did not look happy at the thought that he would not be the sole provider, but he had to admit that the five thousand Yen he carried was not enough to treat Nabiki in the sort of style she deserved. In spite of her insistence that she could "rough it," he wanted her to feel special for this evening. She was looking so nice and feminine that he felt as though she was out of his class. It was bad enough that she was smarter than him and a better fighter, but if he couldn't be manly enough to make her feel good he'd die of embarrassment for certain. So he watched her carefully for any clues that might tell him if he were doing all right by her estimation.

Apparently he was, because she would smile at him from time to time and make him feel...very special...and do something with her eyes that caused his heart to flutter. It was almost with relief that dinner arrived, but then he half feared that Nabiki would pig out like usual.

Much to his surprise she restrained herself, probably because she did not have to worry about Genma trying to steal her plate. She ate at a moderate rate, finishing off the rice and fish portions before pausing to slurp down her wonton soup. She speared the chicken strips with her chop sticks and dipped them generously in sweet and sour sauce, then went to work on her fried noodles, somehow managing to still get it all down before Ranma had finished his dinner salad.

Ranma simply could not understand how she managed to put it all away. If Akane had eaten even a tenth as much she would be moaning and groaning for weeks about the weight she would put on, but with Nabiki it was like food evaporated in her system. Considering the intensity with which she worked out it would not be surprising that she burned calories like a race car engine, but he still could not understand where she put it all down. Nabiki was lean and muscular with curves in all the right places, but when he had lifted her into his arms she seemed to barely weigh as much as he would have imagined.

He paused on that thought, smiling inwardly at the remembrance of holding her the previous night. It felt good having her in his arms, even having her be totally dependent on him for once. He usually felt so intimidated being around her that the idea that she could ever be helpless was shocking, yet it made him feel good in an odd way, as though she had trusted him in a vulnerable moment…

He almost swallowed his tea down the wrong pipe, caught himself being distracted and coughed into his napkin before gasping, "I'm sorry, what...?"

"I was just going to say you have a piece of seaweed on your mouth, Ranma-kun," she grinned, "Honestly, it's like you've never seen a girl eat before. Are you criticizing my table manners?"

"Ah-oh! I'd never do that!" Ranma hastily assured, though he had to admit that she was eating with more self-control than usual, even acting a lot like a proper lady. His mother would definitely have approved, but at the moment the last thing Ranma wanted to think about was his mother!

Nabiki sipped her tea but somehow contrived to spill some of it on herself. Acting as though she were surprised at her own carelessness, she reached for her napkin and began to dab her chin and neck, working methodically down to the low cut of her neckline, murmuring, "Oh, how clumsy of me! Kasumi-chan would never forgive me if I ruined her dress..."

"Hah?" Ranma asked, unable to help the way his eyes followed her motions, focusing against his will to the well-tanned cleft in between her full bosoms. He swallowed, reaching for his tea again but instead grabbing the sweet and sour sauce, and promptly gagged on his mistake.

Nabiki smiled in spite of her wanting not to give the game away. It was fun flirting with Ranma, seeing how he would react to the littlest things she did to remind him of her charms. The boy definitely was interested, now if only he wasn't such a Mother's boy when it came to some issues, like sex. She would have to work hard to break him of this habit of having nosebleeds every time he saw her naked. That last thing she wanted was a fiancée who fainted on their Wedding night...

She caught herself thinking ahead once again. Darn! How quickly she had given up her resolve to live as an independent woman of means until she was in her mid-twenties and could consider marriage to a wealthy bachelor. It was looking more and more like she would be marrying a lot sooner than she had planned, because the way things were going she very much doubted she could wait that long before sealing herself to Ranma.

She wanted him very much, and waiting for the Honeymoon itself would be agony enough, provided she would not be able to convince him to take a "trial run" with her virtues...

It suddenly occurred to her that Ranma was not focusing on her, which was a very bad thing in her book. She followed the shift in his stare and found him looking at the back of a young man with long brown hair done up in a ponytail sitting at another table. There was a strange metal object slung across this fellow's back, perched in just such a way as not to be too awkward while sitting in his chair. There was something about this object that tickled her memory, and then she raised her eyebrows and gasped.

Could it be...?

"Why is that guy wearing a giant spatula?" Ranma asked rhetorically, not expecting an answer.

"It's called a Baker's Peel," Nabiki corrected, "Chefs use them to slide things in and out of a hot oven, usually bread or okonomiyaki. That one looks familiar to me...kind of like something an old school chum of mine used to carry around at Crossroads Junior High School."

