Tendo Nabiki Enterprises, Incorporated Presents:

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic side-story

Careful Destiny

Part Eight
"The Cost of Apprehension"


by:
Todd Hill


Inspired by the "Ranma 1/2" Manga and Anime by Rumiko Takahashi

Ami Nakato yelped in surprise as "Pen-pen's Theme" blared from her pocketbook. Pausing her movie, she got up from the couch and reached into her purse to fish out her cell phone, then flipped up the Hello Kitty-covered top and held it to her ear. "Hello?" she muttered distractedly.

"Ami-chaaaaan!" came a shrill cry from the receiver. "Guess where I am!"

Ami winced and yanked the phone away from her ear. 'Damn! I think I just lost an eardrum,' she complained as her left ear started aching. "Kin-chan, is that you?" she asked as she tentatively placed the phone against her other ear.

"Yes, it's meee!" Kinuko replied with a joyful tone, her voice now thankfully much lower in volume.

"Why are you talking like that?"

"Because of where I am! Can you guess?" The sound of a gentle breeze blowing through trees could barely be heard coming from the receiver, but that alone gave no clue as to where she was.

Ami put a finger in her other ear and concentrated on listening to the phone. "I dunno, Kin-chan. I can't hear anything. Are you at the park or something?"

"No, silly! I'm at Upperclassman Kuno's family farm in the mountains." Kinuko sighed wistfully into the phone. "It is *so* beautiful up here, Ami-chan."

"Wait, wait, wait! You're WHERE? With WHO?" Ami demanded suddenly, her emerald-green eyes reflecting the astonishment she felt. "No way!" she shouted into the phone after Kinuko reiterated her location. "You're trying to play around with my mind, aren't you?" she huffed.

"No, I'm not, Ami. I promise!" The muffled noise of a phone being moved obscured her friend's voice for a second before things cleared up again. "Say hi, Kuno-chan!" Kinuko was heard to yell.

"Hello there," Kuno's voice came across steady and clear despite apparently being far away from the phone.

Stunned, Ami dropped the phone in her lap and stared blankly at the wall. "Hello? Are you there?" Kinuko's muted voice issued from the cell phone's tiny speaker. "Ami-chan?"

Ami quickly got a grip on herself and picked up her phone. "Yes! Yes, I'm here, Kin-chan," she said as she placed the cell phone against her ear once more.

"Can you believe it?" Kinuko asked in a giddy voice.

"I don't understand. What happened to your 'Giving the tiger some tail' mission on Friday?" Ami asked with a touch of distaste.

"I don't want to talk about that right now," Kinuko hissed urgently. "Let's just say that I graduated to a Lion instead."

Ami's cheeks reddened as she heard the capitalization of that word and understood what it implied. "So you're telling me that you and Ranma are through. Again."

"Yes," Kinuko hissed in exasperation. "Can we not use the 'R' word right now? I've got more important things to think about than that loser."

'Loser?' Ami repeated to herself incredulously. "I don't understand, Kin-chan. What's happened between you and Kuno?"

"It was a *magical* night, Ami-chan," Kinuko said quietly, her voice possessing a dreamlike quality. She ran down the details of what happened to her from the moment she'd left Ranma's house, without telling her the freaky stuff that happened *at* Ranma's place, to the moment she'd arrived at the mountainside retreat. "And I'm not even wearing any of my makeup or any wigs," she confided in a near-whisper.

"WHAT?" Ami fairly screamed. "You're with him and you're not wearing any of your makeup?"

"Yes, and he says that he likes my natural look better than the wigs. I might even stop using them, Ami."

Flabbergasted, Ami once again went mute. 'How could she NOT use makeup? She always told me that a girl stayed just a girl until she learned how to use makeup. This is... spooky!' Ami quickly went through a calming regimen she'd read about in a recent issue of the Japanese edition of Cosmo, but it wasn't helping any. "Ami, Ami? Are you there?" Another pause. "Ami, I swear I'm okay. I'm not yanking your chain, honest!"

Ami shook herself out of her trance. "But it's so drastic for you, Kinuko," she admitted in a whispery voice steeped in awe. "Until now, I was the only one besides yourself who knew what you really looked like right out of the shower."

"I know! Isn't it wild?" Kinuko said enthusiastically.

"So... Does this mean that... That is, are you and *Upperclassman Kuno* together now?" Ami asked in a near-whisper.

"Yes, Ami, we are," Kinuko declared in a giddy voice. "It'll be announced at school on Monday, but I wanted to tell you first since you're my best friend. Last night I became Tatewaki Kuno's new fiancee!"



****



At the first hint of dawn Akane awoke from a blissful dream featuring herself and Ranma entwined in a very warm and passionate embrace. The remnants of that tender moment lingered tantalizingly in her mind, causing her to greet the morning with a jubilant smile on her face. Feeling indulgent, she remained in bed drifting in and out of sleep with her pillow hugged close to her, wishing fervently the whole time that it was Ranma that she held so tightly in her arms. The events of the night before, which were most certainly *not* a dream, swelled her heart to near bursting with joy and heralded the promise of many happy days with Ranma in the future.

Espying the time on her alarm clock, she reluctantly put the pillow under her head once again, kicked off her covers and lay on her bed in a sprawl to stare up at the ceiling. 'Ranma really likes me,' she told herself for the tenth time this morning and again resisted the temptation to pinch her arm as a reality check. 'You wanna go out on a date with me?' Ranma's voice from last night echoed in her mind. She clenched her fists in triumph at those recalled words and uttered a whispered "YES!" Giggling, she sat up and ran her fingers through her long hair. "A real date. God, I've wanted one of those for such a long time."

Akane also celebrated the fact that, with just a few words, Ranma had neatly and completely negated Kinuko as a competitor for his affections last night. Not only was the girl no longer a factor in dating Ranma, Akane now had something substantial in her arsenal to help keep the clingy psycho bitch away from her for good. That in and of itself was cause for celebration in Akane's mind. Topping it off was Ranma's earnest attention to her and his obvious concern for her well-being.

When the touchy subject of her sexual activity with Kuno had come to light during the walk home last night, Ranma had acted as if it were his fault entirely, which Akane thought was both sweet and foolish at the same time. On one hand Akane couldn't help but be touched by his concern and the very personal way in which he cared for and about her welfare. On the other hand she did feel a bit annoyed that he'd set himself up as her protector and defender of her honor without her even so much as asking him to do so. Akane shook her head, chiding herself for being irrational. 'After all, it's not like he's the same kind of person Kuno is,' she told herself.

She appreciated the fact that he didn't consider her to be a pariah for her past actions. Just knowing this brought a considerable sense of relief and allowed her to focus her mind and her heart on the future. 'A wonderful future that could be spent with Ranma,' she told herself gleefully.

Akane's contemplation was broken by a timid knock at her bedroom door. "Akane, are you in there?" Kasumi's muffled voice asked from the other side.

"Yeah, I'm here," Akane said as she got out of bed and opened the door, inviting her sister inside. "What's up, Kasumi?" Looking down at herself, Akane grimaced as she realized how bad she looked to her oldest sister. Expecting a lecture for staying in bed so long, she quickly offered a chair to Kasumi before darting back to her desk and putting away her clutter of schoolbooks and notebooks left over from the morning before.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment," Kasumi asked as she closed the door and sat down on the desk chair. She placed a cloth-covered bundle on the desk and pointed at it. "Things with Nabiki have gotten worse." Kasumi frowned uncharacteristically at the bundle and gnawed nervously on one of her fingernails. "Possibly a whole lot worse."

Concern and worry crossed Akane's face as she sat down on her bed facing her Kasumi. "What do you mean, sis? Is she hurt?"

Kasumi shrugged her shoulders. "Well, Nabiki did trip and fall last night, but she didn't look like she had a mark on her when I examined her."

Akane's brow furrowed as she puzzled over where her oldest sister was headed with this. "What time did she make it in last night?"

"About three in the morning," Kasumi said worriedly. Her hands were active in her lap and her eyes belied her distraction.

It was obvious to Akane that her oldest sister was plainly fretting over something bigger than the late-night arrival of her middle sister. Anxious to get to the bottom of things, she reached out and stilled her sister's hands. "Kasumi, what's wrong? Did she say why she was so late to get home last night?"

"It's because of this," she said sadly as she unwrapped the bundle and exposed an empty sake bottle. "I found this in Nabiki's book bag last night while she was taking a bath."

Akane's eyes widened as she regarded the Otokoyama bottle with a gasp of surprise. "No way! She drank all of that?" she hissed, incredulous.

"I believe so," Kasumi remarked. "I can't think that she's just been collecting empty sake bottles by carrying them around in her bookbag."

"*I* can't believe Nabiki's drinking! How could we have missed this, Kasumi?"

"Neither of us were looking for something like this to happen to her," Kasumi admitted sadly. "The only thing I can think of that explains this is that Nabiki has handled the family finances and taken care of a lot of daddy's purchases for many years now. That includes being able to buy sake for him, which means that she could've been drinking since she was twelve."

Akane pursed her lips pensively as she considered Kasumi's words but eventually she had to shake her head in disagreement. "I don't think it would have been that long, sis. In fact, I would almost bet that she started drinking after the attack on the house last week."

"Oh, that poor dear!" Kasumi exclaimed softly. "No wonder she's been so moody lately!"

Akane nodded. "It does seem to explain why she's been acting so differently."

"I'm not sure what I should do about it, Akane," Kasumi confessed. "Nabiki obviously has taken the attack on our house very hard if she is drinking because of it. I don't know if punishing her would solve the problem."

"I know, sis. But she needs to have *something* happen to her. After all, she totally trashed a friend of mine at school on Friday. I mean she completely ripped his heart out and ruined him in front of everyone." Akane folded her arms beneath her breasts. "If Nabiki was drunk when she did that then she definitely needs to be punished, otherwise she could do it again."

"Oh my! That does sound bad," Kasumi admitted as she considered that additional bit of information. "So you think we should go tell Daddy about this?"

Akane shook her head. "No, I don't believe that would help her. Nabiki would probably resent us for going behind her back and telling him about this. Besides, if daddy confronted her about it she wouldn't accept any blame for what she'd done."

Kasumi looked at her youngest sister helplessly. "So what do you think we should do, sis?"

"Well, I think she needs to be spanked, honestly," Akane said flatly, her anger overriding her compassion. "That or something else to grab her attention and make her face her fears. All she's doing right now is running away from everything and hurting other people in the process."

Kasumi nodded at her youngest sister's train of thought. "You're starting to think like me, Akane."

Akane laughed at that. "I could never be that wise, sis."

"Awww," Kasumi said as she reached over and quickly hugged Akane from the side, then sat back down on the chair. "I appreciate that, little sis. So, since we agree that something needs to be done, I guess the best thing *to do* is to talk with her, right?"

