Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Kind of Sky Shaped ❯ Prologue

Ranma and Co. is Copyright Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. 1993 “Ranma Nibunnoichi” is a trademark of Viz Communications, Inc.

Kind of Sky Shaped

A fanfiction by S3Cubed

A Prologue

Regretfully, Nabiki felt her pleasant dream starting to lose its hold, and she snuggled a little deeper into her blankets. Grumbling to herself as the sound of morning began its invasion of her dreamscape; she reached out to reclaim the wisps of fantasy that threatened to unravel completely. The brunette smiled as comforting arms once again encircled her, warm breath tickled at her neck, whispering sweet things into her ear. Little reassurances…

“Mmm, `kane…,” an unfamiliar but husky voice nestled her.

That was new. But, she pushed it aside in favor of the sensation of strong hands rubbing and caressing her in a very intimate way…

The alarm on her night stand decided to chime in and drag her forcefully back to the realm of the depressed and wakeful. Just when it was getting good too, she fuzzed, cracking open one bleary eye. Five more minutes, was that too much to ask? Sighing, she rolled over to slap the alarm and hopefully silence the incessant bleating. Or she tried to, when she realized that she couldn't move. It was like two bands of steel had been wrapped around her. The thought dashed away all pretense of sleep, as the short-haired brunette snapped both eyes open and looked down to figure out what was going on. She swore, if this was another of her sister's weird martial arts games, Akane would regret it for the rest of the month.

Except that wasn't it, she wasn't tied up in rope or even chains. She was being held rather tightly in someone's arms. Unfamiliar arms, whose attached hands, she realized, were almost but not quite groping her.

Nabiki's first reaction was outrage as she was still latched onto the idea of her sister messing with her again, but that faded in the same instant. Playing a joke in the name of training was one thing, but this was too bizarre to even consider. It left little to the imagination; she was being currently being molested. Her anger sputtered as fear trembled upward in its place. She couldn't move the slightest in the vise-like grip she was in. Hands were beginning to wander and squeeze. Hot breath burned the nape of her neck.

“Don't go. Can't leave me…Akane,” the man spoke, in the dull tone of one still sleeping.

She heard it clearly this time and froze, indignantly. This bastard was feeling her up and didn't even know he had the wrong girl. Nabiki wasn't about to let herself be used like this and humiliated, not in front of anyone, certainly not her family. He didn't sound like he was coherent, so she let her head loll forward. The sicko would regret snuggling up quite so close, she'd make sure of that, and Nabiki slammed her head back with all the force she could muster.

There was a dull crack and flowers of light sprouted in front of Nabiki's eyes. She'd been hoping to smash his nose, but it felt like she'd head butted his chin instead. “Shit.” Tears sprang to her eyes, and whimpers of pain welled up in her throat. At almost the same time, the corded-steel grip she'd been trapped in all but vanished. She rolled out of bed and thumped onto the ground, letting her momentum roll her into the middle of the floor, where she tried to sit up, cradling the back of her head. Now, she could get a look at her assailant.

For some reason, she expected someone much older. The guy lying in her bed couldn't be more than two or three years her senior. He also didn't look like someone had just tried to break his nose. Although the slightly dazed look on his face might have been a good indication of that. But, infuriatingly, he sat up casually, rubbed an eye, stretched his arms over his head and then absently scratched at his jaw for a moment. It didn't help that he still looked half-asleep. Was he on drugs or something?

Then she noticed another little fact when the covers fell away. She thought at first that he was just shirtless, but he was completely nude. Naked. As in, he'd been pressed up against her wearing nothing but his birthday suit. Which prompted a quick sidelong glance down at herself to confirm that, yes, she was still in her pajamas. Not that that meant a whole lot, given how deep of a sleeper she was.

Of course, her little quiet assessment couldn't go on forever, and she found herself the object of attention, such as it was. What she wasn't expecting was the utter look of confusion on the guy's face, confusion that quickly seemed to melt into something she had trouble identifying.