"The same place where you met Keiko and Ryoga?" Ranma asked.

"Yeah," Nabiki mused, "Can't be too sure without seeing his face, but that could be Kuonji Ukyo. Ryoga-kun said he'd run into him a few months back during his travels..."

"The way Ryoga gets lost, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd met everyone in Japan at one time or another," Ranma snorted, "Maybe we should invite him over here. I'd like to meet this old friend of yours."

Nabiki smiled, "Don't tell me you're going to get all jealous on me again, Ranma-kun? And here I was hoping you'd learned from your last mistake."

"I wasn't going to challenge him or nothing," Ranma chuckled, "I just wondered if he could tell me what you were like in the old days."

"Oh, my iinazuke is out to discover my childhood secrets," Nabiki smiled in a winsome manner, "I heartily approve. Nothing beats having a little intelligence to prepare you for when life puts you through certain changes..."

"Nihao," a voice suddenly intruded on their consciousness, and the two of them looked up to see a pretty waitress in an unusual Chinese-style outfit. The girl had lavender colored hair and was presently standing over their table, smiling down at them with an expression that looked oddly less than friendly, "Wo ai ni, Airen."

Nabiki's expression was one of shocked disbelief. If this strange girl had appeared suddenly from an avalanche of stone and metal, her appearance could have provoked no more astonished reaction, "Sh-Shampoo? What are you doing here? How did you...?"

The girl suddenly had something in her hand, and before either one of them could react she brought it down with a crash against their table, smashing it to the floor. Ranma reacted on instinct to shove himself backwards in his chair, tumbling over it as he fell backwards, just in time to narrowly avoid the rush of something spherical that missed his head by centimeters.

Nabiki did the same, and both came up in a rolling crouch as she faced the purple haired girl wielding what looked like a pair of metal clubs shaped like decorated spheres on the end of wooden handles. The girl did not precisely ignore Ranma as she turned to face Nabiki with a look that was neither friendly nor hostile. A maitre d' appeared to demand an account of her behavior, but without turning around the girl clobbered him with one of her clubs, never taking her eyes off Nabiki as she said something in Mandarin that caused Nabiki to flinch. Again Ranma heard her use that peculiar word "Airen," which from the tone she used conveyed something of great personal importance.

"Shampoo," Nabiki said as she frantically backed away, saying something else in Chinese that Ranma could not understand, but from the tone of it he knew that Nabiki was trying to convince the girl of something very important.

The girl just responded in very angry tones and advanced on her. Ranma started to protest but found himself dodging one of those metal spheres again. This girl moved fast, and from the way she handled those clubs he knew that she was an expert in their usage. He darted around her and came up on Nabiki's left side, never taking his eyes away from this wild girl with the unusual hair color.

"Let me guess," Ranma said, "Another friend from your past?"

"Not exactly," Nabiki sounded evasive, "We met in China..."

"You no tell him?" the Chinese girl suddenly said, switching to imperfect Japanese and pointing with one of her clubs.

"It's not exactly that easy to explain," Nabiki said evasively, "Shampoo..."

"No talk!" the girl said in her high-pitched pigeon singsong, "Fight! You know Amazon code. Shampoo here to settle issue!"

"Shampoo?" Ranma said, risking a glance to his side, "The Amazons? You mean those crazy chicks Keiko was telling us about?"

"Oh no," Nabiki murmured faintly, "Don't tell me you followed her here?"

"No big challenge," Shampoo said without pleasure or humor, then raised her weapons as she assumed a one-legged stance, "We fight!"

"Hold it right there, Sugar!" a voice suddenly broke in from just behind the Chinese girl, "You got issues with the girl, be my guest, but the guy's my problem and I'll thank you to leave him to me."

The Chinese girl very slowly turned on one leg to glance over her shoulder, still managing to somehow keep Ranma and Nabiki on the edge of her peripheral vision as she took in the figure of the boy she had spotted earlier, now holding his spatula in both hands in a defensive stance that seemed formidable to her well-hones senses.

"Who you?" she asked, inwardly tensing.

"The name's Kuonji Ukyo," the stranger replied, "Tendo Nabiki used to be a friend of mine, but I'm not here on her behalf. My business is with Saotome Ranma, and it's personal."

"Me?" Ranma gasped, "But I don't even know you!"

"Really?" the stranger smiled, "Now, Ranma-kun, is that any way to talk to your iinazuke...?"

Continued

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