Akane sat up straighter on the bed. "That would be wise. She needs to at least know that we found her out and that she needs to stop before she does something worse."

"I would think that she needs to hear that we care about her, too," Kasumi amended. "After all, she's bound to be very fragile."

"Sounds like you have your work cut out for you, then," Akane concluded seriously.

"Actually," Kasumi began as she pat her younger sister's knee. "I think that you would be the best one to talk to her, Akane."

"ME?" She blurted out in shock. "Why me, Kasumi? I'm too young to be the mothering type of person that Nabiki needs right now."

"That is exactly my point. You're not seen as a parent in her eyes, so she would be able to open up to you in a way she wouldn't with me."

"You c-can't be serious," Akane stammered. "I can't punish my older sister!"

"I'm not asking you to punish her, Akane. Just be a friend to her and listen."

For a very long time Akane looked down at her hands and debated in silence the pros and cons of Kasumi's request. Not seeing any way out of it, she sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Okay, I'll talk to her." She looked to her bedroom door. "You think Nabiki's awake yet?"

Kasumi shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure."

"Well, I really just woke up myself," she admitted. "I was feeling lazy this morning, so I haven't even gotten a bath yet. Still, I guess I'll talk with her in a little bit." Akane sighed in resignation.

"You don't have to do it right now," Kasumi demurred. "I don't want you to wake her and confront her about this right out of the bed. That's the wrong way to do it." She stood up and placed a hand on Akane's shoulder at seeing the frustrated look on her sister's face. "Hey, don't look so glum. I'm grateful that you're doing this for your sister."

"I know," Akane said with a smile for her older sister's benefit. "It's just that I'm not sure how I'll approach the subject with her."

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Kasumi offered cheerfully. "I'll leave the bottle here for you to use in case she tries to deny anything."

"Thanks, Kasumi," Akane deadpanned. "I appreciate it." She stood up from her bed and took off her PJs, leaving herself clad only in her panties. "Let me take a quick bath and then I'll get right on that."

"Okay, sis," Kasumi said with a smile as she stood up and opened Akane's bedroom door. "Let me know if you need to talk to me afterwards, okay?"

"Okay," Akane said with a false smile. As soon as Kasumi was out of the room she flopped down on her bed and groaned. "I'm too young to be my older sister's second mother," she groused. "It's bad enough that I have to talk to her on Sato's behalf. That's going to be a difficult discussion by itself. Now I have to tell her to stop hitting the bottle at the same time?" Akane cursed her luck and, standing up, grabbed her robe and headed to the bathroom.

Closing the door to the changing room behind her, Akane took off her robe and tossed it in the clothes hamper. "Oops, dammit!" she swore as she quickly fished the garment back out. "I didn't mean to throw that in there." Akane took the garment in hand and was about to put it on the counter when she noticed a rather distinctive scent emanating from it.

Her eyebrows shot up quickly as she recognized the odor for what it was. "How the hell did *that* smell get in here?" Akane muttered as she sniffed her robe closely. Nodding to herself once she'd confirmed that her nose wasn't lying, she looked the garment over carefully. "There's no way *I* got this robe dirty, and I'm the only one using it. That means..." she let her spoken thoughts trail off as she eyed the hamper suspiciously.

Akane reached inside and pulled out a wad of clothes. "These are Nabiki's!" she thought urgently as she shook the bundle. Three pieces of clothing hit the floor, one of which caught Akane's eyes immediately. 'Holy crap! That's a pair of boy's underwear!' Thunderstruck, she stared at the pair of briefs as if they were of alien origin. 'How did those get mixed in with Nabiki's clothes?'

Akane scrutinized the underwear as it lay helpless on the floor. 'Could they be daddy's?' she asked herself with a touch of revulsion. She toed the garment to expose the tag and realized that they weren't big enough or old enough to be her father's. In some ways that news made her feel a bit better, but it still didn't answer her bigger question.

A moment later she gasped as she began putting the pieces together. 'Arrives very late at night, drinks a lot of sake, and carries home a pair of boy's underwear that smells funny.' Akane closed her eyes sadly as the facts pointed to an unavoidable conclusion. "Now I really *do* need to talk to her. I just hope it was a guy she knew and not some stranger that took advantage of her."

Akane fished a dry washcloth out of a cabinet and used it to pick up the soiled briefs. With a look of pure disgust on her face, she held the underwear away from herself at arm's length as she carefully placed it on a used towel. Folding the towel up, she placed the bundle on the floor next to the doorway and tossed the washcloth in the hamper. Filled with a sudden sense of urgency, she bathed herself quickly, driven by the need to get to her sister before things got any worse.



****



Ranma swore to himself as he heard a knock at the front door. For the past hour and a half he had made several failed attempts to talk to both Sato and his sister in order to lessen the damage caused by Hikaru Gosunkugi's bombshell visit earlier in the morning. Sato, who was currently in the attic, was still too heartbroken to pay attention to anything he had to say. The only thing Ranma's attempts at conversation had elicited was louder crying from Sato.

He was encountering resistance from his sister as well. Ranko, who hadn't said a word since Sato went upstairs, was too pissed off to do anything but practice forms in the training hall. The few attempts he'd made to stop her and talk to her about what had happened had been met by very painful punches or kicks and a furious glare that gave him pause.

"I'm coming already!" Ranma yelled as another knock came from the front door. 'I was just about to get Sato to calm down this time and now some jerk comes over and messes everything up! I'm gonna have to start over from scratch! If it's Gos again I'm going to kick his sorry little ass regardless of what I promised Ranko,' he thought to himself furiously. "What?" Ranma shouted irritably after he unlocked the door and yanked it open.

Dr. Tofu stepped back from the threshold with a look of shock on his face. Ranma blanched as he realized just how rudely he'd greeted the doctor. "Have I come at a bad time, Ranma?" Tofu asked hesitantly.

"Uh, I- I'm not sure, Dr. Tofu," Ranma answered honestly, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

The two men stood looking at each other awkwardly for a few seconds before Dr. Tofu peeked over Ranma's shoulder. "Is your sister around?" the doctor asked, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Oh! Yeah. Yeah, she's here." Ranma stepped away from the door to admit Dr. Tofu. "So, what brings you here, doc?"

"Your sister missed an appointment with me yesterday morning and I wanted to see if she was okay. I have some follow-up medicines that I had intended her to take home after her appointment." He held up a bag for Ranma's inspection as he stepped into the house.

Ranma briefly glanced at the bag in Dr. Tofu's hands before turning his attention to the front door, closing and locking it securely. "She's in the training hall out in the back yard, doc."

"Oh? Is she taking it easy on her ankle?" Dr. Tofu asked, an expression of concern gracing his features. Noticing the glass door that lead to the back yard, he started to walk in that direction before Ranma held up his hands to stop him.

"Uh, doc. Before you go in there I should warn you. Ranko just broke up with her boyfriend today and she's really pi- uhh, I mean mad right now." Ranma didn't like talking about his sister's misfortune to someone she barely knew, but he also didn't want Dr. Tofu to walk in unannounced on her and not have the man aware of his sister's mood. Someone trying to comfort or care for his sister while she was as mad as she was right now would be about as crazy as someone trying to cuddle a rabid wolverine.

"Thank you for the warning, Ranma," Dr. Tofu said with a smile and a nod of his head. Walking around Ranma's outstretched arm, Tofu cradled his package in one arm while he reached out with the other to open the glass sliding door. Stepping outside, he paused a moment to take in his surroundings. "This is a very nice yard your parents have," Tofu commented lightly. He focused his attention on the training hall and could easily hear grunts and shouts coming from within indicating that a rather vigorous workout was underway. Resuming his unhurried pace, he crossed the yard and stopped inside the doorway of the training hall with Ranma at his side.

"I haven't seen her this mad before in my life," Ranma admitted to the doctor in a low voice. "I've tried to stop her and talk to her, but Ranko's so upset that she got violent with me every time." He shrugged his shoulders helplessly as he watched his sister go through a twelve-point form that took her across the length of the training room floor in under four seconds, her fists a blur the whole time. As she ended the move with a killing blow to her imaginary foe's throat she yelled a piercing "Kyaaa!" that had him wincing.

Ranma blinked in surprise as he realized that Dr. Tofu was no longer standing to his side. His eyes widened as he saw that the doctor was now standing behind Ranko with barely an inch separating them! 'Is the man crazy?' Ranma asked himself. 'I only hope that he's just as good here as he was where I came from,' he thought as he watched the two. His sister still seemed unaware that Dr. Tofu was standing right behind her. Ranma's suspicion was confirmed a moment later by the doctor.

"That was a very impressive display, Ranko," Dr. Tofu said in his placid, friendly way as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Ranko jumped nine stories. "Holy SHIT!" she yelled as she turned in the air and landed on both of her feet to face the doctor. "When did you get here?" she asked irritably once she'd gotten her breath back.

Dr. Tofu smiled to her and bowed politely. "I apologize if I scared you just then, Ranko."

'Yeah, right,' Ranma thought with a snort.

"What're you doing here?" she demanded. "My brother didn't call you here, did he?" Even as she gave voice to the question she fixed him with an accusatory glare that he felt as if it were a slap.

"NO!" Ranma retorted hotly. "I wouldn't do that to you, sis! I respect you, even if you don't give a damn about me right now."

Ranko's anger deflated noticeably at that and a rosy blush bloomed on her youthful face. "Ranma, you know that's not true," she said in a sad voice. "I would never feel that way about you, bro."

"I think I have come at a bad time," Dr. Tofu muttered uncomfortably, although he made no effort to leave. He held his gaze on Ranko unwaveringly as if he were diagnosing something that was wrong deep within her.

Ranko held up a shaky hand and apologized. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I shouldn't have been so rude to you. You're obviously here for a reason and I had no cause to snap at you like that."

Dr. Tofu nodded his acceptance of her apology and held up his package. "I came here because you missed your appointment with me yesterday. I also brought more medicines, salves and vitamin supplements to help you speed the healing of and diminish the prominence of the scar on your face and the bruise on your-" He paused to rephrase what he was about to say. "Your bruise."

Ranko's mood shifted to one of gratitude. "Thank you for coming to check on me, Dr. Tofu. I appreciate it," she said as she bowed formally. She wavered a bit as her tender ankle nearly gave way. The doctor didn't miss the slip and Ranko knew it the moment she looked into his eyes.

"I think you may have overdone your workout somewhat," Dr. Tofu said blithely as he knelt on the floor, placing his package behind him. "Sit down and let me have a look at your ankle, Ranko."

Without saying a word, Ranko obediently sat down on the floor and extended her leg out to the doctor so that he could examine her. After a few moments of silent poking, prodding and twisting of her ankle during which Ranko grit her teeth uncomfortably, Dr. Tofu gently placed her sore ankle down and sat back from her a bit. "You're a very lucky girl, Ranko."