“Nabiki, when did you get home, I thought,” as he started speaking, the guy looked like he realized something, and trailed off as his eyes dropped to take in his current state of undress. “What the hell? Nabiki, I swear this isn't what it looks like.” He scrambled off the bed and grabbed the sheet, wrapping it around his waist. “God, Akane's gonna kill me. I gotta get outta here before she finds out!”

To say she was at a loss was a grand understatement. Nabiki watched in mute bewilderment as the nearly naked guy flew from the bed to the window before hesitating and running over to the door, jamming his ear against it. “Shit, you think she's awake already?” The guy with the pigtail whipping about wildly turned to ask her in all seriousness. Just what the hell was going on, and who was this guy? He was acting like Akane was his…girlfriend.

Livid, the middle Tendou took a breath and did her best to calm herself, given the wholly out of water situation she was in. As near as she could figure, her little sister had started sleeping around and somehow, Akane's lover, boyfriend or whatever had snuck into the wrong room sometime during the night; Nabiki's room, which was down the hall, and not an easy mistake to make. And he'd been cuddling with her, in the buff.

Worse, now that the guy had realized his mistake, he was mortified and running around like it was the end of the world, which all things considered, it might very well be for him. If she hadn't been on the receiving end of the impromptu night visit, it might have been funny, because like he seemed to fear, her little sister probably would kill him for this. It was kind of funny actually, when she thought about it. Her sister had something of an anger management problem, as well as the bad habit of breaking things when she was in a bad mood. This would certainly be enough to set her off.

For now though, there was the matter of an undressed boy hiding in her room. If her parents found out, she was going to be the one in the proverbial frying pan. What to do…

“Psst, Nabiki,” the pigtailed guy stage-whispered, to little avail. “Hey, Nabiki! Look, I don't know what happened, but you've gotta help me, or Akane's gonna flip if she finds me here…” he trailed off as something seemed to occur to him. Nabiki found she didn't care for the contemplative look that crossed his face just then. “She's gonna be more pissed at you at this point, I think.”

“What are you talking about,” she hissed back, all too aware of what he was implying. If Akane thought her sister was stealing her boyfriend. It bore careful consideration, and time that neither of them probably had. “Look, I don't care what kind of weird kinky things the two of you do in your spare time, but this is clearly your fault. You crawled into my bed, not the other way around.” She stabbed a finger in his direction. She stole a look at the clock. It was early yet. Neither of her sisters would be awake, since the only reason she'd set her alarm so early was to go over her class report once more before it was due. “Just get out, go out the window for all I care. But, you better not let my parents catch you leaving from my room, or I'll hunt you down myself.”

At this point, her sister's boyfriend gave her a really weird stare and started sputtering, “P-p-parents? Uh, what are you talking about Nabiki?”

She arched her brow. For one, he was being awfully familiar with her for not having been formally introduced, and two, the question itself was odd. “Yes, parents. You know, the ones that are going to tear you limb from limb if they catch you looking like that in here, not to mention ground me for life, or worse. So, get. Out. Now.” Her sister sure picked a winner this time.

“Um, what about,” he gestured down at the sheet currently wrapped around his midriff.

Nabiki rubbed the bridge of her nose, “What you do, leave your clothes in Akane's room? Just take the damned thing and get out!” She pointed at the window.

Still mumbling to himself, she watched him slide open the window and practically leap out. “What the hell!?” She'd figured he would have at least dropped down from the sill, not just sprung out like he had. If someone heard and found him out in the back yard with a broken leg dressed like he was, the shit would really hit the fan. So she risked a look, only to catch a flash of beige disappear over by the far wall of the dojo. What kind of crazy guy had her sister gotten mixed up with now? She'd get to the bottom of this mess. Nabiki closed the window with a shaking hand. Yes, she'd talk to her sister about her choice in men, after she'd calmed down that is. She slumped down under the sill with a sigh, running a hand through her disheveled bed head.

What a fucking morning.