"Lucky?" Ranko spat. "What makes you think I've had anything *lucky* happen to me today?"

Tofu spared her a knowing glance. "Well, to be more correct, your *ankle* was very lucky. You could've broken it if you'd kept on straining it the way you were doing just then."

Ranko's eyes widened. She'd barely felt any pain during her workout and had no idea she'd been hurting herself. "Just how bad is it? Did I sprain it again?"

Tofu shook his head. "Fortunately not, Ranko. It seems you've done a good job of taking those medicated baths like I'd recommended. The blend of herbs and medicines I'd prescribed for you were intended to help increase the blood circulation within your sprained ankle and encourage the stretched tissues around it to heal at a slightly faster rate." He touched her ankle gingerly as if testing the sensitivity of her skin. "Based on what I see here, the soaks did their job. Had you not soaked your ankle as you did and then proceeded to go through the workout you just endured, you would've been in a cast for at least three months. In fact, even with the advantage of having soaked your bad ankle, had you continued as you did for another hour or two, you would've still done extensive damage to your ankle," Dr. Tofu proclaimed severely.

"Gah! Three months in a cast?!" Ranko asked. She turned to look at her brother who was giving her a very stern 'I told you so' glare. "Were you really serious when you said that if I'd kept on going... I- I could've ruined everything I've worked for?" Tears welled up in her eyes as Tofu's nod answered her question and before she knew it she was crying openly in front of both of them.

Ranma's anger at his sister's bull-headed attitude vanished and he quickly moved to sit next to her. Enveloping her in a comforting hug he said nothing as she wrapped her arms around him desperately, then buried her face in his chest and cried loudly.

Ranma ran his fingers through Ranko's long raven hair, tenderly stroking her head in an effort to comfort her and calm her nerves. "It's gonna okay, sis," he murmured softly, breaking his silence. "You didn't mess yourself up, the doc says so." He reached down and took one of her hands in his. "Hey! Don't let what Gos did beat you down, Ranko," Ranma said in a near whisper. "If you let that son of a bitch hold you back then he'll win and you'll lose. You don't want that, do ya?" He smiled as she squeezed his hand with what he thought was determination.

Ranma let go of her hand and placed a finger underneath her chin so that he could tilt his sister's face up to look at him. "You're better than that dickhead is and you know it. I know you're mad and I know you feel like he did you wrong, but he's nothin' to you now." He looked into her eyes and caressed her cheek tenderly. "Don't give him that kind of power, sis. Please promise me that you won't let that punk bring you down." His gaze intensified. "Be strong for me. Okay?"

"Okay," Ranko said in a shaky voice. She gave her brother a tender kiss on the cheek and smiled at him through tear-filled eyes. "I promise, bro." A throat clearing caught both of their attentions and suddenly they remembered that they weren't alone. The Saotome siblings blushed in absolute embarrassment and both of them gazed intently at the floor.

Dr. Tofu somehow managed to affect an air of ignorance despite the fact that he sat less than a foot away from them. "Ah, yes. Well, as I was about to say, your ankle is strained somewhat, but it will be okay if you don't exert it any further today. Keep following your prescribed soaking regimen for the next week *AND* take it easy during that time and any ankle problems will disappear completely." He produced his package again and placed it in her lap. "There are instructions in here along with the vitamins and medications, etcetera I spoke of earlier. Simply follow the instructions and I think you'll be pleased with the results."

Ranko nodded wordlessly and, feeling a bit self-conscious at sitting in her brother's lap, moved away from him a bit. Both Ranma and Dr. Tofu stood at the same time. "I think I'll be going now. I have other patients I have to see today," Tofu announced as he bowed slightly to Ranko.

"Sis, I'll be right back," Ranma said as he walked with Tofu out of the training hall. "Uhh, Doc," he began uncomfortably as they entered the house and closed the glass sliding door behind them.

Dr. Tofu held up his hand to forestall Ranma's apology. "No need to say anything, Ranma. She's a spirited young girl. I don't blame her for reacting as she did or how she acted towards me. I believe you got to the crux of the issue just now and helped her get past it fairly well." He smiled at the young man. "I could tell the day you first came into my clinic that you cared deeply for your sister. You've confirmed that for me again today."

"I would do anything for her, doc," Ranma said soberly. "She's my sister." 'She's my life,' he added to himself.

Tofu nodded. "I don't doubt it, Ranma. You take good care of her and see that she follows my advice, okay?" he said as he reached for the knob and opened the front door. "And tell her I will expect to see her at my office next week."

"Sure thing, Doc," Ranma said with a smile, waving to the doctor's departing form. As soon as Dr. Tofu was out of the front lawn and down the sidewalk, Ranma closed and locked the front door, then dashed back to the training hall.

Ranko was on her feet, stretching her arms and legs. She smiled up at her brother as he entered and walked over to him, favoring her ankle slightly. "I'm sorry I was a bitch to you earlier, bro."

Ranma hugged her close to him. "It's okay, sis. I'll just get you back when we spar next time."

"Ha! You wish! You'll only lay a finger on me when I let you," she taunted, sticking her tongue out at him for added effect.

Ranma's eyebrow swept up in surprise. "You're not supposed to be sniffin' those drugs Tofu gave you 'cos you're obviously on somethin'."

Ranko snorted and stood a couple of paces back from him, then brought her arms into a ready stance. "Oh really? Well let's find out who spanks who."

Ranma held up a hand. "Nuh-uh, sis. I ain't gonna spar with you until you heal that ankle up. Don't be ignorin' what Dr. Tofu just said."

"Aww, you're no fun," she said with a pout although the smile in her eyes said she didn't really care. "Thanks for setting me right, bro." Ranko walked up to him again and kissed him gently on the lips. "I would've been a mess for a few days if you hadn't pointed out the truth the way you did."

"So are you good?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her again.

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay." Ranko sighed as she thought about the other victim in this situation. "But what about Sato?"

Ranma groaned. "He's not stopped cryin' since he first heard about Nabiki this mornin'."

Ranko frowned. "He's got a reason to cry, bro. I can't really fault him for it."

"You don't think he's takin' it too far, sis?"

Ranko shook her head. Stepping out of his embrace, she walked to the doors of the training hall and sat down on the steps. Looking up in the direction of the attic, she shrugged her shoulders. "After what I just went through, I'm not one to judge. He's the kind of guy who happens to cope with things by having a good cry."

Ranma masked an uncomfortable grimace as he moved to sit next to her. "I don't think it's right for a guy to cry like that."

Ranko looked over at him and favored him with a grim look. "When you lose the love of your life, you never really know how you're gonna react, bro. You should step back and give him some time. Also, don't judge him because he's not afraid to cry where people can see him."

Ranma was about to tell her that he'd never cried and never saw a time when he would, but digressed. "Okay sis, whatever you say."

Ranko turned to look at the bundle sitting on the floor behind her. "I think I'd better get the bag that Dr. Tofu gave me and look through it. Besides, I stink. Even *I* smell it. I sense a bath in my immediate future"

Ranma laughed at that. "I won't argue with you, sis. I think I'm gonna head up and check on Sato one more time. He may be ready to talk now."

"Don't push him, bro. I think he trusts you enough to talk to you when he's ready, so just be patient."

Ranma nodded his agreement and followed her lead as she walked back to the house. He paused long enough to close the glass sliding door and was about to join his sister when he heard another knock at the front door. Puzzled, he stepped to the front door and began unlocking it. 'Maybe the doc forgot to tell her something?' he wondered as he opened the door.

Standing before him was a young man dressed in the standard uniform of a package delivery service. The man bowed slightly and produced an electronic clipboard from atop a stack of tape-sealed boxes that were secured to an upright dolly standing beside him. "Is this the Saotome residence?" he asked as he pulled a stylus out from the top of the clipboard.

"Uhh, yeah," Ranma said with a questioning glance as he stepped outside.

"Could you sign here, sir?" the courier asked as he handed the stylus to Ranma and showed him where to sign.

"What is all this?" Ranma asked unsurely as he held the stylus in his hand.

"I do not know the contents, sir. All I can tell you is that this is an express delivery of nine packages for this residence. Please sign here." Shrugging, Ranma signed his name where indicated and returned the stylus to the courier, who bowed politely and put the clipboard and stylus back atop the stack of boxes. "Where would you like these, sir?" he asked as he nudged the dolly in the direction of the front door.

Ranma grimaced and looked behind himself. Leading the courier inside, he pointed to a wall next to the dining room table. "Just stack them up against the wall right there."

The courier bowed and unloaded the dolly where Ranma directed. He then watched as the courier dashed back outside and returned with two more loads of boxes. By the time he was done, Ranma goggled at what was left behind. Eight large sealed cardboard boxes dominated the far wall of the dining area, atop which the delivery guy placed a large sealed manila envelope. "That is everything, sir," the courier stated before he folded up his dolly and headed towards the door. "Have a good Sunday, sir."

Ranma closed the door behind the departing courier and for the fourth time that day made sure the door was locked securely. He turned to look at the boxes again, searching in vain for a shipping label or some other kind of identification on them. Unable to determine whom they were for; he picked up the manila envelope and turned it over in his hands. "Oh!" he exclaimed as he saw a large label affixed on the other side of the envelope with text in bold print. "Mr. and Mrs. Saotome. Personal."

Feeling his parents' eyes on him, he quickly placed the envelope atop the boxes and stepped back from the stack. 'What the hell could be in all those things?' he wondered as he walked towards the staircase and headed up to his room. Opening the door, Ranma stepped inside his bedroom and closed the door. Taking off his t-shirt, he tossed it away and fished out some clean clothes in preparation for a bath. "Oops! Shit, I'd better wait for a bit," he told himself as he remembered that his sister was already in there and likely not done yet.

Putting his clean clothes in a neat stack on his desk, he turned around to where he threw his t-shirt and went to pick it up so that he could put it in the downstairs hamper. He froze in mid-bend as his eyes caught glimpse of a dark stain on his wall about the size of his fingertip. Bending closer, he scrutinized the smudge and to his horror he realized that it was a streak of smudged black and orange body paint that could only have come from Kinuko's nude body. "Oh, hell!" he swore as he stood up straight. "I thought I got rid of that idiot's stains yesterday when I washed the sheets and tossed out that coat."

During his cleanup early yesterday morning, the long black overcoat had been a surprise find. Ranma had stumbled across it while he had been going through his room looking for anything that would betray the fact that he'd had a naked girl slathered with body paint trying to fool around with him. Not expecting to talk to Kinuko ever again, he'd dismissed the idea of returning the coat and simply thrown it in the trash.

Following that he'd turned his attention to getting the black stains out of his sheets and pillows. Ranma thought he'd won the battle of the girl-stained bedroom once he'd made his bed using some just-cleaned sheets and verified that the floor and closet were clear of anything that would've hinted at what Kinuko had tried to do on Friday night.

But now that he'd found that one smudge mark on the wall, his eyes were suddenly re-examining every surface in the room. After ten minutes of searching he'd identified about forty paint marks on the walls and furniture. Disgusted at having missed so many stains during his initial cleanup, he went downstairs to retrieve a couple of dampened towels and a small bowl of soapy water. Hurriedly returning to his room, he bent down to clean everything thoroughly this time. As he tackled one of the stains on the wall, he shuddered to think what would've happened if either his mom or Akane had found any of the dark smudges and begun asking questions.



****



"Are you insane!?" Kodachi shouted as soon as Kinuko was out of earshot. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the young ninja realized that she was making an odd spectacle of herself as she gestured wildly and yelled at her brother in imperiously stern tones all while wearing a maid's outfit; but knowing that did not deter her in the slightest, however. "You're actually going to marry that half-witted little weasel? Akane Tendo I could understand, but *this* is asinine!"

Kuno smirked at her, obviously enjoying his sister's discomfiture. "I didn't think you'd be jealous of her, Kotchi."

"Jealous!" she scoffed. "Incensed is more like it! You have only known this girl for the better part of a weekend and you're ready to add her to the Kuno heritage?! Have you spent any time at all investigating her?"

A lecherous smile momentarily flitted across Kuno's features. "For your edification, I spent a goodly amount of time investigating Miss Amagi last night." Kodachi colored at that and she glared at him angrily. "Indeed, that girl gave better sport than she received, which frankly impressed me," Kuno added with a pleased smile. Whether he was pleased with himself or his situation, Kodachi was not sure.

"I don't care how often you mate with someone or with whom, as long as the family is not adversely affected by the affair," Kodachi said matter-of-factly. "But handing her the keys to the family fortune is hardly wise-"

"Patience, my sister," Kuno interrupted in a calm voice. "For the moment I need to keep this girl close to me, and in order to make that happen in a manner most expedient, efficient and enjoyable, especially given how pressed we are for time, an engagement seemed prudent."

"You're not seriously considering following through with it, are you?"

Kuno looked over his left shoulder to make sure Kinuko hadn't yet emerged from the sake brewery's lavatory before answering. "For the moment, yes," he replied in a lower voice. "I intend to exhaust myself with her physically, while at the same time exhaust her as a source of information. Not to mention taking advantage of several other potential benefits that can be wrought from her. Once that's all done with, I might let her go."

Kodachi's demeanor barely changed, although she seethed inside. "Oh? Exactly what other benefits do you believe can be had from this girl?" she asked coolly.

"Hold out your hand," Kuno directed as he reached into the pocket of his shorts. Prizing an item into his hands, he laid it in her outstretched palm and closed her fingers around it carefully. "Take care that she does not see you with that in your possession," he admonished.

Kodachi pulled her hand close to her face and peeked into her palm. "A key? To what?"

"I believe that it will gain you entrance to Saotome's domain, my sister," Kuno proclaimed proudly.

"That little girl somehow managed to keep hold of a key while she was completely naked?" Kodachi asked incredulously. "I'm not sure I want to know where she was hiding it," she added with a grimace.

"Not quite, my dearest sister," Kuno replied smugly. "One of the things Kinuko brought up last night after our fifth round concluded was that she despaired at the loss of her overcoat. She gave great detail about the supposed cost and quality of it, in her mind anyway. She was a bit vague as to where she thought it had been lost, however."

"How exactly does an overcoat link with this key?"

"I'm getting to that part, sister," Kuno replied crisply. "To allay her fears, I told her that I would have Kei look for the coat on the estate grounds and, if found, have it cleaned and returned to her."

"Obviously it wasn't on the grounds of our home, brother dear."

"Quite so. Nevertheless, that is what she believes since she now has the coat in her possession."

"And where was the coat found?" she asked irritably, wanting him to admit what she already suspected.

"Kei found it last night in one of Saotome's trashcans. If I were to make a guess, someone in the household found the garment and discarded it, likely because of whom the owner was."

Kodachi's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You sent your *butler* out to retrieve something from Ranma Saotome's house?"

"You would rather I had sent you?" Kuno asked with a tolerant smile.

"Indeed!" Kodachi snapped.

"And if they had happened to open a window or a door while you were rummaging about the place? Ranma Saotome has already admitted to knowing you exist. There is no need to add anything to fuel his speculation or confirm his beliefs."

"And so you feel your butler's skills surpass my own, do you?" Kodachi grappled with a wave of pure rage. "You impugn my abilities one more time and I'm going to drop-kick you down the side of this mountain!"

Kuno's mirth vanished at the threat. Squaring his shoulders, he stood from his lounge chair and looked her in the eyes. "I only did it to protect you, sister dear. I don't need one of the biggest assets in the Kuno family compromised on a trash rummaging expedition."

"*Potentially* compromised. Stop talking as if such a thing is a certainty! Do not assume for an *instant* that I require your protection. I am not some waifish little girl to be coddled and fretted over. I am *very* capable of taking care of myself!" Kodachi folded her arms beneath her breasts and eyed him challengingly. "This key may help me with my investigation, but you know I could have retrieved it much more readily than your butler," she spat.

"I do believe that your anger is misplaced, my dear sister-"

"What you believe is immaterial," Kodachi cut in angrily. "You asked me to follow up on this, meaning that this is *my* investigation. I do it my way, with my tools, at my schedule and with my skills. All you would've had to do was tell me about her concern over the missing coat as soon as you knew about it and I would've had the garment in hand in very short order. Without compromising a *thing* in the process!"

Kuno's jaw worked for a moment as he considered what to say in reply. Withering under the intensity of his sister's gaze, he bowed formally and offered a sincere apology. "I apologize to you, sister, for insulting your abilities. Such an act was... regrettable on my part. It will not happen again."

Mollified by his response, Kodachi released the grip she'd had on her anger. "When we lose trust in each other, we lose everything. Never forget that, Tatewaki." She held the key up and inspected it closely. "This key was in her coat pocket?" Her brother nodded wordlessly. "If this is indeed a key to Ranma Saotome's house, this confirms our suspicion about her level of access to him and how much he wanted her to be with him. Until recently, anyway."

"Indeed. This bit of information will be quite useful to me when the time is right."

Kodachi looked at the key again. "I think I will let you determine when that time is. I'm more interested in what this little gem will get for me."

Kuno nodded his agreement as he resumed his seat. "Did you have anything of your own to report?" he asked, wanting to deflect her attention to anything other than him.

Kodachi slipped a hand inside the top of her maid's uniform and secreted the key to Ranma's house in her bra, then nodded in response to her brother's query. "The delivery of the packages to Nabiki Tendo was completed a little before noon."

"Ah, splendid. I hope she's able to get the truth regarding the source of Saotome's financial windfall. I need to know exactly what I'm dealing with if I am to make any headway against that upstart." Kuno smirked again. "Did Miss Tendo seem upset when you informed her that the investigation of Ranko Saotome had been cancelled?"

"Somewhat, yes," Kodachi affirmed. "She professed to have a notebook half-full of information on the Saotome girl and seemed to be a bit put off at having all her efforts go to waste." She waved a hand dismissively. "Personally I think she's overreacting. After all, she was paid for her time."

"That is Nabiki Tendo in a nutshell, my sister. It is that stubborn drive that I depend on to get the answers we need. The money commits her to the task, but once she's committed to something she's nearly unstoppable until the task is completed."

Kodachi debated telling her brother about the recent earth-shattering revelations concerning Nabiki's sexual exploits and the effect that those events would have on the girl's efficiency, but decided that the information would not be well received by him. 'The fool would probably mention it to her and only wind up humiliating the poor girl,' she concluded soberly. 'Best to let sleeping Tendos lay, as it were' "Speaking of incomplete tasks," Kodachi began, picking up on what her brother had just said. "I still haven't found out who is leaking information about us to the Saotomes."

Kuno's expression darkened noticeably at her admission. "That is most troublesome, my sister. How far into your investigation have you gotten thus far?"

"I talked to all of our personal contacts, brother dear. I regret to say that my resources are completely exhausted where our connections are concerned; none of them have said anything about me to anyone."

"I assume your interrogations were rather... vigorous?"

"Quite so. All of them were rather eager to absolve themselves of any blame from the start. But I continued to dig deeper with each person until I came to the unavoidable conclusion that all of them were telling me the truth. It seems that none of them have had any direct involvement with the Saotome family." Kodachi sniffed in vexation. "In fact, the only thing that I had discovered during the course of my investigation was that one of the people in our confidence has gotten a bit cocky of late."

"Oh? How so?"

"He actually had the *audacity* to tell me that my 'ass looked much sexier' in my ninja uniform than it did in my business attire."

Kuno snorted at that. "Is the poor fool still alive?"

"I only slapped him half as hard as I should have," she said with a playful smile as she rubbed the back of her right hand. "He is right after all; my darling derriere does look quite firm in that uniform. Even I have to admit as much."

Kuno's first impression was to roll his eyes at her tone, but instead he laughed to avoid having to endure another angry tirade from his younger sister. She was quite sensitive about her appearance. "So what is your next option, Kotchi?" he asked, anxious to move the conversation along.

"Well, since I can't find out what we need from our own resources, I'll have to resort to other means to get at the bottom of this."

"Oh? And what means would this be?"

"Why I'm going to get the information straight from the horse's mouth," Kodachi replied blithely as she batted her long eyelashes.



****



Hours after having been awakened by 'Kodachi the Wonder Ninja,' Nabiki was still frantically working her way through the stack of paperwork that had been left behind. The copious notes that she had taken thus far were all pointing to *someone's* family being worth billions and billions of Yen. In fact, Nabiki was having a hard time containing both her enthusiasm and her greed as the tally continued to climb.

"Stock holdings for industries on the west coast as well as technical consulting firms in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto," Nabiki mumbled to herself as she wrote. She whistled appreciatively when she arrived at the grand total. "Ninety eight *billion* yen." Nabiki repeated the words twice, smiling to herself as though merely saying the words made her extremely wealthy. 'And that's only the documented funds. Someone with holdings this diverse is likely to have hidden assets as well,' she thought with an avaricious smirk.

"Damn, Kuno-chan," Nabiki said with a touch of awe. "Whoever it is you're investigating has enough money to buy your whole family out fifty times over." She was more than a bit frustrated at the lack of information regarding the actual holder of the funds, however. "Whoever does the books on this portfolio is a pro at concealing identities," she admitted grudgingly. "I probably would do a better job of figuring it all out if I wasn't still suffering from this hangover."

As if giving name to the condition caused it to intensify, Nabiki fought hard to ignore a sudden twinge of pain that flared up behind her eyes. Massaging her temples and cursing the name "Otokoyama" for all it was worth, it took a couple of minutes before she was clear-headed enough to review the property-holder's personal details sheet that she had cataloged earlier. On it had been two things of note, one of which was a post-it note with the words "Ranma Saotome's family" written on it in Kodachi's handwriting.

Nabiki had originally believed that to be the case because of Kodachi's reliability, but upon further review of the documents she was surprised to discover that she could not validate Kodachi's assertion. In fact, the only name that she could find at all in any of the documents was a one-word reference to the name "Iwamoto."

Her brow furrowed as she thought hard about the name. 'It is a name of some historical significance if I remember correctly,' she thought as she reached for a manuscript entitled "Heritage: A Comprehensive Catalog of Japanese Surnames Before the Meiji Era." She flipped through the worn pages of the large publication until she came upon the entry that she sought.

"Iwamoto," Nabiki read aloud in a quiet voice. "Origination and definition: One who lives near the base of the stone. This name is most common in the west-central region of Japan as well as throughout the Ryukyu Islands. It is possible that persons possessing this surname are descendents of Minamoto no Yoshimitsu, who was an ancestor of several well-established samurai families that rose to power during the era of the Tokugawa Shogunate."

Wide eyed, Nabiki sat back and blew out her breath in surprise. "Kuno's dealing with someone who is not only filthy rich, but whose lineage could go back several hundred years to a group of samurai families that governed parts of western Japan with an iron fist." Nabiki didn't think that her respect for the target of this investigation could grow anymore, but the hint of ancient Japanese nobility underpinning the riches she'd cataloged had changed all of that.

"The post-it note that Kodachi left in the first folder must have been placed there by accident," Nabiki concluded. "There's absolutely no way at all that someone like Saotome would have any linkage to a family this respected and wealthy. Ranma may be cute and look really good with his clothes off, but that boy is just too common to be part of a family with the legacy of someone like an Iwamoto. Still," she added, fanning herself with a hand, "whoever this person *really* is, I definitely want to meet him."

Nabiki's musings came to a crashing halt as she heard another knock at her door. Paranoia taking hold of her again, but for different reasons than earlier, she quietly closed her notebook and tried her best to cover up the piles of papers she had strewn over her desk. "Nabiki, are you awake in there?" came Akane's voice from the other side of the door.

'Maybe if I stay still and don't say anything she'll just go away,' Nabiki hoped. 'Right now I don't need Akane bothering me, especially not after everything I've been through.' She grimaced as her mind revisited both troubling and exciting images of her sexual activities with Hikaru Gosunkugi. She shivered as a mixture of revulsion and sexual excitement hit her, and it was only with a supreme effort on her part that she was able to squelch the latter reaction before it came into full bloom. Disgusted with herself, she barely had time to compose herself when Akane knocked harder on her door. "I know you're in there, Sis. Open up!"

Her hopes of being left alone were now for naught, so Nabiki quickly covered the paperwork with some innocuous notes from class and hid her project notebook from sight. Smoothing out her pajamas, she stood up from her desk chair and walked towards her bedroom door. In a grumbling voice she broke her self-imposed silence. "Alright, Akane. Come in," Nabiki said irritably as she opened the door.

Not waiting for her sister to get out of the way, Akane grabbed a large plastic bag that had been sitting on the hallway floor and charged inside, then quickly closed the door behind her. "I need to talk to you," she began urgently.

"Obviously," Nabiki shot back sarcastically while Akane sat the bag down and reached up to adjust a towel that was wrapped around her hair. Having just come out of the bath, her sister looked down to make sure that her robe was covering everything since she hadn't given herself much time to put it on in the first place. Disgusted by what had been smeared on her original robe back in the changing room, Akane had tossed that one back in the hamper and walked naked to her room to get her older one. Grimacing at the memory, she quickly tightened the fabric belt around her waist and looked up at her sister intently.

"Okay, what's this about?" Nabiki asked, eyeing her younger sister suspiciously.

"Sit down, Nabiki," Akane ordered. "We have a lot to talk about."

"I will not sit down!" Nabiki countered defiantly, crossing her arms and scowling at her sister. 'How *dare* she interrupt me while I'm in the middle of something important? ' she fumed. "And what makes you think that you can to talk to me in that tone? What makes you think you can order me around in my own bedroom, runt?" She felt an undercurrent of worry worm its way into her thoughts despite her anger as she glanced twice more at the opaque plastic bag.

"Don't argue with me, sis," Akane commanded. She frowned inwardly at herself for treating Nabiki so brusquely, but one look at the plastic bag was all it took for her to dismiss her misgivings and forge ahead.

"You're not my parent, Akane," Nabiki snapped. She pointed an accusatory finger at her younger sister. "You don't have any reason to speak to me that way!"

Akane angrily thrust her hand into the bag and pulled out the empty sake bottle. "I do now, sis. So sit your ass down before I smack you in the face with this!"

Nabiki paled. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me," Akane snarled as she took two steps closer to her sister, bringing them nose-to-nose. She held the bottle higher, acting as if she was about to bring it down on her older sister's head.

Nabiki reluctantly sat down on her bed as her sister ordered. "Why do you have a big empty bottle in your hands?" she asked, affecting an air of innocent curiosity.

"I should be asking you why this was in your book bag," Akane shot back acidly as she loomed over her older sister.

Nabiki unsuccessfully tried to mask a look of surprise. 'Shit, how did *that* get in my book bag? What the *hell* was I thinking?' "What were you doing going through my book bag, Akane?" she demanded, shooting her sister an accusatory glare.

"I'm in here because *Kasumi* handed me this bottle. She told me that she found it in your book bag last night after you got home from wherever you went. She asked me to talk to you because she was too heartbroken to do it," Akane spat. "I promised her that I would talk to you about this even though I don't want to. I absolutely *hate* doing this, but I'm going to keep my promise to her, so drop the attitude and explain yourself."

"But-"

"NOW!"

'Damn she's pissed,' Nabiki thought in shock. "What the hell do you want me to say?" she snapped defensively.

"You could start by admitting that you're a drunk."

"I am not!" Nabiki retorted defensively.

"Oh, bullshit," Akane shot back angrily as she tossed the empty bottle in Nabiki's lap. It landed with a muffled thump against her sister's pajama-covered legs and threatened to roll off. With a startled yelp Nabiki reached frantically for the tumbling bottle and sighed in relief when she managed to take hold of it before it shattered on the floor. "You either drank all of this or at the very least a whole lot of it. Either way, you're a drunk," Akane concluded flatly.

"Okay, fine. I do drink a little bit, now and again," she admitted reluctantly. Nabiki favored her sister with a challenging glare. "What makes you think I started off with a full bottle in the first place?"

"You really shouldn't be drinking anything at all."

Nabiki sighed. "I do drink sake now and again, but it's not out of hand, though," she confessed.

"I don't believe you," Akane said as she turned to look at the bag she'd carried in with her. "There's something else that makes me think otherwise," she said in a softer voice as she opened the bag and reached in. Gingerly she took out a towel and sat it in her lap. Akane's face contorted in disgust as she opened the towel to display what it was covering. "This is the real reason I decided to come talk to you, sis."

"Oh my God!" Nabiki said in a panicked whisper, recoiling from her sister with a look of sheer terror on her face. "Where did you get those?" she asked as she pointed a trembling hand at the boy's underwear that lay atop the towel in Akane's lap. "Are those Ranma's?" she asked breathlessly.

"You know better than that, Nabiki," Akane said crossly. "I found these in the hamper this morning when I took a bath. You'd better be glad that *I* was the one who found them instead of Kasumi. If she'd found them first she probably would've had a heart attack on the spot."

"You don't really think those things are mine, do you?" Nabiki asked incredulously, trying her hardest to deflect Akane's suspicions away from her.

Akane favored her older sister with a very serious look. "The reason that I know that these are yours is because they were wrapped in with your sweatpants and sweatshirt in the hamper. I wouldn't have even noticed them at first if it weren't for the smell."

"Smell?" Nabiki repeated with a hint of confusion in her voice.

Akane lifted up the towel so that the suspect underwear was aimed directly beneath Nabiki's nose. Her older sister shied away from the offensive garment and covered her mouth suddenly. "Oh God! I think I'm gonna be sick." She stood up and walked to the other end of the room and eyed her trashcan urgently.

"Take deep breaths, Nabiki," Akane counseled as she wrapped up the towel and placed it back in the bag along with the bottle. "Like I was saying, that smell got my attention. It's the first time that I have ever smelled that on anything that wasn't my own or Kuno's."

Nabiki spun around, her eyes and mouth wide with surprise. "You know what that smell is?" she hissed.

Akane nodded grimly. "Do you really think that Kuno wouldn't have had his way with me after the engagement was announced?"

Nabiki gasped in shock. "Akane. I'd suspected, but ... Ohmigod... I'm so sorry."

"You're never to talk to anyone about this," Akane said seriously. "But to answer your question about the smell, you have to have had sex in order to know what that smell is."

Nabiki looked shamefacedly at her younger sister. "Have you told Kasumi?"

Akane shook her head. "She doesn't even have a clue about this. All she thinks is that you've been going out late and getting drunk. She doesn't know that you're fooling around also."

Nabiki scandalized expression spoke volumes. "Don't say that so plainly! Besides, I'm not fooling around, Akane," she denied weakly.

"Don't insult me by trying to be evasive about this. Who did you have sex with, Nabiki?"

"I don't want to say," she said in a small voice. "Besides, it's none of your business."

"Fair enough," Akane admitted after a moment. "He didn't get you drunk and rape you, did he?"

Nabiki shook her head. "It was consensual. It was also my first time last night."

Akane winced, recalling her own first time and the trauma that followed. "It does get a little better after the first time," she admitted. "A little..."

Nabiki looked up at her sister. "It didn't hurt me much, sis. It just wasn't what I'd expected."

"There's something else that you need to know," Akane said, wanting to divert Nabiki before her older sister tried to pry into her own sexual past. "I was over at Ranma's house yesterday afternoon. Sato was also there."

"Sato?" Nabiki's eyes flew open in alarm. "What does he have to do with anything?" she asked defensively.

"Don't play childish games with me, Nabiki. You know exactly what you did to him after school on Friday."

"Yeah, well..." Nabiki began, but her resolve crumbled in the face of her sister's ire.

"Yeah, well *I* had to apologize for what you did to him!" Akane snapped.

"What?!" Nabiki's expression was one of both shock and anger. "Where do you get off apologizing for me? And what makes you think that there was anything to apologize for in the first place?"

Akane ignored her older sister's bluster. "I stood right there and watched as you destroyed Sato in front of everyone at school. It was probably the single cruelest thing I have ever seen in my life."

Nabiki flinched as Akane again told her the truth of the matter in stark terms. "He wouldn't leave me alone, sis! I got fed up with it and let him have it," she protested weakly. "I had to do something because he was really creeping me out!"

"You let him have it, alright." Akane repeated angrily. "Do you realize how badly you shamed us when you went off on him like that? You were completely out of control and you were probably drunk besides!" She gave her older sister a disappointed frown. "By the way, I didn't apologize for you. I apologized on behalf of our family. Right now I don't care how shamed you are personally, but I won't let your drunken childish rants stain our family name in the process."

Outrage shone clearly on Nabiki's features, but the truth of it hit her so hard that she was speechless. Twice she tried to respond to Akane's words but her retort died in her throat each time. Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes and her lower lip trembled. Nabiki forced herself to get a grip on her emotions which were currently so out of control that a single sympathetic word would've turned her into an absolute sobbing wreck.

A tentative rap at her bedroom door forestalled any further comment on the matter, however. Akane quickly tied the bag closed before standing up and opening the door. "Oh, hello!" she said in startlement as she opened the door all the way. "What brings you here, Dr. Tofu?" Akane asked with genuine surprise.

Nabiki shot up out of her seat and did her best to tidy up her pajamas. She quickly wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her top before offering him a timid wave. "Yeah, what's the occasion, doctor?"

Dr. Tofu stepped inside her room. "Your father let me into the house on the assumption that I was here to see Kasumi." He closed the door behind him and stepped around Akane. "In actuality, I'm here to see you, Nabiki."

"M- Me?!" Nabiki stammered. "What for?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, Kasumi called me yesterday afternoon to voice her concern about your late nights and odd mood swings of late. Since I was in the neighborhood I figured that I would take the opportunity to talk to you myself."

Akane took that as her cue to leave. "Nabiki, you and I will have to finish our conversation some other time. I think I'm going to go downstairs and get something to eat." She bowed to Tofu. "Doctor."

"Take care, Akane," he said as she exited the room, closing the door in her wake. The moment they were alone Tofu gave Nabiki an almost accusatory stare. "Nabiki, I've never heard your sister so upset before in my life. In fact that phone call from yesterday bothered me so much that I was going to come over immediately afterwards, but Kasumi told me to wait." The doctor took a seat on Nabiki's bed next to the closed plastic bag. He placed his hand on it and could easily feel the outline of the sake bottle that lay within. His eyebrows rising in surprise, he looked at Nabiki as if seeing her for the first time. "I think you and I do have a good deal to talk about, young lady," he began as he directed her to sit down in her chair.

Nabiki sighed, knowing that there was absolutely no way she was going to be able to get out of this situation. Surrendering herself to the worst, she fished a small box of tissues out of her top desk drawer and then sat down to face him.



****



Ranma stepped out of the shower and toweled himself off, having decided that a bath would've taken too long. Dressing in the changing room in shorts and a T-shirt, he emerged with a towel draped over his shoulders and headed downstairs to get a drink from the fridge. Popping open the beverage, he flopped down on one of the couches in the den to think about the day's events. 'Sato still isn't talking to anyone, although at least he's not crying anymore.' Ranma grimaced again at the thought of his friend blubbering like that; it was a terrible weakness in his eyes to be that emotional.

"Maybe Ranko can get him to see reason," he murmured to himself. 'She's been up there for ten minutes now, so maybe she's getting somewhere with him.' Ranma frowned. 'I guess there are some things that I just ain't all that good at.'

Ranma took a long pull from his bottle of Pocari Sweat and propped his feet up on the coffee table. He craned his neck to look at the clock on the far end of the wall. 'Damn, it's almost three in the afternoon. Any chance the rest of the day will wind up being calm?' he wondered to himself.

As if in answer to his unspoken question, he heard a knock at the front door. "Shit, what is this? Narita Airport or something?" he grumbled as he yanked the towel from his shoulders and tossed it on the floor. Finding a coaster, he placed his drink down on the coffee table and got to his feet, sprinting for the door. Unlocking and opening it quickly, his eyes widened and he smiled broadly when he realized whom it was that stood before him. "Hey Akane," Ranma said in a soft voice.

His breath caught as he took a good look at her. Akane was quite an eyeful in her painted-on blue jeans that were becoming a standard item of clothing for her on the weekends. Added to that was a form-fitting baby blue t-shirt that showed off every curve of her upper torso. He was so taken by her that he had to remind himself to step aside so that she could come in.

"Hey, Ranma," she replied with a shy smile. Without any preamble, she walked right up to him and hugged him tightly. Feeling almost none of the reluctance that he would have prior to last night's conversation, Ranma returned the embrace gratefully.

He buried his face in her long hair as he held her close, his nose detecting the soft, fragrant smell of shampoo, indicating that Akane was recently out of the shower as well. The delicate scent along with the soft, warm feel of her body in his arms were like salve for a savage wound. Ranma took respite in that and felt some of the weight from the day's events suddenly lift from his shoulders. He looked down at Akane as she loosed a contented sigh and rested her cheek against his chest, and for the first time that day Ranma could honestly say that he felt happy.

"I've been looking forward to that all day," Akane admitted breathlessly.

Ranma laughed softly. "Me too," he replied. Even as the words left his mouth, he was pleasantly surprised to realize that he really had been looking forward to holding her in his arms! "How're you doing?" he asked as he gently caressed her back.

Akane stood away from the embrace and looked up at him with a troubled expression. "Umm, is Sato here?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, why?" Ranma answered with a puzzled expression. He couldn't figure out why she'd start out a conversation with him by asking about his friend. "I thought you and he already talked yesterday."

"Do you think we could talk outside, Ranma? I need to tell you something but I don't want it to go beyond us."

"Uhh, sure. I guess... " Concern replacing his earlier good humor, Ranma wasn't sure of what to expect as he led her out to the training hall. He closed the door behind them and watched as Akane stepped into the center of the room. Fretting over what she wanted to say, she gnawed her lower lip and cast her gaze around the training hall. Hating seeing her so upset, Ranma stood in front of Akane and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked her softly.

"Well, I need to talk to someone about this, but I don't really want to betray a family confidence," she began unsurely.

Ranma frowned. 'Geez! What *else* could'a happened to her family yesterday? Gos and Nabiki should've been bad enough, but she probably doesn't know about that.' "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Akane smiled and caressed his cheek. "You're so sweet, Ranma. I feel I can tell you almost anything at all."

Ranma blushed at that and fought to conceal his discomfort. "Well..."

Akane steeled herself, now sure in the fact that she could trust him with what she wanted to say. "I found out something about Nabiki last night," she began in a trembling voice. "This is something that could hurt Sato a lot if he ever found out about it. That's why I asked you if he was here."

Ranma's stomach tightened the moment Akane had mentioned her sister's name. 'She knows! Damn! Somehow she knows!' "Found out what, Akane?" A chill crawled up his spine when she answered him.

"She- Oh, she's been fooling around with someone, Ranma! Last night in fact, she-" Akane cut off as she glimpsed Ranma's face. At first she couldn't figure out why he was avoiding her gaze, but as she thought more about it, the truth dawned on her. "You already knew about this?" Ranma nodded tightly in reply to her question, his discomfort over what he knew being quite plain. "How did you find out?" she asked with a hint of anger. "Ranma, if you know something you have to tell me! She's my sister!"

He too was reluctant to betray a confidence given him by his sister and Sato, but his resistance nevertheless crumbled under his girlfriend's relentless stare. Sighing, he held her gaze as he began his explanation. "I found out just a few hours ago, Akane. Gos came by looking for an excuse to give his parents so he wouldn't get in trouble for being away from the house all night long. That's when he told me that he had been with her."

"What!? Are you trying to tell me that my sister had sex with Hikaru Gosunkugi last night?" Akane asked, mortified. "Ranko's boyfriend and your friend? This isn't a good time to make jokes, Ranma. Especially since we're talking about Nabiki doing something that could hurt Sato even worse than he already is." Akane glared at him, hurt plain on her face.

'Oh, shit... She didn't know *who* Nabiki had done it with and I just spilled the beans!' Ranma backpedaled slightly, holding his hands up defensively. "Waitaminute! I wouldn't lie to you like that, Akane. Especially not now!" He pointed towards the house. "You can also ask Ranko and Sato if you don't believe me."

" Oh, Ranma! You told *them* about this?"

"What? No! I didn't tell them anything. Gos did."

"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked, a sickly look forming on her face.

"I was trying to tell you that just now. When Gos came by this morning looking for an excuse, I saw that he had a pair of panties hanging out of his pants pocket."

Akane's sickly look worsened. "Are you telling me that he has a pair of Nabiki's panties?"

Ranma nodded and spoke quickly. "At first I accused 'em of stealin' a pair of Ranko's, but when I threatened him about it he admitted who owned 'em. He also told me everything he did with Nabiki before I could stop him. Ranko and Sato were both standin' right behind me and they heard it all."

Akane buried her face in her hands. "Oh no! I had no idea just how bad this whole situation was!"

"I was shocked too," Ranma admitted. "I didn't even really believe all of it until just now."

"You had some doubts about what he said?"

"Some. I didn't think Nabiki would do somethin' like that, but at the same time I don't think Gos was lyin' about what he said he did with Nabiki. After all, he had to know that Ranko would kick his ass if he ever got caught foolin' around."

"Wait. Why don't you start at the beginning and tell me everything he said to you, word for word." Akane's look became one of determination. "I want to get to the bottom of my sister's behavior. I also don't want to be uninformed where your sister and Sato are concerned. Neither of them is bound to like me at all after what Nabiki did last night."

Ranma nodded reluctantly and rattled off what he knew, hoping that in doing so he could help Akane get the answers she needed.



****



"Well, if you feel like talking to me, I'll be right here," Ranko said softly as she clapped Sato on the shoulder and walked away from him. For a long while he'd been sitting on one of the couches in the back of the attic just staring off into space. The only positive thing her talking had managed to accomplish thus far was to end his weeping, but beyond that she'd made no progress at all.

Not yet willing to admit defeat, she decided to take a pause and give him some more time before she tried again. Ranko could sympathize with him since she was still fairly upset about the whole thing herself. The difference in their situations was that Ranma's words to her in the training hall had kept her from succumbing again to tears. She simply refused to give the scrawny little bastard the satisfaction of knowing that he ever had her bawling like a baby.

Sitting down in front of the beanbag pile, she aimed the remote at the equipment rack and started everything up, then activated the tuner and selected a local channel where a news brief was playing across the screen. For about twenty minutes Ranko had barely paid any attention to the screen until she heard Sato get up and *run* across the attic to sit next to her. "What did she just say?" he asked insistently as he reached over and pressed the volume button on the remote that was still in her hands.

"What do you mean, Sato?" Ranko asked, puzzled.

"Look!" he said as he pointed at the projection wall. Displayed on it was live footage of a traffic jam on an expressway. Cars were blocked in all lanes in both directions and at the center of the stoppage were a car and a cargo truck that were both aflame. The whir of a helicopter engine could be heard along with the voice of the reporter that was covering the accident.

"For those of you just joining us here at the top of the hour, an accident on the Kan-etsu expressway has had traffic snarled ever since noon today. Details are still somewhat sketchy regarding the cause, but we do know that a Mazda RX-8 came over the traffic barrier and collided head-on with a Mitsubishi-Fuso cargo truck traveling in the opposite direction; there were no survivors."

The news anchor's face appeared on the screen again alongside a still image of the smoking car with a caption underneath it that said "Deadly noontime collision on the Kan-etsu expressway." "As we reported just a few moments ago, law enforcement officials have now released the identity of the driver of the Mazda. The woman, a twenty-eight year old named Kumiko Yoshida, was one of several junior level student counselors employed by Tamagawa Contract Staffing who serve all schools located in the Nerima, Suginami and Toshima wards here in Tokyo. She was apparently the only person in the vehicle but, as you can see from its condition, it would be difficult to tell if someone else had been in there with her," the reporter concluded dourly.

The report then returned to a live feed from a helicopter-mounted camera that showed the current situation on the expressway. Ranko and Sato stared wide-eyed at the close-up image of the vehicle, which was mangled so badly that it was barely recognizable as a car. "RANMA!" Ranko yelled loudly, standing up and throwing the remote on the beanbag pile. "RANMA!" she yelled even louder.

The sounds of footsteps pounding on the staircase a moment later announced the arrival of a wide-eyed Ranma with Akane charging in right behind him. Both of them had their arms up in defensive stances as their eyes scanned the room for potential threats. "What is it, sis? God, I heard you from all the way outside in the back yard!"

"Look!" she shouted as she pointed at the wall.

Ranma and Akane walked towards the wall and stared at the scene of the wreckage, neither of them comprehending why Ranko was so agitated. "I don't get it, sis. It's just a news story about a wreck."

"That's Ms. Yoshida's car," Sato said grimly. "She was killed a couple of hours ago in that accident."

"WHAT!?" Ranma and Akane chorused, both of them gaping at the wall incredulously. The anchor began another rehash of the details as the four youths watched in stunned silence as they sank down on the beanbag pile beside Ranko, with Ranma putting an arm around Akane's waist.



****



"Hey!" Yutaka protested as the TV in his hospital room suddenly went dark. "I was watchin' that!"

"You should be thinking of other things, my nephew," a business-suited man commented in a crisp, commanding tone as he set the remote on a nearby tray. Adjusting his position in an uncomfortable reclining chair situated next to the boy's hospital bed, he regarded the youth critically. "Such troubling images would only serve to agitate you further and delay your healing. You need your rest, young man."

"I toldja before! I don't need you babysitting me, uncle," Yutaka said with a sneer, which was made to look even more sinister by a large bandage that covered his broken nose. He glared at his uncle with his good eye. "I can take care of myself!" he declared proudly from his hospital bed.

"Yes, that's quite obvious, Yutaka." The man's voice dripped sarcasm as he eyed the knee-to-ankle cast on his nephew's left leg and the wide swaths of bindings and bandages that were wrapped around the boy's torso to restrict movement of his ribs; all of which had been broken in multiple places by Ranma Saotome. "Nevertheless, you should rest."

"But they were about to go to the replay. I wanted to watch that bitch die again," Yutaka protested in a wheeze. "You realize who was in that wreck, don'tcha?"

His uncle smiled tolerantly. "I was right here with you and saw the same news as you did, Yutaka. Ms. Yoshida's demise is regrettable."

"How can you say that? I don't regret nothin' about that bitch dyin'. She had it out for me from the start and was gonna have me sent to prison. Now that she's kicked I don't have much to worry about." Yutaka gingerly moved his arms so that he could tuck them under his head, then gave his uncle a smug grin.

"Understand this clearly, my nephew. You are still in a great deal of trouble." Yutaka's grin collapsed at that. "Jail will be in your immediate future unless you can acquit yourself with a great deal more contrition than you have shown to date."

"What does that mean? Dammit, uncle, stop talkin' over my head! You know I hate it when you do that."

Sighing loudly, he favored his nephew with another tolerant smile. "This means that no matter how happy you may feel about Ms. Yoshida's demise, you should not gloat about it. Celebrating the death of your prosecutor is only going to make you harder to defend. You have to appear innocent, which means that you cannot be seen as enjoying the ill fortune of others."

Yutaka gave his uncle a sour look. "So I can't dance on her grave?"

"Hardly."

An uncomfortable moment of silence passed between the two men before Yutaka spoke up again. "Do you really think I'll be goin' to jail, uncle?" the youth asked in a troubled voice.

The man paused for a moment before answering. "It will depend on several factors, but I suppose that your chances of conviction have diminished somewhat given today's events."

Yutaka glowered. "Well, that don't help me much."

His uncle stood up from the chair and walked towards the door. "I understand that, Yutaka. However, your trying to rape one of your classmates hasn't helped matters much either. Keep that in mind when you begin to get too smug, my boy."

Yutaka spluttered indignantly as his uncle walked out of the room and closed the door behind himself. The business-suited man regarded a similarly attired but much bigger person who was sitting in a chair across the hall from the door. "Are you ready to go back to the house, sir?" the bigger man asked in a gruff voice.

Yutaka's uncle nodded wordlessly to his driver, sparing a small but polite wave for the police officer that stood guard next to his nephew's door. The bigger man stood up and donned a pair of sunglasses, then followed the other man towards the exit. Once they were beyond earshot of the policeman, the driver spoke up. "You heard?"

"Yes, I saw the event happen on television. Are we fully insulated?"

"Yes sir," the driver said in a hoarse whisper, his head turning about suspiciously despite the fact that they were alone in the corridor. "Apparently all of the transcripts were in her car." He snorted. "The fire and the physical damage should have destroyed everything, so there's nothing left but some ambiguous pieces of evidence in police hands along with the victim and the boys."

The businessman nodded in agreement. "A veritable he-said, she-said stalemate. I want a sweep of Yoshida's house to be sure," Yutaka's uncle commanded in a very low voice.

"That's already been taken care of, sir. There is nothing of value to us at her home. We're quite sure."

"Excellent. Still, it's a shame that one as pretty as she had to die in order for her to learn her lesson." Yutaka's uncle laughed softly. "No one betrays me and lives for long."



****



Nodoka Saotome walked through the back door of their cabin and stepped onto the veranda. Well, "sauntered" would have been a more accurate description of how she moved. To Genma, she looked just as she did when they were married some twenty years ago, albeit with a slightly fuller bust line. He wasn't about to complain about that particular detail, though, since Genma considered himself to be a breast man. Clad only in a bright-green two-piece bikini that left very little to the imagination, her slender and recently tanned body had him short of breath. In fact, her presence was enough for Genma to completely forget about the stunning ocean views that were set out before him.

"Beautiful sunset isn't it, panda-bear?" Nodoka asked as she put one hand on the railing and another around his waist.

At her urging Genma managed to glance out at the horizon. This evening the ship's captain had turned the vessel so that the starboard side faced the setting sun. "Almost as beautiful as you are, dear," he confessed.

"You are the *sweetest* man," Nodoka said with a blush. She sighed wistfully as she gazed out at the horizon. "I'm so glad we had the chance to get away, dear. I'd almost forgotten what life was like without constantly worrying about the children."

"I agree. It's given us a chance to think about other things," Genma said with a grin worthy of the randiest schoolboy. He patted her on the bottom and kissed her quickly, then winked at her once their lips had parted.

"Again?" Nodoka asked in mock incredulity as she put her arms around his neck. "I swear! Who is this man that I'm with and what have you done with my husband?"

Genma roared with laughter. "He's right here, gorgeous," he said as he scooped his wife up in his arms and carried her back to the bed. "Fortunately it won't take long for me to get you undress-" The chime of the cabin's doorbell interrupted him, causing them both to scowl. "I'm gonna go tell whoever it is to take a hike," he said angrily as he tugged a Hawaiian shirt on over his bare chest and checked his shorts to make sure they were buttoned up.

Nodoka stood up from the bed and quickly threw a robe over her bikini-clad form. She just did have the garment tied closed around her when she looked up to see her husband open the door. A nervous ship's purser stood in the doorway bearing two envelopes. "I have two messages for a Mrs. Nodoka Saotome."

"I'm Nodoka Saotome," she said as she walked to the door and took the proffered envelopes. "Did these arrive just now?"

The purser nodded. "Yes ma'am. They arrived via secured satellite email. The first one arrived twenty minutes ago and the second one arrived less than two minutes ago. That one was marked urgent." He put his hands behind his back. "When the urgent notice came, I felt it was too important to trust to a page."

"Thank you," Nodoka said absently as she walked away from the door and examined the contents of the envelopes.

She walked away from the door while Genma scrambled to find his wallet so that he could tip the purser. "Yes, thank you for bringing this up yourself," he added. As soon as the door was closed he turned to face his wife. "Why couldn't the guy have waited another hour?" he grumbled under his breath. His ire disappeared as he saw the look on his wife's face. "Honey, what's wrong?"

Nodoka looked at her husband with a troubled glance. "We have to get home, Genma!"

"What? Why?" Genma asked, alarmed.

She folded one of the letters up and pocketed it but handed the other to her husband. "Read this, dear."

Genma took the letter in hand and studied it closely. It consisted of only three lines. "School counselor investigating Ranma killed a few hours ago. Successor for the investigation is uncertain. Recommend immediate return. MS" He looked at his wife askance. "Is this talking about the woman who was handling that Motoko girl's rape investigation?"

"Yes," Nodoka said distractedly, her mind a swirl of conflicted and troubled thoughts. "I thought this whole thing was over and done with."

"So did I, honey," Genma said as he ran a hand over his bald scalp. He favored his wife with a knowing look. "Don't upset yourself, Nodoka. We had no way of knowing that this was going to happen, so you shouldn't feel guilty about going on this trip."

Nodoka nodded unsurely as she turned to peer out of the back door of the cabin, looking at the vista of the ocean at sunset without really seeing it. "I know, dear. But I agree with what the note says," she replied. "We should get back to the house as quickly as possible. The children have to have heard about this by now and the news is probably going to hit them rather hard."

"You're right," he said as he picked up the phone to page the bridge. "I'll call the captain-"

Nodoka held her hand out. "I don't think that we have time for making a standard ship-to-shore connection, honey." She eyed her husband reluctantly as she strode towards the closet. "I guess you can never really leave it all behind, no matter how hard you try," she muttered softly as she opened up the closet, reached inside and fished out a cell phone from a seldom-used compartment in her suitcase. With a resigned look on her face, Nodoka flipped open the phone and powered it on. "I hope we're close enough to shore for this thing to work."



****



Once he'd heard the whole story directly from his patient, Dr. Tofu looked at Nabiki with a mixture of sympathy and frustration. "I'm not supposed to be so personally involved with a patient, but I can't help but ask: Why didn't you come to either Kasumi or your father about your feelings concerning the attack on the house? A lot of what happened to you afterwards could've been prevented if you had."

Nabiki grabbed another tissue from the nearly empty container and dabbed at her reddened eyes. "I figured everyone was having a hard time dealing with the same thing, so I didn't want to be a burden on daddy or sis."

"You could've talked to me."

"Yeah, but you would've charged me money," Nabiki said with a weak laugh.

Tofu snorted. "Now's not the time for jokes, Nabiki. I'm trying to help you out here." He pointed at the plastic bag Akane had left on her bed, which was now open once again. "You've been drinking and you've been promiscuous. That combination is seldom healthy and is usually fraught with regret and worry." He put a hand on her knee. "That stress, added to what you went through last weekend, will only perpetuate the cycle of drinking and cause it to eventually worsen."

Nabiki nodded. "I understand that, doc. I'm actually kinda glad I can talk to you. You see... I- I think I need to be tested. For -, you know," she said reluctantly.

The young doctor nodded soberly. "At least you're thinking about the consequences."

"Well, we were both virgins," Nabiki said defensively, hoping to take away some of the sting from Dr. Tofu's serious expression.

"Still, you understand that it's a possibility that you could have contracted something from that boy," he pressed.

Shivering, Nabiki nodded in agreement. "Yes. That's why I'd like to know *for sure* if I'm okay."

Dr. Tofu picked up his small bag and fished around inside it. "You're lucky I thought to bring a phlebotomy kit with me." He pulled out all the necessary instruments and ordered her to roll up her sleeve. "You'll feel a slight stick," he said after he'd swabbed and prepped her arm. Nabiki winced as the steel pinched her skin and then slid into her vein. She watched wordlessly as the doctor drew two vials of blood and then pulled out the needle and placed a bandage on her arm.

"You'll have the results in three days," he muttered as he labeled the vials and placed them carefully in his bag.

"Uhh, doc. You think you can keep this to yourself?"

"I won't say anything to your father, Nabiki. I promise."

"What about Kasumi?"

"She doesn't know?" he asked with a hint of surprise.

"About me having sex? Not at all. I would prefer to keep it that way."

"Very well. I will not talk to her about it, but in order to keep your secret safe I will not be able to come by or call to give you the results of the test. This means that you're going to have to come by my office on Wednesday to find out."

"Okay, doc. I'll remember that. *Trust* me."

"You should get a pregnancy test as well, Nabiki. I will make sure your blood is checked for that as part of my tests on the samples you've given me. Keep in mind, however, that it may be a bit early to know for sure. That boy's sperm can live inside you for up to ten days," he explained clinically, intent on underscoring her level of risk. "This means that, technically speaking, you could wind up getting pregnant any time between now and the end of next week." Nabiki blanched at that, despite knowing that she had taken a morning-after pill.

"Get one of the home tests and take it within the next week or so," Dr. Tofu counseled. "They're fairly accurate. If it shows a positive result then come back by my place and I will run another test to confirm it."

Nabiki maintained her silence about the pill she took earlier but the worried look she gave him was still quite genuine. "I don't think I am, but I will do as you say."

"That's wise. I would also think it wise if you were to see a psychiatrist about your nightmares and your drinking. I'm afraid I can't prescribe anything to fix that."

Nabiki looked at him uncomfortably. "I don't think I need to see a shrink."

"Don't forget who the doctor is here, Nabiki. If I say you need to see one, then you really need to see one."

"But-"

"Please don't argue with me Nabiki," Tofu said as harshly as he could. "I promised you that I wouldn't speak to your father about your sexual activity, but don't think for a minute that I will refrain from telling him about your other problems."

"You wouldn't!" Nabiki protested.

"If it turns out that you're not acting in your best interests where your health is concerned, I am bound by my oath as a doctor to tell your father. Don't forget that in some respects you're still a child." Tofu gave her a meaningful look. "You've grown up a lot in the past week, and none of it was in a good way. It's hard for a mind as young as yours to process all of it so quickly, and the results of that can be a bit unpredictable. In your case you turned to drinking to try to cope with sudden changes. Since that's not good for you, I want you to *promise* me that you'll go to the psychiatrist, Nabiki."

"Okay! Okay," she said finally, defeat evident in her tone and her features. "I guess I am crazy if you say so. I'll go to the shrink..."

"I'm not saying you're crazy. Just overwhelmed," Dr. Tofu retorted. He looked at the clock on Nabiki's nightstand and began packing everything in his bag. "You'll be okay. Just take things slowly and don't worry. Your sisters and your father and I will all be there for you."

"Okay," Nabiki said through a cascade of sniffles, her tears returning once more. "I appreciate it, doc."

He stood up from the bed and headed for the hallway. "See you on Wednesday."

"Sure thing, doc," Nabiki said with a weak smile. As soon as the door closed and she was sure she was alone, Nabiki gave in to the flood of emotions that she'd barely held in check the entire time the doctor was in the room. Lying on the bed, she buried her face in her pillow and cried like a lost soul.

She hated herself for being weak, for letting a stranger terrorize her in her own home, for allowing the school dweeb to put his hands all over her, for letting herself really enjoy having sex with that same dweeb, and for possibly getting herself pregnant or worse. All of it washed out of her in a cascade of tears that she didn't even try to stop.

A good twenty minutes passed before her despair started to lessen and her tears dwindled to nothing. Nabiki then slowly began to pull herself together as she considered her situation in a more analytical way. Amidst all of the bad news were the small reassurances that Dr. Tofu had given her. She had her family available to help her through anything. Also, the doctor did give her a faint hope that she might not be pregnant or infected with anything. All of that plus the little chemical present Kodachi had given her this morning had allowed Nabiki to shore up her shattered confidence.

She slowly got up from her bed and grimaced at what she saw. Piled on the floor next to the chair she'd occupied earlier were all the tissues she had used to wipe away tears as she'd confessed her activities to Dr. Tofu for over an hour. Getting her wastebasket, she dumped its contents into the plastic bag containing the sake bottle and the underwear. Into the bag she also collected all of the wadded tissues from the floor and the now-empty tissue container. Tying the bag closed, Nabiki left it on the floor next to the bed, vowing to toss it out as soon as she could without being noticed.

Gathering some clothes in preparation for a bath, Nabiki checked herself in the mirror to see if her face betrayed any hint of her emotional state. Satisfied that she wouldn't draw anyone's attention, particularly her father's, she headed downstairs to the bathroom. 'Gotta get this done quick if I'm gonna be able to put more work into Kuno's new project,' she thought to herself urgently, welcoming any kind of distraction that helped her to keep her mind off of her worries.



****



Sunday Evening



An hour after the news of Ms. Yoshida's demise first broke in the Saotome household, everyone was still engrossed in the tragic scene playing out before them on the projection wall. Ranma and Sato in particular were staring at the display with an odd mixture of curiosity and disbelief. "What'cha thinking?" Akane finally asked as she regarded Ranma with a great deal of concern.

"Well, I'm really shocked, Akane," Ranma understated.

"I think we both are, man," Sato said soberly. "Ms. Yoshida may have been hard on us during the interviews on Friday, but I don't think she deserved that fate." He shuddered as a chill worked its way down his spine.

Ranma nodded his agreement. "I hope she wasn't in any pain when she died."

Ranko wrinkled her nose. "This is getting awfully depressing, guys."

"Yeah, I agree," Ranma said as he stood up. "I'm gonna go downstairs and lock up the training hall before it gets dark."

"Oops!" his sister said with a frown. "Sorry, bro. I forgot about that."

"It's not like you didn't have a lot on your mind," he said with a fond smile.

Akane stood up from the beanbag pile and walked with him to the top of the attic staircase. "You need any help down there?" she asked, rubbing his arm gently.

Ranma looked back to Ranko and Sato who were both chatting to each other in low tones. Neither of them even glanced his direction, for which he was somewhat grateful given how openly affectionate Akane was being with him at the moment. "I wouldn't mind the company," he began with a smirk, but the mirth was short-lived as he redirected his attention to his sister and his best friend. "But I think someone needs to stay up here with them."

Akane's eyes widened. "You really want *me* to stay up here with them?" she whispered intently. "What if they're mad at me?"

Ranma shook his head. "If they were mad at you, Akane, they would'a already said so. I think you're gonna be okay. Right now I'm worried about 'em being more upset over Ms. Yoshida dyin' like that." Akane shivered, prompting Ranma to put his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. She looked up at him and covered one of his hands with her own. "Please?" he prompted softly.

"Alright, Ranma. Just don't take too long, okay?" Akane's large brown eyes looked up at him expectantly.

"Don't worry," he replied simply. "This shouldn't take but about five minutes anyway." With that Ranma let go of her and headed downstairs. 'Thank God!' he thought in relief. 'It was gettin' really bad in there.' Closing the door to the attic staircase, he walked downstairs to the first floor and headed in the direction of the kitchen to get a drink. The moment he rounded a corner in the hallway, his eyes caught a glimpse of something dark moving around in the dimly lit space.

Turning on the lights, he blinked as his eyes adjusted to the brightness level. In that instant of transition he barely made out a dark shape running from the kitchen as it headed towards the glass sliding doors at the back of the house.

Ranma angrily gave chase to the dark figure by jumping over the furniture as he scrambled through the den. He swore when the intruder desperately yanked open the glass door and dashed outside. On his way Ranma bent down to grab hold of a bookend from a nearby table, all the while never breaking his stride. As soon as he was outside he let fly with the sturdy brass object. The figure in black grunted as the item collided solidly with its back.

In an effort to avoid being pelted by anything else, the person, now clearly identifiable as a ninja, dove sideways into the opened doors of the training hall. Its attempt to close the doors of the hall was for naught, though as Ranma caught hold of them before they could be completely closed. Gritting his teeth, he forced the doors back open and stomped inside with the ninja backpedaling slightly.

"Who are you and what the HELL were you doing in my house?" Ranma thundered as he directed a furious glare at the intruder.

The ninja didn't speak but instead held a guarded pose in the center of the training hall. Ranma advanced on the intruder angrily. The wariness in his presence would've normally given anyone a considerable amount of pause, but because he couldn't see the ninja's face, he had absolutely no idea whether or not the guy was even worried about what Ranma could do to him.

"If you don't tell me what the fuck you're doing here I'm just going to have to beat the information out of you," Ranma said fla